"If you feel any discomfort during your hospitalization, make sure to report it right away. After all, it's the brain, we can't take it lightly," the attending physician reminded him.
Lying in the hospital bed, Akai nodded obediently. "Mm, I will."
As the doctor turned to leave, he noticed Akemi standing there, looking distracted and absent-minded. With a warm smile, he reassured her, "There's no need to worry too much about your boyfriend. The brain tissue only suffered a shock, there's no bruising or bleeding. With about a week of rest, he should recover and be able to go home."
Akemi clearly hadn't expected the doctor to misunderstand their relationship. She hurriedly waved her hands in denial. "N-No, that's not it. He's not my boyfriend, he's just…"
For a moment, she didn't know how to describe her relationship with Akai. Fortunately, Akai reacted quickly and stepped in to help. "She's actually the driver responsible for the accident. But the fault mostly lies with me, I didn't notice her car and ended up crashing into it."
"Oh, I see." The doctor nodded in understanding, then turned to Akai. "During this time, you should avoid fatigue and get plenty of rest. I've prescribed you some citicoline—make sure to take it as directed."
"Alright."
"Then I won't disturb you any longer. Wishing you a speedy recovery."
As the doctor opened the ward door, he saw Ritsu standing outside. 'Another handsome man, but with a completely different style… Hm? Could he be the real boyfriend?'
Carrying that bit of gossip in his mind, the doctor left. Meanwhile, Ritsu, mistaken as the "real boyfriend", slipped the payment receipt into his pocket, not noticing that Akai had already woken up. Walking over to Akemi, he said, "I've just arranged for a different room. A private room is quieter and more suitable for recovering from a concussion. Someone will come to take you there shortly."
"You're leaving? Is it for a mis—" Akemi caught herself, remembering there were outsiders present, and changed her words. "Is it for work?"
"No. I'm just going to pick up some dinner and bring it back." Recalling some medical knowledge, Ritsu added, "I'll get some foods that are high in lecithin."
"You've really done a lot for us today, both effort and money. Thank you."
"We've known each other for nearly two years now. There's no need to be so polite."
Without even glancing at Akai, who had been staring at him the whole time, Ritsu turned and walked out of the ward.
After Ritsu left, Akai, lying in bed, took the initiative to break the awkward silence. "Is he your boyfriend?"
If Akemi had a secret boyfriend that the FBI hadn't uncovered… that would make things troublesome. It's not like he could just steal someone else's girlfriend. Besides, just from a side glance earlier, that guy looked young, handsome.
And wealthy enough to arrange a private hospital room for a week.
Akemi, suddenly assigned two "boyfriends" in a single day, gave a wry smile. "He's just a friend. We're not in that kind of relationship."
"I see… Sorry for prying into your personal life."
"It's fine. You helped me out earlier, after all."
The atmosphere fell awkward once again. Akai closed his eyes to rest, but after learning they weren't a couple, he felt a quiet sense of relief. This meant he still had a chance.
If a carefully executed plan were to fall apart because of romance, it would only make approaching the organization more difficult later on.
Meanwhile, in his car, Ritsu was fiddling with his phone, not playing games, but using Yahoo.
#Ranking of foods high in lecithin#
After reading several top answers, Ritsu chose the most convenient option, fish.
To keep the diet light, he decided to head to Chinatown to buy steamed fish. It was said to be flavorful yet mild, perfect for someone recovering.
Following Yahoo's recommendation, Ritsu arrived at a uniquely styled restaurant in Chinatown called Dragon & Phoenix Dance, a small shop run by a Chinese couple.
What made it unique was that the menu was entirely in Chinese. Why? Because the couple believed that there was no such thing as a bad Chinese dish, they were extremely confident in their cooking.
The place was quite popular. Firstly, the food genuinely tasted great. Secondly… since most customers couldn't read the menu, it created a sort of "mystery box" experience, guessing what you'd get, and feeling doubly delighted if you happened to like it.
A Chinese international student working as a server immediately perked up upon seeing a handsome customer enter and greeted him energetically in Chinese, "Welcome! Please find a seat!"
Even the staff were Chinese… and didn't speak Japanese?
That posed a bit of a challenge for Ritsu. He was smart, but not to the extent of mastering every language, especially something as complicated as Chinese.
But this was the age of advanced technology.
Ritsu pulled out his phone and opened a translation app. After inputting Japanese, he listened to the Chinese translation several times before awkwardly asking, "Ni hao, qing wen you qing zheng gui yu ma?" ("Hello, do you have steamed mandarin fish?")
The cool, handsome guy instantly turned into an adorably awkward mess the moment he spoke that questionable Chinese.
Reminding herself not to bully a handsome guy who couldn't speak Chinese, the server suppressed her smile and replied in Japanese, "Actually, I'm an international student, I can speak Japanese. We do have steamed mandarin fish today. Would you like one?"
"…"
Ritsu expressionlessly put his phone away, feeling slightly annoyed. If she could speak Japanese, why not say so from the beginning? She did that on purpose. Definitely on purpose.
"Mm. And I'll take these three as well, all to go. Also, I'll need three portions of rice."
"You can read Chinese?"
"No."
Ritsu was simply trusting his instincts, he felt those dishes looked like they'd taste good. That was all.
'Ah, so this handsome guy wanted to experience the thrill of a mystery box,' the server realized. After writing down the order, she ran into the kitchen and called out, "Steamed mandarin fish, shredded pork with green peppers, beef with cilantro, and stuffed bitter melon!"
Ritsu had no idea that all three of the extra dishes he ordered contained ingredients he didn't like. Sitting in the restaurant, he idly scrolled through unread emails.
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Rei lately. Who knows how things were going for him in the intelligence division? He was probably living in some inconspicuous apartment like Vodka.
Ding. A new email notification.
Opening it, Ritsu raised an eyebrow. It was from Jinpei, with a photo attached.
In the photo, Kenji, wearing a black eyepatch, had his mouth wide open as he tried to tackle a burger. Jinpei, with a cigarette in his mouth, had captured the embarrassing moment, Kenji hadn't realized that Jinpei, pretending to take a selfie, was actually taking a candid shot.
Ritsu already knew about Kenji losing his right eye in the explosion. Kenji himself seemed quite optimistic about it. His inner "chuunibyou" had flared up, and he felt the eyepatch actually made him look more badass.
The burns on his arms were healing well. With skin grafts, about half had already recovered, at least now he didn't have to wear long sleeves to crime scenes in the summer.
[Jinpei: Kenji eating a burger… hehe! This guy's become quite the star in forensics lately, he solved a serial murder case through a single scene investigation! Hey, you're reading this, right? Be careful, or when you come back, you might end up working under us.]
"Heh, you might be disappointed."
A faint smile tugged at Ritsu's lips. He had already been exceptionally promoted to Superintendent. With a few more years of effort, he might even become the youngest Senior Superintendent.
Of course, that was only if he managed to survive within the organization.
"Handsome guy, your order is ready!"
"Mm. How much is it?"
"That'll be 9,359 yen."
After paying, Ritsu carried two large plastic bags of takeout toward the Chinatown parking lot, still completely unaware of what he was about to face next.
----
I update 5 chaps per day on p2reon and currently has 4 translation you can read. @Siamus404. The first 50 chapters will be free. Consider giving your support.