Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner

"Impressive, impressive, truly perfect reasoning!" Fushimi Roku applauded in admiration, intending to let Minamoto Tamako enjoy her moment.

Minamoto Tamako indulged wholeheartedly in her role as a famous detective; everything was exactly as she had envisioned:

The handsome and smart Detective Tamako takes on the murder case, accompanied by her idiot assistant Mr. Fu Jian to investigate;

Soon after, the case reaches a bottleneck, Tamako Detective deep in thought, when her idiot assistant Mr. Fu Jian unintentionally says something that gives her a revelation;

Detective Tamako has a flash of inspiration, attempts to verify her reasoning, while the idiot assistant looks bewildered, too proud and embarrassed to ask why;

In the end, Detective Tamako perfectly deduces the truth, and after hearing it, her idiot assistant Mr. Fu Jian stands up and sincerely claps, saying, "What a brilliant deduction"...

Everything is utterly perfect!

Except for a few minor hiccups along the way, such as the idiot assistant begging to handle the case himself, or the fact that she actually used information advantage for a quick breakthrough... but none of that matters!

Great people don't bother with details!

She was so pleased her toes were tense, unable to hide the pride on her little face, and having just been kissed by Mr. Fu Jian, she looked radiant.

Just one last step left!

Indeed, the final step present in all detective novels or crime TV shows:

—Detective Tamako confronts the suspect, piercing their emotional defenses, causing them to burst into tears, remorseful, confessing their wrongs, narrating the murder's progression detail by detail, finally, under Detective Tamako's guidance, they realize their mistake and decide to accept punishment and change for the better!

Minamoto Tamako had even planned her lines: 'Miss Yoshikawa will reunite with her lover in heaven, she will definitely not blame you once she knows the truth'...

She prepared herself internally and signaled to Mr. Fu Jian to watch her cues, then boldly pushed open the interrogation room door:

"Hello, Fujiwara-kun, long time no see."

Fujiwara Homare replied weakly, "Didn't we just meet at noon? I've already confessed, what's left to interrogate?"

"Of course there is! The sentencing for manslaughter, crime of passion, and excessive self-defense are not the same," Minamoto Tamako sat down in front of him, theatrically tidying the files with both hands, "I'm doing this for your good; anyone else would have concluded the case hastily by now!"

Fujiwara Homare had a nonchalant look; being the sole heir of the Fujiwara family, he could afford to be stupid, inept, even untalented, but not a criminal.

Once convicted, his life would effectively be over.

The Fujiwara family would not tolerate such a stain, nor would they let Fujiwara Homare become a tool for political opponents.

Either they go all out to acquit him, or let him completely withdraw from the center of power, only these two options exist.

Minamoto Tamako finished greeting and divulged her deductions in one go, lacking any interrogation technique, nor coercing the suspect, at most using a graduation photo as evidence, applying a bit of pressure on Fujiwara Homare.

"In conclusion, do you have anything you need to rebut?" She imitated Fushimi Roku, fingers intertwined, with an air of confidence.

"No."

Fujiwara Homare paused, seemingly having thought of something, then amended, "One thing to add: Yoshikawa did not attempt to kill me in revenge, even after I explained, she still didn't believe me, thinking that in a fit of spite, I killed Ryosuke... she merely accused me verbally, yet I couldn't resist due to jealousy and anger, and stabbed her."

Minamoto Tamako found the explanation reasonable but felt something was amiss, so she followed up, "Where did the knife come from?"

"She used it for self-defense, thinking I was going to do something improper to her," Fujiwara Homare said as he fiddled with his fingers.

"And after killing her, how could you sleep?" Minamoto Tamako asked again.

Text acquired from M|V|LEMP&YR.

"Afterwards, I sobered up, regretted deeply, took two sleeping pills, intending to commit suicide, but maybe the dose was too small, or perhaps I have drug resistance... in any case, I was fine the next day," Fujiwara Homare shrugged, "you didn't send me for drug testing either, it's probably too late now, nothing will show in a test."

Upon hearing this, Minamoto Tamako nodded in satisfaction; it all made sense now.

She glanced back, ensuring Mr. Fu Jian was diligently recording their conversation, all of which was crucial confession evidence and key for court judgment, errors were not permissible.

Having concluded the formalities, Minamoto Tamako intended to wrap up the case—the resolution of each crime resulting from criminal reflection; without the climax interaction between detective and criminal, the murder case lacked a soul.

She cleared her throat, posed seriously, and with a low and solemn tone, said, "Fujiwara-kun, Miss Yoshikawa will reunite with her lover in heaven, she will definitely not blame you once she knows the truth..."

"Do you believe in Christianity too?" Fujiwara Homare asked reflexively.

"Ah, I'm a materialist..." Minamoto Tamako, recalling the officer bunny, added: "Dialectical materialist... Heaven cannot be proven to exist or not, so let's believe it exists for now."

"Oh," Fujiwara Homare said.

The atmosphere was somewhat heavy; the suspect seemed not deeply moved by her words, and Minamoto Tamako felt it wasn't appropriate to say much more under such circumstances... indeed, TV dramas were different, the detective's monologue only made people dislike it.

Having asked everything, she turned around, looking at Fushimi Roku, inquiring if her partner had anything to add.

Fushimi Roku pondered; he was a bit puzzled by one trivial question—unrelated to the murder case, but he desperately wanted an answer.

"Why did you suddenly not want to attain immortality anymore?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Because it was fake," Minamoto Tamako thought the question was not up to standard, really too stupid; Mr. Fu Jian truly lived up to being the idiot assistant, his intelligence seemed to be declining linearly, "Didn't Fujiwara-kun say earlier? He figured it out, it's fake... "

"He knew it was fake long ago." Fushimi Roku interrupted, "Why not abandon it early or late, but only now does he end the thought of immortality?"

This stumped Minamoto Tamako; she considered it irrelevant, felt Mr. Fu Jian was nitpicking, seeking flaws in her flawless deduction, vaguely suggesting doubt... yet she felt she might be overthinking, her deduction also seemed not so perfect, with one issue being why Fujiwara Homare was now truthfully confessing?

If following her deductions, the likelihood pointed to excessive self-defense, which carries a light sentence; but now, he claims crime of passion, potentially doomed for fifteen years minimum.

Could it merely be Fujiwara Homare's conscience awakening?

Before Minamoto Tamako could unravel the mystery, Fujiwara Homare slowly lifted his head, under the cold white light, casting butterfly shadows on his face, making his expression seem strange.

He appeared relieved, yet also pained, providing an answer from the depths of his heart:

"Because I'm no longer the sole heir of the Fujiwara family, that's all."