Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner

Fushimi Roku returned home the next morning, took a quick shower, and fell asleep immediately.

The drug dealers operated at night, so he could only deal with them in the evening. By the time he got back, Minamoto Tamako had already left to take Sakurako to school.

Uesugi Shion had been restless all night. Even people with mental illness need rest, so she was also sleeping soundly during the day.

This peaceful routine continued for several weeks. Fushimi Roku and Minamoto Tamako had completely opposite schedules and had no chance to share the same bed.

The former went out at night to deal with drug dealers, while the latter investigated cases during the day, researching the origins of addicts and Ye Tea, both making progress in their own ways.

Fushimi Roku's list of drug dealers was growing longer, his savings dwindling. He finally caught some big fish, none easy to handle: financial magnates of pharmaceutical companies, high-ranking Ministry of Health officials, Political Council members... all engaged in transnational legitimate business. After all, these chemicals are drugs on the shelf, but bypassing prescriptions and regulations, they became narcotics.

Minamoto Tamako also discovered some clues. The lab's drug reports seemed to have been altered and didn't match the results from third-party institutions. Those 'addicts' hadn't taken illegal psychotropic drugs, and the Criminal Department chief who formed the investigation unit seemed well aware of this, persistently avoiding her questions.

Meanwhile, the amount of drugs Watanabe Shun 'seized' was increasing.

He became the "star detective" of the investigation unit, with crime news reporting daily on how many kilograms of drugs Detective Watanabe had seized. Higashiyama Takashi, upon meeting him, no longer kept a cold face, much less questioned his perfunctory reports, patting his shoulder every day saying, 'I knew I wasn't wrong about you'...

Besides, the investigation unit had another detective whose drug seizures surpassed Watanabe Shun's. Every time the crime news reported, he took the headline while Watanabe Shun was at the tail of the page.

That night, inside an izakaya, the two snatched a moment of leisure to have a drink together. Watanabe Shun, holding a newspaper, complained to the nearby Fujimura-kun:

"I don't get it, we spent money, so how can we still not compare to others?"

"What do you mean 'we'? I spent the money, what does it have to do with you?" Fushimi Roku said, lighting a cigarette. He was under a lot of pressure lately, and his smoking habit had returned.

Watanabe Shun didn't ask where the money came from. He was displeased, curling his lip and burning a hole in the newspaper's picture with his cigarette butt. "It must be some trickery!"

Fushimi Roku ordered a jug of beer. Recently, he was short on cash, so he couldn't spend as lavishly as before, meaning this time they'd have to split the bill.

"Tone down that jealous expression, it's unsightly," he quipped, gulping down a big swallow of beer before adding, "but you're right, there's something fishy about it."

"What's fishy?" Watanabe Shun perked up his ears.

"I'm not telling you." Fushimi Roku knew Watanabe Shun all too well; if he told him something, it was as good as the whole world knowing.

After pestering for a while, Watanabe Shun, unsuccessful in his attempts, reluctantly gave up and casually flipped the page to see what other news was in Tokyo.

Hmm, Sugano Youko was holding a symphony concert, Toyota was releasing a sixth-generation car, there were changes in the Soviet Union's political landscape, and the neighboring East University was still selling pirated tapes and game discs...

Watanabe Shun didn't find any of this interesting. He quickly flipped forward until he got to his favorite section of daily jokes and casual submissions.

"Haha, look at this..."

Watanabe Shun pointed at a corny joke in the newspaper, scooting closer to Fushimi Roku to share. The latter couldn't be bothered to put on a perfunctory smile, responding nonchalantly, "I've already seen it."

Watanabe Shun was disappointed, feeling slighted.

He continued reading on his own and found an interesting article in the interview news section.

The journalist claimed that several indiscriminate attack incidents had occurred recently in Tokyo. Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had stated they were committed by addicts, but upon investigation, the journalist found that those so-called 'addicts' had no drug history, leading to suspicions that the Police Department was hiding other truths.

"According to insider information, the attackers had lost their sanity, displayed strange behaviors, and were even aggressive. One attacker reportedly went mad and bit a patrol officer, only to be shot dead on the spot. The interviewee described the attacker as similar to a zombie from a movie, completely devoid of fear and pain..."

"In summary, the journalist speculates that a new type of contagion, affecting the human nervous system, has appeared in Tokyo..."

"Additionally, a new biochemical lab has been constructed on the outskirts of Tokyo, but its safety credentials are questionable..."

...

Watanabe Shun read the entire article, feeling that it was nonsense, purely speculative. However, when pieced together, it seemed somewhat plausible.

He considered discussing it with Fujimura-kun, but figured he wouldn't be interested, so he shook out the newspaper and continued reading.

The last "casual submissions" section was for reader contributions of daily anecdotes, rental info, missing persons notices... essentially a small advertising space where readers could pay to publish.

Watanabe Shun glanced over it, finding nothing of value, but one snippet at the very edge caught his eye:

"Anonymous: Hondo Yuji from the interview news is talking nonsense, he's about to turn into a crow."

"Haha!"

Watanabe Shun found it hilarious, guessing that the contributing reader must have been harassed by that journalist and held such a grudge that they paid to publish a jab.

Hmm, good thing he didn't discuss the article with Fushimi Roku; otherwise, Fushimi would have given him that 'are you an idiot?' look again.