Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner

Abe Rokurou explained his reasoning over the phone and asked Senior Tamako and Senior Fushimi if they had time to investigate the truth of the random attacks case together.

Minamoto Tamako was, of course, very interested. After listening, she couldn't wait to rush downstairs and buy a newspaper to see if Abe Rokurou's deduction was accurate.

Minamoto Tamako instinctively glanced at Fujimura-kun. Given her previous personality, she would have definitely told Fujimura-kun about it and insisted on investigating together.

But this time, she somehow wanted to go alone.

Every time she asked Fujimura-kun to investigate together, it seemed as if she couldn't solve a case without him.

Minamoto Tamako didn't even need to ask to know that Fujimura-kun was surely not interested.

She didn't want to embarrass herself by seeking uninterested company, so she picked up the phone and replied, "I'm very interested... Yes, I'm free now..."

Abe Rokurou said that they could start investigating now, and as long as they could uncover the truth, he didn't mind staying up all night.

Minamoto Tamako was surprised; this was the first time she had met a police officer so enthusiastic about solving cases.

Not bad, not bad, he has the potential to join the detective team!

Minamoto Tamako felt a sense of goodwill towards him. She glanced at her watch; it wasn't late yet, plus she was still on sick leave—Chief Kikuchi had extended her sick leave—so she didn't have to get up early tomorrow, staying up late to investigate shouldn't be a problem.

"Okay, I'll head out now!"

Minamoto Tamako and Abe Rokurou agreed on a meeting place. She returned to her room to change clothes. Fushimi Roku, having watched her finish the phone call, suddenly moved closer and asked, "Where are you going?"

"To investigate a case," Minamoto Tamako said casually, "Do you want to come along?"

"Sure," said Fushimi Roku.

"If you're not willing, forget it, I won't insist. Just make sure you don't sneak any money from my little piggy bank while I'm not home. I noticed two days ago that a Redemption Voucher was missing..."

As Minamoto Tamako said this, she suddenly realized what Fushimi Roku had said. She quickly turned around and looked at him, "Huh? You're joining the investigation?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Fushimi Roku, with one hand on his hip, retorted, "Aren't we good partners? We should investigate together."

In the past, if Minamoto Tamako heard Fujimura-kun say 'we are good partners,' she would have been so happy she'd have tears in her eyes.

But now she only felt that Fujimura-kun had some hidden agenda.

Was he trying to find a reason to reclaim the Redemption Voucher, or find an excuse to ask for more Stamps?

Minamoto Tamako squinted her eyes and asked back, "Aren't you on a mission tonight?"

"I've been busy for nearly a month; today, I'm taking a day off." Fushimi Roku decisively gave himself a break.

"Don't you usually stay at home on your days off?" Minamoto Tamako grew more suspicious, feeling that Fujimura-kun's attitude was quite odd, "Why would you come out to investigate on a day off?"

"Because I'm about to die, and I want to contribute more to society before that," Fushimi Roku had no choice but to pull out his trump card.

His words touched Minamoto Tamako, and after a brief silence, she said, "Well, let's go together, after all, the junior also invited you."

"Did they invite me too?" Fushimi Roku raised an eyebrow, cradling his chin, vaguely feeling a bit of regret.

Phew, seems like we're really going to investigate the case.

"Yes, but I thought you were busy, so I didn't mention it... But since you brought it up, it's perfect for us to go together."

Minamoto Tamako paused and recapped Abe Rokurou's findings.

Originally, Fushimi Roku wasn't interested, but now he suddenly thought of many things, such as the recording tape from the Fujiwara Homare's case, and the Miyazaki Shizuka's shared dream experiment, not to mention the increasing noise in his dreams recently...

Most importantly, his recent experience in the consultation room left him with an unsettling feeling deep inside.

Linking these possibilities, he suddenly developed a bit of interest in the case.

As they prepared to leave, Fushimi Roku casually asked, "You didn't sleep during the day, can you stay up all night?"

"No problem!"

Minamoto Tamako made a "big man" hand gesture.

She changed her clothes, got into the mood, patted her cheeks vigorously, switched to work mode, and threw all distracting thoughts out of her mind.

The two of them went out, hailed a cab, and met Abe Rokurou at the convenience store across from the Nakagawara Police Station. When the latter saw his two idols arrive, he was so excited that his face turned red, and he waved his arms in front of the entrance to welcome them.

The employee eating instant noodles by the window looked astonished, thinking some celebrity or beauty had arrived and craned his neck to watch the scene.

Seeing this, Fushimi Roku bent down and whispered, "Is this guy a bit off?"

Minamoto Tamako found it quite pleasing. Abe Rokurou's enthusiasm gave her a sense that she had become a famous police chief.

Besides, when she was still a rookie patrol police, she was excited to see seniors as well. On her first day at the Nakagawara Police Station, she spent all her time saluting seniors, so she could understand Abe Rokurou's feelings.

"Why say that about someone? I think he's just full of energy!" Minamoto Tamako pouted, "Are people full of drive not bright?"

Fushimi Roku gave Minamoto Tamako a sidelong glance. That was exactly what he thought; but seeing Minamoto Tamako's expression, he decided to keep his mouth shut, lest she takes the opportunity to dock his stamps.

"Have you eaten dinner, Senior? How about I treat you to some instant noodles..."

Abe Rokurou felt a bit guilty for dragging his seniors into a late-night investigation and wanted to make it up to them.

When he said 'seniors', he naturally included Fushimi Roku.

But Fushimi Roku himself didn't see it that way. He had never cared much for juniors, nor did he understand the Japanese senior-junior culture, so he was quick to interrupt, "I've already eaten with her."

Fushimi Roku emphasized the word 'together'.

Abe Rokurou let out an 'oh', without overthinking it, then stood at the convenience store door, asking his seniors if they had any investigative ideas.

Minamoto Tamako had only learned about this incident ten minutes prior, so naturally, she had no leads. She purchased a newspaper inside the convenience store and flipped to the casual contribution section Abe Rokurou mentioned, confirming that the anonymous post was indeed telling the truth.

"Hmm, I think we could report this to the investigation department. The narcotics unit's direction might be wrong..."

Minamoto Tamako hadn't even finished speaking when Fushimi Roku instinctively refuted, "Impossible. Even if you have solid evidence, the narcotics department will choose to ignore it."

"Why?" Minamoto Tamako and Abe Rokurou asked in unison.

The former was confused due to having not joined the narcotics department, naturally not knowing what the internal atmosphere was like;

The latter was purely curious, wanting to know how Senior Fushimi knew that the narcotics investigation department wouldn't acknowledge it... because he had already reported it to Chief Higashiyama Takashi, who hadn't paid any attention to him at all.

Fushimi Roku couldn't state directly that they were protecting their vested interests, so he diplomatically explained:

"Because the narcotics investigation department has already seized so many drugs, and the media has been reporting that addicts are under control and being sent for mandatory rehabilitation... revealing that the random attacks are man-made would cause social panic with the perpetrator still at large."

Minamoto Tamako couldn't stand this kind of conscience-surrendering behavior. It was clearly their mistake, yet they refused to admit it, talking about social panic as if a confidential investigation couldn't be done. It was just to cover up mistakes and vie for credit!

Tch!

She hadn't expected Fujimura-kun to become assimilated by those bureaucratic parasites after joining the narcotics investigation department.

Considering Fujimura-kun had been working late every night recently, Minamoto Tamako decided to give him a bit more credit, thinking at least he was doing real work in the narcotics investigation department. Given the recent large drug seizures by the investigation department, Fujimura-kun might have played a part; it wouldn't be fair to judge him too harshly.

"So what do you think we should do?" Minamoto Tamako asked.

Right after she asked, she felt this was familiar; it felt like they were back at the Nakagawara Police Station, arguing while solving cases.

Abe Rokurou also looked hopeful, expecting Senior Fushimi to provide a reliable investigation idea.

"You two go home and sleep first,"

Fushimi Roku said, "Tomorrow, go to the newspaper office and inquire about the anonymous contributor... Though it's likely futile, it's worth a try."