Furuya Rei continued to ask, "Do you know that man who came out?"
At the mention of this, Sawada Tsunayoshi’s face fell into a bitter expression; he wrinkled his nose, his lips turned downward, he said with an accusatory tone, "I don't know him. He's so strange. He stuffed me with little cards and made me realize I should call him. What am I supposed to realize? I clearly already refused him."
Furuya Rei: "It seems he doesn't like you very much."
Sawada Tsunayoshi couldn't help but complain, "Because he's very strange! His gaze is weird, his tone is weird.. I'm going to throw the card away in a moment, I never want to see him again!"
Furuya Rei breathed a sigh of relief. That was good; it looked like Sawada Tsunayoshi had not been deceived or fallen for anyone's tricks.
"Do you have any leads on the person who sent you that message? It couldn't be that Koji Yamadani again, could it?" Yes, it had to be him; who else would target Sawada Tsunayoshi besides him?
It's too much, it's too despicable; failing to frame him during the exams, he now actually wants to trick Sawada Tsunayoshi into falling from grace.
This isn't over. This scum is a menace in the school. Don't worry for now; when school starts, I'll think of a way to deal with it together with you.
Furuya Rei comforted Sawada Tsunayoshi.
Sawada Tsunayoshi felt a bit guilty and didn't dare to meet his eyes, merely nodding haphazardly; he couldn't exactly tell others that Gin was looking for him.
Sigh, you're not a good person anyway, so just take the blame for a while.
After the two finished their meal, Sawada Tsunayoshi wanted to pay, but Furuya Rei stopped him. After eating, Sawada Tsunayoshi returned to his own apartment to rest.
"Wow, Gin, has little Vongola put some kind of*** drug on you? You're protecting him so much; it doesn't seem like your usual style." Vermouth gave Gin a meaningful look.
This cold man was as heartless as a machine. She dared to bet that if she betrayed the Organization, Gin would certainly not care about any sense of camaraderie and would simply give her a clean shot.
To think that such a cold man would actually show tenderness toward a little boy one day, haha.
Although most people wouldn't be able to notice that tenderness, she knows exactly who she is—she is the Vermouth, the Thousand-Faced Witch, she could tell at a glance that this man was different toward Sawada Tsunayoshi.
"Have you also fallen under the spell of little Vongola's suit pants? That's big news. Do you want to join Vongola?" Vermouth teased.
"Shut up." As expected, Gin responded with murderous intent.
A flash of contempt flickered in Gin's eyes, which were obscured by his hair and black hat.
That self of his had become weak.
No matter what happened to them, or what kind of bonds they shared, it had nothing to do with him.
The reality of that world was not his reality.
He wouldn't even admit that was Gin. That weak version of himself would certainly die a miserable death.
He had no interest in playing house with others.
No matter what tricks they are playing, he will not participate.
Let that person indulge in a hypocritical reality, until they are ultimately shattered into pieces.
Chapter 55: Conan Live Day 16
What was it that caused these five people, who should have been enjoying a relaxing holiday, to gather together?
What was it that caused the much-anticipated relaxing holiday to become so turbulent?
What was it that made Class Monitor Date give up his date with his girlfriend to step forward?
What is it..
"Wait, Class Monitor Date, you have a girlfriend!" Matsuda Jinpei's eyes widened in belated shock, looking at Date Wataru as if he were looking at some prehistoric dinosaur.
"You have a girlfriend!" Hiromitsu Morofushi and Furuya Rei were equally surprised.
Date Wataru gave a simple, honest laugh, crossing his arms across his chest with high spirits and straightening his back. "What, do I not look like a man who has a girlfriend?"
Hara Kenji chimed in, "Exactly, exactly! A man like Class Monitor Date looks like he'd be very popular. He provides such a sense of security."
Sawada Tsunayoshi nodded silently.
Matsuda Jinpei scratched his hair, looking at Sawada Tsunayoshi: "What are you nodding for? Wait, how do you know that? And also, why do you know that?"
Hara Kenji spread his hands. "It's obvious. Whether it's his lifestyle or that cute little charm in Class Monitor Date's hand, it all proves he has a very loving girlfriend. Little Matsuda Jinpei, you need to observe your surroundings more carefully."
Date Wataru was proud.
Matsuda Jinpei said speechlessly, "I thought that was a tough guy's little hobby, so I didn't dare mention it. Turns out they were all gifts from your girlfriend."
Then, how did you know, Nata?
Sawada Tsunayoshi said implicitly, "Because on the first day of school, I saw the Class Monitor and his girlfriend, I even took a photo of them."
Furuya Rei wanted to pull the straying topic back on track: "Wait, we didn't gather here today to talk about Class Monitor Date's love life; we have something more important to discuss."
That's right, the reason the group had gathered during this precious break time was to save poor Sawada Tsunayoshi's personal safety.
He was being harassed.
That's right, he, a boy, is being harassed.
At first, red roses appeared mysteriously in front of his apartment door, with small cards attached that contained words capable of making a pure young boy blush.
You are my rose, I want to become a bee upon you, you are my muse, you are an angel, so on.
He still used parallelism and personification.
The whole thing was so full of genuine emotion that Sawada Tsunayoshi was scared and quickly threw the roses away, then went to check the surveillance footage and find the security guard.
But nothing could be found.
Immediately afterward, another bouquet of baby's breath appeared in front of his door. The card in the middle asked why he wouldn't accept his flowers, why he would ignore his feelings—was he disdainful of his feelings for not being sincere enough?
Startled, Sawada Tsunayoshi threw the flowers away again and then huddled inside the house, peering through the peephole; he was determined to find this pervert.
The pervert didn't come in the afternoon, so Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't dare to sleep much that night, but he fell asleep eventually. When he woke up the next morning, he went to look out the door, his slippers making a tap-tap-tap sound.
Oh my god, this time the flowers are black lilies, the card was written in blood, saying that only this would be enough to show his sincerity.
This scare was so intense that Sawada Tsunayoshi ended up stumbling around clumsily while trying to call his friend, which led to the scene of five people gathering together, with six people in total discussing a grand plan.
A few people gathered around the card and the surveillance footage, pondering.
The text on the card was printed, so there were no handwriting samples to investigate. The surveillance footage had also been hacked for a period of time.
When Furuya Rei first suggested that Sawada Tsunayoshi go to his home, the original apartment was no longer safe.
What they considered first was the man who had slipped those small cards to Sawada Tsunayoshi. Because only that person had shown him a different attitude on the surface.
They were discussing how to uncover that man's true background, whether they should call him to set up a meeting and then give him a severe beating, combining extortion with threats.
The group talked so much they lost all sense of reality, having already forgotten their identities as police academy students. They discussed how to evade surveillance, how to kidnap someone to a secluded location, how to use threatening words, how to seize leverage to force someone to keep a secret, how to protect Sawada Tsunayoshi's reputation.
Sawada Tsunayoshi: To be honest, I have a few things to say. Your behavior is nothing short of banditry; you're even more lawless than the underworld!
Shouldn't you consider your identities? Shouldn't you look at how you're behaving? Do you have no shame before your school?
Sawada Tsunayoshi muttered complaints under his breath,
Hara Kenji suddenly leaned in and listened for a long while.
Oh my, so Sawada Tsunayoshi has a straight-man persona, huh? Hello, Shinpachi.
Sorry, my character trope is the underdog's comeback, don't call me Shinpachi. Are you more like Gintoki or Kagura?
Hmm, I'd rather be Tetsunosuke.
An unexpected answer has emerged!
Hara Kenji laughed loudly, "As expected, Sawada Tsunayoshi's roasts never disappoint."
Sawada Tsunayoshi gave a deadpan look. "I'm sorry to have disappointed you, then."
Hara Kenji continued to laugh. Because the two of them had drifted away from the topic and started telling jokes, they were collectively sanctioned by the others.
Having been sanctioned, Sawada Tsunayoshi sat down obediently, not daring to say another word.
A television news report was playing nearby. A sudden flash of an image caught Sawada Tsunayoshi's attention, he couldn't help but focus on it. On the screen was a man lying on the ground, covered by a white sheet with only his head exposed. The host was introducing his identity, speaking in regretful tones, calling upon the police to work harder to solve the case as quickly as possible.
“This one!”
Sawada Tsunayoshi suddenly pointed at the television, "It's this person! He's the one who gave me the card!"
What!
Several people quickly crowded around and immediately learned the specifics of the situation.
The deceased was the president of a toy company and a devout believer who attended church every week and donated money to it; he was a kind entrepreneur who was successful in a social sense.
He was found dead at home yesterday, causing quite a stir. It made the news, the police were pressured to solve the case as quickly as possible; they absolutely could not allow such a conscientious entrepreneur to die in vain.
Furuya Rei pondered, "It wasn't him, the timing of his death was too coincidental."
Sawada Tsunayoshi's face turned pale. Had that pervert killed the President? If that were the case, wouldn't it be because of him that the President..
“That's not it.” Hara Kenji rested his chin in his hands, his deep amethyst-like eyes gazing at Sawada Tsunayoshi. "Don't overthink it, little Sawada Tsunayoshi. Right now, the thing you should focus on is catching that pervert who sent you flowers."
Don't try to put yourself in a criminal's shoes; they aren't normal people to begin with. Immersing yourself in their mindset will only leave you confused.
The truth is something we need to investigate; any advance predictions are inaccurate. So, Sawada Tsunayoshi, don't have such strong empathy; sometimes, being a little indifferent isn't a bad thing.
Hara Kenji said with a grin, "Haha, do you think what I said makes a lot of sense? I learned this from reading many books and watching many TV shows."
It was hard to describe the feeling, but among the five, Sawada Tsunayoshi felt that Hara Kenji had the heaviest psychological defenses; appearing enthusiastic didn't necessarily mean he had accepted you.
However.. he wasn't that kind of person. Sawada Tsunayoshi's intuition had forewarned him of this point: Hara Kenji had accepted him.
After discussing it over and over, the group decided that the best and most direct method was to catch the turtle in a jar; they would take the two of them to Sawada Tsunayoshi's house to sleep there with him.
The others waited outside to see if they could catch them directly.
Finally, the highly skilled Matsuda Jinpei and Furuya Rei stayed at Sawada Tsunayoshi's place, while Date Wataru and the other two were outside gathering intelligence.
It's already late. I don't believe they would act at night. How about you all stay at my place tonight and head out in the morning instead?
Sawada Tsunayoshi suggested.
They also thought it was fine; at worst, they would just wake up a little earlier tomorrow.
The group of people rushed into Sawada Tsunayoshi's small apartment in a frantic manner.
Five burly men crowded the doorway, with Sawada Tsunayoshi at the very back. He opened the door and said reflexively, "Welcome to my home."
He smiled as he saw the situation in the room, then slammed the door shut with a bang.