Tokyo Detective Chronicles

I'll pick you up after school today.

Hayakawa, who was initially a little annoyed by her own slowness, suddenly froze: "Huh?"

Then it dawned on me that it was because of Akiyama and the others.

She quickly caught up with Fushimi, waving her hand and saying, "No, no need! You've already helped me so much, really! I can't trouble you any further. I can manage on my own after school..."

Fushimi didn't give her a chance to continue speaking. He patted the girl on the shoulder, waved, and walked towards the stairwell.

Chuan quickly followed and said urgently:

"Senior, Akiyama-san's...her brother is a delinquent from the neighboring Horikoshi High School! You don't need to offend them for my sake! Getting involved with them will cause a lot of trouble!"

bad?

Fushimi kept walking, finding it somewhat amusing.

Delinquent youth?

Do you think they'd dare to come and ambush him?

"Senior!"

Hayakawa jogged a couple of steps, circled around to the front of him, looked up, flashed a pleading smile, and opened his arms to block his way.

"Senior, are we... friends now?"

Fushimi stopped and looked into her eyes, which were filled with expectation and unease. He paused for a moment, then nodded.

Hayakawa's eyes brightened even more. She stepped forward and suddenly grasped Fushimi's free hand with both of hers.

The girl's palms were warm and slightly sweaty.

"Then...senior, can you keep calling me Chiho from now on?" she asked softly, biting her lower lip nervously.

Fushimi then remembered the cry of "Chiho!" that had just been heard outside Class C of the first year...

"it is good."

"Then as friends..."

Hayakawa Chiho gripped his hand tightly, her eyes incredibly earnest: "Senpai, can you promise me you won't do anything unnecessary for me?"

The words were spoken.

Fushimi noticed that his surroundings had suddenly and eerily darkened...

It seemed that the surrounding light source had been absorbed by something.

Behind the girl, a small but exceptionally bright orange-yellow orb of obsession rose. It floated quietly behind Hayakawa's head, like the halo behind a Buddha statue, giving it an inexplicable sense of holiness.

Incomparably pure and without any impurities.

Fushimi felt a moment of emptiness in his heart.

"..."

Hayakawa was more tense than ever before.

She held Fushimi's soft, warm hand and looked at him with hopeful eyes.

He pleaded, wanting to hear a "yes" from Fushimi.

She didn't really know Fushimi very well, but the thought that her senior was being harassed by those delinquents or even injured because of her... made Hayakawa Chiho feel guilty to the point of wanting to commit suicide.

In Yingzhou, school bullying is often not just a single instance of physical violence.

Instead, it inflicts long-term and continuous psychological and physical harm on the victims.

Once you get entangled with those abusers, the outcome might be that you won't have a single day of peace until graduation.

Fushimi could see the genuine worry in her eyes.

Clearly, if he simply agrees now and truly extricates himself from the matter of Hayakawa Chiho, he can easily dispel this obsession...

That's really convenient.

However, this is not in line with his usual style.

The so-called bad behavior could not possibly cause him any trouble.

Fushimi pulled his hand away from her grasp, then gently patted her shoulder, neither agreeing nor refusing.

"Let's go, lunch break is almost over."

Fushimi didn't refuse outright, which relieved Hayakawa Chiho, who obediently followed half a step behind him.

As she went down the stairs, she couldn't help but smile and mutter to herself:

"It's really nothing, Akiyama-san isn't actually that..."

Are they still actively defending the perpetrators?

Fushimi had a slight headache. He stopped at the corner of the stairs leading down from the rooftop and turned to look at her: "Chiho."

"yes?"

"Do you hate walking home from school with me?"

Fushimi looked into her eyes, his tone calm, but it made Chiho panic instantly.

"No, no! Of course I want to go with my senior!" She quickly waved her hands, "I'm just worried..."

"Then let's not talk about it."

Fushimi interrupted her and continued walking: "See you this afternoon."

"Ah...oh."

Chiho was speechless after being cornered by him, so she could only follow silently behind him.

Fushimi had many thoughts on his mind.

If that student named Akiyama Aiko were to actually be taught a lesson by delinquents... it would actually be a good thing.

After all, they are ordinary people who have not been involved in the mundane world.

He really couldn't do anything to these bullying girls.

At most, they'd send some monsters to scare them, then they'd suffer from insomnia for a month or two, and finally they'd go to the cemetery, drag out all their dead ancestors, and beat them up.

That's probably all that can be done.

In his opinion, this level of punishment was not enough to make them feel real pain and regret.

But if a delinquent from outside school encounters him... that's a completely different story.

Just as the two reached the first-year teaching building, they bumped into Akiyama Aiko and her two companions who were returning from the convenience store on the other side.

Holding canned coffee and snacks, Akiyama Aiko saw Fushimi and Hayakawa walking side by side, snorted coldly, turned her face away, and exchanged a mocking and disdainful look with the two beside her.

Fushimi kept his eyes straight ahead, but intentionally or unintentionally moved closer to Hayakawa Chiho, blocking their view.

"laugh."

Akiyama couldn't resist any longer. As they passed each other, he deliberately raised his voice, speaking directly to the two while glancing sideways at Fushimi and Hayakawa:

"She's already seducing new men after such a short time."

"As expected, a gloomy male supporting character and a fake-smiling female, a perfect match."

Hayakawa Chiho stiffened, instinctively trying to distance herself from Fushimi to avoid further ridicule, but Fushimi gently pressed her wrist down.

Fushimi stopped, turned around, and calmly looked at Akiyama Aiko.

Perhaps because she was used to being domineering, Aiko wasn't intimidated at all. She crossed her arms, tilted her head, and asked, "Hey... gloomy man, do you really like Hayakawa, that fake-smiling woman?"

The sound was very loud and quite piercing.

This attracted the attention of other students passing by. In her opinion, this gloomy guy would definitely not be able to stand so many people staring at him and would either deny it or leave in a hurry.

In that case, it would be Hayakawa who would be left behind and lose face.

Even if he admits it, he could use this as an excuse to mock the two losers for comforting each other.

But when she met Fushimi's gaze...

Akiyama's heart skipped a beat under his gaze, and he forced himself to raise his chin:

"What are you looking at? Did I say something wrong?"

Fushimi didn't answer immediately, but instead took a few steps forward.

The imposing presence of his height caused Akiyama Aiko to unconsciously take a small step back, nearly falling over, but thankfully the two people beside her caught her.

Realizing what had happened, she immediately stood still, both embarrassed and angry.

Before she could even start cursing.

Fushimi spoke first, but his voice was soft and wouldn't cause a commotion.

However, the sound was clearly transmitted to the ears of several students nearby who were eavesdropping:

"Otherwise what? Do you like a blond monkey with elephant legs like you who only knows how to 'ooh ooh' and beg for bananas from its owner?"

"Do you still prefer that cheap foundation on your face that's thicker than plaster on a wall?"

The air became quiet.

Akiyama Reiko's expression went from arrogant to astonished, then to flushed and contorted in less than two seconds.

"What...what did you say?! Say it again!"

She screamed, trembling with rage, her meticulously manicured nails almost poking Fushimi's nose.

Fushimi simply glanced down at the finger she was pointing at, then looked up at her flushed face, and said nothing.

At this distance, she could clearly see Fushimi's pupils, which were hidden by his long hair.

Akiyama Reiko felt a surge of anger rising within her from that gaze, yet she also felt inexplicably weak. The curses she wanted to utter stuck in her throat, and her face turned even redder.

Seeing the gazes directed at him from all around, he could only grit his teeth and look at Fushimi.

Seeing her trembling, Fushimi lost interest.

What a cowardly bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong...

Without looking at her again, he turned to the still somewhat dazed Chiho and said, "Let's go," before turning and leaving with her.

Only after the two had walked about ten meters away did Aiko Akiyama seem to finally find her voice, and she screamed at Fushimi's retreating figure:

"You dare wait after school! What are you being so arrogant about!"

Fu Wen didn't even turn his head; he simply raised his hand and waved it in the air.

"Okay, see you at the back gate of the school."

At the covered bridge leading to the second-year students, Fushimi stopped and said to Chiho, who was still worried, "Study hard this afternoon."

"Senior! You..." Chiho still wanted to persuade him.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

After comforting Hayakawa for a while, Fushimi left.

He wasn't worried that Hayakawa would be bullied in the afternoon because of his actions, since Karin was there.

Hayakawa Chiho stood there, watching his figure disappear around the corner of the stairs, her unease reaching its peak.

"Senior...please make sure nothing happens to you."

……