Tokyo: Let the wicked women pay the price!

Fujino gently closed the door and stood in the doorway.

He did not try to disturb the cozy scene inside the house.

Despite being threatened by his recording, Yui still chose to have a proper talk with her family.

They had also coordinated their statements early on, shifting all the blame onto Himegami Ayame.

"I could never be a police officer. I always felt that I was the kind of guy who would kill innocent people and claim credit for it."

Leaning against the wall, Fujino gave a self-deprecating laugh.

After all, just like with Nadeshiko, even if the wicked woman Himegami is 99% at fault, doesn't the young lady also have that 1% to blame?

It is clearly unreasonable to blame everything on the instigator.

But Fujino has no regrets.

He believed that fools could be saved, but bad people could not.

Like Nadeshiko, Saki, Yui, and even Takanashi, they all have their bad points, but they are mostly stupid.

Therefore, he did not exterminate them completely when using the world line system.

At least for now, Yui isn't his Star Fury.

The world timeline has converged.

[Worldline 2: Seizing the opportunity to blackmail Miss Yukinoshita: "You don't want your family to know you have a mental illness, do you?"]

[Worldline 3: Find and resolve the root cause of the problem, and alleviate Yui Yukinoshita's symptoms.]

[Rewards are being distributed]

[Props: Stethoscope]

You can do whatever you want to Yui; it's even possible you could make her your Star Fury.

Haha, you really can do whatever you want!

Fujino really wanted to try this reward.

But now, Fujino wants to try out this new tool.

Based on current experience, the [electrocardiogram] tool is extremely useful in his professional field.

Hopefully, the stethoscope will be the same.

[Common Prop: Stethoscope]

[Equipped Skill: Amplifies sound within 15m for 15 seconds (upgradeable)]

[Note: Can only be used twice per day (upgrades available)]

It seems it's not as powerful as the electrocardiogram; it's just a [common item], not as rare as the electrocardiogram.

Whom should we listen to?

Listen to what Yukinoshita has to say.

If it's a matter of privacy, just cut it off.

[Equipment/Item: Stethoscope]

Initiate auscultation.

Instantly, Fujino felt that he could hear the sounds of his wandering consciousness, which was about 2 meters away from the focal point.

He concentrated intently, guiding his consciousness toward Yui's side.

Soon, the sound became clearer, and he understood the operating principle behind it all.

"Yui, Daddy loves you!"

"Dad—"

"Yui, what do you want to eat? Mom will make it for you."

"Mom—"

Forget it.

Fujino made a gesture of removing his stethoscope.

Such pointless dialogue would probably make him feel like he's writing fluff even in his dreams.

That's normal, though; they wouldn't mention Himegami Ayame in front of Yui-san.

Fortunately, we figured out how to use the stethoscope.

Fujino left with his hands in his pockets, completely satisfied.

Once the young lady recovers a bit, what kind of task should we assign her?

......

"Don't do anything risky like this next time," Professor Kasai said noncommittally as he listened to Fujino's report.

"Professor, if we can't cure Miss Yukinoshita, we might be in big trouble too."

Listening to Fujino's explanation, Professor Kasai nodded: "You see things clearly. Yukinoshita Heiji used to be the governor of Chiba Prefecture, and Mr. Kenta will soon be the governor as well. Although they are in Chiba Prefecture, they are still part of the Tokyo metropolitan area, so their influence is still quite significant."

He stopped dwelling on Fujino: "Kobe-kun, what do you think of Fujino's performance this time...?"

Assistant Professor Kobe couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "Kazuhiko is very good at this kind of method of unraveling the mystery and solving mental illness from the root."

Fujino dared not take credit: "It was all thanks to your excellent guidance, Assistant Professor."

Kasai and Kobe exchanged a glance, then Kasai quietly asked, "You're taking the medical school entrance exam this year, right?"

Seeing Fujino nod, Kasai continued, "This time it's more troublesome. A big shot from the Doctors' Association has intervened and changed the election rules."

"We need to determine how many candidates each hospital will have based on its specialty ranking across all of Japan."

"Unfortunately, although we are the University of Tokyo, our psychiatry department is only in the middle ranks."

"There's only one and a half spots available this year. Do you understand what 1.5 people means?"

Fujino was silent for a moment, then said, "Is it possible that it's one person, or two people?"

"That's right."

Fujino looked out of Professor Kasai's window toward the psychiatric office.

There were actually only three people who specialized in medicine.

He, Tetsuhiko Kamijou, and Shuhei Nakamura.

It seems unfortunate that he has to do his best if he wants to secure a spot.

Neither of the two methods will work; we must rely on the charity of the rules.

"There's still almost a month until the vote," Kasai said, flipping through the calendar and lowering his voice. "I can't be too biased towards you, Kazuhiko."

"The hospital-wide vote was based on cross-departmental influence. It's said to be about new ideas brought back by a bigwig from America."

"Therefore, I will arrange consultations on a rotating basis, as for the rest... you'll have to figure it out yourselves."

Fujino understood.

He saw Professor Kasai wave his hand and then quietly leave.

After the door closed, Assistant Professor Kobe whispered, "Professor, you like Hiko-kun that much?"

Kasai opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again: "You were supposed to figure it out yourself! What an idiot, Kobe-kun!"

"Psychiatry is different from other departments."

"Orthopedic lesions are on the bones, lung cancer lesions are in the lungs, and meningitis lesions are on the meninges."

He pointed to different parts of his body, gesturing, and then asked, "So where is the lesion in our mental illness?"

Assistant Professor Kobe stood up reflexively: "Answer: In the nervous system, including the brain, organic lesions of nerves, and neurotransmitters—"

"Alright, Kobe-kun, stop talking nonsense."

Professor Kasai ignored Professor Kobe's puzzled expression.

He pointed around.

"The root cause of mental illness lies in daily life."

......

Fujino gripped the tram handle, gazing out the window.

The breeding ground for mental illness is far too complex.

The various medications available in hospitals are mainly used to calm patients down.

To truly return to real life, patients need to get out of the quagmire that caused their illness, confront their fears, or change their environment.

Just like now, he is standing at Akihabara Station, where he used to wander around with Hanako.

Hanako, at least when she was with him in Akihabara, did not exhibit many symptoms of schizophrenia.

Speaking of which, the next time I ask Hanako out, I should seriously start by trying to understand the situation from her family background and other aspects.

Fujino blushed, recalling their last date... the scene of going out for medical treatment.

I need to warn her.

Doctors should not be treated like this.

When the topic turned to patients, Fujino took out his phone.

Since asking Lemon to keep an eye on Saki last time, the girl hasn't provided a single piece of information.

If it weren't for the occasional annoying text messages like "[Good morning]" or "[Good night]" that she would have thought Lemon had deleted him.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he took out his phone, he heard a buzzing sound.

[Lemon~: Fujino-san, Saki has been acting strangely lately.]

Fujino hesitated for a moment, then dialed the number: "What did she do this time?"

Lemon's first words caused Fujino's expression to change.

"She didn't do anything wrong."

"It just seems like I've been harassed by someone."