Chapter 25: Collapse Value Decreases. The live performance begins with a shining voice...
After listening to what Ararat said, Hasegawa Yu didn't think he was the only red side.
Because there is someone else helping him.
It seemed as if he had wiped off some of the dust from the gem of Ararat.
"What are you thinking about, Xiaoyou? You look very happy."
In the library the next day, Hagiwara Kenji, who would leave after a short while as usual after clocking in, rested his chin on his hand and looked at the orange-haired young man with interest.
"secret."
Hasegawa Yuu made a zipper-like motion, shook his head, and said with a slight smile, "I won't tell Shibata-kun~"
“Eh——”
Kenji Hagiwara, who had been spoiled by the young man's attitude of answering every question these days, narrowed his eyes and became curious.
He lowered his eyes and said with a hint of disappointment, "Xiaoyou is also hiding something from me."
Regarding Ararat, Hasegawa Yuu wasn't easily shaken by the expression. Instead, he tried to change the subject, "Everyone has things they don't want to talk about. Shibata-kun probably has some too, right?"
Kenji Hagiwara, whose face was disguised and even his voice was fake, paused slightly when he raised his lips.
He still hasn't figured out the nature of a fool and is caught in daily confusion.
Does Hasegawa Yuu know his own identity?
If you knew, then this natural "fool"'s acting skills are really amazing.
If you don’t know…
Kenji Hagiwara thought about how he had spent the past few days carefully analyzing whether there was a deeper meaning in the other person's words, and fell silent.
On the scale of inner evaluation of people, the side belonging to "really stupid" has tilted downward significantly, and it seems that it is about to gain an overwhelming advantage.
The words were taken literally, and Hasegawa Yu didn't think much of them. He didn't forget about the main point, "Shibata-kun, there's something I don't understand here."
Hagiwara Kenji, whose "sunk costs" were getting higher and higher, glanced at the place he pointed at, stared at the orange-haired young man with implicit inquiry, and answered him.
If this is all acting, what's the point?
It’s not like we really need a “tutor”.
The picture uses fake voice and disguise technology, but there is no acting at all. Hasegawa Yu is busy taking notes, with his soft and fluffy cross bangs hanging down, covering some of his eyebrows and eyes.
Due to the angle, Hagiwara Kenji could vaguely see a cute little whorl on the young man's head and moved his fingers unconsciously.
"Xiaoyou studies very hard every day."
He slowly shifted his gaze to the notebook filled with words, "Are you planning to apply to the police academy?"
"no."
The orange-haired young man raised his head, and the small whorl of hair completely disappeared from the sight of others. "It's mainly for work. It would be bad if I didn't know anything and delayed things."
"It never hurts to learn more." He subconsciously tapped the notebook with the tip of his pen.
Although it seems like a mystery to learn.
The ink from the pen tip left spots on the blank spaces of the notebook pages.
With the sesame-sized ink dot as the center, Hasegawa Yu painted it a bigger circle, and added petals around the ink dot, rewarding himself with a slightly abstract "little black flower".
Very good, today’s learning progress is also improving!
He closed the notebook with satisfaction. "I'm grateful to Shibata-kun for teaching me on this point. Thank you very much."
"Then how are you going to thank me, Xiaoyou?"
Hagiwara Kenji, who hadn't really taken it seriously at all, paused imperceptibly, stroking the book at hand with his fingertips, and said, "Let me be clear, I'm not a tutor."
Therefore, no monetary rewards are accepted.
Kenji Hagiwara is looking forward to what unexpected things the newcomer will bring him this time.
"Hmm." Upon hearing this, Hasegawa Yu couldn't help but feel distressed.
No money... Treating someone to a meal? Giving them a gift? That's what most people do.
He glanced at the person sitting opposite him and felt that the other person would not be satisfied with such an answer.
Thinking of something, Hasegawa Yu's eyes lit up, "Shibata-kun knows all this knowledge out of his hobby, so how about I repay Shibata-kun with something I love?"
"Hmm?" Hagiwara Kenji raised his eyebrows. What a strange and novel way to express gratitude.
But it was indeed unexpected.
"What is Xiaoyou's hobby?"
"Singing." Speaking of this, Hasegawa Yu suddenly became excited, "Or anything else related to music."
Kenji Hagiwara touched his chin and was once again surprised by the content of the thank you.
"Shibata-kun, do you have any favorite songs? I can learn as many as you want."
Considering that not all humans like to listen to songs, Hasegawa Yu added: "Or save it first. If Shibata-kun needs me in the future, I will definitely help him."
Seeing that the young man sincerely wanted to thank him, Hagiwara Kenji, who had originally been indifferent to this matter, suddenly flashed his eyes.
No matter how you look at it, it seems a bit excessive. He just gave some casual instructions and didn't even take it seriously.
You really are an idiot.
Kenji Hagiwara, who was unwilling to admit that he had been fighting a battle of wits with the air, suddenly saw a tungsten filament light bulb light up in front of him, representing enlightenment.
“…”
The young man with black hair, black eyes and a delicate face smiled and said, "I don't have anything I need Xiaoyou's help with. Singing sounds more interesting."
Jun Shibata's identity, which could be abandoned at any time, could not make any demands he wanted, and since they had not made it clear to each other, Kenji Hagiwara did not intend to let this identity be associated with himself.
It's better to have something than nothing.
Thinking of this, Kenji Hagiwara looked at that beautiful face that looked very smart and very deceptive.
“…”
So did the newcomer figure out his true identity?
In fact, Hasegawa Yu, who only knew someone's true identity by relying on the artificial intelligence in his mind, asked cheerfully, "Which song do you want to hear, Shibata-kun?"
Hagiwara Kenji, a karaoke singer himself, wasn't very interested in listening to the songs, so he threw the question back, "Xiaoyou, choose. I want to have a surprise."
Considering that the newcomer's disguised identity was a trainee, Hagiwara Kenji thought that at least his ears would not be poisoned.
"I'll do my best!"
Just as he was about to say something else, Kenji Hagiwara accidentally glanced at the time. The hour hand on it had already passed the time he usually left.
I didn't notice it again.
The disguised man frowned imperceptibly and sighed, half-seriously, "Time flies by so fast when I'm with Xiaoyou."
Hasegawa Yu, who was packing up to go work as a trainee detective, thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, "I agree."
After finally managing to grasp some of the content of the "holy book", the precious study time was up in the blink of an eye.
There is often not enough time.
Seeing that the young man looked like he was about to leave, Hagiwara Kenji, who had never paid attention to the young man's itinerary, asked inexplicably, "Where are you going, Xiaoyou?"
Aren't you going to sing for him?
Hasegawa Yu smiled at him and said, "Hehe."
Fifteen minutes later.
"I didn't have time to mention it the last time we met, but let me introduce you, this is Detective Shibata."
At a certain crime scene, Hasegawa Yuu was the middleman, formally introducing the two parties to each other, "This is Officer Megure and Officer Takagi."
“…”×3
"Shibata-kun's deduction skills are much better than mine," Hasegawa Yu enthusiastically recommended. "With him, we might be able to find the murderer faster this time."
The two police officers who were offered the offer were a little tempted to refuse it.
They can accept Hasegawa Yu walking around on site since it doesn't affect their work, so they can just treat him as a mascot.
To be honest, I felt a sense of accomplishment when I found the murderer and received sincere praise from the super handsome young man.
I immediately felt motivated to work.
But today's...
A pair of orange-gold eyes, hinting at uneasiness, looked over.
Megure Jusan and Takagi Wataru greeted with a blank expression, "Hello."
It doesn't look like a good thing at first glance.
Hagiwara Kenji, who had never expected to be dragged into solving another case, was startled. "Hello."
Hasegawa Yu knows that his reasoning ability is not good enough, so he still has to rely on the police officers themselves in this regard.
He could still tell whether the police officers were just randomly arresting criminals, and at worst there was Ararat.
Fortunately, this bad phenomenon has improved a lot as the collapse value has decreased. Although the speed of solving the case has slowed down a bit, Hasegawa Yu is still happy about it.
After helping the police officers get permission, the orange-haired young man was eager to try, "Shibata-kun, let's hurry up and find clues!"
Shibata-kun began to think about the feasibility of changing his hobby on the spot.
The orange-haired young man cast a longing gaze at him.
Shibata-kun followed along to look for clues.
"Xiaoyou, aren't you afraid that I might deliberately give the wrong clue?"
Kenji Hagiwara stood at the back with his hands in his pockets, leaning forward slightly as he spoke.
The shadow from the backlight completely enveloped the squatting young man in darkness. "And then they wrongly accused a good person or something."
Stopping his search for clues, Hasegawa Yu puffed up his face and said, "I'm not stupid!"
Hagihara declined to comment on this.
"I believe in Shibata-kun."
Hasegawa Yu turned his head and looked directly into the pair of eyes wearing colored contact lenses, his expression serious, as if he could penetrate the illusion and directly face the real soul below.
"Besides, humans don't lie about things they love."
"oh?"
Hagiwara Kenji's heart skipped a beat, and his fingers trembled in his pockets. He lowered his voice and spoke with a hint of badness, "In order to get rid of the case as soon as possible, I hope Xiaoyou won't find out if I say anything nonsense."
Human?
It's weird, but it doesn't make sense.
Hearing this, Hasegawa Yu looked at him steadily, and after three seconds, he said in a firm tone: "Shibata-kun, you are lying now."
After saying that, the orange-haired young man turned around and continued to look through the clues, muttering, "Lying about this kind of thing is not a good behavior. I don't want to talk to Shibata-kun for the time being."
望着他的背影,萩原研二忽然轻笑一声,独特磁性的嗓音于空气中蔓延开,夹杂了一丝真实的音色。
“好吧,小优确实不是笨蛋。”
长谷川优没理他,兀自研究手里的东西。
萩原研二在他旁边蹲下,“小优在看什么?”
橙发青年把下巴埋在膝盖上,浑身上下写满“不要和我说话”几个大字。
“这个牌子的磁带早就停产了。”萩原研二偏过头,一眼认出青年手上的物品。
不太了解异世界商品的长谷川优悄悄竖起耳朵。
“嗯……我记得它是和一个东西配套出售的。”
戴着易容的青年做出回忆状,“配套的产品是限量款,在专业爱好者眼中很有价值。”
长谷川优四下搜寻起可能会是的物品。
“喏。”萩原研二把找到的东西递给他。
长谷川优飞快接过后立即起身喊人,“目暮警官!”
随着关键证物出现,案件终于有了实质性进展。
无视掉凶手吱哇乱叫反抗随后被凶狠的赏了一记头槌险些晕过去的小问题,案子顺利结束。
站在原地旁观完全程的萩原研二脸上挂着礼节性的微笑,不知在想些什么。
尽管面容秀气的男青年一派亲和的模样,可周围的警官却纷纷绕过他,没有接近。
诺亚方舟留意到萩原研二的崩坏值面板闪了闪,但数值毫无变化。
他记下这点,打算等人鱼独处时再告知。
“幸好柴田君找到了关键线索。”
破案后,长谷川优连忙跑回来道谢。
“小优肯跟我说话了?”萩原研二恢复往常的神态。
“一码归一码。”
长谷川优嘴上算得很清,唯有半掩在发丝下的耳尖有些红,“而且我说的是‘暂时’。”
“嗯……”萩原研二拉长尾调,接着话锋一转,“小优什么时候给我唱歌?”
听完“答谢”后,差不多该抛弃这个身份了。
时间久了被波本察觉到可不好,新人就留给那家伙吧,毕竟也是Boss的命令。
萩原研二自觉没兴趣跟笨蛋玩扮演游戏。
不管对方认没认出他,都不妨碍他本人行动。
“柴田君想听的话……马上。”
想着还不到去乐器行打工的点,时间充裕,长谷川优更改原本要跟着搜查一课的行程,“但是我不太认识那个地方怎么走。”
他拿出手机企图复现当时的情景,“柴田君稍等,让我再迷路一下就能找到要去的地方了。”
小田乐器行会有很多人,既然说是答谢,那肯定是单独谢更好。
暂未领教过青年迷路技能的萩原研二:?
二十分钟后,某处人流量萧条的街头。
“哇,柴田君居然能找到这里。”长谷川优呱唧呱唧鼓掌,满脸钦佩,“柴田君是记住米花町的全部路线了吗?”
跟着走了十分钟,眼睁睁看人路过同一个地方三次的萩原研二但笑不语。
要不是不可能,他还以为遇到了鬼打墙。
总共就这么大点地,怎么会有人迷路成这样!
“我去借一下吉他~”长谷川优摸摸鼻子,去和街头的流浪歌手沟通。
这条街没什么人经过,无聊的流浪歌手很快同意了青年的请求。
长谷川优把吉他背到身上,调整好姿势,确认乐器没有走音后,雀跃地扫了下弦,“用闪亮的歌声开始现场演唱吧!”
萩原研二嘴角的弧度逐渐敛平。
怎么回事,这种马上要魔法变身一样的气场。
一切发展毫无征兆,莫名叫人头皮发麻起来。
肉眼可见的,橙发青年周身的气势完全变了。
与说话时不同,他的歌声仿佛有某种魔力,每一次拨弦都好似有明亮的音符从指尖流出,环绕在周身,随着节奏和青年一起跳动。
分明是在萧条到快要破败的街头,就连吉他估计也是流浪歌手淘来的二手货,可萩原研二却看到了一个由无数聚光灯汇聚而成的舞台。
舞台上,那个受万众瞩目的大明星正专注地对他唱歌。
萩原研二的瞳孔情不自禁地扩大一瞬,目光不受控制般被牵引。
“……Show this world where you belong,All it takes is a little faith……”*
碰到乐器的长谷川优一连弹了好几首才停下来,差点上头忘记来这的目的。
唱完这首后他连忙放下吉他,去看从头到尾都没吱过声的答谢对象。
答谢对象尚未发表评价,他旁边的流浪歌手率先啪啪啪激烈鼓掌。
“再来一首!”流浪歌手发出想要安可曲的声音,“兄弟你绝对是专业的吧,今天有耳福了。”
长谷川优熟练地飞过去一个wink,“谢谢喜欢~☆”
回过神的萩原研二冷冷地看了旁边的人一眼。
激动中的流浪歌手身体一抖,不由搓搓手臂。
最近天气转凉,是衣服穿少了?
“柴田君觉得怎么样。”
橙发青年脸上洋溢着灿烂的笑,仅一个人就像是要把整条街的光辉都吸引过去,“对这个答谢内容满意吧?”
他弯起眉眼,露出一个得意的小表情,显然对自己的实力相当有自信,连头顶的发丝也跟着主人轻轻摇摆,“接受点歌哦~”
“嗯。”萩原研二嘴唇翕动,将目光牢牢锁定到青年身上,慢吞吞道:“非常、惊喜。”
惊喜到,他又想改主意了。
萩原研二想撬波本的墙角,他打算回头就去问问Boss能不能把新人给他带。
同为组织里的情报人员,自己可比波本受欢迎多了,明显更适合带新人。
萩原研二理由都想好了,他的地盘上正缺这种类型的人才。
光临牛郎店的女士们绝对会让长谷川优的名声传遍歌舞伎町的。
届时想要什么情报岂不是都手到擒来?
就算新人是不太可控的笨蛋……
记起最关键的事,萩原研二收起笑容,陷入沉默。
“。”
不管,先把人撬过来再说。
“我们回去吧。”萩原研二无视流浪歌手的存在,“小优还有要去的地方吗,差不多快中午了,一起去吃饭怎么样?”
把吉他还给流浪歌手,长谷川优眨眨眼,“好哦。”
于是萩原研二带人就近找了一家味道不错的餐厅。
午饭过后,还没来得及开启挖人计划的萩原研二被一通关乎到组织任务的电话喊走,只能暂时遗憾退场。
见讨厌的情报人员总算跟人鱼分开,诺亚方舟第一时间道:【萩原研二,当前崩坏值95%】
“哇~”长谷川优欣喜地睁大眼睛,“Lucky~”
【是在小优对他唱歌的时候降的。】诺亚方舟把崩坏值产生浮动的几个节点告诉他,内心对某人发出不屑冷笑。
“我的歌声能降低崩坏值?”长谷川优稍感意外。
他无意识抬手抚弄着挂在脖子上,来到这个世界后便从不离身的贝壳项链,迅速找到原因,“音乐果然是最棒的!”
即便自己没有变身能力,音乐的世界也是共通的。
【大概只能降这一次。】
诺亚方舟不想泼冷水,可还是选择给来自音乐番世界的人鱼讲清事实,【其中或许参杂了别的因素。】
“那也很好啊。”长谷川优进入美好的畅想模式,“万事开头难,我们已经过了最难的一关了!”
“学到伪声和易容技术指日可待!”
【……】
面对如此执着的人鱼,诺亚方舟不免思考起让工藤有希子来教人鱼的可行性。
想到工藤优作,他果断放弃这个念头。
感觉就人鱼这样的,到那位“男爵”跟前是会被分分钟扒掉人鱼马甲的程度。
【还有件事。】诺亚方舟从面板上收回目光,【要是有机会,小优想换一个人带你吗?比如萩原研二。】
并不知道自己有朝一日竟然会由于人鱼身份而错失技能老师的长谷川优狠狠心动了。
他张了张嘴,吐出的却是拒绝的话,“不换。”
【为什么?】诺亚方舟疑惑,【换成萩原研二,就可以顺理成章请教他伪声和易容的问题了。】
【而且波本没有崩坏值,没必要在他身上浪费时间。】
“嗯……”长谷川优沉吟片刻,“首先,伪声和易容对于人类而言应该是那种独门秘籍的等级吧。”
他挥手比划,“就算柴田君是负责带我的前辈也可以拒绝教,和现在没多大差别。”
“还有…还有…”
橙发青年双臂伸直趴伏到桌上,“就是不想换嘛,降谷前辈很好,他是这个世界第一个负责我的人类,无缘无故换掉很奇怪。”
“我又不是因为崩坏值才想和他们相处的。”
诺亚方舟默然无言,这是什么雏鸟…雏鱼效应。
听说小狗选中一个主人后往往都会坚定不移的认定对方。
挥掉眼前的小狗人鱼幻觉,诺亚方舟闭了闭眼,【那就不换吧。】
加上曾经弘树的事,他的代码磁场恐怕和波本犯冲。
“把你刚才的话重复一遍。”
It's a new day again, and the intelligence database hasn't been updated to the point where someone is trying to steal someone else's girlfriend, so Rei Furuya suspects he's hallucinating.
Hasegawa Yu, who was discussing sashimi with his senior at the moment, sat up straight and said, "I want to move to a safe house with a bathtub."
"Why?"
"How can one take a shower without a bath?" Hasegawa Yu tried to convince him, "Senior, a night without a bath is incomplete."
His fish tail is about to dry up!
Been patient for a long time!
It has been more than a month since the beginning of this week!
"." Furuya Ling secretly exhaled, "I don't mind if Xiaoyou finds a house with a bathtub to live in by herself."
"I don't have any money." Hasegawa Yu was unusually sincere and realistic. "Only the organization's safe house doesn't have to pay rent."
"You..." You have no money?
Fūya Ling frowned. How could the boss's lover be without money?
And yet she wears luxury clothes all day long.
The reason for wanting to change to a safe house is also ridiculous, although every Japanese household does have a bathtub...
All the clothes came from the suitcase that came with him to the other world. Hasegawa Yu put his hands together and said, "Senior, please, please~☆"
With little stars hitting his face, Fūya Ling pursed his lips and had a stern face.
Hasegawa Yu looked up at him, with little stars twinkling around the corners of her eyes: OvO~☆
"……knew."
After a while, Furuya Rei looked away and said, "I'll take care of the arrangements."
"Thank you, Senior~☆"
His fish tail can finally take a bath.
Furuya Rei said calmly, "Yeah."
Where did you learn these tricks?