Matsuda Jinpei, who claimed that he would never put a cartoon-patterned Band-Aid on his face, decisively rejected Hasegawa Yu for the second time.

He didn't even know how to use this kind of Band-Aid when he was in elementary school.

"What a cute little striped puppy."

Seeing his disdain, Hasegawa Yuu tried to defend the Striped Dog, saying, "Besides, it works just like a regular Band-Aid."

It doesn't become flashy just because it has more patterns.

Limited co-branded edition!

"Oh." Matsuda Jinpei's reaction was flat. He raised his hand and yawned. "It has nothing to do with me."

Hasegawa Yu puffed up his cheeks, resisted the urge to glare at someone, turned and walked towards the computer station in the office.

Yes, it’s normal for other people to decide what to do with their faces.

Seeing this, Jinpei Matsuda put his hands in his pockets and followed him into the office.

He didn't move towards the computer, but casually looked around the room he had never been to.

Noah's Ark took the opportunity to help the mermaid retrieve the required data interface.

If you ask him, this curly-haired guy is just idle!

Hasegawa Yuu wasted no time browsing the contents of his computer, his expression becoming increasingly serious.

He couldn't quite understand these reports related to numbers; they seemed to be some kind of transaction records.

Some single transactions were worth millions. With so many transactions in his computer, they were enough to cover the stage design expenses for several of his concerts.

Politicians' salaries are so high?

Thinking of the envelope that Takizawa Shinichi gave him, Hasegawa Yu seemed to understand. Is this... the list of people who received bribes?

The orange-haired young man immediately took out his cell phone, took a few photos of the transaction lists and sent them to Megure Jusan in the Metropolitan Police Department. He also took out a blank USB flash drive from the small bag he was carrying and inserted it into the computer - this was a regular item he had added after several incidents with the Search Section.

The matter of officials accepting bribes cannot be rushed. His main purpose of coming here today is to solve the murder case.

With artificial intelligence, the entire list was quickly copied without leaving any trace.

Hasegawa Yu put away the USB drive and when he stood up from his chair, he remembered something. He was a little depressed and patched it afterwards to erase the fingerprints and other things on the mouse and keyboard.

After cleaning up his personal traces with clumsy movements, Hasegawa Yu, who had no habit of doing this in the past, finally remembered to take out a pair of gloves from his bag and put them on, and began to look for other clues in the office.

"I've seen the floor plan for the municipal building." Noah's Ark helped him in his mind. "Based on the comparison, the area on the plan doesn't match the area of this office."

[It is very likely that Shinichi Takizawa secretly converted a secret room in the municipal building.]

Knowing that mermaids aren't sensitive to numbers, Noah's Ark changed its description: "But it's very small. Based on the bookshelf to Xiaoyou's left, it only takes up two times the floor space."

Upon hearing this, Hasegawa Yu imagined that people should not be able to move back and forth inside. Is it to hide something?

In front of the bookshelf, Jinpei Matsuda, who had been doing something unknown since entering the office, was standing there.

Hasegawa Yu didn't have time to pay attention to him for the time being, so he squatted down and looked through the documents in the cabinet under the bookshelf.

"Sir, please move aside." He looked up and motioned the man to move.

Jinpei Matsuda raised his eyebrows and took a step back.

"Thanks."

Still quite polite, Matsuda Jinpei looked at the orange-haired young man who was diligently searching for clues, and leaned back on the sofa. "What evidence are you looking for?"

Hasegawa Yuhe revealed some information about the case to him. "That's right, the suspect's secretary and assistant are both from Mr. Takizawa's team."

Matsuda Jinpei, who was not very interested in the case, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

Instead of hearing a response, Hasegawa Yu smelled the smell of smoke and turned around, staring at him silently.

"You want one too?" asked the man with black curly hair, cigarette in his mouth.

Hasegawa Yu, who never touches such things to protect his throat, turned back and muttered, "Those who let others breathe secondhand smoke are immoral people."

"I can hear you."

"Second-hand smoke is more harmful to the lungs!" Hasegawa Yu muttered loudly with his back to the man without any fear.

Among the people he had known for a long time, he had only smelled the same smell of cigarettes on Hagiwara-senpai, but the other person had basically never smoked in front of him.

Hasegawa Yu doesn't like the smell of cigarettes, but he also knows that he has no right to control what others do.

I am a mature mermaid who has lived in the human world for more than ten years, so I should be considerate of these gray gems.

He quickly coaxed his orange-haired mermaid into focusing on the matter at hand.

Behind him, Matsuda Jinpei bit his cigarette holder, and a dark light flashed in his blue eyes.

Just as he was about to say something, he saw the orange-haired young man suddenly straighten his upper body like a meerkat on guard, and look towards the door vigilantly.

Hasegawa Yu pricked up his ears and quickly put the things in his hand back to their place, "I heard footsteps."

Matsuda Jinpei, who thought he had good hearing but didn't hear anything, gave him a meaningful look.

"Let's go."

Hasegawa Yu was about to retreat, but when he smelled the cigarette smoke filling the room, he realized it belatedly and turned pale with fear, "How can you smoke while sneaking in, sir!"

"You sneaked in, but I didn't." Matsuda Jinpei said indifferently.

"!" Hasegawa Yu sighed - otherwise he would inhale more secondhand smoke, and tried his best to manage his expression as an idol.

He was so anxious that he turned around in a circle, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings.

After a while, as if he had made up his mind, the orange-haired young man walked towards the window.

Traces will be discovered everywhere, so it’s better to create more “evidence”.

“Boom—”

As he opened the curtains, a flash of lightning happened to appear outside the window, instantly illuminating the entire world.

Muffled thunder came from the distant sky, accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain, covering the entire Tokyo.

Hasegawa Yu opened the window, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and felt the abundant moisture filling every corner of the air.

This is what a mermaid should smell like!

Letting the wind and rain invade the office, he sniffed again. Good, the smell of smoke was almost gone.

"let's go."

Hasegawa Yu, who had been very careful not to get wet, urged on. He stepped forward and snatched the cigarette from the black-haired man, stubbed it out, and put it back in his pocket. "Excuse me, sir, and move your long legs!"

“…”

"Great, that's it, stop littering, I'll close the door."

Matsuda Jinpei's forehead twitched wildly, the extinguished cigarette butt still in his hand, "Shut up!"

After much persuasion, he persuaded the man to hide in the corner, and Hasegawa Yu was ready to eavesdrop on the person's movements.

Seeing this, Matsuda Jinpei looked around and saw the two people were currently stuck in a blind spot in the surveillance camera. After mentally estimating the distance from here to the office, he deliberately leaned over and whispered in the young man's ear, "What did you hear?"

"The person coming up is the secretary. He's frantically trying to inform Mr. Takizawa..." Hasegawa Yu subconsciously relayed the information, adding at the end, "There's plenty of space here. Please don't get so close to me."

He rubbed his ears and felt that the secretary's voice was in binaural.

It was exactly the same conversation as the one coming from the bug.

Listening to the content in the invisible headset and confirming that the other party had no eavesdropping devices, Matsuda Jin stood up straight and said, "Hmm..."

Is this the level that the human ear can reach?

Considering that there are so many people in the world, there might be some extraordinary people in this field. Matsuda Jinpei suppressed his curiosity and put it aside for the time being.

Hasegawa Yu did not pay attention to what the people behind him were doing. After all, several seniors knew that he had good hearing.

He heard the sound of the mechanism being activated.

It's that secret room!

Thinking about the clues found in the bookshelf cabinet just now, combined with the secretary's heavy breathing and muttering, he is the murderer and he is sure to be the one.

After sending the relevant evidence to Takagi Shigeru, Hasegawa Yu heard the secretary leave.

After thinking it over, he didn't risk going back to the office and went to the rooftop instead.

The secretary mentioned to Mr. Takizawa during their conversation that they found out that Kazutoshi Tanabe had hidden something on the rooftop.

【Taue Kazutomo is the deceased in the upper floor of the broken room. 】

Without the mermaid telling him, Noah's Ark took the initiative to find out the good news. [He was also the anonymous reporter.]

Hasegawa Yu couldn't help but look back at Matsuda Jinpei who fell from the ceiling.

"Sir, may I know how the hole in that room was blown out?"

"No." Jinpei Matsuda refused to reveal his dark history.

"Then please stay here obediently, sir."

Hasegawa Yu stopped and warned seriously, "It's raining heavily outside, be careful not to catch a cold."

"?"

Ignoring Mr. Curly's reaction, Hasegawa Yu opened the door to the rooftop.

Water will never be an obstacle or harm to him.

The moment he stepped onto the rooftop, the orange-haired young man's clothes were completely soaked.

But the amazing thing is that my body didn’t feel heavy, and my hair, which was soaked by the rain, didn’t look disheveled.

Looking at the other person's figure, Matsuda Jinpei, who was standing by the door, felt that the young man was becoming more and more...

“Boom—”

A flash of lightning happened to fall from the sky.

...becoming more and more charming.

The pair of orange-gold eyes shone surprisingly brightly in the dark rainstorm, and the lightning reflected on the young man's hair, like golden threads moving.

Was it an illusion? The rain seemed to bring him moisture. Matsuda Jin calmed down.

The lightning dissipated, and at this moment the orange-haired young man seemed just an ordinary person caught in the rain, except for his eyes that remained bright.

Sensing the movement behind him, Matsuda Jinpei frowned and hid himself.

Visibility was extremely low due to the heavy rain, but Hasegawa Yu was not greatly affected and quickly found the target on the rooftop which was piled with construction debris.

Wrapped in the waterproof cloth was something like an account book.

Hasegawa Yu held it in his arms and walked back, but saw a figure wearing a raincoat appear behind him.

He met the visitor's gaze calmly, "Mr. Takizawa."

Takizawa Shinichi, who had hurried to the rooftop, gasped for breath, "Did you find the secretary's evidence?"

"Yeah." Hasegawa Yu admitted frankly.

"I underestimated the kid." Takizawa Shinichi suddenly mentioned an unrelated person, "Did you kill Jiang Shouzhe?"

"No." Hasegawa Yu was puzzled. "Mr. Jiang Ming escaped from prison on his own and died in Kabukicho."

"But someone helped to collect his body." I have to thank Hagiwara-senpai for that.

Thinking of the person in front of him and the other party fishing together late at night, he sincerely suggested, "If Mr. Takizawa wants to pay his respects, he can contact Mr. Jiang Shou's family."

"Don't waste your time talking to me." Takizawa Jinyi raised the shotgun in his hand. "Those two policemen won't be able to get to the rooftop anytime soon. Let's solve this matter before then."

"If I can kill one person who threatens me, I can kill the second."

Unfortunately, the bomb in the room didn't have the effect he wanted for some reason.

"? Weren't you the one asking me the question?"

Yu Hasegawa was puzzled by the fact that Fisherman C had attacked him without saying a word, but he did not forget to remind him, "Don't aim at my face! Of course, it's best not to shoot."

【……】

“…”

"......?" Takizawa Jinyi ignored his strange words and pressed the safety of his gun. "It just so happens that I haven't used the hunting rifle Jiang Shou gave me yet."

Hasegawa Yu looked around and hid behind some construction materials.

As an ordinary human being, Takizawa Shinichi was not as agile as him. He was also old and could not see the road clearly due to the heavy rain, so he almost tripped over something on the ground.

Just as Hasegawa Yu was about to go around the other person, his ears twitched slightly and he heard new footsteps walking up the rooftop.

Is it...Mr. Matsuda's?

“Boom—”

Another flash of lightning fell, and Hasegawa Yu saw Matsuda Jinpei pinching Takizawa Shinichi's neck and dragging him to the railing of the rooftop.

"!!" He didn't care about anything else and immediately rushed forward, "Wait!"

After unexpectedly finding the culprit who caused him to fall from the ceiling, Jinpei Matsuda let go of his hand expressionlessly and ignored the person who pounced on him.

Hasegawa Yuu barely managed to grab Takizawa Shinichi's hand at the last moment, "Wow... Mr. Takizawa, remember to exercise when you go to prison next time."

So heavy.

Seeing this, Matsuda Jinpei stood aside with his arms folded, indifferent to his act of saving people. "It just so happens that I have a question for you."

Hasegawa Yu put his feet on the railing for leverage and slowly exhaled.

"You know me." Matsuda Jinpei said in a positive tone, "Have we met before today?"

“…”

Seeing no one answering, he raised his hand to push back his wet curly hair, exposing his entire face to the rain. "Although being familiar could explain it, it's not true. It's more like you know who I am."

Hasegawa Yu tensed his arms and held his breath, trying to pull the person up.

No, it's hard to gain leverage here, he can't pull it.

Matsuda Jinpei's cold yet honest voice came to my ears, "Who are you?"

The man with black curly hair knocked on the railing, and a small detonator was revealed between his fingertips. "If you don't answer, go down with him."

Hasegawa Yu closed his eyes and said, "I am also a member of the organization."

"?" Matsuda Jinpei suspected that he had misheard because the sound of the rain was too loud.

This stupid young master who has never killed a single fish is also a member of the organization?

Has the organization changed to charity?

Did he enter a parallel world after leaving Hakata?

"I'm telling the truth!" Hasegawa Yu didn't dare turn around to let him see his expression clearly, and his arms felt a little weak. "I've heard of Mr. Matsuda's name."

Heard it from Noah.

"Really?" Matsuda Jinpei didn't know whether to believe it or not.

Hasegawa Yu, who felt annoyed by humans for the first time, tentatively asked, "Mr. Matsuda, could you come over here for a moment?"

Matsuda Jinpei, who was still wondering where this person came from, didn't move. "I'm not in the mood to help you save people."

“…Not saving people.”

Jinpei Matsuda glanced at the orange-haired young man who was about to lose strength, and took a reluctant step forward.

“Bang—”

The next second, he was caught off guard and his forehead was hit hard by the other person's forehead.

Finally, no one interfered with his rescue. After hitting his forehead, Hasegawa Yu immediately pulled Takizawa Shinichi up and even remembered to apologize to Matsuda Jinpei, "I'm sorry, it was a special situation and I was anxious for a moment."

"If you need, I can buy safflower oil for Mr. Matsuda."

Jinpei Matsuda held his forehead, his head buzzing: ...

Are all idiots so hard-headed?