Tokyo: Rabbit Police and Her Evil Partner

Chapter 389: Trauma
After the interrogation, Fujiwara Homare obediently signed his statement.

When Attorney Kikuta learned of this, he rushed over, looking like the sky had fallen. His gaze towards Minamoto Tamako had changed; he felt that this girl, who appeared innocent and naive on the surface, was actually black-hearted and had used some vicious methods to force his client to confess... Bah! All the detectives in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department are the same!
He glared at Minamoto no Tamako, intending to make phone calls and pull strings to resolve the case. After all, the client was the only son of the Fujiwara family; if he could handle the case flawlessly, it would bolster his resume.

After Attorney Kikuta left, Gen Tamako wrote a case report at the police station, planning to give it to Section Chief Kinoshita first thing the next morning. Once everything was settled, she would sign it and then hand it over to the prosecutor's office for trial.

As she was writing, she suddenly remembered that when she was investigating the murder case, she had made a bet with Fushimi-kun—she bet that Fujiwara Homare didn't kill anyone, while Fushimi-kun bet that Fujiwara Homare did.

sloppy.

Although he successfully solved the case, he lost the bet.

In future investigations, we must no longer be prejudiced, nor allow novel or television drama plots to influence our judgment...

Minamoto no Tamako guessed that Fushimi-kun had probably forgotten about it, and maybe he hadn't even taken it seriously at the time, so it was best to just pretend nothing had happened.

Sigh, Chief Fujiwara is such a disappointment. How could a detective break the law when he is the head of a criminal investigation department?

In fact, she also hoped that Fujiwara Homare had not committed murder. The sense of accomplishment from solving the case was not as strong as she had imagined. The reason she was happy was mainly because she had proven her ability and surpassed her stupid assistant, Fushimi-kun. She did not feel complacent about the suspect, Fujiwara Homare. On the contrary, she felt very sorry for him.

Every murder case handled by the police station represents the loss of a vibrant life.

The state of mind that Minamoto Tamako had when writing the case file was completely different from the state of mind when reading it.

Looking back on her experiences over the past six months, she no longer expects many strange and unusual cases to occur in Sugamo. On the contrary, she begins to hope that there will be as few murders as possible... It is more important than anything else for everyone to be safe and sound.

Forty minutes later, after finishing organizing the files and locking them in a drawer, Minamoto no Tamako pushed the drowsy Fushimi Shika home.

Fushimi Shika's biological clock is very accurate; he gets sleepy as night falls. In his drowsy state, he felt a jolt in his groin and suddenly woke up with a start. He found it was Minamoto Tamako pushing his wheelchair, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes and asked, "What time is it?"

"It's past three... almost four o'clock."

Minamoto no Tamako was also a little sleepy. She was too lazy to push Fushimi Shika, but she was worried that he would refuse to move. She figured that she had already been pushing him all day, so a little longer wouldn't make a difference. She gritted her teeth, grabbed the armrests on the back of the wheelchair, and pushed Fushimi-kun along the quiet street.

"It's so late? Is the case solved?" Fushimi Shika glanced at his watch. "Then I won't go to work tomorrow."

"Why?" Gen Tamako yawned.

"What do you think? Aren't you going to be sleepy tomorrow?" Fushimi Shika thought she was too energetic.

"It's alright. Section Chief Kinoshita said that if you work overtime until late at night, you can sleep at your desk the next day. It's a hidden perk of the Sugamo Police Station!"

"Is this what you call a perk?" Fushimi Shika didn't even bother to comment. "Anyway, I'm not going to work tomorrow."

"You don't want the super reward? This is only the first day of checking in!"

"It's already past midnight, and you're still calling it the first day? Put your hand on your heart, I've been working overtime with you until 4 AM, and you won't even let me catch up on sleep tomorrow? Even animals need rest, right?"

"Don't put it so harshly, you can sleep at the police station tomorrow morning!"

"Since you're just going to sleep anyway, why not just sleep at home? Is it just to show off your diligence to your boss? What a formality!"

At this point, Fushimi Shika's resentment grew stronger. He was in a bad mood after getting up and slapped the armrest of his wheelchair, complaining loudly, "Do you know why Kazama Takusai tricked us into coming home today? It's because I was under too much mental stress after coming back. He suspected I had a mental illness and forced me to get a mental examination!"

"Huh? Is that so?" Gen Tamako was taken aback.

"Otherwise what? If I've uttered even half a lie, may I be struck by lightning!"

Fushimi Shika clutched her chest, her face contorted with anguish: "Can't you see how much psychological damage those experiences on Cat Island have caused me? My fragile little heart has been tormented by my conscience. Whenever I close my eyes, images of Orm... cough cough, the tragic death of Fox Princess... I'm already like this, and you still force me to work every day."

Finally, he added viciously, "If I ever become depressed and commit suicide, I'll curse you in my suicide note!"

Yuan Yuzi was startled and a little flustered.

In the past, she would have already knelt down and begged for forgiveness; but now she knew Fushimi Shika's nature well and had set the principle of 'only listening to half of everything,' so although she was panicked, she was still half-believing and half-doubting.

Seeing that she didn't respond or even apologize, Fushimi Shika pressed on, saying, "You don't believe me? Go ask Kazama Takusai if you don't believe me!" After saying that, he ignored Gen Tamako, crossed his arms, and sat in his wheelchair, refusing to communicate.

Gen Tamako tried to coax him a couple of times, but to little avail; he didn't respond at all. Not wanting to waste her time, Gen Tamako hurriedly pushed him back to his apartment and then knocked on the door of her neighbor, Kazama-senpai's room.

Kazama Takusai wasn't asleep either. He couldn't sleep without drinking these days. Upon hearing the knock, he immediately pulled out a gun from the drawer (bought on the black market), pressed himself against the wall, approached the door, and peered through the peephole for a moment to make sure only Minamoto no Tamako was there. Only then did he put the pistol back on his waist and open the living room door: "What's wrong? Why aren't you asleep so late? Your training performance will suffer tomorrow."

"Um, I wanted to ask you something..."

Genjiro repeated Fushimi Shika's original words.

After hearing this, Kazama Takusai had mixed feelings. He really didn't expect Fushimi Shika to use such an excuse to skip work.

He did indeed bring this up, and there was nothing to hide. He explained it seriously: According to convention, when a criminal police officer kills someone for the first time, psychological counseling is required, and criminal police officers with firearms also need to undergo regular mental health testing... However, the police department has never taken these regulations seriously. The vast majority of police department psychologists are just on the job, and some even draw salaries without working.

Yuan Yuzi then remembered the relevant regulations. She had a nightmare about accidentally killing a believer during a gunfight and could not forget it, so much so that she still had some psychological trauma today.

If psychological counseling had been provided in time, there would have been no lasting psychological trauma.

Thinking of this, she felt that Fushimi really needed to meditate. Forcing him to go to work was really wrong of her... If she were in his shoes, she would definitely lock herself away to heal her wounds.

Fushimi-kun is willing to continue investigating the case with her; how much psychological pressure must he be under?

Yuan Yuzi felt increasingly guilty, and her face turned pale.

Seeing this, Kazama Takusai guessed that she was worried that Fushimi Shika might do something rash, so he added, "You don't need to worry, he won't be under any mental pressure because of these things..." As he spoke, he stopped abruptly, swallowing the rest of his sentence.

—'His mental health issues stemmed from other causes.'

If these words were spoken aloud, it would be tantamount to breaking the agreement to keep the secret.

Minamoto no Tamako didn't take those words seriously, thinking that Kazama-senpai was just comforting her, or that Kazama-senpai had overestimated Fushimi's ability to withstand pressure.

She had read inspirational articles in men's magazines, such as "Men must be strong," "Men don't cry easily," and "The Showa spirit must be inherited." It felt like men would be ridiculed by those around them if they confided in others. Just thinking about it made her feel so stressed that her scalp tingled.

Perhaps Kazama-senpai thinks the same way. If Fushimi were to confide his guilt about the murder to him, Kazama-senpai would definitely put immense pressure on him, saying things like, "When I was your age, I had already killed ten suspects," "I was just protecting my comrades, don't be sad about this," and "Stop being so girly, can't you act like a man?"

Gen Tamako hurriedly thanked her, then said, "I... I'll go back now."

Kazama Takusai had no idea what she was imagining. After Minamoto Tamako left, he closed the living room door, locked it, sat down on the living room sofa in the dark, took out the pistol from his waist, and idly patted his thigh.

Since returning from Cat Island, he has experienced intense phantom pain, and even now, the pain from the "silent needles" still lingers in his back, arms, and thighs.

His decision to voluntarily accept punishment through sheer willpower was not without consequences. The bald monk clearly knew his limits, which is why he was even more terrified of voluntarily accepting punishment.

Whether it's mental or physical, any overdraft will be returned in double.

In the dead of night, his mind is always flooded with uncontrollable memories of the past, mostly painful, cruel, and things he would rather forget. The happy memories are becoming increasingly blurry... Nowadays, when he drinks with Watanabe Shun, he no longer feels any pleasure, but only numbness.

Kazama Takusai took out a revolver magazine, ejected the bullets one by one, then inserted a bullet, and with a flick of his right hand, closed the magazine.

He sat quietly for a moment, then suddenly threw the pistol onto the coffee table, covered his face with his hands, and sighed:

What am I doing...?

……

Meanwhile, Minamoto no Tamako returned home. She looked around the living room but couldn't see Fushimi Shika. She guessed that Fushimi Shika had already gone back to his room to sleep.

Minamoto no Tamako felt she needed to make amends to Fushimi-kun, but she didn't know how to comfort him in this situation.

So she went back to her room and started flipping through books. Thanks to Sakura, the house had all sorts of random magazines and books—such as "100 Tips to Improve Intimacy," "Gender Psychology," "Super People-Reading Techniques," "How to Make Your Classmates Act Like Dogs"... Books have their own truths, and Gen Tamako planned to find ways to please others from them.

(End of this chapter)