Tokyo: Rabbit Police and Her Evil Partner

Chapter 456 Successfully Redeemed the Red Indulgence Ticket!
Bad thing.

Fushimi Shika's mind raced as he tried to find an excuse to take back the indulgence; however, Minamoto no Tamako anticipated his plan, readily stamped the document, and completed the transaction.

At this point, they had all collected the grand prize.

Fushimi Shika reacted faster than Minamoto Tamako. He stretched, pretended not to care, turned around and continued downstairs, making no mention of redeeming the grand prize.

Unable to contain herself, Minamoto no Tamako hurriedly followed, clutching the indulgence ticket in her small hand and fanning herself back and forth, muttering, "Oh dear, what should Fushimi-kun do... Truth or dare?"

After speaking for a while, Minamoto no Tamako noticed that Fushimi-kun had no reaction and seemed not at all worried about making unreasonable demands. She was slightly touched and felt that Fushimi-kun still trusted her character.

Once the two left the apartment building, Fushimi Shika stood by the tram stop waiting for the train, with Minamoto Tamako standing beside her. The overhead wires dappled the midday sunlight, and a distant rumbling sound could be heard from the platform. Suddenly, she realized something was amiss, and her smile faded as she tentatively asked, "What do you want to exchange for?"

“It depends,” Fushimi Shika said honestly. “For example… the red indulgence you were asked to exchange will be invalidated.”

Gen Tamako's eyes widened. She had thought too highly of Fushimi-kun. This guy was so vicious that he was willing to sacrifice everything to prevent her from redeeming the red indulgence. He was simply inhuman!

Why not just cash out together? Everyone can benefit afterwards! Why create a zero-sum game?

"What if I don't redeem the red indulgence coupons?" Gen Tamako pressed.

"Then I won't keep my promise either." Fushimi Shika decided to stall her.

"What?! What's the point of collecting all those stamps then?" Minamoto no Tamako was furious. She could tell that Fushimi-kun truly had no shame whatsoever: "What if I redeem the red atonement coupons?"

"You can cash it out anytime. You're welcome to do so. I never said I couldn't," Fushimi Shika said with a smile.

"If I honor my promise and you use your seal to cancel it out, then what's the difference between me and someone who didn't honor it at all?!" Minamoto no Tamako was furious, feeling that Fushimi-kun's behavior of harming others without benefiting himself was not the act of a gentleman.

He's almost dead and still doing this kind of thing; a leopard can't change its spots.

"Who said I was going to offset it? I was just making an assumption, and assumptions aren't necessarily true. Don't judge me by my own standards." Fushimi Shika noticed the train was approaching and took out some loose coins from his pocket.

"So you mean you wouldn't do such a thing?" Yuan Yuzi felt that she might have misunderstood.

However, Fushimi Shika did not reply. He pretended not to hear and turned to buy a ticket at the ticket machine. After selecting his destination, the machine displayed the ticket price. Fushimi Shika took out a few coins and inserted them one by one into the coin slot. The ticket machine made a buzzing sound and spat out a paper ticket.

Seeing this, Minamoto no Tamako understood that this guy planned to cash in later—if her request was too outrageous, Fushimi-kun would use his seal to offset it; if her request was within acceptable limits, Fushimi-kun would comply and then use his seal to cash in the super prize, doing whatever he wanted.

Shameless!

Gen Tamako snorted and followed suit in buying tickets. She figured that if Fushimi-kun didn't keep his promise, she wouldn't either, to avoid him making any particularly unreasonable demands.

But then she thought again and realized that now was not the time to be angry. After all, Fushimi-kun's days were numbered, and if she didn't hurry up and fulfill her promise, it might be too late.

As the captain of the mystery team, she had to be magnanimous. Even if Fushimi-kun made some unreasonable demands, so what? She couldn't let Fushimi-kun leave with regrets, could she?

Now, Minamoto no Tamako is only worried about one thing: that Fushimi-kun will not be able to accept her demands, and will then use the seal to cancel her indulgence, ultimately leading to their mutual destruction.

She could accept Fushimi-kun having a backup plan, but she couldn't accept not having any fun herself.

Having figured this out, Minamoto no Tamako followed Fushimi Shika onto the train and sat down next to her. As the train rumbled away and the buildings outside the window slowly receded, she tentatively asked, "Speaking of which, I had an idea before..."

"what idea?"

Fushimi Shika lowered his head, gripping his phone as he typed a reply to the drug dealer's text message.

Genji stammered, somewhat embarrassed, "Well, it's just that I used to take on all the housework, and I still do it now, so I was thinking, it would be nice if Fushimi-kun could do some housework someday..."

Fushimi Shika understood her unspoken meaning and was slightly surprised. She turned her head and asked, "Are you going to use the red indulgence to make me do housework?"

If it's only this level, then it's not unacceptable to him. It's just doing housework for a day, how difficult can it be?
“Uh, more or less…” Gen Tamako stammered.

"About...how much less?" Fushimi Shika stopped replying to messages. He could tell that Minamoto no Tamako seemed to be planning to compromise.

"Probably like a butler from an anime..."

Yuan Yuzi mentally prepared her words, trying to be as tactful as possible while still accurately conveying her request: "Have you seen Black Butler? Wearing a special uniform, he arranges everything perfectly at home. As soon as the master gets up, the butler bows and says 'Oho! Auntie, you're so cute!'; as soon as the master opens his mouth, the butler brings out the finest food to feed him; when the master comes home from work, the butler bows deeply and says 'Good morning! Good ...

As she talked, she got carried away and began to express all her fantasies. Images even appeared in her mind, especially Fushimi-kun wearing a maid uniform and doing a dogeza in the entrance hall. Just thinking about it made her cringe!

"..."

Fushimi Shika squinted, remained silent for a while, then lowered his head to continue fiddling with his phone.

Gen Tamako snapped out of her daze, wiped the drool from her mouth, and asked with an embarrassed smile, "What do you think?"

"What do you mean, how?" Fushimi Shika asked knowingly, feigning ignorance.

Genji Tamako bluntly stated, "If I make such a request, will you use your seal to offset it?"

Fushimi Shika returned the smile with a sweet smile: "Guess."

Gen Tamako stared at his face, trying to glean some clues from his handsome but strangely expressionless face: "Is it okay?"

"Guess again."

"That means it's not allowed..."

"Guess again."

"Oh? Could it really be possible?" Yuan Yuzi's hope was rekindled.

Fushimi Shika ignored her, continuing to process text messages, and casually said, "You can try."

"..."

Minamoto no Tamako realized that Fushimi-kun was most likely unwilling.

She could only cough dryly and settle for second best, saying, "But then again, I actually had another idea before..." "What?" Fushimi Shika still didn't look up; he felt that Minamoto no Tamako was still holding back something.

Minamoto Tamako revealed her Plan B: "Well, theoretically speaking, I'm the founder and captain of the Deduction Team, but I feel like I don't receive the respect I deserve when investigating cases..."

"So you're going to use red indulgences to make me a good team member?" Fushimi Shika stroked his chin, feeling that this condition wasn't unacceptable.

"Pretty much..." Gen Tamako repeated the same thing.

"About how much less?" Fushimi Shika knew her nature all too well.

"It's probably like in detective dramas, a clever detective and her bumbling assistant. Whenever the detective makes a brilliant deduction, the assistant applauds and says 'Wow!'; when the detective catches an unexpected murderer, the assistant looks shocked and says 'You cunning bastard!'; when the detective calls the assistant's name, the assistant replies 'Here!' and immediately runs to the detective's side to wait for orders..."

"Oh."

Fushimi Shika flashed that enigmatic smile again, just like Masato Sakai's irritating fake smile.

Seeing this, Minamoto no Tamako knew that Fushimi-kun didn't want to agree. She pouted unhappily, crossed her arms, nestled back in her chair, turned her face to look out the window, and muttered angrily, "This won't work, that won't work, you big liar, you love to lie, I'll never believe your nonsense again..."

"When did I lie to you?" Fushimi Shika retorted.

"Saying that using red indulgences will allow you to do anything... that's clearly false advertising!"

Yuan Yuzi didn't want to wrong herself. She had worked so hard to save up the indulgence tickets, wasn't it all for the purpose of liberation?
"I didn't say I couldn't, are you going to keep your word?" Fushimi Shika was pretending to be confused again.

"After I cash out, will you use the stamp to cancel my cash out?" Yuan Yuzi asked rhetorically.

“Hehe, guess,” Fushimi Shika said.

You've got a watermelon-sized head!
Yuan Yuzi cursed inwardly. Option two was the lowest price she could offer. If Fushimi-kun couldn't even do this, she would rather die together with him!

She was so angry that she didn't speak to Fushimi Shika the whole way.

After returning home, Fushimi Shika started cooking. He hadn't become more diligent; he just wanted to slack off and avoid investigating the case—he'd already been investigating all morning, shouldn't he take a break this afternoon? He could continue investigating tomorrow!
He dawdled over preparing the ingredients, mixing the sauce, heating the oil in the wok... After more than three hours of work, he made four dishes and a soup, and then called Yuan Yuzi out to eat.

Minamoto no Tamako was still angry, but Fushimi-kun called her to eat, so she couldn't pretend she hadn't heard him. Besides, her stomach was already growling with hunger, so she obediently sat down at the table and served herself rice with a spoon.

During the meal, Fushimi Shika, trying to make conversation, asked Minamoto no Tamako what she planned to do with the indulgences.

Minamoto no Tamako was furious. She felt that if Fushimi-kun couldn't even accept this small request, what was the point of exchanging for the reward? It would be better to cancel it out with Fushimi-kun's stamp, lest Fushimi-kun come up with some strange way to torment her again!
Under Fushimi Shika's astonished gaze, she slammed her chopsticks on the table, got up, went back to her room, took out her piggy bank, placed it on the kitchen counter, then took out an egg beater, silently mourning for the piggy bank for a few seconds:

Sayonara, my most faithful protector.

With a swift motion, Minamoto no Tamako smashed the piggy bank with the egg beater, counted the indulgence tickets, and, after confirming they were correct, handed them to Fushimi Shika, saying loudly:

"I want to redeem a red indulgence!"

Fushimi Shika raised an eyebrow, carrying a tempura in his mouth, and returned to his room. He took out a red indulgence ticket that he had prepared beforehand. The pattern on it was exquisite, and the portrait was a profile of Fushimi Shika himself. He struck the same pose as Fukuzawa Yukichi.

“Here,” he tossed the red indulgence onto the table lightly, “for you.”

Gen Tamako took the indulgence ticket, held it high with both hands, examined it for a while, savoring the lingering aura of power. When she was tired of looking at it, she slammed the indulgence ticket onto the table with force, like a Yu-Gi-Oh! champion throwing a winning shot, and loudly announced, "I'm redeeming it!!"

Before Fushimi Shika could speak, she interrupted, "You'd better think this through. If you use the stamps to offset my payment, all your hard work these past few days will have been for nothing... You've painstakingly collected so many stamps, only to have them go to waste without doing anything. Are you willing to accept that?"

Fushimi Shika remained silent, and Minamoto no Tamako, sensing an opportunity, pressed her advantage, continuing her persuasion: "Besides, an indulgence, as the name suggests, is for you to atone for your sins... Do you understand? It's you using your actions to earn my forgiveness and make amends for your past mistakes. If it's all for naught, wouldn't the indulgence be meaningless? Wouldn't there be absolutely no chance to make amends for the mistakes you made in the past?"

"So, you should look on the bright side. If I redeem the indulgences, your mistakes will be corrected, and the stamps you've painstakingly accumulated will finally have a use. Isn't that a win-win situation?"

Fushimi Shika wavered. He had to admit that Minamoto no Tamako's eloquence had improved considerably, perhaps because she had secretly learned it from him. This girl always learned bad things instead of good ones.

Although it sounded very reasonable, he didn't intend to agree hastily. Instead, he stroked his chin and said, "That makes sense..."

"So you're agreeing?!" Gen Tamako's eyes lit up.

"Tell me first, what do you want to exchange this indulgence for?" Fushimi Shika didn't give a definitive answer.

Genji frowned. She'd tried so hard, but still couldn't persuade Fushimi-kun. He was as stubborn as a rock in a latrine. Even now, he was still wavering and indecisive—truly infuriating!
Very well, then let's perish together!

Minamoto Tamako repeated her requirements: First, Fushimi-kun must fully acknowledge the captain's position; he must not address her by her first name, but rather as "Captain Tamako" or "Officer Tamako"; whenever Minamoto Tamako speaks, he must bend down to be at her level and listen carefully to her instructions; during investigations, he is not allowed to talk back to the captain, and must say whatever the captain tells him to say; even when he deduces clues, he cannot show off his intelligence, and he is absolutely not allowed to look down on the captain...

She talked on and on until her mouth was dry, and she still felt like she hadn't said enough. So she drank some flavorful soup to moisten her throat and said, "That's all for now. I'll add more later if needed."

Fushimi Shika pondered for a while, then realized that compared to what he wanted to deliver, Genji's request wasn't unacceptable.

As the saying goes, good steel should be used where it's needed most; it's really not worth it to use it to negate the mark.

"How long will these demands you're making... last?" Fushimi Shika asked. "They can't be indefinite, can they?"

"Until we catch the true culprit of the divine punishment!" Yuan Yuzi said, head held high.

"Then forget it." Fushimi Shika immediately rejected the idea; for him, the suggestion was unrealistic.

Gen Tamako quickly added, "Then let's investigate the random assault case thoroughly... Is that alright?"

"What if we can't find out?" Fushimi Shika asked rhetorically.

“With the entire deduction team on the job, how could there be a case we can’t solve?” Seeing his unpleasant expression, Minamoto no Tamako felt uncomfortable. He was making a fuss over redeeming a red indulgence, as if she was begging Fushimi-kun to do so. Her temper flared up, and she hardened her stance: “If we can’t find the culprit, then you’ll have to keep calling me Captain!”

"alright."

Fushimi Shika agreed.

He felt the case wouldn't be difficult to investigate, so he decided to tolerate Yuan Yuzi for a few days and let her run rampant for a while. When it was his turn, he'd see if Yuan Yuzi was still laughing.

(End of this chapter)