Tokyo: Rabbit Police and Her Evil Partner

Chapter 459 Captain Turtle
Upon hearing the shouts coming from the basement, Yuan Yuzi's expression changed drastically. Realizing that someone was down there, she quickly took out her pink flip phone, turned on the flashlight at the end of the phone, and shone it towards the entrance to the basement.

A dirty girl was looking up at the exit. She spotted Minamoto no Tamako and Fushimi Shika and shrank back into the darkness in fear.

"Don't be afraid! We are police officers..."

As she spoke, Yuan Yuzi wanted to go down and save the girl. She couldn't imagine how a teenage girl could survive in the basement for so long—more than a month had passed since Nishino Ritsuta's death. Had this girl been hiding in the basement all this time?

Just as she was about to step onto the stairs, she heard a 'crackling' sound coming from the depths of darkness, as if something was being stretched taut.

Fushimi Shika also heard it. He realized what the sound was, and immediately reached out and grabbed Minamoto Tamako by the back of her neck. With a strong pull, Minamoto Tamako's feet left the ground and she was lifted into the air. Then, with a 'whoosh', a crossbow bolt passed between her legs and embedded itself deeply in the wooden staircase with a 'thud'.

Genji was startled and clung to Fushimi Shika's hand like a deflated cat. She stared at the crossbow bolts in the stairwell, their fletchings still trembling slightly, and a wave of fear washed over her.

If Fushimi-kun had been a fraction slower, that arrow would have pierced her heart.
"Thank you, thank you..."

Gen Tamako wiped away her cold sweat, her feet dangling in the air as she asked, "Can you put me down?"

Fushimi Shika let go of her hand, and she landed with a thud. This time, she dared not peek out again, and even dared not approach the basement entrance.

The two men took a step back at the same time, leaning against the front door of the house, guarding the entrance to the basement. They stood on the left and right, like two door gods, arms crossed, discussing their countermeasures in hushed tones.

"Vice Captain Fushimi, what do you think is going on?" Minamoto no Tamako asked first.

"Vice-Captain?" As usual, Fushimi Shika noticed the strange focus.

“You did a very good job just now. I’ve decided to promote you to vice-captain of the deduction team on short notice. You’ll be on equal footing with the captain for now,” Gen Tamako said solemnly, patting Fushimi Shika on the shoulder. “This is the highest level of reward for a team member!”

"So, according to you, I should thank you?" Fushimi Shika asked rhetorically.

"No need, no need!" Gen Tamako waved her hand. She could tell that Fushimi-kun was being sarcastic, but the debt of saving her life was too heavy for her to repay. Besides, it would be too formal to talk about gratitude with Fushimi-kun. She would keep it in her heart for now and repay him when she had the chance.

Fushimi Shika was focused on getting the case over with as quickly as possible. Once the case was closed, he wouldn't care about the 'vice captain' reward anymore, so he didn't bother arguing with Minamoto Tamako. He seriously analyzed, "I reckon there's either another person down there, or that girl is shooting at you with a crossbow."

“That’s what I think too. If I’m not mistaken, that little girl should be Nishino Touna…” Gen Tamako rested her chin on her two little fingers, looking thoughtful. “There’s a high possibility that there are other people involved. Maybe she was kidnapped by a kidnapper, which is why she couldn’t leave the basement… What do you think?”

“I think it’s just her,” Fushimi Shika speculated.

"Why?" Yuan Yuzi didn't like to think the worst of people, especially since the other party was a twelve-year-old girl. How could she possibly do something like killing someone with a crossbow?
"If there were one more person, would you say an adult or a child?" Fushimi Shika asked rhetorically.

“Probably an adult…” Yuan Yuzi imagined it for a moment, a teenage boy imprisoning a twelve-year-old girl in a basement, it was inexplicably creepy, more terrifying than adult crimes.

"Would an adult let her step forward and call him 'brother'?" Fushimi Shika asked.

“That makes sense… So that’s the little boy?” Minamoto Tamako frowned.

“I’m not going to dwell on why you assumed it was a boy,” Fushimi Shika said, squinting. “If it were a child of the same age, how would he get his hands on a crossbow? How would he solve problems like eating, drinking, and relieving himself? How would he take care of another child of the same age? You saw it just now, the girl was dirty, but she wasn’t restrained or injured.”

"...So it's quite possible that she was alone." A sense of confusion arose in Yuan Yuzi's mind: What could have happened to make a twelve-year-old girl stay in the basement and try to attack a stranger with a crossbow?
"Yes."

"So what should we do now?" Yuan Yuzi asked, turning off the flashlight of her pink flip phone as she prepared to call for backup. "Should we report to the police station and request backup..."

"Are you asking me?" Fushimi Shika stared at her small hands.

"Of course, is there a third person here?" Yuan Yuzi looked around. In the past, when she watched horror movies, a third person would always appear in the conversation between the male and female protagonists, which caused her a lot of psychological trauma.

Fushimi Shika feigned sudden realization and said, "Oh! Then I have two plans. The first one is the easiest: we call the police station and have the riot police come over, throw a flashbang to blind the twelve-year-old girl, then jump into the basement, give her an uppercut, press our knees against her neck, and forcibly subdue this terrifying criminal wielding a controlled weapon..."

"...What about Option Two?" Yuan Yuzi's fingers froze as she dialed.

“We’ll jump down and subdue a little girl,” Fushimi Shika said expressionlessly.

"Isn't this too dangerous?" Yuan Yuzi was worried about the little girl. What if they didn't control her properly and accidentally hurt her?
Fushimi Shika extended a finger, first pointing at Minamoto Tamako: "A future famous detective and police inspector, carrying a pistol with two blanks and three live rounds..." Then, he pointed to himself: "An ordinary adult male detective, in good health, capable of cutting bullets with a knife..." Finally, he concluded: "The two of us facing a little girl with a crossbow is indeed very dangerous, and we should not act rashly."

Yuan Yuzi was speechless. She pouted and said, "Okay, then before we go down, shouldn't we take some precautions?"

"Makes sense."

Fushimi Shika went to the kitchen and grabbed a fruit knife, casually weighing it in his hand to familiarize himself with its weight.

He was dressed formally for work today. In Japan, people wear suits and ties to work. Because it was too hot, he took off his jacket, rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt to his arms and tied them with cufflinks. At the same time, he tucked the hem of his shirt into his belt buckle. He looked gentle and refined with an outstanding figure, but he was holding a sharp knife with a cold glint in his hand.

For some reason, Yuan Yuzi thought his outfit looked really good, with a great sense of contrast. She secretly picked up her flip phone, hid behind the kitchen sliding door, and snapped a picture like a lovesick woman.

But she forgot to turn off the flash and the sound effects.

Fushimi Shika turned his head and looked at Minamoto Tamako. He suspected that this guy was taking pictures as evidence... If he accidentally killed the little girl, he might be taken to court by Minamoto Tamako.

We still need to be careful.

Gen Tamako was extremely embarrassed, her face flushed red, and she abruptly pulled her head back, leaving only a single strand of hair sticking out by the door. She spun around twice, somewhat at a loss, pretending to be busy but not knowing what she was busy with.

"Didn't you say we should take some protective measures?" Fushimi Shika asked, opening the sliding door and peering out.

Minamoto Tamako had the illusion of being pinned against a wall. Although Fushimi Shika was not leaning against the wall with one hand, nor was he standing directly in front of her, she still felt like her way was blocked.

"I...I...I was just about to go into the kitchen!"

She ducked into the kitchen, looked around, grabbed a cast iron pot as a shield, placed a cutting board under her chest as armor, and covered her head with a pot lid as a helmet. Fully armed, she felt incredibly safe. "Okay! Let's go!"

Gen Tamako composed herself, pretending the paparazzi incident didn't exist, and took the lead, saying, "Be careful, stay behind me, don't wander off, I need to protect you..."

Holding a pot in her left hand and a gun in her right, with her folded phone tucked into her waistband, she turned on her flashlight again and slowly made her way into the basement.

Fushimi Shika followed behind her to avoid violating the three rules: "Don't walk past the captain," "Don't question the captain's abilities," and "Don't talk back to the captain."

The wooden staircase was old and dilapidated; it creaked loudly when stepped on, which was quite noticeable in the empty basement.

"Do not be afraid……"

As she walked down the stairs, Yuan Yuzi tried to calm the girl down: "We're police officers...we're good people..."

She used the light from her flashlight to survey the basement environment.

The space inside was small, and the four walls were unpainted, with exposed red bricks. There were many shelves along the walls, filled with canned goods, compressed biscuits, emergency medical kits, and common toolboxes. She twisted her waist, turned the lights, and saw a generator, a small television, and a folding bed.

At this moment, Nishino Touna was huddled in the corner, holding a crossbow in her hands, facing them with trepidation.

Gen Tamako met Nishino Touna's gaze. It was clear that the girl was very nervous and scared, so she quickly reassured her, "We won't hurt you!"

But just like her previous two sentences, these words were completely useless; Nishino Touna didn't even move the crossbow.

Fushimi Shika stood behind her, concealing the fruit knife behind his back to avoid upsetting the little girl. He leaned over Minamoto Tamako's shoulder and seized the opportunity to interject, "Is your brother Nishino Ritsuta? He's the one who sent us to pick you up."

Upon hearing this, Nishino Touna's eyes lit up with surprise and delight. She finally moved her crossbow slightly away and excitedly asked, "Yes! Did my brother give you a signal?"

A code? What code?
Genjiro turned around, gesturing for Fushimi Shika to continue. But the latter had no idea what secret code Nishino Ritsuta and his sister had agreed upon, so he could only make up a story: "No, we were in a bit of a hurry..."

Nishino Touna tensed up again, her face filled with worry: "Were we swept away by the zombie horde?"

What is a zombie horde?
Before Minamoto no Tamako could ask, Fushimi Shika spoke first: "Yes, we've been attacked by zombies. The whole city has been under martial law for a month now, and we can't leave for the time being..."

He intended to first go along with what she said to calm Nishino Touna down. Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Nishino Touna became even more agitated, her hand gripping the crossbow trembling: "I...I don't have any more food here! If you want to find food, please go somewhere else!"

Fushimi Shika realized what was going on in an instant and immediately changed his tune, saying, "We're not here to rob you. We have a base at the convenience store, and we have far more supplies than you!"

"Is...is that so..."

After a moment's hesitation, Nishino Touna said, "Then please, Officer, take off your clothes so I can check if you have any wounds..."

Minamoto no Tamako was stunned. She turned to look at Fushimi Shika and couldn't help but interject, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate? There's a difference between men and women."

“Then you can come down one by one…” Nishino Touna said.

“That won’t do either.” Minamoto no Tamako didn’t want Fushimi-kun to appear naked in front of the little girl. Whether it was intentional or forced, doing so would be a bit too perverse.

These words provoked Nishino Touna. Her hand trembled, and she couldn't control herself, pulling the trigger. The arrow flew through the air. Genji Tamako reacted quickly, shrinking her head back like a turtle retreating into its shell, hiding behind the iron pot.

With a clang, the iron pot in her hand jolted, and the arrow was deflected.

Before Nishino Touna could reload the crossbow, Fushimi Shikabi pounced on her, pinned her to the bed, and snatched the crossbow away.

"Give it back to me! Give it back to me!" Nishino Touna struggled and thrashed about.

Fushimi Shika really wanted to slap her twice as a way of teaching the brat a lesson. But considering that Minamoto no Tamako was the captain, he could only calmly and gently control Nishino Touna, letting Captain Turtle soothe the girl's emotions.

"We really didn't come here to hurt you..."

Genji offered a few words of comfort, but to little avail; Nishino Touna continued to fidget. Fushimi Shika, growing increasingly impatient, interrupted, "Your brother is dead."

Upon hearing this, Nishino Touna fell silent like a wind-up doll, lying motionless on the bed.

A moment later, a low sob came from under her pillow.

Genji glared at him fiercely, but didn't point out Fushimi Shika's faults. She gently patted Nishino Touna's back, and after Nishino Touna recovered, she comforted her again, finally putting the little girl's mind at ease.

Fushimi Shika, eager to close the case quickly, subtly inquired about what had happened. Nishino Touna recounted her ordeal in detail, and the two listened quietly, their eyes meeting, both seeing anger and confusion in each other's eyes.

According to Nishino Touna, her brother was a fan of zombie movies and would often rent out movie tapes to watch movies and drink beer to relax after get off work.

Nishino Touna, influenced by her surroundings, also watched a lot of movies, such as "Night of the Living Dead," "Out of the Cage," and "Walking with Zombies." She often heard her brother say that rich people living in the city were all fools, and that living in the countryside was the safest place once a zombie outbreak occurred.

Nishino Touna is still young and doesn't understand what losing is or what Ah Q spirit is. Fushimi Shika, on the other hand, has seen a lot of people like this. They are probably the same as people who think "Mercedes-Benz E-Class is all trash," "Drinking tap water is healthy," or "If Japan were to sink, living on a mountain would prevent flooding."

Girls of this age often admire their older brothers, especially since they are almost a generation apart in age. Therefore, she always felt that what her brother said made a lot of sense.

Nishino Touna remembers that about two months ago, a guest came to their house, and her brother talked a lot about zombies with the guest...

From that day on, my brother changed.

(End of this chapter)