Tokyo: Rabbit Police and Her Evil Partner

Chapter 515 Double Six Day

Yuan Yuzi propped her chin up with her small hand. Before starting her deduction, she wondered if she should get herself some new clothes, like a pipe or a cigar... Otherwise, every time she started deducing, she would prop her chin up with her small hand, completely lacking the demeanor of a famous detective or police inspector.

Hmm, I've decided. I'll buy a pipe when I go out tomorrow.

She nodded, looking as if she had deduced the truth, but in reality, she had only just begun to ponder the murder case.

Fushimi Shika waited for a long time, almost finishing her rice, before Minamoto no Tamako finally replied, "I think it was a third party."

"What is the basis for your judgment?" Fushimi Shika asked.

"The husband had no motive to kill. If he no longer loved his wife, he could have filed for divorce. There was no need to go so far as to kill her. The same goes for a lover. If he no longer loved his lover, he could have broken up with her. Why would he have to kill her?"

Yuan Yuzi crossed her arms, increasingly convinced of her own reasoning: "The wife knows her husband has a mistress, and the mistress certainly knows she's the other woman. There's absolutely no reason for it to escalate to murder..."

Fushimi Shika let out a soft "hmph" without commenting, then remarked casually, "If we knew their exact times of death, it would be easier to make a judgment."

Yuan Yuzi's face turned red. She really wanted to say, "I know, I know," but saying it would give her away. So she could only squeeze her thighs together and twist around as if she needed to pee.

Seeing that she couldn't come up with a good excuse, Fushimi Shika simply helped her find a way to cover it up, saying, "Think about it carefully again. Maybe someone mentioned the exact time of death, but you just forgot it."

"Okay, it seems like that's true."

Feeling extremely guilty, Yuan Yuzi seized the opportunity to say, "My wife died at 11 PM, and my lover also died at 11 PM..."

Fushimi Shika put down his chopsticks; he was already full. He took out a soda from the refrigerator and asked while drinking, "Doesn't this seem a bit too accurate? Isn't there a margin of error of several hours in the estimated time of death?"

"Because my wife had eaten dinner before she died, there are receipts and restaurant staff to prove it. There was food residue in her stomach, and after the autopsy, the forensic doctor deduced from the state of food digestion that the time of death was 11 o'clock..."

Yuan Yuzi began to let loose, revealing everything she knew: "As for the lover, there was an eyewitness. There was a street sweeper outside the alley who saw a man sneaking out of the alley entrance, wearing sunglasses and a mask. It was also around eleven o'clock..."

“Oh! I understand.” Fushimi Shika nodded.

Yuan Yuzi quickly added, trying to cover up her misunderstanding, "I only heard it from someone else in casual conversation."

Fushimi Shika really wanted to ask who would gossip about such things, but he held back and continued, "Did the cleaning lady identify her husband?"

“He identified the person; he thought the voice and appearance were somewhat similar, but he couldn’t see the face, so he wasn’t sure if it was really him.” Minamoto Tamako continued, adding a disclaimer: “This is something I overheard from someone else’s casual conversation.”

Fushimi Shika had a direction for his investigation: "If I were a detective, I would definitely investigate my wife and lover's interpersonal relationships, financial accounts, call records, etc., to rule out the possibility of them hiring each other to commit murder."

Gen Tamako nodded thoughtfully: "You mean, is it possible that the two of them might hire someone to murder each other?"

“You just said that things wouldn’t escalate to the point of murder, but I have to correct you on that.”

Fushimi Shika burped, his breath reeking of cola: "If a wife is neglected by her husband for a long time, wouldn't she harbor resentment towards her lover? If a lover has no official status for a long time, wouldn't he feel resentment towards his wife? Of course, the most despicable one is the husband, but men can use infidelity to divert attention from their problems. Being caught in the middle only brings them enjoyment and doesn't make things difficult for them."

Genjiro narrowed her eyes and looked Fushimi Shika up and down: "What do you mean?"

Fushimi Shika was still thinking about the case and didn't notice her strange behavior or realize that it was a matter of death: "If the wife is angry, she will blame the lover; if the lover wants a title, she will lie and say that she has a shrewish wife and has no choice... In short, she will keep it from both sides! In order to win a man's heart, they will only try harder to please him and hate their rivals."

As soon as he finished speaking, an unnamed danger was closing in on him.

Genjiro turned her face away, glanced at Fushimi Shika with a strange look, and said, "How do you know about this kind of thing? You sound like you have a lot of experience with it."

"..."

Fushimi Shika realized something was wrong. He held the empty Coke bottle and glanced back at Minamoto no Tamako, whose eyes were full of suspicion.

“I have handled divorce cases before.”

Fushimi Shika reacted quickly, almost without thinking, and immediately came up with an answer: "I have utter contempt for men who cheat. As the saying goes, 'He who mistreats his wife will never have any wealth,' such a person does not deserve to be loved."

Yuan Yuzi nodded repeatedly, seemingly satisfied, as if nothing had happened. She then steered the conversation back to the case, sighing, "This is not easy to investigate. The wife comes from a well-off family, and her family are foreigners, so it's hard to guarantee she doesn't have other assets; the mistress is the same, most of her savings come from her husband, and she occasionally has some shady income..."

Fushimi Shika thought about it and realized that it was indeed difficult for the police to investigate such matters, but it was a different story in the underworld. He would ask Mizutani Junichiro about it later, whether anyone in the underworld had taken a job recently, or whether anyone had run away. He would soon have a clear understanding of the situation.

"Oh, it's fine, it's not like we're handling the case anyway."

He placed the glass bottle on the table, crossed his legs, and leaned back in his chair to digest his food.

Hira Sakurako, a master thief, managed to steal the glass bottle. She and Minamoto Tamako had a successful day out.

It turns out that convenience stores in Hokkaido recycle Coca-Cola glass bottles for 50 yen each. She saw this as a business opportunity and planned to resell the glass bottles to fill her pockets.

"That's true, but... but..."

Since Minamoto no Tamako couldn't come up with a clear answer, she tried a different approach to get Fushimi Shika involved in the discussion: "Aren't you curious about the truth?"

"Isn't it just one of those three possibilities?" Fushimi Shika wasn't curious at all; after all, knowing the answer beforehand would make it less interesting.

Yuan Yuzi disagreed and tried to argue: "What if my husband really did commit the crimes in two places at the same time? What if the hotel staff also identified my husband? He is a suspect in both murders. How do you explain that?"

"You said it yourself, it's just a possibility. Let's wait until he identifies the culprit." Fushimi Shika didn't take it seriously. He liked to tease people after eating and drinking his fill, and started making fun of Minamoto Tamako again: "Maybe the murderer is a twin, and happens to look a lot like my husband?"

After saying that, he let out a laugh that was hard to understand, just like when he was investigating a case in Koban. He teased the stubborn Minamoto no Tamako and watched her little face turn into a tomato. It was quite amusing.

Yuan Yuzi was so angry that she couldn't eat. She snorted and said defiantly, "Just you wait! I... I'll go out and ask around again tomorrow, and I'll definitely prove it to you!"

"Oh, oh, oh, I'm really looking forward to it!"

After saying that, Fushimi Shika lay down on the tatami mat, resting his head on his hands and crossing his legs, transforming into Nobita Nobi.

Minamoto no Tamako wanted to argue, but Fushimi no Shika didn't respond, so she had no choice but to swallow her anger for the time being and silently finish her dinner. Together with Hirai no Sakurako, she cleaned the table and washed the dishes.

As night fell on the seaside street, Fushimi Shika lay for a while, feeling bored. This godforsaken place had neither comics nor television, and the magazines he bought on the way were also uninteresting, with articles and short stories exuding a strong Yilin-esque flavor.

He was so bored that he suggested the three of them play sujiroku together.

Traditional Japanese Sugoroku is actually quite complicated, divided into two main types: "pan Sugoroku" (similar to backgammon) and "e Sugoroku" (picture-based adventure game)... But Fushimi Shika didn't want to play games that required too much brainpower; he preferred games that relied on luck, so he planned to play the self-drawn Sugoroku.

It's somewhat similar to Ludo and Monopoly. You draw a chessboard on paper, and write the corresponding penalty or reward on each square. The first person to reach the finish line wins.

It sounds simple, but the rules of fun games are usually not complicated.

With nothing else to do, Minamoto no Tamako wished she could fly back to the police station right now to continue investigating the case, but Fushimi Shika was home, and she couldn't think of any excuse to go out. So she had to find something to do to pass the time, and thus agreed.

To make the game more fun, Fushimi Shika suggested that the punishment or reward for each square be written on a sticky note, with each person taking turns writing on one square, and then flipping the sticky note over and sticking it on the square.

Once the piece moves to the corresponding square, flip the note over to read it.

Yuan Yuzi had no objection; it was just a way to pass the time, so she agreed.

Ping Yingzi volunteered to go to the convenience store to buy dice and toy figurines, but in reality, she secretly exchanged empty Coke bottles for money and also earned some errand money from Yuan Yuzi. Her little treasury was getting fuller and full of a sense of accomplishment.

The two drew a chessboard on a piece of scrap paper and took turns writing notes. Halfway through, Ping Yingzi returned with dice and toy figurines and also wrote a few notes.

Everything was ready, but Fushimi Shika suddenly didn't want to play anymore.

He lay back down on the tatami mat and said, "You two play, I'm going to lie down for a while longer."

"What's wrong?" Gen Tamako was taken aback, and tried to lift the label to peek: "You didn't write down some strange punishment, did you?"

"How could that be? I also have a chance of landing on every square, of course I wouldn't do something so stupid." Fushimi Shika really just didn't want to play anymore, he had lost interest: "I just feel like there's no point in winning."

Hira Sakurako knew what he was thinking and asked, "Want to bet something?"

Fushimi Shika looked up and asked, "What are you planning to bet on?" As soon as he said it, his interest was rekindled, and he sat down at the chessboard: "How about we set a stake?"

Minamoto no Tamako didn't want to participate in gambling, but Fushimi Shika quickly changed his tune, saying it wasn't gambling but a competition, and the first and second place winners would receive prizes.

Hearing this, she perked up, her competitive spirit ignited. She still remembered the grudge Fushimi-kun had shown her earlier! This was the perfect opportunity to get revenge!
"What kind of prize?" Ping Yingzi was more concerned with practical matters.

"Let's collect a registration fee from everyone, and the prize is to split the registration fee equally!" Fushimi Shika came up with a compromise, took out a 10,000 yen bill from his wallet, and placed it next to the chessboard.

Seeing this, Hira Sakura took a metal bottle cap out of her pocket and placed it next to the 10,000 yen bill.

"What do you mean?" Fushimi Shika asked, puzzled.

“This is my lucky badge. Carrying it with me increases my luck. It’s priceless and extremely valuable,” said Ping Yingzi.

Fushimi Shika glanced at it and asked, "Isn't this the cap from the Coke I just drank from? When did it turn into a lucky badge?"

"These are the first batch of Coca-Cola bottle caps, which have high collectible value. Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand," Ping Yingzi retorted.

Fushimi Shika was very annoyed; this guy was always stealing his moves, which Shika found extremely annoying.

He casually uncapped the bottle and said, "I don't accept this stuff, it's too expensive. Ten thousand yen will do."

Hira Sakurako turned to Genji Tamako and provoked, "If everyone pays, doesn't that become gambling?" Genji Tamako thought it made a lot of sense, believing that the ticket was just a token of appreciation and there was no need to be so serious. Besides, she was a little reluctant to bet 10,000 yen, so she immediately objected, "Good children shouldn't gamble! Shika-kun, your thinking is very dangerous!"

With two votes against one, Fushimi Shika had no choice but to submit to the majority.

To show her sincerity, Yuan Yuzi offered half a watermelon from the refrigerator, which she had bought on her way back from the police station.

Fushimi Shika felt he had lost out, but seeing Minamoto no Tamako and Hirako Sakurako's eager and ready expressions, he thought it would be great to take that 10,000 yen away from them.

"Let's begin. Rock, paper, scissors, to decide who rolls the dice first."

After Fushimi Shika finished speaking, he added a few more words: "To ensure the fairness of the game, we've added two new rules. If you refuse to carry out the punishment, you'll have to stay in place for one round. Is that alright?"

“No problem.” Gen Tamako nodded.

“Okay,” Hira Sakurako agreed.

"Also, to increase the competitiveness, after rolling the dice, you can choose whether or not to move to the full number of spaces. For example, if you roll a six, you can choose to move one, two, three, four, five, or six spaces; if you roll a five, you can only move one to five spaces, and so on. If you roll a one, you can only move one space... Is that alright?" Fushimi Shika asked.

After thinking for a moment, Yuan Yuzi realized that if someone stepped on a penalized square first, the next player could selectively avoid it, maintaining a balanced race and preventing any unlucky player from falling too far behind.

She might be the unlucky one, and to ensure she'd get the minimum, she agreed to the rule.

The three reached a consensus, and the game officially began.

"rock-paper-scissors!"

The three formed a circle and attacked simultaneously. Fushimi Shika, quick-witted and slightly delayed, anticipated the move and changed his strategy from scissors to rock.

Both Hiraoko and Minamoto Tamako chose scissors, and he won, gaining the first-mover advantage and being able to roll the dice first. Next, Hiraoko and Minamoto Tamako played rock-paper-scissors, and Minamoto Tamako lost again, so Hiraoko rolled the dice second and started.

"The first person to leave is more likely to make a mistake, so I deliberately lost," Yuan Yuzi said sourly.

"Good good."

Fushimi Shika didn't take her sarcastic remarks to heart. He remembered what he had written in the grid, so when he rolled the dice, he secretly put his strength into it and gently tossed it onto the paper, thinking that he should at least get a three.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any dice-rolling or gambler skills, and rolled a two.

The second square had a note written by Fushimi Shika that said "Learn to squeal like a pig." He didn't want to choose it, so he moved to the next square and landed on a note written by Minamoto Tamako.

"Ugh, damn it!" Gen Tamako angrily pounded the tatami mat.

Fushimi Shika lifted the note and saw that it read 'Move forward five squares'.

Hira Sakurako glanced sideways at Gen Tamako and asked, "Why did you write this kind of thing?"

"It's so good to help others! Besides, what if Lu-kun rolls a six and I roll a one? Wouldn't that be just enough to catch up with him?" Yuan Yuzi was very unwilling. She felt like she had been cheated because someone else had taken advantage of the note she had prepared.

"Thank you so much, you kind sir."

Fushimi Shika, holding the toy figure, moved forward five squares with a clattering sound, landing precisely on the sticky note he had written.

He pressed his index finger against the little man's head and didn't let go, because he remembered that the note underneath said 'Return to the starting point'.

"..."

Fushimi Shika pinched the toy figure's head and said, "It's not good to push your luck. Taking a step back will open up a whole new world. I'll just move four squares."

His original intention in writing this note was to prevent lucky players from rolling a six at the start of the game. If he himself rolled a six, he could simply take five steps to avoid this trap.

"No way!" Hira Sakura suddenly protested. She had figured it out: Fushimi Shika was too afraid to move on the squares she had written, they must all be traps. "The note says you have to move five squares, you have to move five squares. The requirements must be followed. You can only choose how many squares to move by rolling the dice!"

Gentama also sensed something was amiss and nodded repeatedly from the side, saying, "It's a gentleman's game, Shika-kun, you can't cheat!"

"..."

Fushimi Shika had no choice; it was indeed a gentleman's game, and cheating wouldn't be fun. He could only move five squares, open the note he had written, and return to the starting point.

"Hahahahahahaha!!" Gen Tamako let out a triumphant laugh.

"Take it easy, you haven't even set off yet," Fushimi Shika said with a sidelong glance.

Yuan Yuzi showed no restraint whatsoever; the winner should mercilessly mock the weak, that's what makes the game interesting, hahaha!

While the two were bickering, Hira Sakurako took the opportunity to throw the dice. She wanted to flick them with her small hand, but when she noticed Fushimi Shika glancing over intentionally or unintentionally, she withdrew her sinful hand and watched the dice sway before finally stopping.

She rolled a four.

Hira Sakurako didn't move four squares, but took three steps instead.

The third compartment contained a note she had written herself. She lifted it up, and Fushimi Shika and Minamoto Tamako leaned over to take a look. They saw that it read: "Players who step on this compartment can peek at any note."

"Wow, that's so cheating!" said Yuan Yuzi.

Hira Sakura quietly leaned close to Gen Tamako's ear and whispered, "I'll scout ahead for you, and we'll both get first or second place, isn't that great?"

Yuan Yuzi immediately changed her tune: "But then again, there were no prior rules, so I think it's reasonable."

Fushimi Shika realized that the two of them had formed an anti-Shika alliance, mainly because Minamoto no Tamako had been misled by Hirai Sakurako. He felt this was unfair and immediately objected: "It doesn't say how many times you can peek, so it's assumed you can only peek once."

"Why? Why isn't it an implicit agreement to peek at everything?" Yuan Yuzi retorted.

Fushimi Shika played a word game: "If it's a default 'peek all' tag, the note should say 'Players who step on this square can peek at all tags,' not 'any,' as 'any' indicates a single tag; if it's plural, the exact number should be specified, otherwise the tag is unreasonable and should be invalid."

Fushimi Shika has exploited countless loopholes in legal provisions; no one can outmaneuver him in word games.

Both Minamoto no Tamako and Hirako were speechless, unable to refute him, and could only give up.

Being able to peek once is quite nice; it's a huge advantage. Hira Sakura didn't look at the first few squares; instead, she went straight to the third-to-last square at the finish line—the last and second-to-last squares were the labels she and Minamoto Tamako had written, and the third-to-last square was the label Fushimi Shika had written.

"What did you write? What did you write?" Yuan Yuzi quickly leaned over and asked.

“Learn to squat like a puppy and bark,” Hira Sakurako said expressionlessly.

"Damn it, that's awful!" Gen Tamako immediately felt indignant.

The three continued the game, taking turns rolling the dice and starting a chase.

After playing several rounds, they gradually figured out each person's tendency to write labels.

The best labels were those written by Minamoto no Tamako, either moving forward a few spaces or requiring an extra roll of the dice. The harshest punishment was no more than shouting "Captain Tamako is wise and mighty!" three times.
Secondly, there's Hirayuko, who has both good and bad traits. The good tags are mostly beneficial, such as allowing you to choose whether to execute the next tag you step on. The bad tags are mostly detrimental, such as forcibly scrambling the order of the tags behind you.

The worst labels were written by Fushimi Shika, which were basically all traps: imitating dog barks, pig grunts, and squealing; washing hair upside down, eating noodles through nostrils, and wearing panties on one's head... Everyone avoids the labels he wrote, including himself.

But in fact, both Minamoto no Tamako and Hirako Sakura overlooked one point: Fushimi Shika had a strong gambling instinct.

While he did use mostly derogatory tags, he did use one good tag: "Proceed to the last square of the finish line."

Fushimi Shika remained silent, even though he was behind schedule, he was still unhurried and quietly approached the square.

Hmph, the most interesting part of the game is the comeback from the brink of defeat!
Minamoto no Tamako saw a glimmer of hope for victory. She and Hirako had already left Fushimi Shika far behind, by at least ten squares. Unless they stayed in the same place for two consecutive rounds, it was impossible for Fushimi Shika to overtake them!

"See? That's the power of friendship! You still need to learn more about social skills; with the help of friends, you can go far..."

Minamoto no Tamako has already begun giving her acceptance speech.

As soon as he finished speaking, Fushimi Shika rolled the dice, moved forward three spaces, and deliberately stepped onto the space he had marked. Hira Sakurako was the first to react, leaning back tactically.

— "Move forward to the last square of the finish line"

Minamoto no Tamako stared at the small print on the note, her eyes widening in shock. She looked up at Fushimi Shika, who was smiling with a slight smile, already bearing the features of a Japanese man.

"You're cheating!" she shouted.

“You said it yourself, a gentleman’s game, if there are no rules beforehand, then it’s reasonable,” Fushimi Shika said.

Yuan Yuzi was speechless, collapsing to the ground like a defeated dog, her hands hanging limply on the tatami mat, her heart filled with resentment. Losing the game was bad enough, but tonight she wouldn't even get to eat iced watermelon. She wanted to angrily question the heavens why they were so unfair…

At that moment, Ping Yingzi leaned close to her ear and whispered a few cricket chirps.

Genjiro was taken aback. After a moment's hesitation, she suddenly raised her head, hugged Fushimi Shika's arm, looked up at him with teary eyes, and softly pleaded:
"Lu Jun...please don't go, okay? I...I love you the most...you'll stay for me, right?"

Fushimi Shika was taken aback; his right hand, which had just picked up the toy figure, hovered in mid-air.

(End of this chapter)