Tokyo: Rabbit Police and Her Evil Partner

Chapter 563 Assassination
As soon as Yuan Yuzi's head hit the pillow, she fell asleep instantly.

She quickly drifted off to sleep, dreaming that she had caught the real culprit, received commendation from the police department, was awarded a special certificate by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and was looked upon with admiration and envy by everyone in the Special Investigations Division…

Meanwhile, her good partner, Shika Fushimi, who was supposed to be monitoring the suspect, was flipping through the latest issue of "Shonen-chanpu".

Living in Japan has its advantages; you can read manga without translation and even see some great works that were previously canceled.

Shonen-chan truly lives up to its reputation as a top-tier Japanese manga magazine. Every piece is unique and ingenious, both the long and short stories are excellent, and each issue is substantial, unlike some manga magazines that only have a few thin pages per issue.

Fushimi Shika became engrossed in watching.

While reading comics, he came up with a new idea that eliminated the need for such arduous surveillance. He could simply apply for a search warrant from the court, search Horie Kei's address, and probably find some clues—not to mention, his water and electricity meters must have been running wildly.

Even if the application isn't approved, it doesn't matter. At worst, I can just disguise myself as a food delivery driver and sneak in.

Fushimi Shika felt reassured and relaxed, continuing to read the manga and temporarily putting the matter out of his mind.

Meanwhile, Abe Rokuro sits in the convenience store, diligently playing the role of a down-on-his-luck, unemployed middle-aged man.

He disguised himself so well that he blended into the convenience store, becoming part of its backdrop. Customers came and went, their eyes never lingering on him; he was as if he were invisible.

Inside the store, a young couple was playfully shoving each other when they accidentally bumped into Abe Rokuro. He quickly bowed his head and apologized, "Ah, sorry, I didn't see anyone here."

Abe Rokuro waved his hand to indicate that he didn't care, and continued to sit by the shop window in a daze, gradually becoming immersed in this state of mind.

Ah, it feels like there's a membrane separating us from the world...

"Isn't it annoying? This feeling of being dispensable." A male voice suddenly came from beside me.

Abe Rokuro was startled and turned around in surprise, only to find that Horie Kei was standing behind him at some point, holding a cup of instant coffee: "It's on me."

"Ah, what does this mean..." Abe Rokuro was somewhat bewildered.

Kei Horie placed the coffee on the small table. He was wearing a convenience store uniform, so it looked like he was serving a customer a cup of coffee, and no one noticed his actions at all.

"It's nothing, just consider it a perk for sitting for long periods." Horie Kei seemed unwilling to talk any further.

Abe Rokuro saw this as an opportunity to strike up a conversation and didn't want to miss it, so he quickly asked, "Is this a perk for regular customers? Will it be available next time I come?"

Horie Kei paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "It's free, and you get a free refill. It's just cheap instant coffee."

Abe Rokuro was secretly delighted. Now he had a legitimate reason to monitor Horie Kei without arousing any suspicion.

Horie Kei seemed to regard Abe Rokuro as one of his own kind, but he didn't seem to like getting close to people like himself. He simply offered Abe a cup of coffee and didn't say another word before returning to the counter to continue tending the convenience store.

Abe Rokuro continued to sit there, monitoring was an incredibly arduous job. He could only stare at the target and couldn't do anything else. It was not only boring and tedious, but also extremely mentally taxing.

Fortunately, he persevered.

Even after Horie Kei left work that evening, Abe Rokuro did not rashly follow him, but instead reported the situation to the truck driver.

Fushimi Shika listened attentively, wrote it down in his notebook, gave him 1,000 yen as a reward, and told him to keep up the good work the next morning and go home to rest for the night, leaving the rest of the time to his senior to continue monitoring.

Deeply moved, Abe Rokuro felt he had followed the right person and left with the money.

Fushimi Shika watched him walk away before waking up Minamoto Tamako, nudging her shoulder and saying, "Wake up, it's time for your shift."

Gen Tamako opened her eyes groggily. She had just dreamt that she was becoming a "serial killer nemesis" and giving a speech on a much larger awards stage when she was woken up.

"So fast?"

Gen Tamako looked up: "Was anything unusual during the day?"

Fushimi Shika gave a brief report, adding, "It's really hard work monitoring the suspect. I've been keeping an eye on him the whole time and have noted down his every move."

As he spoke, he took out the small notebook he had just used for taking notes.

Gen Tamako glanced at it quickly, but didn't suspect anything. She drove her small truck as usual, parked it downstairs at Horie Kei's house, and continued to monitor Horie Kei.

“How about we apply for a search warrant?” Fushimi Shika suggested.

He was too tired to keep doing such exhausting surveillance. It was indeed a good method, but extremely tiring. In fact, most criminal investigators solve cases this way: they identify a suspect based on guesswork, then monitor them 24/7, and when the suspect commits another crime, they arrest them and catch them red-handed.

"Without evidence, how could the court possibly approve it?" Yuan Yuzi said dismissively, still holding up her binoculars, not even bothering to turn her head.

Fushimi Shika urged, "Then let's disguise ourselves as electricians or deliverymen and sneak into Horie Kei's address..."

“No, wouldn’t that be trespassing?” Minamoto Tamako still objected.

Fushimi Shika pouted. Since Minamoto no Tamako had asked for trouble, he couldn't be blamed.

Anyway, he was very relaxed. What was the difference between watching TV in the car and watching TV at home? He could get out of the car whenever he was hungry and go to a snack shop or izakaya to get something delicious, saving him the time of waiting for delivery. He called this kind of life "urban camping".

And so, four days of surveillance passed in a flash. The three took turns on duty, and one of them took the opportunity to slack off.

After enduring the ordeal, Yuan Yuzi finally recovered and adjusted to the new time zone. She was responsible for monitoring during the day and resting at night.

Fushimi Shika was still full of energy, his body even smelling of shower gel. He had secretly taken a bath while Minamoto Tamako was asleep. That evening, he handed over the surveillance duties to Abe Rokuro, letting him continue.

Late on the fourth night, Minamoto no Tamako was fast asleep with an eye mask on, while Fushimi Shika was passing the time by flipping through a manga magazine.

Just then, his phone suddenly beeped; it was a text message notification.

Upon opening it, I saw that it was sent by Abe Rokuro:

"The suspect is behaving suspiciously; he has left his residence and is suspected of heading to the Shinjuku area. We are currently tracking him."

Fushimi Shika was taken aback, thinking that something might have happened, but he also felt it was too much trouble. He hadn't finished reading the manga yet, so why rush off to work?

Maybe Horie Kei was just looking for fun in the streets of Shinjuku. An adult male has needs too, which is understandable.

If something serious had happened, Abe Rokuro would definitely have notified him for backup. Since no backup had been requested, it was just a normal outing. With that thought in mind, Fushimi Shika crossed his legs again and continued reading his manga.

……

On the other side, Abe Rokuro, disguised as a homeless man, followed Horie Kei at a considerable distance, leading a 'stray dog'.

Through his observations over this period, Abe Rokuro discovered that the suspect possessed an extremely strong awareness of counter-surveillance.

Kei Horie certainly hasn't received professional training; it's probably a natural talent—an instinctive ability to sense other people's gazes. Perhaps it's because he's been ignored for a long time, making him extremely sensitive to being stared at.

For Horie Kei, having someone stare through binoculars like Minamoto Tamako was like a 1000W high-powered light bulb shining directly into his face in the dark.

Abe Rokuro was aware of this, so he never looked directly at Horie Kei. Even when he did observe her, he would only glance at her out of the corner of his eye, as if his gaze were sweeping over a landscape, without lingering for a moment.

The effect was surprisingly good; Horie Kei really didn't notice him.

To prevent losing track of the suspect, Abe Rokuro spent a lot of money to buy a dog and train it to find people by scent. However, since it wasn't a professional police dog, it had quite a few minor issues and would occasionally wander off to the front of a yakitori shop.

Fortunately, the general direction was correct, and Abe Rokuro followed the crowd all the way to the red-light district of Shinjuku, based on his own judgment.

Horie Kei walked into a public bathhouse with practiced ease, and came out dressed differently. He wore a black suit jacket on top and plain, unremarkable long trousers on the bottom, looking like any ordinary office worker.

He stood alone on the street, glancing at his watch every now and then, seemingly waiting for someone. People came and went around him, but no one gave him a second glance.

Abe Rokuro found a corner, cuddled his puppy, and lay down, pretending to rest. But before he could even touch the lamppost, a security guard appeared out of nowhere, yelling at him to get lost.

"Get out of here! No one is allowed to lie down here!" the security guard shouted.

Afraid of alerting the suspect, Abe Rokuro could only lower his head and slowly get up, intending to leave. He secretly sent a text message to Fushimi-senpai, hoping that Fushimi-senpai could take over and continue the surveillance.

A moment later, Fushimi-senpai replied:
"Keep going, I believe in you. The time has come to test your abilities."

A sense of mission welled up within Abe Rokuro. He was so excited that he felt like he had been injected with adrenaline. He ran into the public restroom, quickly removed his disguise, put on a baseball cap to cover his forehead, and walked out of the restroom with a bent back, glancing around to look for Horie Kei.

A car stopped on the side of the road. Horie Kei seemed to have found his target. He naturally went to the car and helped open the door.

The rugged-looking middle-aged man got out of the car, straightened his suit, and strode towards the magnificent hotel, not giving Abe Rokuro even a second glance.

Several bodyguards ran out of the cars following behind and surrounded the middle-aged man, keeping Horie Kei out of the way. However, they didn't question Horie Kei; instead, they instinctively assumed he was a hotel greeter.

Abe Rokuro recognized the middle-aged man. His surname was Fujiwara, and he was the former Superintendent General of Police. He was currently a member of the Diet and had a very special status.

Could it be that……

Abe Rokuro had a bad feeling. After the group entered the hotel, he looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, and then quickly followed them.

The hotel entrance was a revolving door, with two doormen standing on either side. As soon as Abe Rokuro approached, he was stopped by the doormen.

"Sir, do you have an appointment?" the doorman asked.

“No, I’d like to book a hotel now,” Abe Rokuro said succinctly.

The doormen exchanged a glance but didn't stop him. Instead, they led him to the front desk to check in. Abe Rokuro entered the lobby, ordered a standard room, and kept observing his surroundings, wondering where Horie Kei might make his move.

"42500 yen," the receptionist said with a smile.

Abe Rokuro gasped in surprise; he hadn't expected a standard room to be so expensive. But since he was already there and had a heavy responsibility, he had no choice but to splurge and pay with his credit card.

After receiving the room key, Abe Rokuro hurriedly went upstairs with the puppy in his arms.

This hotel has its advantages for its high price. Most hotels do not allow pets, but this hotel not only allows them but also provides pet supplies such as litter boxes, poop bags, and chew toys.

After all, it costs 40,000 yen a night!

Abe Rokuro's heart bled, and his desire to catch the murderer grew ever more urgent. He asked the waiter to bring some high-end dog food, fed the puppy in the room, and then let the puppy continue to track by scent.

It's worth noting that the so-called "puppy" simply refers to its small size, not its age. To disguise himself, Abe Rokuro couldn't choose a large, conspicuous dog, so he had to select small dogs that could be held in his arms.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, the dog was very helpful and led Abe Rokuro through a series of turns, eventually arriving at the banquet hall.

Abe Rokuro thought the guy was craving food again, which was why he brought him to the restaurant. Just as he was about to leave, Horie Kei appeared at the end of the corridor pushing a food cart and walked into the banquet hall quite naturally.

Abe Rokuro was taken aback and quickly followed, peeking inside through the glass of the private room.

He saw an elegantly decorated European-style banquet hall with a long walnut table in the center that could seat 20 people, covered with a dark red velvet table runner.

A crystal chandelier hangs from the high ceiling, its warm yellow light refracted through multiple layers, casting dappled patterns of light onto the gilded wallpaper on the walls.

There is a lounge area with three sets of genuine leather sofas against the wall, with cigar cutters and whiskey ice buckets scattered on the coffee table, where people have been waiting for a long time.

As soon as Representative Fujiwara entered the banquet hall, the waiting man stood up, shook hands with him, and chatted with him. The two seemed to be discussing some important matter, and their voices were not loud, so Abe Rokuro could not hear them at all.

Each floor-to-ceiling window was fitted with heavy champagne-colored curtains, which were now drawn back, revealing the Shinjuku street scene, with the faint reflection of Kei Horie pushing a food cart on the glass.

Before Abe Rokuro could take a closer look, several bodyguards suddenly turned around. He hurriedly lowered his head, pretended to be passing by, and slowly walked through the corridor.

It seemed they were about to discuss serious business inside; bodyguards filed out and stood guard at the door. The waiters stopped serving food and busied themselves in the kitchen, waiting for the guests' orders before bringing out the dishes.

Kei Horie was like a ghost, constantly moving around, sometimes playing the role of a greeter, sometimes a waiter, and sometimes a guest assistant, shuttling between these roles, engaging in only mechanical and brief conversations, leaving no impression on anyone else.

Two hours later, a shout came from inside the private room; the waiter could continue serving the dishes, and the people inside seemed to have finished talking. Representative Fujiwara, swaying unsteadily, went to the restroom, with Horie Kei following closely behind, grabbing Fujiwara Homare to support him.

The bodyguard thought he was an assistant, and Representative Fujiwara thought he was a waiter. No one paid any attention and let them enter the men's restroom alone.

Abe Rokuro's eyelids twitched, and he knew something was wrong. He quickly followed her inside.

(End of this chapter)