Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 447, Darkness Invades

In the third year of the Uesugi calendar, in mid-March.

At 8:40 a.m., the Special Mission Unit of the First Investigation Division was filled with the smell of cheap coffee.

Date Chomatsu was stuffing a yakisoba bread roll into his mouth when he was suddenly sprayed with ketchup from the packaging.

"Damn it! This amount of blood loss is comparable to Kabukicho!" he muttered, waving his hands. Ishihara Mikoto from the forensic department immediately tossed him an evidence bag: "Take a sample quickly, you might be able to detect genetically modified tomato DNA."

"Kai, late again?" Uesugi Muneyuki arrived at this time, carrying a briefcase alone, with Ikeda Erena behind him. The tall beauty was dressed in a standard spring suit, trousers, and leather shoes. Her short, neat hair, pretty face, and unique heroic temperament and sharp eyes made this relatively rare field policewoman a beautiful sight in the Special Missions Unit.

Inspector Ikeda... no, she should be called Inspector Ikeda. This 25-year-old policewoman has made an incredible three-level leap in five years—she entered the Metropolitan Police Department as a non-professional policewoman at the age of 20, was promoted to Inspector at the age of 23, was officially transferred to the Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters at the age of 24, and was promoted to Inspector at the age of 25.

This speed is unprecedented, not to mention the non-professional group, even the professional group has almost no precedent for such a rapid promotion. Moreover, it is well known that the promotion of female police officers is often very difficult. The deepest hurdles are the two major difficulties of entering the headquarters from the local area and being promoted from a patrol officer to a police inspector. Erena encountered almost no obstacles.

Of course, it can't be said that there isn't any.

In Japan, police officers, starting from the sergeant, must pass a "promotion exam" in addition to having sufficient seniority and obtaining approval from their superiors.

Erina... failed the supplementary promotion exam for police inspector, and failed the first retake exam.

On the second attempt, a helpless Minami had no choice but to ask the Metropolitan Police Department's instructor in charge of this subject to teach Erena the exact questions. The tall beauty finally passed the exam and was officially promoted to Assistant Inspector.

Following the Toshima Ward Ghost Case and the largest corruption case since Heiji's coming of age, the new structure of the Special Missions Unit of the First Investigative Division is as follows:

Special Mission Police Superintendent: Inspector Minami Watanabe.

Chief Medical Examiner of the First Investigation Division: Chief Inspector Muneyuki Uesugi (enjoying the待遇 of a police inspector).

Special Missions Division Chief: Inspector Masayoshi Okada.

Members: Reina Ikeda, Assistant Inspector; Kyou Kai, Assistant Inspector; Jun Igarashi, Patrol Officer; Nagamune Date, Patrol Officer; and Mikoto Ishihara, Forensic Assistant (who also enjoys the rank of Assistant at the University of Tokyo and Patrol Officer at the Metropolitan Police Department).

Around this time, the rewards for Uesugi Muneyuki and Watanabe Minami came down from above.

In addition to his promotion to the University of Tokyo, Uesugi Muneyuki also received the Imperial Household Agency's "Tachibana Prize" and a letter of appreciation stamped by the Emperor from the Imperial Palace! The Emperor and Empress have invited Uesugi Muneyuki to participate in the Imperial Palace Garden Party next year!

"Tachibana no Sho..." Uesugi Muneyuki looked at the Emperor's handwritten note, his expression indescribably strange.

As mentioned earlier, the Uesugi clan simultaneously possessed the first three of the four major surnames of those who were deposed as subjects: Minamoto, Taira, Fujiwara, and Tachibana. Now, the Imperial Palace has sent them the "Tachibana Award." Wow, all four surnames are now included.

Grandpa must have played a role in this. You know, Grandpa has always been an academic bigwig who was qualified to attend the Qingliang Hall... What he probably wanted most was for himself and his brother to take his place and attend the Qingliang Hall together after he retired.
The Tachibana Prize, as a type of imperial prize, doesn't actually give much money, but it represents a completely different status and position. Didn't you see that Professor Ōkōchi received the imperial prize, which led to Dean Ukai disliking this old man but being unable to do anything about it?

Minami Watanabe was awarded the Cabinet Red Medal and the Police Merit Medal (Special Merit).

The one who won the most honors was Masayoshi Okada. He received the Blue Medal, which symbolizes the highest national honor, and the Police Merit Medal. Kotaro Higashi, Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, personally went to his hospital room to award him the medal and visit him. At the same time, the Metropolitan Police Department awarded him the Superintendent General Award, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government awarded him the title of "Honorary Citizen", and the United Nations awarded him the title of "Child Protection Ambassador".

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Metropolitan Police Department also granted Masayoshi Okada a partial promotion, granting him "superintendent-level benefits" and "salary increase." In fact, if Masayoshi Okada and his father, Masayoshi Okada, had not repeatedly expressed their unwillingness to be transferred out of the Special Missions Division, Masayoshi Okada would have definitely been promoted.

This must be due to Okada's father's influence.

A muffled laugh came from the corner. Ishihara Mikoto said with a strange laugh, "She's protected by a loving bento box now. Yesterday she brought tamagoyaki, takoyaki, and oyakodon."

Date Chomune and Igarashi Hayato, both from the Special Missions Division, were somewhat embarrassed. Although neither of them was short of money, the rice balls in their hands suddenly didn't taste so good anymore.

"Speaking of which, the district prosecutor's office has finally made some progress on that big case from yesterday." The forensic beauty was wearing a deep blue striped knit shirt dress with pearlescent flesh-colored pantyhose and low-cut studded high heels. She only wore a white coat over it, a standard business attire, exuding both the aura of a beautiful doctor and boundless allure.

Uesugi Muneyuki scoffed at this, and even the members of the Special Missions Division couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing the news. Just yesterday, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Unit held a press conference to announce the cracking of a major case related to the Yamato Armor corruption scandal!

Former Fire Services Agency Commissioner Yuzuru Yuki's corruption and bribery case!
"Recently, with the approval of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Team has initiated an investigation into the serious disciplinary and legal violations of the former Fire and Disaster Management Agency Director-General."

An investigation revealed that former Fire and Disaster Management Agency Commissioner Yuzuru Yuki, in his capacity as commissioner, lost his ideals and beliefs, betrayed his original aspirations and mission, resisted organizational review, disregarded laws and regulations, abused his power and position to influence the procurement of equipment for the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, used this opportunity to amass wealth, illegally accepted gifts and money, violated organizational principles, and failed to truthfully explain issues to the organization during interviews; he also used his power to seek benefits for others in promotions and job adjustments, illegally owned shares in offshore companies, failed to promptly resolve issues concerning the vital interests of the people, causing adverse effects, and used his position to provide benefits to several companies, including Yamato Armor, in areas such as facilitating audits and personnel transfers, soliciting kickbacks and illegally accepting huge sums of money, amounting to 350 million yen, abusing his power and causing significant losses to taxpayers' money.

Yuzuru Yuki has seriously violated the Japanese Public Service Law, organizational discipline, integrity discipline, mass discipline, work discipline, and lifestyle discipline, constituting serious job-related violations and suspected of bribery and abuse of power. Furthermore, he did not restrain himself after his scheduled retirement, demonstrating the serious nature and egregious impact of his actions, and should be severely punished.

The downfall of the former Fire Department chief has sent shockwaves through Tokyo’s political arena once again. It’s worth noting that while the Fire Department chief may not be considered a very powerful and influential bureaucrat, he is still a bureau chief, equivalent to a full-fledged governor, and is a political appointee!
Political officials have always enjoyed the privilege of being immune from legal trouble, so only the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Unit can crack down on them.

Of course, as the district prosecutors dug deeper, many rumors also broke out. For example, Friday reported that this fire department chief was a regular at various high-end clubs and a womanizer known as the "Bubble Bath Hundred-Man Slayer." It is said that many sex workers in Minato Ward and Shinjuku are familiar with him. He is a famous "royal road conqueror" and has slept with countless beauties in the sex industry.

Moreover, it is said that this former fire chief had a peculiar hobby—he liked to order a man and a woman at the same time, pretending to be an "impotent husband," and watching the prostitute and the hunky man he had chosen engage in illicit affairs.

The news was so outrageous that everyone believed it to be true.

Because humans cannot imagine things beyond their cognitive scope, and without irrefutable evidence, gossip media would not dare to spread rumors under the watchful eyes of the District Attorney.

“Speaking of which,” Ishihara Mikoto sipped her canned black coffee and suddenly narrowed her eyes, “regarding the incident where Director Tabuchi committed suicide, it’s unusual that the headquarters didn’t call Chief Uesugi to perform an autopsy! Could it be that they’re afraid Uesugi-kun will discover something?”

"There's nothing we can do. We all know why former Chief Inspector Tabuchi committed suicide, the Metropolitan Police Department knows why he committed suicide, and we know that the Metropolitan Police Department knows that we know why former Chief Inspector Tabuchi committed suicide, so they definitely won't let Uesugi-san perform the autopsy." Date Chomune complained, "That's enough."

"Hmm, that makes sense!" Igarashi was usually quiet, but always had a bright and cheerful demeanor: "As expected of Date-san!"

Before the laughter subsided, Manager Minami appeared like a ghost in the break room: "Restless? Should I request that you all be temporarily reassigned to the subway station to check Suica cards?"

The only sound in the room was the slurping of coffee. Minami calmly said, "We received orders that an elderly man fell from a building in Ikebukuro in the early hours of the morning. There is a possibility of homicide!"

Everyone in the Special Missions Division breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally here!" Uesugi Muneyuki thought to himself, "Fresh Souls! We need more Souls!"
“If there are no cases, my grandfather will start to suspect that I’m being marginalized,” Date Chomune complained.

"Yeah, yeah, yesterday on my way home from get off work, the guys from the General Affairs Department were complaining that the Special Missions Unit wasn't doing any work," Igarashi laughed.

Miss Minami nodded, signaling everyone to prepare to head to the scene.

Special Missions Unit! Deploy!

........................

Just as Miss Minami was personally leading a team to conduct an on-site investigation...

The doorbell rang shrilly, ripping open the deathly silence of the apartment. Okada Miki was curled up on the sofa, scrolling through a torrent of negative comments on her phone, her fingertips icy cold. She sprang up like a startled rabbit, her heart pounding. Who would come at this hour? A reporter? A creditor? She trembled as she peered through the peephole.

One glance, and my blood seemed to freeze instantly!
The man standing outside the door wore a worn black leather jacket. He was tall and imposing, almost blocking the peephole's view. He had his head slightly lowered, and his hat brim was pulled down low, but his rugged jawline with a faint old scar and the chilling, ambiguous smile at the corner of his mouth were still very striking.

"Yo, Miki-chan?"

"I never expected this! I was wondering why you suddenly disappeared. Turns out you became the wife of the 'Hero Inspector'! Amazing! If I hadn't seen you in the newspaper, I wouldn't have known where you went."

"It's all over the newspapers and TV, Miki-chan. You seem... not doing too well. As your ex-boyfriend, I've come here specifically to check on you." The two were so close that Miki could feel the threatening heat emanating from him. He leaned forward slightly, his scarred face drawing near, his eyes like a venomous snake, tightly gripping Miki's terrified gaze: "How is it? Being lifted to the heavens and then crashing down... doesn't feel good, does it?"

Miki's breathing became rapid, her chest heaving violently, and the immense fear made it almost impossible for her to think.

How did he find his way here?!
(End of this chapter)