Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 460, You Still Have Us!

"At that time, I had just been admitted to the professional group and after studying at the police academy for a period of time, I joined the First Investigation Division. Our department happened to be in charge of a series of convenience store robberies and murders in Hachioji City. As the first case I handled, I was under a lot of pressure as an elite member of the professional group and was not used to such a tiring and busy job as a police officer. I didn't sleep well for several days."

Uesugi Muneyuki nodded.

The "professional group" is not unique to the police organization. Anyone who can pass the national civil service exam and enter the bureaucratic system is called a "professional group." As Inspector Higurashi mentioned earlier, although the professional group members are considered superior to the non-professional group members, working for the Metropolitan Police Department or the National Police Agency is not actually very popular among the professional group members.

Because the police profession requires a certain level of professional competence and KPI pressure, meaning that they really need certain talents and have the responsibility to solve cases.

Conversely, the most popular positions are in the Imperial Palace, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

These provinces have little KPI pressure and do not require much real talent. They are typical bureaucratic systems where people can "work in circles," get promoted step by step, and enjoy considerable power and benefits.

Everyone wants to be an office worker, enjoying air conditioning, reading reports, decorating A4 paper, and playing Genshin Impact. Who would want to chase criminals, search for and solve cases under the scorching sun on the main streets, constantly under the pressure of an endless stream of new cases? For the same pay, the latter suffers at least three times the physical and mental strain of the former, right?

Uesugi Muneyuki said he could understand.

Upon seeing Uesugi Muneyuki, Okada Masayoshi's gaze drifted away, lost in memories:

"That night, the search was making no progress. As a newcomer, I was under tremendous pressure, exhausted and hungry. I went into a 24-hour supermarket to buy something to eat. Standing behind the checkout counter was her... Miki."

Okada's lips curled into an extremely bitter smile: "She was wearing an ordinary supermarket uniform, her hair simply tied back, and her face showed a hint of fatigue, but when she looked up at me, smiled, and said, 'Welcome, thank you for your hard work, officer'... I... I felt like I was struck by something."

“You should be able to understand, right? After all, he is a descendant of Kenshin.” Okada Masayoshi looked at Uesugi, his eyes filled with self-mockery and a deep sorrow: “What kind of environment did I grow up in? My father… Okada Masahiro, before he was the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, he was promoted to Director-General of the Financial Services Agency. Our Okada family… has rules that are stricter than the law.”

“Every move and every word had to conform to the requirements of the family. You couldn’t make a sound while eating, you had to sit up straight, you couldn’t show your emotions, and your preferences couldn’t be ‘vulgar’… Even your laughter couldn’t be too loud. My childhood and adolescence were like living in a cold glass dome with gold trim. Every step was calculated, and every word was carefully considered. ‘Responsibility,’ ‘honor,’ ‘family’… these words pressed down like mountains, making it hard to breathe.”

Uesugi Muneyuki remained silent, thinking to himself that his family didn't have many demands on him, since he was the second son.

My grandfather and father hoped that I would "do it this way," but not "have to do it this way," so the family pressure that Uesugi Muneyuki experienced was probably less than one-tenth of that of his older brother, Uesugi Sadanori.

The family doesn't need him to inherit the family business.

“But Miki… she’s different.” Okada’s voice carried a distant and ethereal warmth, which was then covered by a deeper coldness. “Her smile was so natural, so… unburdened. She would secretly slip me a hot rice ball when I bought instant noodles late at night and say, ‘Officer, eating instant noodles all the time is bad for your stomach.’”

“When I was at my wit’s end because of the case, she would awkwardly offer a few words of comfort. Although her words might not be coherent, that…uncalculated concern was like a person who had been walking in the desert for too long suddenly seeing a clear spring.”

"She looks...really like Noriko Sakai when she was young, pure and sweet."

After listening, Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly said, "You must have seen that commercial when you were a kid, right? The one with Noriko Sakai constantly changing costumes and singing."

"Ah, right, ah, right, right! Uesugi-san has seen it too?" Okada's eyes lit up.

After saying that, the two of them sang almost in unison:

Panasonic Electric Works

"Haha ...

The abandoned water treatment plant was filled with cheerful laughter.

"So this is what it means to be a scion of a powerful political family? Really..." Mariko Hironaka scoffed. "A pathetic, thick barrier has already formed between us."

[Waaaaah, Noriko, take me away! Noriko! My dream goddess! Back when I was practicing manzai alone in my rented room, the whole wall was covered with Noriko posters!] Miyahara Toru was extremely excited.

"Humans really are a race that loves listening to stories." Arimura Hana Jun said coldly, gesturing for Uesugi Muneyuki to hurry up and let Okada continue!
After laughing enough, Okada closed his eyes, as if he could still see that smiling profile under the supermarket lights: "That was the only 'unrealistic' dream I secretly cherished during my childhood. So, when this dream appeared before me in such an 'ordinary and warm' way, I... I was completely captivated. I thought I had found the only way out of that cold, gilded cage, the only... sense of reality in being alive." Once the floodgates of his outpouring were opened, they could never be closed again. Okada Masayoshi's voice grew increasingly agitated, filled with years of pent-up pain and grievance: "Father... how could he possibly agree? A supermarket cashier? In his eyes, it was a disgrace to the Okada family! He was furious, threatened, froze my accounts, used all his connections to try and transfer me to the most remote police station, and even... even threatened to sever our father-son relationship! Mother... could only cry in secret, unable to do anything."

Okada clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white: "Why would I, a professional officer, end up working as a chauffeur for the Superintendent General of Police? It's all because of this!"

“But at that time… I was like I was possessed! I felt that I had lived the first half of my life for others, for my family, for my responsibilities! Only this time! I wanted to live for myself! For this… what I thought was ‘purity’ and ‘warmth’! I had an unprecedented war with my father! One argument after another, one confrontation after another… I almost exhausted all my energy and the last bit of affection between father and son.”

“The wedding…” Okada let out a short, desolate laugh. “Can you imagine? The wedding of the only son of Financial Services Agency Commissioner Okada Masahiro! Not a single Okada family relative was present! The groom’s family and friends seats… were completely empty! Only a few of my close friends from the University of Tokyo were there. Miki’s relatives… their eyes were filled with incomprehension and a hint of… disdain? They probably thought I was some kind of down-on-my-luck son abandoned by his family.” He shook his head, tears silently streaming down his face again. “But I didn’t care at the time! I felt like I had won! I had broken free of my cage! I had protected my love! I… I even felt a kind of tragic pride…”

“The price…” Okada’s voice trailed off, filled with endless weariness and regret. “The price was an almost complete break with my father. For years… except for unavoidable official occasions, we barely spoke. He regarded me as a traitor and a disgrace to the family. And I… I thought I had received compensation, gained Miki’s love and that warm home… but what happened?” He suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes staring intently into the void, as if trying to pierce through the wall to see his dead wife.

"It turned out to be a complete and utter scam! A fleeting, illusory dream bought with my future, my family, all my trust and sacrifices!" His voice suddenly rose, filled with the anger of being fooled and a profound sense of desolation: "When I got home, I saw Okamoto on the table... I, I..."

"Because she married you not for you as a person! It was for the wealth and glory she fantasized about behind the 'Okada' surname! It was to get close to what she thought was the core of a financial empire! When she discovered that your father didn't acknowledge her as his daughter-in-law at all, and that your income as a 'police inspector' couldn't satisfy her insatiable desire for luxury goods... her true colors were revealed! Complaining, mocking, indifferent... she even... cursed you to die! All for that meager pension!"

Uesugi Muneyuki said calmly, with a hint of sadness, "I think you've misunderstood something. Her initial attitude towards you was purely out of professional instinct. It's just that you haven't had much contact with her, so you've mistaken it for a personal gesture of goodwill towards you."

This is a common problem among many men: they mistake the friendliness shown by the other person in their profession for special treatment.

For example, maid cafes that otaku like to go to, flight attendants that many ordinary workers encounter, and club receptionists that many small business owners encounter.

Okada Miki... wants to become the daughter-in-law of the Financial Services Agency Commissioner, and who the Commissioner is is not important.

She must have gradually discovered Okada's true identity while he was pursuing her, so at least initially, she pretended very well. However, after marriage, she found that she was not living the life of the upper class as she had hoped, and naturally, she gradually reverted to her old ways.

She thought she would become an upper-class lady, but she was just an ordinary middle-class wife. With such a huge gap, Okada Miki naturally felt unbalanced. Who can she blame?
How can you blame yourself?
“Perhaps it’s true, as Uesugi said, and I… I’ve acted like a fool!” Okada Masayoshi pounded his chest hard, making a dull thud. “I was still trying to maintain it! I was still blaming myself for not doing enough! For neglecting her because I was too busy with work! I even… even when she was besieged by the media and her reputation was ruined, I dragged my injured body back, thinking of ‘protecting’ her! And then… I opened the door… and what did I see?! Okamoto 001! Okamoto Wolf Thorn! Okamoto Spiral Particle Edition! She and her lover! Lying in a pool of blood! And I… became the number one murderer!”

"What did I do wrong?! Uesugi-san! Tell me! What did I do wrong?!" Okada Masayoshi, like a lost child, desperately sought an answer from Uesugi Muneyuki, even though he knew there was no answer. He almost cried out, "I followed the rules, I did my duty, I was even willing to sacrifice for the children! I just... just wanted to grasp a little bit of warmth and reality that I wanted... I paid every price I could! Why... why did it turn out like this?! Why did my sincerity earn... the most vicious betrayal and the cruelest frame-up in the world?!"

He broke down again, sobbing uncontrollably, his body curled up, trembling violently. This time, his weeping was no longer simply out of fear and injustice, but out of utter despair after his faith had crumbled and the pillars of his life had been shattered. The spirited young police inspector who had broken with his family for true love, the "young lion" who had risked his life to save someone at the nursery gate, was now utterly dead after experiencing the disillusionment of his marriage, betrayal and framing, a life on the run, and the collapse of his faith.

Uesugi Muneyuki silently stared at the distraught middle-aged man before him.

He did not answer Okada Masayoshi's question about "right and wrong," because there was no standard answer to that. He simply listened quietly, like a most faithful recorder, documenting this tragedy brewed by human greed, family constraints, and the cruel twists of fate.

After a long while, when Okada Masayoshi's sobs turned into suppressed whimpers again, Uesugi Muneyuki finally spoke slowly, his voice low and filled with a worldly-wise compassion: "Okada-san, I know that the Okada Masayoshi of the past, the Okada Masayoshi who gave everything for that phantom under the supermarket lights... is indeed 'dead.' Died from betrayal, died from framing, and also died from... the truth you finally see."

"But at least you still have us, don't you?"

"The rights and wrongs of the past cannot be changed. What matters is that you are still alive, and the truth is coming to light."

Uesugi Muneyuki extended his hand: "We're all worried about you and waiting for you!"

“Even your father personally inquired about this matter.”

Just as Uesugi Muneyuki was speaking, outside, Date Nagamune, Kai Takeru, Ikeda Erena and others from the Special Missions Division had already entered. Erena remained silent throughout, while Date Nagamune and Kai Takeru were already in tears.

That's terrible, Okada-san!
Okada Masayoshi stared blankly at Uesugi's outstretched hand, then looked down at his own hand, which was covered in mud and tear stains and trembling slightly. A sliver of starlight, which had never been completely sealed off, managed to seep in through the gaps in the ventilation shaft and landed on that hand, warm but carrying a heavy sense of reality.

Yes, I still have you all, I still have everyone!

I am not alone!

(End of this chapter)