Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 508, Get out of the way, it's about to explode!

At four in the morning, the secret facilities of the Imperial Household Agency were shrouded in an ambiguous silence that lay between sleep and wakefulness.

Black eaves in the style of the Kamakura period cut across Tokyo's gray-blue sky, and a few washi paper lanterns cast a hazy light under the corridor, like a warm yellow dream floating on the edge of reality.

Uesugi Muneyuki, Ikeda Erena, and Watanabe Minami were finally able to rest. They had been searching all day and the entire Special Missions Unit was exhausted.

Minami Watanabe fared slightly better; she hadn't gone to the scene to investigate and had been sitting in her office the whole time. Now she finally had time to observe the top-tier treatment the Imperial Household Agency was providing them with.

The suite and the entryway were extremely spacious. The ginkgo wood flooring was polished to the point of being like a dark mirror, reflecting the faint light of dawn. When Miss Minami took off her shoes, she almost lost her balance and was supported by Uesugi's arm. Her high heels and his Oxford shoes were placed side by side in the sunken area of ​​the entryway, like two boats finally moored at the shore.

“Zongxue, look at the imperial curtain on the ceiling—” Minami lowered her voice but couldn’t contain her excitement, pointing her finger at the crisscrossing wooden latticework at the top: “It’s exactly the same as the one in the Shishinden Hall of the Kyoto Imperial Palace!”

Uesugi casually draped his suit jacket over the katana coat rack in the entryway and loosened his tie.

Twenty hours of intense searching left a gray shadow on his eyelashes.

"Wow, Zongxue, look at this!?" Minami had already run into the living room and knelt on the tatami mat, stroking the cypress edge of the hearth table. The gold-leaf screen shimmered faintly in the shadows, painted with seasonal flowers in the Kano school style, the spring cherry blossoms and autumn maple leaves almost swaying in the dim light.

This is what I want! This is the mouth I've always wanted! Kora!

Besides his abilities and good looks, the most important reason she got engaged to Uesugi was his status!
Some things can't be bought with money!

From now on, I'm a superior person among the Chinese!
Uesugi Muneyuki and Ikeda Erena went to take a bath, while Minami enjoyed the scenery inside and outside the suite. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window on the west side of the suite, the dry landscape garden gradually took shape in the morning light, the white sand was raked into ripple-like patterns, and the branches of the black pine stretched out in a lonely posture towards the night that had not yet faded.

The halo of light from the distant Tokyo Tower resembles an orange-red stamp on the city skyline.

“They actually used Arita ware porcelain as a nightlight…” Minami touched the warm glaze of the pottery on the bedside table, and the blue and white patterns emerged transparently in the warm light.

After a quick wash, Uesugi Muneyuki, holding Ikeda Erena, sank into the large Western-style bed in the twelve-tatami-mat bedroom. The down comforter rustled softly. Erena buried half her face in Uesugi Muneyuki's arms and mumbled, "Minami-chan, go to sleep. I can't take it anymore... I'm so tired."

But when Minami opened the cypress door to the bathroom, she saw a towel neatly folded into the shape of a crane next to the obsidian bathtub, while the other two were scattered. The cypress-scented bath salts shimmered in the glass bowl, and the brass faucet was cast in the shape of a phoenix's head. She couldn't help but turn it gently, and the sound of water flowing into the bathtub startled Uesugi, who frowned in his sleep.

“Even the mouthwash cup is made of Kutani ware…” She exclaimed in amazement at her reflection in the frosted glass window. Outside, the sky gradually turned a bluish-gray. Uesugi’s voice drifted from the bedroom, carrying a muffled tone filtered through the pillows: “When the Emperor renovated the house after the war… every bathroom was equipped with… imported… marble…”

His words broke into fragmented murmurs, and Minami finally tiptoed to lie down beside him, her fingertips tracing the neatly trimmed hair at the back of his neck.

The sharp edges of the Uesugi family, passed down through generations, softened in her sleep. On the other side, Erena's originally gentle expression became stiff and aggressive. Minami smiled as she watched the two of them hugging each other, exhausted. She took a shower, then nestled between Uesugi and Erena, holding their hands in her small hands. She whispered, "Thank you for your hard work, both of you. Your support is what keeps me in my position as administrator and allows me to sleep in the Imperial Household Agency's suite used to receive foreign heads of state and their families!"

"Please continue to guide me in the days to come!"

The last washi lantern quietly went out in the daylight, plunging the suite into true darkness.

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

After sleeping for just over three and a half hours, the Imperial Household Agency sent someone to deliver "breakfast" and urged them to get up. Uesugi Muneyuki and Ikeda Erena got up quickly, but Minami, who had been the most excited in the early morning, was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open. She complained, "Miss Ikeda, hurry up and dress me... Muneyuki, I can't go on, let me sleep a little longer..."

"Pfft~" Rena Ikeda couldn't help but chuckle as she put on her clothes. She was in good health, and she and Muneyuki Uesugi exchanged a glance. Helpless, the two of them had no choice but to get Minami-sama out of bed. One of them supported her while the other dressed her, and then the other supported her while the other washed her face and brushed her teeth.

When Uesugi Muneyuki came out, the Special Missions Division members, who were sleep-deprived, were all up and eating breakfast. Everyone had only slept for a little over three hours and were not in good spirits. Among them, Nango Yui took a long time to finish half of the red bean rice in her bowl.

"You've worked hard." Reina Ikeda was feeding the semi-conscious Minami, a scene that amused the Special Missions Division members. Uesugi Muneyuki patted Nango Yui on the shoulder and said softly, "Didn't expect it to be this tiring, did you?"

“No wonder the professional team doesn’t want to come to the Metropolitan Police Department. Once something happens, they work day and night without rest, and it’s said that there’s no overtime pay for ordinary cases.” Nango Yui smiled awkwardly, but he also showed a hint of emotion: “But considering that I’ll actually have to spend the night at the Imperial Palace, it’s worth it.”

“It’s nothing special.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded. Just then, Maeda, the head of the Imperial Household Agency, Gondo, the head of the Imperial Palace Police Headquarters, Takeuchi, the chief of staff, and Nakajima, the vice minister, arrived. Everyone looked like they hadn’t had a good rest, but they were clearly on edge. Maeda Risuke said in a slightly urging tone, “Gentlemen, thank you for your hard work. I apologize for any rudeness. The event was sudden, and the meal I prepared was rather simple, but please hurry up. We will treat you to a very generous meal later.”

"Are the Imperial Household Agency and the Imperial Palace headquarters ready?" Uesugi Muneyuki glanced at Minami, who was still in a semi-conscious state, and could only ask.

"Yes, everything is ready!" Chief Gondo of the Imperial Palace Police nodded seriously.

He has arranged everything! The number of police officers in the Imperial Library has tripled, five more plainclothes elites have been added, and a capable squad leader has been dispatched to take charge of the scene!
The Imperial Household Agency originally proposed that the Special Missions Unit be responsible for the arrest and planning, but the Imperial Palace Headquarters disagreed.

The reason is simple: the Imperial Palace Police Headquarters has already embarrassed itself enough in this matter. If it cannot quickly make amends and arrest the mole as a fig leaf, how will Gondo survive in Japan in the future?
After careful consideration, the Imperial Household Agency agreed to the Imperial Palace Police's request. After all, the mole was one of their own, and to the Imperial Household Agency, the Imperial Palace Police were "one of their own," while the Special Missions Division was "outsiders." Asking the Special Missions Division to come in and help was already embarrassing enough, and what if Uesugi Muneyuki told others about it?
After a quick breakfast, everyone waited.

Waiting for Horikawa Nian to come to work, waiting for the operation to begin!
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Crisis Center, which had rested overnight, was restarted. After hearing the news that Uesugi Muneyuki had found the mole, Prime Minister Owada and others breathed a deep sigh of relief, thinking that Uesugi was still reliable, and then went to rest. Now, the top figures of the country gathered again, making coffee and nervously waiting for the arrest results.

And so, at 8:10 a.m., amidst countless eyes and surveillance cameras, 58-year-old Horikawa Nen, Vice Minister of the Imperial Household Agency's Mausoleum Division, arrived at work.

He was rather thin and wore an oversized, old-fashioned padded-shoulder suit that looked rather loose. He wore a pair of wire-rimmed aviator glasses, and his forehead and temples were already covered with gray hair. He had an ordinary appearance.

However, as soon as he stepped into the building, his keen senses detected an unusual tension in the air.

A strange feeling!
The familiar faces of the palace police were still on duty, but there seemed to be more of them, and they were standing in more deliberate positions, scanning the area more frequently.

Several unfamiliar young faces, dressed in well-fitting black suits, with tall, straight figures and sharp, eagle-like eyes, appeared in the corridor of the Imperial Household Agency. They pretended to be talking or looking at documents, but their demeanor and aura were far beyond what a civilian employee of the Imperial Household Agency could possess. Horikawa Minoru almost immediately sensed the presence of "police," and elite ones at that.

He's worked in the Imperial Household Agency for thirty years! Doesn't he know what the mental state of the staff in the Imperial Household Agency is like?

This alerted the veteran employee, who cautiously entered the office building and then suddenly turned back shortly after going upstairs.

Sure enough, he spotted a familiar palace police squad leader covering a walkie-talkie with his hand, speaking rapidly in an extremely low voice. The moment his eyes met his, he immediately looked away, pretending to be busy with something else, and quickly walked in another direction.

Horikawa Nian narrowed his eyes and quietly went to his office.

The internal phone rang quickly. It was his direct superior, whose voice sounded as usual, but with a hint of barely perceptible stiffness: "Vice Minister Horikawa, please come to the third conference room immediately. Regarding the corpse found in the Imperial Palace and the sudden death in the stone chamber, the ancient books in the Imperial Archives Department have been completely out of order. There are some details that need to be confirmed urgently."

"Yes." Vice Minister Horikawa didn't say much. He was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled with relief.

yes~
Approximately fifteen minutes later, in the third conference room of the Imperial Library.

When Horikawa, wearing a puffy-shoulder suit, pushed open the door to the third conference room, he found not only his superiors inside, but also several men in suits. The corridor outside had also been quietly blocked off by plainclothes officers.

“Deputy Minister Horikawa, please sit down. We have some matters to discuss…” The head of the Imperial Archives Department began, attempting to regain control of the situation.

But Horikawa Minoru didn't give him a chance to finish speaking. He suddenly took a step back, leaning against the wall to prevent being attacked from behind, and interrupted everyone with a sharp, maniacal laugh.

"They're all here! Excellent!" he roared, and before anyone could react, he ripped open his suit jacket and shirt!
"Don't move!!!"

In an instant, time seemed to stop.

What came into everyone's view was the densely packed tubular structures and tangled wires wrapped around his chest and abdomen, and the conspicuous battery pack and detonator that looked like the eyes of death! His right hand was raised high, gripping the detonator tightly, his thumb hovering over the deadly button!
"Don't move! Don't move!"

"Otherwise, I'll send the entire Imperial Palace to the heavens!!!"

(End of this chapter)