Vol 6 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2

A long time back, I once asked Hiro about the difference between infatuation and love

Hiro was a thorough gigolo--he could be wearing a Cartier necklace froether with the Rolex froirlfriend and Arna a BMW froirlfriend, and then have a lover's tiff with his fifth ex-girlfrien To be expected of a h there are people who call hi)

“You're in your Sophoh school, Narumi, and you showed more talent than I did I really want to teach your some skills here!” Hiro once said that when I was holed up at the usual gathering spot outside the back door of the kitchen, wolfing down the salt-flavored ramen

“Let's proolo and rope in more buddies!”

“That'll cause a distrubance to society as a whole, so please don't And having gigolos as buddies isn't really a good thing, right? Won't you be troubled if there's more of them?”

“That won't be the case Didn't Motonari Mori once say that it's easy for a rope to snap, but difficult for three to break?”

“It's easy to break 3 too!” He's talking about arrows, not ropes!

Because of Hiro's personality, he had a unique viewpoint on relationshi+p between males and females

“In the trade of being a gigolo, the s!”

“You're talking about how to make her think of you as a boyfriend at oneon the time and place?”

Hiro widened his eyes, his lips quivering with emotion

“I didn't teach you anything, and you already understood the ultienius after all! There is nothing else I can teach you!”

“Didn't you tell me that when you were drunk!?”

“No, I guess that this definitely is so I learned from you!”

This guy's starting to make up memories now!

“How do you irl treat you as a boyfriend? Don't you often stay over at a girl's place and take their money, Hiro? That makes you look like a lover there, you know?”

“This has nothing to do with et of infatuation is a boyfriend, but for love, it's a lover”

“Oh, so anyhat's the difference?”

“You're saying that there's a difference in infatuation and love?”

I guess the only one I knoould say such a disgusting line unabashed would be Hiro It was too e, and I decided to lower my head and not look at him

However, Hiro answered without a second thought,

“There's nothing different Both of them are lust”

“That was unfiltered”

Then ith that tall talk?

“For exaht or left, I'm still Hiro Kuwabara, you know? That's the case Infatuation and love are just two sides to lust My job is to shoomen the side they want to see”

He was able to round things off so perfectly Of course, there was a likelihood that all of it was nonsense he believed

Thinking about it, the words Hiro added on at the back was probably his true feelings

“SoI'm unable to face them directly If I olo”

The reason why I thought of this was because Hiro's eyes were ever so serious when he said this

Hiro went about at an abrupt speed, trying to convince everyone as at the encyhe asked us to wreck the e, but how are we supposed to do that? What if that Huang Hong Lei has already set up a sweet trap for Min-san to fall into? If us getting involved was to be found out by her, she'll definitely ignore you, right? There's noto this Min-san only intended to be a replacement and didn't want to marry for real In that case, shall we spread rus? Like how her hands are hands and feet aren't clean, or that she can't hold her liquor? No, that'll e like Dustin Hoffman and swoop aith the bride! Idiot, they'recarted out with holes all over us

I stared at the sidelong face of Hiro wordlessly, and was only able to listen to their passionate discussion quietly I didn't have the strength to interrupt Why wasn't anyone retorting about this? Why was Hiro being so seriously?

Finally, Yondaime spoke,

“So basically, master was forced to be the substitute because of the debt her dad owes? In that case, can't we just find her dad and tell him to clean up his own mess?”

The surrounding stares gathered upon Yondai temporarily overwhelmed the silence that filled the room

“Our specialty is in finding people”

Major nodded

“But wait” Tetsu-senpai interrupted “So that et killed, you kno?”

Ast everyone, Tetsu-senpai was the only one who saw Hanada Masaru's face Yondaied

“He gets what he deserves, I guess”

“Can't say that now? He's master's dad”

“Definitely can't let Min-san shed any tears” Hiro tersely stated

“You idiot, how canto her, or even a load”

“That's impossible Min-san has tears and blood unlike you, Yondai partner in the future!”

I felt a bowling bowl hurled right at the back of my head Hiro'sfor real He's serious about Min-san How's that possible? Wasn't he soolo by everyone? nobody actually retorted him Does this mean everyone knew?

“Is this the tiht? Calm down!” Yondaime lashed back

“Eh, erm, wait—”

I was finally able to interject, yet Alice, who remained silent all this while, suddenly spoke up

“No, let's do this”

Everyone turned to look at Alice The petite detective had her blanket draped over her shoulders, looking atat Yondaime opposite her, and then to Hiro at her left

“Let's do as Yondaime said We'll look for Hanada Masaru”

“Why? Didn't you hear? Hiro said not to”

“Don't you understand I' Hiro with the request, to look for Hanada Masaru”

Alice's eyes were filled with starstreaht break upon contact I did see such eyes before, and so, I did not knohat to say

Work was quickly allocated, and once that was done, everyone left the agency Alice and I were the only ones left in the cold server roo blankly at the closed door

“What are you spacing out for?”

“Ah—erm”

This series of sudden scare rendered me unable to speak clearly Hiro suddenly revealed his true feelings, and Alice's reversal of the request caused h I was lost in a world of mirrors Well, I would say that Hiro's reaction wasn't co, he suddenly became an employee of Min-san at 'Hanamaru', but

“Hurry up and work! Move 20 cans of Dr Pepper over here No need for them to be chilled”

“20 cans” Was she planning to drink them all? 7 liters of Dr Pepper is about the total amount of blood within Alice!

“It ht be fatal for me if I leave the bed now This is an all out battle”

“All out battle/”

“Yes I''s system”

I was shocked, and stared at the black hair covering the back of Alice's figure Huang Xiao Ling, the one who came i contact frohts were still vague

“You started to realize so”

“Huess so”

“She's probably still in some form of contact with Hanada Masaru Probably knohere he is right now”

Where Hanada Masaru was”

And so, this becaency Alice reed with

“What was that all about?”

I could only ask her Typically, it was illogical for the detective to be the one asking

“I'm not an ordinary detective I'm a NEET detective”

“I know that”

“Once I receive a request, I can beco eye that oversees the ends of all 3,000 worlds Without receiving a request, I am merely an empty, silent ”

“Iknow that too”

“This e There are too many words shrouded in darkness, and Hanada Masaru is hidden at the center of it I' with hi a request however”

Alice's voice see cold breeze

I sighed, and went back and forth between the fridge and the bed,them in a pyramid

She couldn't help if there was nobody who made a request

A request would be the reason why this NEET detective would take action, and the shackle that bound her down Alice said many times that the detective had to be limited to the position of a representative The power of words is too powerful, it can shred, , carve, sculpt, or even shape a person's heart

But despite this, I often saw her leap beyond that boundary, and got deeply hurt as a resukt As I was as useless as a tattered plastic umbrella

I kne useless I was, but I tried saying to her,

“I once had a thought, I was sure that NEETs had to be either like this or that Isn't it stupid that NEETs have to take action only when they're asked? That'll only s co coerced into getting married, and I don't knoe can do if we find Hanada Masarubu-but, we can't just leave this aside, right? He's Min-san's dad after all, you know? Isn't that enough reason to help him?”

I said that unabashedfully, and lowered, yet there was awords I said?

What was the point of saying such words? I could not help but wonder, and I did not dare look up at Alice's face

“Sorry for getting too carried away”

“Whoosh!+” a little air could be heard rushi+ng out It was the sound of a Dr Pepper can being opened Following that was Alice's unexpectedly gentle voice

“It's fine That's your job!”

“Eh?”

I lifted er to be seen in Alice's eyes, just a white ht at the cusp of dawn

“Us NEETs are too used to not knohat to do, and too used to thinking that all will be fine if we do this A car without a steering wheel needs a rear view mirror”

Then isn't it useless even if there's a rear view mirror? I wondered, but I nodded silently

“One day—one day, I ht be able to break out of this prison, overcome the tall walls I built up, and step out to the vast lands without having to protect anything Until that day arrives, only you—”

Alice sed her words, and I still remained silent

“Just take it that I didn't say anything,” Alice shook her head, and wrapped herself in the blanket as she turned her back on ain separated us

“So what do we do once we find Hanada Masaru? Any way other than to hand his?”

Alice did not answer iulped down an entire can of Dr Pepper The gulping heard froe the tense atmosphere in the office

“Right now, I don't know Maybe there's another way”

The detective lowered her head, putting her fingers together as she said this

“We know too little about this incident, so there are a few points I can't accept Aest part is Hanada Masaru's 's words are to be trusted, Hanada Masaru's ht?”

“Uu”

That was the case

A uard shot an intruder, and unfortunately killed Huang Xiang Yu who protected that intruder If this stateivable, but taking the two corpses aould be really suspicious Was it because he ran away that others suspected hiot involved? Why run away?

“Maybeeven if it's out of carelessness, the mafia will continue to persist until the very end, so he can only run away?”

“Maybe, but that's just a guess Anyway, the truth lies in Hanada Masaru himself, and we have to find hie, and there's no need to settle the entire incident We just need e with the Huangs”

Dejected, I sat on the floor in front of the bed So that's it, that's hoas In that case, we needed to know the truth, and then we figure out the rest once we sort everything out

“In other words, once we find Hanada Masaru, the real battle follows Right noe don't knoho the enemy really is, and even Hanada Masaru himself may be on the same side as us”

I nodded firmly

Right, there's a chance the Hanadas will be reunited! I suddenly thought But does Min-san really want to see her dad, or not? She likes to act tough aft all However, Hanada Masaru had a prohter In April, when he slipped back to 'Hanamaru', I saw the words he left us “Next time, let me try out the ice cream you made as well”

Finally, I thought of a future developht be a little better, and my lips could not help but curl into a smile Min-san probably wanted to let her dad taste her raht even tell him that she found a reliable partner ouldtoo much But if this keeps up

“What? Why are you leering away?”

Alice's voice caused me to cover my mouth in shock

“Ah! Just had a thought, the one who'll ask everything froht be Hiro”

“Hm? Why's that?”

“Eh? No, well, you see, didn't Hiro just say that Min-san's dad will be his sparring partner in the future?”

“Speaking of which, he seemed to have mentioned it before What does that e with Hanada Masaru?”

Duirl seeuess?

“Eh, erhter to hter to so like that”

Speaking of which, Hiro himself never admitted that he was serious

Alice was duhed with much reluctance

“That's an exaggeration A daughter doesn't belong to a dad! And no matter what Hiro thinks of master, eh, no et uy's an unanchored playboy by nature”

“Bu-but he started work recently, and it see ti that this, well, he intends to run the ra with Min-san?”

Alice was du

“Hiro? Ummimpossibleno, but”

All kinds of inexplicable e on Alice's childish face

“Erm Alice, don't tell me, that you don't know Hiro's serious about Min-san?”

“H!? I knew that already! I could tell from his demeanour!”

For some reason, there was some obvious panic in Alice's answer She should have known about this, right? She knew Hiro for a longer time than I did Tetsu-senpai and Major, and even Yondaime never showed much shock Was it because nobody was shocked about this? Speaking of which, I suddenly re When Min-san was attacked by the yakuza and got hurt, I reht? Maybe there had been many similar cases of such incidents

“In that case, why hasn't there been any development between those two?”

“Development? What do you mean?”

“Haven't they known each other for a long time? If he likes master, can't he just confess to her? Don't you find Hiro to be a little useless?”

“Hm? U-uu?”

“Does the one being crushed on not know anything at all? Even though they were together for a long well”

“Mmmmmm”

“And they're still buddies! They probably assisted each other in many ways, not just in work alone, but if she didn't realize her buddy's feelings for her, isn't that too much? Eh, is it that Min-san's very sharp when she is, but very dull at boy girl relationshi+ps What's wrong Alice? Your face's red”

Alice's fingertips were quivering, and it appeared that she was crushi+ng the eth, the can showed nary a budge And at that ht at me

“D-do you have the right to talk about others like that?”

What's with that? I hurriedly ducked e

“Someone without senses like you can't determine the difference between aabout relationshi+ps between ivable!”

“I-I get you! That's not so about, but you don't have to be so angry, right? This has nothing to do with you”

“You're saying that it has nothing to do with me?”

“Probably not?”

“Uuuuu, fo-forget about it!”

Alice turned her face to the monitor on the screen, and the hill of plushi+es fell

“Anyway, I' battle of endurance on the internet Get out and stop disturbing my work!”

“Do you have to be so agitated?'

“Our opponent's Huang Xiao Ling, the developer of the Zodiac Group's Security system”

Alice's voice was rather agitated, her eyes flickering with dangerous exciteht in front of her showed the portal site of the Zodiac group, the Chinese Astrological Signs that signified the group's nans based on the ht at this point, it was Libra I was already well acquianted with it It was said that there was a daily increase in the nuine, currently closing in on yahoo and google

It's true that till this point, Alice was invincible when it came to the internet, and only in this case did she finally meet a for soe, it would likely be a troublesome one

In any case, and I started to doubt, if Xiao Ling-san already knew Hanada Masaru's whereabouts, as the reason for her witholding it from us? If she told us directly, the matter would have been a lot easier, and ould be able to help Hanada Masaru Thinking about this, I started to wonder if Xiao Ling-san really didn't know anything

“Enough Stop thinking too much and do what you're supposed to do” Alice seemed a little peeved as she said that “Also, listen up I'll keep re withThe opponent is the Chinese ot their eyes on you That dangerous et near him”

“Right Got it”

I heaved a sigh, and dragged htly breezy early winter, but due to the frigid cold in the office and the difference in teh I was surrounded in a warhts of the skyscrapers in fron the of the station It was late

I went down the eency staircase to the back door of the kitchen, and just so happened to encounter Min-santhe beer crate out There were the sounds of drunk custo a listener I nodded to Min-san, and intended to step on the bicycle Wenot to let Min-san know that the NEET agency would be taking action, because if she knew, she would be utterly furious, and would yell at us, why are you getting involved with the mafia, you brats

However, Min-san put down the beer crate by the wall, and turned to call me

“What are you plannin again?”

I held the handles of the bicycle, rooted to the ground This is bad

“Why are you anxious to get away? You don't want to answer my question?”

I was about to get onto the seat of the bicycle, only for rabbed from behind

“N-nothing? Nothing at all!?”

Even I realized that nobody would believe such nonsense Min-san draggedme by the collar

“Those useless guys, and even Sou ca to do with the Huangs again? Don't you guys ever learn? Listen, they're the Hong Kong ues without warning, without flinching!”

“Erm, well”

Min-san's furious glare was right in front of me, and I could only think of what to say She would definitely find out, so I guess I should tell her mostly truth? Just hide the critical matters first

But before I spoke, I had to be sure

“Did you hear anything from Hiro? Well, the request this tiation to keep it a secret for him”

Min-san glanced aside, through the back door that was ajar, at the kitchen Hiro, wearing a black apron around his waist, was drinking with the regular customers I didn't know if he noticed me, or if he pretended not to

“That guy never said anything”

“Ah, I see Well, I expected that”

Hiro probably wouldn't be that careless,

“Though he did tell et married with him”

“Ehhh!?”

“Saying that he'll run the raot Alice and Sou involved to wooto pull a fast one with such unimportant stuff

Hiroyou're really serious! You were being honest all the way, and she wouldn't believe you Well, it's an outconored co around with the hearts of so irls?

However, since this was the current situation, I probably kne to continue Taking a deep breath to calain,

“Well actually, he's being completely serious”

“Hmm?” Min-san frowned

“Min-san, you're going to be a substitute for the wedding cere this chance to force a e with you That's why everyone's worried”

“Are you guys idiots? How's that—” Saying that, Min-san stopped herself

Then, I saw so very rare Min-san looked aside, and even curled her lips Was she embarrassed?

“You probably had an idea about that”

“Nobut that e were kids Back then, Hong Lei and I were still brats in middle school”

“See, I guessed so”

“Like that's the case, you idiot”

I got flickered on the forehead I couldn't see very well due to the di red

“Me getting uys anyway?”

“Well, you've been taking care of us all this while, so nobody wanted to see you being harassed by soe That's e needed to investigate in many ways Like whether he has other wos like that”

“That's enough already”

Min-san pushedback

“I said that they'reto investigate such useless stuff, what'll happen if Hong Lei and his cronies set their eyes on you? Stop butting in!”

Min-san's tone was like aoff a pet cat, and I reached out to close the back door, heaving a sigh It looked like I h somehow

I went to the front of the ra some ramen out of the shop He waved at me with a wry s firht breeze tickled my neck

Of course, I did not go honed only one job, to obtain -san Thus, I went up the Meiji Street, towards shi+njuku

Behind ht side was the shi+njuku garden I cycled for approxi appeared at a cross junction with little traffic All the lights from the 4th level and above were lit, and they looked asabove The nalass panel, Zodiac

I parked in front of the building, and tookto meet at this time

“How did you obtain my cellphone number?”

Xiao Ling-san's voice stabbed at h the speaker

“Well, actually, I guess it's better to find some intel that's not really hard to find, and easier to talk about proper business No, it wasn't me, it's the detective”

I inadvertently lifted ot the feeling soh I did not tell her that I was at the ground floor

“Haven't you heard the ruh school kid can just snoop around!”

It's my job to provide the retorts I nearly spat out those words, but I guess this person probably wouldn't bother with this lame joke of mine

“We aren't here to obstruct or influence the Huangs Please understand!”

There was a deep sigh from the speaker

“Erm, sorry to disturb at such a late hour, but I' I'll like to request, so I' if you're available at the moment?”

Saying that, I realized very well that this job was tough to deal with The one most suited for this job would be Hiro himself, but he could only be asked to be an obedient ee of asking

“What's wrong? Didn't that kid already reject the request?”

“Actually, you should knohere Min-san's dad is now, right?”

“Didn't I say that he didn't tell me?”

She denied it immediately Unlike me, it looked like everyone kne to ask What do I do? Try talking to her again? Erm

“Well, as you know, that detective's a hacker, and she ed to hack into your cellphone and obtained the call record from Hanada Masaru-san”

After saying that, I iretted it nobody would record a phone conversation, right? That would certainly be seen through

However, so-san did not speak up for another 2 seconds, and clearly she was startled by my bluff

“How's it possible to record a phone conversation? Stop spouting nonsense”