"Page Watanabe and tell Senior Kazama that we’re at the Chinese restaurant and invite them to join us for a meal," Fushimi Roku turned to Watanabe Shun and said.
"Can I go?" Watanabe Shun asked.
"No," Fushimi Roku replied.
"Then I’m not sending it. You can call Senior Kazama yourself." Watanabe Shun was stingy about the operating fee.
"I just remembered, when I was going through the files a while back, I think I saw someone received a compensation of a million..."
Before Fushimi Roku could finish, Watanabe Shun hurriedly covered his mouth with a sheepish smile and said, "Okay, I’ll send it, can’t I? Keep quiet, will you?"
Watanabe Shun then sent a page to Kazama Tatsuya. They agreed on the location, and the time was set for around 7 PM, with Fushimi Roku in charge of booking the restaurant.
He initially did not plan to bring Minamoto Tamako, since there were some things that weren’t convenient to say in front of her.
But Minamoto Tamako was now a patrol police officer teamed up for the investigation, not needing to patrol the district anymore, and it was heard the chief had adjusted her night shift to a day shift. Not letting her join the investigation was like torturing her... Even when Fushimi Roku used the Evil Chant version 2.0, he couldn’t stop Tamako’s heart that longed for the truth.
It’s time to update to version 3.0; the Yuzi Beast’s magic resistance was getting higher, making him have to speed up the update frequency.
"It’s only twelve o’clock, still seven hours to go, where should we go next to investigate?" Minamoto Tamako was ready at any time.
She and Fushimi Roku bought a bento box on the way when they moved and quickly finished it. Now that they were full and hydrated, it was time to work!
Fushimi Roku had nothing to do at home, so he went out shopping, under the guise of investigating, to buy a pager and a mobile phone. For convenience in communication, when he bought the mobile phone, he also had the merchant come over to install a landline... After all, he was used to convenient contact methods, even if it was a bit expensive, he could only temporarily pinch his nose and be a big spender.
"Eh, is this for me?"
Minamoto Tamako fiddled with the pink flip phone with her small hands, feeling guilty about accepting such an expensive gift.
"Yes, store a contact number, just in case we can’t reach someone." Fushimi Roku didn’t want to keep asking that guy Watanabe Shun for help every time.
"It’s too expensive, better not." Minamoto Tamako reluctantly placed the phone back on the counter.
Mama had taught her that one must not accept valuable gifts from others without reason, to avoid incurring a favor too great to return, so one should learn to refuse at times .
"Christmas is coming soon, isn’t it? Consider it an early Christmas gift for you." Fushimi Roku said as he laid on the counter picking a phone number, without turning his head.
Minamoto Tamako widened her eyes and took three steps back in rapid succession, as though she’d seen a flood or a savage beast when facing Fushimi Roku.
In the Meiji era, Japan almost completely adopted Western culture, from changing the country’s system, enlightening free thoughts, establishing social systems, to significantly changing people’s lifestyles, which naturally included Christmas. In 1925, Japan even issued Christmas stamps to enhance the festival atmosphere.
The year 1990 was precisely when the Christmas sales battle began, with advertisements from major businesses flooding the country, covering magazines, newspapers, TV, radio stations, and any common media.
At that time, capitalists had already started to bind Christmas with love, and in the following ten-plus years, Christmas gradually evolved into a special holiday similar to Valentine’s Day.
When the first snow fell in Tokyo, Fushimi Roku had already noticed the streets adorned with red banners and batches of Christmas trees being transported to big malls. When on duty at the kiosk, he could also hear young couples discussing where to go for Christmas... probably to hotels to play Santa Claus and little reindeer.
In short, exchanging Christmas gifts between men and women had extremely ambiguous implications.
However, when Fushimi Roku said that, he didn’t think too much about it. He just casually came up with an excuse to get Minamoto Tamako to accept the phone. It was only when Minamoto Tamako cried out in surprise that he realized he might have said something alarming.
"What’s wrong?" Fushimi Roku chose to play dumb: "You’re supposed to give gifts to good friends during the holidays, right?"
"Ah...uh, okay, that’s true..."
Minamoto Tamako felt her face starting to heat up, she recalled seeing an advertisement a few days ago during patrol on the store windows: ’If you love her, give her Snow Kiss, Snow Kiss chocolates, sweetness melting into the heart’... among other advertisements for various jewelry, plush toys, and little dresses, all with similar slogans.
Recently, the radio was also saying that Christmas is a great opportunity for couples to strengthen their romantic relationship. People can use Santa Claus’s name to express their feelings boldly, stuffing confession letters into the object of their affection’s socks...
In Minamoto Tamako’s impression, Christmas was supposed to be a holiday where parents give gifts to their children secretly; it was only after coming to Tokyo that she realized Tokyo couples exchange gifts with their loved ones on Christmas.
But since Mr. Fushimi said it’s a gift for ’good friends’, it might just be her overthinking things, after all, they are good partners.
The purity within the detective team is indisputable! Good friends should look after each other, it’s quite normal to give gifts during the holiday... haha... well, even if it’s an early gift, it should be fine, right?
She didn’t forget Fushimi Roku’s attitude towards Kazama Chihime last night. Today as soon as Mr. Fushimi entered Senior Feng’s house, he asked if Sister Chihime was around... Of course, she wasn’t being jealous! She was just deducing and proving that there was nothing beyond friendship between good partners.
But then again, Sister Chihime was only helping with eye drops, could it be that she was overthinking it? Ahhhh! It’s so strange, what exactly is she thinking?
Minamoto Tamako’s CPU was having trouble processing; if her brain were a computer, the fan would likely be turbocharged, buzzing loudly. Uncomfortably, she twisted her toe and, with both hands behind her back, said, "Let’s, let’s not, I can’t afford to give a gift so expensive in return..."
"That’s your issue, if you don’t accept it, you’re disrespecting me." Fushimi Roku didn’t think much of it, as he inserted the SIM card into the phone.
Gift giving is an art; he has slipped plenty of gifts to people, and someone like Minamoto Tamako who hesitates but eventually gives in is the easiest to handle.
"This... but... it’s too expensive..." Minamoto Tamako looked down, mumbling.
"If you don’t take it, then you’re not treating me as a good friend." Fushimi Roku said, signaling the shopkeeper to pack up the phone.
"I don’t mean it like that. Good friends should give and take, but I can’t return such a costly gift... so you can give something else, it’s the thought that counts..."
Minamoto Tamako felt that she had made a huge concession.
Unexpectedly, Fushimi Roku cast a sidelong glance and said, "That’s your problem."
"Huh?" Minamoto Tamako was stunned.
"How can a poor person be friends with a rich person? Different circles can’t be forced to blend!"
Fushimi Roku shook his head and sighed, "Do I have to consider your self-esteem every time I give a gift? Must I limit my gift choices to your spending power? Alas... it seems there is already a sad gap between us."
Minamoto Tamako was too frustrated to speak.
This guy made some money from stocks and now looks down on others... it’s just money! When Christmas comes, she’s going to give an insanely expensive gift to slap Mr. Fushimi’s face hard!