Something’s off, very much twelve percent off!
Minamoto Tamako went into level one alert, shifting from a kneeling position to a crouching one, using a small cake to hide her chin, pretending to savor the tasty cake while secretly watching the expressions of Fushimi Roku and Kazama Chihime.
When did they become so close?
Kazama Chihime sat on the sofa, leaning slightly forward, resting her face on her palm, and tilting her head as she said, "Mr. Fushimi looks so cute when he’s confused"; then Fushimi Roku replied, "No way, no way, Chihime, don’t make fun of me"; then Kazama Chihime covered her mouth and laughed, her thick eyelashes drooping, her eyes squinting into slits: "Do I really look that old?"...
Minamoto Tamako gritted her teeth, thinking she should have done anything to stop Chihime from coming in. She had thought Chihime was a good person before, although there was a tiny bit of suspicion, it could just be a misunderstanding. Before there was conclusive evidence, she wouldn’t easily judge someone...unless she absolutely couldn’t help it.
It’s really infuriating!
Although Minamoto Tamako couldn’t pinpoint what was annoying about Chihime, she believed in her intuition. Senior Feng had taught her before that sometimes you have to trust your instincts, and decisions made subconsciously are far more accurate than those made rationally.
Can’t let them keep chatting !
Fushimi Roku, that kid, has no sense of crisis at all, sitting across from him is a suspect! How can he chat so happily? Hmph, it looks like his soul has been charmed away by a bad woman!
Minamoto Tamako cleared her throat, awkwardly changing the topic: "Ah! I suddenly remembered, Chihime, don’t you also love detective stories? Why don’t we try to deduce who the leader of the Heavenly Punishment Group is?"
She gave Fushimi Roku a look after saying that.
"Is your eyelid twitching?" Fushimi Roku exposed her poor act.
Minamoto Tamako blushed, thinking this guy doesn’t have any tacit understanding at all, they’ve been partners for so long, yet he can’t even understand such an obvious hint, how dumb! And to think they call him Einstein’s intellect, it seems like Einstein wasn’t that great either!
Kazama Chihime saw through her little scheme immediately and played along, saying, "Is it the Heavenly Punishment Group that’s often mentioned in the news recently? The violent gang causing disturbances in Sugamo?"
"Yes, yes!" Minamoto Tamako nodded repeatedly.
Fushimi Roku thought to himself, no kidding, is there another Heavenly Punishment Group apart from the one in Sugamo? He squinted his eyes slightly and glanced sideways at Kazama Chihime. The latter said with a face full of surprise, "Eh—can that be deduced? I heard the leader is very mysterious."
"No matter how mysterious, there are always clues to follow!"
Saying that, Minamoto Tamako scampered back to her room, under Sakurako’s watch, she retrieved a pile of clippings and ran back to the living room to spread them out on the coffee table.
"Look! There are quite a few victims who suffered at the hands of the Heavenly Punishment Group. Before Kamei Yuusaku was killed, the group hadn’t killed anyone yet, so there are quite a few eyewitnesses..."
Before Minamoto Tamako finished speaking, Kazama Chihime interrupted, "But I heard those people had it coming, how can that be considered suffering?"
"Even if they had it coming, before a court verdict, they should be granted basic human rights! If everyone tramples on the judicial system , societal order would fall apart!"
Minamoto Tamako spoke with an air of righteousness, appearing much more mature compared to before...if it weren’t for the ring of cream around her lips, she’d seem even more convincing.
"Eh... so that’s how it is." Kazama Chihime smiled with squinted eyes.
Minamoto Tamako crossed her arms with a posture of a crusader of justice.
Then, she lay down beside the coffee table, pointing at the clippings’ information, listing them one by one: "According to eyewitness statements, the suspect is a long-haired female, about 1.7 to 1.75 meters tall, left-handed, possibly an F cup... This is said to be the most distinctive feature, and it seems they use a branch of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryu swordsmanship..."
While speaking, Minamoto Tamako couldn’t help but look up at Kazama Chihime.
She still thought Chihime was highly suspicious.
At the very least, the suspect’s rare features matched perfectly.
Fushimi Roku saw a chance to stir the pot and couldn’t help but tease: "According to what you said, Chihime’s features seem to match quite well."
Kazama Chihime slowly straightened her back, holding her chest with her left hand on her right elbow, with her right hand on her cheek, looking very troubled: "Ah, talking about these things is a bit embarrassing, but I’m a G, you know."
Although Japanese cup sizes are often exaggerated, in reality, her size indeed surpasses the vast majority of people.
"That, that, that, that can’t be used as evidence! Haha, I was just casually mentioning it!"
Minamoto Tamako suspected Chihime was showing off, but she had no proof, and her anger inexplicably surged: "After all, there are things like sports bras, right? And I heard that some women use chest wraps when practicing Sword Dao..."
"Makes sense," Fushimi Roku continued to incite: "A woman practicing Yagyū Shinkage-ryu swordsmanship with that body type, you won’t find another like that in the whole of Tokyo, right?"
"Not necessarily, there are more practitioners of Yagyū Shinkage-ryu swordsmanship than you think, besides formal dojos, there’s also family lineage. As for the body type, it’s too embarrassing... let’s say Mr. Fushimi is praising me."
Kazama Chihime paused for a moment, then continued: "And my dominant hand is my right hand, you know."
Minamoto Tamako nodded, her memory was excellent, and Chihime always used her right hand: from their first meeting, Chihime used her right hand to help serve tea, dish food, use chopsticks, and she continued to use her right hand in daily life later on.
"Let’s brainstorm and play around with deduction! Don’t take it too seriously, just chatting." Minamoto Tamako said to ease the situation.
"Is that so... well that’s a bit strange then, eh."
Fushimi Roku pretended to recall, saying: "Last time I went to Senior’s house as a guest, I remember Chihime used her left hand to hold the knife."
Kazama Chihime’s expression remained unchanged, speaking gently: "Mr. Fushimi must be mistaken, right?"
Fushimi Roku shook his head, providing more convincing evidence: "The counter and sink in Senior’s kitchen are on the left side, and the cutting board is on the right. I was standing on the left washing vegetables, and you were on the right cutting meat. When I handed over a carrot, I accidentally got my finger cut... This could only happen if you were holding the knife in your left hand."
He paused, explaining further: "If Chihime had been using her right hand to hold the knife, then no matter how much I reached over, the one getting cut would be the carrot, right? Unless I was shoulder-to-shoulder with you, reaching my hand from in front of you to the right side, but if that were the case, you wouldn’t accidentally cut me, right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the living room fell into an eerie silence.