Minamoto Tamako saw her deceased grandmother.
When she was little, she loved snuggling in her grandmother’s arms the most, because her grandmother owned a Japanese dessert shop and would stand by the oven every day, her apron imbued with the smell of cake. Snuggling in her grandmother’s arms felt warm all over, with a pleasant scent of syrup, making her feel as if she were in heaven.
Minamoto Tamako squinted her eyes, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
But suddenly, her grandmother reached out and pried open her mouth, stuffing two strange little stones into it, and forced her to drink a big gulp of cold water.
"What a troublemaker," her grandmother said in a man’s voice.
Minamoto Tamako was shocked, thinking, how did her grandmother turn into a man?! Could it be that the fairy tale story has become real? She was just like Little Red Riding Hood, meeting the big bad wolf disguised as her grandmother...
As soon as she thought of this, her grandmother’s appearance started to change. Her mouth got longer and longer, revealing sharp fangs, ears standing up, her whole body sprouting gray mane, turning into a monster with a wolf’s head and a human body!
It grinned viciously at Minamoto Tamako, saying, "That’s right! I am indeed the big bad wolf in disguise! I’ve already eaten your grandmother, and next, I’m going to eat you!!"
"Ahhhhh!!" Minamoto Tamako jerked awake.
Her pupils dilated, breathing heavily, thinking, how could her grandmother change ? Could she still be holding grudges about that thing...
After a moment, her vision gradually focused, and she realized she was snuggled in Fushimi Roku’s arms.
"Turns out it was a dream... But where is this place?"
Minamoto Tamako looked around in confusion, finding her head resting on Fushimi Roku’s lap, her body half-lying on a futon, with the bedroom stove burning bright and a blanket covering her, no wonder her body felt warm. She recalled she should have fallen asleep on the bus.
Could it be a dream within a dream?
She had just broken a fever, her head still fuzzy, thinking Fushimi must be feeling terrible too? The trainees could at least keep warm together, while Fushimi Roku could only flee alone in the snowy night, maybe he’s curled up somewhere in a cave, shivering...
Out of worry, did she dream of him?
Thinking this, Minamoto Tamako lifted her head, looked at Fushimi Roku, and said softly, "Fushimi, you poor thing."
This guy didn’t burn their brain out, did they? He had no experience in caring for the sick, so he instinctively reached out to pat Minamoto Tamako’s face, saying, "Hey, get it together!"
Minamoto Tamako frowned, rubbing her eyes with her hand, vaguely coming back to her senses: "Eh? Am I not dreaming? How did I get here?"
Last night, after driving up the mountain, Fushimi Roku went on foot to the San’in assembly point, crouching near the bus for over half an hour, catching a guy who got off to pee.
After asking around, he found out that Minamoto Tamako had a high fever.
Instructor Shirota took off his own coat and covered Minamoto Tamako with it, letting a few girls hug her for warmth. There was no medicine on the bus, she could only tough it out. Whether they could contact the outside tomorrow was uncertain, there was nothing to eat or drink, and snow was falling in the mountains, it was really hard to say how many days she could hold on.
Fushimi Roku wrapped a note in a stone, threw it to knock on the bus window. He got Instructor Shirota out to negotiate in the snow.
"Had enough fun yet? After causing such a big mess, have you thought about how to wrap it up?"
Instructor Shirota lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, and exhaled white smoke. He never smoked at work, but given how things developed, truth be told he was under a lot of pressure. Plus, he only had a thin shirt left on him, if he didn’t smoke, he really couldn’t withstand it.
"Wrap it up how? Wasn’t this your request?" Fushimi Roku kept a wary eye on the bus to prevent any trainees from sneaking out to ambush him.
"What did I ask you to do?" Shirata Masahiro asked.
"’Since you can’t graduate anyway, just do whatever you want,’ that’s what you said." Fushimi Roku repeated Instructor Shirota’s words and then said, "So I just followed your orders, putting my whole heart into playing the role of a cunning criminal as best as I could."
Shirata Masahiro showed a wry smile, he didn’t have the face to tell Fushimi Roku ’this is just an exam’, given he had already scolded Yoshimura Yu for it earlier.
A lion uses all its strength even to catch a rabbit, since this was the ’harshest test’, only a half-hearted person would treat it like a game, hitting pause. Rather, it was Fushimi Roku who made this graduation test, turning it into a real ’hellish ordeal’.
"Then why did you take Minamoto Tamako away? An escaped criminal suspect wouldn’t do such a stupid thing, right?" Shirata Masahiro asked.
"Can’t I take a hostage?" Fushimi Roku said.
Shirata Masahiro knew Fushimi Roku was being stubborn but didn’t plan to expose him. After hesitating, he agreed to Fushimi Roku’s conditions—Fushimi would provide food and water in exchange for taking Minamoto Tamako away.
"Let me ask at least," Shirata Masahiro flicked off the ash and asked, "Where did you hide?"
"Thirty kilometers east from the foot of Mount Foot Kokuchin, there’s a small inn, and its hot springs are quite nice, I was planning to spend the night there," Fushimi Roku said.
"Honestly..." Shirata Masahiro sighed deeply, "Complete defeat."
If this were a formal manhunt, the end result would be the suspect flees to another location, fifty-two officers are stuck in the deep mountains waiting for rescue, there might even be casualties.
Fushimi Roku made no comment.
The two stood ten meters apart, veiled by the falling snow, hidden in the darkness, neither could see the other’s face clearly. Fushimi Roku vaguely saw the flickering light of the cigarette butt as Shirata Masahiro’s breathing gradually steadied.
After a moment, he said dimly, "Consider yourself qualified."
This was beyond Fushimi Roku’s expectations, he originally thought Shirata Masahiro would be furious, break down like Sakurai Chizuru, granting him a demerit afterward, giving him a hard time.
"If you had abandoned this mess and ran, I’d make sure the school expels you. But you didn’t. Since you came back, it shows you still have a code of ethics as a police officer." Shirata Masahiro was explaining to him, yet it also seemed like he was talking to himself. "Your character is just too dangerous, it’s better to send you to the police box for transformation as soon as possible."
Fushimi Roku thought to himself, what is police ethics? I haven’t even started yet! Haven’t received a penny of salary, and you’re talking to me about ethics?
Besides, what does ’someone like me is too dangerous’ mean? I’m a law-abiding good citizen!
According to Japanese criminal law, as long as the participant’s actions remain within the scope of normal competition, it doesn’t count as intentional injury. The so-called ’normal scope of competition’ leaves a lot of room for maneuver, which is why bullying incidents often occur in high school Kendo Clubs and boxing clubs—strictly speaking, this graduation exam was also a large non-symmetrical competition.
Before getting into things, Fushimi Roku had already thought out how to litigate in his mind. As long as there was confidence of winning the case, that wouldn’t count as breaking the law.
"That explains it, is this exam considered over?" he tentatively asked, "Do you need me to call for rescue?"
"No need." Shirata Masahiro sneered, "As for those losers, I’ll make sure they walk back."