But the Uesugi family head looked so pathetic, not at all like an influential figure who could command the wind and rain. In her eyes, she only saw a father who worried about his daughter.
Madame Uesugi was also wiping her tears, chiming in with, "Please, Officer Tamako, we are willing to pay to hire you, as long as you take good care of my daughter, I’m willing to do anything..."
"Don’t make it sound like Officer Tamako is unreasonable!" The Uesugi family head flattered Minamoto Tamako, then turned to reprimand his wife: "Officer Tamako is a good police officer, she would never ignore a vulnerable citizen..."
After speaking, he turned his head to ask Minamoto Tamako, "Right?"
If it were Fushimi Roku here, he would definitely mock the Uesugi family head for being shameless.
Minamoto Tamako couldn’t refuse. She had always responded better to soft approaches than hard ones, so she could only muster the courage and agree.
But she did not finalize her words, leaving some room for maneuver: "I don’t have a problem with it, but that apartment was rented by my partner, you’ll have to ask his opinion... Besides, there’s no available room in the apartment."
The Uesugi family head beamed, indicating that it was good as long as Officer Tamako agreed.
Without further ado, they set off right away, bringing Uesugi Shion to the Sugamo Apartment, helping their daughter settle in, and scheduled monthly visitation times, while also signing a cheque for Minamoto Tamako.
Minamoto Tamako wanted to slow things down, but seeing the number on the cheque, counting how many zeros there were, she found herself unable to say no.
With this money, she could buy a car, pick up and drop off Taira Sakurako every day, and even enroll Sakurako in summer camp, autumn outings, special classes, and such...
Raising a child is really expensive!
The Uesugi family head worked hard for his daughter, just like she worked hard for Sakurako! Fujimura-kun must understand her, right?
Inside Sugamo Apartment, Fushimi Roku was sleeping soundly on the bed.
Last night, he had another strange dream. A voice kept bothering him. If it were someone else, they would definitely be troubled, but he was already used to the little angel and demon whispering by his ears, so he didn’t mind, intending to get a bit more sleep to make up for the quality.
While Fushimi was half-awake, a sudden noise of footsteps came from outside the door.
Fushimi Roku turned over, thinking it was Taira Sakurako coming back home to play with her friends, so he didn’t pay attention and continued to sleep with his eyes closed.
As the noise grew louder, Fushimi heard his room door being pushed open, only then realizing something was amiss—it’s still morning, Taira Sakurako hasn’t finished school yet!
Fushimi Roku turned his head, opened his eyes, and was instantly stunned.
A circle of people surrounded his bed.
The Uesugi couple was checking out the room environment, the attending physician was observing Uesugi Shion, the butler lightly knocked at the back, accompanied by two bodyguards looking around... Six or seven people finished their tasks and simultaneously turned to look at Fushimi Roku lying in bed.
He felt like it was the New Year, sleeping in lazily when relatives visited.
"Can someone explain... what’s going on here?" Fushimi Roku thought the interrogation had been exposed.
Minamoto Tamako squeezed into the room and repeated the Uesugi couple’s request.
Fushimi Roku was not as easy to talk to as Minamoto Tamako. After hearing the ins and outs, he replied to the Uesugi couple with two words: "Get out!"
The Uesugi family head sent everyone away, closed the door, and tried to negotiate and talk with Fushimi Roku alone.
He first brought up the Uesugi family’s status, claiming that he had good relations with both the police chief and deputy chief, and it would only take a word to get Fushimi Roku promoted.
Fushimi Roku listened, lay back on the bed, and instructed them not to forget to close the door when they leave.
The Uesugi family head could only offer significant benefits, writing another cheque. Fushimi Roku counted the zeros on it, expressing disinterest, and simply turned over, facing away from the Uesugi family head.
The latter could not threaten him because if the deal really went through, his daughter would still live there, and there was a risk of personal revenge from Fushimi Roku.
He didn’t expect Fushimi Roku to be even more difficult than Minamoto Tamako, so he had to lower himself to persuade: "It’s just letting my daughter stay for a while..."
"Easy for you to say, there’s no extra room for her to live in!" Fushimi Roku waved his hand impatiently.
"Uh, Fujimura-kun and Miss Tamako aren’t a couple?" the Uesugi family head probed, "It’s normal for a couple to sleep in the same room, or are your feelings not in harmony, and you’re currently separated..."
Fushimi Roku suddenly sat up, touched his chin, and said with a serious face, "I thought about your suggestion just now and found it indeed feasible... I’m not an unreasonable person, and as a police officer, naturally, I help vulnerable citizens when I can."
The Uesugi family head didn’t know why Fushimi Roku had suddenly changed his mind, but as long as Fushimi Roku agreed, he was relieved and wisely fulfilled his promise, leaving the cheque behind.
With everything agreed, the next thing was to choose a room.
The Uesugi family head eyed Fushimi Roku’s master bedroom. It had bay windows, a balcony, and a private bathroom, and his daughter shouldn’t feel wronged staying there.
Fushimi Roku was quite unhappy. He was used to living there and didn’t want to move away casually; he’d grown fond of the room, equivalent to a second home.
To make him move, they’d have to pay more.
The Uesugi family head wasn’t short on money, so he wrote another cheque as compensation. Fushimi Roku made a fortune, albeit looking unwilling, and moved into Minamoto Tamako’s room.
"My room can’t fit three people!"
Minamoto Tamako was troubled. Her first reaction was, what about Sakurako? She couldn’t possibly drive Sakurako away, could she?
"I don’t know, you’re the one who brought the thief into the house, you figure it out yourself." Fushimi Roku lay down in Minamoto Tamako’s bed, burrowed into her pink covers, and planned to catch up on sleep.
Minamoto Tamako was so anxious she was going around in circles. She initially thought Fujimura-kun would refuse, but unexpectedly, Fujimura-kun also gave in; what if Taira Sakurako comes back and finds there’s no place for her to sleep, wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?
What to do? Should Taira Sakurako sleep in a cardboard box?
She poked her head out, found the butler and bodyguards already tidying up the room, moving Fushimi Roku’s personal belongings out, preparing for Uesugi Shion to move in.
Isn’t this a case of a cuckoo laying its egg in another bird’s nest?
Minamoto Tamako nudged the lazy pig on the bed and said, "Think of a way! Isn’t Sakurako your sister? You can’t let her have no place to sleep, can you?"
Her bed was indeed large, but not large enough for three people to sleep on it.
Fushimi Roku, being so frustrated he couldn’t sleep, sat up with an irritated face. After pondering for a moment, thinking about how Taira Sakurako living in the room did indeed cause trouble, he came up with a plan and said:
"We’ll remodel the living room, make a partition, and build a small room along the entryway. The living room will be half its size but no matter, we never really have guests..."
"But, the doctor said the environment shouldn’t change too much," Minamoto Tamako said.
"Then let Sakurako sleep in a cardboard box," Fushimi Roku said and lay back down.
This left Minamoto Tamako speechless. Faced with a choice between Taira Sakurako and Uesugi Shion, she was surely more inclined towards Taira Sakurako.
But Uesugi Shion was mentally ill and might have episodes at home, so she could only explain this to the Uesugi couple in advance.
The Uesugi couple expressed understanding because Minamoto Tamako and Fushimi Roku had already made concessions, allowing a mentally ill person to live at home — anyone would have concerns.
They were eager for their daughter’s recovery, proposing to help with the construction. The Uesugi family was into real estate, and they were also skilled in interior design.
Since they could build a partitioned room for free, naturally, Minamoto Tamako wouldn’t refuse. She discussed it with the apartment manager, who was also persuaded by the Uesugi family, and the renovation was scheduled that day.
By evening, when Taira Sakurako came home, the new room was already finished.
The next few days, the room needed to be aired out, but Taira Sakurako, finding it new, didn’t mind as she went to play in there anyway.
After a busy day, Uesugi Shion finally settled in at the Sugamo Apartment.
These next few days would require the room to be aired out, but Taira Sakurako didn’t seem to mind the new place and continued to play happily there.
The attending physician’s stimulation therapy truly worked. With time, Uesugi Shion started to improve. She saw Fushimi exiting in search of food and immediately dashed towards him, arms open wide, exclaiming joyfully: