Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 280 - 223: Return to Tokyo (Deleted the last section from yesterday)_2

Chapter 280: Chapter 223: Return to Tokyo (Deleted the last section from yesterday)_2

"Haha, stop it, stop it, how could I possibly go to such an embarrassing place?"

Uesugi Sakura was sure he had been there before.

Game Center

As soon as he pushed open the glass door, the various brightly colored claw machines caught his attention, and the intense sound effects from the game center occasionally reached his ears.

Bang bang bang, maybe someone was angrily pounding the machines?

Originally, Uesugi had no interest in claw machines, but he saw a cute little shark in the glass display case.

So he walked over.

"Hey hey, weren’t you going to play games? Why are you grabbing a toy?" Tsubokawa followed behind him.

At that moment, a man with tattooed arms came in from outside the glass door, with a hostile look in his eyes.

But he seemed to be here just to play games, walking straight past the claw machine area and going inside.

"I want the thing inside."

Glancing at the tattooed guy leaving, Uesugi Sakura took out two hundred-yen coins from his bag, inserted them, then manipulated the joystick to try and grab the shark plush toy.

Tsubokawa Takahiro, seeing that he was indeed going to grab a toy, closed his eyes and confidently pushed up his glasses with his index finger:

"Uesugi, as a regular, let me tell you, the claws in the Game Center are all adjusted by the bosses, it’s absolutely impossible to—"

Uesugi Sakura squatted down and took out the short and chubby shark.

"Alright, pretend I didn’t say anything."

Uesugi: "Any recommendations for games to relax the mind?"

Tsubokawa: "Dance machine is pretty good!"

Following his recommendation, Uesugi Sakura, holding the shark in both hands, was about to walk inside, but just then a few police officers suddenly came in through the door.

A man, young and wearing large sunglasses, was also among them.

"Why are the police here?" Tsubokawa Takahiro found it a bit strange.

"Sakura?" Hanamaru Yugetsu pulled down his sunglasses, revealing his eyes.

"Hmm." Uesugi Sakura recognized his uncle.

"When did you come back?"

"Just a couple of days ago."

"A couple of days ago, huh."

Hanamaru Yugetsu exchanged a glance with the three officers and then signaled them to go inside.

Tsubokawa Takahiro curiously followed the three officers’ backs with his eyes until they disappeared around the corner inside.

"What’s going on here?" Uesugi Sakura thought they should be there to look for that tattooed guy earlier.

"Helping my second brother catch some bad guys," Hanamaru Yugetsu said lightly, "That guy did a home robbery and came here with the money to play games."

"None of this is important, what’s strange is you’re actually at a game center, Sakura?"

Hanamaru Yugetsu saw the toy he had just grabbed, "But grabbing toys should be done with Hanabi to really enjoy it, where’s she?"

"She went to England."

"Little Hanabi went to England!? What’s she doing there?"

"Studying abroad."

"Second brother didn’t even tell me, after all, I’m her uncle too. How long will she be gone?"

"Over 3 years."

Hanamaru Yugetsu held his forehead with his right hand, "Oh, my nephew-in-law, for over 3 years, you shouldn’t have let her go, you know—"

Screams and banging sounds came from inside the game center.

Hanamaru Yugetsu quickly went inside, instructing the two not to follow.

Tsubokawa curiously poked his head in, then turned to Uesugi and said, "What should we do now?"

"Wait, I haven’t played my dancing game yet today."

"Wait, is the dancing machine the main point?"

About three minutes later.

With a "bang!"

The tattooed man from before ran out with a bruised face, heading straight for the door, pulling passersby near the claw machines to get out of his way.

"Get out! Get out! Move out of my way!"

With such a fierce look, no one dared to block him, and everyone stepped back.

Seeing him come rushing over, Tsubokawa Takahiro quickly said to Uesugi:

"What do we do, that guy seems like he’s going to run?"

Uesugi Sakura unchanged: "I haven’t played my dance machine yet."

...

Inside the game center, three officers lay unconscious on the floor, chairs were overturned, and customers huddled in distant corners.

The screens of numerous game machines around kept flashing, and the sound effects of various guns and racing cars were endless.

Hanamaru Yugetsu, having been punched in the face, steadied himself, and slapped his head hard to clear his mind.

"Damn, that was something, I’ll have my second brother treat me to a meal when I get back."

As the dizziness started to subside, he hurried out, using the walkie-talkie to alert the officers downstairs to be aware of the fugitive.

As he exited the gaming area and headed toward the entrance, he found the tattooed guy lying unconscious at Uesugi’s feet.

The young otaku customers curiously peered out to take a look.

Hanamaru Yugetsu, a bit surprised, walked up to Uesugi Sakura and asked, "How did this guy end up here all of a sudden?"

"I did it."

"Yes, yes, he did it," Tsubokawa nodded like a pecking chick.

"What did he do?" Hanamaru Yugetsu pointed at Uesugi Sakura, asking Tsubokawa, aware that even three cops couldn’t handle this home-invading robber.

Tsubokawa Takahiro shook his head repeatedly, indicating he knew nothing.

"..."

Casually dressed, Hanamaru Yugetsu glanced at the guy on the ground, then at Uesugi Sakura, "Come with me to the police station, alright?"

Uesugi Sakura only came out today to relax:

"What about my dance machine?"

"Dance machine?"

Hanamaru Yugetsu glanced back, then turned around with a smile and said:

"I’m good at that."

———————————

Shinjuku Police Station, Hanamaru Hiroki, leaning against a chair, lightly scratched the ceramic teacup with his forefinger.

"Three couldn’t beat one, almost let him escape, finally, it was Sakura who knocked him out."

"Tell me, you’ve graduated from police academy for a few years, eating tax money for so long, where did all that strength and brain go?"

The three officers, faces bandaged with their wounds, kept their heads down at the office desk.

Faced with this blunt remark, none of them dared to respond.

Hanamaru Yugetsu quickly said, "I’ve long since resigned, don’t eat tax money."

"Not talking about you."

Glancing at the same dressing on his face, Hanamaru Hiroki waved his hand, dismissed the three officers, "Alright, I didn’t expect much from you anyway, demote one grade starting from Assistant Police Chief."

Upon hearing the demotion, the officers immediately panicked: "Police Chief!"

"Leave."

With just two more words from Hanamaru Hiroki, they instantly fell silent, speechless.

Bowing once, they closed the door and withdrew.

Only the two remained in the office.

Hanamaru Yugetsu plopped onto the sofa to the right, turned to the tea-drinking Hanamaru Hiroki behind the desk and said:

"Second brother, is that really necessary? They just couldn’t win."

"Couldn’t win once, want to not win a second time too? Without some pressure, they’ll only be able to help find cats in residential areas, the current cops are soft-handed when arresting criminals."

Hanamaru Hiroki hadn’t mentioned anything further, this incident was just a trigger, what was more crucial were their previous expressions.

"Second brother, I heard little Hanabi went to England, is it true?"

"Mm... yeah." Hanamaru Hiroki stared at the reflection in his teacup.

"Why’d you send her away? If you ask me, there’s no point in sending her away."

"No point?" Hanamaru Hiroki put down the teacup, "There are many points, besides, I wasn’t the one to send her away."

"You don’t want your son-in-law anymore, second brother? I think he’s pretty good!" Hanamaru Yugetsu suddenly said, propping his hands on his knees.

"What wild guesses are you making?"

"Three years, you ask me, in three years the circles will completely change, unable to intersect, how much feelings will remain when they meet next time?"

Hanamaru Hiroki kept a calm expression, continuing to flip through the files on the desk, "Feelings aren’t up to me to decide, it’s up to them, I just told Hanabi about the good opportunity from the family."

"So, it’s their own decision?"

Upon hearing this, Hanamaru Hiroki’s page-turning paused slightly, seeming to ponder something, after a long silence he continued to say:

"It was Sakura’s decision, not Hanabi’s, that child Hanabi definitely wants to stay by his side."

Hanamaru Yugetsu: "What do you mean?"

"He’s the one who didn’t want Hanabi to rely on him too much, and also the one who wants Hanabi back by his side."

"But if he wants to change his previous decision, it’ll take more than just saying a few words."