Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 30 Summer Flies By in an Instant

Chapter 30: Chapter 30 Summer Flies By in an Instant

The abbot clasped his hands together, with a look of sorrow, recited a Buddhist chant, and turned away once more.

Fushimi Roku, having no experience in comforting others, stood nearby, his mind filled with classic lines from TV dramas like: ’Just let her be alone for a while’, ’Don’t disturb her’, ’Nothing you say will help...’

Just as he was about to leave, Minamoto Tamako tugged at the corner of his shirt.

She was still crying, but Fushimi Roku had already understood.

At times like this, a girl needs a solid chest to bury her face in and cry, so that she won’t feel so sad... As expected, even a little rich girl needs support when she’s heartbroken!

He was just about to squat down to comfort his poor partner. Unexpectedly, Minamoto Tamako lowered her head and blew a big snot into the corner of his shirt.

"Wow! That’s disgusting!" Fushimi Roku frowned.

"I... hic... I’m so sad already... and you say I’m disgusting... waah..."

Minamoto Tamako felt the world was full of malice, she felt all wrong, as if she was about to transform into a mountain man, yearning to let out a spine-chilling wail to frighten those who don’t care about her tears!

Hearing this, Fushimi Roku sighed. He took the bunny plush from Minamoto Tamako’s hands and, mimicking Kawai’s tone, patted Minamoto Tamako’s head with it:

"Tamako-chan is the best, you have to cheer up, okay."

"Eh?" Minamoto Tamako paused and really stopped crying.

Seeing it worked, Fushimi Roku pressed on and said, "I can feel it, this plush toy is imbued with Kawai’s spiritual power, just now she was speaking through me..."

"How childish! Does Fushimi really believe in ghosts and superpowers like a grade schooler?" Minamoto Tamako blinked, her face still marked by tears, her voice vaguely teary, speaking like a kindergarten teacher educating a child: "Listen, after people die, there’s nothing left."

Fushimi Roku thought, seriously, do I need you to tell me that? I only said it to comfort you!

But such words weren’t really appropriate to say out loud, so after holding it in for a while, he decided to finish this awkward play.

"Haha, nothing is absolute, I am indeed Kawai!" he said, playing with the bunny plush.

Minamoto Tamako wiped her tears and said seriously, "Then what is the real purpose of my becoming a police officer? This is a secret only Kawai knows! If you can answer, I’ll believe you!"

Fushimi Roku thought, are you finished? How can this brat be so hard to please? He recalled comforting heartbroken friends in his previous life—just sending a red packet and taking them for a foot massage was enough, nothing so troublesome.

"Ah, my spiritual power is running out, I’m going to sleep now!" he still forcefully patched up his lie.

Minamoto Tamako took the bunny plush with both hands, somehow calming her emotions.

Maybe, perhaps, Kawai’s thoughts really remained in this bunny.

"Actually, I’ve been having nightmares recently," Minamoto Tamako whispered, "I dreamt that you and Kawai became murderers, and you murdered Instructor Sakurai together."

Fushimi Roku was startled, not knowing what to say.

"But, Kawai and I agreed to become justice partners. So I trust her, she would never do such a thing!"

Minamoto Tamako lifted her head, her eyes, washed by tears, shone brightly in the sunlight: "She must have been, like the newspaper said, just trying to persuade Instructor Sakurai to turn himself in! And you were just a victim dragged into it by Instructor Sakurai, right!"

Fushimi Roku suddenly realized that his lie wasn’t clever, Minamoto Tamako just chose to believe it.

"Mm." He nodded.

"Alright!" Minamoto Tamako got her spirit back and shouted loudly, "Begin the count!"

Fushimi Roku was stunned, and under Minamoto Tamako’s gaze said reluctantly, "One."

"Two!"

After shouting, Minamoto Tamako held up the bunny plush, mimicking Kawai’s tone, and shouted again, "Three!"

"Count complete!"

"Detection team, all present!"

"Now departing, to Snow Brand Parlor!"

Fushimi Roku followed her, stepping out of the temple gates.

He glanced back, the flowers of the ginkgo trees had fallen, the dense leaves spread out, filling the yard with lush greenery. The sun moved over the hill, a slight heat haze rose from the paved road, and both he and Minamoto Tamako took off their jackets, striding into the cold sweets shop.

Summer was finally on its way.

...

If life were a novel, following the usual tropes, it should now fast-forward to a ’summer murder case’, ’summer comedy episodes’, ’summer festival fireworks show’... but most ordinary people’s lives are dull repetitions, and Fushimi Roku was no exception.

For the next six months, he was studying, training, and slacking off at the police academy.

Whenever Minamoto Tamako brought up the investigation, Fushimi Roku would feign a headache, sometimes saying he might have an organic aftereffect, other times claiming it could be PTSD acting up again.

But when vacation time came, he became lively.

Because Minamoto Tamako loved visiting sweet shops, she was almost pathologically obsessed with sweets, but was too shy to go out shopping alone, so she’d always bring along Fushimi Roku. The latter got to enjoy free treats every now and then, personally experiencing how leisurely Kawai used to live.

Before he knew it, late fall had arrived.

Six months flew by, and graduation day was approaching.

The new instructor, Shirata Masahiro, gave the students a surprise, announcing that the graduation exam would cancel the written test and switch to a practical examination, telling the students to be mentally prepared.

"Listen up! Don’t think that after six months of training, you are qualified to become police officers! This will be the final assessment, and the most rigorous test of your police academy career! Failures are not worthy of graduating from the Hokkaido Police Academy, be well-prepared mentally!"

Standing on the training field, Shirata Masahiro looked like he was planning something serious.

Minamoto Tamako was so nervous she couldn’t sleep for nights, afraid she wouldn’t pass the exam and graduate. She kept asking Fushimi Roku how he was preparing, and every time he responded the same: "Preparing for what? The instructor didn’t give any key points, nor say what will be tested, what can I prepare?"

Hearing Fushimi Roku hadn’t prepared either, she felt a bit relieved.

At lunchtime, Minamoto Tamako poked at her broccoli, worriedly sighing:

"I wonder which town district we’ll be assigned to after graduation, what if we don’t end up at the same police box?"

"That would be great... uh no, I mean too bad." Fushimi Roku said.

After graduation, the six-month partnership term ends. If the two aren’t in the same police box, he wouldn’t have to endure Minamoto Tamako’s questioning, and could finally enjoy a peaceful, laid-back routine!

Freedom awaited just around the corner!

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