Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 90 - 12 Adoptive Sister Form·Fushimi Sakurako

Chapter 90: Chapter 12 Adoptive Sister Form·Fushimi Sakurako

"Moses, this is the Tokyo Child Welfare Department, how may I help you..."

Click, Fushimi Roku hung up the phone.

Taira Sakurako continued writing furiously on the cardboard box, vividly describing the entire kidnapping of Watanabe Shun with concise words, and even sketching a quick drawing directly on the box, capturing the character’s expressions and actions vividly.

But that wasn’t all; Taira Sakurako further outlined her demands: she wanted Fushimi Roku to return the video recorder, help her retrieve those Noh masks, and provide her with a job paying no less than 600 yen per hour — in exchange, she would keep his secret.

Under the office light, Fushimi Roku carefully observed, noting how Taira Sakurako was wearing a little dinosaur onesie over a thermal shirt and a white sweater, appearing both warm and cute. The welfare office was clearly taking good care of her... yet this kid didn’t appreciate it and slipped out on her own.

Fushimi Roku increasingly felt she was a hot potato.

In reality, Taira Sakurako didn’t want to be adopted by strangers or live in a welfare home relying on others’ pity. She wanted to earn money by herself, survive on her own, and find a new cozy little home to make it into her dreamland.

She had an agreement with Yukimura Aoi, promising that one day she would save enough money to find her mother and live a happy and stable life together. In her beautiful blueprint, there was a place for Yukimura Aoi and her sister too. She had promised to help Aoi find her sister.

Yukimura Aoi was still watching her, but she couldn’t see Yukimura Aoi anymore.

"You’re really bold, aren’t you?"

Fushimi Roku pulled over a chair, sat next to Taira Sakurako, looking down at her with a sullen face, and said, "Aren’t you afraid that I’ll silence you?"

Taira Sakurako blinked her eyes, didn’t speak, nor did she write.

"I’m a ruthless villain, more terrifying than Nagashima Takeshi. Whether it’s a woman or child, if they make me unhappy, I’ll stab them mercilessly without hesitation..."

While speaking, Fushimi Roku casually picked up a fork from the table, making a ferocious expression, sticking out his tongue to lick the tip of the fork, trying to spook the brat before him.

"..."

Taira Sakurako looked at him as if she were looking at an idiot.

"What? What’s that look? Do you think I’m lying?" Fushimi Roku glanced around, feeling displeased just by looking at Taira Sakurako, though he couldn’t pinpoint why.

Taira Sakurako lowered her head, writing on the cardboard box with a ballpoint pen: "Is the brat there?"

"Are you talking about Minamoto Tamako? She’s not here; it’s just you and me in the police box. Even if you scream your lungs out, no one will hear you..."

Just as Fushimi Roku finished speaking, Taira Sakurako took a deep breath from her diaphragm and let out a dolphin-like high-pitched scream. Fushimi Roku hurriedly covered her mouth, and she cooperatively stopped. The building stayed silent; Tamako Miamoto and Kazama Tatsuya were not alarmed by the short scream.

They stared at each other, and Fushimi Roku finally realized why he disliked her.

This little brat was just like he was as a kid.

Equally reticent, equally defiant in her gaze, and equally prone to making foolish, risky decisions.

"Fine, you win." Fushimi Roku released his grip and began negotiating: "I can give you the video recorder, and I can help you retrieve the Noh masks, but you’ll have to find your own job..."

Seeing Taira Sakurako take a deep breath again, Fushimi Roku quickly signaled for her to stop: "Stop! Do you know what bargaining means? It means you make a condition, then I make a condition, we pull each other back and forth until we reach a price both sides can agree on, got it?"

Taira Sakurako stared at him and nodded.

"How about this, a flat rate, one hundred thousand yen, that’s better than you slaving away at a job, right?" Fushimi Roku coaxed.

Taira Sakurako shook her head, circling the word ’job’ with her ballpoint pen.

"Two hundred thousand! No more than that, two hundred thousand is enough for you to live lavishly for a while!" Fushimi Roku put on a pained expression.

Taira Sakurako simply crawled into the cardboard box, signaling with an attitude that she wouldn’t leave unless Fushimi Roku agreed to her demands.

Fushimi Roku didn’t even have to think to know, how could there possibly be a formal job employing child labor in this day and age? What’s more, Taira Sakurako was autistic, currently not saying a word; Fushimi Roku had no idea how she survived before.

He pondered long and hard and came up with a win-win solution.

"As it happens, I need a housekeeper. The main tasks are helping with cleaning, washing clothes, and garbage disposal; occasionally, when I’m cooking, you’ll need to lend a hand. In special situations, you’ll need to go on assignments, such as courier services, scene handling, surveillance and tracking, and creating alibis... In short, whatever I need the housekeeper to do, the housekeeper must do."

Fushimi Roku paused for a moment, interlocked his fingers, leaned forward, and seriously said, "Five thousand yen a day, no days off all year. What do you think?"

Taira Sakurako looked up, seriously evaluating him, seemingly weighing whether this job was worth it.

"Stop thinking, you won’t find a better job than this; most people would pay to be my housekeeper. Following me, you’ll learn a lot of useful tricks, and while you might not become extremely wealthy in the future, you can at least guarantee not being bullied again."

Fushimi Roku painted a pretty picture and struck a chord with Taira Sakurako.

She hesitated for a moment, nodded, indicating her agreement.

The deal between the two was sealed, and Fushimi Roku breathed a sigh of relief. He took Taira Sakurako back to the dormitory, set up a futon in the cardboard box, letting her make do for the night.

First thing in the morning, he would take Taira Sakurako to the district office to ’transfer household,’ essentially acquiring a sister for free, and from then on Taira Sakurako would be renamed ’Fushimi Sakurako.’

In the 1990s, Japan had a large number of residents without official household registration. Some were foreign nationals, while others had issues related to parental nationality and marriage. Many Indonesians or Filipinos staying in Japan sought ways to obtain legitimate household registration, prompting the Japanese government to enact relevant policies, once forcibly deporting 500,000 undocumented residents.

Consequently, the trade of household registration records thrived in the Japanese underworld. Especially during the gangster-active era, fake identities had formed a mature industry chain, and the local district offices were more or less involved. As long as the price was right, citizens could change their identity at any time.

Fushimi Roku planned to spend a large sum to have a legal examination issue a paternity test, claiming Taira Sakurako as his long-lost sister.

As for why there wasn’t a birth certificate from a hospital, he decided to concoct a tragic love story about a couple who eloped against their parents’ will and had a baby girl in a rental apartment, thus inconveniencing his deceased parents... Whether or not the district office’s registrar believed it didn’t matter; Fushimi Roku figured that Mr. Fukuzawa Yukichi could help persuade them.

Once Taira Sakurako had snuggled up in the box to sleep, Fushimi Roku remembered the matter of Senior Watanabe being kidnapped.

He had no idea who Senior Watanabe might have offended this time; it might be that gang from the airport seeking revenge. Fushimi Roku mourned for him for three seconds but wasn’t planning to storm the underworld to rescue a senior alone.

He went downstairs to a public payphone to make an anonymous call, reporting to the police station that he witnessed someone being kidnapped in front of the police box, then went back to the dormitory to wash up and sleep.

...

Meanwhile.

In the logistics warehouse of a construction site in the Adachi District of Tokyo.

Watanabe Shun was tied to a chair, bruised and swollen, unable to move.

Half an hour ago, as the kidnappers untied the sack, he suddenly erupted, charging around the warehouse like a wild boar. Four or five burly men had no choice but to play a game of cat and mouse with him for twenty minutes before finally capturing him, and this guy still dared to resist, so they had to beat him up.

As they say, a fall into the pit, a gain in your wit, the kidnappers learned their lesson and this time tied up Watanabe Shun’s arms as if binding a crab.

Now, Watanabe Shun was facing a table with a lamp shining directly on his face, making it difficult to keep his eyes open.

A moment later, footsteps were heard as someone sat down opposite him, a deep male voice cutting straight to the chase, asking:

"Where’s my money?"