Chapter 49: My good friend.
"I bet Hagiwara Kenji isn't dead, do you believe me?"
After the kid, who bore a resemblance to Morofushi, said those words, Matsuda Jinpei showed no sign of being offended. Instead, he replied in the same tone as before, "Fine, I believe you."
"And then?" Matsuda Jinpei said lazily, leaning against the wall. "Where is he now?"
Even Morofushi Sora'aki hadn't expected Matsuda Jinpei to believe him so quickly—it wasn't just a casual remark. Although Matsuda Jinpei's expression seemed quite casual, the emotion revealed in his blue eyes proved that he truly believed what Morofushi Sora'aki had said.
After being asked a question by Matsuda Jinpei, Morofushi Sora'aki took a second to react, then honestly tilted his head and said, "I don't know."
Matsuda Jinpei: "..."
"Are you kidding me?" The curly-haired youth touched the bridge of his nose with his fingertip, and after finding nothing, he switched to pinching the bridge of his nose: "Let me make this clear, I don't have a temper as good as Hagi's."
"I told you, I don't know." Morofushi Sora'aki tore out the information he had compiled from the report book, crumpled it up, and threw it into the trash can: "I was just taking a gamble."
Matsuda Jinpei glanced at the trash can and clicked his tongue: "Why am I playing house with you here?"
"Where are you going?" Morofushi Sora'aki asked, watching Matsuda Jinpei take down the black suit jacket that had been hanging to the side waiting to dry. Sometime earlier, Matsuda Jinpei's animal ears and tail had disappeared.
Matsuda Jinpei changed into his still slightly damp clothes. There wasn't enough time for them to dry, so he casually said, "Didn't you remind me to contact relatives and friends?"
"If I don't go back soon, my funeral will be over." Matsuda Jinpei muttered to himself, opened the door and walked out. Before leaving, he said, whether as a reminder or sarcasm, "Kid, you should go to sleep early. Sleep quality is closely related to your height."
Indeed, there was no Matsuda Jinpei, Morofushi Sora'aki: "..."
"How annoying." Morofushi Sora'aki was about to get some more candy when he discovered that all his food supplies had been eaten.
After discovering that the candy was all gone, Morofushi Sora'aki became even more unhappy.
"First my mom and dad, then Hagiwara and Matsuda." Morofushi Sora'aki lay on the bed, his half-wet hair falling onto the blanket. His ears, which were pressed against the blanket, were still burning from the inflammation. Morofushi Sora'aki curled up into a ball and muttered a few words in a low voice.
Just as Morofushi Sora'aki was dozing off, something knocked on the hotel room window.
Morofushi Sora'aki, who was about to fall asleep: "..."
Morofushi Sora'aki brushed back the bangs that were stuck to half of his face, staring at the window blocked by the curtains with murderous intent in his eyes, while a series of banging sounds came from the glass.
Annoyed, Morofushi Sora'aki pulled back the curtains and was surprised to see a familiar curly-haired cat with a serious expression, earnestly tapping on the window with its paw outstretched. If Morofushi Sora'aki didn't react soon, it seemed it was going to open the window itself.
Through the glass of the window, a person and a cat stared at each other. The black cat nimbly stood on the narrow windowsill, its blue-green eyes gleaming eerily in the darkness, just like the opening scene of a horror movie.
Seeing that Morofushi Sora'aki still hadn't reacted, the black cat pointed to the window lock with its paw, looking at him like he was an idiot.
Morofushi Sora'aki stared at the black cat for two seconds, then without hesitation drew the curtains, pretending not to have seen it.
At that moment, the knocking on the window stopped. Just when Morofushi Sora'aki thought the other party had given up, a minute later, there was a rustling sound of someone picking the lock at the door of the room.
Morofushi Sora'aki: "..."
Morofushi Sora'aki stared intently at Matsuda Jinpei, who was prying open the door with a wire he didn't know where he came from, and began to mock him with a blank expression: "If I remember correctly, you are a policeman."
"Yes, if the witness isn't cooperative, the police will take special action." Matsuda Jinpei closed the door again, his ear, which had reappeared, disappearing during the conversation: "I want to confirm something with you beforehand, are you aware of this?"
Morofushi Sora'aki gave him a strange look.
Matsuda Jinpei seemed to have seen something and confirmed his answer. He nodded and said, "I have bad news for you. If I leave you by more than 20 meters, I will automatically transform into my [Beast] form."
And within twenty meters, even this hotel can't stay away for long.
In this world, most people don't want to turn back into beast form. [Matsuda Jinpei only turned into that form by accident.]
However, this world is a special world of beasts, so even if they turn into beast form, they are still able to communicate with humans.
But that's where the problem lies.
Matsuda Jinpei began, "Whenever I have the thought of explaining the situation to someone, all sorts of unexpected things happen, thus blocking my communication with others."
"So, any clues?" Matsuda Jinpei said, but he didn't seem to care much about the answer.
Upon hearing this unexpected news, Morofushi Sora'aki thought for a moment and tossed his phone over: "Give it a try?"
Matsuda Jinpei caught the phone, habitually pressed a few numbers, then suddenly stopped, deleted the number, and dialed another one.
Matsuda Jinpei raised an eyebrow as he looked at the rejected number. Unconvinced, he dialed a few more numbers, only to get the same result each time.
This was clearly not normal. Morofushi Sora'aki picked up his phone again, and just then, a call came back to him.
Morofushi Sora'aki pressed the answer button, and Satou Miwako's voice came from the other end: "Hello, who is this?"
Morofushi Sora'aki spoke first: "Matsuda—"
Before he could finish speaking, a scream came from the other end of the line. Having clearly heard nothing, Satou Miwako decisively said, "Sorry! I'll contact you later!" and hung up.
After the change of personnel repeated three times, Matsuda Jinpei found the current situation rather amusing—it was as if something was preventing him from regaining his identity as a living person.
Morofushi Sora'aki tried sending a text message on his phone, but unfortunately the network was bad and the message couldn't be sent.
"I paid my phone bill." Morofushi Sora'aki said, looking at his phone.
Matsuda Jinpei shrugged: "It seems I won't be able to stay too far away from you for the time being?"
"...Jin-, Matsuda, you got off the Ferris wheel, right?" Morofushi Sora'aki asked.
Matsuda Jinpei responded with a "So?"
"Aren't you injured?" Morofushi Sora'aki suddenly noticed the blind spot.
Matsuda Jinpei had noticed this long ago, and he chuckled, "Why do you think I said I believed you before?"
"After getting off the Ferris wheel, I should be seriously injured no matter what—but as of now, I don't have any other wounds on my body, except for the fact that I can't control my body's shape for the time being."
"The unscientific has already happened to me." The curly-haired police officer's voice rose at the end. "So what's wrong with me holding onto a little more hope?"
Matsuda Jinpei's words once again gave Morofushi Sora'aki a spark of inspiration. His mind worked quickly, and he realized a blind spot: "The hospital."
Matsuda Jinpei: "Hmm?"
The system's task was for him to take Matsuda Jinpei to the hospital, meaning that, according to the original "plot development", Matsuda Jinpei was supposed to be at the hospital.
The idea of neutering pets was Morofushi Sora'aki's own, not something stated in the mission description, which means...
If Morofushi Sora'aki hadn't appeared here, Matsuda Jinpei would have been seriously injured.
Facing such a powerful explosion, if the severely injured Matsuda Jinpei were found by someone, he would definitely be sent to the hospital—this is the origin of the mission.
The mission mentions a pet hospital, meaning that Matsuda Jinpei would have been a black cat in the original timeline. People in this world are unwilling to become "beasts" unless absolutely necessary, so they assume all animals are pets.
Therefore, everyone would assume that Matsuda Jinpei, as a human being, had died.
But Matsuda Jinpei, standing before him, had no wounds whatsoever, making a trip to the hospital completely unnecessary. The mission was utterly pointless, yet it still came up.
This inconsistency seems to further prove that the system and the protective stone are two separate entities. It's like that previous mission where he was required to confirm the death of someone on the rooftop—but he clearly failed to complete that mission, and the system (the stone) said nothing.
Morofushi Sora'aki's brain pointed out all the inconsistencies, but this forced way of thinking about the past caused a sudden, sharp pain in his brain.
"You are now hated by the world, Matsuda." Morofushi Sora'aki said calmly. "The world demands that you die in the Ferris wheel explosion."
"Is that so?" Matsuda Jinpei heard this line, which sounded like something out of a light novel, but he neither refuted nor complained. His deep, magnetic voice rang out: "So?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "You're disliked, and you can't contact anyone you want to contact."
"That's right." Matsuda Jinpei didn't deny it. He bent down and gently touched Morofushi Sora'aki's forehead. "But you are an exception."
"I just saw your paper—respecting the privacy of ordinary citizens, I only glanced at it, and besides the phrase 'Good Friends World', I also saw my name and that guy Hagiwara's name."
"Hagiwara is your friend, so what about me?" Matsuda Jinpei looked into the somewhat dim blue cat-like eyes before him. "What is our relationship?"
"...Why would you think that?" Morofushi Sora'aki asked.
"I grew up with Hagi. He is indeed better at socializing than me, but I know exactly who his friends are."
Matsuda Jinpei said, "So, the Hagiwara you're talking about, and the Hagi I know, are not the same person at all?"
"I still trust that guy's judgment, and if you really want to fool me, then hide your eyes."
Matsuda Jinpei switched his fingers to his palm and gave him a light push: "With such a high fever, why are you still using your brain like this? Are you trying to damage your brain?"
"—My good friend-kun?"
Morofushi Sora'aki unconsciously rubbed against the cold blanket and retorted in a low voice, "You're not."
"That's true." Matsuda Jinpei said with a low laugh, sitting to the side. "I can't imagine myself comforting a child."
"It's easier to leave this kind of thing to Hagi, don't you think? Kid."