Sixth Street — inside the Heal clinic.
With Tsukishiro Yanagi holding him in her arms—her massive chest pinning the back of his head—Chiya stared across the coffee table at the rigidly formal Zhu Yuan, at Qingyi smiling as she sipped tea, at Hoshimi Miyabi for some reason watching him with an intensely serious look, at Soukaku openly drooling at him, and at Seth—who had only just woken up, still confused, yet reflexively joined Zhu Yuan in interrogating him…
And there was also Asaba Yuma, sitting beside him at the "defendant's table," head bowed, not daring to say a word.
Chiya sank into deep, profound confusion.
Zhu Yuan keenly seized on Chiya's blank, dopey state and fired off a sharp question.
"Name?"
"Chiya."
"Where are you from?"
"…Eridu."
"Age?"
"Just turned eighteen."
"…Mr. Chiya?"
"Huh? You're done asking?"
"No—if you'll forgive me, but… aren't you a bit too young?"
"Hah. So the head of the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team—the famous 'star of the Public Security Bureau'—has such a narrow and crude worldview?"
"No wonder. Remember, you're that Bringer guy's subordinate. Having a few stupid, ignorant opinions is perfectly normal."
"This citizen! Do not make baseless accusations against Commissioner Bringer!"
Chiya jolted—realizing he'd just said something wildly inflammatory—and hurried to patch it up.
"I mean—what attitude am I supposed to have toward a bunch of cops who barged into my home without permission?!"
Luckily, after that reflexive rebuttal, Zhu Yuan only swept him with a helpless pair of red eyes and didn't press the issue further.
Because… even she couldn't deny it.
Her admired superior's reputation had been getting worse and worse—something practically everyone already knew.
And it was also undeniable that the "hero" who had once handed her his anti-corrosion device and enabled her to escape a Hollow… had been showing more and more unfamiliar sides lately.
But Zhu Yuan still believed her superior was a great hero.
So when she saw that Chiya's disrespect toward Bringer was "just" a reaction to their own intrusion, she quietly let out a breath of relief.
At that moment, Qingyi—after setting down the tea brewed from Chiya's own "cherished stash" that she had shamelessly pocketed—finally spoke.
"Zhu Yuan, you've made a big mistake."
"Mr. Chiya is a person connected to our partner."
"What? But why don't I know? And Senior Qingyi—how do you know?"
"Aiya. You youngsters are always lacking a bit of understanding of your elders."
Qingyi spoke slowly.
"Those old-timers… unlike me, who can solve most problems just by getting my body 'tuned up'…"
"Most of those old geezers have little issues in their lower back, hips, shoulder blades—everything. All kinds of 'five-center heat,' 'internal heat generating wind,' and other chronic nonsense clinging to them. Every time I play chess with them, I can hear their coughing getting weaker and weaker."
"Usually, I never get to observe them properly—because our games always get interrupted halfway by nearby dispatch calls anyway."
"But there was one time I finally had a real break. No annoying cases like 'some huge guy sitting on a children's rocking horse' or 'a punk robbing a Bangboo' to disturb my peace."
"So I could enjoy chess, and also observe my old friends properly…"
— Senior Qingyi Explanation in Progress —
As Qingyi narrated, the atmosphere in the room subtly shifted.
The helplessness in Zhu Yuan's eyes faded completely.
The faint wariness hidden in Yanagi's gaze also quietly dissolved—instead, she even reached out fondly and flicked the cowlick on top of Chiya's head.
As for Soukaku and Seth…
Kind-hearted Seth handed all the energy jelly he carried to Soukaku, yet still couldn't stop her from swallowing food without blinking—then continuing to drool at Chiya afterward.
And Miyabi said nothing.
But her eyes grew brighter and brighter.
After they'd come out of the Argus Hollow, that figure in a white coat—secretly hired by her father to examine her—felt more and more similar to this cowlicked little doctor in front of her.
Especially that cowlick—propping his hat up so it wobbled.
The length… was getting closer and closer to the one in her memory.
Miyabi's lips began to move—
But Qingyi's next line cut off her urge to ask at exactly the right moment.
"That one time… from the mouths of those old friends whose bodies looked 'several years younger' on sensory scans…"
"I pried out information about Chiya."
"Uh—Senior… did you just use the word 'pried'?"
Seeing Zhu Yuan's conflicted look, Qingyi sighed.
"You lot… I asked them nicely, and they all hemmed and hawed."
"So I sat there playing chess all day, deliberately forcing them into deadlocked, no-way-out positions…"
"And they let something slip."
"Anyway." Qingyi smiled at Chiya.
"Chiya kid—do you mind if I say a little more about you?"
"Hmph. You rotten gremlin."
"You take my teacup, brew my tea leaves, and spill my intel."
"At this point, why don't you just take me and my shop while you're at it?!"
"Aiya! Then I won't hold back!"
"Senior Qingyi, please stop teasing this child."
Yanagi cut in sternly—while hugging Chiya even tighter.
How strange…
Yanagi thought to herself.
This was her first time seeing this child, and yet…
Why did she feel naturally close to him?
Why had she instinctively pulled him into her arms?
It was like the blood in her body was cheering.
Her heart was beating fast.
Her cheeks felt warm.
This… seemed abnormal.
Was it medication? A special constitution?
Mm. For the sake of gathering more data, then…
Let me hold him a little tighter…
With that thought, Yanagi pressed the struggling Chiya even deeper into her chest.
Then—
"Yanagi, you're holding him too tightly. He won't be able to breathe."
"Ah—sorry, Chief."
Left with no choice, Yanagi loosened up.
Freed from the "chest-shark incident," Chiya gulped air in huge breaths.
At that moment, Yuma finally managed to do something useful.
"Miss Tsukishiro, Chief… you've already seen where I take my leave and what I do. So—let's go."
"Doctor Chiya isn't used to dealing with strangers."
Yes—finally! You useless air-damage dealer!
Chiya looked at Yuma with hopeful eyes… then glanced at the crowd.
Zhu Yuan and Seth stood up and left quickly. This didn't really concern them in the first place.
Qingyi, naturally, left only after hugging a whole tin of tea leaves on her way out.
Section 6—
Miyabi, who had been about to speak, abruptly entered "NPC mode," frozen and unable to respond.
Yanagi looked reluctant… but Yuma's sudden burst of competent pushing did force her to rise at last.
"I'm sorry, Chiya."
"For Section 6's discourtesy… next time, I will pick a time, prepare a modest gift, and come to apologize in person."
"There's going to be a next time?!"
"Yes. An apology delivered in person shows sincerity. I hope you understand."
"…Fine…"
Great. Now I have a reason for you to show up again.
Yanagi bowed in "apology," smoothly hiding the satisfaction and testing glint in her eyes.
"Then I look forward to our next meeting."
Stepping out the door, committing the surroundings to memory, Yanagi—suddenly possessed by a middle-aged-lady's youthful fervor—walked away with Miyabi at her left, Soukaku at her right, and Yuma following behind.
"Uh… Soukaku, do you want me to buy some food from 141?"
Yuma glanced at Soukaku, whose eyes had suddenly turned clear, and asked cautiously.
"No, Yuma. I'm suddenly not hungry!"
"But Soukaku feels kind of weird…"
"Weird?"
"Yeah."
"That Doctor Chiya… he smells so familiar… so sweet."
"Makes me want to taste him."
"Mmph… but Yanagi likes him a lot, so Soukaku didn't bite…"
"Yanagi…?"
"…Miss Tsukishiro?"
"Ah, sorry. I drifted off for a moment."
Yanagi came back to herself, smiled apologetically at the others, and kept walking.
She gathered the thoughts and suspicions from earlier, sorted them, buried them deep—
hidden.
sealed.
"…Familiar… smell…"
If you paste Chapter 16, I'll translate it the same way (clean formatting, no site junk, consistent ZZZ names).
Join here to read ahead.
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