Those words made Seiran's eyes light up. Feeling a deep sense of shared experience, he whispered, "Me too. Because of my illness, I spent most of my time living in the hospital."
Hearing that the person before him had it even worse than he did, Furuya Rei's sympathy immediately overflowed. He plucked up his courage and asked, "Which hospital do you stay at? I can come find you to play later!"
Chikage Tomizawa watched the children getting acquainted and nudged Hayashi Shuichi lightly with her elbow. "Master?"
"The kid was getting bullied and insisted on learning how to fight from me," Shuichi explained briefly, giving her the gist of the situation.
"I see," Chikage remarked, her lip curling into a look of disdain. "Japanese society really is warped. From the top down, everyone acts like they can't wait to turn into Westerners, yet they ostracize mixed-race kids at every turn."
At that point, she suddenly changed the subject, a glint of mischief flashing in her eyes. "However, your disciple's eyesight is a bit... lacking, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?" Shuichi asked with a raised eyebrow.
Chikage was about to speak, but she caught sight of Rei, his face flushed, carefully handing Seiran a bottle of water. Even the tips of his ears were a soft shade of pink.
She immediately covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter. "Never mind. You'll find out soon enough. Let's head to the Art Museum now."
With that, she led the way toward the door, leaving behind a trail of meaningful laughter.
The Beika Art Museum wasn't particularly far from the Izakaya, so the group took a leisurely stroll down a tree-lined avenue.
Chikage walked at the very front, occasionally turning back to urge the others to keep up.
Seiran walked beside Rei, opening his mouth several times as if to explain his true gender, but he was skillfully interrupted each time by one of Chikage's witty remarks. By the end of it, he was a bit dazed himself and forgot what he had originally intended to say.
Rei's world was currently centered entirely on the "cute little sister" before him. He would steal glances at Seiran every few moments; when he noticed Seiran's cheeks flushing from the heat, he'd hurriedly offer a tissue. When he saw Seiran's pace slowing down, he would immediately decelerate, walking protectively by his side.
Reiko, on the other hand, had always been a sharp one. It didn't take her long to sense that something was off.
While Chikage was busy telling Seiran and Rei vivid stories about various works of art, Reiko seized the chance to pull her brother back, letting the others get ahead.
"Onii-chan, what exactly is the deal with Seiran?"
Shuichi had long since realized Chikage's little scheme. Not only did he have no intention of stopping her from pranking his disciple, but he also found the situation quite amusing and was happy to watch the drama unfold.
Faced with his sister's inquiry, he didn't hide the truth. He leaned down and whispered the reality into Reiko's ear.
"What did you say? He's a..."
Reiko sucked in a sharp breath, looking back at Seiran in utter disbelief.
Under the sunlight, the "girl's" profile was as delicate as a porcelain doll. No matter how she looked at him, he seemed like an exceptionally cute girl.
"Well? Unexpected, right?" Shuichi couldn't help but chuckle. "I was shocked the first time I saw him, too."
"I definitely didn't expect that..."
Reiko nodded blankly, then let out a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Since Seiran was a boy, he posed no threat to her status as "Onii-chan's only little sister."
However, her brow soon furrowed again in confusion. "Seiran looked like he wanted to explain himself earlier. Why does Chikage-姐姐 keep cutting him off?"
Shuichi looked at the oblivious Furuya Rei walking ahead and gave a mischievous grin. "Just for the fun of it. Haven't you noticed? Seiran has someone so charmed they can't even tell which way is north anymore."
Reiko suddenly understood, and the corners of her mouth curled upward. "...Onii-chan, you're a truly wicked Master."
Despite her words, her eyes sparkled with the same light of mischief. Clearly, she was also looking forward to Rei's reaction when he finally discovered the truth.
The twenty-minute walk proved to be quite a strain for Seiran, who rarely exercised.
He was breathing slightly heavily, his forehead beaded with sweat, and his steps grew increasingly sluggish.
Rei immediately noticed something was wrong. He looked at Shuichi urgently. "Master, Seiran is tired. Let's go rest in that small park over there for a bit."
Shuichi suppressed a smile at the boy's frantic concern and nodded.
As soon as they stepped into the park, they heard a crisp, cheerful shout: "It's the Big Brother from last time!"
A little girl with twin tails came bouncing over from the sandbox, followed by a somewhat shy-looking little boy.
The girl ran up to Shuichi, looking up at him with a rosy, excited face. "Big Brother, do you remember me?"
Shuichi rubbed his chin, feigning a look of deep confusion. "...Hmm. Who are you again?"
The little girl immediately puffed out her cheeks, giving him a look of pure disdain. "Big Brother, your memory is terrible! Last week, when I ran into that Glasses Brother, he still remembered me."
"Haha, I was just teasing you." Shuichi knelt down and gave the girl's head a playful pat. "You're Miwako, the daughter of Officer Masayoshi Sato, right?"
"Yup!" The little girl—Miwako Sato—nodded happily. She then pulled the shy boy playing with her to stand in front of Shuichi. "What about him? Do you remember him, too?"
The 'Metropolitan Police Detective Love Story' is starting twenty years early. How could I possibly forget...
Shuichi made a silent comment to himself before correctly identifying Wataru Takagi.
"By the way, you mentioned meeting the 'Glasses Brother' here last week?"
"Mm-hmm!" Miwako nodded vigorously. "Glasses Brother was the same as before, staring at people passing by and writing things down on a piece of paper."
That guy is still out here training his observation and deduction skills...
Shuichi shook his head, somewhat exasperated.
"Onii-chan, who is she?" Reiko asked, tugging on her brother's sleeve with poorly hidden impatience.
Seiran might be a boy, but the child in front of her was a genuine little girl, and she kept calling him "Big Brother." Reiko couldn't help but feel a tiny bit jealous.
"They're kids I met when I caught a thief in this park a while back," Shuichi said, giving both sides a brief introduction.
"Oh, really?" Reiko dragged out the words, her eyes narrowing as she sized up the little girl before her.
Miwako Sato was thick-skinned and didn't notice anything amiss. On the contrary, Wataru Takagi sensed that Reiko didn't seem to like them very much; he instinctively took a half-step back, hiding behind Miwako.
"That child over there isn't feeling very strong and needs to rest," Shuichi said, pointing toward Seiran and patting Miwako on the shoulder. "Why don't you two go play with him for a bit?"
"Okay!" Seeing what she thought was a beautiful girl, Miwako didn't think twice. She immediately grabbed Takagi's hand and led him over.
So... so cute...
Takagi stared at Seiran's exquisite little face and, just like Furuya Rei before him, fell head over heels instantly.
(End of Chapter)
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