School gate.
"The results are out! I'm first in the grade, you guys lost. According to the agreement… you have one day that belongs to me."
Lin Yi said smugly.
"You cheated, right? You must have cheated! Otherwise, how could your grades suddenly be so good! Even if you're a genius, it's impossible! Xiaolan, you agree, right?"
Sonoko found it hard to accept this fact. She had studied so hard, but only managed to get 48th in the grade, while Lin Yi spent three days fishing and two and a half days drying nets, yet he scored better than her.
This made her very unhappy, and she began to slander the other party for using unfair means.
"Impossible, right?" Xiaolan was still more rational: "Even if you cheated, there's no way to cheat your way to first in the grade, right?"
"Senior, Yi didn't cheat! In the few days before the exam, he was studying hard at home." Kana smiled, covering for Lin Yi.
In fact, he wasn't home at all. She was out eating, drinking, and having fun with Akemi.
"Damn it… I actually lost." Sonoko was a little unhappy, but her eyes rolled around, and she immediately had a mischievous idea. She said, "Okay, the agreement starts now and ends in 24 hours!"
Hearing this, Lin Yi shook his head repeatedly: "That won't do… I have to pick a good day."
"You didn't make that clear in the beginning." Sonoko smiled at Xiaolan, saying, "Right? Lan."
"That's right." Xiaolan also didn't want to be controlled by Lin Yi for a whole day. Who knows what kind of messy things he would come up with. She quickly nodded in agreement with Sonoko's words.
"Sonoko… I think you're in need of some education lately…"
Lin Yi reached out to grab Sonoko, but Sonoko was prepared and quickly ran away: "I don't care… the timer has already started, 15:25 ~ ~ ~ ~ Xiaolan… run quickly. Otherwise, you'll suffer for 24 hours."
"…" After hearing this, Xiaolan quickened her pace without a word, but she had only taken two steps when Kana hugged her arm.
Looking at this smiling junior, Xiaolan knew things weren't good, so she simply grabbed Kana and ran directly.
Watching the three high school girls being so energetic, Lin Yi suddenly felt a lot younger. He thought about it and decided to just treat it as playing with them, so he chased after them.
The backs of the four high school students gradually disappeared into the distance.
"…"
Shuichi Akai, standing next to the telephone pole, frowned as he watched the direction they left in, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
He continued to stare even after they were out of sight.
After a long while, he finally withdrew his gaze, threw the cigarette butt on the ground, stomped on it a few times, and turned to leave.
He had been infiltrating Japan for quite some time.
To avoid the organization's eyes, he did not choose to fly or take a passenger ship.
With a little effort, he flew from the United States to South Korea, and then sneaked into Japan from Busan, South Korea, on a private yacht.
Upon returning to Japan, he acted secretly and began investigating the failed bank robbery.
In that robbery, two people died and one ran away.
One was Akemi, one was a college student named Wakamatsu Toshihide, and the fleeing robber's identity was unknown.
Shuichi Akai spent a lot of time, through friends in Japan, obtaining detailed information about the robbery from the Metropolitan Police Department.
At the same time, he spent a lot of money hiring multiple private detectives to help investigate Akemi's previous whereabouts.
After spending some time, the private detectives all identified a young man.
This young man had entered and exited Akemi's residence for some time, and according to neighbors, he was carrying something similar to a stick on his back and holding a bottle of red wine in his hand.
Initially, Shuichi Akai suspected that this young man was the escaped robber.
However, further investigation revealed that the young man was actually a high school student.
Shuichi Akai couldn't help but waver in his own judgment.
Because according to the Metropolitan Police Department's records, the escaped robber was extremely accurate with firearms, had a rather deep voice, and was also very skilled at driving.
This was completely incompatible with the high school student named Lin Yi, who wasn't even eighteen years old.
Shuichi Akai initially suspected that the other party's background information was falsified.
So he personally began to investigate, but it turned out that the other party was indeed an ordinary high school student.
Shuichi Akai also observed the other party for several days, but didn't notice anything special about him... No, he had a lot of girlfriends, which should be his defining characteristic.
Continuing to observe like this wasn't a solution.
After investigating Akemi's matter, he would inevitably leave clues.
He wasn't sure when the organization would notice him and come after him.
After repeated consideration, Shuichi Akai felt that he should choose a suitable time to meet the other party and have a good talk.
— — — — — — — —
Two days later, in the afternoon.
Shuichi Akai finally caught Lin Yi alone.
He took the cigarette from his mouth, threw it on the ground, stomped on it twice, and stopped Lin Yi.
While taking out his badge, he said, "Excuse me, Public Security, please come with me. I have some things I want to ask you about."
Lin Yi frowned: "Public Security... What's that? I've never heard of it."
"..."
Shuichi Akai was speechless. It seemed that the information was correct. The reason he was working as Kogoro Mori's assistant was entirely for that girl named Ran Mori.
Otherwise, someone in the detective business wouldn't be ignorant of Public Security.
"It's similar to the American FBI, a kind of espionage agency... I just want to ask you if you know this person."
Shuichi Akai took out Akemi's photo and showed it to him, while observing the other party's expression.
"...Do I have to cooperate with you?"
Lin Yi didn't say whether he knew her or not, but asked this question instead.
From the other party's answer, it was already confirmed that he knew Akemi.
"Not necessarily... but I advise you to cooperate."
Shuichi Akai said, "Otherwise, I will detain you as one of the suspects in the bank robbery case."
"What a joke?" Lin Yi said loudly, "Do you think I look like someone who can rob a bank?"
"That's why you're just one of the suspects..."
Shuichi Akai said calmly, "Let's go... I'll treat you to a cup of coffee. It won't take up much of your time."
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