Chapter 40: Poor prisoner.
Listening to your words is like listening to a lecture; Morofushi Sora'aki clearly spoke a lot of nonsense and did not reveal any information.
Hagiwara Kenji knew very well that Morofushi Sora'aki looked both obedient and sweet—Matsuda Jinpei had something to say about the later evaluation—but he would never say a word about things he really didn't want to reveal.
At least so far, the facts have proven this.
Hagiwara Kenji really wants to give up his habit of protecting others' privacy by subtly probing rather than asking directly.
Just as Furuya Rei would never mention his parents to Morofushi Hiromitsu, even Matsuda Jinpei wouldn't after what happened last night—Matsuda Jinpei spoke up: "Let's do it again. This time, give me a beginning, a process, and a result. What you just said was complete nonsense."
"At first, I went home; during the process, we chatted for a while; and in the end, I dropped out of school." Morofushi Sora'aki replied.
Matsuda Jinpei nodded: "So you separated from us last night to go home, right? Is there some special situation at home that we can't know about?"
"It's inconvenient to explain, and I don't want to lie." said Morofushi Sora'aki.
"Alright, will staying here cause you any harm?" Matsuda Jinpei asked again.
"Probably not." Morofushi Sora'aki thought for a moment, "Besides, I really enjoy playing with you guys."
"Then don't drop out of school, keep going." Matsuda Jinpei frowned. "However, given that you've been hiding too much, don't say anything if I have any misunderstandings about you or your family later."
"As I've said before, my family members are all ordinary people."
"Heh, it doesn't look ordinary at all now." Matsuda Jinpei clicked his tongue. "Anyway, that's it. Can we go back now?"
After saying that, Matsuda Jinpei turned around and saw Hagiwara Kenji's face, which was filled with a complex expression of shock, emotion, and even a mixture of other indescribable feelings.
Matsuda Jinpei felt a chill run down his spine, shuddered, and asked in a slightly strained tone, "What's wrong with you now?"
"Well... I guess you could say that Jinpei-chan is truly worthy of the name?" Hagiwara Kenji wiped away imaginary tears from the corner of his eye. "I guess it's best to leave these kinds of things to Jinpei-chan after all?"
"It's decided, if this happens again, I'm throwing Matsuda out!" Hagiwara Kenji took a deep breath: "Alright! Time to go home! I've spent my entire month's allowance here! For the next month, unless Sora'aki-chan treats me, don't even think about leaving the house!"
Matsuda Jinpei also said, "I agree. I've used it all up too. Unless you treat me, I'll just stay home and take apart the microwave and play with it from now on."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...Why do I feel like Matsuda, you seem to be looking forward to this?"
Matsuda Jinpei: "Really? I guess I'll be able to relax for the next month without you guys bothering me?"
Therefore, Morofushi Sora'aki chose to meet with Matsuda Jinpei at a much higher frequency than he does now over the next month.
Matsuda Jinpei sensed something amiss: "...I have a feeling you're up to no good?"
Seeing that Morofushi Sora'aki had returned to his usual attitude, Hagiwara Kenji secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Morofushi Sora'aki is not good at pretending; he will show his happiness and sadness. He also lacks the emotional intelligence to hide his feelings so as not to worry his friends. So when he says he's fine, he is most likely really fine.
Although we don't know the exact situation of those parents, it's clear once again that Morofushi Sora'aki truly loves his family.
This matter is now considered closed, but Morofushi Sora'aki discovers a new surprise.
He didn't know if his body would remain in this world when he went home, since he had no surveillance footage to refer to.
However, if someone is watching him, the system will not send him home—something Morofushi Sora'aki knew long ago.
But now Matsuda and Hagiwara have both gone home, and he's stuck in the house the system assigned him. Logically, he could go home to find his mother now.
Mom is looking for my brother.
But the truth is, he can't leave now. So, who are the people still paying attention to him?
Morofushi Sora'aki sat on the living room sofa, falling into silence.
Because they were too tired yesterday, Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji didn't plan to chat much. They took a two-hour nap on the Shinkansen and then went home afterward.
So it's still noon, not midnight.
Morofushi Sora'aki sat on the sofa for a moment, then stood up and made a phone call to the Hagiwara family via landline.
The person who answered the phone was Hagiwara Chihaya, Hagiwara Kenji's older sister: "Hello?"
"I'm looking for Hagiwara Kenji." Since the whole family was Hagiwara, Morofushi Sora'aki still chose to call them by their full names.
"Hmm? It's Sora'aki... Wait, I'll go call him for you. This second-year graduate student went straight to bed as soon as he got home." Hagiwara Chihaya casually complained in an older sister's tone, "There are two days on the weekend, no need to stay up all night for games."
"Hmm," Morofushi Sora'aki responded.
After that, there was no sound on the other end of the phone, only a faint sound of footsteps could be heard.
After knocking on the door without getting a response, Hagiwara Chihaya opened the door to Hagiwara Kenji's room, pulled back the covers, and woke up the reluctant Kenji, who was fidgeting and unwilling to open his eyes: "Hey, you idiot brother—your friend is looking for you!"
"...Sister, I'm so sleepy." Hagiwara Kenji, his eyes still closed, fumbled for the blanket. "Tell them to contact me tomorrow..."
"It's Sora'aki." Hagiwara Chihaya asked, "Are you sure you want me to reply like this?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Hagiwara Kenji: "Tell him to find Jinpei-chan!"
That being said, Hagiwara Kenji still drowsily got up, like a ghost visible in broad daylight, and floated to the phone, speaking first: "If it's just something as trivial as forgetting my phone at your place, I'm definitely going to cut ties with you for an hour—"
Upon hearing these lines, Morofushi Sora'aki spoke softly, "I suspect someone is following me, Hagiwara."
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Hagiwara Kenji instantly snapped back to reality: "Huh?! Then why aren't you calling the police?!"
Then Hagiwara Kenji remembered the incident at Matsuda Jinpei's house, and his subtle distrust of the police became apparent at that moment.
"Wait, I'll go call Jinpei-chan. You're home now, right? Wait for us, we'll be right there!"
Hagiwara Kenji grabbed his messy hair, threw on a coat, and ran out: "I'm going to Sora'aki's house!"
Hagiwara Chihaya: "Didn't you just get back?!"
However, Hagiwara Kenji didn't give her an answer at all. Instead, he ran to the Matsuda house next door and woke up Matsuda Jinpei, who was also taking a nap.
Matsuda Jinpei, his face full of morning grumpiness, walked sullenly beside Hagiwara Kenji: "If it turns out to be a misunderstanding, I'm definitely going to beat you both up!"
"I wish it were a misunderstanding." Hagiwara Kenji was extremely sad: "Why do I feel like all the friends I meet have a lot of problems around them?"
"If you were characters in a light comic, I believe you would definitely be the main character!"
Under these circumstances, Morofushi Sora'aki gained two good friends who were obviously very short-tempered.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Morofushi Sora'aki, who was completely unaffected by insomnia and had even slept well for two days, was oblivious to his own shortcomings.
Matsuda Jinpei hardened his fist: "Hey, if I beat this guy up right now, you won't stop me, will you, Hagi?"
Hagiwara Kenji stated, "This time, I definitely won't stop them."
Unfortunately, Matsuda Jinpei mostly talked a big game about these two bastard friends, and rarely actually took action against them.
"So why do you think someone is following you?" Matsuda Jinpei asked.
"Intuition." Morofushi Sora'aki replied.
Matsuda Jinpei: "..."
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Matsuda Jinpei: "You should know that there's a price to pay for messing with me, right?"
Morofushi Sora'aki nodded: "So, shall we go out for a bit?"
"Hmm?" The other two looked a little confused.
"I'll walk in front, you two switch directions and follow behind me to see if anyone is following me." said Morofushi Sora'aki. "I'll deliberately take the most secluded routes. If so many people are following the same path, then it proves they are following me, right?"
"Well, after all, this isn't the kind of coincidence we're talking about." Once they were sure that Morofushi Sora'aki wasn't joking, the three of them began their coordinated action.
Morofushi Sora'aki acted as if he were just strolling around a normal shopping mall. Afterward, he went to their usual small park and then to the school.
Knowing in advance where Morofushi Sora'aki was going, Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei would carefully switch between various inconspicuous paths to observe.
At first, nothing seemed amiss, but as Morofushi Sora'aki went to increasingly remote places, Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei discovered that there really was a suspect.
The other person just looked like an ordinary middle-aged man on the street, walking in a normal way and at a normal pace. There was quite a distance between them, so it seemed like it was just a coincidence.
Unable to confirm whether it was the other person, Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji decided to wait and see.
Meanwhile, Morofushi Sora'aki went to the Shinkansen and bought a ticket for a train bound for Nagano that was departing in ten minutes.
At this moment, Hagiwara Kenji, who was also keeping a distance, noticed that the man had also bought a ticket to Nagano after a while.
At this moment, the answer was almost certain, but to avoid a miscarriage of justice like his own father's, Matsuda Jinpei said he would wait a little longer.
Just as the Shinkansen was about to depart, Morofushi Sora'aki left his seat right before boarding—the middle-aged man with the ticket reacted quickly and also left the train just as the doors were about to close.
At this point, it can no longer be explained by coincidence.
As Morofushi Sora'aki walked further and further astray, the middle-aged man wearing a hat remained unperturbed until, after turning a corner, Morofushi Sora'aki disappeared.
The person following them then looked around in a panic, realizing what was happening and trying to escape. At that moment, the two, who had been holding back all night and were still grumpy that morning, confirmed the other's identity as a stalker, and Matsuda Jinpei punched him!
"Ah!" the stalker cried out in pain, but now no one would pity him.
"Do you know how painful it is to finally get some sleep after staying up all night and then be woken up again?!" It's clear that Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei were venting their frustration.
Morofushi Sora'aki, who hadn't made a move, picked up the driver's license the stalker had dropped, looked at the information on it, and softly read out the name: "...Tomori, Hajime?"
"We..." Just as Morofushi Sora'aki was about to speak, he saw his two friends who showed no intention of stopping, slowly blinked, and took a step back.
The stalker clearly wanted to say something, but Matsuda Jinpei, who had sensed it beforehand, covered his mouth. The combination of "someone who has practiced boxing since childhood" and "someone who has been friends with boxers since childhood" is truly terrifying. And the grumpiness they both had from not sleeping well all night is also a formidable presence.
I feel that the fact that these two haven't beaten him up yet means they really like him.
Morofushi Sora'aki seriously considered whether he had offended these two people.
Then, Morofushi Sora'aki remained silent for half a minute and took another step back.
Yes, Matsuda and Hagiwara really do love him. Morofushi Sora'aki confirmed his answer once again in his heart. They are definitely the best of friends.