At night, after a busy day, people take to the streets in search of physical and mental relaxation. On the side of the street, the noisy voices slowly become boiling, and all kinds of colorful lights flicker one after another, exuding a brilliant brilliance that charms the eyeballs, giving people a dreamlike sense of unreality.

Unlike the high-end restaurants I expected, Sato took me by the hand and led me to a secluded street, where a small stall selling oden was still dimly lit on a path with only a few pedestrians.

"Really, I can be considered to have saved your life, right? Even if you don't invite me to a big meal, at least you have to eat a bowl of tonkotsu ramen, right? Oden or something, it's too much of a loss of my identity......" I glanced up at the stall and muttered a little reluctantly.

"Some of them are good to eat, and they are also picky. Sato raised his hand and knocked on me: "This is a store that I have been here with my father since I was a child, the owner is good, and the food is delicious, and most people don't know about it, so it's cheap for you to eat this time." As he spoke, he took my hand and lifted the curtain, and as soon as he bent down, he went in, and in desperation, I had no choice but to follow in.

"Yo, uncle, as usual, give me thirty strings of meatballs and a bottle of beer. As soon as he entered the house, Sato smiled at the boss and said a word.

"Miwako-chan, I haven't seen you for a long time, but you're still so energetic!" The boss is a man in his fifties, and when he saw Sato, he laughed heartily: It's still the same old rules, right?

"Well, of course! I'm Miwako Sato! The daughter of Sato Yoshi!" Sato raised his head angrily and smiled.

"Yes, I think when Mr. Sato brought you for the first time, you were only thirteen years old, and it has been so many years in the blink of an eye, Miwako, you have become a big girl, and Mr. Sato is also ......" The boss sighed, a little nostalgic.

"Dad's matter has been going on for so many years, so I won't mention it, anyway, the criminal was also arrested by me some time ago, presumably my dad should be very happy. Sato's expression darkened slightly, and then he burst into laughter.

"Mr. Sato's case has been solved?" The boss was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "It's really good! Miwako is really amazing, so many years of backlog of cases can be solved!"

"No, it's not my credit that this case was solved. Sato shook his head and said.

"Who's that......"

"All...... It's all thanks to this child!" Sato's hands passed through my ribs, and he immediately picked me up and lifted me up in front of the boss's uncle: "Thanks to this child's reminder, I couldn't let the prisoner escape!"

"Huh, this kid is so cute, is it ......" Uncle Boss didn't notice my presence until this time, put a big pie face in front of me, and looked at my face carefully: "Is it your child?"

"No, no, no," Sato blushed suddenly, put me down, and waved his hand repeatedly: "Uncle, where do you want to go? It's my brother, my brother! I don't even have a boyfriend yet! Where is the child?!"

"Really not?" The boss uncle looked at Sato, who was blushing suspiciously, a little unconvinced. If you look closely, it is not difficult to find a playful smile in the depths of his eyes.

As soon as I rolled my eyes, I cooperated with the boss's prank, tugged at the corner of Sato's clothes, and whispered in a pretended aggrieved tone: "Mom, don't you want Xiaohui?"

As soon as these words came out, there was an eerie silence at the scene, not only Sato, but even the boss and uncle who were originally joking were stunned.

"Sato, it won't really be your ......"

"No, Xiaohui, you dare to mess around again......" Sato stomped his foot angrily and looked at me viciously.

"Uh...... I was wrong. ”

I have to bow my head...... It seems that Sato is already showing some signs of anger, if I dare to mess around again, Sato will definitely not be soft, and beating me is light.

"Alas, Sato, you're not too young, it's time to think about your own business, yesterday when my wife went to the street to buy vegetables, I met your mother, and your mother is not young, don't always let your mother worry about your affairs. The boss uncle said as he put the thing in front of Sato: "Here." ”

"Hmm...... Hmm, I know...... Hmm......" Sato replied vaguely as he ate with an astonishing momentum.

"What do you want to eat, kid?" asked the boss with a smile after finishing Sato's portion.

"Hmm...... I want this, this, this, and this......" I glanced at the steaming pot and asked for more than twenty kinds of skewers in one go.

"Kid, can you eat so much?" the boss glanced at Sato with some hesitation.

"Whatever he wants to eat, it's up to him, and it's on my account. Sato took a sip of wine, so relieved that he almost screamed, and when he saw the eyes of the boss's uncle, he patted his chest and said.

"Okay. Seeing that Sato had no opinion, the boss uncle didn't say anything anymore.

In the small shop, there are only two customers, Sato, the owner and uncle are constantly busy, with a simple smile on his face, and the aroma of the hot air is steaming in the small space, baking our faces red, all kinds of soup are tumbling, but it is very strange to highlight a quiet atmosphere, only Sato's wolfing voice can be heard clearly in the ears, giving people an unusually warm feeling.

"Sister Miwako, you eat slowly, no one will rob you of ......" Although Sato's "snoring" and swallowing sound is very reassuring, Sato is also a beauty, and the gobbling appearance is not only vulgar and contemptible, but unusually cute, but after all, there is an uncle here, and Sato's unpretentious and reckless man-like behavior will still make me a little embarrassed.

"It's okay, it's okay, the shopkeeper uncle is just like my father, he watched me grow up, don't mind. Sato swallowed a ball with all his might, and urged me again: "You can eat it too, I have to go to work tomorrow, but I can't accompany you too late." As he spoke, Sato lifted the wine bottle with one hand again, and "Goo Dong Goo Dong" is half a bottle of wine, and he was dumbfounded.

"Alas. I let out a sigh of defeat.

"Ha, ha, ha!" Uncle Boss laughed in surprise and shook his head, looking a little doting.

Hawkers, since Sato said it's okay, then let her go, I don't know if Xiang Sato has such a style, who will dare to marry her in the future. I shook my head amusefully and said no more.

In other words, I'm not her father, what does it have to do with me who she marries in the future?

Thinking of this, I let go of my worries and began to chew like Sato. To be honest, the food sold in this shop is not very good, at most it is at the upper middle level, but the delicious snacks and the cozy atmosphere here make people happy and satisfied.

"Now, you think I'm not good there, why doesn't he just want to see me?" After a while, Sato suddenly said to me.

"Huh?" I was stunned for a moment, thinking that Sato was starting to get drunk and talking nonsense, but when I turned my head, I saw that her eyes were shining, and she was not drunk at all.

I looked at the boss with some trepidation, and found that at some point, the boss had fallen asleep on the counter.

"Don't worry about the boss, uncle, he's old, it's normal to take a nap or something. Sato smiled absently: "You come to judge me, speaking of which, I can be regarded as saving him once, right? Even if you don't ask him to reciprocate, if you just want to see him again, it's not an excessive request, right? Why does he just refuse to show up? Do you have to let me almost die like the last time?" Sato played with the glass, his expression a little depressed.

I put down the food in my hand, was silent for a while, and said, "You actually know the reason, don't you?"

"Know what?"

"Didn't you try to find him with your own strength?"

"I've been looking for it for a long time, but let alone the Chinese-Japanese, even his name is not on the entry list of international students, travelers, and foreign businessmen. Speaking of this, Sato looked a little bored: "I really doubt that the name he told me is true." ”

"His name is true," I said softly, "his name is true, but you can't find his record in Japan, haven't you really thought about why?"

Sato was silent.

"You're just subconsciously avoiding this question, but you already know that he's not a good guy, right? In fact, he'd already said that to you on the phone, didn't he?" I said lightly, bowing my head.

Sato probably didn't know how to answer, and his expression was a little stunned.

"You are a policeman, and he is a thief, you are on the opposite side, he doesn't see you, he is just afraid of affecting you, it is for your good, there should be no intersection between you. ”

"But......," Sato wanted to say.

"You told me last time in the hospital that you would let go of your obsession with him and would not be bound by him, but you broke your promise. I interrupted Sato.

"I thought I had forgotten about him, who knows......"

"Can't you forget 'him', or can't you forget your friend?" I interrupted her again with a faint smile, looking into Sato's eyes: "Although he is very much like your friend, he is not your friend after all, and you are looking at him to see your friend through him, right? I don't know what happened to your friend, but you are useless except to make yourself muddy." So, I'm still the same sentence, give up, he won't see you again. The police officer Sato I know is not the kind of person who will be bound by the past. ”

“...... Whew," Sato was stunned for five or six minutes, then let out a long breath and laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" I was a little puzzled.

"Laughing at a person as big as me, I can't see through it as a little ghost like you, and," Sato said and bent down, smiling and pinching my face: "I was almost caught up in this little bastard of you, what a mess, and I don't give up, I don't seem to be able to get married." ”

"It hurts...... Let go...... "It took a lot of effort to pull Sato's hand down, and it hurt so much that I was about to burst into tears: "It's so rude, it's really hard to say whether you can marry in the future or not." ”

"Say what. Sato patted me on the head angrily and said, "No matter what, I won't give up tracking down his whereabouts, and I won't let him catch him for the rest of my life, otherwise, I will definitely give him an over-the-shoulder throw like last time......!"

...... "Have I ever offended her?"

Forget it, although it feels messy, but it finally suppressed Sato's "sorrow of the balls", and I'll talk about the future problems later.

Thinking of this, I once again shifted my attention from Sato's body to the pile of food in front of me. Anyway, now that the boss is sleeping, you shouldn't have to pay for a little more, right?

"Hey," Sato bumped me with his elbow, "Don't patronize and eat, you can also tell me, my life-saving benefactor wants to see him, but he refuses to show up, this is very rude for a lady, right?"

"Huhu~~ En. I nodded my head perfunctorily while eating, but I couldn't help but sneer in my heart: Lady, is there a lady who blows directly with a wine bottle? Besides, you were the one who knocked me out last time, and you saved my life......

"Now, he's a jerk, isn't he?"

"En. ”

"He's unconscionable, isn't he?"

"En. ”

"He must be the kind of person who is very stingy, has a bad temper, and has a special machismo, right?"

"En. ”

"No wonder you open your mouth and snort at me......"

Sato is like a little girl who has been wronged, belittles the person who offends her in different ways, and seeks like-minded "comrades-in-arms", in order to appease her emotions, and in order not to delay my great meal, I have to perfunctory express my approval.

"You seem to know him well, huh?"

"Uh-huh...... Huh?" I just nodded my head habitually, but I reacted immediately, and hurriedly swallowed what was in my mouth, choking on the roll of my eyes and waving my hand repeatedly.

"Here, water. Sato cooperatively handed over a glass of water.

"Goo-goo...... Ha...... Almost died. Putting down the glass with some trepidation, I denied it "in righteous words": "I don't know that scumbag." ”

How does this water smell like lemon......

"Really?"

"Of course...... Hiccup! It's true...... "Ale, why are you a little dizzy?"

"Hey, what's wrong with you?

"I ...... too I don't know...... Hehe, Sister Miwako, you just sit and shake something......"

"Hey, I'm not shaking, you're shaking!" Sato shook his hand in front of my eyes, wondering, "It's strange, you haven't been drinking, why are you drunk?"

"Who...... Who says I'm drunk......? Not drunk...... Hiccup! ”

I said...... You can't get drunk on juice, do you?" Sato asked me, a little uncertain.

"Hu ...... Nonsense, you will get drunk with a glass of juice...... Whatever, how could it be...... Hey hey ......"

“...... Speechless, I really didn't expect you to have this kind of physique. Sato groaned with his hand on his forehead.

“...... Hey, hey, huh~huh~ "I'm sleepy, huh...... It's so soft, it's so comfortable...... Go to sleep......

"Hey, don't sleep, don't lie on me...... Forget it, let's give the Maori detective a call, and you'll be staying with me today. Really, a glass of lemonade actually got drunk like this, I can't really take you stupid brother......"

......

In an apartment, Sato struggled to carry a little boy into the room, closing the door while muttering, "Stinky boy, it's so small, it's still so heavy, and it's still drooling on my back......"

Carefully placing the little boy on the sofa, Sato looked at his wrinkled clothes, sighed a little distressedly, but glanced at the boy who was asleep on the sofa, and some frowning thin eyebrows stretched out again, and went to the bathroom to get a towel to carefully wipe the sweat on the little boy's forehead.

"It's a hassle to take care of a child, but if only I had such a brother......" Sato muttered to himself as he sorted out the boy's clothes, his tone full of doting.

Sato carefully looked at the little boy as he fell asleep, it was the first time she had seen him so closely, and it was the first time she had seen him so quiet. The fair little face, delicate thin eyebrows, red lips, gently fluttering nose, and delicate skin that looks very soft...... It's like a pretty girl.

What am I thinking...... It's a boy! It's still my brother! Sato shook his head, shook off the distractions in his heart, sighed, leaned back on the sofa, and turned his head to look at the boy's sleeping expression.

If only he had been so quiet all the time. Such a thought suddenly popped into Sato's heart.

Suddenly, she discovered a detail, even if the boy was asleep, his good-looking eyebrows were still slightly frowned, which made Sato inexplicably feel distressed, did he have something on his mind?

Sato was taken aback by his thoughts, and then laughed to himself: How is it possible, it's just such a young child......

Forget it, take a shower, the province is always cranky.

Sato, who had made up her mind, stood up, stretched her muscles, and walked towards the bathroom, but after taking two steps, she stopped again, looked back at the boy who was still lying on the sofa muttering in her sleep, and suddenly laughed.

Stinky boy, you're cheap, I've never helped anyone else take a bath......

Sato carefully picked up the boy and slowly helped him undress, for fear of waking him up from his sweet dreams.

Although she kept reminding herself in her heart that the person in front of her was her brother, just a child who didn't understand anything, the pink skin on the little boy's neckline still made Sato's heart shake for a while. But suddenly, the movement of Sato's hand stopped, and his face suddenly turned pale!

What appeared in front of her was not dazzling white skin, but a scarred and unbearably broken body, like a rag that had been chopped with a knife. The ugly scars were like terrible worms, entrenched on his body with teeth and claws......

What kind of experience will make the body become like this, Sato doesn't know, the only thing Sato knows is that the body must be very painful to be made like this......

......

I don't know how long I slept, but I felt very comfortable, warm, and relieved in the haze...... It's been a long time since I've felt like this.

I slowly opened my eyes to the chandeliers and ...... glowing with a soft orange glow I turned my head and a woman's back sat on the side with her back to me.

"Miwako...... Sister?" I tried to scream.

The woman's back suddenly shuddered, and she slowly turned to look at me, it was Miwako Sato, but her eyes were red at the moment, as if she had just cried.

I'm a little confused, didn't I eat oden with Sato at a street stall? How did I get here? I sat up and was about to ask something, but I was suddenly stunned.

Because I noticed that although my clothes had not changed, there was a smell of bath liquid all over my body, and my hair was wet...... Could it be that Sato helped me take a bath? I hurriedly went to touch the place where I put my diary, and the diary was not passive, which made me secretly relieved.

"Xiaohui, you tell Sister Miwako, who are you? How did those injuries on your body come about? Ordinary children don't have that kind of scars, right?" Although the red eyes were very cute, Sato's burning gaze made me uncomfortable.

Now it's troublesome...... I smiled bitterly in my heart.

Stubbornly stopping the urge to confess and forgiveness in my heart, I looked at Sato's eyes full of heartache, pity and anger, but I didn't know what to say.

Sato waited for my answer, but I didn't know how to explain it to her, and the scene fell silent for a while.

“...... You...... See?" I asked Sato in a jerky voice.

"Who is it?!Who the hell did such an excesses to you?!!Your parents?!" Sato gritted his teeth, his eyes tinged with hatred I had never seen before.

Yes, as an upright and righteous policeman, I have always seen Sato optimistic, courageous, handsome, and courageous, although I have also seen Sato's angry expression, but it is only out of a policeman's rejection of crime and sympathy for the victims, I have never seen Sato show such obvious hatred.

Hatred of this kind of feeling should not appear in a police officer, and Sato should be very clear about this. As a qualified police officer, the first important thing is that you must not mix personal feelings in your work.

But now Sato obviously doesn't care about that anymore, she's angry, her anger, her hatred I can clearly feel.

But I can't let Sato know about it.

"Why don't you speak?!Is there anything you can't say?!It's a crime to do such a thing to a child like you! It's a sin! A scumbag who does such a thing is simply mad!" The anger in Sato's eyes burned half the sky!

“...... "After a long time, I raised my head and smiled slightly wryly: "Yes...... Don't you say?"

"No!" the expected refusal.

I shook my head and said, "I'm sorry, Miwako-san, I really can't say." "Although I didn't think about making up some nonsense to fool the past, Sato is not a fool like Uncle Maori, and in front of Sato, who has rich experience in criminal investigation, any lie is futile.

"Do you think I won't check it myself if you don't say it?!Don't forget, I'm a policeman!" Sato said through gritted teeth.

Looking at Sato's unyielding expression, I laughed softly: "If you investigate me, then you probably won't see me again in the future, and today is the last time we will meet." ”

Although I have tampered with the family registration information of the police station, and no one will find out about it under normal circumstances, if Sato admits death and investigates to the end, he will definitely find that my family registration information is actually completely fake, because although "Edogawa Akiki" is fine, the other members of the Edogawa family are all false......

At that point, Sato's attention will inevitably be focused on investigating my identity, and at that point, it's really hard to say what Sato will find out...... In order to prevent this uncontrollable situation, I had to disappear in front of Sato.

Sato should be able to see that there was no joke in my smile.

Sato and I looked at each other without flinching, and after a long confrontation, Sato's body suddenly slackened, and his eyes shifted.

"Why? Why don't you tell me why? What kind of secret do you have?" Sato looked at me puzzled.

"There's no way to tell you right now, but when it's all over, I'll tell you everything you want to know. I whispered, "I'm sorry." ”

Sato looked at me earnestly, his gaze scanning back and forth over my body, making me bow my head a little weakly.

Suddenly, Sato hugged me violently! A cold tear fell on my neck, and I was thrilled......

"Okay, I won't ask you. After being silent for a while, Sato raised his head, stretched out his hand, gently stroked my face, and looked at me distressedly: "I don't know what kind of hardship you have, but I hope that when you encounter difficulties, you can ask me for help, and you can remember that you still have a sister here." ”

"Mm-hmm, definitely. I laughed heartlessly twice and diverted the subject: "Anyway, aren't we eating oden?

"And you didn't tell me that you were drunk juice physique, and as a result, a glass of lemonade turned you into a little drunk cat!"

"You didn't ask me. I said with some grievances, and then looked at the furnishings in the room: "Where is this? ”

"This is my house!" Sato knocked my head angrily: "You still helped me move, I forgot about it so quickly!"

"Oh, I said that. I suddenly realized, turned over and got out of bed: "It's not early, I'll go back first." ”

"Isn't it early? What time do you think it's now? It's past two o'clock in the morning, and you're going back?" Sato gave me an angry look: "There's no one in the Maori Detective Agency, are you going back to catch ghosts?"

"It's more than two o'clock?" I was startled, looked at my watch, but it was already more than two o'clock, and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "It's okay, I'm living at the doctor's house now, and now I'll go back and let Xiao Wai scold at most." But how do you know there's no one in the office?"

"Don't worry, I've already called Detective Maori and told him you're staying with me tonight, Dr. Asasa is there, and Detective Maori said he'll call to say hello, so you can stay here tonight in peace." ”

"Huh?" I was dumbfounded.

"Ahh

"That...... Isn't it okay?" I said with a little writ.

"What's so bad?"

"That...... Late at night...... Lonely men and widows in the same room...... What ......"

"Huh!" Hearing my words, Sato immediately laughed, and reached out to deliberately rub my hair into a mess: "A little brat, and a lonely man and widow...... Hee-hee...... Even if you want to be bad, do you have the ability?"

Is it capable......

Is it capable......

Is it capable......

For a moment, I felt like my whole being had turned gray......