"It's just a small thing, but you don't have to take it so seriously...... I just wanted you to help me take care of Yoko. ”

"Huh? Yoko? ”

Hearing Mina Okino say this, Sharon was stunned for a moment and asked:

"Miss Okino, what do you mean......"

She had seen Mina Okino's daughter before, she was still in kindergarten, she was very beautiful, and she looked like a quiet little girl.

"Hehe, as you guessed, I'm going to go on a long trip."

Suddenly took out a notebook with a pen pinned to it from nowhere, and Mina Okino put on a "scholar" posture, and said with a smile:

"But, Yoko, she's still so young, and I'm not at ease when I'm at home alone, I used to ask that guy from Shirakawa to take care of me, but I don't know how, I always feel that Yoko is like a ...... to Shirakawa Ah, sorry, I'm off topic.

In short, this matter will trouble Karasuma for the time being! My good friend, you shouldn't be doing anything lately, right? ”

"Nope." Sharon shook her head when she heard this, and then replied with a worried look: "It's just that Yoko's kid has only seen me once, and I'm a little worried about whether she will ...... me."

"Don't worry~ No, no, no! Yoko: She's normal most of the time! A very well cared for child! ”

"The vast majority ...... Time? ”

Sharon didn't quite understand Mina Okino's words.

Other words...... Are there also rare cases where it is not normal and becomes difficult to take care of?

However, Mina Okino didn't seem to want to answer her doubts.

"Ah~It's good to have one more friend by your side~" She looked up and pretended to exaggerate and sighed:

"Like before, since I realized that guy Shirakawa had mental problems, I really didn't dare to go out for too long in order to take care of him, which really seriously affected my progress in completing my goal of investigating 'every unknown mountain village in Japan'......"

"Huh? Did Miss Okino have such a goal? ”

"Of course, I'm a serious person, right? For example, in the small mountain village where I am going to investigate, it is said that the daughter of a certain daimyo who was beheaded there in ancient times was worshipped as a god, and some very special rituals have been preserved.

I heard that more than ten years ago, there was a rumor that someone suddenly lost his head and died in the course of the worship ceremony, and it was old and terrifying, and when I went over to investigate, if the problem was serious, I might have to ask the guy from Baihe for help this time......

Okay, let's not talk about it now, it's almost time, and I'll talk to you about the specific things when I come back. ”

Only then did Sharon notice that the two had unknowingly walked to a nearby station.

"Miss Okino, are you going to leave now?" Sharon looked at her in surprise.

"Yes, I've already said hello to Baihe before, so I'm definitely going to leave now."

Mina Okino has an expression on why you would ask such a question.

"Huh? But ......" looked at Mina Okino, who was wearing no luggage on her body, and Sharon stopped talking.

"Karasuma-chan, you're not worried about a change of clothes, are you?

Folklore scholars need to follow the local customs, and when I go to the local area, I can ask the villagers there to find them. If you really can't do it, you can pay with money......"

"Hara, is that so?"

"Okay, okay, let's go back, or do you want to sit down and talk to me for a while?"

"It's okay to talk a little longer......"

Mina Okino was quite talkative, and that day, Sharon waited until the train arrived at the station before finally getting up to say goodbye.

"The happy ending is ahead, even if it's a few days when I'm away, you two have to get along well?"

This was the last thing Mina Okino said to Sharon before getting into the car.

“……”

In the office of the Metropolitan Police Department, Bai Heqing, who had just finished another day's work, was just about to lie on his desk to rest for a while, when he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

"White River, White River?"

His eyelids were heavy, and he barely raised his head to take a look, and found that it was Mina Okino.

The former thief lady, whom he had met in London, snuck into his office and woke him up by the way.

"What's wrong?" Raising his hand and pressing his eyebrows, Bai Heqing asked.

Mina Okino won't take the initiative to come here to see him if it's okay, and Shirakawa Kiyoshi is quite clear about this.

"I'm leaving, there's something I want to ask you about before then."

Mina Okino looked at him tired, poured him a glass of warm water from the water dispenser next to him, and complained:

"You guy, I'll stay in this office less in the future, I'm finally helping you get the little Karasuma kid back, you have to spend more time with people in the future, you know?"

There was a rare serious concern in her words.

This person has always regarded himself as his sister, but sometimes he suddenly becomes like this.

"Tell me, what do you need me to help with?"

didn't respond directly to her words, Bai Heqing, who had been a little chaotic in his mind for some reason, asked directly.

Something was wrong, he always felt that something was wrong......

Bai Heqing realized this, but his mind was like a layer of fog that blocked his thinking, so that he could never see what was wrong.

"You've always been so impatient......"

Today's Okino Mina seems to be particularly a little rubbing, usually in this case, when Shirakawa Qing says this, she should always complain, and then follow to the topic.

But today I'm repeatedly nagging something like an old mother.

"Let me tell you, that little Karasuma kid has always felt guilty about you, so there are a lot of things, she always wants to hide it from you, wants to solve it herself, and often ends up breaking herself......

As for you, you also have to learn to turn your brain around a lot, think more about things when you encounter them, don't always think about getting straight to the topic, many things in this world, especially when it comes to the relationship between people, are not so simple......"

"Mina, what the hell are you trying to say?"

Inexplicably a little irritable, Bai Heqing couldn't help but interrupt her.

"Yes yes yes impatient man......"

Sighing, Mina Okino stood at his desk and said helplessly:

"Didn't I say that? I'm leaving, but I can't let go of some things, and I haven't really seen the happy ending, it's really miserable...... So I wanted to come back and say a few words to you, and then I would like to ask you for one thing......"

"Let's go?"

As the word Mina Okino spoke, the fog that had been shrouding Shirakawa Kiyoshi's mind suddenly dissipated a little.

He was a little puzzled at first, and then suddenly came back to his senses.

Wrong!

Didn't Mina Okino tell him a few days ago that she was going to a small mountain village for a folklore investigation?

Why is she here?! When did she come back?!

"Mina, when did you come back?"

The strange feeling in his heart climbed to the extreme, and the drowsy feeling that had been wrapped around his whole body from just now dissipated instantly, and Shirakawa Qing raised his head sharply, and finally looked at Mina Okino.

This glance directly made his pupils shrink suddenly.

I don't know when it started, but the delicate face of Mina Okino in front of her suddenly became bloody, and her bloodshot eyes were staring at him at the moment, and her voice was hoarse.

"Shirakawa, help me take care of Yoko."

"Muina?! Wait a minute! ”

Subconsciously shouted, Bai Heqing straightened up sharply.

He opened his eyes, and the sunlight was pouring in through the window, and he was still sitting at his desk around his office, but Mina Okino in front of him was gone.

Beside her, Sharon, who was putting a file bag in the cabinet next to her, noticed the movement and turned her head to look.

"What's wrong?"

(˙ー˙)

(End of chapter)