Chapter 131: Raising a Child from Scratch (Part II)

5

"I'm back."

Walking into the hallway, Matsuda Jinpei put the shopping bag in his hand on the cabinet.

It has been almost a week since he brought back the teenager in the alley, and he has become accustomed to buying some fast food and ingredients on the way back to the apartment from the Metropolitan Police Department after work to settle dinner, and by the way, as a lunch box for the teenager at noon.

The room was dim, and the relaxed expression on Matsuda's face changed.

Usually when he comes back, it's either Kenji Hagiwara, who gets off work early, playing games with Nai Ikekawa, and the living room table is full of unopened snack packages.

If no one else is in the house, they will sit quietly on the couch to watch TV or read a book, and they will respond immediately when someone comes back and come to the entrance to help with something.

But today, there is no sound in the room.

A little off. Hagiwara guy is working overtime today, even if he is at home, it is just dark now, and it is impossible for him to take Ikekawa Na out to play.

Before he could change his shoes, the man with black curly hair quickly walked into the house.

The curtains were drawn, the comic books, game cartridges, and snacks were packed up and placed on the cupboards, and the bedding in the bedroom was laid out, looking spotless, as if no one had lived here.

Pulling open the closet, Matsuda Jinpei quickly frowned. The dress that Ikekawa wore when they first met is gone.

The other party's clothes are worn in the summer, and they can't be worn out at all in the winter, and after coming to the apartment, this dress is folded and put in the closet, and it has never been taken out.

Next to the vacant spot, there are folded loungewear.

Matsuda Jinpei walked out of the bedroom with a calm face, and saw the living room facing the bedroom door, and the TV opposite the sofa.

The house is not cluttered, if it was taken away suddenly, the smart child should have left some code, but nothing, the other party packed everything and went out by himself.

He had very little access to outside information at home, and he had done enough sweeping work when he left the fast food restaurant, at least no matter the surveillance or anything, he left no trace.

All that's left is ......

Matsuda Jinhei turned on the TV, played back the last channel before turning it off, and tuned it to the news slot.

“…… The adopted son of the collector Mr. Koo disappeared a week ago and his whereabouts are still unknown. ”

While the news host was reading the script, a corresponding photo appeared on the screen on the right. The boy with long hair stood next to the chair and looked at the camera, his hand was held by the adult next to him who couldn't see his face, and the whole person looked a little tense.

He looked like he was only about 10 years old, and it seemed that he hadn't taken a new photo in the past seven years.

After searching around unsuccessfully, he began to use missing person notices to further limit the range of Ikekawa Na's escape.

Immediately understanding why the other party suddenly 'ran away from home', Matsuda Jinpei put on his coat again, and walked outside while calling Kenji Hagiwara.

It seems that he didn't listen to a word of what he said to that guy this week, and his first reaction when he encountered this kind of thing was to leave first while they were away.

Something removed from the coat rack swept something to the ground, and the man looked down to see the jewel removed from the suit and bow tie of Ikekawa when they first met lying on the carpet, and a note with the word 'thank you' written on it next to it.

Matsuda Jinhei simply laughed angrily.

When he finds Ikekawa Na, he has to come up to the other party's head!

6

It's still cold at night.

"Shhhh

With her knees on the ground and her skin scratched by the rough masonry, Ikekawa stood up with her hands on her feet, trying her best to play the role of a 'traitor' who wanted to keep on her run.

The man's blue eyes reflected a cold and oppressive light, and his expression was cold, and only when his gaze fell on the boy who had just fallen to the ground, did it fluctuate slightly.

“…… Na Ikekawa? Whispering the name, he glanced at his phone and equated the other person's face with the photo.

Ikekawa Na leaned against the wall and looked at each other.

His knees were still aching, but none of that mattered, at least the plan was still going well.

He had already soiled his clothes and torn a few more small cuts to disguise himself as if he had spent this time in an unmonitored abandoned building.

At least better than the organization knew that he was protected by two police officers and lived in their home.

"Did the gentleman tell you to come to me?" Ikekawa Na's expression was calm, he exhaled and whispered, "I'll go with you." ”

He stood up straight, the man in front of him who seemed to be one of Koou's many minions, and perhaps he also had a code name related to wine.

After saying this, he turned his head and wanted to take another look at the light that came in from outside the alley, but in the light, he saw a figure from far and near.

The man with black curly hair came running and stood at the mouth of the alley panting lowly, he propped up the wall, he ran for an unknown amount of time, and his forehead was covered with a thin layer of sweat in the winter night.

"Na Ikekawa!"

He shouted into the alley.

Ikekawa took several steps back, the last thing he wanted happened at the end, and the members of the group met with the two policemen who had taken him back.

The hand at his side clenched, and he lowered his eyes, pretending that he didn't know each other.

The visitor did not stop in the slightest, he walked quickly to the location where the two of them were, and after seeing the face of the blue cat-eyed man, he was stunned and quickly came back to his senses.

"You're going to be taken back like this?" Matsuda Jinpei laughed angrily when the other party wanted to pretend that he didn't know him, "Do you know what you'll face when you go back?" ”

"I know." Ikekawa Nai looked up at him, and his face was ugly with one sentence, "...... Locked in the basement? Or somewhere else. I don't know, but it should be. Or get some medicine...... It won't be any worse. ”

Matsuda Jinpei subconsciously wanted to feel the cigarette case on his chest, he took a deep breath and said in a deep tone, "Come with me." ”

“…… I can't go with you. The boy's voice was low, "I said it a long time ago...... I don't have anywhere to go. You don't understand. If you don't want to be discovered by them, if you don't want to die, don't stop me. ”

As he spoke, he looked at the other person present vigilantly, for fear that the other party would do it directly or report the situation.

"I'll just ask you." Matsuda Jinhei looked at him, his black eyes calming with the rainbow light of the entire city, "Do you want to go back?" ”

Ikekawa Nai subconsciously wanted to answer, but saw the other party make a 'pause' gesture.

"You promised Hagi that you would tell the truth no matter what you do."

7

The boy fell silent.

At the end of the alley, there was a street light that belonged to the night, and the vendors who had finished their business for the day, the students who said goodbye to their friends, and the people who walked after dinner hurried past the entrance, and no one noticed the dark alleyway.

But Ikekawa Na knew that going out from here and turning left was a flower shop, and Kenji Hagiwara would buy a few after work and bring them back to decorate his bedside, and he was complained about having this kind of 'girly hobby'.

The flower shop is connected to the park that is bustling during the day, and at night the gate is closed, and only the residents of the apartment building near the park can enter.

He and Matsuda had built a snowman inside, and in retaliation for the attack in the early hours of that morning, the latter tripped the half-haired man into a fluffy snowdrift. He reached out to pull, who knew the weight of the adult man, and fell in together, covered in snow, causing the other two to laugh next to him.

In front of him was a 24-hour supermarket downstairs in the apartment, and most of the ingredients for his three meals, whether they were made by himself or fast, came from here, and Kenji Hagiwara secretly brought him in.

He looked at the huge supermarket little by little, and stayed for more than three hours without finishing it, only feeling that he was surrounded by colorful packaging bags that he had never seen before, and he couldn't finish shopping.

The items bought from the supermarket would end up on the table, and the two policemen would not eat properly at the table, and would use the food with beer in the evening to watch the noisy football game live.

He stayed for several days, and finally learned to sit in a standard sitting position, but to hold the juice and sink into the soft pillows.

Warm interior, there is always someone talking to the house, every day there will be people saying 'I'm gone, see you in the evening' and 'I'm back, how is it today' house.

Or rather...... Family?

Tears suddenly rolled down from his eyes, and the brilliance in his vision was stained into a blurred patch of color.

"I don't want to go back...... I ......" Ikekawa Na tried to reach out and pull the clothes of the person opposite, but in the end she just reached out and wiped her tears in a hurry, "I—I don't want to go back." ”

He couldn't cry, and a sentence was shattered into words that couldn't be connected because of the continuous sobbing.

The back of his hand wiped away the tears, and he tried to hold the cry in his throat, but he still let out an irrepressible choking between breaths.

The man in the blue hood narrowed his eyes, and the originally suppressed cold expression on his face changed, no longer like a member of the organization: "Then let's go." ”

Ikekawa's eyes widened and she looked up at him in disbelief.

"Tsk. You mean, it's you guys after that...... Working? "Swallowing the word 'public security', Matsuda Jinpei crossed his arms and looked at his friend who had changed greatly after disappearing for a few months.

"Someone will contact you later." Glancing down at his watch, the man with blue cat-eyes stood up straight and looked at the exit on the other side, clearly preparing to leave.

"Got it. But your skills at scaring kids have improved by leaps and bounds. The curly-haired man replied lazily with a long voice, he reached out and rubbed the head of the young man next to him, and waited for the other party to walk away before he whispered, "Pay attention to safety." ”

Leaving the man's footsteps, the gentle smile on his face was fleeting, and he continued to walk outside without looking back.

"Alright, let's go." Pushing the sunglasses on his face upward, Matsuda Jinpei turned his head and said, "However, there is one more thing before we go back." ”

“…… What? Ikekawa Na wiped the tears from her face, and before she could see the person in front of her clearly, she felt a sharp pain in her head.

"Hmm!" Reaching out to cover the top of his head, two more tears fell from the pain that had been suppressed.

"I ran outside without saying a word, and I ran back to die." Retracting the hand that had been knocked the other party's head, Matsuda Jinpei snorted and buckled the baseball cap he brought out of the house on his head, "I see that you didn't listen to half of what the two of us said, so it's really cheap to hit you." ”

The boy pressed the brim of his hat and touched his still sore head again, a little stunned.

I didn't expect to get any reply from this little stuffy gourd, the man glanced at his broken knee, took off the down jacket on his body and handed it over, he squatted down, "Come on." ”

"Hagi that guy has been paid recently, and as a punishment for not watching people, he has to go buy premium beef and come back to make sukiyaki to eat. You haven't eaten this yet, have you? ”

...... sukiya?

"Nope." With a nasal voice when he spoke, he wrapped the down jacket on his body tightly, and blocked himself tightly with a hood and baseball cap, and Ikekawa Na carefully lay on the other party's back and was easily carried by others.

Beneath the tall buildings, neon lights reflect the steel forest and the water after the snow has melted, turning into a dazzling rainbow light. Stepping through the stagnant water, the apartment complex is within easy reach.

The half-haired man who came out of the supermarket beckoned to this side: "I bought it!" ”

"Wow! Xiao Jinping was too much, and actually let me buy such expensive beef. Walking to the two of them, Kenji Hagiwara blew a few breaths on his frozen red hand, looking relaxed, "I'll show you a hand in a while, I'm still very confident in cooking this kind of thing." ”

After that, he reached out and pinched the side face of the man on Matsuda Jinping's back, and said exaggeratedly, "It's like an ice cube, and you can run out in such a winter and be careful of your old cold legs." Hurry home, shall we? ”

Under his gaze, the young man in the down jacket tried to reach out and follow his example, reaching out and pinching the side face of the half-long-haired man opposite.

"Yours is also ice." He said, his eyes glittering with the smile on his face, "Well, let's go home." ”

(End of chapter)