[Three Days, One Issue] Little Date's Flower

That police officer was a strange man.

Before this, I had never paid attention to his every move seriously, and I only looked at him a few times as a troublesome figure who troubled Mr.

He is inseparable from Mr. Yiqi—just this superficial impression seems to be more common to the whole school than the identity of a criminal policeman.Occasionally met in the porch, the always smiling man who doesn't like to wear police uniforms nodded like a teacher, called "Date-kun" and "Koike-kun", and then walked to Mr. Yiqi's side in a leisurely manner, Wait for him to take his lunch or wagashi out of his bag.

Whenever this time, the classroom will be filled with a strange atmosphere.Then Mr. Yiqi would blush and lead him to other places in a hurry.

Other than that, my impression of him is close to nothing.

Although I had vaguely thought about it in my heart, the two should be familiar with each other, and even have a close friendship.But as a policeman, Mr. Sanriyue is too maverick, making it difficult to judge whether he is extra tolerant to the first-phase Mr. because of his old relationship, or whether he is just so casual and handles every case without haste.

There are people like this in the Kyoto Police Department, right?I heard from the fourth brother that after graduation, some of his classmates often just hang out in Jiaofan, and then travel all over the world or hang around Huacho all day long, and they don't even see each other a few times throughout the year.

That's pretty much the way Sanriyue-kun feels.Lazy, neither hot nor angry, except for drinking tea all day long and getting tired of spending time with the first-phase Mr., there is no sign of investigating the case at all.

He even opened up a small tea table in the studio at the corner of the third floor—there was no one to go to because of the remoteness. Unknowingly, the Seventeenth studio became Mr. Yi’s private art gallery, The name of the teahouse where Mr. Mikazuki took a break from class was also replaced by "Seventeen Teahouse" by naughty people.

Today, in order to inquire about the case, I finally got in touch with this criminal policeman further.

It was the afternoon when the school bell rang.Estimating that Mr. I should have entered the classroom, I asked the teacher in the health room to resign, and sneaked to the "Seventeen Tea Room" to meet Sanriyue-kun.

The midday sun is just right, and the fine light and shadow fall on the feet through the cracks of the leaves, swaying with the tiptoe movements, like the beating drums in the heart, which is the indescribable stimulation of playing truant.

It's the first time I've done this kind of thing!

When you haven't relaxed for a long time, doing something childish can always make you happy.For example, to step on the shadow of the light.

Standing in front of the studio door, the sparse spots of light fade away.I bid farewell to them, just like saying goodbye to more than ten years of routine life, and then opened the door, and walked into Xintiandi, the underworld boy who broke into the room and yelled violently in the novel.

"Oh, Date-kun."

"D-Excuse me...you don't seem very surprised."

"Haha, because I saw it."

Mikazuki-kun pointed out the window.Under the dense camphor trees, the promenade between the teaching building and the studio is full of stars, which is the place where I spun and jumped just now.

The scene was too embarrassing.Not daring to look at his expression for a while, I stared at the unfinished red-background oil painting by the wall, and imitated my father and said in an old-fashioned way.

"Officer, I take the liberty to come here because I want to ask you something."

Low laughter rang in his ears.

"Yes."

——What is your relationship with Mr. Yiqi?

Originally, I wanted to ask this question.But when the words came to my lips, I felt inappropriate.Interpol and suspects, this is the most likely excuse to avoid suspicion, so I can't directly get the answer I want.

"You seem to have a good relationship with Mr. Yiqi?"

"Haha, have you been found?"

"Is it still an old friend?"

"Well... it is true that we have been together for several years, and we separated because of family reasons in 42." (*Meiji 42, 1909)

Family reasons, probably refer to the relocation of parents' work.Mr. Mikazuki went to Kyoto, while Mr. Yiqi and Mr. Fujiwara stayed in Osaka. It has been only three years since they parted. No wonder there is a unique intimacy and tacit understanding between them.

However, this alone is not enough to entrust the truth.There is one thing that must be confirmed because of the risk of exposure, and it is also the fundamental reason why it cannot be applied to other police officers.

"Do you think Mr. Yiqi is a suspect in the Jiaojima fire?"

"Do not."

"Why?"

"After all, there is not enough evidence."

"Usually the evidence is insufficient, shouldn't the investigation be strengthened. Why do you seem to directly believe that he is not guilty?"

Perhaps my inquiry was too aggressive.This time, Sanriyue-kun didn't answer right away, but took a sip of tea lightly, which caused a little noise in the empty room other than the human voice answering.

I think he's probably finally on the verge of saying "because I believe in him" or something.If this is the case, I can take advantage of the situation and say "Since you trust Mr. Yiqi, in order to help him, you can tell me the details of the case in violation of the regulations without asking any questions?" —— without exposing the existence of the old man Kinoshita , Inquiring about the case will be solved easily. It's a trick of shame.

But I didn't expect that.

"Date-kun, Yiqian and I are engaged to each other."

A voice as flat as a statement of fact.

I turned around sharply.

Under the shining sun, Sanriyue-jun's beautiful eyes were still bent.However, this time, what was shown in his eyes was not a light scrutiny, but a constriction engulfed in tea mist.

Be watched by that gaze.The shadow of the tree and the shadow of my heart dissipated in an instant.