章 20: Chapter 20: Honest Asai
Morning, Tsukikage Island village clinic.
"Cough, cough! So, I really did catch a cold?"
Fujino grumbled as he tore off a piece of tissue from the roll on the bedside table and blew his nose.
This body, with its chronic susceptibility to colds, really couldn't take much strain. Just a bit of vigorous activity, and he caught a cold? Fortunately, before his body gave out, he had already subdued those two. He even managed to copy the video evidence onto a tape at the hotel.
"I need to seriously work on my fitness once I get better... I wonder if the system has anything that can help with that."
As Fujino pondered this, he cast his gaze toward the female doctor not far away. She wore a purple sweater, a black skirt, and a white coat, emitting a faint fragrance.
Generally, women like her were especially popular among men. But Fujino felt no interest in her because he knew this lovely woman was actually a man.
The person who had hired him to investigate Keiji Asou was likely this doctor. If he remembered correctly, the doctor's real name was Narumi Asai, the son of Keiji Asou, who supposedly died in that fire twelve years ago. He had survived because he was undergoing treatment in Tokyo at the time.
After graduating from university, he disguised himself as a woman and came to this island to become the village doctor to uncover the truth behind his family's death. Two years ago, he learned the truth from Yuu Kameyama. Since then, he had been planning to kill the members of the drug trafficking group who murdered his father. However, his inherently kind nature made him suffer greatly from his own murder plans. In desperation, he hired a detective to try to stop himself.
Asai suddenly turned around. Seeing Fujino looking at him with a strange expression, he blushed.
He cleared his throat, picked up the tray with the IV bottle, and walked to Fujino's bedside.
"By the way, you must be from out of town, right?"
He placed the tray on the bedside table and asked curiously, "I haven't seen you on the island before."
"That's right."
Fujino nodded, his voice hoarse from the cold. "I'm from Tokyo."
"Tokyo?"
Asai looked surprised and said excitedly, "I'm from Tokyo too. Are you here for a vacation?"
"Yes."
"I heard the scenery and air here are great, so I thought I'd come for a few days to improve my health."
"Indeed, it's much better than the concrete jungle of Tokyo. The air is fresh, and it's very quiet."
Before he could finish, a loudspeaker blared nearby: "To protect the island's fishing grounds and the rights of the fishermen, please support the people's representative, Masato Shimizu!"
"The village head election has been quite intense lately..."
Asai smiled awkwardly. "I wonder who will win."
"It should be Masato Shimizu."
Fujino said absentmindedly. Eihachiro Kawashima had already been knocked out and thrown into the community center. Kuroiwa would probably be arrested soon. With only one candidate left, who else could it be but Masato Shimizu?
"Why do you think that?"
Asai looked at Fujino in confusion. "You should have just arrived here..."
"The power of the people is always the strongest."
Fujino explained, then quickly changed the subject. "By the way, Dr. Asai, what's your name?"
"My name is Narumi Asai. As you can see, I'm the village doctor... and you?"
"Tohji Fujino, a music student."
"Fujino-kun?"
Asai murmured as he hung the IV bottle by the bed. "Your cold is quite severe... I'll give you an injection and prescribe some cold medicine. You should be fine within a week."
"A week?"
Fujino murmured. "That's a long time..."
As he spoke, he extended his left hand. Asai, holding a thin needle, smiled lightly. "It's just a small cold. It'll pass soon."
"I understand."
Fujino sighed and extended his hand.
Then, Asai tied a tourniquet around Fujino's wrist, inserted the white needle into a vein on the back of his hand, and smiled lightly, "Are you afraid of pain, Fujino-kun?"
Fujino rolled his eyes, clearly not wanting to answer that question.
Meanwhile, on the island's coastline, Matsumoto Kiyonaga stood at the bow of a patrol boat, addressing a group of officers in black suits in the cabin.
"It's 9:10 AM. Early this morning, we received information that a ruthless drug trafficking group is operating on Tsukikage Island."
"Our informant has been kidnapped."
"Our First Division is responsible for blocking the area around the island and searching for criminals within the island."
"If you find the drug group's hideout, do not act rashly. Report back immediately. The Fourth Division and the riot squad will handle rescuing the hostages and destroying the drug den. Understood?"
"Understood!"
Matsumoto nodded at the determined faces of the officers and continued, "Megure, you lead the team to search for the hostages first. Remember, once you find them, act immediately. If anything goes wrong, call for backup. Everyone else will assist the coast guard in sealing off the island."
"Yes, sir!"
...
Back at the clinic, unaware of the impending police operation, Fujino was chatting with Asai while receiving his IV.
"By the way, Dr. Asai, do you know about the incident on this island twelve years ago?"
"Twelve years ago..."
Asai seemed to drift off. "Yes, there was indeed an incident... the Keiji Asou self-immolation case."
Before he could finish, Fujino chuckled, "Yesterday, I received a mysterious commission. After my investigation, I discovered the whole truth. The incident twelve years ago wasn't a suicide; it was a deliberate mass murder."
"Keiji Asou was killed because he refused to help the island's criminal group with drug trafficking."
"Am I right, Mr. Client?"
"Ah? Are you a detective?"
Asai was stunned for a moment, then said with a hint of sorrow, "But Fujino-kun, what are you talking about? That's very rude. I'm a woman..."
(End of the chapter)
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