"Why is the bathhouse so filthy today! Seriously!" Matsuda Jinpei complained impatiently, while Tamazawa Shuxin just kept yawning without moving an inch. After listening to Date Wataru explain the reason, and then hearing Furuya Rei talk about the class banner they had designed, Morofushi Hiromitsu said while working, "I was wondering if using a cherry blossom motif would be a bit too unoriginal!" Tamazawa Shuxin watched as Matsuda Jinpei pulled out a class banner bearing cat paw prints. "Is this why you asked Hagi to catch a cat, Matsuda, and then ended up getting scratched yourself when you failed to catch it?"
"So that's why little Jinpei asked me to catch a cat!" Brought back to this subject, Matsuda Jinpei was fuming. "I was just about to take the banner to the laundry to get it cleaned, when that old ghost called us over! He said something about making up for our past misdeeds, and ordered us to clean the bathhouse and locker room every single day for a whole week!"
"So why on earth did you drag me into this? Instructor Onizuka didn't even call me!" sighed Tamazawa Shuxin.
"You're mixed up in plenty of things yourself, Tamazawa, yet the old ghost never punishes you. It's so infuriating!"
"I don't know why, but little Tamazawa always manages to slip away!"
"And you still haven't explained to us how you knew about what happened last time." Watching the five of them complain endlessly, Tamazawa Shuxin quickly changed the subject. "How about we talk about something else?"
The conversation soon shifted to Morofushi Hiromitsu. Tamazawa Shuxin had actually looked into the murder of Morofushi Hiromitsu's parents on his own, and the other four had also picked up clues. It was all far too coincidental: fifteen years had passed, and the killer was right there in Tokyo, practically next door to the police academy.
"Not long ago, I had a phone call with my older brother..."
"Could it be that you mixed up your Nagano house and your Tokyo house, Hiro?" Tamazawa Shuxin interrupted the speculation directly.
"Morofushi, the killer is Date Isri. Your late childhood friend's surname is Isri, and she's Date Isri!" Morofushi Hiromitsu unlocked the floodgates of his memory. "Are you saying you knew who the killer was all along, Tamazawa? Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"What are you talking about? Weren't you the ones who said we had to wait for Morofushi to bring it up? Besides, just use your head—how old was Morofushi when it happened? To protect itself, the brain sometimes tricks you with memories. The obvious clue to use was the childhood friend who died young, Date Isri. I tracked down Date Isri based on that clue and studied the connections between them. Moreover, Date Isri's movements completely overlapped with Morofushi's. However, I suspect Date Isri has lost his mind; the only reason he didn't kill Morofushi back then was because Morofushi and Isri were close. Combined with the missing girl case just now, Date Isri must think his daughter isn't dead and that following Morofushi will lead him to her. Then he saw this little girl and kidnapped her."
"That's right! The wine glass I saw was the blank space in the Guanyin painting, and Isri back then..."
"And we heard him at the convenience store earlier, buying snacks for his daughter." The five of them analyzed the situation and immediately bolted out the door.
Tamazawa Shuxin looked at the unfinished bathroom and the untouched locker room. "Honestly, if I left this for you lot to finish, Instructor Onizuka would tear you apart. I don't want my punishment extended!" Tamazawa Shuxin tapped open his inventory and used the R-card 【Clean Sweep】. In an instant, the bathroom became spotless and tidy.
"Good thing I pulled so many magic cards from the gacha. High-level spells like the water prison are completely missing, but I've got plenty of utility spells." Tamazawa Shuxin frequently used the cleaning spell to tidy up his dorm room, and the results were always fantastic. "Next up, the locker room!" After finishing the locker room with 【Clean Sweep】, Tamazawa Shuxin hurried off toward the laundry. "I hope I'm not too late!"
As soon as he arrived, he heard a muffled explosion, and then saw Date Wataru and the others carrying a little girl out.
"Tamazawa, catch!" Tamazawa Shuxin took the little girl from Date Wataru's arms. Then, Date Wataru, Furuya Rei, Hagiwara Kenji, and Matsuda Jinpei each grabbed a corner of the class banner, stretched it taut, and safely caught Morofushi Hiromitsu and Date Isri as they fell.
"Just let me die!"
"Not happening! You've got to pay for the crimes you committed!"
After handing over Date Isri and the little girl at the Metropolitan Police Department, Tamazawa Shuxin urged, "Hurry back! The bathhouse and locker room aren't finished yet! The old ghost is going to inspect!"
When Furuya Rei prepared to run back with the other four, he turned his head and saw Tamazawa Shuxin wearing a wicked grin. Furuya Rei stopped in his tracks and fell into step beside him. "Tamazawa, you haven't already finished the cleaning, have you?"
Tamazawa Shuxin looked at Furuya Rei, whose eyes were filled with suspicion yet asked with certainty, and nodded without hesitation.
"I've finished it all. If I relied on certain people who never remember to clean up their mess, all that would be waiting for us is extra punishment from Instructor Onizuka. So I went ahead and cleaned the whole thing. But I'm annoyed, so I've decided to watch you guys run back in a panic."
Just as Furuya Rei reached for his phone, he caught sight of the corners of Tamazawa Shuxin's eyes and brows curving into a mocking sneer. The corners of his lips were uncontrollably cocked upward, and a flickering, treacherous, and sinister glint danced in the depths of his eyes.
"Tamazawa, what else did you do?"
"Nothing much. I just arranged for Instructor Onizuka to head down to the school gate before I left."
The corners of Furuya Rei's eyes twitched involuntarily. It was a good thing he spotted Tamazawa Shuxin's wicked grin; just imagining it was nerve-wracking—not finishing the chores, running into Instructor Onizuka right at the school gate, stammering excuses about the cleaning, being dragged back by the instructor for a forced inspection, and finally discovering that everything was already done. Furuya Rei finished the thought and glanced sideways at Tamazawa Shuxin. "Tamazawa, you really have a sadistic sense of humor!"
As soon as they reached the gates of the police academy, they saw Onizuka Hachizo standing with Matsuda Jinpei and the other three lined up behind him, looking thoroughly guilty. "Furuya, Tamazawa! Where have you two been?"
Furuya Rei explained what had just happened. "Are you kidding me? You just happened to find the kidnapped girl, just happened to capture the kidnapper, and the kidnapper just so happens to be the prime suspect in the murder of Morofushi's parents fifteen years ago?!"
"Yes, exactly!" Furuya Rei answered, standing at attention.
"Do you take me for a fool? Shirking your cleaning duties to sneak out, and then coming up with such a pathetic excuse!"
Onizuka Hachizo gave a direct order. "You lot, come with me to the bathhouse! If it isn't properly cleaned, you're going to pay for this!"
On the way, Matsuda Jinpei muttered under his breath, "Crap, we're done for."
"Little Jinpei really messed up big time this time."
"Zero, can you buy us a bit more time?"
"We'll just have to take the hit." Seeing the four of them dejected, Furuya Rei desperately wanted to tell the truth, but catching the look in Tamazawa Shuxin's eyes—a clear *if you dare speak, I'll exact my revenge*—he could only pretend not to notice and apologized to them silently in his heart.
When Onizuka Hachizo unlocked the locker room, it was impeccably clean and tidy. Even Matsuda Jinpei and the others were stunned, since they hadn't touched a single thing. Onizuka Hachizo hadn't expected these brats to actually do the cleaning, so he awkwardly changed the subject. "The main point is the bathhouse!"
The result there was equally spotless and tidy, leaving Onizuka Hachizo completely speechless. Even Furuya Rei and the other five breathed a sigh of relief. In the end, Onizuka Hachizo could only storm off, leaving behind a toothless warning: "Don't forget you're on cleaning duty for a whole week!"
After Onizuka Hachizo left, "Ah, that scared me to death! By the way, who helped us clean this place up?" Matsuda Jinpei marveled.
Meanwhile, Morofushi Hiromitsu looked at Furuya Rei. "Zero, you wouldn't happen to be hiding something from us, would you?"
Furuya Rei hurriedly brushed it off. "How could that be?"
Hagiwara Kenji, however, saw right through it all. "Little Furuya became little Tamazawa's accomplice! It's obvious that little Tamazawa finished it, and on top of that, he deliberately kept it from us and had Instructor Onizuka catch us at the gate!"
"Furuya, the reason you didn't run back with us earlier is because you figured out something was wrong with Tamazawa, yet you aided and abetted him while watching us freak out!"
As soon as Date Wataru finished speaking, the four of them lunged at Furuya Rei. "Spare me! I didn't say anything because Tamazawa threatened me!"
"Wait, where is that guy Tamazawa anyway?"
Meanwhile, Tamazawa Shuxin had just returned to his dorm room, turned on his computer, and forwarded all the evidence to Onizuka Hachizo, while conveniently taking credit for the five of them. Just as he finished sending the email, Onizuka Hachizo called him. "Instructor Onizuka, what is it?"
"Tamazawa, have you figured out which department you want to go to?"
"Instructor Onizuka, is it Public Security?"
A dead silence fell over the line, followed by a heavy sigh. "You really are sharp! Public Security specifically requested Furuya, Morofushi, and you. What do you think?"
Tamazawa Shuxin replied indifferently, "I don't want to go to Public Security. I prefer the Public Relations Division of the Metropolitan Police Department. After all, apart from the Squad Leader, every single one of these guys has a terrible personality. If I'm not around to keep an eye on them, these arrogant idiots will manage to get themselves killed!"
Just as Tamazawa Shuxin finished speaking, he sensed movement at the door and abruptly hung up the phone. "Sorry, Instructor Onizuka, something came up, I have to hang up!"
Tamazawa Shuxin walked over to the door and pulled it open to find all five of them grinning broadly at him.
Tamazawa Shuxin clicked his tongue. "I knew little Tamazawa still cares about us! Even if he doesn't show it on the outside, little Tamazawa always cleans up our messes!" Hagiwara Kenji walked over with a smile and threw an arm around Tamazawa Shuxin's shoulders.
"Tch, even though I really don't want to admit that you arrogant idiots are my partners, I actually appreciate you all a lot! So let me say it officially: I'll be counting on you!"
"Then we'll be counting on you too, Shuxin!" Tamazawa Shuxin looked at Furuya Rei in confusion.
"Well, we're all partners now, so calling you by your given name is only right, isn't it?"
Tamazawa Shuxin couldn't argue with that. "Since that's how it is, I'll be blunt. When you two—Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji—go to the Bomb Disposal Unit, you'd better wear your bomb suits on missions instead of being as reckless as you are now and skipping the gear! And as for you two, Morofushi Hiromitsu and Furuya Rei, once you're in Public Security, keep a low profile and don't go playing fast and loose!"
As soon as he finished, silence filled the dorm room, and then all five of them piled on top of Tamazawa Shuxin in a group hug. "What are you doing? Let go of me!"
"Little Shuxin, little Jinpei and I will definitely follow your advice!"
"In Shuxin's eyes, I must seem really reliable!"
"Zero and I will be careful, but Shuxin, you need to take better care of your own health too!"
Hearing that, the five of them acted like they were revving up an engine, launching into a frantic barrage of advice, fussing over this and that.
"Alright, I get it, stop nagging me! If you keep going, I'm going to pass out!" Tamazawa Shuxin gave the five of them a resentful look, then added, "Well, since I'm being unusually honest for once, and none of us have eaten dinner yet, how about yakiniku? My treat!"
And just like that, amidst all the bickering and horseplay, Tamazawa Shuxin and his companions graduated.