Chapter 54: Narcissism?

Although he ran into Fuji and Kawai, noticing that both looked a bit tired and realizing they must have just finished the night shift—meaning this already counted as overtime for them—Shiraishi sensibly refrained from ordering them to buy bread for him.

The Meka Police Precinct was a major station with a sizable administrative staff, making it one of the rare precincts equipped with its own cafeteria. Shiraishi had come straight there to buy bread; otherwise, leaving the building would have required changing back into his uniform.

Seeing the precinct chief approach...

Several administrative policewomen bent over their desks greeted the chief awkwardly, then lowered their heads and scurried away. It was currently 11:50 AM Tokyo time—a little too early for the lunch break!

It was one thing for the chief to be an injured officer coming in off-peak to buy something, but for them to be in the cafeteria this early and get caught by the chief was somewhat embarrassing—especially for the policewomen in the police affairs division, who only now remembered that the new chief's lunch had always been just "bread."

In recent years, the former chief could only eat the nutritional meals he brought from home, causing the division head to forget about preparing special accommodations for the new chief!

Just then, Shiraishi noticed a detective dressed in professional attire leaning one hand against the wall, striking what he believed to be a handsome pose, which caused the surrounding administrative policewomen to walk away even faster...

Shiraishi paused at the sight, bewildered. Does our precinct really have a character like this?

"Narcissus, didn't I tell you to go buy red bean bread? We still have surveillance to tail this afternoon!" Hanyutani's voice drifted over at that moment.

Narcissus?

"Ah! Chief, you're already on duty?" Hanyutani finally noticed Chief Shiraishi.

So this wasn't him sneaking off to eat during work hours; it was simply his stinginess—you're supposed to tail a suspect this afternoon, yet you specifically came back to the precinct cafeteria to buy bread? They would have reimbursed you even if you bought it outside!

Though he didn't know why, as a veteran assistant inspector and someone rumored to have long since separated from his wife and child, Hanyutani always seemed to be hard up for cash...

"Narcissus... Ahem, Assistant Inspector Komure, this is our chief." Hanyutani hurriedly introduced his new partner to the chief.

"It seems you two are getting along well. Well, Detective Komure, about your situation..." Shiraishi was just about to offer a few words of encouragement when... after checking the man's attributes, he was instantly stunned.

[Komure Osa (Detective of Meka Precinct):
Age: 29.
Overall Rating: SSR.
Mind: Justice (50), Principles (33), Gentleness (81), Subjectivity (71), Passion (65), Resilience (20).
Body: Extreme Narcissism, Heartbreak...
Skills: Deduction (SSR [X]), Interrogation (SSR [X]), Evidence Gathering (SR [X])...
Special Ability: Cupid's Poison Arrow (When handling a case, if the perpetrator is female, she will 100% fall in love with the target during contact).]

Potential: Affected by psychological factors, all aspects of his ability are suppressed; improvement requires untangling his emotional knot.

Truly worthy of being a former elite from the First Investigation Division!

Not only were his professional skills exceptionally high, but he also possessed a special ability—this was the second special ability Shiraishi had discovered, following Tsuzuku's [Chaos Power]!

And true to [Chaos Power], it belonged to a rather unscientific category.

However...

Unlike Kunikida's situation, Kunikida's abilities had not deteriorated; they were simply restricted by his [Principles], leaving his actions constrained. Meanwhile, given Komure Osa's current state of mind, his abilities in all areas were practically crippled, and it was hard to say how much of them he could actually unleash.

Of course, even so, [Cupid's Poison Arrow] alone was a divine skill—if the culprit was a female, he could just charge right in, and whoever fell in love was guaranteed to be the real murderer!

"Eh? Chief, you know about my situation too?" Komure Osa looked puzzled as the chief suddenly trailed off.

"Uh... That's right, you're just in a bad state right now, relax!" Shiraishi patted him encouragingly on the shoulder.

"Of course..." Komure Osa said, running a hand through his slicked-back side hair.

Hanyutani rolled his eyes on the spot...

Not to exaggerate, but in the Criminal Investigation Division, Akasaka had a pompadour, Aoki had a slicked-back quiff, Hanyutani had a side-swept fringe, and now adding Komure Osa... Shiraishi could only say it was a good thing they didn't have to get their hair gel reimbursed!

He also wondered if Kunikida's cleanliness obsession extended to "finding greasy hair gel unbearable"...

Shiraishi could completely understand why Hanyutani had adapted so quickly to calling him by his nickname—Narcissus!

Since the two of them had a surveillance assignment later, Shiraishi didn't offer any further instructions.

However, after buying his bread and returning to his office, Shiraishi deliberately reviewed the files Iwata had given him earlier.

Komure Osa, the former head of Section 5 of the First Investigation Division—meaning the person in charge at crime scenes—was considered an elite even within the First Division. At only 29 years old, around Shiraishi's age, he could be called young and promising.

As for why he ended up like this...

Rumors had it that half a year ago, his fiancée broke up with him without any warning. Afterward, not only did the jewelry robbery case he was handling bog down into a quagmire, but his subsequent performance also continued to slump. He grew increasingly narcissistic and awkward, and was ultimately "banished" here.

"Love? Truly not a good thing," Shiraishi muttered, taking a bite of his bread.

Just then, Shiraishi's phone rang...

Pulling it out, he saw an unsaved number, yet it looked familiar. After a brief moment of recall, he remembered—it was the number Ayako had used to call him the morning before yesterday!

Hesitating for a moment, Shiraishi answered the call without speaking first...

"Xiao Hei, it's me... Why did you leave the hospital?" Ayako's voice came through.

Through this fake-turned-real kidnapping ordeal, Ayako had re-established contact with Shiraishi, and... she believed that her mother's relationship with Shiraishi had also eased somewhat.

Shiraishi fell silent for a moment. Instead of pushing her away, he spoke in a normal tone: "My injuries have stabilized, and I shouldn't delay too much work here at the precinct."

"About what happened this time... I haven't properly thanked you yet! Mom also asked me to express her gratitude!" Ayako could sense Shiraishi's lingering sense of estrangement, but she still spoke warmly.

Of course, Shiraishi could be certain that her latter sentence was something she had made up herself.

"It's nothing, it's only what I should do. After all, you were within my jurisdiction when this happened, so I..."

Before Shiraishi could finish his polite, distant remarks, Ayako hurriedly interrupted, "Xiao Hei... How about we go visit the aquarium together this Saturday?"

If Shiraishi had been allowed to finish his sentence, it would have cemented their relationship as having completely degenerated into that of ordinary acquaintances, or even rather distant ones. Thus, Ayako interrupted him with a hint of pleading in her voice and offered an invitation.

Shiraishi was silent for a moment before finally saying, "Sorry..."

At that moment, Shiraishi could faintly hear the breathing on the other end of the phone grow heavier.

In those few seconds, Shiraishi's mind raced through many thoughts. Finally, he tightened his left hand with some effort and spoke: "Let's make it Sunday!"

On the other end of the line, Ayako's mood instantly made a 180-degree turn...

"Starting next month, there will be a regular precinct chiefs' meeting at headquarters every 15th." Shiraishi added this explanation for why Saturday was out of the question.

"From now on... Oh! Then I'll pick you up on Sunday!" Ayako caught the implication and eagerly confirmed.

Shiraishi did not refuse—though he had just bought a car, driving with one hand violated traffic regulations!

Since he had mentioned "from now on," it naturally meant he would be busy on the 15th of every month moving forward. In other words, days other than the 15th were fair game for future dates.

With this, the breakup that had lasted for nearly a year was finally revoked by Shiraishi at Ayako's urging.

Caught in a flurry of anxiety and hope, Ayako didn't dare to disturb Shiraishi's work any further. She hurriedly told him to get back to business and hung up the phone. However, worrying shortly after that she hadn't seemed enthusiastic enough, she hesitated for a moment before sending Shiraishi an "anticipating" emoji on their chat app.