Chapter 159: Reasonable

In a café with soft music playing in the background, a man and a woman, seemingly a couple, were having a conversation. However, the man, who appeared to be in his early thirties, had a troubled expression on his face.

“Eiko, you’re making it really difficult for me,” Watanabe, the police inspector, said, furrowing his brow and unconsciously stirring his coffee with a spoon.

“If you don’t want to help, then forget I said anything,” the female police inspector said, standing up and walking toward the counter. She was accustomed to splitting the bill.

“Eiko, wait, that’s not what I meant. Can you please sit down?” Watanabe quickly stopped her.

Normally, Ayano Eiko would not have hesitated, but this matter was of great importance. After giving the man a glance, she finally sat back down.

“You’re still so impulsive. I didn’t say I wouldn’t help. I can just ask my uncle, who works at the National Archives, to look into it for you,” Watanabe said helplessly.

When he received her call the previous night, Watanabe had been thrilled, thinking that she had finally come around and was ready to accept his feelings. Although she had only said she wanted to meet him to talk, the man, already caught up in his own thoughts, had foolishly assumed she was finding an excuse to date him. Now, he realized that she actually needed his help with something. Normally, when a beautiful woman asked for help, he would gladly assist, but this situation was particularly troublesome.

When Eiko heard he was willing to help, she smiled. “Thank you, Watanabe-san.”

Watanabe stared blankly at her rare smile. He never expected that the usually indifferent woman would look so charming when she smiled. Sometimes, even he didn’t understand it—he was in his thirties, with a promising future as a police inspector, and had met many women in his life. Yet, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. It felt like he was a schoolboy experiencing his first love.

When he came to his senses, he tried to cover up his embarrassment by asking, “Eiko, why do you want to investigate this person named ‘Hozan’? Can’t you find anything in the personnel database at the police station?”

“I tried searching in the personnel system, but I couldn’t find the person I was looking for. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have bothered you,” Eiko replied.

Watanabe was somewhat familiar with the insider workings of the personnel database, so he wasn’t surprised by her answer.

“You’re too polite. Your business is my business. I’ll do my best to help you.”

“Thank you so much. Please let me know as soon as there’s any news,” Eiko said, pretending not to understand Watanabe’s nearly confession-like words.

Seeing her calm expression, Watanabe felt a bit deflated. But he quickly recovered and took out two movie tickets from his pocket.

“Eiko, I bought two movie tickets before coming here. I heard it’s a well-reviewed movie. Let’s go watch it later.”

Eiko furrowed her brows as she looked at the two tickets on the table.

“Alright then.” After a moment of consideration, the female inspector finally nodded. After asking for help, it didn’t seem right to refuse now. This showed that Ayano Eiko wasn’t completely indifferent.

Seeing her agree, Watanabe was very pleased.

“Watanabe-san, do you usually use MSN?” Eiko suddenly asked him.

“What? SM?” Watanabe almost spit out his coffee, having only caught the last two letters.

“MSN. Never mind, forget I said anything.”

It seemed he wasn’t the person she was thinking of, Eiko thought to herself.

★★★

Teikyo University is a prestigious school with excellent facilities, including a health room that is much larger than those found in most universities, resembling a small hospital.

At this moment, in one of the health rooms, two girls were talking.

“You shouldn’t have told my brother about this,” Kazumi sighed.

“Why?” Takeshima Shinobu asked, puzzled.

“He’ll definitely overreact when he finds out.”

“You mean…”

Before she could finish, a knock came from the door.

Takeshima Shinobu quickly stood up to open it.

When she opened the door, Lei Yin, with sweat on his forehead, was standing outside.

“Is Kazumi inside?” Seeing that it was his sister’s classmate, Lei Yin immediately asked.

“She’s inside.” Takeshima Shinobu stepped aside to let him in.

Lei Yin entered the room and saw Kazumi lying on the bed, one of her feet wrapped in a white bandage.

“Kazumi, what happened?” Lei Yin asked, walking up to her bedside.

“Brother, I’m fine. Don’t worry,” Kazumi said with a smile.

“What did the school doctor say? Is it serious?”

“The school doctor said it’s just a regular muscle sprain. It’ll be fine after a few days.”

Hearing this, Lei Yin felt much more at ease. He then noticed that not only her foot, but also her arm had a few band-aids on it.

“How did you get injured?” Lei Yin sat down on the chair next to her bed.

“I just slipped and fell, that’s all.”

“Is that really all?”

“Of course it’s true. Why would I lie to you?”

Lei Yin remained silent, gazing into her eyes. After a moment, he suddenly said, “Kazumi, you’re not usually this careless. You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not! Stop guessing randomly,” Kazumi said, slightly surprised. She quickly turned her head away and pretended to be angry.

Seeing her reaction, Lei Yin suddenly turned to Takeshima Shinobu and asked, “Which bastard did this?”

“It was the guy from the basketball club, Okada… ah!” As soon as she spoke, Takeshima Shinobu quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late.

Lei Yin smiled. What an innocent and good kid.

“Kazumi, you stay here and rest. I’ll have a word with your classmate outside,” he said. Without waiting for her to respond, he grabbed Takeshima Shinobu’s hand and led her out of the room.

Takeshima Shinobu, being dragged along, looked at her friend with a pleading expression, but Kazumi could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything.

Because Lei Yin’s legs were long and he walked fast, Takeshima Shinobu struggled to keep up. By the time they reached the waiting room outside, she was already a little out of breath.

“Kazumi’s brother, can you not walk so fast? I can’t keep up!” Takeshima Shinobu said pitifully.

“You’re already complaining after just a few steps? Be careful, or you’ll start gaining weight before you even turn 30.”

Takeshima Shinobu glared at him behind his back.

Lei Yin didn’t slow down, continuing to drag her until they reached the balcony, where he finally stopped.

“Alright, now tell me exactly what happened,” Lei Yin asked before she could catch her breath.

“I… I can’t say. Kazumi will yell at me if I do,” Takeshima Shinobu stammered.

“If you don’t say, I’ll yell at you right now, and I’ll make it really harsh.”

Under his pressure, Takeshima Shinobu started to feel sorry for Kazumi for having such a fierce older brother.

“Fine, I’ll tell you,” she finally gave in.

As she spoke, she became more and more fluent, and if Lei Yin hadn’t stopped her, she probably would have kept going.

“So, are you saying that this guy Okada deliberately knocked Kazumi down?” Lei Yin thought for a moment before speaking.

“That’s for sure. Why else would he push through such a wide staircase, with no one else around, and yet squeeze right into Kazumi? After knocking her down, he didn’t even apologize before walking off. I’ve never seen such a terrible man. I used to go watch him play basketball all the time,” Takeshima Shinobu said, getting angrier as she spoke.

“Thanks for notifying Takeda and having him pass the message about Kazumi’s injury. I wouldn’t have known otherwise,” Lei Yin said after a while.

“No need to thank me. Kazumi just scolded me for being meddlesome. So, what do you want to do now?” Takeshima Shinobu asked. As a regular reader of the school newspaper, she had heard all sorts of rumors about Kazumi’s terrifying older brother.

“I’ll handle it. You can head back now; I need to make a call,” Lei Yin said, showing no intention of satisfying her curiosity.

Although her curiosity was piqued, Takeshima Shinobu reluctantly left the balcony.

After the somewhat noisy girl left, Lei Yin took out his phone and dialed.

“Hello, is this Takeda?”

“I’ve seen my sister; she’s fine, just a little sprained ankle. But that’s not what I’m calling about. Do you know the guy from the basketball club, Okada?”

After a while, Lei Yin returned to the health room and said to Kazumi, “I’ll take you back. Your foot is injured, so rest at the apartment for a few days and don’t come to class.”

“But…” Kazumi hesitated.

“It’s just a few days off. It won’t affect anything. With your grades, just reviewing the textbooks and notes for a few days should be enough.”

“I’m not like some people who can skip class every day and still pass university entrance exams. I’m just an ordinary person,” Kazumi said with a grin.

“Come on, ordinary person,” Lei Yin teased, walking over to her bed to pick her up.

“No, I can walk on my own,” Kazumi protested immediately, embarrassed by his actions.

“Come on, how are you going to walk now? I’m your older brother. Do you think I’ll take advantage of you?” Lei Yin said, not caring about his words.

“But it’s so embarrassing,” Kazumi continued to protest.

“Just close your eyes, then you won’t see anything.”

“I meant other people will see us!”

“So what if they do? You’re not naked.”

“Anyway, it’s not happening.”

“Wow, there’s a flying saucer outside!” Lei Yin suddenly pointed out the window and shouted.

“Please, don’t treat me like a child,” Kazumi said helplessly.

Since tricking her didn’t work, Lei Yin decided to be more forceful. Ignoring her struggles, he picked her up from the bed like a mischievous hooligan, carrying her out.

“Bastard, put me down!” Kazumi yelled, both embarrassed and angry.

“Yell all you want, the louder the better. Or you can just shout ‘harassment.’ I don’t mind,” Lei Yin said, carrying the still-struggling Kazumi toward the door.

Kazumi couldn’t do anything against her thick-skinned brother. Fearing she’d draw attention, she gave up struggling and let him carry her, her face flushed.

Since the moment they began bickering, Takeshima Shinobu had been staring in stunned silence at the peculiar siblings. Once Lei Yin carried Kazumi out, she immediately followed. At that moment, she suddenly thought, having an older brother isn’t so bad after all.

Luckily, the apartment Kazumi shared with Takeshima Shinobu wasn’t far from the school, or Kazumi wouldn’t have known how to endure the journey.

After placing his sister on her bed, Lei Yin said, “I’ll bring some food for you soon. Rest for now; I’ll call you when it’s ready. I’m leaving now.”

“Brother, don’t do anything reckless,” Kazumi said, beginning to understand his tendency to retaliate after spending so much time with him.

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything reckless. You should know by now, I’m the most reasonable person. Anyway, I’ll be off.” After patting his sister on the head, Lei Yin left the room.

“Hey, remember, don’t do anything reckless,” Kazumi called after him, worried by the look in his eyes as he left.

By the time Lei Yin returned to the school, most of the students had already finished classes and were heading home. However, there was one place still lively—the basketball club.

The Teikyo University basketball club was one of the most well-known teams in Tokyo, regularly participating in the National University Basketball Championship, where they had achieved good results. Additionally, many of the players were tall, handsome, and very popular with the students, especially the girls. So, nearly every day after school, a large number of students would gather to watch the team practice or play.

Some girls even formed fan clubs for their favorite players and would cheer them on during matches, sometimes even bringing banners to show their support.

Among these fan favorites was the star player, Okada Akira. He was a second-year student, standing at 1.85 meters (6’1″), with a well-proportioned physique and striking looks, complete with long hair that caused his junior classmates to swoon. Due to his excellent skills, he usually played the center position during games.

The basketball club’s facilities included an indoor basketball court, with a spectator area located on the second floor above the court’s sidelines.

When Lei Yin opened the door to the basketball club, he saw the members practicing dribbling or shooting. Although it was a rather monotonous practice, many students—mostly girls—were watching eagerly from the sidelines or from the second floor.

“Excuse me, is Okada Akira here?” Lei Yin asked a girl who seemed to be the manager.

“He’s over there practicing his shots. Do you need something from him?” The female manager asked, a bit confused.

“Is he the one wearing the number five jersey?” Lei Yin asked, pointing to a player practicing his shooting near the opposite hoop.

“Yes, that’s him. May I ask…?” The manager was about to ask, but before she could finish, Lei Yin walked over toward Okada.

Lei Yin walked up to the tall, long-haired number five player, who was still focused on his practice, unaware that someone was approaching.

“Hey, you’re not allowed to wear dress shoes on the court,” one of the players shouted at Lei Yin.

Okada Akira heard the shout, turned around, and saw someone standing behind him.

“Who are you?” Okada Akira asked, looking at the man with an annoyed expression.

“You’re Okada Akira?” Lei Yin asked.

“Yes, what do you want?” Okada Akira’s tone was unfriendly, sensing that Lei Yin wasn’t there for a casual chat.

“That’s all I needed to know,” Lei Yin said, suddenly grabbing Okada Akira by the neck.

Okada Akira instantly felt like he was being squeezed by a vice, his breath constricted.

“Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” The player who had yelled at Lei Yin earlier rushed over.

With a glance at the meddlesome player, Lei Yin calmly said, “I’m here to challenge you.”