"Fujiwara Chika! Come here quickly, this is Mr. Nakano."
"Mr. Nakano…?"
In the banquet hall, little Fujiwara Chika looked at the boy sitting on the sofa, about her age, with a sense of confusion. However, as a child from a political family, little Fujiwara Chika had already developed the habit of not showing emotions outwardly, so she politely bowed to the boy:
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Nakano."
"Fujiwara Chika? Fujiwara Chika… 'Cancer of the Earth'?"
But before little Fujiwara Chika could figure out why this boy, roughly her age, was being addressed as "Mr.", he had already spoken a string of words she did not understand.
"Mr. Nakano, Fujiwara Chika is the daughter of my elder sister. She is not from the main branch of the Fujiwara family, but her upbringing since childhood has not been neglected. The piano music you heard earlier was played by Fujiwara Chika."
The man beside them, seeing that Nakano Yu showed interest in Fujiwara Chika, secretly rejoiced and began to introduce her.
"Oh~ she's the girl who looks like she doesn't like playing the piano."
"Fujiwara Chika's personality is rather reserved, so she looks expressionless when playing the piano. In fact, Fujiwara Chika really likes the piano, and…"
Hearing this, the man quickly spoke up to defend her, while little Fujiwara Chika lowered her head and remained silent.
The man had only spoken halfway when he was interrupted by the boy:
"If it looks like she doesn't like it, then don't force her to practice the piano. Hey, girl, why don't you do something you like? That's much more interesting than playing the piano."
Hearing this, little Fujiwara Chika raised her head, and the boy's smile appeared before her—a smile completely free of familial restraints.
"Mr. Nakano, this… Fujiwara Chika actually…"
The man still wanted to say something, but the girl who had been silent for a long time suddenly spoke:
"I don't like the piano!"
Her tone was firm, completely ignoring the shocked expression of the man beside her, as she looked directly at the boy.
"Then we won't practice anymore. Let's go play. You… do you play board games?"
"Fujiwara-san, then we'll be heading home now."
In front of the gate of Shuchiin Academy, Ichika, who had already moved a little away from the school gate, waved goodbye to Fujiwara Chika.
Coming back to her senses, Fujiwara Chika showed a bright smile and waved back as well:
"Bye~ see you tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow!"
Watching Nakano Yu and Ichika get into the car, until the taillights disappeared from view, Fujiwara Chika finally put away her smile.
"Alright, I'm going to eat a bowl of ramen!"
Waving her hands, Fujiwara Chika finished speaking, her face returning to its usual liveliness as she headed toward her usual ramen shop.
After that incident, the family's control over her became much looser. Even when she stayed out late playing at Shinomiya Kaguya's place before going home, the family no longer questioned her.
In a way, it was like a bird in a cage gaining a bit of freedom.
On the way home, Nakano Yu looked at the photo Fujiwara Chika had sent him on his phone and couldn't help but smile.
That photo had been taken by the shop owner when he took Fujiwara Chika to eat ramen long ago. There was nothing special about it, mainly because Fujiwara Chika had been a huge eater back then, and her respect for food had greatly impressed the owner.
So he secretly took a photo of him and Fujiwara Chika. Of course, the owner later told them about it, and as compensation, exempted them from paying for ramen at that shop in the future.
Fujiwara Chika didn't mind anyway, so Nakano Yu simply let the owner do as he pleased.
"So, how did Yu and Fujiwara-san meet?"
As if she had caught a glimpse of the photo of Nakano Yu and Fujiwara Chika on his phone out of the corner of her eye, Satsuki leaned over, openly looked at the picture, and asked casually.
"Didn't Chika tell you about it?"
Seeing Satsuki's curiosity, Nakano Yu was confused. Given Chika's personality, she would probably have told her right away, especially since she often wanted to call him to eat ramen together.
It was quite a contrast that a young lady from the Fujiwara political family liked to eat ramen.
"Well… whenever I ask, Fujiwara Chika always dodges the question and says it's a secret between her and Yu."
Satsuki had nothing to hide and explained that Fujiwara Chika's personality was actually very enthusiastic. She had even asked Satsuki to call her by her given name as soon as they met, and she was always skilled at interpersonal relationships, getting along with everyone.
But when it came to Nakano Yu, Fujiwara Chika would become strange. One moment she would curse and say she wanted to teach Nakano Yu a lesson, to get revenge for a previous failure, and the next moment she would suddenly smile, as if something had occurred to her.
Whenever asked how she met Nakano Yu, she would just reply, "Do you want to know?"
If Satsuki answered "yes," Fujiwara Chika would say something like "It's a secret," which made Satsuki extremely curious about how the two of them had really met.
"Really? Actually, meeting Chika was pretty ordinary. My father didn't allow you five sisters to go to social banquets and the like, so he always sent me instead. Satsuki, you still remember that, right?"
Hearing this, Nakano Yu nodded, somewhat amused. Chika had indeed become quite mischievous, but since Satsuki was curious, Nakano Yu naturally had no intention of hiding anything.
After all, it wasn't some legendary or fairy-tale meeting; they simply met and started talking.
"Mm, I remember that. So Yu and Fujiwara Chika met at a banquet?"
Nodding, Satsuki guessed and asked.
"More or less. At that time, she wasn't so… neurotic."
Nakano Yu nodded lightly. Young Fujiwara Chika had indeed been well-behaved, but if she had grown up that way, she would probably have been very similar to Kaguya. And… coming from a political family, a personality cultivated like that might even have been worse than Kaguya's.
"Pfft! If Fujiwara Chika knew Yu described her like that, she'd definitely shout that she wants to smash Yu's head."
Hearing Nakano Yu describe Fujiwara Chika as "neurotic," Satsuki couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
However, Nakano Yu was right. Taking today as an example: at first, Fujiwara Chika called her to the board game club to play, but when Satsuki arrived there, there was no one.
Just as she was about to leave, Fujiwara Chika ran in carrying a pile of clothes, said all kinds of things, and then out of nowhere started trying on clothes.
"Chika still needs more practice. Only when she practices will she realize that even if she practices, she still can't hit me."
Nakano Yu dismissed it disdainfully. If Chika could hit him, then his titles of Godslayer and Earthly Demon King would be meaningless.
"Hahaha, but Yu and Fujiwara Chika really have a good relationship."
Hearing this, Satsuki smiled, then suddenly mentioned the relationship between Nakano Yu and Fujiwara Chika.
"It's fine."
Hearing Satsuki bring it up, Nakano Yu thought for a moment and replied.
"Hey, Yu."
Satsuki's smile gradually faded, and she looked at Nakano Yu seriously.
"What is it?"
Seeing Satsuki suddenly call him, the young man turned his head, somewhat puzzled, and asked.
"You… will you, Fujiwara Chika…?"
"Pfft!!!"
As soon as Satsuki finished her sentence, before Nakano Yu could respond, Edo, who was driving, suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing Satsuki to sway.
Fortunately, Nakano Yu was quick and steadied Satsuki.
"What happened? Edo-san?"
After helping Satsuki sit steadily, Nakano Yu asked Edo in the driver's seat.
"Yu, it seems something happened up ahead."
Edo said with a grim face as he looked out the car window.
"What?"
Hearing this, Nakano Yu frowned slightly and looked out the window, only to discover that the road ahead was blocked, and judging by the tape, it was the familiar Police Department.
"Satsuki, Edo-san, you two stay in the car. I'll get out and see what happened."
Sensing the surrounding aura, Nakano Yu immediately caught a strong smell of blood mixed in the air with exhaust fumes, making it extremely difficult to detect.
After giving instructions to Satsuki, Nakano Yu opened the car door and prepared to get out and take a look.
"Yu… be careful."
Holding Nakano Yu's hand, Satsuki said worriedly.
"Don't worry, I have superpowers."
Patting Satsuki's hand, Nakano Yu finished speaking, pulled his hand back, closed the door, and walked toward the blocked section of the road.
After getting out of the car, Nakano Yu discovered that many people, like them, were stuck there, but most were reporters and onlookers gathered around the police tape.
Scanning the crowd, Nakano Yu spotted a figure that surprised him a little.
"Idiot! Hasn't this been thoroughly investigated yet?! What are you even doing?! It's been almost ten days, and there's still not a single lead?!"
Inside the police tape, a middle-aged man with a square face and a scar on his face was angrily scolding a man in a Police Department uniform in front of him.
That man, with hair already somewhat graying, looked to be in his forties or fifties, but his sturdy build showed that he hadn't weakened with age.
The man's name was Tachibana Gen, the superintendent of the Police Department, which meant he was the superior of all the police officers in Japan. One might wonder why the superintendent of the Police Department would be present at a crime scene.
Actually, it wasn't quite like that. Tachibana Gen had only gone to a medical checkup at a hospital to see an old acquaintance today and discovered this incident on his way back.
Tachibana Gen had gone for the checkup because of a series of murders that had been continuously occurring in Japan over the past half month!
The deaths of the victims were extremely gruesome; all were men, all had their cheeks cut open, their genitals severed, and in the end died from a blunt-force blow to the chest.
In fact, murder cases were not rare in Japan. Having risen to the position of Police Department superintendent, Tachibana Gen could be said to have encountered at least ninety, if not a hundred, murder cases.
But he had never encountered such a bizarre case. There were no traces left on any of the victims; all had died in their homes, or had poured sulfuric acid on their faces in public, then cut off their genitals and finally committed suicide.
If only one or two such suicide cases had appeared, it would have been nothing, but the problem was that nearly ten had appeared in succession!
And all had died in the same way. This absolutely could not be a coincidence; something was definitely going on behind the scenes!
"Eww~ what a horrifying way to die."
Just as Tachibana Gen was scolding his subordinate, he suddenly heard someone sigh over the victim's death, and at that moment, a wave of anger surged in his heart.
But when Tachibana Gen turned his head to look, he discovered that the one who said it was a young man and that he knew that young man!
That young man was none other than the Nakano boy who had nearly abducted his beloved daughter — Nakano Yu!
Thinking of this, Tachibana Gen's anger rose even further. Just as he was about to go over and teach Nakano Yu a lesson, he suddenly realized something.
They had been dealing with this serial case for so long, yet not only had they found no clues, they didn't even have the slightest lead, let alone a suspect.
But what if… the one who committed this case… wasn't human?
Thinking of this, Tachibana Gen immediately understood. He was already old and muddled; throughout all this time, he hadn't even considered this direction.
With that assumption in mind, Tachibana Gen stretched his face into a smile uglier than crying, walked over to the young man, and greeted him:
"Yo! Nephew! I was just thinking about you, and here you are. You came at just the right time!"