After spending the entire day immersed in Laboratory No. 5, Ritsu suddenly realized that tomorrow was Shiho's birthday. As a friend, shouldn't he at least get her a gift?
Glancing at Shiho, who was sitting upright at her computer researching materials, Ritsu walked toward the door and said, "Gin-san assigned me a task. I'll head out for a bit."
He had already told Shiho his codename some time ago, but she still preferred calling him by his English name, "Alex," probably because it felt less tied to the organization.
"Oh, okay."
After watching Nanase leave, Shiho casually moved to the adjacent computer and openly slacked off, watching Charcoal nap in the room through the camera feed. In a little while, she could wake it up and personally experience feeding it.
Ritsu arrived at the parking lot. Since he wasn't familiar with Nishitama City, he decided to drive to Beika Town instead, the area he knew best within Tokyo.
To avoid running into acquaintances, he put on his black baseball cap and headed toward Beika Department Store. The place had a wide selection of goods, and Hiro especially loved one of the set-meal restaurants there.
Choosing a birthday gift was difficult, especially for someone of the opposite sex.
When buying gifts for Hiro and the others before, it had been simple. Guys usually just asked each other what they wanted and bought that.
This was Ritsu's first time buying a gift for a girl. Thinking back to how she once had him buy a designer bag, he figured he might as well get her a wallet from the same brand.
He took the elevator up. When he reached the fifth floor, he noticed two children approaching. Instinctively, Ritsu lowered his cap, thinking to himself, 'We just met not long ago, how am I running into them again? Do these kids spend all their time outside?'
"Kaito, look! What's that? It looks so tasty!"
"Huh? What's so great about that? Come on, let's go to the arcade already!"
'Kaito?' Ritsu paused, glancing at the two kids in confusion. Did I remember the name wrong? 'Yesterday I clearly heard Kudo Shinichi…'
The girl, who looked remarkably like Mouri Ran, put her hands on her hips and said confidently, "Kaido, Aunt Chikage told you to take care of me… hmph! I'm going to tell her to make you eat fish tonight!"
The boy, who looked exactly like Kudo Shinichi, shivered instantly. He hurriedly pulled a crumpled 10,000-yen bill from his pocket and handed it over. "H-Hey, I'll buy it for you, okay? Just don't tell my mom that!"
"Hehe, that's more like it! Honestly, Kaito, how are you still scared of fish at your age?"
"S-Stupid! Who says humans aren't allowed to be afraid of fish?!"
Judging by his personality, he did seem more lively than the Shinichi who had declared he would become Holmes. And on closer inspection, their hairstyles were slightly different.
'There are actually people who look this alike… what a strange world.'
Ritsu withdrew his gaze and headed into the Fusae boutique on the fifth floor. Inside, it was mostly groups of girls or couples shopping together. Walking in alone felt a bit awkward.
But the sales associate was very enthusiastic, approaching him with a smile. "Sir, are you picking out a gift for your girlfriend?"
"No, it's for a friend."
"Understood. Would you like me to introduce our newly released August summer collection?"
Ritsu's eyes fell on a light purple wallet. If he remembered correctly, she often wore purple, she probably liked the color.
"No need. I'll take this one. Just wrap it."
"Hm? Would you like to look at other options?"
"No."
This was probably the fastest purchase the sales associate had ever seen. Once Ritsu decided on something, he paid immediately, no second-guessing, no browsing.
After leaving Beika Department Store, Ritsu hadn't parked in the underground garage but in a nearby open-air lot. As he carried the gift bag and prepared to cross the street, a scream suddenly rang out nearby.
"Ahhh!! Thief! Catch the thief!!"
Yesterday it was a kidnapper, today it was a thief. His encounter rate with crimes was surprisingly high or maybe Tokyo's public safety had gotten worse lately?
Ritsu looked toward a man in a dark red hoodie sprinting toward an overpass, clutching a woman's handbag. Ignoring the green light that had just turned on, Ritsu dashed after him.
He couldn't just stand by. Even if he was now part of the organization, deep down he was still a police officer sworn to uphold public safety.
The thief ran quickly, recklessly pushing past pedestrians on the overpass.
Just as an elderly woman slowly climbing the stairs, holding the railing, was about to be knocked over, Ritsu leapt down several steps at once to catch her. But a beautiful young woman with long light-brown hair was faster, already supporting the elderly woman.
"…??"
"Why are you standing there? Go after him!"
"…Right."
Ritsu lowered his cap and, to save time, vaulted over the railing. Using gravity, he accelerated downward, then lunged forward and tackled the thief, swiftly locking both his arms.
"H-Hey! That hurts!"
Ritsu didn't hold back, he nearly snapped the thief's wrist. If there hadn't been bystanders watching, he might've taught him a harsher lesson. After all, if that woman hadn't stepped in earlier, the elderly lady could have been seriously hurt.
Looking at the woman who had just comforted the elderly lady and was jogging over, Ritsu said, "Could you call the police?"
"No need. I'm a traffic officer from Kanagawa Prefecture. My younger brother is also a police officer. We can take him to the nearby station ourselves."
'A police officer?'
Ritsu pressed his foot against the thief's back, dusted off the handbag, and handed it to her. "Please return this to the owner. I'll be going now."
He didn't like encountering police officers these days so it was best to leave quickly.
His instinct proved correct. As he spotted a man with two drinks approaching, Kenji, Ritsu immediately shoved the bag into the female officer's hands and hurried off, pulling his cap down low.
Kenji caught a glimpse of Ritsu's profile as he turned to leave. That familiar face made him shout, "Ritsu-ya?!"
Hearing that familiar nickname, Ritsu quickened his pace and disappeared into the crowd. Just as Kenji was about to chase after him, he was grabbed by his older sister.
"Where are you going? We need to take this thief to the station."
"But—"
Hagiwara looked back again, but there was no one there anymore.
'Was it just my imagination? Seeing things because I miss him too much?'
"What's wrong?"
"…Nothing. Let's go."
Hagiwara Chisato glanced suspiciously in the direction Ritsu had disappeared, but seeing nothing unusual, she left with the thief.
What they didn't know was that Ritsu had been watching everything from behind a tree.
So this beautiful traffic officer was Kenji's older sister… which meant she was also Matsuda's first love?
Beep.
His phone chimed with a new message.
[Gin:I've booked your ferry ticket to Tsukikage Island for the morning after tomorrow. The ticket is in your mailbox at the institute. Your mission is to collect funds. Your contact will meet you at the beach behind the Tsukikage Island community center at 1 PM.]
A new mission?
Tsukikage Island… he had never even heard of it before.
[Macallan: Understood.]
Another mission…
But at least this one didn't seem to involve killing. Ritsu let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He glanced once more in the direction where the Hagiwara siblings had disappeared, then turned and walked the opposite way.
Time to head back to the institute.