novelraw Chapter 21: The Late Father’s Colleagues
Chapter 21: The Late Father’s Colleagues
Seeing that Aoto and the other two had all arrived, Arima put down the brush in his hand, stood up with his hands behind his back.
Arima’s style of doing things was never slow. If something could be said with one word, he would never use two.
Therefore, when chatting with him, it was often hard to keep up with his lightning-fast pace.
For example, right now—
“Good morning to you all as well.”
“Follow me now. The Magistrate has summoned all members of the Three Squads today. He said there is an important matter to inform us about.”
“Summoning all members of the Three Squads… important matter…” Butagaya twitched the corner of his mouth, “Arima, could it be that some troublesome case has come up?”
“That I do not know. Anyway—once we get to the Magistrate’s office, we’ll know why he wants to see us.”
After speaking, Arima took his worn sword from the nearby sword rack and led Aoto and the others with long strides toward the Magistrate’s office.
With Arima leading, Aoto and his group instantly became the most eye-catching guys in the entire Kita Bansho!Arima’s unwavering gaze and his habit of making perfect 90-degree turns when changing direction made it impossible not to draw attention.
The Magistrate’s office was located on the top floor of the Kita Bansho.
The distance from Arima’s office to the Magistrate’s office was not short.
As they followed Arima down a quiet corridor, Aoto glanced sideways to confirm there were no outsiders nearby, then cleared his throat:
“…Arima, I have something very important to tell you.”
“Hm? Speak.”
“Arima, I… have been targeted by the Expel the Barbarians faction.”
“What?”
Arima abruptly stopped in his tracks and turned to cast a shocked look at Aoto.
Butagaya and Ushiyama, walking on either side of Aoto, also looked at him with shocked faces.
“About a month ago, I was attacked by four members of the Expel the Barbarians faction. Then, the night before last, after finishing the extermination operation against the Righteous Crowd and heading home, I was ambushed again by three members of the Expel the Barbarians faction…”
Aoto succinctly recounted the entire series of attacks by the Expel the Barbarians faction and the reasons behind them to Arima and the others.
The original owner of this body—“Original Tachibana Aoto”—was a person hard to describe, either gentle or somewhat dull…
A month ago, when he was first attacked by the Expel the Barbarians faction, he did not inform anyone except his family’s servant, Kyūbei!
The simple reason he gave for this was that he did not want to burden his companions, who were all busy dealing with the Righteous Crowd at that time.
The extermination of the Righteous Crowd the night before last was thorough and satisfying.
But to have that satisfying night, Arima, Butagaya, Ushiyama, and Original Tachibana Aoto had paid a heavy price.
Together, they spent nearly a month and a half collecting enough intelligence and preparing thoroughly.
One month ago, when Original Tachibana Aoto first suffered the Expel the Barbarians faction attack, the others were frantically busy figuring out how to gather useful intelligence.
At that time, to analyze truly valuable information from piles of unreliable intel, Arima, Butagaya, and Ushiyama had even gone several days without closing their eyes.
Original Tachibana Aoto feared that telling his companions he had been targeted by the Expel the Barbarians faction at such a time would hurt morale and slow the operation against the Righteous Crowd.
So, he chose to conceal it.
He only told Kyūbei.
Kyūbei was also a somewhat dull person; after being sternly warned by Original Tachibana Aoto not to tell anyone, he obediently kept silent.
Aoto didn’t know if Original Tachibana Aoto’s choice was right or wrong.
He only knew that with the Righteous Crowd destroyed, the huge burden that had weighed on Arima and the others for over a month was finally lifted. He no longer needed to worry about “morale and tasks” like Original Tachibana Aoto had.
Fighting terrorists like the radical Expel the Barbarians faction and seeking support and help from fellow “police” colleagues was obviously much wiser than foolishly struggling alone.
This morning, Aoto had resolved to take advantage of the moment today to fully disclose to Arima and the others the details of the attacks by the Expel the Barbarians faction.
As soon as Aoto finished speaking, Butagaya’s face darkened like coal.
“To avoid affecting the operation against the Righteous Crowd, you chose to hide this from us? Tachibana-kun… what am I supposed to say to you…”
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
Usually smiling, Butagaya’s expression was terrifying at this moment.
“If something happened to you, how could we face your father when we meet him in the afterlife!”
Arima, Butagaya, and Ushiyama—the three were not just ordinary colleagues to Aoto.
They were not only his colleagues… but had also been colleagues of his late father, Tachibana Takayuki.
Half a year ago, when Aoto’s father Tachibana Takayuki was still alive and serving as a Dōshin in the Teimachi squad at Kita Bansho, he had served alongside Butagaya and Ushiyama under Arima’s command for many years.
Aoto remembered that his father had an excellent relationship with Arima, Butagaya, and Ushiyama. After Tachibana Takayuki died from illness, the three had all attended his funeral, with Butagaya even breaking down in tears before his memorial tablet almost fainting.
Aoto’s successful succession to his father’s position as a new Dōshin in the Teimachi squad was largely thanks to the covert assistance of Arima, Butagaya, and Ushiyama, who were already serving in the squad.
Therefore, to Aoto, Arima, Butagaya, and Ushiyama were not only companions at work but also elders deeply connected to his family.
This was why Aoto always addressed Butagaya and Ushiyama as “sir,” consistently using respectful language.
Faced with questioning from colleagues who were also elders deeply connected to his father, Aoto bowed his head:
“Sorry…”
Aoto now felt a sense of “taking the blame”…
This blame clearly belonged to Original Tachibana Aoto and had nothing to do with him, yet because he and Original Tachibana Aoto were one and the same, he had to grit his teeth and shoulder this heavy, dark burden…
Butagaya opened his mouth, seemingly about to say something more to Aoto.
At that moment, Ushiyama raised his hand and patted Butagaya’s shoulder.
“Enough, Butagaya.” Ushiyama said in a deep voice, “Tachibana did it for our sake.”
Butagaya glanced at Ushiyama who was stopping him.
After a moment of silence, Butagaya slowly closed his mouth, which had just been about to scold Aoto again.
“…Tachibana-kun.”
At this time, Arima, who had remained silent until now, fixed his owl-like gaze on Aoto and asked:
“So far, you have suffered two attacks, one a month ago and one the night before last, correct?”
Aoto nodded.
“Has the Expel the Barbarians faction even dared to kill members of the Three Squads now…” Arima frowned slightly, “…Tachibana-kun, I want a detailed written report by tomorrow afternoon. I will personally handle this matter.”
Aoto: “Understood.”
“…Let’s go.” Arima glanced at Butagaya, then turned his back to Aoto and the others again, “We still need to attend a meeting in the Magistrate’s office. The meeting should be starting soon.”
“Any matters… will have to wait until after the meeting.”
Butagaya looked at Arima’s broad back as he strode away, then glanced at Aoto, pursed his lips, and took the lead in following Arima quickly.
“…Butagaya was just worried and agitated just now, don’t take his reprimand too seriously.” Ushiyama raised his hand and patted Aoto’s shoulder, “After all, you are Takayuki’s son. Butagaya’s scolding came from his concern for you as a junior.”
“It’s alright, Mr. Ushiyama.” Aoto smiled faintly at Ushiyama, “I know that what Butagaya said just now was because he cares about me. Mr. Ushiyama, don’t worry, I would never treat Mr. Butagaya coldly over something like this.”
“That’s good.” Usually stern-faced Ushiyama’s cheeks rarely showed a trace of a smile.
“Tachibana, let’s go.”
Ushiyama patted Aoto’s shoulder again.
“It’s time to attend the meeting.”
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