"Hello? Mom, I have something to do tonight. It's about the last case. I need to work overtime at the moment, so I won't be going back tonight."
"Working overtime again? Okay, Mom knows. Alas, you are sleeping in the Metropolitan Police Department every now and then. You might as well just consider the Metropolitan Police Department your home. Your dad was like this before, and you are like this now. If this happens in the future - "
"Okay, okay, mom, isn't that the nature of police work? Let's not talk about it for now. I'll hang up now. My colleague called me."
Tokyo, Uehara Apartment.
Seeing that the man she had brought back was shaking and trying to get up from the sofa with a messy head and a confused state, Sato Miwako hurriedly hung up the phone, shook her head, went up to him, and pushed him back. on the sofa--
"Sit down, do you hear me? The sobering pot is already cooking. You'll drink it later."
"Who are you - eh? Sato? Why are you at my house?" The strong smell of alcohol spurted out the moment the man opened his mouth. Katsuki Uehara, who felt an indescribable sense of restraint in his neck, gasped and pulled with his right hand. Neat tie——
He didn't know whether it was due to too much force or a problem with the quality of the clothes. Several buttons fell apart as he took off his tie. The sweaty chest was pressed against the half-wet white shirt, and the looming muscles were dimmed by the dim light.
The condescending Miwako Sato glanced at her subconsciously, her eyelids trembled, and she said without looking away: "You are drunk. If I don't send you back, who else will send you back?"
"I'm drunk? Oh, I'm drunk."
Uehara Katsumi, who was holding his tie tightly in one hand, rubbed his cheeks, shook his head and tried hard to regain consciousness: "Sorry, I'm troubling you again."
"Although I don't like drinking very much, I know that sometimes drinking is better than not drinking. At least I have a channel to vent." Miwako Sato, who was watching the man's movements, raised the corners of her mouth several times and said, "I'll go first. Get you a towel.”
"No, I can do it myself. You can go back -"
Katsuki Uehara, who always felt like there were multiple Miwako Sato appearing in front of him, bared his teeth and gasped. He stood up staggeringly with one hand on the back of the sofa. He closed his eyes and shook his head hard to try to let himself see the road under his feet clearly.
As soon as he lifted his feet, an indescribable feeling of weightlessness suddenly came from his feet - the severe sensory delay caused by the drunken state directly caused him to fall forward!
——? !
"Uehara!"
Boom!
boom! ! !
The crisp sound of the body being erect and hitting the coffee table made Miwako, who had already turned around, turn around in shock. In a few long steps, she returned to the man's side. She stretched out her hand to help him up in disbelief. On her usually handsome cheeks, His forehead is already red——
"it hurts."
"Nonsense, your head will be smashed——"
Sato Miwako, who promptly moved the lopsided vases on the coffee table to the far corner, turned around angrily, and was about to teach this drunken "hairy kid" a few words, when Katsumi Uehara saw two traces of tears falling from the corners of her eyes. It made her stop the words that were already coming to her mouth.
The cry she was trying to hide in her throat sounded particularly sad in this lonely night, no different from a sob.
Sato Miwako pursed her lips, stood up, moved her waist and sat next to the man, and used her shoulders to pull the man who could not suppress the sad sobs into her arms.
There are no too many words, no complicated comforts, just the crescent moon in the starry sky and the white window screens swaying in the wind on the balcony.
Under the dim light, Katsumi Uehara, who had endured it for who knows how long, revealed a side of himself that he had never shown before to Miwako Sato for the first time——
Vulnerable, sensitive, aggrieved, and out of control.
Sato Miwako, whose eyes were a little red, gently stroked the man's head that was shaking slightly from sobbing with her right hand, and the emotion in her beautiful eyes was full of distress.
The Uehara Katsumi she knew in the past was extremely calm even if he went to die alone, but now...
"Katsuki and Kunihiko met in junior high school. To put it another way, it can be said that they grew up together. Let's put it this way, during the European Cup, the only person he brought with him to make money was Kunihiko.
"It is said that he originally planned to become a policeman with Kuniyan, but then he was the only one to become a policeman..."
Suddenly, the words of the old man she met when she went to the clothing store to "borrow" a dress seemed to ring in Sato Miwako's ears again. Subconsciously, her eyes fell on Uehara Katsumi's ankles that had taken off his socks——
Although the stitches had healed long ago, the eye-catching color difference from the surrounding skin was enough to remind her of the old secrets told by the old man.
Uehara Katsumi could have been a football player, but after his injuries, his feet no longer allowed him to engage in long-term intense confrontation and sports——
Wait a moment!
Sato Miwako, who suddenly thought of something, blinked and looked down at Katsumi Uehara, who had fallen asleep with tears and alcohol.
If she remembered correctly, Uehara said that he once violently beat Oikawa Kunihiko, who was the number one in the police academy, although it was through sacking and group beating. But logically speaking, if Oikawa Kunihiko wanted to take revenge, he would definitely not attack Uehara based on his weaknesses.
But judging from the healed wounds, Uehara's ankle had definitely not suffered a heavy blow or other injury in the past year.
As an experienced detective, Miwako Sato has a very accurate judgment on wounds.
"You two are really..."
Sato Miwako smiled helplessly, her fingertips lightly brushed the man's tear-stained rough cheek, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.
Thinking about it now, it's no wonder that Uehara never seemed to reveal the specific reason for the fight with Oikawa Kunihiko.
"You always lie to others with your mouth, whether they are men or women."
Miwako stood up gently, holding the man's arm with one hand, and patted his forehead gently: "Uehara, wake up, I will take you back to your room to sleep."
What responded to her was Katsumi Uehara's heavy body.
"Don't go...
"Can you please stop leaving..."
Katsuki Uehara, who was greedy for warmth, unconsciously rubbed his chin against the woman's shoulder. His low sleep talking made Miwako Sato, who was about to put her on the bed, stunned. The tenderness between her eyebrows was even worse: "Sometimes I still think you are drunk. It’s even more lovely, self-denial.”
……………………………………………………………………………
The next morning, under the building where Uehara's apartment is located.
Megure Shisan, who arrived here with Toshiro Odagiri, straightened his clothes, got off the car and said respectfully: "This is Uehara's home, Buchou."
"Did he set up a trap here to catch Uno Tadayoshi? It's a good place to confuse people." Odagiri Toshiro, standing with his hands behind his hands, turned to look at the surrounding environment: "Is anyone at home?"
"When I called, it showed that the phone was turned off. He must have something to do. I saw that he was dressed very seriously yesterday. When he called me to tell me, he also said that if he wanted to come to see the scene, he could just go to the property management company and get a backup key. "
"...I understand, let's go up." Thinking of the phone call his old friend made to Uehara Katsumi in his office yesterday, Odagiri Toshiro's face darkened slightly, then returned to normal and walked towards the elevator.
"Minister Odagiri, Uehara put himself in a bit of a bad state because of this case. Although he didn't say it at the time, I could still see it."
Taking the elevator to the door of Uehara Apartment, Megure Shisan took out the spare key he had brought in advance to open the door and said in a serious tone: "If you——"
"Have you finished your shower? Can you hurry up? I was so tired last night that I went to bed right away. I haven't even taken a shower yet!" As soon as the door opened, Katsumi Uehara's powerful voice spoke. It was clearly transmitted to the ears of the two people.
Megure Thirteen paused as he entered the entrance hall. Katsuki Uehara, who had messy hair, looked at the sound and looked stunned: "Megure Police Department? Director Odagiri? Why are you here?"
"You still have the nerve to talk about last night? If you hadn't done it to me last night, how could I have gotten up so early in the morning and taken a shower?"
With her head wrapped in a pure white towel, Sato Miwako walked out of the bathroom wearing the pajamas she had worn for many years and her own slippers. While brushing her teeth, she did not forget to scold the man: "Come in quickly, I'll hold the cup." Go to the kitchen and wash up—"
When she turned around, she saw Megure Thirteen and Odagiri Toshiro standing at the entrance of the entrance. Miwako Sato was stunned: "Megure Police Department?"
"..."
Megure Shisan, whose eyes were turning back and forth on his two subordinates from doubt to gossip, came to his senses and asked in confusion: "Uehara, Sato, are you... living together?"
Set up a small bowl~
(End of chapter)
