"……yes."
Kikuchi Mizukina lowered his eyebrows and lowered his head, speaking softly.
Kawakami took a few glances at his hands. To be honest, he didn't think there was anything special about them.
It's too pale and has light lines, as if it's been rinsed. Not to mention pretty, it can't even be called healthy.
"Is that so...I don't know why, but thank you for liking it."
Now that the other party has opened the conversation, Kawakami knows that 90% of his goal has been achieved, and he is ready to record it.
Kikuchi Mizukina began to tell her story.
As a cashier at a convenience store, what Mizuchi Kikuchi can most easily observe are the hands of all kinds of people. Rather, this is the reason why she chose the position of cashier.
Young, old, big, small, complete, incomplete...
Men's knuckles are thick, while women's are slender. Some nails are dirty and some are neat. Girls who love beauty will do manicures; workers' palms are full of calluses; clerical workers will have ink marks on the sides of their fingers.
There are also a very few people who hang out in Rice Flower Town who have calluses on both sides of the first joint of their thumb and index finger. Kikuchi Mizukina learned from various sources that it was Gun Cocoon.
Kikuchi Mizukina's morbid obsession with her opponent gave her her first glimpse of the other side of the world.
It may seem uneasy at first, but as time goes by, I can enjoy it and even feel a secret sense of satisfaction.
She could sense some indescribable temperament, or commonality, from these people. Perhaps under the temptation of this commonality, Kikuchi Mizukina started his own hunting.
"So, you attribute your hunting to the guidance of external objects?" Tsumugi Kawakami interrupted Kikuchi Mizukina's story, "That's very dishonest. The real reason should be your inner desires."
The female clerk looked at the gray-haired young man writing and drawing in his notebook: "Actually, Mr. Kawakami also has that kind of similarity."
"Really?" Kawakami raised his head with interest, "After all, I study social psychology and the psychology of criminals, so it may be relatively affected? But I have never touched a gun."
A senior employee of a major criminal organization lies without a blush or a heartbeat.
"There is indeed no gun cocoon on your hand. In other words, there are no traces." Kikuchi Suikoto paused, "It's as clean as if it has never been used."
Of course it's impossible if you haven't used it.
Kawakami has been handling guns, assembling snipers, holding test tubes, and catching mice all year round. Occasionally, when doing tasks, his hands have to come into close contact with certain human tissues that look very edible. It stands to reason that it would leave quite a few traces.
However, Kawakami pays attention to the details. Because of his keen observation, he is unwilling to reveal his personal information in small details.
Therefore, Kawakami will regularly soak his hands in a special solution to remove the calluses caused when handling guns; he will also apply medicine to remove the occasional scars caused by accident.
In addition, Kawakami's recovery ability is faster than ordinary people, so he can easily put himself in a vacuum of information leakage.
"After all, I take good care of myself." Kawakami changed the topic.
"Judging from the hand you showed me: you are not committing the crime for the first time; but based on your unstable mentality, you should not be committing the crime multiple times. So the number of times you have hunted... is probably three times or more. Five times or less?”
"The fourth time." Kikuchi Mizukina replied calmly, "if you are included."
"That's it." Tsumugi Kawakami wrote down the number "four", "What is the source of your opponent's pathological obsession?"
Then Kawakamiji heard a slightly clichéd story.
Kikuchi Mizukina once had a happy family and a father and mother who loved her. Her father is a manager of a company, and her mother is a housewife. Although she is not rich, she is healthy.
Until one day, the company went bankrupt, Kikuchi's father was laid off, and the whole family fell into hell. After losing his job, he sent out resumes everywhere, trying to find a job again but encountered obstacles everywhere. Frustrated, he fell into the bad habit of drinking again.
Alcohol, a troubled life, and anger with nowhere to vent made Kikuchi Mizukina's father target the people closest to him.
"Then there were endless quarrels, broken pots and pans, until one time, my father beat my mother." Kikuchi's eyes became distant, "Then... it gradually developed into domestic violence. My mother couldn't bear it anymore, so she left."
From evil to collapse, chaos and violence are inherent in human nature. The fact that it is not shown does not mean that it does not exist. Once the external environment allows it, the evil will expand like dry fungus soaked in water.
"My mother's hands are very beautiful." Kikuchi's words turned into a soft whisper, "Every time she was sad, she would touch me with them. I always wanted to keep them."
"So your hunting is out of revenge against a specific group of people, in revenge for your mother abandoning you?" Kawakami asked.
"No, I just want to, I just want to keep something..." Kikuchi Mizukina was obviously flustered, and she hurriedly defended.
"You're lying." Kawakami interrupted the other party's narration, "Your core demand is revenge."
"Although it was your father who really caused all this. But you didn't hate him. Why?
"Let me think about it... I just don't dare. His alcoholism and domestic violence have shattered everything, and you don't even have the courage to resent and resist. You can only vent your resentment on weaker and innocent people.
"Am i right?"
Kikuchi Mizukina said nothing.
Kawakami Tsumugi was a little disappointed. He could naturally tell that most of what Kikuchi said was the truth.
He also hopes to record a high-quality criminal's thoughts that truly go against human nature and emotions. I didn't expect it to be just cliché and pathetic self-satisfaction.
Fortunately, he thought the severed hand was a "gift" from a psychopath.
"Last question: Why do you fall in love with me again?" Tsumugi Kawakami said, "Do I look easy to bully, or do I look like your mother?"
Certainly not for either of those reasons.
It should be that some of Kawakami Tsumugi's previous actions triggered Kikuchi Mizukina's emotional point, making the other party think of his imaginary enemy.
"Sure enough, you don't even remember, Mr. Kawakami."
Kawakami Tsuyoshi: ...What should you remember?
Sorry, as a patient with hyperamnesia, he can't forget it even if he wants to.
----------------------------------------
The gray-haired young man was the guest who impressed Kikuchi Mizukina the most.
He always comes when the sky is dark and the lanterns are not on. His steps are very light, just like the passing shadow. Completely opposite to this mysterious temperament, he always takes a lot of candies as if they are restocked.
He had an aura similar to those of the dark visitors; but his hands were the most special that Kikuchi had ever seen, and they were so clean that they were inhuman.
Kikuchi even felt that the other party should be some kind of ghost that was dormant in the human world and only appeared at the time of evil.
Out of curiosity, they chatted for a few words when checking out one time, and Kikuchi Mizukina learned the name of the gray-haired young man: Kawakami Tsumugi.
Kikuchi Mizukina began to pay attention to Kawakami Tsumugi.
Until one time, Kikuchi Mizukina looked through the glass of a convenience store and saw the other party rescuing an injured wild cat from the fence on the roadside.
The gray-haired young man squatted on the roadside, gently cleaning the cat's wounds, applying medicine and wrapping gauze. Then he put the cat on the ground and left without hesitation.
Kikuchi Mizukina looked at the cat standing there blankly, barked, and took two steps in the direction where Kawakami Tsumugi left in a daze.
"It does happen." Kawakami raised his eyebrows, "So what does this have to do with cats?"
"Yes, I admit I was resentful, I was seeking revenge. Giving hope and then throwing it away without hesitation, she did the same thing to me."
Kikuchi Mizukina smiled bitterly, "Don't you think this is cruel, Mr. Kawakami?"
