Tokyo people don't talk about Wude

Chapter 352 349. New Year in Fragments (1)

People often say that Christmas is the holiday when Santa Claus brings gifts to children.

But for those young boys and girls, this year's Christmas is a disaster because Santa Claus has taken away their most important friend.

Is it because they are not good children?
Until the third day after Christmas, Suzuki Yuhito and others still thought that Kyushu Makoto's disappearance was just a hilarious misunderstanding.

Some of them were looking forward to Kyushu Makoto's sudden return, and then telling them in a dull manner about the wonderful adventures they had during their "disappearance".

Some of them fantasized that when Jiuzhou Cheng came back, they would give him a severe lecture and make him apologize to everyone who had worried them so much.

Some of them simply wanted Kyushu Makoto to come back as if nothing had happened, and for everyone to continue enjoying this ordinary yet colorful daily life.

However, three days later, there was still no news of Jiuzhou Cheng, as if he had suddenly evaporated from the face of the earth.

During this period, Xiao Jing went to the police station to report the case in the capacity of "neighbor of the missing person" accompanied by Xi Shenjian. The police also said that they would find the person as soon as possible.

However, the police have never taken such disappearance cases of ordinary citizens seriously, and everyone knows that the police cannot be relied on at all.

The rate of solving missing persons cases in Wano Country has always been very low. In order to appease the public, many police officers will even lie and say that the missing persons have "disappeared", that is, hidden by the gods.

Therefore, in addition to calling the police, Yushin Ken also used detective methods to investigate and asked Officer Takagi for assistance.

Then, another week passed.

The more Xi Shenjian investigated, the more suspicious it seemed. It was not that he found any suspicious clues during the investigation, but that he did not find any clues during the investigation.

To make an analogy, it was just like when Officer Takagi commissioned him to investigate the "remains of the great hero of Yanhuang."

There was no trace, and all clues seemed to have been deliberately cut off. Even though I knew there was something fishy behind the case, I still had no idea where to start.

No witnesses were found, and no suspicious evidence was found. Xi Shenjian also inquired with police stations all over Tokyo, but none of them claimed to have handled a case related to "Kyushu Makoto" recently, and no patrol officer had ever seen Kyushu Makoto.

Officer Takagi even used his position to check as many surveillance cameras in Tokyo as possible - both public and private - but did not find any footage of Kyushu Makoto appearing after Christmas Eve.

During this period, the children came to ask Xi Shenjian about the progress of the investigation more than once, but they always returned disappointed.

Xi Shenjian also witnessed their psychological changes from expectation to anxiety, and then to loss and numbness.

But what is worth praising is that these children never gave up and they still missed Jiuzhou Cheng.

January 1st, New Year.

Red lanterns were hung on the streets and billboards were filled with New Year-themed commercial posters.

On this day, people in Wano Country will wear traditional kimonos to visit the shrine and pray for good health in the coming year.

According to the original plan, Makoto Kyushu, Yuji Suzuki, Takamasa Karasawa, Genji Takatsuki, Eiki Mizuhashi, Sakifumi Kamogawa and Xiaojing and others intended to make an appointment to go to the shrine together. Yuji Suzuki also planned to bring Hanami Sawahara and his classmates from the light music club along.

However, since Kyushu Makoto disappeared on Christmas, no one has mentioned this holiday party again.

"I've always known that Big Brother Kyushu is the core of our group. Without him, we can't get together." Suzuki Yuji walked alone on the snow on the way to the shrine, exhaling a breath of white air.

Tokyo is bustling, but he is quiet and deserted.

Originally, everyone still held a glimmer of hope, but after so many days, there was still no news from Jiuzhou Cheng. Even every time they went to ask Mr. Xi Shen, he shook his head with an embarrassed look on his face.
As time went by, a sense of unease quickly grew in everyone's hearts, including Suzuki Yuhito.

"Hito-kun~!" After waiting at the park gate of Meiji Jingu Shrine for ten minutes, Suzuki Hisahito was stopped by a cheerful female voice.

Sawahara Hanami was dressed very beautifully today, wearing a cherry pink kimono embroidered with a few white flowers. The silk belt tightened her slender waist, making her graceful figure stand out, which made Suzuki Yuhito's ears blush.

These days, probably only when he was with Hanami did he feel less depressed.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Hisahito~" Sawahara Hanami held the small bag in one hand and held Suzuki Hisahito's arm with the other hand: "Let's go to the shrine!"

"Yes, yes! Please give me your guidance in the new year!" Suzuki Yujin came back to his senses and asked with concern: "By the way, Hanami-chan, aren't you cold wearing this in winter?"

"Hey~ Actually, I was wearing thermal pants. Isn't it rude for Hisahito to ask such a question?" Sawahara Hanami puffed up her cheeks slightly, looking a little unhappy:

"I'm wearing this because I want Hisahito-kun to see me like this. Will Hisahito-kun be satisfied only if I wrap myself up like a big dumpling?"

"Ahhh! I'm sorry, Hanami-chan! That's not what I meant!" Suzuki Yujin was shocked and forced himself to recover from his absent-minded state:

"You look really beautiful today! Gorgeous as a fairy! I really like the way you dress like this! Ahahaha! It would be worth it for me to die right now to have such a beautiful and thoughtful girlfriend!"

While Suzuki Yuhito was flattering his girlfriend, he was thinking to himself that he might have been possessed by Kyushu's big brother, the "love-block", as he actually asked such a stupid question to his girlfriend.

"Don't talk nonsense about death, it's unlucky~" Sawahara Hanami extended her index finger and tapped Suzuki Yuhito on the lips, signaling him to stop talking: "Let's go, if we go too late there will be too many people."

The two came to the shrine's money box and followed the instructions on the sign: high-five, throw money, pull the rope, high-five again, close your eyes and make a wish in your heart.

They went to ask for fortune sticks and amulets, and then left the shrine satisfied.

"Hito-kun, what wish did you make just now?" On the way, Sawahara Hanami leaned over slightly and asked curiously.

"Of course I hope we can be together forever, and I hope I can become more reliable. Haha~" Suzuki Yujin scratched his head and laughed awkwardly: "Where's Hanami-chan?"

"Liar." Sawahara Hanami muttered softly.

"What...what happened?" Suzuki Yuhito was stunned.

"You haven't finished talking, Hisahito." Sawahara Hanami sighed and looked up at the sky. "I heard that Kyushu is still missing, isn't that right? If I knew Hisahito, I would definitely pray to find Kyushu soon, right?"

"You've been acting weird these past few days, Hisahito. A very good classmate of yours has gone missing, and I thought you would complain to me about it, but you didn't say a word." Suzuki Hisahito suddenly lowered his head and stopped.

"Yes, I made this wish." He said solemnly:
"Kyushu-san, to be honest, a lot of things happened between us in the past, and my feelings for him are very complicated. Although it's hard to explain it in a few words, but thanks to him, I have become who I am now."

Suzuki Yujin took a deep breath and spoke as if he was chewing glass shards, with each syllable filled with pain:

"We were all so happy chatting the day before, and we were just living a carefree life the day before. He was such an important friend! And yet he just disappeared so suddenly!"

"Actually, I was comforting myself yesterday that Brother Jiuzhou was just joking with us and that he had found a place to hide. But a week has passed and even if it was just a joke, it's too much, right?!"

"That bastard Jiuzhou is always there to help the weak, even if the opponent is a gangster, he would still rush up and stab them! That kind of lunatic will get into trouble sooner or later, you can tell without even thinking about it, but it's not like this now! What the hell is this now! Bastard!!"

Suzuki Yujin kicked the roadside vending machine hard, then covered his face and forced himself to control his emotions:
"But I can't tell Hanami-chan these things."

"This matter has nothing to do with Hanami-chan, and I don't want to interrupt our date because of it. This is wrong, this is just my personal matter, so I force myself not to complain to you."

When Suzuki Yuhito was halfway through his speech, his face was suddenly covered by two huge soft balls.

Sawahara Hanami walked up to him, hugged him, and buried his head in her arms.

"It's okay, Hisahito." Sawahara Hanami patted his head gently and said softly:

"You've been really hard these past few days. You don't have to push yourself so hard. It's okay to act a little bit spoiled to me."

"Also, I will ask my family to help look into Jiuzhou's matter. We are a couple, and it would be too distant if no one helped at a time like this~"

Throwing himself into his girlfriend's arms, Suzuki Yujin felt a lump in his throat and finally couldn't hold back his tears: "Wow, I'm sorry. Thank you, Hanami-chan!"

On the same day, Yaze House
"Wenwen, are you ready? We are going to the shrine!" Maiko Yagawa, wearing a winter coat, urged as she stood at the door.

"Wait a moment, I'll be there soon." Yagawa Sakifumi responded listlessly, and trotted out of the room in his coat.

The Yachuan family of three drove to the shrine. On the way, Mrs. Yachuan asked curiously:
"Speaking of which, Wenwen didn't receive an invitation from your friends today? I thought they were going to ask you out today."

This sentence seemed to irritate Yagawa Sakifumi. She shook her head in an abnormally calm manner and denied it, "No."

"Hey, that's really strange~" Madam Yachuan nodded her chin and fell into thought: "What about brother Jiuzhou? How has he been recently?"

"He..." Yachuan Sakifumi's eyes became painful, and then he shook his head: "He's fine."

"Everything is okay?" Mrs. Yachuan felt very strange.

The normal answer should be "He's fine" instead of "He's fine." Doesn't this seem to imply that he has "something wrong"?

But since her daughter didn't want to say, Mrs. Yachuan didn't ask any more questions.

The three of them arrived at the shrine and worshipped and drew fortunes as usual.

Before leaving, Yagawa Sakifumi bought an ema, which is a delicate small wooden board with a rope hanging on it.

Worshipers can write their wishes on ema and hang them on the shrine's wishing wall or wishing tree. It is said that doing so will make the gods fulfill their wishes.

Yagawa Sakifumi wrote two or three lines on the ema, hung it on the prayer wall, and then left with her parents.

"Wait a moment, I'm going to the bathroom~" Mrs. Yachuan suddenly said before leaving.

"Go quickly." Mr. Yachuan was a little impatient.

After using the restroom, Mrs. Yagawa took a detour to the prayer wall and examined the ema her daughter had written.

As a woman, her intuition told her that her daughter had been feeling very depressed these days and that something was very wrong.

She had just seen the place where her daughter had hung the ema and quickly found it.

[If the gods can see, please help me find the missing Kyushu-kun. ]

【I miss you. 】

There were just two simple lines of text, with Kyushu Makoto's age, appearance and basic information written below.

"Wenwen." Mrs. Yachuan murmured worriedly.

When they got home, Mrs. Yachuan pulled her husband over and whispered, "Husband, it seems that brother Jiuzhou is missing?"

"Ah? Is that true?" Mr. Yachuan was stunned. It was the first time he heard this. "Wenwen never told us this!"

"Stupid, be more considerate of the feelings of teenage girls! She must be struggling too!" Mrs. Yachuan patted her husband on the shoulder and ordered: "Go contact Mr. Xi Shen, he may know something!"

Twenty minutes later, the Yagawa couple spoke to Yushin Ken, and they confirmed that Kyushu Makoto was indeed missing and the case was very strange.

"How could this happen? This kid is fine." Mr. Yachuan clenched his fists and almost pounded on the table: "Wenwen is really something, why didn't you tell us such a big thing!"

Jiuzhou Cheng is not only their daughter's friend, but also their benefactor. Yachuan and his wife care about him as much as their daughter.

"I'll contact my old friends in the underworld to see if I can find any clues." After thinking it over, Mr. Yachuan made up his mind and said:
"You should also contact your fellow racers. There is always strength in numbers!"

"Of course, I'll go find them later." Mrs. Yachuan nodded and patted her husband's shoulder: "Also, let's pick a time to talk to Wenwen. We can't let her bear such a great pressure alone."

"I think so." Mr. Yachuan's eyes were serious: "What an unpleasant New Year."

(End of this chapter)