Morofushi Hiromitsu is really a very smart person.
Ichijō Mirai stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth with a spoon, swallowed with the calm expression of one who drinks plain water, and ate again a few times to restore some bloodstains to his tired body before uttering, "Well, thank you."
End of conversation.
In theory, Morofushi Hiromitsu should have been able to leave.
But he didn't.
Instead of leaving, he hesitated for a moment and took a seat in the doorway, "Mirai-san, the package you mentioned..."
"It's evidence in a case," Ichijō Mirai replied without much pretense, "If there's anything else you'd like to ask, just ask."
There was no need to hide it, even if it was glossed over now, when Matsumoto Kiyonaga was released from the hospital and solved the case, Morofushi Hiromitsu, who had overheard the instructor's conversation, would have guessed what was in the package.
He's a smart guy.
Unfortunately, he has the curiosity of a smart person, but he is also shy and shy, and his gaze is always a little too soft, and it's a kind of taciturn look.
But what is the image of the player?
Ichijō Mirai knows that he has two faces.
One face is sunny, the face of training, almost like a water ghost, determined to leave no one behind.
The other face ignores everyone, which is the normal state when you're not training or on a mission, and you don't even raise your eyes when you pass by your classmates, you just ignore them.
Even familiar NPCs such as Morofushi Hiromitsu, Matsuda Jinpei, and Onidzuka Hachizo will not show the slightest fluctuation if they have to make a trade-off during a mission, such as a sniping mission in which someone is bound to die.
At most, he would glance at them.
Of course, Ichijō Mirai will still try to beat the clock when death isn't a given and it takes a little more time for all of them to survive the mission.
But it's not because 'they're my companions and I can't accept their deaths', it's simply for the sake of 'surviving the whole group'.
However, if I really had to choose, Ichijō Mirai wouldn't hesitate to choose the latter between his regular classmates and Morofushi Hiromitsu.
The latter has one more series of quests left to complete...
Morofushi Hiromitsu, being a wise man, heard the instructor's words and was able to notice Ichijō Mirai's two faces of fraternity and yet ruthlessness in his long, veiled attention.
In this case, there would also be a silent look similar to watching a companion, and Ichijō Mirai had a hunch that Morofushi Hiromitsu's 'Unknown Past', must be hiding a big secret.
He said, "I can answer your question,"
"I can answer your questions, but I can't guarantee that they're 100% true."
"But when I ask you a question, you have to answer me."
It has to be the truth.
Morofushi Hiromitsu was silent.
Ichijō Mirai said, "You guessed what I was going to ask."
"Yes," Morofushi Hiromitsu said slowly, "you also guessed what I really wanted to ask."
"When you say 'evidence of a case', what case is that?"
Ichijō Mirai raised an eyebrow, "You already know the answer, why do you ask?"
And answered easily, "A case of 'medical malpractice'."
"That's the medical malpractice you heard about."
Morofushi Hiromitsu thought for a few seconds, "I see. What's your question?"
Huh, can I ask it now?
Ichijō Mirai had asked it during weight training, and Morofushi Hiromitsu had answered it, but it hadn't triggered the quest completion prompt, and now he was repeating it, "Morofushi-san, why did you join the police academy?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu was silent again.
This time, he was silent for an unusually long time, long enough for Ichijō Mirai to expressionlessly swallow half a box of bento, make sure his body was done refueling, and casually close the bento box before he heard the reply, "It's because...I want to catch criminals."
His voice trailed off, a little dull and muffled, like he was sinking into water, "I want to catch every criminal."
Oh boy, that's ambitious!
Ichijō Mirai immediately became solemn, "It's one in the morning, Morofushi-san, and you're actually dreaming!"
Morofushi Hiromitsu couldn't help but laugh a little at his overly solemn tone, "I'd like to think I'm dreaming, wouldn't you? I feel like I'm dreaming too, but I can't help it."
"I have to find a target that's so incredible that it feels like I'm dreaming, and hold on to it tightly, in order to break free from the nightmare, or else every night, every night, every night, I'll sink back into that horrible dream again."
He took a deep breath, and gave a truthful account, "My nightmare, is the death of my parents."
"...When I was seven years old, my parents died, an unnatural death,"
After another pause, Morofushi Hiromitsu said, "They were murdered."
"It was dinnertime, and my parents and I were eating at home, when suddenly, the doorbell rang," his tone varied between calm and evanescent, as if, as he recounted it, he himself had slowly drifted away, back to that horrible night fifteen years ago, "and my father answered the door."
"They probably knew each other, and talked for a long time in the foyer, but for some reason they argued, and my mother got worried and went to check."
"She was only there for a few seconds, and before she got to the foyer, she suddenly returned, and she carried me into the closet and instructed me not to go out or make any noise, no matter what happened."
"And then..."
Ichijō Mirai opened the bento box again and ate for the second time. He was actually a very small eater, and was in the habit of maintaining a four-minute full stomach, so he only slowly circled his spoon around the bento before shoveling it into his mouth.
The spoon rubbed against the bento box, making one small clash after another.
Morofushi Hiromitsu smiled lowly again, his tone calming down, "And then, I heard the sound of my mother arguing with a man, and they were arguing, and the sound suddenly came to a screeching halt,"
"...I smelled a very strange odor, mixed in with the smell of dinner."
"I was at the age when my mom would prepare extra rich meals, even for breakfast, a glass of milk, a sandwich with eggs and bacon, and even more for lunch and dinner, and at those times, the dining room would be filled with a warm smell."
"In fact, the smell is not quite the same every day, and the smell can't smell the temperature, but I always have the feeling that every day smells like the same warm smell."
His tone was still calm, but his mood was obviously not too calm, "But that day, it was no longer a warm smell, but a cold smell that made me sick to my stomach."
"It was like the strange smell that emanates from an air conditioner that has been idle for three years when it is plugged in again, a very strong smell of rust."
The smell of blood is the smell of rust.