Teruo straightened up, clearing his throat. “Of course not, sir. I just thought your discussion with Miyazaki isn’t any of my business, is it?”
Though he did his best to remain polite, there was an edge in his voice which he didn’t bother hiding. He wanted to show he despised not being fully in the loop.Hewas the lead detective on this case, after all.
Superintendent Yoshida didn’t look impressed and replied, “Quite so. Not your business.”
Teruo nearly lost it at that and he inhaled sharply, his chest puffing, preparing to snap back—consequences be damned.
“Sir,” Shinji intervened, looking at the superintendent, “I think it’s better to keep Chief Inspector Hayashi in-the-know with as many details as possible. It’s easier for me to operate if I can count on him for backup.”
The words blew some of the tension away from Teruo’s shoulders, but his hands were still gripping the chair’s armrests tight.
“You’d better not speak to anyone about this,” the superintendent rasped toward Teruo. “Shinji is risking his skin by getting you involved. If anyone finds out, I won’t hesitate to kick you out of the TMPD. Do you understand?”
“Duly noted,” Teruo replied through gritted teeth, then bowed his head.
The way Superintendent Yoshida was third-wheeling their work relationship seriously annoyed Teruo.
“Very well. You’ll need to do a press conference. Our spokesperson from this morning wasn’t enough to satisfy the journalists.”
“I’ll set one as soon as possible,” Teruo said, already dreading the snaps of cameras and the way the vultures questioned his every step as if they knew better.
“Good.” The superintendent nodded, his glare scrutinizing Teruo.
He figured that his mere existence was most likely reason enough to piss off Superintendent Yoshida.
“Couldn’t find info about theother problem,” the superintendent told Shinji. “I’ll dig some more. It’s something—” He threw a glance at Teruo. “—quite peculiar.”
Teruo’s brows furrowed in confusion, but before he could ask for an explanation, Shinji replied, “Thank you, sir. There is a new development about that issue. I’ll text you.”
What. Damn. Issue?
If only they could stop speaking in riddles for a second and just say whatever the hell they had to say properly. Teruo was tempted to give them both a piece of his mind, but swallowed his words for the millionth time today.
Don’t think your riddles will stop me from figuring it out.
Taking into account what had transpired with Shinji’s rituals, Teruo could make an educated guess that both Shinji and the superintendent were referring to the effect Shinji’sreiryokuwas having on him. It was clearlynotsupposed to be happening if Shinji’s shock was anything to go by.
The superintendent nodded, then left the office.
Finally, Teruo could breathe and he sank back in the chair, fishing out his pack of cigarettes and lit one. He drew in deeply and exhaled with a long sigh.
Shinji propped his chin in his palm. “You two really dislike each other, huh?”
“I don’t dislike him.” Teruo gave a half shrug. “I have the utmost respect for the man, but he’s always considered me too hot-tempered and rude.”
“Which, of course, isn’t true,” Shinji teased, “since we all know you’re such a polite ray of sunshine.”
Teruo chuckled, puffing out a cloud of smoke. “He’s right about everything. That’s just how I am. I tried to behave lately, though, especially since he warned me not to scare you away.”
Shinji waved a finger in a circle toward Teruo. “Ah, so this is you behaving? I wonder what you’re like when you’re not behaving.”
“I can show you when we get home.”
Shinji’s lips curved in a smirk. “Oh yeah? I want to see that.”
The earlier tension left Teruo and he couldn’t help but smile. Shinji seemed to know exactly what to say to cheer him up. “How long have you known each other?” Teruo asked.
“Nine years. Met in Hiroshima.” Shinji curled his fingers around the coffee cup. “The superintendent is like a father figure to me. I’ve got no family left, so whenever he travelled to Hiroshima with his wife, he’d take me out to dinner, teach me various things. We kept in touch over the years, even if we lived far away.”