The experience of all stories teaches us not to pick up random things on the road.
“Rod, we found it. The painting ‘Maya and Doll’ you are looking for was bought by the Jiujing Conglomerate a few months ago and has not appeared in any galleries or auction houses since then; it must have been kept as a private collection.” Nanaju Asa, a computer expert, pulled off his headphones and turned around.
“Oh…” The green-eyed big thief reclined lazily on the back of the chair, half a can of beer in his hand, tilted and dripping on the floor…
“What’s wrong with your dull reaction?” Nanaju Asa said, turning to face the other studio crew. “What’s wrong with this kid?”
“Dumped,” surveillance expert Wei Yue grumbled unemotionally, “by his little beauty who kills people without blinking an eye.”
“…”Asa looked shocked. “Someone would actually dump him? How many women has this bastard stolen from us over the years… Every time he fished for chicks, the women would only surround him… He actually got dumped one day?”
“It’s simple,” Wei Yue shrugged, “because the other party is not a woman.”
Nanaju Asa laughed, his face relieved as he looked up to the sky! “Ahahaha… Rod, Rod, you also have today?!”
Then he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and patted Rod on the shoulder. “But your sexual orientation changed at the perfect time. In fact, I did some research and found that the painting was probably given by Jiujing Takai, the president of the Jiujing Conglomerate. Last Friday was his son’s birthday, and I heard he would give a priceless birthday gift every year. According to my informant, the size and thickness of the gift at the birthday banquet were also very similar to that painting, and the timing matched. If that’s really the case, all you need to do is find his son.”
Nanaju Asa dropped his voice and moved closer to Rod’s ear. “And according to my investigation, his son is bisexual ~ You still have a chance; come on!”
Then irresponsibly straightened up and shrugged, “However, they may not like you. I heard that Jiujing Takai gave birth to this only child with a European model, and the mixed-race child himself is very handsome and seems to be still working as a model… I guess the standard for choosing a partner is very high, and you have more than enough to compare with others. It is absolutely dangerous to take the honey trap route…”
Rod’s body, rotting on the back of the chair, showed no signs of improvement, as if he had ignored the plan to steal the painting he cared about the most. He muttered a few vague remarks in a low voice before standing up and rushing out the door!
“Hey? Hey! Where are you going?!” the completely ignored Nanaju Asa yelled at his back as he slammed the door into someone!
In response, there was only a faraway voice in the corridor: “Wei Yue, track his location for me!”
Surveillance expert Wei Yue shrugged with an expression of “I knew it would be like this,” turned around, and tapped on the keyboard, quickly hacking the national satellite positioning system and narrowing the target to a residential area in Kyoto…
“Hey, Asa, guess what the little beauty who was picked up by an uncle is doing now~”
“Ah? How do I know? Did you wipe it clean after eating it?”
“My house is here; please come in.”
Kurokawa Ryuuchi graciously opened the door and welcomed the tall, black-clad boy into his home.
In contrast, the latter paid little attention to his dripping clothes. He strode straight to the center of the room, hands in his pockets, looked around, and then impolitely muttered, “How small…”
This was initially an annoying reply, but Li Xiaobai’s expression was not intended to be mocking. He was merely expressing the truth.
A commoner’s quality of living with one bedroom and one living room is regarded as a decent standard of living in areas where land is scarce, like Kyoto’s central district. However, for the young master of Mo, this is likely the smallest residence he has ever resided in… During his stay in Italy with Rod, the affluent thief rented a large, two-story separate villa for his preparation room.
He said, “Oh… hi, hi… I’m sorry, it’s really impolite… So… would you like to take off your clothes and take a shower first?”
Li Xiaobai looked at him with raised eyebrows, a hint of teasing in the corners of his eyes.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became a little ambiguous…
Ryuichi was startled for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses! He waved his hands hurriedly! “I, I, I didn’t mean anything else! I was afraid that you would catch a cold if you got caught in the rain… Anyway, it’s only early March and it’s still very cold… I really didn’t mean that…”
Mr. Killer withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and began unbuttoning his shirt one by one before quickly pulling it off and throwing it on the ground, showing his supple upper body…
“It’s okay; you can do it if you want to, if… it’s possible.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
After speaking, he cast a mocking glance at Ryuichi, who stood by the door. He slowly removed his belt and effortlessly removed his trousers! Kurokawa Ryuichi found it difficult to stare directly at the young man’s lean and lovely body… The miserable uncle only relaxed after the other person casually stripped naked and carefully entered the bathroom in front of the stranger. His legs were weak, and he sat in place, staring blankly at the wet clothing from the inside out. His eyes were riveted…
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If it were Rod, he would always order pizza while taking a shower because he knew he wanted to eat afterward. When did the guy start acting as if he understood himself extremely well? It doesn’t seem like a good thing for a killer to be seen through so easily…
Well, forget it; I know him quite well already. Rod, on the other hand, enjoys a cool beer after his shower… However, is this mutual understanding still predicated on the necessity for the first security observation? Since I opted not to kill him, I don’t need to recall his habits, right? Why am I not just remembering it but also doing it? (The person who frequently purchases beer for Rod.)
Mr. Killer scowled, unable to come up with a fair answer based on any of the theories he had acquired throughout his killer training. He couldn’t help but question his knowledge while being perplexed by this unexplained bond between the two of them…
“Meow…”
A cat in the corner abruptly meowed, interrupting Li Xiaobai’s thoughts. The black and white cat followed him at some point! At this point, it was licking its wet fur and trembling against the warm Li Xiaobai…
Are you used to treating me like a source of heat? Li Xiaobai considered, then reached out a hand to grasp the cat, examined it, flung it up to determine its weight (hey!) and finally murmured regretfully, “What? It’s so light; it’s not feeding much…”
“Meow~ meow…!” The small animal shivered in fright…
“Your eyes are also green… I really have a connection with this kind of creature…” Li Xiaobai stared at the struggling cat in his hand for a moment before pulling its fur and throwing it back to the ground. “Forget it; I won’t eat you.”
Outside the bathroom, Mr. Kurokawa Ryuichi sat on his knees in the hall with a serious face for five minutes, contemplating his carelessness.
Why did you pick it up on impulse?
When will I get rid of my inability to let go of abandoned cats and dogs… It was the same way before. Even though I knew I couldn’t keep pets in my apartment and that I was too busy to take care of them, But when I saw the moist eyes of cats and dogs, I couldn’t help but pick them up. In the end, I either gave them away or paid for them to be taken to an adoption center…
Ah, what shall I do this time? It’s hard to give up or adopt someone so large, right? Send him to the police station? But that child clearly does not trust others easily. He could be a socially marginalized teenager or a rebellious child who ran away from home. It would be even worse if he was a suicider… If he is turned over to the police, he may grow anxious…
Alas… Regardless, let’s try talking to him first.
The expression in that child’s eyes makes it impossible to leave him alone…
Then Ryuichi sighed and began cleaning up the water stain and clothes on the floor. He unexpectedly discovered a strange-shaped dagger in the young man’s pocket. No, it was more of a small knife than a dagger. Why is there blood on it? This, who is this young man!?
Kalala…!
The bathroom door suddenly opened!
Ryuichi was surprised, and his entire body quivered! His hands trembled abruptly! The clothing was strewn across the floor… To make matters worse, the dagger rolled down and struck the floor with a tremendous bang!
Li Xiaobai, who came out of the bathroom, was naked and leaned against the door frame, staring expressionlessly at the murder weapon on the ground.
The uncle who stumbled appeared rigid all over…
“Ah, I… I didn’t mean to go through your things… I just wanted to wash them… but that… fell out… so…”
“You… It’s better not to leave fingerprints on it.” Li Xiaobai walked over slowly and naked, bent down in front of Ryuichi, and softly picked up the dagger on the ground, with a threatening smile on his lips. The dark pupils met the uncle’s surprised face… “I just killed a person because of this knife.”
“What exactly are… you?” Ryuichi, who was completely suppressed by the other party’s dark temperament, consciously retreated a little.
“I won’t tell you.”
“Are you still underage? Where are your parents?”
“Dead.”
“What about… A guardian?”
“No,” Li Xiaobai crouched down, raised his hand, grabbed Ryuichi’s tie, leaned in, and deliberately exhaled his breath on the other person’s nervous face… “Uncle, since you picked me up and brought me back, of course you’re the guardian, right?”
“I am the guardian?” Ryuichi stared at the ink-colored pupils of the young man close at hand, mumbling meaningless words…
“If you don’t want to, you shouldn’t approach me casually from the beginning,” Li Xiaobai sneered as he released him, stood up, and walked away.
Sure enough, the only people in this world who are willing to accept him are probably guys like Rod, right?
“…you’re right. I shouldn’t approach casually if I don’t intend to be responsible to the end. I used to be too weak… I shouldn’t be like this… I can’t always be like this… I’ll regret it one day. There’s not much time left… Alright, from today on, I, Kurokawa Ryuichi, will be your guardian! I will find a way to deal with legal procedures and so on, so please give me more guidance from now on!”
Li Xiaobai, unprepared, was taken aback by the tug and turned around with a slightly surprised expression. “…Huh?”
A tatami was set up on the small table, with two bowls of hot udon noodles placed on it. The atmosphere at home suddenly became strong, and the conversation became more natural unconsciously…
“Are the noodles delicious?”
“Um.”
“I’m sorry, because the dinner was all settled at the Izakaya and there wasn’t much food stored at home…”
“Um.”
“Eat slowly… Do you want soy sauce?”
“Um.”
Ryuichi leaned on his chin, clutched the bowl, and unconsciously grinned as he gazed across the table at the young man eating seriously…
“Meow…”
The black and white pattern kitten came out of the bathroom, arched its body and shook its fur, bypassed a small droplet on the ground, and got into Ryuichi’s arms…
“Ah, I can’t believe I forgot about you. It’s very cold… Wait, let me find a towel to wipe you… Such a small cat should maintain its body temperature, right? I remember there was a blower…” Ryuichi immediately threw down the bowl, picked up the cat, and rummaged around…
Li Xiaobai has already solved his own bowl, put down his chopsticks, and stared at Ryuichi’s bowl with fiery eyes…
“Hey, you’re not eating anymore?”
“Ah, I’ll eat it later. I have to dry its fur first…”
“You don’t have to worry about it at all.” Li Xiaobai stared at the seemingly feeble wild cat that had been living alone on the street until now. “It can still survive without anyone to take care of it.”
因为shòu(兽)都是很顽qiáng(强)的生物，这点他非常清楚。
He is fully aware of this, as beasts are tenacious creatures.
However… This kind-hearted uncle would definitely put on a nice face to counter his statements, right?
“Indeed.” To his surprise, Ryuichi nodded in agreement!
“Cats are much stronger animals than imagined. Even without gentle care, they can still survive. But…” Ryuichi raised his head and softly glanced at the young guy at the table, who appeared to be wearing armor and separated from everyone… “Whether a small life was treated gently in childhood will be very different when they grow up. Even their way of seeing the world and life will be different. After all, there is a fundamental difference between ‘being able to live’ and ‘living well’.”
Li Xiaobai stared blankly at the man across from him. He was still an ordinary-looking man wearing eyeglasses. He didn’t say anything extraordinary, but his heart shook uncontrollably…
Right… Does this explain why our perspectives on life differ?
But… What is the point of knowing that kind of information now?
The kitten’s fur was dry and fluffy, and it presumably felt extremely cozy. Under the heat of the blower, it lay on its back with its belly exposed and rubbed against Ryuichi’s hand, making a purring sound…
With its languid expression and relaxed posture, it must be really content now that it is being pampered, correct? Li Xiaobai looked at the coquettish cat, slightly jealous.
“Oh, do you want to blow too?” Ryuichi, who was amused by the cat’s fur, raised the heater in his hand and pointed to Li Xiaobai’s dripping hair. “It’s still wet; you haven’t even wiped it… You really don’t know how to take care of yourself…” He shook his head and muttered, while the uncle, who was used to being a kind person, swiftly handed him a towel.
Li Xiaobai did not take the towel but instead stared at the cat on the sofa for a while before turning to the uncle and saying, “Help me wipe my hair.”
“Huh? Ah… okay…”
“I’m not full.”
“Ah… I, take my bowl and eat it too.”
Mr. Killer gradually relaxed while eating hot udon noodles, aided by the gentle fingertips of the person behind him and the warm breeze… This comfy feeling is extremely new.
“What is Uncle’s name?”
“Kuro… Kurokawa Ryuichi.”
“Then my name is Kurokawa Ichi.”
“Eh, eh! Do you want to enter my household registration?”
“It’s okay if it doesn’t work.”
“No, no, no, of course not…”
“Hey, uncle. Let me ask you: if a person likes to drink beer after taking a shower, I often prepare beer for them. Why is that?”
“Huh? W-why? This… you would prepare things that others like, probably because you want that person to be happy?”
“I hope he is happy? So that’s what I think… Why do I want him to be happy?”
“If you ask me this kind of question…” Ryuichi frowned in distress. “Well… maybe you like him very much.”
“He is a man.”
“Ah, then you probably already consider him a friend.”
“Friends?” Friends, it turns out we are friends…
Li Xiaobai lowered his head, drank the last mouthful of noodle soup, and began to ask the question he wanted to know most right now: “If friends quarrel, will they reconcile?”
“Of course.” Ryuichi smiled. “As long as one of the parties apologizes first.”
“Then what if… we’re arguing about human life?” Li Xiaobai glanced sideways at the uncle behind him.
Ryuichi was transfixed by his terrifying look. After a long while, he sighed and said, “It’s the same.”
Li Xiaobai closed his eyes and said, “It’s the same…”
In the shadow outside the apartment window, the green-eyed young man with the mountaineering rope slung around his waist grinned silently when he heard this, unlocked the lock, and vanished silently into the stormy night…
To be continued…
