Chapter 81: Hah, you want to challenge me? Are you as cunning as I am?

"Shuishin Aoyama!"

In the corridor on the organized crime investigation floor, Shuishin Aoyama was blocked by the furious Aya Asai.

"Assistant Inspector Asai." Ignoring the strange looks from the colleagues around him, he gave a slight, composed bow.

Seeing the corridor crowded with people coming and going, Aya Asai suppressed her anger and said with a cold face, "Come to my office."

Shuishin Aoyama obediently followed her.

"You bastard!" Once they were inside, Aya Asai dropped all pretense at once, stormed up to him, and demanded through clenched teeth, "What did you tell my brother?"

He actually sold me out for a hundred million!

Damn it! Am I only worth that much?

"Don't be so angry. I'll split half of the money I get from your brother with you." Shuishin Aoyama smiled at her, reaching out to lift her smooth chin.

Aya Asai froze on the spot. Her anger quickly ebbed, and realizing this man had simply been playing her brother for a fool, that she had misunderstood him, she felt guilty and put on a fierce expression as she said, "No way! That's my family’s money. At the very least, I should get seventy percent."

She really was rather poor now. The little nest egg she had saved up before had all been extorted away by Shuishin Aoyama, and whenever the two of them went out for hotels or meals, she paid.

"Then I'll give it all to you. After all, that money was originally meant to serve as the betrothal gift for marrying you." Shuishin Aoyama said casually.

"A betrothal gift" was roughly the equivalent of a bride price.

"Using my brother's money to marry me? If he knew, he'd probably die of anger." Aya Asai could hardly wait to see her older brother lose that stoic face. Then she asked, "When are we going to see Hikomoto Kenyu?"

"I've already brought it up with him, and he's agreed. If you have no objections, we'll go to your house to make the formal proposal on the third. There's no rush to get married right away, but let's settle things first." Shuishin Aoyama looked at Aya Asai and said.

Although that barren patch of land had already been developed many times by Shuishin Aoyama, that shameless contractor working without a license, when it truly came time to rush into marriage talks, she still could not help but feel shy. Lowering her head and letting her gaze drift, she said, "My weakness is still in your hands, you bastard. How could I possibly have an objection? How could I?"

She did not want to marry Jiro Hirabe, and Shuishin Aoyama was not her ideal husband either, but since he held her weakness, she could only be forced into marriage.

"But aren't my weaknesses often in your hands as well?" With a wicked grin, Shuishin Aoyama drew her into his arms. The husbandly man who knew how to undress reached out and deftly undid the buttons of Aya Asai's blouse, making it pop open with a flourish.

Aya Asai struggled a few times for appearance's sake and said, her pretty face flushed red, "The door isn't locked yet."

If someone barged in, it would be disastrous.

"It won't be locked." Shuishin Aoyama simply pressed her against the door. Aya Asai could even hear the footsteps and voices of colleagues outside, and the feeling was both thrilling and frightening. "Aoyama-kun, not here!"

Though she said that, her body was far more honest. She took the initiative, insistently probing for the source, drawing attention.

Outside the door, people came and went. No one could have imagined that just one door away, a female officer was being overpowered by a subordinate.

Afterward, Shuishin Aoyama had straightened his clothes, recovered his respectable facade, opened the door, bowed once toward the inside from the threshold, and then closed it before leaving.

Inside the office, Aya Asai lay across the wide desk, her long hair disheveled and her clothes in disarray, breathing softly with a dazed gaze. It took quite a while before she finally came back to herself.

She felt that if Shuishin Aoyama ever stopped being a police officer, he could still make quite a name for himself as a host.

"Good morning, Deputy Chief!"

When Shuishin Aoyama entered the homicide investigation office, everyone stood and bowed in greeting.

"Good morning, everyone." Shuishin Aoyama replied with a smile. When he looked at Ryosai Sakai, he was startled. "Did you not sleep at all last night?"

"I didn't rest very well." Ryosai Sakai answered with a yawn, dark circles under both eyes.

"Don't stay up too late." Shuishin Aoyama had no idea what he had been up to, so he gave him a reminder and returned to his desk.

Upon seeing this, Hiraji Kijo, who had already decided that Ryosai Sakai was someone sent by Shuishin Aoyama, gave a cold snort and said in a陰陽怪氣 tone, "Sakai-kun really is working hard."

"Inspector Kijo, you too seem very tired." Ryosai Sakai bowed in response, then sat down.

Hiraji Kijo's face darkened again at once.

Just then, three or five people in suits strode in, work badges for the Cybercrime Investigation Fourth Unit of the Metropolitan Police Department hanging from their chests.

Seeing these people appear, everyone in the office changed color, and the atmosphere suddenly grew tense.

The Fourth Unit of Cybercrime Investigation mainly handled cases involving bribery of public officials. For so many people to appear here now meant that someone was certainly in trouble.

So everyone wondered nervously whether that person was themselves.

"Hello, I'm Shuishin Aoyama, deputy chief of the homicide investigation section. How may I help you?" Shuishin Aoyama rose and went to meet them, stating his identity.

The middle-aged man at the front had a capable bearing. After shaking hands with Shuishin Aoyama, he said, "I'm Makoto Eguchi, chief of Cybercrime Investigation Four. Someone reported that Inspector Hiraji Kijo accepted bribes, and we'd like him to cooperate with our investigation."

A commotion broke out instantly in the office. While everyone breathed a sigh of relief, their eyes all turned toward Hiraji Kijo.

"Impossible! This is absolutely someone framing me!" After a brief daze, Hiraji Kijo shot to his feet and defended himself with fierce agitation.

"Inspector Kijo, please calm down." Shuishin Aoyama glanced at him, then said sternly to Makoto Eguchi, "Chief Eguchi, have you already obtained relevant evidence? Or official documents issued by the prosecution or the Tokyo Public Safety Commission? If you're only going to take someone away on the basis of hearsay, then forgive me, but I cannot cooperate."

The others in the office were all overjoyed at hearing this. After all, who did not like a boss who protected his own?

Besides, everyone knew Hiraji Kijo and Shuishin Aoyama were at odds. Yet even so, Shuishin Aoyama was still shielding him. What breadth of mind that was!

Hiraji Kijo's gaze toward Shuishin Aoyama was also somewhat complicated at this moment. He had assumed the man would kick him when he was down, but he had never imagined he would speak up for him.

This made him ashamed of his own narrow-mindedness in judging a gentleman by the measure of a petty man...

"I can understand Deputy Chief Aoyama's feelings." Makoto Eguchi forced a smile onto his face, then resumed a grave expression. "But before coming here, we had already searched Inspector Kijo's home. In the bathroom ceiling, we found five hundred thousand dollars, the same amount stated by the informant."

"Also, we reviewed the surveillance footage. The night the informant visited Inspector Kijo's home, he was carrying two bags. According to his statement, one bag contained money and the other contained liquor. Inspector Kijo took the money and told him to take the liquor back."

"This is a setup! It's framing! I clearly accepted the liquor! I didn't take any money!" Hiraji Kijo roared hysterically. Hearing this far, how could he not know he had been set up? He was instantly both shocked and furious.

"Inspector Kijo, calm down!" Shuishin Aoyama snapped, then questioned Makoto Eguchi's words. "As Chief Eguchi said, since the surveillance footage still exists, that means the informant must have delivered the money very recently. He reported it right after making the delivery. Isn't that a bit strange?"

"The informant's explanation is that the day after Inspector Kijo accepted the money, he denied everything and became greedier, demanding even more." Makoto Eguchi replied, then cast a contemptuous glance at Hiraji Kijo and said coolly, "Besides, even if the informant deliberately wanted to frame Inspector Kijo, the fact remains that he accepted the money. We do not act based on motive, only on outcome and evidence."

"All right, thank you for the explanation." Shuishin Aoyama's expression had become very ugly. With a dark face, he said to Hiraji Kijo, "Inspector Kijo, things have come to this. I am powerless and truly cannot help you. You should cooperate with Chief Eguchi and the others in the investigation. If you are innocent, they certainly will not wrongfully accuse you."

"I understand now! It was you! Bastard! It has to be you!" Hiraji Kijo stood there dumbly for a moment, then suddenly thought of something. Pointing at Shuishin Aoyama, he roared through clenched teeth, his eyes red as he rushed toward him. "It has to be you, you son of a bitch, framing me! And now you're still putting on an act, like a whore wanting to set up a shrine!"

His emotions had completely run out of control.

"Trying to attack an officer, are you? Stop him!" Makoto Eguchi said coldly, waving his hand. Two subordinates behind him pounced and firmly restrained Hiraji Kijo.

Makoto Eguchi gave another order: "Take him away!"

"Shuishin Aoyama! You hypocrite! You framed me! A dog that bites never barks!"

Hiraji Kijo struggled furiously as he was dragged out, his face twisted in rage, screaming at Shuishin Aoyama like a madman.

Shuishin Aoyama never said a word. His face was so dark it seemed ready to drip water as he watched him coldly.

The other colleagues in the homicide section all thought Hiraji Kijo had gone too far. What a waste that Shuishin Aoyama had just tried to help him. His own backside wasn't even clean, and now he was biting the hand that had saved him. What a heartless wretch.

"Shuishin Aoyama! May you die a horrible death! Your time will come too! You've all been fooled by his hypocritical face! No one but him would do this to me!"

"Shuishin Aoyama! Say something! Say something!"

As he was dragged farther and farther away, Hiraji Kijo's voice grew weaker and weaker, until it finally vanished completely.

"Deputy Chief Aoyama, apologies for the disturbance." Makoto Eguchi bowed in apology, then turned and left. At the doorway he happened to meet Aya Asai and gave her a slight bow as well.

Aya Asai stepped aside to let him pass, then looked at Shuishin Aoyama and asked, "What happened?"

"Inspector Kijo was suspected of taking bribes and was reported by the person who paid them." Shuishin Aoyama said briefly.

"What a scum." Aya Asai cursed instinctively, then suddenly seemed to remember something. Glancing at Shuishin Aoyama, she said, "Everyone, get back to work."

With that, she turned and left.

"Everyone, continue with your work. Don't worry about Inspector Kijo. I will keep a close eye on his situation." Shuishin Aoyama let out a breath and said to the others.

Hearing this, everyone truly felt that Shuishin Aoyama had done all he could for Hiraji Kijo. At the same time, they were even more convinced of this newly arrived superior.

On the surface, Shuishin Aoyama remained expressionless, but inwardly he was already sneering. With Hiraji Kijo's level, he still wanted to bring him down? What a pipe dream.

Heh. You want to fight me? Are you cruel enough for it?