Chapter 85: Heading to Nishi-Shinjuku

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Heading to Nishi-ShinjukuThe enormous bulletproof floor-to-ceiling window at the back reflected the dark blue sky from above. Hanamaru Hiroki, dressed in a blue-gray police uniform, leaned against the back of his chair, placing his feet up on the brown office desk, eyes closed, savoring this brief moment of rest. The wide Ome Street below was bustling with traffic weaving through skyscrapers, the varied and bustling Tokyo scenes making no noise that could reach this Police Chief’s ears. The office was very quiet. However, he suddenly frowned, pulled out his vibrating phone from his pocket, and answered it with a somewhat impatient tone, "What’s the matter this time? Don’t tell me he managed to escape even from the police car, or you guys can pack up and leave." "It’s me, Uncle." Uesugi Sakura’s voice. Hanamaru Hiroki woke up a bit from his nap, glanced at the phone in his right hand, indeed he hadn’t made a mistake, and asked, "How do you have this number?" "Uncle’s phone was off, so I asked Officer Ishibashi to tell me." Hanamaru Hiroki furrowed his brow, "He gave you my work number too, how did you manage that?" "I relied on..." "Forget it," Hanamaru Hiroki, now fully awake from his sleep, interrupted him, "Anyway, a lot of people have this number, it’s not confidential, so tell me what you need." "Uncle, please hold on a second." There was silence on the other end for two seconds, then a weak voice sounded: "Daddy..." "Hanabi?" Hanamaru Hiroki abruptly placed his legs down from the table, sat up straight, and asked seriously, "What’s the matter? You sound like you’re not feeling well, are you sick? Do you need Daddy to bring some medicine home for you?" "Hanabi wants to go to Daddy’s side..." "Come here?" Hanamaru Hiroki glanced at the blue police badge flag on the wall, then at the clock on his desk. 11:00:12 He smiled and said to the phone, "It’s almost lunch time, Hanabi, there’s no need to come to Daddy’s place, there’s nothing interesting at Daddy’s workplace." There was a long silence on the phone. "Hanabi really wants to come over..." "..." "Fine," Hanabi’s weak request was not something Hanamaru Hiroki could refuse, "If Hanabi really wants to come, let Sakura bring you over, pass the phone to him." "Okay...thank you Daddy..." Then, the faintest voice could be heard from the other end, "Sakura-kun..." "Hello, Uncle." Hanamaru Hiroki swiveled his chair, looking out at the blue skyscraper, his tone not as gentle as before, "Why does Hanabi suddenly want to come here, and why does she sound a bit unhappy, what are you up to?" On the other end of the phone, Uesugi Sakura met Hanamaru Hanabi’s expectant gaze and replied slowly, "Nothing, Uncle, don’t worry, Hanabi just wants to see your work environment. She said she has never been there and really wants to see it." "..." Something felt off. Hanamaru Hiroki: "Alright then, call me when you arrive, don’t just walk in through the front door." Bleep— The short busy tone sounded. Hanamaru Hiroki hung up the phone. Uesugi Sakura put the phone back in his pocket and told Hanamaru Hanabi, who held a finely-crafted lunch box, "It’s fine now, Uncle agreed for us to go." Hanamaru Hanabi looked at her thin and delicate hands nervously and said, "Will Daddy forgive Hanabi? Hanabi is so clumsy, can’t do anything right." Uesugi Sakura, holding a paper tube in his right hand, smiled warmly at the girl in a dress in front of him, "If Hanabi is clumsy, then there’s no clumsy person in the world." Hanamaru Hanabi looked up and pursed her lips, "But...Sakura-kun always says Hanabi is a fool..." Is she really bothered by the word "fool" that much? "A fool wouldn’t prepare such a nice gift," Uesugi Sakura laughed, looking at her face, "Compared to my apology, Hanabi has already done very well." "Hanabi feels useless..." When Hanamaru Hanabi lowered her head, she suddenly realized a pair of hands were adjusting the bow on her collar. "Don’t think like that, Hanabi is the cutest girl in the world. As long as Hanabi apologizes sincerely, there’s nothing Uncle won’t forgive you for, so please don’t be self-conscious." "It’s done." Uesugi Sakura took up the paper tube placed by his leg again, smiling as he admired the adorable girl in front of him who could make the whole world immerse: "Hanabi, do your best." Receiving the encouragement, Hanamaru Hanabi nodded heavily, the neat bow on her collar slightly swayed, and she responded in a soft voice: "Hanabi will try her best." —————— With Mrs. Hanamaru’s smiling send-off, Uesugi Sakura and Hanamaru Hanabi left the house. Approaching noon, as the two rode on the Marunouchi Line, they were nearing Nishi-Shinjuku Station. Even though it’s not a workday, the weekend subway was still crowded with people. "Thank you for riding, we are now at Nishi-Shinjuku." The Marunouchi Line with a daily ridership of over three million is tirelessly working every day. Holding Hanamaru Hanabi’s small hand, bidding farewell to the red Marunouchi 2000, they left the underground Nishi-Shinjuku Station. As Uesugi Sakura brushed past the diverse passerby, he suddenly stopped on the first step toward Shinjuku Police Station. [Beep...Beep...] [Emergency Task Detected] "Sakura-kun?" Hanamaru Hanabi looked up at him, her swinging skirt as soft as a cloud. Pedestrians passed by on the road one after another, their hurried steps not lingering too long on the two who stopped. "Nothing," Uesugi Sakura looked at her puzzled face, still holding her hand tightly, "Let’s keep going." The breeze swayed through the small trees by the roadside, and the weak sunlight scattered like dust around them. As Uesugi Sakura walked holding Hanamaru Hanabi, he checked the sudden emergency task in his mind. [Emergency Task: ??? (Hidden)] [Task Difficulty: Level 2] [Task Content: ??? (Hidden)] [Task Time: 12 hours] [Task Restrictions: None] [Task Reward: Attribute Points ×50, Random Advanced Skills ×2, Random Quality Cards ×2] [Hint: Emergency tasks have certain dangers, please decide within 5 minutes whether to accept; refusing or not choosing will cause the task to automatically disappear.] Uesugi Sakura gazed at the line with the task rewards. With such generous rewards, is there any need to think? Of course, it’s a decisive refusal. Nothing is more important now than being with Hanabi, let alone the tags "generous rewards" and "certain danger," which are obviously traps. Trying hard every day is tiring enough already, he didn’t want to give up the peaceful daily life just to join in the excitement for some reward. "Sakura-kun...what are you looking at.....?" Hanamaru Hanabi noticed his gaze was focused straight ahead, but there was nothing unusual other than the pedestrians waiting at the traffic light.