Chapter 58: Misunderstanding

Before the fat man's two subordinates could even react, Kuroha Itsu's body was already beside them. With the index and middle fingers of both hands slightly curved, he struck hard at the Adam's apples on their necks.

Clang.

The cold firearms dropped onto the floor.

The two collapsed to the ground, tongues protruding, hands tightly clutching their throats, eyes bulging, and bodies trembling, unable to make even the slightest sound.

"Reimu, Reimu, are you alright?"

Kuroha Itsu walked quickly to Watanabe Reimu's side, reached out to pull away the two corpses lying on top of her, and pulled her tightly into his embrace.

At this moment, Watanabe Reimu was gasping for breath, her body trembling as if she were freezing cold, and her once bright and clear eyes were shrouded in a layer of gloom.

Seeing Watanabe Reimu in such a state, Kuroha Itsu clenched his fists so tightly that the veins on his hands bulged. His heart felt as though it were being pierced by needles. Yet, all he could do right now was hold her tightly in his arms.

"Hands up."

A burst of hurried footsteps sounded, followed by a stern command. Several black firearms aimed in unison at Kuroha Itsu and the trembling Watanabe Reimu in his arms, as well as the theater manager cowering on the floor.

Kuroha Itsu was on the verge of a rampage. His eye sockets became deeply sunken, showing the whites of his eyes above the iris, and his pupils gradually turned yellowish-brown. A fierce and violent aura emanated from his eyes, his limbs tense as if he were ready to explode at any moment.

"Itsu-kun, why are you here?"

A familiar shout pulled Kuroha Itsu back from the edge of losing his reason and descending into a rampage.

"Jack?"

Kuroha Itsu slowly turned his head. As he did, his eyes returned to normal.

He looked at the crowd of police officers standing at the doorway, led by none other than Jack, the black police officer he had met twice before.

"What happened here? Are all these people dead?"

Jack's eyes widened as he looked at the several corpses lying in pools of blood across the room, and he asked with a frown.

"I'm still alive, I'm still alive."

Hearing the commotion, Kimura Yunduan opened his eyes and stumbled up from the floor, clutching his chest in sheer disbelief. In such a small room with six or seven firearms pointed around, he had actually survived.

"Put your hands on your head and crouch down."

Before Kimura Yunduan could even feel relieved, the police officer's voice and the cold weapons aimed directly at him reached his ears and eyes, scaring him into immediately crouching back down with his head in his hands.

"I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm the theater manager here, the person in charge. Here is my identification." Kimura Yunduan explained, cowering in the corner. He had never imagined his theater would encounter such an event, and he slowly reached up to remove the badge from his neck, holding it up in his hand.

"Call an ambulance, treat the wounded, and secure the scene." Jack nodded after taking the badge and looking it over, signaling his subordinates to lower their guards, process the scene, and apprehend the incapacitated fat man and his accomplices.

"Captain, what about them?"

After the injured officers and the suspects were led away, an officer looked at Kuroha Itsu, who was still holding Watanabe Reimu tightly, and asked doubtfully.

"No, no, no, she's not a suspect! Don't you recognize her? She's Watanabe Reimu, a member of our theater's Mint group." Realizing he was safe and hearing the officer's words, Kimura Yunduan suddenly remembered Watanabe Reimu was still there and hurriedly explained.

"Ah, it really is her. Then who is this man?"

Several young officers who regularly followed popular idols had already recognized Watanabe Reimu, but seeing her held so closely in the arms of a rather handsome man made them reluctant to admit it out loud.

"He is... I don't know if he's a suspect or not. Just now, before that officer was shot, he seemed to say that this guy used drugs." Upon closer reflection, Kimura Yunduan realized that all the trouble he and Watanabe Reimu had suffered seemed to stem from this kid.

Hearing Kimura Yunduan's words, several officers already harboring a hint of jealousy toward Kuroha Itsu stepped forward, preparing to arrest him.

Kuroha Itsu's fists, resting behind Watanabe Reimu, clenched once again.

"Wait."

Jack raised his hand, halting their further actions.

If Kuroha Itsu were a suspect, or in cahoots with the drug traffickers, why would he have handed that bag of money over to him earlier? To clear his name?

"Itsu-kun, who on earth are you, and why are you here?"

Jack walked up to Kuroha Itsu, looking down at him as he sat on the floor holding Watanabe Reimu, and asked seriously. He had long been curious about Kuroha Itsu's identity. The skill Kuroha Itsu displayed in his car last time was not something an ordinary person could easily master, and now he had appeared at a drug bust scene—yet he didn't look like a bad guy. Although they had only met twice, and villains usually didn't look like villains, Jack's intuition chose to trust Kuroha Itsu, especially seeing how fiercely protective he was of Watanabe Reimu, which reminded him of his past self.

Besides, Kuroha Itsu was just one person here, and with so many police officers present, it wouldn't hurt to question him thoroughly. If he couldn't give a satisfactory answer, they could always arrest him then.

After the question, Kuroha Itsu didn't even look at Jack. Right now, he only wanted to hold Watanabe Reimu tightly and soothe her frightened mind. The officer's rash attempt to slap handcuffs on Watanabe Reimu without asking questions had left him with zero goodwill toward the police, and he couldn't be bothered to explain.

"He's my classmate. He came to see my performance."

After a moment of silence, just as Jack was about to order his men to take Kuroha Itsu back to the station for questioning, Watanabe Reimu—who had been burying her head in Kuroha Itsu's chest—stopped crying. She lifted her pretty face from his sturdy arms. Her once smooth, beautiful bangs were now damp with tears, sticking to her forehead, making her look somewhat disheveled. Yet, in a voice still trembling with tears, she spoke up, her very first words being a defense for Kuroha Itsu.

That voice, that appearance, was deeply endearing.

"A classmate? Ah, right, yes. He was a lucky audience member who won a ticket for a private meet-and-greet with her today." Kimura Yunduan, recalling the expression on Watanabe Reimu's face when Kuroha Itsu first entered the room, realized they clearly knew each other and quickly chimed in to help.

"A student? Then didn't you just say he uses drugs?"

Jack shot Kimura Yunduan an irritated look.

"I..."

Kimura Yunduan wanted to explain that he had only repeated what the shot officer had claimed, but thinking that the officer was now wounded and unconscious, he decided against bothering to explain further.

"Actually, it was all a misunderstanding. I have never used any drugs. Aren't there two security cameras right over there? If you want to know what happened, just turn them on and watch." Kuroha Itsu raised one hand and pointed toward the two cameras in the corner.