Sayu Hagiwara's Regret / Asahikawa's Darkness

She seemed to understand what she needed to do.

She reached into her pocket and touched the self-defense tools Jiang Hang had given her, a relieved expression on her face.

Those girls did indeed want to teach Masaka Yui.

However, when they saw that Ogihara Sayu, who had somehow gotten wind of the situation, came to their classroom door looking for Masaka Yui as soon as she got out of school, their plans had to be abandoned.

Ogihara Sayu is indeed not someone to be trifled with; when she's around, they can't really use many of those tricks.

Therefore, all they could do was give Masaka Yui look that said, "You'll see tomorrow," before leaving the classroom in a huff.

Only a few people who still cared about the relationship between Ogihara Sayu and Masaka Yui remained in the classroom, wanting to know the content of Ogihara Sayu and Masaka Yui's conversation, and to find out how much she was willing to do for Masaka Yui.

Before Ogihara Sayu could even ask about the rumors she'd heard, Masaka Yui grabbed her schoolbag and pulled Ogihara Sayu out of the school.

Ogihara Sayu was caught off guard by her best friend's overly assertive behavior and wondered if Yuko had always been like this.

Masaka Yui pulled Ogihara Sayu along until they reached a riverside house some distance from the school, at which point they stopped.

"Yuko, why did you suddenly bring me here?" Ogihara Sayu asked Masaka Yui with some concern.

She had wanted to speak the whole way, but seeing her best friend's unusually persistent look, she held back until they stopped before asking Masaka Yui the question.

This seems to be a famous Western-style street in Asahikawa. There are several nationally renowned wagashi (Japanese sweets) shops nearby. Could it be that Masaka Yui wants to treat her to wagashi?

"If you want to eat wagashi (Japanese sweets), I just bought a lot today. However, my place is under renovation, so I can't take you inside for the time being. Let's eat as we walk, Ogiwara-kun."

A male voice suddenly appearing behind them startled Ogihara Sayu.

She turned her head and saw a young man who seemed to blend into the environment behind him standing by the river, smiling and waving at them.

She blinked hard, and the feeling of becoming one with him disappeared.

She was clearly wearing a black outfit, which didn't match the Western-style environment at all, so why did she have that illusion just now?

And how did the other party know what I was thinking just now?

As this thought arose in her mind, Jiang Hang explained it to her again.

"Although you are considered a cold and aloof princess at school, your emotional control is not as good as you think. It is quite easy to see what you are thinking from your face."

Happy New Year, everyone!

I played mahjong for two days and then went out for a day. My procrastination kicked in right after the New Year.

Chapter 596: Ogihara Sayu's Regret

When she heard the words "cold and aloof princess," Ogihara Sayu's expression didn't look very good.

After all, she really disliked the word "princess".

She never considered herself a princess.

For some reason, ever since her family background was revealed, many people at school have been calling her "princess" behind her back.

While the Ogihara Group is indeed a decent company in Hokkaido, it's nothing compared to top conglomerates like Suzuki-Shinomiya.

The daughters of real conglomerates are not called princesses. How could she, the unloved daughter of a small group, be qualified to be called a princess?

Moreover, from birth, she has hardly ever experienced normal family affection. Her father didn't want her, her mother disliked her, and although her only brother treated her fairly well, that was about it.

Her older brother did take good care of her before she graduated from high school, but he went to university in Tokyo when she was 10 years old.

After that, the two saw each other much less often. Even now that her older brother has graduated from university and returned to take over the family business, he doesn't live with her and her mother anymore. It's considered good if they can see each other once a month.

For years, Ogihara Sayu has been enduring the emotional abuse inflicted on her by her mother almost entirely alone at home.

This is the main reason why outsiders perceive her as having a cold and aloof personality.

If she hadn't actively shut herself off, she probably would have become depressed long ago living in such an environment.

Even though she has grown up relatively healthily, she still feels somewhat physically uncomfortable when others call her "princess".

Such a change would be noticeable not only to Jiang Hang, but even to Masaka Yui.

She looked at Jiang Hang with a conflicted expression, as if she wanted to remind Jiang Hang not to mention that word in front of Ogihara Sayu.

However, Jiang Hang didn't care about these things.

While escaping does work, Ogihara Sayu and Masaka Yui have been escaping for almost a year now.

However, due to the instigation of those with ulterior motives, their escape obviously failed to achieve the desired effect, and instead made their situation even worse.

Masaka Yui, who was on the verge of a mental breakdown, began to have the idea of change under his therapy.

So, if Ogihara Sayu herself doesn't have this awareness as the root of everything, then Masaka Yui's changes won't have much effect, and she might even fall into a deeper abyss after a short period of change.

Although Jiang Hang will stay in Asahikawa for a few more days because of his agency, he will still leave to travel to other places if Kaito Kid makes any new discoveries.

He didn't have that much time to spend getting to know Ogihara Sayu slowly and then helping her with her psychological issues.

So he went straight to the point and hit Ogihara Sayu's sore spot.

Judging from Ogihara Sayu's reaction, the "cool princess" comment was remarkably effective, immediately silencing the girl.

Jiang Hang didn't offer any words of comfort. Instead, he introduced himself and explained the purpose of his visit.

"I am Jiang Hang, a detective. You may have heard my name on TV. I am here to find you because I have discovered a criminal gang that is trying to lead you into the abyss."

Hearing Jiang Hang's words, Ogihara Sayu was stunned for a moment.

Jiang Hang?

Detective?

It seems she does have some recollection of it.

But... what's with this criminal gang that wants to drag me down into the abyss?

Ogihara Sayu immediately became nervous.

Jiang Hang waved to the other person, telling her not to be so nervous.

"It's nothing much. There's a psychopathic criminal in Asahikawa who keeps inciting others to commit crimes and suicides. According to my investigation, one-third of the suicide cases in Asahikawa may be related to him."

"Although it is not yet known how many of the malicious crimes in Asahikawa City can be linked to the other party, the other party has used similar methods to recruit many highly intelligent and antisocial individuals into his gang, forming a criminal organization called Phantom. Based on this, he has opened many criminal websites and Suicide Website throughout the country."

"In a way, that guy could be considered the 'Moriarty' of Asahikawa and even Hokkaido."

Seeing Ogihara Sayu's bewildered expression, Jiang Hang pointed at her.

"And you, you were already the target of that criminal gang six months ago."

When Jiang Hang spoke, his tone became slightly sinister, and he also released a hint of imposing aura.

Not only did Ogihara Sayu, who was standing in front of him, shiver, but Masaka Yui's body also trembled violently.

Of course, Ogihara Sayu knew who Moriarty was.

Sherlock Holmes's archenemy, the Napoleon of the criminal world, and the progenitor of supervillains.

Ogihara Sayu had no idea why she was being targeted by such a person.

"Long-term emotional repression, a single emotional outlet, a negative outlook on life, coupled with a potential self-destructive personality, can make you, with your good family background, a very useful tool and accomplice to those guys if you are used a little."

Jiang Hang explained, then glanced at Masaka Yui and continued to say to Ogihara Sayu, "If two lonely people with similar family circumstances become friends, and then one of them dies as a trigger, and they continue to exert public pressure on you and even your parents in the shadows, what do you think will happen to you?"

Listening to Jiang Hang's description, Ogihara Sayu felt as if her heartbeat slowed down.

Just thinking about the scenario the other person described made her feel heartbroken.

Her voice trembled slightly as she asked Jiang Hang for confirmation, "The death you mentioned... is it those people who wanted to Masaka Yui?"

Masaka Yui wanted to explain, but Jiang Hang simply nodded to Ogihara Sayu: "Yes, perhaps you haven't realized it yourself, but the mental pressure Masaka Yui has been under in recent months is probably much greater than you think."

"Masaka Yui's mental pressure is already nearing its breaking point. If this continues, she probably won't be able to withstand the pressure for at most three months."

Ogihara Sayu turned to look at her friend in surprise, Masaka Yui also showed a hint of avoidance on her face.

Because the two were no longer in the same class after their second year of high school, although she could only see Masaka Yui during lunch break and after school, she really didn't know what had happened to Masaka Yui at other times.

Even knowing that the other person might be being bullied, she kept thinking that as long as they could get through this period and those people got bored, the two of them could return to their original lives.

They can only hold on like this for a year and a half at most, then they will graduate and be completely free.

In fact, she has been under much less pressure in the past six months, and the exclusion and ostracism against her have mostly been kept behind the scenes.

Masaka Yui hadn't talked to him about these things much either.

She had always thought that those people must have gradually gotten bored and given up on their meaningless bullying.

But judging from Jiang Hang's description now, all the pressure that was relieved on her has probably been transferred to Masaka Yui in double measure.

Just a few days ago, she was optimistically telling Masaka Yui that everything was getting better!

Looking at Masaka Yui now, she seems so cautious.

She recalled that the smile on Masaka Yui's face at that time was not one of joy, but rather a helpless and bitter smile, as if she didn't want to worry him.

At that moment, with tears in her eyes, she hugged her friend and said, "Why didn't you tell me about this? If I had known sooner, I definitely wouldn't have let you bear all this alone."

Jiang Hang couldn't help but sigh, "So you're still thinking of silently enduring it? Doesn't the word 'resistance' even exist in your dictionary?"

"Those guys must have targeted your submissive nature to set up this trap for you."

I overslept on the last day of last month and lost my 1500 attendance bonus. Heartbroken, I simply stayed in bed for half a month during the Chinese New Year QAQ.

In order to avoid having to work in a factory this year, I'm starting to work hard again from today!

Chapter 597: The Darkness of Asahikawa

Changing a person's personality, which has been formed since childhood, is not an easy task.

However, after explaining these things to the two girls beforehand, and knowing that someone was after their lives, the two girls obviously listened.

Ogihara Sayu's reaction at this moment was even more irritable.

After all, her only friend has become a "tool" in the eyes of those criminals, used to plunge her into the abyss. How can she remain calm after realizing this?

"What do those guys think of life?" She clenched her hands tightly. Even after growing up in such a cold environment, Ogihara Sayu had not completely given up on her life.

But why are there people in this world who deliberately want to drag others off a cliff and find pleasure in it?

"This kind of mood is good, at least it's much better than that look from before when you seemed detached from everything."

Seeing Ogihara Sayu's expression, Jiang Hang nodded in agreement.

Then, Ogihara Sayu turned to look at Masaka Yui, her lips moving as if she wanted to apologize to her friend who had suffered even more misfortune than herself.

But before that, Masaka Yui first hugged Ogihara Sayu: "I know Sayu-chan, you are also under a lot of pressure, and I know that if you knew what happened to me, you would definitely not sit idly by."

Although Ogihara Sayu's idea was indeed to face the bullies with indifference, hoping that they would stop their actions when they got bored, as long as they persisted until high school graduation, they could finally enjoy true freedom after they both became adults.

But those bullies were indeed carrying out their bullying tactics behind Ogihara Sayu's back. If Ogihara Sayu knew about those things, she would definitely still stand up for her.

Ultimately, she herself felt it was an honor to be friends with such a dazzling girl as Ogihara Sayu.

She didn't want Ogihara Sayu to worry about her because of her own problems, so she chose to accept her fate.

It was Jiang Hang's appearance that revealed the truth to her, making her realize that her previous endurance had been completely meaningless.

If she endures it to the end, the only ones who will get hurt are herself and Ogihara Sayu who cares about her.

In the original work, Masaka Yui suicide due to an emotional breakdown. She felt that she should never have become friends with someone as outstanding as Ogihara Sayu. Now, after realizing how important Ogihara Sayu is to her and how she is to Ogihara Sayu, she is now determined never to leave Ogihara Sayu.

Looking at the scene of lilies in bloom before him, Jiang Hang gave the other person ample time to communicate.

Twenty minutes later, the two, who had calmed down, walked along the riverbank with Jiang Hang, telling them about the "Ptantom".

"Mr. Jiang Hang, since you already know about that organization, why don't you just notify the Hokkaido police department?" Ogihara Sayu asked Jiang Hang, still wondering whether she should inform the school about the bullying.

Jiang Hang turned around and took a closer look at Ogihara Sayu.

After thinking about it, I decided against saying things like, "The police system in Asahikawa and even Hokkaido is full of useless idiots, and there's probably a mole in Ptantom."

Due to various historical reasons, the feudal atmosphere in Hokkaido is quite strong, and I could already feel some of that atmosphere in Jiang Hang.

However, Hakodate is located at the southernmost part of Hokkaido, bordering Honshu Island, and has experienced many wars. Therefore, its atmosphere is not as deeply rooted as that of Asahikawa, an inland town in Hokkaido.

In Asahikawa, a place with a permanent population of just over 300,000, the concept of "lord" truly exists.