Takagi Morofushi turned his head and gave Sayamura Misao a somewhat surprised look.
"'Kei'... do you mean Horfumi? Yes, he was my younger brother."
"Oh! I knew it. No wonder I kept feeling like I'd seen you somewhere before. Your eyes look so much like Kei's!" With his guess confirmed, Sayamura Misao could not help getting a little excited. He lowered his head to look at Risa Yoshii, who was still waiting for someone, before controlling his volume.
Takagi Morofushi lowered his gaze and lightly flexed his wrist, gripping his phone in his hand.
Though he felt that Officer Sayamura Misao truly was as simple and straightforward as he appeared, the necessary vigilance was still required.
"...You knew my younger brother as well? I don't recall him mentioning you."
"We were childhood playmates. I met him once when I went into the mountains to catch bugs, and after only a few times, we became good friends. The two of us even built a secret base together! It was in those woods over there." Sayamura Misao's expression visibly relaxed and brightened. Though he was still in the middle of an operation, his attention had clearly wandered.
In any case, this was mainly the Tokyo Police's operation. He had only come to feel a little more involved.
"Oh, so you were his friend back in Nagano Prefecture." Takagi Morofushi came to a realization. "No wonder..."
No wonder there had suddenly been so much unusual activity on Furuya's side some time ago.
It was a relationship unknown even to him, the older brother, and to Furuya, Horfumi's childhood friend who had grown up with him. Moreover, the other party lacked even the most basic understanding of Horfumi's circumstances, so he naturally would not keep such matters confidential on his own initiative.
Such an