Like a Fish in Water

In the cozy, bustling confines of a home, Ichijō Mirai smiles and repeats, "Maybe you'll come across it while solving a crime?"

He didn't reach for his chopsticks.

The dust covers on all the food had been lifted, but the two Ishida's didn't pick up their chopsticks either; they hesitated for a moment, looking for a job to do.

One picks up the dust cover and moves it elsewhere, while the other leaves the table for a moment to bring a steaming cup of soup.

With work in their eyes, they greeted him enthusiastically, "Mirai, eat while it's still hot."

Mr. Ishida added, "Don't look at Mr. Oshikami, he's a bit old and loves food, but he's quite reliable."

"You just said that eating barbecue frequently is not good for your health," Ishida Eiko quickly added, "Young people shouldn't eat too much of it."

"Yes, yes, you're a good person, you can say whatever you want," Mr. Ishida thought, "You're a detective too, you'll meet them, after all, there aren't too many good detectives, Neon is so small."

Ichijō Mirai raised an eyebrow and repeated, "I'm a detective too?"

His hand on the table moved, lifting it to reach for his chopsticks, then suddenly withdrawing before he could take hold of them.

When the two Ishida's saw that he finally reached for his chopsticks to eat, they subconsciously followed suit, and when they saw him let go of his chopsticks, they reacted for a moment before letting go of their chopsticks half a second later.

The table was quiet for a moment.

"Yes," Mr. Ishida asked back, a little confused, "I remember when you first came here you said you were interested in murder, and that you had solved cases of data theft and several deaths of your colleagues at work?"

"That's, that's a detective, isn't it?"

Ishida Eiko carefully watched Ichijō Mirai's face, and after failing to detect anything from that smiling face, she slapped Mr. Ishida, "Oops, what detective, our Mirai is an employee with a much brighter future."

"We're still young, it's okay to owe a little money, when we pay back the money and return to the company, we might even get a promotion."

"Don't listen to him to his nonsense," she inquired with a smile, "Try Auntie's handiwork tonight."

"You just arrived not long ago, your taste is different from ours. I noticed that you didn't eat much in the past two days, so today I specially checked your taste and made some fried food. Try it and see if it suits your appetite."

The meal on the table is quite sumptuous, large and small plates and bowls roughly add up to at least dozens of, there are a variety of staples, main dishes and side dishes, there are raw and cooked, just sauce and seasoning have five or six kinds.

Most of them were Japanese food, a few were fast food like French fries and chicken nuggets.

The whole table was full.

This is not a normal meal for three people.

In a normal meal, the eldest person would be the first to move the chopsticks, and the youngest would follow, instead of Ichijō Mirai not moving his chopsticks, and the two Ishida elders subconsciously not moving theirs.

Ichijō Mirai slowly responded, "I see."

"Then I am indeed a detective."

I don't care if the company had a data theft, but how could there be several deaths of coworkers?

What kind of company is this... Oh, it's an American company.

That's normal.

He reached for the chopsticks again, "I didn't realize Auntie would fry these."

Then he suddenly stopped.

The two Ishida's raised their hands for the chopsticks, then braked and let go.

"Sorry," Ichijō Mirai smiled as if he hadn't seen it, "I just touched the handrail on the way down."

He stood up, "I'll go wash my hands, you guys eat first."

Both Ishida: "Okay, okay."

They said so, but when Ichijō Mirai came back from washing his hands slowly, they didn't dare to touch their chopsticks, but only looked at him with bated breath.

Ichijō Mirai took hold of the chopsticks, and instead of teasing them, he casually pushed something into his mouth, "Eat."

It was a sure sign.

The two Ishida's breathed a sigh of relief, and hastily took hold of their chopsticks and began to eat. 

"I must have come here the day before yesterday," Ichijō Mirai, who hadn't consumed much today and had very little desire to eat, only signaled, "Auntie, do you remember the weather the day before yesterday?"

Mr. Ishida, who had not been named, ate in silence.

Ishida Eiko, who was nodded, thought for a moment, and her tone was a bit more cautious, "Sunny day."

"I remember it was a sunny day, and it was quite dusty, so I packed your suitcase and scrubbed it for you just after you arrived, and it's now on the third floor."

"Dusty," Ichijō Mirai nodded, naming names again, "Auntie, I remember when I came to Japan, it was..."

"An airplane."

This time it was Ishida Eiko's turn to eat, Mr. Ishida looked up and answered, he was a little hesitant, "I also remembered the time wrong, I didn't pick up the plane, you found it on your own."

Ichijō Mirai nodded again, "It's been just two days since I came to Japan, but it's like a lifetime ago, I'd almost forgotten what a mess I was in, but I didn't realize that you two still remembered."

The two Ishida silently bowed their heads as they ate.

"I really think of my aunt and uncle as family," Ichijō Mirai said, following up on what Ishida Eiko had revealed, "that's why I came to you when I owed so much money... after all, my parents..."

What would make a young man go to an 'aunt he's only met a few times' after owing money?

Most likely his parents are dead and he has no other relatives, so 'aunts he's only met a few times' are the ones to turn to.

But this isn't a normal situation.

The two Ishida's are too obvious to be treated as juniors.

It's a great mercy to take in a debtor you've never seen before in your own home, and it's the junior who should be uncomfortable and nervous, not the hosts.

Unless, their relationship is not between the elder and the younger.

It's...

Ichijō Mirai smiled wistfully, his red eyes curving up, "I hope Uncle and Auntie think of me as real family too."

He spoke softly, "Your acting today was so bad, I'm not satisfied."

"Think about it tonight, and tomorrow, I don't want to see you two so intimidated again."

"Like I said, your identities are 'auntie' and 'uncle'."

The faces of the two Ishida's changed drastically.

Ishida Eiko hurriedly said, "I- I am sorry."

"We don't have kids, we don't have experience," she was a little flustered, "We'll behave tomorrow!"

"I'm too rusty," Mr. Ishida also reacted urgently, "and, I shouldn't be so nervous talking to a junior."

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Ichijō!"

Ichijō Mirai smiled, slowly picking up on his previous assumption: unless, the relationship between them is not elder and junior at all, but criminal and victim.

It was a bit strange to think of them as seniors and juniors, but what about criminals and victims of home invasions?

Instead of leaving, the criminal stays in the nest of these two panicked magpies, spreading his turtledove wings and taking over the magpie's nest.

It's quite immoral, it's quite uncomfortable for normal people.

But Ichijō Mirai suddenly felt at ease, and the unfamiliarity and incomprehension towards 'auntie' and 'uncle' disappeared completely. He just wanted to sigh: It's worthy of me.

Even in a parallel world, I am not a harmless rabbit fleeing from a debt, but a meat-eating fox.

He was quite comfortable with his new identity and setting, like a fish in water, and nodded the table with a smile, "Good boy, don't use honorifics."

"Let's eat properly, auntie, uncle."