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At seven years old, Uehara Yui felt a little lonely, and it was her older neighbor's fault.
Ever since Kan-chan transferred to a new middle school down the city, he hadn’t come to play with her as often as before.
It seemed like he had a new friend named Koumei. The two of them were always together.
One day, Yui secretly and quietly followed the two boys into a forest.
What do older kids play anyway? Why wouldn’t they let her join?
The secret and quiet mission was busted when she slipped and fell from a tree, crying out loud.
"I told you not to follow us," Kan-chan scolded as he tore his shirt into strips to wrap around her ankle.
"Kan-chan, you have to cast a spell on it, please," she tried to explain between hiccups. "When I fell on my knee the other day, Grandma did that, and then it doesn’t hurt anymore."
"Ah, let's see... Chichin puipui... Abracadabra... tekumaku mayakon... Better now?"
"No! Kan-chan has to kiss where it hurts too."
"Fine, fine — Koumei, stop laughing." And then he bent down to kiss her ankle.
At eighteen years old, Uehara Yui passed the university entrance exam and was heading to Tokyo.
Grandma was too frail to come down the mountain and see her off at the train station, and Officer Kai was busy. So Kan-chan volunteered instead.
“As a police officer, it’s my duty to take care of civilians,” he said.
She had already shed a lot of tears saying goodbye to her relatives and the villagers that morning.
But as soon as Kan-chan helped carry the last of her luggage, tears welled up in her eyes again.
“You’re still such a crybaby. Let go of me already.”
Yui blushed, realizing she had subconsciously reached out to hold Kan-chan’s hand.
Before she could say anything, Kan-chan lifted her hand and kissed it.
“Farewell, Officer Yui. Study hard and come back to protect our village.”
She burst out laughing — that was fifteen years ago, when she was just a little crybaby starting kindergarten.
The only way to coax her into class was through Kan-chan pretend play.
“I’m grown up now,” Yui yelled after Kan-chan as he turn away and quickly walked out of the train.
But if she had been just a bit more grown up, she would’ve realized that Kan-chan didn't even remember what happened fifteen years ago.
At twenty-three years old, Uehara Yui returned to Nagano and graduated from police academy.
She walked out of the auditorium after going through the sakura badge ceremony. As expected, Officer Kai was waiting to congratulate her.
She looked around for a certain dark-skinned man in the crowd.
“He's on call in an urgent case,” Officer Kai said knowingly. “He sends his congratulations.”
Uehara Yui was still twenty-three when she was the one to discover Officer Kai’s body.
After a month of boring paperwork as a new face to the force, she had eagerly awaited her first real case in the field.
Even though the case was to find the man she had always respected, she performed her duties as a rookie officer well.
She was slightly panicked herself, but she tried to calm the villagers and organize the search.
She had hoped to find Officer Kai and make him proud of her for doing her job properly.
She followed all her training — searching for clues, following investigation procedures.
Even when she found the body, she still called the time of death and sealed off the crime scene.
Then she called Kan-chan — even though he wasn’t officially her commanding officer on the case.
After that, she didn’t remember anything until a kiss on her forehead brought her back.
She found herself trembling and sobbing in Kan-chan’s arms.
Kan-chan looked relieved. She later learned she had been in a catatonic state for hours and had to be hospitalized.
He promised that they would solve the case together. They would uncover the truth.
The next day, she transferred to became Kan-chan’s right-hand woman.
During the five years Uehara worked under Inspector Yamato, they had kissed many times.
Indirect kisses — when they were both so tired, they accidentally drank from each other’s coffee cups.
He kissed her on the cheek during an undercover dance, whispering their target’s location in her ear.
Once, she used her tongue to pass a cell key to his mouth to free human trafficking victims.
Each time they had to roleplay to catch a criminal, Yui’s real feelings grew stronger — but it wasn’t just that.
Every time he said her coffee was awful. Every time he scolded her for accidentally calling him Kan-chan.
Every time he comforted her when Officer Kai’s case reached a dead end. Every time he dragged her out to try a new ramen shop.
She fell in love with him, a little bit more each time.
At twenty eight years old, Uehara Yui decided to do something about her feelings.
When Kan-chan returned from meeting with another department, Yui pulled him into an empty room.
“Kan-chan, I have something to say. I…”
She knew he wasn’t oblivious. He had to know what she meant.
Kansuke leaned in toward her. She was overjoyed that her feelings were being received — and returned — without words.
But he whispered in her ear instead.
“You figured it out too, didn’t you? I’ve got his name and appearance.”
“…What?”
“I’m going to tail him. You cover for me, say I’m off handling whatever — don’t let anyone know.”
"Yes?"
“He’s heading to Mount Mitagara, in Yamanashi Prefecture. Waiting for approval would waste too much time."
"Uh-huh"
“This time, Yui — we’re making officer Kai proud. Look up the suspect’s details and send them to me.”
Yui nodded, even though she didn’t fully understand. He pulled away so fast that his lips brushed her cheek before he dashed out.
She felt disappointed that her confession was interrupted — but once she pieced it all together, she smiled.
The criminal Officer Kai once arrested had escaped prison, and Kan-chan believed this would lead them to the truth.
It was worth the wait. Maybe it would be better to try again — after Officer Kai got his justice.
Only news of an avalanche returned from the mountain. Yui felt like her world had collapsed.
She was determined to complete this final mission. She had to solve Officer Kai’s case and offer Kan-chan peace.
She resigned from the police force — and married to go undercover.
One year under the roof of the Torada family. A thousand kisses from a husband who wasn’t Kan-chan.
And not a single tear shed.
Not even when she heard her husband had been murdered.
Her stepmother-in-law gave her a knowing look, so Yui pretended to reminisce about her past as a police officer — of course, she stayed composed even after her husband's death.
But the whole village had seen her tearful interview on the local news about Kan-chan’s disappearance a year ago.
Tears streamed down her face as she said she didn’t believe anyone could survive such a violent snowstorm.
She teared up a little, just a little, when Kan-chan asked her to come back to work.
On her first day back, she arrived early at her desk.
She made herself coffee and waited for Kan-chan.
He showed up early too, before anyone else arrived.
“I told you only to come back once you’d ready. You’re almost thirty, stop crying”
She hadn’t even realized she was crying — the first time in over a year.
His expression softened
“I know what you’re thinking. Last year, I just wanted to catch the culprit for officer Kai first. Now we did”
She let him taste her terrible coffee from her lips.