Chapter 18
The result of calling the technical department was a furious roar from Superintendent Adachi. The man analyzed the problem from discipline to safety, finally concluding with “come back and work overtime.”
Overtime was out of the question. Before the police got any results, Asuka Kazuya received a report from Vodka.
Matsuda Jinpei noticed his movements: “You’re not planning to act alone, are you?”
“Of course not,” Asuka Kazuya put away his phone. “Am I that kind of selfish person?”
Matsuda Jinpei frowned, scrutinizing him again.
The car finally stopped at the “residence” Asuka Kazuya mentioned.
“Listen, Kato,” Matsuda Jinpei stopped him seriously before Asuka Kazuya got out of the car. “No matter what, the other party is a serial killer. Don’t act rashly without backup.”
The young man’s gaze was sharp as he spoke, looking at Asuka Kazuya as if he saw his younger, troublemaking self from the police academy.
Perhaps because of this, Matsuda Jinpei had been paying extra attention to his movements since the cruise ship incident. This guy undoubtedly had the talent to become a detective, but he could also easily go astray.
The back of Asuka Kazuya’s head was still throbbing. He paused as he was about to close the door.
“You know,”
Matsuda Jinpei: “What?”
“I’m not good at handling this kind of awkward atmosphere.”
“…”
Despite it being a simple sentence, Matsuda Jinpei couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Then you better get used to it soon, I don’t want to see you in the news tomorrow.”
He put his sunglasses back on, gripping the steering wheel.
Only after Matsuda Jinpei stepped on the gas and left did Asuka Kazuya hear him casually say, “See you tomorrow.”
Asuka Kazuya didn’t speak, still pondering why Matsuda Jinpei didn’t join the First Investigation Division. He noted down his license plate number, wondering if he should also get a car.
“Come out, Amuro Tooru.”
In the dead silence, Asuka Kazuya turned his head, speaking to the shadows in the distance.
“You’ve been tracking my phone for a while now. If it weren’t for me covering for you, you would have been arrested as a pervert too.”
Bourbon: “…”
He didn’t expect this guy to be so sharp when he was serious. Bourbon emerged from the shadows expressionlessly.
He didn’t intend to reveal that he knew Matsuda. In fact, if Asuka Kazuya hadn’t mentioned it today, he wouldn’t have paid attention to his former classmates’ movements for a long time.
“But you came at the right time,” Asuka Kazuya said. “Tanaka Airi’s address is two blocks away. I’ll go through the front door, you watch out for the police.”
Bourbon watched him walk past: “Why are you suddenly so proactive?”
“The police’s patience with me is limited.” Asuka Kazuya acted nonchalant, still strolling leisurely. “Do some work, then slack off, then work again when they can’t stand it anymore. Why do you think Rum hasn’t dissected me yet?”
A master of PUA, Asuka Kazuya constantly pushed everyone’s limits in the organization with this method.
“Even so, you don’t have to go yourself.” Bourbon frowned, sharply catching the logical flaw. “In your current situation, you’re more likely to be held accountable afterwards.”
“Theoretically, that’s true…” Asuka Kazuya looked down at the needle marks from the blood draw on his arm. “But I was the one who caught Tanaka Tomoya. He wouldn’t say anything no matter how I threatened him before Superintendent Adachi arrived, but he cried when asked about his accomplices. I’m a little curious.”
Tanaka Tomoya kept apologizing.
He kept repeating, “I’m sorry, I was just too scared.”
Unlike the other officers, Asuka Kazuya believed that this “fear” wasn’t referring to the current tragedy, but most likely related to Tanaka Airi’s disappearance years ago.
Asuka Kazuya stopped.
A flash of memory appeared in his mind, he vaguely saw a person with ochre hair walking in front of him, then he was sitting face to face with a doctor from the Special Abilities Division, talking about his memory loss.
“Oh no,” Asuka Kazuya said with a horrified expression. “Bourbon, I think my brain is broken.”
Bourbon said flatly: “…You’re just realizing this now?”
“It’s not a–”
Before he could finish, both Asuka Kazuya and Bourbon dodged. The bullets hit the ground with a soft sound, leaving scorch marks where they had been standing.
“Asuka!” Seeing that Asuka Kazuya was still in a daze, Bourbon called his name.
“The bullets are special,” Asuka Kazuya said.
“What?”
“It wasn’t the money Tanaka Tomoya gave her, that guy joined the mafia.”
The scratches on his face hadn’t healed. In the dark night, Asuka Kazuya met a pair of eyes in the distance.
Before Bourbon could react, Asuka Kazuya moved first. He vaulted over the wall with one hand, effortlessly landing on the second-floor windowsill.
Tanaka Airi seemed to have anticipated this. When Asuka Kazuya entered the room through the broken window, the woman was sitting on the sofa, quietly waiting for him.
“We meet again, Kazuya-kun.”
The red lights of the cameras in the four corners of the room blinked. Tanaka Airi saw him walk in and greeted him with a smile.
Asuka Kazuya glanced at the ticking clock on the wall, expressionlessly raising his gun at her: “I don’t know you.”
“It’s been almost ten years, hasn’t it?”
Tanaka Airi chuckled.
“You probably don’t remember much. I remember you hadn’t learned how to use your ability back then.”
…How many years ago was that? When he was in the slums?
Asuka Kazuya frowned, unable to find the relevant memory.
“It should be around the same age as when I disappeared.”
Sensing the change in Asuka Kazuya’s expression, Tanaka Airi spoke nostalgically.
“You even got scolded by your companions for coming to save me. But you were luckier than me. My brother’s first reaction when he encountered danger was to push me out, saying he was sorry and that he would call the police to save me.”
“I became like this thanks to him, and now he’s just wallowing in self-pity.”
Tanaka Airi stood up. She took a step forward, half of her burned face exposed to the moonlight. The exposed skin was covered in visible scars, remnants of training in a killer organization—to ensure their growth and survival during missions was paramount.
“Of course, my parents were also at fault.” Speaking of this, the curve of Tanaka Airi’s lips faded. “They couldn’t see how ridiculous my brother was. A few days before I disappeared, they even said that Airi liked to run around, so how could they blame her brother?”
“So you empathized with yourself and just annihilated those families?” Asuka Kazuya raised an eyebrow, his finger on the trigger.
“I gave those children the opportunity to join the organization,” Tanaka Airi shrugged, explaining innocently. “But they would only cry and want to find their parents. The organization doesn’t need burdens that won’t grow.”
“What does that have to do with you looking for me?”
Asuka Kazuya was indifferent.
“Or is the organization behind you looking for me? The Yakuza or Melas? I haven’t offended them recently.”
Tanaka Airi sighed, her body relaxing, her tone regretful, but her words were icy.
“Kazuya-kun, you don’t seem to understand your value yet.” Tanaka Airi slowly opened her eyes. “Your ability is the key to every vault in the world. If you use it well, no one can touch you.”
Asuka Kazuya looked strange: “You know that and you still came to me?”
“If it wasn’t me, it would be someone else.” Tanaka Airi looked at him calmly. “I’m just reminding you because you saved me once. The organization’s research is halfway done. If you stay there any longer, you’ll lose your life sooner or later.”
“Oh,” Asuka Kazuya said perfunctorily. “According to you, I’ll only die faster if I join your organization.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Tanaka Airi shrugged.
“Revenge is my purpose, I won’t live to see that day anyway.”
It wasn’t the sound of the clock hands moving.
Asuka Kazuya turned his head, realizing that the ticking was coming from the corner.
Once life became boring, people would lose the will to live. It was precisely because she had run into her self-righteous older brother on the street a few days ago that Tanaka Airi had decided to end everything.
This was called destroying the evidence. Tanaka Airi left a lot of evidence. As long as the police continued to investigate, they would soon determine that her pitiful older brother was the murderer.
“Don’t you dare.”
A shot, the bullet stopped Tanaka Airi’s advance. Ignoring the so-called bomb threat, Asuka Kazuya fired another shot at her gun-holding hand.
“Bourbon!”
After doing this, Asuka Kazuya raised his voice, addressing Amuro Tooru, who was keeping watch at the door.
“Call Matsuda for me, this place is about to explode.”
?
Bourbon was puzzled, so he picked the lock and entered from downstairs.
He looked at the motionless Asuka Kazuya, then at Tanaka Airi, clutching her wound.
“Why didn’t you call the police yourself?”
…He forgot to use his ability immediately when he was grazed by the bullet, so now he was paralyzed by the toxin. If he said such an embarrassing thing, Bourbon would probably laugh at him for three days and three nights.
Asuka Kazuya said faintly, deciding to change the subject: “Do you know how hard I’m working just to keep this place from exploding with my ability?”
“And, Miss Tanaka, you better not try to commit suicide. The statute of limitations on your brother’s case hasn’t expired yet. I won’t let you die until you tell me about that organization.”
Tanaka Airi was silent, trying to bite the poison hidden in her teeth, but it only paralyzed her further.
“…Did your ability evolve?” Tanaka Airi supported herself, barely managing to come to a conclusion.
“How would I know?” Asuka Kazuya said nonchalantly, his tone showing no signs of discomfort, but his face was much paler. “Gin makes me try two new drugs every week, maybe one of them just happened to work.”
Hearing this, Bourbon understood.
“Calvados,” he asked, “you can’t move, can you?”
“…”
“Are you planning to stay in this position and let me carry you back?”
“…”
“Forget it, I didn’t have much hope anyway.”
Bourbon walked to a corner and disassembled the bomb casing.
There were four in total. Before Bourbon could finish disassembling them, Tanaka Airi on the ground had already passed out from her own poison.
Asuka Kazuya had no choice but to barely maintain her vital signs.
Bourbon: “If you want to cry from the pain, just cry, I won’t laugh at you.”
Asuka Kazuya’s face was full of disbelief. He watched Bourbon finish dealing with the bombs, pick up Tanaka Airi with one hand, and walk towards him.
“Besides me, you should be thinking about how to explain this to Gin. After all, your body is part of the organization’s property. Vodka even asked me to write a report every day, saying it’s for the research lab.”
“…” Asuka Kazuya’s vision darkened.
“Bourbon,” he said with a complicated tone, “are you getting back at me for targeting you before?”
“Hmm.” Bourbon hummed vaguely, putting his troublesome partner into the car and even fastening his seatbelt.
“Who told you to call me Popo-Tooru or Amuro Tooru every day? Calvados, when will you change your undercover methods?”
“You subconsciously shielded me when she fired just now.”
The Public Security officer’s expression was unreadable in the darkness, but his tone was frighteningly calm.
Asuka Kazuya was stunned. He looked up, unexpectedly meeting those grayish-purple eyes. That gaze was deep and indifferent, somewhat unclear under the moonlight.
Asuka Kazuya could only hear his voice.
“Didn’t anyone tell you, Asuka-kun?”
“For an undercover agent, your life is also important.”
