Chapter 22
Having been with Gin for so long, Vodka was naturally braver than others. When he said, “I’m going to snitch,” he was prepared to fall into a sewer on his way out. However, unexpectedly, the gloomy Calvados only declared that he would sever ties with him.
The latter’s reasoning was, “I’m getting promoted anyway, for the Boss’s sake, I won’t bother with such trivial matters.”
Vodka didn’t believe a word of it, and sure enough, he received a call from Big Brother a few minutes later.
Gin didn’t waste any time, asking him directly, “What’s going on?”
Vodka hesitated, then recounted Calvados’s plan.
It wasn’t the first day Gin knew about Asuka Kazuya’s pettiness. After all, every time he taught that brat a lesson, the brat would use his bank card to buy something useless. Gin didn’t care, spending money to avoid disaster was fine, as long as Calvados didn’t bother him.
If Rum hadn’t said something to the Boss, Gin wouldn’t have even let him participate in this operation.
“What’s wrong, Big Brother?” Seeing Gin’s silence, Vodka tensed up. “Did Kazuya snitch on you?”
Gin sneered, replying, “No.”
Vodka breathed a sigh of relief, about to continue explaining when he heard Gin say, “He emailed the Boss.”
Since Rum’s use of him as a mascot was exposed, Asuka Kazuya had taken his complaints to the Boss. To prevent him from using his ability to sabotage the organization in a fit of anger, the Boss specifically gave him his email address, saying that he could report directly to him in the future.
Gin had been too busy these past two days to pay attention to him, but unexpectedly, he received another call from the Boss. That idiot Asuka Kazuya had written a long email, concluding with a complaint that the organization members lacked teamwork, and only Bourbon and Chianti would occasionally pay attention to him.
“Have Bourbon keep an eye on him,”
Gin said darkly.
“The Boss said he’ll give him a bonus later.”
The bonus was actually compensation for emotional distress.
Before ending the call, the Boss seemed to have specifically looked up Bourbon’s file.
As soon as he finished speaking, Gin hung up the phone before Vodka could react.
“Look on the bright side,”
Scotch suddenly spoke.
“At least Tequila admires you now.”
Vodka: “…Didn’t you see how fast he ran just now?”
When disaster struck, everyone fled. Vodka, thinking that he now had Calvados’s hatred, and the Boss was only giving that kid Bourbon a bonus, wanted to shoot everyone.
“Are you closer to Bourbon?”
After a long silence, Vodka looked at Scotch, who was about to leave.
Scotch knew he was trying to shift the blame: “Not really.”
Vodka: “You should know that if Bourbon is on a business trip, keeping an eye on Calvados will fall on you, right?”
The organization was truly full of despicable methods.
Scotch stared at Vodka for a moment, still carrying his gun bag, not intending to compromise.
“It’s okay,” Scotch replied. “At most, I’ll compensate him with some snacks, I haven’t snitched on him.”
These words struck a chord with Vodka.
Vodka felt heartbroken. He stared at the contacts on his phone for a while, suddenly wanting to surrender himself.
Should he go to jail for a while? Kazuya wouldn’t chase him to jail to harm him, right?
“Vodka probably wants to call the police now.”
In a cafe in Yokohama, Asuka Kazuya wore a baseball cap. He leaned back as he spoke, meeting those familiar grayish-purple eyes.
“They asked you to watch me? How did you know I was here?”
“Guessed.”
Bourbon glanced at the surrounding crowd, naturally pulling up a chair and sitting across from him.
“Vodka calls the police, and then?”
Asuka Kazuya thought for a moment: “Then I’ll report him as a traitor, and after I get promoted, I’ll switch targets, like Gin.”
He really didn’t leave anyone a way out.
Bourbon sighed. He had just received money from Rum, a consolation payment from the Boss. Bourbon felt complicated, not expecting that after so long in the organization, his first contact with the Boss would be through this method.
“Oh, and Scotch,” remembering this morning’s experience, Asuka Kazuya said resentfully, “I tried to get along with him as you said, but he actually confiscated my hot pot. He’s so evil, you really can’t show any mercy to such criminals.”
Bourbon: “…”
Bourbon: “When did I tell you to get along with him?”
“Whatever.” Asuka Kazuya was suspicious. “Why do you always speak up for him? Don’t tell me you lied to me, and you’re actually an undercover agent sent by the organization to the National Police Agency?”
“Hmm,” Bourbon replied vaguely. “Whatever you think.”
“…” Asuka Kazuya was speechless.
He still couldn’t figure out how to interact with Bourbon, often feeling like he was punching cotton.
But since Bourbon was reluctantly considered his friend, Asuka Kazuya decided not to argue with him about this.
“Honestly, you’re here to check out the location for tomorrow’s deal in advance, right?”
After ordering drinks, Bourbon looked up and finally asked about the important matter.
“You could just tell Vodka and the others directly, that way they might praise you for working hard.”
The location for the deal between the Port Mafia and the organization was set in a neutral zone on the border of Yokohama, with a lot of room for maneuver. If the deal failed, there would be a firefight.
Bourbon heard that Gin had even called back Chianti and the others, whom he had previously transferred out, and ruthlessly rejected many people’s transfer applications.
“I don’t want to,”
Asuka Kazuya said firmly.
“That doesn’t fit my persona. Working hard would make Gin suspicious. Besides, isn’t it good for the police if I annoy them to the point of calling the police? It increases their performance.”
Asuka Kazuya’s words abruptly stopped.
He caught sight of the man outside the glass window, looking like a cat whose fur had been ruffled.
Bourbon followed his gaze.
Medium-length hair, purple eyes. The man in a white suit was clasping his hands, awkwardly negotiating something with an angry little girl beside him.
Then several cars stopped, and the men in glasses who got out of the cars were uniformly dressed, with guns at their waists, bowing their heads respectfully, seemingly inviting the surrounded person to return.
“Hey, Bourbon, did you find anyone?”
Vodka’s call came at this moment. As Bourbon answered the phone, Asuka Kazuya also came back to his senses.
“The Port Mafia’s symbol…an executive? No, the Colonel doesn’t look like this either, did he really become the Boss?”
Asuka Kazuya muttered to himself, his words clearly transmitted to Vodka.
Vodka became even more frantic: “You’re really in Yokohama?! Don’t be impulsive, Kazuya, you’ve already targeted their prospective executive, don’t tell me you’re going to target their Boss now?!”
Asuka Kazuya’s forehead twitched, arguing with him through Bourbon’s phone: “What? Who said I’m going to target that pervert?”
Vodka: “Can you show some respect? He’s the Boss, the Boss!”
Asuka Kazuya: “How do you know he is? Maybe he’s acting and hired a bunch of Port Mafia members to put on a show?”
The cafe door automatically opened with a “Welcome” greeting, and Hirotsu Ryuro, who had arrived late, followed behind Mori Ougai.
“Asuka-kun,” he greeted Asuka Kazuya first, then subtly suggested to Mori Ougai, “Boss, please don’t go out alone during this special period.”
Bourbon, who didn’t expect to see the leader of a criminal organization on the street: “…”
Vodka, who didn’t expect Kazuya’s luck to be this good and felt that the organization was doomed: “…”
Among them, the most nonchalant one was Mori Ougai himself.
His eyes, when lowered, had the color of red wine, his overall appearance very affable, but his shadow was as deep as the night.
“Long time no see, Kazuya-kun.” Seeing Asuka Kazuya look over, Mori Ougai smiled. “How are you doing in that organization?”
The essential method of human traffickers, the legendary first step of getting close.
As Asuka Kazuya’s childhood trauma, Mori Ougai was still the reason he hated stuffed animals.
Asuka Kazuya was expressionless. He felt that he had grown up. Under Ango-senpai’s guidance, saying another word would be falling for this skirt-loving, deceptive pervert’s trick.
He let him go before, and now he dared to appear in front of him again.
Hagiwara-kun was right, when in trouble, seek the police.
So, under the watchful eyes of many mafia members, Asuka Kazuya calmly took out his phone.
He pressed a few buttons.
“Hello, 110?”
“I want to report a crime.”