Chapter 24
To ensure a smooth escape from the police, every member of the organization was a skilled driver. Although car accidents weren’t unheard of, it was the first time anyone had heard of crashing with Gin in the car.
This incident alarmed Rum. Thinking it was the result of Asuka Kazuya’s ability, Rum specifically called, subtly saying that although he and Gin didn’t get along, there was no need to go this far for him.
Asuka Kazuya, munching on the snacks Scotch bought, was baffled upon hearing this.
“Who did it for you? Don’t flatter yourself.”
Now Rum was also unhappy.
Their unhappiness was Asuka Kazuya’s happiness. Tequila, watching him happily munching on the sofa, couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you completely fine?”
Asuka Kazuya: “I’m luckier.”
Tequila: “What about Vodka?”
Asuka Kazuya: “He’s unluckier.”
Tequila: “…Gin?”
Asuka Kazuya didn’t mention his impending confinement, nodding seriously upon hearing this, cosplaying as The Thinker.
“Big Brother is the resilient type, I truly admire his ironman spirit.”
“…”
What ironman?! Did you make them bike or run back?!
Tequila shook his head, unable to imagine that scene. He firmly believed that Vodka’s car accident was due to Calvados secretly using his ability, suddenly finding him even more terrifying.
The snipers in the corner, whose transfer applications had been rejected, exchanged glances, their muscles twitching, not daring to laugh and attract Calvados’s attention.
However, Asuka Kazuya couldn’t be bothered with them. He wanted to find a room without eavesdropping devices and settle the score with the executive officer who had deceived him, and also ask Ango-senpai what was going on.
“Done with the checkup?” Vermouth, who had just finished the handover, entered the room, glancing at the colleagues trying to blend in with the environment, and walked straight towards Calvados in the center.
“Go early, return early. Considering your poor health, the Boss specifically reduced your confinement time by half.”
Asuka Kazuya’s ability was almost always active, his luck affecting the entire organization’s fate, which was why there were no jammers installed in the base. However, only Gin and Rum in the organization knew about this, perhaps along with Vermouth, who was deeply trusted by the Boss.
Asuka Kazuya looked up, meeting her gaze for a moment, then stood up under everyone’s shocked gazes.
“It’s clearly because they were scared by my words.”
“Is that so?” Vermouth followed him unhurriedly. “The organization’s funds are limited, it would be better if you could make a smaller hole in the wall next time you pull a Shawshank Redemption.”
Asuka Kazuya: “Then climb out the window?”
Vermouth: “It just rained, be careful.”
Tequila: “…”
Wait, what should he be careful about?! This was outrageous! Without Gin, they were just going through the motions of punishing him now?!
Sensing the injustice of the world, Tequila felt heartbroken. He immediately sent a comforting message to Vodka, subtly asking where Gin was.
The next second, someone grabbed his shoulder.
A strand of golden hair brushed against his suit. Before Tequila could react, Calvados appeared like a ghost.
“No way.”
“Don’t tell me someone else wants to snitch.”
“Tequila, as the organization’s disciplinary committee member, I’m very disappointed in your behavior.”
Scotch was cleaning his gun, Chianti was browsing fashion magazines, Ireland pulled out a potted plant by its roots and squatted in the pot himself. Tequila looked around, remembering his former comrades.
The thought of the brave Vodka becoming flawed made Tequila feel a sense of shared sorrow.
Once upon a time, he, Tequila, was also a man like Vodka!
“Don’t threaten me, Calvados.” Tequila said in a deep voice, putting a handcuff-like device on the hand resting on his shoulder. “Someone like you, lawless because of your ability–”
Tequila couldn’t finish his sentence.
Because almost as soon as the device was activated, all the lights in the organization went out, then the backup generator malfunctioned, and intrusion alarms went off throughout the building.
Chianti frowned, annoyed by the noise, skillfully shooting the speaker above her head.
Tequila: ?
Asuka Kazuya raised his hand, curiously examining the handcuffs Tequila gave him.
“What is this? I didn’t expect you to be so rich.”
Tequila choked, deeply understanding what it meant to be more anxious than the emperor.
“No,” he explained. “Why didn’t you tell me this would happen in advance?”
“It’s a secret, after all. It would be bad if someone captured Calvados because of this.”
Vermouth turned, smiling at the guilty Tequila.
“The last person who did this cost the organization seven billion. Tequila, I believe you have something to explain to Rum.”
“Please.”
Asuka Kazuya left the base at 10 pm. He changed into a black trench coat, his hair casually tied into a ponytail. The strands of hair in front of his forehead swayed, gently brushing against his eyelashes with his movements.
After confirming that no one was following him, Asuka Kazuya turned into an alley and entered a hidden phone booth.
“It’s me.”
The other end rang three times. Asuka Kazuya lowered his head, one hand in his pocket, his profile slightly illuminated by the moonlight.
“Just like the previous plan… Gin went to see that gentleman… Tequila’s actions were as expected, it’s just that the device you sold him is uglier than I imagined.”
“Anyway, the organization is a mess now. Akemi-nee will take the documents and pretend to escape later. Before you kill her, I’ll bring a suitable witness.”
At the Special Abilities Division command center, the man known as the executive officer stood in the center. He looked at a screen in front of him, clearly showing Asuka Kazuya’s current location.
“…Did you see Ango?”
Hearing Sakaguchi Ango’s name, Asuka Kazuya paused, a bright smile on his face.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Lend me a few people, after Akemi-nee’s matter is settled, I’ll go back to deal with the Port Mafia.”
“Ango won’t be in danger.” Faced with Asuka Kazuya’s threat, the executive officer reacted as usual. “The Port Mafia needs the ability business license we issue, and the information stored in Ango’s brain, as an intelligence officer, is also very important to them.”
There it was! Empty talk!
Asuka Kazuya didn’t listen to a word, about to speak, when he heard the other end say, “Don’t you want Ango to be proud of you?”
“…”
“The organization you’re in now is no smaller than the Port Mafia. If you can take them down, Ango would definitely be very moved.”
Asuka Kazuya didn’t mention how he almost beat up his respected senpai today.
“Stop lying to me,” he replied expressionlessly. “Did you also buy ‘How to Deal with Rebellious Teenagers’ like Bourbon?”
“…”
“Haha,” the executive officer chuckled dryly. “How could that be, Kazuya? We watched you grow up.”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the command center, including himself, put away the books on their desks.
Could that Japanese Public Security officer stop teaching everything? How would they survive after Kazuya returned from his mission? By praying to Buddha? Or praying to Jesus?
“Forget it,”
Asuka Kazuya snorted.
“Let’s deal with Akemi-nee’s matter first.”
He hung up the phone mercilessly, walked back to the alley, and leaned against the wall to wait.
Tokyo’s night was exceptionally lively, several couples walking hand in hand under the neon lights. Asuka Kazuya vaguely heard words like “fireworks display” and looked at the posters on the window.
“Interested?”
Asuka Kazuya turned around. Rye, carrying his violin case, stood under the streetlight, his hair slightly ruffled by the wind.
Seeing that Asuka Kazuya didn’t speak, Rye sighed and repeated,
“Calvados, what did you call me here for?”
Asuka Kazuya thought for a moment: “Can’t I call you over if there’s nothing?”
A consistently capricious statement, very much in line with Asuka Kazuya’s usual style. But Rye noticed that he subtly turned the question back, not as simple as Vodka and the others said.
So Rye smiled.
“No, it’s just that you’re usually closer to Bourbon. I heard you even asked Scotch to teach you sniping, why did you suddenly think of me?”
“Hmm…” Asuka Kazuya hesitated. “That makes me sound like a two-timer.”
Since discovering the eavesdropping device in Miyano Akemi’s apartment, the FBI had been secretly monitoring nearby. Based on the encrypted files on Miyano Akemi’s phone, Rye had suspected that “Calvados is related to the organization Miyano Akemi is currently in contact with.”
Obtaining more information through Calvados was undoubtedly the best way, but every time Rye went to the apartment to find him, it was the expressionless Bourbon who opened the door.
That Bourbon was quite troublesome.
He almost sarcastically splashed water on his head.
Thinking of this, Rye couldn’t help but glance at Asuka Kazuya beside him.
“Did you know that Tequila bought a jammer?”
The alarm bells in Asuka Kazuya’s mind went off, but he remained calm on the surface: “I think you’re giving me too much credit.”
“Don’t misunderstand, just like with Scotch, I just want to learn hand-to-hand combat from you.”
Rye also only half-believed Asuka Kazuya’s words.
Especially after he looked up and saw two people arguing on the mountain road in the distance.
To prevent their undercover identities from being exposed, the FBI consistently didn’t intervene in other people’s deaths.
Rye chuckled, remembering how Miyano Akemi had broken up with him before her operation a few days ago. She didn’t know his FBI identity and used a clumsy excuse.
Rye guessed that the organization behind Calvados might have promised her that they would also bring Sherry out soon.
“Oh my god, what are those two doing?”
“Call the police, quick, call the police! Someone’s dead!”
As a figure fell from the mountain, the surrounding tourists screamed.
Rye calmly watched all this, not intending to intervene.
“Why me?”
His olive eyes lowered, Rye turned to look at the equally calm Asuka Kazuya beside him.
This question was like asking why he was chosen as a teacher, and also like asking why he was chosen as a witness.
Asuka Kazuya shrugged: “Don’t all snipers have good eyesight? Besides, before you peeked at Akemi-nee’s emails, didn’t you know that I would receive a notification every time you opened them?”
Not giving Rye a chance to answer, Asuka Kazuya continued: “By the way, do you know how to pick locks? I just escaped from confinement.”
Asuka Kazuya pulled his right hand out of his pocket, the silver bracelet on his wrist particularly conspicuous in the darkness.
Rye didn’t speak, glancing at the police officer coming to collect witness statements.
“So what’s my identity now?”
Asuka Kazuya: “My tormenting Oniisan.”
Rye: “…”
Asuka Kazuya: “Or my always-beating-me-up Daddy.”
Rye: “…”
He had a considerate “choose one” expression, leaving Rye speechless.
The undercover FBI investigator looked back at him, feeling troubled for the first time in his life.
“Do you really have to make the setting so complicated?”
“Seemingly complicated, but actually reasonable.”
Asuka Kazuya didn’t mind, looking at Superintendent Adachi walking over.
“Oh, and Superintendent Adachi seems to be coming to settle the score with me for not going to work today. To prevent him from saying things like ‘trouble follows me wherever I go,’ I’ve decided to blame it all on you.”
After saying that, he deliberately waved to his superior from the Metropolitan Police Department with a smile.
Superintendent Adachi, who had only wanted to reprimand his absent subordinate and ask about the witness statement, stopped.
He looked at the handcuffs and bruises on his subordinate’s hands, then at the intimidating man beside him. Combined with what Matsuda and Hagiwara had said before, Adachi Yuhei instantly became alert, staring at Rye with the eyes of someone looking at a criminal.
Really? Matsuda had said before that he couldn’t contact this kid, probably because his dad or brother had taken him back and beaten him up. Superintendent Adachi firmly believed it was impossible and told Matsuda to stop looking.
Wait! Wouldn’t this make him an accomplice?! He, a veteran police officer of ten years, had let his subordinate suffer such a heartbreaking incident!
Superintendent Adachi’s pupils constricted. He instructed his subordinates to assist Megure in blocking off the scene in the distance while turning his back guiltily.
“Hey, Hagiwara,”
Under Rye’s gaze, Adachi Yuhei lowered his voice and dialed Hagiwara Kenji’s number.
“Is Matsuda next to you? There’s something I need to say…”
