Chapter 33
Asuka Kazuya’s fragility was Schrödinger’s fragility. For example, now, to protect his privacy, he was diligently pretending to be dying.
Vodka squatted by the door, looking furtive, and saw Bourbon’s lightning drift.
So he didn’t feel bad about using the organization’s funds for car repairs, huh? Didn’t know how expensive it was to change tires, huh?
“What are you two doing here?” Vodka asked, not even bothering to stand up. “Did Calvados send you a distress message too?”
“We were on a mission with Bourbon,” Scotch got out of the car, automatically forming a united front with Bourbon. “Why are you here? Did Calvados and Gin really start fighting?”
“…Not really,” Vodka looked up at the sky. “Kazuya sent me a message a few minutes ago, saying Big Brother was going to check his phone and asking me to save him quickly.”
Bourbon: “You actually came to save him? I thought you had a good relationship with Gin.”
Vodka: ?
Vodka: “What are you thinking?! I’m on Big Brother’s side, of course!”
Vodka said angrily, just as he was about to stand up and accuse Bourbon, he seemed to remember something and squatted back down.
“But then again, if Big Brother really saw his message, I’d be dead.” Vodka chuckled wryly. “To prevent Big Brother from hunting me down, I decided to stay where Big Brother can reach me immediately.”
Bourbon didn’t know how to respond to this. He exchanged a quick glance with Scotch, and just as they were about to act, he heard Vodka mutter,
“But Kazuya is probably not much better.”
“Big Brother said he wanted to train his resilience, so he only gave him half the antidote. For some reason, he hasn’t been using his ability, and when I saw him yesterday, he was in so much pain that he passed out.”
Even when unconscious, he kept him by his side.
Vodka reasonably suspected that Big Brother was doing it on purpose. After all, Kazuya couldn’t die, it was more reassuring to keep him around when he was unconscious.
In fact, he had even overheard Rum saying that he wanted to poison Kazuya and make him mute. Big Brother coldly objected at the time, saying not to drag him into something that would be cursed by Calvados.
Could it be that Calvados wasn’t refusing to use his ability, but was temporarily unable to?
That shouldn’t be right, how else could he have endured Big Brother’s training for so many days?
Vodka suddenly developed respect for Calvados’s willpower, briefly forgetting about the messages he unintentionally sent betraying Big Brother.
From what brand of cigarettes Big Brother smoked, to the exact time and location of his missions, Vodka had originally thought Calvados told him because he was pursuing Big Brother, but he didn’t expect this kid to switch affections so quickly.
Vodka glared darkly at Bourbon, deciding to drag Bourbon down with him if he died.
Scotch: “…”
Scotch: “Why is he looking at you like that?”
Bourbon: “…”
Bourbon: “I don’t know either.”
Could it be that Vodka knew his identity?
No way, then why hadn’t he drawn his gun yet?
Bourbon frowned, saying to Vodka, “Excuse me.”
Vodka instantly became alert.
“What can you even do if you go in?” Vodka was suspicious. “Go in and get beaten up with Kazuya?”
“Although I’m an intelligence officer, my combat skills aren’t that bad.” Bourbon smiled, starting to be sarcastic. “Besides, the Boss emailed me saying I could pick up Calvados anytime, are you disobeying the Boss’s orders now?”
[Are you rebelling, Vodka?]
For some reason, Vodka heard Asuka Kazuya’s demonic whisper.
He choked, looking at the email Bourbon showed him incredulously.
Impossible, how could Bourbon contact the Boss so quickly—this kid must have used Calvados to climb the ranks! Damn Intelligence Department, lawless because of their good looks, huh?!
“The Boss sent it two hours ago.”
Vodka’s mind raced.
“You’re only coming now, did you receive some news? Aha, Bourbon, who told you? I knew you had ulterior motives like Bingo.”
Bourbon vaguely remembered that Bingo’s ranking in the organization was quite high, but since he wasn’t active in Japan, he wasn’t familiar with him.
Currently unaware of the grudge between Bingo and Gin, Bourbon calmly blamed everything on Gin.
“Didn’t they say Calvados’s body is the organization’s property? He’s treating Calvados like this, the Boss shouldn’t allow it, right?”
Vodka was silent for a few seconds.
“You…” after a few seconds, Vodka organized his words. “Well, Bourbon, you know we’re a criminal organization, right? Big Brother didn’t torture him, this level of punishment is quite normal, right?”
“…”
This hit the mark.
The initial confrontation dissipated. Bourbon was speechless, finally realizing something was wrong.
Perhaps because he had been with Calvados for too long, Bourbon hadn’t seen the fate of those labeled as traitors in a while. Things like being deprived of sleep for days and nights, or having their loved ones killed one by one as a threat, those in the interrogation room were living a fate worse than death, unlike Calvados, who was clamoring “I’m a mole” and still being treated well.
“Besides, training is also good for Calvados himself,” Vodka nodded, sticking to his point. “Otherwise, this can’t go on forever, look, Big Brother isn’t really shooting him every time he snipes at him, to Big Brother, Kazuya is still somewhat…”
“You talk too much.”
Having just finished dealing with Asuka Kazuya, Gin impatiently opened the door, looking at the several future stand-up comedians at the entrance.
Bourbon stood there, unlike the guilty Vodka, showing no fear, instead raising an eyebrow unhurriedly.
“Where’s Calvados?”
Gin: “Asleep.”
“Oh,” Bourbon replied, “so he passed out again.”
This seemingly ordinary statement was actually full of sarcasm.
Although Gin really didn’t want to babysit, he was still annoyed by Bourbon’s words.
“Are you free?” Gin took a drag of his cigarette, chuckling briefly. “You bought him those things on his phone, didn’t you?”
Scotch silently gripped the gun in his pocket, trying to control his heartbeat, his muscles instinctively tensing.
It was impossible for him to ignore Bourbon, so he had refused when Bourbon asked him to get out of the car earlier.
If a fight broke out later…
“So what if I did?” Bourbon replied without backing down, sensing Scotch and Vodka’s shocked gazes.
You know what those things are and you’re admitting it?! Was this a strategic retreat, anticipating Gin’s anticipation?
Scotch was puzzled, then heard Gin’s reply.
“Who told you buying those things is meaningful for his development?”
The atmosphere was tense. Vodka held his breath, hearing Bourbon calmly say, “Vodka.”
Vod… no! When did he have such a conversation with Bourbon?!
Vodka’s heart finally sank.
“N-No!” Staring at Big Brother’s questioning gaze, Vodka immediately explained, “How could I have such a conversation with Bourbon?!”
“Didn’t you tell me Calvados likes cute things?” Bourbon replied expressionlessly. “He tormented me for a long time because of this, and in the end, he left a unicorn, which he seems to carry around often.”
Who knew how Gin felt after seeing a thousand photos of the unicorn travel diary in the photo album. He felt that this was 99.99% deliberate. The reason Asuka Kazuya pretended not to want him to see it was purely to disgust him.
…He shouldn’t have looked.
Besides Vodka often revealing his whereabouts, Chianti often cursing him, and Vermouth coming up with twenty bad ideas a day, Gin didn’t find anything useful on that phone.
He tried to make Asuka Kazuya hand over the other phone, but Asuka Kazuya blinked, saying with difficulty, “But the police will find my location if I turn it on.”
Should he just kill him?
Gin stared at his face darkly, thinking the organization had a brighter future without Asuka Kazuya.
Money could be earned again, research could be redone, but a person angered to death was dead.
Regarding his use of the organization’s funds for such trivial matters, Asuka Kazuya’s explanation was, “It’s not trivial, didn’t you ask me to get along with Bourbon?”
Gin suddenly felt a sense of helplessness, wanting to retort but unable to.
The following conversation was very boring. He and Asuka Kazuya kept repeating things like, “If you’re jealous of me, you can also get along with me.” “Get out.” “Vermouth said ‘get out’ means ‘come closer.'” “Get out of here.”
Asuka Kazuya fell asleep after a few rounds.
He already had a slight fever, and after several days of being trained on “how to react upon waking up in an unfamiliar environment,” his almost healed wounds showed signs of inflammation. He was exceptionally well-behaved when quiet, a slight crease between his brows as if having a nightmare.
Gin looked down, staring at the person leaning against him for a moment, then coldly pulling him away.
Sympathizing with him would only reduce him to a toy like Rum.
In Gin’s opinion, half the antidote was enough.
No time for nonsense, he would be awake just in time to complete the mission. Calvados was more manageable when he was listless.
“Do you have anything else to say, Vodka?”
Ignoring Bourbon, who had entered the training room to pick someone up, Gin looked at Vodka beside him indifferently.
Vodka: “…”
Vodka: “Bourbon set me up.”
When picking Asuka Kazuya up from the floor, Bourbon noticed that he was too light. He usually ate junk food and hadn’t even touched the gym equipment he bought.
Bourbon recalled what the person named Nakahara Chuuya said when he took him away that day.
—He rarely got sick before.
—Even when he couldn’t afford food before, he never forced him to use his ability.
Nakahara Chuuya sneered, lifting the person who claimed to be from the Special Abilities Division into the air by his neck.
—You deceived him using my name, making him work for you under the guise of raising him.
—This mission should be the end of it, right? The matter of repaying kindness ends here.
What did that Special Abilities Division person say at the time?
The young man struggled, managing to squeeze out a sentence, “Do you think…it’ll be fine if you take him to the Port Mafia…someone like Mori Ougai…how could he let him live like an ordinary person…”
Bringing good luck to everyone with a flick of his wrist, Asuka Kazuya’s ability was a secret even to the Verlaine.
Nakahara Chuuya’s face darkened, finally releasing his hand.
One was his childhood friend who had saved his life, the other was the new Boss he had sworn allegiance to.
For the first time in his life, Nakahara Chuuya wished he had a brain like Dazai’s.
Bourbon saw his conflict, but unusually didn’t mock these criminals.
After all, he was also using Calvados in the beginning.
Bourbon knew very well that if he told Public Security about Calvados’s ability, they would make the same decision as the mafia.
Who wouldn’t be tempted?
Who was truly a good person?
Only this idiot would work for others just because they played with him.
Bourbon pursed his lips, putting Asuka Kazuya in the back seat.
He ignored Vodka’s slander, just tucking the young man’s sweat-soaked hair behind his ear.
Where could they go?
Could they, these self-proclaimed righteous individuals, really take him to a completely safe place?
“Bourbon?”
Seemingly sensing a familiar scent, Asuka Kazuya opened his eyes.
He looked at the seatbelt on him, then at Vodka not far behind Bourbon.
Bourbon sometimes didn’t understand how Calvados could still smile.
But Asuka Kazuya was smiling happily.
He asked excitedly, “Are you here to take me home?”
