Chapter 41
In any case, Verlaine’s rampage still caused a large number of casualties. The government officially announced that it was the result of a large-scale conflict between the Port Mafia and its rival organization. The investigation launched by the military and police, with the intervention of Britain and other departments, was left unsolved—Verlaine himself was a secret weapon they created, an existence absolutely not allowed to be exposed to others.
And the only one who truly knew Verlaine’s whereabouts was Asuka Kazuya, who was currently detained by Public Security.
“I still think you guys are going too far,”
After spending three days at Public Security headquarters, Asuka Kazuya looked at the third unconscious police officer at the door, condemning Tachihara and the others.
“At least have some self-awareness as criminals. And didn’t you say he was seriously injured and dying? How come he’s alive and kicking now?”
“We can’t be entirely blamed,”
Tachihara grinned, saying seriously,
“Some people, although forced to deal with those British devils, insisted on personally confirming that you’re receiving treatment.”
Asuka Kazuya: “Devils?”
“Some government officials or something,” the Public Relations Officer explained, considerately dragging the unconscious police officer to the side. “Seems like they’re here to confirm whether Verlaine is still alive. To ensure Japan’s initiative, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically asked Dazai and Chuuya to participate as well.”
“Oh,” Asuka Kazuya seemed to understand. “What an interesting analogy, so it was my dear otouto who asked you to come?”
Tachihara was still trying to suppress his laughter, but Nakahara Chuuya’s voice, “I told you not to call me that!” came from his phone.
After recalling the past, the relationship between these two had subtly changed. Asuka Kazuya firmly believed that he was the older one, but Nakahara Chuuya sneered, replying, “If we have to be specific, you’re five years old every year.” Asuka Kazuya corrected him seriously, insisting, “According to that logic, Chuuya, you’re only eight years old.”
Then the two of them started arguing on the spot, until one was dragged back by Ozaki Kouyou, exhausted, and the other had his mouth covered and was dragged back by Amuro Tooru, yelling.
It was worth mentioning that after a trip to the Sanzu River, the once serious Officer Makino from the First Investigation Division had also been corrupted.
After being caught playing cards with him in the treatment room, Makino Haruki felt a chill down his spine. He looked back along the hand on his shoulder, trying to struggle as he met Amuro Tooru’s eyes: “Amuro,”
“What?”
“Don’t you have some strange possessiveness about watching over Kazuya?”
“…”
Amuro Tooru smiled, throwing him out of the police department.
Criminals were one thing, but even his fellow police officers were treating the Public Security officer in charge of guarding as air, how could Amuro Tooru tolerate this?! Of course not!
“You even told me to respect my senpai,”
The person sorting the playing cards nodded, trying to use Amuro Tooru’s own words to condemn him.
“You should use honorifics with Officer Makino, Amuro Tooru, how outrageous!”
Is that how you use that idiom?
Amuro Tooru retorted, his expression unchanged as he turned around.
“Kazuya,” he said, “do you know why Makino-senpai insists on chatting with you every day?”
Asuka Kazuya was stunned: “…Why?”
Amuro Tooru, expressionless, didn’t forget to abuse his power and turn off the surveillance cameras before slandering others.
“You’ve been absent from work for so many days, if Superintendent Adachi knew you were free enough to play poker here, what do you think his reaction would be?”
Writing a self-criticism essay, being scolded while his ear was being pulled, then running three laps around the Metropolitan Police Department.
Asuka Kazuya suddenly realized, muttering, “I knew there was something strange about Officer Makino,” not noticing Kazami Yuya’s hesitant expression.
He seemed to have witnessed something incredible. Should he tell him? …He might be silenced by Chief Amuro… forget it, staying alive was the most important.
Kazami Yuya stared at the tips of his shoes, going against his conscience and pretending to know nothing.
“Then when can I leave?”
Asuka Kazuya asked.
“How will you explain it to Gin? And Sherry—whoa, Amuro Tooru, you’re so busy, don’t tell me you haven’t been sleeping?”
Before Amuro Tooru could speak, Kazami Yuya, standing by alertly, coughed lightly, finding an opportunity to salvage his conscience by praising his boss’s greatness.
“Amuro-san usually wakes up at 5 am to exercise, he doesn’t sleep before 1 am.”
Asuka Kazuya: “I don’t sleep before 1 am either.”
Kazami Yuya: !
Kazami Yuya was deeply moved, his conscience hurting even more: “Are you also writing a report? That’s amazing, when you reach Amuro-san’s age, you should be able to lead a team independently.”
Asuka Kazuya: “…”
Asuka Kazuya: “Y-Yeah, just average, I guess.”
The young man chuckled awkwardly, looking away guiltily, not mentioning that he was playing games on Amuro Tooru’s computer.
Rimbaud and Verlaine’s voices would occasionally appear in his head. After winning two games against Dazai Osamu in a row, the other side finally expressed suspicion, “Are you cheating?”
“They think you were attacked by the Port Mafia,” Amuro Tooru said, glancing at Kazami Yuya. “There’s nothing to suspect, after all, you disappeared in Yokohama, and they have a precedent of sowing discord during meetings…”
“So you really haven’t been sleeping?”
Asuka Kazuya propped his chin, innocently repeating the previous question.
Amuro Tooru lowered his eyes, finally looking at him seriously.
Compared to when he brought him back a few days ago, Asuka Kazuya’s condition had improved considerably. The wounds on his body had left faint scars after healing, his green irises clear, not at all like the supposedly deceased person in the report.
Amuro Tooru suddenly chuckled: “Why are you asking this?”
Asuka Kazuya said matter-of-factly: “Isn’t it natural to care about a good friend’s health?”
Amuro Tooru raised an eyebrow, not falling for it: “Are you afraid of being beaten up by Matsuda when you go out, so you’re trying to win me over?”
Wasn’t it this guy who maliciously sent a copy of his nonsensical will to Matsuda?!
Asuka Kazuya sometimes felt that Amuro Tooru was the most despicable one, a natural-born mafia member, unfortunately at odds with the mafia.
“Oh, how could that be,”
Asuka Kazuya waved his hand, changing the subject.
“I heard from Kazami that you recently picked up a puppy? I’m quite bored, do you want me to help you raise it?”
Kazami Yuya quietly took a step back, holding his breath, trying to escape before Chief Amuro discovered his intention.
However—
“Kazami,” Amuro Tooru turned his head, smiling brightly. “Who told you I picked up a puppy?”
Kazami Yuya stiffened. He looked at the curious Asuka Kazuya, then at his fuming boss, thinking that chatting with him while guarding him was really unnecessary.
“…I misunderstood.”
Kazami Yuya stood at attention, immediately admitting his mistake.
Asuka Kazuya was puzzled: “But you described it vividly, saying it looked like Amuro Tooru, just with a lot of strange friends, so it’s hard to manage.”
Kazami Yuya: “I’ve been under a lot of stress recently, sometimes I talk nonsense, please forgive me.”
Asuka Kazuya: “Is that so?”
Kazami Yuya: “Yes.”
Asuka Kazuya felt something was wrong, but seeing Kazami’s almost tearful expression, he gave up on asking further.
He was truly too considerate. No wonder he had so many friends.
Asuka Kazuya thought confidently, praising himself without any self-awareness.
Kazami Yuya only breathed a sigh of relief when the doctor who was going to examine him arrived.
Amuro Tooru raised his hand, stopping him before he could sprint away.
“Kazami,” he closed his eyes, saying in a gentle voice, “wait a moment, I have something to tell you.”
“Do you have subordinates, Scotch?”
On the way back to the base, Asuka Kazuya, sitting in the back seat, casually chatted with Scotch, who was driving.
“I think Amuro Tooru is a bit scary, his subordinate ran away as soon as he saw him.”
Running when he had a straight face, running when he was smiling, Asuka Kazuya didn’t understand. After observing for a while, he suggested to Amuro Tooru that he let Kazami Yuya participate in the sports meet.
Scotch choked, unable to decide who to defend, only recalling: “Calvados, you also ran very fast when you saw Zero angry at first, didn’t you?”
“That’s different,”
Asuka Kazuya crossed his arms, his expression serious.
“That’s called a strategic retreat, ultimately, I’m not afraid of Amuro Tooru, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been giving him nicknames until now.”
…You’re not very afraid.
Scotch was silent, glancing at his childhood friend in the passenger seat.
Amuro Tooru seemed to have gotten used to Calvados’s intermittent craziness, not even minding when he talked nonsense in front of him.
“Speaking of which, aren’t you curious about whether Verlaine is still alive?”
He had a “ask me, ask me” look, and Amuro Tooru, without even thinking, knew there was a scheme waiting for him.
“Didn’t you write in your statement that he’s dead?” Amuro Tooru turned off his phone, glancing at the rearview mirror without looking back. “Or have you prepared another surprise for everyone?”
Asuka Kazuya smiled mysteriously: “Well…”
He only told Chuuya about Verlaine later. Chuuya’s expression was unreadable, asking him, “What’s there to be happy about having two more people in your head?” But Asuka Kazuya blinked, telling him, “I was the one who gave you your name.”
—We were looking forward to your birth before you even had consciousness. From now on, we can celebrate birthdays together, celebrate New Year’s together, celebrate Christmas together.
Nakahara Chuuya was stunned for a few seconds after hearing this. He stormed out angrily, then kicked the door open and walked back in less than a few seconds. The young man’s ears reddened, saying things like “idiot,” and “don’t make such promises so easily.” Asuka Kazuya started spacing out after the third sentence, Rimbaud pondered, patiently telling him this was a sign of shyness.
Asuka Kazuya had never been shy before.
This was a completely new emotion for him, and he immediately looked at Nakahara Chuuya with admiration.
Then Chuuya became even more shy.
It was a vicious cycle. Verlaine said it might get better after Chuuya became an executive.
“We’ll talk about this during New Year’s,” Asuka Kazuya said firmly, completely disregarding the Special Abilities Division, who were struggling to explain things to other governments.
Not retaliating against them at all was impossible for the vengeful Asuka Kazuya, but there were also many people in the Special Abilities Division who were kind to him. If he had to target someone, he would have to find Chief Taneda, who was nowhere to be found.
Asuka Kazuya pondered, suddenly recalling what Dazai had told him about the Vongola.
He didn’t know if the Vongola were still in Japan after such a big incident.
“It’s only what month now, and you’re already thinking about New Year’s?” Amuro Tooru said flatly, turning his phone back on, planning to organize some mission materials on the way.
But the documents in his inbox were neatly organized. Amuro Tooru opened them silently, seeing the Amuro Tooru emojis Asuka Kazuya made at the top of the directory.
“…Kazami gave you the password?”
“No,” Asuka Kazuya shrugged. “You know, there are no passwords in my eyes. I was bored anyway, Kazami said you were too busy to sleep, so I just finished them for you.”
This person actually did serious work besides playing games…
Amuro Tooru reflected on himself, the other’s faint scent entering his nostrils.
He turned his head, looking at Asuka Kazuya leaning on the back of his chair.
“New Year’s is a very meaningful event.”
“Tell me, Amuro Tooru, am I your best friend?”
…So this guy actually worked hard for this.
Amuro Tooru found it a bit funny, but remained calm on the surface.
“My best friend is Hiro.”
“Second best?”
“Second best are Matsuda, Hagiwara, and the class president.”
Asuka Kazuya curled his lip, deciding to sever ties with him for two minutes.
“And this isn’t fair,”
Amuro Tooru chuckled, deliberately teasing him under Asuka Kazuya’s confused gaze.
The young man lowered his voice, a coaxing tone in his voice.
“Kazuya, I’m not your best friend either, am I?”
“Didn’t those mafia members teach you the difference between friends and other relationships?”
