Chapter 9
Probably because he’d made so many enemies, there were more people in the organization who wanted Asuka Kazuya dead than there were police outside.
Gin stared at him without speaking, but Asuka Kazuya, silent, sensed a threatening aura.
“Just kidding,” Asuka Kazuya said weakly. “Why so serious?”
He withdrew his hand, not only lacking self-awareness but also skillfully finding a place to sit down and munch on the biscuit.
Gin scoffed, thinking he was in high spirits, showing none of the symptoms the researchers mentioned.
“Right, Scotch’s report.” Probably worried that Gin’s blood pressure wasn’t high enough, after submitting the report, Asuka Kazuya suggested, “Can you sign one for me too? I find it a bit embarrassing to always hitch a ride.”
The use of “too” was quite subtle.
“I don’t think you find it embarrassing at all.” Gin’s tone was icy.
“Asuka Kazuya,” he said, calling his full name. “If you pull any more meaningless stunts, I’ll break your hand.”
Asuka Kazuya’s hand, poised to braid Gin’s hair, froze mid-air, shocked by the reality that Gin seemed to have eyes on the back of his head.
But backing down now would make him look spineless. After careful consideration, Asuka Kazuya swiped the lighter from Gin’s pocket.
Rum had already voluntarily shaved his head, so the lighter could be used to burn Tequila’s hair.
Asuka Kazuya was dedicated to driving every member of the organization crazy. On average, two people couldn’t handle the pressure and attempted to surrender to the police every year.
“Can you not always resort to violence?” Asuka Kazuya said, plopping down next to Gin. “Look at the Vongola next door, they’re all love and peace now. We should also keep up with the times. If there’s no peace, then love will do.”
Calvados carried a faint scent of hand sanitizer, left over from when Gin had dunked his head in the water. Gin turned his head, his gaze falling on his face, his expression unreadable.
Calvados wouldn’t miss any opportunity to torment any living creature. Since he hadn’t gone back to his room to change clothes, he must be hiding something.
“Stop playing dumb.”
Gin frowned, interrupting him.
“What did you do in your room just now?”
…Wow, could Gin also be an ability user?
Asuka Kazuya feigned innocence: “That’s so mean, Big Brother! Even Vermouth said you can’t deny me all privacy just because you like me!”
Gin’s paranoia and intuition were top-notch, so even though he knew it was impossible for him to find evidence of him being undercover, Asuka Kazuya’s heart would occasionally skip a beat.
As he said this, he began to inch outwards, moving at a speed of 1cm per second, attempting to create a safe distance without being noticed.
“…” Gin looked at him like he was looking at a little retard.
The clock in the room ticked. Gin scrutinized him for a while longer, then lost interest in continuing the questioning in this meaningless standoff. This seemed to have become a tacit understanding between them. Once Gin opened a file, Asuka Kazuya would skillfully pull up the blanket, find a sofa, and lie down.
However, after a moment of quiet—
Asuka Kazuya stared at the ceiling: “Big Brother.”
“…”
“I can’t sleep.”
“…”
Gin’s face darkened, wanting to drill a hole in his head to see what kind of garbage was inside.
Unfortunately, there was no ability nullification device in this base. Hitting him wouldn’t do any good except cost Gin a newly bought sofa.
Seeing that Gin wasn’t going to pay attention to him, Asuka Kazuya turned over.
His long golden hair was messy, two eyes peeking out from under the blanket.
“You’re not even angry?”
Asuka Kazuya asked.
“Did you join Buddhism, Big Brother? Did they teach you some calming mantra?”
Gin was expressionless, only finding him noisy.
“If you can’t sleep, go take your medicine.”
“Oh.” Asuka Kazuya lay down, staring at the ceiling for a while longer. “Won’t taking medicine make me stupid?”
Gin scoffed: “You can’t get any stupider.”
Hmm…
“Okay,” Asuka Kazuya mumbled. “But I have a mission with Scotch later.”
“…”
Gin stopped looking at his files. He took out a gun, and Asuka Kazuya covered his head with the blanket, wondering why Gin hadn’t had a stroke from anger yet.
Victory was 50% ability + 50% effort. Since there was no problem with his ability, it could only be that he wasn’t trying hard enough.
Asuka Kazuya came to this solemn conclusion, then pulled the blanket down a bit after a few seconds.
“Big Brother.”
He asked.
“Do you prefer someone like Vodka over me?”
Gin ended up beating him up.
This incident was heartbreaking to hear and see, but the victim, Asuka Kazuya, was very resilient.
After all, he wasn’t actually injured, and he even managed to pull out a few strands of Gin’s hair during the chaos, planning to send them back to the Special Abilities Division for DNA backup when he had time.
Happy even after being beaten, Gin looked at him even more like he was looking at a retard.
“There’s a problem with Miyano Akemi.”
That was the first sentence.
“Find out who she’s in contact with.”
That was the second sentence.
Asuka Kazuya was silent, secretly putting the hair in his pocket.
“That’s not right,” he thought for a moment. “If Akemi-nee betrayed the organization, wouldn’t it be better to just kill her?”
Gin glanced at the email: “She’s still useful.”
What use could she have? To threaten Sherry, of course.
Thinking about it, Sherry was quite pitiful. There were only a few researchers in the organization, and Gin would watch her work whenever he had nothing to do.
“Should we tell Rye?” Asuka Kazuya asked.
A spark lit up in the room. Gin, with a cigarette in his mouth, lifted his eyelids to glance at him, his eyes full of intimidation.
Since the organization’s establishment, probably only Asuka Kazuya wasn’t afraid of him.
He was not only unafraid but also retorted reasonably: “You know, Rye and Akemi-nee are dating, and he’s in the action group now. If there’s really a problem with Akemi-nee, what if Rye accidentally leaks our information?”
These words sounded like he was defending Rye, but in reality, he was defending Miyano Akemi.
But Miyano Akemi herself really had no value in Gin’s eyes. Aside from her connection to Sherry, women like Miyano Akemi were everywhere in the organization and couldn’t generate any profit.
Gin narrowed his eyes, letting out a disdainful snort after a while: “I asked you to monitor her, not to do anything unnecessary.”
Asuka Kazuya was quite open about this point.
“I just think it’s a bit of a pity.”
He pouted, ignoring his boss’s displeasure.
“There aren’t many people like Akemi-nee who know how to enjoy life anymore. Do you know where I got the biscuit just now? The newcomer Scotch actually eats compressed biscuits for dinner too! It’s outrageous, so outrageous! I’ve been eating compressed biscuits for two days now. No one in the organization eats proper meals except Akemi-nee!”
The implication was that he had been freeloading off of others for two days.
Since Chianti was sent out on a mission, Asuka Kazuya had no one to protest with, and no one joined him when he offered hot pot.
Gin frowned, not understanding this complaint.
“If Rye leaks information, treat him as a traitor too.”
“…Did you selectively ignore my compressed biscuit comment?”
Asuka Kazuya retorted, making eye contact with Gin for a few seconds, then heard him say, “Shut up.”
Guilty! He was guilty! Gin must be guilty because he couldn’t think of a rebuttal!
It seemed he didn’t want to eat compressed biscuits either. Wearing a black coat and black gloves in the middle of summer, with their annoyingly pretentious personalities, they probably wouldn’t swagger into a restaurant to eat.
As for cooking, that was even more impossible. There was nowhere to cook in the base. Asuka Kazuya had tried using an alcohol lamp once, but Gin confiscated it, saying he was wasting time.
Wait, confiscated.
Asuka Kazuya suddenly realized.
So that’s it!
Gin confiscated his alcohol lamp to secretly make delicious food for himself!
Asuka Kazuya, figuring it out, was in a great mood. He sat face to face with Gin and started ordering.
“I want velvet cake.”
“…”
“Even if it’s bad, I’m not picky.”
“…”
Gin pinched his head, wondering if he should question the accuracy of the IQ test Rum had given him before.
“I should have warned you,” Gin lost his patience before Asuka Kazuya could continue ordering. “Don’t develop unnecessary feelings for mission targets.”
Asuka Kazuya understood quickly. He sighed, realizing something and pulling away Gin’s hand.
“So this is a mission from the Boss?”
No answer was the best answer. The term “heartless” was perfectly embodied in Gin.
Asuka Kazuya couldn’t help but wonder what methods the boss had used to make Gin so loyal to the organization.
Of course, he couldn’t ask that now.
Asuka Kazuya readily accepted the mission, only complaining, “The organization really tests me too much.”
At 9 pm, night fell over Tokyo. As Asuka Kazuya slowly walked out of Gin’s room, Scotch was already waiting at the base gate.
They were supposed to assassinate a certain councilman, but in reality, they were to kidnap his son, warn him of his betrayal, and squeeze him dry to fund the organization’s research.
Asuka Kazuya had a headache, thinking this place was even more demanding than the Special Abilities Division. He didn’t have four hands, how could he do so many missions at the same time?
If Miyano Akemi really died, what would become of the Special Abilities Division’s reputation?
“Why don’t you go yourself?”
In the wicked night, Asuka Kazuya stopped in front of Scotch’s car, stating gravely:
“I need to go pick a lucky unlucky person first.”
Scotch pondered, thinking wasn’t being dragged out in the middle of the night to partner with him unlucky enough?
And he didn’t know what was wrong with Calvados—Scotch thought for a moment, trying to figure him out.
“There’s a buffet on the cruise ship.”
As the saying goes, completing a mission doesn’t happen overnight. He could just find a stand-in to send to Gin and kidnap Sherry later.
Open the door, close the door, all in one go.
Asuka Kazuya poked his head out of the driver’s seat, his expression almost devout.
“Get in,” he invited the silent Scotch. “The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Let me show you what a real-life Temple Run is like.”
