"A glass of mojito— cough, cough cough——"* At eleven o'clock at the bar, Hayashi Yoshiki entered wearing a mask and took a seat. He started
"A glass of mojito—cough, cough cough——"*
At eleven o'clock at the bar, Hayashi Yoshiki entered wearing a mask and took a seat.
He started coughing imdiately after ordering his drink.
Gin frowned.
"You're still drinking alcohol when your cough hasn't healed yet?"
"Just a little cough."
Hayashi Yoshiki's voice was no longer hoarse.
It was his second day of recovery.
Having eaten only bland porridge and side dishes during his illness, Yoshiki was craving sothing sweet and sour.
But Gin's glare was cold.
"Give him a glass of water," he said—to the bartender.
The bartender, who had already picked up a glass to prepare the mojito, looked apologetically at Yoshiki, set the glass down, and instead poured a glass of warm water.
Staring at the plain water now placed before him, Yoshiki felt a subtle sense of disappointnt.
"I've read the information you sent. Can you ensure that his movents haven't been exposed?"
"That shouldn't be the case. The one following up is Bourbon."
Vodka added, "That guy's an expert. Most of the daily tracking is done via city surveillance caras. No way he's so paranoid that he's alert to caras all the ti."
"..."
Gin held his glass in silence.
Although he'd never worked with Bourbon directly, Gin knew from his mission success rate that the man was very capable.
But the target to be eliminated was Shuichi Akai...
Gin's fingers tightened slightly around the glass.
"What are your concerns?"
"I don't really have any," Yoshiki replied. "It's just that I've never killed soone like this before. And... ahem, I think I've seen his face before."
"What?" Gin's eyes narrowed.
"He was on the bus during that robbery incident. He wore a mask, but his eyes... they made a deep impression on ."
Shuichi Akai had the sa dark green eyes as Gin.
When Yoshiki ntioned this, Gin rembered.
Vermouth had submitted a report about that bus hijacking. The plan had been to kill every passenger, but the robbers were accidentally killed due to Cointreau's design...
So Akai was on the bus that day?
No wonder Vermouth's follow-up plans were thwarted by him.
And Gin understood what Cointreau was worried about.
Akai had witnessed a real murder scenario. Unlike ordinary people who freeze in a crisis, he reacted with trained precision.
If another "accident" occurred, Akai would likely sense sothing and act before it was too late.
Thinking of this, Gin smirked silently.
With Cointreau's caution, maybe this ti... the so-called silver bullet could really be erased.
"What do you need?"
"A few more mbers—people who don't mind dying."
"Approved."
Gin didn't even blink.
Vodka opened his laptop, pulled up a list, and placed it in front of Yoshiki.
"Here. Use as many as you like. Cointreau's got full access."
There were more than a dozen nas and faces on the list, complete with skills and mission histories.
Yoshiki wrote them all down and casually selected three.
"Have two of them follow Shuichi Akai at different tis."
"Let them follow him?" Vodka blinked. Then turned to Gin. "Wouldn't that expose us?"
"..." Gin's face remained cold. He didn't answer.
"We need him to know he's being followed," Yoshiki said. "Right now, we don't even know if he's realized it. If we let him notice soone's watching him, then I won't have to wonder anymore."
Gin gave no objection.
Vodka silently went ahead and arranged the personnel.
Since he wasn't allowed to drink, Hayashi Yoshiki didn't linger. He finished the warm water, got up, and left.
Outside, waiting for a taxi, Yoshiki sent a text.
Before long, replies started flooding in.
He took his ti.
Back at the second apartnt in Beika, the sound of the door opening caught the attention of Kisaki Eri, who lived next door.
"Shū-kun, would you like to co sit with your auntie?" she asked with a smile.
Yoshiki didn't mind.
He ca over, and Eri was tidying up files for an upcoming trial—though she finished quickly.
"What's going on between you and Ran these past two days?"
She smiled and sat beside him.
"Why do you ask?" Yoshiki blinked.
"That girl ssaged , told to remind you to take your dicine—and told not to tell you she said it."
Kisaki Eri sold Ran out without hesitation.
"Then when I asked her what was going on, she got all shy. So I figured... maybe sothing good happened?"
"..."
Yoshiki was at a loss.
After a long pause, he scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"How should I put it... if I had to say what happened... I guess... nothing really happened?"
"Really? Then I won't pry."
Eri's eyes sparkled with amusent.
These two kids—so alike. Trying to hide things, yet their expressions gave them away instantly.
Yoshiki started to feel a bit self-conscious.
"Don't look at like that, Aunt Eri..."
"I just feel happy, is all."
"..."
"But Ran is a shy girl, so try not to tease her too much, alright?"
"How could I?"
"You don't have to pretend with , Yoshiki. You're clearly good at handling girls, aren't you?"
"...Well..."
Seeing his flustered response, Eri smiled to herself.
It was just as she expected.
From the way Yoshiki always treated people with calm politeness, she could tell he was more mature than most boys his age.
When it ca to girls, he was composed, considerate, and dangerously charming.
"Auntie has seen a thing or two, you know."
"...I'm not that bad," Yoshiki said with a soft chuckle.
Eri just kept smiling.
He stayed a little while longer. Considering his recent illness, Eri didn't suggest they eat anything.
After leaving her place, Yoshiki took out his phone, still smiling, and opened his contacts.
He tapped on Ran's nickna.
Hayashi Yoshiki: "I'm taking my cough dicine."
Ran: "!!"
Thinking back to her reaction in the house two days ago, Yoshiki couldn't help but smile again.
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