Chapter 14
Although they hadn't spent much time together—just a few days—Furuya Rei had gained a general understanding of Usuha Izuki.
Usuha Izuki.
A name that made him think of classical literature like the "Man'yōshū" and "Pillow Book."
Just looking at this name, Furuya Rei's mind would conjure images of someone in kimono with an elegant, serene temperament, like a Heian court nobleman.
But in reality, the person in question was someone who said nothing yet could assault others' eyes just by standing there, completely unconnected to refinement.
His personality was also somewhat terrible.
Like an untamable stray cat—when he needed something, his attitude was genuinely good, tail raised as he circled around your feet meowing for food. But when he didn't need anything, he'd suddenly swipe at you with his claws. When you looked at him questioningly, he'd lick his paws with an innocent expression, as righteous as if the blood on his claw tips wasn't yours.
Yes, his acting was just that bad—practically writing "So what if I'm acting? Life is theater, can't I perform?" on his face.
He'd pretended a little when they first met, but later completely let himself go and gave up, just wanting to slack off and get by.
Yesterday, when Furuya Rei, as the person responsible for gathering intelligence, was working himself to death and discovered Usuha Izuki was doing nothing but watching TV, he raised his dissatisfaction with some questioning.
"Usuha-kun, isn't it bad that you're not doing anything? At least Midorikawa-kun is responsible for cooking."
"You need to understand supply and demand."
Usuha Izuki had been righteous at the time: "They're the ones who begged me to join, not me begging them for work. They should have expected my work attitude—this is what the Organization deserves!"
Furuya Rei: "...The Organization is truly blessed to have you."
You're not even pretending anymore!
That afternoon, Furuya Rei found an opportunity to secretly meet with his childhood friend Morofushi Hiromitsu to discuss the situation.
Possibility one: Usuha Izuki truly resented the Organization and was just slacking off like this. The Organization wouldn't kill him because he had value.
Possibility two: Maybe Usuha Izuki had already joined the Organization long ago and was sent to monitor them—a hidden examiner. So whether the mission failed or succeeded didn't matter to him.
They just didn't understand why a hidden examiner would be so blatantly confrontational instead of blending in to observe them properly.
The good news was that despite Usuha Izuki being troublesome in all aspects, when Vodka called to ask about their situation and casually asked "what were you two talking about privately this afternoon? Why didn't you bring Usuha-kun? He complained to me that you're excluding him," Morofushi Hiromitsu could calmly answer.
"We were secretly badmouthing Usuha-kun."
Vodka was silent for a moment: "...Mm, understandable, but please bear with it."
Furuya Rei, who had prepared other excuses: "............"
This excuse actually worked... Was Vodka sympathizing with them?! So you're quite clear about what kind of person he is too!?
After sensing Vodka's attitude, Morofushi Hiromitsu and Furuya Rei felt the world had become surreal.
At the same time, their attitude toward Usuha Izuki became more cautious.
He actually told Vodka on them just for seeing them go out together—was this childishness or a warning?
Usuha Izuki didn't act, and Vodka didn't even try to cover for him, directly telling them "Usuha-kun tattled." This attitude was quite confusing, even seeming deliberately provocative...
Could it be that whether they could cooperate well with a difficult partner was also part of the Organization's evaluation?
They brainstormed extensively but couldn't settle on a baseline due to the various contradictions in Usuha Izuki.
After all, from one perspective, Usuha Izuki's passive resistance also looked like unwillingness to get his hands dirty with Organization business, wanting to keep himself somewhat clean.
If he really was such a stubborn good person, they could tolerate him a bit more.
—This line of thinking ended when Usuha Izuki decisively said he knew people skilled in interrogation who could be outsourced.
Morofushi Hiromitsu was speechless: "What exactly did you do before? Why do you know these kinds of people?"
Usuha Izuki countered: "Hasn't Mr. Amuro, who's been busy running around these past few days, investigated my background? If he did, didn't he share it with you? You two seem thick as thieves!"
He'd specifically gone to eat at a restaurant where people who knew him worked! He didn't believe these two undercover agents hadn't taken the opportunity to investigate!
If this had been at the beginning, being told by an Organization member that he and his childhood friend were "thick as thieves" might have made Morofushi Hiromitsu's heart skip. But now, he said very calmly: "Because only we two want to complete the mission properly."
—Even Vodka would understand why he and Rei got along so well! He didn't need to feel guilty!!
Furuya Rei also didn't hide it: "I'm an information broker—being curious is normal, right? But I've been focusing my main energy on the Organization's assigned mission, so I haven't gone too deep. I only know you used to appear frequently on these streets..."
By this point, Usuha Izuki stopped hiding things. After all, his earlier refusal to speak was just to save up suspicion values, which was no longer necessary.
"Fine, I'll be honest—I used to be an HR person, but I also did headhunting work. For an HR person to know some assassins, interrogators and such is quite normal, right?"
Furuya Rei's mouth twitched: "Your... your former company's business direction was?"
"An assassination company."
Both undercover agents: "............"
They weren't surprised at all—instead, they felt like a weight had been lifted from their hearts.
As expected, Usuha Izuki wasn't the ordinary person he claimed to be.
"Why are you looking at me like that! I wanted to find a normal company too! But wasn't I not adapted to normal society before?" Usuha Izuki protested indignantly. "So I'm working hard to be an ordinary person now—I'm already making amends!"
"No, generally speaking, this isn't something amends can fix..." Morofushi Hiromitsu couldn't even maintain his smile.
Furuya Rei was completely unceremonious with Usuha Izuki now, directly mocking: "Fine, then let this ordinary person tell us—if you were to handle this mission, how would you do it? Let me see how well you've integrated into society."
If Vodka were here, he'd already be making a "stop" gesture like Erkang, telling Furuya Rei to shut up.
But he wasn't, so Usuha Izuki smoothly finished speaking.
"We ordinary people, when encountering such problems, always choose to outsource with money!"
Furuya Rei: "..."
Morofushi Hiromitsu coughed: "That's unlikely. The mayor has deep cooperation with Fukuoka's underworld. Most assassins here work for companies, and the companies won't take jobs that would offend their financial backers. You can't hire anyone even with money."
"There are still independent assassins..."
Furuya Rei sneered: "They're all mysterious and secretive. Just contacting them would be troublesome enough, and if the after-service is poor, you can't even find them... The Organization allocated limited funds—there's no money for you to squander. Your method won't work."
Usuha Izuki suddenly looked thoughtful: "Speaking of funds... if I handle this alone, all the mission money should be mine, right?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu advised: "It could be, but this time the focus isn't the mission money, it's the Organization's evaluation..."
It was also a loyalty oath.
If they really had no choice but to snipe and kill the mayor, they truly couldn't extract themselves from the Organization.
But Usuha Izuki's focus was on the funds.
System: [The Organization's salary for you isn't low...]
[Money isn't important. The point is, if I complete this mission alone, I must put all the credit on myself in my report.]
Usuha Izuki was excited: [I'll write in my report, 'This was entirely my achievement alone. Although these two have ability, they completely don't understand teamwork. I don't recommend hiring them—they're pure waste of salary, better to give it all to me'... But they actually do have capability and were ineffective because of me. Gin will definitely think it's personal grudges and give them another chance. They'll be admitted eventually. When Morofushi Hiromitsu is exposed, I can righteously say I didn't recommend hiring them back then, but you wouldn't listen.]
System: [...I advise you to be kind.]
Usuha Izuki had already decided—his relationship with the undercover agents should stay at familiar but not intimate, so he could conveniently grind suspicion values without getting implicated when something happened.
He pretended to call a familiar information broker, confirmed some situations, then quickly put on all his luck and charisma-boosting accessories before heading out.
Furuya Rei and Morofushi Hiromitsu exchanged glances and followed him worriedly to see what Usuha Izuki planned to do.
Today's Usuha Izuki was, as always, dressed blindingly. Fortunately, cold society mostly chose to avoid weirdos rather than approach them to express dissatisfaction... uh, someone was approaching!!
Finally someone could deal with Usuha Izuki and make him understand his outfit wasn't good-looking!
Furuya Rei and Morofushi Hiromitsu held their breath, maintaining distance while waiting for developments.
The person blocking the way appeared to be a high school girl dressed cutely, but when she spoke, it was a man's voice: "Where did you buy that hair clip?"
The two following behind: "...?"
"Someone gave it to me. I don't know where to buy it either." Usuha Izuki smiled as he looked over the person blocking his way. "You're an assassin, right?"
"Huh?" The blocker's gaze sharpened. "Did you come specifically looking for me?"
Usuha Izuki said: "I used to be HR for an assassination company, so I'm somewhat sensitive in this area... By the way, do you have a sister?"
The blocker had quietly pulled out a dagger: "What do you mean?"
Usuha Izuki began making things up, focusing on whether the event happened rather than details: "It's like this—I quit and became an information broker. I happen to know that the Kakyu-kai kidnapped a girl named Lin Qiaomei to sell to the mayor's perverted son. That girl looks quite similar to you..."
"Qiaomei!" The cross-dresser was shocked and seemed to want to leave immediately, but was wary of something and stayed put. "You..."
The fashionably dressed silver-haired youth continued smiling: "If you don't believe me, you can ask trusted information brokers to verify. But I suggest being quick—there aren't many as kind-hearted as me who deliver news to your door."
"...What do you want me to do?"
"Make the mayor's son confess his crimes on camera and broadcast it on TV through signal hijacking."
The cross-dresser said cautiously and warily: "If everything you said is true."
After speaking, he ran off quickly as if pressed for time.
Usuha Izuki leisurely walked up to Furuya Rei and Morofushi Hiromitsu: "That's a wrap for now. Let's observe tonight and see."
Morofushi Hiromitsu, somewhat confused by what he'd seen: "Who was that person? Did you specifically go looking for him?"
"A Kakyu-kai assassin with good skills and even better friends. He's wanted to break with Kakyu-kai for a long time, so Kakyu-kai planned to retaliate by selling his sister, who happened to be sold to the mayor's son."
Usuha Izuki sighed: "If he can pull it off, I might even save on commission fees."
Furuya Rei: "...That's not the point. You just watch TV every day and only made one phone call after going out. How do you know all this intelligence?"
Even knowing the intelligence, being able to connect it so quickly, arrange it into a plan, and put it into action shouldn't take just this little time!
If assassins willing to act against the mayor's son, not afraid of offending the mayor, and actually capable of completing the mission were so easy to find, what had the Organization been worried about before?!
Usuha Izuki blinked, his green eyes looking innocent yet righteous.
"I already told you—I'm an information broker. Even sitting at home, I need to know what I should know. That's basic, right? Can't help it—having good connections is just amazing."
Furuya Rei: "............"