Chapter 23
Under Gin's sharp gaze, Usuha Izuki acted completely nonchalant and even leaned back leisurely into the sofa.
"The reason for choosing this place is very simple. I've passed so many karaoke places in Tokyo, but I've never seen so many people who've killed someone going in and out of one. Can't I come take a look out of curiosity?"
Gin and Vodka, who had been aggressive just moments before, both fell silent at the same time.
Amuro Toru: "...???"
Although Amuro Toru knew Usuha Izuki had "good eyes," he actually had no concept of just how good they were. But Gin and Vodka had personally witnessed people pointed out by Usuha Izuki falling in pools of blood within the blink of an eye, leaving a deep impression.
Now that Usuha Izuki said he'd come because he saw many killers frequenting this karaoke place, the two couldn't refute it and even felt this might really be Usuha Izuki's reason for being here.
—Because this place was actually an industry under the Organization's control.
Sometimes when they didn't want to bring people to headquarters, or when cooperating with outsiders made safe houses inconvenient, they'd come here to find a secure private room for discussions.
This was also why Vodka, not seeing Usuha Izuki outside earlier, had planned to ask the staff if they'd seen him once inside the room—while most were uninformed ordinary people, they also had their own people there, making it very convenient.
Given Usuha Izuki's consistently bizarre impression, it was normal for him to notice the strange people coming and going here. Coming to play the part of a passerby to watch the excitement was even more normal—he wasn't a well-behaved type.
But if that was the case, his earlier accusations didn't quite hold water.
Gin fell into silence.
Seeing Gin not speaking, Usuha Izuki became even more righteous.
Ordinary people would know when to quit while ahead, but would a top-tier troublemaker like him let Gin off so easily? He began pushing his luck.
"Weren't you talking quite a bit just now? How come you have nothing to say now? You slandered me, I explained, and now you're just going to pretend nothing happened? Defaming others is illegal!"
Amuro Toru: "............"
What right do you, a lawless maniac, have to say such things? Gin doesn't even know how many people he's killed—does he care about defamation charges?
After dealing with Gin, Usuha Izuki turned his gaze: "And you, Vodka, didn't you tell me you were out of town? How are you in Tokyo now? Excluding me, right? Not treating me as one of your own, right? If that's the case, you shouldn't have begged me to join in the first place!"
Vodka: "............"
He really couldn't explain why he'd lied to Usuha Izuki... Since he was already on Usuha Izuki's blacklist anyway, might as well not explain.
Usuha Izuki was naturally suited for livening up the atmosphere. With no one speaking, he could go on endlessly like performing a one-man comic routine: "Saying things like 'the Organization is your home,' but when something actually happens, it becomes 'who do you think you are, thinking the Organization is your home?' After tricking people into joining the Organization, you stop being responsible, right? You all just know how to bully us newcomers!"
Amuro Toru, who had been silently watching like it was entertainment, couldn't help but interject at this point: "Wait... Usuha-kun is a newcomer?"
How are you a newcomer when you're already the boss's confidant?! If Gin can tolerate you this much, what else could you be but the boss's confidant?
"I'm a newcomer who only joined last year, that's right." Usuha Izuki looked smug. "Even so, I'm still your senior."
Amuro Toru's eyes narrowed slightly, his tone becoming subtly more cordial: "Since you're the boss's confidant, Usuha-kun should be considered an executive, right? I wonder what Usuha-kun's codename is?"
Usuha Izuki: "............"
He was silent for a moment, then turned to ask Gin: "What about my codename?"
Right, what about his Organization codename? If this Japanese Public Security agent hadn't brought it up, he would have forgotten.
The system started hyperventilating.
What kind of host is this... Really doesn't take any serious matters to heart...
Vodka came to his boss's rescue: "Because you said you wanted to be an ordinary person, I thought you weren't interested in such things..."
"What kind of talk is that?" Usuha Izuki was displeased. "Does this kind of corporate culture conflict with me being an ordinary person? This really makes me feel like you're excluding newcomers... No, I need to complain to the Boss."
As he spoke, Usuha Izuki pulled out his phone, acting like he was about to compose an email on the spot.
He really did have the Boss's email. Vodka's head was splitting.
Just thinking about Usuha Izuki bothering the Boss over such trivial matters made Vodka feel he might catch the Boss's displaced anger.
"Usuha, don't trouble yourself. I'll do it. I'll report to the Boss about you wanting a codename... Don't rush, the Boss needs to think carefully about codenames too. You wouldn't want him to just randomly assign you one, right?"
Usuha Izuki knew when to stop: "I'm not an unreasonable person. Since you put it that way, I'll let it go this time. But don't exclude me next time, saying you're not here or there... How embarrassing when I run into you."
Vodka: "...Heh, yeah."
Having wasted time on such trivial matters, Gin was already impatient. He also sat down on the sofa: "If there's nothing else, you can leave."
Usuha Izuki just looked at him meaningfully: "Excluding me again? Didn't you just say you weren't excluding me? Now you're starting again?"
Gin: "............"
Vodka cursed internally—here we go again: "It's not excluding you, it's just that you can't help with anything right now."
"Who says I can't help?"
Usuha Izuki casually extended his hand toward Amuro Toru: "Where's the intelligence you collected? Let me see."
Amuro Toru glanced at Gin, who tacitly approved, then at Vodka, who was frantically signaling with his eyes. Feeling speechless, he handed the documents to Usuha Izuki.
The front contained information about Sakata Jiro's preferences and habits, followed by details about his contacts and what information had been leaked.
"Doesn't seem like any important information was leaked." Usuha Izuki scanned quickly. "He didn't even figure out what our Organization is about."
Sakata Jiro's joining the Organization was just a coincidence. He thought the Organization was some new Japanese violent gang. When the Organization's local supervisor needed some local underlings, he joined opportunistically while maintaining ties with the Deisenkai—essentially playing both sides.
He'd been fooling the Deisenkai, saying there was a troublesome gang in their territory and he needed more money to infiltrate the upper levels. On the Organization side, he also muddled through. Discovering the Organization was investigating the Deisenkai, he provided some half-true information.
Recently, he seemed to finally sense something was wrong with the Organization and apparently planned to firmly choose sides, deciding to be a Deisenkai member from now on. So he secretly prepared to obtain some important intelligence as leverage to sell himself well to the Deisenkai.
Then the task of hunting down the traitor fell to Gin.
Seeing Usuha Izuki's nonchalant expression, Vodka emphasized: "Even if he knows little, anyone who dares betray the Organization can't be forgiven."
"Mm..." Usuha Izuki looked at the documents while also opening his navigation and entering Sakata Jiro's name.
Since the day was almost over anyway, might as well use up the search quota.
Immediately, a location that surprised Usuha Izuki appeared before his eyes.
He fell into thought.
Amuro Toru noticed Usuha Izuki's expression change and probed: "Did you discover something suspicious?"
"How should I put it..." Usuha Izuki's expression was somewhat conflicted. "I probably know where he is now."
Now even Gin, who hadn't been giving him proper attention, couldn't help but turn to look: "You know him?"
"I don't know him, but seeing the photo made me realize I saw him on my way here. The scar on his right wrist is very distinctive—I shouldn't be mistaken. With a little deduction, I can figure out where he is now."
Actually, he hadn't seen him, but the historical routes just happened to overlap. Usuha Izuki started making things up since Gin had no way to verify anyway.
Usuha Izuki flipped over a document page, took a ballpoint pen from his pocket, and began drawing on the blank back.
"He was waiting for a green light at this intersection and should have been going in this direction... There are many shops around here, but only two are suspicious—a mahjong parlor and a ramen shop. Given gang style, the mahjong parlor is more likely."
Everyone watched as Usuha Izuki talked while drawing, managing to sketch out the entire map of that street area.
Not only did he mark suspicious shops, but he also noted where dogs were kept, where housewives would stop to chat, where there were manholes, where a broken-down car had been parked permanently.
Even taxi drivers didn't remember the details thoroughly.
After finishing, Usuha Izuki capped his pen: "That's about it. If you trust me, you can give it a try."
Everyone else: "............"
Amuro Toru's expression was strange: "You investigated very thoroughly."
Wasn't this just pretending to casually mention it now after already knowing he was there?
Usuha Izuki said shamelessly: "After all, ordinary people like me are always concerned about safety issues in our surroundings. I planned to live in Tokyo, so I looked into Tokyo's situation before buying property."
Amuro Toru: "............"
Stop using ordinary people as an excuse! When ordinary people buy property, they don't research to such detail that they can draw maps from memory!
You don't need to worry about safety—your neighbors need to worry! You're an Organization member!
Gin picked up the map Usuha Izuki had drawn and looked it over, seemingly contemplating something.
Just then, knocking sounds came from the door. Gin's posture immediately became alert—everyone was here, and the Organization didn't call for service while conducting business...
But Usuha Izuki cheerfully jumped up from the sofa: "Ah, that should be the juice I ordered. Why did you lock the door?"
Gin crumpled the paper's edge: "..."
He'd almost forgotten there was this completely rule-ignoring troublemaker here!
Vodka tried to use eye contact to make Usuha Izuki realize something was wrong, but Usuha Izuki was facing away from them while opening the door, completely missing his signals. Instead, Vodka, as Usuha Izuki turned around, clearly saw the two characters on his back.
[Great Trouble]... What great trouble?
Vodka recalled that this kid's shirt front seemed to say [Boss's Confidant]... Huh?!
In that instant, Vodka felt suffocated: "...B-Boss."
"Mm?"
Gin impatiently raised an eyebrow. Amuro Toru was also puzzled by Vodka's emotional change and looked over.
Vodka said carefully: "Boss, look at the back of Usuha's shirt."
Look at what shirt? Wasn't it already painful enough for the eyes?
But Vodka wasn't one to create trouble for no reason. Since he'd specifically point it out, there must be something worth noting. So although Gin was very disdainful, he still glanced at Usuha Izuki.
Just in time to see the two large characters on Usuha Izuki's back as he closed the door.
Gin, rarely feeling suffocated: ".................."
Amuro Toru, who also saw clearly: ".................."
How is it [Boss's Confidant Great Trouble]!
Thinking about how he and Morofushi Hiromitsu had seriously analyzed for so long whether Usuha Izuki wearing this shirt was hinting at something or demonstrating something, only to find out he just wanted to mess around, made his brain buzz and urgently need oxygen.
Troublemakers, get out of Japan!
Usuha Izuki felt the murderous intent erupting behind him and turned around nonchalantly: "What's wrong? You all suddenly look like you want to kill someone?"
Vodka: "............"
What do you mean what's wrong! You brat, wearing a [Boss's Confidant Great Trouble] shirt—where did you get the nerve to call yourself the boss's confidant earlier?!