Chapter 45
Although Morofushi Hiromitsu and Furuya Rei hadn't reached a conclusion about whether Usuha Izuki's various bull's-eye keywords were intentional or accidental, Morofushi Hiromitsu still prepared himself for being frantically tested and probed by Usuha Izuki.
Morofushi Hiromitsu had expected Usuha Izuki to take him to a safe house.
The organization had safe houses everywhere. If something was exposed, they could abandon the safe house and quickly evacuate to avoid subsequent tracking.
But as soon as the door opened, Morofushi Hiromitsu immediately realized this wasn't a safe house.
...After all, organization safe houses were generally minimalist, focusing more on practicality. What was the deal with placing a pink grand piano?! Were they planning to crush pursuers with the piano?!
This was probably the house Zero had mentioned before, where Usuha Izuki lived.
He stood at the doorway, hesitating whether to enter: "Do you need to get something?"
"I don't have anything to get. Just come in." Usuha Izuki enthusiastically invited him.
Morofushi Hiromitsu probed: "Don't we need to go to a safe house?"
Usuha Izuki waved his hand: "No need. I'm not used to living there, and I tend to forget things. Living at my place is fine. We can tell Finance we stayed at a hotel and apply for reimbursement."
"...Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu really wanted to crack open Usuha Izuki's skull to see what he was thinking—he'd brought a sniper rifle! A simple report could lead to a legitimate arrest and interrogation of Usuha Izuki after finding the sniper rifle in his home! No chance for him to claim he was an ordinary person!
Although from Vodka's earlier words, Usuha Izuki had only joined the organization for less than half a year, so theoretically catching him wouldn't yield much information. But this guy's status was somewhat transcendent—it was possible he'd only nominally not joined before but actually knew many secrets. If there were major gains, exposing his undercover identity might be worth it.
But since Usuha Izuki dared bring people to his home, he probably had backup plans, right? Last time he'd also directly brought Zero over...
Just thinking of Furuya Rei, Morofushi Hiromitsu heard Usuha Izuki say:
"Nothing inappropriate about it. I brought Amuro here last time too. It would be inappropriate if I didn't bring you here once as well."
Morofushi Hiromitsu's fingers twitched slightly. He was sensitive about being mentioned together with Zero, and combined with insisting on giving them cherry blossom charms, he wondered if this was a new round of testing.
But he showed no abnormality on the surface, just asking: "Why?"
"Because you're both my friends! Can't play favorites!"
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "..........."
Fine!!!
"Anyway, you'll stay here during this time. When I go recruit the Cult Leader, I'll call you." Usuha Izuki opened the guest room door. "No one's stayed here before, so make the bed yourself and help me clean up while you're at it. I haven't been back much recently, so it's gotten a bit dusty."
Morofushi Hiromitsu didn't want to appear too agreeable—that wasn't his persona in the organization.
So he smiled and said unhurriedly: "I think the organization recruited me not to do housework."
Usuha Izuki glanced at him: "Then sleep on the floor. It's all dusty up there. If you don't mind, I don't mind either."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "I could stay at a hotel or safe house..."
"Hmm." Usuha Izuki frowned. "Why do you insist on living separately? Are you trying to escape my surveillance to secretly do something bad?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu paused: "...I have no such plans. Please don't speculate randomly. I just prefer doing what I'm good at."
"Then stay here." Usuha Izuki said. "I'm an executive with a codename! Why are you only listening to Vodka and not me? Are you looking down on me?! Are we still friends? Let me be clear—my attitude toward friends and non-friends is completely different!"
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "..........."
Although Morofushi Hiromitsu hadn't felt any good treatment from being Usuha Izuki's friend, he didn't dare try what it would be like to be cut off by Usuha Izuki either.
Since Usuha Izuki was using his executive status to make him stay here, refusing again would really be unjustifiable.
"That's right! Make yourself at home! I'm going to investigate that Cult Leader—handle things yourself!"
After speaking, Usuha Izuki turned and left his own home, leaving only Morofushi Hiromitsu with his sniper rifle.
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "..........."
Was this being too trusting, or was it a test...
Since Usuha Izuki had told him to clean, Morofushi Hiromitsu took the opportunity to thoroughly search the house while cleaning, finding no cameras or listening devices.
He'd even checked inside the vase that had just been returned by Vodka's subordinates—though repaired, it still had cracks—and found nothing.
He'd thought Vodka would take the chance to install listening devices or something...
Morofushi Hiromitsu thought for a moment, remembering Zero had told him that Usuha Izuki could spot at a glance that an identical vase was wrong and had found all the replaced items... Maybe Vodka didn't want to risk it given Usuha Izuki's ridiculous observational skills. If tampering was discovered, it probably wouldn't be something a week or two of being out of contact could resolve.
Speaking of which, according to Vodka and Zero, Usuha Izuki especially treasured this vase, but today when Vodka's people returned it, Usuha Izuki wasn't home. Receiving the message, he'd gone straight to the safe house to find Vodka to complain and report for work, so he shouldn't have seen this recovered vase.
But when Usuha Izuki entered just now, forget about examining how well it was repaired—he'd only glanced in the vase's direction, showing no sign of how much he liked it...
The more Morofushi Hiromitsu thought about it, the more he felt Usuha Izuki was full of mysteries, with every action having unpredictable purposes and consequences.
Calling him to live at his house, refusing safe houses—there must be a special purpose.
Surely it couldn't really be that the house hadn't been lived in too long and he wanted him to clean?
Believing that would be like believing Usuha Izuki really thought friends should all come home to play.
Morofushi Hiromitsu diligently cleaned Usuha Izuki's house. Looking up at the time, he found it was already evening, so he emailed Usuha Izuki asking when he'd return.
After a while, Usuha Izuki replied: [I'm not coming back today, I'm busy. You're an adult now, take care of yourself.]
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "........???"
Huh? Weren't you just questioning whether I'd do bad things if I left your sight?! What's the difference between you not coming home and me going out to stay elsewhere?!
...Morofushi Hiromitsu was now genuinely wondering if Usuha Izuki had just wanted to mooch his labor to help clean.
But that couldn't be right—wouldn't it be easy for Usuha Izuki to find a cleaning service?
So there really must be some true purpose he hadn't discovered yet...
Morofushi Hiromitsu, who'd been frantically contributing suspicion values since entering the house, was like a rich beauty who couldn't figure out what others wanted from her—he couldn't understand what Usuha Izuki was after, making his mood increasingly heavy.
—A mental patient's thought process was like an abyss—not only impossible to see through, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt like going crazy himself.
Morofushi Hiromitsu wasn't the only one feeling heavy—so was the suspicion value system.
[You actually just threw him in your house and abandoned him...]
The system found it hard to accept. Seeing Usuha Izuki take on a mission with someone accompanying him, it thought Usuha Izuki was being tsundere but actually planned to buy the body double puppet, since tomorrow's Police Academy class schedule wouldn't allow leave requests.
Who knew this guy Usuha Izuki was truly heartless—dumping Morofushi Hiromitsu and returning to the Police Academy himself, actually abandoning the man!
[Relax, there's nothing in my house except his sniper rifle.] Usuha Izuki looked at the rapidly rising suspicion values with satisfaction. [Got organization funding, someone to clean my house, and so many suspicion values... I'm totally winning.]
[Aren't you afraid he'll report you? Why did you insist on bringing him to your house!]
[Undercover agents love conspiracy theories. Without figuring out my status and knowledge of the organization, he absolutely won't dare report my house—he'll just keep contributing suspicion values! Besides, that address isn't really a secret—Furuya Rei already knows it... Sigh, houses need long-term residents or they age quickly. These two houses sitting empty all the time—you walk in and everything's dusty.]
System: [........]
This person's priorities are always so strange...
Usuha Izuki pondered: [Anyway, I'm attending classes at the Police Academy. I'll go back next week during break. Without me around, Morofushi Hiromitsu can definitely relax properly. Damn, he's basically on vacation, even longer than mine! Sigh, I'm such a considerate superior.]
If Morofushi Hiromitsu knew Usuha Izuki's thoughts, he'd definitely strongly disagree.
By Thursday, Usuha Izuki still hadn't returned even once.
Living in Usuha Izuki's house, Morofushi Hiromitsu thought more and more as time passed, his pressure growing. He didn't dare call Furuya Rei casually and could only silently bear the enormous stress.
When he received Vodka's call, Morofushi Hiromitsu felt almost liberated.
Hearing Morofushi Hiromitsu's relieved greeting, Vodka, who'd been relatively relaxed, couldn't help tensing up: "Midorikawa, how are things with you and Botanist now?"
He wasn't really here to push for progress—it hadn't even been a week. Recruiting people wasn't simple work; the preliminary intelligence gathering to find leverage and weaknesses took time. He'd wait at least a month before asking.
Vodka mainly wanted to inquire about Usuha Izuki's situation—the mission was secondary.
Morofushi Hiromitsu was silent for a moment before answering: "No progress on the mission whatsoever."
This answer was within Vodka's expectations. He'd figured Usuha Izuki couldn't be very efficient—dragging it out for months was possible: "So what do you do every day?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu was immediately asked about his sore spot.
His tone was heavy with overwhelming pressure: "As for me, I spend every day cleaning his house while waiting for news from him. As for Botanist, I have no idea. After he brought me home that day, he disappeared and never came back. He doesn't reply to emails either. He's probably investigating that religion..."
Vodka: ".................."
—Actively asked for personnel, then abandoned them at home. A dignified sniper reduced to a housekeeper at his place... This kid Usuha is such a scumbag!!!