Chapter 74
Morofushi Hiromitsu was reading a book at Usuha Izuki's house when he suddenly heard the sound of the door opening.
He instinctively reached for the fruit knife in the fruit bowl beside him, gripping it in his hand while quietly retreating like a leopard to a visual blind spot in the entrance.
"I'm home—"
Hearing this familiar voice, Morofushi Hiromitsu finally relaxed and emerged from the corner: "Welcome back... Why so early this time?"
It was only Wednesday!
On weekdays, seeing Usuha Izuki required repeated requests, and he might not even show up. This time, without anything happening, he had appeared on his own. Morofushi Hiromitsu hadn't reacted at first.
Usuha Izuki flopped onto the sofa and said lazily: "I'll be quite free for a while... Let me sleep first, I'll talk to you later."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "...?"
He walked to Usuha Izuki's side and found from his breathing that this guy seemed to have already fallen asleep.
Instant sleep?!
Didn't he say he was free? How did he get so exhausted?
Morofushi Hiromitsu habitually analyzed the situation, but regrettably there wasn't enough information—he could only wait for Usuha Izuki to wake up.
He found an air conditioning blanket and covered the sleeping Usuha Izuki on the sofa, then sat on a nearby sofa chair to continue reading.
Though he said to continue reading, Morofushi Hiromitsu couldn't focus anymore, his gaze involuntarily drifting to the person on the sofa.
Honestly, although he'd known Usuha Izuki for so long, this guy's mouth never stopped moving, making him feel like days were years. But counting the time, Usuha Izuki always came and went in a hurry. Despite this being his home, he rarely even stayed overnight, while Morofushi Hiromitsu himself lived here more often.
Only when eating occupied his mouth could Usuha Izuki be somewhat quiet, but because this guy was very absorbed in watching dramas and often suddenly asked him questions, Morofushi Hiromitsu's heart was always on edge, unable to truly relax.
Like now, with Usuha Izuki quietly staying on the sofa across from him, not having to worry about that mouth suddenly asking heart-stopping questions or making difficult demands on a whim—this was the first time.
Usuha Izuki was probably truly exhausted. He lay prone on a cushion with his face slightly turned outward. His silver-white hair should have fallen with gravity, but was held by hair clips, revealing half of his refined, delicate face and slightly furrowed brows.
Morofushi Hiromitsu's scrutinizing gaze swept from head to toe, making two discoveries.
First, this guy had grown a bit taller since their first meeting.
The pants he was wearing now—he'd seen Usuha Izuki wear them before. The size didn't fit well, and Usuha Izuki had rolled up the cuffs three times in front of him yet insisted on wearing them. This time he only rolled them twice... Though he didn't understand why he wouldn't just change to a properly fitting size, it was probably another aspect of his incomprehensible aesthetics.
Second, this guy's vigilance was ridiculously low.
Before, when Usuha Izuki slept, he went to the bedroom, so he hadn't noticed. But this time falling asleep instantly in the living room, he hadn't reacted when Morofushi Hiromitsu covered him with a blanket earlier, and now after watching him for ages, even slightly releasing some killing intent, Usuha Izuki's breathing hadn't changed a bit.
...Wasn't he from the Middle East?! With such poor vigilance, wasn't he afraid of aerial bombs landing on his head someday?!
Just how exhausted must he be to lose even life-threatening vigilance?
Usuha Izuki slept from noon until evening before finally waking up, trying to turn over with his eyes closed: "Mm... Ow! Ow ow ow ow..."
"Sleeping in that position all afternoon, it'd be strange if it didn't hurt." Morofushi Hiromitsu came over to help Usuha Izuki up. "Next time, go to sleep in bed."
"I was too sleepy..."
He'd added many endurance points to the [Samukawa Shinryu] identity, so staying up for days wouldn't feel tiring—truly a heaven-sent worker.
But his real body was still fragile! Once he switched back to his original body's stats, the pain and exhaustion from being driven crazy for 24 hours in the car surged up. He felt he was already amazing for not falling asleep at the front door.
Usuha Izuki carefully sat up, then rubbed his shoulders and neck. Feeling even more tired than before sleeping, he turned to kneel on the sofa with his back to Morofushi Hiromitsu: "Help me massage."
The commanded Morofushi Hiromitsu: "..."
He silently reached out and squeezed Usuha Izuki's nape.
"Ow!" Usuha Izuki cried out. "Not so hard! Are you trying to murder your partner?!"
"A bit of force is more effective." Having roughly figured out Usuha Izuki's limits, Morofushi Hiromitsu calmly gripped his nape without letting go. "How did you get so exhausted? What were you doing? Organization missions?"
"Why would I work so hard for the organization... I just stayed up too late playing around." Usuha Izuki said. "Speaking of the organization, I saw in your report that you seem to have gotten a codename—Scotch Whisky, right? I should call you Scotch from now on."
Scotch responded flatly while slowly massaging Usuha Izuki's nape with the hand gripping it.
"Yes, codename members have equal status. You can't use superior-subordinate relationships to order me around anymore. Isn't that a pity?"
"How could it be! We're friends. Didn't you say friends should just ask nicely?"
Usuha Izuki reached back to pat Scotch's hand: "Sigh, stop massaging there, it hurts. Help me massage my shoulders... Please~"
Scotch raised an eyebrow in surprise.
This was the first time he'd heard Usuha Izuki use polite language...
"...Could it be you're very afraid of pain?" Scotch speculated.
Usuha Izuki lay on the sofa back, enjoying the free massage: "Is that not allowed? Just tell me who doesn't fear pain. Admitting it isn't shameful—those who refuse to admit it are the ones who... Ow! Lighter, lighter, please..."
When crying out in pain, he switched back to polite mode, so this guy actually knew how to speak politely, he just refused to use it?
Scotch was thoughtful.
If he feared pain, interrogation work would be quite manageable. Usuha Izuki probably wouldn't be willing to suffer for the organization...
Ah, he'd let his thoughts wander. This guy actually didn't know much, but maybe if he became less mentally ill in the future, he could learn more in-depth information... After all, organization second-generation members were probably more likely to gain trust than wild-born types like them.
After Scotch massaged for a while, Usuha Izuki finally recovered and stood up, moving his neck left and right: "It felt like a cramp earlier. I really can't sleep like that anymore. Next time if I fall asleep on the sofa, wake me up..."
"I probably couldn't wake you." Scotch smiled. "You sleep too deeply. Aren't you from the Middle East? Wouldn't sleeping like this there be too dangerous?"
"It's because I'm from the Middle East." Usuha Izuki began spinning tales. "It was too chaotic there. Once I accidentally fell from a car and hit my head, leaving some aftereffects. Once I fall asleep, I tend to sleep deeply."
Scotch: "............"
The aftereffects probably aren't limited to just that... Your weird thought patterns wouldn't also come from this, would they?!
He felt he might have found the root of Usuha Izuki's illness.
Usuha Izuki checked the time: "Wow, it's already this late. We should have dinner... Let's just go out to eat. Call Vodka too—perfect timing to celebrate you getting a codename!"
"Do you know where Vodka is?"
Usuha Izuki glanced at [Universal Navigation]: "No idea, but he's definitely in Tokyo, right? My intuition tells me so. Let's call and ask."
With that, Usuha Izuki dialed Vodka's number.
The first call went unanswered.
Scotch felt like he'd seen this scenario before...
Usuha Izuki thought for a moment and had Scotch call Vodka.
Scotch complied.
Usually Vodka answered Scotch's calls quickly, or if inconvenient, would hang up to signal unavailability. But this time he seemed to be having some internal struggle, taking ages before finally answering.
The screen of suspicion values from Vodka in Usuha Izuki's system notifications was proof enough.
The call connected, but Vodka said nothing.
As Scotch hesitated whether to speak, he heard Vodka ask cautiously from the other end: "Botanist?"
Scotch: "...It's me."
Only then did Vodka, who had developed psychological trauma from taking ghost calls, breathe a sigh of relief: "He's not with you? Right, it's only Wednesday—he hasn't come back yet. I thought when he called me earlier and it didn't go through, he had you..."
Usuha Izuki spoke eerily: "Are you deliberately not answering my calls?"
Click—the phone was hung up.
Usuha Izuki was shocked, looking at Scotch with wide eyes: "He hung up directly when he heard my voice! What does this person mean?!"
Scotch was also shocked—Vodka's courage had grown! Wasn't he afraid of Usuha Izuki giving him trouble?
He pondered Vodka's thoughts: "Maybe it was an accidental hang-up? He shouldn't hang up on you deliberately."
Sure enough, within seconds the phone rang again, calling Scotch's number.
After answering, Vodka's externally fierce but internally cowardly voice came through: "My signal keeps cutting in and out. Actually I wanted to answer Botanist's call, but it didn't connect... See, the signal cut out again just now and automatically hung up..."
Scotch: "...Um, Botanist wants to find you."
"Alright, put him on." Vodka knew he couldn't escape this calamity. "What's the matter?"
Usuha Izuki huffed: "Good news."
Vodka's mood immediately became two degrees heavier: "What good news?"
"I'm treating you to dinner!" Usuha Izuki said. "My partner just got promoted to a codename executive! I wasn't around when he got his codename, so I came back early this week specifically to celebrate for him. You're also my friend—let's have a group dinner!"
Vodka repeatedly confirmed: "Just eating a meal? Nothing else?"
"Yeah, what do you think there should be? I can..."
"No, you can't." Vodka immediately said. "Thanks for thinking of me, but I'm not in..."
"You're in Tokyo, right?" Usuha Izuki said. "I think I saw you on the street before and waved, but you pretended not to see me."
Vodka: "???"
He tried hard to recall where he'd been today and where he might have encountered Usuha Izuki, but couldn't think of anything. He could only get through this immediate crisis first: "Fine, I am in Tokyo, but..."
"Then it's that barbecue place near your current base. See you there."
Usuha Izuki said cheerfully: "I have so much to tell my friends!"
Scotch: "..."
Vodka: "..."
—Can we have a few more of these kinds of friends? We can't be the only unlucky ones!