Chapter 81
Usuha Izuki immediately agreed: "Sure, let her come."
Vodka: "...?!?!?!"
System: [?!?!?! You really just agreed like that?! I thought you were going to torment Vodka for a while...]
[Even you think that, so Vodka definitely thinks I'm going to cause trouble. So the more readily I agree now, the more suspicious Vodka becomes.]
Usuha Izuki analyzed very rationally: [Look, Vodka's suspicion value is starting to rack up.]
Indeed, just as Usuha Izuki predicted, Vodka now felt extremely horrified.
When children are quiet, they must be up to no good.
He'd prepared so many arguments to convince Usuha Izuki, but now Usuha Izuki agreed so readily... Vodka wouldn't feel like he'd wasted his time, but would become more vigilant, suspecting he hadn't thought something through and that Usuha Izuki was preparing to give him some big news.
This state of vigilance lasted a long time. Basically whenever his mind was slightly idle, Vodka couldn't help thinking about this matter, then while contributing suspicion values, he'd ask Scotland if anything unusual had happened on Usuha Izuki's side.
The first day was fine. Usuha Izuki stayed home doing nothing but lying on the sofa watching TV and eating fruit, or going out to have professionals massage him before returning.
Both Vodka and Scotland were quite puzzled, not knowing what Usuha Izuki had secretly done outside the organization to be so tired. He couldn't have gone to move bricks, right?
On the second day, the two called each other again.
"With such poor physical fitness, how did he survive in the Middle East?" Taking advantage of Usuha Izuki's absence, Vodka complained to Scotland. "Arak Wine spoiled the kid too much! This guy really doesn't know anything he should!"
Scotland pondered: "There should be a reason for this."
"What reason could there be?"
"...Botanist mentioned before that he hit his head in the Middle East and was left with some sleepiness as an aftereffect." Scotland said tactfully. "Arak Wine having a fatherly heart and not daring to let him take risks again is normal."
Vodka got Scotland's hint.
—Shocking, so Usuha Izuki going crazy from time to time wasn't natural or cultivated by the Middle East's twisted environment, but might have become a mental patient because he hit his head!
Wouldn't that be even harder to correct?!
"Sigh... If something like that happened, no wonder Arak Wine spoiled him so much." Vodka's feelings were complicated.
Scotland took the opportunity to gather intelligence: "Sounds like Arak Wine had a personality that would dote on children."
Although Arak Wine was an executive and the Middle East regional director, since he was already dead, Vodka was more loose-lipped and didn't think there was anything unspeakable about this: "Arak Wine... Although this guy got along well with everyone, you really couldn't tell he'd raise a kid this way. After all, people who offended Arak Wine and are still alive are probably just the one who killed him."
"No one in the organization offended him?"
"Let me think... Seems like there really wasn't anyone. But that's also because he went to the Middle East too early. He was thrown to the Middle East over ten years ago, initially as someone's subordinate. I forget who. But that guy died too quickly, so Arak Wine took over and did even better, earning his codename that way, and continued until last year."
Vodka sighed: "In terms of being human, Arak Wine really was top-tier. Although I wasn't very close to him, the few times we met never felt awkward, way better than Botanist."
"Botanist is still young. He'll get better when he grows up."
Vodka: "Do you believe that yourself? He's not here—you don't need to cover for him... Speaking of which, it's time for lunch, right? Isn't he coming back?"
Scotland didn't know.
Usuha Izuki never told him where he was going, and wouldn't say if he was coming back—extremely mysterious.
Sometimes Scotland felt like the other person really trusted him like a friend, other times he felt the previous feeling was just an illusion and that Usuha Izuki was like that with everyone.
Most terrifyingly, although he still couldn't figure out what Usuha Izuki was thinking, he always felt his logic was gradually aligning with Usuha Izuki's.
After Scotland had used Usuha Izuki's friend logic to slightly get back at him for constantly calling him a traitor, he'd seemed to have everything under control at the time, feeling it fit "Scotland's" somewhat sharp persona perfectly. Actually, after returning to his room, he worried for half an hour that his mind had also become abnormal, during which he even gave himself a mental health test.
After all, previously figuring out Usuha Izuki's thought processes required serious thinking, but yesterday he'd naturally understood how to use the other's logic to shut him down—too scary!
As a rare person who could argue back at Usuha Izuki once, Scotland felt no sense of achievement, but was instead full of worry.
He felt he should chat with normal people more often. Usuha Izuki was simply toxic—constantly figuring out Usuha Izuki might turn himself into a mental patient too.
Vodka suggested: "Then just don't worry about him for now. I have a mission tomorrow that needs a sniper. Want to come? Botanist agreed anyway, right?"
Scotland didn't refuse this opportunity.
And Usuha Izuki himself, forget lunch—he didn't come back until the next day.
Because calculating the time, he directly switched personas and returned to Samukawa Shinryu's apartment. If he didn't go back to clean soon, there would be spider webs inside.
Speaking of which, as soon as he switched back to Samukawa Shinryu's physical data, all the aches and pains in his body disappeared, and he even felt like he could fight a hundred people.
[Worthy of the persona I carefully crafted for infiltrating the organization.] Usuha Izuki sighed. [What a useful worker. Now the police are benefiting from it.]
System: [Your word choice... I think having the undercover system make you an organization spy sent to infiltrate the police would probably suit you better.]
Still "benefiting" the police—Usuha Izuki's loyalties were really skewed!
Hearing the system mention a name he hadn't heard in a long time, Usuha Izuki was stunned: [Right, isn't the undercover system done with maintenance yet? It's been a year!]
[You can't go by this world's time flow. Anyway, when it's fixed, it'll notify me. Then I'll go get the handover materials it forgot to give.]
Usuha Izuki chatted with the system while walking to his apartment building.
Hagiwara Kenji was leaning against the first-floor entrance of the apartment building, checking his phone. Hearing footsteps, he looked up. Seeing Usuha Izuki, he was about to smile but suddenly remembered something and put on a stern face.
"Kenji." Usuha Izuki pretended not to see Hagiwara Kenji's expression change. "Been waiting long?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "Not too long. But you—finally willing to see people?"
Ever since learning that Samukawa Shinryu's bomb disposal that time was even more dangerous than he'd known, Hagiwara Kenji had been wanting to settle accounts with Samukawa Shinryu for deliberately hiding important information.
But he'd already complained to Matsuda Jinpei twice, yet Samukawa Shinryu just wouldn't come out to see him these past two days.
When asked, he just said he had no time and had things to do.
Since Samukawa Shinryu didn't need to return to the dorms during internship, Hagiwara Kenji couldn't even find him. Just when he was about to lose his temper, Samukawa Shinryu suddenly relented and said today was possible.
Hagiwara Kenji vaguely suspected he'd been played—Little Shinryu confessing to him about being targeted by illegal groups while not letting him investigate further, wasn't this just so he wouldn't have to explain at times like this?!
Usuha Izuki's face had always been thick. Even switching to Samukawa Shinryu's persona wouldn't change this: "Yeah, had some business yesterday."
Busy binge-watching and relaxing. Previously he'd never thought that his biggest challenge working at the Mobile Investigation Unit wasn't earning suspicion values, but how to quickly relieve fatigue after switching back to his unhealthy main body...
Office workers get backaches sitting at computers all day—he'd been sitting in cars being jostled for nearly 24 hours. This really wasn't work for humans.
Hagiwara Kenji decided to withdraw his consideration and probe thoroughly this time: "What were you busy with?"
"Things I can't tell Kenji about." Usuha Izuki answered honestly. "But it wasn't dangerous, didn't break any laws, and even saved someone's life. Don't worry."
Previously he couldn't even say he hadn't broken laws, only that he hadn't done anything against his principles. This time he'd both persuaded someone to confess and helped police solve a case—no one was more law-abiding than him!
Usuha Izuki was almost moved by himself.
System: [...Fooling your buddy is one thing, but don't fool yourself too...]
Usuha Izuki ignored it.
But even such a law-abiding answer still made Hagiwara Kenji suspicious, since this guy had a record of hiding major intelligence: "Tell me specifically what you did."
"Talked someone with suicidal thoughts out of it, helped several people solve troubles that were bothering them."
Hagiwara Kenji's mind automatically conjured images of someone about to jump from a building or into water, with Samukawa Shinryu going forward to persuade them back... Uh, it felt more likely they were scared back, but regardless, saving a life was indeed a good deed.
"What about the trouble bothering several people?"
Usuha Izuki started using euphemistic language again: "That involves someone's heartbreak and family honor—not convenient to tell others."
The shop owner having such a harmful niece in his family, even though she was dead, still wouldn't sound good if it got out, right?
Hagiwara Kenji frowned, feeling things weren't that simple: "Are you trying to brush me off? Last time you hid the bomb disposal from me because you knew I wouldn't approve. What is it this time?"
"I've already reflected properly." Usuha Izuki said words even the system wouldn't believe. "So what I did this time—if I told you, you'd also say I did well. Really."
Hagiwara Kenji stared at him for several seconds, slowly nodded, and reluctantly believed him.
The two walked to Usuha Izuki's apartment door and noticed the next unit seemed to be moving.
They originally hadn't planned to pay attention, but soon a familiar face came out.
"Samukawa-kun, you're back."
Usuha Izuki: "...Kokonoe-kun, why are you here?"
His colleague from the Mobile Investigation Unit, Kokonoe Yoto, answered with a serious expression: "Because I live next door to you and am currently moving... Please treat me well from now on, Samukawa-kun."
Hagiwara Kenji, in front of outsiders, immediately adjusted his attitude and smiled again: "Little Shinryu, is this a new friend you made? Won't you introduce us?"
Kokonoe Yoto's expression cracked in that instant, because the nickname was too cute and really didn't match Samukawa Shinryu's image.
"Little, Little Shinryu...? Samukawa-kun, is this your friend?"
Being watched by both people simultaneously, Usuha Izuki felt this strange atmosphere and fell into brief silence.
—Huh? Was he that close with Kokonoe Yoto? What was this rich kid doing living in this shabby apartment?!