Chapter 85
Although Akai Shuichi was greatly shocked internally, he didn't act rashly.
After all, if the other party really knew his identity, there was probably already a tight net laid outside the hospital room. If he acted rashly now, he didn't know what was waiting for him—better to find another opportunity.
Moreover, although this suspicious guy was pinning down one of his arms, his mobility wasn't really that restricted, especially with all those jingling burdens hanging on the other party—all weaknesses. Controlling him didn't seem too difficult.
Therefore, although Akai Shuichi's heartbeat suddenly began accelerating, he maintained composure on the surface and even had the presence of mind to show a puzzled expression.
Fortunately, Miyano Akemi asked for him: "How do you know he's left-handed, sir?"
Usuha Izuki said confidently: "Because Gin is left-handed, and this guy gives me such a Gin-like feeling, he must be left-handed too!"
Akai Shuichi: "............"
Gin was an organization member's codename, right? Just because of this he said he was left-handed... Was this guy deliberately toying with him, or did he really have brain problems?
Miyano Akemi was also very silent after hearing this answer: "............"
Her expression was full of the desire to complain, because there were too many things she wanted to complain about.
First, casually mentioning organization codename members in front of outsiders—wasn't that too careless? Second, why did "Gin is left-handed" mean "this guy must be left-handed"? And why could Botanist say such absurd logic so confidently...
No wonder Vodka said Botanist was mentally abnormal. She seemed to vaguely understand.
Perhaps feeling that her expression had given something away, Usuha Izuki suddenly turned to look at her and demanded answers.
"Don't you believe it?"
Miyano Akemi: "Uh..."
"Then let the person involved speak for himself." Usuha Izuki stood up and unguardedly checked the medical chart at the bedside. "Mr. Anonymous, are you left-handed or right-handed?"
Akai Shuichi was silent for a moment.
Why could he so brazenly and openly question a victim like this? Weren't Japanese people very concerned about what others thought?
Even he, someone who'd just come from America, wasn't used to this kind of boundary-less questioning.
But if the other party was actually using this method to probe...
"What if I'm left-handed, what if I'm right-handed?" Akai Shuichi frowned. "Does that mean you won't compensate me if I'm right-handed?"
Usuha Izuki said: "No, if you're left-handed, I'll decide to dislike you."
"...Why?"
"Because I dislike Gin."
Akai Shuichi: "............"
The pronunciation "GIN" could be understood as certain normal Japanese name pronunciations too, so it didn't seem abrupt. But he still wanted to say—wasn't this organization supposed to be very secretive? How was this guy openly mentioning other people's codenames in front of outsiders from the start?! So arrogant?!
Usuha Izuki even urged him: "Hurry up, are you left-handed or right-handed?"
"...I'm left-handed." This kind of thing couldn't be hidden for long—subconscious habits were very hard to correct. Akai Shuichi also didn't plan to gain this inexplicable guy's favor.
Why had good staged collision turned into having to answer questions from this seemingly brain-damaged guy... If not for the undercover mission still weighing on him, in normal circumstances encountering this type of person, Akai Shuichi would have left long ago.
It was only because there was the seemingly most normal Miyano Akemi nearby, possibly offering some hope, and this was a hospital where they probably wouldn't be arrogant enough to kill someone, that Akai Shuichi could stay calm.
Akai Shuichi was still waiting to see how Usuha Izuki would take out his anger on him after answering "left-handed," when he saw Usuha Izuki take out his phone and make a call.
"Vodka! Let me share something interesting with you!"
Akai Shuichi was completely stunned and even began observing the placement of the fruit knife on the bedside table, planning to use it if the situation looked bad and he needed to break out.
—It had only been a few minutes and he'd already heard the codenames of two codename members. Was this really something he, a living outsider, should know? Maybe the plan was to silence him, so they were being so loose-lipped now?
Although it seemed excessive to directly kill to silence someone just because a low-level member had a car accident, this guy seemed mentally off, so this kind of thing wasn't impossible...
Even Miyano Akemi felt something was wrong. She always felt like this Botanist seemed more concerned about the person she'd hit than about her. Why? Just because he felt like Gin?
Both watched Usuha Izuki make his phone call with confusion and tension.
Who knew Vodka was also very nervous: "Something interesting? What interesting thing? It's not that Miyano Akemi died and you want us to give you someone else, is it?"
Usuha Izuki: "...What do you think of me? Miyano Akemi is right here listening! Don't randomly curse people."
Vodka breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh, so she's already at your house?"
"No, she's at the hospital. I came to check the situation."
Vodka: "...?!?!?!"
He immediately covered the phone and helplessly called out to Gin beside him: "Big brother! Botanist really is unsatisfied with our arrangement! He's put Miyano Akemi in the hospital!"
If she was hospitalized, she definitely couldn't work, and he couldn't keep sending people as cannon fodder—the organization didn't have spare resources!
Then he could only compromise and return the just-acquired Scotland... Damn it! No wonder Botanist had agreed so readily before—he was waiting for this moment!
Gin also frowned when he heard this: "Ask how badly she's injured and tell him to restrain himself."
Usuha Izuki really didn't know how to be gentle with women. Sherry was an important scientist the organization was cultivating, and Miyano Akemi was also an important hostage. If Usuha Izuki damaged her, even Boss couldn't keep protecting him forever, right?
Vodka quickly uncovered the phone and asked: "Is Miyano Akemi badly injured?"
Usuha Izuki said quietly: "Were you just secretly talking to Gin and not listening to what I was saying? The one in the hospital isn't Miyano Akemi—she hit someone else."
Vodka was startled and somewhat embarrassed: "Ah, is that so? I misheard."
That was close—he almost exposed the fact that he thought very darkly of Usuha Izuki...
So it really was an accident!
Too bad—if only Miyano Akemi could have brought Usuha Izuki along when driving, and hopefully gotten Usuha Izuki seriously injured in the car accident...
To change the subject, Vodka quickly said: "What was that interesting thing you mentioned?"
"Ah, right, I almost forgot because of you." Usuha Izuki glanced at Akai Shuichi on the bed. "Miyano crashed into someone, right? I came to see who she hit and found this guy is a bit like Gin. They're both men with long hair, both left-handed, both cold, and if he's a sniper he'd be even more similar."
"Mm mm mm, how interesting. But it's normal for there to be similar people in the world." Vodka responded perfunctorily, not thinking they were very similar at all. He felt it might be a way of mocking Gin. "Speaking of snipers, it's almost the end of the month. Where's your list for this month? Submit at least ten people."
Previously, because Usuha Izuki's recruitment methods wasted too much talent, the organization had changed his work content. From now on, he just needed to submit lists of people he thought highly of on time.
He didn't know if Usuha Izuki still remembered.
"Uh... I only have nine people on hand, still need one more... Oh right, this guy lying on the bed seems pretty good too—ah no, this guy is a bit like Gin, I can't accept it. I'll go find one more to make it up to you later."
Vodka: "...???"
This personal grudge was a bit heavy, wasn't it? Why couldn't someone work just because they were like big brother?!
"Almost forgot to mention—help me check what's up with this guy. He doesn't even have a wallet on him. Is he deliberately staging a collision to scam medical fees?" Usuha Izuki looked at Akai Shuichi. "What's your name again? I forgot."
"...I never told you in the first place. You called me anonymous before. My name is Moroboshi Dai."
Akai Shuichi was also fed up. How could this guy describe Gin right in front of him—long-haired left-handed sniper—immediately helping the FBI narrow down their search scope.
This was just a few minutes—if it went on longer he might even reveal where Boss lived. The organization really had picked up a devil.
He still didn't know whether this guy had noticed something and was deliberately making things difficult to test him, because many things didn't make sense.
He'd been bluffed earlier, but thinking carefully, his fake identity was perfect—at least in this short time from the car accident until now, there was absolutely no way to find problems. Yet right away saying he was left-handed...
Could it be such a coincidence?
Could this guy simply being brain-damaged explain all the doubts?
If he looked sick, was he really sick? Could he be pretending to be crazy?
But only now thinking to ask his name, then suspecting he was staging a collision right in front of him, and having someone investigate him right in front of him... Akai Shuichi barely accepted the reasoning that "mental patients could say anything without it being strange."
But Vodka's mentality was somewhat collapsing: "What's wrong with you? This guy is right there? How can you say these things in front of an outsider?"
"Oh, I'm not usually like this. It's just that he's too Gin-like, so I accidentally overlooked it. I'll be more careful next time." Usuha Izuki said lightly.
Vodka took a deep breath: "...Anyway, keep the person there and handle it well. I'll have someone check what's up with this guy."
Usuha Izuki hung up the phone, and only then did Akai Shuichi speak.
"If you want to know something, just ask me directly." His expression was calm. "From the sound of it, you don't seem to be ordinary people, right?"
Usuha Izuki seemed startled: "Ah? Did I give myself away?"
Akai Shuichi couldn't help himself: "You weren't even trying to hide it!"
"Forgetting doesn't mean not hiding it! Don't randomly pin labels on me! Be careful or no one will pay your medical fees!"
Akai Shuichi: "...Are hit-and-run perpetrators all this arrogant these days?"
Miyano Akemi worriedly moved closer: "Sir... he's only involved because of me. Could you let him go? He doesn't know anything and will keep quiet."
Usuha Izuki looked at her, then at Akai Shuichi, showing a confused expression: "So you two actually don't know each other?"
Miyano Akemi didn't understand why Usuha Izuki would have such a misunderstanding and quickly emphasized: "Really don't know each other! I just hit him with my car!"
Akai Shuichi was also quite puzzled: "Indeed we don't know each other."
"...I see, I misunderstood you two."
Usuha Izuki readily admitted his mistake: "I thought you looked a bit alike and were relatives conspiring to bilk money from the organization by claiming medical expenses, so I played a few little jokes on you... Oh my, so you really don't know each other. Then the medical fees will definitely still be paid, in my name, with a bit extra claimed."
Miyano Akemi: "............"
Where did she and this stranger look alike? And following the earlier logic, Moroboshi Dai was like Gin, she was like Moroboshi Dai—did that mean she was also like Gin?!
Cold-faced cool guy Akai Shuichi used all his strength to suppress his urge to complain.
What kind of weird assumption was that?! How could it get twisted to suspecting fraudulent claims?! Where would a low-level member get the nerve to make false claims? This kind of practiced slippery slope thinking—you're the one who makes false claims regularly, right?!
And saying he was just playing "a few little jokes"... that obviously mentally abnormal logic—was it an act or real? Even if it was an act, he'd still leaked quite a bit of intelligence!
How could the organization even recruit someone like this?! It was a miracle this guy had lived this long without being silenced!
—Or maybe this guy looked young but was actually a high-ranking core member?
Was his luck good or bad?
Akai Shuichi couldn't make a judgment for now.