Chapter 92
On the airport bus, the Sumiyoshi Group thug who had received instructions from Executive Ikawa suddenly stood up, pulled out his gun and shouted at everyone around him.
"Nobody move! I'm just settling accounts with one person—this has nothing to do with any of you! As long as you don't act rashly, you can all leave once we stop!"
After saying this, he pointed the gun at the driver: "Exit the highway at the next intersection and drop me off."
The driver was sweating profusely, but since it didn't sound like robbery or murder, he felt it was manageable. Plus, training had covered how to handle this kind of situation—prioritize the safety of most passengers on the bus.
He looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the passengers all seemed frightened, with no apparent intention of fighting back. So there was no need for him to risk angering the criminal—just drive obediently.
Satisfied to see the driver heading in the direction he'd specified, the gunman left his seat and walked toward the person he'd been watching for a long time.
Aoike Toko sat in a rear seat of the bus, with the suitcase containing 100 million yen beside her.
Since boarding, he'd noticed that Aoike Toko, probably due to exhaustion from her injuries and escape, had watched out the window briefly before closing her eyes to rest. If she didn't occasionally open her eyes to check the time, he would have thought she was dying.
Originally he hadn't wanted to alert her, planning to wait until they reached the airport where his brothers would be ready before dealing with her. But since Executive Ikawa had ordered him to turn off at the next intersection, the brothers must be prepared, right?
In that case, he didn't need to hold back. He'd finish this quickly before the police arrived.
In the dead silence of the other passengers, he walked to Aoike Toko's side and grinned menacingly, pressing the gun to her forehead: "Run? Keep running? You stole so much money and really thought you could escape?"
As he spoke, his other hand reached for the suitcase.
At this moment, Aoike Toko, who had only weakly opened her eyes to glance at him when he hijacked the bus without any other reaction, suddenly threw herself over the suitcase.
He immediately became irritated.
At this point, why wasn't this woman giving up? Did she still think she could escape?
True, he couldn't kill her under so many people's watchful eyes—after all, if he could cause less trouble for the group, he needed to restrain himself. And even without shooting, he could overpower a severely injured, dying woman.
Very weak, but endless struggling was indeed annoying.
The thug grabbed Aoike Toko and threw her aside, then snatched the suitcase from her arms.
The moment he got the suitcase, he immediately realized the weight was wrong.
The thug quickly opened the suitcase to check, only to find that the 100 million yen in bills that should have been inside had completely disappeared... No wonder she hadn't wanted him to touch the suitcase earlier—she was afraid he'd discover the money was missing!
He immediately grabbed Aoike Toko by the collar with a fierce expression, demanding harshly: "Where's the money? What did you do with it?"
Aoike Toko was breathing rapidly, barely having strength left to speak, but still managed a cold laugh before closing her mouth and saying nothing.
The thug's face immediately darkened. He wanted to beat Aoike Toko to force a confession using conventional methods, but seeing the blood seeping through her clothes and her deathly pale face, he worried that one punch might kill her.
Then he wouldn't have found out where the money went, and he'd have killed the only person who knew...
The thug felt he should beg Aoike Toko to hang on a bit longer, at least not die on his hands...
Right! Executive Ikawa was driving behind them waiting! Once they stopped, he'd hand her over to Executive Ikawa. If she died then, he could shift some of the blame!
Thinking this, he quickly ran back to the driver and urged him: "Just stop there! Don't keep driving! Can't you stop there?"
The driver tremblingly stopped the bus and opened the door, hoping these dangerous people would quickly leave his vehicle.
But the thug wasn't in a hurry to get off. He just eagerly looked outside, and when he saw the familiar license plate and Executive Ikawa, his eyes lit up as he got off to greet them.
"Mr. Ikawa! That woman Aoike Toko is on this bus! But..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw Executive Ikawa eagerly run to the other side of the car to help open the door for someone.
However, the other person didn't seem very appreciative, raising his hand as if Ikawa was in the way. Executive Ikawa immediately stepped aside consciously, making way for the other person to walk directly toward him.
The thug met those dark red eyes and froze in place.
When that person passed by him, he paused slightly and said coolly: "Give me the gun."
"Yes." The thug reflexively offered his gun with both hands.
That person nodded, gripped the gun, and walked toward the bus.
It wasn't until that person's figure entered the airport bus that the thug barely came to his senses: "M-Mr. Ikawa, is that person... the Young Master?"
Although the oppressive presence was indeed ridiculously strong, he seemed rather young—probably the Young Master, right? If it were an ordinary executive, the next family head couldn't suppress people at all! The Sumiyoshi Group would fall into his hands sooner or later!
Executive Ikawa was startled—this question really hit the mark. He actually didn't know either, so he could only answer vaguely: "Don't talk nonsense. The higher-ups have their own ideas."
The thug nodded repeatedly.
Samukawa Shinryu had already boarded the bus.
The normal passengers had been somewhat restless after the gunman got off, but when he boarded, they immediately fell into deathly silence again.
He didn't care though, just walked halfway and suddenly turned to someone: "You get off first."
That person stood up in panic: "Y-yes... yes!"
He was also from the Sumiyoshi Group, who had discovered Aoike Toko together with the previous thug. When he saw the other taking the lead earlier, he'd pretended to be a passenger as backup.
But when the bus stopped and an unfamiliar boss got on, he'd been hesitating whether this boss was from their group or an enemy group coming to steal the kill, when the other person recognized him.
Then he must be one of their own! From his bearing, definitely the young family head!
Who would have thought the high and mighty young family head would even look at materials on bottom-level personnel like them, and could even remember what he looked like... He was truly moved!
When the Young Master took power, he would definitely serve him with utmost dedication!
He wanted to get off quickly, but as soon as he stood up, he noticed the Young Master frown.
What was wrong?! Had he done something inappropriate?
He quickly looked down to check and found that since he'd been the only one left on the bus earlier, as a precaution he'd gripped his gun with one hand and had unconsciously taken it out now...
How could he be so rude in front of the Young Master! The Young Master wouldn't think he had ulterior motives, would he?!
He quickly placed the gun on the bus seat with both hands, indicating he had no other intentions, then bowed while backing toward the door.
Samukawa Shinryu, who didn't know the other person at all but just saw this guy had problems, picked up the gun, and the next second, the weapon was disassembled into a pile of parts that fell back onto the seat.
The person almost at the door gasped and scrambled off the bus.
Aoike Toko, who had been silently watching this scene, showed a puzzled expression.
Samukawa Shinryu walked over: "Miss Aoike."
Aoike Toko laughed coldly and said weakly: "I... will absolutely never let you people like this..."
The young man who by all appearances belonged to the dark world she despised said: "I'm a police officer."
Aoike Toko: "...?!?!?!"
The bystanders nearby who also heard this had their expressions crack.
This joke wasn't funny at all! Look at yourself—where do you look like police?! If you're police, why did those two dangerous guys listen to you?!
In the moment Aoike Toko was stunned, Samukawa Shinryu lifted her coat to check the bleeding situation and estimated blood loss: "You can still be saved. Don't move now—the ambulance will arrive soon."
Then he glanced at the opened suitcase and picked up the phone that had fallen to the ground to check it, finding it stopped on Twitter.
Looking at the Twitter content, he pondered briefly, then bent down to whisper in the dazed Aoike Toko's ear.
"I know where you put the money. If you die, I'll have people track down the vehicle—there's still time now. But if you live, I'll pretend not to know—you donated it to the International Girls Rescue Center, didn't you?"
Aoike Toko looked in shock at this dangerous-looking young man.
She had actually prepared herself for death.
Deceived by men, exploited by yakuza, implicated in suspended sentences—despite wanting to live properly and work seriously, even studying hard for certifications, she was repeatedly rejected because of her past experiences.
When she finally found new work, she discovered it was still a shop controlled by yakuza, and she'd become a tool for money laundering... She fell into deep despair.
Even if she reported to police, they wouldn't help her find new work... She no longer wanted to sell herself.
She hated yakuza so much that when she discovered what she thought would finally be a new start had again trapped her in the yakuza world, she couldn't help but become self-destructive and desperate.
When she found herself severely injured with no way to escape with the money, she discovered an advertisement for the [International Girls Rescue Center].
In her life, no one had ever extended a helping hand to her, but before dying, she might be able to help other girls.
So she converted the money into equivalent gems, sewed them into dolls, and mailed them to the International Girls Rescue Center.
As long as her package reached the cargo plane and the plane took off for overseas, it couldn't be retrieved. Before then, all she had to do was buy time and prevent anyone from discovering the money's trail.
With her blood-loss-blurred vision, she checked the time and found there was still almost an hour before she could ensure the package wouldn't be retrieved.
"Can you hold on?" the suspicious young man asked.
Aoike Toko took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and her strong will to live cleared her head somewhat: "...I can."
She had no good feelings toward police. Police had never appeared when she needed help, and this police officer...
Just revealing the gems' whereabouts would be an achievement—would he really not tell anyone?
Or had he already told others and was just trying to deceive her?
She didn't trust police, much less this guy she didn't even know was really police. She had to personally confirm the package's whereabouts.
Hang on a bit longer—hopefully the doll carrying her dreams could fly into the sky and help other girls around the world who needed rescue.
Samukawa Shinryu got off the bus.
The situation outside was completely different from when he'd boarded. On one side were several plainclothes police, on the other several Sumiyoshi Group thugs in a standoff. They even looked like they'd already scuffled once, but since neither side had guns or couldn't conveniently use them, it still looked relatively peaceful.
Seeing Samukawa Shinryu emerge, Executive Ikawa was immediately alarmed.
"Please go back quickly! These people are cops!" Executive Ikawa shouted. "The gun! Please give the gun..."
He wanted to say please return the gun to us, when he saw the Young Master he'd identified frown and ask the cops over there.
"Where's the ambulance? Why isn't it here yet?"
The cops actually answered him: "Soon, one more minute and it'll arrive... That gun of yours...?"
"It's not mine."
The young man released the safety and casually fired a shot toward the Sumiyoshi Group side, the bullet precisely grazing Executive Ikawa's cheek.
This was a warning shot.
"All of you raise your hands and kneel down."
All the Sumiyoshi Group members: "...?!?!?!"
One of them even cried out with a betrayed expression: "Young Master?!"
"I'm not your Young Master." The young man's expression was cold, the gun muzzle casually turning toward the speaker. "Cooperate—I don't want to kill anyone."
He paused, then added honorifics.
"Please."
Everyone: ".................."
Officer Shima painfully covered his face.
—Using honorifics doesn't make people forget how outrageous your previous statements and behavior were for a police officer!!! Samukawa Shinryu! Prepare to write a self-criticism!!!