Chapter 189
Finding out whether he and Miyano Akemi had any blood relationship was very simple.
He didn't even need to hide anything. The day after completing his mission, Akai Shuichi directly found Miyano Akemi and asked her for hair with follicles.
Miyano Akemi was confused: "...Ah? Why?"
She and this Rye didn't seem very familiar, right?
Although initially she had accidentally hit Rye with her car, later because Mr. Botanist was very enthusiastic about compensating him for her... uh, though it seemed to turn into scamming Rye midway, it did extract her from that traffic accident.
So she continued as before, just periodically going to Mr. Botanist's house to clean, without needing to be responsible for the injured Rye. Plus Rye and Mr. Botanist didn't get along well, so she hadn't seen Rye in a long time and even thought she'd never see him again.
Yet Rye suddenly showed up today asking for her hair...
Miyano Akemi was very wary.
Akai Shuichi had already thought of an excuse and wasn't afraid even if Miyano Akemi spread it around: "Botanist brought up that topic again about us being relatives conspiring in a honey trap to scam the organization. I don't want him constantly talking about this, so I'm asking for your cooperation to do a blood relationship test. Next time I'll throw it in his face."
Miyano Akemi, who had been full of conspiracy theories, instantly calmed down upon hearing it involved Botanist: "I see, I understand. Please wait a moment."
Akai Shuichi: "..........."
He had to admit, sometimes Usuha Izuki's reputation was quite useful... especially when doing strange things. It seemed that once people heard it was because of how Usuha Izuki was, they could instantly accept anything.
And looking at Miyano Akemi's reaction, she also didn't think they were really relatives, meaning Usuha Izuki's information source had nothing to do with Miyano Akemi. So what other sources could there be...
Although he felt going through all this trouble just for a joke was very fitting for Usuha Izuki's character, Akai Shuichi still felt somewhat uneasy.
Miyano Akemi carefully found a small bag, put several strands of her hair inside, then handed it to Akai Shuichi: "Please."
"Thank you." Akai Shuichi took the bag. "Sorry for the trouble."
"It's nothing, just a few strands of hair." Miyano Akemi smiled and shook her head. "But can cousin relationships be detected?"
Akai Shuichi nodded: "Yes, they can."
"I see..." Miyano Akemi hesitated to speak.
Akai Shuichi directly asked: "Is there something else you want to say?"
Miyano Akemi smiled embarrassedly: "Well... actually, Mr. Botanist is quite nice, he just likes joking around. His jokes might sometimes be a bit excessive, but that's also because he didn't have many friends in the Middle East before... Please don't be too hard on him."
Akai Shuichi: "...I understand."
Another person making excuses for Usuha Izuki...
But he knew this wasn't because Miyano Akemi had strange filters—Usuha Izuki probably really hadn't tormented Miyano Akemi much.
Recalling Vodka's complaints that Usuha Izuki's attitude toward Vermouth was also good... that guy really had gender discrimination?
Akai Shuichi grumbled internally as he said goodbye to Miyano Akemi, then immediately took her hair to a private testing center for expedited processing.
No need to trouble FBI people for this kind of thing. He felt Usuha Izuki probably didn't have the spare time to track him and modify test reports—just avoiding the organization would be enough.
Besides, he wanted to settle this quickly, not wanting this matter to keep him in suspense, so finding a reputable and reliable testing institution would suffice.
With the power of money, results came out quickly.
Akai Shuichi went straight to the conclusion.
"...?!?!?!"
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Akai Shuichi's hands, which never shook during sniping, nearly couldn't hold these few lightweight sheets of paper.
The similarity of mitochondrial DNA from the maternal line between him and Miyano Akemi—if this data was real...
At this moment, Akai Shuichi's mind was rarely completely blank. If someone had approached with a gun right then, he might not have been able to react.
The nurse had seen many people who couldn't recover for a long time after receiving test reports, so she patiently waited a while before smiling and asking: "Sir, do you need any other assistance?"
Under the nurse's call, Akai Shuichi finally came to his senses.
Although he'd investigated very carefully before coming, at this moment Akai Shuichi still couldn't help asking the soul-searching question: "This test report of yours—is it accurate?"
The nurse's smile became much more formulaic: "If you don't trust it, sir, you can choose other institutions for continued testing. We don't refund fees here."
"...Mm."
Akai Shuichi silently took a deep breath, folded the report with unsteady hands, and stuffed it into his coat pocket—to be safe, he'd go find another place to test once more.
Akai Shuichi wasted the entire day on kinship testing.
Unless all institutions conspired to create fake results just to deceive him, then he and Miyano Akemi's mother were probably sisters.
His choice of which institution to use was random. If Usuha Izuki could still track him to create fakes under these conditions, then he'd accept it.
Akai Shuichi went home and stared at the several reports spread on his table, smoking half a pack of cigarettes before feeling his brain could finally think about more complex matters.
—For instance, if Usuha Izuki even knew he and Miyano Akemi were cousins, then he should have long known about his identity too, right?
Although yesterday Usuha Izuki said he'd only let him ask one question, he'd actually answered both questions, just that Usuha Izuki hadn't told him how he knew.
But how was it done? Had he investigated Miyano Akemi?
But if Usuha Izuki could investigate, hadn't the organization considered investigating? Miyano Akemi's sister Shiho was a scientist the organization valued highly. He'd heard their parents were also organization members, so the organization should have paid close attention.
Even if they really wanted to investigate all the way up to the siblings of the Miyano sisters' mother and even the children of those siblings, they should have stopped when they reached his mother, because his mother had joined Britain's MI6 and her related materials had been "processed."
So the organization should theoretically be unable to investigate his FBI identity through Miyano Akemi's line.
Moreover...
The day Miyano Akemi hit him was her first day working at Usuha Izuki's place. Usuha Izuki shouldn't have had time to investigate anything, yet still said they looked like relatives and he looked like FBI the moment he saw him...
This was absurd!
That's why he'd always thought Usuha Izuki was just talking nonsense and got lucky with his guesses! If Usuha Izuki might not have been talking nonsense but came prepared...
Honestly, the moment Akai Shuichi realized this, his brain went completely blank, and when he came to, he felt like he'd broken out in a cold sweat.
He'd been discovered by an organization member on his first day undercover—even before successfully joining the organization—yet remained completely unaware while thinking he'd successfully deceived everyone... Not even horror movies were this terrifying!
However, he could confirm that although Usuha Izuki constantly said he was FBI, no one in the organization believed it.
And Usuha Izuki... didn't seem to genuinely want to convince others to believe him, otherwise he wouldn't always say those things in such a frivolous manner and in situations where he wouldn't be taken seriously, but would directly present evidence to nail him down.
Akai Shuichi closed his eyes, and Usuha Izuki's poison-like treacherous green eyes in the night involuntarily appeared in his mind.
He... had constantly reminded himself to be cautious, but apparently still underestimated the person he should least underestimate.
How much intelligence did Usuha Izuki possess? Why did he create an untrustworthy image in the organization?
What unfathomably deep secrets were hidden beneath his always joke-like attitude?
...How terrifying. That guy was only seventeen or eighteen when they first met, right? Even then he'd already fooled this FBI agent completely. Clearly looking back, Usuha Izuki had been so obvious, yet strangely conveyed an unreliable image—such high-level technique.
Just his personality was a bit problematic... no, he couldn't be sure if it was a personality problem or a mental problem.
But it was also thanks to Usuha Izuki's bizarre thought process—knowing everything yet not informing the organization, his dislike of FBI didn't seem fake either, just purely toying with him for fun... wait.
Could it be that Usuha Izuki actually knew his mother?! He hadn't contacted his mother in a long time. If this was true, everything seemed to make sense...
No, he shouldn't preset positions—he still needed to investigate properly... Sigh, he wondered if asking Usuha Izuki again, would he still be willing to answer his questions properly.
Akai Shuichi really wanted to know what had happened yesterday that could make Usuha Izuki happy enough to reveal these things to him.
Could these conditions be recreated? He wanted to ask several more questions...
Although quite frightening, since Usuha Izuki had never actually turned him over to the organization, Akai Shuichi quickly realized he might be able to probe and see why Usuha Izuki was willing to help him hide this, whether cooperation could be achieved.
So he organized his thoughts, worked up his emotions, and called Usuha Izuki.
Based on Vodka's complaints and his personal experience, Usuha Izuki's phone was usually very hard to reach. Akai Shuichi had prepared to call twice daily for a month before possibly having someone answer once.
But very miraculously, this time he'd barely called before Usuha Izuki answered.
Did this mean Usuha Izuki had actually been waiting for his contact?
This had a certain degree of possibility, indicating Usuha Izuki was also waiting to meet with him, leaning toward cooperation...
"Botanist, it's me." Akai Shuichi was slightly nervous.
No help for it—Usuha Izuki's image in his mind was now too unfathomably profound. Plus he still couldn't figure out the other party's thought process or purpose, putting him at a disadvantage in negotiations. He could only compensate with caution.
"Hm? What do you want?"
Akai Shuichi chose his words carefully: "It's about what you told me before... the DNA test results for me and Miyano Akemi are out."
Usuha Izuki's tone sounded shocked: "You really went to get tested?! Are you that idle?!"
"...Didn't you say I'd regret it if I didn't test?"
"I was just talking casually. I didn't expect you to work so hard just to slap my face." Usuha Izuki said, "Fine, now you know you're not relatives and didn't pull a honey trap. Anything else?"
Akai Shuichi's train of thought became disconnected: "...???"