Chapter 205
When Akai Shuichi received this email, due to the time difference, it was already late at night when he was about to sleep.
Of course, after reading this email, although he had been somewhat sleepy, he couldn't sleep now.
What did Usuha Izuki mean by sending him this email?!
This wording didn't sound like his usual ramblings that no one believed, but rather like he had finally confirmed a genuine case.
Akai Shuichi quickly recalled whether, besides himself, the FBI currently had anyone else in the organization who happened to be in America right now.
It seemed like there wasn't anyone. Could it be CIA personnel... but not necessarily. The organization assigned missions quite randomly, and if you were undercover with a false identity, how could they possibly assign you missions based on your original agency? He was FBI but was still in Japan.
But America... indeed many executives often went abroad on missions. However, Usuha Izuki seemed to have never left the country except for the Middle East, being quite immersed in Japan's environment and atmosphere, content to be a returnee.
Now Usuha Izuki, who couldn't be called when needed and wouldn't appear when not needed, had actually gone to America and genuinely caught an undercover agent...
Akai Shuichi couldn't help thinking, what kind of major operation was the organization conducting in America?
So he called his colleague.
Furuya Rei had the home field advantage. When undercover, he could occasionally return to the police headquarters. Although it was difficult for Akai Shuichi to return to FBI headquarters, finding opportunities to contact colleagues wasn't a problem.
"Shu!" Judy Starling was very surprised to receive his call, then immediately worried. "Why are you suddenly contacting me? Did something happen?"
"The organization might have some major operation in America recently. Be careful."
Judy immediately became serious: "Understood. What area roughly?"
"...I don't know."
Judy: "...?"
The usually reliable Akai Shuichi suddenly acting so unreliable made Judy think and find an excuse for him: "Is the intelligence source rather vague? Are there any other clues?"
"Botanist might be there."
Botanist.
Judy had seen this codename in Akai Shuichi's previous reports, but only sketches, no photos. It seemed he hadn't met with Akai Shuichi many times and there was no opportunity to photograph him.
Supposedly he was nominally the organization's person in charge of Middle Eastern smuggling routes—but he didn't actually take responsibility and was quite idle, often causing trouble, going around saying people were undercover agents. His relationships with organization members were all very poor, even somewhat ostracized. Plus, he became an executive because he was a second-generation member of the organization, so he seemed very unreliable. Even if caught, he probably wouldn't know anything.
Therefore, his importance had always been low priority.
But not long ago, Akai Shuichi had urgently sent intelligence saying that Botanist most likely already knew his identity, but he couldn't figure out where the leak was. He asked them to check whether the false identity they created for him was solid and if there were any possible leak opportunities... Only then did everyone take this guy seriously.
That was Akai Shuichi! Whether as an undercover agent or anything else, he was absolutely first-class, an FBI ace! How could he be discovered?! There must be a problem on their end!
But after investigating thoroughly, they found nothing and could only strengthen his false identity as a token effort.
To this day, how Botanist learned of Akai Shuichi's true identity and why he didn't report it to the organization remained a mystery.
The current FBI discussion result was hoping Akai Shuichi could probe and see if they could achieve cooperation—not asking the other party to betray the organization, just to provide convenience when they needed it. Of course, it wouldn't be for free. Whatever the other party wanted, they would try to fulfill. Or rather, this was even better because then they would have leverage over the other party for accepting bribes.
The problem was when they asked Akai Shuichi about the other party's hobbies, Akai Shuichi only said: "Forget it, it won't work."
How could it not work?! Anyone would have hobbies! If they had hobbies, they had weaknesses. Even if he came back from the Middle East, looking at his files, he wasn't raised to be some war machine but was actually quite lively... Could he be hiding it very deeply?
Akai Shuichi: "...He's not really hiding it. Rather, it's quite obvious, but ordinary people probably can't tell..."
Having said this much, Akai Shuichi could only provide evidence and sent photos he had taken of Usuha Izuki's home.
Yes, he couldn't find opportunities to photograph Usuha Izuki, but during his stay at Usuha Izuki's house, he naturally had opportunities to take indoor photos.
Looking at the photos, everyone fell silent.
Ah, this.
This pink piano, this skull, this green coffee table, this colorful chandelier hanging full of little stars fully satisfying a girl's heart, this spider doll stuffed halfway into an earthy-style vase...
This aesthetic sense was indeed difficult to fathom, making it impossible to know how to please him!
There was no way to distinguish what that guy considered beautiful versus what he found hideous. If the carefully chosen gift turned out to be the latter in his eyes, it might actually anger him instead...
Forget it, forget it. It seemed Akai Shuichi had it figured out, so let him judge how to handle it himself.
But before Akai Shuichi's side had any follow-up, the person in question had directly arrived in America... Judy became nervous.
"Could he be coming to find evidence or something? We've already cleaned up..."
Akai Shuichi was silent for a moment: "That guy has never been one to talk about evidence... or rather, if he had evidence, it would actually be easier to handle."
At least let him know where he lost!
But until now, it was just various indirect confirmations that he seemed to be exposed, without any substantial evidence. The other party kept playing dumb, putting him under great pressure, constantly worrying that Gin and others might also guess his identity from whatever flaw Usuha Izuki somehow noticed.
Judy: "..........."
"Anyway, check where he is now."
Akai Shuichi had investigated in Japan. Usuha Izuki's identity was legal in society. If he went abroad, he should be using this identity too. Investigating entry records and flight tickets should roughly determine his destination.
After handling work-related matters, since they were still boyfriend and girlfriend, Akai Shuichi caringly asked: "Your voice sounds very tired. Have you been working overtime recently?"
"Ah... there was a problem within the FBI."
Akai Shuichi immediately became tense: "What happened?"
Could it be that Usuha Izuki discovered his identity because he had an informant in the FBI?
That would explain why Usuha Izuki immediately said he was FBI when they first met—maybe he already had his information...
"No, no, no, it won't affect you. It's that Rock Blade guy wanting to play justice warrior and killing those bomb experts who came for the conference..." Judy quickly finished explaining, then sighed. "It's already over, just embarrassing in front of many foreigners. Fortunately, another group recently handled a case and finally restored some of our reputation... Let's not talk about this. I applied to support you in Japan next month. Is there anything you need to remind me about?"
Akai Shuichi relaxed again.
But how Usuha Izuki knew his identity had once again become a mystery.
After dutifully notifying colleagues and maintaining contact with his girlfriend, Akai Shuichi hung up and stared at the email, continuing to ponder.
Thinking calmly, there were two major possibilities for why Usuha Izuki sent him this email.
One was a kind reminder: The organization has already caught a genuine undercover agent based on my words. You should also be careful—run if you need to.
The other was a malicious warning: I've already decided to catch undercover agents. You're next.
The email was also watertight. Even if he was caught and the organization checked the emails on his phone and saw this message, they wouldn't think Usuha Izuki was tipping him off... maybe this email was even sent to multiple people...
Right, multiple recipients.
Akai Shuichi thought about it and sent an email to Scotland.
[Has Botanist said anything to you recently?]
He and Scotland were both snipers. Sometimes organization operations needed double insurance, and when he hadn't joined the organization yet and was just being exploited by Usuha Izuki as a middleman, Scotland was responsible for smoothing things over. So their relationship was decent, and asking this question didn't seem abrupt.
Most importantly, Usuha Izuki had also complained that Scotland seemed like Japanese Public Security. If it really was a group message and Scotland was also undercover, then Scotland's current mood should be similar to his...
But Scotland also wasn't asleep and quickly replied: [Not recently. The last time I talked to him was during New Year's. Why are you suddenly asking this? What's wrong with Botanist?]
Akai Shuichi: "................"
What? Could it really be that he only sent it to him alone?!
Could this really be a warning, meaning he was next to be caught...
Akai Shuichi's mentality was also becoming unstable.
Ominous, really ominous. If he wasn't careful, Judy wouldn't need to come support him in Japan next month—she could just stay in America...
Or maybe he should hope that Usuha Izuki was acting crazy again, not following normal logic, just simply sending him an email without actually planning to expose him now?
Akai Shuichi had already listed a series of plans in his mind.
He couldn't be scared away by just one email from Usuha Izuki, but preparations still needed to be made.
Actually, if it were just him alone, it would be fine, but adding his two relatives in the organization made it troublesome.
If he prepared in advance, he could take Miyano Akemi with him if exposed, but Miyano Shiho's security level was too high—he couldn't even make contact with her. Even the sisters' meetings were restricted, let alone others...
Akai Shuichi lit a cigarette, thinking while casually replying to Scotland's email.
[Botanist said he caught an undercover agent in America.]
Scotland knew that Rye wasn't the type to enjoy casual chat. After receiving the email, he was already very curious about what Usuha Izuki had done, so seeing the reply, he eagerly opened it.
"...???"
Scotland silently forwarded it to Bourbon.
Bourbon: "...???"
He calculated the time difference and called Usuha Izuki, who actually answered.
"Bourbon? What's up?"
"I heard you caught an undercover agent?" Bourbon, being an intelligence officer, always openly gathered information. "Who was it?"
Usuha Izuki answered casually: "You don't know them. More importantly, where did you get this information?"
Bourbon: "Well..."
"Even if you don't answer, I know. After all, I only sent this news to Rye." Usuha Izuki said with heartfelt pain. "That Rye guy really spreads everything around. If he's not an undercover agent, who is! I'll tell Vodka right away! Have him arrest Rye as soon as he returns to the country!"
Bourbon: "...Vodka is also in America?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Nothing, just asking."
Bourbon hung up and sent an email to Vodka.
[I heard Botanist caught an undercover agent? True or false? What's the situation?]
—With Usuha Izuki's level of calling everyone an undercover agent... was he making things up or was it a blind cat catching a dead mouse?