Chapter 212
The proposal for Samukawa Shinryu to become a Special Advisor was easier than it had been for Kudo Yusaku.
After all, regardless of anything else, Samukawa Shinryu was a legitimate Police Academy graduate—one of their own. And now that he wanted to resign, while not only Criminal Investigation Division One but other departments often came seeking help, if they could use the Special Advisor position to keep him, even if some people were envious or resentful, they wouldn't refuse for the greater good. After all, no one knew when they might need to ask for his help.
Plus, with this Plamia incident bringing great honor to the Metropolitan Police, the higher-ups would also feel it looked bad for a hero to resign at this time. Even if they were dissatisfied with Samukawa Shinryu's poor timing, the resistance was greatly reduced.
After the Criminal Division leadership discussed briefly, they roughly settled on the strategy to persuade Samukawa Shinryu—but the problem was, where was Samukawa Shinryu?!
They needed to contact him first, tell him about the new proposal, and confirm he would stay because of this before proceeding to the next steps. They couldn't have the Metropolitan Police complete all the procedures while he remained missing, leaving the Metropolitan Police waiting for him. The Metropolitan Police had face to maintain too!
Inspector Megure called in Hagiwara Kenji with a grave expression: "Since you have the best relationship with him, this critical mission falls to you. Please, as soon as possible, contact Samukawa-kun and tell him he doesn't need to resign—just a slight adjustment!"
Special Advisor—no need to work regular hours, come whenever he wanted, help with whatever cases interested him, help whoever he wanted to solve cases. The salary naturally couldn't be the same as a detective's, but it wasn't low either. Since it was reduced, correspondingly, the Metropolitan Police wouldn't restrict Samukawa Shinryu from taking outside work... This should surely keep him, right?
Hagiwara Kenji was also shocked by this sincerity. Based on his understanding of Samukawa Shinryu, Samukawa Shinryu probably really wouldn't refuse.
...But the prerequisite was that he had to find him!
Usuha Izuki, who had vanished from the Metropolitan Police's perspective, had actually just returned to the organization's house and removed Samukawa Shinryu's SIM card.
He had no idea the Metropolitan Police would make so many concessions to keep him—he simply didn't want to hear persuasive words, so he planned to let things cool down first and talk when everyone was calmer.
Usuha Izuki was really enjoying himself at home. Miyano Akemi would come over to clean and cook whenever she was free, but this time when Usuha Izuki returned, he found Miyano Akemi's situation was a bit strange.
"Akemi, I said yesterday that I wanted to air the bedding today, right?"
"Ah! I'm, I'm sorry, I forgot!"
The visibly distracted Miyano Akemi panicked and looked up at the sky after being reminded, then sighed in relief: "Thank goodness, there's still time. I apologize—I'll go air it right away."
Usuha Izuki sat on the sofa, watching Miyano Akemi bustle about thoughtfully, then suddenly asked:
"Did you encounter some trouble?"
Miyano Akemi froze, then smiled bitterly: "It's nothing much, just that my application to see my sister was rejected..."
"I see..." Usuha Izuki blinked. "Why do I feel like you're lying to me?"
Miyano Akemi's heart suddenly stopped.
Oh no, the situation seemed to be getting troublesome. Could Botanist-san have already guessed?
Because Usuha Izuki rarely came back, Miyano Akemi was too used to cleaning alone here. Calculating the accumulated time, it was already comparable to the time spent in her own apartment.
So even though she knew this was an organization executive's territory and had heard of Botanist's strange reputation, in actual interaction, Miyano Akemi felt Usuha Izuki was actually quite easy to talk to. Over time, when cleaning here, she would unconsciously enter a relaxed state.
Like having her body do the work while her mind thought about other things...
Sure enough, bad habits should be corrected promptly. Unfortunately, her realization seemed too late now.
Actually, her current anxiety was, in a sense, related to Usuha Izuki.
Not long ago, that guy called Rye who had once lived here for a while suddenly came to her and asked for her hair, with the reason being "Botanist keeps saying we were relatives running a honey trap back then. I want to slap him in the face with a paternity test."
Miyano Akemi hadn't seen any problem with it then, just sympathized with Rye. Being so serious about everything would make life very tiring.
But a few days ago, Rye had approached her again with a grave expression, bringing a blood relation certificate.
"Miss Miyano Akemi, we are probably cousins."
Miyano Akemi: "...??? Did Botanist-san tell you to say this?"
Rye: "..........."
He knew his sudden statement would be hard to believe, but this reason was too...
Usuha Izuki really was like a lingering ghost.
Rye had worked hard to explain, but Miyano Akemi had a sister who was an executive. She herself was extremely vigilant, and with Usuha Izuki having discussed this topic before, she naturally found it unbelievable...
Finally, Rye had to let Miyano Akemi take his hair and personally go to a testing center for a report before she reluctantly accepted the truth.
"...Botanist-san actually got it right..." Miyano Akemi was dazed. "When we clearly met for the first time... and we don't look very much alike..."
Rye sighed: "That's the more important thing I need to tell you... Akemi, I'm FBI."
Miyano Akemi: "You bribed that testing center? What did Botanist-san threaten you with that you'd actually admit..."
Rye: "...No, actually I suspect he knew my identity from the beginning and investigated me, which is why he could be so accurate then..."
The progress bar almost went back to square one. Anyway, Rye spent much more effort than should have been necessary to finally convince Miyano Akemi—they really were relatives, he really was FBI, and everything Botanist said was right.
Miyano Akemi apologized: "Because of Botanist-san, all these words sounded like jokes."
"...I can understand."
"Rye-san... sorry, I'm used to calling you that. Are you asking me to provide intelligence now that you've revealed everything? But I'm just ordinary low-level personnel who really knows nothing about the organization's secrets and can't help."
Miyano Akemi was very wary of this relative she'd never met who suddenly appeared and revealed everything at this time.
Rye could understand. Actually, strictly speaking, he had no feelings for Miyano Akemi either. He was mainly considering his mother's feelings, thinking that since he'd encountered his mother's sister's daughter, he should save her if possible.
"I'm not here for that. I just want to ask—do you want to leave the organization? The FBI can help you."
Miyano Akemi asked cautiously: "What about my sister?"
Rye's expression showed no flaws: "...That would be much more difficult, but it's not completely impossible to try. It would definitely require your cooperation though."
Because of this conversation, Miyano Akemi had been thinking about it for the past few days, today also unconsciously worrying about whether to trust him, and if she trusted him and failed, what the consequences would be... She accidentally let Usuha Izuki see through her.
Considering that Usuha Izuki had known about her blood relationship with Rye from the beginning, Miyano Akemi decided to reveal part of the truth to hide the part she couldn't say.
No matter how kind Botanist-san was and how he'd hidden this for them so long, she was still clear about what should and shouldn't be said.
"...Actually, Rye suddenly found me a few days ago, saying he and I really are relatives..."
Usuha Izuki smiled: "Oh—he's really slow. So have you officially acknowledged each other as family now? Should I help you hold a banquet to publicly announce the relationship?"
Miyano Akemi quickly refused: "No need to trouble yourself! And actually I still can't accept it—it was too sudden..."
She hadn't even told Shiho about this yet. Suddenly having a cousin appear, she was very confused. Shiho was so young, she'd probably be even more confused. Plus she had to consider the defection matter... And when meeting Shiho, there were always organization people watching, making communication difficult. This was also troublesome...
"Alright, so did he only tell you this?"
The silver-haired, green-eyed youth's tone was light as he interrupted Miyano Akemi's thoughts.
"Did he ask you to run away with the FBI?"
Miyano Akemi: "...!!!"