As the sun dipped below the horizon, the evening sky was painted with crimson clouds. Accompanied by the wail of police sirens echoing through the streets, the ordinarily peaceful countryside was shrouded in an atmosphere of unrest.
Kenji, who had been holding himself together through sheer willpower, finally lost consciousness the moment he was laid onto a stretcher.
The others were exhausted as well.
Before arriving, Jinpei and Wataru had already contacted the MPD to arrest the bomber who had been standing on the pedestrian overpass, eagerly waiting to watch Teitan High School be reduced to rubble.
Once they returned, they intended to interrogate him personally.
After finishing a phone call with Rei, Hiro looked toward Onizawa, who had just opened his car door.
Come to think of it, none of them had properly thanked him yet. If it hadn't been for Onizawa's outstanding performance today, things could never have ended so perfectly.
After all, if they had been even a few seconds slower, every one of them would have died in the explosion alongside Kuriyama.
"Onizawa."
Hiro called out.
"You're heading back to the MPD to file your report, right? How about I treat you to dinner afterward?"
Hearing Hiro's invitation, Ritsu genuinely wanted to accept.
Unfortunately, he had just received a message from Gin. Putting on an apologetic smile, he adjusted his glasses and declined.
"Sorry, I promised Akemi we'd spend the evening together."
Hiro's gaze drifted to the wedding ring on Onizawa's left ring finger. Chuckling awkwardly, he said,
"Haha... I completely forgot you're already a happily married man. Oh, right, I never actually congratulated you on your wedding. So, congratulations."
"In that case, you'd better get home. We'll take care of everything else."
"Thanks, I'll leave the rest to you."
Ritsu climbed into his car, shifted into gear, and sped away.
His crimson eyes flicked toward the rearview mirror. Judging by Rei's expression earlier, he had probably already begun to suspect something.
'I'd better clear away those doubts first.'
Hiro watched the sports car disappear into the distance before turning toward Wataru, who was busy fixing his hair.
"Class Rep, you aren't heading off to spend some alone time with Natalie too, are you?"
"Hm?"
Wataru laughed.
"Yeah, I am."
There wasn't the slightest trace of embarrassment.
After all, he and Natalie had already been together long enough to get past the so-called seven-year itch. Opening the passenger door, he added,
"But before that, there's somewhere I'd like to stop first."
Already seated inside his car, Jinpei rolled down the window and flicked the ash from his cigarette.
"Miwaka Cemetery, right?"
He grinned.
"You know, visiting a cemetery before a romantic date doesn't exactly sound like a good omen. Careful not to bring a ghost girl home with you."
Wataru shot him a teasing grin.
"If you're jealous, just say so. If I remember correctly, didn't you used to have a crush on Kenji's older sister? Want me to see if I can get you transferred to Kanagawa Prefecture?"
"When did you become such a gossip, Class Rep?"
Jinpei rolled his eyes.
"That was ages ago. I got over it. Who'd fall for a violent woman like her?"
Almost instinctively, his body seemed to ache.
Back then, after he had dismantled Hagiwara Chihaya's cellphone, she had beaten him up thoroughly.
Watching the two banter back and forth, Hiro couldn't help smiling as old memories surfaced one after another.
Looking up at the glowing evening sky, he quietly thought,
The living still had to keep moving forward. It was just that... the burden resting on their shoulders had grown even heavier.
"I already visited Ritsu."
Climbing into his Citroën, whose side was now scraped up thanks to Jinpei's driving, Hiro started the engine before dropping a sentence that completely stunned the other two.
"And... Maybe I won't have to visit him anymore."
"...???"
Watching the white Citroën drive away, Jinpei leaned his head out the window and shouted,
"Hey! What do you mean you won't have to visit anymore?! Hiro, get back here!"
Wataru narrowed his eyes before sighing.
"People who look gentle on the outside are always the darkest once you cut them open. He definitely said that on purpose. Serves you right for scraping his car that badly."
Jinpei coughed awkwardly.
"I didn't do it on purpose..."
He rubbed the tip of his nose, unsure whether he felt more embarrassed about damaging the car... or about his driving skills.
"Let's get going."
Wataru smiled.
"Let's all meet tomorrow night. I'm guessing Zero told him something important."
...
By this time, Rei had already taken the bus back to Tokyo.
Instead of going straight home, he stopped by a large supermarket to buy ingredients. He felt like making fish and chips for dinner.
Carrying a plastic grocery bag, he returned to his apartment building, only to see a familiar figure waiting downstairs.
His good mood instantly vanished.
Looking coldly at Augier, who was crouching beside the building playing with a stray cat, Rei asked impatiently,
"Mr. Augier, what brings you here?"
Without even looking up from the cat teaser in his hand, Ritsu asked,
"Bourbon, where have you been?"
Rei naturally lifted the grocery bag.
"I went to the supermarket to buy ingredients for dinner."
He answered without the slightest flaw.
"Did you come because there's a new assignment, Mr. Augier?"
"Oh. I see."
Ritsu stood up and walked over.
He tucked the cat teaser into Rei's grocery bag before flashing the same malicious smile Gin often wore.
"No assignment. I happened to come across a pretty nice cat teaser while wandering around, so I thought I'd give your pet a little present."
"... Well... thank you very much, Mr. Augier. You actually made the trip here just to deliver a cat toy."
Ritsu's gaze shifted to Rei's right hand.
The back of it still bore abrasions from struggling against the restraints during the kidnapping.
"What's up with your hand?"
Rei reacted almost instantly.
"I accidentally scraped it yesterday. It's nothing serious."
Ritsu tilted his head slightly.
His narrowed eyes carried a deeper meaning.
"I see..."
He spoke slowly.
"You should be more careful... Bourbon."
On the surface, he was deliberately reinforcing the illusion that Onizawa and Augier were two completely different people.
But in reality, this was also a warning.
Fortunately, the Organization hadn't learned about today's incident. Otherwise, Bourbon's identity as an undercover agent within the National Police Agency could easily have been exposed.
"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Augier. I'll be more careful."
Rei watched Augier ride away on his motorcycle.
Then he pulled the cat teaser from the grocery bag and tossed it straight into a nearby trash can.
As he climbed the apartment stairs, an uneasy feeling settled in his heart.
'What exactly did Augier mean by that? Has he been waiting here for a long time? Looks like I'd better reduce how often I meet with the National Police Agency.
For the time being... I shouldn't be exchanging information with Kazami anymore.'
...
Ritsu rode his motorcycle to a nearby intersection.
There, he found Akemi, already disguised as Hertz. He tossed her the spare helmet he kept on the back of the bike.
"When we meet Gin and the others later, don't be nervous. Just do exactly what I told you before."
Akemi nodded.
"I understand, but... you never told me how I should address you."
Ritsu smiled.
"The Organization only knows that I'm simply using you. So naturally, you'd be somewhat intimidated by me. You definitely can't call me something familiar like 'Takashi.'"
"It's better if you call me Mr. Augier."
"Understood. I'll cooperate."
"Good. Hold on tight. I don't want you falling off."
"Okay~"
----
bonus chapter every 20 PS
read ahead on my patreon(.)com/Siamus404