Accountability and Probing
Inside a coffee shop.
The booths, located in secluded corners and sheltered by greenery and bookshelves, create a cozy little world that's perfect for guests to discuss private topics they don't want to be disturbed by.
The blond, slightly dark-skinned youth leaned his arm against the table, his fingers interlaced, and said with a serious expression, "Rum has been held accountable, and this matter seems to be quite serious for the organization. I heard that the boss summoned him and Gin."
Sitting opposite Amuro Tooru was a black-haired, golden-eyed boy with a baby face that didn't look his age. He was listening to Amuro Tooru absentmindedly, his attention completely drawn to the cream cakes on the table. His slightly droopy puppy eyes were fixed on the bright red cherries used as decorations.
Amuro Tooru was preoccupied with some recent moves within the organization and analyzing the potential benefits of these changes, so he didn't notice that Tsurumi Kawaru across from him was distracted and focused on the small cake.
"...This might be an opportunity for us. The problems between Rum and Gin have escalated anyway; perhaps we just need to widen the gap between them..."
As he spoke, Amuro Tooru fell into deep thought, beginning to consider a series of feasibility possibilities.
Tsurumi Kawa gave a perfunctory reply, his eyes shining as he fiddled with the plate of small cakes, picked up the fork next to him, stuck the cherry on top, and then put it in his mouth along with the delicate white cream.
He squinted his eyes contentedly, finished most of the cake, and then Tsurumi Kawakami turned his attention to Amuro Tooru, listening to him talk about some of his upcoming plans.
Tsurumi Kawakami swallowed the last bite of cake, a hint of doubt appearing in his bright golden eyes: "Where's Ray?"
In the plans that Amuro Tooru had just described, Tsurumi Kawakami hadn't heard the name Rai, which he found a bit strange, so he interrupted Amuro Tooru and asked him directly.
Amuro Tooru paused, then gave a fake smile and said in a serious tone, "The Black Organization is, after all, located in Japan, while the FBI headquarters is across the ocean, making it inconvenient for Ray to provide support."
Tsurumi Kawakami had no doubts, and nodded with a sudden "Oh," saying, "Indeed, you've thought of everything."
After planning their next move, the two returned to their organization before 11:00 AM.
Upon returning, Tsurumi Ryu received a message from Vodka instructing him to go to a safe house. When he arrived there without stopping, he was met by Vodka with a gloating expression and Gin sitting expressionlessly on the sofa, maintaining Beretta.
Vodka winked at Tsurumi Kawakami, then turned and led him to Gin: "Big brother, Suzju is here."
Tsurumi Kawaru stood obediently beside the sofa with his arms pressed against his trouser seams, looking down with some curiosity as he watched Gin maintain his gun. The Beretta seemed to be Gin's favorite gun; he always seemed to be using it whenever he saw him.
Tsurumi Kawa was lost in thought when he suddenly heard Gin point to the opposite side and tell him to sit down. He hesitated for a moment, then obediently sat down and placed his hands on his thighs.
Gin looked up at him, a mocking smile playing on his lips, and said, "Hmph, Rum probably doesn't have time to bother with you right now."
Vodka chuckled twice. "Big brother, Rum must have really stumbled this time. His intelligence team actually produced such a traitor. If it weren't for the leak beforehand, the last assassination mission would have been a disaster—"
Gin glanced up at Vodka, who immediately shut his mouth and stopped talking. But from what he had just said, Tsurumi Kawakami had already figured out why Rum was being questioned.
Tsurumi Kawakami was somewhat surprised, and this was evident on his face. He looked up at Gin opposite him and said, "In the last mission, someone betrayed the organization and told the target about the assassination."
Gin curled his lips into a mocking smile. The frustration of the mission failure was overshadowed by the pleasure Rum felt after being questioned by the boss. He nodded in good spirits. "Heh, that traitor has been dealt with."
Normally, this kind of thing wouldn't lead the boss to hold Rum accountable, but before that, Rum's identity was discovered by the undercover agent in Scotland, and he almost exposed the organization's hidden network. These two things collided one after the other, and Rum couldn't escape the charge of dereliction of duty no matter what.
Of course, Gin was well aware of the boss's usual methods of suppression. As Rum's power gradually expanded, that man personally promoted Gin, putting him in a position to compete with Rum. After so many years of development, Gin had also gained the ability to rival Rum. This suppression was destined not to last long, because that man would not want to see Gin become the sole dominant figure.
Despite this, Gin's mood became wonderful after seeing Rum being suppressed.
Tsurumi Kawakami didn't quite understand the intricacies of the situation, but when he saw Gin's mood change, his intuition immediately kicked in. He stopped pressing the topic and instead asked Gin why he had summoned him.
Gin gave Vodka a look, and Vodka, understanding, took a piece of intelligence from the table and handed it to Tsurumi Kawaru. "This is the target for this mission. We'll depart at eight o'clock tonight."
As Tsurumi Ryu lowered his head, a very formal work photo came into view: a blue background, a suit and white shirt, a perfectly timed smile, and a pair of brown eyes looking confidently at the camera.
He glanced up at Gin and Vodka, then looked down at the confident young man named Uei, a graduate of the Department of Biology at the University of Tokyo, who was now a researcher at a research institute.
However, the latest update is that the other party resigned from that research institute last week.
Tsurumi Kawa placed the intelligence report on Uei that he had finished reading on the table, somewhat puzzled as to why the organization would kill such an ordinary person who seemed unremarkable from the intelligence report.
But Gin obviously wouldn't give him an answer, so Tsurumi turned his attention to Vodka, hoping he could provide one.
Vodka remembered what his older brother Gin had told him before Tsurumi Kawa arrived. Although he didn't understand what it meant, his brother asked him to pass on some information to Tsurumi Kawa, so Vodka did as he was told.
“…This kid stole some experimental data from the research institute. Our mission is to retrieve that data from him and, incidentally, eliminate the traitor,” Vodka said, pointing to the photo of Shangjing.
Tsurumi Kawakami blinked, his gaze sweeping over the intelligence report which clearly stated the research institute where Uei worked: "This research institute belongs to an organization."
Vodka nodded: "That's right."
A hint of understanding flashed in Tsurumi Kawakami's eyes. He nodded and said, "Then I have no further questions."
-
That night.
As autumn arrives, temperatures in Japan drop, and the evening breeze becomes cool after sunset. This transitional season makes it easy to catch a seasonal cold.
Tsurumi Kawakami changed into a black hooded sweatshirt with a cartoonish little monster printed on the chest, paired with black jeans and flat shoes, looking exactly like a college student who had just entered society, with a clear sense of naivety in his eyes.
Vodka looked him up and down, not quite sure how to describe his outfit, scratched the back of his head, and told Tsurumi Kawaru to get in the car.
Gin wasn't sitting in the passenger seat this time. Tsurumi Kawaru was startled when he opened the car door and saw the person sitting in the back. He hesitated for a moment before glancing at the passenger seat in front.
Gin glanced at him and coldly ordered, "Get in the car."
Tsurumi Kagawa abruptly withdrew his gaze, obediently got into the car, and Gin glanced at his clothes, his brows furrowing for a moment before tossing him a black backpack.
Gin: "You'll be in charge of getting close to the target later."
Tsurumi Kawakami hurriedly took the backpack. The black backpack wasn't very heavy, but it was bulging inside as if it contained a doll.
He unzipped the jacket and eagerly squeezed out the contents: two bottles of unbranded cleaning agents, a pair of slightly yellowed shoes, and a somewhat worn coat.
Tsurumi Kawaru stared at these things, his eyes practically overflowing with questions. He picked up the cleaning solution, glanced at it, and turned to Gin: "What are these?"
Vodka glanced back through the rearview mirror, and upon hearing Tsurumi Kawa's question, he chuckled twice and said, "Your identity is that of a university student doing door-to-door sales of cleaning products during a university internship."
Tsurumi Kawaru exclaimed "Oh!" and curiously applied some cleaning agent to the yellowed areas of the shoe. After waiting a few seconds, he found that the cleaning agent was indeed somewhat effective.
As Vodka drove, he said, "Jiro Uei is very vigilant. Since he resigned, he has stayed at home and hasn't gone out. He usually has takeout delivered to his door and waits a few minutes before opening the door a crack to get his food."
"This guy is a bit tricky. The fastest way to find the information he stole from the research institute is to start with him personally," Vodka muttered as he added.
Tsurumi Kawakami nodded, understanding his own role.
The car quickly stopped at an apartment building. Tsurumi Kawakami got out of the car with his backpack on, looked up at the apartment building in front of him, counted the floors, and then entered through the stairs on the right.
Room 405, Jiro Kamei.
He glanced at the house number, then knocked on the door with his finger. Before anyone could respond, he stated his purpose: "Hello, I'm selling cleaning products. Do you need any? They can be used on shoes, clothes, and bags. They can remove stains and moldy spots—"
Tsurumi Nagare was reciting a sales pitch he had memorized on the bus when the resident whose door was being knocked on seemed to realize what was happening and interrupted him.
"No need, please leave." A muffled male voice came from the closed door in front of him.
Tsurumi Kawakami blinked, looked around, and then fixed his gaze on the peephole in the door. He took a step back so that the person behind the door could see his whole body clearly.
"Mr. Shangjing, please take a look at our cleaning agent. I can let you try it for free. It can remove any kind of stain very well."
Tsurumi continued, his tone dry, with a perfectly timed smile on his face, giving off an air of refusing to leave.
Half a minute later, the tightly closed door opened a crack, revealing a completely dark interior, as if the lights were off. A pale hand reached out and beckoned to Tsurumi Kawa.
The room was filled with trash, the curtains were drawn tightly so no light could get in, the air was stuffy, and it smelled of junk food and leftovers, along with an unpleasant stench.
Kawai Jiro hadn't taken care of himself in a long time; he looked more than three or four years older than in that work photo, with greasy, messy hair.
Tsurumi Kawaru wrinkled his nose. "Mr. Kawai, where are the lights on in your house?"
"Ah, sorry, I'm used to being alone." Reminded, Kawai Jiro hurriedly went to press the switch for the living room light.
With a click, the bright incandescent light illuminated the entire living room. The glaring light made Tsurumi Kawaru squint, and in that instant, Kawai Jiro lunged at him with a ferocious expression.
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