Behind him, Yamawashi changed into a different set of clothes, taking off that restrictive black kimono and carefully tidying his cuffs.
You had better have a complete plan." Yamawashi raised his eyes and said calmly, "Scotland does not act impulsively.
Hiromitsu Morofushi froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Of course!"
Chapter 21
To investigate that mysterious high-ranking official named Aotsuki, Hiromitsu Morofushi had set foot on this island more than once; he was extremely familiar with everything here, making it easy for him to find the room where the registry was kept.
In the dead of night, the only sound was the rustling of leaves. Hiromitsu Morofushi shone his flashlight, searching carefully, while Yamawashi kept watch for him.
Found it.
He glanced at the door and flipped through the register.
【..】
【Kurumaru Soshi】
[Aotsuki]
[Kurosawa Jin]
【..】
Even the order was exactly as he remembered.
By tracking them down to this point, he has already been able to match every codename in the roster with their real names. For example, the Kurosawa Jin next to Aotsuki is Gin's signature. During the stage of hunting down the Organization's remnants, wanted posters were issued almost exactly according to this roster.
He flipped through until he reached the blank pages without seeing any unfamiliar names. Hiromitsu Morofushi refused to give up and carefully scanned every single blank page. Even after looking through them all, there were still none.
He closed the register, carefully placed it back in its original spot, looked at the young man standing at the door.
Standing guard at the door in the same manner, the feeling he gave off was completely different from when he was being prevented from leaving. If one were to say that as an opponent he brought feelings of helplessness and despair, now he brought a sense of peace. It was hard to imagine that the person who could make him feel this way—while he himself was lurking within the Organization, walking on thin ice—would be the very man he once guarded against most: Yamawashi.
Noticing his gaze, Yamawashi turned his head and made a hand gesture. Thanks to the investigation in France, he had briefly mingled with mercenary groups and understood the meaning of the signal; he was asking what was wrong or if there was a problem.
Hiromitsu Morofushi shook his head, restored everything to its original state, confirmed there were no flaws, gave a signal, then left quickly.
Yamawashi seemed to daze for a moment; Hiromitsu Morofushi turned his head and asked with a glance, only then did Yamawashi catch up.
On the way back, they both remained silent. Yamawashi did not ask him what he intended to do with this roster, acting as if he had only come to ensure that he wouldn't make a mistake and damage Scotland's reputation within the Organization.
Walking outside alone would easily arouse suspicion, but it was different with Yamawashi included; after all, they were a couple, the only two members of the Organization living together on the island. To keep an eye on him, Yamawashi had never even entered the room originally assigned to him.
Hiromitsu Morofushi thought of that room, which was almost diagonally opposite his own; it was the most secluded spot in the entire courtyard, aside from him, who was being kept confined by Yamawashi, no one would likely set foot there. Yamawashi liked quiet, so it made sense that he had allocated that place specifically for Yamawashi.
The facilities on the island were not new; the streetlights flickered, there was even a faint glow that made it hard to tell whether it was moonlight or lamplight.
Didn't you attend the celebration?
I didn't sign my name on it. If you're trying to use that to investigate my identity, you'd better give up on that idea early.
No wonder.. so it wasn't signed. Hiromitsu Morofushi suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and casually brought up a legend of the island: "They say mermaids bless those who leave their names behind with eternal life."
After saying this, he fell into silence without warning, Yamawashi, as expected, did not respond.
After another long silence, the person beside him said, "Yamawashi."
Aotsuki said impatiently, "Wha.."
He paused mid-sentence.
Those eyes were so clear, like the seawater and sky pushed aside by the hull when sailing toward this island; the gaze was so focused that it almost made one think he harbored no other schemes or plots, truly just simply hoped for an autograph.
He looked straight ahead and finished speaking, "What is it?"
That person used Scotland's voice and said, "Why not consider signing it?"
Aotsuki wanted to mock him, but facing that face and that voice, his tone was surprisingly calm as he spoke: "Don't tell me you actually believe there's such a thing as a mermaid."
"And what if I do?" Hiromitsu Morofushi said.
He once didn't believe that things like rebirth existed either, but the facts that happened to him shattered his boundaries of science and theology.
Scotland won't believe it.
“..”
Scotland wouldn't look at me like that.
Scotland wouldn't do that.
Scotland wouldn't
Why wouldn't Scotland believe it?" Hiromitsu Morofushi heard himself ask. "As far as I know, you have never discussed this topic.
Yamawashi did not answer. Hiromitsu Morofushi realized he had said something he shouldn't have and remained silent. The two walked into the courtyard one after the other, stepping over the same bluestone slab, returned to the room belonging to Scotland.
Hiromitsu Morofushi wanted to explain, but didn't know where to begin. He hesitated as he closed the door, but the moment he turned around, his pupils dilated in shock, he leaned back, narrowly dodging Yamawashi's leg.
He had experience and wasn't kicked, but he felt his neck throbbing with pain again.
Yamawashi?!" Hiromitsu Morofushi didn't forget to lower his voice to prevent being heard, but he couldn't hide the shock in his tone, "You.. wait!
After dodging another punch, he took the opportunity to grab Yamawashi's wrist. Just as he was about to speak to stop him, Yamawashi suddenly used his arm to lock his neck from an extremely awkward angle. By then, it was too late to let go; he was sent flying backward, crashing into a low table before slamming heavily into a cabinet with a loud thud, causing the ornaments on the cabinet to clatter to the floor.
Hiromitsu Morofushi clutched his chest in pain. He had personally confirmed it fourteen times, this was now the fifteenth; he could not win against Yamawashi in close combat. Yamawashi was like a flawless combat machine that disregarded his own safety, with unpredictable moves that were impossible to anticipate. His bones were flexible, allowing him to strike from even the most awkward angles, ignoring all rules of human physiology. His body was his best weapon, when he wasn't using that dagger, he was even harder to deal with than usual.
Yamawashi walked over quickly. Hiromitsu Morofushi thought it wasn't over yet, despite his meager defense, Yamawashi suddenly knelt down, pressed his hands against Hiromitsu Morofushi's shoulders, pulled his clothes aside to check him. After quietly sighing in relief, Yamawashi went to rearrange the low table nearby.
Hiromitsu Morofushi was completely bewildered, unable to understand what was going on. He moved the low table a bit closer to himself, providing a minimal form of defense, but then worried it might become a convenient weapon for Yamawashi to use against him, so after a moment of thought, he pushed it back to its original position.
He asked tentatively, "Are you angry?"
Yamawashi remained expressionless. Although he looked no different from usual, Hiromitsu Morofushi quickly reached the conclusion: Yamawashi was indeed angry.
He then asked, "Because of Scotland?"
Yamawashi was still tidying the ornaments that had been knocked into disarray. Upon hearing a certain keyword, his movements paused for a moment, but he said nothing, merely standing up to arrange those items neatly.
Only after everything was back in its place did Yamawashi finally speak, "Who do you think you are?"
Yamawashi turned around, silhouetted against the light, Hiromitsu Morofushi looked up at the person standing before him and offered an apology.
He felt that such an apology was meaningless, because he didn't understand at all what Yamawashi was actually angry about; no one needed this kind of apology. Even at this moment, he still felt that Yamawashi was speaking to him while suppressing anger, had not relaxed despite their brief exchange.
Yamawashi crouched down to meet his eyes. "What right do you have to talk to me about Scotland? Even if Scotland and I haven't discussed that topic, it's not your place to lecture me. Without you, I could discuss any topic with him right now. A guy who doesn't even dare to reveal his true face, stealing someone else's identity to put on a performance—don't get too caught up in the role, Inspector."
He deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of that last word, making it sound exceptionally piercing.
Hiromitsu Morofushi was speechless: ".. I'm sorry."
He had nothing else to say, could only repeat that apology.
Yamawashi stood up, he sat back down by the door, turning himself into a statue.
If you're done, go to sleep.
Hiromitsu Morofushi: ".."
Yamawashi turned his head and frowned. "What else is it?"
Hiromitsu Morofushi: "It's nothing."
Something was wrong; he suspected he had a bone fracture.
**
Yamawashi and Scotland began a cold war.
Rye was the first to notice.
He asked with interest, "Where did you offend him this time?"
Hiromitsu Morofushi did not answer directly, "Why do you say that?"
Rye teased, "Otherwise, you'd definitely be in a room with Yamawashi right now. Weren't you two inseparable a few days ago?"
Hiromitsu Morofushi: ".."
He had wanted to go out but was forcibly beaten back; if he had been able to defeat Yamawashi, he would have come out on the very first day.
The process was wrong, but the answer was correct. Hiromitsu Morofushi sighed inwardly; he truly lived up to the name Akai.
I always thought you and him were just in it for appearances, each getting what you needed from the other," Rye said, raising a hand in apology. "I was being too presumptive and misunderstood you both.
Actually, it wasn't exactly a misunderstanding, since even he had thought so before; he hadn't expected Yamawashi to feel that way about him.
I didn't expect you to be serious about Yamawashi.
Hiromitsu Morofushi froze. "Wait.. me?"
Rye did not grasp the true meaning behind his rhetorical question: "Of course, he is serious about you too.. even if there have been a few minor frictions between you two lately."
Hiromitsu Morofushi felt a faint pain throbbing in his neck and chest again, this could no longer be classified as mere minor friction.
Don't question a sniper's observation skills." Rye took a cigarette from the pack and casually offered it to the person beside him, showing no disappointment when it was refused. "Do you feel like he's always watching you, that you catch him every single time?
Before Hiromitsu Morofushi could say anything else, Rye wore an expression that said, "See, I told you so." He couldn't help but wonder what his own expression looked like right now, instinctively defaulted to a expressionless poker face, only to feel that it was far too much like Yamawashi, causing him to fall into a paradox.
“Because you look at Yamawashi much more frequently than Yamawashi looks at you. Do you know how many times you looked at Yamawashi during a single mission? Thirty-three times, that's not even counting when you were looking through your scope. At yesterday's celebration, Yamawashi had only been gone for a few minutes before you started looking for him everywhere.”
Hiromitsu Morofushi's face stiffened slightly, but fortunately, Rye was lighting a cigarette and wasn't looking at him.
I thought you two wouldn't last long and there wouldn't be much need to say anything, but now it seems that's not necessarily the case. We have some history, so I'll give you a little warning: don't get too deeply involved.
A thin veil of smoke drifted from Rye's lips. "I have no particular interest in your boyfriend; it's just that when you encounter such a mysterious fellow, it's hard not to pry a little. But I haven't found anything—Scotland, not a single thing. You understand what I mean.. people like that either have a dark past or a deep background, one wrong move and you're finished."
Forget it, just give me a cigarette." Hiromitsu Morofushi interrupted suddenly, using the movement of taking a cigarette from the pack to mask a trace of imperceptible stiffness, said with a forced, casual smile, "Why the sudden change of subject?
After all, you did remind me of something a while back, I owe you a favor." Rye shrugged, handing over the lighter as well. "How should I put it? I just hope everyone can have a proper ending.
Hiromitsu Morofushi smiled, feeling a sudden tightness in his chest.
It must be the injury left behind by Yamawashi last night acting up again, he thought. It really must be a bone crack, or perhaps a broken rib, otherwise this feeling would be far too..
This is terrible.
Chapter 22