Amuro Tooru's killing intent radiated from his eyes, but of course, it couldn't harm the Goro Akechi in the video at all.
He shook his bloodied gloves, but couldn't get them clean. So instead of wiping them off, he simply pulled out his phone from his pocket and casually rubbed it against the camera lens before snapping a picture of the memory card.
"'Then my mission here is complete.'" Goro Akechi clapped his hands with excitement, walked over to the barely twitching Kazawa, and bent down with a smile. "'Just as requested... You can finally die now, Kazawa Akira. Congratulations.'"
He rotated the chair in front of him so it faced the camera directly. Then, slowly circling around to Kazawa's back, he grabbed the blood-soaked neck covered in wounds and forcibly lifted Kazawa's head.
Kazawa's face was covered with fine cuts and blood. His pupils were unfocused—clearly fading fast. It wasn't until Akechi waved the memory card back and forth several times in front of his eyes that Kazawa finally seemed to register what was happening and began to weakly struggle.
Akechi felt the slight movement in his grip and couldn't help but smile, amused by the reaction. His laughter grew louder and louder.
"'Hahaha, you've really got a lot of life in you.'" Akechi approvingly patted Kazawa's cheek, then roughly grabbed the blood-soaked tape sealing his mouth and tore it off. "'I honestly wanted to talk with you more... Parents willing to die for their child, and children willing to sacrifice themselves for their parents. Hahaha, isn't that admirable, Kazawa?'"
Though he said he admired it, his expression twisted grotesquely. The grin on his face combined with his fierce eyes gave him a deranged, terrifying look.
Kazawa no longer had the strength to react. His lips moved faintly, a trickle of blood slipping from the corner of his mouth. The prolonged torture and pain had caused him to bite through the soft flesh in his mouth and tongue. With his mouth now unsealed, the mixture of saliva and blood spilled down in streams.
"'Any last words, Kazawa Akira?'" Akechi leaned close, pressing his ear toward Kazawa as he grasped the back of the chair. After a moment without a response, he regretfully shook his head. "'Looks like you can't talk anymore. What a shame.'"
Turning away, he retrieved a compact pistol and suppressor from his suitcase and calmly assembled them.
Kazawa, now released, tried to move his mouth again, as if struggling to speak to whoever was watching the camera. But Akechi returned with the pistol, reaching out to cover Kazawa's lifeless eyes.
The blood on his glove trickled down Kazawa's face, like a stream of bloody tears.
"'Then, goodnight.'" Akechi wore his warm and gentle smile once more, aiming the pistol at Kazawa's temple.
Kazawa's lips continued to tremble slightly, as though using his last bit of strength to say something.
Bang!
The silenced gunshot was quiet, but to Amuro Tooru, it rang deafeningly in his ears. He instinctively dropped the phone and covered his ears.
The echo lingered for what seemed like forever, creating a sharp ringing that filled his ears.
Kazawa... what were you trying to say in the end?
Were you crying for help? Or cursing him?
Amuro Tooru breathed heavily and shut his eyes.
This wasn't the first time he'd lost a friend or someone important since going undercover.
He'd already lost so many. Too many. Sorrow and pain could no longer hold him. He'd long since learned to coexist with them, learned to bury emotions that didn't belong to Amuro Tooru deep within.
But...
Kazawa was only 18. He wasn't even as old as Amuro was when he entered the police academy.
He was just a normal high school student. Before falling into the abyss under the Organization's gaze, he still had the purest heart burning with justice...
And now he was gone. Right before escaping the darkness, in the place he called "home" for the past few days, he died in despair and agony, unnoticed and unheard. Even in death, he suffered cruel torment.
He was tortured to death in the attic of the café by an intruding stranger.
Amuro Tooru took several deep breaths and picked up the phone he had dropped.
There was another new email in his inbox. It must've arrived while he had been watching the video.
The sender's address was unfamiliar, but judging from the account details, this person was the one who killed Kazawa—"Kumell," the high school detective, Goro Akechi.
Amuro Tooru steadied his breathing. The expression on the verge of collapse gradually returned to calm.
He couldn't fall apart. Not now. He had too much weight on his shoulders. He didn't have the luxury to collapse.
...And now, that weight included the heavy life of Kazawa.
[Hi Bourbon-senpai~ I'm Kumell~ (^_-)]
[From now on, I'll be assisting you in your work. Please take care of me!]
[By the way, may I use the kitchen storage in the café? The attic doesn't have enough room for guns and blades… or if you have a better place, please let me know. Sorry to bother you!]
Maybe he hadn't expected the interrogation video meant for Gin to be forwarded to Bourbon. Or maybe he had and just didn't care. Goro Akechi's tone was courteous and respectful. Just from the way he filled the message with polite phrases and playful emoticons, it was hard to believe he was the same deranged executioner from the video.
Amuro Tooru's gaze turned ice-cold. He scrolled to the bottom of the email. Attached was a selfie.
In the photo was Kazawa Akira, smiling brightly with a peace sign.
He wore a brand-new Teitan High uniform. His eyes curved into cheerful crescents, revealing no flaws or suspicions.
But Amuro knew... that was no longer him.
Only now did he fully understand why Gin had included that extra line in the previous email: "He is highly skilled in disguise, sniping, and hand-to-hand combat." He now grasped the full scope of the Organization's plan for Kazawa.
The horrifying truth chilled him to the bone.
The Organization couldn't let Kazawa live—he was the son of the Kazawa couple, their enemy to the end. Whether he submitted or not, he would always be an uncontrollable threat.
But they also couldn't let him die—he was connected to multiple crucial research patents the Organization couldn't afford to lose.
So, after careful selection, they chose Goro Akechi.
Cruel and calculating, with mastery in disguise and essential skills for crime, he was a genius at changing his appearance. For someone his age, his talents outshone many within the Organization.
Though the full extent of control over him was still unclear, just from the video alone, it was obvious—his leash was tight. A single leak of this footage would make him a fugitive in any civilized country. He was a murderer doomed to be swallowed by darkness.
So this disguise genius murdered Kazawa Akira, then assumed his identity to live on as him. His guardian? Another Organization agent—Bourbon. In the end, even the last inheritance of the Kazawa family had fallen into the Organization's hands. And in the future, whenever anyone related to the Kazawa couple's research emerged, "Kazawa Akira" would serve as the perfect springboard.
A brilliant, vicious plan. A well-orchestrated show.
And yet it was Kazawa Akira—already alone and helpless—who was stripped of his life, his parents' mementos, whose miserable death was recorded like an accomplishment, and in the end, even his name and face were stolen.
The Organization devoured him completely.
And Amuro Tooru—Furuya Rei—had done nothing for him.
Amuro pressed hard on the phone, but the words he typed remained calm and polite.
[Hello. Gin told me about you. You may use the storage freely. If there's too much equipment, wait until I return and I'll help you organize it. Are you at the café now?]
Almost instantly, a reply arrived.
[Ok~ Thanks a lot! I'm at the café right now.]
Good.
Amuro Tooru restarted the car and stomped the accelerator hard.
He couldn't capture Kumell yet. He couldn't reveal the slightest suspicion. He had to maintain friendly relations with this new "colleague."
But he would teach this bastard a lesson. He would make sure Kazawa Akira didn't die in vain.
Kazawa... you really knew how to get under people's skin.
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