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Chapter 10
October 14th, 2015—One Year Ago—Shanghai—Inside the AH32S helicopter cockpit
Inside the helicopter, the Robber Rabbit had a dream. Amidst the darkness, his final conversation with Fukuro across the phone replayed deep within his ears. He could still remember every single word they exchanged.
“You’re going to die because of me.”
He said so while grasping the hem of his hoodie, and looking down at the ground.
‘Now that isn’t correct. It won’t be your fault. That said, if you do feel bad…would you mind helping Suzuran? If things continue, she’ll be having trouble with Tsubaki in the near future.’
“Stop talking like you’re about to die! Why did you decline Tsubaki’s job?!”
‘But I didn’t. It was just obvious that I wasn’t feeling very motivated about it.’
“Tsubaki’s furious. She won’t be nice to an assassin who isn’t listening to their Handler’s orders. She will crush any pieces that won’t play to her tune… Even more so when it’s someone as strong as you.”
‘Dear me, what am I supposed to do then? I can deal with the welcome committee, but Tobi and Karasu are a whole different matter.’
“Just bring me to Tsubaki, then you’ll—”
Before he could finish his words, Fukuro let out a faint laugh.
‘You haven’t changed at all from the moment we’ve met. Even your life is a piece you’re willing to discard.’
“I’m being serious here.”
‘But I can’t do that,’ Fukuro responded with a calm voice.
The youth remained quiet for a moment, and Fukuro guessed that he must want to hear his reasoning for that. The reason he broke Tsubaki’s trust and didn’t agree to abduct the Robber Rabbit.
‘I still have to repay you,’ Fukuro said. ‘Do you remember, Robber Rabbit? It was thanks to you that I—’
2
October 14th, 2014—One Year Ago—Shanghai—At the Inchan 99’s heliport
Botan had her gun pointed at the back of Suzuran’s head. However, the moment she wanted to pull the trigger, a bullet pierced her own shoulder instead. She fell over and collapsed to the ground. Her arm holding the gun flopped down, as the bullet simply grazed Suzuran’s leg.
“What the…?”
Yodaka sounded genuinely surprised as he looked over to where the first gunshot had come from. From the nearby smoke appeared another bullet, shot from a rifle, which passed through his stomach. He went down on one knee to swallow the pain, showing a confused expression.
“The hell?”
The person who appeared from the stairs wore odd clothes just like Yodaka did, but they were even different from that. He wore a black combat suit like you’d see in an American action movie, a black silicon mask running down from his head with a gas mask covering their mouth. His eyes were hidden with goggles, too, as if they wouldn’t allow even the smallest amount of skin to be seen. He couldn’t look more suspicious. Meanwhile, as if they had planned it, Yodaka and Botan both started running, jumping across the fence and hid in the dead angle of the stairs. Suzuran then started walking.
“Ah, wai—”
Yodaka showed his face from across the corner, but another bullet grazed his face. He pulled back his face and hid beneath the heliport.
—Who the hell? Why is he helping Sis escape? Who would side with Suzuran this late into the game? Wait…it can’t be…
“You traitor!”
Yodaka roared in anger. However, other than himself and Botan, there was nobody else left on the heliport.
*
The reserve power turned on, and the electricity returned to the Inchan 99. Seeing this as a convenient turn of events, the man in the suit grabbed Suzuran by the collar and pushed her into the elevator. The other he filled with lead bullets to make sure they wouldn’t go after them. Inside, he massaged his shoulders. Suzuran sank to the ground and groaned, not moving at all. Yet, she kept on mumbling to herself.
“…I have to get after him.”
“After him? The Robber Rabbit? But you look dead, y’know. You’re not over that whole sound attack yet, are you? Tell me, how many fingers am I holding up?”
Suzuran didn’t react whatsoever. The man just looked into her eyes, pressing his index finger on her forehead.
“You haven’t forgotten, right? The guys who went after the guy were the biggest mafia group in Shanghai, the Kowloon Alliance. On top of that, you got that crazy bastard with his helicopter ready to fill you with bullets. Do you even have any chance at all? Huh?”
Suzuran closed her eyes. Beyond the darkness, she saw the youth’s face. His expression when she asked why he wasn’t Fukuro.
—It’s my fault. He probably wanted to reveal it all, but I wouldn’t let him.
He chose to keep it all stored away in his chest.
—I don’t know why, but…
Suzuran felt a heat continue to grow within her chest. She looked ahead, into the man’s eyes, and showed her determination.
“Don’t get all emotional because of the Rabbit. Not when you’re in that condition. Well, I’m going to buy into your determination at least. But you don’t even know where they went, right? And neither do the guys on the rooftop. So, what’s it gonna be?”
Suzuran started thinking. If there was one person who knew where the Robber Rabbit and Karasu went, it’d be her—Suzuran took out her phone and started putting in a number. After about thirty rings, the person answered.
‘Seems like those two failed. Even though I had Karasu help them,’ said Tsubaki with a sigh.
Hearing that, Suzuran felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart with a needle. What Yodaka said was true. Even though she had hoped even just a small bit that he was lying.
“Why did you cut me off, Tsubaki?”
‘Why? Because I knew you’d end up making trouble for us.’
“Are you saying I’d pull you down?”
‘Of course not. Nobody was as strong in terms of raw specs, other than maybe Fukuro himself. But since I killed Fukuro, I knew you would disrupt our work. Do you get it?’
The corners of Suzuran’s face raised. At first glance, it might look like she was smiling, but that wasn’t the case. She forced herself to show any kind of reaction.
“Did the guy who killed Fukuro…get hired by you?”
‘Not at all. I killed him myself. Using Tobi, Tsubame, Yodaka, Karasu, and Botan…as well as seven freelancers…to assassinate him. And we suffered six whole deaths. Most of the freelancers died without even accomplishing anything. But his pupils, though… They are different.’
A serious expression returned to Suzuran’s face.
“…I’m going to kill you.”
‘This is it. This is exactly why. You’re always different from the other guys. You always prioritized Fukuro over me. And you know? The best kind of hound is willing to even maul its own parent to death. Karasu, Yodaka, Botan, and Tsubame… They all understood that. Only Tobi said some confusing nonsense along the lines of “We’ll see if this bullet connects or not,” but he still chose the right person to serve. You’re the only idiot who wasn’t sure who to serve.’
Judging from her tone, she simply saw Suzuran as a hindrance to profit. Tsubaki’s words slowly entered Suzuran’s mind. Serve? Like a pet, almost. That’s how Tsubaki saw her. They were both just pets. All are under the control of the Handler.
‘And I used a lot of manpower, so I figured it would reach you eventually. Hence, I decided to get rid of you quickly and hired Ishihebi. But out of nowhere, he stopped contacting me. I knew it’d be too hard for just Yodaka and the others, so I hired some extra support, but these freelancers aren’t worth anything.’
“…Who cares about any of that?”
—That’s right. That’s not what’s important right now.
“Tell me… Why did you kill Fukuro?”
‘…He rejected my request to abduct the Robber Rabbit. No clue what was going on behind the scenes, and I honestly didn’t care. I don’t need any wild beasts who don’t listen to me. And of course, I couldn’t just let him go back into the wild.’
Suzuran didn’t waste another second with this conversation and slammed her phone into the wall, which made it snap in two. All small parts packed inside scattered everywhere like an explosion. Witnessing this, the man in the suit whistled.
“Not bad. I guess a smartphone can actually break just using the strength of a human. Learned something new today,” he said, half in admiration and half ironically, but Suzuran just ignored him.
She covered her face with both her hands.
—Tsubaki’s my enemy now. I can’t afford to chase after the Robber Rabbit now.
So she said, going down on her knees as she grit her teeth. The man with the silicone mask observed this and tried to get a look at her face.
“…What do you want?” Suzuran said, not trying to hide her disdain.
Who was this man, even? Since he hid his face behind the mask and goggles, it was impossible to read his expression. However, Suzuran could practically feel the smug expression he must have had. She saw people like him at the casino. They’re smiling because they hold all the cards in their hands.
“Hey, Suzuran… Did you know that sometimes, people try to steal the chips at casinos? They want money, after all. But the real money is hidden behind iron bars and security. So, they approach tables with high betting rates, and with the right trick, they can have the chips just fall into their bags instead. Needless to say, if it comes to major loss, they would just replace all the chips instead, and it’s easy to trace your footsteps with that kind of cash. But considering risk and return, there’s a lot of people who still go for it,” the man said, seemingly enjoying rambling on about the knowledge he had.
Though Suzuran didn’t know what he was on about.
“And that’s why the casino is rather fixated on countermeasures. For that reason, the major manufacturer Blooth & Bayatt came up with explosive ink. Just need three things to work, too. A battery, an ink pack, and a GPS. Every big-shot casino’s chips have them implemented. Any chips that aren’t recharged at the casino within 12 hours automatically explode. And any ink that’s been removed for that reason practically makes the chip useless on the black market. Plus, if that wasn’t bad enough, the moment they explode, the GPS activates and leaks the location of the person who’s got them.”
Suzuran finally understood where this was going. The Robber Rabbit scored a big win, and he still had all the chips of the millions of dollars.
“That explosive ink is still in its test phase. When the Rabbit and I snuck into Blooth & Bayatt, we found that information by chance. Karasu shouldn’t be aware of them yet.”
Suzuran audibly gulped.
—This is all far too convenient. Just who is he?
“Depending on the location we’re getting, I’m going after the Rabbit. Whether you follow me or not is up to you.”
“…Why would you go after him?”
“Because I’m his older bro.”
“…You’re the son of the Kurosaki Family?”
“Oh, you heard? Well, it’s not just that. He’s also my employer. And I gotta work my part, right?”
“Work your part?”
“To protect you from Tsubaki’s slaves. And to betray Yodaka and Botan, basically.”
Kurosaki removed the goggles and mask. Seeing his genuine face, Suzuran’s facial color changed. Her eyes opened wide as she swallowed her breath once more. Only then did she realize it all.
“…That Robber Rabbit is a damn liar.”
“What are you talking about? Is this about me being killed by someone?”
“So cunning.”
Suzuran showed a faint smile. She looked up at the ceiling and felt the air brushing against her cheeks. It felt almost refreshing.
“What about the remains on the accessories? The skin and the eye?”
“Oh, that? Remains from one of the freelancers that killed Fukuro. Dude killed four guys just using some needles, it was something.”
“…Ah, that.”
“The Robber Rabbit’s a goody-two-shoes. He said he prepared me, right? And Yodaka must have made it clear at the casino. They bought me with money.”
“I feel like he did…”
“He’s always honest. His bluffs are just invisible to us,” he said with a joking tone and offered a fist.
Suzuran seemed to hesitate at first but eventually agreed to the fist bump. His fist felt strong, so much so that it reassured Suzuran even though nothing had been resolved yet. She told herself that the Robber Rabbit would be safe, no matter who they were up against. Even Karasu himself—even the Kowloon Alliance.
“All right, now we’re in this together,” said Kurosaki with open arms as he screamed.
The tongue that appeared from his mouth was like a snake…or a lizard, the tip split in two. He blinked, which made his piercings shake, and the crescent moon within his iris shone as if to show his determination.
“I swear, he just keeps deceiving me…” Suzuran said, albeit not as disgruntled as it may have seemed, to which the son of the Kurosaki Family—Ishihebi—responded with a gleeful smirk.
“He keeps deceiving you? Well, duh. He’s a poker player, remember?”
CClaw Translations 