The man who suddenly appeared had shoulder-length hair that fell to the nape of his neck, with black bangs swept to one side, revealing a pair of sentimental, melancholic purple eyes.
He was very tall, even slightly taller than Shuichi Akai.
Morofushi Akihiko glanced at the arm the other had placed on his shoulder and politely said, "Sorry, I'm not used to people being this close to me."
After speaking, he deftly avoided the other's proximity, smiling as he moved to the other side, creating a slight distance.
"Don't be so cold, Akihiko-chan," the man with shoulder-length hair said in a slightly slurred, almost coquettish tone. The last two syllables of the name were pronounced as if calling a little girl in kindergarten. He complained, "It's been so long since we last saw each other."
Morofushi Akihiko merely maintained a calm smile on his face, unaffected by his words.
Only after their exchange did Shuichi Akai look at Morofushi Akihiko and calmly say, "Aren't you going to introduce him?"
"Hey hey—Miki Kenji, Akihiko-chan's good friend," the man with shoulder-length hair cheerfully waved his hand without waiting for Morofushi Akihiko to introduce him. This overly lively, almost high school-like gesture felt completely natural coming from him.
Morofushi Akihiko then added, "We've met a few times."
"Oh?" Hearing this, Shuichi Akai let out a meaningless interjection.
"How cruel, reducing our relationship to just a few meetings with a single sentence?" The man who called himself Miki Kenji said this, though he didn't seem particularly bothered, even tilting his head slightly with a smile.
His slightly long black bangs naturally fell over his forehead, casting a faint shadow that shifted with his movement, partially obscuring those beautiful, glass-like purple eyes.
"But that won't do," the man with shoulder-length hair said slowly, pressing a finger against his cheek. "Because I'm leading this mission of yours. If we're too distant, we definitely won't be able to cooperate well moving forward."
"Don't you agree, Moroboshi-kun?" he said to Shuichi Akai, who hadn't introduced himself at all.
The long-haired man in the knit cap replied in his usual calm tone, unaffected, "I'm only responsible for completing the mission."
But Morofushi Akihiko could tell that Rye had heightened his guard—their past partnership hadn't been for nothing. In a sense, Morofushi Akihiko was currently the person in the Soshiki who understood Shuichi Akai the best.
He did it on purpose, didn't he? Morofushi Akihiko glanced at the smiling man with shoulder-length hair.
…
"Nope," the man in the driver's seat drawled, speaking to Morofushi Akihiko, who had separated from Shuichi Akai and gotten into the passenger seat alone. "I'm not that twisted, am I?"
"So it was on purpose," Morofushi Akihiko closed the car door, fastened his seatbelt, and said in an even tone.
"More importantly, saying we've only met a few times—even I'd feel a little hurt, you know? Hiro-chan," he complained.
"Sorry?"
"…So perfunctory!" the man with shoulder-length hair muttered before thoughtfully adding, "But more than that, did you notice something?"
"That Mr. Moroboshi has become quite famous in Soshiki recently."
"Moroboshi-kun's abilities are indeed outstanding," Morofushi Akihiko commented based on past experience. "He'll probably receive a Codename very soon."
The somewhat frivolous-looking young man with semi-long hair suddenly turned serious. "To receive such high praise from you? It seems there might be some truth to the rumors after all."
"Rumors?" Morofushi Akihiko repeated the word.
He knew that within Soshiki, there were always various messy rumors and hearsay. Back when he was undercover, he was the type who wouldn't even let such rumors slip by.
Of course, whether to believe them was one thing, whether he could extract any intelligence from them was another, but being aware of them was entirely different.
Scotch in Soshiki—he meant the former Scotch, not this undercover-turned-counter-undercover Scotch—had always maintained a quiet and steady persona, rarely initiating such conversations himself, but that didn't prevent these discussions from naturally reaching his ears.
Many people instinctively grew wary of intelligence agents but didn't apply the same caution to snipers who were also part of the Koudou-gumi.
Occasional complaints, unconscious slips of the tongue, moments of lowered guard after narrowly escaping death together.
So sometimes, the things he knew were even more… interesting than Bourbon's.
Now, hearing this word from the person in front of him, the first thing that came to mind wasn't the messy relationships and speculations within Soshiki.
The first image that surfaced in his mind was of sitting in an izakaya, with several peers holding beers and chatting among themselves. Among them, the tall young man with semi-long hair, his face tinged with a faint blush, happily told them about a girl from the neighboring class who had gotten together with a classmate from their own class.
The curly-haired one casually interjected a few words, and somehow the topic shifted inexplicably to another girl from the neighboring class whose mechanical watch looked interesting, asking if he could borrow it.
Then the class representative laughed heartily, and Zero leaned over to whisper to him that this side dish was really delicious.
Sometimes it wasn't just them; they'd bring along other female and male classmates from social gatherings, and the conversations always revolved around such topics.
Recalling these scenes, Morofushi Akihiko didn't let his mind wander. He still listened attentively to the words spoken by the person beside him.
"Because his mission completion rate has been very high lately, and besides—don't you think he's a lot like Gin-chan?"
Gin-chan… Hearing this address, Morofushi Akihiko paused oddly before speaking. "If you're talking about hair."
"Ah—speaking of hair, how do the two of them even manage theirs?" complained the young man whose hair wasn't that long but was indeed longer than the average male's and who always cared about his appearance. "I specifically asked Gin about it before, and he just pointed his gun at me! Don't you think that's totally excessive?"
"Such a good temper, Gin," Morofushi Akihiko remarked.
"Whose side are you on, anyway?" the semi-long-haired young man muttered indistinctly.
Because he had been driving the whole time, his gaze was mostly fixed ahead. He wasn't driving at extreme drifting speeds, just slightly faster than an ordinary car.
"Do you think if I asked little Moroboshi, he'd answer me?"
"Perhaps."
"But when it comes to Gin…" Morofushi Akihiko recalled past experiences and pondered, "Are you saying he'll become the second Gin?"
"Something like that," the driver replied. "They're both skilled snipers, both have long hair and green eyes. Most importantly—they're both very handsome!"
Morofushi Akihiko smiled helplessly.
"But you have a different opinion, don't you? I heard you've been working on missions with him lately," he asked.
The young man in the passenger seat looked out the window and, after a brief silence, spoke up: "I'm wondering if he might be Japanese Public Security."
"…"
"……"
The moment those words fell, the air in the car suddenly froze.
When the term "Japanese Public Security" was uttered, neither of them spoke immediately.
Morofushi Akihiko lowered his eyes, recalling every word and reaction from the other person since they met after landing.
He couldn't fully determine the nature of their relationship, but he knew very well just how perceptive this smiling, semi-long-haired young man truly was.
Subtle changes in mood, speech habits, or tone could all arouse his suspicion.
This was entirely different from dealing with Jinpei Matsuda or Wataru Date within Soshiki.
Jinpei Matsuda didn't care much about external matters and had a decent relationship with Scotch—friendly enough, but nothing more.
That level of relationship didn't prompt Jinpei Matsuda to actively probe him; at most, he'd just give a confused look like "what are you acting out now?"
Wataru Date and Taiska maintained more distance. From the start, he kept things strictly within the bounds of mission partners—at most, adding the modifier "colleagues who get along fairly well."
Neither of them had asked Scotch about his specific experiences. Any inconsistencies or doubts could be attributed to the two years he had disappeared, once they confirmed he was indeed himself.
…But the other two were different.
If they were just ordinary friends, it might not matter—after all, no one could prove he wasn't Morofushi Akihiko, and he could deflect any probing.
But… when that hand rested on his shoulder and his body instinctively showed no guard, Morofushi Akihiko knew there was a big problem.
Their relationship was closer than he had anticipated.
In this dangerous Soshiki.
So he first displayed an impossible sense of unfamiliarity and coldness, making the other person wary of Rye—Shuichi Akai—who was also present, due to his abnormal behavior.
Thus, he took control of the conversation. In the process, he could probe for the information he wanted.
His only advantage was that no one could deny he was "Morofushi Akihiko"—Scotch of Soshiki.
Rye couldn't be Japanese Public Security; the only "Japanese Public Security" here was him.
Morofushi Akihiko turned his head toward the driver's seat, addressing the person behind the wheel.
"So, did you find anything you were looking for?"
Those upturned blue eyes revealed no specific emotion. He paused, then calmly called out the other person's name: "Kenji."
—Hagiwara Kenji's reaction at that moment proved he had indeed been investigating Gong'an behind his back during this time.
Investigated… the official agency that Scotch infiltrated.
Hagiwara Kenji suddenly laughed.
"As expected, I couldn't hide it from you. Did someone tip you off?"
The young man with semi-long hair didn't pay much attention to traffic rules. He casually rested his left hand on the steering wheel, turned his head, and spoke in a soft, light tone: "After all, you never contacted me, which made me… very, very worried."
"—Scotch."