Inside the black Porsche 356A.
Vodka asked, "Brother, is Vermouth injured? She actually asked us to come pick her up."
"Unclear." Gin said, a flash of killing intent passing through his eyes. "But she told me she ran into Rye Whiskey in Osaka."
"Shuichi Akai?" Vodka exclaimed.
"Yes." Gin nodded.
"No wonder. That man is so formidable. It's only natural Vermouth got hurt escaping from him."
"Formidable?" Gin sneered. "If he hadn't been hiding all this time, he would have been assassinated by the organization long ago."
Vodka said weakly, "But in the past year or so, our organization has lost quite a few people to him, and we've never even wounded him once."
"..."
Gin didn't want to speak. Even his own subordinate was boosting others' morale while diminishing their own. He was really starting to lose faith in these teammates.
Just then, Vodka's tone turned serious. "Brother, it looks like a traffic cop has her eye on us. Should we run? But if we run, they'll definitely chase us. How about we just take action?"
"Traffic cop?" Hearing this, Gin glanced at the rearview mirror outside the car door and happened to see Kurosawa Hoshino running over from a distance, calling out to the female traffic officer.
"Brother, that high school detective is here too. Damn, we definitely can't bluff our way out of this. His deductions are so fast—he'll see through us in no time. Brother, when those two get close, I'll make my move."
After saying this, Vodka had already taken out his pistol and loaded it.
"Vodka." Gin's calm voice came out.
"Brother?"
"You're a bit too extreme."
"Huh?"
Vodka wondered if he'd had too much to drink and was hearing things.
"I said, you're a bit too extreme."
Hearing his brother's words again, Vodka finally confirmed he wasn't hallucinating.
"Brother, am I really that extreme?" Vodka asked uncertainly, completely baffled. He muttered inwardly, "Am I really too extreme? Compared to how Brother usually is, he's the one who's truly extreme."
"We're not far from Tokyo Station, and there are plenty of cameras on the road. If you kill a female traffic officer and a famous high school detective, are you sure I'll still be able to drive this car around casually in the future?"
"Uh, you have a point. But Brother, they'll be here any second. And with our clothes and aura, that high school kid will definitely sense something's off."
"Let them come. As for the clothes, who says we can't dress like this? Oh, and hide the gun properly. Don't expose it."
"Oh~"
Vodka trusted his brother completely. He obediently began disassembling the pistol and finally tossed it under the seat.
Meanwhile.
Yumi Miyamoto heard someone call her name. She turned, saw it was Kurosawa Hoshino, and smiled. "Hoshino, long time no see."
"Officer Yumi, what are you doing?" Kurosawa Hoshino walked up to her and glanced at the car ahead.
"I'm about to give that car up ahead a proper punishment." Yumi Miyamoto pointed at Gin's car and said irritably, "This isn't a parking spot. I thought he'd just stop for a moment and leave, but it's been ten minutes and he still hasn't moved."
——
——
Kurosawa Hoshino strongly suspected that Yumi Miyamoto might get shot by the two people in that car.
"Ahem, Officer Yumi, give them a chance. I'll go remind them."
"Hm?" Yumi Miyamoto was surprised and raised an eyebrow. "What, are they your friends?"
"I—"
"Officer, this is my car." Just then, a man's voice interrupted Kurosawa Hoshino.
He turned and saw a man in a suit, carrying a suitcase, looking somewhat haggard, walking over. But one of his feet looked extremely abnormal—as if he had a limp.
"Your car?" Kurosawa Hoshino narrowed his eyes, sizing the man up and down, then glanced at the black Porsche 356A ahead.
"..."
"Yes, my car." After answering, the man nervously watched Yumi Miyamoto.
"You—" Yumi Miyamoto was about to speak when Kurosawa Hoshino cut in. "Sir, what's wrong with your foot?"
"It's been like this since birth. It doesn't affect my driving."
"Is that so?"
"It's true."
"Heh~" Kurosawa Hoshino laughed, especially thinking of Vermouth, who had sprained her ankle last night, plus the fact that they were near Tokyo Station and Gin's car was here. Instantly, he realized this person was probably here to pick up Vermouth. If he wasn't mistaken, the man before him was Vermouth in disguise—otherwise, she wouldn't have come over to provide cover on her own initiative.
But he had no intention of exposing her. After all, exposing her wouldn't earn him any Source Points, and Gin was ruthless. If things went wrong, he might be fine, but he could end up harming Yumi Miyamoto.
"Officer Yumi, write the ticket."
Kurosawa Hoshino nodded at Yumi Miyamoto.
Yumi Miyamoto really wanted to say that she was the traffic officer here, but seeing Kurosawa Hoshino wink at her, thinking of the news about him and her best friend's evaluation of him, her heart skipped a beat. She nodded without showing any emotion. "Sir, please come with me over there."
She pointed to the police car in the distance.
And so, five minutes later, the man holding the ticket, pulling his suitcase, limped into the black Porsche 356A.
A few seconds later, the car started and drove away.
In the back seat, Vermouth, who had already removed her mask, turned to look through the rear windshield at Kurosawa Hoshino growing smaller in the distance. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, Gin's icy voice rang out. "What's wrong? Are you concerned about that female traffic officer, or the high schooler?"
A faint smile appeared on Vermouth's face. "The famous high school detective is indeed quite intriguing. I paid a bit more attention to him."
"Is that so?" Gin's voice grew even colder. "What did you say to that female traffic officer? Why didn't she come over to check? Instead, she just wrote you a ticket directly."
Vermouth thought of Kurosawa Hoshino, and also of the flaw in her foot. She felt the boy had seen through her, but simply chose not to expose her.
"Heh." She chuckled softly and said lightly, "Maybe that female traffic officer is just kind-hearted. She saw me limping, I said the car was mine, and she didn't think too much about it."
"I hope so." After saying that, Gin didn't speak again, as if he really didn't care about such a small matter.
But his attitude made Vermouth wary—at the highest level of wariness. "Something's wrong. Gin is usually so suspicious. Today, the process of me getting that ticket was clearly abnormal. He can't possibly let it go so easily. Sigh, it seems I'll need to keep an eye on that boy recently. I can't let him fall victim to Gin's poison."