Regardless of all that, there was a very serious problem at hand.
Kaito glanced down at the ground—a distance high enough to trigger anyone's acrophobia—and said, "Uncle, how are we supposed to get down?"
"Hold on tight, and don't wiggle."
Satoru Gojo's voice sounded right next to his ear, sounding perfectly relaxed.
"Eh?"
Before he could react, the white-haired Clan Head had already scooped him up with one arm. A sudden sense of weightlessness washed over him, and Kaito instinctively wrapped his arms around the man's neck.
No, no, no—is this guy actually planning to jump straight down?! You've got to be kidding me!
"Wait a second, we're gonna die! Aaaaaah!"
Satoru leaped into the air toward the adjacent building, sprinting across the roof ridge as if it were level ground. His toes hooked onto the tiles for leverage as he dove toward a nearby maple tree. After landing on a branch, he performed two quick leaps across a row of stone lanterns on the left before finally landing steadily in front of Aoko.
The entire sequence took less than ten seconds; neither of the two children could quite track what had happened.
Kaito Kuroba felt the world spinning. The moment his feet touched the ground, his collar was already soaked with cold sweat.
"Kaito, are you okay?!"
Aoko rushed over immediately, seemingly checking to see if his body had shaken apart.
"I'm fine..."
Aside from feeling a bit lightheaded, he was alright.
A nine-year-old girl is naturally full of imagination. Having just witnessed a live-action display of "wall-running," her eyes were sparkling with excitement and admiration. "Brother Gojo, how did you just do that?"
"That?~ I studied Chinese Kung Fu for a few years. It's a piece of cake."
It wasn't convenient to explain the truth to them yet, so for now, everything was attributed to "mysterious power from the East."
"Wow, I want to go to China and see for myself! Does everyone there know Kung Fu?"
"Pretty much. Everyone rides a panda to get around, too."
"Eh—really?!"
Once Kaito recovered, he saw the sly upward curve of Satoru's lips and knew that the man's mischievous streak—the one that loved scaring people—was acting up again.
The trust he had managed to build up just moments ago was now in critical condition.
At least give me a warning! Jumping off a roof without a word... no matter how skilled he is, he's totally unreliable.
The Kung Fu excuse for the roof-hopping was one thing, but... he still couldn't figure out the teleportation.
Dammit, I really want to crack his technique!
"Scared you, didn't I?" Satoru casually pulled out a piece of konpeito candy and handed it to the dazed boy. "Here~ have this."
The wrapper for this one was blue, forming a matching set with the pink one he gave Aoko.
Hey, hey, are you a wholesale distributor for these things?!
"Don't treat me like a three-year-old." Even as he complained, Kaito took it anyway.
Fine. One day, I'll figure out this gigolo uncle's secrets... just like I'll find my dad's whereabouts one day.
Unknowingly, the sky grew dark; it was time to leave.
After having dinner together, Satoru sent a driver to take the two children home.
Aoko had a wonderful time today and waved to him as she left: "Brother Gojo! Can I come back and play with Daifuku again next time?"
Satoru had always been fond of innocent, simple girls like her, so he replied with a smile: "Of course. The Gojo house is always open to little Aoko."
He then shifted his gaze: "If Kaito wants to stay over, I wouldn't mind either~"
The black-haired boy protested, "If I don't go back, Grandpa Jii will worry!" However, he seemed to think of something, and his tone turned awkwardly soft. "...It's not like I'm never coming back."
Watching the car disappear into the night, Satoru Gojo hummed a pleasant tune.
Even little Kid has a cute side.
Heaven knows, the impression points he gained today surpassed the sum total of the past few months. It was truly touching.
When he first became Kaito Kuroba's temporary guardian, Satoru spent quite a bit of time trying to deliberately get close to him, but it all proved ineffective. Today, by sheer accident, the barrier was broken. It was a victory worth celebrating with ten cups of milk tea.
Even though there was plenty of paperwork to handle... since he had slacked off all day, Satoru didn't mind slacking off for the rest of the night. It was like doing winter break homework: the self-consolation of "I don't feel like doing it today; one more day won't hurt."
He sprawled out on the tatami mats scrolling through his phone, with the round Daifuku resting on his chest.
"Absolutely zero messages..."
Recently, there hadn't been any big news within the Organization.
Since he had been busy with family affairs and stopped taking on field missions, few code-named members bothered him anymore. Aside from bulletin-style notifications—like map updates for safehouses, training grounds, and meeting points—his inbox was as quiet as a grave.
The Mexico branch had been taken back over by Sarelo, and with Tequila and Sake watching over things, nothing major would go wrong. As for the U.S. branch, that guy Rum didn't get along with him and couldn't wait for him to leave.
Even the "Old Man" (The Boss) hadn't called him lately, which was strange.
Oh, right—didn't he send a text to Gin earlier today?
Satoru checked his records. There was no reply, only the status: "Read."
Leaving me on "Read" without replying? How! CRUEL!
Looking back over the texts from the past six months, Gin had ignored or brushed him off more than half the time.
[6.8 / 18:03] Kaiser:
The coffee beans Calvados sent over are pretty good ^v^
[6.13 / 6:00] Gin:
Are you serious?
[7.16 / 5:08] Kaiser:
My divination says you have a severe Vitamin C deficiency. Need the Gojo family's new health tea? I'll give you a 1% discount, don't thank me ♡
[7.18 / 7:28] Gin:
...I wouldn't take it even if it were free.
There were plenty of messages like these, but Gin had never just left him on "Read" like today. Intuition told Satoru that his "best friend"—the one who provided him with the most impression points in this entire world—was intentionally dodging him.
But why?
He didn't believe for a second that anyone could be so busy they couldn't even reply to a text.
Unable to figure it out, Satoru chose the simplest method: ask directly!
Meanwhile, in a safehouse in a certain district of Tokyo.
The night had thoroughly saturated the sky. Gin leaned against the iron railing of the balcony, shrouded in a cloud of smoke.
Wisps of smoke escaped from his thin lips, curling up along his jawline. The cold wind whipped the hem of his black trench coat, revealing the cold, hard silhouette of the holster at his waist.
Vibrate—
He heard his phone buzz in his bulletproof inner pocket just as he extinguished his third cigarette.
Thinking of the nonsensical message he received earlier today, he didn't even need to look to know who it was.
Vibrate— Vibrate—
The persistent ringtone echoed through the quiet house as if it would never end.
Gin flicked his lighter to ignite a fourth cigarette, staring at the name displayed on the screen. It was quite a while before he finally pressed the answer key.
"Hello, Kaiser?"