The sound of conversation disturbed the white-haired young man's slumber.
With great effort, he forced open his heavy eyelids. What greeted him was a beige-colored ceiling with a small crystal chandelier hanging from it.
His head felt foggy, his limbs weak, and his throat unbearably dry. Ritsu ran his tongue across his cracked lips and weakly rasped,
"…I… want some water."
The moment Vermouth, who was seated nearby, heard him speak, she prepared to stand but someone moved faster than her.
The instant Vodka heard those words, he ignored Gin's reaction entirely and hurried toward the kitchen. He quickly mixed together hot and cold water he had prepared beforehand before rushing back into the bedroom carrying a glass of warm water, his face filled with concern.
"Here's your water."
Vermouth let out a sigh, clearly unable to bear watching anymore. She lightly kicked Vodka with her foot and said helplessly,
"Are you trying to wash his face with it?"
Was Vodka's brain filled with seawater from all five oceans?
How exactly was he expecting someone lying in bed to drink directly from a glass? Did he not understand the most basic idea of helping someone sit up?
Only now realizing his mistake, Vodka hurriedly supported the bedridden Ritsu under Gin's cold stare. Carefully, he brought the glass to his lips, moving slowly out of fear that he might choke.
As he sipped the water little by little, Ritsu quietly examined the furnishings in the room.
An unfamiliar environment.
European-style decor.
He had a faint feeling that he was no longer in Tokyo.
But… why was he here?
After being injected with the drug, Ritsu had completely lost consciousness, leaving him unaware that Vermouth and the others had come to rescue him.
Gin noticed the confusion in Ritsu's eyes. One hand tucked into his pocket, he said in a low voice,
"You've got a lot of questions, don't you?"
"…Yeah."
Even Vermouth had abandoned her usual playful demeanor as she said seriously, "You were almost killed by Rum."
Killed? By Rum?
Ritsu's heart jolted.
'Had Rum discovered his identity? …No, impossible.'
If his undercover status had truly been exposed, there was no way the three people before him would still be treating him like this.
"The human experimentation he's secretly conducting is still in the clinical stage. You should understand this sort of thing better than I do."
Vermouth stepped forward and pulled back the blanket covering Ritsu's body, revealing horrifying blood-red marks.
Looking down, Ritsu discovered purple-red bloodstains spreading outward from his heart all the way to his left shoulder before finally fading.
What kind of wound could even create something like this?
Right now, he genuinely felt as though all his medical knowledge had been for nothing. He couldn't make sense of it at all.
Reaching out, he touched the slightly raised bloodstains and frowned.
"Rum caused this?"
"Yeah. His human experiment was clearly a failure."
Vermouth covered him back up with the blanket before continuing, "Rum probably never intended to kill you at first. But he likely realized the experiment might fail, so he increased the dosage in hopes of gathering more data."
"So you stopped the experiment." Smart as ever, Ritsu immediately understood why he was still alive.
Vermouth and the others had most likely saved him.
"Exactly. You owe us a huge favor now. So how are you planning to repay it?"
Vermouth reached out and teasingly stroked Ritsu's cheek, dropping her serious act before even three full minutes had passed.
"…"
Gin's expression darkened instantly. "Vermouth. Focus."
"Fine."
Returning to the sofa, Vermouth crossed her legs and looked directly at Ritsu with her sea-green eyes. "Macallan, the Boss wants you dead."
The Boss wanted him dead?
Understanding the true meaning behind those words, Sasajima Ritsu frowned. "You want me to approach Rum under a new identity?"
"You're half right."
Vermouth folded her hands together and said seriously,
"The Boss wants you to become a blade in his hand under a completely new identity. As for approaching Rum, that'll require patience. We need to slowly uncover his goals and the forces backing him."
Vodka suddenly felt like he absolutely should not be here listening to this. He had heard far too much confidential information.
'Wait… they weren't going to silence him too, right?'
If the Boss hadn't sent people to save him, then he really would've died.
After lowering his head in thought for a while, Ritsu finally looked up again, his eyes filled with indifference.
He still remembered the four bullets Akai had fired at him.
Still… seeing panic in the bastard's eyes had made it worth it. At least Akai understood exactly what he had done.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Forget your old identity and live as someone entirely different. Your new identity has already been arranged. This is Zurich, you'll stay here for a while before returning to Japan once the time is right."
His old identity.
Nanase Tōru and Macallan had merely been fabricated personas that never truly existed. Who would've thought he'd have to completely reinvent himself twice?
Hidden beneath the blanket, Ritsu clenched his fists tightly.
What a cruel irony.
"Okay."
Gin stared deeply at Ritsu before saying, "Vodka. We're leaving."
"Huh? Aniki, we're heading back already?"
"Macallan's identity still needs to be dealt with. We need to find a suitable corpse… Rum isn't someone that easy to fool."
"Yes, Aniki!"
Before leaving, Vodka even gave Ritsu an encouraging thumbs-up gesture.
Watching the two men depart, Ritsu turned toward Vermouth. "You're not leaving?"
"Oh my, do you really want me gone that badly?"
"My body's covered in blood. I want to take a shower."
"Aren't you wondering where your wounds went?"
Ritsu froze for a moment, surprised that the woman had read his thoughts so easily. Left with no choice, he nodded.
"Yeah. I remember being shot in the left abdomen. That FBI undercover agent hit me."
To avoid suspicion, that was the only way he could refer to his brother.
"It's probably because of the drug Rum is experimenting with. During your treatment, we discovered all your wounds had disappeared. There wasn't even any trace of medicinal compounds left in your body."
"A drug that instantly heals injuries… that's pretty interesting."
Vermouth's expression immediately cooled. "Don't become interested in drugs like that. It's just like APTX4869."
"??"
"As humans, we shouldn't try to open Pandora's box. Children who steal forbidden fruit aren't liked by adults, you know."
Vermouth pursed her lips briefly before smiling again as though nothing had happened.
"Well then, go take your shower. The USB drive on the nightstand is a gift from me. As for your new identity… the documents are inside the folder in the drawer."
"Good luck, Handsome Guy."
"Okay."
Ritsu didn't rush to open the drawer or look at the contents of the USB drive. Supporting himself against the mattress with both hands, he shakily rose to his feet and slowly made his way toward the bathroom while leaning against the wall.
The moment he pushed open the bathroom door, the reflection staring back at him from the mirror felt completely unfamiliar.
His hair had turned white. Aside from the horrifying purple-red bloodstains, his body was smeared with dried blood of varying shades.
Ritsu slowly walked toward the mirror and stared at himself. At least traces of his original appearance still remained.
Picking up the scissors resting on the counter, he dragged the blade beneath his left eye, carving a cross-shaped wound into his skin.
Thankfully, his blood was still a vivid, piercing red. Dropping the scissors, he staggered toward the bathtub.
He filled it with cold water and lowered himself inside. Gradually, the clear water turned crimson.
A faint ring mark remained on the ring finger of his left hand.
His ring was gone.
That had been his final connection to Sasajima Ritsu.
Slowly, his body sank deeper beneath the water. As long as his tears mixed into the bloodstained water, no one would notice he was crying.
This time… it was truly goodbye.