December 1st, Saturday
After quite some time, the mission sent by Gin required going out of town and surprisingly, Akai would be accompanying him. That caught Ritsu off guard. It seemed this mission was fairly important.
After boarding the Shinkansen, Ritsu checked the email Gin had sent ten minutes earlier. Just from the subject line, he could tell today's task wouldn't be simple and it was likely related to the development of APTX4869.
[Gin: You and Rye will go to Kyoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Their main R&D department is secretly researching drugs related to longevity. If the information is useful, copy it. If it's not, destroy everything. There's no need to tell Rye the specifics of the mission, he doesn't have clearance.]
A drug related to longevity… The organization clearly cared a lot about that word.
It was hard not to suspect that the boss behind the scenes might be an old man nearing natural death. However, based on Gin's message, there was no mention of APTX4869 so he still didn't know that the direction of that drug's research was also tied to longevity.
After putting away his phone, Ritsu looked at Akai, who was resting with his eyes closed, and said,
"Follow my lead for today's mission. Keep a low profile."
"Mm, understood."
After a 2-hour and 18-minute ride, they successfully arrived in Kyoto. This wasn't Ritsu's first time here but every visit had been for missions, not sightseeing.
There was still some time before the operation began. The first thing to do after arriving in Kyoto was eat.
People are like iron, food is like steel. Skip a meal and you'll feel it. Having skipped breakfast, the two of them quickly found an open ramen shop nearby. They got lucky, it was a popular place. The menu strongly recommended their special tonkotsu tsukemen.
Unlike typical tsukemen noodles, this shop used handmade thick noodles. The light yellow strands looked a bit like udon, though slightly thinner.
The dipping sauce, almost like curry in consistency, was incredibly rich. The slices of chashu pork were outrageously generous. Each piece nearly the size of a palm, heavy even when picked up with chopsticks.
Ritsu picked up a portion of noodles, dipped them into the sauce, and slurped them up with ease. The chewy texture carried a subtle sweetness, combined with the broth made from sardines, kelp, and pork bones.
It was impossible to stop after one bite.
With a slight squeeze of his chopsticks, he split the soft-boiled egg in half. The yolk oozed out, mixing into the sauce and coating the noodles, reducing the saltiness while adding a richer texture. The flavor lingered pleasantly in his mouth.
"Can I have another bowl?"
Ritsu paused mid-motion, frowning as he looked at Akai. "If you want more, order it yourself. Don't tell me you expect me to treat you?"
Akai's face practically said 'Isn't that exactly what you're supposed to do?' He calmly turned out his left pocket.
"I didn't bring any money."
"…"
"I'm not full yet. So can I have another bowl?"
Ritsu felt a string of unrepeatable curses rising in his throat. The corner of his mouth twitched, afraid that this unreliable "older brother" might later use "I wasn't full, so I couldn't perform well on the mission" as an excuse to screw him over.
With a dark expression, he said, "Eat."
'Eat yourself to death.'
Akai happily freeloaded two bowls of delicious ramen. It wasn't that he had deliberately left his wallet behind. Recently, most of his income had gone into modifying his Chevrolet. Even if he had brought it, there wouldn't have been much money inside.
Besides, freeloading off organization members? He felt absolutely no guilt. In fact, it was rather enjoyable.
The mission target, Kyoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., was located at 2-19 Kusakodacho, Minami Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture. It wasn't far from the local police station, and even relatively close to the city hall.
Sitting in a nearby Starbucks, Ritsu, well-versed in computer systems, disassembly, and related knowledge, naturally excelled at hacking. His long fingers tapped rapidly across the keyboard as he searched for information on Kyoto Pharmaceuticals. They needed to forge employee IDs to enter the building openly.
This was one of Akai's weaker areas. Staring at the code made him sleepy. Taking small sips of the iced Americano he'd mooched, he asked, "So my job is just to cover you later? But I should say in advance, I don't know anything about pharmaceuticals."
"I've already considered that. I'll feed you the answers through the earpiece, just repeat what I say. You can manage that, right?"
"Yeah, that's fine." Watching Ritsu successfully infiltrate the company's HR system and input their data, Akai said casually, "You'd make a good member of the intelligence division."
"Please spare me. I don't want to die young from overwork."
Handling the research division alone had already been exhausting. If he had to take on intelligence work as well, he'd have no time left to sleep.
Well… maybe he would.
Just not in a normal place. More like lying in a morgue, permanently.
"Done."
After entering their information, completely fabricated identities, of course, Ritsu set up a contingency. Once they got what they needed, activating the virus he planted in the system would automatically wipe all data clean. That way, there'd be no risk of their appearances being remembered.
Taking out the prepared ID badges, they clipped them onto their chests. Ritsu then put on the organization-issued operational glasses and checked the time on his watch.
"Twenty minutes until the operation. Review the floor plan. As for surveillance, don't worry, I've already handled it."
"Oh?"
"Exactly what you're thinking. While entering the data earlier, I also took control of their surveillance system. We'll just erase the footage when we leave."
Akai suddenly felt that working with Ritsu was incredibly easy. He anticipated every possible scenario in advance. Despite possessing overwhelming strength, he always prepared for the worst.
It was precisely because of this caution that he had risen so quickly within the organization, even cultivating his own influence.
Like Rena, codenamed Kir, an intelligence agent as capable as Bourbon. With someone like Ritsu leading, she would likely go even further.
It was a shame such talent couldn't be used by the FBI. Worse, he stood on the opposite side.
Thinking about the FBI's upcoming operation, Akai finished the last sip of his coffee. His dark green eyes narrowed slightly.
'If the plan succeeded, the next target to capture… would undoubtedly be Macallan.'
Sensing Akai's gaze, Ritsu instinctively clutched the pocket containing his wallet, his expression turning displeased.
"You're not thinking about my wallet again, are you?"
"…"
Sometimes, Ritsu would suddenly act in ways completely unlike his usual self. Especially when they were alone, he tended to give in to him more than expected. That puzzled Akai.
After considering many possibilities, he arrived at a conclusion. Ritsu probably liked Akemi, and was therefore extending that consideration to him.
If Ritsu knew that's what Akai was thinking, he'd probably explode like a pufferfish. The reason he treated him better in private was because he already knew this man was his real older brother.
"No. I've eaten and drunk enough."
"Good."