The unnamed forest near Maruhakayama Kofun in Gyōda City, Saitama Prefecture, had never been developed into a campground, so very few people ever ventured into its depths.
The woods were dimly lit. Even in the middle of the afternoon, the towering trees blocked out much of the sunlight, allowing only scattered rays to filter through the gaps and fall upon the damp earth. It had rained in Saitama earlier that morning.
Rei parked his car in a nearby parking lot before heading into the forest alone.
Before stepping inside, however, he didn't forget to retrieve the P230JP pistol that Hiro had hidden beneath the passenger seat as a backup.
Carefully, he made his way deeper into the woods until he finally reached an open clearing.
There stood an abandoned three-story villa. Judging by its unfinished exterior, it had never been completed. Isolated far from the city, it made for the perfect hiding place.
Keeping as low as possible, Rei quietly approached the villa.
But no matter how careful he was, the sound of his footsteps on the grass echoed unnaturally in the silence.
As he reached out and pushed open the wooden door, the long, creaking groan resembled the weary sigh of an eighty-year-old man.
The person inside instantly became alert.
The prey he had been waiting for had arrived.
The once-silent villa was suddenly filled with the scraping sound of furniture dragging across the floor.
The noise came from the third floor, the highest level of the building.
Realizing his presence had already been discovered, Rei gave up trying to hide his footsteps.
Taking the stairs two at a time, he quickly reached the third-floor landing. Raising his pistol, he cautiously approached the tightly shut door.
A strange sound came from inside.
Not crying.
Someone whose mouth had been gagged, desperately trying to make a sound.
Rei tightened his grip on the pistol.
Kenji was inside.
His heart involuntarily clenched. Taking a deep breath, he suddenly kicked the door open and immediately sidestepped.
There was no gunshot.
No other unexpected sound. Only the muffled struggle continued.
After confirming there was nothing else, Rei stepped into the doorway with his gun raised.
What greeted him was a man wearing a black hood. His entire body was tightly bound with ropes, writhing desperately in an attempt to break free.
Realizing there wasn't even the slightest sign of the kidnapper, Rei immediately spun around with his pistol raised.
Nothing.
No footsteps.
No breathing.
The room was empty. Behind him was empty as well.
'What was going on?'
"Mmph... mmph... mmph!"
"Kenji!"
Grinding his teeth, Rei rushed into the room.
There was no time to think. Rescuing Kenji came first. He reached up and yanked the black hood from the man's head.
The instant he saw the familiar black hair...
Those familiar sapphire-blue eyes...
He froze.
The black hood remained clenched in his right hand. His violet-gray eyes widened sharply. Every cell in his body seemed to tense all at once.
Never, not even in his wildest dreams, had Rei imagined that beneath the hood would be that face.
Silky black hair.
That familiar youthful face, still carrying traces of boyish innocence.
Deep sapphire-blue eyes stared at him in terror, only for the fear to melt away the moment they met his gaze.
Rei never imagined he would ever see that face again.
His trembling hand pulled the rag from the young man's mouth.
"...R-Ritsu...?"
His voice shook uncontrollably.
"Ritsu... how... how are you here?"
The first response wasn't words.
It was tears.
Dressed in a black hoodie, Ritsu slowly broke into tears. In a hoarse voice, he whispered,
"...I... I don't know either."
Tap.
Tap, tap.
Tap.
Footsteps echoed from behind.
Rei instantly sensed the danger.
He whirled around, shielding Ritsu with his own body while raising his pistol in a two-handed grip toward the doorway.
The person shoved through the entrance was none other than Kenji. His hands were bound behind his back, his body stained with blood.
Rei frowned deeply, refusing to lower his guard.
'Are they planning to use Kenji as a hostage and wipe us all out at once?'
"Kenji! Are you alright?!"
Blindfolded, Kenji stumbled forward and collapsed onto the floor. His hands remained tied behind him.
The moment he heard Rei's voice, he shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Rei, don't believe him! That's not Ritsu-ya!"
'Not... Ritsu?'
For a split second, Rei didn't know whether to trust Kenji's words or his own eyes.
The person tied up behind him was clearly Ritsu.
'Then why would Kenji... Wait... Could it be—'
Bang!
A bullet flew straight toward him.
Rei threw himself to the right. Even so, he couldn't completely avoid it. The bullet tore into his left shoulder.
Ignoring the pain, he immediately circled behind "Ritsu" and pressed the muzzle of his pistol firmly against the man's temple.
"Don't move!"
His voice turned ice cold.
"Or I'll kill him!"
Standing in the doorway, the blond young man holding a pistol in one hand let out a mocking laugh.
"Hah. This isn't what you promised. Weren't we supposed to catch all of them in one sweep?"
The man sitting in the chair, whose face was identical to Ritsu's during their Police Academy days, couldn't be bothered to keep pretending.
Clicking his tongue, he answered coldly,
"Tch. I didn't expect this guy to come alone either. Figure out a way to lure the other three idiots here."
Rei pressed the pistol even harder against the fake Ritsu's temple. His teeth clenched.
"Who the hell are you? What's your objective? Why do you have that face?!"
"You think I wanted this face?"
The fake sneered.
"I underwent plastic surgery to turn myself into this disgusting face just so I could get revenge on all of you."
"Officer Furuya... weren't you ranked second back then? So go ahead. Guess who I am."
"Rei! Don't let him get inside your head!"
Kenji shouted desperately.
He knew that Rei had witnessed Ritsu's death with his own eyes. There was no way Rei could pull the trigger on a face like that.
Right now, all they could do was stall.
Delay for as long as possible until Jinpei and the others arrived. Without backup, there was no way to break this deadlock.
The blond kidnapper standing by the door kicked Kenji hard in the back.
"Shut up already, you useless one-eyed bastard."
Then he grinned wickedly.
"Actually... how about we play a game?"
He planted one foot on Kenji's back, forcing him into a kneeling position. With a sinister smile, he said,
"Officer Furuya, how about a one-for-one trade? You kill my boss. I kill this one-eyed cop. Then we'll see who kills the other's hostage first."
"What do you say?"
"Rei! Don't listen to him!!"
"..."
From the corner of his eye, Rei looked at the face of "Ritsu."
He did everything he could to steady his emotions.
He knew. He knew this wasn't Ritsu.
So why...
Why couldn't he pull the trigger?
Back when Ritsu was still alive, despite being younger, he had always stood in front of Rei to protect him.
Whenever they carried out assassination missions, Ritsu would dispatch the targets swiftly and cleanly, never allowing Rei to dirty his own hands with blood.
After Ritsu was gone, what had he done?
He had become Bourbon, an operative trusted by the Organization. His assignments consisted almost entirely of gathering intelligence.
He was almost never ordered to kill.
The road Ritsu had paved for him had allowed his hands to remain clean all this time.
So...
He couldn't do it.
Even knowing full well this man wasn't Ritsu, he still couldn't pull the trigger.
"Zero! Get down!!!"
"...?!"