December 30.

  "You've read the document they sent us, so you have all the right to complain to them if something were to happen. I'm more surprised you actually agreed to this. If you didn't, I would have stepped back."

  "Reluctantly, I had to. Remember that I've said I'm sick of everything that's happened to us."

  In the morning at the gate of Gin's residence, there stood Rin and him with a briefcase on his hand.

  A few moments later, a van stopped by the secondary gate of the house which prompted Gin to put up his hood deep onto his face.

  "You're going to be safe, right?"

  "Not that they follow society's laws much, but we sue them when otherwise happens."

  Eye-to-eye, what was a frown on Rin's face moved into a squint of suspicion and sighed.

  "I use to always look up at you so this all feels strange."

  "Let's just call it even, from a few years ago."

  Thus, Rin walked onto Gin as they exchanged tight embraces, only for her to feel her feet lifting from the ground.

  "Ahaha, so you're still as strong as ever."

  "Nothing changed on that department."

  With Rin coming back inside the house, Gin slid the van's door open and met eyes with an unexpected person.

  "I… didn't think you'll be with us, Ms. Sora."

  Hopping into the vehicle, he placed the briefcase between his legs as he sat beside the daughter of the spies' client and the car set off.

  "Good morning, Mr. Iori," from the seats in front, Oregano and Strawman turned towards them.

  "So that's the name I'm going by today. Hahh…"

  "Iori Mikado, to be precise."

  "Really, 'mikado?'" at one voice, Gin and Sora complained.

  "Why? What's the matter with it?"

  "'Kagurazaka' just by its sound and barring the meaning is intimidating to even say out loud, and now you give me a name with 'emperor' as my surname?"

  "Don't think too deeply into it. After this day, he would be no more, after all."

  "Good grief…"

  With it getting stuffy inside the vehicle, Gin pulled up his hood and took a deep breath as he leaned on the seat at ease.

  At once, however, the two spies' eyes widened and reflexively turned back in front at the sight of him.

  They realized too late as the Gin they knew had a naturally deeper voice, yet for some reason it seemed to sound a few notches higher. His face at first glance looked small, and his jaw was less defined. Eyelids were narrower, and within it are what looked like eyes that are empty and appeared to be pupils that dilated.

  What they saw at that swift glance was a person that has the facial features of Gin Sakato, but it was simply a child in the midst of his teenage years.

  "Am I seeing things, or do you look yo-"

  At Sora's unfinished inquiry, Gin gestured a shh with his pointer finger.

  "You two know, right?"

  "O-Of course, we know."

  As previously stated, and verbally at that in front of Gin, the spies have information about the Anew Company, his involvement with them, and the drug that the organization has—the Facade, which makes it so that a person would turn a few years younger or older than their current appearance, which was made real from a concept in a Japanese fictional story as its base.

  With Kaizo Ryuuya's help, Gin was able to obtain a dose of the drug on short notice, and regressed his body ten years younger—to that of a 15-year old child with less muscular features and the height of his current body.

  At the first minutes of finding himself in that body of a child, he quickly found out that, as its purpose, only regresses the body to how it looked like when it was younger, and not turn back the time of the body. Which means, that the scar in his torso remained. One look in the mirror was however enough to bring back the memories of past beyond his current age where it was the time nine years after he left the facility that ruined his mind and body, before the sun began to shine on him.

  "Something on my face, Ms. Sora?"

  "W-Well… I remember you to be mellower…

  But to answer your question earlier… I guess you could say I'm keeping watch or observing?"

  "Uh-huh…"

  "It seems like my dad wants me to report to him directly about the activities of the spies only within this operation."

  "I'm sorry for the language, but Mr. Kagurazaka has some balls to send her daughter out to something that can be potentially dangerous."

  Those words were thereafter followed by swift movements coming from the front passenger seat and the seats directly behind Gin, ready to pull a gun at him if not for the swifter gesture of Sora to make them stay down.

  "Please take no offense, we're just doing our job," as per the silent command, they eased up.

  "No, I should have been more careful with my words. I apologize."

  "You don't have to, Yuka. They are guards unrelated to the spies ready for me. I should be the one sorry if they might feel uptight."

  As the air from then started becoming icy by the minute, thus, the seat in front of Gin rotated manually with Oregano then facing at him.

  "While we still have the time, let's have you fitted with a new face, shall we?"

  "Wait, so you can actually use fake skin stuff?"

  "We do, we do. It's just that we didn't expect you to surprise us like this so it might take me a bit of time. Our forte is adapting to any kind of situation, however.

  Also, do you mind if I put makeup on you?"

  "I guess my face have been used as a test canvas for makeup from time to time… but I'm fine if it wouldn't make me look caked up.

  Wait, do you know how to apply them in the first place?"

  "I've worked as a makeup artist for celebrities and a film prosthetics designer when I'm undercover."

  "What can't you do?"

  "Be a responsible significant other, apparently. It's the holidays and all, but we're in the middle of a fight."

  "O-Oh. I hope you make up with Coda."

  "Also, take this cologne with you."

  "Was this supposed to be a present for her?"

  "It's not, but somehow I had the urge to sack you in the face."

  An uncomfortable sensation was felt over Gin's face as a literal face mask is applied to his skin, while Oregano works closely on it as per what he sees at the few times he opened his eyes.

  "Uh… Oregano? Is this really supposed to be this warm on my face?"

  "Bear with it for a bit. We didn't intend to do this at first so I have to rework the mask on the fly and it needs heat to be remodeled and adhere to your face. It won't hurt when you peel it off, though. Phew…"

  "Hey, I can't help but notice… You seemed to be really anxious until you applied the mask at me."

  "Ah, it showed, huh… I'll just say this now, but I don't know your past, and I was scared to look at your face because it seems to reflect whatever that past of yours was."

  "I'm sorry you had to see that."

  ~ ~ ~

  In a luxurious hotel at the center of the Capital where the dinner is being held, a few hours before the event itself, the hall is brimming with staff preparing the venue at a double time as the host of the night is watching the place very carefully.

  "We've arrived, Dad."

  "It's good that you got here early, Sora. I don't see Mr. Sakato with you?"

  "Um, he's beside me."

  Standing there was a young man a few centimeters taller than Sora holding a briefcase, with features resembling a Japanese person such as an oriental pair of eyes similar to those of the Kagurazaka head that were then inherited by his daughter.

  "I am your nephew, Iori, from now on. I am merely adopted to the family, but chosen by your brother from the North to be his successor in handling the Kagurazaka group's Japanese branch."

  "I see. Then I hope the flight was not uncomfortable for you, and I hope you enjoy your stay here in Orio, as it is your first time here. It's quite late, but let's all have some lunch now."

  "*I am honored by your welcome."

  From then on, Gin had assumed his role in the operation and willed himself to only ever speak in English with a thick accent, akin to a Japanese person in the midst of studying the language.

  With the late lunch out of the way, the group returned to the event hall to examine the layout of the stage and the tables as well as the order of greeting the company staff and guests all the same. At which time there are secret codes being communicated across the large hall, Gin had felt a sense of strangeness that all he had ever done in the matter of few hours was sit, stand, walk around, and observe the progress of the preparations in place.

  While feeling out of place as a common person in the guise of a wealthy young man is one thing to make him feel unease, past experiences have always pushed him to do something, which has not happened at any moment.

  He then found himself walking in the grand hallways of the hotel as by his side is one of the hotel attendants that has been assigned to attend to his needs before the party begins.

  "This will be your room to use, Mr. Sakato."

  "*Mikado. Please don't mistake me from someone else I do not know."

  "I'm very sorry."

  At that point, he realized that spies truly are shapeshifters. From Strawman's words of pointing to placement of undercover spies on places where their targets are inclined to go, down to the assumption that most of the hotel staff are also one of them, it has become clear to Gin that they are pulling all the stops to sweep all of the country's dust and wipe it clean and spotless.

  The opening of the hotel room followed with the steps of the attendant on his tail.

  The realization finally kicked in that Gin was granted a spacious and luxurious room that seemed unfit to the situation he is currently in, but perhaps not for the persona he is playing right now.

  "*You can wait for me outside."

  "I'm afraid I can't do that."

  "*Why?"

  "Regardless of who, we have to make sure that nothing suspicious happens today. Not even Mr. Kagurazaka is exempt to it."

  From his pocket once again, any possible attempts of tracking and unwanted communications have been cut out from the room, the same way Strawman's car malfunctioned.

  At the door's closing, the attendant sat on a seat near the door while Gin immediately wandered his eyes to the rather premium looking room searching for an iron, without the briefcase letting go of his grip.

  "You probably need to have a look at what's inside?" Gin asked as he broke character.

  "It would be encouraged."

  What seemed like a normal briefcase opened with its latches undone and showed the inside of the case which only contained a set of clothes, a small sketchbook, and a phone charger on the pockets.

  "No secret compartments or any of that sort. It's just a briefcase.

  And that's what I'm wearing for tonight, you see," and the case closed with the attendant never laying a hand on it.

  Thus, Gin located a sliding divider that separates the actual bedroom to the door of the room.

  …

  An hour and a few before the dinner party commences, Gin had finally felt the safest in this day as he donned the set of formal clothes that he brought. In a few moments, he and the attendant exited the room heading to the event hall.

  The atmosphere in the venue had certainly changed. The hectic feeling from earlier had been entirely replaced with a more serious air as guests began arriving at a trickle.

  The illumination of the hall is generally dim and warm, but brighter soft lights are pointed downwards with the intent that every table is to be illuminated individually brought by the versatility of the trusses installed on the ceiling of the hall.

  "I wonder if we can do something similar to this in Giotto's. Damn, the lighting technician is good."

  At the remaining minutes before the event kicks off, the Kagurazaka's and other VIPs together with Gin sat on the long table right by the stage. With a stroke of unexpected, two familiar faces reached the table in somewhat of a hurry.

  "You're almost late, Yuka."

  "Traffic was crazy, see."

  From what he has learned, it would be an incredibly rare circumstance to see Haruka Hayakawa, the oldest Kagurazaka son who had cut ties with the name, to be at such a function where he has little connection with. But behind him, awkwardly, was Aomine Sanshoin who quickly made his way to who appears to be his parents at the same table.

  One thing Gin noticed, however, was that Takezo Kagurazaka's spouse is sitting opposite to him, at which there is a clear disparity with the number of people sitting at each side.

  On the chairman's side is where he, her daughter, and Gin sat with a few remaining seats open, while in his wife, Marianne's side is where their son and the Sanshoin family sits at along with a few unknown faces.

  With what little he knows of the situation, Marianne Vantos-Kagurazaka separated from the main company and established her own, where Haruka procures his supplies for Yona from one of its subsidiaries. That being said, the Carnation Group still holds a stake to the conglomerate where she has a contribution at the decision-making of the main company.

  Without even the smallest hole in his mask, Gin was flawlessly introduced to the table with his persona at a convincing performance.

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  "Test, test. Do you hear me?"

  "Goodness, you scared the life out of me. I forgot I had this on," he whispered to the voice in his ear.

  "Alright, you don't have to speak anymore. Just listen throughout what I will say."

  On Gin's ear is an earpiece twice as small as normal wireless earbuds made to blend in to the skin around the ear, and the voice within that earpiece was Oregano that proceeded to explain further details of the operation.

  "This is a private channel, but pretty much all the spies here have the same thing on their ear. All you have to do is to not forget the script you have as Iori Mikado when meeting with the people on the tables you will shake hands with. Just be careful as you're probably bound to meet some unsavory characters, to put it lightly."

  "Well, they probably think of a 15-year old heir as some pushover irregardless."

  "I told you not to talk.

  Anyway, just look out for the people with the clothing I'll describe to you later. They will be the targets, but you won't have to do anything. You only have to keep an eye on them when you can.

  Is that clear to you? Yes is two taps, no is one."

  In the guise of fixing his hair, he tapped his finger twice near his right ear.

  "Then just go play your wealthy character for now. There is an entire night of good food ahead of you."

  "I doubt that with all the fancy portions. I should have snacked earlier."

  "I said hush."

  The true start of the event is not it's actual beginning. The real green light is when the chairman of the company stands up as per observing that most of the seats in every table are occupied. Sora then prompted Gin, or Iori to follow on her father's strides as they make their way to the first table.

  Nonetheless, the words that came out of each side carried a hint of emptiness, to Gin's surprise that even Sora, who still seemed young, also showed adeptness in corporate speak.

  "Aaaalright. This table actually has three of our targets. You're not to do anything but remember what they look like. Just greet them while you listen to me. Take note of a pair of oval jade necklaces, maroon necktie with diagonal stripes, and a wrist watch with a brown crocodile leather strap."

  "Is he expecting me to remember all of this for every table…? For someone he asked to do nothing, he's a slave driver."

  "Be careful not to get too close or touch the people I will describe, though. The articles I will mention has fast-acting paralysis poison that will trigger when it makes contact with the skin just in case they act up. I personally like the rings because it's one of the ones that has the most skin contact."

  "I wish I could speak and tell him how unhinged he is."

  "That table… you'll only have to take note of the lady with a maroon fur coat… and I think that's it."

  "Thank you for accepting our invite, Principal Juushiro."

  "Rather, I thank you for inviting me, Sora. It felt like just yesterday when you were in high school and now you are at your senior year. You've grown up a lot, I see."

  By pure coincidence apart from the invitation, sat in that table was Tenth among a few guests he is not acquainted with.

  "Taketo Juushiro, huh… Ms. Kagurazaka invited her partly because his school system has proven her and her father wrong from an attempt to put Blue Ink High School down. Funny how the young miss was sent to that school solely for that purpose and now they are at a respecting connection."

  "That's the first time I've heard of all of that. And is Tobei now like those characters in the game in comms when you're walking around?"

  "Come to think of it, you're also from Blue Ink-"

  "*It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Principal Juushiro. I'm Iori Mikado."

  "What do you suppose you're doing?"

  Then and there, Gin's persona stepped forward and offered to shake Tenth's hand.

  "*It was unfortunate that you were away when I was taking a tour at your school. I found Blue Ink a very enriching place of learning from the few I've seen of it."

  Right as the principal reciprocated the handshake, the muscle of the boy's finger twitched repeatedly enough to be felt in his hand. But behind a smiling face was a facade to the confusion suddenly spurred unto Tenth right at that moment. The twitching of the hand however did not stop and he found a pattern behind it.

  --· /·· /-·

  And as his head rose to look at the young man's face, he found a glimpse of blue eyes in his right eye for a mere moment.

  Tenth's wider smile returned, and tightened the grip of his hand to the boy's.

  "*Apologies for my absence at that time, Mr. Mikado. And forgive me for asking, but has it come to your liking enough that you perhaps might be considering our school?"

  "*I am sad to say that I'm quite enjoying my first year in high school in Japan this past spring."

  "*I understand. Still, I'm glad you chose to tour our school of the many in this country. I hope you enjoy your stay here."

  Thus, Gin stepped back and returned with the Kagurazakas to continue their greetings.

  "You know, even if the process was cruel, we're trained to formulate various unexpected situations at once and not succumb to them. But my goodness, you are one of the few that could give me a heart attack."

  "You sounded calm, though."

  "Sir Juushiro is something else, isn't he?" Sora leaned and whispered near Gin.

  "He really is."

  What looked to be an ordinary Morse code message was something that Tenth could only understand the meaning behind translating Gin's name into the code, as he found the singular person he trusts the most in this event hall.

  Gin's presence as someone wearing a face and a different name at a dinner party where he would otherwise have nearly no relations with could mean that something significant is happening, and that the situation could potentially turn dangerous, which the chances of meeting the leader of the Exiles gave an opportune moment to introduce himself.

  With all of the greetings out of the way, the event proper finally began as the hosts returned to their table. Seeing as their position allows Gin a full vision of most of the hall, no time was wasted on regularly scanning all of the tables in the possibility of anything untoward that could be observed.

  Yet, half an hour passed and not even a smidge of anything suspicious could be seen anywhere from all the identified individuals stated in his ear.

  "Maybe you're a bit too tense."

  "When you're introduced with many bad situations most of your life, there comes a point where it feels strange that nothing has happened."

  An opportunity arose in the midst of dinner for him to communicate with the voice in his ear, as more of the attention are pointed towards the food and the small orchestra band entertaining the crowd in the intermission.

  "Well, all eyes are in the entire hotel and nothing much has been observed. While I get where your feelings are coming from, try to ease up a little. I was like that too on my first missions."

  "I was about to ask exactly how many spies the country has, but I know you're never going to answer that. I just feel a bit uncomfortable knowing you're watching me somewhere.

  *I'll go freshen up for a moment."

  In the restroom closest to the hosts' table, stationed there are two janitors which paid his presence no mind and went straight to a cubicle.

  "Maybe I had too many glasses of the orange soda. Man I wish I could at least get one sip of the sparkling wine."

  "…!"

  Suddenly echoing in the restroom walls were dry heaving originating from the neighbor cubicle before Gin could completely push the flush lever. Rushing out, the sound of the toilet drowned out the sound from the other cubicle.

  "*Excuse me… are you all right…?"

  The response on his concerned inquiry however was just an unintelligible voice as the heaving continued on from the inside. By the time the entire restroom went silent, one of the janitor's stepped in and manage to unlock the cubicle revealing the sight of an unconscious man on the porcelain.

  "Sorry you had to see that, Mr. Mikado. We advise you to act normal upon stepping out."

  "Those two are with us," declared Oregano from the earpiece.

  Upon a closer look… except from below the waist, one of the details that Oregano enumerated matched with the person.

  "He's only unconscious, although it would be a different story if the target has combat experience. Still… this is the first time I've seen that the laxatives worked this well."

  "Before you ask, all of the articles and accessories that I mentioned to you are rigged with something that can immobilize the targets, which is why most of them requires contact with the skin. I'm not going to dwell on the details but in this case, the person in question has a history of asthma, and coupled with a laxative, that's what happened."

  "You guys really could have chosen a less messy way, honestly."

  "This is why we gave you a cologne earlier in the van."

  "Gee, thanks."

  Then, an opening from the ceiling directly above the cubicle emerged with a rope descending that carried the man up into it.

  "At least the bidets are really good in this hotel," one of the janitors said.

  "And here I am looking for good ones in our new house. Is this secretly an ad? Is the company that made the bidet secretly ran by the spies?"

  "We wouldn't go that far…"

  "Well, there you have it. At least now you have a gist of how we're doing things tonight, and this covers the entire hotel and some kilometer radius around the building."

  With an indifferent face, Gin then exited the restroom and returned to the table with no one questioning his slightly late return.

  The event thusly continued as per the itinerary told by a programme booklet. His attention was somehow occupied as Aomine invited him to small talks, perhaps in an attempt to brighten things up for the two youngest men in the table.

  Opposite to the intent, it only made Gin's situation a lot tougher as Aomine's topics necessitate him embracing the script fully. But with the Kagurazaka's eldest having almost no relation to the matters of the family and the business, he joined the conversation as boredom began getting to him and started talking about his wife and newborn daughter which he would have rather spent the time with than being in that stuffy event.

  The lies however eased up on Haruka's addition and the veil that came from Gin's persona became half-truth as the conversation steered from professional to personal, which made him tell stories of his short experience in Kyoto and Tokyo to some extent and bonded with Haruka's absence from the business and politics.

  "I'll have to visit Yona with Rin more often."

  The few minutes of healthy distraction was enough for the sudden observance of several empty seats across all tables the moment Gin returned his eyes on the hall, and even received vague messages from Tenth that when pieced together goes along the lines of guests having to leave in an emergency and others outright never having returned.

  But while most of the guests of the event are those that climbed high enough in the company's organizational chart, the layout of the event was structured in such a way where people are grouped in which they don't have much interaction within the company. And while Joseph Horach's remainders number tens within the event, it became simpler to completely identify those that peeled away in the system currently in place.

  In Gin's ears, Oregano then explained the subtle changes in one's behavior when showing signs of worry and anxiety, becoming a lecture on how to observe the littlest signs and human behavioral patterns.

  "I've sent you a tracker about those we have seized and those we have not yet. There is still a bit more to this event, so we'll use the time to get all of them."

  Thus, Gin observed as he was and always have been tasked.

  On many different handovers of the microphone, many thank you's have been said from different people. Plaques of various titles have been awarded, even to those that did not have particular connections to the company; as long as they are present.

  The final moment that Takezo Kagurazaka steps up on stage signifies the nearing of the event's conclusion. A voice so eloquent and modulated was carried within the entire event hall that it was enough to make one think that the simple act of talking can be a skill that has been honed for numerous years.

  An influential voice it may have been, one of the many within the hall was not caught by the moving and perhaps inciting words as Gin's mind was entirely on a different plane of attention.

  Things have been going very smoothly.

  Alternating his look from the hall and his phone was a spectacle to watch as the information regarding the seizure of the target people is updating almost immediately right in front of their eyes. It was the greatest taste of what the network of spies could display, and Gin was there in the front row seat.

  His heart raced, not because of the excitement brought by a historically well-coordinated act, but because of the fear and the unknown chances of a possibility that things could go wrong at any moment at the most unexpected way…

  Especially now that the last person in the list of persons of interest is somehow on the loose as the event swiftly met its end with a titanic applause echoing in the hall.

  …

  Before the door of the event center, the highest executives of the company saw each and every one of the guests as they depart. In the midst of one final act of hospitality, Gin, or Iori Mikado made sure that he leaves the best impression of someone that will take over the secondary office of the company in the future.

  In reality, however, all he could hear in his ears is the single word "Nope" at the passing of all the guests upon shaking his hand.

  At the very end of it, he has received word that none of the spies have located the last remaining person.

  "You can take a rest, Yuka Gin. You don't have to deal with the boring things that follow. Thank you for everything you did tonight."

  "Haha, I barely did anything."

  In his exit, Sora called upon one of the bodyguards that rode with them on the way to the hotel to escort him back to his room.

  As it was late in the night, the hallways have now quieted down as per the sight they saw upon the sliding of the elevator's door open. The silence has made their footsteps more pronounced coupled with the hard soles of their leather shoes.

  A quiet hallway. No one is present apart from the two of them. While unlikely, there exists the smallest possibility. Yet Gin limited his suspicions with mere glances at the man walking a few steps behind him.

  With him getting caught, the bodyguard then asked, "You really kept your briefcase for the entirety of the party?"

  "I did, yes."

  Yet, the bodyguard never inquired about the curious looks at him.

  Regardless of his worries, they reached the room specified for Gin and so he pressed the key card onto the door.

  "Well then, I'll be going back to where Madam Sora is."

  "So you guys call her that, huh."

  The lights then automatically opened in his entrance to the room and prompted to take off his suit, only to change his mind and leaped on the bed with a heavy sigh as the tension in his body finally began to calm down.

  But the very short moment of his mind drifting away failed to react on the cloth that instantly covered his nose and mouth with a chemical smell entering inside him until Gin was rendered unconscious in mere seconds without any resistance.

  A barely contained silent laugh shivered out of a man on a suit emerging from the underside of the bed, and visceral heaves breathed on Gin's face as he gets stared down with a flushed red, smiling face while his arms then legs get tied up.

  "How the hell did that bastard Kagurazaka rat us out… We've come so far but this all turned out to be trap?!"

  Dedicated to maintain the silence, a livid scream was muffled by the pillow buried on the man's face and caught his breath.

  "It's not all bad, I guess… I managed to take a hostage and it's a brat from the northern branch. If you're awake, you would probably be freaking out that this had to happen after flying to this country.

  Anyway… are you 15? Maybe 16? Either way… hostage taking comes first."

  "Um, excuse me, sir? Can I take a look at your belt for a moment?"

  "Huh? Sure… Maybe I should unz-

  Gahk…?!"

  "Thank goodness, I managed to stop you from saying such a disgusting sentence in this novel."

  The man was met with a grip on his neck as things happened too fast for him that he processed late that his foot was a few inches lifted from the ground.

  "H-How?! L-Let go-!"

  "Don't wanna. Besides, I'm not even holding my grip that tight. You can breathe just fine, right?"

  As if walking in the palm of Gin's hands, the man checked that he could indeed breathe, he mustered up the strength in his arms to twist and strike the arm holding him captive, only for it to feel like trying to bend a rod of steel.

  And without lowering his arm at all, Gin bent down to glance at the belt he was looking for.

  "Nice black snake leather belt you have there. Come to think of it, he's the only one with a belt, so no wonder things didn't work out."

  "Wh-Who are you…?!" upon a terrible scream, a tiny handgun emerged to the hand of the man and pointed at Gin's head, shaking.

  "W-Woah, there! Calm down," Gin plead as he covered his face with his briefcase. "This is a (AMM) product placement if ever this goes commercial, which we'll never let happen. Still, hashtag ad."

  "I said who are you…?!" perhaps feeling a helping of mockery, the man asked anew.

  "I'm Iori Mikado. Or it's Mikado Iori if this is Japan. I was there in the event earlier. I doubt you didn't see me there.

  That said… regardless if I die or not here, you will have the attention of this entire floor and probably some once they hear that gun on your hand.

  Or maybe you can safely descend 13 floors by jumping from a window?"

  Regardless, Gin bashed the briefcase on the hand of the man with the gun dropping on the floor as a result. From a stomp effectively dismantling the pistol, he pivoted and threw down the man on the bed and swiftly clutched on the hem of his suit with a thin string coming out to tie on the target's limbs.

  "If this worked on me, then I doubt it wouldn't on you.

  As it turns out, you're all in disarray as soon as Horach was gone. Was he the brains in all of your operations or something? Here I am getting extremely anxious for nothing. Hahh…"

  But as he was about to contact the voice in his ear, a sudden thought surfaced on Gin's mind. Thus, he gave the man a straight stare.

  "Do you know about the Medical Children Program? How about Code 027?"

  The already distressed look of the man remained unchanged as the young man stared at him with an intimidating gaze. And as he continuously brings up questions only within his mind, he took a sigh of relief and knocked the man unconscious.

  "Oregano? Do you copy? Oregano? Strawman? Anyone…?"

  The momentary relief that Gin had finally felt was robbed by the silence in his communicator. His blood then surged across his entire body as he stomped towards the door of the room but abruptly stopped as the panic suddenly turned into anger—specifically towards himself as he scoured the deepest of his pockets.

  "Dammit, man… Gin, you stupid idiot…"

  Feeling defeated, he walked towards the hotel room's bathroom to find that he left his counter earpieces that are still active in jamming the room.

  "Oregano, do you copy?"

  "Heya. What's up?"

  "So even you're that oblivious that you didn't bother contacting me…

  Anyway, I think I've got the last person we're looking for. Ah, give me a moment… Just something I really need to do."

  "Um, what are you trying to do?"

  "Honestly, this guy doesn't deserve his jewels."

  All that Oregano could hear from that point was a high-pitched and abrupt scream that was followed by wails and repeated words of apologies.

  …

  With the capture of the final person of interest, Gin was relocated to another hotel room where Oregano has finally graduated from being a voice in Gin's head together with Strawman watching him as he listlessly lied down on bed.

  "Just to be sure, there are no bombs anywhere in this hotel?"

  "I told you. I hate to use this analogy but we're like cucarachas that you can find literally everywhere."

  "I guess… I'm just in awe? Is this really real? I'm just so used to things going unexpected ways or deviating from a plan that I'm just questioning if this is all real."

  "You trust us so little," Oregano sighed. "We've mobilized so much of our manpower for this night. We've had some failed operations, but this is not one of them.

  And just so you know, you yourself are unhinged. The feeling almost felt like real pain between my legs."

  "If I am unhinged, then that man is sick. It's not like I made him dysfunctional or anything, but I had to do it.

  Anyway, I guess I'm going to treat you guys with food again, but I'm cooking this time."

  "Didn't you say you don't want to have anything to do with us anymore?"

  "Make that the last, hopefully."

  Upon getting up from the bed, Gin peeled the fake skin from his face and his posture returned to normal, very so slightly slouched back, and took his briefcase.

  "We're not leaving in until half an hour."

  "Nah, I have a ride with me home, and I need to make sure he's safe. The only thing I'll ask of you is to share with me a summary of this entire operation.

  For everything… I can't thank the spies enough."

  …

  Right as the elevator's door opened down in the underground parking lot of the hotel, Gin immediately walked on a quick pace on the look for a specific license plate and got in to the front passenger seat.

  "Phew…"

  With the interior lights on, Tenth took a good look at Gin beside him.

  "You know, when you were still at school, I never took notice of you when you still looked like this so this is also new to me."

  "Now that you mention, we met after I came out of the White Room."

  "I don't really want to ask why and how on earth you were there and even standing with Mr. Kagurazaka, but it appears everything was fine, I would hope so."

  "Well, it took me 25 years to find out that some things or situations can actually work out well as they are intended to be."

  "Wouldn't you say our encounter in Cotona Square was like that."

  "Yes, if only there wasn't a bomb at that time."

  "Fair."

  Silence then filled the vehicle as the two of them only blankly stared straight on the car's windshield.

  Wordless, Gin turned off the lights and sat for a few more minutes with his arms crossed.

  Then, his hand looked around at the sides of the car until he felt a knob that reclined the chair back enough for him to still be fastened in his seat belt.

  "Tenth…"

  "Yeah?"

  "Let's go home."

  "Yes, we're going to do that."

  "Tenth…"

  "Yes."

  "I think I've finally escaped this hell that has been making me suffer for so many years."

  Tenth's clutches to the wheel tightened and an incredibly long and deep sigh left him before starting the engine.

  "Should we have a toast for that?"

  "I'm not really feeling it, and besides I am 15 right now. More than anything, I just want to see Rin ASAP.

  …

  You know what, I'll go pay for your express toll fee."

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