Shuichi Akai, the ace agent of the FBI, codenamed 'Silver Bullet,' was known for his calmness and precision. But at this moment, as he looked at the young man on the screen who had a faint smile yet had created countless bloodbaths, a surge of uncontrollable anger and a deep sense of powerlessness churned in his chest. He slammed the encrypted communicator in his hand onto the table, making a dull thud.
"Bastard..." he cursed under his breath, his voice hoarse from suppressing extreme anger.
He had been undercover in this massive dark organization for years, witnessing countless cruelties and crimes, and thought he had already touched the abyss of darkness. But Kanjuro's appearance, and the destruction and deterrence he caused in a short period, completely overturned Shuichi Akai's perception. The Black Organization acted for profit and some vague 'ultimate goal,' using cruel means, but at least there was logic to it. But Kanjuro... he seemed to exist purely to trample on order and enjoy despair. His power and his whims made him far more terrifying than any criminal organization with a clear goal! He was like an unpredictable, unstoppable natural disaster.
(A few days later, at a temporary stronghold on the organization's periphery)
Shuichi Akai disguised himself as an ordinary member, performing a routine surveillance mission. He blended into the shadows like a ghost, keenly capturing the movements around him. Just then, he heard two voices that should never be discussing secrets so easily here—Gin and Vodka. They seemed to be talking in low voices in a remote corner of the stronghold, their voices not loud, but just enough to be captured from his position.
Shuichi Akai immediately held his breath, minimizing his presence like the most patient hunter, listening intently.
"...Who would have thought,"
Shuichi Akai's heart skipped a beat! Tropical Land? The Roller Coaster Incident? He instantly remembered the case report from the day Shinichi Kudo shrank! Kanjuro was also present then?!
"Yeah, Big Brother." Vodka's honest (or rather, stupid) voice followed, filled with a lingering fear like a lucky escape, "The way he looked at us back then... it still gives me the creeps just thinking about it. Luckily he wasn't interested in making a move on us, otherwise we might have been..."
"Hmph," Gin snorted lightly, his emotions unreadable, "With that level of power, I felt he wasn't simple even back then. I just didn't expect he would be not simple to this extent."
After a brief silence, Vodka seemed to ask hesitantly: "Big Brother... should we... find a way to contact Boss Kanjuro? Maybe... he could lead the organization to new heights?"
Shuichi Akai was shocked to his core! The top brass of the Black Organization were actually considering proactively contacting or even defecting to Kanjuro?! If these two massive dark forces merged... the consequences would be unimaginable!
However, Gin's answer was beyond his expectations.
"Contact him?" Gin's voice carried a hint of mockery, "Vodka, use your brain. Are that 'Boss's' thoughts something we can speculate on? If we contact him rashly and make him unhappy..." He paused deliberately, creating a terrifying atmosphere, "How do you think he would deal with us?"
Vodka seemed frightened, his voice dropping several notches: "No... surely not... after all, we did have a brief encounter back then..."
"A brief encounter?" Gin sneered, "In his eyes, what's the difference between us and those police and civilians he crushed at will? We're all just ants. The only difference is that we two ants were lucky enough not to be an eyesore to him back then."
Hearing this, Shuichi Akai's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat!
He had originally thought this was just a careless conversation between Gin and Vodka, but now he suddenly realized—they did it on purpose!
They had long since discovered his eavesdropping! These words were meant for him, Shuichi Akai!
They were warning him, and through him, sending a message to the FBI and all forces trying to oppose Kanjuro: Even we, the Black Organization, don't dare to provoke Kanjuro lightly, so you'd better weigh your options too!
What was even more terrifying was the bone-deep dread and even... a faint, hard-to-detect reverence for Kanjuro revealed in their words, which reflected Kanjuro's terror far more than any direct description. Even a cold-blooded killer like Gin admitted to being like an ant before Kanjuro, needing to be careful to avoid making the other party 'unhappy'!
Shuichi Akai forcefully suppressed the storm in his heart, retreated silently, and quickly left the eavesdropping range. Only after confirming he was safe did he lean against a cold wall, slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air, though cold sweat was already sliding down his temples.
The development of events had completely exceeded his expectations, and perhaps even the imagination of the FBI's top brass.
A single Kanjuro had not only made the entire Japanese police force kneel, but now even the long-established dark organization was secretive about him, even resorting to using his 'undercover' persona to transmit fear.
This man... what was his background? What exactly was his goal?
Shuichi Akai felt an unprecedented pressure.
He knew that he was facing what might be the most terrifying and unpredictable enemy of his life. The dark side of the world, because of Kanjuro's existence, was sliding into an unknown and terrifying abyss. He had to pass this news on as quickly as possible, although he didn't know what effective countermeasures the outside world could have against such an existence.
The night was deep, like thick ink that wouldn't dissolve.
With his superb stealth skills and long-term grasp of some of the organization's security loopholes, Shuichi Akai, like a leopard in the shadows, silently avoided the patrolling guards and surveillance cameras, sneaking into the internal archives of the Black Organization located in a secret underground facility in Tokyo.
Stored here were a large number of the organization's non-core but highly valuable paper and electronic archives, including many old stories and information related to peripheral personnel. The air was filled with the smell of old paper and the faint heat emitted by electronic equipment.
Shuichi Akai's goal was clear—to find any records related to 'Kanjuro.' Like a patient archaeologist, he filtered through the vast ocean of archives quickly and accurately. Most records were vague or limited to recent sporadic observation reports, confirming that the organization's understanding of Kanjuro was also extremely limited and filled with awe.
Just as he was about to give up and move to other areas, an old file box labeled 'Archived - Peripheral Associated Personnel (Low Risk)' caught his attention. He carefully opened it to find some yellowed photos and brief biographical information.
His fingers flipped through them quickly, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's. Suddenly, his movements came to a dead stop!
His fingertips were holding a faded elementary school group photo with slightly curled edges. The background of the photo was an ordinary Japanese elementary school, with a group of innocent children smiling at the camera. And his gaze was dead-locked on two people in the photo!
One of the boys, although his face was youthful, had a facial contour, especially those eyes that appeared exceptionally deep even in a black and white photo, carrying a hint of composure (or rather... precocious indifference) that didn't match his age. Shuichi Akai would never mistake him—it was Kanjuro as a child!
And what made his heart stop even more was the little girl standing next to Kanjuro, holding his hand tightly and smiling with a bright, innocent face—it was Akemi Miyano!
The back of the photo was written in blurred ink: Commemoration of XX Elementary School, Grade X, Group X. Kanjuro. Akemi Miyano.
Shuichi Akai felt a chill go straight from his spine to the top of his head! He quickly flipped through other early records about Akemi Miyano in the file box, which clearly recorded her elementary school history, perfectly matching Kanjuro's class information!
"Akemi... and Kanjuro... were elementary school classmates?! And they look... very close?" This discovery sent Shuichi Akai's mind into a momentary chaos. He thought of Akemi Miyano's usual gentle, kind, and even somewhat timid appearance, and could not associate her with the Kanjuro who slaughtered countless people and manipulated hearts like a devil with a wave of his hand!
Huge shock and a sense of anger at being kept in the dark (even though he knew Akemi might not have thought this was important herself) welled up in his heart. He quickly took photos of the picture and other key information with a miniature camera, then left the archive room as silently as he had come, leaving no trace behind.
Akemi Miyano's apartment was always tidy and clean, with a touch of warmth unique to women. When she opened the door and saw Shuichi Akai standing outside with a gloomy face and somewhat unstable breathing, she was clearly stunned for a moment.
"Shuichi? Are your duties in the organization... finished so soon today?" she asked with some concern, stepping aside to let him in. "Is something wrong? You don't look well."
Shuichi Akai didn't answer immediately. He walked straight into the living room and closed the door behind him. He stood in the center of the room, his back to Akemi, and took a deep breath as if trying to suppress some emotion. Then, he turned around abruptly and slammed a slightly blurred but clearly legible photo printed with a portable printer onto the coffee table in the living room!
On the photo were those two elementary school students holding hands—Kanjuro and Akemi Miyano.
"Akemi!" Shuichi Akai's voice carried an uncontrollable shock and interrogation, "Can you explain to me why you and the great demon Kanjuro... were actually classmates who grew up together?! And from the looks of it, your relationship was quite unusual?!"
His gaze was as sharp as a blade, fixed on Akemi Miyano, not missing even the slightest change in her expression.
When Akemi Miyano's eyes fell on the photograph on the coffee table, her body stiffened imperceptibly. The gentleness and worry on her face quickly faded, replaced by an abnormal calmness—one might even call it... indifference.
She slowly raised her head to meet Shuichi Akai's questioning gaze, her tone flat and devoid of any emotion.
"Yes, so what?"
She admitted it cleanly and decisively, without the slightest hesitation or excuse.
"Kanjuro and I were indeed classmates when we were children. That was decades ago."
She paused, her eyes drifting toward the window as if lost in some distant memory, though there wasn't much warmth in that recollection.
"We haven't seen each other in decades. Since graduating from primary school, we haven't had any contact."
Her reaction was too calm—so calm that it made Shuichi Akai feel uneasy. This wasn't the normal reaction of an ordinary person being revealed to have a connection with a demon who was a public enemy. There was no panic, no fear, and no agitation to clear her name; there was only a... near-numb admission and a deliberate distancing.
As Shuichi Akai looked at her, the doubts in his heart didn't dissipate; instead, they grew larger. Kanjuro's shadow seemed to silently loom over this sanctuary he had thought was safe, cast through that old photograph. Shuichi Akai stared at Akemi Miyano's overly calm face, trying to find even a trace of a flaw or fear in her eyes, but he only saw a silence like a deep pool, and... a complex emotion hidden beneath the indifference that he couldn't understand. She admitted her relationship with Kanjuro but brushed it off with a 'that's all in the past' attitude, which only made Shuichi Akai more suspicious.
"Haven't seen him in decades? No contact at all?" Shuichi Akai took a step forward, his presence overwhelming. "Akemi, do you know what kind of person Kanjuro is now? He has slaughtered countless police officers and civilians, manipulated hearts, and trampled on the law. He is an out-and-out demon! Anyone associated with him could fall into an abyss from which there is no return!"
He took a deep breath and made a cold but, in his view, necessary decision, his voice resolute.
"I need you to contact him."
Akemi Miyano snapped her head up, the mask of calmness she had been maintaining finally showing a crack. A clear flash of panic appeared in her eyes. "Contact him? Shuichi, what are you planning to do?! You can't..."
"This isn't a request, Akemi, it's a necessary action!" Shuichi Akai interrupted her, his tone brook no argument. "We must understand him and find his weaknesses. You are the only person we currently know who has had a close past with him! This is a perfect opportunity to get close to him and gather intelligence!"
"No! I can't do it!" Akemi Miyano instinctively took a step back, her hands tightly clutching the hem of her clothes, her voice full of resistance. "I can't help you deal with him! Shuichi, you don't understand at all..."
"What don't I understand?" Shuichi Akai pressed, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's. "I don't understand why you would protect a bloodthirsty monster?"
"He's not a monster!" Akemi Miyano blurted out, her voice carrying an excitement she hadn't even noticed herself. But she immediately realized her slip of the tongue and lowered her voice, though her gaze remained exceptionally stubborn. "At least... to me, he isn't entirely."
Her gaze drifted away again, sinking into that long-buried childhood memory, and her voice became soft and trance-like.
"When I was little... in school, no one wanted to play with me. They ostracized me, calling me a 'freak' and a 'parentless wild child'... I hid in a corner by myself every day, so scared and lonely..."
It was as if the image of that helpless little girl from back then appeared before her eyes.
"Until... Kanjuro appeared. He stood in front of those mean kids who were bullying me, and he... he taught them a lesson. From then on, no one dared to bully me again."
The corners of her mouth even unconsciously curled into an extremely faint, warm arc, but it was quickly replaced by bitterness.
"Though later... I accidentally found out that those mean kids who ostracized me at first... were actually... actually found by Kanjuro himself, who had them bully me on purpose..."
Shuichi Akai's pupils shrank! This was a classic 'hero saves the beauty' trope, and he had directed and acted in it himself. His cunning had been so deep even as a child! This only further confirmed Kanjuro's true nature!
However, Akemi Miyano's next words left him stunned.
"But... so what?" She looked up at Shuichi Akai, her eyes filled with a near-obsessive tenderness and gratitude. "I will always remember that he was the one who stood up and protected me later. He gave me the only light and sense of security during those dark days. If it weren't for him, I might... I might have broken down long ago."
She shook her head vigorously, her tone becoming firm. "So, Shuichi, I'm sorry. I can't do it. I can't help you deal with him. I... I can't be an accomplice in hurting him. No matter what he has become now, I still remember his kindness to me back then. That memory is real and precious to me."
Looking at the unquestionable, even somewhat twisted, deep affection and protection in Akemi Miyano's eyes, Shuichi Akai felt a surge of absurdity and anger. He couldn't understand how someone could protect a demon who had committed such heinous crimes just because of a deliberately arranged 'kindness' from childhood.
But he also knew that at this moment, Akemi Miyano was bound by that twisted past and stubborn emotions; conventional persuasion would be useless.
His eyes turned completely cold, and his voice became like a Siberian wind, carrying an unmistakable threat.
"Akemi, you have no choice."
"Think about your sister, Shiho Miyano (Sherry)."
He knew clearly that Shiho was Akemi's greatest weakness.
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