Chianti's injuries weren't considered especially severe, but the follow-up treatment would be troublesome, and they would definitely affect her daily life. For example, taking a bath.
Ritsu glanced at Chianti in the seat beside him. She was curled sideways in the chair, not daring to let her medicated and bandaged back touch anything at all. Even the slightest contact caused a sharp, heart-wrenching pain.
"Ahh, I originally wanted to finish the mission in style, take a nice bath, and get some rest. If I ever find out who was pulling strings behind the scenes—"
"You're going to tear them limb from limb." Holding the novel in his hands, Ritsu reminded her, "Chianti, you've said that at least five times already."
"I can't help being pissed off, okay? It was supposed to be a perfect plan. Who would've thought there was a mole on the Japan side?"
"Unexpected things happen all over the world every day. As for the mole..." Ritsu paused before continuing, "I doubt Gin will let them off. He's probably already working with intelligence agents he trusts to investigate."
Most likely, Rei was among the personnel handling the investigation.
Before boarding the plane, he had already received an email from Rei asking about his injuries. Clearly, Rei had already heard about the failed mission. News, good or bad, really did travel fast.
"Hopefully the intelligence division can actually pull their weight. Mm... Macallan, I'm gonna sleep for a bit, so I won't keep chatting with you."
"?"
Wasn't he the one keeping her company?
Ritsu lowered his gaze to the book in his hands. Did Chianti think books were just decorative props people used to pretend they were cultured?
Frowning thoughtfully, he began wondering whether he should encourage this rock-loving girl, whose brain seemed entirely occupied with "how to kill people" and "how to blow someone's head off", to read more books and expand her knowledge a little.
Maybe it was necessary to suggest to Gin that members of the action division maintain a reading quota of three books a month.
He looked down at the novel in his hands, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, one of Carson McCullers' representative works. The protagonist was a mute man named Singer.
At first, the opening pages stirred little emotion in him. But as he continued reading, he gradually felt similarities between himself and Singer. Both had become sensitive because of their childhood experiences. Both were lonely and longed for affection.
Singer's connection to the world was fragile, bound by only a single thread. Another mute man suffering from mental illness, Antonapoulos.
Likewise, Ritsu's connection to the world was fragile. All he wanted was to protect the people who had brought brightness back into his life.
[Loneliness is absolute. Even the deepest love cannot alter humanity's ultimate loneliness. Desperate loneliness is less the original sin than the original sin behind all sins. Perhaps only by experiencing absolute loneliness can one understand the happiness of life.]
Reading that passage, Ritsu found himself understanding it completely. It was precisely because he had experienced absolute loneliness that he could appreciate how happy life was with them by his side.
He carefully pondered every sentence in the book until he finally reached the ending, only to discover that Singer, the protagonist he related to so deeply, had died.
Something indescribable flickered through his azure eyes as he stared at the page where Singer chose suicide. After a long while, he let out a quiet laugh and closed the book.
He and Singer were still different.
Singer chose suicide after losing his only connection. But if one day he truly lost everything...
He would still choose to struggle on in this world. Even if it meant barely clinging to life. Even if it meant living unhappily. At least he would still be alive.
Because once you died, there was truly nothing left. As an undercover agent, he cherished his life more than anyone.
The blonde flight attendant serving first class walked over and politely bent down slightly.
"What would you like to drink?"
"I'd like a water. Put a few ice cubes in the glass. Thank you."
"Okay, just a moment, please."
Sipping the iced mineral water, Ritsu began thinking about what he needed to do after returning to Tokyo. First and foremost, he had to report the internal conflict within the organization to Hiro. But before that, he still had to accompany Gin to meet that person.
Just because Gin hadn't punished him didn't mean that person wouldn't. He needed to prepare the right wording in advance.
And more than anything, he still cared deeply about who had leaked information to Finlandia.
There were only so many codename members in the action and intelligence divisions operating in Japan, so narrowing it down would actually be fairly easy. He could already rule out the three people who had carried out the mission with him, as well as Rei and Akai. Adding Gin and Vodka to the list of exclusions... There really weren't many people left.
So who was it?
At this stage, there was still no way to determine the answer.
Several hours later, after the plane arrived at Tokyo International Airport, Ritsu originally planned to send Chianti home before leaving himself. Unexpectedly, Vodka had personally come to pick them up.
Looking at the black ribbon in Vodka's hand, Ritsu scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Isn't blindfolding me here a little inappropriate?"
"Well, naturally. Otherwise people would think I'm some kind of weirdo."
"Yeah. To the point where the police would arrest you."
"Hahahaha!"
Rena had already left, while Irish had taken another flight directly back to Western Europe. With no one else available to escort the "lonely and pitiful" Chianti home, Ritsu pointed at her and asked,
"What car did you drive here? Is there room for one more?"
"There is, but someone's already coming for Chianti. I arranged for Korn to pick her up and bring her over to Taylors for a full examination."
"Oh, got it."
After saying goodbye to Chianti, Ritsu followed Vodka to the parking lot. The moment he saw Gin sitting in the passenger seat smoking yet again, he kindly reminded him,
"Gin, you should really smoke less."
"?"
Despite the fierce glare in Gin's eyes, Ritsu somehow detected a trace of confusion and bewilderment within them. Thoughtfully, he explained,
"I'm genuinely worried that one day you'll be diagnosed with respiratory disease, heart disease, digestive disorders, or maybe lung cancer."
"..."
Vodka shuddered after hearing that. Ritsu really was outrageously bold, openly "cursing" Gin with all kinds of illnesses in broad daylight. Though, come to think of it, Gin really did smoke too much.
It was all those damn traitors and undercover agents' fault. Since drinking on the job wasn't allowed, smoking had become his only vice.
"You don't need to worry about me. Get in the car, we're in a hurry."
"Were you actually listening?" Ritsu glanced at the cigarette still caught between Gin's thin lips and said, "Smoking is harmful to your health. You should care about your body once in a while too."
"Mm."
Gin silently extinguished the cigarette and flicked it out the window. Just as he was about to say something, Vodka chimed in beside him:
"Boss! You really do need to cut down on smoking!"
"Shut up, Vodka."
"???"
Too angry to speak but too afraid to protest, Vodka could only fill his head with confused question marks.
'Why could Macallan say it, but I couldn't?'
'Boss wasn't actually playing favorites, was he?!'