TL Note:
I'm really sorry for disappearing for so long without any announcement. My mental state took a sudden downturn, and on top of that, I've been way too busy with things in real life to continue translating.
I sincerely apologize for leaving everyone waiting without any explanation. I can't promise that updates will be consistent, but I'll still do my best to continue translating and updating this fic whenever I'm able to.
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With the holiday over, Asou Akiya and Randou returned to Yokohama. Knowing they had other matters to attend to, Shibusawa Tatsuhiko sensibly got off the train halfway through the journey, where members of the Shibusawa family were waiting to take him home.
The first thing Akiya did after returning was forge the evidence. He intended to use "Kimura Seimei" to close the case.
There was no way they were handing over the entire body. At most, they would surrender the skull. The condition of the corpse would make it obvious that the time of death wasn't recent enough, inviting suspicion that they had eliminated the traitor long ago and then delayed returning to report for duty.
Out of a rather hypocritical sense of humanitarian concern, Asou Akiya asked "Kimura Seimei" for his opinion.
"If we hand over only your head, Randou won't be able to read your incomplete corpse with his ability. Do you want to be freed? Do you want to stop being our part-time worker for the rest of your life?"
"Kimura Seimei" responded by nodding so frantically it looked as though his head might fall off.
"I do! I do!"
"You want to keep working part-time?"
"No! I want to die! I want to die for real! I've had enough of living like this!"
"Is existing in a state that's neither alive nor dead really that unbearable?"
"Uh, how should I put it... It's actually... strange. Like being a mannequin." The humanoid ability scratched his head. Compared to when he had been alive, his personality had become much more cheerful. There was nothing left for him to dwell on anymore. "I don't need to eat, drink, sleep, or use the bathroom, but I can still imitate all the things humans do. It's manageable for a little while, but after enough time passes, being alive starts to feel like one big joke."
Staring at the freedom that was finally within reach, the humanoid ability suddenly summoned the courage to step closer to Asou Akiya.
His eyes still brimmed with vivid emotion, yet they were filled with the unmistakable aura of death.
"Do I look like a living person to you?"
"...Yes?"
"Haha, but it's all fake. I've lost the most fundamental instinct humans have—the will to live. And not just that, even if my parents and family were standing right in front of me, I could watch them die with a smile."
"..."
"It's all fake. In the end, everything is fake. Whether this heart of mine beats or not is entirely up to the ability."
"But I know that humanoid abilities can inherit their original owner's lingering obsession, can't they?"
"My lingering obsession?"
The humanoid ability that had once been Kimura Seimei fell into thought. Looking back on his life, he supposed he had lived it to the fullest. At least he hadn't drifted through life in mediocrity like an ordinary person.
"My lingering obsession... I guess it was to die a meaningful death. To die happily."
"Kimura Seimei" sounded a little embarrassed as he admitted it.
After a brief moment of surprise, Asou Akiya burst into laughter and patted him on the shoulder.
"Now that's a great obsession!"
Before Kimura Seimei could react to his unexpected response, Akiya placed an axe in his hands.
"In honor of your dying wish, I'll leave the burden of cutting off your head to you! Send your own corpse on its final journey. There's absolutely no second person in the world who could do something like this!"
"Kimura Seimei" stared blankly at the axe in his hands.
That's completely insane!
But...
I love it!
He had always wanted to live differently from everyone else—to die in the midst of slaughter.
Taking a deep breath, "Kimura Seimei" walked toward his own corpse. He stopped before it, then, within Illuminations' subspace, swung the axe down at its neck with all his strength.
The instant the corpse's head was severed from its body, Randou removed the head from the subspace.
The humanoid ability dissolved into nothingness.
"Kimura Seimei" was finally set free.
Randou's ability, Illuminations, could not manipulate an incomplete corpse.
Before fading away completely, he raised his middle finger at the two of them and roared at the top of his lungs,
"I hope you two break up as soon as possible! In my next life, there's no fucking way I'm ever becoming a cleaner again!!!"
Asou Akiya: "..."
Randou flew into a rage and reached for the severed head, intending to shove it back into the subspace.
"How dare he curse us!"
Asou Akiya hurriedly stopped him from carrying out such a pointless act of desecrating the corpse.
"Just let him have his last bit of trash talk before he disappears!"
"I'm so pissed!"
"Don't be. We'll have our other part-time worker clean up the scene. I love you most, Randou. I would never break up with you. In a moment, we'll turn his skull into a gift for the Boss. Then you'll become a Sub-Executive just like me. You won't have to kill people you don't want to kill anymore."
"...Mm."
The future Asou Akiya painted gradually soothed Randou's anger. He shot the corpse one last icy glare.
No living person dared make him angry.
The dead didn't get that privilege either.
With a thought from Randou, Tool Number Two, "Watanabe Yukisada," was summoned. The somewhat older Port Mafia prospective executive looked at the two of them with a blank expression and asked,
"What do you need me to do?"
Randou pointed at the floor.
"Clean up this place and strip this guy down to a skeleton."
"Watanabe Yukisada" suddenly wasn't sure whether he should envy Kimura Seimei or pity him.
The guy had actually managed to die.
No.
More accurately, he would never have to become Randou's puppet again.
"Understood."
The Port Mafia Sub-Executive wisely asked no further questions and got to work. Fortunately, Randou hadn't demanded a masterpiece, so he was just barely capable of fulfilling the request.
After taking a short break, Asou Akiya and Randou packed the item into a gift box before returning to report on their mission.
At Port Mafia Headquarters, Asou Akiya asked Randou to wait with the Black Lizards while he carried the gift—already inspected by the guards—into the Boss's office alone, all the while thinking about how to secure Randou's promotion.
The Port Mafia Boss sat weakly behind his desk. His condition had improved little compared to a month ago.
His crimson eyes gazed straight ahead.
"Analyst, you've returned from your assignment. What gift have you brought me?"
"A gift I believe you'll appreciate."
Asou Akiya gave a simple bow before stepping forward and placing the gift on the desk. Although incense had been placed inside the box, it still couldn't completely mask the peculiar scent lingering beneath it.
The Port Mafia Boss's sense of smell was no longer particularly sharp, but when it came to this, it was almost instinctive.
He was born for the darkness.
The old man drew in a deep breath.
"The smell of a corpse."
Asou Akiya untied the ribbon around the gift box and revealed the "souvenir" he had brought.
A smile finally appeared on the face worn down by illness.
"A traitor deserves to die."
"You're absolutely right."
Asou Akiya remained completely aligned with the Port Mafia Boss's position and never said anything that would spoil his mood. If not for the time he had opposed him in order to save Ozaki Kouyou, he would undoubtedly have been the subordinate the old man trusted most.
"What do you want? Speak freely." The Port Mafia Boss was in an unusually good mood today.
"This subordinate is incompetent and lacks sufficient combat ability. It was Randou, who accompanied me on this assignment, who killed the traitor." Asou Akiya took a step back and spoke respectfully. "I humbly ask that the reward be given to Randou. His ability can accomplish far more for the Port Mafia."
The Port Mafia Boss knew full well what the relationship between the two was. Even if he disliked it, he still acted fairly for once.
"Very well," the old man said in a hoarse voice. "Make him a Battalion Leader of the Black Lizards."
Asou Akiya frowned inwardly.
The position was too low. Randou still wouldn't be free of the Black Lizards.
Had the Boss already forgotten what he said before? Whoever killed Kimura Seimei could become a Sub-Executive.
"And the doctor?" the old man asked, clearly more concerned about something else. "Didn't you say you were going to find me a gifted physician?"
Asou Akiya began making things up on the spot.
"I met with many physicians outside Yokohama, but none of them were as skilled as the doctors we've already hired. So I shifted my focus overseas, increased the bounty within the underworld, and expanded our intelligence-gathering efforts regarding gifted physicians."
The old man was bitterly disappointed. His emotions began slipping out of control, and he vented his frustration on Asou Akiya.
"You were gone for so long, and that's all you accomplished? That's not what you promised me!"
"I did everything I could, Boss."
The old man grabbed the gift box from the desk and hurled it to the floor.
"I think you never put your heart into it at all! The only thing you cared about was your boyfriend! You've forgotten who your master is! You went to all that trouble hunting down Kimura Seimei just to get him promoted!"
"..."
"A doctor! I want a doctor who can completely cure me!"
"...I'm sorry."
After a long silence, those were the only words Asou Akiya could force out.
"Ahem."
Just then, as the tension in the Boss's office reached its peak, another voice cut into the conversation between the Port Mafia Boss and his analyst.
"Boss, it's time for your medicine. You should get some rest."
Asou Akiya, who had instinctively been waiting for the Boss to finish venting his anger, felt his pupils contract. He abruptly turned toward the man in the white coat who had stepped out of the adjoining lounge, his gaze locking onto him.
The underground doctor who had once supplied Asou Akiya with medicine—and who had fallen on such hard times that he had nearly resorted to becoming his sugar baby—no longer wore the timid, weak-willed expression he once had. Instead, he carried himself with calm composure as he strode forward, placing the prepared medicine and a glass of water before the Boss.
In just a few short steps, Mori Ougai had replaced the former personal physician and become the Port Mafia Boss's new doctor.
Mori Ougai behaved as though he had never met Asou Akiya before. After helping the Boss take his medicine, he prepared to withdraw.
The old man's pain gradually subsided. He had just taken the finest painkillers available.
"Analyst, what do you think of my new doctor?"
The old man's attachment to life compelled him to seek Asou Akiya's judgment.
Mori Ougai stood there without the slightest fear.
He knew this was the most crucial step in his infiltration of the Port Mafia.
He needed both the old man's and Asou Akiya's approval.
If my guess is correct... Asou Akiya is Natsume-sensei's first disciple...
Even though he had already suspected as much, the moment Mori Ougai met Asou Akiya's gaze, the hairs on the back of his neck still stood on end. The fleeting satisfaction of having caught the other man off guard vanished without a trace.
"...There's no problem."
After a brief silence, Asou Akiya withdrew his scrutinizing gaze.
As if to demonstrate the discernment expected of an analyst, he said meaningfully, "He's an excellent doctor. I've been to his clinic before as well. The medicine he sells was… remarkably effective."
Mori Ougai remained perfectly composed.
Go ahead and name the medicine if you can. Otherwise, that statement means nothing.
The aging Port Mafia Boss was deeply suspicious by nature.
"And why would you be buying medicine from his clinic?"
"One time, a gunshot wound became infected."
Mori Ougai deliberately added, "At the time, Akiya-san had a slight fever and a scratch across his face from a cat. He also received a rabies vaccination at my clinic."
Asou Akiya silently turned to look at Mori Ougai.
Mori Ougai said apologetically, "It's nothing embarrassing. I hope you won't take offense."
Asou Akiya let out a cold laugh inwardly.
Well, well. Now that you've become the Port Mafia Boss's personal physician, you've got the nerve to dig up my embarrassing stories?
Fine.
I'll let this one slide.
The moment he had heard that familiar voice, Asou Akiya's heart had skipped a beat. He had to admit that today had given him quite a scare—on his very first day back at the Port Mafia, he had already run into Mori Ougai, who had somehow infiltrated the organization.
This was the infamous quack doctor who killed people!
In the original story, he had simply used bloodletting to treat the Port Mafia Boss... and ended up bleeding him to death!
The Port Mafia Boss, still very much alive in this timeline, naturally had no idea of Mori Ougai's "medical expertise." After hearing his analyst's assessment, he visibly relaxed and sneered,
"A mafioso actually got scratched by a cat? The instructor who passed you in hand-to-hand combat training must've accepted a bribe from you."
Asou Akiya looked aggrieved.
"That cat was really formidable..."
The Port Mafia Boss ignored his protest and snapped,
"Get back to work! Stop lingering here. You should be grateful someone found Mori-sensei for me. His medical skills are excellent—they've eased my condition. I'll give you a little more time to search overseas for a gifted physician!"
"If you don't find one, don't even dream of making your boyfriend a Sub-Executive!"
"...Understood."
Asou Akiya accepted the order with obvious reluctance.
Before leaving, he deliberately shot Mori Ougai a cold glance. Then, his black overcoat draped over his shoulders, he turned and walked out of the Boss's office.
Mori Ougai didn't dare underestimate the side of Asou Akiya that lay beyond the customer who had once come to buy medicine. His heart tightened.
After this exchange, he had managed to secure his footing, but only by undermining Asou Akiya's standing.
As the price for that—
Would've to help Asou Akiya's lover become a Sub-Executive?
That… went against his ambitions.
Rather than elevating someone else, Mori Ougai would much rather claim that position himself and rule over the "Night." Natsume-sensei's Tripartite Framework had never specified who would govern the Night. It wasn't as though he didn't know how demanding the Special Division for Unusual Powers—the faction representing the "Day"—was. Advancing there was far more difficult than rising through the ranks of the Port Mafia.
Mori Ougai picked up the skull from the floor. The bones had been cleaned rather carelessly, and they felt unpleasantly sticky to the touch.
"Boss, what should be done with this...? Should I throw it in the trash?"
The Port Mafia Boss was pleased by how naturally Mori had adapted to the Mafia. Toward any doctor capable of treating him—even one who showed the slightest sign of improving his condition—he harbored an almost pathological trust.
"I want it put on public display. I want everyone to know what happens to traitors!"
"Yes, Boss."
"Mori-sensei, get used to it as soon as possible. You're my personal physician. You don't need to obey anyone else's orders. Your only responsibility is to devote yourself to treating me and easing the burden on my body."
"Boss, maintaining a positive state of mind will also help your recovery."
"Heh, that's exactly what Akiya-kun used to tell me. He said something very similar."
The Port Mafia Boss's gaze grew distant as memories resurfaced, and his mood gradually calmed.
As Mori Ougai tidied up the desk, his eyes lingered on the old man's illness-ridden face.
From now on, I'll tell you even more of what you want to hear. The position I'll be replacing isn't just that of your personal physician.
After leaving Port Mafia Headquarters, Asou Akiya stopped in a blind spot beyond the surveillance cameras.
He dialed a number, and the moment the call connected, he complained resentfully,
"Sensei, how could you do this to me?!"
"I'd barely returned when I found a black fox with bad intentions wandering right in front of me, practically swishing its big fluffy tail across my face. And then the Boss expected me to praise his medical skills? Do you have any idea how hard I had to hold myself back from turning that fox into a fur coat?!"
"Huh? He's your candidate for my junior fellow disciple? Then I deserve compensation!"
"I brought dried fish from Hokkaido. Would you like some? Just let me feed you once. It's been so long since I've seen your true form~."
"Sensei, don't hang up—!!"
After his desperate pleas proved completely ineffective, Asou Akiya wiped a hand over his face and decided to rely on himself instead.
The next time he ran into the calico cat, he'd just feed it himself!
After that, Asou Akiya looked at an anonymous message on his phone. The sender was like one of those scammers from his previous life in China who blasted messages everywhere, casting a wide net with suggestive bait to lure people in.
[Sir, care to have a chat?]
Still simmering with frustration, Asou Akiya furiously typed out a reply.
[Can you make someone a Sub-Executive? No? Then goodbye. I have a husband, and I'm not interested in your flirting!]
Now that the Boss had gone back on his word, the only thing he could do was have someone whisper in the Boss's ear on his behalf.
Mori-sensei, I'm counting on you!
If you want to become the organization's slave, then satisfy Randou's and my needs first. Wouldn't it be nice to have the support of two Sub-Executives? My goal is a 955 work schedule, while yours is 996 or even 007. Our goals don't actually conflict at all!