As winter passed and spring arrived, another year went by.
Standing at a street corner in a black trench coat, a heavy black guitar case slung over his back as usual, Ritsu looked toward the cherry blossom trees blooming inside Teitan Middle School across the street.
It was that time of year again, the season of cherry blossoms. A new batch of police academy students would soon graduate. He wondered how that fierce Instructor Onizuka was doing these days.
And the others, were they doing well?
"Macallan, you did well on this mission. That person is very satisfied. There's another assignment for you tonight, you'll be meeting a member of the operations team who was previously active in Kansai."
Gin's gruff voice pulled Ritsu back from his thoughts. Adjusting his earpiece, he replied, "Understood. What's his codename?"
"Tequila. I'll send you the meeting location by email."
"Got it."
A burst of static came through the earpiece, signaling Gin had left the channel. Ritsu removed it and slipped it into his pocket. As the pedestrian light across the street turned green, he walked over at an unhurried pace.
"Ah!"
A girl's scream caught his attention. Turning his head, he saw a middle school girl in a Teitan uniform chasing after a man who had snatched her wallet, her face full of panic.
"Thief! Stop right there, you bastard! That's my living expenses for the whole month!"
Her accent sounded like a Kyushu dialect from Kagoshima. Seeing that no one else was stepping in, Ritsu decided to do a rare good deed. Pulling his cap lower, he quickly chased after the thief crossing the street.
The thief, clutching the wallet, was busy fantasizing about how many days he could avoid stealing, completely unaware that a hand was already reaching toward the back of his neck.
He suddenly felt his hoodie being yanked back. Before he could even turn around, his vision went black and he collapsed unconscious, just barely hearing a mocking remark before he passed out.
"If you're that slow, don't bother being a thief."
Looking at the unconscious man on the ground, Ritsu picked up the pink wallet and started walking back to return it to the girl. But before he could take more than a few steps, a gust of wind from a punch came at him from the right.
He narrowly dodged the surprise attack and frowned at the boy who had thrown the punch.
The boy had dark skin, even darker than Rei's, and wore a stark white karate gi with a black belt tied at his waist.
'A black belt at such a young age? And that punch was incredibly fast. If it had landed… the consequences would've been serious.'
Beneath thick large eyebrows, his deep blue eyes showed a flash of surprise at Ritsu's dodge but quickly refocused.
'A side kick next? The stance and power are solid, but the speed is too slow. And following up an attack like that with such a wide movement… not a good choice.'
Too many openings.
The black-haired boy executed a textbook right side kick, only to hit nothing but air. What shocked him even more was that the "thief" in a baseball cap with a guitar case on his back, dodged and simultaneously struck the outside of his thigh with an elbow.
"Ugh!"
The sharp pain nearly made him collapse but his balance held. Quickly creating distance, the boy frowned as if facing a formidable enemy.
It had been a long time since he'd met someone who could match him. Could he finally have a proper fight?
The answer was no.
Ritsu casually tossed the pink wallet toward him and waved dismissively, pulling his cap lower.
"I'm not the thief. You've got the wrong guy."
"??"
The boy instinctively caught the wallet. He was about to call out but the traffic light had already turned red. What did he mean, not the thief?
The Kagoshima-accented girl hurried over. She had been so absorbed watching the fight that she forgot to explain earlier.
"Kyogoku-senpai, that guy was the one who stopped the thief!" She pointed to the unconscious man lying several meters away. "That's the thief, the one he took down!"
"!!!"
Kyogoku Makoto hadn't expected that he had just attacked someone trying to help. His dark complexion flushed red as he awkwardly returned the wallet to the girl.
"I… I'll go apologize!"
But by the time he ran in the direction Ritsu had gone, he couldn't find him anywhere.
What a shame. He had finally met someone worth fighting, no, someone stronger than him. It seemed his training still wasn't enough. He needed to push himself harder.
Unaware that he had been marked by a battle-obsessed martial artist, Ritsu rubbed his sore elbow and muttered, "Are that guy's thigh muscles made of steel? That hurt…"
Ding.
His phone chimed. Opening Gin's email, he saw the meeting address along with a photo of the contact, one of those standard light-blue background ID shots used by the organization.
A fierce-looking man with a thick mustache under his nose, a prominent cleft chin, and a hat perched on his head. Honestly, that hat looked suspiciously like something bought in bulk alongside Gin and Vodka's.
"At this hour, and the meeting place is a bar?"
3-chome, 42 Ban, Beika Town, a bar called MEXICO. The décor was heavily Mexican-themed, even featuring small flags at the entrance.
Thinking about it, tequila was Mexico's national drink, it's very soul. So if he was Mexican, it wasn't that strange.
But the moment Ritsu pushed the door open, he was greeted by a scene he would never forget.
Inside the bar, Mexican Hat Dance was playing, a tune from the film The Three Caballeros. And right there, a massive man nearly two meters tall with a fierce face was enthusiastically dancing the lively hat dance.
Ritsu felt like gouging his own eyes out just to calm down for a few seconds. Especially with how utterly uncoordinated the man's limbs were, he could even hear onlookers snickering.
It was hard to accept that he was about to work with someone like this, a codename member who moved like a clumsy fool even worse than Vodka.
And the dance was supposed to be performed with a partner, yet he was doing it alone… like a pitiful circus clown.
Walking toward the bar counter, Ritsu recalled reading somewhere that Mexican culture loved dancing, so much so that people would slack off work just to drink and dance, eventually getting fired.
"An Adonis, please."
A low-alcohol cocktail made with dry sherry, sweet vermouth, orange bitters, and lemon peel. It had a light fruity aroma and smooth taste, perfect for someone with low alcohol tolerance like him.
Determined to improve his tolerance, Ritsu rested his chin in his hand and watched Tequila still bouncing around on the dance floor. With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and messaged someone from the intel division, asking for Tequila's phone number.
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