“To think that the talk of the town, the great mask, would have his eye on me… What an honor.”
Perhaps there was also some embarrassment at play, but when she intentionally spoke in a formal manner, sure enough, Shinichi grimaced.
Myuhi was all smiles at that.
“Stop poking fun at me. In the first place, what honor could there be? As far as society is concerned, you and I are both cut from the same cloth.”
“…”
They were both splendid
Yet despite having become the very thing he hated, it took him no effort to acknowledge it.
But Myuhi didn’t agree. They were indeed not far off from each other, but Masquerade was doing his best not to harm the innocent.
That was true even for that eyecatching attack that vaporized the sea.
Given the scope, it shouldn’t have been strange for at least a few ships or planes to have been caught in its fire, and yet, not even one was hurt.
They already knew from investigations that the submarines were teleported to another area completely.
Moreover, not even the aquatic ecosystem was damaged.
When the people realized that, they felt even greater fear for the mask.
But as merchants of death, there was a difference of heaven and earth between them.
Directly or indirectly, they were continuing to kill people even at this very moment.
No matter how terrifying the Mask might be, he was still better off than the murderers that they were.
They were not the same.
“…I understand.”
Yet she could more or less tell that the boy did not recognize that difference.
Anyhow, it was much more productive to talk about the future instead of wasting time talking about something unnecessary.
Especially since, at the end of the day, everything depended on what he wanted them to do.
“So basically, you’ll turn a blind eye to us in exchange for information on Garesto’s underworld society and the suspension of our activities at the academy and Kutoria? In other words, you want us to surrender to that threat.”
“More or less. I’ll clear away the sparks that fall, and crush anything that catches my eye, but I won’t proactively pursue anything beyond that.”
Myuhi patted her chest while thinking to herself how arrogant the boy was.
Normally, this would be an unfair deal, but since the other party was the Mask, the conditions given were actually favorable.
That was just how attractive it was to lessen the Mask’s hostility toward them.
“Also, I have a personal request to you.”
But when he added that last part, she finally couldn’t endure it anymore.
Because in the face of such a sincere Shinichi, a sense of duty to do so appeared within her.
In this point alone, they were the same.
“A personal request to me? Hah, don’t tell me! So you’re not satisfied with just Tomotomo, Fudonecchi, and Ari-chan! You want to violate me too!?”
Myuhi wriggled her body and frivolously cried in a sweet voice, “Aaan… I’m going to be r**ed!”
Because the tone of her voice and her attitude was obviously joking.
“Hey! Since when did I lay a hand on those three!? …I may have touched them, but I’ve never touched their chastity.”
“Ah, so you’re not denying it, huh. What’s more I’m using Tomotomo for the first time, and yet you knew exactly who I was referring to!”
“…”
It was a trap. Shinichi became speechless, and Myuhi laughed.
The reason she brought up those three was precisely because their relationship had already turned into that direction.
Or at least, she’s seen them looking at Shinichi with a gaze that implied that to be the case.
In Tomoe’s case, after Myuhi had lost track of her, when she saw her next, for some reason, there was affection in the gaze she looked at Shinichi with.
As someone who has been observing him, she believed that he had messed up regardless of if he was aware of it or not.
“…Can I take back the deal I offered just now?”
“I’m sorry.”
When the people around them realized that they were just a couple messing around and stopped paying attention to them, Shinichi smiled at her with blue veins popping on his forehead and pressured her with those words.
Myuhi immediately bowed her head and apologized.
But of course, deep inside she was actually thinking about how interesting teasing him would be from now on, given that doing so would require her to stake her life.
Perhaps he saw through her thoughts, or then again, perhaps not; perhaps he merely wanted to move their conversation along or perhaps he merely wanted to get back at her, but regardless, despite making a sullen face, he decided to just give his request to her straight.
“I have just one request from you. Stop investigating the Senba siblings, they’re just normal people.”
After exchanging gazes and a moment of silence upon saying that, Myuhi sighed.
“Ahh, so it really was that sort of relationship. And you were a step ahead of me too. No wonder I couldn’t find anything no matter how much I investigated them.”
“You were there at the scene of trouble on the first day, so thinking it would be dangerous, I made it so that our relationship couldn’t easily be found out. I thought you’d give up after failing to turn up any link, but you just wouldn’t stop. So annoying. Thanks to that I had no choice but to just directly threaten you,” Shinichi shrugged.
Doing so would of course stop the investigations, but it was also basically a confession that they were people that he would go that far to protect.
Of course, to the people who witnessed that scene, it was never possible to hide the fact that there was something there anyway.
However, to Myuhi, what was really shocking was that he made his move so soon.
“For reference’s sake, exactly when did you notice my true identity?”
“Right from the start I believed it was your job to observe me. But I didn’t know your exact affiliation until you brazenly used your intercom in front of me… While I was using my mask. If I recall correctly, you were grinning to yourself while looking at the peeping photos you took of me.”
“…That mask is more unfair than I’d thought.”
Myuhi said with a twitching face, but deep inside she was desperately keeping herself from screaming, ‘that time!!??’
Revenge successful, Shinichi thought as he grinned complacently at her, but that smile quickly stiffened.
“I’m not asking to change our relationship. We can just act the same until now. But if you do something to them or try to use my relationship with them… If you try to use them in some kind of scheme, I will crush you and your organization immediately… No matter what.”
The boy said flatly with a serious voice.
There was a sharpness and pressure emanating from his eyes that said he was not fooling around.
This was likely the most serious threat he’s given yet, and Myuhi found herself inadvertently quivering.
“Even if the world deteriorates because of that?”
But she wanted to confirm that, so she borrowed his anxious words from earlier.
Yet before she could even ponder what sort of response he would give, he answered.
“I will take responsibility.”
“!”
It was such a brief and simple answer with no twists, and yet that firm declaration scared Myuhi out of her wits.
This responsibility was not the same responsibility where a person would pay for their mistake with their life or their resignation, rather it was a declaration that he would suppress the source of the problem without fail.
Despite appearances Nameless was an organization with great influence in Garesto’s underworld society.
Yet he was saying that he would crush that Nameless and calm the resulting waves and chaos himself.
“It’s because you can actually do it that that threat is so effective. So unfair.”
He’d given that response so readily, but she couldn’t even snort at it because he indeed had the power to do so. Because of that she could only wryly smile.
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