Scotland spent the next time in a state of absent-mindedness.
After today, Scotland officially got to know Kawakami. There's something else lurking beneath his partner's sharp, witty, occasionally neurotic façade.
And Scotland accidentally discovered this - not because of how far his lurking had progressed, but because of Kawakami's own loss of control.
Yes, out of control. It seems that Kawakami Tsumugi has been in a state of stress after experiencing something.
In the previous year, Kawakami never lost control in front of Scotland, and all the laughter and curses were under control. To allow such a person who is good at disguise to lose his temper like this, Scotland cannot imagine what the organization has done to him.
But Tsumugi Kawakami was definitely interrogated.
From Scotland's point of view, Kashasha's status in the organization was not low. He was the only guy in the action team who could openly quarrel with Gin without being punished - writing a review was not considered a punishment.
And what happened in the past few days made Scotland feel that this "high status" also came at a price. Judging from the familiarity between Kawakami and Belmod, the interrogation may not be the first time.
Moreover, during this period, Scotland has been on a mission with Gin. Did Kawakami Tsumugi want to get rid of him...?
During dinner, Kawakami still didn't come out of the room.
Scotland hesitated again and again, but was still ready to knock on the door and ask. Anyway, he has the antidote in his hand, and it won't matter if he gets a few more injections from Kawakami Kei.
The look of Tsumugi Kawakami was so scary. If they were just pure friends - even if they were just colleagues, Scotland would have tied this guy to the hospital.
"Kawakamiji? Kashasha?" Scotland gently knocked on the door, "Are you okay? You need to drink some water even if you don't eat..."
"I'm fine."
Mohu's voice came from behind the door, and Kawakamiji had no intention of opening the door.
Scotland stood frozen in front of the door. He didn't know how to deal with it now. It was not that he was not good at dealing with people, but before that, Scotland had never had to worry about getting along with Kawakami, and what was more important was how not to be noticed by him. There is a flaw.
Fortunately, Tsuyoshi Kawakami inside the door seemed to be aware of Scotland's dilemma.
"I'm sorry for what happened before." Kawakami continued, "But don't disturb me for at least 12 hours."
Scotland didn't speak, he still stood quietly in front of the door.
"I have food, medicine and water in stock in my room." Kawakami said again, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."
It sounded like he had returned to normal, but the uneasiness still lingered in Scotland's heart.
Tsumugi Kawakami is rarely injured, and when he is injured, he is rarely told. How did Tsuyoshi Kawakami perform when he was injured last time? By the way, I was quarreling with Ling across the bed, and reluctantly ate the apple he prepared. Last time, I was driving around in a wheelchair, which made the doctor almost furious...
In any case, such a serious explanation is too disturbing.
…………
midnight.
Scotland tossed and turned on the bed, countless thoughts still filling his mind: interrogation, Gin's suspicion, blood, "he couldn't protect himself" but was still not killed by the organization, he was excluded, the needle that paralyzed his entire arm...
Scotland sat up, the feeling of being unable to fall asleep was too much. At this time, he saw the light coming from the crack in the door.
Very weak.
There is light, which means that the TV in the living room is on, which means that his partner stays up all night watching movies as usual, or as Kawakami himself puts it: "Stimulate the cones when you are bored."
Scotland opened the door silently and walked near the sofa.
The gray-haired young man was lying quietly on the sofa, covered with his black trench coat, still wearing glasses, the lenses reflected light, so Scotland could not tell whether he was asleep or awake.
There was no sound, and a documentary was playing on the TV. It showed the vast ocean, colorful corals and colorful fish. This documentary looked very familiar.
"Scotland?"
The person lying on the sofa moved, and Kawakamiji shouted softly.
"It's me." Scotland paused and then added, "I have some insomnia. Can I sit here?"
Kawakami's legs were half-curled and his body was bent into an arch shape, occupying only two-thirds of the space on the sofa. Therefore, there are enough places left for Scotland.
Kawakami thought that he might as well just stretch out his legs, occupy that position, and refuse the approach of people with malicious intentions. But Scotland had sat back, making his plan difficult to implement.
Forget it, people are alive. If Scotland doesn't leave, he will leave. Anyway, he is now under the influence of C750, so it is not surprising what he does. Moreover, Scotland has already discovered that something is wrong with him.
But it would be a bit awkward to just run away, so why not talk and make things clear.
"Okay. If you are really curious." Kawakamiji said.
He quickly sat up and his black windbreaker slipped off his body. He was wearing a white shirt underneath, which was wrinkled. With the weak light from the TV, Scotland saw a bruise on the other man's neck.
"I'm injured for some reason now, so I'm vomiting blood, but I'm almost healed, so I'm back." Kawakami explained, "As for other things, don't ask."
"but--"
"Don't ask~ Shadow-kun." The gray-haired young man tilted his head and smiled, "I don't know what Gin is adding to your jealousy, but don't worry about that guy and don't do anything unnecessary."
"...I want to ask you when you will recover." Scotland sighed and said.
"12 hours, 12 hours is enough." Kawakami said slowly, "I told you the specific time."
"Twelve hours is definitely not enough. Don't tell me that you just bit your tongue when you vomited blood." Scotland retorted quickly.
Maybe Gin is right about this, Kawakami thought, he can't get along too well as a partner, now Scotland will retort. Can't we just get this matter over with as a matter of course?
"What I bitten has nothing to do with you." Kawakami said coldly, "Maybe you are doubting me? Do you think you have the qualifications?"
Suspect? Scotland couldn't keep up with Kawakami Tsumugi's thinking. What did he suspect? Did Kawakami know that he doubted his position?
"Gin has the right to think that I am a rat because he is barely older than me, even though there is no such thing as seniority in the winery." Kawakami Tsumugi's voice was filled with an unspeakable sinister tone, "Maybe that guy asked you to spy on me? He has Do you want to increase your salary? Or do you want to improve your performance?"
No... Scotland felt extremely ridiculous, and for a moment he couldn't laugh or cry. Something was wrong with Kawakami, something was clearly wrong.
"Gin doesn't care about wages."
For the first time, this was what Scotland thought of, and then he said it.
"Don't change the subject." The gray-haired young man smiled softly, and this smile was full of malice. "Although it is common to find faults in colleagues in the organization, but don't draw attention to me."
Kawakami Tsumugi left the sofa, stood up, and looked down at his partner, that sticky and sticky malice still surging silently in the space. Scotland noticed that he was barefoot and had no shoes on.
"It's impossible for you to find any flaws in me, because I won't have any flaws. But you, Scotland, are full of flaws."
"Full of flaws."
Scotland broke out in a cold sweat.
For a moment, his breathing stopped, and Scotland stared into Kawakami Tsumugi's eyes, but the lenses were blocking his vision, so he could still see clearly.
As if he felt that his warning was effective, Kawakami turned around and left with great satisfaction. He was like a ghost, walking quietly.
Let everything return to normal tomorrow, Kawakami thought, C750 will metabolize faster.
The tasks issued by the system still made Kawakami think a lot: First of all, it is definitely not possible to directly report these suspicious persons whose identities are unclear. First, there is no evidence, and second, they need to obtain character points.
However, Tsumugi Kawakami has no interest or obligation to help them cover up anything, at least not yet. He even gets angry at the thought of his previous shielding of Armagnac.
In the future, it may be possible to gradually loosen control of Scotland, Kawakami made up his mind.
Before that, Kawakami and Scotland were almost inseparable. As an old man in a winery, the tasks assigned to Scotland by Kawakami were all carefully selected, moderately difficult, and low-confidence tasks. In order to train Scotland's adaptability, he often improvised notify.
This is protection and limitation.
Scotland can learn a lot from him, and will not encounter problems that cannot be solved before growing up, but it will also be difficult to penetrate deeply into the organization and get opportunities to obtain intelligence.
Kawakami decided that after today, he would treat Scotland the same way he treated his previous partners:
He will no longer limit Scotland's information channels, nor will he screen the difficulty of tasks in advance. Instead, he will place bait in front of Scotland one by one.
Then stand by and watch the other person fend for themselves.
If Scotland performs well and remains calm, it will be treated as if nothing happened. If something goes wrong, another Armagnac incident will occur.
Anyway, there is more than one key figure in Scotland. Killing one or two should not have the impact of "the show will be ruined and the world will collapse" in the message, probably...
The previous warning was Kawakami's last goodwill.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Thanks to King Sea Cucumber, Jiu Qian Yi Bai Wu Shi Wu for the reward, and Zero Fighter, Tail Viola, Silent Butterfly, Kamor Thorn, Jiu Qian Yi Bai Wu Shi Wu for their monthly passes.
