Hearing Gin's words, a flicker of doubt crossed Kir's eyes, but she did not show it.
"Go in. We must leave before nightfall."
After speaking, Kir turned and left.
Heiji smiled faintly, drove the BMW inside, and parked in the innermost corner.
"Porsche, Citroën… cars with such a huge gap in status are parked in the same lot. Looks like this bunch is meeting to discuss something."
Heiji analyzed it casually; in any case, it had nothing to do with him.
Underground Bar!
Heiji's figure slowly disappeared from the screen. Gin's eyes flickered with a cold, gloomy light.
"Big Brother, we found him. Hattori Heiji—son of Osaka Prefectural Police Superintendent Hattori Heizo, a kendo expert, and also a fairly famous high school detective in Kansai."
Vodka spoke while looking at the computer screen.
"High school detective?"
A trace of coldness appeared at the corner of Gin's mouth.
"Gideon—has Kudo Shinichi's corpse been found?"
"No. But he hasn't shown up at all either."
Gideon replied.
"Keep searching. Missing doesn't mean dead. Go to his house and search it. And take Miyano Shiho with you."
Gin's voice was icy.
"Understood."
Gideon nodded.
"Big Brother, Kudo Shinichi was force-fed APTX4896 by you. There's no way he survived. Why waste time?"
Vodka asked, puzzled.
"Idiot. As long as the corpse hasn't been found, we can't confirm his death. Keep searching."
Gin's status in the Black Organization was unquestionable; except for Vermouth, everyone else had to obey him.
"Yes, Big Brother."
Vodka nodded.
"How should we deal with this Hattori Heiji?"
Gideon asked.
"Ignore him."
As the son of the Osaka Prefectural Police Superintendent, Gin didn't want to provoke him for now. A relatively important transaction was coming up, and it wasn't the right time to cause too much trouble.
Heiji had no idea that place was the Black Organization's stronghold—he thought it was just some gang's hideout.
"Heiji, where did you run off to? We waited forever."
Kazuha and the other two girls had been waiting where they were the whole time.
"Wait for me? Didn't I tell you to go shopping first? We could've just called when it was time."
Heiji was speechless. Wasn't even allowed to slack off?
"Ran and Sonoko said they wanted to wait too. It wasn't just me insisting on it."
Kazuha said triumphantly.
"Heiji, we waited so long. You have to treat us."
Sonoko said casually.
"Sonoko, that's not really fair…"
Ran said helplessly.
"What's unfair about it? Eating with two great beauties is a kind of enjoyment."
"Why two? There are three of us here."
Kazuha asked, confused.
"Idiot. Because Kazuha is an ugly monster."
Heiji grinned wickedly.
"Annoying. I hate Heiji the most."
Even as she said that, Kazuha hugged Heiji tightly, her beautiful eyes rippling with a glossy shine—full of happiness.
A flash of dejection crossed Sonoko's eyes, while Ran looked openly envious.
"Alright, alright. Today we're going to eat Heiji broke."
Sonoko recovered quickly, grabbed Ran, and shouted loudly.
For an entire morning and afternoon, Heiji was dragged around by the three girls through the most prosperous areas of Tokyo, his hands loaded with shopping bags.
"Sonoko, I don't want any more. Stop buying."
"Seriously, Sonoko—we've bought enough."
Kazuha and Ran were both helpless. All day long, Sonoko had been paying; she'd bought over four million yen worth of things, all for the two of them—uh… Heiji got some too.
"Don't worry. My older sister told me to do it. You two were scared last time, so this time we have to make it up to you. My sister's already working—don't refuse free gifts."
Sonoko said with a grin.
"But…"
"Alright. As the daughter of the Suzuki Conglomerate, are you really worried she doesn't have money?"
Heiji cut off Kazuha and Ran. If they kept talking, they'd drag it out forever. Right now, he just wanted to go back, take a shower, and sleep comfortably.
Shopping with women was a sport that drained brainpower, stamina, and energy at a terrifying speed; even a body forged from iron couldn't endure it.
"It's not like that. I don't usually spend money recklessly either. Heiji, you mustn't misunderstand me."
Sonoko hurried to explain, as if she didn't want Heiji to get the wrong idea.
It was evening. Winter days were short; in the blink of an eye, the sky had gone dark.
"Heiji, why did you park the car in a place like this?"
Sonoko was speechless. Everything around them was gloomy—terrifying.
"Didn't I tell you not to follow?"
He'd originally told them to wait in place, but they insisted on coming. This area was a gang hangout; armed fights happened from time to time, and dead bodies weren't rare. Of course it felt gloomy.
"It's because we were scared you'd make us wait half a day again."
Kazuha pouted, looked around, and couldn't help hugging Heiji even tighter.
Ran and Sonoko clung to each other, their expressions uneasy.
Meow~~!!!
A black cat darted past, scaring the three girls into a burst of screams.
Heiji looked helplessly at the girls on both sides of him. Both his arms were being held—though the soft, rounded sensation wasn't bad, shouldn't he be avoiding suspicion?
"Sorry, Heiji."
Ran hurriedly let go, a blush flashing across her beautiful face.
"You two—one does Aikido, one does Karate—and you got scared by a black cat…"
"What can we do? The atmosphere here is way too scary. Heiji, let's leave quickly."
Kazuha hugged Heiji and quickened her pace; she didn't want to stay even a second longer.
"Big Brother, Hattori Heiji came back. There are also three women with him."
Vodka said, watching the screen.
"Ignore him."
Gin said indifferently.
The road remained unobstructed; no one came looking for death.
Once they were back in the car, the three girls finally sighed in relief, urging Heiji to drive away immediately.
"Heiji, hurry up. Hurry up."
Heiji had no choice and drove off.
When the car passed an underground bar…
"Triggered B-rank mission: Destroy this Black Organization stronghold. Time limit: one day."
The system's cold voice suddenly echoed in his mind.