Chapter 128: Flowers Under the Moon

The sky gradually darkened, the last ray of sunset disappeared over the sea, and the cold night slowly descended.

Miyano Akemi wrapped her coat tightly around herself, glancing one by one at the numbers on the containers.

The tall crane cast a huge, eerie shadow beneath the crescent moon, hiding the footsteps of those moving among the containers.

"Hirota Masami... No, I should call you Miyano Akemi." A mocking voice echoed. Gin, followed by Vodka, blocked her path. "You've worked hard."

The man with long hair led the tall, burly figure behind him and stood before Miyano Akemi. The rising moon behind them cast their long shadows over her.

Miyano Akemi clenched her teeth and stepped back slightly on guard.

Even though this wasn't her first time meeting him, the man codenamed Gin still brought her immense pressure every time. The chilling aura that treated life as worthless seemed to spread from him, making the air around her turn cold.

Shiho was even more sensitive and delicate than her... If everyone in the organization was like this, what kind of life had Shiho been enduring?

"Did you send Kishii to kill Kaizuka Shirou?" Thinking of her sister, Miyano Akemi summoned her courage. She tried to keep her voice steady as she looked directly at Gin. "That's not what we agreed to at all..."

"All the cash was taken by the driver. A failure like that has no right to complain." Gin snorted coldly.

You're the one who arranged a gambler who can't control himself at the sight of money, aren't you?

Miyano Akemi was furious inside, but didn't dare to speak it aloud. She only pursed her lips and asked, "I brought the money. What about Shiho? Didn't you say that after I completed this job, I could take her away?"

Gin lifted his hat slightly and gave her a mocking look that made her blood run cold.

"Of course that's impossible..." Gin curled his lips. "Unlike a small fry like you, your sister is a very valuable asset to the organization."

Miyano Akemi took a deep breath. It was cruel, but not unexpected.

"You never planned to keep your word from the start. This was a suicide mission. I should've seen it coming." She let out a bitter laugh. "If you want to kill me, then just kill me already. Why go through so much trouble? It's not like anyone can stop you."

"If it weren't for Kazawa Ichikawa and Miyano Shiho's strong objections, do you think you'd still be alive right now?" Gin raised the Beretta in his hand. "This is your final chance. Return the money, and maybe the organization will spare you, even though you've been plotting to sway Shirley to defect. Where's the money?"

"I have evil intentions?" Miyano Akemi's eyes filled with fury, and she raised her voice. "I just want to see my sister!"

"You'll only shake her resolve. You're useless to her." Gin flipped the safety on his gun and aimed it at her. "Stop the nonsense. Where's the money?"

Miyano Akemi looked at the cold gun glinting faintly in the moonlight. She slipped her hand into her sleeve, pulled out the pistol she had hidden, and raised it shakily to Gin.

"Bring my sister here, just like you promised. Then I'll hand over the money!"

Gin raised his brows at the sight of her pistol.

Her posture was clumsy, and her wrist trembled as she held the gun—but still, it took guts to aim at him.

"Not bad. Braver than Shirley, it seems." Gin didn't feel threatened in the slightest. It was like a cat watching a mouse's final struggle—only amusing. "What a pity… Kumail."

"Got it." Kazawa's cold voice responded through the earpiece.

The next second, a sharp gunshot echoed through the quiet, moonlit pier—metal clashed with metal.

Bang—

A searing pain exploded in her right knee. Miyano Akemi screamed in agony. Blood spurted from her leg as she collapsed.

Bang—

Then her left knee was hit.

She was slammed to the ground by the force of the sniper bullets. The pain overwhelmed her mind. Her vision blurred. She couldn't even tell if she was still screaming.

Blood poured from her knees, soaking into the muddy ground. Her makeup was ruined by the tears flooding her face, leaving dark streaks across her cheeks.

Gin stared at the writhing woman on the ground, then lowered his gun.

"That's enough. Come down." he said into his earpiece.

"On my way." Kazawa responded cheerfully. "Remember to get out of the way."

Vodka noticed something and looked up toward the crane overhead. He saw a figure sliding down a cable, dangling from twenty or thirty meters above. With a "bang," the person landed on the top of a nearby container.

"So dark! That was terrifying!" Kazawa shouted, flailing as he landed. "Good thing I'm familiar with the terrain. Move over, move over."

Vodka flinched and stepped aside instinctively.

Plop. Kazawa, carrying a sniper rifle, dropped down from the top of the container, landing right where Vodka had been standing.

"You! Can't you land somewhere empty?!" Vodka muttered, adjusting his hat. "If I hadn't moved—"

"Then you'd be my landing pad, haha." Kazawa dusted himself off and then turned to Miyano Akemi lying in a pool of blood. "This is Shirley's sister? They don't look much alike..."

Miyano Akemi, gasping for breath, looked up and saw Kazawa's young face.

That's the young detective from TV…!

He was also a member of the organization? He was around the same age as Shiho, and already had a codename? And he was doing these kinds of vile things?

Shiho... Shiho…

"Take her back." Gin wasn't in the mood to argue. He glanced at Kazawa's sniper rifle and frowned. "Why didn't you use a silencer? That noise will attract the police."

"If I'd used a silencer, the accuracy would've dropped. The lighting's bad—I might've missed the knees." Kazawa shrugged. "You told me to keep her alive, didn't you?"

Gin clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn't bother arguing. He looked down at Miyano Akemi again.

"She already defied the organization and could've been executed. But Kazawa Ichikawa still has leads, and Shirley's causing problems too... Troublesome."

"Kazawa... Ichikawa..." The name snapped Miyano Akemi back to awareness. She endured the pain and squeezed the words out through clenched teeth.

Her aunt and uncle had already been killed by them. What else was left for her and Shiho?

No... she couldn't be taken back to the organization.

The organization needed her alive, to do things that would tarnish the memory of her uncle and aunt. They would use her as a weakness against Shiho, as leverage...

She couldn't allow it.

Shiho still had what their aunt and uncle left behind. It must not fall into the organization's hands.

She must not go back...!

Vodka glanced at Kazawa, who hadn't moved. He sighed and started walking toward Miyano Akemi.

Bang—

A faint gunshot rang out, slicing through the shadows.

Gin and Kazawa immediately turned their heads toward the sound.

"I won't go back with you..." Miyano Akemi raised her head, her lips pale but curled in a victorious smile. Her hands had gone limp, and the small pistol hidden under her coat slipped from her fingers into her own blood.

"Never again..."

A dark red flower bloomed on the chest of her beige coat.

Miyano Akemi had pressed her gun to her heart and pulled the trigger.