【Chi'an】All the force of his surrender

It couldn't be a coincidence that the man was here.

The central area of ​​the accident scene was surrounded by rushed police and medical personnel, and the warning lights of police cars and ambulances illuminated the sky above the harbor like daytime.Amuro left quietly when no one was paying attention, and wandered in a slightly darker place outside.

Curacao has long since disappeared. He has not received any contact from Belmode. He does not know what kind of situation he will face when he returns to the organization. Obviously, the big figures in the public security department will not be satisfied with the results of this operation.No matter how you look at it, it's a troubled future.But at least for now, Amuro is unwilling to think about anything.

Looking back on the whole day, especially the thrilling hour just now, he still felt a little unbelievable.

It had been more than 24 hours since the last shot of the inhibitor, and with some unexpected factors, he could feel its effectiveness slowly fading.But he's safe until the sun rises tomorrow morning, so there's no need to worry too much.No matter whose power he borrowed, the indisputable fact that he successfully saved thousands of lives made him feel at ease after a long absence.It seems to be a good choice to bathe the hot body in the cool evening breeze in early spring.

Just when he had nothing to do, he met Akai who was hiding behind a tree again.

The fights on the Rainbow Bridge and on the Ferris wheel were too hasty, and in the state of high emotions and overheated minds, I couldn't even fully recall what I said, but the words of the other party were still clear in my ears.And at the moment when they stopped and their eyes met, Amuro realized dully that he really hadn't seen the man in front of him for a long time.

Not long enough.He still remembers Ley clearly.

In fact, Akai was almost the same as he remembered.The biggest difference is that he has cut off his long hair, which he already knew from the candid photos.The preferential treatment of time to him is shown in the details that the photos cannot provide, and the passage of time only makes his brows look sharper and calmer.He's grown in depth in a way that feels unfairly respectable, while still retaining his edge.

This is good.Amuro couldn't imagine him in any other way, this face was what he thought about day and night.If it weren't for the added confusion, he wouldn't have followed Belmode's suggestion to add those ridiculous burn scars to his disguise.He cannot change until this is over.

Obviously, Akai was here waiting for him.For some reason, he just knew he was going to pass; Amuro didn't speak.For some reason, he felt that if he spoke first, he would have lost first.

Akai has no such worries.

"How's your body feeling?" he said in that familiar deep voice.

Amuro froze for a moment.If this was really their first conversation of a personal nature, he had to say...he didn't expect it.Then he realized that Akai might not simply be referring to the wounds on his body from the fight.Given what they've been through, the memory may be old, but it's still vivid.

Violent behavior can easily induce the release of pheromones, and he has been in an unstable state.Akai was probably close enough to him, his nose was always sharp.

Amuro's face darkened.

"It couldn't be better, don't think too highly of yourself." He countered rudely, crossing his hands over his chest. "If you want to continue, I will accompany you to the end."

Akai shook his head, took a step back, and leaned his back against the tree trunk. "We both seem to be choking on each other, so don't get hurt any more today."

"Really? You look really good for a dead man."

Akai ignored the barbed answer.He changed the subject: "I asked Judy and Kamel to go to the previous warehouse. Rena Mizumura is gone, but they found something. I think I'll leave it to you."

"What gift again?" Amuro snorted coldly.

"After all, it's your territory." He had an air of logic.

Amuro subconsciously wanted to decline the invitation, even if it was just to catch a glimpse of the man's frustrated expression.He is too arrogant, always so self-righteous, thinking that everything is under his control.Doing things seems to leave room for the other party, but in fact all retreats have already been cut off.

What's more, what reason does he have to follow?Before he made a decision, he knew that it would be a mistake that he would regret——

Akai looked at him, as if he couldn't understand how a simple matter made him think so hard.

"Let's go, it's only a 15-minute drive from here. Or do you want me to deliver it to you another day?"

The red Ford Mustang, when Amuro opened the door, he noticed that there were still scratches left on it from yesterday.The first thing he did after putting on his seat belt was to roll down the window, without asking the owner for his opinion.

Akai just started the engine silently.

The car drove steadily to the other end of the bay.The farther away from the bright neon lights of the amusement park in the rearview mirror, they were gradually shrouded in deeper darkness.Amuro took out his mobile phone and sent a few messages, and then seemed to be ecstatically looking at the night scene outside the window, his hair flying in the intensified night wind.

To his surprise, the feeling of riding in the same car with Akai was not unbearable.

"Did your subordinates follow?" Akai asked coldly when he was about to reach the finish line.

Amuro glanced at him indifferently.

"I mean, usually you are even watched in the coffee shop, but you disappeared in my car. It's strange."

The amount of information in this sentence is surprisingly large.But thinking about it carefully, Amuro was not surprised.It's not surprising that a man as powerful as him has seen all this before anyone else, and Amuro has admitted this from the past to the present.

"That's what they decided on their own. I've told them to withdraw." He replied with the unknown anxiety in his heart.

Hearing this, Akai raised the corners of his mouth inexplicably. "They just hope you're okay," he said, with a subtle "don't make it too hard for them" tone.

Amuro's heart skipped a beat.For a moment he had the illusion that Akai could understand this, but he quickly mocked the thought to himself.

"They just want to 'make' me okay." He said flatly, looking back out the window. "There's a difference."

After arriving at the destination, Akai drove straight through the centralized area of ​​the warehouse.Amuro turned his head and glanced back, Akai's calm voice came from beside his ears: "Don't worry, I asked Judy and the others to wait in front, they will be there soon."

Amuro wasn't sure if he should start regretting it now.

Three minutes later, Akai parked the car at the end of the pier.Amuro had never been to this place before, so he could only vaguely tell that it seemed to be a small fishing port.The salty smell of the sea floated in the air, and a man and a woman who were leaning on the front of the car chatting were attracted. Not far behind them was a white barbed wire door that was closed, together with a few lights on the ground. The high-function lights turned pale.The deeper part behind the iron gate seemed to be a darkness that could swallow even the light.

Akai turned off the engine and got out of the car, Amuro followed behind him slowly, showing no intention of approaching.He watched what Akai had to say to them from a distance, and then Judy Stein and Andrea Kamelzi gave him a look mixed with hesitation and slight hostility.In the end, the two each handed something to Akai, and he stuffed it into the pocket of his coat together.

Akai took a few steps back. "Come with me." He said to Amuro.

Amuro raised his eyebrows, but did not move his feet: "Where are you going?"

Akai didn't reply.He turned and walked in the direction of the barbed wire gate.

Rather than being angry, it's better to say that Amuro, who had been prepared for a long time, didn't even have the strength to fire.Akai's ability to go his own way is at its peak, and it's not that he hasn't learned it before.It's too late to regret now, it's not a walking distance to go back here.Maybe a little more unpleasant to stay here with two other FBI agents waiting to be picked up than to keep up with Akai.

He inevitably passed by the other two, and he didn't even think about taking a detour.Kamel's eyes widened in surprise, and then he turned sideways in embarrassment, his face was red even in the night; Judy just cast a puzzled glance at the tall German man.

An Alpha and a Beta.Interesting, Amuro thought to himself mockingly in his heart, he never thought that his current state could also be used as a kind of discrimination ability.

There were a few turns of locks on the iron door, and Akai easily turned over with a little help.He stood in front of a glowing automatic beverage vending machine and studied it for a while, took out a few hundred yuan coins from his pocket and put them in, and pressed one of the buttons, and Amuro soon heard the machine operating and the weight drop. The sound of falling.He repeated it again.

Amuro watched him indifferently through a barbed wire fence.

"what are you doing?"

"As you can see, are you buying coffee?" Akai said as a matter of course, while bending down to get two soda cans from the delivery port. "Go a little further and you can see the sea, why don't you come here?"

Amuro focused his eyes closer.A warning was nailed to the iron door at the same height as him, with the words "No entry allowed" and "Do not enter anyone who is not related to him" clearly written on it.

Akai calmly shook the coffee can in his left hand: "I invite you to drink coffee."

There was another pitiful clang of the barbed wire.Amuro patted the ashes on his hands, and caught the canned coffee thrown by Akai, the metal wall was warm.

"Kamel and Judy still have lingering fears about you, it's better for us to talk alone." Akai opened the ring of the can with one hand.

Amuro looked beyond him into the drowsy distance.

"Where is the sea?" he asked.

To say that there is a sea or something is actually almost a lie.

Looking from the second floor of the wooden trestle bridge, fishing boats, large and small, covered in canvas, are docked beside the nearby reefs.The sea stretched out only a few hundred meters, and was trapped in a towering breakwater, which perfectly blocked all vision and had no scenery at all.

It was a mild night, with a thin layer of mist hanging over the dark sea, hiding the moonlight and the golden street lamps in the distance.The low and soft roar of the tide came through the haze, and the wind was intertwined with the unique smell of sea water, wrapping them ambiguously in deep black, like a miniature independent universe.

In front of Amuro, Akai who was leaning on the railing with his back to him muttered softly: "It's pitch black..."

Amuro sat on the bench, took a sip of coffee, and did not speak.

"Will it be cold?"

"If I say yes, can I go back now?"

Akai turned his head and gave him a strange look: "You can go back anytime."

He was absolutely right.The one who is sick must be himself who casually followed people to the restricted area to blow a wind in the middle of the night.Amuro squeezed the body of the can and thought.

"You come here often?" Somehow he was starting to feel like he was running out of things to say.Why hasn't he left yet?

"When I was an undercover agent, I would come here when I was free, and later on occasionally."

"Bring someone who hates you enough to kill you?" Amuro laughed dryly. "From tomorrow onwards, an ambush will be set up in this place."

He looked at Akai from behind obliquely, revealing a small sharp side profile, smooth and thin, the pupils reflected the subtle light, and the cold and hard features seemed to be softened by the hazy light and shadow.

He moved his lips slightly. "up to you."

Amuro turned his eyes away.

"Can you take off the mask?" He said suddenly.Amuro looked at him incredulously.

"……what?"

Akai turned to face him.This action caused a small rustle of cloth.

"It doesn't matter if it's Bourbon, Toru Amuro, or Rei Fugu. It's tiring to look at." He rested his elbows on the guardrail and said in a deep voice.Every time he said a name, Amuro felt a chill like electric current running through the back of his neck, and he almost trembled. "There's no one else here."

Amuro smiled with the corners of his mouth pulled: "What are you talking nonsense about? If you have a fever, go to the doctor as soon as possible."

Akai muttered to himself, "Really?" and said nothing more.He turned his face sideways, and his eyes stayed on the reef below for a long time. Looking at it for too long, people always suspected that he was just letting go.After a while, he said quietly again: "Don't you think this kind of environment can make people feel at ease? Here, no one has to act, nothing has to be burdened, no one will be relied on by others, and no need to meet any expectations."

Amuro was really surprised: "It really doesn't sound like something you can say."

Akai shrugged.

"People like us..." He paused vaguely, as if he wasn't quite ready for what he was going to say next.This was another novelty for Amuro—it would be better to say that the experience tonight was so bizarre from beginning to end that it was like a dream. "Even the future is uncertain, and there are too few choices left for oneself. Occasionally want to keep a little luxury of oneself, is this kind of selfishness unacceptable?"

The remnants of anger ignited again in Amuro's chest.Wounds can heal, but his anger is alive and well.

"That sounds good." He gritted his teeth and sneered, "Where is Akemi Miyano? You also want to say that her ending is because you have no choice?"

What about Scotland?

Don't mention this name, Amuro suppressed his thoughts.Don't mention that name in front of him.I just need to... I just need to stab him in the soft spot.

For a moment when the clouds covered the moon, Akai seemed to be completely lost in the shadow.But that was only for a moment.Although very limited, the dim moonlight soon streamed on him again.

"That's my responsibility, and I never intend to shirk it." He said calmly, in a tone that was difficult to distinguish emotions.

Amuro snorted.

"We are all people who live in the cracks we cannot help ourselves all the year round. Before making every decision, we will first consider how expensive it is to pay, how heavy the mental pressure and loneliness are. I think you also understand this a little."

Akai turned his face to him and gave him a deep look.Even in the dimmest light, his dark green pupils were still bright and clear - overlapping with those in Amuro's memory.

He almost hated his own memory.

"Why are you telling me this?"

He's not here for this.Not to accidentally spy a small part of Akai's heart.

Thinking back, Amuro had already begun to blame himself for being stupid.Did he really think that he could say nothing, listen to nothing, just take his things and leave?Did he really think that between him and Akai Shuichi, there could be a cold negotiation without personal feelings or touching the past?

"Aren't you the one who asked me first?" Akai asked back. "I just wanted to say that since we both want nothing from each other, at least it's easier now. You don't have to pretend to be anything, and you don't have to think about anything."

Amuro looked at him with inexplicable eyes: "Who said I have nothing for you? I want your life."

"Sorry. I can't die right now. I have unfinished work," he said. "The same goes for you, so you can't die either."

"Are you kidding, you and I don't know, but I will live a long life."

Akai smiled a little.

"...That's not bad."

This is enough.Amuro stood up, leaving the half-dried coffee can on the bench.

"It's very late. What do you want to give me?" He narrowed his eyes. "If you lied to me, I'll throw you into the sea right now."

Akai glanced at him, as if helplessly took out a shell casing from his pocket, and wrapped it in a transparent plastic bag commonly used by forensics departments.

"The bullet casing left when Gin injured Rena Mizumu." He handed the plastic bag to Amuro. "The shooting pattern formed on it is very special, and it may be rewarding to investigate the source."

It's the same thing again... Amuro rolled his eyes and thought, putting the things in the back pocket of his trousers.

Akai took out a pack of cigarettes, and continued to search for something on his body.He even unbuttoned two buttons and touched the inside pocket, but still found nothing, and finally resigned to his fate and gave up.

"Is there a fire?" He asked Amuro, looking a little depressed, "The match seems to have fallen on the Ferris wheel..."

Amuro did not have the habit of carrying a fire with him.But what he is wearing now is not his own clothes, but a set of work clothes that he took in the lounge of the amusement park.He did remember not taking out the disposable lighter from his trouser pocket.

"If it's still in there..." he muttered, his fingertips touching the hard plastic deep in his pocket.He pulls it out.

After some twists and turns, this is a small miracle.He threw the lighter to Akai, then looked at the time on the phone screen.

"Take it, I'm leaving."

"Hmm." Akai lowered his head and skillfully tried to wipe the fire once.The lighter was intact, and its flickering sparks briefly lit his face. "Can I go back?" He asked knowingly.

"Let the subordinates come to pick me up." As Amuro said, he went down the stairs without looking back.

He finally looked up as he descended the last step.

Akai's figure was hidden in the darkness, just a blurry mass.Then he caught the sound of a lighter being wiped.

once.twice.three times.

After two faint sparks, finally a small cluster of warm orange-red flames lit up and turned into a point of light.

Amuro shook his head lightly, and quickly walked towards the barbed wire gate.He had to leave this unreal space.

TBC