Track 2 - Black Case

“What’s the rent here?”

The cheap, wooden apartment looked like it’d been around for a few decades.

When I lay down in the scent of the tatami and summer sunlight, I saw the balcony shimmering in the rising heat haze, and beyond it came the sound of cicadas.

In this bare, lifeless room without any pictures or plants, only an old air conditioner hummed.

“What, you want to rent an apartment someday too?”

“Market prices matter, y’know.”

A cup of ice cream was placed on a cheap folding table.

When I sat up and asked how much it cost, the Ninth gave an amused laugh.

“So expensive ice cream’s a no? Suddenly trying to be frugal?”

“I’m just saving up.”

That made him go quiet for a moment.

“Sensei said if I pay a billion, I can buy myself, and then I get to choose my own work.”

The other day, when I said I wanted to pick the jobs I liked, Sensei had made that promise to me.

That’s why I was saving up.

“Freelance’s what they call it. I want to work how I like.”

“...I see. You’re very responsible, Ten.”

Normally, at times like this, the Ninth would reach out and pat my head without permission. But that day, he didn't.

“By the way, I got this when I went out on a mission the other day. It made me think of you.”

With that, he handed me a tin small enough to hold in one hand.

It was from a popular theme park, decorated with carefree pictures of mice and squirrels. Inside were some crunchy chocolates.

“Why'd you end up at a place like that for work?”

“My current mission is guarding a VIP. I was there because that person wanted to go.”

“Huh...”

The Ninth didn’t say anything else, but I felt like the look in his eyes had softened a bit.

“A woman?”

I asked without thinking.

“Who knows.”

"Man~, I hate women. They get hysterical so easily, and then they either cry, get mad, or sulk until they're satisfied. It’s such a drag, I can't stand it."

The Ninth had dodged the question, but I was sure it was a woman.

That's why I started badmouthing them. But really, it was how I’d always felt.

“Women aren’t cut out for this kinda work. They’re too emotional and do things that make no sense, and they think they can get away with anything as long as they act charming.”

And on top of that—

“It’s always women who end up with ugly ‘attachments’.”

The Ninth chuckled at my words. I didn’t like his attitude, so I glared at him, annoyed.

“Not all of them are like that. There are women who are far stronger, more principled, and have greater conviction than men.”

...What a joke.

It wasn’t like I knew any women like that.

If the Ninth knew a woman like that...or if the person he was guarding right now was like that—

I didn’t want to talk about women anymore.

“I wonder if there really are no cicadas that live longer than seven days,” I muttered, taking a bite of my ice cream.

“Hey, hey~ which ears do you think look better on Nana~?”

Asking my opinion while holding up two different mouse-ear headbands was a girl in a white minidress and platform ankle boots with obnoxiously large ribbons.

Her hair was pink. I’d had a few exes who dressed like this too, and pretty much all of them had been high maintenance.

Well, no matter how a woman dressed, they always ended up getting attached, and before I knew it, they all started depending on me.

Big Deer said the problem was the way I handled things, apparently.

But the person with me this time wasn’t my girlfriend. She was my partner for this “job”.

“Isn’t that one better? It matches your hair.”

“Alright, then you wear this one, ‘kay? We should match~”

“Yeah, yeah.”

While pretending to be a lovey-dovey couple, I stayed aware of the presence behind us.

This theme park had a unique fanbase, so being here alone didn’t really make you stand out.

Our target was also disguised as a typical theme park fan, wearing clothes modeled after the park’s mascots and taking photos of plushies at photo spots.

I'd already memorized her info.

A woman in her 30s, descended from the Kunoichi line of a branch family of the Ninokuruwa.

She was supposedly pretty skilled, but no matter how much she tried to mask her presence, she wasn’t good enough to shake us off.

“If today's star is here on her own, wouldn’t it have been better to come alone too?”

As I said this while tailing the target, my partner linked her arm with mine and nuzzled her cheek against my shoulder, replying, “If I could’ve come alone, I would've~. Nana’s good at going solo, y’know?”

“Then do you wanna go to the climax parade by yourself?”

“Weeell, Nana loves the parade more than anything, so honestly, she'd totally have tons of fun even if she went solo. But if she did, her overprotective Daddy would get suuuper mad.”

“Nana’s Daddy is pretty scary. Are you sure he’s even okay with me being your boyfriend?”

On the surface, we were flirting, but I could feel a prickly edge beneath her disguised voice.

Yeah, yeah, I know. You're pissed you got stuck with me, right?

For the record, I didn’t want to team up with you either.

“But there’s no way around it. They said solo activities aren’t allowed for this parade.”

That’s right—”Black Cases” were never to be handled alone.

It was one of the annoying rules the Ninokuruwa had.

The target this time was apparently moving to leak confidential information from our organization to an outside party.

In short, we were there to secure and dispose of the recipient—the one pulling the strings—along with the traitor.

And so, our traitorous target eventually joined a long line for one of the attractions.

“Nana, wanna ride that?”

“Of course!”

The 200 minute wait sign made me die a little inside, but we lined up just like our target.

The line snaked back and forth, folding over itself countless times.

“Is today gonna be a bust? It’s been a while since the last Black Case, so I was actually getting pretty excited,” my partner murmured as she played with her long, gaudy fake nails.

We’d been in line for 100 minutes, but the target hadn’t moved.

“You were always a fan of ‘parades,’ weren’t you?”

“Going up against my own kind always gets me itching for action. I wonder which Black Case was the most fun so far...”

My partner for today was highly skilled but also got bored easily. Once she realized the people around weren’t paying attention to us, she let the mask slip and started talking in her normal voice, though quiet enough so only I could hear.

Ditching the roleplay already?

Was what I thought, but since she technically had seniority, I figured I’d hear her out.

“I guess the best has to be that one. It was like an all-star lineup, and on top of that, the target was strong and ready for anything. The Numbers all came together just to take him on, and even though you were just a panicking kid who hadn’t even had your first time yet...”

“That was the job that earned you your special treatment, wasn’t it?”

“Senpai~, I don’t mind hearing about your exes, but don’t forget who the star is right now, yeah?”

When I whispered that in her ear, she shot me a glare through her fake eyelashes.

A smile was on her face, but her eyes were annoyed.

This person had a short fuse, huh?

Then, the line moved forward significantly.

The target was about to board, and at the turnaround point where the line doubled back on itself there was a nondescript-looking man with his family.

Neither of us missed that split second.

The moment the target stepped forward, she slipped something into the man’s pocket amidst the bustle of the moving line.

“Sorry Nana, gotta use the bathroom. Wait here a sec.”

As I left the line, my partner whined unhappily like a needy girlfriend would, but she knew what she had to do.

Glancing back, I saw the man’s line move forward, bringing him adjacent to my partner.

In that moment, I strained my ears and heard the man exclaim “Ow!”

“What’s wrong, honey?” his wife asked worriedly.

“I thought I felt something prick me, but it must’ve been my imagination,” the man replied.

But then his face turned pale before my eyes.

My partner looked at her phone, acting bored because her boyfriend had ditched her. Next to her, the man clutched his stomach and groaned.

Her laxative worked way too fast, didn’t it?

Figuring that at this rate he’d be running for it, I picked up my pace toward the restroom.

I'd leave the target to her and quickly recover the info.

Before going in, I tossed a pebble I’d picked up and broke the surveillance camera inside.

Well, that should buy me about ten minutes.

At that point, a signal came through on my earring communicator.

It was from my partner.

“Yeah?” I answered.

“That thing you’re walking into? It’s a trap,” she said with a laugh.