In a place like Tokyo, where every inch of land was worth a fortune, especially within the city limits, owning a building like this was enough to discourage most people from even considering buying a home here.
"It was all right. I just felt that living comfortably was what mattered most." Kurumi took Narumi's backpack from the back seat and slung it over her shoulder. Feeling its substantial weight, she gained a new appreciation for Narumi's stamina.
Taking out her key and opening the front door, Kurumi led the wide-eyed Narumi into the living room.
After setting down the backpack, Kurumi said, "Sister Narumi, your room is on the second floor. I've already tidied it up."
"You really went to a lot of trouble, Kurumi." Taking off her coat, Narumi, dressed in a purple sweater, suddenly asked, "By the way, since you live alone, isn't cleaning such a big house exhausting?"
"Exhausting? Not really." Hearing Narumi's words, Kurumi recalled how, whenever she cleaned, she basically just stood there while King Crimson, wearing an apron and holding a vacuum cleaner, did all the work.
All she had to do was control King Crimson.
It guaranteed that the place was spotless, without a speck of dust.
"Though living alone could be inconvenient too." Kurumi asked, "Sister Narumi, would you like something to drink? Tea? Or a soft drink?"
"Tea is fine."
"Then I'll go prepare it. Sister Narumi, sit down and rest for a while. If you want to watch TV, the remote is on the coffee table." With that, Kurumi headed for the kitchen to boil some water.
"All right, thank you." Watching Kurumi's lovely silhouette, Aso Narumi sat on the sofa and turned on the television.
Meanwhile, after filling the kettle and putting it on the stove, Kurumi's phone suddenly rang in her pocket.
Who was calling at a time like this? Kurumi was somewhat annoyed that her private time with Narumi had been interrupted.
However, when Kurumi took out her phone and saw the caller ID, her expression turned even more displeased.
GIN
Gin.
Closing the kitchen door, Kurumi answered the call.
"Bloody Mary, come to the rooftop bar at Daigoku Building in an hour." Gin's voice and tone were as cold and disdainful as Kurumi remembered, as though he looked down on everyone.
Cursing under her breath, Kurumi switched into work mode.
"My, my~ I wonder what important matter has you in such a hurry to find me, Gin?" In work mode, Kurumi's entire aura changed from her usual laziness to one of nobility and impeccable politeness.
Gin on the other end of the line did not react at all to Kurumi's tone.
"It's important."
"Did you find another rat?" By rat, Kurumi naturally meant an undercover agent who had infiltrated the organization, or a traitor.
"Hmph!"
That was all Kurumi heard from the phone before Gin unilaterally hung up.
Shaking her head in annoyance, Kurumi could more or less guess why Gin wanted to see her.
It was nothing more than the fact that she had openly stopped the police and directly killed those two men.
But so what?
The entire Tokyo police force was now seething over the incident. With no leads on such a brazen murderer, they were running around like headless flies searching for clues.
Even more coincidentally, because of the police investigation, several local Tokyo gangs had been swept up as well, indirectly making a small contribution to public safety.
Gin, if you'd been polite to me, maybe I would've gone easy on you. Kurumi thought viciously. But now I've decided. I'll screw you over so badly you won't know what hit you!
Already furious because of Conan, Kurumi decided to vent all her anger on Gin.
As for Conan, Kurumi naturally would not "neglect" that little brat either.
While waiting for the water to boil, Kurumi felt that since Gin had taken the initiative to arrange this meeting, he must have been prepared to wait.
After all, she was a beautiful girl. Taking a shower, changing clothes, and putting on makeup before going out, spending two or three hours on it, was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?
Skillfully brewing two cups of strong tea with boiling water, Kurumi carried them into the living room on a tray.
"Kurumi! Look! They're reporting that incident on TV!" Narumi excitedly pointed at the news broadcast. Kurumi set the tray on the coffee table, sat beside Narumi, and looked at the screen.
On television, a beautiful female news anchor read solemnly from her script. "Regarding yesterday's vicious attack in the outskirts, the Metropolitan Police Department is currently conducting a full investigation."
"According to testimony from witnesses passing through the area, the Metropolitan Police Department has confirmed that the perpetrator was a woman, approximately 165 centimeters tall, wearing..."
Hearing the report say that the culprit was around 165 centimeters tall, Narumi looked at Kurumi beside her in confusion.
"Kurumi? Are you 165 centimeters tall?" Narumi was curious. No matter how she looked at it, Kurumi did not seem to be even 160 centimeters tall. How had she suddenly become 165? And ordinary-looking, at that?
Narumi did not understand. Kurumi was obviously so beautiful.
Then Narumi suddenly realized something and asked in surprise, "Did you disguise yourself back then, Kurumi?"
Come to think of it, that made sense. Although the crime scene was in a sparsely populated area outside the city, cars would still pass through from time to time. If Kurumi had acted without any disguise, then no matter how incompetent the Metropolitan Police Department was, they could easily trace it back to her.
Kurumi did not know what to say for a moment.
"Sister Narumi, no matter how capable I am alone, I still can't stand against the machinery of the state~"
Hearing the helplessness in Kurumi's words, Narumi smiled awkwardly. "I was just too excited. After all, you're really amazing, Kurumi!"
When she learned that Kurumi had only killed Kuroiwa and Nishimoto during the operation, while the three police officers in the car had merely been injured and knocked unconscious rather than killed, Narumi's gratitude toward Kurumi soared.
She only wanted to avenge her family. She did not want innocent people to die.
"It's nothing~" As Narumi stared at her with those burning eyes, Kurumi suddenly became interested.
The moment she opened her mouth, it was obvious—another cryptic riddle-speaker.
After their intense battle, Narumi was finally defeated and lay limp on Kurumi's bed.
"Ku~ru~mi~" Completely weak and boneless, Narumi asked tenderly as Kurumi was about to take a bath, "Are you going out?"
"Yes, something urgent suddenly came up, so I need to go out for a while." Naked, Kurumi tidied her disheveled long hair and explained, "If things go quickly, I should be back before dinner."
Hearing that Kurumi was going out again, Narumi, whose bare body was completely uncovered, pouted unhappily.
Seeing that Narumi was a little upset, Kurumi, knowing she was at fault, leaned close and kissed Narumi's lips, which she had sucked red, then said gently, "Sorry. I promise I'll be back soon."
"Hehe~ Then I want to do it again tonight..." Suddenly becoming incredibly clingy, Narumi wrapped her arms around Kurumi and took the initiative to kiss her again.
Aso Narumi felt that as long as she could be with Kurumi, anything they did made her immensely happy.
It looked like she had developed quite a taste for it.
A few minutes later, Kurumi returned to the bedroom, leisurely took a shower, dried her hair, changed into a black dress, and left home.
By then, a full three hours had passed since Gin had called Kurumi.
Meanwhile, at the rooftop bar of Daigoku Building.
As one of the Black Organization's bases in Tokyo, this bar, which served as a place for members to meet or relax, had never been open to the public since its establishment.
Even so, its decor and furnishings were no different from those of any other upscale bar.
Except that every customer here was an extremely dangerous individual.
In the otherwise empty bar, a blond man in a black trench coat sat silently at the counter with a cold expression.
Beside him, a burly man who looked somewhat dim-witted wore a very unhappy expression.
"Big brother! Bloody Mary is already three hours late!"
Having checked his watch for who knew how many times, the man was clearly unable to sit still any longer.
"Hmph! Bloody Mary, just like Absinthe, always liked playing at being mysterious." Looking down at the glass before him, Gin's voice was as cold and dangerous as his demeanor. "Vodka, pour me another."
Hearing that his big brother could still remain so calm, the man called Vodka stood up and asked hesitantly, "But big brother, you've already finished an entire bottle!"
Looking at the empty bottle by Gin's side, Vodka looked quite worried. "This is alcohol, not water! Big brother, you..."
Hearing Vodka still trying to dissuade him, Gin, who was nowhere near as calm inside as he looked, had long since grown impatient from waiting.
That woman is just as irritating as Vermouth. Gin, who knew Kurumi's background, muttered inwardly. Hmph, like master, like disciple.
"It's fine. Do you think this little bit of alcohol could affect me, Vodka?"
"Of course not!" Vodka shook his large head and said admiringly, "I know your tolerance, big brother. Forget one bottle—you're the kind of man who could finish a whole bottle of spiritus without changing expression!"
Hearing how highly Vodka thought of him, Gin glared at Vodka's simple, honest face, seemingly wondering whether his dim-witted subordinate was deliberately mocking him.
Are you kidding me? Vodka, you brainless idiot, is spiritus even something humans can drink? Though he was raging internally at Vodka, Gin outwardly maintained his composed demeanor.
"Hmph!"
Gin made a sound that revealed none of his inner thoughts, then silently lit a cigarette and began to smoke.
Just as Vodka was about to go behind the bar and see whether there was any spiritus there, a seductive female voice suddenly came from the doorway.
"My~ I never expected Gin to be so impressive~ Next time, would you like to try the oolong tea I'm best at brewing?" The moment Kurumi entered, she heard that brainless fool Vodka unconsciously digging another hole for Gin.
With the mindset that an opportunity should never be missed, Kurumi immediately added fuel to the fire.
At the counter, hearing Kurumi mention oolong tea again, Gin did not even care that she was late. Instead, he desperately suppressed the painful memory buried deep in his heart.
Even Vodka's bronze-colored face showed fear at that moment.
As members of the Black Organization, also known as the Black Organization, Gin and Vodka—and even the other members—had drinking capacities far beyond ordinary people.
Yet the "oolong tea" Kurumi spoke of had nearly made Gin, who always maintained his cool persona, lose his composure.
As for Vodka?
What image did he have to lose?
"You're late!" To skip over the topic, Gin asked angrily, "The agreed time was three hours ago. Why did you come so late?"
"Me?" Walking up to the counter and sitting on a barstool, Kurumi said to Vodka, who was working as a bartender, "Vodka, get me a glass of milk."
"There isn't any milk here..." Vodka answered honestly, hearing Kurumi make such an inappropriate request.
"Then forget it."
Seeing Kurumi ignore him, Gin's gaze became dangerous.
Though she sensed the killing intent emanating from Gin, Kurumi did not care in the slightest.
"You're a man, and I'm a woman. Those who understand will understand what that means. Those who don't, I can't really explain it. Rather than thinking about it, you should just pretend you don't know. And don't ask me either—better not to say it." Kurumi turned and spoke to Gin with a perfectly serious expression.
Her expression made it seem as though she were revealing some earth-shattering secret, yet the words coming from Kurumi's mouth made Gin feel as if his blood pressure were about to spike.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is there some deeper knowledge behind the differences between men and women? The not-very-bright Vodka was completely stunned by Kurumi.
"You!... "
Taking several deep breaths, Gin concealed his slightly trembling right hand.
At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to pull out his gun and shoot this woman who was deliberately being cryptic, but considering her strength and her contributions to the organization, Gin abandoned the idea.
He reined in his killing intent.
"Forget it. I have something important to tell you." Having calmed himself down, Gin questioned, "First, why did you do that?"
Kurumi and Gin's Confrontation
Faced with Gin immediately coming after her, Kurumi naturally would not go along with him and make herself seem like his subordinate, meekly accepting whatever he said.
She was not Vodka.
"I wonder which matter Mr. Gin is referring to?" Kurumi smiled sweetly.
If it had been someone else, like Vodka, who was slightly dazed by Kurumi's seductive charm beside them—
Someone with so little resistance to temptation would probably have been blushing in embarrassment by now.
But who was Gin?
Not to mention Kurumi, who constantly exuded fatal charm, even Vermouth, known as the Thousand-Faced Witch and a mature beauty, would probably only receive a cold stare from Gin and a single word: "Scram."
"Hmph!" Gin lightly flicked the ash from his cigarette, still looking at Kurumi with an indifferent expression.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." His hawk-like gaze locked tightly onto Kurumi as Gin asked, "That incident caused such a huge commotion. Don't you know the principles behind our operations?"
"Principles?" Seeing Gin still acting the same way, Kurumi instantly lost interest in playing around.
"Keeping a low profile, right? I know that much~" Growing bored, Kurumi turned to Vodka and said, "Just get me any drink. I'm a little thirsty."
The honest Vodka nodded after hearing Kurumi's words and began searching the liquor cabinet behind the counter for something suitable for a girl to drink.
Before you continue