Late at night.
Inside a low-key Black Porsche.
With a buzz, Gin's phone rang again.
Gin frowned. He was about to habitually swipe the call away when he suddenly sensed something was off. Looking closely, he found that this time, it wasn't Uzo calling—it was Vermouth.
Gin: "..." Had that guy asked Vermouth to plead his case?
The thought flashed through his mind, only to be quickly dismissed. No, Vermouth was merely friendly toward Uzo; she wasn't insane. How could she not know what consequences opening up a bullet-purchasing channel for Uzo would bring?
It was probably something else.
Thinking this, Gin answered the call.
On the other end of the phone.
Seeing the call connect, Vermouth silently sat up straight and summoned all her focus.
Though she was exceptionally tense, as a Film Queen and Disguise Master who could perfectly control her voice, she still sounded as languid as usual.
As always, Vermouth followed her mysterious style and rambled around the subject. Then, before Gin's patience ran out, she leisurely got to the point. "For some reason, those flies have been watching me more closely lately."
—First, draw his attention to herself. That way, even if Gin had noticed yesterday's news at Teitan High School, he would be more likely to overlook the other key points. Also, she absolutely couldn't mention Akai Shuichi. That would probably draw too much of Gin's attention.
Gin didn't hear any of Vermouth's complicated thoughts. He merely had a guess as to why this had happened. "..." Could it be that last night's experience had made that useless Akai hate Uzo to the bone, but since he couldn't find Uzo's true identity, he had randomly pinned the blame on Vermouth instead?
At the thought, he couldn't help letting out a cold laugh.
Vermouth jolted.