Reputation Damage Follows Like a Shadow

As if choked by that sarcastic jab, Tangze fell briefly silent while Kyogoku Makoto, trailing behind them, racked his brains.

After letting out a few triumphant laughs, Tōru Adachi was still unsatisfied and pressed his advantage. "Although your friend cost me my job, that twist of fate gave me the chance to return to Tokyo instead. That's wonderful, Tang Ze. Still, I was actually hesitant about whether I should come back to Tokyo. Staying quietly in the Kyoto countryside wouldn't be bad either. What do you think?"

Those words seemed to sting Tangze all at once. Almost visibly, the boy walking ahead hunched his back slightly and curled in on himself.

"I-I didn't mean that..."

After several seconds of silence, Tangze replied with obvious struggle in his voice, but he spoke too quietly for Kyogoku Makoto to make out from several steps away.

He hurried forward two steps, intending to keep listening to their conversation, only to see the man in the black suit change direction. He forcefully dragged Tangze around a roadside stall and toward another side street with few pedestrians.

Now that they had left the bustling crowd, following the two of them closely would become much harder. There was a good chance they would notice him, making Kyogoku Makoto pause in hesitation.

Just as he stopped, Tōru Adachi, who had kept an arm around Tangze's shoulders, suddenly looked back.

He tugged his sunglasses down slightly, revealing those dark bluish-black eyes. His gaze landed precisely on Kyogoku Makoto, sweeping him up and down with clear scrutiny before he gave the stunned Kyogoku Makoto a friendly smile.

As he stared at Kyogoku Makoto, he continued speaking to Tangze in a gentle tone, as though he were sincerely offering a young man advice from his own life experience.

"Don't be