Tang Ze Zhao, who had climbed up to the attic, had no idea that The Organization was currently in turmoil because of his family. He peacefully lay down and went to drink in his dreams.
He had put on quite a performance. Though he was not all that tired, trading references with Lavenza, another person spoiled by the script, was still pretty relaxing.
That night, two drunks sat in the Velvet Room Bar, taking turns chugging whiskey straight from the bottle, relying on the fact that they could not get drunk in their dreams.
Tang Ze Zhao slammed the bottle onto the bar. "Why didn't I get Driving? I don't approve. Where did it go wrong?"
"Cut it out. Do you even have a driver's license?" Lavenza pushed away his head as he leaned closer. "They gave you something as practical as a combat stat, and you're still being picky."
"You make it sound like Conan has a license to fly planes." Tang Ze Zhao grumbled. "Besides, I haven't even entered a single Palace yet, and I've already gotten a Coop side quest. That feels a little halfhearted."
Lavenza shook her head. "Trying to trick information out of me like that is useless. I'm not authorized to spoil the Coop content, so good luck to you."
"So you do have information." Tang Ze Zhao showed not the slightest embarrassment at being exposed. "Let me think..."
Tang Ze Zhao already had a rough idea of the list of potential assistants.
Since Tooru Amuro was in it, leaving out Shuichi Akai would be a bit disrespectful. Red Faction detectives like Conan and Hattori were definitely on the list, but as for the Black Organization, that was harder to say.
And could people from the cheat-code faction, like Kaito Kid and Kyogoku Makoto, count as well?
If they could trigger it too, then if he picked Kyogoku Makoto's Tarot... good grief.
"Then what do you think? Do I need to infiltrate The Organization and try it out?" Tang Ze Zhao changed his line of questioning.
"It's very possible that it's more than merely necessary."
"That's true. I still haven't figured out why The Organization is interested in 'Tang Ze Zhao' in the first place." Tang Ze Zhao flicked the bottle floating in midair, troubled. "Bourbon definitely knows, but I haven't asked about his position. Am I supposed to tell him directly, 'Furuya Rei, your cover's blown'?"
Tang Ze Zhao's words made Lavenza laugh. She picked up her bottle and took another huge swig, narrowing her eyes in enjoyment. "Now you understand the difficulty of holding the script, right? You're like a reader who has known the final truth of a mystery novel from the beginning but cannot tell anyone. You still have to pretend it's your first time reading it, pretend you arrived at the answer through rigorous deduction."
"Yeah, it isn't easy. And the scripts I've got are all mixed together." Tang Ze Zhao imagined a future where he would have to keep his acting mode on at all times, whether he infiltrated the Red Faction or the Black Organization. His temples began to throb with phantom pain. "If I'm crucial to The Organization's plans, then I'll definitely be watched and tailed for a long time. If I use the power of the Cognitive World and the Black Organization finds out, I'll be in serious trouble..."
P5's villains on the social level, aside from the traitor Akechi Goro, were actually all ordinary humans. Yet with Akechi alone, they had successfully created a string of cases that harmed all of society.
If that power were exposed to The Organization, then that scene...
"I can't stay so passive. I still need to find a way into The Organization... Though that does give me a bit of nostalgic feeling, like reliving the old days."
After saying that, Tang Ze Zhao lowered his head and looked at his currently intact legs.
"Nostalgic for what? Being a fake liquor in Conan's world is safer than being real liquor, all right?" Lavenza waved a hand and smacked Tang Ze Zhao on the head, interrupting his wandering thoughts.
Tang Ze Zhao let out an "Ow!" and looked up, glaring. "I understand the logic, but why are you smacking me on the head too?"
"I just wanted to see what it felt like." Lavenza withdrew the hand she had used to pat him, rubbing her fingertips together in approval. "No wonder Tooru Amuro always likes rubbing your head. It really does feel nice."
The next day, when Tooru Amuro arrived at the café for work, he found Tang Ze Zhao, who had spent the entire night chasing Lavenza around and had even rolled off the bed, looking completely drained.
"Morning. Didn't sleep well last night? You need to rest properly at night." Tooru Amuro patted Tang Ze Zhao, who was leaning back in his chair.
He had wanted to pat Tang Ze Zhao's head, but remembering that Tang Ze Zhao had protested just yesterday, he settled for his shoulder instead.
"Morning," Tang Ze Zhao replied without much energy. Then he looked at the dark circles under Tooru Amuro's eyes. "Don't lecture me. You didn't sleep well either, did you, Mr. Amuro?"
Tang Ze Zhao was actually fine. He had gotten enough sleep.
It was just that he had drunk too much in his dream. His past drinking habits made him subconsciously feel as though he ought to be hungover, but his body was full of energy instead, which left him feeling rather strange.
Tooru Amuro was different. With several identities to juggle, the case information Tang Ze Zhao had revealed yesterday must have drastically increased his workload. Tang Ze Zhao did not know whether he had slept at all, but the dark circles around his eyes were so deep that even his complexion could not hide them.
"I have insomnia. I'm used to it. It's precisely because I'm always unable to sleep that I'm telling you to rest well." Tooru Amuro lied without batting an eye, then sighed as though he meant it. "Only after losing good sleep did I realize how important it was."
Always unable to sleep? More like he always had too much work to finish. Tang Ze Zhao looked at his complexion with sympathy.
After yawning, Tooru Amuro noticed Tang Ze Zhao's clothes and asked curiously, "Why are you wearing your school uniform even on your day off?"
Good question. Tang Ze Zhao sighed. He had not known it was his day off when he woke up!
Why was it a day off again after only one day of school? If you asked him, who was he supposed to ask? Even the residents of Conan's world did not understand it, so how could he?
If he had not casually pulled out his phone while heading downstairs and seen the calendar, he would already have gone out to school.
"I didn't bring many clothes with me, so I didn't know what to wear. This uniform doesn't look bad anyway. It's fine." Tang Ze Zhao lied seriously as well.
"Is that really the issue here?" Tooru Amuro pressed a hand to his forehead. Considering that Tang Ze Zhao was a minor who had lived alone for years under household care, he could not exactly hold his poor self-care skills against him. "I'll ask Miss Enomoto for leave and take you to the mall."
Tang Ze Zhao hurriedly refused. "No, no. Just tell me where the nearest mall is, and I can go buy clothes myself. Mr. Amuro, why don't you go upstairs and sleep for a while? You look terrible."
It was rare for him to have a chance to move around freely, so he might as well spare the undercover agent who had not slept.
"Is it that bad?" Tooru Amuro used the floor-to-ceiling window as a mirror and discovered that he did indeed look visibly exhausted. He glanced toward the café attic. "The attic is your personal room now. Is that all right?"
"It was originally a break room, so it's fine. I don't have many personal belongings, and they're all locked in the drawer. It's already troublesome enough for everyone that I've come to live at the café for so long."
Tang Ze Zhao was being so reasonable that insisting on going with him would seem too deliberate. Since this was also a good chance to thoroughly search Tang Ze Zhao's belongings, Tooru Amuro naturally agreed.
"Then I'll sleep for two hours. I'll remake the bed afterward. You can go to the shopping street in the north. The large department store is on the other side, Beika Department Store." Tooru Amuro gestured in both directions. Seeing that Tang Ze Zhao was once again carrying only his flat commuter bag, he casually asked, "Do you have money on you?"
Even exhausted like this, he still remembered to care about civilians. Tang Ze Zhao, the culprit responsible for giving him extra work, was moved for one second and decided to give him a little more of the information he wanted.
"Don't worry. I have a bank card my parents left behind. They transfer living expenses into it every year, and there's still plenty in the account. It's enough."
Tooru Amuro, who had been about to turn toward the stairs, paused. He replied naturally, "That's good. Be careful on the way."
Tang Ze Zhao glanced at the hand in his pocket. It looked as though he was holding his phone and blindly typing out a message.
It seemed the unfortunate Tooru Amuro had no time to rest again.
Having added another round of overtime to someone's schedule, Tang Ze Zhao headed out with a grin.
Before you continue