"I see," Oliver said, resting his body on the counter. "You came with a kill order."
"And who is it you would like us to off?" Damien asked with a small grin.
"Are... Will you really do it?" Sugawara asked in astonishment. He had convinced himself to come here, and give it a try out of pure desperation, but he hadn't accounted for the event they would actually be contract killers and take his offer. He was now two times more anxious, and three times more scared than when he came in.
"Depends," Oliver stated, giving him a gentle smile. "Who is it that is bothering you so?"
"M-my boss's wife," He finally blurted, gaining new found conviction, somewhat relieved that they actually turned out to be real killers. He was very desperate. "Please kill her for me."
"Hoo?" Jin sang, starting to piece together a story in his head. "Did she seduce you or something?"
"..."
"For reals?!" Jin exclaimed, taking his silence as embarrassed agreement.
"It... It wasn't like that!" Sugawara acclaimed, clenching his fists on his thigh. "She... She wants to use me to take over her husbands company. But she doesn't care that the recording will totally ruin my life!"
"Recording?" Oliver asked.
"You see, she is the third wife of the president of Oxglar Conglomerate, Shoda Eiji" He started, choosing to tell his dilemma from the very beginning. "A while a go, just after I got promoted to his personal assistant and secretary, there was a rumor floating around the office that the president was headed for another divorce. It turned out to be true because she approached me a few days later. She said she needed someone to spy on him for her because she thought he was unfaithful and was cheating on her. Yeah, cheating on her my ass! What a load of bull!"
"Hm?" Lucien hummed, waiting for the rest of his explanation, but a little surprised at the sudden change of speech the nervous man portrayed.
"It wasn't about any cheating scandal at all!" He continued, clenching his fists even tighter as he heated up with anger and frustration. "She just wanted someone to dig up something dirty about the president. He was only divorcing her because he had suspicions she was after his company from the beginning. But I didn't know that, until she asked me to accompany him to a high end restaurant and record his conversation with whoever he was meeting. The conversation wasn't with a woman at all. It was with the president of another business. They were making a deal to bring a rival business under Oxglar."
"And you recorded the conversation?" Oliver asked, already guessing the answer though.
"Yes," He answered.
"Nothing about what you've said really brings up a reason you would want this woman killed though," Jin sighed, regretting having gotten his hopes up.
"The president he was meeting..." Sugawara continued, biting the bottom of his lip before going on. "Was Matsuzaki Tsuyoshi."
"Ah," A gasp passed Oliver's lips.
"The famous yakuza leader Matsuzaki?" Natasha asked, now interested in the conversation she had been letting slip her ears.
"Yes," He replied.
"I see," Oliver said, now getting the picture. "Just being in the same room with him is enough to garner you suspicion, much less having dinner with him."
"Who's this Matsuzaki guy?" Jin queried, wondering why the older youth of the group were now interested.
"He's a multi business owner that has been accused of various felonies many times," Natasha explained, tucking a strand of her long auburn hair behind her ear. "Though he maintains a cover of a simple businessman, the public is more or less aware that he's the leader of a rather large crime syndicate."
"You're kidding," Jin laughed, now getting excited.
"If she shares that recording, my life is over!" Sugawara cried, gritting his teeth from both his desperation, and anger.
"Then why not just ask us to take the recording from her?" Katri chimed in. "Why kill her?"
"You don't understand," He said, squinting his eyes and taking a gulp. "She's more conniving and persistent than you think. She would have numerous copies by now, and if she didn't, she still wouldn't stop there. She's committed to taking over Oxglar, even if it's through blackmailing her husband."
"I see," Lucien sighed, then immediately gives a cold grin. "Okay then. Please pay the fee and leave her name and details on the counter."
"Eh?" Sugawara asked stunned. 'Just like that?' He thought, glancing at all their faces but receiving calm gazes back. "O-okay!" He continued. A bit relieved it was that easy as he wrote down a check with the specified amount Oliver told him later as a pre-payment. The rest would be paid after the job was done.
"Thank you," Lucien said as he shook Sugawara's hand before gesturing to Akira who held a small device in his hand. "Now look this way please."
Beep!
The device went off with a bright flash, temporarily blinding Sugawara. As it did, every member of the team closed their eyes, Damien placing his hand over Satoma's who had stayed unusually silent the whole time.
Sugawara blinked a few times before falling into a daze.
"Wha-"
Oliver put on a mask and escorted him out of the shop and onto the street out of the alleyway till his senses came back to him. Upon seeing Oliver, he became confused. He remembered what just transpired, and the conversation he'd had with the employees of the 'Devil's Halo' bar, but could not recall how any of their faces looked. When he tried, it was all just fuzzy to him, and gave him a headache.
"Sorry we flashed you," Oliver said, giving him a gentle smile. "But it had to be done, otherwise we'd be out of business."
"F-flashed me?" Sugawara repeated, not completely understanding the situation.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it," Oliver remarked, patting his shoulder a bit. "And as per your request, we will eliminate Mrs. Shoda Sophia immediately."