In the private room.
Mike sat at the low table and scanned the man who had given Coulson his reception.
He looked to be in his forties, not very tall, not quite 5'7", but not skinny, with a pair of mustaches on his upper lip and a stern look in his eyes.
Coulson nodded to him, sized Mike up curiously and explained, "Mr. Yoshida, this is Mike."
Toshio Yoshida nodded to Mike and clapped his hands as the waiter waiting outside pulled the door open and bent slightly.
"Let's serve."
Toshio Yoshida said and said to Coulson, "Is this your first time here, sir?"
Coulson nodded.
Toshio Yoshida said, "This is something that took us a lot of work to get, you ..."
Colson said calmly, "Don't worry, the money will be credited to your account in a minute."
Yoshida flashed a smile and chatted with Coulson.
It was clear to him that of the two, Coulson was the one in charge.
Mike was unconcerned by the coldness of the other man's conversation and looked at the room with interest.
After a quick glance around the room, his eyes fell on an object wrapped in black cloth beside Yoshida.
Is this what Coulson came for?
It looked like an ordinary transaction, and Coulson had said earlier that this man didn't know he was S.H.I.E.L.D.
He was too dilutive.
He said he was going to invite him to dinner, but it turned out that he was invited to dinner and brought him here to dine ...
Soon, the waiter came in with some dishes.
All of them were Japanese specialties.
All kinds of sashimi, sushi and so on ...
The food was good, and it was a new taste for Mike who have been getting tired of eating meat after meat every day.
Colson and the other man ate and drank and chatted, with Mike raising his glass every now and then in agreement.
After three rounds of drinks, Colson and Toshio Yoshida were getting a little tipsy, and they finally got down to business.
After taking a phone call to make sure the money had arrived, Toshio Yoshida smiled and took out the black cloth and pushed it towards Coulson.
Coulson opened the black cloth.
Inside was a black box with some unintelligible patterns on its body, and a strange shape, like a miniature coffin.
Mike was stunned.
He was interested in what it was.
Colson put his hand on the box and was about to open it when Toshio Yoshida suddenly and said, "Don't open it!"
Coulson's hand faltered and he said, "If I don't open it, how can I tell if it's real or not?"
"Tell if it's real or not?" Toshio Yoshida said sharply, "By the time you know what's real, you'll be a corpse."
Coulson frowned, and Mike looked at the black box, curious.
What the hell is this?
Yoshida couldn't help but say, "Let me advise you, don't open this thing, it's evil and dangerous."
Coulson was speechless.
If they didn't open it and see if it was real or not, how else could they study it?
Seeing that Coulson was not convinced and was ready to open it at any moment, Toshio Yoshida hurriedly got up and said, "If you really want to open it, wait until after I leave."
As he put on his coat, he handed over two room cards and said, "Here are the hotel's room cards, so I'll leave you to it."
"Mr Yoshida!" Coulson looked at his opponent and said coldly, "If this thing is a fake, you should understand that we can easily find you."
"Don't worry, it's not a fake."
Yoshida said as he stepped back, then turned around and walked away in a hurry.
As he watched the scene, Coulson shook his head.
Was it that terrible?
"What is it?"
Mike asked.
Coulson pressed the box and said, "I don't know, but I'm told there are some files inside."
"Files?" Mike wondered, "What's so terrible about this."
Coulson shrugged and said, "Who knows, but I'm told that everyone who sees it dies."
"That's amazing!"
"That's just a rumour, there's no proof."
Colson laughed, his attitude casual, clearly not believing the rumours.
"If you don't believe it, then why did S.H.I.E.L.D. buy it?"
"I don't believe it, but the people who want to study it do."
Coulson said as he went to open the box.
Mike frowned and warned, "I don't think that guy looked like he was faking it, this thing could be dangerous."
Colson was unconcerned and smiled, "It's just a box and a file, it's not dangerous."
He winked at Mike and said, "I'm an atheist, I'm not scared by rumours like that."
Mike finished his glass of wine and got up, "All right, I'll leave you to your own devices."
Whether the rumours were true or not, he didn't want to see the files inside, it was S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff and he didn't want to get into trouble if he did.
He could have a personal relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D., but for business, forget it.
Leaving Coulson alone inside, Mike stepped out of the booth and went outside the restaurant to get some fresh air.
It was just after nightfall, and the streets were getting more crowded than they had been when Mike had arrived in the afternoon.
Sunshine, sand and beautiful women ...
Mike smiled as he thought about what tomorrow would bring.
This was the life.
But I wonder what happened to the three boys?
The thought of worry flashed through his mind before Mike's attention was drawn to the people coming and going on the road.
It's good to be at the beach.
Mike grinned and decided to go somewhere for a drink later on to see if there was anyone suitable to spend the lonely night with.
Meanwhile, Coulson had opened the black box.
The moment he opened it, Coulson suddenly felt a cold chill and shivered.
What was it?
Colson looked puzzled, but being a staunch atheist, he didn't care and picked up the contents of the box and looked at them.
Inside was a photograph and several sheets of paper stacked on top of each other.
The photograph was pressed at the top.
It was a torn and pieced-together photograph of three men, a man and a woman, and a child.
The child looked cute, but the faces of the man and woman had been torn off.
Is this a family?
Coulson frowned and was about to put the picture down when he saw the child move and even the woman whose face had been torn off appeared with a pale, cold face.
Coulson threw away the photo subconsciously, and when he opened his eyes again, there was no change in the photo.
"Illusion?"
Coulson whispered, a vague feeling of badness in his heart.
But ...
I'm an atheist.
Coulson murmured, and he had already opened the box.
Putting the photos aside, Coulson picked up the file and looked at it.
There was nothing special about it, just two ordinary files that didn't make any sense, after all, his knowledge of the japanese language was very limited.
"What's this woman's name?"
Coulson frowned at it, slipped the file into the box and locked it up again.
It would be better to leave this to the guys at the Bureau.
...