Yumio and Takahiko visited a bar called "Tasmanian Devil" on the first floor of a department store called Kando Building in the downtown area of Kikkicho, Anraku City. So I'm planning to meet with Mika Tsukinami.
"Hyaha, it's too nostalgic, Tasmanian Devil. It feels like I've been back for the first time in about 40 years, but it hasn't changed at all."
Takahiko raised his voice while looking around the store. His voice was quite loud, so the gazes of the nearby guests fell on Takahiko and Yumio.
The Tasmanian Devil is a bar dedicated to back alleys. Designated as a neutral district, fighting is prohibited here, so the residents of the back alleys can relax and socialize in peace. The inside of the store is quite large and there are many customers.
When the two of them went to the seat specified by their meeting partner, there was a girl who looked like she was about 15 or 16 years old, wearing a baggy plain T-shirt and ragged jeans, with a cap pulled over her eyes.
"Um, isn't that what it is?"
The bow man wondered and pointed at the girl.
"Isn't it? The impression is very different from what you see on TV, but since you're an entertainer, you're supposed to be disguised when you're off.」
"It looks like you can do it as well as you say.
Five years in the backstreets, five more years in the battlefields of the world, and Yumio and Takahiko, who have survived the battlefields, see at a glance that the girl has considerable skill.
The girl stands up when she notices the bow men who have arrived.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Mika Tsukinami! Let's do our best together!"
The girl greets the girl in the same voice and way she speaks as she saw her on TV, and she vigorously takes off her hat and bows. Semi-long black hair overflowed from inside her hat.
"Oh, it's real. I think I prefer this outfit."
"It's quite a greeting from the first meeting! You should show your gratitude at least from the beginning!"
Takahiko raises a happy voice, and Mika puts her hat back on with a stunned expression. All her hair is pulled back to make it inconspicuous.
"Isn't she a little snail-like? This child. I guess... I didn't make a character for TV, so this is the real thing."
"I can hear you!"
Takahiko whispered to Yumio, but his voice was barely hidden.
"Why do you think I'm a weirdo!?"
Mika glared at Takahiko, who sat down facing the box seat.
"I'm a weirdo! I'm aware of it! But I can't change myself, and it's fine if there's at least one weirdo in the world! Huh!?"
"I just said stubborn. I think he's a painful guy, but he's a weirdo.
"Well, yes. I understand. Yeah."
With a gentle smile on his face, Yumio picks up Takahiko's belly skin from under the table as he says even more unnecessary things.
"Then, let's get down to business right away. Before we came, you were already arguing with the unbreakable rest. Do you have anything special?"
"If you lay a hand on a commoner, you'll get angry! But I don't think you guys have to worry about that!"
"Of course it is. I make a living as an ally of justice.
"agreement!"
Mika nods enthusiastically to Yumio who confirms with her calm tone and expression.
"Well, I think it would be best to destroy the weapon manufacturing factory first. Say, make them feel chagrin, threaten them, annoy them, frighten them, make them despair, and finally mess them up.
"You're an amazing ally of justice, aren't you?"
Hearing Yumio's way of speaking, Takahiko laughed amusingly.
"Case by case! That way of attacking would be suitable!"
Mika readily agreed, pouring the wine into the glass with her rough gestures and drinking it all at once.
"Why don't you taste a little and drink it, minor? It's dangerous to drink it all at once. If I remember correctly, 10 or 5,000 people go to the ambulance every year for acute alcohol poisoning."
Takahiko warned him in a joking tone.
"I like binge drinking! Besides, it's strange that underage murder is allowed and underage drinking and smoking isn't allowed!"
"Hahaha, sure.
Mika protested with an expression on her face, and Takahiko continued to tease her while laughing.
"They own four weapons manufacturing factories in Anrakuichi! The smallest one has been demolished."
Mika spilled her smile for the first time. Yumio's eyes reflected that she had an amazing triumphant face.
"Oh, that's wonderful.
Even Yumio knew that it would be pointless if he ran away with the refining recipe even after the refining factory was destroyed.
However, as a theory of the allies of justice, it is necessary to demonstrate intention and subversive activities as a demonstration. It's not limited to this time, but it makes it easier to work.
"It's one of the essentials for them! The three of us are going to do that. Interesting!"
"If this guy feels like it, he might be able to go alone, you know?"
Takahiko proudly points to Yumi with his chin.
"That's it, I'm not overconfident."
The bow man may appear humble, but he was confident.
"Are you overconfident? I had that confidence in myself, and that's what I was going to do! I didn't ask for help, so I didn't join the fight! That's what I thought!"
Yumio thinks that Mika's point of view is exactly the same as theirs, so it will be easy for both of them to get along.
"That's my intention, too. By the way, why do you want to destroy 'Hachiku no Ikoi'?"
"I can't tell you about the client!"
Mika responded immediately to Takahiko's question.
"Oh, that's right. You asked a stupid question, me."
Takahiko scratched his head.
"Well, we have the same goal, so you don't have to worry about the details, right? We're both well-known allies of justice, so you can trust us. Yeah."
Both Yumio and Takahiko thought that the mood would end peacefully, but Mika's expression suddenly darkened.
"I would like to clarify one of my objectives. Does Hachiku Ikoi buy a large amount of products from human trafficking organizations? Where did those products go? What are they used for?"
Yumio and Takahiko's complexion changed when Mika spoke in a softer tone instead of the shouting style she used to emphasize.
"I can't say who the client is, but I will decide whether or not to accept the job after listening to the content of the request. That's what it means."
"Achaa, even for us who pretend to be allies of justice, it's something we can't ignore, isn't it?"
A feeling resembling a fighting spirit welled up inside Yumio.
Yumi analyzes himself that the reason why he burns the worse the opponent he fights is because he's working as an ally of justice and he's drunk on it. He knows he's a hypocrite.
But he also thought that the more he was aware of it and the more he was always paying attention, the better it would be compared to the lack of awareness of being on the side of justice. Yumio knows that if he is unaware of this, he will go out of control and cause all sorts of trouble.
"Ah, can I ask you one very simple and natural question?"
The bow man shows a charming smile and puts his index finger in front of his face.
"agreement!"
"Why are you always shouting?"
"It's a manifestation of being single-minded and always focused on life――no! It's proof!"
Mika proudly answered Yumio's question.
＊＊＊
Mika Tsukinami made a promise to the two revolutionaries that she would immediately start her activities from tomorrow, and after leaving the Tasmanian Devil, she went to the first basement floor of the Kando Building without going outside. .
"It looks like you made good contact."
The Yukioka Research Institute on the first basement floor of the Kando Building.
As soon as the red-eyed girl who was the head of the laboratory saw Mika's face, she said so without listening to any reports.
"They seem to be trustworthy. I knew them at a glance. I think they're good guys. I have a certain eye for character."
Instead of her usual screaming style, Mika kept her tone down.
"That expression doesn't come to mind." She didn't even try to sit down on a chair, and neither Junko nor Makoto, who was sitting next to her, would look at her.
"Hmm, I'm not deceiving you, so I don't think you'll make that face."
"No, no matter how you look at it, you're deceiving me."
Mika replied to Junko, who was following her, in her subdued voice.
She should have accepted the request after being convinced, but after she contacted the bow men, Mika was tormented by her conscience.
"It's true that I wouldn't do anything to directly ensnare them. However, the act of being monitored by someone who is on your side is an act of betrayal! In other words... that's what it is. "
"If you're worried about it, you shouldn't have taken on such a role from the beginning."
Makoto pinches her mouth.
"This guy's request is decided to be a worthless substitute. This time it's a better category, but if you want to feel guilty about it, you can abandon it here and now."
"Hmm, maybe you're right. I can't force you to do something you don't like, but I'm not going to do something that Mika-chan doesn't agree with."
Junko smiled alone.
"Since it's what Junko said, I can't really trust it! But I thought I couldn't overlook Hachiku's deeds of rest, so I accepted your request! What are you doing――"
Halfway through Mika's words, there is a knock and the door opens. Looking at the person who appeared, Mika opened her originally big eyes even wider.
The physique is of medium height, with pale and smooth skin exposed without a single thread, large bilobed leaves growing from the top of the head, blood vessels appearing to float throughout the body, no eyes, mouth, ears, genitalia, nose and nostrils. And there are only ear holes. A monster with such a strange appearance entered the room with some kind of equipment packed in a box.
"Thank you for your hard work - leave it there."
Smiling at Junko, the Phantom put down her box, bowed respectfully, and left her room.
"Is that a mouse you modified too!?"
Mika asks with a wrinkle between her eyebrows.
"That's right. Because he was a NEET, he was disowned by his parents, and he moved from one place to another, such as Necafe, but he ran out of money and came here. So, I hired him here. The joy of labor. After giving as much as possible
"The joy of labor!?"
"Yeah. When I was given a job and did it, I remodeled it so that a large amount of pleasure substances overflowed in my brain and I was immersed in happiness. In exchange, I lost all other emotions. It's very simple, isn't it?"
"Where's the point in doing that..."
Mika is dumbfounded and frowns at Junko, who happily explains.
"It doesn't really have a deep meaning. Personally, I think it's a boring thing, but I had a request from a client asking if I could create someone who could become an efficient labor force just like that. I was asked to work here while I was there."
Saying that, Junko shrugged her shoulders and spread out her hand slightly. At one point she lived in America for many years, and she still has the habits she picked up then.
"Since the experiment itself was a success, we can mass-produce that kind of thing in the future.In the future, more and more NEETs in the world will be bought by their parents, and they will be remodeled like that and will start working here and there. That said, it's really boring for me personally to not have an ego, so I'd like to come up with something.
"It's the worst! But... is he happy?"
After she threw up in exasperation, Mika dropped the tone of her voice and added.
"What about you as an ally of justice? What about Yukioka's daily deeds?"
Makoto asks Mika.
"Evil!"
Mika answered the real question with a smile and turned to Junko.
"I don't know what you are up to, but I will do what I think is right! Okay!?"
"Yeah, that's Mika-chan."
Junko responds with her usual carefree smile to Mika's declaration with a straight face.
"Is it right that I wanted to be this guy's test subject?"
Makoto asked further questions while facing Mika. She usually speaks in a matter-of-fact manner with little intonation, but at that time she was unusually emotional. She seems sarcastic when she catches only her words, but her voice is soft.
"In the end, yes! I can't regret it! I am who I am today because of Junko!"
"The time may come when you will regret it."
Mika answered without hesitation, and Makoto let out a small sigh.
"No! Impossible! What about you!"
"Since you are here with positive feelings and goals, I don't think you have any regrets."
In response to Mika's question, Junko answered on behalf of Makoto. Mika asks after knowing what her true purpose is, but when Junko answers instead of herself, she stops pushing further.