Ichijō Mirai took down the telescope and said, "What a heroic figure."
It's not bad for the FBI.
He recalled Jodie's frozen face when she took off her mask, and thought seriously: could this lady be 'Ms. Bunny'?
In the first second of serious thought, Ichijō Mirai paused.
In the second second of serious thought, Ichijō Mirai shook his shoulders.
In the third second of serious thought, Ichijō Mirai gave up and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, "Forget it."
When he hadn't seen Jodie, it wasn't a big deal to think about it, but to think about it the next second after seeing Jodie made him feel uncomfortable.
There was a resistance, a rejection, a reluctance to be free to do what he wanted, but to live in a warm nest, in the company of a loved one.
And, "The FBI can't be that unprofessional,"
Thinking of the world's frighteningly high waste rate, Ichijō Mirai added uncertainly, "Right?"
He's resistant to the FBI anyway, and can't imagine that he'll ever be able to shed all his defenses and sleep with an FBI investigator.
In contrast, Ichijō Mirai was more comfortable with the idea of 'having an unfortunate accident, being arrested by the FBI, having another accident during transportation, and having to sleep with a dozen or so people'.
Most importantly, "I don't have an ideal type."
Before seeing 'Ichijō Mirai's' wedding ring, Ichijō Mirai had never even imagined that he had a partner in his life, let alone a silhouette of him in his mind.
After seeing the ring, Ichijō Mirai couldn't come up with a clear picture of the kind of person she'd like, even though she tried to think about what she'd like, and could only be sure of one thing: "But if I had to say it, my ideal type would be," she says.
"Even if I die, I can still live a good life."
"This Ms. Jodie is probably not a lady who will live well after my death, but a lady who will actively assist in my death..."
Maybe even applauding.
Criminals are always hated.
Ichijō Mirai concludes, "I'm not interested in the 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' model of husband and wife, so forget it."
He raised his binoculars and looked down the alley again.
The street was completely lit up, as if it were daytime, and a lot of people in FBI vests were coming in and out of the neighborhood; the killer had been pressed into a car at the first opportunity and sent away urgently, intending to be interrogated overnight.
But Jodie didn't leave.
She was standing at the mouth of the alley, a black woman's jacket draped over her shoulders, talking to an FBI agent, looking like she was in charge of the scene, while looking around a bit, her eyes roaming the perimeter.
This is a search for Ichijō Mirai.
But there's no sign of him.
Ichijō Mirai looks for a few seconds, moves his eyes to the other side of the street, and spots a familiar figure on the other side of the street.
It was Akai Shūichi.
Akai Shūichi was standing under an intact streetlight, in the brightest part of the street, and he didn't make any movement, just stood quietly, as if in a daze.
He was staring in the direction of Ichijō Mirai.
Ichijō Mirai raised an eyebrow, "How perceptive."
After a moment's thought, he realized why Akai Shūichi was looking in his direction, "This is the best place to snipe."
If he had a sniper's rifle in his hand, Ichijō Mirai could have guaranteed that he would have been able to hit Akai Shūichi squarely in the center of the eyebrow and shocked the FBI.
...Provided that the archive is not counted.
In the distance, an FBI agent approached Akai Shūichi and handed him a gun in an evidence bag.
It's the murderer's gun.
The FBI agent must be asking for instructions.
It was so far away, and the FBI agent's back was turned, that Ichijō Mirai could only see Akai Shūichi look away from the FBI agent standing in front of him, nod his head, and seemingly agree to something.
Then he reached out with his black leather gloved right hand, casually grasped the gun, gave it a clean twist, looked down for a moment to inspect it, and handed it back to the FBI agent.
The agent left.
Akai Shūichi continued to stand under the streetlight, as if lost in thought, as if in a daze, as if waiting for something.
Ichijō Mirai soon realized what the FBI man was waiting for: a reward.
He told Akai Shūichi: Would the FBI choose the one victim in front of them, or the dozens, dozens, dozens of victims that might come after them?
Akai Shūichi made his choice and accomplished his mission.
Now it was time for Ichijō Mirai to show his attitude.
But he was still a little sick in the head, and wasn't too interested in 'mobilizing all of his thoughts to face off against an FBI agent'.
He kind of wanted to play.
After some thought, Ichijō Mirai turned the binoculars thoughtfully, and changed his mind, "Forget it, it doesn't have to be a battle of wits, it can be a clean fight, and the winner takes all."
He held up the binoculars and swayed lazily.
＊
Akai Shūichi was looking at a neon sign.
The night was so dark and the lights so dense that he couldn't see anything but the blinding lights of the skyscrapers, not even the buildings themselves.
And he didn't need to see much.
A map of the neighborhood unfolded in his mind, with locations suitable for observation from afar marked in red, Akai Shūichi looking at the reddest and most likely observation point, most likely in the direction of 'Messiah's' current location.
During this time, FBI investigators came and went, sometimes handing out guns, sometimes water, and sometimes phones.
Akai Shūichi took them all with his right hand.
His left hand hung naturally in his pocket, less than a centimeter away from the silver handcuffs in his pocket, but he never moved it, like every right-handed person who could hold anything in his right hand alone.
Jodie came over, "No sign yet?"
Her eyes twitched, "I heard your report that you were going to try to arrest him when he reappeared instead of playing games with him,"
"Isn't that a bit dangerous?"
"To tame a wolf," Akai Shūichi replied calmly, "there is only one thing that can happen if you are afraid of danger, death."
"The only way to beat a cold-blooded wolf into submission is to be more desperate, less afraid of death, and more insane than he is."
Akai Shūichi had said this, and Jodie had agreed.
Assuming one hadn't heard of the report submitted by Akai Shūichi.
In the report, he calmly stated his opinion that 'Messiah' would definitely be present when the FBI arrested the murderer.
And it was likely that he would pick the FBI agent he was happy with to play a game, like a racing game with Akai Shūichi.
He's requested that either he or Jodie be chosen to play the game.
Akai Shūichi will go all out in this duel.
Because 'Messiah' has something to do with 'Satan', something to do with the organization.
Jodie: "But,"
Before she could finish her sentence, she saw Akai Shūichi's dark, frozen green eyes move and light up a little.
The light flickered for a moment.
Akai Shūichi closed his eyes, turned his head sideways to avoid the light, and opened them again.
In the midst of all the neon lights, he saw a light that was no brighter than a neon light, but in his vision it was incredibly bright.
The light flickered, one by one, rhythmically.
It was 'Messiah'.
He said: [Car race.]
[Promise me one thing if you lose.]
[Wait for you for three minutes.]