The church is empty after hours.
Ichijō Mirai walked past the rows of pews, past the half-empty nave and the colorful stained windows, and sat down in the second row.
His hair was still a little wet, but half-dried, but his black clothes still showed scattered dark splatter marks.
The middle-aged priest walked silently up to the altar with his head hanging down, carrying a tray on which, instead of black tea, there were two half-poured wine glasses and a plate of cookies on which he read the Bible in a low voice, as if leading the congregation in worship.
The sound of the Bible echoed in the empty hall, though not as light and lively as the songs sung by the children in unison, it added a touch of sanctity.
Amidst the sound of the Bible, footsteps sounded, and Akai Shūichi stepped into the church, walked straight to the second row, and took a seat in the other row, symmetrically positioned with Ichijō Mirai.
Gazing at the priest, who was reading from the Bible with his head hanging down, he spoke first, in a flat tone, "I'm sorry, I accidentally missed,"
"You're disappointed."/"I'm disappointed."
Their voices almost overlapped, drowning out the sound of a low Bible reading.
The moment Ichijō Mirai spoke, Akai Shūichi spoke in tandem, uttering almost identical words, his expression calm, without a hint of elation at the success of his own prediction, or the vague repulsion of being confronted by a madman, as if he were making small talk, "Looks like I guessed correctly."
"Stealing my lines," Ichijō Mirai sighed, "you have a keen sense of smell that amazes me,"
"Sharp is good, next time don't be sharp."
He also didn't have the disgust of a criminal facing the FBI, or the fear of a sniper facing a sniper, his tone was casual, "Next time, I would like to see Ms. Jodie."
"Really," Akai Shūichi didn't bat an eye, "You're probably going to be disappointed again."
Ichijō Mirai: "..."
Don't you understand arm-wrestling tugs and balances?
Backing off is necessary, pushing is unpleasant for everyone.
He looked over, "You don't look like someone who doesn't know how to negotiate, much less a stupid person with no eyesight and no brain."
"Then by now, you must think that I'm a smart person who knows how to negotiate and has a good eye," Akai Shūichi looked over as well, "Your only choice is always the first one to show up when you want to see an FBI investigator that you can work with,"
With that, he nodded his head and said, without changing his face, "Thank you for the compliment."
It's shameless.
Ichijō Mirai was shameless, he raised one eyebrow high, looked Akai Shūichi up and down a few times, and sighed, "You can't tell the difference between a man and a woman," he said.
"Every time I see you," His tone was polite, his words polite, as if he were touting a superior at a party, "you amaze me,"
"Like a wolf who has mastered the art of hunting, once he bites the target, he never lets go,"
Adding slowly, "If I were in a zoo, I would applaud your unscrupulousness and ferocity, and lovingly purchase a few pieces of raw meat to feed."
The wolf in nature is a natural predator, an unstoppable saber that bites into bloody rain, while the wolf in the zoo...
Wolves in zoos are toys to be watched and played with thoughtlessly.
Ichijō Mirai was politely and elegantly saying, "You're a real piece of work."
Akai Shūichi was oblivious, "Be careful when you feed,"
He paused, glancing at Ichijō Mirai with an uncertain glance, correcting himself, "Be careful when you feed, and watch out for the wings slanting into the railing when you turn sideways, if you accidentally get bitten by a wolf it won't let go of its mouth."
...'Wings'?
Ichijō Mirai was a little confused, thought for a moment, organized his thoughts, and deciphered: Messiah = Savior = Angel = Winged =
With a sense of realization like untangling a knot, he rearranged it: Akai Shūichi had implicitly called him a birdman.
Wow.
The curse is really dirty.
"Please don't be angry," Ichijō Mirai sighed, "God will glance down and watch you when you swear like that in church."
He nodded again and made a prayerful gesture, his tone gentle and perfunctory in a childish way, "May the Lord forgive you."
"The Lord may forgive me," Akai Shūichi said, "but He certainly will not forgive you."
"You will go to hell."
Wow.
Ichijō Mirai once again looked sideways, once again looking Akai Shūichi up and down, "Cursing me?"
"You can't judge a book by its cover, I didn't realize that Mr. FBI, the man of the hour, would be so ungentlemanly as to repeatedly insult others."
"If this were a game, you'd be banned and gagged for a while."
There was a pause for reflection: the idea of gag placement was a bit of a bad idea... no wonder.
Ball gags, mouth shackles, mouth plugs, even cloth ropes and other objects that can prevent people from speaking and biting their tongues to commit suicide are common methods used by prisons to treat dangerous criminals.
Not at all of Japan is bad and unhealthy.
...Blame it on the blonde classmates who play with bondage, exposure, publicity, and other unhealthy things in public.
Ichijō Mirai cleared his head, duly tossed a few things into the trash, and smiled as he reopened the microphone, "Watch what you say, Mr. Akai."
Akai Shūichi spoke up coldly, "Who do you remember?"
He gazed at Ichijō Mirai, the pupils of his dark green eyes a little smaller due to his intense concentration, "What did you think of during the pause that made you smile?"
A smile that did not contain any provocation.
Ichijō Mirai glanced over curiously, "Remembered something unhealthy that you can't know."
He expressed his refusal, "We are not close enough to be able to talk about unhealthy things without fear of repercussions, if you are interested, perhaps you could talk to your coworkers about it, it would be a good way to take a vacation and keep Ms. Jodie out of the way."
"She's busy enough as it is," Akai Shūichi didn't press the issue any further, but spoke again coldly, "I'm not cursing you, I'm stating the facts."
And once again, he stated the truth: "Those who kill themselves do not go to heaven, they go to hell."
"You will go to hell."
And go to hell gladly.
Because there's an executioner in hell who goes by the code name 'Satan'.
Ichijō Mirai: "...?"
This was the second somewhat confusing accusation, and like 'wings', it took a bit of reaction to get it right.
He combed through his thoughts, and in context, translated.
'He told Akai Shūichi to shoot' = 'he wanted to die' = 'killed himself' = a bitch who deserves to go to hell.
When most people scold Ichijō Mirai, they don't follow this equation and go straight to 'bitch!', like Gin.
Ichijō Mirai thought so, and gave Akai Shūichi, who had repeatedly pursued the gradual progression of yin and yang, a deep side-eye, "Thank you?"
Thank you?
It's hard to say 'dog', but it's better to say something than to call him something he's not.
"It's a statement of fact, not a blessing," Akai Shūichi dismissed the thanks, "I found out something interesting,"
He said, "Tokyo."
"You're from Tokyo."