Jodie should have been angry when someone said nice things about her blood enemy, right in front of her ears.
Even if she wasn't angry, she should have been upset at least.
But at this moment, listening to Ichijō Mirai's compliments one after another, Jodie subtly realized that he actually did not have the slightest feeling of displeasure, for the simple reason that this is an asshole who fooled the New York FBI.
Being played by him is a bad thing, but is being praised by him always a good thing?
Not necessarily. Jodie could tell that Ichijō Mirai's tone was gentle, so gentle that it gave the illusion of a reminiscent soft tone.
It was the illusion that this man was remembering a long dead person.
Jodie could only be silent.
She listened in silence as a waiter came to serve the meal, and the conversation on the other side of the headset paused for a moment, then resumed.
Akai Shūichi said, "I didn't think you'd still be in contact with someone from the organization."
He added, "Especially, it seems to be more against..."
More opposed to what?
The unspoken words must be about a secret they shared that Jodie couldn't understand, and she furrowed her brow as she listened, hearing Ichijō Mirai ask, also rather gently, "What?"
"Go on," He encouraged, "It's all right, Mr. Akai, go on,"
"Who can say it better than you?"
This was not the tone of voice that would lead to safe survival, and Akai Shūichi fell silent.
For a moment, the only sound on the headset was the sound of a knife and fork, the sounds were non-overlapping, suggesting that there was only one person slowly slicing the steak, and Jodie listened for ten seconds or so before she heard another sound of a knife and fork, which was interrupted a few seconds later by the steep sound of the tip of the knife cutting across the plate.
"Leave it to me," Ichijō Mirai said, continuing to cut the steak nonchalantly, picking up lightly on what he had just said, 'Especially since Belmode seems to be more opposed to 'Satan', you'd like to say that, wouldn't you?"
"I do care about that," he admitted frankly, 'so if Ms. Jodie still wants revenge in the face of the fact that 'her father's and mother's enemies actually knew about her survival years ago', in the face of the fact that 'her enemies don't seem to care about killing her, and see her as a pleasure', and in the face of the fact that 'there's an undercover agent in the FBI, who revealed Ms. Jodie's information to the organization' and so on and so on... "
"Perhaps I can be of a little help."
He's smiling.
Belmode was not a thing, Jodie knew that, and in a sense, Ichijō Mirai, though a little more harmless than Belmode, was even less of a thing, Jodie knew that.
She raised a wary eyebrow, "What do you want me to do as payment?"
Others might give free help out of the goodness of their hearts, but Ichijō Mirai would never, and even if he did claim it was free, he'd surely take it back later, and he's a pretty tough pie to swallow.
Akai Shūichi relayed Jodie's words without any prefixes, just repeating them as they were, so that if a passerby passed by, he would have mistaken them for his words, while Ichijō Mirai knew they were Jodie's. He pretended not to know, and then he said, "Ichijō Mirai is a man of the world.
Pretending not to know, he sliced a few more times, completely cutting the entire steak into a dozen or so bite-sized pieces before picking up the plate and handing it to Akai Shūichi, "Very smart to ask what you want, it's just about done, eat your steak, ma'am?"
"Please don't be embarrassed, cutting a steak for a graceful and delicate lady is exactly what a gentleman should do."
Akai Shūichi: "..."
He had guessed what was going to happen when Ichijō Mirai stopped him from cutting the steak himself, but guessing and actually facing it were two different things.
Jodie also: "..."
'A lady of grace and tenderness'.
She wanted to ask out loud: "Excuse me, sir, is the 'graceful and tender lady' you're talking about Akai Shūichi, who stepped on the gas to low, chased you halfway across New York, easily knocked out a few strong men with one punch and one kick, and could run with a seven or eight-kilogram sniper rifle on his shoulder and snipe at enemies with a shoulder-make-shift rifle?
Isn't the threshold for 'elegant and gentle lady' too low?
If Akai Shūichi was Akai Shūichi, then 80% of the world's population would be able to pass without lifting a single foot.
But Ichijō Mirai was still taking it for granted, and was even surprised by the sudden silence, "What's wrong, am I being rude?"
"Then I'm sorry, but I need you to bear with me for a while, don't worry, a lot of people get used to it, and I'm sure you will too."
Akai Shūichi didn't answer.
Instead, the faint sound of a fork scratching across a plate sounded in the headset.
Around the same time as the sound of the fork and knife was the sound of something falling into the water one after another, so slight that it almost blended in with the occasional electromagnetic sound, followed by the sound of the knife and fork clinking against the glass as they stirred the wineglasses. Jodie's headset was tucked into her ear canal, so she caught the crisp clinking sound of one after the other, and immediately composes herself to furrow her brow.
She heard Ichijō Mirai say, "And this drink."
"I like this glass, it's on fire, it's like a fire of vengeance, you must be thinking the same thing, right?"
"Please, you must finish it."
In contrast to Ichijō Mirai's relaxed tone, Akai Shūichi's voice sank a bit, "Your hand..."
"What was that pill you put in the sake?"
"It's okay," Ichijō Mirai said in a more relaxed tone, "It's a painkiller."
He thoughtfully expanded, "It's the same kind of painkillers they sell by the bucketful at the drugstore. Don't worry, it's nothing special, it's just the same kind of painkillers that are everywhere in New York. I didn't add anything to it, and I put it in the wine just for your sake."
"After all," He laughed, "even if it's not a fire, but just a little flame on a wine glass, when you hold it in your hand, it burns, doesn't it?"
"That's why it's better to take the painkillers in time, no thanks, it's what a gentleman should do, ma'am."
"Won't you take the glass?"
Wait a minute.
It took a few seconds for Jodie to realize that Ichijō Mirai was now holding the flaming glass and handing it to Akai Shūichi.
And there was no telling how many painkillers had been put into the sake.
Given the size of the glass, if it didn't turn out to be like rice in soup, it probably didn't contain much, no more than a dozen at the most, and no more than one or two at the lowest.
Is it dangerous to take too many painkillers at once? Of course it is dangerous, but with the FBI's daily face of various crises, but it is not too dangerous, just need to go to the hospital in time to wash the stomach can be cleaned out.
But it's not so much damaging as it is insulting.
Ichijō Mirai is definitely saying, "Hehe, I'm teasing you like a cat or a dog.
Jodie: "..."
She suddenly understands why Ichijō Mirai emphasized Belmode's belief that individual members of the organization are as nervous as cow cats, because individual members of the organization really are like cow cats.
Especially when it comes to beating up and treating low blood pressure, Ichijō Mirai is like a cow cat with a talent for tearing apart homes and dancing at night, easily causing the humans in the entire building to experience a huge heartbeat in the air.
"...You put in three tablets?" Akai Shūichi paused for a few seconds, apparently manually straightening out his fluctuating blood pressure, before asking, "What are you going to do about Belmode?"
"Uh, three tablets." Ichijō Mirai replied, applauding, in the tone of one who praises a child for successfully walking ten meters, "Wow, I can't believe you took it without a change of color, that's great, as expected of the FBI."
He corrects Akai Shūichi on the latter, "I only said I'd help, I didn't say I'd take on Belmode on my own."
Then he replied flatly, "Send a message and ask Belmode out."
It was flat, like being asked, "Have you eaten? and then answered 'yes,' rather than solemnly discussing how to deal with a member of an organization that had taken out a number of FBI agents.
Akai Shūichi paused again for a few seconds, "Send a message?"
There was another five or six second pause before he said his next words, "You text her to ask her out, and she'll come out?"
...Really?
Ichijō Mirai replies in the affirmative: "Uh-huh."
Not just texting Belmode to ask her out, but even if he asked her for help, if he asked, she'd definitely try to help.
That's the strength of the active members of the organization, that's the harmony and love between the members of the organization to help each other.
"Why?"
Akai Shūichi had to ask the question, then quickly retracted it and asked again, "If you're so close to Belmode, then why are you helping the FBI against her?"
Because the FBI couldn't deal with Belmode.
Even if Ichijō Mirai helped the FBI to meet someone, and the FBI chose the location, and Belmode was caught off guard by the FBI, they would definitely fail.
In a sense, the probability of the FBI accidentally bumping into Belmode during a reunion and arresting her is higher than the probability of Ichijō Mirai helping the FBI to ask Belmode out and arresting her in a targeted manner.
At least in the former case, Belmode wouldn't be facing Ichijō Mirai with the same hyper-vigilant attitude...
A criminal with an uncanny ability to disguise himself, who has greatly increased his lower limits, and the highest level of vigilance that can only be dealt with by a combination of an elite group of police officers and a system that corresponds to a very high rate of speed, this kind of police force and the New York FBI are clearly two of a kind.
Ichijō Mirai was considerate enough to refrain from telling the heartbreaking truth to an FBI officer, and he pondered, "Why are you helping you with Belmode? Well, maybe it's because..."
"It's blessing for the organization to have me?"