Even at this late hour past midnight, the suburban bar was still brightly lit.
Before they even pushed open the door, deafening rock music blasted from inside, probably Chianti's song choice.
The moment Ritsu opened the door, a water balloon suddenly burst over his head. Caught completely off guard, he was instantly drenched like a soaked rat.
Behind him, Rei turned aside and tried to suppress his laughter, but the chuckles leaking through his fingers completely gave him away.
Ritsu's brows twitched sharply. The lingering drowsiness he had felt earlier vanished instantly because of this sudden attack.
Lowering his gaze, he brushed back his wet hair. A cold glint flashed through his phoenix-shaped eyes as he slowly swept his gaze across the people seated in the booth area, trying to identify who looked the most excited.
"Macallan-san, you actually look pretty handsome with wet hair."
Ritsu impatiently turned toward the unfamiliar black-haired woman who had spoken.
She proactively introduced herself, "My codename is Jinro. I only received my codename recently. It's an honor to meet you."
A newly promoted codename member? No wonder he didn't recognize her.
"Nice to meet you."
Without lingering further, Ritsu strode toward the booth area on his long legs. Frowning, he looked at Chianti, who was swaying side to side with the music, and asked,
"Chianti, don't tell me you're the one who put the water balloon over the door?"
"Nope~ That was me."
"??"
That voice...
Turning his head, Ritsu saw the horribly mismatched combination of a white lab coat and red leather jacket.
Taylors.
Wasn't tonight supposed to be a year-end party for the Operative Division and Intelligence Division only?
Why was she here too?
Noticing the confusion in Ritsu's eyes, Taylors picked up the Europa Beauty cocktail from the table and smiled.
"I came to mooch free drinks. I mean, I'm technically the one responsible for conducting physical exams for your Operative Division, so I count as connected, right?"
Ah. So she was one of those people who came just for the alcohol.
"Miss Taylors, are you still mentally a child? Pulling pranks like this?"
"Sheesh, it was only punishment for being late. You were just unlucky. If Bourbon had opened the door instead, he would've been the one hit." Taylors smiled seductively.
Her awful personality really was just like a certain big-name actress all the way over in America. Actually, she was even less likable.
Chianti shot him a pitiful, wronged look, clearly upset that Ritsu had suspected her first. After all, she was now supposedly a well-behaved "child."
Holding a glass of alcohol, Korn slowly stood up and said in his usual drawn-out manner:
"Gin said, once you arrived, go upstairs, to the private room."
Ritsu glanced around and realized most of the people downstairs were unfamiliar faces. Apparently, the more high-ranking codename members were all gathered in the upstairs VIP room.
Following the "No Brain and Unhappy Duo" upstairs, they pushed open the door to find Vodka passionately singing the Russian song Королева into a microphone, a performance only he himself could understand.
Ritsu genuinely hadn't expected the upstairs gathering to basically be karaoke.
He was honestly worried that after a few more drinks, Vodka might start searching the song machine for Earth Ladies Team.
Gin sat in the corner with his arms folded across his chest.
Clearly, he had little interest in this sort of team-building event, but since it was that person's arrangement, he obeyed completely.
Besides...
Lately, Gin had actually been researching modern company management methods. Work-life balance and group bonding activities were apparently considered essential.
That was why he had selected karaoke, one of the highest-ranked entertainment activities.
Rei maintained his usual smiling expression. After noticing his superior Caymus sitting beside Rena, he walked over and sat nearby.
"Caymus, I heard you're about to enter the Metropolitan Police Department?"
Crossing her legs elegantly while holding a wine glass, Caymus nodded. "Yeah. The Organization plans to place me inside the MPD."
The Organization actually wanted to insert the head of the Intelligence Division into the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department?
Ritsu unconsciously licked his dry lips.
Sensing someone staring at him, he looked up and discovered the blond man sitting near the karaoke machine was Irish.
Why was he in Japan?
Quickly walking over, Ritsu sat beside him and greeted him. "Irish, what are you doing here?"
"Japan wanted me transferred back." Irish casually added ice cubes to his drink while grinning. "Who knows? We might become coworkers in the future."
"So Japan's finally getting a fourth whiskey, huh?"
What a shame. Out of the four whiskeys, two were already watered down. Keeping his expression calm, Ritsu poured himself half a glass of whiskey.
He was about to drink it when a hand suddenly took the glass away.
"??"
'There were so many drinks on the table. Gin, why did you specifically have to take mine?'
Gin cast him a brief glance and coldly said, "Drinking whiskey straight will make you drunk too easily. Have Vodka make you your usual Adonis instead."
"...Okay."
Apparently, his terrible alcohol tolerance was known throughout the entire Organization now.
Wonderful.
Vodka, who had originally intended to continue singing, immediately switched over to bartender duty instead. Honestly, considering he could cook and mix cocktails, Vodka's skill tree was surprisingly bizarre.
Picking up a fork, Ritsu stabbed a cube of melon and popped it into his mouth.
Thinking about it carefully, if Vodka actually used these abilities for legitimate work, he'd probably make an excellent professional butler.
If he opened a housekeeping company, he'd definitely make a fortune.
"Bourbon, you should sing something too."
"Huh? But I'm not really good at singing."
Rena, whose cheeks were already slightly flushed from alcohol, joined in teasingly, "Come on, Bourbon. Everyone else already sang."
Rei's entire face clearly screamed 'I absolutely refuse to believe Gin sang anything.'
Still, after noticing even Ritsu looking at him expectantly, he sighed in resignation. Grabbing the microphone, he walked toward the karaoke machine and started selecting a song.
Ritsu slowly sipped his Adonis cocktail.
Back during their police academy days, they had gone to karaoke once before. Though that gathering had been organized by Kenji as a mixer, and if his memory served correctly, Rei hadn't sung anything that time.
Most of the singing had been done by the female police officers.
'I wonder if Rei sings well. And what kind of songs would he even choose?'
As Ritsu was wondering, a completely out-of-place melody suddenly exploded through the karaoke room.
In an instant, everyone felt like they had been dragged straight back into the Showa era.
'Who the hell sings enka in a bar?! Rei, get a hold of yourself!'
"White birch, blue skies, southern winds~~"
"On that hill where the flowers bloom—ahh, spring in the northern country~~~"
Vodka was so shocked he spit the alcohol in his mouth right back into his glass.
Chianti, who had been gambling with Korn moments ago, stared in disbelief.
The instigators who had encouraged Rei to sing, Caymus and Rena, both went completely blank-eyed.
Even Gin. Had entered a frozen, expressionless state of pure emotional shutdown.
As for Ritsu?
He just wanted to cover his ears. He never could have imagined that Rei was completely tone-deaf.
Yet Rei, utterly immersed in his own music, failed to notice the increasingly bizarre atmosphere around him. Still wearing a supremely confident expression, he continued earnestly singing the folk song.
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