Chapter 232: Yes
“Knock, knock, knock—”
A crisp yet slightly sticky knock suddenly echoed in the grotesque flesh and blood room. The man with glasses sitting in the center of the room stopped his work, raised his head, and his right hand lightly swept through the air. The large door covered with bloody flesh pieces in the distance then spontaneously opened from the inside.
“Good evening, Kurokawa, your taste is still as bad as ever~”
A long, sinister tone came from outside the pitch-black door. As the voice entered the space, a tall, long-haired man in a light gray coat appeared. His strange pupils scanned the space filled with disorder and blood before focusing on the thin man sitting at the table not far away.
“Mission successful? Where’s the [Coffin]?”
Ignoring his friend’s teasing about his room’s taste, Kurokawa Iori glanced at Sakuraba Masashi, then shifted his attention back to the computer screen, asking as he continued recording his work.
“Hey, Kurokawa, is our many years of friendship worth less than one of your new subordinates? Aren’t you even going to ask about my situation?”
Walking to the side of the giant table that looked like a pool of rotten flesh, Sakuraba Masashi skillfully brushed away a few tentacles that tried to wrap around him. He took a bag of instant coffee from a nearby box, poured it into a cup, then grabbed a vessel that resembled a human head. He inserted his hands into the eye sockets of the vessel and aimed its open mouth at the cup. With a condescending expression, he asked Kurokawa Iori, who was still working.
“If something had gone wrong, you wouldn’t see me here.”
A flat and unfeeling tone came from the young man’s mouth. The transparent lenses reflected the glow of the computer, as if he was completely uninterested in anything other than this.
“Ah, so boring. You’ve become much more hypocritical with this skin on. What’s wrong, did your body go berserk again?”
Taking a small sip of coffee from the table with a lack of interest, Sakuraba Masashi gave up trying to joke with him and asked his friend, who was maintaining this state even at home, somewhat strangely.
“Yes, I released my true form during a test. The new restraint suit should arrive tomorrow.”
Adjusting his glasses with his index finger and finishing typing the last sentence, Kurokawa Iori looked up at Sakuraba Masashi and replied.
In fact, it wasn’t that Kurokawa Iori was hypocritical. It’s that the [Skin] itself could restrain his originally somewhat violent, or even pathological, personality. And his years of acting career had also made him unconsciously adopt the temperament of the [Skin] he was using.
Kurokawa Iori was also reluctant to wear the restraint suit again, which was damaged due to his previous impulsiveness, so he was currently speaking with Sakuraba Masashi while wearing just a layer of skin.
“Oh ho, you even released your true form. Now I know why only one of the newcomers survived this time.”
“For a favor, how about you give me [Coffin]? This little guy’s abilities are a good match for me.”
Nodding with some surprise, Sakuraba Masashi’s normal eye turned, and he leaned his head closer to Kurokawa Iori, asking seriously.
“Not really. [Coffin] is my subordinate, and I know her abilities much better than you. Also, after the last incident, the boss’s intention was that all personnel assignments would be under my arrangement, even for executives.”
A small sugar packet was precisely tossed into Sakuraba Masashi’s hand. Kurokawa Iori picked up a spoon beside the cup and stirred the coffee a few times before replying.
“I’m not like those perverts who enjoy abusing their subordinates for fun. They died because they were surrounded last time.”
Casually dumping all the sugar cubes into his coffee, Sakuraba Masashi stirred it with a finger that had turned into a snake’s tail, looking helplessly at his friend who was acting so business-like.
“I don’t have enough ability users under me either, so I can’t give you [Coffin].”
Taking a sip of the evenly stirred coffee, Kurokawa Iori replied expressionlessly.
“Tch, Kitayama and Fujika of Otohime are both very capable, aren’t they.”
Complaining about Kurokawa Iori’s Versailles-style statement, Sakuraba Masashi had another idea. He looked at the man opposite him and continued.
“Then Kurokawa, you can at least tell me [Coffin]’s information, right? Her abilities are related to the [Underworld], and I promised to give her some cultivation methods in this regard. You can’t keep it all to yourself, can you?”
“…” “Remember what you said.”
Sakuraba Masashi’s words made Kurokawa Iori’s hand pause. His cold gaze fell on his friend. After a moment of silence, he still took out a document from the table and handed it over.
“OK, OK. Your subordinates are my subordinates.”
Throwing the cup in his hand into the mouth of the flesh mass beside him, Sakuraba Masashi took the file handed to him by the other party, agreeing to Kurokawa Iori’s request as he opened it to read.
“Kazumi Shimizu… Shikoku Gakuin High School regular class student… abilities… social connections…”
After glancing at the cold photo of the young girl at the top of the file with some interest, Sakuraba Masashi continued to read the contents of the document. However, the remark in the social relations column made his leisurely expression involuntarily change. Finally, he raised his head with some worry and looked at the calm Kurokawa Iori.
“She’s Dr. Shimizu’s daughter!? Hey, Kurokawa! Aren’t you afraid of retaliation from [Shadow]? Your relationship with [Shadow] has never been very good!”
The information revealed in what was supposed to be a simple document was completely unexpected by Sakuraba Masashi. He also didn’t expect his friend to be so bold. The consequences of such an action would likely expose the long-standing conflict between the two directly.
“I will explain it to him personally.”
As if he had already anticipated Sakuraba Masashi’s reaction, Kurokawa Iori replied calmly without showing any emotional fluctuations.
“Well, as long as you know what you’re doing. If you need help, just tell me. I’ll go back and prepare.”
Looking at Kurokawa Iori’s serious expression, Sakuraba Masashi sighed inwardly, but still spoke.
Although Sakuraba Masashi had a good impression of Fukada Akihiko, the well-known good old man in the organization, Kurokawa Iori was one of the few friends he truly connected with in his life. Even though he had some problems with his body now, Sakuraba Masashi was determined to help his friend.
He handed back the file in his hand. The name of the young girl in the social relations at the end of the file also looked somewhat familiar to Sakuraba Masashi. Seeing Kurokawa Iori, who seemed to be lost in thought, Sakuraba Masashi quickly tried to ease the suddenly serious atmosphere.
“Then calling me to help kill Sato Shinichi before was for [Coffin], right? What, did you actually fall for the little girl? That’s why you wanted me to help kill her boyfriend?”
A slightly teasing tone came from Sakuraba Masashi’s mouth. After all, this wasn’t the first time the organization had done something like this. The source of the abilities stimulated by the potions was the darkness and despair within people’s hearts. And hurting someone’s closest person was undoubtedly the best way to catalyze this ability.
The casual joking remark strangely awakened Kurokawa Iori, who had been lost in thought. He looked at Sakuraba Masashi with a complex expression, and the young man finally nodded lightly.
“Yes.”
(ps: Brothers, sorry, my condition is a bit bad. I’ve been slacking off, but I will update. Don’t scold me for being a procrastinator QAQ)
