Chapter 22: Staged Accident in Progress
A Saturday afternoon. Sunlight filtered through thin clouds, spilling onto the quiet street.
Miyano Akemi carried a simple shopping bag, locked her apartment door, and walked with light steps toward her small white car parked by the curb. She planned to head to a nearby large supermarket for her weekly grocery run.
Today was member discount day with deals on select items, and being budget-conscious, she naturally wouldn't miss it.
Out of habit, she first checked around her car, found nothing unusual, then opened the door, slid into the driver's seat, and buckled her seatbelt.
She inserted the key into the ignition, turning it gently—
"Knock, knock."
Two crisp tapping sounds rang out abruptly against her left window glass.
How could that be? Wasn't there no one there just a second ago?
"Eek—!"
Miyano Akemi jumped in fright, her heart leaping straight into her throat, and the key in her hand almost flew out of her grip.
Terrified, she turned her head, meeting a bright smiling face close at hand.
"Good afternoon, Miss Akemi."
The man wore a fine black shirt with the top button casually undone, exposing a glimpse of attractive collarbone and skin, giving off a refined and noble air.
If she bumped into someone like this at an outdoor cafe seat, a museum hallway, or any ordinary street, Miyano Akemi would probably be unable to resist stealing a few glances.
However, the moment her gaze touched those eye-covering bandages and that striking white hair, she instantly recognized his identity.
It was Mr. Caesar!
[Ding! Impression value from plot character Miyano Akemi increases by 500 points! Analysis: Fright.]
Miyano Akemi instantly felt uneasy.
This man always seemed to pop up like a ghost, appearing beside people without any warning.
Last time outside the cafe was the same—he vanished into thin air right after speaking, leaving her completely unable to read his thoughts, worrying in fear for several days because of it.
So what was the purpose of his sudden visit right now...?
Miyano Akemi frantically pressed the window button. The glass lowered slowly, revealing the tall figure of the man outside.
"Getting ready to head out?"
Miyano Akemi forced herself to compose her thoughts: "Yes, I was just planning to go to the supermarket to buy a few things... Why, why are you here?"
She instinctively found it strange.
This was just an ordinary residential area. For a figure like Caesar, merely appearing here brought a heavy sense of weirdness.
How should she put it? It was as bizarre as Gin showing up at an amusement park.
"Ah, well." Gojo Satoru spread his hands, lying without blinking: "I originally planned to handle some errands too, but the car I usually use ran into a small problem and got sent in for maintenance. Just as I was feeling troubled, I saw you. Talk about a coincidence, right?"
"Is it really that much of a coincidence?"
Right when she was heading out, his car broke down, and he just happened to show up under her apartment building?
On second thought, though, she was just an ordinary peripheral member with nothing special about her besides being Sherry's older sister. How could Caesar, a high-ranking member of the Organization, track her daily routine on purpose? That thought felt a bit too self-important.
Perhaps it really was just a coincidence.
"Um... I plan to go to 'Life Mart' over at 4-Chome, Beika Town. It might not really be on your way..."
"Oh? 'Life Mart'?" Gojo Satoru acted like he had a sudden realization, punching his open palm with a fist: "Just right, I happen to be heading in that direction too."
"Since it's on the way, Miss Akemi shouldn't mind me catching a ride, right?"
This was a blatant request to hitch a ride.
Mind it? Did she dare say she minded? But staying alone with Mr. Caesar... the pressure was way too much.
"Of course I don't mind! It's just that my car is pretty ordinary, scared it might be beneath you..."
"No worries, I'm not picky~" Gojo Satoru smiled and pulled open the back door, sitting inside very naturally. He even adjusted the seat angle casually, looking as if he were the real owner of the car.
"Then I'll trouble you, Miss Akemi."
"Ah, it's no trouble..."
"I kind of feel he's being a bit shameless... Is that okay to say out loud?"
Miyano Akemi could only start the engine quietly, her movements stiff like a rusty robot.
The space inside the car was cramped, and with an extremely intimidating man sitting behind her, Miyano Akemi felt uncomfortable all over. Her gaze stayed glued to the road ahead, even making her breathing intentionally light, terrified of rubbing him the wrong way.
"Heaven protect me, please don't let me get killed inside this car..."
In the back seat, Gojo Satoru took in Miyano Akemi's overly guarded posture completely.
"Hmm... Looks like she's still pretty terrified of me."
It seemed that as long as a character had a somewhat decent alignment and held a certain weight in the plot, the effect of the "Villain Aura" on them was not to be underestimated.
Therefore, even if he didn't release any malice on purpose, it was enough to make Miyano Akemi feel like she was sitting on pins and needles.
Although scaring people on purpose was pretty entertaining, the overly stiff vibe right now was really not that great.
If this kept going, forget about farming impression values; this driver lady might drive the car straight into a ditch out of extreme nerves, leaving no chance for Akai's staged accident either.
So Gojo Satoru took the initiative to speak up, breaking the silence inside the car.
"Speaking of which, I went to the research lab to visit Sherry not long ago."
Sure enough, the moment her sister was brought up, Miyano Akemi's attention was grabbed right away.
"She's adapting pretty well and seems quite energetic, though she doesn't really like talking to people sometimes. But well~ kids her age are all like that."
"Is that true?"
Miyano Akemi's voice sounded genuinely glad: "Thank you for telling me this, Mr. Caesar."
This topic seemed to open a safe valve, allowing the two of them to exchange a few brief words occasionally. For the rest of the drive, the vibe wasn't overly harmonious, but it could barely count as normal.
A few minutes later, the car turned onto a relatively quiet street, two intersections away from the supermarket.
There were no traffic lights here, and pedestrians and cars were few.
Thinking she could head off on her own soon, Miyano Akemi couldn't help relaxing a lot, even stepping on the gas a little to reach her destination sooner.
...
Meanwhile, in the shadows of a small alley not far ahead on this street.
Akai Shuichi leaned against a cold wall, a half-burned cigarette tucked between his fingers. His gaze, like a precise radar, remained locked on the direction of incoming cars through the cover of a blind spot.
He knew his target's travel routine like the back of his hand and had been waiting here for a long time just to create an opportunity for their first encounter.
Miyano Akemi—a peripheral member of the Black Organization with a gentle personality, relatively simple social ties, and a codenamed younger sister Sherry whom the Organization valued deeply. She was currently his easiest route to approach and potentially make contact with the Organization's inner circle.
Using a woman's feelings was indeed not honorable enough, but for an undercover agent, the mission came above everything else.
"To destroy that massive dark organization... I can only say sorry to her in advance."
The cigarette burned out, pinched out by his fingertips and flicked into a nearby trash bin.
A moment later, a familiar car outline appeared on the street, driving slowly into his view.
Now was the time.
Akai Shuichi took a deep breath, suppressing all his thoughts, and pulled himself into the state of "Moroboshi Dai"—An innocent passerby who was somewhat distracted and probably spacing out.
He adjusted his pace, calculating the time and distance, keeping his head down as he walked out from the alley mouth completely naturally.
In Miyano Akemi's view, a figure appeared without any warning at the corner ahead, making her pupils shrink and her heart leap into her throat.
Instinctively, she slammed on the brakes, making the white car shudder violently.
However, because the distance was way too close, the front of the car inevitably hit the figure that popped up out of nowhere.
"BANG!"
It wasn't a violent collision, yet it made Miyano Akemi's face turn paper-white.
"Oh no... I hit someone!"
She quickly said "Sorry, I'll go check" to Gojo Satoru, unbuckled her seatbelt as fast as she could, and stumbled out of the car.
A long-haired man wearing a knit cap staggered back a few steps from the impact, let out a low groan, and collapsed straight onto the ground.
Holding one side of his ribs, his brows were tightly knit, his face wearing a twisted expression from the sudden pain.
Miyano Akemi squatted beside him in a panic, not daring to lift him up recklessly for fear of causing secondary harm.
The delicate-looking woman was full of worry, regretting why she hadn't been more careful just now: "Sir, how are you feeling? I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry!"
Akai Shuichi kept his eyes closed, a sharp pain coming from inside his body—great, just as expected, a few ribs were probably broken.
Overall, the injury wasn't too heavy or too light, but it was already enough to achieve his goal.
He lifted his head with some difficulty, his face pale and his voice raspy: "It... it's fine... just got bumped, nothing major..."
He tried to push himself up off the ground, but his movements froze again. Fine cold sweat seeped from his forehead, putting on a sickly weak posture of holding back pain.
Paired with his remarkably attractive features, it was hard for a woman in her twenties not to develop a sense of protection and sympathy.
"You must be hurt pretty badly, please don't move!" Miyano Akemi was clearly overcome with guilt: "I'll call an ambulance right away and take you to the hospital!"
Saying that, she reached for her phone.
Right at that moment, another magnetic male voice with a touch of surprise casually chimed in.
"Oh my, did a car accident happen? Talk about unfortunate."
Akai Shuichi was shocked in his heart, acting like he was trying hard to open his eyes as he looked toward the sound.
His gaze passed over Miyano Akemi, falling on the tall youth stepping down from the back seat of the white sedan.
A miscalculation.
He still wasn't cautious enough, recklessly taking action without noticing there was another person in the car...
"So the question is... Who is this man? A civilian? Or someone from the Organization?"
The instant Akai Shuichi got a clear look at that figure, his dark green pupils shrank violently beyond his control.
Without needing a single second of extra reaction time, he immediately linked the person before him with a file engraved deep in his mind long ago.
[Codename "Caesar" (Kaiser), one of the high-ranking executives of the "Crow", Male, age unknown, high probability under thirty. White hair, tall build, rumors state he moves while wearing a blindfold or bandages, specific appearance unknown, nationality unknown, special ability unknown... Preliminary estimation suggests at least an SS-grade ability user.]
Caesar?!
Why was he here?!