"Stop pretending. Only Tōru could make cooking this horrifying!"
Akemi stared fixedly at Ritsu's face.
Looking closely, she could still make out traces of Tōru in his features. But with the glasses, different hair color, and different eye color, his entire aura had changed so drastically that it was almost impossible to recognize him.
The longer Ritsu remained under her gaze, the guiltier he felt.
Honestly, he had never imagined that the reason his cover would be blown... would be his cooking. And judging from Akemi's expression, she'd deliberately asked him to showoff his cooking skills.
'So where exactly did I go wrong?'
He was completely oblivious to the fact that whenever conversations involved romance or whenever he had physical contact with someone of the opposite sex, the tips of his ears would immediately burst into flames.
But right now, there was a more pressing question.
Should he admit that he was Tōru or keep trying to bluff his way through with increasingly flimsy lies?
"I've known for a long time that Dai was an FBI agent."
"...!"
Ritsu froze.
Looking up at Akemi, he listened as she explained how she'd figured out that Akai was actually an FBI agent.
After hearing the whole story, he let out a long sigh. Women really could be more perceptive than men sometimes.
And because of that, they were often much better at seeing through lies.
"...Yeah. I'm Nanase Tōru. Two years ago, I faked my death. I never actually died."
Almost instinctively, Ritsu closed his eyes.
He had imagined this moment countless times.
How many people would want to punch him after hearing those words? How many would refuse to forgive him for deceiving them?
...
But no pain ever came.
Carefully opening his eyes, he hadn't even focused his vision before he felt someone wrap their arms around him.
Her embrace was warm.
For some reason, it reminded him of the mother he'd never had the chance to know.
His voice trembled slightly. "...You're not angry?"
"I made so many people cry. I fooled so many people who cared about me... Your sister included."
After giving him a gentle hug, Akemi stepped back.
Looking at the young man whose appearance had completely changed while his heart remained exactly the same, she smiled softly.
"I'm happier than I am angry."
"To be honest, ever since the first time we met, I've always felt strangely drawn to you. I never really understood why."
Embarrassed, Ritsu scratched the tip of his nose. Lowering his head, he mumbled,
"Ahem... Akemi... About this fake marriage..."
"I know." She interrupted him with a smile.
"I know you're doing this to protect me, not because you like me. So don't worry, I don't like you either."
"Though, you really are a very good person."
His finger froze halfway through scratching his nose.
A faint blush spread across his face. It was painfully obvious that he was embarrassed by his own assumptions.
'So Akemi felt that strange sense of familiarity too? That's... surprisingly mysterious.'
A mischievous glint appeared in Akemi's eyes. Counting on her fingers, she muttered to herself,
"So which side are you really on? You're probably not FBI. If you were, Dai wouldn't have shot you."
"The CIA doesn't seem right either, what other agencies are there?"
"..."
So she'd figured out he was an undercover agent too?
At that moment, Ritsu felt as though countless arrows had pierced straight through his body.
'So all this time... Was my acting only convincing to myself?'
No.
That couldn't be right.
Rei and the others hadn't recognized him. Even Shiho hadn't.
Looking helplessly at Akemi, he concluded, this had to be one of Akemi's special talents.
"I'm an undercover police officer. The Japanese Public Security Bureau placed me inside the Organization."
"My real name is Sasajima Ritsu."
This time, he didn't hesitate.
Since she'd already seen through him, there was no point hiding it anymore. Besides, telling her the truth had its advantages.
He had always intended to work with Akemi.
On one hand, she could help reinforce the credibility of Onizawa's identity.
On the other, he could openly have her assist with missions and perhaps even help her earn a codename.
"Sasajima Ritsu..."
Akemi smiled warmly. "That's a wonderful name."
"Thank you for trusting me with your real identity. And thank you... for helping Shiho escape the Organization."
"I'm actually curious. How did you get her out of the laboratory without anyone noticing?"
"It was the least I could do. She never should've grown up inside the Organization."
"As for how I did it..."
He smiled faintly.
"Do you believe it's possible to become younger?"
Akemi blinked.
Then she remembered the bits and pieces Shiho had once hinted at.
'Shiho actually completed the research our parents never could...?'
She sighed helplessly.
That girl had truly done everything she could to escape.
"So... She's a child again now?"
"It sounds like Shiho told you a little."
He couldn't help smiling bitterly. "Sometimes you're honestly a little scary."
"You saw through Dai's identity and even after figuring out I was undercover... You never acted suspicious once."
Akemi laughed.
"Calling a woman 'scary' isn't exactly flattering. The fact that I've lived an ordinary life for so many years under the Organization's watch..."
"Doesn't that prove I'm not as ordinary as I look?"
After thinking about it carefully, Ritsu realized she was absolutely right.
Akemi's intelligence was different from Shiho's. Her powers of observation and deduction were extraordinary.
Not recruiting someone like her into the Organization's intelligence division really had been their loss.
"Akemi, whether we're outside or alone, please keep calling me Onizawa."
"And... Please keep my secret."
"I'm not an idiot."
She smiled knowingly. "I understand."
"From here on, I'll find a way to bring you along on missions. I'll make the Organization realize you're capable."
"If you can earn a codename and become someone valuable... You'll be allowed to stay alive."
Akemi's eyes dimmed slightly.
So in the end...
She still had to walk down this path.
Noticing the change in her expression, Ritsu spoke earnestly.
"You don't have to worry. It's enough for someone like me to stain my hands. And besides... my brother bears part of the responsibility for what happened to your family."
"...Brother?"
Akemi blinked.
"You mean Dai is your brother?"
"Yeah. Before I turned four, I lived with Shuichi Akai's family. After I turned four, I was sent to live with the Honjo family."
"But I still don't understand why or how we ended up with different last names."
'So Dai's real name is Shuichi Akai... Wait, Akai...?'
Suddenly, Akemi remembered something from her childhood.
Back before her parents had joined the Organization, she'd once overheard her mother talking on the phone. She distinctly remembered the surname.
—
"I'm not a Sera anymore. I'm Mary Akai now. How many times do I have to correct you, Elena?"
"Sorry~ But don't you still call me Elena Sera? I've been married to Atsushi for years already."
—
'Mary Akai... Shuichi Akai... Could it be...'
"Akemi? What's wrong?"
"I..."
She looked at him in disbelief. "I think Shiho and I... still have family."
Ritsu blinked twice, unable to understand.
As far as he knew, the Miyano sisters' family had died in the laboratory fire over a decade ago. So what exactly did she mean?
Akemi's emotions were in complete turmoil.
'So... Dai and I... We're actually cousins?'
While cousin marriage was perfectly legal in Japan, the thought of dating someone who was actually her cousin... felt incredibly strange.
"Akemi?"
"I'm fine."
She gave an awkward smile after noticing the concern in Ritsu's eyes. "I just remembered something my mother said before she passed away."
"Dai... should be my cousin."
"...?"
'The world is really this small?'
So...
FBI Special Agent Shuichi Akai had infiltrated the Organization by using his own cousin. And while escaping, he'd even shot him.
'Wait... Doesn't that mean...'
Ritsu's eyes flew wide open.
"Does that make me your cousin too?"
"I... think so."
The amount of information they'd just uncovered was almost impossible for either of them to process.
Akemi: "I'm about to enter a fake marriage with another one of my cousins?"
Ritsu: "I'm about to enter a fake marriage with the cousin I'd been separated from for years?"
Could this really be that much of a coincidence?!