Isn't it very scientific to use the Death Note to kill people?

"...What do you want me to say?"

"..."

Gin slowly grinned. "How's the task I assigned you and Cointreau? How's it going?"

“The identities of those stowaways have been confirmed.” Amuro Tooru struggled to lift his head; the sharp pain in his abdomen made it difficult for him to breathe, but he forced himself to meet Gin’s gaze and gritted his teeth, saying, “But the smugglers behind them are well hidden, and because of the Tokyo Summit, they seem hesitant to make a move. But now…” He sneered, glancing meaningfully at Tequila, who was suppressing his anger, “What exactly are you trying to do? Do you suspect that I’m the one who attacked Cointreau?”

Upon hearing this, Tequila, who was restraining Amuro Tooru's hands and feet, sharpened her gaze and became even more ruthless.

Gin remained silent.

He pulled his hand out of his pocket, gripped the Beretta pistol, and pressed the cold muzzle against Amuro Tooru's forehead.

“You’re his assistant, Bourbon.” Gin’s voice was even lower, so cold it seemed to freeze the air. “You have plenty of opportunities to use anything in his firm openly and legally. Including that computer that the police found with evidence.”

“Stir up an explosion, leave his fingerprints at the scene, and then guide the police to find the blueprints on his computer.” Gin’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “Regardless of how the police sentence him, the organization’s style has always been to silence members who fall into police hands… Is that what you’re planning? To use someone else to do your dirty work.”

Amuro Tooru's pupils contracted instantly.

He stared at Gin in disbelief, not out of fear, but out of sheer absurdity and rage.

It's bad enough that he was misunderstood by Kogoro Mouri, but even Gin—

"You...!" Amuro almost burst out laughing, veins bulging on his forehead. "Gin! Have you gone mad from investigating traitors?! Who do you think I am? That I would use such a flawed method that could easily backfire?!"

He struggled violently, but Tequila pressed him down even harder, leaving him only able to growl angrily: "If I wanted to kill him, there are cleaner and quicker ways. Why go through all this trouble and drag the police into it?! What good does it do me?!"

"benefit?"

This time, it was Vodka, standing next to Gin, who spoke up. His eyes behind his sunglasses were fixed on Amuro Tooru's disheveled appearance. He grinned and said, "You haven't forgotten how you and Cointreau clashed in the bar last time, looking like you wanted to kill each other. You haven't forgotten that, have you?"

Amuro Tooru's breath hitched.

However, even in such an frustrating and urgent situation, he remained calm.

Vodka's words gave him a clue in that instant—that's right, back in the bar they both pretended to want to kill each other at the first opportunity, so Gin thought he had framed Cointreau, and conversely, Cointreau wanted to kill him too.

A bold idea flashed through Amuro Tooru's mind like lightning.

Just as Tequila was getting even angrier because of Amuro Tooru's ulterior motives and was pressing him down harder, Amuro Tooru suddenly stopped struggling. He barely raised his head and looked at Gin, his angry expression gradually being replaced by a cold laugh that was a mixture of sarcasm and pity.

"Heh...hehehe."

Amuro Tooru chuckled, his laughter filled with absurdity. "Gin, I always thought you were a sharp-witted guy... I never imagined you could be this stupid?"

Upon hearing this, Vodka's face behind his sunglasses widened in surprise!

Did that damned Bourbon finally go mad before he died? How dare he talk to his boss like that!

Gin's gaze remained unchanged, and the pressure of the gun pressed against Amuro Tooru's forehead did not increase... He didn't care about the ravings of a dying man.

Amuro Tooru continued to sneer, speaking at an extremely rapid pace:

"You've been used as a pawn and you're still acting all clever? Think about it carefully! Given Jun Du's personality and abilities, do you think he wouldn't be wary of me? Would I so easily wander around his firm and leave such obvious evidence? Would he be stupid enough to just sit around and wait for the police to come knocking? I told you, I didn't frame him at all. This so-called evidence was planted there by him himself!"

"He knew you would suspect me!"

"He knew all along that with your suspicious and neurotic personality, if something happened to him, the first person he would suspect would be me, his 'assistant' with whom he didn't get along!"

"You fucking got used by him, Gin!"

Amuro Tooru's voice was sharp and desperate. Still holding the tequila-covered man's head down, he roared like a madman: "He knew you would bite me like an enraged mad dog! He wanted to use you to get rid of me! This is the real use of a borrowed knife to kill! You and I are both being played by him!"

The alley was deathly silent.

Only Amuro Tooru's intense words echoed in the air before slowly dissipating.

Vodka stared in disbelief, his mouth agape.

Tequila was also stunned, and the force she was using to suppress Amuro Tooru unconsciously loosened a little.

Gin's facial muscles twitched almost imperceptibly. Deep within his cold, dark green pupils, something beyond coldness and killing intent seemed to be churning.

Amuro Tooru's words truly struck a chord with him.

Cointreau…

That guy who always had a smile on his face, was polite, but whose actions were unpredictable.

Gin's mind raced with the benefits reaped from each of Jundo's perilous encounters, his ability to perfectly complete missions through various coincidences and accidents, and his seemingly gentle yet unfathomable eyes, which always seemed to be calculating something—

and so……

He deliberately got arrested just to lure me into suspecting Bourbon, so I could use him to get rid of Bourbon. Indeed, I had ordered him not to harm any members of the organization without my permission. He had finally found an opportunity to get rid of Bourbon in the abandoned warehouse, but he was forced to stop because of a text message from Curaçao.

Gin recalled his reaction at that time—irritability, anger…such emotions are almost never seen in Cointreau.

His desire to kill Bourbon has continued to this day, and he is trying to use this method to kill Bourbon, is that right?

A cold, mocking anger, mixed with a rare hint of embarrassment, slowly rose from the depths of Gin's heart.

Chapter 37: So what if it really is Jundu's plan?

The cold night wind howled at the alley entrance.

The headlights of the Porsche 356A calmly pierced through the shadows, landing on the cold scene.

Gin remained silent.

This silence terrified vodka more than any roar.

Amuro Tooru stared intently into Gin's eyes, and when he caught the subtle change in the depths of his gaze, he knew he had made the right bet: Gin was wavering!

however--

Just a second after Amuro Tooru thought the crisis was about to be over—

Gin suddenly let out another cold laugh. The laugh was even colder and more chilling than before.

“A brilliant rebuttal, Bourbon,” Gin said slowly, the muzzle of Beretta’s gun still firmly pressed against Amuro Tooru’s forehead, without moving an inch. “You’re almost… convincing me.”

His gaze returned to its cold and cruel tone, even carrying a hint of playful mockery.

“But,” he paused, his voice cruel, “so what if this really is Jundu’s plan?”

Amuro Tooru's pupils contracted sharply again!

Ultimately, this is only your side of the story, but to verify your claim, or rather... to reassure him so he can continue serving the organization with greater peace of mind—

The faint sound of the safety bolt being gently turned was as clear as thunder in the deathly silent alley.

Amuro Tooru's pupils shrank to pinpoints at that moment.

Just moments before Gin was about to mockingly pull the trigger, just as the chilling touch of death was about to pierce Amuro Tooru's forehead—

boom!

A bullet whizzed through the air.

The bullet struck the Beretta gun in Gin's hand with perfect accuracy!

Clang—!

Sparks flew everywhere, and the enormous impact caused Gin's hand to jerk to the side, the muzzle of the gun instantly tilting to one side.

Before Vodka and the others could react in surprise, Gin suddenly looked up, his cold gaze shooting like an arrow towards the direction from which the bullets came—the shadow of a rooftop on the other side of the alley!

Amuro Tooru seized the opportunity, delivering a vicious elbow strike to the abdomen of Tequila, who had relaxed her grip in shock. Tequila groaned in pain and instinctively released her hold.

He immediately broke free and drew his gun from his waist.

"Big brother!"

Vodka then realized what was happening, screamed in horror, and pulled out his gun to try and find a target.

Gin made no move.

Where his gaze focused, he saw a figure appear on the rooftop leap down with the agility of a cheetah, wearing high heels, swiftly and silently descending from the shadows above using the platform between the stairwells.

"Curaçao?"

Gin frowned, his killing intent not dissipating, but instead locking onto her with even colder intensity: "What do you want? Get out of my way."

“Bourbon is one of Lord Rum’s important sources of intelligence. If you execute him here without authorization, Lord Rum will not let it go.”

Curaçao walked up to Amuro Tooru, facing Gin's gun barrel directly.

However, the killing intent in Gin's eyes deepened.

"Then let him come find me when the time comes."

“My presence here is the will of Lord Rum.” Curaçao’s heterochromatic eyes met Gin’s killing intent without flinching. “He said that Cointreau’s affairs have nothing to do with Bourbon. If Bourbon dies here meaninglessly, according to the organization’s rules, someone will always have to take responsibility, Gin.”

"..."

Gin was unusually unhappy.

A murderous intent surged in his chest like boiling magma, but he also knew that Curaçao was telling the truth. Without conclusive evidence that Bourbon was a traitor, executing a member valued by Rum would undoubtedly invite unnecessary trouble, and might even give Rum an excuse to use against him.

After weighing the options, Gin snorted coldly.

“Tell Rum that he better not stick his arm around me too much.”

He didn't look at anyone else, turned around, opened the car door, and sat back in the shadows.

Seeing this, Vodka quickly put away his gun and climbed back into the driver's seat.

"Let's go, Tequila."

Although Tequila was unwilling and glared angrily at Amuro Tooru, he didn't say anything more under Gin's cold silence. He spat and then shoved his tall figure into the old car.

The black Porsche 356A let out a deep roar, slowly reversed away from the narrow alley, and soon disappeared into the traffic outside.

The oppressive feeling receded like the tide.

Only Amuro Tooru, Curaçao, and the white Mazda with its smashed window remained in the alley.

Amuro Tooru leaned against the car and slowly slid down onto the cold ground, panting heavily. The sharp pain in his side and the exhaustion of surviving the ordeal came at the same time, leaving him speechless for a moment.

Curaçao turned around, her heterochromatic eyes giving him a complicated look...

"you……"

Amuro Tooru looked up at Curaçao, his voice hoarse, "Why are you here?"

Could it be that Rum's gaze has actually been drawn to this side?

If that's the case, then the guy who has never shown up is rather frightening.

Curaçao paused for a moment.

"It was Cointreau's arrangement."

Amuro Tooru paused, a look of astonishment on his face: "...Kundo? Him?"

“He anticipated that Gin might take extreme action against you,” Curaçao said softly. “He informed me of the possibility while I was being held by the police and instructed me to intervene in Rum’s name if necessary to stop it.”

"..."

Upon hearing this, Amuro Tooru was speechless.

That kid actually factored in Gin's reaction and Rum's influence?!

An indescribable emotion welled up in Amuro Toru's heart—a sense of relief and relief, a lingering fear of his plan succeeding, but more than anything, an extremely strong feeling of frustration and powerlessness at being completely seen through and controlled.

He, a senior police officer and a veteran undercover agent in the organization, was actually outmaneuvered by that junior!

After his arrest, Gin's reaction... every step seems to be exactly what that guy expected.

He struggled desperately and almost lost his life, but in the end, he only survived thanks to that guy's backup plan.

What is this?!

Amuro Tooru wiped the cold sweat and blood from his forehead, his expression shifting rapidly before finally settling into a low curse filled with complex emotions—deep resentment and lingering fear:

"...That damn brat!"

Since he had already thought of this when he hung up the phone and decided to be the "sacrifice" himself, but didn't tell me, it was indeed to get revenge on me, to get revenge on me so that Kogoro Mouri would take the blame.

Seriously, you bastard...

Curaçao watched as he struggled to his feet, muttering curses but with a hint of amusement in his eyes. She remained silent.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.