Suribachi's vagabond (english vers)

Chapter 4 part 4 : "... 3 hits"

Yokohama, warehouses of the port mafia.

While Ryu was calmly leaning against a stack of crates, arms crossed, Toru sat on a crate a bit further away, lost in thought, completely undisturbed by the long silence that had settled between them as they awaited their "guests". But only a few more minutes had passed before Ryu's voice echoed through the hangar again, sounding particularly curious, even highly suspicious about something.

Ryu: "Tell me... Why were you so sure I would accept your offer?"

His words snapped Toru out of one of her endless moments of rapid-fire thinking about a myriad of things. She lifted her head to look at him, noting that his expression lacked its usual arrogance and amusement. She realized he suspected her of understanding far more than he wanted to reveal. This simple question was nothing more than an invitation to lay all their cards on the table...

Toru then spoke, her eyes meeting his directly.
"Because I'm giving you exactly what you wanted from the beginning. Not the opportunity to create chaos..."
"...but to lure those six specific individuals to your mercy."

Ryu looked at her for a moment, his gaze dark, before letting out a short, dry laugh. He straightened up, standing on his feet again, his scythe still resting on one of the crates, listening intently to her explanation.

Toru: "The exact mention of their names in the report to Yuki was too obvious not to be a clear invitation to denounce them. And as you mentioned in that same report, you were originally an agent of the department, and moreover, close enough to Mishima to know so much about him and what was happening around him. Close enough to him to quickly establish a physical resemblance between him and me, hence your mention of the Noriko project, even though our common features are not very obvious."

Ryu: "Where exactly are you going with this?"
His voice had darkened, becoming more serious than it had been in ages.

Toru looked at him with the same intensity, no trace of doubt or worry in her eyes as she pointed a finger at him.

Toru: "You are an undercover department agent in the port mafia. You use your title as captain of the hunting faction to end the actions of those who threaten this world, without having to endure any restrictions. If you knew Mishima so well and all the details in the report, it's because you worked together, as mentioned. Since you knew Mishima was dead, you've been trying to eliminate those who tried to attack him in the past, in the quest for the Book, even if it means creating a new era of chaos, like in the time of the old boss."

Toru then recalled the day Mishima had accepted that job for Dostoevsky at the office... According to the report Ryu gave to Yuki, Mishima had a power that allowed him to seal the book and prevent anyone from using it... This Dostoevsky... he was after the book... And something told her that these six people were connected to him in some way. They were currently the only lead that would allow her to trace back to him. This man undoubtedly had intentions that needed to be discovered quickly. Such intelligence and access to the Book boded ill.
The fact was that Ryu had no real knowledge of Mishima's true killer and had rightly suspected those behind the Noriko project.

She then spoke again, finishing her explanation without mentioning the little detail that Ryu was unaware of.
"You even went so far as to try to expose these guys through a scandal-hungry reporter... But you didn't anticipate that she would decide to keep this information to herself simply because one of her acquaintances, me, was involved in this affair..."
"The advantage of this approach is that once these guys were suspected, they would have been suspended during the investigation, thus no possibility of going through agents... forcing them to act on their own."

She then got off the crate she was sitting on, sliding her hands into her pockets.
"Your latest attempt was the following... You met me a few days ago and easily established a family connection between me and Mishima, however, I don't bear his name but that of the man my mother married after Mishima distanced her from him and the dangers that threatened him. You then mentioned the Noriko project, hoping I would understand my true origins and be driven by a desire for revenge, allowing you to get exactly what you wanted from the start."