"Hey Akai...what about Sera?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you want your sister to know..."

"No, even though there's most likely not going to be anyone checking her anymore it's still too dangerous for her to know the truth yet, besides James told me that Vermouth most likely has used the Scar Akai disguise a few times without him knowing initially"

"I thought..."

"Same here but I guess we were wrong"

"But still Sera..."

"Kudo...I want my family to know I'm alive this time around since Bourbon was on our side, I have had to stop myself so many times from texting or calling them, from sending my brother a letter disguised as fan mail or a beginner Shogi player asking for tips, but even in this timeline it's just simply too dangerous for them to know yet"

"Fine, by the way what about Kir?"

"I don't know James hasn't said anything about that operation to me, but I've let him know the PSB are on standby to help with that operation"

"Let me know too?"

"Of course"

"Though to be honest I don't know what good I would be"

"While you may not be able to actively participate, the fact that you know the full scope of the operation is enough for you to listen in at the very least"

"Still..."

Akai simply sighs

"Look Kudo, you're one of the key players against the Organization, you really should be involved even if it's just over the radio to give ideas to everyone just in case, I'll ask James if that's at all possible regarding you and hopefully be able to talk him into including me as well because of the fact that Kir is the one that helped me out in this assignment too, we NOC's have to work together"

"By the way, how did Furuya cover Kir with the PSB?"

"That I don't know, I don't even know if the PSB found out about her until after Furuya's death or before, but either way I'm pretty sure that it's a recent discovery for them"

"I see...let's hope that Kir gets out from under the Organization soon, after all last time..."

"Yeah, I remember the last time quite well, she got lucky last time we got her out of the Organization and it was only Furuya, as Bourbon that kept her alive long enough for treatment to have even the chance of survival"

"And he risked his own cover doing that too"

"No kidding, I think he was yelled at by a whole lot of people for that stunt originally"

"You being one of them Akai?"

"Yep, and I'm sure you as well Kudo seeing as how she helped fake my death in the first place"

The next day he finally received a text from Kir that if they were going to move it had to be soon in regards to getting her out because Gin was getting more and more paranoid about spies in their midst and when Akai told James that James finally told him that the plan was for that very day, but that Akai was to stay out of it as a precaution and that they had other snipers on standby instead, James also mentioned that Kazami and a few other PSB agents were going to be close by as well since James had decided to take the PSB up on their offer after all. The rest of the day had Akai simply waiting anxiously for any news about the mission to get Kir out from under the claws of the Black Organization as safely as possible, hopefully with her death faked. A little after nine that evening Akai finally received a text message

*Hondo Hidemi safe, all agents also safe with most serious injury being a punctured lung that was treated successfully, agent will be sent back to US for rest and recovery once medically cleared, Jodie and Camel among those with the most minor injuries, PSB agents not needed or harmed*

Akai gives out a sigh of relief and then forwards the message to Kudo knowing that he was as worried as Akai had been about the operation

"Well, now that I no longer have that worry I think I'll go to Furuya's grave since I'm almost positive Kir will want to see it for herself before she leaves, even if it's in disguise like I will be"

And so Akai puts on his Haruto Itsuki disguise, primarily because after visiting Furuya's grave he would be going to PSB headquarters to do some training with them so that they truly understood his abilities as a sniper seeing as how he had yet to do an actual mission with them what with the identity having only been established three weeks ago and the PSB had been too busy with other work to schedule any training before then. An hour later and just as he predicted Hondo Hidemi was at Furuya's grave

"I heard about his death but couldn't risk going to his funeral, I was told about your disguise and who Bourbon truly was by the PSB by the way"

"I see...there was nothing you could have done without risking yourself"

"I know, but now that I am no longer in the Organization what will you guys do about..."

"About taking them down and figuring out their movements? I guess all we can do now is wait for them to make the next move and slowly but surely figure out a way to counteract them before they do something devastating if at all possible"

"Except you know as well as I do that..."

"Yeah I know"

"Well I have to get going, I still have debriefings to do and then..."

"Then you need to make a decision"

"Yeah, I just wanted to..."

"Say goodbye to him first?"

"Yeah"

"I understand...there's one more grave to visit first though then, even though you never met them, come on"

And so Akai led Hondo Hidemi to Scotch's grave