This was written for Poirot Café's Super Short Contest #11: Critic.

Black Mangaka

The mood was different at headquarters. Gin couldn't place his finger on it, but there was just something … off. Maybe it was the fact that Korn—inexpressive, robot-like Korn—was smiling. Not a full-blown grin, mind you, but there was something unnerving about the upward curve of the sniper's lips. Even Chianti was being suspiciously quiet. Well, quiet for her. She made scoffing sounds from time to time, but was otherwise too caught up with reading the small volume in her hands to be her usual belligerent self.

Actually, Korn seemed to be holding an identical volume. A closer inspection revealed a starry-eyed female on the cover, complete with roses printed around an overly effeminate man. What the heck? If Gin didn't know better, he would say that his top snipers were reading some kind of shoujo manga.

"Don't be an idiot, Sakura!" Chianti suddenly exclaimed, slamming her fist on the table. "Atsushi will just betray you again if you go back to him!"

Korn glanced up from his volume. "Oh, you're up to that part."

This seemed to provide an opening for Chianti to go into a rant about how much she loathed Atsushi and wanted to put a bullet in his head. Apparently, Ryouta was much better, though Sakura was too busy being infatuated with Atsushi to see it. Korn murmured his agreement. He hoped that Sakura and Ryouta would be the endgame pairing.

Gin narrowed his eyes. He'd heard enough.

"What do you two think you're doing?" he demanded, walking towards them in that menacing way only he could pull off.

Chianti waved the manga at his face. "What does it look like? Vodka's new—"

Korn made a sharp gesture with his hand. Chianti's eyes widened and she clamped her mouth shut. So, Gin thought, the snipers were trying to keep a secret from him, and it seemed to have something to do with Vodka and the manga.

Gin's mouth curved into a cold smile. "What about Vodka?"

Silence. Korn went into default No Expression mode, and Chianti made a show of looking anywhere but at her superior. Gin was about to pursue this line of questioning when the agent in question turned up. Vodka had his trademark hat and glasses on, and he smiled when he caught sight of Gin.

"Aniki, are you ready to go?" Vodka asked.

Gin fixed on his target like a shark who has found its prey. "Vodka," he said far too pleasantly, "do you mind explaining what this is about?" He gestured at the manga.

A faint splotch of pink formed on Vodka's cheeks. "I, er, well—" He swallowed, and his gaze darted from the manga back to Gin's face in a skitterish flurry. The silence dragged on.

"Today would be nice," Gin prompted, his voice harshening.

Vodka's shoulders slumped. "I wrote it."

There was a long pause as Gin digested this information. "You wrote a shoujo manga?"

Vodka nodded.

"You, Vodka."

Vodka nodded again. "Though I go by the alias Morimoto Airi."

He went on to explain that it had just started as a hobby. He had never thought his story would get serialised, let alone that Korn and Chianti would support him in his mangaka endeavours after discovering the truth. Even snipers could enjoy a good shoujo romance, it seemed.

Gin stared at his partner for another long moment. Each second seemed to take an age, and then Gin held out his hand.

"Uh?" Vodka blinked a few times at the extended hand. "Aniki?"

"Give it to me," Gin said.

Vodka took the copy from Korn and handed it over to the silver-haired agent. The three Organisation agents held their breath as Gin opened the manga to the first page and began reading. He was still reading three minutes later, though his expression remained blank.

"Uh, Aniki?"

Gin closed the manga with a snap. "Let's go, Vodka," he said, and tossed the manga back to Korn.

Vodka snapped out of his daze and hurried to catch up to his partner. It was only once they were out of earshot that Gin expressed his opinion.

"Sakura is an idiot," he said bluntly, and then there was a pause. "So, do you have the first volume on hand?"