Wind of The Past
Contains American frontier, black coffee, no talking and no embarrassment woman he likes.
Rye took out a cigarette from his jacket pocket and the lighter in his hand was pressed twice, but it didn't light up. He felt his palms sweat slightly and an inexplicable sense of anxiety rose in his heart.
In the distance, a girl in a red dress and white coat was talking to a tall man dressed in black. As he spoke, he took a step closer to her, then bent down, as if whispering in her ear for a moment, then turned and left. Out of the corner of the girl's eye was stunned for a moment, then she followed him.
"Rye, let's go."
His companion who was ready to go stepped forward and urged him on.
The black Porsche 356A drove slowly. Rye averted his gaze, threw the cigarette in his hand and the seemingly broken lighter into the trash and walked in the opposite direction to his companion.
The first time he met the brown-haired girl was in Boston two years ago.
He wasn't called Rye at the time.
On an ordinary winter night, Shuichi Akai met her. After leaving the jazz bar where he worked, it was past midnight, he walked through a back alley and walked home only to find a brown-haired girl standing alone on a deserted street.
That night was the first snow of winter.
Small snowflakes reflected in the dim streetlights like dust. The snow fell with a rustle and wet her forehead and shoulders.
She held a stack of thick books in her hands, and the words Harvard University were stamped on the cover of the dark green notebook. The campus was only two blocks away from this back alley, but she looked too young.
In an instant, a black Bentley came rushing over. Two tall men dressed in black got out of the car and surrounded her. There was no expression of fear on the girl's face. She spoke to the two of them calmly, then followed them into the car and disappeared into the quiet street in the blink of an eye.
Snowflakes covered the former road and it was immediately as if nothing had happened.
His chance to see her again suddenly passed very quickly.
A friend at the Harvard lab told Akai that the results of the test he took earlier were out and he asked him to take them when he was free.
For some reason, that slender figure should easily be drowned in the bustle of the campus, but he saw her like a ghost.
Standing beside her this time was a blonde woman with heavy makeup, still dressed in black with a wide-brimmed sun hat covering most of her face.
The woman held the cigarette between her fingers and slowly exhaled the smoke ring. The girl was still indifferent and calm with her arms folded and her head raised to speak to the woman.
Akai Shuichi stopped.
He saw her.
Her hands trembled slightly.
"Excuse me, ma'am."
"What is it?" The tall and strange man suddenly approached, which surprised the blonde woman and her tone was not very friendly.
"I wonder if you have any change." Akai handed over the banknote in his hand and put on a harmless expression, "I just need a few dollars for the bus ticket."
The black Bentley stopped along the way just in time, and the woman ignored Akai's words.
She threw the cigarette butt at the girl's feet disdainfully and walked away, turning around and smiling charmingly before the door closed.
"Until next time, Sherry. Goodbye."
"Sherry." heaved a sigh of relief, as if she was relieved.
She raised her eyes to look at the uninvited guest in front of her. After all, that person had no intention of leaving.
The man looked as innocent as possible. "I just thought you might need some help, that's why."
The girl stared at him for two seconds. "No exaggeration."
Her voice matched her face, like the sound of snow falling on pine needles.
Akai couldn't help but laugh when he heard that the first sentence from the other party's mouth was actually mocking himself.
"Well, I tried." He was not one to be patient with children, but he had an indescribable interest in this arrogant and mysterious girl in front of him, "So do you need help?"
She also switched to Japanese, "I'm not the kind of stupid girl who goes home with a stranger, if you want to ask that."
"That hurts..." He pointed to himself, "Do I look like a bad person?"
The girl silently looked at him up and down twice. A handsome and eye-catching man. He was still very young, but the temperament between his brows was not like that of a student at this university.
"Definitely."
Akai laughed again.
"You know, a lot of women have a good impression of me."
The brown-haired girl casually looked away, "Congratulations."
"Sherry."
The man's nails gently brushed the bright orange pattern on the black aluminum coffee can.
He never called her by that name.
Even though she never spoke, he soon learned that her name was Shiho Miyano through her position. A talented thirteen year old Japanese girl, studying for Ph.D. in biochemistry at Harvard University. She has no family in America and the blonde woman is her nominal trustee, even a minor celebrity actress.
Sherry has almost no social life. She lived a life with two dots and one line. She worked so hard that she stayed in the lab until one or two a.m, then crossed Kirkland Avenue back to her dorm.
Akai Shuichi of course was also hiding.
Something said that many things would happen between them in the future.
And he never told her that although they knew each other well and had never exchanged their name that winter, but on every quiet night in Boston, he would accompany her a block away.
He began to investigate the people in black who surrounded her. Behind one mystery lies another and one clue leads to the next.
Then, he came here.
"Rye."
When they met again, he had become the so-called "sister's lover". A love-drunk woman didn't notice the subtle changes in their expressions.
"Dai Moroboshi. This is our first time meeting, thank you for taking care of my sister."
At that moment, Akai was completely dumbfounded. He found himself very ashamed of the false name she had uttered.
Ironically, he didn't realize that in order to complete his mission, he broke up with a woman and pretended to be another woman's lover which failed to make him feel ashamed of himself.
Sherry in the organization didn't have the freedom to come and go alone. On the one hand, Rye became the cover.
Sherry's mind was way beyond her age, but she also showed childish rebellion at times. These moments were usually accompanied by a name.
"Gin."
Akai Shuichi had never seen Gin. As Rye, he was not yet qualified to work with Gin.
During in the organization, he once passed him.
Arrogant, cruel, vicious, wicked.
Like two sides of a card.
Rye's authority wasn't high and he couldn't get too far with Sherry.
They were usually in a secluded corner of a parking lot. The vending machine there always had to be kicked from time to time to spit out two cans of black coffee as he pleased.
Sometimes they would just sit in silence for a while until Gin called out to her. Sometimes she also talked to him. They couldn't talk to each other about their work or life and the conversation always turned to Gin.
Rye leaned his back against the railing, an angle that allowed Sherry, who was sitting on the railing, to casually rub his hair. She didn't understand why one or two people liked to have waist-length hair and she thought it was a waste of time to even groom her own ear-length hair.
Thoughts swirled in her head, but she didn't speak.
Rye stood still, breathing lightly involuntarily. At one time Shuichi Akai felt that his contact with mission cleaning was even worse. He's like a paradox magnet usually taking a step back when someone else is advancing. Too many people admire his perseverance. He sometimes accepts, sometimes takes advantage, but more often refuses.
But with Sherry for some reason all his magnetic fields and vigilance are ineffective.
He didn't say a word, letting his long hair slip from the girl's fingertips like a big grumpy dog.
Sipping the black coffee liquid from the can and the girl's delicate face contorted like ripples in a lake. Her expression occasionally looks as clear as a cat sipping a lemon.
He enjoyed the moments like this.
"That sucks. I really don't understand why you like it."
"I just said you should buy a bottle of milk to mix it up."
"No, I'm not a child."
"Yes."
"Rye." Sherry sat on the railing, her slender legs protruding from the bottom edge of her white coat swaying casually. Her eyes flew into the distance and in the distance was barbed wire towering around the institute intersecting with the sky.
"What is love?"
Hearing this, he turned his head and tried to read something from her face.
But she just narrowed her eyes against the wind and frowned slightly. He read the illusion of tenderness in her expression.
"Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, I just don't quite understand."
"I don't know." This is the truth.
He thought for a moment, "It might be like... weakness. If you don't keep staring at someone, you'll feel uncomfortable... or something."
"Is that how you treat my sister?"
The man averted her gaze, uncommitted.
Sherry continued to herself, "I don't know. He's a bit scary. He's not a very patient person. But, sometimes, he'll side with me. When I'm really scared."
"Isn't that the suspension bridge effect?"
"What," laughed the girl, her trademark slightly disdainful and self-deprecating laugh, "Do you want to call me Stockholm Syndrome?"
"…"
Rye didn't notice. She subconsciously took a step closer to him.
He looked at her intently.
"Is only a level of protection would make your heart flutter?"
The emotion in those dark green eyes was too serious, as if a little attention would reveal some secret.
Sherry was taken aback. The man's stubbornness confused her.
"…"
The wind rolled up the dead leaves making a rustling sound. The girl raised her hand to tuck the side hair that was blowing in the wind behind her ear and changed the subject lightly.
"Teach me how to use a gun, Rye."
"I can't."
"Gin forbade anyone to teach me. He said the first thing I did when I learned to shoot was punch a hole in his heart."
"Huh, is that so?"
"Yes. So that's the most suitable for you to teach. You really hate that person." Rye smiled and said, "Why, I'm not afraid of you opening a hole in me?"
"I won't." Sherry tilted her head, without thinking, "If you die, my sister will be sad."
"..." Silence, "Okay, you can save for your training costs."
"What, I have no money."
"Then don't talk."
"You really want money! Stingy."
His face came alive again making the corners of his mouth lift.
Their eyes staggered, and together they saw the distant horizon slowly becoming hazy in the fading sky.
Looks like it's going to rain.
"Rye."
"What?"
"How do you feel when you kill?"
"…"
"Feel guilty?"
After a long silence, his voice sounded like a low groan.
"Unconscious."
Sherry blinked blankly, "Ah... I think I understand."
He laughed. "Stupid, what do you understand. Where are you going to kill."
"Yeah." The girl looked at her hands and muttered, "How to kill someone?"
In the distance, the biology laboratory lights were switched on and off three times.
It was Sherry's assistant who reminded her that it was time to return.
While studying in the United States, Shiho Miyano and her only relative didn't see each other for several years. After returning to Japan, they were less and less together.
Even though there were several meetings and many partings, whenever she thought about it, she was always wrapped in an indescribable tenderness.
To her, Akemi Miyano was like the moon in the fog, though not so real it was all the favors she got for a "normal life" in this dark and chaotic world.
Shiho Miyano never had a normal day. For as long as she can remember, she had been sent to the United States, disciplined, monitored, intimidated, and restricted in her freedom. On the other hand, Akemi Miyano has lived an ordinary life from beginning to end, attending normal schools, working normally, making normal friends, and falling in love normally.
Very good. Shiho always thought that way. Shiho was more than happy for her sister.
But she couldn't talk to her.
Where to start?
Her pain, her worries, her hopes, her longing?
How could she make her understand?
She was out of her control, she had no choice. She rolled around in countless nights tormented by morality and conscience. She turned her back and wept in a dark, uninhabited corner.
Who can Shiho Miyano rely on?
However all this, the person seems to be able to understand.
She didn't even need to talk too much.
On many windy nights, on a rain-soaked roof, next to an empty vending machine in the morning, they sat quietly together for long periods of time.
She could see that he was also exhausted from a long time ago. He always snuffed out cigarette butts quietly when she got close, but his bloodshot eyes showed unspeakable exhaustion, he took a large amount of caffeine like self-abuse, and sometimes she stared at the blood on the muzzle of the gun in a daze. It was as if he was carrying too many secrets.
She wanted to reach him.
But she wasn't sure what she could and couldn't do. She wanted to touch the tip of his eyebrows, the tip of his nose, his slightly curled forehead with her fingertips. Tell him it's okay. At this point, he could close his eyes and rest for a while.
In the rain and fog, the moisture soaked the ends of their hair and clothes. The brown-haired girl gently stood on tiptoe and placed her hand in front of the man's forehead.
Under the projection of her palm, his dark green eyes were as stunning as jewels. The bluish black faintly fainted under his eyelids and his body reeked of coffee and tobacco which was extra mild in the humid rainy season.
There is something wrong. He smiled at her sudden action. She motionless.
Don't.
Sherry pulled her hand away and turned her face away.
"It's raining a lot."
"Um."
The underground laboratory where research medicines are stored is a highly secured and guarded place. Under the interference layer, the cell phone signal was always fluctuating. Sherry didn't really care because hardly anyone called her.
Even when the phone rings, there is no answer for a long time.
She picked up the phone, and it took a while before she could barely hear a few words of the loud electric noise.
Haido Hospital, Miyano, car, crossing and blood transfusions.
Sherry lowered her hands and ran outside like crazy.
Suddenly, the blood all over the body rushed to the head and it seemed that the whole person fell. Sherry didn't know what she hit as she ran, what was broken, and who was going to stop her.
The first person to find her was Rye.
When he found her, Sherry could no longer stand because she fell too hard.
In the harsh winter streets, the beautiful girl wore only one shirt, sat in the middle of the street, covered her face and sobbed. There was a continuous busy tone from the phone beside her, and the passerby stopped and looked to the side.
Rye stepped forward and crouched down, patted her on the back, and handed her a handkerchief.
His tone of voice to her was as eccentric as ever, a kind of patience and gentleness that no one else had.
"I called to ask, she almost hit a pedestrian who ran a red light. Shiho, your sister is fine, and the other party is fine."
She lifted her teary face and blinked in disbelief.
He helped her hang up, "This broken phone, throw it away now. You also listen to others finish what they say."
"Is that true?"
"She's better than you."
After saying that, he stretched out his hand to pick up the injured her covered in blood.
Sherry recovered and said shyly "I'm fine too."
"Okay, let's go." Rye immediately got up, "If you don't come back, someone will send a helicopter to find you. It's your fault for disturbing the people around."
For a long time, she who was sitting on the ground didn't move.
She lowered her head, her desperate voice barely audible.
"You did me a favor."
Rye carried her, she felt as light as a feather.
On the way back, Sherry quietly squatted on his back, a pair of bloody calves stretched out from under the man's arms, swaying slightly.
The looks of the two were already eye-catching and with this dramatic scene they caught the attention of many passersby along the way.
Rye walked forward without looking to the side, but his hands behind her back looked confused. If he tightens his grip he is afraid of hurting her, and if he relaxes his hand he is afraid that she will fall.
He always seemed to be by her side.
Hesitating to speak, worrying about gains and losses.
The man became restless and his hand subconsciously increased his strength. Near his ear the girl was panting.
"Sorry, are you hurt?"
"I'm fine."
"Can you be honest?"
"…"
"Rye."
"What is it?"
Gently, she lowered her head and leaned on his shoulder. With that movement, soft brown hair fell down his neck. Delicate touch like a kitten's tail.
Her breath suddenly drew near. As if she couldn't help it, she rubbed her cheek against his long hair.
"So warm."
The man was stunned for a moment, but didn't speak.
She interpreted his silence as offensive, raised her head in a hurry and changed the subject suddenly, "You just scolded me, but you're actually worried too?"
"Aah."
- I am very worried.
"…"
"Rye." Her voice was nasal, giving the illusion of love.
"Um?"
"It seems you always help me."
"Is that so?. Take notes and write it down later. Go back and think about it."
The girl was crying.
"Why do you always help me?"
"So, what?"
"But, I'm not a good person."
The man sighed accommodatingly, "That's right, so am I."
"You..." She bit her lip, "It's not worth it."
"I said, is it because you fell that you became a fool?"
"Yeah, looks like I fell over and became a fool." She snorted, and a self-deprecating laugh covered her disappointment, "You helped me, of course it's not for me."
Rye stopped.
For a moment he wanted to tell her everything.
Incognito or code names. It's okay to pretend to be a partner for the task or feel guilty about taking advantage of someone else's feelings. At this moment nothing is more important than expressing his feelings to someone.
But he didn't.
He didn't dare, or couldn't do it.
"Rye."
In the long silence the girl's clear voice sounded relaxed.
"It's snowing."
Shuichi Akai clearly remembered that. That day he learned that he had been given the opportunity to work with Gin on a mission.
To him, it means "the end."
It means the final battle, the overthrow of the organization. End as Rye and Sherry and start as Shuichi Akai and Shiho Miyano.
It means no more forced lies, no more accidental, no more looking forward. It means, she no longer had to linger in the unseen darkness, panicking, and crying in a corner where no one could see her.
They would meet without any pretense under the blue sky at noon.
In this big gamble, he unfortunately made a big mistake and lost the whole game.
Under the roof in the rain, Sherry looked at the raindrops with sadness.
Rye silently stood up. Her brown hair curled up in the damp air. When she opened her eyes wide, her profile revealed a hint of childishness, reminding others that she was just a sixteen year old girl.
He suddenly wanted to stroke the disobedient broken hair on the back of her head.
But the outstretched hand was held in the air.
His phone rings. Urge him to go to the next mission.
The ringtone had in fact overlapped with the memory, and Shuichi Akai suddenly came back to his senses.
No. This time and now his name was Subaru Okiya. A dead person is reborn.
The ashtray on the table was full of cigarette butts.
He held his breath and listened carefully, he could detect sounds even her breathing after a deep sleep coming from the earphones.
That was the mysterious girl who lived in Professor Agasa's house next door.
Today, they still haven't recovered their name.