The time now is 22:36. On the observation deck of Tokyo Tower, it was so quiet that only the sound of writing could be heard. Outside the wi
The time now is 22:36.
On the observation deck of Tokyo Tower, it was so quiet that only the sound of writing could be heard.
Outside the window lay an exceedingly vibrant city scene.
At this time, the police were still rushing to the scene.
Soon, Hayashi Yoshiki stopped writing.
He calmly glanced at the time on his watch, then removed a page—densely filled with writing—from his notebook and lit it with a lighter.
"What on earth are you doing?!"
The voice trembled—tense, unable to comprehend his behavior.
Hayashi Yoshiki didn't even look up.
He simply watched the paper burn and turn, little by little, into ashes.
Ireland would not shoot.
Because... he didn't dare.
Seconds ticked by. As the time approached 22:37, Hayashi Yoshiki finally spoke:
"Actually, I have the ability to control when and how people die."
"This includes—but is not limited to—heart failure, suicide, and accidental death. Even a person's behavior before death can be controlled."
"You think Cointreau's identity is my biggest secret?"
"No..."
"Compared to my abilities, the secret of my identity is child's play."
These words left Ireland stunned.
Cointreau... Are you insane?
What was this lunacy?
"Let me tell you about the death of Motokami Kazuki."
"He will be shot in the head by you at 22:37 and 10 seconds."
"5... 4... 3..."
Shot in the head by me?!
What kind of joke is this?
There was no reason—none—for him to kill that idiot.
"2... 1..."
"Are you crazy? Why would I shoot—"
As Hayashi Yoshiki's lips silently hit zero, Ireland raised his hand. He raised his gun almost mockingly.
But in that instant—
Bang!
Fire exploded from the muzzle.
The bullet flew—and landed directly on the forehead of Motokami Kazuki, who had been lying on the ground.
The gun in his hand... had gone off accidentally.
At that moment, Ireland's mind went blank.
What the hell?!
What just happened?!
Why would the gun go off on its own?
He felt a chill travel up his spine as he stared at the calm young man in front of him—
Those dark eyes, that handsome and delicate face that didn't look human at all...
He looked like... the devil.
And the devil continued to speak.
Standing in the shadows, his blood-red lips uttered a voice that could shatter sanity:
"Do you understand?"
"Next, let me tell you the extent to which I can control a person's behavior before death."
"At 22:37 and 20 seconds, you will confess every method you used to expose my secret—and all your attempts to stop me."
"And of course, while I speak... you'll be shooting at me—out of fear and confusion. But rest assured: none of your bullets will hit me.*"
Bang bang bang bang bang!!!
Ireland pulled the trigger frantically.
But just as Hayashi Yoshiki had said, the sharpshooter who could accurately shoot the sword hand of Motokami Kazuki from dozens of meters away...
...could no longer hit anything.
Hayashi Yoshiki didn't even flinch as the bullets flew by.
"By the way, although it was Vermouth who killed Mr. Pisco, that was the exact method I planned for him to die."
"He told me everything he knew... and then he died. Just like you will, next..."
"Mr. Pisco was very helpful."
"Especially when he told me your real name, Mr. Ireland. His adopted son."
His indifferent voice almost drove Ireland insane.
He screamed for him to shut up, and pulled the trigger again—
...but the gun was empty.
His face twisted in horror.
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 0——"
Ireland, now panicking, lunged with a knife in hand.
But as the countdown hit zero, he stopped.
The blade halted just at Hayashi Yoshiki's throat, drawing a bead of blood.
Ireland's eyes went dim.
Then, like a puppet, he began reciting all the preparations he had made:
He had created five separate emails to expose Hayashi Yoshiki's secrets, each with different passwords and addresses.
He had even prepared two physical letters, scheduled to be sent if not retrieved from secure mailboxes by a specific time.
Hayashi Yoshiki had written it all down. And now...
He made a call.
"Mr. Hayashi!"
"Yes, it's me," Hayashi said softly. "Reiko, I need your help with something."
"Okay... what is it?"
"I need you to go to two places and deal with the emails in their mailboxes. Also, there are some email accounts with passwords. I need the contents deleted."
"Now?"
"Yes. I know it's late, but this is really important... I can only trust you with this, Reiko."
"Well... if it's something Mr. Hayashi is asking, then..."
Her tone was shy, almost coquettish.
Hayashi Yoshiki gazed at Ireland as if staring at a corpse, but his voice remained gentle:
"Thank you, Reiko. I truly don't know what I'd do without you."
"Please don't say that. I'm heading out now."
"Okay. I'll love you dearly once this is all over."
On the other end, Shimizu Reiko beamed with joy.
As she hung up, Hayashi dialed again—this time to Hoshi Seiran.
He instructed her to act four hours later, to double-check both physical and email mailboxes in case anything had been missed.
"Before that, go to this address in Hachioji City. Find the laptop and copy the contents."
"Understood, Mr. Hayashi."
"Thank you. Be careful. I'm dying to hold you, Miss Seiran."
He gave the address: that of Motokami Kazuki.
Earlier, he had already used the Death Note to control Motokami—forcing him to extract the spy list from the amulet, copy it to a computer, and return the memory card to its place.
Gin and the others would never know the secret had been leaked.
After wrapping everything up, Hayashi Yoshiki looked at Ireland one last time.
He pulled out another phone and sent a message to Gin.
"Now... I can sleep peacefully again."
"At last..."
"Good night, Mr. Ireland."