HA2 5.1 – A Deal
Thursday night, Otsu didn’t go to TDRC Lab like other night. After passing Kibo Hospital, she entered the second alley. Twenty minutes later she arrived in front of ordinary lodging house. It had two floors of twelve rooms each, and most of the tenant was worker from Kibo Hospital.
After taking a glance at a Black Subaru sedan in the parking lot, Otsu immediately walked over to the stairs to second floor, but then she abruptly came to a stop while her heart skipped a beat, as suddenly but silently Hide stepped out from behind the darkness under the stair.
“Arnulfo,” Otsu put her hand on her chest as she took a deep breath a few times. Then, she complained, “Don’t appear so suddenly like a ghost.”
“Sorry, old habit,” Hide casually replied. “Let’s get to the business. I have some works need to be done tonight.”
“Follow me.” Without delay Otsu took Hide to second floor while inwardly she muttered, ‘He is a whole different beast compare to street thug.’
As someone who loved to work at night and had done it constantly for a few years, Otsu unintentionally developed a sharp sense to feel a presence in the darkness, and it had helped her to avoid unseen trouble that lurked in the dark alley a few times. However, this time her sharp sense didn’t work as usual even though Hide used only a small dark corner to hide himself.
Otsu also had dug some info about Hide’s action in Kibo a few days before. She discovered that Metro Police found no lead they could use to track him. They didn’t found safety ring from the flashbang he used, while the cartridges he left behind didn’t have DNA’s trace or fingerprint. A senior detective from Metro Police also made a remark that only the most seasoned professional in the killing industry would exercise such extreme precaution.
And now, Otsu had just confirmed that she truly made a deal with an extremely dangerous killer. However, she couldn’t cancel the deal. She was in a dire need for money, so she decided to take the risk.
As she stopped before the fifth room from the stairs Otsu said, “I never thought you would come far earlier than our appointment.”
“It’s an old habit,” Hide replied as she observed Otsu’s trembling fingers tried to unlock the door. “You look very nervous.”
“Of course I’m super nervous.” Otsu said as she stopped her attempt to open the door. After closing her eyes and took a deep breath she then said, “This is my first time I have a deal with a professional killer. Not to forget, you had spooked me a few minutes ago.”
“Professional killer?” Hide looked amusingly at Otsu as he continued, “How do you come to that conclusion? I killed only one scumbag.”
“That’s Metro Police’s assessment.”
“Don’t take their assessment too serious. They put a lot of bullshit on it to cover their incompetence.”
Hide tried to coax Otsu with a hope she would put her guard down a bit. However, from how she warily glanced at him, he could tell that his attempt was a total failure.
“Actually, right now, I have a thought that maybe you come because you want to silent me.”
“If I want to kill you, we will not have this meeting.” Hide calmly replied. “You will be already sleeping peacefully somewhere in river bed.”
“Yeah,” Otsu nervously replied before taking another deep breath.
But surprisingly, after that she managed to calm herself down and opened the door with ease. She then took Hide inside her lodging. The room was not big. It was consisted of bedroom, bathroom, a compact kitchen, and a small living room.
Otsu had turned the bedroom into her personal lab and as soon as Hide entered it, he immediately made a quick assessment. For personal lab, it had adequate equipment, kit, and storage system including a mid-size freezer. It was also well maintained and specifically designed to produce drug.
And even if it didn’t have sophisticated device such as protein analyzer, Hide still could carry the procedure manually. Of course, employing basic method when manufacturing Hateur Formula would require more time and effort, but Hide didn’t think of it as a big deal.
“This will do,” Hide concluded his assessment and handed over a piece of paper to Otsu. “This is the list of ingredient I need. Please write the amount you can provide next to each compound.”
“Okay,” Otsu replied as she took out her pen. Two minutes later, she returned the list while saying, “I can only secure this much each month. If I took more than this, it will arouse suspicion from my colleagues.”
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After checking the amount on each compound Hide said, “With this amount I can produce 8-12 vials.”
“How much money do we get?”
“I sell it 1000 Dillar per vial. If we split it 50:50, we will get 500 Dillar per vial.”
“That’s fucking too cheap.”
Otsu couldn’t believe that someone would sell a premium dope at 1000 Dillar per vial. So, a suspicion arose in her heart.
“Arnulfo, are you trying to trick me?”
“I’m not,” Hide casually replied, “And, it’s not too late to cancel our deal if it doesn’t meet your expectation.”
“So, it’s a take it or leave it.”
“Yeah,”
Otsu then went to one of storage cabinets in the corner, took out a one-liter ziplock bag full of pink colored pill, and handed it over to Hide.
“This is my product. At least, check it before you conclude that your dealer won’t buy it.”
“Okay.”
Even if he didn’t have intention to help Otsu sold her product, Hide still complied with her request to ease her mind. He immediately took a few kits and carried a quick procedure to check Otsu’s home-made drug. A few minutes later, he had confirmed that it was a potent drug. It would easily hit the market at 70-90 Dillar per pill. In summary, the whole bag was worth 100.000 Dillar at least.
“It’s a good dope.”
Hide honestly admitted and he knew Keizawa would happily pay a good price for it. However, he had decided that he would not sell dope that had a possibility to be consumed by normal people, be it in his previous or present life. So, a lie smoothly slipped through his teeth.
“But as I said a few days ago, my dealer won’t buy it.”
“Seriously?”
Disappointment was clearly visible in Otsu’s gaze. It was as if her long life hope was being crushed into nothingness just before she reached it. However, Hide didn’t give a damn about it. He had his own rule to follow.
“Actually, my dope is not just premium dope,” Hide calmly said. “If someone with a high level adrenaline consumes it in certain interval, they will always experience a sensation as if it’s their first time.”
Big question mark instantly popped up in Otsu’s forehead. “How could such absurd effect is exist?”
“Well, it does exist.”
“How about the other dealer? I’m sure you know someone who will buy ordinary product, and I only need one big transaction.”
“I don’t know other drug dealer. I don’t dive too deep in this industry.”
“That’s impossible,” Otsu firmly concluded. “Drug market is a giant network, isn’t it? It’s impossible to know only one dealer.”
“It’s true that dope flow through a giant network,” Hide calmly replied. “However, the basic rule in this borderless network is, spiders in the jar would snack on each other. So, my rule is to enter it without reveal my identity or do not enter at all. That’s why I know only one dealer.”
“Do you mean it’s like a fierce competition?”
“It’s not only fierce competition. Dealers will not only hand over other dealer to police to save their ass. They also won’t have second thought to hand over their customer if they have to.”
“…”
“You are very fortunate that you have not entered it.”
“I see,” Otsu slightly nodded and then asked, “If we can’t do a face-to-face transaction, how we will sell it then?”
“I can’t explain the detail, but I can guarantee we will get clean money without revealing our identity.”
“Meaning, I also can’t find out that you really sell your product for 1000 Dillar per vial or higher.”
“Yeah.”
In an instant, Otsu fell into a deep contemplation. In total, she needed 80.000 Dillar. She plant to get it in one swoop by selling her home-made drug in one big transaction. But now, her plant had crumble into pieces.
Even though she still could get around 5000 Dillar from the deal with Hide, it would need around 16 months before she reached her target. The thought that she had to interact with a dangerous killer for more than a year did make Otsu shuddered inwardly. Unfortunately, she had no other option.
“Fine,” Otsu said in resignation. “But I can only provide you the ingredient for around 18 months. After that you can still use my personal lab, but you have to get the ingredient by yourself.”
Hide casually replied, “No problem.”
“We have a deal then.”
“Yes, we have.”
Otsu immediately took a deep breath as she inwardly reminded herself that after she got the money she needed, she had to definitely cut any relationship with the dangerous young man in front of him and start a new life in somewhere else with her family.
And because she was too immersed with her inner thought, she didn’t have any suspicion when Hide casually walked and flanked her. She only realized that something was definitely wrong when Hide’s hand suddenly gagged her mouth and nose from behind. Worst of all, Hide was using a handkerchief that had a weird smell on it.
Otsu immediately followed her instinct to fight back. However, the more she struggled to free herself, the stronger she inhaled the weird smell. As a result, her strength evaporated in a rapid pace, and her gripped on Hide’s wrist became weaker as her eyes become very heavy.
‘I shouldn’t trust a killer,’ Otsu muttered as her conscious dimmed, and then totally went off two seconds later.
*****