CHAPTER 72: CONVERSATIONS IN THE CAR

"I was not expecting to be in the car with her, Chief."

"Huh? I thought that you two were on good terms?"

"We are, but-"

"Oh shut up, will ya, Shrimpdick."

"Ugh."

Liohime scooted over to the farthest point of the right side of the passenger seat, but Jolene Aurora closed the gap instantly as they both sat behind Matsuo Yamamoto, the chief of the Shinigami Soldiers, who was driving the blue sedan.

Interestingly, only the both of them were being personally transported by him to a private jet of the client who would take them to the region near the Paradisus Legion. Despite wanting to bring up the topic of the other co-workers, he remained silent and averted his eyes, biting his nails and tapping his feet lightly as he stared out of the window.

Still, as Matsuo glanced at the mirror just in front of him for a split second, he easily recognized something.

"You seem a bit nervous, Lio."

"H-Huh? Oh."

"Don’t worry. I’m positive that you’ll do well in this mission. Like I said, you’ll have loads of help from other Shinigami Soldiers from nearby districts. You’ll be fine."

"So you say," Jolene chimed in, wearing her metallic, mechanical respirator over her mouth as her deep, muffled voice echoed.

However...

"That’s part of why I’m nervous," Liohime replied faintly, just enough for his boss to hear.

"Partly?"

"Well, there must be a reason why you specifically picked only Jolene and I, right? It seems like we’re not going to be picking up any other members. This reminds me of the same exact scenario when..."

His voice trailed off, but a chuckle emerged from Mastuo’s lips as that sentence had reminded him of something.

"Oh my, you’re right. It was this exact scenario where I had specifically picked up both of you to scold you guys about having a sexual relationship, wasn’t it?"

With that revelation, Jolene and Liohime exchanged glances, and the former groaned with embarrassment as she also realized the scenario.

"Oh my fucking god...why the fuck did you have to remind me of that shit, dumbass?"

"I-It just seemed so similar..."

"Fuck off. What are you gonna preach to us today then, Chief?"

"Haha, alright, alright, chill out," Matsuo answered cheekily. "This isn’t about that."

"Thank god."

"You still aren’t fucking each other though, right?"

"N-NO!" was the hasty reply from both passengers, with Jolene more annoyed and Liohime more embarrassed.

"Well, that’s good. Once the both of you keep your co-worker relationships formal, I won’t interfere with anything else-"

"Okay, daaaad, WE GET IT!" Jolene brashly cut it, mocking him, while Liohime nudged her slightly, trying to get her to watch her tone, but she merely rolled her eyes in response.

Sighing, Liohime pondered a bit, a bit distracted by the change of the topic, but he decided to go along with it with a question directed to the woman that sat next to him.

"Hey, Jolene."

"Hah?"

"I have a question. Since we pretty much had a sexually active relationship-"

"We were never in a relationship, jackass," she corrected instantly while shifting her attention to his crotch. "Only sex...with nothing extra."

"Guh..w-well, right, so how the fuck do you manage to get by all this while?"

".....Are you seriously gonna ask that fuckass question in the car with our boss listening?"

"Shit, you’re right."

"As usual, the lights are on but nobody’s home."

"Huh? What?"

"Eeeexactly."

She groaned once again, and Matsuo burst out in laughter.

"She’s calling you stupid, kid."

"Fuck."

Liohime sulked and glared at her, but she grinned and leaned closer to whisper:

"Why are you interested in my sex life, looooserrr? Already missing the action?"

Licking her lips, she playfully inched her fingers closer and closer to his pants zipper, but Liohime quickly realized what she was trying to do and spoke out in a hushed tone:

"H-Hey, what the fuck are you doing!? The Chief’s right there, dummy!"

"You don’t think that he’ll notice if I only stroke it here while it’s hidden from his view, do you?"

"I don’t know-"

"Hey, Jolene," the man in the front interjected, "I don’t want any body fluids in my freshly cleaned car, you hear? Knowing you, you’re planning something sneaky."

"Ugh. Busted."

She pulled her hands back, but whispered to Liohime, "I get by using the same tactic that I used when I waited for you to arrive at the Kimetsu Hotel for our first time together."

"W-While still thinking of me, I’m guessing? That’s not healthy. Go find another boytoy, weirdo."

"Hehehe...I dunnoooo...."

"Hey, what are you two whispering about?"

"Nothing, daaaad!!"

Mocking him once more, she clicked her tongue and leaned away, while Matsuo Yamamoto’s expression finally hardened.

"Anyway," he continued, "you’re right in a sense, Lio. I did offer to pick the both of you up specifically to talk about something. The other Shinigami Soldiers are currently headed to the client’s private jet in a different vehicle."

The duo behind him quickly turned serious, listening attentively to his following words.

"This is the biggest mission of both of your lives so far. All of your training, experience, and ability comes down to this. I don’t have to remind you about the monetary reward that will be divided among all participants if the Magical Beast egg is retrieved. You both know that it could set you for a good life that spans a few years. The client is very important and powerful despite their anonymity, as you could guess by their transportation offer and their housing as well as allowance provisions for the journey."

He paused, letting the seriousness of the situation that was taking place set in, and then continued once again, "I’m sure that this won’t be the last time that we see each other, but-"

"You’re beating around the bush, Chief," Jolene brazenly cut in, causing Liohime to give her a stern look, but she ignored him. "We know about most of this stuff already. Just say what you want to say-"

"Do your absolute best."

They both froze, as Matsuo Yamamoto gave his final advice to his underlings.