Drowning Fish Page #2

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I'm scared!

But sir, it's Morning Musume.

Anyway, please wait a bit longer.

I'll see what I can do on my end as well.

What the hell is happening to Japan?

Anyway, what's that lady's problem?

Sure, we have to use the phone she gave us,

but does it have to have Pipo on it?

What are we, kids?

Besides, he's just visiting the place--

how is that disturbing the peace?

Sorry, but could you turn this music off? It's embarrassing.

It's my Mustang.

I get to pick what we listen to.

There's a time and a place for everything.

It's a stakeout. Why would you listen to...

"Joe's Lullaby"!

Joe Shishido.

He's good. I'm a fan.

The Birds of Passage series,

the Tales of a Gunman series...

Dirty Work, Bodyguard Work,

Helper Work-- the "Work" trilogy...

Branded to Kill...

Don't you know he's the "quick draw" guy?

See, after Alan Ladd and Audie Murphy,

Joe's the third-fastest draw in the world.

0.65 seconds.

Wake up. There's our target.

Shirasu.

Old man!

An undercover operation, you think?

Is that really a woman?

Some kind of Filipina. All "Paruparo!" and stuff.

I mean, it's a club...

but it's not a club.

All right, let's go.

Wait! You'll stick out like a sore thumb dressed like that.

Why would I? I look like some businessman on the prowl.

I'm telling you, it's not that kind of club.

Don't undermine my authority.

What are you looking at?

- Bro, come on, let's have a good time... OK? OK?

- What the hell are you doing?

Stop! Hey!

I said stop, you homo!

What's with them?

So he's made yet another demand?

We have no choice.

How's that investigation we ordered coming along?

Still nothing concrete to report.

But you must know something.

Why else would you have called me here?

To collect the additional expenses

on top of my investigative fees.

What about the portion we already paid you?

I've had to start frequenting a certain location

in disguise to gather info.

And, well... it's starting to get expensive.

Two mill!

It operates as a club at night,

but they have no official license, as required

by the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses.

During the daytime,

they open the space up as a studio for young artists.

The owner is Tetsuaki Okabe,

an up-and-coming graphic artist.

He's currently living in the venue.

He seems to have inherited the building

from his wealthy late parents.

Ishimaki visits the club in disguise,

but given how peaceful it is,

I don't think the venue has any ties to the Chinese spies

or Mafia cases Ishimaki is assigned to cover.

Hey, what's that over there?

- A camera.

- What's it doing there?

Someone doing surveillance on us?

Not surveillance-- supervision.

The video feed from this room

is sent back to Superintendent Miyota.

Who's this Miyota?

The head of the special inspectors division.

He's supervising this entire mission.

We'd like you to continue investigating

while posing as a gay couple.

Now hang on. I don't need to partner up with this homo.

I'm not gay.

In order to get information on Ishimaki,

you should get to know

the regular customers better.

And to do that,

your best opportunity would be

the Gay Night they have every Friday.

Gay Night?

Dammit... and in this getup, to boot.

Look at this!

My nipples are hard!

Couples Face-Off!

It's Friday night, and this is where the men are!

Here we go:
time for the Couples Face-Off!

Which couple will take the top spot tonight?

Ah, an Indian couple-- very nice!

Now there's a pair of gays we haven't seen before!

Come on down! You're our Best Couple!

I get annoyed by my woman

I run from her, to the ends of the earth

I toss aside all thoughts of her

And go my way alone

You're a promising fellow.

How about a duel?

Better not. You'll only lose.

Men fall in love with other men

So much like me:

that's you

Tetsuaki Okabe, the owner of this establishment.

Call me Tetsu.

Akiyoshi.

Call me Mick. I'm a civil servant by day.

This is, um, Mr. Shirasu.

Everyone calls me Joe.

And what do you do for work, Mr. Joe?

I'm a wanderer.

Cool...

Ugh! Gross!

I'm waiting for you, Toshi. --Mikio

...and on the same road.

Hey, who's that guy at the counter?

- Mr. Tsutsui?

- That guy's name is Tsutsui?

What's he do?

I heard he has a T-shirt shop out in Daikanyama.

He's into lots of stuff, that wannabe geezer gangster.

Can't seem to forget his past.

He seems to be fitting in fast.

That guy is probably a cop.

I know.

I can smell them.

Here, this is my work.

I compiled it. Take a look.

Have a nice night.

Um, excuse me...

Hey, Shibuhito.

Ew, what's this?

It's gross.

Isn't that, you know...

That fish that's supposed to show up

before a big earthquake.

Seriously?

A big quake's coming, that's for sure.

But that might be a good thing.

For everything to get all broken and messed up for once.

Everyone dead.

All of 'em. Die.

- Shirasu.

- What?

This. It's kind of...

It feels great.

There's nothing immediately

conspicuous about Ishimaki.

He seems to be at Okabe's club

almost every night,

but dutifully carries out his

Public Security Bureau work during the day.

This is probably Ishimaki's doing.

Shall we plant one of our own?

With all due haste.

Good evening, Mr. Ishimaki.

Aren't you impatient.

There's still plenty of time before we have to vanish.

I wonder if you might have forgotten

the promise you made me.

I am paying you.

I beg your pardon, but pay-- paying m-me--

All of this is debt you've accumulated with me.

You're not paying me.

You're paying me back.

All right, you've said enough.

It's 60 mill. Don't forget, now.

Oh, right right right.

Since you're here, let me introduce you to

my new subordinate.

Name's Ko.

I can't say this too loudly, but...

he was a soldier in North Korea.

He tried to join the Japanese army,

but they asked him to leave.

I don't know...

And that one guy-- what did he do to him?

Oh, right... left him a paraplegic.

It was awful.

Just awful.

You're doing it wrong. Like this.

Like this?

Not like that-- move your hips like so.

Like this?

That's not even close, Shimada!

Where do you get off talking to him like that?

Stop it!

That's wrong! Not like that!

This dress

isn't supposed to be sleeveless! It has sleeves!

How can I make you understand?

This is an insult to Natsumi!

Crying won't fix it, stupid!

Idiot! Moron!

Where are we supposed to put this, anyway?

I think Ishimaki's usual spot would be grand.

Don't be getting drunk on a teaspoon of booze.

Why are they so interested in Ishimaki?

There's a rumor I heard a while back.

Ishimaki was in foreign affairs-- the Russia liaison.

Seems he was in cahoots with the Russian Mafia,

using crabbing boats to smuggle weapons

out of the harbor in Abashiri.

Could that be true?

Someone in the Russian army

was selling Kalashnikovs on the black market.

Remember that nuclear sub that sank in Russia last year?

You don't mean...

Indeed I do.

Apparently that same Russian soldier was among its crew.

It was Ishimaki's doing.

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