Stormbringer: Bungou Stray Dogs

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"Of course, no matter how good the investigator is, they can't reach their destination without taking the first step." Lippmann smiled softly as he took out yet another document. "I asked a woman I personally knew to let me go through the government's military-related documents. The original documents were naturally kept under close wraps and disposed of after the war, but it's to my understanding that a western military unit was going around asking for donations of corpses. That was our first clue. In other words, I made the most important contribution."

Chuuya understood where the story was going, and nervously glanced towards the last person.

Iceman.

"...I haven't done much." He took out the last document. "I found your parent's siblings and from there your family tree, the location of the school you went to with your school reports and photo, and your birth certificate from the local government. Pianoman told us to keep it from the boss. Since I couldn't rely on the mafia's intelligence, I had to rob empty houses eight different times."

"E...Eight times?"

Chuuya's eyes held a mixture of emotions as he took the documents. Iceman nodded, and for the first time that day, wore a faint smile on his face.

Not a lot of people knew his everyday habits. But when he wasn't working, Iceman was a very calm, gentle person who loved coffee and musical records. Very few people got to see that side of him.

But everyone in the bar knew.

Chuuya looked at each of them in turn. Everyone had a smile on their face. Pianoman. Albatross. Doc. Lippmann. Iceman.

The geniuses of the Port Mafia.

"Why?" Chuuya looked at the photo. "This... goes against the boss's orders."

From the boss's point of view, the secret surrounding Chuuya's birth were the "shackles" that bound him to the organization. So long as he didn't find it, he wouldn't betray the mafia.

But Pianoman simply shrugged his shoulders. "I was only told to watch you to see if you knew the secret, not keep the secret hidden."

Chuuya stared at Pianoman, trying to see if there was an underlying motive.

"Why?" For a moment, a flash of anxiety crossed Chuuya's face. "Why go this far?"

"What do you mean, 'why'?" Pianoman kept a natural look on his face. "I've already said why. It's your first year anniversary."

"But..."

"It's really not that big of a deal." Lippmann looked around at everyone, as if he were confused by Chuuya's attitude. "If you ask me, the answer's pretty obvious."

Then, Lippmann said in a quite ordinary voice,

"It's because we're your friends—Was it different in the Sheep?"