the culprit is SECRET 5

[rhodochrosite]

quick breakdown of the newly released vol. 95 secret 5 AR conversation between akai and amuro (well, bourbon) after the unsolved cocktail case (by breakdown i'm referring to my mental state rn), translational liberties taken for flow:

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AMURO: looks like you aren't disguised as okiya subaru today
AKAI: looks like you aren't wearing your poirot apron today either
AMURO: huh? how am i supposed to infiltrate someone's house while wearing an apron?!
AKAI: [chuckles] it was a joke, furuya-kun
AMURO: ... d-don't think you've won, fbi!!!

......... I LITERALLY DIED. things of note:

• absolutely evergreen akam conversational dynamic of [amuro makes a smug/pointed comment bc he thinks he has the upper hand] -> [akai calmly responds with something reasonable and/or teasing] -> [amuro literally just loses his shit instantly and flies off the handle and becomes too flustered/illogical/angry to continue the exchange]
  • just like their conversation during the ferris wheel fistfight in the darkest nightmare where akai very logically and correctly pointed out that curacao could escape while they were having this pointless fight and amuro was just like ARE YOU SAYING YOU DON'T TRUST THE PSB??? like.... no, he didn't say that, but amuro's delusions re: akai are well-documented
  • amuro is WAYYYYY too easy to rile up when it comes to akai and i think akai thinks it's fun to provoke him a bit, pigtail-pulling style and also because amuro is cute when he's mad
  • the extreme contrast between the intensity of their emotional states coming through in their voices is seriously chef's kiss
• i love amuro's opening attack being the confident assertion that okiya = akai even though akai is still acting like he isn't okiya in the world's most farcical extension of the limits of plausible deniability... and akai not actually conceding this and turning it back on amuro by bringing up his own identity fakery, which predictably derails amuro's entire thought process and shifts the conversational balance of power back into akai's hands. every day amuro attempts to destabilise akai's society and instead HE is the one who gets destabilised <3
• amuro's loud and annoyed「はあ？」as he immediately loses composure is soooo perfect, couldn't even formulate a verbal response ctfu. akai could breathe and amuro would be pissed off about it
  • also something about the fact that they are both superspies and know the process of infiltration very well and KNOW this about each other on account of being ex-teammates makes this even funnier
  • like the way amuro isn't able to process that it's a joke or thinks that akai is just saying any shit bc he's so mad he temporarily loses logical reasoning skill and just angrily responds in earnest i really aghkdsfkskjshgsfdskj
• BUT IT WAS A JOKE!!!! lol akai got what he wanted (amuro flaring up + losing track of his original line of attack) and can back down magnanimously knowing that he won this round...
• "furuya-kun" OKKKKKKKK formsofaddressfucker69 has logged on. first of all... first official instance of akai calling him "furuya-kun" :') looking forward to the full transition to realnaming after the black org is over and there is no more need for the amuro tooru identity to exist :''')
  • akai usually calls amuro "amuro-kun" and sometimes "bourbon," the only time he's used amuro's real name is during the scarlet arc climax when he called him "furuya rei-kun" to let him know he'd discovered amuro's true identity, which threw amuro severely off-balance. i think the use here is super noteworthy because amuro is literally acting in his capacity as BOURBON rn, not furuya... i think akai is realnaming him to tease him again because he got so shaken the last time akai used his real name. why? it's fun!!
  • amuro being so upset over akai knowing his real identity is so good bc it's yet another thing akai has over him, even more ground that he has been forced to concede to akai. i know it kills him as 1) ultimate guy who lies and doesn't want anyone coming in 2) guy who specifically really really hates akai that akai knows sooo much about him and can see through him very easily... like it's bad enough that someone knows his real identity on principle (let alone the danger it poses to his cover) but the fact that it's his nemesis too... 😌😌
  • akai who knows exactly how to provoke amuro... amuro who takes the bait so readily...
  • amuro opened this conversation by targeting one of akai's identity secrets (okiya) and akai retaliates with targeting two of amuro's (amuro + furuya)... amuro can dish it but he can't take it lol
• and amuro WAS destabilised so bad by the realnaming that he even stuttered YOU REALLY HAVE TO LAUGH he must have been dying sooooo bad after this lapse in coolness. and now he's completely lost both track and control of the conversation that HE initiated, and all with little to no effort on akai's part, which makes amuro even madder about it. it is true that akai only has to exist for amuro to be like 💢💢💢 but i love when akai is affectionately lightly provoking him into it (and also when he's poking at the scotch-shaped sore spots that are really more like broken bones to make sure amuro doesn't stop hating akai on that deeper level and therefore never has reason to realise he should be directing that hate at himself)
  
  • the futilely defiant retort that is as good as an admission of loss and both of them know this... cute mad pressed stubborn prideful tsundere zeroes... <3
  • i love every time amuro calls akai "fbi" like he's too disgusted to even use akai's name and is trying to impose more haughty distance between them by reminding them both of their different organisational loyalties + how much amuro looks down on the fbi as an institution. not to keep calling amuro cute but it literally is so cute of him to be like this... To Me... and to akai
  • and as always akai wins the confrontation, i love STABLE SOCIETIES!!