The buried noose | SKK one-shots

oh dazai (3) - redemption

They entered the warehouse the enemy was hiding in. It was ridiculously cold. The atmosphere was tense as the silence was too loud to handle. Chuuya was in the lead, Akutagawa on his side, while Dazai and Atsushi were watching their backs. They cautiously searched for any sight of the enemy. They found nothing in the end.

"Oi... Didn't Ango say this was it?" exclaimed the Port Mafia boss. Dazai sighed and looked all around them once again. "He wouldn't lie in a situation like this..." he pointed out. The silence was still hovering above the four men as they waited to hear anything, anything that could make them aware of the enemy's presence.

Suddenly, Chuuya's head shot up, making everyone else in the room flinch. The ground started to shake heavily underneath them. Chuuya tried shoving the boys aside when he saw the ground cracking. He only managed to push himself and Atsushi out of the inevitable fall. As that was happening Dazai and Akutagawa fell 16 feet underground.

Atsushi fell on his back with a loud thud "Ack- D-Dazai-san! Akutagawa!" he exclaimed in panic. Chuuya got up from where he fell and hurried to the albino "Are you hurt?" he asked in a stern voice, not letting his worry show. Atsushi regained his composure and stood up. "C-Chuuya-san, what are we going to do?" asked a scared Atsushi.

"Don't worry about them. They're well trained. They'll hold up until we go to rescue them." Chuuya lit up a cigarette from his pocket. "This trap was planned. There's someone watching us at this very moment." Atsushi's eyes widened as he scanned the room once again. "But how?! W-we haven't found anyone!" said the boy, still too worried to think clearly.

Chuuya puffed his cigarette before walking up to a wall and pointing upwards. "Cameras." Atsushi looked dumbfounded before shifting his gaze back to the ginger. "You knew this all along?" Chuuya put out his cigarette before walking up to the albino. "Of course."

Chuuya put one hand on the boy's shoulder before giving him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Atsushi-kun. All we have to do is secure the area and then we'll go rescue them." The latter shook his head before returning the smile. "Let's dispose of these cameras." the ginger ordered.

While that was happening, Dazai and Akutagawa were regaining their strength from the fall. "Shit..." the brunet groaned while massaging his back. Akutagawa had so much of a scratch since he used Rashomon to land safely. He'd wanted to help his ex-mentor as well but he knew that if he tried to he would have been hurt as well. "Dazai-san, are you okay?" asked the ravenette worriedly. Dazai got up and looked around "So this is where they were hiding..." he said, completely ignoring the worried boy beside him.

Dazai smirked before starting to walk in the only direction he could see. It was a long corridor that led straight to two big doors. They seemed to be brand-new, as well as the lamps on the walls that lit up with their every movement. The brunet observed the supposedly hidden cameras surrounding them. This was all planned. The two stood in front of the doors. Dazai was calculating the course of action he should take. If there was an enemy inside, they should be either ability users or skilled assassins. Either way, there was no room for failure.

Dazai pointed to the doors as a sign for Akutagawa to tear them down. He did as told and what they saw inside was unexpected. There were no skilled assassins waiting to kill them, no ability users ready to take their heads. Well, they were, but not in the form they expected. Everything in the room was stained with fresh blood. There were corpses everywhere. Dazai could recognize some of the faces. They were Visage's best assassins.

The duo stared in awe at the scene. Who did this? For what purpose? Was there someone in the building beside them? "Dazai-san... who could have done this?" There was a morbid silence filling the air as Dazai tried to piece everything together.