She turned away again, reaching to turn out the lamp. Just as she was about to, a knock at the window nearly caused her to jump out of bed. She grabbed the corner of the nightstand to brace herself, cutting the bottom of her palm against the edge. She bit her lip, hissing through the pain.
She could feel Dazai turn towards the noise. "Ah. Speaking of heroes..." She knew just from Dazai's tone (and the fact that he was at the window), Chuuya had returned.
Dazai rolled out of bed, walking over to the window. He opened it and leaned out as (Y/n) pulled herself out of bed. She had on a set of cloud-patterned pajamas, ones that she hadn't been able to wear in a long time. She stuck her injured hand into one of the pockets, walking over to the window as she tuned back into whatever Chuuya and Dazai were talking about.
"It's really quite dangerous for us to continue meeting like this," Dazai cooed, resting his chin against his palm as he spoke to the ginger Mafioso. "Someone might catch us mid-affair."
"Stuff it you dumbass," Chuuya hissed. His tense expression calmed as soon as (Y/n) appeared beside Dazai. "In these past few days, I've been able to collect some information regarding Aimi and her operations occurring throughout Yokohama." He pulled out a manilla folder from under his jacket, handing it to (Y/n).
She started flipping through it, finding photos of some of the kids most likely, if not confirmed, working for Aimi. As she flipped through the various documents, Dazai asked, "And what about Zack Fujinuma? Anything on him?"
Chuuya shook his head. "I haven't seen him or any sign of him. His name has been thrown around a couple times, but not enough for him to be alive or even a threat." He looked back to (Y/n), catching her attention as she looked up from the documents briefly. "Are you sure you heard him? Is there a chance that it could've been someone else that sounded similar to him?"
(Y/n) shook her head, closing the manilla folder and holding it tight to her chest. "No, it was him. I could never mistake his voice."
Chuuya nodded slightly in response. He opened his mouth to say something else, only for the three of them to stop in their tracks as they heard footsteps outside their bedroom door. They froze completely, not even breathing.
Atsushi could be heard from the other side of the door, muttering tiredly as he seemed to shuffle to the kitchen. (Y/n) could make out him saying something about "getting water" but nothing else.
After a couple moments, Chuuya quietly stated, "I've gained contact with a former member of the children's gang Aimi has been using to conduct her plans."
"Oh yeah?" Dazai chipped. "Who?"
"He told me that he helped you get your friend back a few months prior in a condemned apartment building. His name was—"
"Nico Soma," (Y/n) finished. "I'm surprised he's willingly coming back to help against Aimi."
"He told me that he has a couple friends that are still working for Aimi that he's going to get back in contact with. Apparently, most of the kids there don't like him very much."
"Well, I did meet him after saving him from a drowning attempt after he decided he was going to warn me about Aimi," (Y/n) casually stated – a little too casually. "But that was back when she was still under the guise of Usotsuki. Now that we have a name and a face – it's a little harder for her to hide."
"She's still quite good at it," Chuuya quipped. "Not better than I am at finding people though."
They all froze again as they heard Atsushi return from the kitchen, shuffling past the door as his silhouette appeared underneath. Chuuya took this as his final cue to leave.
"I'll be back in a couple days or so with more information." He reached out to (Y/n), hesitating for a moment before pulling away. "I'll see you soon."
"Chuuya—" She called out to him before he left. "Nico is the kind of kid who tends to get into trouble. Please make sure that the next time he does, it won't be his last."
"I can't make any promises..." He stopped as soon as he saw her worried expression. "But for you, I'll try."
"Thank you, Chuuya. I owe you big time."
"You don't owe me anything."
He flew off into the night. (Y/n) walked back over to the bed, sitting on her side as she opened the manilla folder on the messed-up sheets in front of her. Dazai closed the window, slipping into bed beside her.
(Y/n) flipped through the documents once again. She stopped when she pulled up a paper with scribbles on it, paperclipped to it was a small photo. She pulled the photo out from the paper, holding it close to her face as she examined it.
"What are you looking at?" Dazai asked.
"It's a photo of Nico talking to who I assume is one of the kids working for Aimi." She squinted her eyes. "I think this is the alleyway I found him in around the time Hinami was kidnapped and we had to go rescue her."
"The alleyway you knocked a kid into next Tuesday with a water-whip?"
"That's the one." She handed the photo to Dazai, who also examined it. He eventually tucked the photo back into the paperclip against the paper. "Let's look at this again in the morning. Even already beautiful-bride-to-be's need to sleep."
(Y/n) didn't want to stop. She wanted to examine every single photo and note that Chuuya collected for her. She wanted to put the puzzle pieces together and finally end this nonsense that has been plaguing her for years.
She knew Dazai was right though. She knew that even if she poured all of her time and attention into this information, she wouldn't get any closer to an answer than she would be if she slept on it.
(Y/n) gathered the papers into the folder and closed it. She tucked it away into the drawer on her nightstand. She then stood up and made her way to the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I need a glass of water."
"Thirsty?"
She turned back before she opened the door. She held up her now-bleeding sliced open palm. "Nope. Hurt."
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