𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 | 𝐁𝐒𝐃 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐈𝐈 - 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐈𝐈
𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟑,𝟕𝟐𝟓

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"...You want me to kill that herbalist guy?"

Smiling, Mori nodded at the fourteen year old boy. His eyes were almost soft, but it did nothing to conceal the icy coldness and evil intent that oozed out of him. "That's correct."

His answer, though obvious, didn't fail to make Dazai's brows furrow. Indeed, the man he was supposed to kill was the very same herbalist [Name] had visited earlier that day. Having watched their interaction, it was clear the two were quite close, and based on what he had gathered from his previous dealings with [Name], he had come to the conclusion that she was an integral part of the Chinatown community. 

...But what reason would Mori have to kill such a man? He had told Dazai about his trip to Lu Zhao's shop and the events that unfolded during the visit, but other than that, Mori had no other connection to the man.

And that's when it occurred to him. "I see... You're doing this because of [Name], aren't you?" He voiced his thoughts, eyes narrowing slightly before he chuckled. "Heh, no wonder you were so lenient with her behavior."

Mori hummed in return. "Well, that's not quite it, but yes—this is because of [Name]." The boss didn't need to say anything further for Dazai to understand his intentions. Mori was clearly aware of [Name]'s feelings towards him, and thus had doubts about her willingness to cooperate with future orders. By killing someone she deemed important... well, it was pretty self-explanatory.

Unfortunately, the situation was much more complex than Dazai could have ever known, but he was at least privy to the surface of the matter. "Understood." He didn't stick around for much longer after that. Mori had sent [Name] to the other side of town in order to prevent her from interfering, which also meant Dazai had to get the job done before she returned.

As he walked towards his destination, he couldn't help but wonder: how would [Name] react to finding out the man who clearly viewed her as one of his own had been killed? And by his doing, at that (on Mori's order, but ultimately the blood would still be on his hands). Would she be absolutely crushed and devastated? Or maybe she would be furious and lash out in retaliation. Either way, she would surely take a mental hit. But what else was new? It was the Port Mafia, after all. Death was a common occurrence, and assassinations like these—a means of intimidation—were not out of the ordinary either.

"Ah, welcome, welcome," the cheery Lu Zhao greeted his bandaged customer. "Are you looking for something in particular?" He had put on his customer service smile, but Dazai could tell the herbalist was wary of him. It was understandable—his appearance was indeed suspicious, especially to the man whose shop had gotten ransacked by rapscallions around his age only a few days before; it was only natural for Lu Zhao to be on guard. "Have you perhaps come for an eye ointment of sorts?"

The question caught Dazai off guard. Ah—that's right, he always wore bandages over his right eye. The herbalist must have mistaken it for an injury. Well, that made things easier for him, at least. Putting on a small smile, he nodded. "That's right. My boss just so happens to also be a doctor—he recommended this place to me. He gave me a list of different ointments that might help, so if you don't mind, I'll take a look around for these myself." Very convincingly, Dazai even pulled out a small folded piece of paper—blank, of course—and showed it off to the man.