Wilted Flower ~ Chuuya x Reader

Chapter 23

Y/n POV:
"The goal of our mission is to prevent any terrorist attacks prior to the other side of the page being filled in, in addition to the recovery of said page. However, as wanted criminals, the Detective Agency can't act in plain sight. That's where her special ability comes in," Ango says, gesturing towards Lucy. "By placing the two of you to Anne's Room created by her ability, you will be able to infiltrate undetected. She will be the heart of our operation," he says, referring to Atsushi and Kyouka.

"The two of us? Are you not coming with us, Y/n-san?" Atsushi asks me.

"Unfortunately, no. I have my own manner of business to attend to, plus I need to report back soon since I was supposed to be back already. We will meet again though, just much later. Until then, stay safe," I say, beginning to walk away when I suddenly remembered something. "Oh, wait. A word of caution. The Huntings Dogs will stop at nothing to find your whereabouts. They will find a way to figure out where you guys are headed so be prepared for that," I say as I bid them farewell and head on my way to the Port Mafia headquarters.

"Before you go, can I ask why you won't tell us the identity of the leader of the Decay of the Angel?" Atsushi asks, causing me to stop.

"A key future event relies on you figuring it out at the right time, with all the pieces leading up to that discovery. I don't know how telling you now will affect those leading events," I say without turning around.

"So, you're afraid," Ango states, the silence becoming ever so deafening.

'I know. I already knew that. I don't need to hear that from you. I've always been a coward, always choosing the safest option. I never took risks, believing that the worse-case scenario would always happen if I did.'

"...yes. I'm afraid. I'm afraid of ruining everything, of making things worse. I don't know what risks I should or shouldn't take," I explain.

"But if we know ahead of time, we would have the advantage, right?" Atsushi questions.

"For the most part, yes. I believe that there are more pros than cons in knowing their leader. But in the end, it's up to you to tell us," Ango answers.

I was torn between the two options presented before me. Should I tell them who it is in hopes that it'll improve our situation? Or should I let them figure it out on their own and let the storyline play how it's supposed to?

Eventually, I came to a decision.

"I'll tell you, but I need you to promise me that you'll act like you don't know. It's safer if they believe that we're clueless," I finally say.

"Ok. Are you sure though? Do you want more time to think it over?" Atsushi asks.

"I'm sure. It would be a shame for my knowledge to be rendered useless, especially if it might make things better for us," I paused for a moment before saying, "The leader of the Decay of the Angel is... Fukuchi Ōchi, captain of the Hunting Dogs."

"WHAT?!?!" everyone shouted in unison.

"I know people call him 'The Man of a Hundred Faces' but this takes that to a whole different level," Ango says, astonished.

"Isn't he supposed to be like some kind of war hero? Someone trying to bring peace to the world, or something like that?" Lucy asks.

"Technically, you're not wrong. He is trying to achieve world peace, but the plan he has is the result of his twisted idea of peace," I explain.

"Do you know what his plan is?" Kyouka asks.

"He plans on creating a vampire infection to get the Order of the Clock Tower to hand over the 'One Order' in order to stop the infection, but he's actually going to use it to control everyone on the planet. Basically, world domination," I explain.