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𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐏, him sighing at the failed attempt to get you to stay with him, as his two friends came over to him, completely ignoring Dazai.
"Chuuya. Finally, there you are." Chuuya took off his hood, sitting on the chair, his hands still in his pockets.
"Hey, guys. You're safe."
"Akira and Shougo were abducted by the Port Mafia." The grey-haired boy says. "Let's go to their base and deliver them some pain. Like we always do."
"Don't worry about that. We're dealing with that right now." Chuuya says, making the two confused.
"Dealing with it?"
"Yeah, dealing with it." Dazai says with a smile on his face as the two Sheep members turns to him because of his sudden interruption. "Never mind that. Could you tell me what you learned about Arahabaki? Have you discovered something?"
"Who's he?"
"Is he interested in joining?"
"Something like that," Chuuya murmurs, looking down with a sigh. "Sorry, but would you mind answering his question. Please."
"Sure, I guess." The grey-haired boy says, both turning to Dazai and talking about their findings. "Based on our investigation, rumors about seeing the previous boss or the black flames have exploded in the past week."
"What's the oldest confirmed rumor?"
"Probably eight years ago." He answers. "The giant explosion that created Suribachi City at the end of the conflict. Arahabaki didn't cause any damage before that."
"I thought so." Dazai sighs.
"Is this kid really a newcomer to the Sheep?"
"More importantly, let's come up with a plan to get our guys back. They were abducted from the factory road past the river." He says, making Chuuya perk up.
"Hang on." Chuuya stops him. "You went past the river?" He angrily stood up and began to scold them for their behavior. "You went to steal booze again?! So close to the Port Mafia base?! That's right in the middle of the conflict! It's like asking to be abducted."
"Please don't shout." The pinkette says, hiding behind the grey-haired boy.
"We're just maintaining our defensive policy, aren't we? Besides, this is a good opportunity. Lay your hands on the Sheep and we hit back a hundred times harder, right? Isn't that what you always say? That if someone has the power to help, they should fulfill that responsibility. Fulfill your responsibility as someone with an ability, please."
"Interesting." Dazai says. "You two sure are interesting. He's the one with the strongest power, yet he acts like a sheep in the eyes of wolves. It seems that leading an organization is a lot harder than you imagined."
The ginger narrows his eyes at the brunette, glaring daggers at him. "You..."
"You can't take him with you, though. He's busy carrying out the Port Mafia's orders right now."
"Hey!"
"That's impossible! Right, Chuuya?" The pinkette turns to Chuuya for reassurance, as the grey-haired boy spoke, pulling out a knife as he had realized that Dazai was with the mafia.
"Oh my, I'm scared. You got me. I'll do anything. Just don't kill me." He says, his hands up with playful sarcasm dripping in his voice. "Oh, I know. I'll ask Mori-san to release the hostages, so spare me." With his free hand, he pulls out his phone from somewhere. His sling? His jacket pocket? Who knows.
The grey-haired boy seemed to panic a little bit as Dazai opened his flip phone, readjusting his position so his back was facing the rest of them, and he began to dial Mori, pressing the phone up to his ear.
"Who told you to contact him? Dammit! Are you listening to me? Hey!"
"Hey, Mori-san?" The two start to panic once more as they realized the literal boss of the Port Mafia was on the other end of the phone. "Yeah. We're making good progress on the investigation. We're almost done. Regarding that, I want to ask for a favor. Could you release the Sheep hostages? Yup, that's right. Immediately. Unharmed. Sure. Bye."
As soon as he hung up, the two Sheep members gets a notification from their own phone. He pulls it out.
"The guards are contacting me."
"They've all been released?"
Both of them shut their phones, as the grey-haired boy asks, "What are you playing at?"
Dazai sighs in disinterest, pocketing his phone as he stood up. "Are we done here? Let's go. We have work to finish."
Before Chuuya could say anything about the fact that you had disappeared, the pinkette opens her mouth and spoke as the grey-haired boy shoved his knife back in his pocket. "Work? Chuuya doesn't do work for the Port Mafia!" She ran over to the said ginger's side, obnoxiously hugging his arm.
"Yeah. You have no more hostages."
The pinkette smiles, before making a sort of pouty face and saying, "Let's go, Chuuya." When the ginger wasn't budging, staring right at the brunette, she notices at looks up at him, expecting a response. "Chuuya?"
"Sorry. You guys go without me."
"What are you talking about?" The grey-haired boy demands of him.
"Arahabaki comes first." He shoves the pinkette's grip off of him, continuing with his reasoning. "I made a bet with him that I'd figure it out first. Also, has Y/n returned yet? I don't want to leave without them." He asks Dazai, who shrugs.
"Who's Y/n?!" The pinkette demands, before being cut off.
"More importantly, everyone's waiting for you to beat down the enemy!" The grey-haired one exclaims.
"Ugh, mortals." You murmur under your breath as you suddenly appear next to the ginger. "They never change, do they?" You scoff. "You two. Lay him off already. He has the power to decide for himself how he will use his ability. It is such a simple concept that even a child should be able to understand such a thing."
"Y/n..."
You cross your arms, your golden eyes glaring at the two Sheep members. "There's nothing to discuss here. I will not waste my time further on something as foolish as this, giving a lecture to some mortals who cannot comprehend something as simple and basic as this."
"Who are you to say something like that to us?!" The grey-haired boy exclaims.
"Someone who is above you simpletons in terms of intelligence, at least." You sneer, cocking your head to the side.
Chuuya walks away just enough to pick up your plush and your Qingxin, and walks back over to you, whose irritation went away just enough to tolerate the fact that someone was talking to you.
"Y/n, your stuff." He hands your plush to you and places the Qingxin in your hair, tucking some strands away just as Dazai had done. The pinkette glares at you, seeming jealous at the attention you got from someone you just met. You calm down a little with the kind gesture to watch over your things, enough to thank him genuinely.
"Thank you, Chuuya. I assume we're leaving now?" With a nod from the brunette across from you, you sigh. "Good. Then let us take our leave, children." You spit.
"Come on! We don't look like our ages are that much apart!" The grey-haired boy yells, irking you.
"I am much older than I look, despite my appearance. Keep that in your near nonexistent mind, you fool."
"Are the rumors actually true? That you betrayed the Sheep and joined the Port Mafia?"
"The Port Mafia has nothing to do with this. This is my own problem." Chuuya says, walking past the two and going to the door, him on your right while Dazai was on your left.
"Don't you dare forget, Chuuya! You had no family or friends when the Sheep took you in!" When he saw that you all didn't stop or even look back, he kicks something, screaming angrily while the pinkette girl fell to her knees pathetically, covering her ears.
"They're lucky that protecting mortals is my job, if not, I would have slaughtered them as I would demons." You say with an irk mark on your forehead as Dazai starts laughing heartily while Chuuya had a small chuckle come out of him at your comment.
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You sigh, looking out on Suribachi City as you were in the outskirts. You were checking out the crime scene, in order to figure out what Dazai was thinking. You wouldn't really invest your time into the thoughts of mortals, but it was necessary to solve the case and prevent humans from getting hurt– which was your job.
Thinking about the story that Randou told, you remembering every word even though it looked like you weren't paying attention, you begin to observe the surroundings, seeing if the story would have added up.
It did, until...
You narrow your eyes at something that you thought was odd. Hold up, wait a minute, something isn't right. You teleport, disappearing into wisps of black and teal, before reappearing at the heart of the city, where the explosion took place.
Since the city was built on top of the ground that took an hemispherical basin valley shape– basically an upside-down dome, you look at the top where you just came from, and that aspect of the story where he noted down the ocean's calmness– it wasn't true.
You couldn't see the ocean from there.
Soon enough, Dazai had called your name from somewhere, snapping you out of your thoughts and you teleport to him.
"You called?"
"Whoa– You actually came!" Dazai exclaims happily as you stood next to him in front of a long table, that you paid no mind to.
"Of course. You spoke my name, did you not?"
"I didn't think it would work is all,"
"When I make a promise, I will honor it." You say. Before he could say anything more, you interrupt him. "Do not speak any more, I can see it now from Chuuya's standpoint.. You're asking to get beaten up."
"Ah, ah, ah!" He taunts, making you look at him. "You can't! I have this!" He pulls out something from his jacket
"A... A sigil of permission?!" Your eyes widens, rushing towards him. "Where in Morax's name did you get that?!"
He just chuckles. "Being part of the mafia has its perks, you know. I have a sigil of permission, I gave you almond tofu, and I released you into the mortal realm, you certainly can't hurt me .. and you must protect me at all costs."
He continues to tease you, leaning into your face with a cunning smile on his face. You back away, crossing your arms once more. "Cease your teasing. It is worth nothing. Now. Enlighten me. What is all this?"
"Nothing much, but–" He adjusts something on the table. "That should do it. I can't wait. Imagine how happy that brat's going to be when he finds out he's getting such a grand party in honor of his newfound freedom. Of course, he's sharing it with you, Y/n!" He walks over to a seat at the right end of the table, you following him as he sat down.
"...I appreciate the fact you set this up with a little bit of me in your thoughts, Dazai." You say, your expression soft. 'Even when my existence is for such a lowly deed but important purpose,' You add in your head, standing next to him.
"Dazai-kun." A new voice says, making you look over to who it was coming from– Randou, who was sitting in the shadow of the room. "You said you found out who's behind Arahabaki. Is that true? Or did you lie to torment Chuuya-kun?"
"Both, of course." Dazai replies, making you deadpan. "I said that in front of him so he'd take on the bet, but it's also true that I know who's behind it."
"Oh? Who is it?"
"You, Randou-san." The man blinks for a few moments at the brunette's statement. "You impersonated the former boss and spread rumors about Arahabaki. Do you have anything to say?"
"What's your reasoning?"
"You've made a mistake. A very basic mistake."
"And what mistake is that?" He questions, before seeing the brunette turn to you.
"Y/n, do you know what it is?" Dazai softly asks you, like a teacher asking a grade schooler if they know what the answer to a question is.
"Yes. The sea. Didn't you say that when you saw Arahabaki and the black flames... 'Just the sea, in the distance, basking gently in the moonlight. That alone is vivid in my memory'?"
"I did say that." Randou says with wide eyes. "Because that's what I saw. What about it?"
"Are you sure you want us to spoil it for you?" Dazai asks teasingly.
"Tell me."
"You said you saw the sea, but it happened close to the center of Suribachi City, and Suribachi City is a hemispherical basin valley that was carved out by the explosion."
His eyes began to widen in realization, him standing up and walking toward you. "I.. I see!"
"It appears you're catching on. Moments earlier, before Dazai asked for me, I was observing the city, thinking back on what you said before I realized something didn't add up. The sea was not visible to me near the center of the city. Which means you are the perpetrator, Randou."
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- 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋 -