𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢. SHINING BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND, WE'RE BEAUTIFUL LIKE DIAMONDS IN THE SKY
zero.
7 years prior
"𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐤𝐢... 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞." The confession left everyone stunned. Even Dazai hadn't seen that one coming as he blinked hard, his brain trying to wrap itself around Chuuya's statement. The warehouse went quiet a long minute as the information set in before someone spoke up.
"HA- I knew it!" Zero's voice rang out as she pumped an arm into the air.
"What did you just say?" Dazai mumbled, staring at Chuuya as the boy stood, unmoving.
"Fuckin' told you Dazai. Can't call me stupid now." Zero gloated, clearly pleased with herself as she gave Dazai a cocky look.
"I thought it might turn out to be you." Randou hummed, making everyone pause and look over at him.
So that's why he was so fixated on Dazai's bet with Chuuya. Zero thinks as she stared over at Randou. Something about the way the man looked down at any of them made her uncomfortable.
"I only have memories of one part of my life." Chuuya spoke up as Randou stared down at him with a look of greedy wonder. "Unlike you, I didn't lose my memories from trauma. My life only really started eight years ago. Before that, everything else was just... darkness. Somewhere in that darkness, I was floating aimlessly. Eventually, someone's had broke through the outer edges of that void and dragged me into the outside world... that hand... was your's, wasn't it?" Chuuya asked Randou as he looked up at the man.
Randou just smiled a creepy smile, his eyes fixed on the boy.
"Where did you find me?" Chuuya asked. "To find the answer, I decided to follow this case. Now. Tell me everything that you know." Chuuya demanded. The large room felt stiff as he spoke, and Zero swore she could smell a fight coming.
"Very well then." Randou finally spoke. "If anyone, you have the right to be informed." He said, opening his hand as a ray of yellow light formed it his palm before it shot forward and hit Chuuya in the chest.
Chuuya activated his ability but it didn't do anything as Randou's power hit him and sent him flying backwards. The ginger slammed into the brick wall and the impact stirred up dust as Dazai and Zero stared in confusion.
"What in the-"
"Why didn't his gravity powers work?" Dazai asked monotonously, though, his confusion was evident on his face.
"Unlike a bullet, the subspace I control doesn't work by the laws of psychics." Randou answered as a yellow cube appeared in his hand. The inside of the cube was his controlled subspace, and the little cube gradually sank to the floor as Randou spoke. "It is of another world entirely closed off from this one. And I alone hold the key."
The cube disappeared into the ground before yellow lights shot up all around from the ground, making yellow ripples before what felt like yellow glass shoved Zero away from Dazai and boxed the boy in while the rest of building was incased in a yellow glow.
"As such, only if I allow you to, may you enter. And only if I allow you to, may you leave." Randou told them.
"You left me outside of the subspace you deployed. Then you must know what my ability is." Dazai stated, glaring over at Randou who'd boxed the boy out.
"You son of a-" A voice hollered as Chuuya shot up from the place he'd been thrown. He shot like a red blur across the warehouse, levitating on a piece of the floor he'd broken loose as he glared down at Randou.
"That blast did kill you, huh? Nothing less from Arahabaki." Randou said as Chuuya launched at him, trying to kick Randou who dodged out of the way. Chuuya landed on the ground, skidding away as three gun shots fired, all three were aimed for Randou's head.
A subspace cube appeared, catching the bullets before they hit Randou as he turned to look back at the blue haired girl who had a gun aimed at him. When he did, Chuuya tried to take the opening and launched back up at him but Randou just stuck a hand out and Chuuya came to a stop mid air being held back by a wall of cubes formed from Randou's hand.
"Nice try. But it's no use. You can't hope to reach or hit me in this space." Randou told Chuuya as he levitated off the ground on his stupid yellow subspace cubes. "I, on the other hand, can strike you at will." He shot a cube at Chuuya, forcing the ginger to make impact with the ground. Randou shot several more at Chuuya but when he saw Zero raise her gun again, he shot several in her direction as well.
Chuuya dodged the cubes, shooting away to get out of the line of fire as he grabbed Zero's arm and yanked her behind the non-subspace cube that Dazai was trapped in.
"Oooohhh, he's tryna kill me." Zero murmured as Chuuya glanced over at Dazai.
"Every ability that touches that kid gets nullified, right?" Chuuya asked Zero who blinked and looked over at him.
"Who, Dazai? Yeah. It's the only thing he's got thats useful." She answered as she looked up to where Randou was through the yellow glass like structure he'd created around Dazai. "Randou quarantined him so he couldn't make an opening."
"His existence is truly heretical. The ultimate anti-gifted weapon. Unrivaled. Even back in the west." Randou stated, glaring down to where Dazai was.
"The west?" Dazai repeated out of confusion.
"But that's fine." Randou continued with a smile. It took Dazai a moment to react as he turned around to see a large scythe swing down at him. He jumped back but not in time as the blade struck him across the chest and knocked him to the ground.
A deep voice laughed as the scythe came up and rested on the shoulder of a man long since supposed to be dead.
"It's been a while." The man cackled as Dazai grunted in pain from were he was on the ground.
"Yeah, you look good for someone who'd dead, boss." Dazai replied as he held a hand over the gash in his chest. "Well, former boss." He said, looking up at the man with the long gray hair and a large red scythe.
"There's no way he could've hurt that idiot with a special ability." Chuuya uttered, staring at the scene as he heard Zero let out a cough next to him.
"Right." Dazai called. "His giant scythe isn't an ability at all. It's as real as you or me."
"So this guy could really kill you then?" Zero asked, she would've sounded happier if Dazai wasn't their only hope of getting out of Randou's subspace.
"The former boss is dead." Dazai stated, looking up at the Executive who floated in the air. "What exactly did you do, Randou?"
"My ability can turn corpses that reside in my subspace into supernatural being which I command." Randou informed. "The only draw back is that I can only control one at a time."
"Quite impressive." Dazai grunted out as he got to his feet. "You've been hiding that ability from the organization this whole time? Just who are you really?
"Before joining the Port Mafia, I was a gifted spy from the west. I travelled to this country to obtain a being. One with incredible power that the Japanese government had discovered."
"You came all the way from the west for this brat?" Zero asked, pointing over at Chuuya who shot her a glare in return.
"My plan from the very beginning was to kill Chuuya, in fact. And then use my powers to control him and Arahabaki from beyond the grave." Randou informed, though, his words made Zero's expression drop a bit.
"Well, I don't think I like that idea." Zero replied, her gaze on the man turning to a glare as he stared back at her.
"Zero, Dazai... If the boss were to learn what the two of you just did about me and my abilities then he is bound to have me assassinated." Randou stated as Zero wished to escape his crazed stare. "Because of that, both of you much die here along with Chuuya."
"Oh?" Zero huffed out as she doubled over, putting her hands on her knees. "Is that why it feels like a sauna in here? Can you control temperature within your own subspace too?"
Her words made both Chuuya and Dazai glance over at her. The girl was breathing hard and drops of sweat ran down her face as some of her blood veins turned a bright purple and seemed to pop out of her skin.
"You moron. Are you trying to kill us all?" Dazai demanded, turning to look up at Randou. "She'll wipe out half the city, yourself included."
"I'll have my subspace to protect me." Randou stated calmly. "However, as soon as I release the subspace around us, you, on the other hand, won't have time to get to her before she explodes and sends you and herself straight to hell."
"You're a real piece of shit, you know that Randou?" Zero snapped up at him as her body seemed to begin to steam.
Dazai stared wide eyed at the girl, his mind ticking through what to do in the moment. His eyes flicked to the old boss who stood with his scythe, to Chuuya, and back at Randou, calmly trying to calculate the next move in this game of minds.
"Chuuya. Zero." Dazai said their names calmly as he looked back over at them. They both glanced up at the sounds of their names, waiting for Dazai to speak. "I say the three of us kill these guys. Together."
"Oh? What, decided you wanna live all of a sudden?" Zero asked, mostly huffing as she spoke.
"You may not believe me but I'm actually starting to like working for the Port Mafia." Dazai told the girl, a sly smile appearing on his face. "In the outside world, death is kept away from everyday life. But the Mafia's world, death is an extension of, and even a part of everyday life. I personally find more truth behind that way of thinking. After all, death isn't the opposite of living like majority of people think it is. It's a part of the experience of life itself."
Zero stared at him a long time before she sighed and stood up. "You're right. I don't believe you. But I'd rather kill these guys then die young."
"Honestly." Chuuya huffed out. "Dazai, the suicidal maniac wants to live? You serious?" Chuuya asked, staring the boy down.
"I figure it's worth giving a shot." Dazai answered with a smile that did not match the look in his eye. "I can't promise more than that."
"You won't have to." The former boss spoke as he slashed the scythe at Dazai for the second time. But this time, Dazai managed to dodge under the blade, keeping out of it's path. "Time to die children!"
"Oh really?" Dazai taunted as the former boss continuously slashed in the boy's direction. Dazai dodged several times before he ran past the revived corpse and tried to reach Zero and Chuuya through the subspace. Before he could reach them, Randou extended bubble Dazai was in which knocked both Zero and Chuuya back.
Chuuya gracefully flipped backwards while Zero backed up so fast she tripped over her own feet and landed on her ass.
"You see it, right? What you need to do?" Dazai asked as Chuuya's gravity ability activated.
"Don't go giving us orders now." Chuuya growled in response as his body began to glow vibrant colors of red.
"I'll play distraction." Zero spoke up as a large machine gun materialized out of no where. The style of it was old and it had a strap that went around her shoulders to keep it held up right. "The more danger I'm in the stronger my gun will be. He can't fend off all my bullets forever." She stated as she glanced over at Chuuya. "If you can get me up to his level."
"Yeah. Not a problem." He stated as he put a hand on the ground.
"Plotting something over there?" Randou called, staring at the teenagers as part of the earth broke off under Zero's feet.
"Brace yourself." Chuuya warned the girl who planted her feet as the piece of earth she stood on shot up into the air and over the cube Dazai was trapped in. Chuuya's ability didn't last long on the rock but Zero landed on the bubble before aiming her larger machine gun up at Randou.
"Time to die!" She announced as she pulled the trigger back and bullet after bullet flew up at Randou.
The man repeatedly caught each of the bullets that came at him with his subspace cubes as Zero walked towards him across the subspace's surface. Each bullet was stronger than the next and as she got to the edge of the bubble, one of her bullets hit him in the shin.
Randou made a noise of surprise as his leg buckled and he went down on one knee. Zero lept from the bubble Randou was on, going to smack him with the butt of her large machine gun but one of the subspace cubes caught her gun. Randou immediately threw her off the platform and sent her flying into a wall.
Her back made hard contact with brick, knocking the wind out of her as she collapsed to the ground.
Chuuya took the window of opportunity, throwing several kicks but Randou blocks each one midair before catching Chuuya's leg in a downward kick. With his leg trapped inside a subspace cube, Chuuya had nowhere to go.
"Eight years ago, I tried to take Arahabaki as my own supernatural being. But the moment that Arahabaki emerged, it decimated it's surroundings in the blink of an eye. I won't make the same mistake twice. This time I'll make sure to end your life and then subsume you!" Randou closed his fist and Chuuya's leg twisted around itself from within the subspace.
The boy let out a yell of agony as Randou threw him to the ground. The man laughed hysterically as he formed a large cube of subspace and chucked it down at the boy. The cube was almost larger than Randou but it dispersed just as it hit Chuuya and the boy showed no sign of damage as he stood hunched over on the ground, glowing violent shades of red.
"What?" Randou uttered breathlessly. "You were able to absorb the impact by increasing your density using your gravity ability?"
"Hey." Chuuya growled up at him, keeping his head ducked, eyes hidden behind his ginger bangs. "You wanna know why I've been keeping both my hands tucked away this whole time?" Chuuya asked as the red power seemed to drip off of him as he glanced over to where Zero laid unconscious while her body steamed, ready to blow up at any moment. "It's a simple way for me to keep my cool. It helps me stay rooted when I'm afraid I'm gonna lose myself." He stated as he looked up at Randou. "But the gloves are coming off now."
"Wonderful!" Randou exclaimed. "Once I subsume you, perhaps the cold I feel will disappear."
"Let's go Chuuya!" Dazai exclaimed as he dodged the former boss's blade again. Chuuya's feet planted into the ground as he held out a hand from the other side of the subspace bubble.
"Better move your ass, Dazai, you piece of shit." Chuuya told the brunette as the former boss struck his blade down at Dazai.
"This is the end for you!" The boss exclaimed as he pushed the blade against Dazai's cast and into his chest. But the blade got caught on something it couldn't see as the cast served as a shield. The bandage on the cast fell of to show a large metal cuff around Dazai's arm.
"What?" The former boss or rather Randou was left confused by the block as Dazai bolted towards Chuuya.
"You ready?"
"Let's go!"
Dazai reached for Chuuya and like before, Randou tried to pull the barrier back but this time, Chuuya stood, unmoving. "You can't! Impossible!"
Dazai's hand broke through the subspace and grabbed Chuuya's arm, effectively breaking Randou's subspace and disabled both Chuuya and Randou's abilities. Dazai let Chuuya go and the boy's ability reactivated and he leapt up into the air.
"It's over." Chuuya stated, appearing above Randou who had fallen off his platform when it disappeared. "Not even you can escape gravity." Chuuya says before he punched Randou so hard he flew into the ground and sank into the concrete.
The old boss growled as his body began to disappear and Dazai looked back at him. "If Randou's subspace goes away, so do you." Dazai said as he watches the man disappear, leaving his large scythe behind.
Dazai stared at the scythe a moment before he the metal cuff on his arm dropped to the ground and he looked over to where Zero was lying on the ground.
The brunette let out a sigh, walking over to the girl as Chuuya lowered to the ground after having finished off Randou. Chuuya glanced over, watching Dazai squat down and place a hand on the girl's back.
The girl was hot to the touch, practically smoking at that point but she began to cool down as soon as Dazai touched her.
"Disabling your ability is always so painful." Dazai huffed as the skin on his hand is scorched by the heat coming off her body. Her large machine gun disappeared when he touched her and her body heat quickly cooled as her inner ticking bomb went back to it's subdued state. "You're such a pain in the side." Dazai added as she began to stir.
Light hit her blue eyes as she reopened them and sat straight up immediately upon regain consciousness. "Oh god." She cringed at the pain her back and the stirring in her head. "What happened?"
"We won." Dazai answered as Zero glanced around before seeing Chuuya.
"Huh. And everyone lived." She mumbled as Dazai stood up and offered her a hand. She gave him a weary and untrusting look before accepting it and letting him pull her to her feet. As soon as she was steady on her feet, the two walked over to were Chuuya was stood, staring down at Randou.
"You some kind of shitty magician now, Dazai?" Chuuya asked, commenting on Dazai's metal cuff from before.
"Really Chuuya? Did you think I was wearing a cast for no good reason?" Dazai asked, sounding entirely unimpressed as he and Zero walked up on different sides of the ginger haired boy.
"Mhm." Chuuya grunted before he glanced over at Zero. "You alright?"
Zero was almost caught off guard by the question as she blinked at him. "Who me? I'm just peachy." She answered, ignoring the pain in her back as she glanced down at Randou. "We got him."
"You'll tell us everything we want to know now, won't you Randou?" Dazai asked the man who lied nearly dead in the concrete.
"It was on that day, eight years ago, that I had infiltrated this country with my colleague and that was when it all happened." Randou answered, staring up at the ceiling.
"What did?" Zero asked.
"We came here in order to steal a being with remarkable power that was being kept in a military facility but upon reaching our target, before I was able to obtain it, my partner betrayed both me and my country. He and I fought over the entity and admist the struggle we were captured by the Japanese military. In order to escape with my life, I had no choice but to unleash you, the being I had stolen from your prison. And I attempted to use my ability to take control. But before I could react, you blew up the facility in an instant. The records were lost along with my memories."
"My name isn't Randou. Someone I met here simply mistake the type of had I wore as a rondo and that became my name."
"What happened to your partner?" Dazai questioned, staring down at the man who was slowly dying in front of them.
"I killed him with my own hands." Randou answered before he lifted his head simply to look at the gravity manipulator who hadn't spoken. "Chuuya. I suspect you are not in fact Arahabaki itself but a human vessel that was chosen to keep it restrained. You're very strong, not because of Arahabaki but simply your strength as a human being."
"Sure. Whatever." Chuuya scoffed, looking away from the man, unsure what to make of his words.
"Regardless of what's living inside of you, you'll always be yourself, that's solace enough, is it not?" Randou rambled on, looking back up at the roof as his life slowly slipped away. "Every human being, every living creature, they go about their lives on this earth without knowing what they truly are." There's a long pause as Randou sucked in a breath. "How strange. For the first time, my body feels warm."
And then his eyes went dark and his body went limp.
"How sad. He died with his eyes open."