I went back to the mafia building to report what Chuuya and I had found. It was the first time that I was alone all day. Chuuya had split before Randou's body was even cold, saying something about needing to get back to the Sheep as soon as possible to 'fix this mess.' I didn't tell him that his efforts would be futile in the end, nor did I try to stop him from leaving me there. I had no reason to make him stay with me. Chuuya will find his way to the mafia eventually, but for now, it was okay to part ways. I can survive alone for a little bit longer...
I'd be lying if I said I didn't watch him go...
It's been a long time since I've fought alongside someone that could keep up with me. All day... I felt like I was back on the first quest with Annabeth and Grover again, doing crazy shit and breaking more laws than someone our age should be. He made me want to see the end of the fight.
It was night by the time I made it to mafia headquarters. Even though the sun had only set a little bit ago, it seemed much darker now than it should, like the night was hanging from the building, consuming all that came close to it.
Staring up at the building and the office on its top floor, it felt as if there was a claw digging into my chest, pulling and shredding at the thing that used to be my heart.
Heavy gazes fell on me, weighing me down with each step, as I walked closer to the private elevator that brought the occupants straight to the floor that the boss's office is on. They're always like this. Someone who moves throughout the mafia without being an official member of it themselves... They don't like it. It's not normal. All the owner's of the gazes knew was that I've been Mori's right hand man since before he rose to power last year. I'm an oddity in their eyes. Someone that they didn't yet know how to comprehend.
Not that they'd try to anyways.
The guard standing next to the elevator barely spared me a glance as I walked up to the space next to the man. He just continued to stare forward, looking for actual threats. After all, what was a child going to do, especially a favorite of the boss. He's right to think lowly of me, my ability is my only defense against others. I don't even have a gun like everyone else in the building.
I treated him with the same attitude and pressed the button at the man's side without saying a word to him. All of the guards know who I am, and they all know that I'm one of the only people to be able to go see Mori without an appointment, and to survive when I did.
The doors closed behind me moments after I stepped inside. They clanged together loudly, the noise as heavy and damning as the closing of the doors of death. The clawing sensation worsened with each passing second as I rose higher and higher. Dread pooled at the bottom of my stomach, filling my body with irrationality. I'd never felt such an impending sense of doom when going up here before. It's as bad as my first trip to Olympus, but at least then I had three hundred floors to collect myself.
I couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go wrong, that something was about to be done that could never be undone.
It's not like I'm going to the clinic for one of his endless tests. It's just an office...
But Mori is in it, so it can never be just an office. Mori is a man that possesses an overwhelming talent of twisting everything in his presence, warping it into something... or someone... unrecognizable. He could turn a holy place into one of sickness just by stepping foot on the grounds.
A resounding ding echoed through the small room as the elevator finally reached its intended floor. I left the safety of the metal coffin, dragging my body down the doorless hallway to the office at the end of it. The guards outside of Mori's office gave me a pitying look when I went to knock.
It seems that they can feel it too...
I opened the door to the sound of pencil scratching lightly on paper. In the middle of the office, there was a blonde girl laying on the floor, colored pencils and paper strewn around her hazardously as she drew morbid pictures in it.
Elise.
Where she is, he's not far behind.
Looking away from the ability, I turned my attention to the desk nestled dangerously in the dark of the back of the room. Mori was seated there, his foul mood all but visible as it hung in the air.
It's never good when he's already angry.
There was a scalpel in the underground doctor's hand. It glinted prettly in the light as its owner twirled it around.
"Ah! Dazai," the Port Mafia boss called out, his voice too bright for the look on his face, "how was the mission?"
I looked at the psychotic smile on the good doctor's face and fought away the gnawing in my gut. Every conversation with Mori is a mind game, emotions would only get in the way here. They'd make me lose this round, something I can't afford to do.
"Dangerous," I responded curtly. It was the way that I've always spoken to the man, informal and rude, changing it up now would only be giving away how nervous I really was. "You know, the opposite of what you said it would be. But we found the truth in the end, so that's that I guess." I shrugged nonchalantly.
"'That's that'?" Mori laughed hauntingly. I watched as the man glanced around like a parent who's lost his child at the store. "Where's the culprit? Where's your partner, Osamu?"
I hated the way that the name that I'd chosen for myself sounded coming from him. It was sickening enough to make me want to change my name again.
I watched the way that he twirled the scalpel, faster and faster with each passing second.
Fuck, that'd hurt the get hit with.
The blade is thin yet sharp enough to kill, something that Mori has proven all too well on his own.
Looking the man in the eyes, I decided against trying to lie or sugarcoat the situation at hand. It wouldn't do me any good in the end. "Randou's dead; Chuuya went home," I told him in a bored voice. I stepped forward, going around the ability that was still drawing on the floor, and stepped up to the doctor's desk. I pulled out the set of instructions for the black explosion from my pocket and placed it on the desk. "Randou regained some of his memories recently and used his ability to reanimate the old boss's corpse to spread false rumors," I explained before moving backwards, stopping between Mori and Elise.
"And the King of the Sheep?"
I grinned, remembering the way that the gravity manipulator reacted each time that someone called him that.
Maybe I should have chased him down, just to see the two of them fight it out without hostages on the line.
"He didn't seem to believe that you'd let him leave again if he came back with me."
I watched the way that Mori laughed, his head hung low as his hair fell into his eyes. It was a deep laugh that shook the man's entire body. "Smart boy," he said, speaking almost too softly for me to hear. When he looked back up at me, his eyes were all but glowing in the dim light. "It's too bad for you that you weren't smart enough to follow his lead."
What?
My entire body went cold at the words, but like most things these days, I ignored the feeling.
It was my turn to laugh. "I did what I was supposed to; I found the person behind the rumors and even worked well with the insufferable punk. I don't understand the issue."
But I did. I could tell where this conversation was going, I just didn't want to believe that the man before me could be so irrational as to think the way that he seemed to be thinking. It's not like I set out to kill the man, or hand the chance to bring him in. The bastard was a sub executive for fuck's sake.
"'Did what you were supposed to'?" He asked, leaning forward. Something flew from the man's hand almost too fast for my eyes to track. Even after being away from the gods for over a year, some of my senses were still better than most mortals. It was something that I've worked with and trained since losing vision in my right eye. That was the only reason that I could dodge to the side with enough time to avoid the small blade flying at my arm. "Good dodging, it would be a shame to get even more blood on your clothes... You we're supposed to find and report the culprit, not impart your vigilante justice upon them. Now I've lost a sub-executive and a new subordinate to your deplorable judgment."
I clicked my young loudly at the already angry man. "Chuuya was the one to kill him, not me. And you'll get him in a month anyways, so, again, I don't see what the problem is."
The boss smiled an inhuman smile. "Do you know how hard I could work someone of his caliber in a month?" He smirked.
No, but I'm sure I will...
"You truly do disappoint me with your insolence, Osamu," Mori said. I rolled my eyes.
Tell me something that I haven't heard from the six schools I got kicked out of before coming here.
I watched, my eyes tracking the man as he stood up slowly from his desk and walked leisurely to where I was close to the center of the room. He didn't stop until he was a hair's breadth away from me. I could smell the cologne that he used and the scent chemicals below it. He was too close.
The sound of his voice and the look in his eyes was sickening enough to make me want to flinch back from the deranged lunatic, but I didn't. If I acted upon that instinct, it would be worse for me in the end. Besides, my family is worse than anything a mere mortal could dream to be. Mori isn't shit compared to the wrath of an Olympian god.
"I'm sad, any right hand of mine shouldn't make such rookie mistakes like this." He paused, the dangerous gleam in his eyes sharpening more than I'd seen it since that night last year. "You took something from me, the chance to publicly execute the traitor, and make an example out of him. It's only fair that I take something irreplaceable from you as well."
What is there to take?
Everything that I owned could be replaced, even the sketch book hidden away in one of my desk drawers would be an acceptable loss. There wasn't anything 'irreplaceable' for him to take from me. I had nothing to lose anymore.
"What about the drug that you promised as payment for when I finished the job?" I asked. I figured that Mori would show his hand sooner or later, all I had to do was wait him out on that front. Even though I may be giving living a shot for now, having a back up plan for when things undoubtedly went downhill and got boring again would be nice.
The being pretending to be a man laughed soulessly. "Consider that your payment for making me wait on my newest subordinate."
I couldn't help but shake my head at the senile old man. He's acting as if I should've been able to pull Chuuya away from the Sheep somehow. That I could've stolen him away from the people that he's been with and been loyal to for years.
Idiot. I'm nothing to that boy.
"You knew," Mori continued, ignoring my earlier response, "what I was doing to bring him in. Spreading rumors throughout Yokohama's gangs is not an easy thing, my dear protege. It's a fair payment for making me wait."
I wanted to scoff at the man but didn't get the chance. Suddenly, a harsh hand gripped my chin, forcing me to look the owner in the eyes. "Now," Mori said, his voice dangerously low, revealing some of the hidden anger that he'd been restraining since I walked into the room, "be a good boy and stay quiet."
Lips crashed harshly into mine. I tried to pull away, to look for something or someone to help, but I was weaker than the monster before me. The only weapon that I have would've just pass harmlessly through the soulless creature that someone messed up in classifying as human. No one was in the room to help either, not even the blonde ability that hates her master enough to help.
That was the day that any humanity left in me died.
—-
My driver picked me up outside of the mafia building sometime later, a worried look on his normally stoic face. The man didn't say anything, he never does, but when he looked me up and down, I could tell that he knew.
There was pity in his eyes, an useless emotion for someone in the mafia to feel.
We didn't speak during the ride to the junkyard, not until we parked outside the gate. He didn't rush to open the door like he normally does, instead he just sat there.
"Do you..." he started, speaking for the first time in the year that I've known him, "Do you need help getting inside?"
I considered just ignoring him, but decided to answer in the end:
"You shouldn't waste your kindness on beings like me, sir. Reserve it for the ones that can afford to be called human."
The car door closed behind me as I limped away.
—-
I arranged a meeting with a certain Port Mafia executive at a small tea shop well out of the way of the mafia and gang territories. It was a hassle to get there, the drive was too long and tedious to go regularly. But the annoyance was worth it for a safe meeting place without outside influence or spies listing in.
I walked into the shop almost a minute before the agreed upon time, ignoring the lingering pain coursing through my body. The day in the office was two days ago now, I haven't seen him or been into work since.
He really did manage to take something that couldn't be replaced after all...
"You know," a voice called out impaintly when I sat down across from them, "it's rude to leave your guest waiting for you to show up, when you're the one that arranged the meeting."
Kouyou. A mafia executive and gifted killer. Ability: Golden Demon.
Her hair was done up in its normal convent style, up and out of the way while still remaining in as much of a traditional style as her classic Japanese clothing.
"Surely Mori must have at least taught you this much, kid."
My body jerked hearing the name, flinching away from the woman across from me. It's a problem I'll have to fix before Chuuya comes to the mafia in about a month. Not that the red head boy would care, but it would be a hassle if he got bored and decided to pry into things he shouldn't.
"I'd say sorry, but I'm not," I told her bluntly. "I need a few favors from you."
I watched as the woman raised her hand delicately to her lips, the clothing covering close to half of her face. Her body shook lightly in what I assume to be a soundless laugh.
"Such forwardness for someone so rude." She leaned forward, lowering her arm swiftly and surely like she was taking out a target. The woman's eyes seemed to shine with a sudden interest. "Alright," she decided, "I'll bite. What is it that you need from me, right hand, that you couldn't possibly get from the dear boss?"
"Protection from the boss," I said plainly.
The executive's eyes widened in a shocked expression, her eyebrows rising high enough that I couldn't help but wonder if they would fly off her face all together. Kouyou seemed to school her expression into something more closely resembling amusement before responding with a simple: "Oh?"
"Not for me," I added, watching the woman raise her eyebrow slightly.
Our tea came, it was brought by a young waitress not much older than myself. The steam floated into the air as the girl stood there awkwardly. She seemed to be debating whether or not she would do something. Really it was quite annoying. In the end, the girl stretched out her hand towards me, most likely about to lean down and whisper some annoying thing into my ear. It's happened before, the women and some of the men in the city like to be on good terms with the people that they were able to identify as mafiosos. Normally, I would just slap the hand away when it came too close, but I flinched away from the girl before she could get that close.
When the sound of footsteps finally faded away, I glanced up at the woman sitting across from me. I saw a new sense of understanding in the ability user's eyes.
"Are you sure about that?" Kouyou asked, her voice notably softer than before.
I rolled my eyes at the adult, though I'm not quite sure how well it came out since you could only see the one eye. "There's going to be a punk my age coming to the mafia in about a month," I told her, pushing the tea away from me. "I want you to take him in under your guidance."
The executive could read between the lines easily enough, keeping children away from the mafia boss was the main objective here. The woman agreed without any complaints. "You said a few favors, what are the others?"
"I want you to do the same and try to get the other kids that are sure to come into the mafia sooner or later. Someone like... him... shouldn't be allowed around kids."
Kouyou agreed easily again, seeming to like the idea of the boss having more kids around him about as much as I did. "Let me ask you something then."
I looked at her, I could guess what it is that the ability user wanted to know. "Shoot."
"Why are you doing this?"
I turned away from her, looking out the window at the dark streets, at all the innocent people on them. "I'm a being born with only half a soul, created for the purpose of killing. It doesn't do one good to neglect their nature. I figured I might as well do one last thing before I give in so completely."
All demigods are good for is killing monsters, but what else is there to do when there are no more monsters to kill.
"Hmm... You're right, it dosen't do anyone good to try to live in the light when you can only bloom in the dark," she smiled cruelly at me, understandingly. "Anything else?"
I looked the woman clearly in the eyes, staring into her with as much honesty as I could muster. "I want you to teach me how to fight with a sword."
Riptide... it couldn't help me the other night, but on the small chance that I have to return to New York if I make it to see sixteen... I don't want to feel that hopeless against a Titan of all beings. Other than that, I couldn't help but want to feel a sense of control. To finally make a choice that's purely mine without outside manipulation. This... it's not much but at the end of the day it's still my choice. No gods, no titans, no bosses, just me.
"Have you ever even held a sword before... Dazai?" She asked. I noticed the switch in the way she called me, but like with most things, I chose not to call attention to it.
I could understand where she was coming from. Over the past year and a half since I left camp, I lost all of the muscle that younger me had somehow managed to build up at camp. I looked like I probably couldn't lift a sword without falling over. A fair assumption to make I suppose.
"A while ago," I told her honestly, "before I came to the mafia."
She laughed danity before we worked out a decent time for both of us to meet.
A successful day... too bad it couldn't just end there.