"Hey, Fuku, I'm back with the cake!" Ranpo said, holding two plates: one for him, one for Fukuzawa. "Fukuzawa?"
He looked around, finding Fukuzawa's toys, but not Fukuzawa. He put the cake on a table and begun to look for the boy. "Hide and seek? That's unusual from you, but okay, let's play."
Ranpo searched under the sink — there was a bit of space under there that Fukuzawa was capable of crawling under — and inside it — inside the cabinet under it. He searched the fridge — thank goodness he wasn't there — and every little possible spot there was. No signal of him. Ranpo left and searched for him in the dorms, no sight of him. Either he was really good at hide and seek and Ranpo didn't know, or something bad happened.
"C'mon, Yukichi!" Ranpo called. "Don't you want some cake? Dazai is very capable of stealing it if we leave it for too long!" and that wasn't even a joke, it already happened a few times.
"Yukichi?" Ranpo called, worriedly, as he searched the last dorm of the ADA.
This is not Hide and Seek. He's gone for good.
Ranpo ran towards the main office, bumping onto his teenage co-workers and mafiosos that were there and chatted as they waited for the adults to finish their meeting. All eyes turned to the desperate Ranpo in such a hurry. He practically banged Atsushi's office's door when knocking repeatedly.
"Nakajima-san! Nakajima-san!" Ranpo shouted.
Kunikida pulled him back carefully. "Hey, Ranpo, calm down," he said. "Nakajima is in a meeting right now. What's going on?"
Ranpo looked at him, not calm at all. "Something very bad happened!"
"Did your candy stock end?" Dazai asked, teasingly.
"No! It's worse!"
The members looked visibly shocked. Something worse than losing candy to Ranpo?
The door was opened, Atsushi looked down to Ranpo and Kunikida. "What's wrong?"
Ranpo looked at him. "Fukuzawa's gone! I looked everywhere for him! I think he was kidnapped while I was gone!"
Atsushi's eyes went wide. "What?!"
"But who and why?" Kunikida asked, just as shocked.
"I don't know!" Ranpo said. His breath was slowing, the panic got to his head to the point he couldn't think, at all. This was a humiliating state to him, but he couldn't bother with that now, he was too busy trying to remain calm, sadly failing.
Atsushi lowered himself and held Ranpo, hugging him. "We're going to find him, okay?"
"We'll find him, Nakajima-san, don't worry!" Kunikida assured. "We'll bring him back, Ranpo."
Yosano put a hand on Ranpo's shoulder, he flinched at the sudden contact. "Hey, how about you eat that cake and then you calm down? That way you can figure out where he went."
She was right. Ranpo could find out where he was. He may not have an ability, but his intelligence was beyond any level. He took a deep breath, then nod. Atsushi let go of him.
"I'll go back to the meeting, knock if you need anything," Atsushi stood up.
"The meeting is over," Akutagawa said.
Atsushi looked over his shoulder, back at him. "No, it's not?"
"Nakahara, Odasaku, Ozāki, you both will help them find the kid," Akutagawa said.
"Yes sir," Odasaku said.
"Good excuse to get away from babysitting Mori again." Chūya whispered.
"Who?" Kunikida asked.
"Ōgai Mori," Kōyō Ozāki replied. "He's. . . Not the best kid."
"And where is he?" Dazai asked. Kunikida gave him a look, already aware that for some reason, he had a certain familiarity with the Port Mafia, so he probably knew the child.
"At the headquarters, with Elise," Akutagawa replied. "Unless they're still shopping around town."
"He was complaining that he couldn't come to meet your child," Gin said.
"Which conveniently just disappeared. . ." Higuchi said, pensively.
Ranpo didn't need his intelligence to figure out what was going on anymore, those simple sentences put all the pieces he needed. "This Mori kid kidnapped Fukuzawa!"
"Oh gosh, I knew you shouldn't have let him leave the headquarters. You know how he is!" Gin scolded her brother.
"Hey, don't blame me, that was Elise's idea! And he wouldn't shut up nor stop complaining if she didn't say that." Akutagawa defended himself.
"Okay, let's not fight," Atsushi said. "Let's divide in search parties, Kunikida, you and Daza—" he looked around. "Where is Dazai?"
"Over—" Kunikida turned his head. "Here? Where did he go?!"
"Either running away from work, or doing his usual," Yosano said.
Kunikida grunted. "Not again!"
Chūya gave Kunikida a sympathetic look. "I feel you,"
"I'll go after him. . ." Atsushi said, in a tired tone. "Kunikida, you can go with Odasaku and Nakahara instead. Sounds okay?"
"Perfect," Kunikida said.
"Let's go, guys," Odasaku left with the two.
"Yosano—"
"I'll go with Yosano!" Kōyō exclaimed. Yosano blinked in surprise, but didn't complain. The two left.
"I'll go with you," Akutagawa said. "Higuchi, follow Gin and the Black Lizards."
"Yes, sir." Higuchi nod.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"You are adorable, Fukuzawa!" Mori exclaimed.
"Um. . . Thanks?" Fukuzawa still wasn't happy with any of this. The boy looked fun, and he was nice, but he would have preferred to not have been tied to a chair.
"Okay, so, here comes the fun part," Mori said. "When the knight approaches the cave, he finds a big, red dragon, with eggs and a big treasure!"
"Eggs? Like its babies?" Fukuzawa asked.
"Yeah, her eggs," Mori said, as if that was unimportant.
"It's a mommy dragon, how sweet."
"That doesn't matter!" Mori bursted. "What matters is, she has a treasure! And you, as the knight, need to take it."
Fukuzawa raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because that's why you came to the cave in the first place! Your family needs money, and you found money. So take the money." Mori explained.
"Do I have to fight the dragon for it?" Fukuzawa asked.
"Yes!" Mori crossed his arms. "Have you never played knights before?"
"Not like you are playing." Fukuzawa said.
Mori sighed. "I'll let it slide because it's new to you, and you're my best friend!" he smiled. "So, the dragon is asleep, which is the perfect timing!"
"For what?" Fukuzawa asked.
"To kill it!" Mori said. "Kill the dragon and take the treasure!"
Fukuzawa shook his head. "No."
Mori frowned. "Why?"
"Her babies will be alone," Fukuzawa replied. "I don't want to be a mommy murderer."
When Mori asked for a pure soul, that was not what he meant.
"Her family is not important, what about yours?"
"There are better ways than killing someone for something."
"She's not human, so why care?"
"Because she's a living being with kids!"
Mori groaned. "You know what? Fine." he looked at the table between him and Fukuzawa. "The dragon wakes up, and because you didn't do anything, SHE ATE YOU! You're dead."
Fukuzawa looked scared. Especially because Mori slammed his hands on the table as he screamed. "Want to go back now?"
"No."
"Why are you so kind?!" Mori asked. "You'll end up killed!"
"No, I won't!"
"You died because of your kindness," Mori said. "You can die in real life too."
"Dragons don't attack people if they don't do anything,"
"Then why did the dragon eat your knight?" Mori asked with a sly smile.
"Because you are mean and made her do it." Fukuzawa replied.
Mori frowned again. "This is not about me."
"Yes, it is. You're a meanie."
"Elise!"
Elise, who was sitting on the side doing her nails, sighed and looked at Mori. "What?"
"I'm done playing, I want cookies." Mori demanded.
Elise stood up and used her free arm to let Fukuzawa out of the chair, then held him by the back of his yukata and pulled him up. "Don't even try to run away, little boy," she threatened.
"I—I won't!" Fukuzawa promised, being dropped and landing on his feet afterwards.
She picked up Mori. "Hey, pick him up too!"
"I'm old enough to walk," Fukuzawa said. "I can just follow you."
Mori pouted. "Are you saying I'm a baby? I'm older than you!" he then stopped to think. "Wait, how old are you?"
"Seven." Fukuzawa held Elise's hand, who gave it to him as he spoke.
"Yes, I'm older," Mori proudly stated.
"Why does that matter? You still act like a baby," Fukuzawa azked.
Elise snorted. Mori frowned at him. "I—I do not!"
"Then why don't you walk?"
"Because being carried is way better, and saves my energy for playing." Mori folded his arms. "If you were carried as much, you wouldn't look so tired."
"I look tired?" Fukuzawa looked down.
"A bit," Elise replied. "But it's okay, that's normal." from the situation he was put through with Mori, which Elise had no choice but to help.
She took the two to the kitchen, put Mori down and let go of Fukuzawa's hand. Mori smiled at Fukuzawa. "After we eat, we can play tag!"
Fukuzawa tilted his head. "Tag of two?"
"Three! Elise is playing too!"
"Is she?"
"Am I?" Elise asked.
Mori glared at her with his hands on his waist. "Guess I am, then."
He smiled again. "And I will be it first! So you better run."
Fukuzawa took a step back. He takes this games a bit too serious.
Meow.
The two kids followed the noise with their heads. Mori smiled. "Hey, it's the stray cat that Odasaku took in!"
Fukuzawa's eyes glinted. "Cute. . ."
Mori approached it. "Wanna pet it?"
"Can I?" Fukuzawa asked, knowing most of stray cats were aggressive with strangers.
"Yeah," Mori held out his hand to pet the cat. It hissed and scratched him. Mori pulled his hand back. "Ow! You stupid cat! You're not violent with Nakahara or Odasaku!"
"Maybe it just doesn't want to be petted?" Fukuzawa asked.
Or maybe it doesn't like Mori. Elise thought.
"No, it's just being a brat," Mori looked around and found a rock with a few crystals (Higuchi's gift to Akutagawa). He took it and raised his arm. "I'll teach it a lesson!"
He lowered his arm. His eyes went wide.
He didn't hit the cat.
Fukuzawa stood between Mori and the cat, his forehead had blood, his own blood. His eyes shut tight and a whine of pain escaped. He was standing a bit lowered to cover the cat, but now he fell back, standing next to the cat without touching it. He opened one of his eyes, almost crying.
Mori blinked, unconcerned for the wound, but curious on the action. "Why did you do that?"
Fukuzawa opened both eyes. "Why did you do that?!"
"You got on my way." Mori defended.
"You were trying to hit a cat!" Fukuzawa refuted.
"It hit me first!"
"So you beat it with a rock? You could accidentally kill it!"
Mori stopped, then shook his head as if he was dealing with an ignorant child. "Fukuzawa, Fukuzawa, you're too kind," he said. "You need to learn a lesson."
Fukuzawa's eyes went wide. "Wh—What?"
"Elise! Pick me up, forget the cookies." Mori said. "Take Fukuzawa too."
Elise gave a pitiful look to Fukuzawa. The kid gulped, he knew he promised to not run away, but at this point, he didn't trust this kid anymore. He raced out of there, being chased by Elise and Mori. Elise was faster (because Mori wanted her to be), and she caught Fukuzawa. He struggled and hit her, trying to free himself, his tears of pain were turning into tears of panic. Elise picked up Mori, who crossed his arms like an authority dealing with a stubborn servant.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Mori shook his head. "You shouldn't have done that."
"Leave me alone! Let me go!" Fukuzawa kept struggling.
"No, I won't," Mori turned to Elise. "Elise, get the chair, tie him up again."
She obeyed, then picked up the chair and flew with the two kids.
"Where are you taking me now?"
Mori smiled. "To the river."