T minues twenty hours until the virus kicks in.
"L/N, you know Mr. Fancy Hat the best," Ranpo sighed. "What would stall him the longest?"
"Chuuya doesn't fight people with no attack capability," you began. "You need to anger him first, and your best bet is probably to torment him about losing to Dazai."
"Not a very brainy person, then?"
"No, he is, but it's like all his intelligence just shuts down when pissed," you shrugged. "You'll want to keep him angry as well. If it's Poe's novel's you're using, have the clues remind him of Dazai in any way. That should keep him busy."
T minus seventeen hours until the virus kicks in.
Present time.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Kenji yelped in pain as the bullets bounced off him. "Man, you guys are tough! Then I'll also give it all I've got!"
He ripped off an entire section of the floor, flipping it over, so that any mafioso who stood on it landed on their backs, the plate crushing them.
"Charge!" You yelled.
Yosano, Tanizaki, Kenji and you ran into the field, splitting off to fight against groups of soldiers separately. Annoyingly, many recognised you, but that's when you realised that the majority used to be Dazai's subordinates. There are great things about a boyfriend leading an assault squad. One of the many being that you had numerous people willing to lay down their lives for you at your beck and call. Now, the less amazing things just so happened to be that they would be willing to kill you. Not that you blamed them, of course, for they had all sworn their lives to you and Mori only for you to up and leave as if your subordinates meant nothing to you.
"Well fuck," you muttered, immediately having numerous guns aimed at you.
"L/N-San, run!" Yosano screamed.
"Sorry boys, we'll catch up another time," you hummed, flexing your fingers.
Suddenly, you jerked your hand back, causing all of them to stumble and fall.
"The fucker wrapped a rope around our legs!"
"An ability user!"
"Kill her!"
"To hell with the traitor!"
"No thank you," you shuddered, jumping back, leaving them in the state they were in.
Yosano pulled you behind a shield immediately, protecting you from the messy fire of snipers that were spread across the hall.
"We're being pinned down by a rain of bullets, like a butterfly in a display!" Yosano yelled into the communicator. "How is it over there, Atsushi?!"
"No clues yet," came the response. "Katai-San was rubbed out."
"Katai-" you gasped, the reality of the situation suddenly sinking in.
"Tell Kunikida, there will be more dead to come," Yosano requested. "Mourning his friend will be a luxury to enjoy later. I can't say how long we'll hold out either..."
Silence.
In a battlefield, silence was possibly the scariest thing.
You hesitantly looked up from behind the shield, surprised that the bullets had stopped coming down on you like hail during a storm. Only, when you glanced over the shield, you saw a danger far worse.
"Out of all the people," you gasped.
Kaaji Motojirou.
"I was so caught up in my research that I pulled three all-nighters and forgot to put on underwear!" He cackled. "So breezy!"
"Ugh," you scrunched your nose in disgust.
"Now's our chance," Kenji whispered. "The enemy's pulled out. If we beat him, it's a straight path to our go-"
"Mafia doesn't give up, especially not when the Boss's life is on the line," you interrupted. "This might just be the main act."
"Right! Allow me to introduce the theme of today's expreiment!" Kaaji grinned, releasing numerous lemon bombs. "We're going to see what fireworks look like... up close!"
"Don't tell me," Yosano gasped. "Are those all-?"
"Behold, 'The Lemon Runway'!" Kaaji announced. "The road I walk on is lined with explosions and explosions only!"
"We're pulling back! That guy's a walking time bomb!" Yosano ordered. "If you so much as get close to him, you'll blow up into so many pieces even I won't be able to hear you!"
"She's right," you grit out. "Everyone, pull back! Quick!"
T minus fourteen hours until the virus kicks in.
Yosano nursed Kyoka back to health, while Tanizaki and Kenji laid on the couch, still regaining their energy after being healed by Yosano. Meanwhile, you were pacing back and forth across the hall. Dazai was unable to join in the fight, since he'd only end up nullifying Yosano's ability. Ranpo was caught up in the murder mystery with Chuuya, one that was supposedly so difficult it'd take even Ranpo a few days to figure out. Meanwhile, the Mafia had Kaaji take over the entire building, making it so that if you so much as even breathed in the direction, you wouldn't survive. Of course, then there was Kunikida, who was still mourning the loss of his childhood friend, and Atsushi, who was attempting to comfort him. You were dragged out of your thoughts by a sudden phone call.
"Yeah?"
"The President... he's gone!" Lucy's voice came from the other end.
"What?!"
You clicked your tongue and hung up, turning to the rest.
"President's gone," you informed them.
"No President, no Kunikida, no Ranpo," Yosano groaned. "Next thing we know, L/N's going to be missing as well!"
"We'll split up and take on different areas each," you decided, assigning everyone their locations. "I've still got some connections to the Mafia, so I'll see if I can make myself useful there. In the meantime, keep reporting the information to Dazai as well as to each other."
With that, the five of you split up, with you heading straight to mafia headquarters. The guards gasped and immediately aimed their guns at you, most ready to fire.
"I come in peace!" You announced, throwing your gun to the side as you trudged up the stairs. "And since you can't kill me without the Boss's authority, killing me now will end up with all of you being arrested, tortured and executed under the pretext of being disloyal to the Boss!"
"L/N-Dono?" Hirotsu gaped, rushing outside. "Lower your guns!"
"Hirotsu-San," you nodded, keeping a safe distance from him. "Fukuzawa-Dono has left the sickroom of his own volition. Mori-San will have done the same, no?"
Hirotsu nodded, allowing you to continue.
"Knowing our leaders, they would have gone somewhere to duel it out, somewhere no one other than a mutual cohort has connections to," you continued. "If Fukuzawa-Dono dies, chances are, this battle will stop. We Agency folk don't fight unless necessary, and we certainly don't kill. However, if Mori-San dies, it will be all out war."
"We mafia folk are simply loyal to a fault, but clearly that aspect was missing in a few cases," Hirotsu jabbed. "But I'm glad to hear that you also believe he's gone off to protect us, L/N-Dono."
"I'm not your superiour anymore, Hirotsu-San," you grumbled. "Drop the honorific, I abandoned it along with everyone else at the mafia."
"Yet I hear that you have a soft spot for Kouyou-San and Chuuya-San," Hirotsu hummed. "This will not end unless one of the leaders die, and you clearly haven't found a way to capture the assassin either. Out of what is the most logical solution, for the family, I will have to decline any proposal for alliance."
"Vetoed," you glared. "We have found a way to track them down, something that I'm sure is being handled as we speak. With this, our organisations will not need to battle it out. Besides, the formation of the new Double Black will be beneficial for the Port Mafia as well, don't you think so Hirotsu-San?"
"Port Mafia blood, through and through."