"Good morning, are the patients in-" you began, only to be interrupted.
"It's the Consigliere!"
"Boss-Dono didn't inform us of a routine check!"
Pure panic.
"Enough," you sighed, lifting your hand up to silence them all. "I'm here to visit two patients, Hirotsu Ryuurou and Akutagawa Gin. They were brought in on Tuesday, are they awake?"
"Oh, right this way ma'am!" The recptionist beamed, guiding you along the halls.
As soon as you got to the room they were both kept in, the recptionist left you alone. You knocked on the door, peeking your head inside before fully opening it.
"L/N-Dono," Hirotsu noted, surprised. "Did Yosano-San get out?"
"She did," you nodded, setting a small basket of food down. "There's also a traitor in our ranks, but I unfortunately don't have the permission to disclose any further details."
"That must be how they got past the bomb Tachihara set up then," Gin hummed. "L/N-San, why are you cutting that?"
"Don't look at it like it's poison, Gin," you laughed dryly, sliding a plate of apple slices her way. "Did either of you need surgery?"
"Yeah, I was completely destroyed by the blade," Hirotsu groaned. "I assume things are only stacking up, at headquarters?"
"I'm so busy I had to fake three meetings just to get out," you sighed, handing him a bowl of fruit. "I'll also be confiscating your cigarettes, Boss wants you in top form as soon as possible."
"Very well," Hirotsu grumbled, handing you his cigarettes and lighter. "Here's your ring, by the way."
"Thank you," you smiled, pocketing all of it.
"Wait, that's the one I bought you with my first big salary!" Gin realised.
"It wouldn't be befitting of a potential to throw away something a dear student bought, hm?" You hummed, sliding the ring back onto your finger, where it belonged and continued to peel an orange.
"So you're back for good?" Gin asked.
You pursed your lips, glaring at the fruit in your hand.
"Hirotsu-San, give me a debrief," you requested, changing the topic.
Hirotsu explained everything, from how they were suddenly surrounded by the Hunting Dogs, all up to their escape at the very end. Since their seperation, Gin continued the story, retelling as much as she could until the point she passed she passed. Of course, you'd already heard the rest of the information from Yosano and Ranpo, so you didn't need to dirty your hands further.
"I see," you hummed.
However, before you could continue, you were interrupted by a phone ringing.
"My phone's likely being tracked, choose your next words wisely," you began as soon as you picked up.
"Hey, how fast can you get here?" A familiar voice responded. "It's an emergency."
"Are you alright?" You checked, packing your things. "Anyone hurt? Dead? Do you need backup?"
"No, no, nothing like that!" He reassured. "Just get back to base, you've got.... a visitor.."
With that, you hung up, turning to the two patients in front of you.
"What was that about?" Gin blinked.
"I'm needed at headquarters for some reason," you sighed, grabbing your handbag. "I'll have to take my leave for now, give Tachihara my regards if he drops by!"
With that, you rushed back to headquarters, thoughts flitting through your mind at a million miles per hour. It was a quick walk through the underground system, thankfully bringing you right to their location. You swiped your keycard and let yourself in, dropping your things off at Chuuya's apartment.
"Ryuu," you gaped, seeing him at your kitchen table. "I didn't know you were coming over, did we have plans for lunch?"
"No, I just wanted to give you something," Akutagawa mumbled.
"Okay, set it down on the table, I'll get something to eat," you nodded.
"I've already made lunch," Chuuya hummed, setting out three plates. "I didn't interrupt anything important when I called you, right?"
"Just visiting Gin and Hirotsu in the hospital," you nodded. "Are you fine though? It's just this visit?"
"Akutagawa, kid, are you sure about this?" Chuuya checked, glancing over at the taller male.
"Dazai-San involved me in a plan against the Conjurer, Dostoyevsky," Akutagawa blurted.
You froze, looking at him, eyes wide.
"He wants me to support the weretiger from afar, until I get a signal to join," Akutagawa continued. "Dazai-San said... he thinks I'll be able to find my reason to live if I do so."
Truth be told, you didn't date Dazai out of love.
But after an undercover mission, where you were forced to put your.... charm.. to good use, the idea of romance disgusted you entirely. For some reason, the only person who understood was Dazai, since he'd gone through the same at times.
The solidarity that came from both of you being forced to do things neither of you wanted to, was one both of you mistook for love. Even when the two of you had never felt the emotion, both of you knew that what you felt for one another was stronger than anything you'd ever felt for anyone else before.
Chuuya was the only one who wasn't surprised.
Oda and Ango were supposedly shocked that someone with a personality as terrible as Dazai's had even managed to find a partner, let alone a partner who was a future boss candidate.
The two of you went strong for three years, with the only arguments being that of how Dazai raised Akutagawa and how you raised Gin. Both of you weren't good teachers, that much was clear. Akutagawa was amongst the strongest in the mafia, someone with a lot of tactical intellect, while Gin was one of the deadliest, who were sworn to protect the Boss and his chosen leaders. However, when you first took them in, Akutagawa would mindlessly slash at people while Gin would overthink about each move, exactly the opposite of what you needed from them. You had to rip them of their very own nature, and build up from there to mould them into the people you needed them to be.
Ideally, Gin with all her tactical intellect, should have been born with Rashomon and her older brother should have become the assassin.
But in the Port Mafia, there is no such thing as ideal.
If there was, you wouldn't be pacing in Chuuya's apartment, controlling yourself from throwing and breaking something. Chuuya didn't even dare to move a muscle. While he was the one who got angry the fastest out of the three of you, the one time he'd seen your rage, it would have easily levelled an entire state. That made him somewhat glad that you weren't the one cursed with an ability like Corruption. The two of you could only assume that Dazai's rage would be even worse when he finally let it seep through the cracks, and that in itself was a terrifying thought.
"I'm going to kill him," you decided.
"No you're not," Chuuya said, glaring up at you from the kitchen table.
"How would you even manage to do so, L/N-San," Akutagawa reminded, glancing up at you. "We don't know where he is-"
"I got information from Special Divisions, I know where he is," you glared. "Mori-San does as well."
Akutagawa stayed silent, looking back down at the table.
The kitchen table had a bouquet of blue hyacinths, which Chuuya had carefully placed inside a vase. Next to it, was an envelope, its contents yet to be revealed. Your name was scratched into the parchment in neat cursive, not a single ink blot tainting the cream-coloured paper.
"Dazai's plans are annoying, they always work," Chuuya sighed. "You of all people know that better than anyone, why don't you trust him?"
"Because Ryuu could fucking die doing this!" You groaned.
"But Dazai-San never sacrifices lives," Akutagawa reminded. "He must either be desperate, or he knows I won't die."
"If he knew you wouldn't die, you wouldn't be standing here with a final letter and a bouquet to go along with it," you glared. "You know there's a high chance you won't make it out alive."
"Well what the hell do you want us to do about that, Y/N?" Chuuya snapped. "It's not like you can overrule the mackerel, because knowing him, he'll just find another way to involve the kid!"
You let out a defeated sigh.
"Stay alive, report to me at the end of each day," you requested, squeezing Akutagawa's shoulder. "If it's an impossible fight, distract the opponent, and run. I don't want you dying yet. Got it?"
"Understood," Akutagawa nodded.
"Good," you breathed out. "Where to first?"
"An undercover mission to the Sky Casino."