A/N: I want to thank you all for the 360 reads and 23 votes!! XDD I didn't really think that I would cross the 350 reads mark in just a few months time o.o but I did it and it was all thanks to you readers!! I still remembered a few chapters ago it was just 110+ reads, then it jumped all the way to the 300 mark then to 350 mark :D I touched *cries* TwT
Hope you enjoy reading the chapter/story so far~~! :3
~{Edited}~
3rd Person's P.O.V
Panting from the exhaustion of running, Atsushi continues running around. Trying to find a certain someone. However, even after running and checking so many places, he had yet to see that person.
Thinking that maybe that person would be in the Agency workplace, he immediately set off towards the Agency.
Skidding to a stop at the entrance of the Agency's building, Atsushi ran in and up the stairs of the building to save time since running up was faster than waiting and taking the elevator. Finally reaching the familiar door with the Agency's name plate on the door, he slam open the door to revealed a shock Kunikida who was holding a newspaper on his hand.
"Oh, Atsushi?" Kunikida looked up from the newspaper and put the newspaper on the table and scanned Atsushi up and down. Putting his hands on his knees, Atsushi pants for air before he stood up straight and exclaimed out in a hurry. "Kunikida-san! Have you seen Akira-san?!"
"Eh? Not at all. Why do you ask?" Kunikida gave a confused look as he blinked his eyes. "I went to her dorm room yesterday night to see if she was fine, but she wasn't in. So I thought she went out for a walk and would be back soon later in the night." Atsushi rambled on. "But when I went back this morning to accompany her to the Agency, she wasn't in again. I don't think she came back home at all last night!"
"What??"
"Like I said, Akira-san is missing! I looked everywhere, but she wasn't found..." Atsushi screamed out, before trailing off at the last part.
"Maybe she left her room earlier. So when you went, no one was there. Are you sure you looked everywhere?" Kunikida spoke out, questioning Atsushi, in which he replied back with, "Yeah I did!"
"I looked everywhere!" Atsushi said before he walked towards Kunikida, who was looking at the newspaper with concentration. "Kunikida-san?"
Atsushi looked at the newspaper before his eyes widened. There, on the newspaper, was a picture of Kunikida when he was pounding on the glass tank which was filled with the four men they found previous night.
" "Victims of Yokohama's serial abduction case were found, but perished when a civilian detective agency conducted an independent raid." " Atsushi read out softly. "Perished..."
"So this was the enemy's objective." Kunikida stated out lowly.
"You're saying that they were trying to frame the Agency?" Atsushi said in slight shock as he looked at Kunikida through the corner of his eyes.
Looking away from Atsushi, Kunikida mumbled in grief, recalling the past events in his mind. "... Maybe it wasn't my time to shine, despite what Dazai said."
With wide eyes, Atsushi turned fully to face him. "Kunikida-san..." Sighing, Kunikida closed his eyes for a moment before opening it. "Where is Sasaki-san?"
"Ermm... she should be in the infirmary." Atsushi replied, before he freaked out a moment later. "Wait. What about Akira-san?!"
"We will worry about that later. We should go see Sasaki-san now." Kunikida stated, leaving no room for argument. Slumping his shoulders, Atsushi followed Kunikida to the infirmary.
Just as they got closer to the room, voices and laughter erupted from inside. Atsushi looked at door in utter confusion while Kunikida nonchalantly opened the door to reveal a happy Dazai and a laughing Sasaki.
"Oh that's great!"
"Hahahaha"
Raising an eyebrow, Kunikida looked at them both as Atsushi peek in to see what the commotion was about. "Thank you so much for saving me the other day." Sasaki thanked them yet again after a moment of silence. "If you haven't come when you did, I wouldn't be alive right now."
"Not at all." Kunikida accepted the thanks as he continues to listen to her. "Not to mention, you even let me stay at your residence last night."
"Eh?!" Kunikida let out a short gasp while Atsushi questioned her: "Where did you stay?"
Feeling embarrassed, Sasaki's cheeks flush a slight tint of pink as she looked at Dazai who was sitting beside her, next to her right. Looking at Dazai, he pointed his pointer finger at himself as he chimed with a smile on his face. "My place!"
"EH?! NANIIIIII?!!!" Both Kunikida and Atsushi exclaimed in utter shock. Sweat dropping, they continue to listen to both their conversation. "I'm... deeply indebted to Dazai-sama."
"See?" Dazai said in happiness.
Upon hearing what Sasaki said, both of the men trembled slightly. "I-is that something detectives are allowed to do?" Atsushi stuttered, not believing his ears and eyes.
"N-no." Kunikida replied back.
A moment later, Sasaki asked the three men with another question of hers, which was bothering her for a while. "Eh? Where was the girl with the heterochromatic eyes? I thought she was with you guys?"
"Oh yeah! Dazai-san, have you seen Akira-san?!" Atsushi asked frantically, suddenly remembering of Tsukiyomi's disappearance.
"Hmm? Nope, I have yet to see her at all." Dazai replied as he eyes Atsushi in confusion. "Why do you ask?"
"I can't seem to find her, Dazai-san! She has yet been home at all since she left us at the abandoned hospital yesterday!!"
"What???" Dazai asked as he stared at Atsushi. "Are you sure, Atsushi-kun?"
"Hai!"
"Maybe she went out, that's what I have told you, Atsushi." Kunikida said suddenly, earning him both men's attention. "She went somewhere first. She will come here soon anyw--."
"Yeah, I went somewhere first. That is why I'm back now." A familiar voice sound out from the entrance door of the infirmary, causing everyone to whip their head to look at that person.
Tsukiyomi's P.O.V
Limping slightly into the elevator, I slowly pressed the fourth floor with my bloodied right hand, which caused my blood to stain that button. Sighing in frustration, I brought up my hand slowly. Using the sleeve of my long-sleeve shirt, I wipe the button clean while the elevator whirled alive and shot up a few levels.
Hearing the familiar ting of the elevator as it stopped at the desired level, I held my injured left upper arm, trying to stop the blood flow oozing out from the cut wound and walked out of the elevator, limping slightly. 'Ugh...stupid bastard Port Mafia men. When will they ever give up.. Oh wait.... they can't Tsukiyomi... Of course they can't... Apparently, you're worth f**king fifteen billion... Who would give up that huge sum of money?' I scolded and cursed myself mentally as I walked into the Agency workplace.
Gritting my teeth, I ignore the immense pain flaring on my arm and stomach. 'Is it just me or does the Port Mafia likes targeting stomachs... Ugh... eww...'
Blood soaked my clothing and dripped onto the wooden floor from the big gash on my left arm and injured stomach area. My clothing was charred up from the number of bombs thrown at me, making me stink of smoke too. Sighing slightly, I slowly and carefully walk towards the Agency's infirmary to patch myself up.
'How would I patch myself without the others knowing....?' I thought as I mentally facepalm myself. 'Ermm... Worry about that later then...'
As I got closer to the infirmary, the familiar voices of people screaming came from inside, making my mood turn sour in a matter of seconds. "Don't tell me...." I mumbled.
"Oh yeah! Dazai-san, have you seen Akira-san?!" The voice was Atsushi. "Hmm? Nope, I have yet to see her at all. Why do you ask?" Dazai replied back, with a question too.
"I can't seem to find her, Dazai-san! She have yet been into her dorm room at all since she left us at the abandoned hospital yesterday!!" Hearing Atsushi say that, my body tensed as my eyes went wide, my legs stood rooted to the ground just before the entrance.
'Atsushi-kun tried finding me?'
"What??? Are you sure, Atsushi-kun?" Dazai questioned, which was replied by a "Hai!" from Atsushi.
"Maybe she went out, that's what I have told you, Atsushi." The voice of Kunikida rose up, in which my mood turned even more sour as I scowled. "She went somewhere first. She will come here soon anyw--."
Having had heard enough, I walked right up to the entrance of the infirmary and leaned on the door for support.
"Yeah, I went somewhere first. That is why I'm back now." I interrupted the people in the infirmary, in which they turned their heads to look at me instantly, shock visible on their faces. "A-A-AKIRA-SAN?!" Atsushi screamed loudly, causing my ears ring slightly.
"The one and only..." I smiled lightly as I looked at him. Atsushi walked up to me and held onto both of my arms, which caused me to wince, my face contorted in pain. "Where were you, Akira-san?! Why weren't you home since we parted at the abandoned hospital?! W--"
"C-Could you let me g-go now?" I hissed in pain as his hold on my tightened, especially on my left arm. Atsushi looked at me confused before he realised what he had been feeling on his right hand ever since he grab hold of me. He let go of his grasp and looked at his hand, which was stained the familiar red liquid everyone have in their body. "B-Blood?!"
That one word alerted the others, which caused everyone to direct their intense gaze on me. Ignoring their looks and Atsushi frantic and desperate call for help as he ran around the infirmary in circles, I walked towards one of the available beds and sat down on it, facing the others. Finally able to rest my strained and wounded body, I let out a long painful sigh of relief.
"What happened, Akira?! Why are you bleeding so heavily?!!" Kunikida walked up and stood in front of me. Feeling irritated and still hating him, I lifted my head and look at him straight in the eye. "Need not to know."
"W-What?!" Kunikida let out a huff of anger as he stared at me in disbelief.
"Tsuki-chan."
"What." I growled as I turned to look at Dazai who was looking at me with stern eyes. Not giving up, I stared back at him. This continued for a few minutes. None of us giving up or cutting the eye contact.
After a moment of staring, I rage quit and cut off the eye-contact by looking away and let out another long sigh, but this time out of frustration.
"Fine." I stated. "As--"
Before I could continue, Dazai spoke, cutting me off. "Wait."
An irk mark appeared on my head as I sharply shot back a: "What now?!"
"If you will excuse me and wait for a while..." Dazai spoke as he turned and look at Sasaki. "Miss, would you mind if you could excuse us for a while?" Dazai said as he stood up and helped Sasaki up and off the bed. "I don't mind. It seems like you will be having a small important meeting here, so I would stay outside for a while." Sasaki spoke up as she and Dazai excused themselves and walked out the door down the corridor before Dazai asked Sasaki to sit on one of the chairs in the Agency workplace while waiting.
Seconds later, Dazai came back and closed the door to the infirmary behind him. The moment the door closed, his face change from happiness to seriousness, which took me by surprise.
"Continue on, Tsuki-chan."
"I-I was attacked mid-flight to my destination." Then Atsushi, who finally calmed down, asked me a question which made a shiver run down my spine. "Who attacked you?"
"... Port Mafia." The two words rolled of my tongue like venom.
"NANI?!!!" Both Atsushi and Kunikida screamed out in utter shock. Dazai eyes widen before it narrowed.
"The Port Mafia shot me down.... What can I say? I was flying in the sky with my ability in the night. It shouldn't be easy to see me in the dark sky since my wings were of a dark colour and my clothings blended in the dark night sky..."
"Why would they shoot you??" Atsushi asked. I deadpanned and looked at him with an unemotional face. "Are you serious Atsushi-kun?" Giving me a look, I sweat-drop before commenting. "Atsushi-kun. They would shoot you too. You and I have huge bounty on our heads. Especially since mine is two times larger than yours, baka."
"AHHHHH!" Atsushi screamed out in realisation, in which I mentally face-palmed again for him being so dense.
"Then, what happened after you were shot down?" Kunikida continue to pester me to finish up. Giving him a look, I reluctantly continue my story so far. "I went down, since I was shot. From there, I crashed down hard in an area not far from here. It was night, so no one was working at the warehouses around, so I could not scream for help. Then three guys came and we just fought like that."
"How did you get the deep wound on her left arm and stomach?" This time, Dazai questioned me.
"Oh... I got caught off guard and that one guy came and tried stabbing me on my shoulder to disable me and prevent me from escaping with the knife he held. I dodged it a little too late and it cut me on my arm, and it was deeper than I want it to. The bleeding on my stomach was the second shot I took when one of the men held me in his arms." I replied as I grimace when I looked at the amount of blood on both my arm and my right hand. "The bullet went through my stomach area... And the cut is deep on my arm.. since I'm lost this much blood...I think."
"Atsushi-kun." Dazai called out for Atsushi, in which Atsushi stuttered out a reply. "H-Hai??"
"Called Yosano-san for me. We have to ask her to patch Tsuki-chan up. It would be better if she could come here fast."
The name of Yosano rolling out of his mouth, I tensed and screamed out for Atsushi before he could make the run for it. I heard from them that getting treated from Yosano is scary... The last time was because I wasn't conscious, so I didn't have to go through the feeling. But I am conscious now. So nope. I don't want to die mentally.
"Do not. I say, DO NOT, ask Yosano-san to use her ability on me. This is nothing. Just stitch it up and it will be perfectly fineeeee. I will manage. So pleaseeeee DON'T!" I pleaded as Atsushi gulped, understanding what I meant when I asked him that. Nodding his head, he ran off to get said person.
Sighing in relief, I turned to look at Dazai and Kunikida who were conversing. Then Kunikida raised another question. "How are your clothes so... charred up...?"
"Why do you care and want to know?" I snapped which made Kunikida take a step back, but he didn't lose his eye-contact on me. "Just answer the question, Tsuki-chan."
"Tsk." Clicking my tongue, I answered it. "There was this bomber guy. He created bombs... uh... lemon bombs... Yeah, lemon bombs. He threw hundreds on me." I said, adding a sigh after the last word. "It was hard trying to avoid them from blasting a hole in me."
"Sooo, all in all, there. It was difficult to run away. I sustained injuries..." I said before trailing off, feeling light-headed all of a sudden. Black stars starts filling my vision as I closed my eyes tightly.
"S-Sorry.. Talk later.. I don't feel so well now--...." Swaying, my head hit the pillow on the bed with a soft thud and went out cold even before I could finish my sentence.
## >> Time Skip >> ##
3rd Person's P.O.V
"Is it me, or is Akira-san lucky?" Atsushi voice out his opinion. "What do you mean by that Atsushi-kun?" Dazai asked as he raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean like.. this is her second time receiving Yosano-san's treatment _unconscious_. From what I heard from you all, her treatment.... kills her patients mentally... guh--" Atsushi stopped himself as he remembered the previous time when he heard Tanizaki screaming his head off in the room where he received treatment from Dr. Yosano.
"Maybe. It is better if you were unconscious when you receive treatment from Yosano. Way better." Kunikida stated, emphasising the 'way'. "Tsuki-chan will be fine if we leave her in the hands of Yosano-san. Now back to the important work we were doing." Dazai spoke up as he typed away on his laptop in front of him.
"It seems that Sasaki-san didn't see who it was. She apparently faints a lot due to anaemia. That's why she fainted the day she was abducted too. I don't know how she was abducted afterwards."
"So, she's your type?" Kunikida suddenly asked out of the blue, catching Atsushi by surprise from the kind of question Kunikida just threw at Dazai. "I like all women." Dazai replied nonchalantly. "But Sasaki-san seems like the type who had commit suicide with me if I ask, which is nice."
"Tch!" Upon hearing that, Kunikida grit his teeth together and glared at Dazai in which Dazai ignored as he shot back a question. "But what about you, Kunikida-kun? Is she your type?"
Turning his head to look away, Kunikida spoke with a crooked smile on his face, leaving no space for any argument yet again. "She is a victim in the case and a witness. That's all."
"Well, that's how you had roll it." Dazai replied, giving Kunikida a closed-eye smile. Then suddenly, Dazai turned towards Atsushi who was sitting beside him, asking him a question. "Oh, Atsushi-kun, want to read it?"
This caught Atsushi's attention as he looked at Dazai curiously, who was fishing out a very familiar green pocket book out from his coat pocket and showing it to him. "His ideal woman."
Seeing that Dazai had his hands on his precious book and passing it to Atsushi, an exclamation mark appeared on his head as he turned back to face Dazai and slammed both of his hand down hard on his desk. "You bastard! When had you swipe that?!"
Taking hold of the book, Atsushi began flipping through the pages to take a look inside. "Read? You mean it's written down here?"
Crossing his arms across his chest, Dazai spoke with a smile on his face. "Kunikida-kun's notebook has wide range of schedules, plans, ideals recorded in it." Moving in closer beside Atsushi, Dazai pointed to a specific area on the page Atsushi was at. "See, like here."
The moment Atsushi's eyes landed on that area and read it, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open while his face turned blue immediately. "WHOA!" Holding the book closer to his face, sweat dripped down his forehead as he continue reading. "T-This is too much..."
Seeing as he seen enough, Kunikida walked right up to stand behind Atsushi and took the book away from him. Glowering at Atsushi, Kunikida spoke lowly. "You have a problem with it?"
"No, I can sympathize with your vision of ideal women, but..." Atsushi mumbled as he hesitated in continuing his sentence. Then Dazai came to the rescue. "You should probably not share that vision with women." Dazai stated as he held the newspaper in front of him to read.
Gritting his teeth again in frustration and utter anger, Kunikida exclaimed out, "Forget about me! We are talking about the abductions right now! Have we picked up on anything?"
"Yeah." Dazai answered seriously, in which Kunikida also took him seriously too. That is until Dazai lifted the newspaper and pointed at the photo in which Kunikida himself was inside in at him. "In this newspaper photo, you look pretty manly."
Speaking softly, Kunikida stared at Dazai. "Is that your way of indicating that you want me to punch you?" Ignoring his question, Dazai flipped the newspaper to look at the photo with the 'judging' face on. "What's regrettable is this... You should've picked sexier eyeglass frames if you were going to end up in the news."
"They are so plain." Dazai stood up and snatched away the glasses on Kunikida, before wearing it on his face, earning a "OI!" response from Kunikida. "Only a natural flamboyant person like me could pull off wearing them."
Striking a pose by putting his hand under his chin, Dazai asked Atsushi. "What do you think, Atsushi-kun?"
"Not bad really." Atsushi replied back honestly.
Closing his eyes, Kunikida shove his hands in his pants pockets and turned towards Atsushi as he spoke. "They only scream "con man" to me... Wait.." Kunikida said after a moment of thinking.
"What's the matter?" Dazai asked in wonder. Kunikida then took his glasses back from Dazai and wore it before commanding Atsushi and Dazai. "Let's go, both of you."
Turning his head to look at them from the corner of his eyes, he spoke. "I know who is behind this." Both Atsushi and Dazai looked at Kunikida with the confused look on, though they did stand up from their seats and followed after Kunikida, who fished out the phone and called for the same person who brought them to the abandoned hospital on a cab.
"What about Akira-san?" Atsushi turned to ask Dazai, in which he replied back with a smile, "Don't worry. She is in good hands now."
Then at the corner of his eye, he caught the silhouette of someone leaning at the Agency's door leading to the other rooms that includes the President's office and the infirmary. Raising an eyebrow, he spoke. "Although..."
"Although what?" Atsushi question again as he cocked his head to one side. "Never mind." Dazai replied, not telling Atsushi of that person behind the door. "If Tsukiyomi-chan was okay by now, she would not leave us like this. Mostly likely, instead of resting like what Yosano-san wanted her to, she would come after us." Dazai replied back, as he walked slowly after Kunikida followed by Atsushi.
'That's what you will do isn't it... Tsukiyomi.' Dazai thought in his head as he gave a final glance at the same door, in which he noticed the silhouette of her was gone.
Tsukiyomi's P.O.V
Leaning against the door that would bring me to the Agency's workplace, I listened in to the three men's conversation. 'Kunikida's ideal women? Hehhh, would want to see it once. Then, I could torment him with the information I read off.' I thought as I grinned while devil horns and tail grew out from my head and tailbone respectively.
"What about Akira-san?"
Hearing my name, my ears perked up. Folding my arms across my chest, I looked at the door from the corner of my eyes, imagining Atsushi and Dazai there talking with each other.
"Don't worry. She is in good hands now..... Although..."
"Although what?"
"If Tsukiyomi-chan was okay by now, she would not leave us like this. Mostly likely, instead of resting like what Yosano-san wanted her to, she would come after us."
'Yeah... I couldn't just leave you guys. I wanted to catch the criminal in this case... for doing those kinds of stuff to people.' I thought, recalling about the incident with Sasaki drowning and the four men dying from the gas as I push myself off the door. 'I should be careful for my body and health now... Like Yosano-san said, even if she healed me with her powers, doesn't necessarily mean I'm fully healed...'
"Moreover.. I was told to rest my body for today but I sneaked out... I'm going to be so dead the next time she sees me..." I mumbled under my breath as I trembled slightly from fear of our Agency's doctor. "I'm dead..."
Hearing the three exit out of the room, I turned and face the door, opening it. Walking into the workplace area, I cross over and walked towards the exit door and open it, though I briefly stopped halfway, mumbling to myself. "Wait... How am I supposed to go after them? I can't run that fast..."
Then a sudden new idea came to mind. "Ohhh, I know." I smirked as I praised myself mentally for being smart. Self-praise.
## >> Small Time Skip >> ##
"This is funnnnn!!!" I screamed out and laughed slightly as I continue running on the roof of the three to four level high buildings in a straight line, following a certain yellow coloured cab that seated three passengers and one driver.
The idea I came up with was to use my 'Charged Element' ability. Since it had no disadvantages, that means I could use it without worrying about it much. Moreover, since electricity attracts to iron, I could attract myself to the iron pole in each building when I jump from building to building and pull myself to them, making travelling easy.
Then suddenly, the cab turned down the left side on the last traffic. 'Wait.. isn't that the way to the warehouse I was attacked at last night? .. Such coincidence.'
Jumping up and running again, I followed after the cab. Though a moment later, I skidded to a stop when I made another turn from jumping onto another warehouse's roof. "They stopped?" I mumbled as I eyed the cab from one roof away.
Moments later, I huff and sat on the roof, waiting for something to happen. "The car is there for quite a while now. Are they discussing about something?" I mumbled, my patience wearing thin.
Then suddenly at least four men in black suits and black sunglasses ran up to the cab as they held and pointed their guns at it. The clothing and sunglasses they wore, it was very obvious who they work for.
"Port Mafia henchmen?! What are they doing here?!!!" I exclaimed out, shock lacing my voice. Then they began shooting bullets at the cab. "Tch!"
Immediately I slid down the roof and ran towards the cab, activating my ability to change to another one that I wanted to use.
" 'Protect thou so thee won't die' "
Running into view and standing in front of the people who were using the cab as a shield, I could hear gasps of shock behind me as I used my ability to create a forcefield to surround the cab, protecting the people behind me.
"Akira-san?/Akira?!" Both Atsushi and Kunikida screamed my name together at once.
"Tch. Leave them alone, bastards!!" I roared in anger, my heterochromatic eyes glaring straight at the Port Mafia men. Turning to see that the driver running away while the three just crouch there, I shout at them, pulling them away from their trance. "Hurry up and move! I can't hold it for so long!"
"Kunikida-san!" Atsushi called out, causing Kunikida to look towards him. "I can't get a signal." He said as he tried dialling for the police.
"They must--"
"Jamming. They are jamming the reception." I cut Dazai off. Kunikida looked at me before turning to speak with the rest. "If we lose the driver, the truth may never come to light."
"Dazai, pursue the driver. Brat, get a hold of the police and request backup." Kunikida commanded, giving each one of them instructions before he took out his Ideal book. "I will distract them as a decoy."
"What about me?" I questioned, in which Kunikida replied back with, "We work together." Hearing that, I grinned. "Haiyo!"
"Let's go!" Kunikida screamed out, writing some words on his book before he tore the page off from the book. "Ability: Doppo Poet! Flash Bang!" The piece of paper Kunikida tore turned blue as it expanded and a flash bang appeared in his hand. The use of his ability took the Port Mafia men by surprise, making them stop their firing. Using this chance, I deactivated my ability, making the forcefield disappear. This gave Kunikida the signal to throw the flash bang at them.
Hearing the object thrown by Kunikida hit the ground, I turned and face the back so as not to get blinded by the intense light created suddenly. "Now!" I heard Kunikida screamed out, directing his command to the two men, as they ran from their position to follow the instructions given.
Opening my eyes, I turned and ran to stand beside Kunikida who stood up from the cab and fired shots at the henchmen with his gun, immobilising them from their guns. Then, something black caught my attention from the corner of my eyes which made a shiver run down my spine. Without waiting, my right arm lashed out and grabbed onto Kunikida's back collar and jumped back, which cause me to drag him backwards from his position. "What are you d--"
Before he could finish, a blood red lightning cut the cab through into half like it was butter, causing the cab to explode.
Since I was pulling onto Kunikida, I was not able to jump further back. The explosion sent us flying backwards further. Falling onto the floor, Kunikida immediately got up and sat in a crouch position, eyes scanning the fire caused by the explosion in front while I slowly stood up from the floor, my hands on my knees panting a little from the initial shock.
"Metal is fragile, and so is the human psyche. What about you all, Armed Detective Agency?"
A shudder ran down my arms as the familiar voice of the person walking towards us rung out. "You..." I growled lowly, gritting my teeth and clenching my hands into fist as they shook in anger.
"Akutagawa of the Port Mafia!" Kunikida completed my sentence, in which said man replied back with, "Indeed." , with a smile on his face before activating his Rashoumon to attack us.
Dodging all the attacks that Akutagawa's Rashoumon gave by coming after me, I glance towards Kunikida, as it seems he got most of the attacks, unlike me. Dodging and jumping, Kunikida fired a few shots at Rashoumon before an attack he didn't see came after him. Immediately, he used his gun to block the attack, but Rashoumon pushed him back and plunged him directly down onto the ground.
"Kunikida-san!" I screamed out in fright. Just in time, Kunikida appeared and dodged Akutagawa's direct attack and fired a near shot towards him, although it missed its target. It only grazed his cheek. "If you can't shoot straight, there is no need for me to devour the space around your bullets." Akutagawa spoke, looking down on the crouched Kunikida. "My hobbies don't include murder." Kunikida replied, eyes glaring straight front.
"Trifling words of a weakling." Akutagawa continues his insults.
"Tch, keep your insults to yourself buddy!" I bellowed out as I ran forward, activating my ability. "Ability: All Are but Mine! , 'No Longer Human' ! " Just in time, I touched Akutagawa's Rashoumon just as my ability activated fully. Blue lights engulfed Akutagawa and his Rashoumon disappeared. Glaring at me, he took a step forward in my direction, but stopped as the sound of something breaking behind him caught his attention.
*CRACK*
The pipe behind Akutagawa cracked from the bullet hole Kunikida fired at, and water sprayed out, splashing a huge amount of water out, drenching him from head to toe. Walking away from the sprayed out water, Akutagawa stood a few distance in front of us. I looked down and stared at the spuddle the escaping water was creating.
'Water... ?! Electricity!'
"Kunikida-san." I turn and looked towards him. "I know." Kunikida replied back to me as he swiftly wrote something on his book and tore the page off. I nod my head as Kunikida activated his ability. "Doppo Poet! Stun gun!" Switching on the stun gun, Kunikida spoke. "Come to heel, you aberrant dog."
At the same time, I change the use of my ability again. " 'Charged Elements' ! " Putting out my hand, I shot of volt of lighting at Akutagawa after the stun gun landed on the puddle he was standing on. This gave Akutagawa double the amount of current flowing into his body with my added lightning as he screamed out in pain.
Having enough of the torture, Akutagawa leaped backwards away from the electrified puddle and landed a few distance behind. Kunikida immediately took a defensive stance when Akutagawa starts glaring in our direction.
"Hehehe." Akutagawa laughed out. "What is so funny huh?" I asked darkly, my eyes glowering at him as my bangs shadowed over my eyes. "It appears the Armed Detective Agency is not merely a group of entertainers." Akutagawa replied as he grinned slightly. "You're worthy of being Dazai-san's cover."
'Oh yeah.. Dazai was... a--' The sound of the police sirens rang out from the distance as it got louder and louder, cutting my thoughts. Hearing the same thing, Akutagawa grunted. "Interference." Sighing softly, he stood up straight before looking at us. "Never mind. Our paths will cross again in the future. We will continue this another time." With that Akutagawa turned and ran into the smoke, disappearing from our view.
"Haaa... Finally... gone.." I let out a sigh of relief before I slumped down onto the ground, sitting cross-legged while leaning backwards with the support of my hands.
"Never come again!" Kunikida suddenly spoke out harshly, catching my attention. Looking at him, I snapped back, voicing my opinion, "You know that isn't true." , which made him look at me with furrowed eyebrows.
Sighing from exhaustion, I stood up and turned, walking towards where Dazai and Atsushi ran to. "We should meet up with them. The abduction case has yet to be concluded." I said, without turning back to look at Kunikida.
"Yeah.."
## >> Time Skip >> ##
Standing in front of the Habour Central Building which was glowing a deep orange hue as it reflected the colour of the setting sun, I listened to the three men standing in front of me as they explained to me about how and why the driver was the culprit. Furrowing my eyebrow in confusion, I lifted my hand in front of me, signalling them to pause. "Wait wait wait. So your saying, our.. no, the cab driver, was the culprit for the abductions all along? And that because he was put up to this, he wanted the Agency's protection?"
"Yeah." Atsushi confirmed with me. Then, I continued. "He was assured by a new-fangled organ smuggling organization that gave a very big great deal and said he would never get caught. But no, he did. And the reason he want to do this was because of cargo?"
"Yeap." Dazai confrimed. Putting my right hand on my chin, I thought briefly. "Hmm.. Cargo huh. Selling organs in black markets underground. The amount isn't a lot due to the exchange rates of some countries.. but if it was a solo work, it does pay well.... No wonder he chose this job. Hooo, didn't know he would think so deeply to get money."
"Hm? How do you know so much about it?" Atsushi asked me in confusion. "Ohh, because I saw and did them be--" I snapped my mouth shut before it could continue to ramble on... I just spoke without thinking... Dazai gave me a wary look as I tried thinking up a cover up lie.
"Hm? Saw and what?" Atsushi cocked his head to one side, blinking. "O-oh. I meant I saw before when I was small. Saw them from the photos some men passed around while I worked in bars years ago. Such gory sight" I replied back a lie quickly as sweat dripped down my forehead. 'Please don't catch onto that. Pleaseeeee..'
"Ohhh." Atsushi said as his mouth shaped into an 'O'. 'Phew...'
Not wanting to let them think about my words any longer, I went back to the previous conversation. "So, the driver said he always meet the people here. Which is why we are standing right in front of the Habour Central Building." In which Kunikida replied with a "Yes."
"Then why does he want our protection? It is not like he did something wrong in a sense." I asked, visibly confused. "Oh.. It seems that one of the people he abducted was with the Port Mafia." Atsushi replied.
"Ahhh.... Well that is bad.. No wonder the cab you guys were in previously have Port Mafia henchmen firing shots at. If he knew that that person he was planning to capture belongs to the Port Mafia, I say he is daring indeed." I nonchalantly stated as I shrugged my shoulders.
"Oh, I turned the driver over to the military police." Dazai suddenly stated as he shove his hands into his pants pockets. "Ok, good." Kunikida commented, before he and the others turned and looked at the building. Cutting the silence, Atsushi spoke. "So this is the building the organ traffickers used for their deals?"
"Seems like it." I said, before following the three men up the stairs, ignoring the police tapes taped around the building's entrance.
After climbing a few stairs and taking a few turns, we ended up finding a transparent tent room on one of the floors with no one inside. Staring at the man-made tent, Kunikida spoke. "They've already flown the coop."
"The walls' scorched black." Atsushi commented softly, turning around to take in his surroundings. Sensing the mental question in Atsushi's head, Dazai added on. "This is where the Azure King blew himself up."
"That is right." Kunikida agreed. "What?" Both Atsushi and I gasps in shock, in which Atsushi continues his unlimited questions. "You mean, the one in the infamous Azure Flag terrorist incident? That Azure King?"
"Wait wait what?!!" I said as my arms flail around in utter shock. "That is right." Dazai replied back. "A terrorist who destroyed many national and corporate facilities. From the time I heard the term, "Azure Messenger", I have been wondering if there were ties to the Azure King."
"I'd heard that the Azure King blew himself in the end. So this is the place." Atsushi said as he looked around in curiosity while I did the same too. "He committed suicide after the police cornered him, right?"
"That's right." This time Kunikida replied back, confirming his question. "I'd determined that this were his hideout and reported it to the police."
Blinking, I spoke out, giving my own question. "You were the one who found the Azure King's hideout?" But was ignored.
"But on that day, the military, the public safety bureau, and the police were all working in tandem, so the chain of command was in utter chaos. Only five detectives arrived at the hideout in a timely manner upon receiving the report." Kunikida spoke as he stared at the floor, the sun rays reflecting on his glasses, giving him an eerie aura. "To add further insult to injury, the Azure King got wind of the police's actions, and he holed himself up with a bomb. After a conflicting set of orders, a decision was made to raid. But ordinary policemen without special training or abilities didn't stand a chance." Kunikida continued on. By now, he was slowly walking his way towards the tent in front of him, with us following behind. "Cornered, the Azure King blew himself up and perished, along with the five detectives."
"I remember now, Kunikida-kun." Dazai said, as he recalled something from the past. "One of the detectives was that Rokuzou boy's father, wasn't he?" Hearing that, my mouth hung open as I gaze between Dazai and Kunikida. With his back facing us, he spoke. "He was a good detective with a strong sense of justice... I'm the one who reported the hideout's location to the police... I may as well have set the bomb off myself."
Running up behind Kunikida, Atsushi stood up straight as he spoke out loud. "That's not true! It's the terrorist fault for blowing himself up!"
"That is right, Atsushi-kun." Now, it was Dazai who spoke up. "Yet, Kunikida-kun can't stop trying to look out for the Rokuzou boy... In his deceased father stead."
Then suddenly, a 'cling' sound came from the laptop which was still left switched on on top of the table, indicating a message was sent to it. Walking over to the laptop, Kunikida turned it to face him as he opened the message box, revealing that there was indeed a message sent to it.. for us. "Another job for the Agency... The client...is the Azure Messenger..."
"I see..." Dazai spoke as he folded his arms cross his chest. "I'm starting to see who this Azure Messenger is... So? What is the job?"
Reading off the message, Kunikida spoke. "Disarming a bomb."
"A bomb?" I questioned, my eyes narrowing onto the laptop. "If we don't disarm the bomb by sunset tomorrow, several hundreds of people will die."
"A bomb capable of that can't be easy..." Atsushi said as he back step one step. "The equipment here is for building a bomb. With this setup, you could build a very advance bomb."
"That... is indeed true.." I spoke as I survey the equipment and items lying around us on the tables and floor.
Atsushi looked at Kunikida with widen eyes as he hesitated. "But..."
Seeing Atsushi tense up, Kunikida spoke up to comfort him. "Don't worry. We won't let the bomb go off... We will stop it for sure this time!"
"That means.. We have at most.. twenty-four hours before the bomb explode then." I stated as I looked out the window.
"Alright. So let's go back and discuss about this with the rest of the members." Dazai spoke as he walked off, with Atsushi following behind him.
Before Kunikida could walk out, I called out for him in which he turned to face me. "Kunikida-san."
"What?"
"Kunikida-san. Although I hate your guts, and I still do." I stated as I stared at him nonchalantly, which earned me a glare and an irk mark to appear on his head.
"But.. You're not as bad as you say you are. The bomb and Rokuzou-san's deceased father.. you can't blame yourself. It was admirable that you care for the boy, however..." At this time, I was already slowly walking ahead of Kunikida as I continue speaking. "It still wasn't your fault that you caused his father to die. Even if you were the one who told the police about the Azure King hideout's location."
Turning my head back, I look at him from the corner of my eyes. "So stop blaming yourself." I said, before turning and walking down the stairs to go back down and out the building.
Little did I know that, that one small speech I gave to Kunikida, made him think differently of me now.
(Word Count: 6936 words)