Database flashed an image of the camera and (Y/n) scowled as she saw a familiar mafioso walking into a tunnel that would lead to the temporary headquarters.
Not good...
(Y/n) watched as a red-haired, fancy-hat-wearing mafioso strutted down the tunnel that leads to the Agency's temporary base of operations. She had seen this very man exit the building she had rescued Dazai from just a week prior, and he was currently one of the few executives in the Port Mafia that Dazai told her to beware of.
Why the hell is Chuya Nakahara on his way to the Agency in the middle of the day? What on earth is the Port Mafia planning?
She could see on another camera that the group gathered in the temporary base was not paying particularly close attention to the camera feed in front of them.
Ranpo was eating his snacks, Yosano was laying her head down on the makeshift table/pew, and Kenji was looking at a plant with his cute admiring expression plastered on his rosy cheeks.
At this rate, they wouldn't know the beast was on his way there until he started to destroy the tunnel...
(Y/n) acted quickly and sent a notification to the security system in hopes that the alert would catch someone, anyone's, attention. Finally, after a few moments of small talk amongst the agents gathered in the room, the muffled and microphone-scratched voice of Ranpo finally spoke up.
"Uhh, I think we should call back the defensive teams. We have company."
(Y/n) exclaimed, "FINALLY, YOU LUNATICS NOTICED!"
After she made sure the members at the base knew of their incoming company, (Y/n) pulled out her phone and dialed the suicidal detective to update him on everything she had just found out.
Riiinnggg...
Riiinnggg...
"Come on, pick up the damn phone!"
(Y/n) was tapping her foot nervously as she examined the cut wires of the sensor in front of her and waited for Dazai to pick up her call.
Riinnn-- CLICK!
"Yes, (Y/--"
"DAZAI SOMEONE HAS SABOTAGED SOME OF THE SECURITY EQUIPMENT HERE AND NAKAHARA IS ON HIS WAY TO THE TEMPORARY BASE!"
Dazai was driving a car with Atsushi seated beside him and (Y/n)'s panicked voice caused him to slam on the brakes and make a risky U-turn in the middle of the street. She was panicking, and he didn't like hearing those tones of fear and uncertainty in her normally calm voice. It made him uneasy.
"Calm down, what do you mean the equipment is sabotaged?"
"There are two sensors behind the house which have wires that were cut recently, both sensors had the same wires cut--clean cuts. The wires that were cut were sitting above all of the leaves and weren't muddy, so they had to have been cut recently. Plus, two cameras overlooking the back yard were practically destroyed. The camera out front was unplugged, but there are no sensors out front because of the road. Dazai, someone made two blindspots in the security system before we got here! It's like someone knew we were going to be here! I'm not crazy, right? This is too much of a coincidence!"
Dazai pressed on the gas and began to speed in the direction of the woman as Atsushi yelled, "D-Dazai-san!? What's going on."
"(Y/n), get Haruno and Naomi in the car, now. Drive somewhere, anywhere. It doesn't matter where, just drive for at least an hour before stopping. We don't know if the saboteur is nearby or if they are waiting to strike some other time. I'm going to call the President and see what's going on at the Agency, then I'll call you back with a plan. For now, focus on getting out of there and I'll let you know what I hear from the President. You're resting, right? You're not overusing your ability?"
(Y/n) practically yelled into the phone, "Roger that, and I'm barely using database right now so I'm basically resting."
"(Y/n), we said to rest--"
"Ah, you're breaking up!"
She cut off Dazai's chastisement and hung up the line as she sprinted back towards the house.
She busted open the side door and up the stairs to the two women before she swung open the bedroom door and said, "Get your stuff, we're leaving!"
The pair was looking at a calico cat on a computer screen when (Y/n) busted in. The urgency and seriousness behind her words startled and confused the pair, but they followed her orders and all three began to haphazardly throw their items into their bags before they shoved them into the car and sped off.
Haruno was the first to question the anxious woman in the back who stared intently at her smartphone in her hand.
"(Y/n), where should we go? We were positive no one would find us here."
"Honestly, right now anywhere but here is better. I thought the security system was just old and needed to be repaired a bit, but when I took a look at things, it looked like someone had tampered with it. This was recent but was made to look like it was old and failed on us, or that some kids ruined it."
Naomi looked back at the woman as she was watching the live feed from the Agency cameras on database with a focused expression on her soft features.
"(Y/n), who is that on the camera?"
(Y/n) sent a questioning look to Naomi before she realized, I never put privacy mode back on...
"His name is Chuya Nakahara. Daza--Osamu says that he is a gravity manipulator and an executive in the Port Mafia. Don't worry though, he isn't at the old base to fight, he actually says he's leading some of the Guild members into a trap with some good bait. Says it's a gift for Fukuzawa from the Port Mafia Boss. Whatever that means..."
Naomi tilted her head to the side as if it would help her hear easier as she said, "Why can I see it, but can't hear anything they're saying?"
(Y/n) moved a strand of her hair to the side to reveal her AirPods nestled into her ear as she said, "I'm playing to these right now."
"Oh, okay. Let us know if anything happens, okay? Anything at all, even the slightest detail."
(Y/n) nodded to the ravenette before she said, "How about I just repeat it all to you?" She began to summarize everything being said and played over the cameras she was spying on--directly against Dazai's wishes of her to rest.
"Chuya says, 'I promise this bait that the Guild wouldn't pass up.' The President looked at Ranpo and nodded just now, I think he's asking him to use his ability to figure out what the bait is. Poor guy, he doesn't even know that his ability is all the power of that mind of his..."
...
...
...
"Oh, well that actually explains a lot..."
Naomi turns back around to look at (Y/n) as she asks, "What explains what?! You just stopped talking!"
(Y/n) looks up from the screen and says, "I know why the security system was messed with, we were the bait. The Port Mafia sent the Guild after us to get the Agency to deal with them instead of using their own men. What I don't know is how the Port Mafia knew about this place though..."
Both Haruno and Naomi screamed out, "WE WERE GOING TO BE USED AS BAIT!?"
(Y/n) nodded her head before she said, "That's exactly what Yukichi said. It's a brilliant plan though... The only faults in it were that they didn't expect someone to look at the security system, other than that every base was covered. Do you know what that tiny detail being overlooked leads me to believe?"
The two women frantically said, "No! What does that mean?! Is it a good or bad thing that it was overlooked?!"
(Y/n) smiled and smirked as she laughed out, "It a good thing. It means there really is no history of me at the Agency yet, I practically don't exist in connection to it. We should be safe at my apartment because no one knows about me, and I can kill all the cameras in the area for about an hour so we can't be tracked through them. Now, head towards the Agency, Miss Haruno! The longer we spend here, the closer the Guild gets to finding us!"
Haruno nodded nervously and said, "Are you sure we're going to be okay, (Y/n)? What if they find us again?"
(Y/n) frowned and said, "Don't worry so much, you'll get wrinkles. Besides, if they happen to find us, I still have my ability. I'll protect you both, no matter the cost."
Naomi sighed in relief before sinking into her seat as she said, "I almost forgot about the other things you can do, (Y/n)-san. Your ability is pretty amazing, right?"
Even if Naomi was calmer now, (Y/n) could still see an uncertain look in Haruno's eyes through the rear-view mirror. (Y/n) leaned forward and set a hand on Haruno's shoulder before she said, "Haruno-san, you've never seen my ability in action until last night, have you? You don't think I have offensive strategies, do you?"
Haruno sighed and said, "Am I that easy to read?"
(Y/n) nodded her head as she leaned back in her seat. "You're an open book. Trust me, but... my ability is rather terrifying when the situation calls for desperate measures. Even Naomi hasn't seen my offensive codes, just the defensive."
Naomi turned and stared at the girl wide-eyed as she said, "S-so you're telling me when you fought Akutagawa in the alley for us that day, that you weren't even using your strongest attacks?! No way! You're so cooooool~"
Haruno also spoke up and said, "Sorry for doubting you, (Y/n)-chan. I'm just a bit scared is all. This is all a first for me, I've never even been in the field, and now suddenly we're targets."
(Y/n) sighed out, "We're targets, but I won't let anything happen to you two. I promise, okay?"
Naomi whispered out, "So cool~"
As Haruno was slowly getting more and more comfortable with the situation, a familiar yet still new ringtone chimed into (Y/n)'s Airpods.
She quickly accepted the call, "Da--Osamu, what's the situation."
"Listen closely, Rampo deduced that the Guild is closer to you three than you think. Don't worry, Kunikda and Junichirou are actually in the area and are heading over to the safehouse. You should see them passing sometime within the next 10 minutes, so keep an eye out for Kunikida's car. Leave it to Mori to never skip a detail, but there is a train that is planning to leave a half-hour from now. It's stopped at the bottom of the hill, but you have to pass through the woods to get there. Atsushi and I will be awaiting your arrival at one of the station--"
"What if the train is a trap? This is all too convenient. Dr. Mori could have left a Port Mafi Agent on the train to kill or capture us--"
"(Y/n), please just do it. Right now that is your only option. We have no idea where the Guild agents may be, and we don't have any idea bout their abilities--"
"I know about most of their abilities so--"
"Can we please stop cutting each other off, (Y/n)? Listen to me, please just get the both of them onto that train."
Just as Dazai was asking her that question, the car came to a sudden stop.
(Y/n) was pulled from her phone call by a scream from Naomi and Haruno. "What's wrong?!"
Haruno and Naomi simultaneously yelled out, "R-Roots?!"
(Y/n) brought the phone to her mouth before saying, "I've got to go, Dazai. I promise I'll get us onto that train."
Just as she was about to hang up on the man he yelled into the phone, "Do not do anything reckless! Okay?!"
She locked the device before she yelled to the other two women in the car, "Roots, you say? We're at a disadvantage then if this is who I think it is..."
(end chapter)