CHAPTER 6

"I… I… I'm so sorry!" Tanizaki cried out dramatically as his head bent over the table we were currently sitting at. Atsushi could only smile awkwardly at him, clueless on how to handle the situation.

I silently sat next to my twin with the genteel smile still painted on my face. Taking advantage of the fact that he was only slightly wary of me when I'm like this, I latched onto Atsushi's hand and sat shoulder to shoulder beside him. I was still basking in the fact that he wasn't avoiding close contact with me like he usually did back at the orphanage when I adopted this persona.

The group had moved from the 'headquarters' of the Armed Detective Agency to a quaint little cafe just on the floor below. Kunikida and Dazai had made themselves comfortable at the counter while Tanizaki and the touchy-feely girl sat at a booth with us sitting across from them.

Conversation was relatively awkward and seemed to stay that way until Tanizaki suddenly slammed down his hands and bowed his head over the table with an apology on his lips.

"Though it was for your exam, I was so rude to you and for that I am sorry." He said, slowly moving back into a normal sitting position, "My name is Tanizaki Junichirou. I work as an assistant of sorts at the agency."

My brother jerkily waved his hand with a weak chuckle, "Please, it's alright."

I nodded along, "If anything, it should be me apologizing to you. You're the one who ended up getting hurt during all of this."

"It's fine." Tanizaki shook his head with a smile of relief before turning to the smiling girl at his side, "Ah, this is-"

The admittedly gorgeous girl took that as a cue to launch herself at Tanizaki for a hug, "His little sister, Naomi."

"Y-You're siblings?!" Atsushi stared dubiously at the pair, "... I'm not sure I see a family resemblance..."

"Oh? You doubt us? Of course we're related by blood." Naomi smiled slyly, slowly stroking her hand down her brother's face. I casually let go of Atsushi's hand in favor of covering his eyes as Naomi's hand wandered further down. Tanizaki seemed to mentally die as he froze under his sister's ministrations.

"We're quite similar. Especially this part." She boldly slipped her hand under his shirt and started sensually stroking his stomach as she leaned closer to him, "Right, Onii-sama?"

"Eh? Kira-chan, why are you covering my eyes?" Atsushi asked in confusion. I smiled calmly, sorely tempted to somehow cover his ears too when the Tanizaki siblings starting making inappropriate sounds, "I'm preserving your innocence, dear brother. Take care to ignore anything you hear coming from their direction, alright?"

I had made sure Atsushi had a proper education on reproduction, but he only had the basic knowledge of what to do. He has never seen anything sexual in his life and I plan to keep it that way. No way was my little brother (by mental age) learning what incest is.

"Bu… But…"

"In any case, you guys have joined the ranks of our Armed Detective Agency." Kunikida left his perch at the counter table to walk over to us, effectively distracting us, "Do not be a burden to anyone, nor shame the agency's good name!"

His voice had raised into a yell by the end, making a point to say it in the Tanizakis' direction. He frowned at them before turning back to us, "The rest of us are committed to that, at least. Right, Dazai?"

I politely inclined my head, lowering my hand from Atsushi's face, "We will do our best not to."

The three of us turned to Dazai only to see him seductively stroking the hand of the waitress while crooning, "Would you strangle me with these fragile, delicate fingers?"

Kunikida twitched and marched back over to Dazai and delivered a merciless punch to his head, "Are you going to smear mud on the Agency's name right as I'm saying we never would?! You bastard!"

Atsushi let out an exasperated sigh as Kunikida started threatening his partner. We both shared a look at the chaos happening around us. Without anyone else paying attention to us, I let my smile drop into a more curious look as I observed the scene around us. Softly, I whispered nostalgically, "It's quite lively, isn't it?"

"Nothing like the orphanage." Atsushi said in almost childish wonder.

"Nothing like the orphanage." I agreed.

We sat in comfortable silence, content in watching everyone else, who seemed to forget about us. After a minute, Atsushi decided to speak up, "By the way, what were you guys doing before joining the Agency?"

"Hah?!" Kunikida yelled out distractedly as he attempted to strangle Dazai. My twin flinched before laughing nervously, "Uh, no real meaning behind that question, by the way…"

"Take a guess." Dazai answered airily from his position in Kunikida's hold. Atsushi stared at him in question, "Huh?"

"Oh, it's a game we play often." Dazai said, sitting backwards on the seat to face us, "The rookie tries to guess his senior colleagues' former occupations. Well, it's part of their training as private investigators."

Atsushi shot me a glance and I nodded in return. He'd be the one to do the guessing. My brother laid his blend of yellow and purple irises towards the Tanizaki siblings, "Tanizaki-san and Naomi-san are… students?"

Tanizaki blinked in amazement, "Oh, bingo. I'm impressed."

Naomi stared at him in curiosity, "How did you know?"

"I heard you were a part-time worker, and I thought you might still be a student given your uniform." Atsushi explained, slowly growing more confident the longer he spoke, "Tanizaki-san seems so close to me in age so… just a hunch."

"Honesty is a virtue." Dazai chimed in before asking in a possibly smug and teasing tone, "What about Kunikida?"

The blonde promptly spit out his drink and slammed the cup onto the table, "Who cares what I used to be?"

Atsushi furrowed his brows in thought, "A public worker… An official?"

"Close." Dazai drawled out happily, "He was a teacher. A math teacher."

"Huh…" Atsushi commented, staring intently at Kunikida. After a second, his face twitched, "I can totally see that…"

"It's all in the past! I don't even want to think about it." Kunikida grunted. I was tempted to ask what grade level he taught in. Personally, I thought middle schoolers were easier to teach, but I guess it depended on the teacher and the subject being taught. I withheld the question, knowing that asking would be weird since I was just an '18 year old who spent her entire life in an orphanage'.

Dazai looked at Atsushi, "What about me then?"

"You, Dazai-san?" He asked.

"Yep."

"Well… Dazai-san was… Dazai-san was…" Atsushi's face scrunched up adorably in concentration. Kunikida adjusted his glasses, "Don't bother, brat. His former profession is one of the seven mysteries of the Armed Detective Agency."

"The first person to get it receives a reward, right?" Tanizaki piped in.

My brother and I perked up at the mention of a reward. Was the reward money? If so, how much? Were we paid upfront if we were to get it right? Any source of money was happily accepted when it came to our current situation. We were completely broke.

"That's right." Dazai sighed as if it were some burden, "No one has been able to guess right, so the reward's just ballooned.

"B-By the way…" Atsushi began, anticipation obvious in his voice, "How much has the reward ballooned to, exactly?"

"700,000 yen total."

Atsushi made a strangled sound while my expression turned calculating. 700,000 yen. If I handled the expenses right with food and lodgings at the bare minimum including what we get for working with the Agency, we would be able to sustain ourselves for… a couple of years! That would give me enough time to secure a job and add a steady income into our account. Of course, handling the paperwork was going to be challenging, but I could make it work.

Atsushi's eyes lit on fire with determination as he jumped to his feet and started naming occupations in rapid fire.

"Atsushi-kun looks excited." Tanizaki said dryly with a deadpanned expression. Naomi mirrored his face and tone, "His determination is admirable."

The siblings stared at my brother in disbelief, sweatdropping as Tanizaki's brow twitched, "It's all random…"

"I bet you were just wandering around doing nothing." Kunikida said from his seat. Atsushi turned to look pleadingly at me and my mouth opened before I could even process what I was saying, "Undertaker."

Everyone stared at me.

When my words registered into my brain, I blushed and coughed into my hand, "Sorry. I was reminded of someone- Don't mind my answer."

I was incredibly thankful when Dazai continued on with the conversation. Going silent once more, I stared intensely into my cup of tea. Why an Undertaker? Even as I asked the question, I already knew the answer. It was because Dazai reminded me of- no. Happy thoughts.

Futons.

Stuffed with feathers.

Bliss…

I picked up the cup and took a long sip, easily stuffing my inner turmoil into a locked chest I had no intention of addressing in the near future. Letting out a long exhale, I painted on a carefully crafted smile and closed my eyes.

The conversations flowed around me until Tanizaki's phone went off. I kept my eyes closed as I listened. It seemed there was a job and that the client was already at the office. Everyone stood up to leave.

I opened my eyes when I felt Atsushi grab my hand. He smiled at me, "Let's go."

I nodded, "Alright."

~.~.~.~

The client was a tall blonde woman with short hair and hazel eyes. She was dressed professionally and sat as straight as a rod, her posture unrelenting. I carefully eyes her from my place next to Kunikida.

Something wasn't right with her.

Not once did her expression change throughout the meeting. Not even when Dazai knelt before her, grabbed her hand, and proposed a double suicide. She didn't bat an eye when Kunikida dragged Dazai into a separate room where we could clearly hear the beating taking place. Yes, she reacted when Kunikida uppercutted Dazai across the room and when she described the situation for the case, but her eyes didn't change.

They were blank, not necessarily cold, but detached from the situation. Just like Dazai's when he fought Taiga.. Just like-… she wasn't a normal civilian.

I stood to attention when Kunikida declared that Atsushi was to join the case about the smugglers. I firmly said, "I will go with him."

The blonde glanced at me before nodding in agreement, "Tanizaki, go with them."

"If he's going, I'm going too!" Naomi chirped, pulling Tanizaki into a painful looking hug.

With that, we dispersed. I silently followed Atsushi as he was directed to pack the camera equipment in the office. He let out a shaky breath, his eyes burning with anxiety. I was nervous too. This would be the first time I'm doing something like this.

"Oi, brats." Kunikida walked over to us with his journal in hand. We stared at him in curiosity.

"It's not that I lack sympathy for your unlucky, ill-begotten life." I silently bristled but immediately clamped down on my anger as he kept talking, "As such, I'll give you one hint for surviving in this city."

Kunikida pulled out a picture of a man in a black trench coat with short, dark hair, "Don't run into him. If you do, run."

Atsushi solemnly took the picture and studied it, "Who is he?"

"A mafioso." Dazai answered. My hand reflexively latched onto Atsushi's wrist as I gritted my teeth at the mention of that word, "Mafia…"

Dazai watched me as he leaned on a desk, "Though we call them that because we don't know anything else."

"They're a vicious criminal organization who claims the port as their territory." Kunikida added, "They're called the Port Mafia. They're the most dangerous bunch in the underground world of this city. The person in the photo is a dangerous man that even the Agency cannot reach."

"Why is he dangerous?" Atsushi asked in apprehension.

"Because he's gifted." He answered, "His ability happens to be of the ruthless sort, specializing in slaughter. Not even the military police stand a chance against him."

Akutagawa.

That was his name. A damned mafioso. A worthless piece of scum tha-

"Kira-chan, you're hurting me." Atsushi suddenly whispered in a strained voice. I flinched when I realized I had his wrist in a vice grip and promptly let go. He sent me a worried look, but I shook my head and put on a smile.

He knew not to push further.

The day seemed to blur as I followed after the group with the blonde, who's name I didn't bother remembering, leading at the front. I did my best to follow the conversation between Atsushi and Tanizaki as we walked through the city, but it just wasn't happening.

Memories from a time long gone were threatening to resurface and I was doing all I could not to become emotionally unstable (there was already too much pent up anger). That always ended in blackouts and the results of said instances were never morally good. I hated it when I regained consciousness only to remember nothing from minutes prior. It left me feeling incomplete.

"We're here." The blonde said, snapping me out of my thoughts. She was standing in the middle of an alleyway, gesturing towards the left of us were another alleyway made itself known. I quietly followed them into the darker alley.

"It's kinda creepy." My brother muttered. I paused in my steps and looked ahead of us.

It was a dead end.

"That's strange. Is this really the right place?" Tanizaki asked in wonder, but his voice had a strange lilt to it, "Umm…"

"It's Higuchi." The blonde answered. I took a second to note the name before disregarding it completely. I took a few steps closer to the woman who was standing at the mouth of the alley we were in.

We were at a dead end and an unknown was at the opening. We were effectively trapped, assuming we couldn't overpower her. I learned from the first time around to automatically assume she was armed in some way, so I didn't go within her reach.

I didn't bother to listen to the conversation going on between her and Tanizaki. The moment she greeted someone on her phone by the name of Akutagawa, I knew the bitch was from the Mafia. By the time her hands moved to pull out guns, I was already in position, my hands held firmly over my ears. I heard my brother scream something, but it was drowned out the moment she pulled the trigger.

Bang after bang, the muffled sound of metal casings was all I could hear as they hit the ground one after another. My body jerked every time a bullet pierced my skin, but I didn't scream. I couldn't feel them, even as one went straight through my heart. I was numbed.

By the time the blonde bitch stopped, we were left in a ringing silence.

"A… Ak-A… Aki-ra…" My brother's breath hitched in horror as I spat out a glob of blood. I chuckled weakly as my white blouse became completely soaked in red, the blood pouring onto the ground in an endless flow. Could I be healed with this many bullet wounds?

"D-on… Don..t… w-wor...ry…" I managed to say to my brother before I tipped over, dead before I even hit the ground.

"AKIRAAA!"

Not a second later, I was back in the Void. I jerked upwards with a loud gasp as I tried to stop my heart from beating out of my chest. My hand clutched the fabric over my heart, shaking as I willed myself to calm down. I let out a shaky chuckle, "I didn't black out… I didn't black out…"

My body slumped onto the ground as the statement repeated over and over in my mind. I didn't black out before I died. Thank god.

Letting out a sigh, I gave a mental thanks to Mira for having the foresight to preemptively numb my pain receptors. I can't imagine the pain I would've had to experience had she not done so. I'm immensely grateful that Mira even had the ability to do so.

Cracking my neck, I took off into a run and crashed into a blinding white light within seconds.

I soon found myself back in my body, disoriented, but completely healed. My clothes were plastered to my skin and I inwardly mourned for the loss of such a nice outfit. It was comfy too…

My body gave the slightest twitch when a pained gasp came from beside me. I opened my eyes in the tiniest slits to see who it was without betraying my current living status. It was Naomi and judging from the red patch she was currently stemming at her side, she got shot. The wound wouldn't be fatal so long as she got medical attention soon.

Or me. That works too.

I didn't even have to devise some intricate plan to initiate skin contact without letting the blonde bitch know I'm alive. Naomi was clutching my hand desperately and I was oddly touched that she cared enough to cry for my 'death'. Almost subconsciously, I gave a reassuring squeeze just as Mira started the healing process on Naomi.

I'll keep your nociceptor numbed until the end of the battle. I must warn you though, the strain from all of this will cause you to faint once it starts working again. Be prepared for that.

"A-Akira-chan?!" Naomi squeaked, too shocked at my revival to notice the sudden lack of pain in her side and the fact that the bullet wound had completely disappeared. I thanked my lucky stars the loud guns prevented the blonde bitch (and the boys) from hearing Naomi's exclamation.

It's only been a couple of seconds since I died, I didn't really miss anything. But my brother's mental state had been compromised and I needed to fix that. I found that chance when Tanizaki revealed his ability, illusions. He would cover for me.

I immediately sat up, ignoring Naomi's strangled yelp. I silently dragged her farther from the battle and tucked her into the corner of the dead end. I shot her a stern look, "Stay here."

Without another word, I ran to my brother.

"Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead." Atsushi seemed to repeat the mantra with wide, unseeing eyes, "Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead-"

"Tsu-kun." I said softly, putting my hand against his cheek. He didn't react. "Tsu-kun, please."

"- Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead-"

My throat constricted at the sight of my broken brother. I pulled him into a tight and desperate hug, whimpering out, "I'm here. I'm right here, Tsu-kun. Please, come back to me. I'm here. Alive."

"... Not… dead…?" He croaked out, his hands gripping my clothes like a lifeline. I tightened my hold, "I'm alive, see?"

Atsushi hesitantly pulled away from the hug to look at me. His eyes intensely searched my own before he let out a relieved sob, pulling me back into an embrace, "D-Don't you ever do th-that again! I thought I l-lost you…"

"I'm sorry." I whispered, stroking his back.

We both jerked back in shock when Tanizaki's body suddenly went flying. I quickly jumped to my feet and stood in front of my twin protectively. I hissed at the newcomer, "... Akutagawa."

"Fear death. Fear slaughter." He intoned, his face devoid of any emotion as the black and red lightning-like tendrils that attacked Tanizaki returned to him, "Those who desire death have an equal desire to die. Therefore… "

I gritted my teeth and tensed as he got closer. Atsushi trembled behind me, terrified out of his mind.

"It's nice to meet you." He said, "My name is Akutagawa, one of the Port Mafia's dogs, as is she."

The blonde bitch took one look at me and gaped, "Impossible! You-You died!"

I sneered, "As if a pathetically imbellic, trigger-happy bitch like you could ever kill me."

Any curses I planned to throw at her immediately died on my lips when Akutagawa reached out and backhanded the blonde, "I believe my orders were to take the weretiger alive! And yet here you are gunning everyone down. You useless cur! Stand down."

"I'm sorry." It was the first time I saw an emotion flash through her eyes and it was filled with shame.

Atsushi grabbed my hand and I squeezed it in support. He moved to stand beside me, his face set in a look of determination, "T-Take the weretiger alive? What are you after?"

"My target has always been you and you alone, weretiger." Akutagawa answered, ignoring my existence, "Your fellow agents lying there were caught in the crossfire."

Atsushi flinched, "This is because of me?"

"Indeed. This is your karma, weretiger. You will cause ill for everyone around you, just by being alive."

"Utter bullshit." I squeezed Atsushi's hand tighter and practically growled out, "I refuse to let you Mafia scum take another brother from me. If you want him, you'll have to get through my cold, dead body."

"Rashoumon."

I didn't even have a chance to react before my body was flung across the air with a gaping hole through my stomach. I slammed into the hard concrete floor, leaving an indent as I skidded to a stop. "Gahk!"

"AKIRA!" Atsushi screamed, trying to run over to me but was stopped by Akutagawa.

I let out a hiss as I pulled myself up, "M-Mir...a…"

With a groan, I succumbed to the darkness, but hightailed out of there and into the light within the same second. With a huff, I pushed myself up again and stood back up.

Akutagawa was still focused on my twin, "I intend to take you alive, but if you insist-"

I stared in horror when Atsushi took a running start at Akutagawa. I was about to run and stop Atsushi but quickly froze when he suddenly turned into Taiga mid leap in a burst of light before diving at the man with a roar.

I could only stare in shock at the battle before me. Since when could Atsushi control the transformations? How? I thought Taiga could only come out under the moonlight! Did… Did seeing me die multiple times somehow trigger the transformation?

I shook my head. Either way, I would only get in the way if I tried to help him. Instead, I ran over to Tanizaki's fallen form and started dragging him towards the wall. Naomi quickly ran over to help and we managed to prop him up where Naomi was previously. Breathing heavily, I held his head up with my hands, "Mira!"

Akira, you may not feel the strain right now, but you've already overused the ability.

"Light to thy path. Wind to thy wings. Dreams to thy heart." I recited from somewhere with a tired chuckle, "I like to think it means to let me do what I want."

Very well.

Naomi looked at me weirdly, but I ignored her like I did the destruction happening behind me.

Your body will be put into temporary paralysis, but you'll stay conscious.

I focused on the tingling feeling that ran through my arms. With a deep breath, I halfheartedly mumbled the name I gave the ability, feeling slightly embarrassed by it, "Light, Wind, and Dreams."

Unlike the flashy lights from last time, this demonstration was much more tamed. At first, nothing seemed to change, so I removed my hand from his face.

Then I noticed the kanji of Light, Wind, and Dreams imprinted on his cheek like some tattoo. What was fascinating was that the words seemed to be made up of thousands of smaller kanji scrambled together.

"Huh…" I breathed in wonder. As if my voice was the signal, the tiny kanji quickly dispersed to various parts of Tanizaki's body, clustering around his wounds. I couldn't help, but oogle as the kanji pulsed a subtle black wave before sinking into his skin and disappearing. Seconds later, his open wounds seemed to mend together and his bruises melted away. The only hint to his previously injured state was the bloodstains.

Was it always like that?

Yes. It's just that you usually don't remove your hand until after they sink in, so you didn't notice until now. It's also because, so far, the wounds were hidden by clothes.

Naomi immediately checked Tanizaki over before sighing in relief. She smiled tearfully at me as she cradled her still unconscious brother, "Thank you."

"No prooobbbllegh…" My words suddenly slurred together as I fell back with a thump.

Ah, right. Paralysis. Damn.

I was kind of expecting Naomi to call out my name in worry, but she ended up saying someone else's instead, "Dazai-san!"

Then she fainted.

What?

It's a side effect. Nothing to worry about.

Riiiggghhhht.

I sighed.

I could definitely hear Dazai now, which was a good thing since his ability would render Akutagawa's useless. Unfortunately, I fell in a way that kept me from seeing anything happening behind me. Which was everything.

Thankfully, I could still hear. I was still debating if that was a good thing.

I learned my brother had a seven billion yen bounty on his head.

That Port Mafia was a large and powerful operation.

That said operation declared war on the Armed Detective Agency.

That…

That Dazai was once a part of the Mafia.

It was at this time that Mira chose this as the perfect time to reactivate my nociceptor. It's safe to say I promptly passed out from the onslaught of pain.

~.~.~.~

The subject didn't destabilize.

It's a pleasant surprise.

Hopefully it will stay that way and progress.

There is no guarantee it will happen again.

Then we'll make it happen.