Dazai yawned as he stared at the computer monitor in front of him. His head pounded as the bright, pulsating light hit his sensitive eyes.
He sat hunched over a small desk, his arms folded on its metal surface. Behind him were rows upon rows of tall, dark, box-shaped pieces of electrical equipment, dotted with small blinking lights. Within them lay vast amounts of digitized data that covered every person, place, and event in Yokohama.
On the screen before him was paused security footage of the basement in which the attack on the Black Lizard had taken place. The black-and-white image was fuzzy, but Dazai was easily able to make out the figures of the thirty Black Lizard members and the additional four ability users. The large room was almost empty, with dilapidated metal racks lining two walls and stacks of crates and boxes haphazardly positioned in the corners. Metal bars and broken pieces of wood littered the floor, along with various other pieces of trash. The walls were spattered with dirt and what looked to be dried blood, and hanging on the wall opposite to the security camera was an old clock. The Port Mafia members were gathered in the center of the room, facing outward toward the walls and the door.
Dazai hit the play button, squinting his eyes as he reviewed the footage for what he believed was the fourth time. He watched as Hirotsu turned his head sharply toward a corner of the room–the corner that was under the security camera, and which was therefore invisible. Hirotsu raised his finger, signaling his men to draw their weapons. The ability users similarly prepared their abilities, raising their hands or adopting crouched positions. Dazai watched as a dark blur darted out of the corner and weaved its way through the mass of people. He watched as every single one of the Port Mafia members suddenly collapsed as the blur passed. He watched as dark spots bloomed on the abdomens of the five ability users as they fell. And he watched as the blur streaked out the door and into the night.
A few feet to his left, Chuuya leaned back in his seat, his eyes trained on his own computer monitor. "Any thoughts on the attacker's ability?" he asked.
Dazai sighed. "At first glance, this ability could be any host of things." He stood up and walked to Chuuya's seat, positioning himself slightly behind Chuuya's right shoulder. He leaned over, resting his hand on the back of the chair, and pushed a few buttons on the keyboard. The video rewound a few seconds and then played again as Chuuya leaned forward. He pointed to the dark streak that flitted around the screen. "This could be some manifestation or offshoot of the attacker's ability, or it could be the ability user himself. We can't tell until-"
He clicked the pause button.
"-we pause it, and see that it is in fact a person."
Dazai's eyes darted down to Chuuya, who wore an expression of slight surprise and expectancy. He turned his eyes back to the computer screen. The figure on the screen was very blurry; he couldn't make out any of its features.
He continued. "This significantly narrows down the possibilities as to what the ability could be. But let's see what we can find when we slow the video down."
Dazai rewound the video again and played it at a twentieth of its regular speed. The two of them watched as the figure ran from the corner, holding a knife in his hand. Even though they had slowed the footage, he was still moving many times faster than a regular human. By now, it was clear that the figure was indeed a man. The figure had short dark hair and wore loose black clothes and gloves. He stopped at the first ability user, plunging the blade through her abdomen and quickly yanking it out. He ran to each of the remaining ability users, stabbing them in a similar manner. He then paused, ran to the side of the room, and picked up a metal pipe. With it, he smashed the heads of each Black Lizard member save for Hirotsu, whom he had already injured. After the last Port Mafia member had fallen, he tossed the pipe back where he had picked it up and ran out of the room.
Dazai paused the video again. Chuuya whipped his head around to face Dazai. The tips of his orange hair lightly brushed Dazai's fingers.
"He's got superspeed?" he asked dubiously. Dazai could detect a note of excitement in his voice.
Dazai raised his eyebrows. "Not necessarily, though it appears that way. It at least seems evident that he is somehow able to move at a much greater speed relative to his victims."
Chuuya rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Sounds like superspeed to me," he grumbled as he rewound the video again.
Dazai returned to his chair, slowing down his own video and watching it through half-closed eyes as he leaned back. He frowned slightly. Something felt off. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something distinctly wrong with the video. He idly fiddled with the buttons on his keyboard as he thought.
Again and again he watched the man run from the corner, stab several people, pause, grab a metal bar, bash several more people on the head with it, and then run out of the room. The sequence played over and over on the screen and echoed in his head. He closed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows to focus his foggy brain.
Run.
Stab.
Stop.
Run.
Hit.
Run.
He opened his eyes suddenly, rewinding the video and pausing at the moment when the figure had just stabbed the fifth person. The man's head was turned toward the wall. Dazai followed his gaze and noticed, once again, the clock hanging on the wall.
He narrowed his eyes as he played the video once more. He raised his eyebrows slowly as realization flooded his brain, and he sat up.
"Chuuya."
The redhead glanced at him, and then rose to go over to his chair.
Dazai pointed at the clock on the wall. "Watch that."
He then proceeded to play the video at its original speed. The dark blur once again made its way around the screen, but this time both teenagers were focused on the fuzzy image of the clock. Fortunately, the clock was close enough to the camera for them to make out its thin arms.
The two watched the second hand tick steadily as the Port Mafia members scanned the room after entering it. It continued to tick as they gathered in the center of the room and as they drew their weapons at Hirotsu's command.
But then they watched as the second hand began to speed up.
Starting from when the dark blur raced out from the corner, the clock began ticking at a rate many times faster than it should have been. Dazai and Chuuya watched as the second hand made its way all the way around the clock once, twice, three times in the span of a few seconds. It continued to spin rapidly as the blur moved around the screen and out the door. However, seconds after the blur disappeared, the clock abruptly slowed down and resumed ticking at a regular pace.
Dazai glanced up at Chuuya, who was leaning over his shoulder. The redhead stared at the screen, wide-eyed. He gripped the back of Dazai's chair firmly.
"What does this mean?" he demanded.
Dazai leaned back once again, tilting his head back to stare into the ceiling lights. "There are two main possibilities that could explain the clock's behavior," he said coolly. "The first is that the camera or the clock was somehow affected by the attacker's ability. The second is that someone managed to tamper with the footage before we could get to it."
Chuuya's blue eyes immediately darkened. "So you think that there's a possibility that there's a traitor inside the Port Mafia?" he asked quietly, the menacing tone of his words unmistakable.
Dazai considered this. "Yes," he conceded, "but the reality is that it's possible that both or neither of the situations I just described are true. The attacker might be a part of the Port Mafia. He might have one or more collaborators within it. He might not have any personal connections to it at all." He closed his eyes thoughtfully. "Then, there's the question of motive. It's clear that this was not a random act of violence. It's highly likely that he's working together with other criminal groups in Yokohama. Was he acting on a personal vendetta against the Port Mafia? Was it part of a calculated plan? If so, what's his next move? Is he even the true mastermind of this rebellion, or is he simply a pawn?"
He opened his eyes to see Chuuya staring down at him. He grinned suddenly.
"I lost you, didn't I, pipsqueak?"
Chuuya scowled, flicking Dazai's forehead. "Despite what you think," he snapped, "I'm actually more than capable of following your thought process." He paused. "So, what's our next step?"
Dazai stood up and stretched his back lazily. "For now," he said, grunting, "it might be a good idea to examine the situation from a different point of view. We know much more about the attacker's ability, but that's not going to be enough to track him down or to take down the uprising that's inevitably coming."
Chuuya raised his eyebrows. "So? You have a plan?"
Dazai smiled mischievously. "Of course, but I'm not sure you're going to like it."
The redhead's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"
Dazai reached into the pocket of his long dark coat and withdrew a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it slowly and began reading off of it.
"It is my pleasure to invite Mr. Hisoka Kuroi and his lovely companion to the party celebrating Mr. Kaito Takahashi's fifty-third birthday. The party will be held at the residence of Mr. Takahashi himself on the tenth day of this month."
He looked up. "Takahashi happens to be not only one of the most affluent people in the city, but also the head of one of our dissenting criminal groups. So, our next step is to learn more about the uprising and our mystery man directly from him. The party is in two days, so we have plenty of time to prepare."
Chuuya's face twisted in fury as Dazai spoke.
"'His lovely companion?'" he spat. "I'm hoping for both of our sakes that you were the one planning to dress up as a woman."
Dazai widened his eyes in mock surprise. "Me? My little Chuuya, between the two of us, you're the one who would make a much more convincing woman. But-"
He raised a finger before Chuuya could yell anything else.
"-to make it fair, we'll flip a coin. Whoever loses has to go all-out in pretending to be a fabulous, glamorous woman at Takahashi's party."
Chuuya crossed his arms, his expression still as dark as night, but somewhat appeased.
Dazai pulled a coin out of another pocket in his coat and balanced it on his thumb.
"I call heads," he chirped.
Chuuya nodded. "Then I call tails."
Dazai launched the coin several feet in the air with his thumb; the small metal disc flipped rapidly, gleaming in the harsh fluorescent ceiling lights. He quickly but subtly reached over and touched Chuuya's elbow.
It would be most unfortunate if he let Chuuya's ability ruin his plan.
***Is Dazai going to cheat Chuuya out of a fair chance? Yeah. He definitely is.
It took me a long time to sort out all of the specifics of this scene. It's unsurprisingly hard to write the thought processes of a literal genius. I used alcohol as the excuse for slowing it down.
Just a reminder: all of the "villain" characters in this story are my own; they are NOT canon. I just want to make sure that no one ends up frantically searching google for "_ bsd" and screaming in frustration when nothing shows up. Because I can definitely relate with that pain, lol.