CHAPTER XII (12)
Into The Unknown
Alu just kept running, her eyes stinging.
Why were they stinging?
What the hell was wrong with her?
She didn't know if she'd angered that guy by running off but she really wasn't in the mood to be babysat. Seriously, she said she'd consider their offer so what was up with all the stalking?
Actually, now come to think of it, she wasn't even 18. Why would they be asking her to join some government agency at her age?
She panted hard, slowing down finally, turning down an alley. She blinked. Oh.
She recognized this area.
It was her old hang out spot. Somehow she'd auto piloted here.
She groaned. This would be an obvious place for her to get caught. Time to leave before she got caught again.
"Ah, so you did come here," a familiar voice piped up from behind her. She blinked, looking over her shoulder. There, leaning against the wall, holding a mystery novel, smiling at her, was Ranpo. She looked glum.
Oh great, this guy, she grimaced, thinking that she'd ended up walking right into one of his deductions. "It wasn't on purpose," she huffed, crossing her arms, glaring at him.
"Actually, it kinda was," Ranpo replied, turning a page of his book, not looking at her. Alu twitched. This guy had such a matter-of-fact attitude. It really was irritating. She didn't like people that acted like they knew everything. She huffed.
"Fine, Mr. I know it all," she rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips, "I assume you're here to get me to join your agency or whatever."
"Mmm, not really," Ranpo shrugged, still with his nose in the book.
Alu blinked, confused. He wasn't? Or was he just messing with her. She narrowed her eyes at him. What was he playing at? Was this some sort of mental battle of wills? Well, she wasn't going to lose that easily. He looked like he actually didn't even want to be here. She frowned, and she put a hand on her hip, looking at him. "Let me ask you something," she said, curt, "You know I'm only 15, right?"
Ranpo shrugged. "Mhm, maybe on the outside," he replied, turning a page of his book. Alu blinked. Wait, was he implying she looked old? She rolled her eyes again.
"Okay, wise guy," she growled, "You're sayin' your agency hires kids now?"
Ranpo didn't immediately respond. He however did shut his book finally. Alu quieted, watching him. He didn't look at her. He wasn't wearing his glasses either. He just tucked his book under his arm and began to walk away. Alu let out a noise of puzzled surprise. "Hey! Where are you going?" She called after him.
He didn't reply, and turned the corner.
Alu twitched.
She didn't want to go after him. She shouldn't go after him. There was absolutely no reason to care even a little bit about what he did or didn't do. No reason at all… She groaned.
Damn it, she was curious. She darted out of the alley, looking up and down the block. Spotting the brat near a traffic light, she followed him from a distance, wondering what she would do once she caught up to him.
Why had he come just to leave? What was his end game?
She watched him stand at the crosswalk.
She watched him walk across it. Wait, wasn't the agency in the opposite direction? She frowned. He was walking away from the direction of it.
She trailed after him. Where was he going? He went down the subway steps. Alu blinked. Subway? She didn't have any money. She wouldn't be able to follow at this point. Sighing in resignation, she decided this was as far as her path would take her.
"Hey kid," someone said gruffly, grabbing Ranpo by his shirt collar. Alu's eyes widened startled. Ranpo let out a confused squeak.
"Huh?" He blinked at the person in question. This person was wearing a neck gaiter mask, black, baseball cap, and thuggish baggy clothes.
"You look a little lost, need some directions?" He sounded far from a Good Samaritan. Alu rolled her eyes. No way Ranpo would go with someone so clearly suspicious. Ranpo eyed this person in question for a moment.
"Okay!" He smiled finally, "Thanks!" Alu's jaw dropped in horror. Was this kid secretly a huge social moron?
The other guy just grasped Ranpo by the shoulder. He sort of steered Ranpo comically away from the subway stairs. Alu's jaw dropped. Wait, was this kid about to get kidnapped? Why wasn't he fighting back? Why was he just going with the weirdly dressed man! Wait! Maybe this was a trap! Maybe he planned this! Maybe it was like a test or something. Yeah! No...she wouldn't fall for it. He can handle himself!
She turned on her heel. He'll be fine. "This shortcut better be worth the walk! I hate wasting my own time!" Ranpo complained, even as he was being dragged off. Alu looked to the few other stragglers nearby. They looked concerned. A few of them whispered. Alu sweated. Why wasn't anyone stepping forward and helping that moron?
She wouldn't let herself get roped into an adult's problems. Nope.
She saw some more thugs start to congregate, following the direction Ranpo had disappeared into some alley behind some buildings further away. Nope. Not her problem.
A bird cawed.
She groaned. Ah, damn it all.
Why was Yokohama full of creepy alleys? Alu made a note that whoever designed this city really liked winding side streets. She inched as close as she could to where she had last seen Ranpo be directed. Ranpo's voice reached her ears from where she pressed herself against a wall, casually, peering around to see him surrounded by six—no seven gangster looking thugs. "Huh...Mister, this isn't very much of a shortcut home," Ranpo frowned, looking at the guy in question.
Alu's eye twitched. Why did he sound genuinely confused? Wasn't this kid some kind of genius thanks to his ability, "Super Deduction" or whatever he called it? Even he should be able to deduce how not good this situation was. Right?
Ranpo just took out a lollipop and began to suck on it surrounded by the thugs.
Right?
Alu saw one of the men pull something that glinted in the sun's rays that hit the walls. It looked like a knife! Alu's eyes widened. These thugs were just after Ranpo's wallet! Ranpo scratched his head, frowning at the thug closest to him. "You know this is a wall...right?" He pointed to the wall behind him, with the tone of someone wondering how many brain cells the men surrounding him possessed. Alu face palmed.
Why was she drawn to morons?
Two of the men grabbed Ranpo by his arms without warning, restraining him. Ranpo let out a noise of confusion. "Hey! Whoa! This is my good jacket! You'll wrinkle it!" He complained, like an inconvenienced child.
"Shut up." The thug from earlier growled. Ranpo found himself forced to the ground on his butt. Bewildered, his hat fell off as the men began to pat him down for valuables. Ranpo made noises of confusion and irritation.
"I don't like this!" He complained, like that would somehow magically fix the situation he was in. The men just jeered at him. Their assumed leader took the lollipop out of Ranpo's mouth. Ranpo made a noise of distress. "Hey! I was sucking on that!" He complained.
The leader chuckled, amused. "I suppose if you're going to act like a child, we'll just have to treat you accordingly as such," he hummed, dropping the lollipop onto the ground and crushing it under his heel. Ranpo went deadly quiet. He stopped struggling, head lowered. The man smirked. He sneered, "I see you finally understand your position."
"How could you…" Ranpo's voice shook.
He shoved one of the men off without warning. With alarming speed not to be expected of this air head, he caused the men to back up a little mostly out of surprise. However, he paid them no mind and knelt near the crushed remains of the lollipop. "It had so much to offer me...in the way of sustenance…"
The thugs and Alu all shared the same thought at that moment: What an idiot.
Alu's eye twitched. How old was this guy? Why was he this dumb?
She hoped there was a tracker on him at least. Actually, considering this side of him, she'd be surprised if the president didn't have some sort of way of finding him. Still, it's not like the president would be able to arrive to all his employees 24/7 and Alu had the feeling that if she didn't do something, Ranpo would be dead before any other help was able to arrive. Dammit. She wished she had a phone. At least then she could call the police. With a small groan, she realized there was only one thing she could do. Spotting a crumpled can near one of the trash bins she was near, she picked it up.
Divide and conquer.
Oda watched the children playing in the living room of the small house that had been allowed to them in the country, away from the busy city of Yokohama. While it wasn't outside of japan— it would take longer to arrange something of that level— it was a start. Oda opened his eyes, having been lost in thought.
The last time he'd talked with Fukuzawa had been eight years ago. Then, he'd been a brat with no interest in whether he lived or died. A born assassin, he had just lived because dying wasn't in the cards for him then. Fukuzawa hadn't exactly brought up the past, but Oda recalled their conversation the other day.
Fukuzawa had called him on the phone he'd procured to reach him at with ease, and had offered him a chance to join the Armed Detective Agency at some point in the future once the kids were old enough to take care of themselves and Oda could leave them alone for longer periods of time. Naturally, Oda had said no.
He sighed now though.
His entire life he'd been tugged in different directions. Before it had all just been about survival. Then two years ago, with the dragon head incident, he'd just decided enough was enough. Still, he wondered if Fukuzawa was only being nice to him because it was because of him that he'd been able to chase after that kid, Ranpo all those years ago when solving the Theatre Angel Murder Case.
Oda's eyes flickered.
Even now, he felt a bit like a brat himself, thinking how it would have been nice to have someone like Fukuzawa to give a damn about someone like him. Oda watched as three of the boys played video games on the tv, babbling over who would get the two controllers next. Sakura just played with some dolls at a table near the window. Shinji was on the couch, curled up with a book, smiling contentedly.
Oda's heart twisted. These kids had all come so close to losing it all.
This peaceful bliss—he hadn't been able to give them this. In the end, he had almost been the reason they had all died. His mind flickered to the girl, Alu. He didn't have a lot to go on about her. Apparently, president Fukuzawa didn't know a lot either. Ranpo, even with his deductions, of all people had also hit a wall when it came to any deeper details pertaining to the girl.
Oda looked at the cup of coffee in his hand, and rested his chin in his hand, subdued.
A lot had changed for him in eight years—and yet— he hated feeling like he himself was still a child lost in the dark, even now. He hated that he hadn't been able to keep those orphans safe with his own ability. He detested that he'd been so naive to think he could keep work and his private life separate. He of all people should have known that no matter what he did, someone like him wouldn't ever get a peaceful life. If that girl hadn't come—Oda had a feeling he would have died. His eyes flickered.
But what would that mean for these kids? How long could he play parent to them? His heart felt pained. His mind flickered to Dazai as well. That kid may be five years younger than him, but Oda honestly wondered if he was attracted to Dazai because Dazai and him were similar. In the past, he saw a lot of himself in Dazai's eyes. Still, Oda felt uneasy.
Dazai was unpredictable and although he knew that he and Dazai were friends—he didn't know what Dazai was up to now or even what his plans for his future were now that he had cut ties to the Port Mafia. It didn't help that Fukuzawa made it clear that he absolutely abhorred the existence of the Port Mafia. Oda knew he had made a vow not to kill anymore since he took those kids in, but how long—realistically— would someone like him be able to keep that promise? His stomach churned.
He finally took out his phone from his pocket. He checked for any missed messages. There were none.
He slowly drew his thumb over the button that would connect him through to Fukuzawa's phone. He bit his lower lip.
If he did this, he knew he would be going against his policy of staying out of harm's way but at the same time, he owed it to those kids. If he had to get his hands dirty again— no… he knew he would have to. There was no doubt about it. A war with Mimic was coming.
Oda ground his teeth. Fukuzawa and Ranpo had no reason to help him. They had made it clear it wasn't because of the girl that they were helping him out. Well, Fukuzawa had. Ranpo had his face in his burger at the time that he'd ordered.
The decision to take care of those kids had been done free of bias about himself. But he still wasn't convinced that was all there was to it. In this world, no one did anything for free. There was always a price. He pressed the button.
Fukuzawa picked up. He sounded a bit curt. "Yes?"
Oda blinked. He hadn't talked too much with this man and considering their last few conversations had been rather brief, he still felt a sense of incredible awkwardness. He didn't want to be a bother. "Sorry, is this a bad time?"
Fukuzawa huffed on the other end. "It's nothing, just Ranpo being Ranpo."
Oda had no idea what that meant, but Fukuzawa sounded like a very grouchy parent himself and he couldn't help but wonder if Fukuzawa had just gone and adopted Ranpo as a son all those years ago—if not physically then at least mentally. "I'm sorry. This isn't urgent."
There was silence for a moment, then a heavy sigh could be heard on the other side. "This is the first time you've called me, so something must be on your mind," Fukuzawa stated, as he looked around the street. He was currently multi-tasking.
That girl had run off and Ranpo wasn't answering his phone. Honestly, Fukuzawa felt like an old man running a kindergarten daycare than the head of an agency sometimes.
Why had he ever agreed again?
Oh right...Ranpo.
Fukuzawa let out the sigh of a man tired with his life and yet somehow unable to do anything to change it because doing so would be even more of an inconvenience, long term. Odasaku remained quiet, not sure what was going on. "Um," he began.
"For now, I have other matters I need to attend to. We'll talk about whatever it is you want to discuss when I'm finished," Fukuzawa said, curt. Odasaku knew better than to pry.
"Is there anything I can do?" He found himself asking, honestly couldn't help feeling a little concerned.
"No. Mimic is still at large and as far as I know, after you and those children," Fukuzawa replied tersely. Odasaku quieted. He hated feeling like a bird in a cage. As nice as it was here, Fukuzawa wasn't exactly wrong. Even if Odasaku did go back to Yokohama right now, there was no guarantee that wouldn't lead Mimic to this safe house.
Odasaku knew his hands were tied. "Understood. Talk soon."
Even before Odasaku finished, he heard the sound of the phone hanging up on the other end. He stared at the phone, quiet.
Alu meanwhile, kicked a can so it hit one of the men in the back of the head. One of the thugs turned, to growl in her direction. "Ow!" They whined, rubbing the back of their head. The others looked around, caught off guard. Alu knew she'd have to be quick on her feet.
Juubi, speed. She wanted to use her speed to launch the next part of the attack. Even before they could react and pull out their guns, the feeling of a foot in one of their faces was the immediate response. "What the hell!" Another man yelled, and the shots of gun fire began to ring out.
Alu dodged the bullets to the best of her ability. "It's just a little girl!" The leader of the thugs yelled, brandishing his own gun even as two of his men collapsed unconscious at Alu's feet. He snarled, pointing his gun at her.
"Hey," he growled, "If you don't surrender, we'll just have to kill ya."
Alu rolled her eyes. "Why don't you just leave that moron alone?" She quipped. "He's my idiot bro."
Ranpo blinked. Bro? What was going on? Alu wasn't his sister. He scratched his head. "I don't remember having a sister?" He mentioned, puzzled. Alu mentally face palmed. How had a guy as dense as this managed to live this long, again?
"Oh? Not related? Then you won't mind if we kill him!" The leader pointed his gun again at Ranpo's forehead. Two of his remaining four men restrained Ranpo's arms. Ranpo was quiet, which made Alu really anxious. Did he even realize just how much more difficult this situation was with his unnecessary commentary?
Alu was fine with taking care of these thugs—not the first time she'd been in a fight. However, though she'd calculated for the cliche of them pointing a gun at Ranpo—what he chose to do was not something she could easily predict. That part was up to Ranpo. She however, was a master at stalling.
And if these guys were like the typical street gangs she normally avoided, she could at least try to stall for time. She raised her hands, as though in surrender to her sides. "Hey, don't shoot him," she said, sharply. "I'll listen to whatever you have to say. Just let him go."
The remaining men smirked. She felt like she was being leered at by a bunch of deranged perverts. She internally sighed.
Why were men like this so predictable?
And gross.
She had to stop herself from showing her outward disgust as the leader stalked over to her, gun now pointed at her. He gestured to his men and they made sure they had their guns drawn on Ranpo, with him still restrained at the moment. The two men that Alu had managed to knock out just lay comically in the dirt, taking a dirt nap for the time being. The men jeered at her.
"We'd be willing to let him go, after all you're a much cuter catch," one of them said, reaching for her. Alu grimaced, taking a step back. She really didn't want to be touched by these guys but she knew exactly what they were implying. She glared.
"I'm not going to let you guys go that far," she stated, flatly. "Just let him go, and I won't kick your pathetic asses."
The men glared at her, their feelings of manly pride hurt. That didn't take much, she mused. However, the boss just hummed, and gestured to his men still holding onto Ranpo. Ranpo found himself forced to his feet. He didn't struggle though. His eyes were on Alu, almost curious. Alu wondered if he was enjoying himself, even.
Honestly, she couldn't get a clear read on this guy. Not wanting to keep stoking the fire she was stirring, she kept her own hands up. She didn't want that guy to get shot at all if she could help it. She had to keep her cool. Juubi prowled in her mind, itching for bloodshed but she pushed him away.
No, she would resolve this without resorting to that.
"We'll be taking both you and him back, then," the leader of the gang stated, with a nasty smile. "We'll see how much you're gonna be worth then…"
The other men snickered in unison. "Aw, boss...can't we at least have a little fun first?" One of them piped up.
The boss waved his hand. "No, you know the rules. Any 'goods' need to be inspected first," he hummed, and he gestured for the other two men not restraining Ranpo to go and grab Alu. Alu's eyes flashed.
This wasn't the deal she was trying to strike. She let one of the men start to grab her before she merely twisted her body and had him land on his back, passing out from a simple wrestling move. The other man snarled, pulling his gun to her forehead.
The leader however snapped, "Don't shoot her, fool!"
"But—boss!" The other man stammered. "She's being difficult!"
"If you shoot her, we'll be the ones getting in trouble!" The leader snapped back.
The other man growled and reluctantly just stepped back. The leader glared, walking over himself to Alu now. "I see you're not someone who is weak. Admirable," he said, praising her. Alu twitched, glaring at him. That praise sounded forced. "You know, if you're good, I can put in a good word for you… all you have to do is be my woman…"
Alu glared at him. "I'm no one's 'woman'," she flatly replied, stepping back.
The leader smiled coldly at her. He had a lustful glint in his eye that unsettled Alu. How old was he? Preying on underage girls—this man was disgusting. "Aw, baby, don't be like that… I'll treat you really good…"
"—And I said to let my friend go," she retorted. "If you shoot him… I'll kill you."
The threat seemed to hang in the air for a split second before the leader began to laugh. Alu found herself suddenly hit with a speed she wasn't familiar with. What the hell? The leader had her pinned on her stomach, arm twisted behind her back. She let out a cry of pain as her elbow felt like it was going to snap out of her shoulder. "You're in no position to be threatening me, little girl," the man hummed by her ear, and she shivered with disdain. His breath smelled of cigarettes and alcohol.
He was also really heavy. Ranpo piped up. "Hey, hey, why do you insist on bothering her? She already said she doesn't want your ugly mug…"
Alu's eyes flashed as a gunshot rang out.
BANG.
Stunned, she locked eyes with Ranpo. In slow motion, his expression seemed to contort to surprise then confusion and then pain as he crumpled from the grasp of his captors. "Ranpo!" She yelled. Fear twisted her gut. Dammit! She was trying to prevent him from getting hurt and she'd failed!
"He should have kept his mouth shut," hummed the leader. "Oh well...you're far more valuable…" he cackled. Alu struggled but this guy was too heavy. She couldn't throw his weight off.
"Ranpo!" She yelled again. "Get up!"
Ranpo's limp form didn't move from the ground where blood now trickled out from a wound in his general chest area.
