Vol 2.
Chapter 11
When The Dawn Is Near
Irritated but keeping her composure, Ms. Austen merely stated, "I'm sending some of my men to deliver that woman back to you," she continued on the intercom. "As Mr. Edogawa says…we do have an accord."
With that being said, the door was opened and two combat personnel stepped in with an unconscious Yosano. Fukuzawa and Ranpo instantly got serious expressions but the two combat men just placed her on the floor, allowing Fukuzawa to come over and instantly check on her. The combat personnel left the room without a word, leaving the door ajar.
"Yosano!" Fukuzawa held her in his arms, gingerly, but he was relieved to see that other than being unconscious, no other harm had come to her. It looked like she was free of any collar as well. Ranpo squatted next to Fukuzawa, also checking on her.
"Good," Ranpo said, pleased, smiling cheerfully as he straightened up again. "Very well, let us go, let Alu rescue those remaining orphans… and we'll bring that little girl back to you…as long as you don't pull anything that is."
"You're making me lose a lot of good money that I could have gotten for those orphans," Ms. Austen heaved a heavy sigh on the other end of the speaker, but she chuckled a moment later, "…but then again, that's what happens when you gamble, isn't it?"
Fukuzawa was confused. "Wait, hold on… she's going to just … let us go?"
Ranpo grinned at Fukuzawa. "Of course! After all, if she were to honestly pull anything more than she has already—then her bacon would be fried! She's already on the hook as it is for smuggling on foreign soil~ Speaking of which, I wanna get some breakfast after all this… you'll treat me, right?"
Fukuzawa was speechless. After all this, was it going to end on such an anti-climatic note? Well…whatever. He didn't care how it ended as long as it didn't end badly for him or his agents. He frowned though. He did want to know what Ranpo had been drawing all of this out for. It was clear that it could have been over so much earlier than now. Of course Ranpo would have food on the brain at a time like this.
Only Ranpo would, after all.
Fukuzawa sighed heavily, but he picked up Yosano carefully in his arms. Ranpo gestured for him to follow and they exited the small study. "Alright, well, at least we got that girl Alu back…" Fukuzawa sighed. That's right, the whole reason they'd gone on this goose chase had been because Ranpo had been adamant about saving that girl—although Fukuzawa also recalled it had been due to mostly being frustrated that his Ultra Deduction wasn't able to predict her reasoning… because it wasn't entirely always logical it seemed. Fukuzawa was a tad bemused. He did wonder if meeting someone like Alu would actually help Ranpo grow up a little.
Then again, it was Ranpo.
"Ah, here we are!" Ranpo said brightly, as they found the stairs leading up to the surface from the submarine. Ranpo went ahead of Fukuzawa, making sure to push open the top. He giggled like a little kid for no reason which worried Fukuzawa. Fukuzawa gingerly shouldered Yosano, and Ranpo helped him bring her up to the surface.
Fukuzawa had to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness. When did it become daylight? He was bewildered like a bat leaving a dark cave. "Huh? Morning?" He found himself asking, confused.
Ranpo grinned again, spreading his arms out like he was at an amusement park and not on the surface of a submarine docked near some abandoned looking building. "I kept tellin' everyone that I'd have this all resolved by breakfast time!"
It was dawn.
Fukuzawa blinked hard.
Had they really been up all night?
Being careful with Yosano in his arms, he looked to Ranpo for further instruction. "Where are we?" He asked.
"That building up ahead is where the others are," Ranpo said, as he hopped off the submarine and onto the wooden dock it was parked at. "Come on. We should reunite with them, probably."
"Ranpo, can you just tell me why you drew this out?" Fukuzawa asked, upset. "Please! I normally respect your motives but this time…this time was too far!" He looked at Ranpo, expression pained. "You nearly died today—no you did…you were dying…"
Ranpo quieted. His smile actually fell off and he looked guilty. "Yeah, I know it went too far," he admitted. "To be honest… I technically already died today…"
Fukuzawa nodded. "Yeah, you did—"
"I died before we even went after the girl," Ranpo continued. He looked at Fukuzawa, seriously. "That girl's ability is more unpredictable than I realized. She is the reason I didn't die in that alley."
Fukuzawa felt his heart thud. "Wait," he realized what Ranpo was implying. "You…you mean before all this…? You…already…?"
Ranpo nodded, and he came over to Fukuzawa, who was standing, frozen as it dawned on him. "Yeah, but thanks to her ability, that bullet was relocated. It's funny though, because I've noticed her ability seems to activate at random."
"Wait, if she rewrote the bullet, then, does that mean you remember what happened before her rewrite ability took effect? You said her ability can turn back the course of certain events and take away the memory of those ever even occurring!" Fukuzawa said, holding Yosano delicately, but still looking at Ranpo with a frown.
"That's true, however she didn't rewrite the bullet being fired—just where it was being aimed…even though she knew I was getting shot, what she didn't know…was that I wasn't actually completely unconscious at the time the events were unfolding," Ranpo said. "I … knew it was risky but I was confident that in order to see how her ability actually worked…"
Ranpo flinched. Fukuzawa smacked Ranpo upside the head with a free hand, beyond angry now. "You took a risk just to see what she could do!?" He yelled at Ranpo, his composure finally broken. He'd been holding it in this whole time, still processing everything Ranpo had been up to, but enough was enough!
"Ow, ow, ow," Ranpo grimaced, rubbing his head. "I know I went too far, okay?" He whined. "It's just, I had to see for myself what her ability could do! And besides, I already knew I wouldn't die! She'd be able to fix it!"
"That doesn't mean you go throwing yourself into harm's way! What if she wasn't able to fix it, huh?!" Fukuzawa yelled, upset.
Yosano groaned in his arms. His attention was momentarily averted. Her eyes fluttered open and she gasped, realizing she was in Fukuzawa's arms. "Oh—?"
Fukuzawa let her go, allowing her to sit up. "Yosano, how do you feel?" He asked, sharply, concerned.
"I'm okay," Yosano frowned, looking at them. "But where are we? What happened to everyone?"
"It's okay," Ranpo said brightly, smiling at her. "They're in that building over there," he pointed, putting a hand on his hip and striking a pose like he was a pirate on a treasure hunt.
Yosano looked and she nodded. She went over to Ranpo, hands on her hips. "How are you two doing?"
Ranpo blinked. "Oh, we're doing great! It's almost time for breakfast! Hey, Yosano, I was thinking—"
Yosano smacked him on the head. Ranpo yelped, holding his head. "Wah! Why is everyone hitting me today!" He complained, whimpering.
"That's for putting yourself in danger, you moron!" She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and began to give him a rough headlock noogie with her other hand. "So what's this about testing that girl's ability by getting yourself practically killed?" Yosano sounded dangerous. Fukuzawa felt a sense of joy and pride knowing that his adoptive daughter was strangling his adoptive son for being an idiot. Ah, being a parent truly had its rewards sometimes.
"Don't worry," Fukuzawa said with a deflated exasperated huff, "when all is over, I plan to take away Ranpo's snacks for a month."
Ranpo looked absolutely mortified. "I-I—you wouldn't!" He spluttered, appalled from where he remained trapped within Yosano's armlock.
Fukuzawa's eyes glinted dangerously, "I can…and I shall."
Ranpo didn't have this in his predictions, and he was very depressed.
—-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx—-
Alu located the other orphans easily enough, though she was quiet. Her fox ears and tail had rescinded, leaving her looking normal again.
They looked just as scared as ever, but otherwise they were fine. Alu noted that they reacted better to English—which made sense. Speaking English, she tried to keep them calm. "I'm sorry it took so long," she said, smiling at the others, noting Ryou wasn't amongst them. "Let's go now, yeah? I'm taking you somewhere safe."
The kids followed Alu as she left. It was a bit anticlimactic she thought to herself. What had started out as something that felt rather orchestrated with the intention of having them all kill each other, was ending with her walking the kids like they were on a field trip back to the others. Not to mention, Ryou was still missing.
"Do any of you know where Ryou is?" She asked the other children. They just shook their heads. They weren't incredibly chatty. Alu figured that was fine. A lot had happened tonight after all. Actually, she looked to the light coming in from a high rise window to her left. Was it really morning already?
She recalled how Ranpo said this would all be over by breakfast. She couldn't help but smile a bit wryly to herself. She found it really annoying that he was somehow right but she also felt a bit amused.
Her eyes flickered.
He never did answer why he was doing the case to begin with. He should have just said that he was doing it because it was the right thing to do when someone was in trouble in front of him. But, she had a feeling her being kidnapped actually had nothing to do with his motif. Which means, she still had no idea what had motivated that candy-sucking whining no-sense-of-direction detective cape wearing weirdo to get involved. It wasn't from a sense of obligation, that much she had garnered. He didn't seem the type. No, there was another reason… but why?
Alu puzzled about this with a sigh. They came back to the room where Kunikida and the others were with absolutely no interuptions. It was nice but also made Alu feel uneasy. Why were things suddenly so easy?
In the room, Odasaku was still holding the little girl, while Kunikida hovered near Dazai. Alu's eyes fell on Agent Ango, who was currently sitting up and looking at the little girl in Odasaku's arms. Tomoe was still resting, Odasaku had used his coat and it seemed to cover the boy up while he slept.
Alu smiled to herself.
Odasaku really was a kind person. She felt a twinge in her heart. Mimic was still at large as it was. With her lack of visions, she felt uneasy about that man's future. She had saved his orphans and him once…but would she be able to do it a second time if Mimic were even to go to greater extremes to draw out Odasaku into a bloody pointless battle again?
All these thoughts rolled around in Alu's mind, but as she stepped into the room, the other men looked, alerted.
"Ah, I see you did find them," Kunikida said, clearing his throat. He moved to go over but Dazai held out an arm. Kunikida tried to walk around Dazai. Dazai blocked all his attempts. Kunikida anger-doki'd. "What the hell is your problem!" He lit up like a feral cat at Dazai.
Dazai whimpered. "No, if you leave, what if that big bad government piggie tries to hurt me?" He of course was referring to Ango who wasn't amused to be referred to as a pig.
"…Then I'll happily assist," Kunikida growled, desperately trying to shake off Dazai comically to absolutely no avail.
The reason Dazai was acting like this is because he knew that although Kunikida was too dense to tell, he himself knew that Alu still felt pretty shaken up about everything and needed space. It seems Kunikida still had a lot to learn about reading the room. And women. And really anything and everything l.o.l….
"…This girl doesn't have a lot of information," Ango said with a sigh, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, straightening up. He glared at Odasaku. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to answer my phone now."
He stalked away from Odasaku. Odasaku looked at Dazai. "Well, we tried…seems the little girl really doesn't have a lot of information that we don't have already…"
"Hey, Agent Traitor!" Dazai called out to Sango in a chipper tone, grabbing the phone from Sango. "No need to call for backup! You can trust us!~"
"Will you stop calling me that!" Ango grimaced, irritated with Dazai's childish behavior.
The thought of Dazai as back up was far more unsettling as far as Ango was concerned. Dazai seemed like he'd put a bullet in him if he breathed the wrong way in Odasaku's presence.
Kunikida meanwhile blinked with surprise. "Wait-what?" He looked to where he thought Dazai had been still latched to him comically moments before—but all that was left was a comical mentally visualized white outline indicating he had disappeared. Kunikida thought it was absolutely terrifying how quickly that annoying man could move in seconds. Was that his ability? No, it couldn't be. His ability was to make other abilities cease to work. Then again, that girl had more than one ability. It felt like…Kunikida's head hurt.
However, he couldn't shake the similarities between Dazai and Alu either. It wasn't like he was informed much about this girl other than Ranpo telling him she was supposedly a new "trainee for hire" at the office. In fact, he didn't have any information about anyone in this room other than what Ranpo had said or he'd deduced based on his interactions. Odasaku had been part of the Port Mafia but left because of the orphans… but this girl and the other guy? He realized he knew absolutely nothing about either of them.
True, Dazai knew Odasaku but that didn't tell Kunikida anything about Dazai's past work history—in fact he looked like a bum. At least Odasaku had some dignity as far as Kunikida was concerned. The president had said that Osamu Dazai wasn't someone to trifle with, but that had been all. But what if there was something that even the president hadn't realized going on between this girl and Dazai? Ranpo hadn't said anything but that doesn't mean it wasn't true. They were both incredibly similar. It felt like in a lot of ways… they both had brown hair…brown eyes… reckless attitudes and smart mouths at times…
He wondered if the reason Dazai was actually involved…was because…
"Hey…" he said to Dazai, serious.
"Are you two…?" He pointed from Alu to Dazai.
Dazai, who had been currently dancing around Ango, not letting him get his phone back, just smirked at Kunikida. "Well, I mean, that's private…" he said, blushing like a schoolgirl.
"Related?" Kunikida finished, deadpan, completely ignoring Dazai's perverse implication. "It's clear you're not actually romantically involved…but I can't shake this feeling that you two have some sort of unnatural relationship…"
"Pfft," Alu giggled, smiling, putting her hands on her hips. "And us being related would make it unnatural?" She definitely found Kunikida amusing. She still didn't get too close to him, but she did look at Dazai, amused. "I'm almost tempted to go around calling myself your little sister now," she teased Dazai, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Alu Osamu!" She giggled. "Has a nice ring, don'cha think?"
Dazai blinked and then he snickered himself. "That would be rather fun, I've never had a little sister or even wanted one but if it's you, I think I could make an exception," he smirked at her with his own mischievous glint.
Odasaku, Ango, and Kunikida all shared one thought : They are exactly the same. This is terrifying.
"Go on! Try saying it!" Dazai said with a grin to Alu.
Alu put her hands on her face, pretending to blush with embarrassment. "I don't know if...if I should. What if we're judged?"
"The world just isn't ready," Dazai said dramatically, going down on one knee, and extending a hand to Alu, the other dramatically over his heart. "My dearest Onee-Chan, we mustn't let the world put out the flames of our passion!"
"Oh…O-Onee-sama…" Alu said, taking his hand, tearfully. "You're absolutely right."
Odasaku smacked Dazai comically on the arm, still holding the little girl against himself. "Stop messing around," he rolled his eyes at Dazai, but he wasn't upset. He was just exasperated. He could tell that Dazai was messing with that poor blonde's mind on purpose. Well, he couldn't exactly speak for what the girl's motivation was but Odasaku was relieved to see that Dazai with all his quirky weirdness was able to put that girl into a better mood than she had been in previously. At this point, just seeing her joking and being silly made Odasaku feel a sense of relief. He couldn't explain it, but maybe it had to do with the fact that she had saved the orphans that he even cared for in the first place.
No, that wasn't all there was to it. Sure he was grateful to her for that but he did honestly care about her. Maybe it had been at first but after interacting more with her tonight, he knew for a fact she was just a good person. After all, she didn't have to go as far as she had to protect them. And Kousuke absolutely idolized her back home. He was still asking Odasaku when she'd come see them again.
Odasaku felt himself smile a little. Those kids loved her and they hadn't even known her that long. He himself wanted to find a way to thank her for what she'd done. But that was for another time. For now, he was glad that Dazai, who was much better at being a goofball than he was, was able to at least diffuse the tension Ango caused Alu by merely being himself.
"Will you stop being immature for a moment, please?" Ango growled. "Dazai! Give me back my phone!"
Alu was a bit bemused watching Dazai act like a brat, avoiding giving the flustered government agent back his cell. Her eyes flickered though. This was the same government agent that had tried to shoot her right? He saw her as a threat earlier… which meant that not much had probably changed.
Alu turned away. She didn't really want to face Ango either right now. What would she even say? If he had to, he'd have easily taken her life in the name of "justice" or whatever. She had come so close to being killed because of him.
Odasaku noted that Alu didn't look happy anymore. "Hey," he said, frowning, walking over to her. He wanted to ask her what was on her mind, but he also didn't know if it was his business to pry.
Dazai noted Alu's discomfort levels rising again when he glanced at her from over Ango's shoulder. He stopped and tossed Ango's phone to him, with an indifferent shrug.
Ango let out a noise of surprise, and managed to grab his phone. But before he could even use it, he found himself face to face again with Dazai, and almost lost his balance.
Dazai smiled at Ango suddenly, yanking him down real close by the tie he was wearing. Ango yelped a little, coming face to face with a beaming Dazai. "Hey Ango, you still need to apologize to that girl~" He hummed, menacingly.
Ango felt himself sweat like the government pig he was.
"Apologize?" Kunikida asked, bewildered. "What did he do to need to apologize to Alu?"
No one who knew the reason why wanted to answer. Odasaku and Dazai exchanged glances and like hell Ango was going to sit there and explain his way out of this one as Dazai had him trapped in a headlock noogie over his face with his bandaged arm. Alu didn't answer herself, because she didn't know if that would be a good thing for someone like Kunikida to learn if it'd send him off his rocker. It was hard to tell with Kunikida sometimes just what would and wouldn't set him off.
"Ah, he went out to get some milk and never came back," Dazai said deadpan.
Kunikida's vein twitched. "You take me for some kind of gullible fool! I'm not buying that! That's the stupidest excuse I've heard!"
Odasaku, Alu, and Dazai were impressed that Kunikida was apparently capable of not falling for Dazai's silly explanations sometimes…albeit, Dazai was just a tad disappointed. He did love messing with this blonde guy, he decided.
Dazai shrugged. "Look, when a man needs his milk, he needs his milk, isn't that right, Agent Baby-face!" He pulled on Ango's cheeks and Ango finally managed to grunt and elbow Dazai in the face, wriggling free with an exasperated growl.
"I'm sorry I even asked," Kunikida grimaced, realizing that no one was going to answer his question.
Kunikida meanwhile glanced at the kids, honestly getting a migraine dealing with the mere existence of Dazai Osamu. His expression remained serious. He trotted over to them. "Hey."
The kids flinched, looking up at him with wide eyes. This man was covered in blood on his clothes over his chest, and on top of that looked like he would just eat them on sight. Kunikida, completely oblivious to the fact that his current appearance made him look like a corpse come back from the dead, simply cleared his throat. "Uh, so we're going to get you all somewhere safe, there's no need to be afraid."
They stared at him dumbly. Kunikida realized they had no idea what he was saying. He looked to
Alu, who had left Dazai to be chased by Ango and saw she was now taking the little girl from Odasaku's arms again.
"I'm going to hang onto her just until we do get out of this factory," Alu said to Odasaku.
Odasaku nodded. "Okay, I'll go grab the boy."
"His name is Tomoe," Alu said.
"Ah…got it," Odasaku nodded again. He went over to pick up the boy.
"Hey, kid," Kunikida called out to Alu. Alu blinked. "Do you know if they speak Japanese?"
Alu shook her head. "No, I think they only know a little English at best—and whatever their native tongue is."
Kunikida nodded. He knew some English himself—as most students had to take a course in a foreign language and English was pretty much the dominating one in that field. "You all shall be in good hands! Hands good! Okay?" he barked at the kids, honestly scaring them more than any smuggler.
Alu quirked a brow at Odasaku. "Uh…maybe you should go tell him to tone it down before the kids all die of a heart attack," she said, glancing at Odasaku with a small amused smile.
Odasaku blinked. "Why me?"
"Well, you're someone that just calms others down," Alu said with a shrug. "And also…you're a kind person," she said, smiling smally at him.
Odasaku didn't know if that was true considering he often couldn't stop Dazai's hyperactivity but well, he felt a small sense of something bloom in his heart when she complimented him like that. He blinked. Happy? He was feeling happy? Huh, how strange. He'd have to psycho-analyze this later. He walked over, carrying Tomoe now in his arms, to Kunikida and the kids. "Hey, maybe let me talk to them," he said to Kunikida.
"Oh? You know English?" Kunikida asked, surprised.
"Well, no, not much," Odasaku admitted.
"Huh, well that's helpful…I need to ask them why there's one of them missing," Kunikida said with a huff, a hand on his hip.
Odasaku blinked, surprised. "Huh?"
"Yeah, there were eight total, but if you count, besides that kid that stabbed Ranpo earlier and these guys there's another missing. He was a small boy with dark brown hair, freckles, and pale skin, and I think he had blue eyes," Kunikida said with a huff. "However, he's not here anymore."
"What happened to him?" Odasaku asked, frowning. He was actually a bit concerned. Despite not having met this kid, he still felt a sense of worry for him.
"You're a kind person," Alu's voice wavered into his mind, along with her grateful smile. Odasaku felt himself warm up a bit in the face. Oh right…he worried about others…despite not knowing much about them, and he kinda understood what she meant earlier. So this is what she was talking about. He hadn't even realized that he was a kind person. He didn't feel like it honestly but, if she thought he was kind…maybe he could try to accept it a bit more. He at least wanted to earn the right to accept her praise.
"Mister Guchi—Gu, apologize!" Dazai said loudly, abbreviating Ango's last name to annoy him more while leaping onto Ango from behind and wrapping his arms and legs around him like he was straddling him. Dazai looked like a very derpy backpack hanging off of Ango and Ango squealed with discontentment. Kunikida, Odasaku, and even the other kids just couldn't help but honestly stare at the ridiculousness of two grown men acting like that. "Apologize! Apologize! Apologize!" Dazai chanted, as Ango comically tried not to lose his footing and overthrow Dazai from his back at the same time.
"Argh! Dazai! You're heavy! Get off!" Ango wheezed, struggling to breathe.
Suddenly, laughter broke out from Alu. She just kept laughing, gazing at Dazai and Ango. "Geez, you two are honestly like little kids," she snickered, wiping a tear from her eye.
Dazai beamed, pleased that his wild antics could put a smile on her face. He couldn't explain it but he didn't like seeing her so upset. Seeing her laugh just felt so much better.
Odasaku found himself smiling a little too. Despite everything that happened with Ango, he was grateful to have Dazai as a friend still. After all, even though Ango had betrayed the trust between all three of them for his own selfish gain in regards to his job, Odasaku could always count on Dazai to weirdly enough have a better moral code that wasn't based on rules but on what he felt.
Even though Ango had tried to shoot that girl and Odasaku also disliked his black and white way of thinking, Odasaku did have to admit, seeing those two wrestling with each other almost reminded him of how things used to be. Odasaku felt a small pang. He didn't admit it to Dazai but a part of him still missed the three of them hanging out together. But Ango had made it clear a month ago where his loyalties laid. And it wasn't with his friends.
Odasaku's eyes flickered.
It was sort of funny actually.
One would think loyalty to one's friends was the same thing as loyalty to the law and being a just person, but it apparently was two different things. Being loyal to justice meant burning those bridges and putting the lives of your friends on the line…apparently. Odasaku felt a bad taste in his mouth. He realized he felt bitter still about how Ango had betrayed them. He wondered if Dazai felt bitterness as well as Dazai had allowed himself to actually let Ango into his life. Dazai was not someone to let others in easily or at all. In fact, it took a few years since Dazai joined the Port Mafia four years ago, for Odasaku to actually even realize that Dazai even considered him more than a fellow mafia member.
Odasaku thought back to the incident at Mimic's Head Quarters when he'd saved Ango… he had been the one to cast doubt on Ango's loyalty to the Port Mafia then, but it had been Dazai who had spoken up for Ango then. To know that you stood up for someone's character only to find out that you were wrong, Odasaku wondered just how deeply hurt Dazai still felt, even now. Dazai had said something that still bothered Odasaku.
He recalled how at the bar, when Ango had in his own way tried to apologize after the incident, how that had played out. Cliff notes version, it didn't end well for Ango.
Dazai informed Odasaku with confidence as they stood outside of Bar Lupin that Ango, who had disappeared a while ago after leaving Odasaku for dead at the H.Q. of Mimic, was in fact at Bar Lupin that very evening.
Odasaku was honestly surprised when he followed Dazai down the steps and saw that Ango was sitting there, and even more so, when Ango turned to look at them, clearly trying hard to act like everything was okay.
Odasaku felt his heart twist.
Nothing was okay.
Odasaku wasn't great with words or with expressing himself, but as he sat down in his usual spot, he merely ordered his usual. He found he couldn't stand to look at Ango because honestly, he was afraid of what he may do if he did.
Ango was the one to speak. Ango spoke words like they were supposed to be an apology but honestly? They just sounded like excuses. Excuses to justify his own sense of guilt. Dazai glared darkly at Ango.
"What makes you think I'll let you leave here alive?" His question left a cold feeling in the air that even Odasaku felt and Odasaku did not actually get cold easily.
Odasaku glanced at Dazai. Dazai was uncharacteristically serious. His mood was so bitter that Odasaku felt like he could taste it in his own drink. "I learned now that anything that I truly want…always slips through my grasp no matter what," Dazai said, playing with his own drink. "Nothing lasts forever, no matter how hard I try…"
A tense silence hung in the air.
Ango tried to put it into words for the both of them to hear but honestly, he was going in circles at this point about his 'role' or whatever. Not once in there did he mention anything about caring about being their friend.
"Just go," Dazai finally said, coldly.
Ango tried to apologize one more time.
Odasaku grit his teeth. He could tell that Dazai was in pain. Dazai normally didn't value life because he himself felt like life was an empty playground to begin with. Still, he of all people, had let Ango into his life…and most likely, his heart.
And Ango had used that.
He had used Dazai's willingness to actually trust him against him.
He had used them both. He knowingly knew more than he even let on about Mimic. So what if he was a secret agent or whatever of the government? If he had been their friend, truly, he should have known that something that shallow wouldn't have been enough to suddenly determine the entire basis of their friendship!
Dammit Ango, read the situation. If you can't even understand why we're actually upset, then what the hell kind of resolution are you expecting from me and Dazai? "Ango!" Odasaku said, sharply, finally. "Enough."
Ango quieted again, but finally he got up, acknowledging defeat. He left behind the picture of the three of them on the bar counter.
Mister Sensei cat just lurked near the stools, gazing up at Ango as Ango left. Dazai didn't budge from his seat. But Odasaku knew better. He knew that something had been broken and even he didn't have the solution for what Dazai was feeling right now.
The Stray dogs of Bungou they had called themselves. A more catchy name became, Bungou Stray Dogs….but now? Ango had pretended to be one of them. Even then, his loyalty had only gone as far as his resolve to follow orders from the Department of Unusual Powers boss.
Had there ever been three to begin with? Had all that time spent at the bar together, just laughing, and actually feeling like they could shed their burdens for a drink together; had that always been merely a false pretense? Had it all been a lie?
Did Ango ever see them as his actual friends?
It didn't matter.
Why would it matter?
Ango had proven that his loyalty was in the end, only to himself.
Now because of this…they could never go back to how things used to be. The three Bungou Stray Dogs of Yokohama city…had become merely two.
But the bigger sense of betrayal came from the simple question: had there ever been three to begin with?
