Vol. 5
Ch. 1
A Fire is Lit Inside
Ugh, this sucked. Alu knew she had to steal on occasion to handle the costs of living but this was too much! Alu didn't want to use this guy's money although it was clear Juubi had intended for her to use it for food and clothing and possibly a place to stay tonight. Ugh, that fox was always doing things of his own accord with no regard for her feelings! Alu wanted to throttle the furry bastard.
You can give me the silent treatment all you want, but you know as well as I do that you need the money, Juubi cheekily remarked.
Alu just groaned, rubbing her face with her non-dirty hand. She didn't want to get into it. She barely had the energy as it was. There was a toll for using Juubi's power or letting him out as it was. She could feel herself already fatigued and ready to pass out. That wasn't good.
She fumbled around in her coat pocket, remembering vaguely that she had a phone. She tapped into it and found she had over 30 missed calls from Elise. She grimaced. Oh. She must have had her phone on silent earlier.
She went to call Elise but then she paused.
Her eyes flickered.
She wanted to be friends—-no— she knew she was friends with Elise already. But what Ranpo had stated also hung in her mind. She couldn't be on all sides. She giggled emptily to herself, sitting on the riverbank, drawing her knees to her chest. She stared at her dirtied hand, covered still in the faint dark stain of her enemy's blood.
"Enemy…huh?" She murmured. Her eyes flickered again like a candle trying to stay lit despite the cold air attempting to quash the flame out altogether. "I don't pick sides…I just do what is right…"
But what is right?
She was just herself. She carried her own definition of what was right and wrong, that much Fyodor had been correct about. But, Alu shivered none-the-less as she clenched her fist. That didn't mean she wasn't capable of darker thoughts. That's what scared her.
She wasn't afraid of taking another life.
She was afraid of changing because of it.
She buried her head in her knees, feeling sick again. She didn't condone murder or senseless violence. But Juubi did have a point. If there were opponents that wouldn't go down with a few blows or couldn't be reasoned with, it made sense that sometimes there was only that third option. But, Alu didn't like that option. She'd never liked that option.
She knew that's how governments operated. She knew that's what being in the military was about. Let soldiers trained to handle those matters do so in the place of civilian militias but at the same time, she felt like it was a convoluted mess. When Governments began being in control of who should die and who shouldn't, how did that make them any better than a common criminal who murdered for personal gain? Was it 'right? It could be justified as such in the eyes of justice as seen through a specific lens of opinion. It was true that there were those that were truly inhuman and deserved death for seeking harm upon others, but just because they deserved it….
Did it make it right?
It's true that war allowed for opportunity to enforce ideals—but those enforced ideals weren't always better, either.
Alu knew that war was oftentimes not about being right or wrong…but about what was necessary to move the world forwards. The same could be said about facing a small terrorist group or even a single dangerous person, like Fyodor.
Alu didn't want to take life because she knew if she did, she'd lose what she had left of herself. When you cross a line, there's sometimes no going back. She was a fighter in spirit and at heart. Of course she'd fight if it came down to it. But she couldn't forget how important life was. She had the opportunity to take out a terribly dangerous man, with her own hands, and she had chosen instead to save him. She found she couldn't rationalize why she had let him live.
The truth?
Honestly, she didn't want to be the one responsible for his death.
What a selfish reason to let a bastard live. Someone who would hurt innocent children like Sakura for their own gain. Despite having his own tragedy be the precursor, it didn't excuse his actions now.
Alu found this man to be far more terrifying than Dazai whose own musings and cold nature were due to other reasons that Alu didn't know yet. This man had seen right through her trying so hard to be "good", without batting a lash. He didn't even fear death at her hand. He had seen right through her, even to the end. He had even sneered at her about her need to save him to justify something within herself.
And she hadn't told him that he was wrong.
Because he wasn't.
He had been the one who was right.
Alu took a few deep breaths. That man was someone she both wished she could better understand and someone she knew was someone she couldn't underestimate at the same time. There was no telling if he'd contact Gide to attack Odasaku and the orphans again. The thought of those kids being put into danger made Alu worried. The small solace she had was that Elise-Chan and Mori Ogai weren't apparently involved anymore with Gide since Dazai's threat.
Oh yeah…Dazai…
Alu pursed her lips. She thought to what she'd learned about Ango's mission from Officer Chief Taneda. Ranpo's words came back again. She couldn't pick to be on the sidelines. On some level, she understood what Ranpo was saying even though it did frustrate her. He was warning her at the time that her time to choose a side was coming. She gazed up at the night sky, at the stars blinking back at her, lazily, and she wished, for a moment, that she actually had someone she, herself, could talk to, when she was feeling lost with no direction.
Dazai's face came to mind but she felt her face warm from embarrassment from the last time she'd cried in his arms. Ugh, talk about embarrassing. She didn't want to do that again. No, she had to get it together! She smacked her cheeks, taking a deep breath, her nose wrinkling at the smell of dried blood on her hand. Ew, gross.
She really wanted to wash it off. She figured she'd hide her hand in her folded coat and try to wash it out with some public restroom soap… somewhere. She sighed a mushroom cloud. She glanced at her phone again but the screen went black all of a sudden. She blinked. Oh. Her phone had died. She heaved a sigh.
"So much for calling Elise…." She murmured though she hadn't really been actively thinking about calling her to begin with. She didn't want to burden Elise or even Mori with everything going on right now. She looked at the wallet in her hand. She opened it up to see the address printed on the driver's license. She glanced at the hat by her feet that belonged to Chuuya. "I guess I'll just walk back…" she got to her feet with a sigh.
Picking it up, she figured she'd find a restroom, wash up, and then take off. It was a great plan. She found a public restroom in a park nearby and was going to head for Nagoya which was in between Osaka and Yokohama. You're forgetting there's another city we'll hit first, Juubi lazily remarked from inside her mind.
Alu grimaced. She had used a lot of energy earlier so she didn't feel like she had enough to block him. But if he was speaking up, she knew it was important. She frowned to herself, finishing cleaning her sleeve and hand with soap. For the most part, it actually worked. Hooray for a public restroom with sinks inside the bathroom. Usually they were outside in most parts of Japan. Alu did like learning about cultural differences between the Eastern and Western way of doing things.
Alright, Mister Tour Guide, what am I missing?
Nah, I'd rather you figure it out.
Juubi's taunt made Alu sigh with exasperation. Ugh, he was being a big baby. Fine, so be it. She'd figure out the city she was missing. She didn't know where she was but she'd figure it out. She left the girl's bathroom, irritated and then stopped.
In front of her, were a handful of thugs, grinning at her.
One of them, squatting, with a square jaw and squinty eyes like a beetle, smirked at her. "Look! She finally came out."
The others jeered in response, and Alu felt her skin crawl. Her eyes narrowed. She wasn't going to rely on Juubi for this. She was still mad at him. Besides, she didn't trust him and these guys, though intimidating, weren't worth the effort. She rolled her eyes and turned to walk in the other direction at a sprint. Suddenly something wrapped around her ankle and she yelped, falling on her side in the dirt. The men all laughed.
"Watch it, Charley," one of them hummed to a man wearing a red and black hoodie, brown pants, military styled black lace up boots, with dark blonde hair that was shaggy and framed his face.
"Charley," Alu growled, glaring up at the men as she used her claw like fingers to slice through the webbing with agitation. Doing so exuded some of Juubi's influence onto her features and the men paused before they all wolf whistled at her.
"Oh, she's feisty!"
"Hot damn, she's a fox!"
"Foxy lady! I definitely can't say I'm not interested," another one jeered.
Charley, in question, eyed her from behind a black face mask with a smiling skull jaw on it. He had bags under his eyes and Alu noted his orange autumn colored eyes. He stood out from the other thugs to her, though she didn't know why. Perhaps it was because amongst the hoodlums he was the least creepy looking. He looked like a pale skinned ghost more than anything. He was about medium height, taller than her definitely, and she felt more webbing attach itself to her arms and legs. Using her claw-like fingers to slice it off, she tried to clear some distance by moving away but the other gangsters were blocking her exit—apparently there were more of them too.
Surrounded by ten thugs plus the mysterious Charlie, Alu wondered what she'd done to attract this attention to herself. She knew she hadn't been followed to the bathroom, she would have sensed it. She'd been so lost in thought though, maybe she'd let her guard down. Well, no matter. Her guard was up now.
"If you want to fight, then come at me, you creeps!" She yelled loudly, cracking her knuckles, glaring at the grinning mob.
She made slicing motions in the air as the web tried to entangle her again. Her eyes flashed. Okay, this guy was seriously annoying. She crouched and then, she lunged forward, with speed the human eye couldn't detect with ease, and she grabbed Charley by the jacket, twisting him to his surprise. Alu was also surprised but for an entirely different reason. When she went to grab his jacket, she felt something…soft against his chest.
"You're—?!"
But Charley used that moment to ensnare her in his web by her foot, causing her to lose balance.
No way—-I was moving too fast!? Alu yelped, finding herself landing on the cold hard concrete of the sidewalk. Body sore, she groaned, as she looked behind herself to see her ankle now trapped in webbing. It was sticky and even with her claws, was proving difficult to work out of. In the meantime, some thugs went to make sure Charley, who was flung to the ground, was alright.
Charley grunted, and got up. When Charley spoke, it was as Alu suspected. "You're a handful, you know that?" The disdain was apparent in the gruff female tone. Alu sensed it though. Charley cocked her head to the side, gazing at Alu. "Surprised that these guys are being led by me?"
"Why are you after me?" Alu asked, evenly, narrowing her eyes at Charley.
Charley hummed. "I got an offer I couldn't refuse," she replied simply.
"Did a Russian man ask you to do this?" Alu shot back at her, trying to gauge a reaction.
However, Charley's expression never faltered or changed. She just turned to her men. "Subdue her."
With that, despite Alu's attempt to claw through the webbing, she found her wrists tied by it along with her ankles. Next was her mouth so she couldn't talk anymore. Alu wriggled like an angry worm on the ground, glaring apprehensively at the few men who had stepped forwards to retrieve her for their lady gang boss.
"You're not that tough," one of the men sneered, and he cocked a gun at her. "Now stay down, and if you're good, we'll go easy on ya, okay, girlie?"
Alu grit her teeth. It was really looking like she'd have to use Juubi.
One of the other men found Chuuya's hat and wallet. "Hey! I think this must be her boyfriend!"
Alu felt the familiar sound of a duck quack in her mind. She tried to shake her head to indicate that no, Chuuya was not her boyfriend, but Charley merely shrugged. "Let me see that."
She took the wallet from the men, and the man who was holding the hat put it on his head. "Boss, can I keep this?" He asked, eager.
Charley rolled her eyes. "Knock yourself out," she said, dismissive of the fedora. However, she paused, seeing just who the driver's license belonged to. "This…"
She looked with shock and horror at the photo. Her other members quieted, sensing their leader's distraught attitude. "What is it?" One of the thugs asked, tentative.
"This man…no….this person…is none other than Chuuya Nakahara of The Port Mafia," their leader said, serious.
"No way, he's a big deal…" one of the men said, apprehensive. "Boss, how are we supposed to go up against him?"
"We're not… without our own trump card," Charley said slowly, eyeing Alu.
Alu grimaced. Oh no. They were going to use her as bait under the false pretense that she was his girlfriend. She tried to imagine the look on Chuuya's face as they asked him to go fight them for the honor of his girlfriend and him being like, "What girlfriend," and hanging up on them while wearing a sour lemon-sucking expression. She knew it wasn't the time to giggle, but she found herself deliriously giggling at that mental image honestly.
"Girlie's cracked," one of the men said, brandishing his pistol at Alu's direction.
"Not to worry, we'll treat your boyfriend really nice…as long as he cooperates," one of the other men jeered.
Alu found herself giggling harder, because they couldn't be further from the truth in regards to the nature of her relationship with Chuuya. The thought of Chuuya's face though at the notion and him getting a short fuse and beating them up regardless did sound oddly like it fit his character.
She made a noise of surprise as she was held up right and then thrown over the shoulder of one of the men like a sack of potatoes. "We'll discuss more back at base," Charley said, brisk.
"Yes, sir!" The other men replied, respectful of their lady boss. Alu was a bit impressed by this. Sure, she was being kidnapped by thugs but she had to respect men that knew how to treat a lady boss. Props.
Alu couldn't risk letting out Juubi. She didn't have time to think regardless, feeling herself slip into the black from a sharp blow to her neck. What a great end to an already shitty day.
Elise gazed up at the stars from the balcony of another apartment she and Rintaro were staying at after being discovered at their other high rise recently by that snotty brat, Ryou. In her hand, she held her pink cellphone, but on the screen it showed another 10 attempts to call Alu. All of them went straight to voicemail however.
"Something doesn't feel right," Elise said, softly to no one.
Inside, Mori was pooling over some papers he'd brought home from work that day. Nothing particularly secretive if they were robbed, just general surface budgeting crap that even someone who leads a top underground organization would have to deal with since becoming somewhat green lit by The Division of Unusual Powers for less underhanded activities. "Elise-Chan~," Mori hummed, from the table he was working at. "Why not come inside, it's cold, you know."
"…" Elise didn't actually retort right away, lost in thought.
Mori frowned. He knew why she was lost in thought, her anxiety was relatable to his own in regards to the whereabouts of that important young lady after all. He sighed. Chuuya may have failed but he was more concerned with getting Chuuya away from the hands of that dangerous Russian man. Mori already knew his name because of his ties to Gide, but he had a feeling that if Fyodor got his hands on Chuuya, it would be big trouble for the Port Mafia. Normally, Chuuya could handle himself and his past was kept under wraps by Mori himself with only a very select few even knowing Chuuya's actual origin story, but this was concerning. Fyodor wasn't like others who had tried to bribe Chuuya into leaving the Port Mafia to work for them. No, Mori wasn't going to risk Chuuya being harmed.
He felt his phone ring, however. Elise-chan trotted over, coming inside, showing some actual interest for the first time that day. Mori knew her thoughts had been on Alu's whereabouts and after the update earlier that day, it was clear that there was some trouble that had been brewing.
"Unknown number?" Mori hummed, with interest glancing to Elise. Elise furrowed her brow. The thought was on both their minds: Was it Alu?
Mori picked up, "Hello?" He asked, politely.
He paused, with some mild surprise on his features. Elise frowned, straining her ears to hear. Actually, she could hear it wasn't Alu, but she had a role of "bossy" to uphold. "Let me hear! Who is it!" She beat on Rintaro's arm, with a huff.
"No…she's not here," Mori said, though he sounded a bit irritated. Elise-Chan quieted. The person Mori was talking to was none other than the annoying head of the Armed Detective Agency, Fukuzawa Yukichi. "Make of it what you will but if you know so much, why not just have your genius detective track her down?" Mori hung up with an eye roll, not allowing the other man to finish his tirade on the other end.
"What did Mister Judgy want?" Elise-Chan frowned. She already knew of course. The A.D.A. no doubt assumed Alu was with them which made sense but was none-the less, none of their freaking business. Elise pouted.
"The usual, 'give her back,' 'stop corrupting her,' yadyada," Mori said, with a dismissive hand wave. "Honestly, it was funny at first but now it's just annoying how much I'm being pestered about her whereabouts."
"…So they don't know where she is either…" Elise-Chan murmured, her momentary energy shifting back to restless and doll-like.
Mori quieted, gazing at his ability. "…Hmmm," Mori hummed. "I have…a feeling we'll get a call from her soon, after all, she likes you, remember?" He said, in a way, trying to cheer Elise-Chan up.
Elise nodded, subdued. "Yeah…" she smiled but it was empty and that oddly, made Mori worried. It was like his ability was acting more and more human—his feelings were mixing with Elise's but they were reacting for different motivations. His was a desire to control the girl, and Elise's desire….?
Mori pursed his lips.
He didn't actually know what Elise's desire was because Elise had no desires that were her own. It was just an empty feeling when he tried to discern it. And yet, it was attached to that girl, fervently as though being near her would give it meaning.
"We'll find her," he said, more to reassure himself than anything that they hadn't lost a valuable player yet.
Fukuzawa sighed, with a grimace. Well, Mori didn't know where the girl was. It was already night-fall and Ranpo had reassured Fukuzawa that the girl would be with Mori since she had a habit of turning up at the Port Mafia the most, it would seem.
Fukuzawa figured he'd just have to wait until tomorrow. But something unsettled him. He felt uneasy. He looked at his tea cup. It had a small crack on it from when he had dropped it earlier. An omen…
His steel blue eyes narrowed.
"I hope you're alright…wherever you are," he murmured, looking at the stars from his window.
"Dazai… will you please… talk to me?" Odasaku grimaced, as he sat at Bar Lupin, no drinks on the counter, but Dazai was still giving him the silent treatment regardless, sitting two seats away from him.
"I agreed to come, so I'm here," Dazai said, clearly tantrumming though he appeared cool and civil on the outside.
"I can explain…" Odasaku sighed. He'd been trying to get Dazai to agree to meet him for drinks to explain why he was working with Ango Sakaguchi at the Division of Unusual Powers instead of the A.D.A. like Dazai had originally thought he would after he revealed to Dazai last night during his meet up with the girl that he had switched tracks.
Dazai had bitterly agreed to meeting alone with Odasaku today after Odasaku was done with some paperwork for Ango. Ango had taken care of Odasaku's background check though he hadn't expounded to Odasaku how.
Odasaku gazed at the bar counter, recalling the conversation.
"How do you plan to have me work for the organization…with my record?" Odasaku found himself asking, a bit perplexed as Ango pointed out some general areas of the building of operations.
"Oh that…don't worry, I already cleared your record for the most part…a while ago," Ango vaguely admitted.
"Huh? You did?" Odasaku was surprised if not taken aback.
"Don't think too hard on it," Ango said, curtly, sighing and opening the door to a hallway with doors. "A mutual friend and I merely decided it was the best course of action for you," he said.
"Officer Chief Taneda decided this?" Odasaku blinked at Ango, dumbly.
Ango didn't respond right away but he nodded finally. "It was an agreement…between friends," he said finally.
"You're really close, huh?" Odasaku asked, off-handedly, looking around the hallway they were walking down now. Ango didn't reply right away. He stopped outside a door however. It had Oda's name on the door.
"This will be where you start work…" Ango said, quietly, unlocking the door with a special buzzer key. "Here is your own set of security keys…" he handed a keychain with a card key on it to Odasaku.
Odasaku took it. "Thanks…" the two men exchanged awkward silence. Odasaku found it strange, that they had sworn not to see each other again and yet here he was, now working under a former friend…as a colleague again…the irony.
Odasaku sighed, knowing that Dazai was brooding heavily because of this development. "…I appreciate you coming out…regardless," Odasaku said, awkwardly, looking at Dazai. He knew Dazai hated inconvenience and he felt like he was one now.
Dazai however huffed, glancing at him from the corner of his eye before turning on his chair, propping his chin in his hand, and just furrowing his brow at him. "You did it because of the orphans and that girl, right?" He sounded matter-of-fact. Odasaku opened his mouth but just closed it again.
Dazai was always the sharp tool in the box. He knew without talking often what was going on. Odasaku was both relieved but also a little frustrated. He wanted to articulate properly to Dazai his own feelings on the decision he'd made. His expression must have shown it because Dazai turned away, gazing at the fat Calico cat on the chair next to him.
He didn't pet the cat, merely gazed at it before he gazed back at Odasaku.
Odasaku spoke up, however. "They are already trying… to use their involvement with this situation surrounding the orphans…to their advantage…when it comes to the future of that girl," Odasaku gazed at Dazai seriously. "The real reason I switched…is to be the one to stop Ango if he goes too far."
