Vol. 5. Ch. 5

Hearts on Fire

Dazai observed her from the corner of his eye. This young woman wore a skull mask, and was dressed like a typical street gang member. What really interested him though were her unnatural orange eyes. An ability user… He wondered if she knew who he was.

"Ah, sorry, sorry," he said innocently, holding his hands up slowly, not a complete idiot when it came to having a gun pressed to the back of his head. Sure, Dazai had a death wish but he wanted it to come true his way.

"Shut up," the woman continued, "Rise, slowly, hands behind your back, no funny business and give me your wrists," she bossily instructed him.

Dazai smirked a little. He couldn't help it. She was rather confident…maybe she didn't know who he was. Then again, that wasn't a terrible thing. Since she was a woman, maybe he could find a less violent way—a more fun way— to extract the information he was seeking. "Yes, yes," he said, obediently rising and showing his wrists to her, to which a split second later he heard a C-Click—snap.

Ah, handcuffs.

Kinky.

"I like your style," he found himself saying before he could stop himself.

"Flirting won't work on me," the mysterious woman growled.

"Oh? Are you also into girls?" Dazai couldn't help but ask, mostly bemused and in a teasing sort of mood.

The mysterious woman clicked her gun at him and Dazai just shrugged. "I don't care either way… but you know, you really shouldn't be targeting little fox girls," he said, cheerful.

"Why do you even care?" The woman snapped, and Dazai noted how she was clearly angry. Huh, she was pretty riled up. Maybe it was because her gang got their asses kicked by Alu and Chuuya. Dazai bit back a small snigger. They made a good team-surprisingly enough— but he was still so tickled that they had assumed Chuuya was Alu's boyfriend.

"Ah, well, you see… I was just passing by…" Dazai began to simper when—-CRKSSH!— a bullet suddenly rang out and smashed through the window to their left. Dazai could feel the heat of the bullet on his cheek. His eyes widened.

A thin trickle of blood appeared on his cheek under his left eye. But what bewildered Dazai wasn't the gunshot itself. What bewildered him was it came from the outside. "Osamu Dazai…the youngest Executive of the Port Mafia," the woman icily said, keeping her gun pressed to his spine now. "One wrong move and my sniper will not intentionally miss next time."

Dazai quieted.

He wasn't afraid.

Heck, he found himself smiling a little. Finally, some excitement! He could feel a shiver like a giddy school kid anticipating the weekend tingle up his spine. This unsettled the woman who pulled away from him. "Oh, what do I get if I'm good?" He asked, tilting his head at her. His half lidded smirk would make some girls swoon—but not this one. This one knew what that shit-eating grin really meant.

"Don't kill him just yet," a new voice interjected from outside the room.

Both Dazai and the woman glanced towards the door. Opening it, a boy stepped into the room. He couldn't be more than a child himself. Dark hair, calculating cold eyes, pale skin… Dazai had a hunch this was the infamous Ryou that easily made Alu fret with anxiety. He kept smiling. "My hero!" he said, cheekily.

The boy just glared at him. "Hey, let's make a deal."

Dazai tilted his head, bemused. "Oh?"

"How much do you want?" The boy continued, gazing at Dazai.

"Money isn't really an issue," Dazai said cheerfully, knowing full well this kid was trying to bribe him not to get involved any further. How elementary.

"Is it a position then? I could figure something out," The boy continued.

Dazai was amused but he was growing a bit impatient as well. He had a feeling this was the one who had ordered the thugs and this woman to hunt Alu. He had all the answers he needed. He fingered his cufflinks, mentally memorizing how to undo them when the moment was right. "Money or power, I have no interest in either," he said brightly. "However I do have something I'd appreciate you clearing up for me!" He cheerfully beamed at them like he wasn't their hostage.

The boy nodded.

Dazai wondered what sort of sway this boy actually had over Alu to make her so invested in his future. He tilted his head at the boy, eyeing the little girl that was with him. He wasn't surprised to see that children were here. He was a bit amused that they were in charge though. The Port Mafia was well known for taking children off the streets and training them to serve Mafia's interests from a young age, but Dazai had been a bit of a special case himself considering he hadn't been from the streets to begin with.

When he was still fourteen he had chosen to run away himself to join the Port Mafia. It was honestly on a whim and at the behest of his former doctor, Ogai Mori. Mori honestly had been originally treating Dazai's more suicidal psychology, but somehow Dazai had fallen into Mori's web. Dazai just hadn't realized it until recently—when Odasaku died.

Dazai never wanted to experience that ever again. Even now, gazing at this boy, his brain calculating various outcomes of this very moment, he knew that these kids shouldn't be underestimated. They may not be his equals, but they technically did have the upper hand here.

"What do you need cleared up?" Ryou asked, frowning at Dazai.

His rigid tone sounded a bit mature for someone who clearly didn't look any older than maybe twelve. This only ignited Dazai's curiosity even further. If he had stumbled across this boy sooner while still at the Mafia, he probably would have recruited him somehow, Dazai couldn't help but think, off-handedly.

"Ah," Dazai said, having finished assessing the pawns in the room and honestly just stalling. He knew he had to time this right. He only had one shot. Dazai didn't fear dying or death and he only felt exhilarated by life-threatening situations, but he wasn't a complete idiot.

Suddenly the woman spoke again. "What the hell did you do?"

Dazai blinked, puzzled. "Huh?" He asked comically confused, having not even put his plan into action yet.

"My sniper is offline," the woman continued with a snarl, glaring at him and looking at Ryou, agitated. "I heard a gunshot though, then he went silent. Not only that, but none of my remaining members are responsive either."

"Tch," Ryou huffed, glaring at Dazai now, as well. "Well, it would seem you aren't alone, after all," he said darkly. Dazai wondered who it could be that came back. His mind raced, honestly. It couldn't be Chuuya, he knew that kid's candle was out for a good long while after using Arahabaki. It couldn't be Alu, could it? No… even with her fox partner, it was clear that she'd reached her limit. That only left those three—and Ranpo didn't really make the cut.

Dazai realized it was probably a toss-up between Odasaku and Kunikida but he actually didn't know which one to expect to come to his aid—those two were similar in some ways after all when it came to helping others. He found himself smirking with absolute amusement. This was so exciting! "The weird guy is smiling," Yari said, tugging on Ryou's sleeve. "Can I play with him a little before we have'ta kill him?"

Before Ryou could respond, the door swung open and immediately gunshots rang out. Ryou grabbed Yari reflexively, and hugged her to himself, wordlessly jumping out of harm's way of the gunshots that rang out. The woman pulled out two guns herself and began to shoot back at the blur of an attacker.

But Dazai recognized that red-hair anywhere.

His eyes shone with admiration and awe as the woman and Ryou had no choice but to go onto a defensive stance. Not even 100 men could be a match for this crimson blur. Ryou and Yari stayed out of the way, and it was apparent that the attacks were being directed at the woman in the skull mask.

Dazai's attention turned to the boy and the little girl. Ryou summoned his swords around himself like a Halo. Dazai's eyes flashed. Already aware that this kid was planning a strike, Dazai moved faster than lightning. However, the little girl Yari opened a dark hole. Dazai's eyes widened with shock. Trying to change course he was forced to roll and tumble to the side, unable to get near the boy with the light swords. Dammit!

He had to touch the boy to stop the ability, but it would look like that wasn't happening. What was he going to do? Dazai couldn't get near the boy and that little girl's portals were going to swallow him up before he managed anything. The cuffs slid off his wrists easily enough and he had an idea…

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to hit girls?" The woman snidely remarked, glaring, panting, at Odasaku. They were evenly matched in strength, even with Odasaku's foresight ability.

A knife flew out of nowhere and hit the woman in the shoulder. Stunned, Dazai and Odasaku comically shared the expressions of the others in the room. Turning their head to the door, in the doorframe, stood Yosano. She grinned like a crazy person, holding up more surgical knives in her knuckle like a ninja holds shuriken. "His mother may have, but mine never did," she replied darkly.

Without warning, Ryou launched his light swords at Yosano. Yosano just lightly jumped out of the way like a cat, wielding her knives. Odasaku turned his attention back to his own opponent, dodging her webbing—thanks to his ability.

Frustrated she couldn't land a hit, the woman pointed her gun right at Dazai. At this close proximity, she wouldn't miss. "Don't move, any of you!" She said with a snarl, "Or I will kill him."

Odasaku instinctively froze, knowing that even if he did train his gun on her, their ability to both pull the trigger would be evenly matched. Not to mention he had made a promise to himself to be a writer one day…and those who take lives didn't have a right to write about them. Odasaku didn't want death to be the only outcome. Dazai was his friend though, and if his life was threatened…would Odasaku be able to put aside his philosophy if it meant saving the life of his friend? Odasaku's mind raced, trying to think of some solution.

This was bad.

The woman was bleeding from the shoulder where the knife Yosano threw was lodged. Using her free hand, the woman yanked out the knife, not even making a noise of pain—just a grunt of irritation. But Odasaku knew better. He knew that her finger was trained on that trigger and nothing would stop her from pulling it.

Dazai gazed unaffected however at her. Yosano tensed, but Dazai just began to giggle. "Oh, I'm shaking," he said, waving his hands in a jazzy way, and grinning devilishly. "But you should know, if you pull that trigger…your little friend there won't be able to hear a juicy bit of information on the fox girl that I have," he hummed.

Ryou's attention was piqued, and though he trained his light swords that swirled above to equally target Yosano, Odasaku, and Dazai each respectively as he only had 3 total, he gestured to the woman to lower her gun. "What did you want to tell me?" He asked, curt and suspicious.

Dazai actually appreciated his direct blunt nature. He would have made a perfect addition to the Port Mafia…heck, he would have probably been more useful than that hot-headed brat, Akutagawa… ah, no point crying over spilled blood now though… "Well, you see," he continued, as Odasaku and Yosano watched him as well, silently aware that he was planning something. "That girl doesn't appreciate you bullying me!" He whined. As a result, inwardly both Odasaku and Yosano shared a similar reaction of exasperation. Like that revelation was going to stop this woman and those kids…

Ryou however rubbed his chin. "Oh…so you're important to her?" He asked, bluntly.

Dazai nodded, fervently. "Incredibly," he continued, passionately, "in fact, you could say that she and I share a unique relationship!" He was of course referring to his 'big brother' role for Alu but it was hilarious to twist it into another sort of implication—-Dazai was a troll after all and he wouldn't be doing his job of that by telling the truth. Odasaku could sense Dazai was messing with the boy but he kept his mouth shut. Yosano merely observed, her own thoughts on this conversation reserved.

"I see," Ryou tilted his head. "I now understand why she is attached to Yokohama…" he gazed at them. "I thought it was because of all of you…but I didn't realize she was romantically involved…"

Yosano and Odasaku had to bite back from correcting the boy's incorrect assessment—since they knew it was Dazai spinning it intentionally—-for some inexplicable reason. Maybe he really was just being a troll, but it did prove one thing to them. It meant that despite his dangerous ability, this boy was still naive and easily manipulated by pros—like Dazai.

"Yes, that's why, if you could just let me go, I'd really appreciate it!" Dazai said brightly.

"Alright," Ryou said gazing at Dazai. He turned to the woman. "Fall back," he said curtly.

The woman kept her guns trained once more on Odasaku and Yosano instead. "We're just letting them go?"

Ryou shrugged. "There's no point in fighting them," he said simply.

Yosano and Odasaku felt uneasy. This felt too calm. Suddenly, Odasaku felt his head throb. He gasped, his eyes widening.

Yosano and him stood, gazing at the proceedings. Suddenly, a blade out of nowhere stuck out of Yosano's chest, leaving it blooming crimson like paint dripping onto a canvas with water. Yosano gurgled, eyes wide, in shock, before she crumpled to her knees.

"I'll just need you two," Ryou stated, eyes narrowed.

Back in the moment, Odasaku knew he only had mere seconds. Even as the sword began to form out of the corner of his eye, Odasaku grit his teeth and he barreled into Yosano with no warning as the beam of light took aim. "No!" Odasaku shouted.

SSHHUUU-LUKK.

The room suddenly felt much colder. Dazai's smile was frozen on his face, as he looked with horror at the glowing blade sticking out of Odasaku's chest. Time slowed down. Though it was only a few seconds of transition, for Dazai it felt like years. Odasaku fell to his knees, blood trickling now out of his mouth. "Ugh…." He uttered weakly, the piercing light feeling sharp and hot inside of him.

Yosano stumbled back, but stared with horror at him. "Y-You…." She was surprised and horrified at what he'd just done for her. "Oda!" She quickly was by his side in a flash—but not before Dazai fired his concealed grappling hook at Ryou.

Yari opened up a portal to counter it, but that was all Dazai needed. Wordlessly, he used the grappling hook as bait, and while the little girl was focused on keeping the portal open for it, he circumvented at an almost inhuman speed—in what felt was only a few strides—to Ryou, his murderous intent not even sparing for children.

The woman fired her guns at Dazai but they only clicked. She realized they were out of bullets! Fumbling to quickly restock them, it was clear that Dazai would already finish his motive before she was done. Forced to rely on her webbing, she tried to strike Dazai's legs with it but he was too quick—and had the dark-haired child by the collar in seconds. The woman froze, unsure of how to proceed, honestly terrified of the very aura Dazai was spilling from himself like a choking force.

Slamming Ryou full force against the wall so hard that the kid's teeth rattled, Dazai just stared up at the kid's suddenly alarmed gaze with his own cold calculating one. "Don't fight fire with fire, if you're too afraid to get burned," he snarled, no light in his eyes.

Ryou choked and Yari tried to come closer but Dazai wordlessly pointed his gun at her. "Don't shoot!" Ryou shouted, alarmed, clawing at Dazai's hand around his throat. He gasped for air, finding his ability suddenly completely unresponsive. Dazai's fingertips were glowing faintly blue.

"Oda! Hang in there!" Yosano exclaimed, meanwhile, trying to stop the bleeding. Odasaku just lay, his eyelids half-closed, head in her lap, breathing hard and sharp.

"Tell me why not. You just made a mistake—and it won't be one I let you make twice," Dazai seethed. He was angry at this boy, angry at the situation's turn of events, but he was the most angry with himself for allowing this to happen on his watch!

No longer was he joking around. Ryou choked. Ryou had played around in dangerous situations before but he'd never encountered someone quite like Dazai. He realized he had overestimated his own ability—and even strength in numbers wasn't enough against someone like Dazai Osamu. No wonder he was considered one of the youngest executives of the Port Mafia according to Charley.

Charley finished reloading her guns but Ryou breathed hard. "Go!" He shouted at Yari and Charley.

Yari looked alarmed. "B-But Ryou—"

"I said get out of here!" Ryou shrieked.

Yari emotionlessly obeyed, mostly from alarm, auto-piloting a portal to get herself and Charley out of there, leaving Ryou behind because there was no other choice. Once she was gone, Ryou glared at Dazai, not one to back down from a fight—despite how pointless it was.

"Hang in there…" Yosano took a deep breath, and she began to put her hands on Odasaku's body. Dazai could see it from the corner of his eye. A series of light yellow and silver flapping lights, floating over Odasaku's body. Despite his upset state, he faintly recalled Yosano's ability—Thou Shalt Not Die. He realized that since Alu wasn't here—Yosano must have been sent in Alu's place…but who would have known to do that in advance?

…A certain detective came to Dazai's mind.

Perhaps this childish detective wasn't as air-headed as Dazai initially believed.

"I'll kill you…" Dazai said, his eyes a dark mahogany, trembling with rage as he threw the kid to the ground.

"Go ahead then!" Ryou shouted back, snarling, and he didn't even have a chance to summon his swords before Dazai swiftly punched him in the stomach. Ryou gagged, the force of the blow so strong that it felt like his insides had just left his body along with his ability to breathe. The force of the single blow made Ryou crumple like a soda can, blood coughing up out of his throat, as he passed out on the floor at Dazai's feet.

"…" Dazai breathed hard, unable to calm down. There was only one reason why this boy wasn't dead —and it was because Odasaku would not want that. Of course, neither would Alu, and Dazai realized —for the first time— that he had two reasons why the boy wasn't dead right now. "You're lucky there are two good people who would care about your meaningless existence," he said under his breath, not sharing that sentiment in the least.

Odasaku meanwhile was quiet. Yosano cradled him in her arms, gently. "You fool," she said softly, both moved and upset that he had risked his life for her—someone he didn't know very well. Yosano hated Chauvinism, but with Odasaku, she realized that was something she didn't have to worry about. Yosano knew that Odasaku was a good man and he only proved that today with his actions. Yosano didn't like owing debts but to Odasaku, she was okay with owing him this one.

Dazai left the kid lying on the floor, knowing he was definitely out cold, and immediately knelt near Odasaku's side.

Yosano wordlessly allowed Dazai to take his friend into his own arms. "Odasaku…" Dazai painfully managed, and he couldn't seem to stop himself from trembling. This felt too much like that time. He grit his teeth. He'd gotten too complacent. Since that girl had saved Odasaku's life that day, somehow Dazai had let his guard down and actually thought Odasaku's life was relatively safe. It was his own carelessness that had put Odasaku in this predicament.

"He'll be okay…he just needs to rest," Yosano said, putting a gloved hand tentatively on Dazai's shoulder. Dazai nearly jumped out of his skin, so wrapped up with Odasaku that he forgot she was honestly there.

"How do you know that?" He found himself asking, though he already knew how her ability worked.

"My ability can only heal someone who is at death's door… I normally have to put the body through more extremes to heal it—fortunately— at least this time… was not a case like that," Yosano explained, tone serious. Her ability could be comically portrayed in such a way but this was not that sort of circumstance.

Dazai cradled Odasaku in his arms. He saw how past the fading light, despite the rip in Odasaku's clothes, that his skin was healed…all that remained was the fresh blood that had yet to dry. Dazai felt relief wash over him. This had been too close of a call to even announce as lucky. He glanced at Yosano, frowning. "Hey, did that odd-ball detective send you?"

Yosano nodded, not even denying it or blinking. She straightened to her feet, tucking her loose black hair behind an ear. "He had a hunch," she simply said before walking over to the unconscious boy.

Dazai didn't ask any further questions, he just hugged Odasaku to himself. His breathing felt a bit funny, and his chest was very tight. Even though the danger was over, he could feel himself still finding it difficult to breathe. He felt light headed all of a sudden. Dazai would usually fantasize about what it felt like to die—but this didn't feel good at all.

"Hey, breathe," Yosano said, worriedly, noting Dazai's current state.

Dazai didn't speak. He just lowered Odasaku back to the floor. Dazai didn't know how he felt. He felt too much. His mind was numb and yet it was a wildfire spreading throughout his body swallowing him whole.

Odasaku lay, much like this, cradled in Dazai's arms. His lips moved, and Dazai only faintly heard his friend's dying wish.

"If you have to pick a side…choose the side that saves lives…"

Dazai felt himself crumbling. He didn't know if he was strong enough to even fulfill that wish. "I'm not strong enough…" he whispered, hollowly to his friend's sleeping frame. His sense of self-loathing threatened to drown him.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Jolting, he looked up, eyes glassy. He expected to see Yosano but his eyes widened from sudden shock. In front of him was a glowing silver girl with long hair, fox ears, and four tails, completely silver—like a ghost but she wasn't see-through.

"Dazai…" she said in an echo, and Dazai found himself still cradling Odasaku in one arm and reaching out for her with his other. "I wish…" As quickly as she appeared, his touch made her disappear, his fingertips glowing blue. His eyes flickered. Had she been using an 'ability' this time? Is that why his own ability activated? He had to admit, he was frustrated to see her go. Dazai normally saw his ability as useful, but here it felt like a hindrance. Did this mean she was awake at least? Yosano wasn't having any reaction at all and Dazai knew this meant oddly once again he was the only one seeing things.

"Hey," Yosano said loudly and Dazai jolted when Yosano did kneel near him, holding the unconscious child. "…we should go," Yosano said, not unkindly. Dazai normally didn't like strangers in his space but considering she had just saved his friend's life, even Dazai was willing to make one small exception.

Dazai knew that there was no point to being here anymore. They had managed to capture an important fountain of information at least, and Dazai knew that Alu was out of harm's way. She was with the ADA after all. They were oddly competent.

"Yeah," he replied, simple and obedient.

—x—-x—x—

Kōsuke sat, staring at the other kids in the living room. Sakura was playing with her dolls, Shinji and Yū were both reading some book on the animal kingdom, and Katsumi was lounging on the couch, playing his video game. Since the time with Fyodor, they weren't allowed to really go outside much. Confined to the indoors with just some funny looking men-in-black types who were constantly guarding them from the Special Division for Unusual Powers, the children all knew on some level that these men were here for their protection when Odasaku had to work. Most of the kids were content to do their own thing and enjoy the peace.

But not Kōsuke. No, Kōsuke had been lost in thought for quite some time now. Katsumi made a noise of disappointment, sitting up, cross legged. "Ah shoot!" He complained.

Kōsuke tilted his head at his friend. "What? Didja lose …again?" He asked, bemused.

Katsumi pouted, rubbing his head. "How come you can beat this level and I can't?", he sighed with frustration, turning to look at the other boys. "Yū, can you please help me! Apparently only you and Kōsuke can beat this annoying thing!"

Kōsuke shrugged. "Probably because I'm just amazing," he said, puffing out his chest.

Katsumi gave him a look and, then dead-pan, replied, "Nah, that's definitely not it."

Kōsuke pouted. "Hey come on! I'm gonna be really cool soon!"

Yū blinked at Kōsuke's outburst, looking up from the book. "Are you going on about that again?" He sounded a bit exasperated.

Kōsuke stamped his foot, crossing his arms. "Come on guys! Think about it! Or have you all forgotten our roots?"

Sakura continued to play with her dolls, and Shinji remained a quiet outlier to this conversation. Katsumi and Yū shared a look with each other. They were the older trio after all. Kōsuke was energetic and always full of big—sometimes crazy— ideas. He was also the oldest —being nine— and he loved to be in charge.

"No," Katsumi huffed, "but… things are different now."

"Hah? How are things different?" Kōsuke frowned, puzzled. Just a few months ago, everyone was on the same page as him when it came to his opinions-but now it felt like everyone was drifting away from him and the worst part was, Kōsuke couldn't understand why.

Katsumi and Yū exchanged glances. "Okay, I guess I'll just come out and say it," Katsumi sighed, as the second oldest at eight years old. Him and Kōsuke got along usually because their age difference was so close to each other. "The truth is…a life of actually being in danger…isn't fun at all."

Kōsuke was still puzzled. "But we were amazing! We totally helped Big Sis thwart that bad guy!"

Yū glanced at Katsumi before gazing back at Kōsuke. "It wasn't just a game like it is with Odasaku," he pointed out.

Kōsuke giggled. "I know! It was better!" He opened his arms wide, grinning from ear to ear, his eyes sparkling. "I mean, come on! We got to actually do something awesome!"

"Awesome?" Katsumi repeated, frowning at his eccentric friend. "Do you even hear yourself right now?"

Kōsuke didn't understand. Of course he heard himself. He was the one trying to convince the others to see reason! "Yeah! Duh! I can hear myself just fine!" He replied, with a shrug. "It's you guys that are having trouble hearing me, it feels like!"

"Kōsuke," Yū tentatively began, but Kōsuke was on a roll, ready to pour out his heart and personal opinion so that they'd be able to see his point of view—and agree with him again!

"Come on! We not only stopped a bad guy but we saved Sakura! Us! We were actually useful in a real hostage situation! Didn't it just give you a feeling of awesome sauce?" He said, still grinning.

Sakura made a small noise and Shinji was the one who moved over to her. Sakura kept playing with her dolls. However, Yū and Katsumi glared at Kōsuke. "Kōsuke…" Katsumi said, warningly.

"We're the children of the Mafia! Well I mean, we were! Now we can be even more than what our parents were! Let's all be awesome heroes instead! You know, the ADA would be an awesome place to work, you know?" Kōsuke rambled, on a roll now. "Think of what we could do when we're older! If any of us are in trouble we can just jump in and thwart the bad guys over and over again!"

"Kōsuke!" Katsumi and Yū paused. They turned with surprise to see who the outburst came from. Kōsuke paused. His eyes widened from surprise more than anything. The outburst had not been from Sakura. Sakura was buried into Shinji's arms, trembling though she wasn't making a sound. "That's enough!" His tone was forced calm. Shinji however looked angry. This was rare so the three older boys were comically stunned to silence.