Vol 5

Ch. 11

The Start of A New Dawn sheds Light on the Hidden Dark

It was a lovely bright sunny day in the peaceful city of Yokohama.

Birds were singing.

Bugs were crawling.

Pollution was permeating the lovely city air.

The sound of city life bustling was something she often enjoyed.

Avoiding the ADA was less enjoyable but since she woke up, yeeting herself away from the agency and the guilt of facing Yosano and Ranpo head on felt like the new normal for Alu. Letting out a deep mushroom clouded sigh, she really hated this constant cycle she placed herself in with those guys.

When she'd first woken up following the events of being kidnapped by Charley and her weird gang, she had immediately fled the familiar infirmary she had been placed in in the middle of the night. She knew she was in for an earful of a lecture if she had the misfortune of crossing paths with Kunikida, but the chances of that were slim to none. Especially since she didn't even know what his familiar spots to hang would even be. Maybe a history museum or a classroom detention room, L.O.L. Since she knew he was a university student that did math tutoring part-time.

It had been a few days since then.

Subdued, and hungry, Alu didn't want to be a bother to another familiar blonde that popped into her mind. Alu still held onto her purple phone, and she gazed at it now, multiple texts from Elise-Chan asking for her location on it. She hadn't responded to any of them and she'd turned off the phone's gps location service.

Alu had a lot to think about as well.

Kōsuke and Tomoe had been on her mind. That boy, Ryou, had also been on her mind. Alu's phone held a few new numbers besides just Elise's. One of those numbers was Agent Sakaguchi's. While their text correspondence had been limited, it had mostly been on the topic of when she could meet with Ryou. He also may have lent her a little money for food though she hadn't admitted she was back on the streets—no need to bother him with minor details, right?

At the time, Alu had gotten his number through Odasaku so she could correspond with him. She had meant to just ask more about Ryou and Tomoe but somehow he had the foresight to open a small virtual money account and dropped some bucks in. Feeling like a terrible Moocher, Alu was trying to currently figure out what she could do to show her appreciation for his apparent concern for her lack of current financial stability.

Her phone began to vibrate. Alu blinked, surprised. The caller I.D. Was Ango himself. Wondering why he was calling at a time he was normally facedown in paperwork, Alu picked up. "What's up?" She asked.

"Hey—are you free?" Ango asked on the other end, curt and direct.

Alu blinked, wondering if he'd finally managed to procure her a time to see Ryou since it apparently involved some government hoop jumping. Free was an understatement. Honestly, Alu had no clear direction of anything. Even though she had three month's worth of muddled knowledge in her mind, she felt completely lost as to where to start even looking for Kōsuke. Odasaku was counting on her to help find the boy and save him before anything seriously went wrong and Alu was determined not to fail this time around.

"Did you get a meeting for me?" Alu asked, hopeful.

"I'm still working on that," Ango admitted. "I just meant, are you free right now to discuss the other boy, Kōsuke?"

Alu furrowed her brow, quizzical. "Did you find out something about him?" She asked, wondering what it could be that Ango had uncovered so soon. In the previous timeline, it had taken Ango longer to get any information but Alu also knew that using 'rewrite' changed some of her own decisions and in effect was causing a ripple effect of change as could be a side-effect of going this far back. To be honest, Alu hadn't thought that rewrite would land her this far back. She had mostly just hoped it would take Dazai far enough to a point that would give him more time to prepare.

Alu remembered her phrasing for the rewrite too. "Though Kōsuke didn't believe in second chances and had lost all hope for himself, the people who cared about him wouldn't give up. But it wouldn't be them that would change the outcome. As the hands of fate turned backwards, it would be because of one particular individual that things could have a chance to turn out differently. Dazai would be the one to change the hand of cards because if anyone could change the outcome, it was him, and him alone. So, Dazai found himself in the past—from the moment he first learned of Kōsuke's disappearance from Agent Sakaguchi— with a second chance to play a different hand…"

Alu couldn't actually explain why it had to be Dazai to change the outcome this time around. But she felt it was right. She trusted in her instincts and most of all, she wanted to believe in Dazai. Dazai cared about Odasaku —seeing them fight like they had and how hurt they had both become over Kōsuke had broken Alu's heart just to watch. More than anything, Alu hoped that things would turn out differently for the better this time around.

Dazai wasn't someone who believed he deserved a second chance at anything nor was he the type to give out second chances, she knew. You usually had only one chance to not fuck it up in front of someone like Dazai Osamu—at least his port mafia self. Alu wondered if freelance Dazai would start to realize that he still had room to grow.

"Hello?" Ango's impatient voice cut through Alu's wandering thoughts.

"Oh-uh, yeah, sure," Alu replied, distracted.

"Great, I'm across the street from where you're standing," Ango continued, briskly.

Alu's head shot up, looking around like a bewildered owl. She spotted Ango across the street at the red cross light, waving in her direction. "Ah!" Alu exclaimed loudly, and she saw Ango pull his phone with alarm from his own ear from her loud sudden outburst of sudden surprise.

Alu hung up on her end, and hastily made her way to the light to the crosswalk. Pressing the button, she wondered how Ango had managed to find her. Or maybe it was a coincidence? Nah, with people like Dazai and Ango, it never felt like coincidence. Alu giggled a little to herself. Those two were so similar….

Her eyes flickered, remembering again, their last interaction at Bar Lupin when she'd uncovered that information about officer chief Taneda. Should she even bring it up? She had no doubt that Ango would try to ask at some point. The fact he hadn't already bothered her about it was a little surprising.

Mah~ Alu stretched her arms, cricking her neck and her spine. It was a nice day and there had been no violence or gang activity before breakfast. She would totally take this 'peaceful' time while she could. After all, with someone like Fyodor, she knew this was just the calm before the storm—and she really didn't want to run in with him or his little weird posse. The thought of running into him made Alu grimace especially since Juubi had impulsively tried to murder him.

Awkward.

The light turned green, and Alu scurried across to where Ango stood, hand in his pocket, casually waiting for her. "What'd you find out?" Alu asked immediately, gazing at the glasses-wearing government agent.

Ango looked to be all by himself.

Alu was surprised. She thought considering his high status that he should have his guards flanking him. "And where are your guards?" she added, before Ango could speak to answer her first question.

"I didn't want to attract unnecessary attention," Ango said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, speaking cross and serious. Alu was reminded a little of Kunikida despite Ango's lack of baritone. She giggled.

"What's so funny?" Ango asked, puzzled.

"Nothing," Alu grinned, "You just remind me of Kunikida a little!"

"What does that mean?" Ango asked, perplexed.

"It just means you both are prudent thinkers," Alu cheerfully replied. She knew if she mentioned that he sounded like Dazai sometimes too that he'd be definitely sour.

"Ah, I see," Ango cleared his throat. "Come," he commanded, and he began to walk away, brusque.

Alu followed after, bouncy. "So what information did you find?"

Ango turned a corner. "Not here, we'll talk more at the restaurant I made reservations at."

Alu's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "Eh? How did you know to plan so far in advance? Oh my gosh, is your power also to see into the future?" She put her hands over her mouth with, like, genuine shock and amazement.

Ango looked like he was sprouting a few gray hairs from her teasing. "No, it's not like that—I just.." he huffed. "I figured you wouldn't say no to free food and some company," he admitted.

Alu hated how easy she was to read. Jeez, she really had to not look so easy to bait. But still, she patted her stomach. It was better than eating any kill-a-la-Juubi any day. "Feed me, senpai!" she cheerfully said.

Ango was disturbingly reminded of Dazai's obnoxious face and he looked away, eye twitching. It was just unsettling how similar he found those two to be in many ways but there were plenty of positive differences on Alu's end that Ango was grateful to take into account.

Reaching the restaurant, Alu's jaw dropped. It wasn't a cheap cafe or gas station restaurant. This was a really nice french restaurant she'd passed by before on occasion. Le Chat Blanc as it was called. Alu's eyes sparkled from excitement. She began to drool and had to wipe her mouth before it became a fountain of food fantasies spilling over. "Holy crap! You got reservations here?" She glommed onto Ango from behind, excited. "You're so awesome! Ango! We should totally eat together more!"

Ango yelped, and tried to wriggle free, frazzled. Her lack of self restraint for personal space felt so much like that guy— it was so annoying . "Hey! Watch the suit! And don't cling to me! You're underage! I don't want people to get the wrong idea!"

Alu giggled. "I'm actually not," she admitted, thoughtfully.

"What are you talking about?" Ango huffed, rolling his eyes and smoothing out his sleeve as they neared the entrance.

Alu stopped walking.

Ango paused.

He looked over his shoulder to see a wry expression on her face. She was smiling but it looked oddly sad? Taken aback, he didn't know what to say but she spoke before he had to prepare anything. "Thanks to Juubi I can adjust my age to anything I want," she explained to Ango. "But the truth is…I'm actually almost 20."

The revelation fell onto Ango with the force equivalent of an elephant sitting on him. "You're what."

He didn't mean to sound so disbelieving, but this girl had been going around claiming to be a teenage girl under eighteen up until this point. What if she was just trying to make him feel less awkward so she was lying about her age. Alu smiled wryly. "Do you need to read my mind, Ango?"

Her American forward way of using his first name both irritated and oddly intrigued Ango. He knew foreigners didn't tend to always be aware or even care about Japan's honorific system but Alu wasn't being too rude—but he felt the need to correct her regardless. "I'm Mr. Sakaguchi," he crossly stated.

Alu put her hands on her hips. "Okay, then I'm Miss Osamu," she countered, grinning. "Go on, call me by my formal name, Mr. Sakaguchi," she was clearly teasing him and wanting to be swallowed up by the ground, Ango found himself in a strangely odd predicament of having to call this girl by the last name of his former colleague that absolutely hated him.

"What's your real last name," he deadpanned.

Alu giggled. " I don't have one!" she said, holding her arms out wide, like she was going to give a hug. "I only need one name, anything beyond that is silly and besides, last names can be an anchor, a reminder of ties you'd rather forget about!"

Ango felt a pang in his chest. She was smiling and cheerfully telling him this but he suddenly felt this was something very personal and close to her heart. Was he inadvertently learning a little about this girl? Was she opening up to him? After all this time? Ango actually wanted to utilize this to continue to earn her trust for Officer Chief Taneda. "And yet you chose to go with Osamu?" He couldn't help but quip.

Alu giggled again. "It just fit," she brightly said. "Don't worry, I was just joking mostly~ But he said I could use his last name any time and you're the one who started it anyways!" She put her hands on her hips, pouting at Ango. "I would think that after everything you'd at least consider me a friend!"

A friend?

Her?

To Ango?

Ango was a bit stunned. He knew this girl didn't seem to hold grudges against him for his past behavior, but he had assumed she had more important things to deal with than trying to be his 'friend'. Ango gazed at her. A car passed by them. Traffic moved on. Life moved on. Alu grinned at him, moving closer and Ango was suddenly very aware that her not being sixteen actually made him feel more awkward about being alone with her now. Dammit, this is why talking to women could be troublesome.

Alu grabbed Ango's head. Ango's eyes bugged out. "!?"

"Here, let's do this!" Alu grinned at Ango, a sudden glint in her eye that he was honestly afraid to confront. "You need to loosen up, bud!" She ruffled his carefully gelled back hair, and Ango wriggled.

"Hey!" He yelped, indignant. "Don't do that!" he slapped her hand away, backing up, breathing hard, face suddenly very, very warm.

Alu stepped back, still smiling. Ango's chest clenched. Had he gone too far? No, she was the one in his space first! Jeez! She had no sense of boundaries! Feeling oddly defensive and hot in the face, Ango found he suddenly couldn't stop the bubbling storm. He didn't want reminders of that guy right now! "If you're really as old as you say then start to act your age!" He yelled, frustrated.

Alu gazed at him.

The smile on her face left, replaced with a serious look. Uh-oh. Ango had gone and messed this meeting up badly. Dammit. He really hated his temper sometimes. He had to be composed and cool! He was a professional dammit! Then Alu began to giggle. Then she began to laugh. Then she held her sides, absolutely breaking out into fits of laughter. "oh man~ You should see your face! Man~o~man! You're too funny!"

Ango felt a bird caw in his mind.

Huh? She was laughing? She found his outburst amusing? Was she insulting him? What the hell was wrong with this girl's brain? Probably a lot if she hung out with someone as dangerous as Dazai.

His expression clearly showed his bewilderment and disgruntlement, and Alu just grinned. "Y'see? We're already friends!" She cheerfully said.

"Huh? I mean—I would like to think we are allies —but friends? It's a bit too soon!" Ango stammered. He had to get this girl to become loyal to the Division of Unusual Powers but suddenly forcing it —even if it was for Officer Chief Taneda and the Greater Good— made Ango feel guilty.

"Allies are great for networking," Alu brightly said, waving an index finger in the air, "but friends are for kicking back and being yourself around!"

"I apologize for my outburst," Ango said, incredibly formal like a turtle in a bow tie, "but I don't know how you came to the conclusion that me yelling at you makes us friends?"

"You spend all your time being mr. Perfect government agent 007," Alu teased, grinning at Ango.

Ango felt his face warm. He really wanted to explain to her the significance of his job. That his role required someone serious and ready to do anything to get the job done. That he was a civil servant of society. "That's—"

"—honestly, it's nice to see that you're able to get angry with me. It's refreshing because it means you're still human underneath that perfect government facade you've gotten used to hiding behind," Alu brightly concluded. "So, I don't mind. Your true feelings are safe with me, Ango, buddy, pal~"

She grinned hugely, widening her arms and Ango suddenly felt an odd mixture of exasperation, confusion, and something else? A friend? She wanted to be his friend? Navigating women in general was already stressful but it wasn't like this was anything romantic in nature. Alu was just a very friendly person, Ango knew. Someone who liked to stick her nose into other peoples' business and could see through people in a scarily accurate way that was on the level of Ranpo and Dazai. He was being teased but she wasn't meaning to be mean. She cared about him. Enough to put up with his angry outbursts.

Ango felt his glasses fog a little.

He quickly turned away, wiping them on his suit. He cleared his throat, not wanting to appear immediately moved. He had to be professional, even if she wanted to somehow make this informal. He had to remember that there were rules and standards and —-

"Rising sun surprise!" Alu crowed and without warning, she bumped into his hips with her butt, causing him to fall forwards, and almost lose his balance. With a yelp, he managed to stumble forwards and find his footing but she started to laugh again and some people were starting to stare as they came and went from the restaurant. Ango felt his face grow hotter than a volcano. It definitely felt ready to burst like one.

"Have some class!" he yelped, hating how his voice cracked.

"Class is for school!" Alu teased. "C'mon Ango! Join me in the real world for a sec, won'cha?" She held out her hand to him, still grinning brightly.

Ango felt his heart race. She was such an oddball. Ango hated being treated —wait… how was he being treated? People at work treated him formally. His own subordinates treated him with respect and yet even though they were colleagues, he kept them at arm's length. But this girl was hellbent on barreling into his defenses, intent to penetrate his impregnable walls. She wasn't like anyone he'd actually ever met.

And she was apparently nine-teen.

Ango hated that his mind was using that as a way to categorize the sudden surge of blush his brain executed from his head to his face. Get it together, Ango! He cleared his throat loudly. He coughed a little into his own fist. He was twenty-three, so it wasn't like the age difference was as bad as before. While he had thought it awkward to be friends with a child, to be friends with her like this, felt oddly easier.

No, it wasn't that. He had always felt instinctively the desire to be her friend ever since that day, but he'd been too afraid to take that step. She had acknowledged his character, she had been the one to call him a good person—even though he had tried to take her life. Everything about her didn't make any sense to Ango. Gazing at her outstretched hand, even though he was still afraid of ruining things this time around, Ango couldn't push down this small selfish desire that he wanted to stay by her side. He took her hand, and Alu shook it, vigorously, nearly taking his arm out of its socket in the process.

"Good, glad we got that settled!" Alu brightly said and before Ango could stop her, she tugged him into the restaurant.

The hostess looked at them and smiled the commercial smile of hospitality. "Welcome, may I have your last name for the reservation?"

"S-Sakaguchi," Ango stammered. His body and mind felt light. But not just that, for the first time, since being haunted by all of his crippling guilt, she felt like a breath of fresh air. He found that he remembered what it felt like to not have his heart feel so heavy. It was brief and fleeting, but Ango felt just a little happy.

Alu didn't hesitate to follow the hostess to the table and Ango followed, lost in his thoughts.

Alu sat down, eagerly taking the menu offered and stuck her nose into it, which Ango actually appreciated. Not having her staring at him at the moment was helpful to his ability to recompose himself.

Alu eyed Ango out of the corner of her eye. He had been quiet since they sat down, and she wondered if he was actually still irritated. Ango seemed calm though, more contemplative than anything, and Alu pushed a menu in front of him, and tried to see if she could get a read on his expression. Ango took the menu, his glasses glinting, making it hard for Alu to actually see his eyes. She wondered how often he actually was allowed to just relax. He certainly looked like someone who never took a day off and would work until he was sick. Alu tilted her head, watching his semi-gelled back hair bemused. He had attempted to fix it earlier but now his hair stuck up comically in places, looking more like a half contained bed-head.

"Ms. Alu," Ango finally stated, settling for a semi-formal honorific, still awkward about outwardly acknowledging his desire to be friends, "…is there something you want to ask me? You're staring at me intently."

Alu blinked. Ah, he had caught her staring. She fiddled with her menu. "Yeah," she said. "Uh, are you mad at me?"

Alu watched Ango's expression comically shift to surprise.

Was he not mad with her? Alu hoped so.

"No…I'm frustrated but I'm not angry," he huffed finally, putting the menu down and looking at her with a furrowed brow and frowning lip. "I would prefer that you not try to give me a bad hair day," he added.

Alu blinked. Then she giggled. "Well, don't look like a stick in the mud all the time and I won't have to!" She teased, propping her chin in her hands, elbows resting on the table, very dignified.

Alu liked messing with this guy—because she just felt intrigued by him. That and she could tell he wasn't a bad guy, just very blurry visually to what was in front of his nose. For someone with glasses, she thought that was hilariously ironic.

"I have to—nevermind," Ango sighed, exasperated. He didn't want to sound like a broken record. He disliked how easily she drew people to herself—like a social magnet. He didn't know which was more terrifying, the fact she reminded him of Dazai's more eccentric personality, or the fact that he actually didn't mind it as much when it was her.

"I get it, I'll try to be better about giving you space," Alu said, interrupting his thoughts.

Ango blinked with surprise. She was actually considering his feelings? Feeling touched just a little, and relieved that she was at least easier to reason with, he nodded, fumbling with the menu more to have something to do with his hands. "Thanks," he replied, gruff but grateful.

"So, what's this news on Kōsuke?" Alu asked, her tone uncharacteristically serious. Alu needed to know if Ango had learned something she didn't already know. She still had to meet with Odasaku to fill him in on what she did know.

The sudden shift in her mood indicated to Ango that it was time to finally be serious.

Alu watched Ango as he lowered his menu. "The truth is—" he began when suddenly, an excited voice squealed to their right.

"Alu! What are you doing here?" A familiar blonde in a red frilly dress excitedly asked, bouncing over to Alu's table.

Alu and Ango paused, records scratching comically in both of their minds. Ango's immediate reaction was horror and comical realization as a familiar dark haired stubble faced man in a casual white suit hung in the background, with the hostess, just watching the both of them interact with his ability.