Vol 5. Ch. 12
There is No Use Talking When You're A Dead Man Walking
"Elise! Hi!" Alu immediately said, brightly and cheerfully. Inwardly, she was panicking just a little. She already felt bad for not returning Elise's texts yet today and she had totally forgotten that Elise liked french food—even though it'd been the topic of conversation a few times in the past!
Ango meanwhile was freaking out because this couldn't be more awkward.
Here was his ex-boss from the freaking Port Mafia, someone he had double-crossed when he went undercover for two years following the Dragon turf war incident for the Division of Unusual Powers to gather information on all involved.
Ango knew the only reason he hadn't been taken out back 'port' style and was still alive was only because Chief Officer Taneda made that part of the deal of handing over the legal license at the time.
But his mouth felt very dry. Ango grabbed his water glass, chugging it and trying not to internally scream.
Of course Alu could be casual around these two! She hadn't betrayed them! Was it a betrayal if it was for his job? Ango's head was starting to hurt from his moral compass needle spinning wildly making him feel dizzy all of a sudden and light headed. He hadn't much contact with Ogai Mori since he'd orchestrated that meeting on the ship a few months ago to discuss the legal license. But now?
Gide and his men were still at large. The plan to use Odasaku had seemingly failed on Mori's end. Of course, it was because another player had joined that no one had thought would ever be possible—this girl who was currently talking with Elise.
"Ah! That's a great idea!" Elise nodded. "Rintaro! We're going to sit with them!"
That's right. The former boss was going to sit at Ango's table.
Wait.
Ango found he was too frozen to his spot to even voice an objection. Alu already made space at the table for two more chairs to be added. Mori casually sat down, seated across from Ango, next to Elise who was seated across from Alu and next to Mori. Ango gulped like a man who was about to pop like a balloon from stress. He quickly picked up the menu, agitated and trying to stay composed.
"I really wish you would have told me you were going to eat here with agent four-eyes!" Elise chided Alu, resting her hands on her cheeks, elbows on the table.
"It was sudden," Alu admitted, sheepishly.
"Oh, okay I'll forgive you then!" Elise brightly said, beaming at Alu with a flowery smile. Alu knew Elise was frustrated with her for not answering her texts and turning off the gps function. She chuckled weakly, scratching her head.
"I'm sorry," she said, gazing at Elise with a small sad smile.
Elise blinked at her, quizzical.
Ango kept his face buried in the menu praying there wasn't a gun pointed at him from his former boss under the table. Then again, that was something Dazai would pull, not Mori. Mori didn't actually really use guns. He preferred knives. He was the only one crazy enough that Ango knew would bring knives to a gunfight.
Mori was relatively quiet, preferring to observe and not actually that chatty by nature. He was pleasantly surprised to run into the fox girl again, although he could have done without running into Ango. He could read Ango's stress hilariously from the menu he was hiding behind and Mori was sorely tempted to tease the sweating pig of the government just a little to see if he'd oink.
"Let's all get along as colleagues, yes?" He beamed at the trembling government agent.
Ango just nodded timidly, feeling far less confident when his own boss wasn't around. It was one thing to be confronted by grunts in an organization, but rarely did Ango actually have to go head to head himself with the boss—and certainly not a former employer.
"Oh yeah, you used to work with them, huh?" Alu asked, tilting her head at Ango. "What did you do again?" She was curious to learn more about Ango. Asking his former boss seemed like a totally legit way to prod.
"He worked in the records keeping department," Mori casually said, peering at his own menu. "Nothing too fancy for his delicate grace, mm?"
The snarky comment didn't go unnoticed by Alu and Ango. Ango made a mental note to get his will prepared after all when he got home. He wasn't going to survive lunchtime. "Oh? That sounds like it would suit a squirrelly guy like him," Alu agreed, grinning at Ango.
"Mr. Triple Incognito, right?" She teased him. However, knowing the nature of the content she kept her voice low so only Elise and Mori stood a good chance of hearing."But if I recall, you actually really cared about the information you gathered on all those victims of that Dragon Head incident! If you ask me, I think there's more to your role there than you actually realize—"
"—Please, don't talk about that," Ango sharply said, putting his menu down and rising from his chair, completely stiff and rigid. He had almost forgotten this girl's scary ability to look into one's past like it was a movie to be played out.
He knew he was a hypocrite. His own ability allowed him to read minds and extract information but here he was, getting angry at her like she was the only one capable of invading one's mind and past.
Alu's smile flattered.
"Ah, sorry," she started but Ango just turned away. "Wait—where are you going?"
"This was a mistake," Ango's voice shook. He couldn't sit here with those two. He had been looking forward to having a moment with Alu too. He felt incredibly disappointed and a little cranky, suddenly.
"Ah, we're not fit company?" Mori's saccharine tone sent shivers up Alu and Ango's backs. Elise pouted at Mori, and began to punch his arm.
"Don't cause a scene, stupid Rintaro!" She chastised.
Ango just wordlessly tried to leave, even as they started to attract some stares from the others. Alu knew that Ango's past with the Port Mafia had been complicated. Her eyes flickered. She quickly got up from her chair and grabbed Ango by his sleeve. "Ango, he isn't the enemy—"
"Just leave me alone!" Ango shouted, yanking himself free of her grasp. Alu stepped forwards, stubbornly and she hugged Ango without warning from behind.
"No! We aren't playing sides right now with you, Ango!" Alu said, hanging onto him tightly. "Yes it's true things are complicated but if you were honest with him then at least you can be honest with yourself! You actually miss working there just a little, don't you? I know it's hard for you right now—"
"Dammit, Alu! You don't know the first thing about what I have to do for my job!" Ango twisted, and he went to shove Alu off, instinctive, desperate, and a little feral like a cornered animal. He didn't need her psychoanalyzing. He didn't need his former boss getting the wrong idea. This was a terrible joke. Her conjecture was wrong! Why couldn't she stay out of his damn logic! "You never had to sacrifice anything like I have!" He shoved harder than he meant to, or maybe he lost his ability to see what he was doing, but Ango felt himself shove her so forcibly that Alu fell backwards, against another table.
The crashing silverware, and sudden disturbed voices, made him realize what he'd just done. Alu groaned, stumbling to her feet, wincing, plates shattered at her feet, a few glasses knocked over, —and her arm was cut and bleeding. But what really made Ango's blood run cold, wasn't the murderous look Mori was giving him, now standing up to check on Alu.
Alu looked like she was fighting back tears, face pained.
And it was all because of him.
Ango suddenly felt a fist connect with his jaw. Flying backwards and rolling into a wall, Ango felt like all the wind was completely knocked out of him. Before he could even hope to recover, Elise had him by his collar, with a snarl in her eye. "Don't you ever touch her again!"
"Elise! Stop!" Alu stumbled to her feet, wincing, even as the dining staff and other residents were now all completely frazzled. "Let's…just go." Mori actually reached out a hand to help her stand and she ignored him, instead just stumbling to head out.
Alu wordlessly moved ahead, and Ango knew the only reason Elise let him go was because of her. It seemed he was always being 'spared' because of other people's influence. "It's best if you leave," Mori coolly said, gazing down at Ango and Ango felt something shrivel inside himself. When someone as illegal as Mori was on moral high ground it really pissed Ango off. He grit his teeth, and just left, without another word.
Whatever, he'd deal with the news on Kōsuke himself! He was a fool for trying to partner in any way with Alu when she had the Port Mafia hovering! This wasn't information he'd even given Odasaku—but that's because Ango was tired of being looked at as weak. He would save that damn brat himself and prove them all wrong about him!
Especially that bastard Dazai—let him laugh! Ango would prove that he was still a better person in the end than he could ever hope to be to both Odasaku and those orphans.
Outside, Alu winced as Elise grabbed her free hand. "Alu! Wait!"
Alu hissed in pain, and clutched her injured arm. Elise's eyes flickered. "I'm sorry, I didn't stop him in time!" She guiltily furrowed her brow, looking like a sad scrunched faced pug.
"I'm the one that triggered him," Alu sadly said, sitting on the bus bench she'd wandered over to. Elise stood near here. Both girls assumed that Mori was paying off the frazzled restaurant to keep this from escalating to a police report but well, Alu wasn't planning to stick around for it anyways.
Alu quieted.
It was clear that although his time with the Port Mafia was meant to be short lived, Ango had grown attached to the organization because of his two friends…two people now even more complicatedly apart than ever before. Not only that, but his desire to record the lives of those lost during the Dragon Head incident, had been something Alu found admirable.
Alu's eyes flickered.
She actually wondered if the orphans had any living relatives. She felt like it was something Ango would have looked into prior to Odasaku taking them into his full time care.
Alu was increasingly aware that there was so much more to caring for those orphans and not just in the present—but had Odasaku even considered their actual future? They couldn't stay in hiding forever, right? And did he plan to formally adopt them? Alu's head began to hurt. Why was she only belatedly realizing now that there was still much to be done in order to properly obtain the legal right to raise those kids?
Even though Juubi wasn't present, she could just hear him taunting her for continuing to go further down the rabbit hole with the problems of this world. Honestly, it was a bloody miracle that no one from Europe or the Americas had attempted to kidnap her yet from Japan soil. Alu inwardly was determined to try to keep as low key as possible—luckily she didn't have that many incidents involving Juubi!
She grimaced, as Elise stared at her. "Why aren't you healing yourself?" Elise asked, tilting her head, quizzical.
Alu's eyes flickered.
Ah, that was another thing.
She hadn't actually told anyone yet. Despite obviously knowing that Elise may have no choice but to tell Mori, Alu felt that Elise wasn't just asking to look for an opportunity to take advantage of Alu's current situation. Alu began to slide off her coat, wincing. Her arm had scraped against the broken plate before and now had a zigzag gash from her elbow to her wrist. It hurt like a muthafuqa, and Alu wished she had Juubi's pain tolerance skill right now.
"I can't," she admitted.
Elise looked at her like she was an alien. She crossed her arms, frowning at Alu. "Is that fox refusing to? I can hit him, for you!" She said, fiercely.
Alu pursed her lips.
Elise was too damn cute. Alu hugged Elise to herself, nuzzling her. "Appreciate the thought but that's not going to fix anything!" She giggled, glad that Elise was a distraction from her upset thoughts regarding Ango at the moment.
"Elise-Chan!" Mori trotted over, looking frazzled.
Elise wriggled free of Alu's hug. Alu was a little disappointed but hoped the distraction of Mori's interruption would segway to another topic of conversation than the one Elise was focused on.
"Not now Rintaro! She's talking to me about her inability to heal herself!"
Mori blinked, surprised. Alu didn't like the way he was looking at her. It wasn't creepy, but she weirdly didn't know how to take concern from someone as weird as him. Concern from Dazai felt more natural than from this guy. "Ah, it's not the worst," Alu winced, as her stinging angry bleeding arm gash had its own opinion on that.
Regardless, she wasn't really sure what was going on herself. She just knew that she couldn't get in touch with Juubi and her ability to rewrite…was no longer working. "That isn't great to look at," Mori sighed. "Allow me to patch it up, I am still a doctor," he added.
Alu felt her stomach growl loudly.
Elise tugged on Mori's arm. "Maybe while you patch her up also get her some food!"
"Yes, yes," Mori hummed. "I will let you girls get takeout back at the office, how does that sound?"
Alu didn't want to encroach on Mori's work space, especially since the last time she was there had been only like once before and she'd had to stop Dazai from murdering him. But, her arm was bleeding, it hurt like a real binch, and frankly, she didn't want to get Sepsis since she didn't know what the hell was going on with her connection to Juubi. Before she could object, Elise did something Alu wasn't used to seeing—and apparently neither was Mori.
Elise's body glowed and she grew a bit taller—she grew to look like a young adult—about 5'7, taller than Alu, and definitely not a child anymore. "Elise-Chan?" Alu found herself asking, in amazement. Elise's outfit changed too. Now she looked like she was dressed in equestrian pants, shirt, boots, and clothes, but without the helmet. Her hair was tied back into a braid. Alu recognized it as one of the fashion styles Elise had really liked that time they had been at the boutique.
"I'll bring you back, even if I have to carry you!" Elise-Chan said, her higher-pitched voice still there despite her age shift. Ah, she was still Elise on the inside. Alu squeaked with surprise as Elise picked her up, princess style. Alu's face turned completely red, and she could feel the embarrassment burning her cheeks.
"Y-you don't have to carry me!" She stammered.
"Elise-Chan," Mori simpered, his inability to contain his possessive jealousy making his voice sound only a little whiny even if he was also concerned about Alu's injury, "if she wants to walk on her own, perhaps we shouldn't make a big deal out of her injury? I'm sure we can all get to the same destin—"
Without so much as a defiant tongue sticking out at Mori, Alu found herself lifted into the air, and flying through it, in Elise's arms—Mori comically left behind.
"—ation..." Mori bawled, crying for Elise to take him back. But he was already an ant in the distance.
"A-ack!" Alu yelped actually hilariously terrible with heights. She clung to Elise, feeling a rushing sense of vertigo. Squeezing her eyes shut, Alu just waited for Elise to touch down back at the building. "W-what about him? Is it alright to leave him unprotected?" Alu stammered.
"Rintaro can take care of himself!" Elise huffed. "And until you can take care of yourself, you're gonna just have to let me make sure you don't do something reckless and stupid like not taking care of yourself when you're injured!"
Alu thought Elise's concern really did come from a genuine place of endearing mother-hennaing. She giggled a little, the pain in her arm making it hard to focus on much else. Landing in front of the building, Elise refused to release Alu from her arms, instead striding into the building like a knight carrying his damsel—Alu wanted to sink into the floor and perish from embarrassment.
No one questioned what Elise was up to. She brought Alu to a different floor, finally setting Alu down in the elevator. Alu was relieved to be free and just hoped that Mori wouldn't be too pissed at her for stealing his ability's attention. Ah no, he was probably a mess (l.o.l.).
Strolling into what Alu realized was the medical ward floor, she followed Elise to the nurse's room. Inside it looked like a hospital ward. There were clean white beds all made up. There were a few patients but with minor bandages and scrapes. A few nurses worked, but most kept their head down and were otherwise preoccupied with their tasks.
Elise steered Alu over to a bed and Alu found herself comically sat down by Elise pushing her shoulders. Blinking like a confused owl, Alu watched as Elise suddenly grabbed her arm, and without warning, began to pour some bottle of fluid on it. Alu's arm lit up like it was on pins and needles of fire. She yelped in pain but Elise kept her wrist in a tight grip. "It'll hurt but bear with it."
Alu trembled, tears pricking the corner of her eyes. She was so used to Juubi healing her that she typically didn't have to deal with pain—or injuries, and yet now she was completely defensive and at the mercy of modern medicine—oh the joy. "Ah..y-yeah…thanks…" she weakly mustered, knowing Elise was just helping her out. It wasn't that Alu didn't know how to add first aid to herself when injured, it was just that she hadn't been expecting a fight with Ango or to accidentally be wounded by a broken plate.
The pain was molten, and Alu breathed hard, not wanting to look wimpy in front of Elise. Elise wordlessly began to apply some cloth, to wipe at some of the blood, and assess the nature of the wound's gash itself as the liquid in the wound bubbled and fizzled from what she'd put on the gash to disinfect it. "So…you're like a real…nurse, huh?" Alu asked weakly to make conversation and distract herself a little from the insurmountable pain her arm was in. She honestly wanted to lop off her arm, it hurt so bad.
"Rintaro and I were both medics," Elise replied, her tone oddly serious.
Alu wondered if Yosano had been forced to be a medic or if it had been a path she'd chosen. Child doctors weren't exactly common especially on the war front but Akiko Yosano wasn't your typical child. "That's how you met Ms. Yosano, right?" She asked, curious.
Elise twitched and just nodded, not caring to expound anymore on that history. Alu didn't pry. She could tell it was a sore spot for Elise. She just wished she could make Elise feel better. She felt like Yosano and Elise were surprisingly similar—but not because Mori 'programmed' Elise to be that way.
She felt a pang in her chest, unrelated to the pain in her arm.
She still needed to properly apologize for hurting Yosano. Even though she vaguely knew that things worked out with Yosano thanks to already living through one version of those events in the previous timeline, she still knew she had to do something in this one to make sure that things were better once more. Not to mention, Alu knew that the reason it had been so hard to get Kōsuke sooner had been because Alu had avoided asking the ADA for too much time not wanting to cause trouble for them.
That had been a mistake.
Did Alu think strongly that Dazai was the only one who could reason with the boy? Yes. In her heart, she knew it had to be him. But, at the same time, she didn't want to repeat the same mistakes she herself had made in not trusting in the help of those around her from the ADA. Help from the Port Mafia alone wouldn't be enough. This time around, she had to get all three agencies— the entire trifecta—to cooperate in saving that boy.
Juubi wasn't active.
Her own ability wasn't accessible.
Even though Alu had some idea of how to handle things in advance, she was at a disadvantage this time around because she could no longer rely on only herself and her own power. Alu closed her eyes, taking a shaking breath as Elise began to gently wrap her arm in gauze, having placed some cloth over the wound now and binding it. Alu was determined to do things right this time—and to trust in the existing systems already in play to save Kōsuke.
Alu would have to rely on the power of her friends.
And Alu knew that there was a more immediate danger coming to Yokohama. She opened her eyes, and gazed at Elise, still grimacing with pain but grateful for Elise's expertise in medical care. Elise wasn't a big talker when she was focused, Alu noted, and that was fine because she liked to watch Elise work. This was the first time she'd ever seen Elise become older—and also do something other than draw and color with crayons or something.
"Do you think Mori got back okay?" Alu asked, feeling only a little teensy bit guilty about leaving him high and dry even if he was an incredibly perverted weirdo.
"I think he'll manage," a slender, tall, red-haired woman in a kimono said, casually sauntering over to them with dainty steps of her sandals. She had red eyeshadow, pink lips, pale skin, red hair and cold cherry eyes.
