Vol. 5 ch. 13

A/N: Recent chapters of BSD are actually hilarious to read….. Alu still wants to throttle her boys for being self-destructive maniacs but what else is new? LOL. I also managed to finally make original artwork for the fanfic but I'm so sad fanfiction won't let me make it bigger or better quality. Oh well. Guess I'll just post my artwork on instagram LOL. The plot in the actual BSD series is actually spicing up to be fascinating even if there are still some holes in the logic. All I can say is…. If they just have Akutagawa live, I don't care if it's as a bat, the end.

—x—-x—x—- Chapter Title: When Turns Are Tabled And Conviction Wears a Smile

~*~*~*~ x—x—x—

Alu blinked, surprised at the sudden company. "Hello?" She tentatively greeted the woman, glancing at Elise for some clarification.

Elise huffed. "Alu, this is Big Sis," she gestured to the woman.

"Ah, my name is Kōyō Ozaki," Ms. Ozaki stated. "I know Chūya calls me Big Sis but I do prefer Ms. Ozaki or Ozaki-San," she sighed.

"You're really pretty," Alu blurted, in awe, feeling suddenly self-conscious and incredibly frumpy next to someone like Ms. Ozaki. Elise wrinkled her nose, clearly jealous of Alu's sudden interest in another person besides her in the same room.

The woman, not expecting that to be one of the first things out of Alu's mouth, paused, before she lifted her sleeve to her lips and giggled behind it, delicately. "Oh my, an admirer," she tilted her head at Alu, smiling.

Alu once again felt very frumpy all of a sudden. Self-conscious, she looked away. Suddenly, Elise tightened the bandage and Alu thought her arm was going to fall off all over again, numb from the jerking. "Ye-Owch!" She yelped.

"Please bear with the pain," Elise said, mechanically, smiling at Alu. "It's all for the sake of your healing process."

Alu all of a sudden felt like Elise was somehow angry with her?

"You must be Alu," Ms. Ozaki continued, gazing at Alu.

Alu knew word about her reputation probably got around this organization's higher ups rather quickly. She felt self conscious. Even though she was the one with a powerful fox dwelling inside her, she didn't feel more impressive than people like Ms. Ozaki or Chūya. "That's me(™)," she weakly joked.

"™?" Ms. Ozaki asked, quizzical.

"Oh, it's a joke—like when you trademark something so it's not pirated…?" Alu felt even more embarrassed, babbling now, in front of this clearly powerful port mafia member.

"I see, is this some American humor?" Ms. Ozaki asked, intrigued.

Alu shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "Just some slang I guess I bothered to remember," she sheepishly admitted. "But, you said Mori is getting back alright?" She thought it was a terrible transition, but she was already so embarrassed that honestly, it didn't even matter at this point as long as she could get herself to stop babbling like some kind of fool in front of this woman.

"Yes, he's fine," Ms. Ozaki reiterated, gazing at Alu from behind her sleeve of the kimono.

Alu felt a little relieved. She didn't like the guy but she hadn't planned to leave him defenseless either. Elise meanwhile glowed before reverting back to her 10 year old form, in red dress and all. She huffed, looking at Ms. Ozaki. "Did you need something?" she asked, rudely.

Alu was going to ask Elise to calm down but Ms. Ozaki spoke first. "I suppose I'm just curious about this mysterious person that my Boss has allowed to get so close," she hummed. "I'm just intrigued to meet her officially."

Alu got the weirdest feeling that Elise wasn't the only one in a bad mood. Confused as to how she could have made both ladies upset, Alu started to get up out of the bed. She had things to tend to anyhow—but her legs felt weak, and Elise pushed her back onto the bed. "You haven't eaten yet!" She chided, cross. "Big Sis make yourself useful and get her some food!"

Ms. Ozaki twitched slightly, and it was clear she didn't appreciate the bossy rude treatment but she nodded, eyes half lidded as she turned away, her tone respectful and composed and also practiced. "Of course, I will procure some."

Alu hoped she hadn't already started on the wrong foot with this woman.

—-x—-x—x—-

Odasaku sat at the desk, staring at papers that honestly felt like a foreign language to him despite it being normal Japanese. The clock on the wall was ticking loudly, much more loudly than usual, leaving a reverberation in Odasaku's ears.

A lot had been on his mind since Dazai had stopped speaking to him a few days ago. Whether it was because he was trying to lay low or something else, Odasaku didn't know. What frustrated Odasaku was that Dazai used to want to constantly stick to him like glue and now he was just avoiding his calls and texts. It'd only been a few days though. He needed to not be so paranoid. Dazai wasn't a predictable guy, and Odasaku hated this silly feeling of something being wrong between them. It was all just in his head, he decided, firmly, gazing at his paperwork.

The door to his small office opened,—he had been given a higher position than a mere grunt because of Ango's influence and reputation— and in stepped someone Odasaku didn't know.

This person was one of Ango's bodyguards—Odasaku knew that much— but they had never formally met.

Murakoso Yachiyo, a short energetic young woman with dark red hair tied into two spiky ponytails, dressed formally in a black suit but with a skirt, katana by her side. "Yo! How ya settling in?" She asked, popping through the doorframe and shutting the door behind herself.

Odasaku blinked. How was he settling in? It'd been a while since he'd joined but he honestly felt like he was still not doing much to be actually useful. Although, he hadn't been twiddling his thumbs this whole time.

Odasaku's eyes flickered, recalling his meeting with Alu a few days ago.

Odasaku was with the orphans.

They had to move again because of Fyodor.

Odasaku and Ango were helping move some small boxes into a place Ango had procured for them that was closer than before. Ironically being outside of Yokohama was actually a worse idea than being in the city itself, so Ango had found a place for them that would be easy to get to from his own HQ. At the time, neither of them had expected someone like Fyodor to even get involved. Gide was awfully quiet and it would appear that there had been no mention of him for a while now.

The kids were inside the building, leaving Ango and Odasaku to work on the boxes. Neither man really talked much. Things were still a bit awkward on some level between the both of them. Odasaku did appreciate Ango's assistance with the orphans, but he still felt a bit exasperated since he knew it wasn't for his sake-but to continue a partnership with the fox girl, Alu.

"You boys are working hard!" A cheerful female voice greeted them as they were headed into the small house.

Ango nearly dropped his box from surprise, as Alu popped around the side of the building. "How did you find this place?" he asked, bewildered.

Odasaku, oddly used to Alu popping out with no warning as was something Dazai would also do, just paused, looking around his own box of stuff at her. Alu trotted over, hands in her pants pockets. She was wearing different clothes from before. Just a simple red turtleneck top, untucked from blue jeans, same boots and another light grey coat. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail, and her side bangs were framing her face in a bouncy way like the wind had brushed its fingers through her hair.

Odasaku thought she looked nice.

"I asked your boss!" She cheerfully beamed at Ango.

Ango grimaced. "You did what? You should have contacted me first!" He agitatedly stammered, and it was clear he was worried about following proper protocols. Odasaku was a little bemused. Alu wasn't someone who followed 'proper' anything but unlike Dazai, it wasn't to deviate to something less legal.

"Ah, don't be so grumpy," Alu teased Ango, taking the box from him. Ango made a noise of surprise, but Alu continued to stroll into the house with it. "I need to talk with Oda anyways!"

Ango followed her into the house, still flustered. Odasaku blinked. Huh? She needed to talk with him? It's true they didn't actually ever get that much time to talk and it felt like this would be the first time when there wasn't any drama. Coming inside, Odasaku placed the box on the floor, near the hallway.

The home was simple, two stories, but had three bedrooms and two baths. The walls were a light color, and the floors were wood with a stone kitchen and tiled bathrooms. Alu bounced through the home, whistling. "Whoa! Hey Ango! You should get me a place like this!" She teased the government official.

"Alu?" Katsumi popped his head out of the boys' bedroom they shared. It was the master bedroom actually, since there were four boys and Odasaku had opted to just take the smallest of the bedrooms so Sakura could have her own bedroom and space at Yosano's suggestion, actually.

The other children quickly stormed from their bedrooms to see Alu at the top of the stairs. "Yo~" Alu waved, with a small shy smile. "How you kids been holding up?"

"Alu!" Katsumi's eyes filled with tears and he immediately glommed onto her, sniffling.

Yū, Shinji, and Sakura also all hugged Alu, excited to see her after such a long time and without the drama of a scary Russian man to get in the way. Odasaku and Ango hung back, and Odasaku couldn't help but smile just a little. Those kids had been terribly depressed and seeing Alu had been the first time he'd seen them exhibit anything related to elation.

"Geez, it's been too long…I'm sorry I've been such a stranger!" Alu said, hugging the kids back, enthusiastically.

Odasaku's expression seemed to soften when seeing Alu with the orphans.

"Will you stay with us?" Katsumi asked, giving Alu big hopeful eyes.

Alu wiped his eyes with her thumbs. "I don't mind that," she brightly said, thoughtfully. "Although… I don't want to be a burden to Mister Oda," she hummed.

"You wouldn't be," Odasaku said immediately. "Please, don't think that. You're not a burden."

Alu paused. She glanced at Odasaku. He was sincere, frowning.

"Please stay! Please! Please!" The other kids begged, hopping onto the begging train.

Alu giggled, ruffling their hair. "A'right, a'right, I'll consider it!" She brightly said. "I have some errands to run but then I'll move in with Sakura, how does that sound? She teased the kids, and they couldn't have looked more thrilled.

"Stay with me!" Sakura eagerly sparkled, clasping her small hands together. "Yes, yes, yes!"

Odasaku was smiling.

To see the positive impact this girl had on his orphans, warmed his heart. He felt useless compared to her when it came to consoling them about the problems with Kōsuke. "Ah, Big Sis needs to talk with the grown ups a bit, so don't mind me!" Alu said brightly, disengaging from the grasp of the children, and starting to head back downstairs.

Katsumi breathed hard, and grabbed Alu's sleeve. Alu paused. "Hm? She blinked at him.

"Please…..save him…" Katsumi looked at her with tears in his eyes, "promise me you'll save Kōsuke."

Alu leaned towards Katsumi and brushed his hair out of his face with her hand. She kissed his forehead. She straightened up, leaving the boy bewildered and flustered. "That's my promise!" she said brightly, beaming at the blushing boy.

"G-Give me one too!" Yū demanded, pink in the face.

"Let's not bother her…" Odasaku replied, bemused.

"Good kids get my love!" Alu teased, and she kissed Yū on the forehead. "And a promise that I'll do whatever it takes, to keep you all safe!"

Shinji was much too shy to ask for one, but Sakura immediately tugged on Alu for her turn. Giggling, Alu kissed Sakura's forehead. Sakura's eyes began to water and she sniffled. Alarmed, Alu wiped her eyes. "D-did I do something wrong?" Alu was worried.

Sakura sniffled and shook her head. "N-no…it's just like Shinji said…." She smiled at Alu past her tears. "It's like being loved by Mommy again."

Alu felt her chest clench. "I'm keeping all of you!" She declared, snuggling the little girl in her arms as the boys hung close, with soft giggles and happy faces.

"Okay kids, you're going to suffocate her," Odasaku chided, from the bottom of the stairs. The kids pouted but separated from Alu, letting her have space again. Alu watched the kids go back to their rooms, to give her the chance to talk with Odasaku and Ango alone again.

Odasaku had never given much thought to having someone else besides himself take care of the orphans. But, it made him honestly a little happy to know he could rely on someone like Alu, to take care of the orphans…should something happen to him. Even though she'd been a stranger that didn't need to trouble herself with them or his life, she'd somehow just integrated herself into their lives like she just fit into the puzzle.

Alu came downstairs, and crossed her arms, gazing at the two men. "Let's talk outside, I won't take long," Alu admitted.

The men blinked, glancing at each other more quizzical than anything, before following her outside like two little obedient ducklings.

Once outside, Alu walked down the steps, towards the small moving van still parked in the two car driveway. The men followed, giving her space. Finally, Alu turned to face them. Odasaku grew worried. He wondered if something was wrong. "First thing's first, Oda, can I see your phone?" Alu asked.

Odasaku blinked. "Oh, uh..sure," he said, handing it over.

Alu took his phone and copied his number along with Ango's into her phone. Odasaku didn't have many phone numbers, but there was one he did have that seemed to have caught her eye. Yukito Ayatsuji—for some reason, her attention was piqued. "Thanks," she said cheerfully, handing Odasaku's phone back.

"Whose this Ayatsuji guy in your phone?" She asked Odasaku curiously.

It was Ango who spoke first. "That's Yukito Ayatsuji. He's a homicide detective that works with my department. Oda has his number because he is on the Gide case," he added.

Alu blinked. "Oh? Any news on the Gide front?" she asked, looking back and forth from the men.

Odasaku shook his head. It was frustrating but Gide was like a ghost to everyone it would seem.

"No," Odasaku admitted. "He hasn't made a move since then…" he was of course referring to his attempt to kidnap the orphans.

Ango cleared his throat. "Would you like my number?"

Alu shook her head. "Nah, I got it from Oda, it's cool."

Odasaku felt oddly weird being called Oda by the girl. With Ango—despite still being upset with him, he did feel a bit weird having Ango call him by such a formal title, but it wasn't like they were actually friends anymore. That ship burnt when Ango tried to kill him. Still, not one to linger on unpleasant memories, Odasaku gazed at Alu. "Hey, you can call me Odasaku…if you want…" he found himself saying, almost a bit shyly. He didn't know why he was so self-conscious about it. But, it was a term he didn't mind his friends calling him. Dazai had started that tradition in his eccentric way and it had stuck ever since.

"Ah, that sounds like something you'd say to a friend," Alu teased.

"Aren't we?" Odasaku asked, perplexed, his cow lick unfurling like a question mark on his head. Alu paused and then began to snicker, amused for some inexplicable reason.

"I guess we are, huh?" She beamed at Odasaku. "Okay~ Odasaku~" she hummed, grinning at him, a twinkle in her mischievous brown eyes. Jeez, the similarity to Dazai and this girl were so uncanny that Odasaku honestly could have believed they were siblings—except her smiles were full of life and Dazai only smiled when he was plotting something—usually.

"Can we please focus?" Ango's curt tone made it apparent he was in a bad mood.

Odasaku noted Ango's sudden rigid demeanor. Why did Ango look so sour? Odasaku's eyes flickered. Was Ango angry? Well, he was the one who forfeited their friendship first, he thought, puzzled.

"Ah, right," Alu brightly clasped her hands together, "I have some information regarding Kōsuke," she said, expression turning serious. She lowered her hands, putting them in her pockets. She continued, while Odasaku's attention was immediately drowning anything that wasn't her, out. "So I know that it's Ryou's organization that has kidnapped Kōsuke. Apparently, according to the intel I was able to gather, after he ran away, it was with them that he ended up…but unfortunately that's the extent of my knowledge," she grimaced.

Odasaku sensed she looked guilty but he quickly spoke, "Don't be sorry, thank you for that update. At least I know who he's with, which is a better start than nothing," he reassured her.

Alu nodded, gazing at Ango. "Well, I also wanted to inquire some more about Tomoe since we're on the subject of your department," she continued.

"Tomoe is being transported to a very good orphanage," Ango sighed. "If he hasn't been already."

Odasaku made a noise of surprise in his throat. He looked at Ango, brow furrowed, frowning. "Hey, you said you'd discuss that kid's fate with me and Alu before deciding anything!" Odasaku couldn't help but feel a little guilty for slipping up on this task for Alu.

"We have more pressing matters than some kid," Ango curtly replied.

"As long as Tomoe's safe," Alu cut in, before Odasaku could get riled up —on what felt was her behalf. "Alright. That's one less thing to worry about," she sighed, crossing her arms and leaning against the side of the small van. "Any further moves, I'd appreciate it if you informed us, if that's not too much to ask." Her gaze was half lidded, her expression smiling, her eyes piercing into Ango's lean frame.

Odasaku was bewildered. She obviously greatly cared about that boy, having asked him a few times about it before what happened at Bar Lupin, but she was just going to accept Ango's rash decision to not inform them with any updates? He sensed she was being composed for the sake of the moment—one thing he recognized from her body language that felt very, very Dazai-like.

That's when he realized.

She wasn't composed at all.

This was her being incredibly angry with Ango.

Ango huffed. "I must be getting back," he turned to get into the black car parked on the sidewalk—the driver's side. No apology—something Odasaku was finding increasingly dis likable about Ango— just ignoring the disapproving air between the three of them.

"Okay, bye!" Alu waved to Ango. Ango didn't look at either of them, hastily driving off, leaving Odasaku and Alu comically alone in the driveway now.

Odasaku found this was the first time they were alone. He felt awkward. "Uh, do you want something to eat?" He asked, tentatively. He recalled Miss Yosano reminding him to make sure Alu had food since she had a tendency to flee the agency any chance she got and didn't take proper care of herself which worried Yosano.

"Would I ever?" Alu's eyes sparkled. "Let's eat!" She giggled, rubbing her hands together. "Who is cookin'?"

Odasaku smiled smally to himself. It was like taking care of a small hyper animal that would eat anything you give it. If Dazai came off like a puppy, she came off more like…..oddly a Tanuki—affectionately dubbed as a trash panda—- popped into his mind and Odasaku pursed his lips together, finding the odd feeling of wanting to laugh bubble up in his throat as he imagined dog ears and tail on Dazai standing next to Alu with tanuki ears, face 'mask' and a tail.

Yes, Odasaku thought those two were like two peas in a strange pod. Not that he particularly minded. Their interactions were usually entertaining and he actually was pleased to see Dazai able to interact so freely with someone else—especially since usually girls were a field of uncertainty.

But Alu never felt like 'just' a girl to him. No, she felt like a friend, a part of Odasaku's small tiny web of family. The children adored her, and time apart didn't make that affection any less strong. Odasaku himself wanted to be useful to her the way she had been to the Orphans, and so here he sat, at this desk, with this unfamiliar agent staring at him, trying to figure out what his next move regarding Gide or Kōsuke would be.

But one thing was certain—he wouldn't leave it all on that girl's shoulders anymore! "I'm doing fine," he finally replied to the friendly agent. Murakoso nodded, seemingly satisfied with Odasaku's simple response.

"Good," she said, crossing her arms.

Before their conversation could continue further, Odasaku's phone vibrated on the table. Not wanting to appear rude, Odasaku picked up his phone while speaking, "Just a moment, please." He checked the message. A part of him hoped it was Dazai but it was instead Alu.

The text read: You free?

Odasaku believed in no distractions at work but if it was regarding this girl, he felt compelled to make an exception. Of course , he'd make an exception for Dazai as well. He glanced at the government agent.

"?" She just gazed at him, politely patient.

"Am I needed at the moment for something?" Odasaku found himself asking, puzzled. Mostly Ango had given him the tedious task of simply going through old records and sorting cases that would be considered 'cold' at this point from ones that had yet to expire at a certain point in regards to various unsolved murder cases.

Despite cutting ties from the Port Mafia, while it was clear only Ango and Officer Chief Taneda knew of Odasaku's past prior to it being wiped by the mysterious 7th agency—according to what Dazai had told him, that's what it was called when he asked how Ango had wiped his slate clean— it was apparent he wasn't trusted yet to go on any actual government missions regarding deeply guarded data.

Fine by Odasaku as he preferred a less crossfire role anyhow.

"Depends," Murakoso tilted her head, gazing at him with an expression Odasaku didn't quite know how to read. It was contemplative but not hostile. "Are you free?"

Reminded of his text asking him that same question, Odasaku sighed. "I'd like to know what you require of me," he politely pressed.

"…Detective Ayatsuji would like to speak with you," she said, serious.

Odasaku's eyes flickered. He recalled what Ango had told him about this detective. Ango had warned him that he was incredibly dangerous and to limit contact as much as possible with him. While he hadn't actually told Odasaku any helpful details, his attitude regarding this detective made Odasaku wary and alert, none-the-less.

Odasaku sighed. "Alright."

He followed Murakoso to the office of Detective Ayatsuji.

Murakoso knocked. "Yo, I have Oda," she said through the door.

"Let him in," came the calm reply. The voice was deep and contemplative, but not baritone. Odasaku was oddly reminded of a slightly lower-pitched Dazai. Jeez, why was everything standing out as Dazai? He missed his friend.

Murakoso opened the door, and gestured for Odasaku to enter. Odasaku did so, and Murakoso left, shutting the door.

Odasaku found himself alone with the blonde haired, gold eyed, unsmiling detective for the first time. He'd known him only in name before. He didn't look outwardly dangerous, but Odasaku knew better than to trust something based on appearance alone.

Suddenly, before he could speak, his entire body felt like it went BTHMP.

Detective Ayatsuji pulled out his gun, pointing it right at Odasaku. He pulled the trigger without a warning.

But nothing happened.

Before Odasaku spoke, Detective Ayatsuji pulled out his gun, pointing it right at Odasaku. Odasaku waited for him to pull the trigger, like his vision had shown. Ayatsuji didn't. The awkward tense silence stretched out until finally, Odasaku was the first to break it, bewildered. "Why are you pointing your gun at me?"

"Why did you wait so long to ask?" Was the snarky quip he got in return.

Odasaku wondered if this was a test. He couldn't figure out what kind it was. "I think that's a natural question to ask someone you just met when it's out of the blue," he stated.

"A normal person would have flinched," Ayatsuji pointed out. "Instead, you waited for me to pull the trigger—tell me was that your typical behavior or perhaps you used your ability, Flawless?"

Odasaku realized his hunch had been correct. The Detective had been testing him. But why?