Vol. 6
Ch. 13
Dance With The Devil Tonight
"We haven't even heard the little lady's proposition yet," Shinobu tutted, frowning at the younger Russian man.
"Oh, allow me to break it down then," Fyodor brightly beamed, "She was going to offer herself to you in exchange for Osamu's life to be spared by your hand," he hummed and as he spoke, Alu whirled, sensing the presence of someone reaching out to grab her. Sure enough, Nikolai the clown, wrapped a hand over her eyes, his embrace from behind startling her as he pulled her into his space portal. Despite her immediate instinct to struggle, Nikolai was stronger. Both were now beside Fyodor. "As amusing as your little attempt to set up something with her tickled me, I must remind you all that she is off limits in that regard as I have stated before." He gestured to Shinobu. "However, Osamu is unfortunately still useful to me alive rather than dead, so for now, I'm asking if you will kindly spare him," he politely put a hand over his heart, gazing at Shinobu with a classy smile.
Shinobu gazed at the smiling Russian man, but it was clear that working with him, and not against him was best—at least in this moment. He lowered his gun, and he stepped back, indicating he would no longer engage in a fight with Dazai. "Understood," he turned on his heel, tilting his head at Alu, merely smirking. "Until the next time we meet, dear," and with that, it was like he dissipated into nothing, like a mist. The mist faded, and the crushing mental weight on Odasaku, felt only a little less obstructive to his wind pipes.
Alu just stood, frozen, still in Nikolai's arms, as Fyodor continued to converse with the remaining people in the room. "Now, who wants dessert?" He asked, cheerfully, like a fight hadn't just broken out in front of him.
Dazai twitched, glaring at Fyodor. "You're fucking annoying," he beamed at him, "you've toyed around long enough."
Dazai moved over to where Odasaku was still sitting, and he daintily reached around Odasaku, sliding his hand into Odasaku's coat, to pull one of Odasaku's concealed guns out of its chest holster. "Dazai?" Odasaku looked at him, worriedly, but Dazai just stepped away from Odasaku, out of reach, still smiling darkly at Fyodor.
"—But then again, so have I." Dazai pointed the gun at his own head, surprising everyone in the room.
"Dazai?!" Odasaku exclaimed, fumbling to awkwardly try to remove himself from his chair—handcuffs be damned, with alarm at his friend's sudden choice in action.
"It's alright," Dazai said, smiling darkly at Fyodor, who looked momentarily shocked before it switched over to cold sadistic glee. "I'm the loophole, after all, right? Even if you two don't actually touch me, if I were to claim that you two are the reason I choose to hurt myself, then it nulls your little deal, as well," he beamed. "That's the only reason why you wouldn't let Mr. Pervy have his way with me~"
Alu's eyes widened. He wasn't actually wrong there. Of course Dazai would think of something crazy like that. "Dazai—don't!" She exclaimed, upset. She never wanted Dazai to kill himself! She struggled in Nikolai's arms, but Nikolai was stronger than he looked, and Alu growled, eyes flashing. Odasaku was right at this point. Screw the deal. She stomped her heel into his boot and Nikolai howled in pain, temporarily distracting Fyodor from his attention being on Dazai.
Odasaku managed to use his lithe movements to detach himself from the chair, and though the cuffs were still on his wrists, he moved swiftly to Dazai's side, regardless. Dazai just hummed, actually finding it useful that Odasaku's wrists were tied, because it meant he wouldn't have to wrestle with his friend. "Odasaku, don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" Dazai brightly stated, as his friend just struggled to get his handcuffs off.
"Ah! Meanie! That hurts!" Nikolai hugged his foot, hopping around on one leg, like a demented jumping jack in the box— while Alu rushed to go where Dazai and Odasaku stood.
"Ah!" Alu exclaimed with alarm, as she found her ankle caught on something. Looking down, she saw it was Nikolai's hand! He had used his space portal ability to grab her. Ugh, creepy! She tried to kick but Fyodor grabbed Alu just then, by her arm, and he smiled.
Alu shuddered because it was the smile of someone who had every intention of killing her. But Alu wasn't scared.
No, she was terrified.
You're so pathetic without the fox, A voice taunted her in her mind. It was her own.
"No," Alu's voice wavered. "L-let me go!" She struggled but Fyodor yanked her to the table, instead, winding her by pinning her on her stomach to it, one hand on the back of her head, as her hair came messy and undone from his rough handling. He held her arms behind her back, with just one of his own, and Nikolai, despite his own pain, was now using both of his space hands to ensure she couldn't kick Fyodor, by having her pinned by her ankles in place. As if the position Fyodor had her pinned didn't look promiscuous enough, Fyodor leaned over her, his mouth near her ear as he whispered something.
"You're nothing more than a doll so you would do best to accept your place," he smirked, speaking loudly now, gazing at Odasaku and Dazai, who were both glaring at him with intense animosity. "I suppose if you kill yourself it can't be helped," Fyodor mused out loud, to Dazai, grinning darkly. "However, doing so will only leave your precious comrades at my disposal."
Dazai growled, and Odasaku moved closer to him. "Dazai…"
Dazai blinked. He made eye contact with Odasaku. Odasaku was just as angry as he was. Dazai smirked at Odasaku darkly, before he snapped his fingers, the cuffs falling off of Odasaku's wrists now with ease, allowing him to whip out his other gun as both men mutually agreed that getting Alu to safety was their main priority now—the boy would have to just wait. An unspoken agreement passed between them.
Alu shoved her body against Fyodor's, like a cat arching its back. Though he was bigger than her, he wasn't actually terribly heavy for a man. Fyodor kept her pinned, although admittedly her squirming and wrestling was annoying. His eyes narrowed when she arched her back, attempting to get him in the stomach, and he just bore his weight down on her more, enjoying the feeling of dominance he had over her. Without her fox to save her, she was just a pretty little ornament.
Alu breathed hard. Was this all she could do? Just pathetically be manhandled? Incapable of helping her friends? No, Alu refused to accept that. "Dammit, you bastard!" Alu could feel Fyodor's weight pressing down on her. She could still sense the negativity whispering to her as well. It felt familiar. It wasn't Juubi's normal boyish pride taunting. No, this felt like something that she had felt before.
Alu grit her teeth.
Fyodor was enjoying her cussing and struggling as much as the next villain, but he glanced at Nikolai, with a silent order to take Alu back to her room. Nikolai nodded, and he started to open up a space hole that would put Alu there, but Alu never went through it.
BLAM.
Gunshots rang out, and Nikolai hissed, having to use his attention to divert being hit by the bullets suddenly fired at him. "Eh~ This is problematic," he tittered, as he dodged a bullet—barely by the hair of his long braid.
Fyodor shoved Alu at Nikolai wordlessly. Nikolai's eyes flashed, because it would make sense for Fyodor to use her as a shield—so why was he throwing her to him?
The bullets stopped immediately when Alu was thrown as a shield at Nikolai to deflect the blows. Alu twisted, refusing to be used anymore by either Fyodor or Nikolai. A deal with them was not worth the cost of Dazai's life. She would just have to hope that Kōsuke would stay safe. Adrenaline pumping, Alu yelped as Nikolai caught her by her long hair, with a cackle. The pin from her hair clattered to the floor near her feet, as Nikolai tugged her back, her head painfully tilting backwards as he held a sharp knife to her throat, in front of Dazai and Odasaku, who both were now flanking either side of the other two men, glaring and ready to tango.
Odasaku's eyes were on Nikolai and Alu, waiting for an opening to somehow get her away from the crazy clown. Nikolai stood, as Alu sank to the floor on her knees, the tears of pain pricking her eyes as she clawed futilely at Nikolai's arm that held her hair tightly in his grasp. His free hand still held the knife to her throat so the two men would know that just one move could end her life before their eyes.
"How fun," Fyodor said, smiling at the two men. "Try not to mess up my ballroom," he sighed.
"Ballrooms are for dancing," Dazai said, pointing his gun right at Fyodor from where he stood. "So, Fyodor, let's dance."
Fyodor tilted his head. "A gentleman usually asks for a dance," he leered at Dazai.
Dazai blinked and then he smirked darkly right back. "May I have this dance, Odorsky?"
"Did I ever imply you were a gentleman?" Fyodor deadpanned, before he tilted his head at Odasaku, who was now freed from the handcuffs, and pointing his gun right at him, expression serious and unreadable.
"Ugh," Alu's pained sound snapped Dazai back to focus. Alu tried to dig her nails into Nikolai's arms, her scalp screaming from feeling the hair being pulled by the roots.
"If either of you continues to be disruptive as you are, it's not only Alu who is going to have to face those consequences," Fyodor mused. "I wonder if saving her is worth the cost of young Kōsuke's life?" He leered at Odasaku, whose face twisted in conflicted pain. Ah, yes, there was that open book emotional state Fyodor found intriguing.
Dazai knew Odasaku didn't want to be forced back into a life of killing, but that didn't mean Dazai wasn't willing to do that much for him. He kept his gun trained on Fyodor's heart, as Nikolai pressed the blade to Alu's throat, drawing the slightest sliver of blood.
Odasaku trembled. "I don't want either of them to be hurt…." He admitted, finally, expression pained.
"Then, you know what you have to do ," Fyodor tilted his head, smirking darkly. "Shoot him, not me."
Dazai was confused. Odasaku pointed his gun right at Dazai. Dazai thought his heart was legit going to stop right then and there from the shock. "Odasaku?" Dazai didn't care if he sounded uncomposed in front of the other two men. His entire focus became immediately trained on the fact that his best friend was pointing his gun at his chest.
Odasaku gazed at Dazai, and it gutted him to see the confusion that bubbled up on Dazai's face. Like a puppy who had just been kicked and didn't even know why he was being kicked in the first place. He didn't want to shoot Dazai, that much showed on his face and silently, both of them knew this was a stalemate Fyodor had orchestrated in order to pit them against each other.
"Hyeeraaaaaaaaaggghhhhhh!"
A high pitched wail alarmed everyone as the window suddenly shattered to their left. In swooped a short fedora wearing red-head, eyes ablaze, grinning darkly as he landed easily on the floor, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a knife, casually, as he crouched like a gargoyle before all of the others. He locked eyes with Dazai and grinned darkly. "Found ya, you bastard."
It was hard to say what Dazai was feeling at the moment, but having this hat-loving idiot show up— suddenly felt like a weight had indeed been lifted.
Alu didn't waste this chance. Taking Nikolai's momentarily distracted reaction into account, she bit his hand hard, causing him to yelp in pain and punch her in the side of the face. "Bad birdie! Let go, you little—-!"
Alu took the blade from his hand swiftly. He growled, letting her go but only for a moment, as Alu felt the floor under herself widen its jaws, as though to swallow her up. "Ah!" She cried out. She could feel herself falling, suddenly taken away from what was going on in the ballroom.
She gripped the knife tightly, but she tumbled regardless, swallowed up by one of Yari's black holes. Now it was simply the men in the room that were left, and with Alu suddenly kidnapped, Dazai fired a bullet immediately at Fyodor, angry. He only needed one of them alive to get Alu back, after all.
Nikolai opened up a space hole himself, sending the bullet elsewhere. Specifically, right at Dazai's leg. Dazai's eyes widened.
BTHMP—
Nikolai's space hole revealed the bullet, intended to strike Dazai in his thigh. Dazai cried out in pain, now collapsing to the floor, trembling. Fyodor merely smirked.
"No!" Odasaku yelled, barreling into Dazai, shoving him out of harm's way. But, the bullet never came in their direction.
"Oh look at that…I've been shot…" Nikolai said with all of the awe and amazement of a stupefied child.
"!?" Fyodor's eyes widened, genuinely shocked, as his head turned to see Nikolai, standing near him, before he just crumpled, collapsing in pain on the ground, with a loud THUMP. The bullet struck Nikolai in the abdomen instead of striking either Odasaku or Dazai. Nikolai's eyes widened with genuine surprise and amazement. Slowly, as he coughed up blood, he just weakly giggled.
"Ow, hurts~" he weakly said. "Dostoy…go…I'll see you again~" Fyodor was stunned that Nikolai was still smiling despite the lethal wound in his gut right now. He immediately leaned towards Nikolai.
"It's time we both take our leave," he said, good mood gone.
"Oh no you don't," the red-haired intruder declared with a sinister grin. "My boss is actually dying to meet you," he gestured and the doors swung open to the dining room. Into the room stepped Ogai Mori and Elise.
It felt awkward for the two former Port Mafia members to be in the presence of Mori again.
"Hehehe…" Nikolai giggled weakly to Fyodor before he glommed onto him in a hug. Fyodor didn't think now was the time for awkward embracements, but suddenly found himself sucked into Nikolai's ability. "The show…must go on~" Nikolai's words echoed as Fyodor found himself whisked away to another floor—somewhere safe.
Fyodor's expression was to say the least—distressed.
But inwardly, and this was rare, Fyodor was actually upset to be separated from Nikolai. Fyodor needed a plan. If there was one thing he was good at, it was keeping his wits about him. Fyodor didn't mind losing the fight but he wouldn't lose Nikolai. Not tonight, at least. That irritating clown still had use, after all.
Meanwhile, up top, Odasaku and Dazai just hung back, as Chūya straightened up, having been the one to put the bullet into Nikolai unexpectedly. "He's all yours, boss," he said, gesturing to Mori who strode over now, Elise in tow.
Nikolai knew he'd be tortured and probably killed. Man, this sucks, he thought wistfully. But with broken wings, how would he be able to take flight? This certainly felt like the end of the line for him at least. The bullet felt hot and it was funny how such a small piece of metal could cause so much damage to one's intestines. He knew that his vitals were missed purposely, but that didn't mean he wasn't any less wounded. He giggled weakly again. If he'd been prepared better he could have phased any amount of bullet fire elsewhere but he hadn't even felt it enter him, and that's where Nikolai was positively flummoxed.
"Oh? You find this funny, do you?" Mori's cold tone was matched with Elise's glare as she squatted down in front of the wounded clown.
"Where is Alu?" Elise asked, menacingly. In that moment, she looked less like a human child and more like the ability she was. Her eyes held no light, only cold hatred.
Chūya meanwhile, put his hands back into his pockets, coming over to Dazai and Odasaku. "You both look like hell," he commented, glancing at them.
Odasaku was suddenly very fatigued. He felt light headed—hadn't eaten well at all these past few days he'd been here, and now that the adrenaline was simmering down, all he wanted to do was sleep. Odasaku had failed to protect the boy. He had failed to protect Alu. He could barely even protect Dazai and had honestly even almost been forced to make a really hard decision if Chūya hadn't shown up just then. Odasaku knew he had already made his answer the second Fyodor had posed the command.
But he couldn't bear the thought of Dazai having to bear witness to those consequences along with Alu.
"Sucks that I have to see your face," Dazai remarked, glaring at Chūya. "It's the last thing I would want to see before I die," he added.
"That's a shame," Chūya growled, "considering I've already checked and no woman is dumb enough to wanna die with you!"
Dazai was going to retort and say that he gets more action than Chūya could dream of at least, but his usual snarky humor honestly died on his tongue, as he remembered that Alu wasn't there. He turned away from Chūya instead, walking over to where Nikolai lay on the ground. As much as Dazai hated Mori, he wasn't going to let only Mori get information. Chūya looked affronted that Dazai was ignoring him, but he sensed that Dazai had his mind elsewhere as well from the dark expression clouding his face as he strode away from Odasaku and him.
Mori inwardly eyed Dazai, and even he could tell that whatever had happened in this room tonight had been emotionally taxing—even on Dazai. "…" the two of them awkwardly fell into a silence, as the clown attempted to use his ability just then.
But, Dazai reached out a hand, and gripped Nikolai by the throat. Nikolai coughed, as Dazai's fingers squeezed both gently and harshly on Nikolai's throat. His gaze was murderous. "Answer the question." His tone was more than chilling.
Mori was reminded of when Dazai would help him interrogate prisoners. It felt nice to work alongside Dazai again, to say the least. Even if the bridge was burnt, at least Mori could still look at the other side from time to time. It was clear that Alu was someone important to Dazai. She just seemed to have that effect on people, Mori had observed. Even now, somehow roping Chūya into a rescue plan for Odasaku, which Mori had already been informed of beforehand by Elise.
"~I want to fly~ like a bird~" Nikolai coughed, leering back at Dazai, unphased by Dazai's murderous look.
"Tch," Dazai was tempted to kill him but Mori touched his shoulder lightly. Dazai flinched, honestly forgetting that Mori was there in the first place and he instinctively recoiled from the touch, turning his head to glare at his former boss. "Don't touch me."
The animosity sent a genuine shiver down Mori's spine. If anyone could kill him, it really was this one boy. "My apologies," Mori said calmly, gaze smooth like the undisturbed surface of a lake, "I merely think he's more useful to us at the moment alive rather than dead. Allow me to take him back, get his wound tended to…and perhaps then you can interrogate him?"
"You're no different," Dazai snapped at Mori, glaring. "You also only want that girl for her fox demon, don't pretend like you're doing this because you give a damn!"
"Shut up," Elise's deep older woman tone caught both Dazai and Mori off guard. Dazai's eyes widened. Elise's form was different. She glowed and now stood before them, wearing riding equestrian clothes, hair in a single braid down her waist. Elise looked to be in her twenties. "Don't flatter yourself. You're the one who only cares about her—as long as she continues to be useful to you." Elise's cold glare matched Dazai's just then, and Mori awkwardly felt like a dad caught up between two siblings fighting over a coveted toy or… anime body pillow in this day and age ...
"Ah, you two, we do have a more pressing matter bleeding out on the floor," he tentatively tried to redirect the animosity.
"You're just a damn ability, stop projecting his sick fetish," Dazai snapped, ignoring Mori.
"I may just be his ability," Elise clenched her fists by her sides, wishing she could seriously punch Dazai. "But I'm also …her friend! Unlike you, you two-faced snake!" she hissed.
Nikolai could feel his vision going black during all this and he passed out, going limp in Dazai's grasp.
Dazai cackled. "Friend? You? Don't kid yourself. Compared to anyone else in this room, you're not even human." Dazai snarled, grinning darkly at Elise.
Chūya had to wonder if this meant that Dazai actually saw him as more human than Elise. That comparison had honestly not crossed Chūya's mind before and he glanced at Elise, not sure if he actually felt empathy for how he was treating her not considering he didn't actually understand if she was capable of feeling anything when not directed by his boss.
Mori grimaced. He didn't like people to talk smack about his Elise, but Dazai's animosity was truly on its own level and Mori had the distinct feeling that Dazai was venting because that boy may have actually caught feelings—of all things—for the young lady. The thought of Dazai and romance mixing honestly felt like a terrible recipe.
Odasaku felt conflicted. In a way, he felt like both he and Dazai cared about Alu but it wouldn't be true to not say it didn't have to do in part with how her fox half had been useful in the past. He recalled vaguely what had been spoken to him a while ago by the ADA. Specifically, Fukuzawa. "We don't want you for your ability, but for the type of person you are," he had said.
He was right. Even without Alu's fox power, did that suddenly make her less valuable to them as a person? Odasaku's eyes flickered. No, no it didn't. That much he was certain of.
"Both of you, stop fighting!" He said loudly, startling them.
Even Mori looked over, surprised at Odasaku's outburst. Odasaku clenched his fists, even though his bandaged hand was stinging. He walked over towards Dazai.
Chūya hung back, because he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing, in all honesty.
"Dazai, enough. He's already passed out," Odasaku gruffly said.
Dazai blinked, and gazed at the unconscious man under his grasp. He let go, finally, straightening up with a huff. Odasaku was the only person he still allowed to talk him down off ledges. He was still troubled about what occurred earlier between them still, but that was a conversation to confront Odasaku about another time. For now, he only had so much space in his brain to deal with one drama at a time. Odasaku had also had a really hard time, and Dazai knew that they were both emotionally at their wits end. But Odasaku was still important to Dazai and Dazai didn't like to antagonize him.
Mori knew this as well, partly why he found it far more useful to not kill Odasaku—not that he actually cared to anyhow. No, while the betrayal in Dazai's mind was still fresh, Mori did believe that in time, Dazai would understand that what he did wasn't to actually kill off Odasaku in cold blood. He had just taken a risk and knew that Odasaku would have to comply. Of course, Alu hated him for apparently leaking the orphans' location to Mimic originally, and that Mori knew he wouldn't make the mistake of doing it again, not that he planned to work with Mimic anymore. Ah, at least the girl liked Elise. While Mori was still adapting to his ability's behavior evolving along with her own sense of control over her form shifting, he wanted to see just what other sorts of changes Alu was capable of sparking in other people's abilities.
"Chūya," Mori said, glancing at the frowning redhead. "You will let the ADA know that we have yet to get Alu back but we did succeed in obtaining a prisoner," he stated.
Chūya huffed, disliking having to spend time with the ADA but it did make sense to report this at least. The fact Mori was even complying spoke to the testament that this whole ordeal really took more than just the Port Mafia alone to solve. "Alright."
"Speaking of which, did any of those guys come with you?" Dazai turned to Chūya, in one of his rare moments of having actual conversation with the red head.
"Just me," a gruff voice said, entering the room now.
Dazai blinked. It was the serious glasses dude with the baritone. "Kunikida~" Dazai broke out into a huge smirk, holding his arms open wide as though to hug the blonde. Kunikida naturally avoided Dazai's vicinity like he was carrying the bubonic plague. In Dazai's case, it was more like the moronic plague.
Odasaku had to admire Dazai's ability to be silly even at a time like this. He knew Dazai was also concerned about where that girl ended up, but Dazai was a person who hid behind his darker thoughts mostly through humor and his hyper antics.
"The security has all been dealt with," Kunikida reported. Dazai blinked. Oh, so that's why no one had swarmed them in the dining hall earlier! It also explained why Mori and Elise could make such a casual grand entrance.
"What about Alu? Are they on it?" Dazai asked immediately.
"That's the funny thing," Kunikida frowned. "Ranpo makes no sense most of the time but you're just odd enough to maybe get on his wavelength. Maybe you can break down his analogy of a weird riddle we found this morning on his desk…"
"Riddle?" Dazai frowned. He was inwardly frustrated but he had a feeling that the riddle had to do with how to get Alu back.
"Yeah, it was something about Plan B needing to fail first and then a Plan A could commence, or something," Kunikida cliff-noted it because trying to explain in any greater length or detail would just give him a migraine.
"Plan B must fail in order for Plan A to be a success," Dazai mused out loud, resting his chin in his hand, thinking. "What if Plan B was always our version of a Plan A?"
"No," Kunikida huffed. "I already ran that idea by Ranpo along with any other logical one. Ranpo stated someone from Fyodor's group gave us the riddle in order to actually aid us," he concluded to the others who looked briefly surprised. "Normally I'd doubt that far-fetched way of thinking, but considering this is Ranpo who decides this— I have no doubt in my mind it has to be the only reasonable explanation. Which begs the question, what is Plan A?"
Dazai was quiet.
Odasaku gazed at Kunikida, relieved to see someone from the ADA here. It finally felt like something good could still come from all of this madness. He knew his father would somehow find a way to throw a wrench into things as well and that getting information on where Alu had been taken took priority now. He wanted to believe that somehow they could save both the boy and Alu but at this point, he wasn't even sure.
"Success and failure go hand in hand," Dazai mused, out loud. "You cannot have success without failure, but you only know failure when there is no success," he prattled on, making Kunikida's head hurt. Kunikida wasn't the only one as the red head spoke up, irritated.
Chūya growled, "translation, now."
Mori and Elise knew that if anyone could figure it out on some level, it would be Dazai. Mori was starting to piece together Dazai's analogy already, as it were.
Dazai clicked his tongue. "Patience, Chūya, your head will pop otherwise~ not that it'd be a bad thing," he mused.
Chūya cracked his knuckles, ready to unleash Arahabaki on Dazai's smarmy ass. It was only the look he got from Mori that made him even remotely reign it in.
"Plan A must be a symbol for something," Kunikida said. "I was thinking about it, and honestly, this riddle feels a lot like the 'which came first' question about the chicken and the egg, you know?"
Dazai blinked and then he giggled. He sounded a little giddy all of a sudden and Chūya was tempted to smash him to fix whatever was going on rattling in his head right now. "You're more than just a handsome face, after all~" Dazai teased the blonde, striding over and thumping him on his back, enthusiastically. Kunikida growled, not wanting to be patted by this man-child and he swatted at Dazai's touch, feral.
"You're in my space! Stop touching me!" He complained.
"But Kunikida, you're so smart and manly~" Dazai swooned.
Kunikida's vein popped. He throttled Dazai. While also unleashing a lecture about decorum and reading situations.
Odasaku and Chūya sadly let it happen considering Dazai was just tormenting the poor blonde and the blonde was unfortunately so easily baited into a short fuse.
Mori was impressed that Kunikida could act so naturally around this previous Mafia Executive. "My, my," Mori sighed, watching Kunikida shake Dazai like he was a rag doll. "One would hardly know that he was a former Mafia Executive of mine, from the way you're strangling him, Kunikida."
Kunikida paused, record scratching, still holding Dazai comically, who was currently swirly eyed from the throttling. "Blegh," Dazai said, tongue lolling out of his mouth comically.
"He's what."
It was clear that Kunikida had been in the dark—and his comical reaction on his face made Mori feel bemused.
