The room was softly illuminated with a pinkish light, which filtered in through its large windows. The black-and-white checkered tile floor was partially covered by a wide, thick red carpet. The carpet's gold details glinted in the early morning sunlight. Two armchairs stood on the carpet in the middle of the room, one facing toward the door and the other toward the window. At the end of the room sat a large, sturdy desk. And at that desk sat the head of the Port Mafia.
Chuuya had been in this room several times before. The first time had been when he had just joined the Port Mafia. Since then, he had occasionally been required to receive orders from the Boss in person, thus warranting intermittent visits to his office. Still, he quickly glanced around the room, taking in every detail with a hint of awe.
He and Dazai made their way through the doorway to the middle of the room. Chuuya knelt, his left knee and hand sinking into the plush carpet. Dazai flopped unceremoniously onto the chair facing the window.
"It's done, Mori-san," he called, his voice muffled through the chair's cushions.
The man behind the desk smiled. "Good. I didn't expect anything less of you two."
Chuuya bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. Dazai peeled himself from the chair and traipsed over to where Chuuya knelt.
"So, what's next, Boss?" he asked boredly.
Mori slowly pushed a small stack of papers to the center of his desk. "I'm glad you asked," he answered, the emotionless smile never leaving his face. He tapped lightly on the stack of papers. "It appears that someone is trying to take down the Port Mafia."
After a moment of silence, Chuuya rose. "Boss, people try to attack the Port Mafia every day," he stated, slightly confused.
Mori laughed. "Yes, but not very many actually do much damage."
Chuuya's eyebrows shot up. It was very rare for an individual to pose an actual threat to Yokohama's most massive criminal organization.
The man behind the desk steepled his fingers. "Last night, an unidentified ability user successfully neutralized the Black Lizard and several of our own ability users. We know neither who the attacker was nor the nature of their ability."
Chuuya was stunned. A single person was able to take out the Black Lizard, on top of several other ability users? Whoever they are, they could be almost as powerful as me. If not more.
Mori continued, his voice smooth and even. "I have been consistently impressed by your strength and efficiency as a team. You two have given me no reason to doubt your ability to get things done properly. So, I am leaving this matter in your hands. You two are now responsible for the termination of this enemy ability user. You may do as you wish with them; it is your choice whether to capture or kill them. I trust your judgment, and I trust that you will complete this mission effectively and promptly."
As Mori spoke, Chuuya's eyes narrowed by degrees. He and Dazai did not work well together as a team. Though he didn't doubt their ability to accomplish the task, he did not like the idea of working with the guy for what could be weeks on end. In fact, he outright abhorred the thought. Nevertheless, these were the Boss's orders, and he had no choice but to comply.
"Thank you, Boss," Chuuya gritted out. He walked to the desk and took the files that Mori held out to him. He then spun on his heel and pushed past Dazai on his way to the door, shoving the pile of paper into his hands. Dazai, he noticed with some satisfaction, was wearing a similarly unhappy expression on his face.
The two of them walked down the hall into the elevator. Neither of them made a sound aside from the clicking of their shoes on the polished floor. Chuuya pressed the ground-floor button. Dazai pressed one that was somewhere in the middle of the selection.
Back to his office, as usual, Chuuya noted with some resentment. The bastard probably never sleeps.
The elevator descended for several seconds, and then came to a gentle stop. The doors opened, and Dazai stepped out.
"Well, pipsqueak," he suddenly said, turning his head to face Chuuya. His too-cheery voice echoed around the hall. "This is going to be a very fun few weeks. I'm already looking forward to it."
Chuuya grunted in disgust as the elevator doors closed.
This was going to be a very long few weeks.
He sighed as the elevator came to a stop once again, and slipped out of the opening doors. He walked down the stairs, noticing that the pile of guns that he had dumped on the floor was already gone. The receptionist lady sure worked fast.
As he made his way past her desk, he noticed that she was once speaking on the phone, the device cradled between her shoulder and her ear as she spoke rapidly and jotted down notes. She noticed his gaze and paused her speech to bow her head slightly, offering him a quick, tired smile. Chuuya nodded back. The poor lady definitely needed a break.
Heck, he needed a break too. Not necessarily from his job, but from his unbearable partner. Too bad it was unlikely for either of them to be taking a break anytime soon. He rubbed his eyes blearily against the brightness of the morning sun as he dragged himself back to the apartment.
He dreamed that day of mysterious figures, of guns raining down from the sky, of towering stacks of paperwork, and of violently throttling a certain brunette.
"Can you tell us about what happened that night, Hirotsu-san?"
Dazai leaned forward slightly in his folding chair, which was positioned next to a hospital bed. The sound of soft beeping emitted from the monitor to the left of the bed. The small room was glaringly bright, with the fluorescent ceiling lights casting a harsh white glow throughout the interior.
On the bed lay an elderly man. His eyes were closed, but his thin eyebrows were furrowed. The monocle that he usually wore rested on a small table next to the bed.
At this moment, he appeared to simply be a tired, frail old man. One would hardly think that he was the leader of the Black Lizard, the Port Mafia's most ruthless assault group.
"I will tell you what I can, Dazai-kun."
The man then gingerly opened his eyes, blinked several times, and slowly shifted up into a sitting position. He took the monocle from beside his bed and carefully placed it in his eye.
"The Black Lizard had been commissioned to meet with several of the Port Mafia's associates. You are familiar, I trust, with the fact that we occasionally partner with smaller underground organizations, for the sake of maintaining some level of peace in Yokohama's underworld. As long as these groups do not oppose our ideals and are willing to submit to our demands, we can maintain loose partnerships with them."
Hirotsu straightened a bit more and frowned slightly.
"We were sent to further discuss the terms of our relationship with a few of these groups. We had gotten word that they were plotting something behind our backs–though, of course, nothing can escape our notice."
Dazai leaned back in his chair, which squeaked under his weight. He easily read between the lines: when Hirotsu said that he was going to "discuss" the relationship between these small groups and the Port Mafia, he really meant that the Black Lizard intended to threaten or eliminate them as potential threats.
Hirotsu continued, "However, when we arrived at the designated area, we found that it was completely deserted. Not a single one of the three groups that we had contacted had come." His eyebrows furrowed deeper. "We quickly surmised that the three had decided to work together in defiance of the Port Mafia. However, before we could do anything more, we were hit by something."
Dazai raised his eyebrows.
"I believed I heard something in the corner of the room, behind the shelves, so I ordered my men to draw their weapons. There were about thirty of us, as well as four ability users that had insisted on accompanying us. But before a single one of us could pull a trigger or use our abilities, we were all suddenly collapsing to the ground. Though at the time I didn't see any visible injuries on my men, I did notice that all of the ability users who had come along were suddenly bleeding profusely from injuries that were not previously there. I myself found that I had a rather severe puncture wound through my stomach. I suppose I should consider myself lucky to be the only ability user who survived the attack."
Dazai was mildly impressed at the detached nature with which Hirotsu spoke of his near-death experience.
The monocled man shook his head slightly in frustration. "I couldn't see who the attacker was. All I saw before I passed out was a blur. The next thing I knew, I was here."
"And you don't have any suspicions as to who they could have been?"
Hirotsu shook his head again. "I can only say with relative certainty that they are somehow a part of this collaboration against the Port Mafia."
Dazai considered this for a moment, and then rose to leave.
"Thank you, Hirotsu-san. That will be all."
Hirotsu closed his eyes and nodded as Dazai walked out of the room.
Chuuya had been leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. He turned and followed Dazai out of the room and into the hallway. They passed door after door as they walked in silence through the halls of Port Mafia's extensive underground hospital.
"So, what do you think?" Chuuya demanded suddenly. "About who the attacker might have been?"
Dazai sighed. "As of yet, we still know very little. As Hirotsu-san pointed out, it's a distinct possibility that they are not working alone, but instead have amassed some support for their cause. Even after spending the past day or so interrogating all of the Black Lizard members, the attacker's ability is still a bit of mystery. We will have to conduct some research and look into it further."
Chuuya lifted an eyebrow. "Security cameras?"
"That's obviously the first step. From there, we'll have to do some more poking around. With my strategic prowess and your…"–Dazai gestured vaguely toward the redhead–"...obnoxious personality, we are sure to uncover something."
Chuuya bristled. "Between the two of us," he growled, "your personality is by far the worst."
Dazai smiled as they entered the Port Mafia base's lobby together. The evening sun shone through the glass doors and windows, tinging the large room a soft orange.
***I kinda love Hirotsu, even though he's obviously a ruthless murderer and all-around criminal. He's just so classy, you know? This takes place before Gin and Tachihara are a part of the Black Lizard, so at this point he's pretty much leading it by himself.