Chapter 5: Healed on Enemy Territory (In which Truces are upheld, and a Pact is made)
Atsushi sat in the Agency's waiting room, warily wrapping a bandage around a surprisingly obedient Akutagawa who barely twitched at the pain, giving out only grunts of discomfort when Atsushi was forced to sterilize the wounds that littered his torso. Yosano-sensei was busy healing Chuuya, who by the sounds of it, was suffering just as badly as anyone who was forced to undergo the doctor's version of healing. Dazai-san was pacing around in front of the door to the infirmary, drawing nervous eyes from the other agency members as he wore holes into the carpet with his feet and cast dark looks at Akutagawa, who studiously ignored his former mentor's gaze. Atsushi finished tying off the last bandage, then sat back and looked, really looked at Akutagawa.
"What happened back there, Akutagawa?" The man tensed, then glanced at Atsushi. A moment later, he sighed. "What do you think, Jinko?" His voice sounded hoarse, tired.
"We were on a mission. Tasked to finish off a foreign group who'd been filching off the Mafia's resources. There was another ability user with the same powers as Chuuya-san." At that, Dazai-san's head snapped to look at Akutagawa, his gaze turning even darker than before, one bandaged hand coming to grip at his bolo tie, playing absent-mindedly with the brilliant blue gem. The mafioso continued, oblivious to the tension growing in the room.
"It was a close fight. Even with Chuuya-san and myself helping, we were slowly being pushed back." Grey eyes hardened, crinkling at the sides as their owner recalled the bloody event. "Chuuya-san told me to call Dazai-san, then pushed me out of the building before activating Corruption," Akutagawa gritted his teeth, before murmuring, "Even though he knows it's killing him..."
"What was that?" Dazai was suddenly there, standing next to them. Atsushi yelped and fell back, while Akutagawa flinched and tensed. The bandaged man loomed over them, eerily similar to how he looked back in the Mafia, brown eyes almost black with the darkness that swirled within them. "What did you say about what killing who?"
The clatter of the door interrupted them, as Yosano-sensei exited the medical ward, closing the door gently behind her. "I believe he means that the redhead's ability has been, or rather, is slowly killing him from the inside out, judging by the look of his insides. Honestly," She sighed, pausing to lean on a nearby desk, "It's a wonder at all that he didn't collapse before this fight." Dazai-san turned to her; voice still lowered in a growl.
"How bad was it?"
She met his eyes squarely. "We're talking about multiple organ dysfunction. His ability, gravity manipulation, has been turning on everything. His lungs, his stomach, his kidney, his liver, his spleen, heck, even his own heart was slowly collapsing under the amount of pressure it was under. If I hadn't healed him and strengthened all those organs, there's a fair chance that he could've died within the week, without considering the battle he was just in." Out of the corner of his eye, Atsushi noticed Akutagawa's facial expression shifting, turning from slightly apathetic into growing horror.
"He could've died? But I thought..."
"You thought what, Akutagawa?" Dazai-san's voice was like steel, eyes boring into Akutagawa's mercilessly. Akutagawa hesitated, then answered.
"I found Chuuya-san coughing up blood about a month ago, in the bathroom. He told me it was because he'd used Corruption during the fight to take back Q. Just the other day, he told me it was getting worse. But I never imagined it'd be this bad –!" His words cut off as Dazai pulled him up by the scruff of his cravat.
"What do you mean then, you knew?" Dazai-san shook Akutagawa like a wet dog, disregarding the agency's protests against the harsh treatment of the injured mafioso. Akutagawa's eyes were blown wide with fear, mixed with foolish resolve.
"Chuuya-san told me not to tell anyone - "
"Hang what Chuuya said! You knew that he was dying, but you never told anyone?!"
A harsh cough interrupted them. Nakahara-san stood shakily in the doorway, holding on to the door frame for dear life. "Of course, he wouldn't tell anyone, you waste of bandages. He'd never betray me like that." Blue eyes locked with brown eyes, surly meeting with shocked. "Not like you would understand that concept."
"What the hell are you doing up?!" Yosano-sensei stalked towards the mafioso, ignoring how he tensed and angled his body in preparation to defend himself. "You've just been healed, and as much as I'd like to kill you for what your boss did to our office staff, there is still a truce between the agency and mafia." She stopped in front of him, frowning. "And I thought I'd given you enough drugs to keep you under for quite a while too?"
"I've built up a resistance to drugs, there's nothing wrong with your medicine," Nakahara-san grumbled, warily keeping an eye on the doctor. "Also, I'm pretty sure you've healed me well enough to function for the rest of the week, thanks, but we really should be getting back. Oi, Mackerel," he called, side-stepping Yosano-sensei, "Let go of my subordinate, or do I have to beat you up again?" The menacing effect was spoiled by the redhead coughing, this time stumbling into the divider that blocked the reception room from the rest of the office.
"Chuuya," Dazai-san dropped Akutagawa, rushing towards the mafioso, "You shouldn't over-exert yourself, you've just been – "
"Healed, yes I'm aware, now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to base and report to the Boss." The mafioso cut Dazai-san off, stomping towards the exit with little fanfare.
Kunikida-san stopped him this time, stepping in front of the door with a scowl on his face. "What makes you think you're free to leave as you like?" There was a shift around the room as Nakahara-san's eyes flashed in anger and derision, agency members suddenly struggling under an invisible weight as the mafioso activated his ability.
"You wanna fight against gravity, megane?" His voice dripped with disdain, while Kunikida-san gritted his teeth as he fought to stay upright.
"You-!"
"Enough."
All heads turned to look as the head of the Armed Detective Agency entered the room, Nakahara-san dropping his ability as he did so. "The ADA's president," he murmured, eyes narrowing. "So, we finally meet face to face."
Fukuzawa-shachō met his eyes calmly. "Nakahara-san." He bowed his head a little in greeting, then addressed Kunikida-san. "Let him go, Kunikida."
"But, president," "We have done our part in upholding the truce, which does not even include treating them for injuries. The best thing to be done now is to allow them to leave peacefully, not forcing them to stay against their will. I trust that you will not harm my people?" Fukuzawa-shachō cut Kunikida-san's protest off, still maintaining eye contact with Nakahara-san, who huffed and looked away. "Sure." A mumbled consent met their ears.
"Good. Atsushi, if you would please escort them out?" Atsushi jumped at being addressed, then nodded in assent, darting to open the door for the injured mafioso. On his way out, Nakahara-san paused for a slight moment, almost as if he wanted to say something, then changed his mind and walked out. Akutagawa followed, nodding to Yosano-sensei and Fukuzawa-shachō in acknowledgement before sweeping out like a bat. Ignoring the distressed look that Dazai-san had on his face, Atsushi pulled the door closed behind him.
A gravity manipulator, a mad dog, and a were-tiger in an elevator. There was a joke somewhere in this, Chuuya was sure of it. Well, so far, the were-tiger had done nothing but fidget in his corner by the elevator buttons, so it was fine.
But one should never deem that a situation is fine based on assumptions. Chuuya could attest to that, regretting his thoughts immediately as the were-tiger half-turned to him, a question coming at him not half a minute after the elevator doors closed. "Err, Nakahara-san..."
"Call me Chuuya. None of that Nakahara-san business." Chuuya mumbled, exhaustion pouring over him as he subtly shifted his weight to lean more on the side of the elevator. The were-tiger blinked, caught off-guard, then rallied himself. A bit unsure of himself, that one.
"O-okay. So, erm, Chuuya-san, are you really okay?" The were-tiger paused, then backtracked quickly. "I-I mean, like, are you sure that you should be up and moving so soon? It's just that, I know how it feels like having to go through Yosano-sensei's, err, treatment." A shudder ran through the were-tiger's form, Chuuya almost following in assent before catching himself. In truth, it was rather horrible, the things that the doctor had put him through, but compared to Corruption? It was rather tame, in comparison. Belatedly, Chuuya remembered he had yet to answer the question.
"It's okay, I've been through worse." That answer didn't do much to alleviate the were-tiger's worry, which by the looks of it, only increased. Thankfully, he was saved from further questioning by a "ding!", signaling the arrival of the elevator at the ground floor of the agency building. Talk about being saved by the bell.
Striding out, Chuuya missed the Shin Soukoku exchanging looks with each other, both hanging back to quietly talk to each other.
"Do you need help, with keeping an eye on Chuuya-san?" Atsushi asked, stealing covert glances at the mafioso who was busy hailing a taxi. Akutagawa hesitated, then nodded, worry stealing over his features.
"He's the kind of person to overexert himself trying to do his best, especially to protect his own." Grey eyes met purple-yellow ones. "Keep an eye on Dazai-san as well, if you can. Alert me if you spot him heading towards the northern part of town. That's where Chuuya-san lives." They both looked towards Chuuya-san, who had finally flagged down a taxi and was waiting for Akutagawa.
"I'll call you if that happens." The white-haired boy motioned for the black-clad mafioso to go, then stopped short as he realized something. "Wait!"
"What is it, Jinko?" Akutagawa sounded irritated now, brow furrowing as he looked back at Atsushi, who had a look of utter horror and confusion on his face.
"How in the world did you get my phone number?!"
Akutagawa blinked, then smirked, entering the taxi as he replied. "I'm in the Port Mafia, if you've forgotten that, Jinko. We have everyone's phone numbers."
With that, the taxi pulled away, leaving Atsushi to silently freak out on the curb. The Port Mafia had his phone number. Akutagawa had his phone number. His number one enemy. He groaned in abject resignation. Life really handed him the short end of the stick this time.