Assignment 10: True Colors Are Most Beautiful When a Light is Shined Upon Them
Rashomon retreated once more back into Akutagawa comically.
The mens' eyes widened, along with Mitchell's. She managed to struggle to her feet, and they all gaped.
A broad grin.
"Seeing…is believing…so they say~"
Alu was unscathed.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's ability that was supposed to burn her—hadn't actually left any marks. The marks of a sinner were always left behind—it's one of the key points of his ability. But she stood now, completely unscathed.
Her clothes.
Her body.
Her entire person was completely untouched. His ability fading into nothing but light before even touching her.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's eyes widened with horror.
Alu smirked darkly. "You know that old saying… 'He who hath not sinned may cast the first stone?'…" She brushed off her shoulder with sigh, while everyone looked at her with stupefied amazement. "I am a sinner, don't get me wrong. But in your case, I am the stone~" she beamed at Nathaniel Hawthorne.
"Im…impossible," his tone of incredulousness wasn't even hidden. Margaret Mitchell grit her teeth. Though she was in pain and barely able to stand, she stumbled closer to Hawthorne.
"That person…we…lost already…since the beginning…" Margaret stumbled. Though with her vision as it were, she was in no state to fight. Hawthorne swiftly caught her as she fell, cradling her in his arms now, just staring at Alu with wide eyes.
Even Akutagawa needed a moment. Rashomon would not answer his call. Rashomon…didn't want to fight this person. But why? Why? Akutagawa's expression twisted, as he clutched his bleeding side, unfortunately his body's limit was catching up to him.
"Oh…so you know we still have a deal," Alu said brightly, walking away from Akutagawa and towards Mitchell and Hawthorne..
Hawthorne just gaped, eyes wide. This person…passed God's Judgement? The full extent of it? But his ability caught sinners. She herself was one too. So why? Why was judgement not passed this time around?
"But…how? Did…God speak to you?" Hawthorne's voice shook.
"Hm," Alu gazed at him. "God…has never once spoken out loud to me."
"Someone who doesn't talk to God has no right to lecture me!"
"You've misheard," Alu said calmly. "I have never heard God's voice, true, but that doesn't mean I don't understand The Message."
Hawthorne felt something in his heart twist. Confusion. But, that person's eyes. She was not the enemy. Why couldn't he stay angry with her without feeling like he was the one who was in the wrong? "Judgement…should have been passed. No one is capable of being 'free of sin'. You who cannot even hear God…unaffected? Impossible…inconceivable… By our very creation we are imperfect, only made perfect through God's own Grace…" Hawthorne babbled.
"Judgement was passed," Alu said brightly. "But you holier-than-thou folks, seem to forget something about God. God may pass judgement. But…God is also about forgiveness in the act of repentance… the other side of God's judgment…has always been love."
Nathaniel just stood frozen, but he clutched his chest now, feeling something twist deep to his core. Her words held weight in a way his own didn't. He used words as a weapon. She used them…for something else? "Guh!?"
"You'd do best to remember that you may carry God's Word, but do not mistake passing your own judgement on others indiscriminately as being on behalf of God's Will. You…are not God." She spoke and her voice thundered at the end, making Hawthorne quake. Her eyes held something in them. Something deeper than any person he'd ever met. Her eyes were like two blazing stars. It was like staring into the very face of the sun. It burned. It was brilliant and mesmerizing. This must be what it meant 'to see the light.'
Hawthorne dropped to his knees, unable to speak up against this person. He knew his ability. Even his ability acknowledged this person. "You…just—who….?" His eyes were wide like a child.
"Men always struggle with their relationship with God, it seems," Alu sighed. "The next time you use your skill to pass judgment…check a mirror first." Her words were passionate and bemused. "But more than that…remember why you were given that 'gift'. Dig a little deeper~." She hummed, like she was about to break out into a musical number. She didn't but the impression was there, lol. She was chastising and perhaps a bit angry but for the most part, Alu wanted for Hawthorne to merely listen to a voice that wasn't just his own.
"What the hell kind of ability did you use on me!" Akutagawa snarled. It felt similar to Dazai. But it was different. It was different enough.
"I don't have an ability," Alu brightly stated.
No one believed her for a second. It showed on all their faces.
"Don't think…you can interfere, and leave alive," Akutagawa snarled from behind them, trembling.
Alu blinked. "Ah…you two should probably leave, now, lol~" she said apologetically.
Mitchell gazed at Hawthorne. Hawthorne grit his teeth. He took Mitchell, supporting her, and just bowed his head once to Alu. A silent admission of honest defeat. Then they parted ways. Alu was bemused. So, it would appear some men did have honor still. Yay, chivalry wasn't dead!
Akutagawa looked ready to kill her. Haha.
Alu gazed at Akutagawa. "You…will pay for that!" Akutagawa snarled, lunging for her. Ability or not, he would take down at least one—!
Alu let Akutagawa punch her. Akutagawa grabbed her and pinned her to the ground, and Alu coughed, blood coming up. She sat under Akutagawa's pinning, as the thin boy quivered on top of her. "You fought well…" She said softly, gazing up at him, despite the beat down he was trying to give her. Akutagawa's fist was pulled back, quivering, tight, but his eyes were full of frustrated tears.
She was praising him? But why? He had no value to her. She had no value to him.
"O-our targets got away, maybe we should just leave it be," a tentative voice said from the wreckage just then.
Alu blinked.
Kajii peered from the rubble, at Akutagawa. "B-Boss told us to only take out those two Guild members…nothing about this one."
"Who cares," Akutagawa thundered, and he put his hand around Alu's throat. "I will kill you for interfering!" He declared with a snarl.
"No, I don't think you will," Alu countered, placing a hand over Akutagawa's. "If you do…Dazai-San will be disappointed in you, and you don't want that, right?"
Akutagawa flinched. He shuddered. He didn't want Dazai's wrath. He wanted his praise! He felt something else from this person. Something dangerous! Dazai's touch had always been cold. But this person's touch…burned. With a snarl he lunged off of her like a bat out of hell. "Don't touch me!" He snarled.
He grimaced again, falling to his knees, still in pain. Kajii quickly ran over to check on him.
Alu just got up, still battered and bruised looking on some level. Hilariously enough, Akutagawa did more damage to her physically than Hawthorne had in the whole time he'd been exerting his own ability on her. "…God, Theology, and Science, all exist for a reason," Alu said, glancing at Akutagawa and Kajii. Akutagawa panted, weakly punching Kajii to let him go but Akutagawa was already losing too much blood.
"Science is tangible. Faith is pointless," Kajii sighed. "It doesn't help humanity survive against how cruel nature can be."
Alu tilted her head. She put her hands in the pockets of her coat and walked before stopping near them. Her expression was contemplative as she spoke. "Science casts doubt on what humanity has yet to understand about Mother Nature. It is a study meant to bend that obtained knowledge of Nature to humanity's own understanding and progressive advancements." She agreed.
Akutagawa and Kajii didn't know what to make of this person.
"Science is crucial to humanity's survival." Alu continued. "But…science is a language that cannot go unspoken. Sometimes you have to believe in something without saying anything at all. That…is the true nature of Faith. There are those that place their Faith in God and that's valid. I don't want to take away another person's faith in something that brings them closer to feeling capable of saving themselves. However, I have chosen to place my Faith in Humanity itself. Some people are capable of changing for the better. I believe that and trust in those who are capable of proving that through their own actions, from the bottom of my heart. Humanity is incapable of true growth and progress without science and faith."
She smiled at them both. She grinned. The sun broke through the cracks of the broken building. It was like the sunbeams were reaching for this person. With that said, Alu walked away. And neither mafioso stopped her.
—
It had been a day since The Guild had attacked and Kyouka went missing.
Kunikida gave Fukuzawa the update on his end over the phone. Fukuzawa had ordered the evacuation of everyone for the time being from their normal base of operations. Since The Guild was volatile and unpredictable, this was the best course of action.
He himself already moved Ranpo to the Old Bankoudou Hall where the agency was first established a long time ago before getting their own building. He instructed Kunikida to get the other detectives there.
"Is it wise to have Ranpo…?" Kunikida asked, concerned, over the phone. He sat at a desk, going over some paperwork. "I should have done a better job keeping a hand on that woman…"
"No, it's not your fault," Fukuzawa sighed. "It would have been difficult if you and Dazai had been charged on top of everything else. For now, I will discuss this matter further only once I return. There's no telling where the enemy may be hiding, listening."
However, as Fukuzawa was talking he sensed he was no longer alone. He looked around. He had been forced to take a walk by Yosano actually.
She had comically kicked him out so she could focus on Ranpo's 'treatment', wanting to get to the bottom of why he was still so loopy following his awakening. She could tell the president was stressed and demanded he get some air.
Sure enough, some armed thugs grinned, coming up on him. Fukuzawa was in a bad enough mood to actually want to hit something. Lucky for him, he had multiple punching bags at his disposal.
He hung up on Kunikida, instead turning to the adversaries.
They lunged with classic bad guy talk.
He countered.
He felled them all effortlessly.
As he stood there, he angrily said, "Go back to your master, you dogs. And tell him I appreciate his prudence, however, next time, I should be his only target again."
Alu, who had been watching this, just let her jaw close again from where it'd been hanging open. She hadn't realized how strong this guy was. Hilariously enough, she'd never seen him fight. She had sensed a commotion and come over to find the head of the ADA just casually flipping bad guys like cheeseburgers on a grill.
"If your master tries to harm my people I will personally eliminate all who stand in my way," Fukuzawa said threateningly as he walked away.
Oh, bad mood. Definitely a bad time. Alu inwardly worried. What about Ranpo though? And wait, these random thugs felt too scripted. Alu furrowed her brow. Then she gasped. No way. But it made sense. Why hadn't this dense fool realized it yet?
Ah crap, she was trying to keep a low profile but she had no choice.
"Wait! President Fukuzawa!" She said loudly, from behind him.
Fukuzawa's eyes widened. He slowly turned his head, seeing the one person that had evaded his people just standing right there. The person who had left Ranpo a drunk babbling vegetable. His expression immediately clouded despite himself. "It's you." Alu looked a bit beat up. Fukuzawa didn't have time to be concerned. He had his own problems.
Alu flinched as he grabbed her by the arm wordlessly. "Wait—wait!" Alu yelped. Man, this guy was strong. And she sensed his ability, 'All Men Are Created Equal' coming into effect if she tried to use any power greater than the strength he himself was exerting.
Fukuzawa continued to drag her.
He wasn't in the mood to talk.
Alu grimaced. This was going to look so bad but she had no choice. She grabbed his robe quickly. "Doesn't it seem odd that a couple of random thugs just happen to find you and strike!?" She said, furrowing her brow.
Fukuzawa kept walking briskly, with Alu comically dragged in tow. God, he was being such a baby. Alu wanted to punch him but knew that would just implicate her further. "…I know who did it," he said curtly.
"That's not the point, actually, wait, if you know who did it then doesn't that make it even more suspicious! Think a little!" Alu said, exasperated.
Why was this man such a thick head?
"Assassinations every week are practically routine," Fukuzawa deadpanned.
Alu's eye twitched. "And that doesn't even bother you?"
"In my line of work, nothing phases me anymore," he said, with a huff. "…Do you know who I'm referring to, by any chance?" He actually paused, as something dawned on him. Another realization.
Was he finally getting the picture?
Alu was hopeful.
"You…are you working for the Port Mafia?" Fukuzawa glared at her.
Dazai and Ranpo had said she wasn't working for The Guild—but they'd never said anything about where her affiliation lay at this time. Things could have changed. Alliances change as easily as the fickle heart's desires.
Alu's entire expression read, 'are you freaking kidding me right now?'. Her mouth was half-open and she finally grit her teeth. "I'm not with those crazy people," she hissed. "But, I know that your agency has weekly scuffles with them. I can only imagine it's because you and their boss know each other! I mean, the way you two go at each other is like kismesis!"
"…The nature of our feud is not that."
Uh-huh. Sure, buddy. You're both how old now? Alu inwardly thought, not believing him for a second. Her expression is a funny saggy frown, her eyes twitching with lines drawn under them humorously enough. She was tired of men just being men sometimes, haha.
Fukuzawa wrinkled his nose. "Regardless, you were nearby so if it was a coincidence, it was an appropriately timed one."
"I should hope so!" Alu countered. "Fukuzawa-San, listen to me, please—this other person would not send in weak low level grunts intentionally if he wasn't already plotting something else! There's no way he would expect them to do any real harm to you if his best men can't even put a scratch on you!"
Fukuzawa paused.
She was actually making sense. And the body language and urgency in her voice was making him actually think. He paused. He glanced at her, eyes narrowed. "Then…what are you suggesting?"
Alu furrowed her brows. "Let me see your hands."
Fukuzawa blinked. "Why?"
"Do you want to know my idea or not?" Alu groused.
Fukuzawa was hilariously reminded of Yosano and knew better than to oppose this person in that moment. He comically held out his hands like a good boy. Alu inspected them. "Just as I thought…you've been traced."
"Huh?" Fukuzawa stared, dumbly at Alu with wide eyes.
"…It's a simple tactic," Alu said impatiently. "You get your opponent to let their guard down by touching you directly, and the applied element is practically undetectable. However, it allows one to trace you."
"What are you talking about?" Fukuzawa stared at his hands. Then his eyes widened. His fingers looked like they had smudges of a marker? A child's marker?
He doom-faced. He looked at Alu, feeling incredibly guilty that he had been so rude to her before. She had just possibly been the only one level headed enough in that moment to save his own agents.
He felt like a terrible leader.
"Hold on, I have an idea for how we can turn the tables on this guy," Alu grinned suddenly. She ran off ahead of him.
"…?" Fukuzawa blinked in her direction, his earlier animosity replaced with a genuine desire to trust in this person like Dazai apparently implored him to. "W-wait!" He gasped, realizing he was being left behind. He chased after her, rather fast for an older man in traditional Japanese robes, haha.
—-
Chuuya Nakahara stood, where the felled, useless bodies lay. He made a disgusted expression. "Ugh, outsiders are useless."
"Well, he is their leader," Mori Ogai said on the other end, humorously. This man was the head of the Port Mafia. He was a man enshrouded in shadows. Though he dressed like a Saturday morning cartoon villain, and doted on his ability, 'Elise-Chan', otherwise known as 'Vita Sexualis', he was not a man to be taken lightly.
She was coloring and doing other childish activities at the moment. So cute.
"Regardless, all according to plan… Tell me about the Scandium Markers we painted on the assassins' sleeves…" Mori continued, resting his head in his hand, bemused.
Chuuya took out his phone from his pocket. The marker was moving just fine. "All according to plan, boss," he said.
"Good. We take the first point," Mori beamed gleefully, interlacing his fingers. This was really child's-play for someone like Mori. His cute Elise-Chan's toys were a weapon, just like she herself was, after all.
When dealing with children it helped to get on their level sometimes—it just made things so much more thrilling when they were caught unawares and unsuspecting.
Mori's grin was dark. But his heart was blacker.
—-
Meanwhile, Fukuzawa returned.
"Listen up, everyone," he said sharply, gazing at his people.
Kunikida and Dazai were hovering near Tanizaki who was on a computer up front. Ranpo was currently trying to pet Atsushi. "S-Sushi-kun, I wanna eat you!" He whined. "Your name reminds me of delicious fish~ It's so funny cuz you're actually a kitty too~Just like Prezzy Fukuku~" he giggled again, still on his little loopy high.
Dazai looked up when Fukuzawa entered. "Any path to peace has been closed to us from this point onwards. The Mafia seeks to kill us, and The Guild wants to usurp us…which is basically the same thing. We cannot afford to be idle any longer. Dazai, do you have the combat strategy ready?"
Dazai grinned. He was up. Like a show host explaining the rules of a fun game, he flourished his body language, tone cheerfully. "Of course! We know that we are outmanned by the Mafia and outskilled by The Guild. At this point if we all don't wanna die horribly and have our heads cracked open like a fried omelet, we have to focus instead on a tightly knit defense and some underhanded tactics to get the slip on both of our enemies! Keeping Yosano-San alive is vital to this mission. She can ensure we don't die—though not all of us may feel like being healed, hahaha…"*
Kenji joined in Dazai's chuckling although Atsushi failed to see the humor in Dazai's witty remark.
However Ranpo laughed loudly. "Dog!" He pointed at Dazai randomly and giggled. "Woof! Woof!" He threw his hands up in the air, giggling.
Dazai himself didn't know what to make of this current state of Ranpo, lol. "I don't like dogs," he pointed out.
"Still a dog! Once a dog! Always a dog!" Ranpo giggled.
It was hard to say what Dazai's expression honestly read at that moment, not that anyone else caught the shift in his expression, though brief, like a flickering flame. Everyone was focused on Ranpo.
Kunikida growled. "This is absolutely the worst. We need our brains and Ranpo has lost most of them."
"Oh! Hen! Hen! Descendent of dinosaur! Hear him roar or cluck in this case!" Ranpo giggled, pointing at Kunikida now.
"Great, I'm a farm animal," Kunikida deadpanned.
"It suits you," Dazai couldn't help but humorously tease.
Oh! Do me next! What am I?" Kenji tilted his head cutely, brightly raising his hand for Ranpo to analyze him next.
Ranpo's head swiveled. He blinked at Kenji. "Baby Ram!" He said, pointing.
Kenji clasped his hands together, in awe. "Aw, really? That's awesome!"
Atsushi failed to see what was awesome about this. "What does that even mean…" Atsushi muttered, sweating.
"He's just saying that I'm like a 'leader' to the sheep," Kenji brightly reiterated. "I'm a Shepherd you know? It's my job to protect the flock!"
Everyone stared at the bright smiling 14 year old boy. How had he managed to glean that from Ranpo's rambling? Ranpo wasn't making any sense! Kenji just kept smiling, unaware that so many eyes were just staring at him with questions. He just hummed.
"Interesting," Dazai said, with a small puff of bemused laughter, despite the tension of everything going on weighing even on him. "…Can you make sense of his other ramblings?"
"Uh, nope," Kenji said brightly.
"…" Everyone else let out a comical unified dejected sigh.
—-
Preparations to go forward with the plan were complete.
It had been some time since Akutagawa's questionable victory against the Guild. Although The two Guild Members had been wounded by him, that girl had interfered. So, naturally Mori was keeping his eyes peeled. However, now, it was time to execute the next phase of the plan.
Chuuya Nakahara narrowed his eyes, looking around the oddly familiar neighborhood he was in. He frowned. "Boss…something doesn't feel right," he said.
"Oh? What do you mean?" Mori hummed, flipping through some papers idly. He was mostly thinking about the terrible expression that Fukuzawa would make when he found out his little dumb plan had been found out. Hehehe, maybe Mori would stuff this building with explosives at some point. After all, when you want to get vermin out, you stuff the exits and smoke them out mercilessly.
He couldn't help but let out a small corny laugh.
Elise-Chan wanted to punch him. "Ew, stupid Rintaro. Your laugh is so annoying," she complained, from where she was doodling with her dolls.
Chuuya stood across the street from the ADA building itself. It was deserted. But the tracker indicated otherwise. "This could be a trap…the marker has faded for a while now…"
Mori paused.
His eyes narrowed. Was Fukuzawa perhaps trying to fool Mori into thinking that they would go back to the last place Mori would look? Fukuzawa was a good fighter but cunning was not his forte. No, Mori prided himself on being far smarter than that man. He knew he was far smarter. If it wasn't for that brat, Edogawa Ranpo, that man wouldn't even have an agency, so to speak.
It could be a trap set by Dazai then.
It left a horrible taste in his mouth to know the most cunning, cruelly qualified person to lead the Port Mafia was running around with those chuckleheads. Ugh.
Mori stroked his chin. "Proceed. If he's not alone, assess that beforehand. It could be an ambush…in which case you will proceed to kill them all unless of course, Dazai-kun is there. If so, retreat."
Chuuya grit his teeth. He hated that even now, his boss was still obsessed with that stupid traitor. But, he had his orders. Chuuya would at least get in one good punch at some point on Dazai's stupid face again at some point. He still owed him for when he made Chuuya look like a fool back during his mafia captive time because of Akutagawa. Dazai at the time had only allowed himself to get caught so he could figure out who put a bounty on the weretiger, and like a puppet on a string, Chuuya carelessly let his guard down and ended up needing Dazai to stage his escape as done by the ADA not Chuuya so Chuuya wouldn't lose his life as a penalty of letting a criminal like Dazai escape from the Mafia clutches.
What a jerk.
The absolute worst.
Dazai could just suck it.
Suck it hard.
"…And if the president of the ADA is alone?"
"Eliminate him." Mori's lip curled into a jovial sadistic sneer.
—
