Dazai was sprawled across his desk in the Armed Detective Agency, taking a nap whilst Kunikida was ranting to him about how he needed to get up and start working, or else they would be late for his schedule. Ever since Dazai came to the ADA, his life had been as boring as ever, and nothing had changed since he left the Port Mafia. But according to Oda being the side that saved people was better than the side that killed. It all felt the same to Dazai, the only exception being that he had to cover his indifference and disappointment in life, since nobody here could understand that someone would not want to live. Back in the Port Mafia, Chuya had understood him and seen his passiveness to what happened in the world, and though he couldn't deny it was nice to know someone understood how he felt, he couldn't say he missed it, either. Because after all, he had said it multiple times himself, everything was the same to him.
He was finally unable to nap further as he was dragged to a standing position with a seriously annoyed Kunikida.
"Dazai! GET UP!" (which didn't make sense since Dazai was already up from his harsh treatment)
"Kunikida~~ let me just sleep for five more minuuuutes~" Dazai whined.
It was with this going on that Atsushi and Kyouka came back into the room, a bunch of files in his hand. The two of them had evidently run up the stairs, since Atsushi was puffing and trying to get his breath back, although Kyouka seemed unaffected.
"We... just got... a report... about a ritual... murderer." Atsushi managed to get out between breaths.
Dazai and Kunikida stopped their exchange (although only after Kyouka had repeated what Atsushi had told them, since nobody listened the first time), and turned to look at the pair. Kunikida took over the files, whilst Dazai tried to read over his shoulder. There were several pictures of different people in different parts of the city, all of them killed in a similar manner. The first thing Dazai noticed was that they were all unrecognisably disfigured, their flesh having been picked away by crows. You could tell the order in which the murders happened by looking at which was picked the cleanest. The next thing he saw, was that they were all women. It was hard to tell through the bad lighting in the pictures, but as long as he compared the bodies with Chuya, if it bore any resemblance to the chibi redhead, then they must be female.
"Can we inspect the bodies?"
"No. These pictures were taken over three weeks ago, and since then all the bodies have been picked clean by the crows. Even the bones were scattered to unknown places."
Dazai frowned. With only the pictures to go off of, he wouldn't be able to find out much. The only person who might be able to tell something from only a few pictures was Ranpo-san. But Ranpo-san would never do any work (much like Dazai himself) unless given a valid reason or bribe.
Ten minutes later Dazai dumped the pictures on Ranpo's desk, with a bag of junk food that would last even Ranpo for a whole week. Ranpo happily got out of his lounging position and took a look at the pictures.
With barely a second to think, he told Dazai everything he could deduce form the information he was given.
"Each murder was performed at around the same time of night, with three victims each time. There is a three-day pause between each murder, and the locations aren't random either. So far, the culprit has repeated the procedures eight times, and the next time will be tonight at sunset. You know Dazai, I have a feeling that this is some sort of sacrifice to invoke or summon some god. Actually, I know it is a ritual, but I am myself not familiar with the exact procedures of this particular ritual."
After that Ranpo wasted no further time to delve into the bag of snacks he had been bribed with.
Dazai processed the information he had just been given before asking Ranpo again, "Ranpo-san, do you know where this sacrifice will take place?
Ranpo halfheartedly pointed to a spot on the map that Dazai had provided him with along with the pictures, not even bothering to look up from his exploration of all the junk food Dazai had given him.
Chuya had been grumpy all day. The Port Mafia had recently discovered bodies in their part of the neighborhood, and Mori had ordered them to find out who had the courage to kill in the Port Mafia's territory, and taking the chance to teach them a lesson. Of course, as an Executive, Chuya didn't usually need to bother with such trifle matters, so he really didn't understand why he was the one searching for this culprit. It might have something to do with the Port Mafia's current enmity against The Guild, leaving them with less people to fight, but that still didn't explain why Chuya, and Executive, should have to deal with such a small problem. And anyways, he wasn't even the best person to do investigation. Sure, he was capable, but his talents lay in fighting.
And to make matters worse, the manager who surveyed Mafia spy activity in the particular area of the murders had been one of the victims in the murder, and the surveillance master was the only one who knew the spies' identities apart from Mori, but Mori was too busy shopping for new dresses for Elise-chan.
Chuya wanted to snort or growl, but he satisfied himself with a sigh. He tried walking around to test his luck. Maybe he would bump into the culprit, though he seriously doubted it. When it was nearly sundown, and he had wasted his entire afternoon on pointlessly walking around in circles, he decided to go back home to his apartment. He took a short cut through the dark alleyways, since he knew he would be fine. And anyways, he was itching for a fight to channel his frustration in.
Chuya was walking in said dark alleys when he spotted something familiar.
He froze.
Immediately.
Could it be...? No. No, he must have been mistaken. But then it was hard to forget those wild gleaming black curls. Hard to forget the way they seemed to both be in constant dark, sucking all the light from around them, but at the same time being perfectly visible, as if lit by an otherworldly light. Chuya knew he would regret his decision, but he followed those curls. He caught sight of them just as their owner turned a corner, and Chuya ran up silently, always turning one corner later than the prey he was stalking.
He was sure it was the woman.
This is the longest chapter I have ever written. Previously, I only wrote short oneshots, and they were almost never more than 1000 words. So, I'm both proud of this, and kind of sad that I broke my record of not ever writing anything substantial XD
Also... The next update may take a long time, since I have no clue how to start writing the next part of the story.
