Chapter 2:
After taking a taxi back to the agency, we walked up the flights of stairs and entered the office. Ranpo sat on his desk, snacking down a couple of chips while sitting on a leather sofa in the waiting booth, we see Yosano, Junichirō, and behind them stood the President.
Sitting on the sofa across from them, was a tall tall slender man, with sterling white hair and blue sapphire eyes. He wore a black v-neck long-sleeved shirt and dark navy jeans. Sitting next to him was a young girl, who looked to be somewhere around Kyōka's age. She had brown hazel eyes and dark brunette hair that was all tied up in a ponytail by a single black ribbon. She wore a simple off-white shirt underneath an unzipped hoodie and black jeans, along with a pair of sneakers beside a backpack laying on her feet. Is that her? The girl from the café?
"Sir, what sort of business do you both have with Dazai?" We heard the President ask as we walked closer to the conversation that was going on.
"We ask for his services," the man answered in a deep calm voice. "We came to Yokohama to see him personally for help."
"Would you mind catching me up to what's going on?" Kunikda questions him as we entered the booth.
"Glad you can make it," Yosano said as she gives Kunikida an annoyed eye roll. She extends her arm to the man and girl as she introduces them. "This is Dr. Howl Miyazaki, and his daughter Kaiya. They are from Tokyo who came here to see Dazai. They say they want to 'remove' an ability. "
"We've heard stories of your agency," Dr Miyazaki explains. "and of Osamu Dazai. Rumours are that he has an ability that can erase other abilities with just a single touch. We came to Yokohama for that reason."
Does he mean to erase the ability permanently? Dazai can't do that, last time I checked, it's not how his ability works. No Longer Human can only erase other user's abilities with a single touch, yes, but unless he has any physical contact with that person, his ability won't activate. No Longer Human can only immobilize and nullify an ability, not erase it.
"But why would you want to erase your abilities though?" Junichirō asked a curious by his statement.
"It's my daughter Kaiya's ability that we want to erase. There have been…problems with her ability." He explains, looking to the floor with hurtful eyes.
"Problem? Can I ask what kind exactly?" Yosano asks, crossing one leg over the other under her long skirt and eyeing Kaiya. Kaiya turns looks at Yosano with an uncomfortable look as she tries avoiding giving eye contact.
"We can't say," Dr Miyazaki places a hand over his daughter's shoulder as he gives Yosano a look of warning. "… the more you don't know about it, the better."
'The more we don't know, the better?' From behind him, I catch Kaiya staring at me from the corner of her eye, and we both made contact. She quickly turns her eyes away from me and back to the floor, pretending that I didn't notice.
"Dazai won't be coming in till later." Kunikida goes through his notebook and lands on a marked page, which is my guess, today's schedule? "He hasn't been in the office all morning, so best chances he will show up around lunchtime or the mid-afternoon. It'd be best for you both to stay here at the agency and wait for him."
Howl thought for a minute, considering Kunikida's suggestion. He turns to Kaiya, wanting her opinion and she gives him a quick nod. "We have no problems with that," He turns his head from Kunikida to the President. "but if it's not too much trouble, I request that I would like to discuss this further in private."
"I have no objections to your request." He walks out of the booth as he said this. "However, I would like Kunikida to be present with us both as we talk."
"Understood." They both said in unison. Kunikida entered the next room after the President. As Howl was about to follow, he turns back to Kaiya.
"I'll be a while." He smiles gently as he ruffles her hair with his boney-like hand. "Please behave."
"I'm not 8.," she answers in a mumble moving her head away from his hand, a small smile crosses her lips. "Don't take too long."
As he leaves the room, I saw him sneaking a small hurtful smile to her through a crack in the door before it closes.
An hour passed, since the President, Kunikida, and Dr Miyazaki entered the meeting room, and Dazai still hasn't shown up to the office. Once in a while, when I would go out of the office to collect some files, I would check on Kaiya who was sitting down in the booth, reading a magazine that Yosano lent her as she was listening to music from a pair of bright red headphones. Whenever we made eye contact, she would always give me a small awkward smile and I wave, and I would be compelled into doing the same.
None of us bothered to talk to her, though no one wants to admit it, we all would want to ask the same question to her, whether it was exactly how it sounded or just spoken or said differently.
'What is your ability? Why do you want to erase it?'
I was sitting at my desk, filling out the report on the café incident. Though I was trying to focus on my assignment, I couldn't help but think about when I found out about my ability. When I knew that I could turn into a scary giant man-eating tiger, it took me a while to adjust, to learn to control it, and to accept the fact that it was apart of me. No matter how much I wanted it to go away, I couldn't take my ability back. I don't know what possessed me to even think about those times, I felt depressed, and a little sick. "Excuse me?"
Looking up from my computer screen, I saw Kaiya approaching Junichirō as he was about to head out of the office for the end of his shift. "Do you know when they will be out?" 'She must mean the President, Kunikida, and her dad.' I thought.
"Um, well," Junichirō stuttered, his voice sounding a little shaken. "I'm not sure what to tell you, miss. They should be out soon, I'm sorry." Junichirō walks away and I hear the door open and close. Sighing silently, but loud enough for me to hear it, Kaiya walks back into the booth. 'She must be bored.' I thought as I submitting the file and turned off my computer.
I look to the clock that was hanging on the wall across the room from me, it read 12:25 pm. I give out a tired sigh, it's finally time for an early lunch. Collecting my things in my bag, I started making my way towards the door.
"Hey, Atsushi." I was stopped by the mention of my name. I turn around, Yosano comes up to me holding a couple of stacked documents in her hands. 'Don't tell me she's gonna make me do more work…' I moaned in thought as I shrugged my shoulders.
To my surprise, she comes in closer putting a hand to my ear. "Listen, you're going out for lunch now right?" I nodded. "Good. If you wouldn't mind, can you take her with you?" As she points to the booth, she must mean Kaiya. "The girls been cooped up in here for an hour, (so no doubt she is hungry). Plus, I don't think she enjoys spending all her time sitting on her ass alone."
"But—" I was interrupted by Yosano as she grabbed hold of my shoulder, giving it a threatening squeeze.
"Unless you want to assist me in filling out these homicide case files (that can may as well take another 2 hours to finish), I suggest you do as I ask and invite the young lady to lunch." Nice to know she will give me mercy on me if I don't do this.
"Mind if I join too?" Ranpo hearing our discussion, he buds his head in between us. "I'm bored, and I ran out of snacks. There is really nothing better to do, so I may as well tag along."
"Then I'll leave you both to her. Come back up or call me if something happens or if anything goes wrong." She walks away back to the infirmary along with the stack of documents. "Oh, and if you can, try to get some info out of her." She adds as she closes the door with her heel giving us a serious look.
We go into the booth, Kaiya has her red headphones on so she doesn't notice us as we approach her. I softly tap her on the shoulder, she whirls her head to us as she lets out a startles jump out of the sofa.
"Oh, sorry." I apologize as I took a step back.
"O-Oh, no, I'm sorry." She takes off her headphones and sets them around her neck as she gives us an uneasy smile. "I'm Kaiya."
"I'm Atsushi and this is Ranpo. We were just about to head for lunch, and we were wondering if you would join us."
"Um, but what about Dazai? And, aren't I suppose to be on house arrest or something?" She said that last part with behind a small laugh.
"Relax~," Ranpo said, flashing her wide smile. "The café we're going to is downstairs. Yosano gave us permission to treat you to lunch and if Dazai does show up, we would be able to spot him right away." She takes a couple of minutes to think about Ranpo's statement, looking to the floor before making her decision. "I guess it would be alright…" she mumbles after a few moments. She looks up at us, giving us a kind smile. "Then I would be happy to join you both."
We took her downstairs to the first floor of the agency's building and into ('Uzumaki') the café. As usual, it was as quiet as a church and there were no customers around besides us. We took the table in our usual spot, sitting in a booth on shamrock green leathered chairs and next to a framed window that looked out across onto the street. Ranpo and I sat on one side of the table, while Kaiya sat across from us next to the window.
We were greeted by the waitress, as she flashed us all a wide and cheerful smile. "Welcome back, what can I get you today?"
"Just my usual," Ranpo said giving her a playful smirk. He leans back in the chair putting his arms behind his head as he stretches his feet to the free spot besides Kaiya from across and underneath the table.
"I'll have a cup of black coffee and a bowl of miso soup please," I say as I finished checking through the menu and handing it back to her.
"And for you miss?"
"Um… I'll have a glass of water…" she hesitates, but looks over to me, then adds, "and miso soup, please." She hands back her menu before turning her head to the window, her a little flushed.
"A curry on rice and two miso soups coming right up." She gives us another cheery smile before leaving, ducking into the kitchen from behind the barista station and into the next room.
Immediately the room became quiet again, an awkward silence fell between us and her. What are we supposed to say? I mean, right now we could ask her about her powers and coerce her to cooperate, but I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable.
However, Ranpo was the first to break the ice. "So Kaiya, I heard that you and your dad were the ones who saved a café that was taken by some gangsters earlier today." He gives her a wide smirk as he asks this. I don't know why, but though I couldn't tell you what was happening in his brain, I started to get the suspicion that he was planning something.
"Yes, we did." She answered, sounding a little embarrassed. "I was glad that we were around when it happened, otherwise those people would have gotten hurt."
"Your right, your right." The waitress sets down two glasses for both Kaiya and Ranpo, filling them up with cold water as he continues. "However, I haft to say, going into a small café, knowing there were two armed men who were taking innocent people as hostages, is a very reckless move."
"Wouldn't you have done the same?" Kaiya said sounding offended by his statement. "Would you just walk by and ignore, knowing that you have powers that...that can help them?" she said this last bit in an anxious mumble as if she realized something in her words. Her eyes look to the floor.
"Of course I wouldn't, but does it really matter now?" Ranpo said picking up his glass and taking a small sip. "The important thing is, that the hostages were saved and the men have been taken into police custody. There is nothing more to discuss."
"Right…" Kaiya grumbles, looking out the window, her face expression turning into a small frown. Somehow the conversation became dead silent again and we were back to how we were before. 'So much for breaking the ice.' I thought.
Though Ranpo didn't mean to offend her (at least I don't think he did), she was somehow taking his case as an insult. Though I would agree, taking drastic choices like that are reckless, but so is not doing anything when you wouldn't know if someone was about to be shot in the head. However, if it were me in that kind of situation, I would probably do the same as Kaiya. "So, I wanted to ask you earlier," I said aloud, trying to change the conversation topic. "how did know that the café was in danger before anyone else?"
"It wasn't me," she turns away her eyes away from the window as she speaks in a mumble. "Howl heard noises from the inside when we were walking past. He has an ability that possess wolf traits."
I asked confused by who she was referring too. "Howl? You mean your father?"
She nods, her expression softening. "Yeah, he has enhanced hearing. He also has a great sense of smell, amazing tracking skills and he can transform into a giant wolf."
"One of the café staff said they were approached by a giant talking wolf," I told her recalling the statement Noel gave us. "that was your dad?"
"Yep. 'Beast-Soul'— that's the name of his ability." Her eyes widen, remembering something. "Don't you have an ability similar to that?"
"Yeah," I said giving a pensive smile, as I scratched under my chin. "I can turn into a white tiger, but I'm not able to transform my whole-." I stopped halfway through my sentence. "Wait, how did you know that?"
"I read an article that had a picture of you on the front page…" She reaches inside her backpack and pulls out a notebook full of loose papers that stuck out on all sides. She pulled out one of the papers, giving it to me. I remember this. It was an article that had a picture of me jumping off the Moby Dick. "See? A few months ago, when Howl was looking through the newspaper, he found this. I figured that you would probably have an ability similar to him since you had fur on some patches of your body."
"Why do you call your dad by his first name?" Ranpo spoke up, coming back to the conversation, and changing to a new topic. "I mean, don't you call him dad or something other than that? What gives?" I nudged him on the shoulder as to tell him to not be so direct. But though I didn't want to bring it up myself, I started to wonder the same thing too.
She is silent for a few minutes before she mumbles, "Well you see..." her eyes drifted away to her glass of water for a moment before returning to us. "He's not my... biological father."
"You mean you're adopted?" As if somehow amused with her response, he raised an eyebrow looking a little curious.
"Yeah, I lost my parents in a car accident a couple of years ago," Kaiya explained her voice sounding contrite. "I was adopted by Howl a couple of months after, and I've been with him ever since."
I began to feel a bit of remorse for her, and even a little envious. Even though she lost her parents, unlike me she knew what they looked like and had shared memories of them that she will be able to remember them by. Back at the orphanage I never knew anything about my parents, as the orphanage told me, I assumed they were both dead. Dazai, Kunikda and everyone in the Detective Agency was the only family I've ever known.
"Your curry and soups." The waitress, carrying all three plates with her hands and arm, places them each down in front of us as she gives us a genuine smile. "Please enjoy~," she said to us almost in a singing tune.
"Thank you." Kaiya and I say in unison. We looked to each other and chuckled from the sudden jinx.
We all tucked into our food. Between bite and slips from our drinks, we'd continued our conversation and we all got along well. Once or twice Ranpo and I would try to ask about her ability, but she would only just tell us funny stories about the trip to Yokohama with her dad and dodge the question altogether. She was smart not to give anything away, and I knew that no matter what, she wouldn't tell us about her ability. An hour went by, we finished our lunches and it was just about time for us to head back to the office.
"If you all are done," the waitress came by, collecting our empty plates and drinks. "would you mind paying for your food before you leave?"
"Sure," I say reaching into the back pocket of my pants. "just let me grab my…. My…." I patted it a couple of times, then got out of my seat checking my other pockets than my bag. 'Where is my wallet?' I thought as I scavenged through my bag. 'I'm sure I putten in my pocket before I left. Or was it my bag? Darn, where is it?'
"Don't tell me you forgot your wallet," Ranpo asked sarcastically, sounding as if it wasn't obvious.
"Yeah, I must have forgotten it back at my desk." I admittedly said looking over to him. Hopefully, he would have his wallet on him. "Do you have some money you can lend me?"
"No can do," Ranpo said pulling out his empty pockets from his pants. "You said you were gonna be paying, so I left mine back upstairs." I never said that!
"You go grab your wallet upstairs and we'll wait here for you to come back." He adds in an enormous yawn, sounding as if he couldn't care less.
Although I couldn't really depend on Ranpo for money, I didn't want Kaiya to have to stand him until I get back. I look over to her, and she gives me a tired look as she saids, "I'll be fine. Just hurry back when you can alright?"
I nodded as I turn to the waitress, smiling timidly and feeling a little embarrassed. "Do you mind waiting for a couple of minutes while I run upstairs?"
"It's no problem at all." She replied smiling to me in understanding.
"Thanks." I walked out the door, taking my time to get back to the agency. While climbing up the stairs, memories from my days at the orphanage started coming back to me in bits and pieces as if it was some broken movie that hadn't been played in years. Though I despise my life back at the orphanage, going through all that pain and the suffering I endured, in a way, I am thankful for it. Without going through those experiences, I wouldn't have become someone who understands what it's like to suffer. If I didn't, then maybe Kyōka wouldn't have become a member, and Lucy wouldn't have helped me escape the Moby Dick when I was captured. Going through all of that suffering back then, made me the person who I am today.
The office was empty as I entered, I spotted Kenji reading through a report, he waves to me as I make a bee-line for my desk. I spent five minutes searching my desk, and I couldn't find my wallet. I let out a deep sigh, thinking I should probably give up and just put it on my tab. I slowly make my way to the door.
Yosano, who just came out of the infirmary, stops me midway. "Atsushi, how was your lunch date?"
'It wasn't a date.' It is what I wanted to say, but instead, I came out with this. "It was great, Kaiya is a very nice girl. However, me and Ranpo didn't get any information in regards to her ability."
"I see." She then looks behind my head and to the both, finding it empty. "So where are she and Ranpo now?"
"They're both still downstairs," I saying to her sounding less annoyed by This than I already was. "I forgot my wallet and Ranpo didn't bring his cause he thought I was paying. I couldn't find it though, I was pretty sure I had it in my pocket, when I was gonna pay, it was gone."
"Rotten luck," Yosano muttered, but loud enough for me to catch. "if you like I could lend you some money, and we can call it an 'I owe you'." From a pocket in her skirt, she pulls out a small shiny black leather wallet and opens it up to me while saying, "How much?"
But just as I was about to tell her the amount I needed, the agency suddenly shook, making us lose our balance and crash to the floor, this was followed by a loud explosion noise coming from underneath us.
"What was that?!" I recovered from the shake, I looked to her unsure of what happened. Behind Yosano, nearly all the desks were flipped over, papers were scattered everywhere and the windows were cracked into a single gigantic spider web, looking like they could break any moment. Kenji too recovered from the shake, looking at me, an only surprised expression crossed his face.
"It came from downstairs!" Yosano looked over to me
Me and Yosano, followed by Kenji from behind, burst out of the agency and make a break for the café. We sped through stairs, almost tripping onto our own feet. By the time we got to the first floor and out the front door, the first thing we saw was all the glass from the windows were scattered onto the ground.
We burned into the door of the café, it really did look like an explosion. Like the agency, the place was recked. The room was dark, tea and coffee cups were shattered to bits, tables and leather chairs were torn, remains of lightbulbs were cracked underneath our feet and slouching against the wall in the far end of the room with his head down, was Ranpo.
"Ranpo!" We rushed over to his side, helping him up to his feet and sitting him down on a chair. "What happened? Where's Kaiya?"
He looked up at us, he had his glasses on, and one of the lenses had cracked down the middle. He looked as if he was woken up from a bad dream. "She..." he whispered weakly, struggling to try not to close his eyes. ".. She was... scared..." His eyes close and he loses consciousness.
May take some time to finish the 3rd chapter since school is back on. May be done before next Friday. (7th or 14th of Feb)
Thank you for reading!