Hey Guys! Sorry that I have been away for a while now. (Things have been hectic since I last posted.) I do have a good reason for it though. This chapter was supposed to be a longer one, but I figured with the amount of free time I thought I could get it done before the 'End of July Deadline.' However, with what with COVID, school, and other things, I knew I had to finish this up at some point just before I started to try and shape things up again and get back to the same old me. Anyway, enough of me, please enjoy the chapter and I hope to hear from you in the comments!

Enjoy!

Chapter 5: (Atsushi's POV)

Many Hours Earlier…

While I steadily held a clear glass of water in one hand, I knocked on the infirmary door with the other and waited for a response. "It's open." I hear Yosano's muffled voice from inside. I turned on the knob and opened the door to see her sitting in a chair in front of her desk with a tired look on her face as I walked in and shut the door behind me.

She wore her white lab coat underneath her blouse and black tie, and her face looked as if she might pass out any moment from the exhaustion and worry she endured from today. I tried forcing a smile, and handed her the glass of water as I asked her, "How is Ranpo doing?"

"He looked like a wreck, but he'll live." She said this before taking huge gulps of her water. After drinking nearly the entire glass, she lets out a first quenching sigh as she continues. "Whatever kind of ability that girl has, it's strong. I would almost say that her ability was… not human."

'"Not human?"' I was almost a little puzzled by her strange illustration of Kaiya's ability. I was about to ask what she meant, but as my eyes trailed the room, landing on the bed beside me and behind the curtains, where Ranpo laid unconscious, the thought desisted and was replaced with guilt. Changed out of his brown cape, hat, blazer and striped tie, he now wore a blue hospital robe, while white bandages were wrapped around his head and neck, and blankets covered his lower half. Next to him on a side table, his cracked glasses were placed atop a small metal tray just beside his hat.

As I see him motionless, I started wondering to myself that if I haven't left, he wouldn't be lying in that bed right now. 'I'm sorry Ranpo.' I pulled my eyes away from him and back to Yosano, as I feel my stomach slightly squeeze inwards and the sight of him wounded me. "When do you think he'll wake up?" I asked her, trying to sound less depressive than I really was. "I should say, a couple of hours." She replied, leaning her hand against her cheek and her elbow, her face looking more tired from just speaking to me. "I'll let you know if he wakes up."

I thanked her, and though I was relieved to hear that he would be fine, I couldn't help but feel my body grow heavy with regret. When I walked out the infirmary, giving one last painful look at Ranpo before leaving. As I closed the door and began walking back to the office, my mind started to vividly replay flashbacks of the aftermath like an old black and white movie.

~ Flashback~

A Few Hours Earlier…

As soon as we brought Ranpo into the infirmary and had him stabilized in Yosano's care, Kunikida and Junichiro went down to the café to investigate. Immediately after things calmed down a little, the President immediately called every member to an urgent debrief to discuss Kaiya and what were we to do with her now missing.

I was the last person to walk into the meeting room just before it started. As I entered, everyone who had already been seated or was discussing amongst themselves instantly turns their head to me. Sitting on one side of the table Kunikida, Junichiro and the President were seated while Kenji, Yosano, and Kyōka sat across from them. I sat in an empty chair at the head of the table between Kyōka and Kunikida whilst I try pretending to act normal.

As the room went silent for a few minutes, I tried not to have eye contact with anyone, but when I noticed Kyōka giving me a sideways glance and turned her eyes away, I felt as if I were a stranger to everyone. Then from across the table, I hear Kunikida clearing his throat, wanting to have my attention as he begins to speak in a low voice, "Atsushi, you were the last person to see Ranpo and Kaiya together before the explosion, correct?" I gave him a quick nod. "Can you tell us what occurred before the incident?"

I then told them all the entire story from start to finish. How Ranpo and I convinced Kaiya to have lunch with us, how she reacted when Ranpo made an inquiry on her actions about the earlier incident, and how I left them alone while I went upstairs to retrieve my wallet before finding him when I came back with Yosano and Kenji after the explosion. When I finished, sat in dead silence as they all avoid my gaze in deep thought. The President was the first to ask and break the silence. "Did anything seemed amiss with Miss Miyazaki before you left her alone with Ranpo?"

"No sir," I answered him truthfully. "Although she was a little shy at first, throughout lunch and before I left, she didn't seem at all suspicious or acted in any way that was abnormal."

"Did you maybe asked her a question that she seemed uncomfortable with?" Kunikida then asked. "Maybe when you were trying to ask her about her ability?" I shake my head in response before explaining. "When we tried sneaking in questions on the topic, she managed to dodge the subject. So to me, it was pretty obvious that she didn't want to bring it up."

"Ranpo was wearing his glasses when we found him, wasn't he?" Kenji suddenly asks, raising his hand as if he were calling out to a teacher in class. "Yes, he was," Yosano replied, her voice in a spitefully low tone. "Which means he must have used Ultra-Deduction at one point before the explosion." She paused, bringing a clenched hand to her lip, as her expression grew serious. "However, the question is why though?"

"There are a few theories." Junichiro implied, looking through the notepad had while taking notes from my story. "Maybe Ranpo was forced to use Ultra-Deduction as a last-minute resort in questioning without Miss Miyazaki noticing."

"Or perhaps he might have gotten impatient." Yosano put in, her eyes glowing dangerously. "Using Ultra-Deduction, he could've blown his cover, and told her something that he found out and she didn't want him to know. Then they fought, Ranpo was badly defeated, and then she ran away to avoid getting herself caught red-handed."

'That's a bit exaggerated. Considering that it was only 15 minutes after I left and 3 floors above them before it happened.' I thought to myself, dumbfounded. "That scenario is not likely." We all turned our attention to the President, confused and curious by his sudden statement. His silver like eyes look at us with a steely expression and he explains. "From what Mr Miyazaki told me and Kunikida in our earlier talk; Kaiya is sick. Since early childhood, she has been diagnosed with a rare case of Tuberculosis."

"And also because of her disease, her gift wasn't stable enough to control, and she could only wield it to a limited amount." Kunikida continued after him. "Otherwise if used her gift to a greater extent, it would converge on her body from the inside and take damage to her respiratory system."

"Do we at least know if there were any witnesses who saw Ranpo and Kaiya before the explosion?" Yosano asked, sounding as though knowing Kaiya's illness were irrelevant. "We ask around the neighbouring residents," Junichiro says. "but we were only able to get a few eyewitnesses who saw the café explode, and Kaiya running out afterwards. There weren't any others who saw them before the incident occurred though."

"What about the waitress who at the café around the time?" I asked, just remembering that she was the only other person there with us, and thinking that she saw what transpired. "Unfortunately we weren't able to question her," Kunikida said shaking his head, looking through his notebook as it was probably written down. "We heard that the roof came down on her after the explosion, and she received a severe concussion and soon taken to a hospital."

"What about her Mr Miyazaki?" Kyōka then asked, finally speaking after her staying completely silent. "For the time being, he will be in our custody." The President replied in a deep voice."With the matter of the mafia roaming, the streets and his daughter went missing, it may be the best to keep him here while we question him on Kaiya."

"Are you sure he will talk?" Yosano then asked sounding mildly intimidated by that proposal. "We are trying to work our way around that issue," Kunikida said, pushing his glasses upwards, adjusting it. "After the incident cleared up, we were obligated to tell Mr Miyazaki about the Port Mafia's predicted m.o, and he demanded to be released so he could find Kaiya, therefore refusing to tell us anything we need to know. However, with a little convincing, I think he might be willing to help so long as we can grantee that his daughter will be returned to back to him safely."

"But should we really trust him to help us?" We all look at Yosano, who continues on with a resentful tone as if this was something she was keeping in and decided to let out. "They walked in unannounced, asks to see Dazai, then an hour later when the idiot doesn't show up, an explosion sets off downstair, and Ranpo winds up nearly dead in the rubble. And did you forget about it earlier? 'The more we don't know the better?' If anything, instead of thinking about what happened downstairs, we should be questioning what they are hiding from us."

She continues on, saying how they could have alias names and fake ID's, around the table began I see how everyone's expressions began to waver and looked as if they were already considering Yosano's points of the matters at hand that we didn't bother to overlook. I too start to realize that, but I also noticed that the more she questions what they could or couldn't be hiding, the more I can hear the tone in her voice turning from stern to fiery.

'She was angry.' I knew that she and Ranpo had a very good friendship with each other, and I could understand her feelings over him getting hurt, but I can't decide if she's either trying to look deeper into the truth of what happened, or she thinks Kaiya is really the true culprit and is trying to back that statement up with uncertain theories and facts.

I see everyone's faces, including Kunikida's look away from Yosano to the floor in doubt. 'I half to say something.' Clenching my fists tightly and gritting my teeth, and summoning all the courage I had, I planned to speak up and say anything that might make her stop pushing on.

"Enough." But just as I was about to do any of those things, the President's voice, strong and fierce, sound off through the room like a powerful church bell, and Yosano immediately stopped talking as he gives her a threatening look in his eyes as the room falls into silence. Though I too was a little surprised by the sudden outburst from the President, I felt a little relieved that I wasn't the one who spoke up against Yosano while she was in a state of accusative anger. Yosano withdrew from speaking up and I can see her trying to sink into the chair as if to disappear.

After a few moments, the President's serious expression softened, and I hear him let out a sigh. "Whether her actions were intentioned or not, the fact remains that Miss Miyazaki is a prime suspect in this incident." He said this in a tone that made me think he was speaking to all of us and not only to Yosano. "There is still no clear evidence that it was Miss Miyazaki's fault. Eyewitnesses, blood samples, and false accusations can only tell us little about what really happened. However, as of now, she has still not yet been found. Mafia operatives could already be targeting her capture, so our top priority right now is to locate and bring her back safely. So to all of you, is that understood?"

"Yes sir." We said.

~Flashback ended~

After the meeting was dismissed, the President assigned Junichiro and Kenji to go to the Special Operations Division to find further information on Kaiya and her father's profiles, while everyone else went to search the city for her. Me and Dr Yosano were assigned to stay behind to look after Ranpo, and Kunikida was handling the commotion of the aftermath downstairs while Mr Miyazaki was kept in a small room down on the next floor below us. My mind drifted deep into thought as I walked down the hall. I couldn't stop thinking about all that happened. Although I didn't have a good explanation of why I knew that Kaiya was innocent.

'She was... scared…' Ranpo's final words before he fell into unconsciousness kept replaying in my head over and over again. I still didn't understand what he meant. Was he trying to say that she was scared of getting into trouble? Or was she scared of something else? The thoughts have been on my mind since.

"Atsushi." I blinked out of my thoughts as I was greeted by Kunikida, who walks towards me from the office while holding his notebook and a folder in one hand. "Mr Kunikida," I greeted him. I suddenly noticed the irritated and tired look on his face, and although I probably knew the answered, I asked him while smiling sheepishly, "How was everything downstairs?"

"Not very well," he admitted in a grumble, narrowing his eyebrows into a sneer and placing his thumb and index finger over his nose in frustration. "after the explosion went off someone called the police, and the whole block went into a commotion. I had to explain the whole situation to them and told them we had it under control before they cleared everyone out." For some reason, I felt a small smirk grew on my face. Letting out a heavy sigh, he lets down his hand to properly look at me before continuing. "Anyway, I came to check how Ranpo's doing?"

"He's… fine." As I told him this, the previous feelings of guilt came back to me as my smile slowly faded. "Yosano said he should wake up within the next couple of hours. Do you know if they found her yet?" I added, hoping that his answer would be that they did. "No one has reported her in, so I assume not." As he tells me this, I felt a little disappointed. Before he was about to continue and say something else, his mouth stopped mid-short, his eyes began looking at me with concern. "You okay kid?"

"Hmm?" I blinked, realizing that my face probably looked depressive or glum. "Yeah, I'm fine," I told him, feeling as if I was half-lying. "I was thinking about Kaiya." He looks at me with serious eyes, as if he already knew what I was going to say. I cleared my throat before continuing. "I know she didn't hurt Ranpo," I said to him. "It just doesn't make any sense to me. She and her father came all this way to see Dazai, and yet she attacked Ranpo and ran away? They both seemed very desperate to see him, and there isn't any conclusive evidence that invalids her to be linked with what happened." I finished, but I had no idea what kind of words came out of me.

I felt as though I was just trying to form words out of my mouth, when all I really wanted to say was what short of reason would Kaiya have that would risk her not being able to meet Dazai.

"There isn't any proof that she was the cause of the explosion," Kunikida said to me as if he was clarifying something. "but she was the only other person, aside from the waitress, who was alone with Ranpo before she went ran away. If she was somehow the cause of the explosion, or indeed the culprit as Yosano believes, then there wouldn't be any other reason why we shouldn't apprehend her as guilty." Hearing him say this, I feel a slight hint of aggravation build up in me as if his words were more reprimanded than above reproach.

"She was scared." Those were the words that snapped out of my mouth. Just remembering Ranpo's final words made my mouth move without me noticing, and I see Kunikida looking at me with his eyes widened in a mixture of baffled and perplexed. Not knowing how to explain what I meant, I tried rephrasing what I said. "What if she was scared? You said that Kaiya's ability became unstable because of her sickness, right? So maybe she did lose control, and it may have been her, but it would have all been an accident."

"Whether it was an accident or not, she is still a prime suspect in the case." Kunikida snaps me sternly. "Either until we find her or Ranpo gains consciousness, there is no sure way to know what really happened. They were the only ones who can tell us what went on. Besides if it really wasn't her fault and if it was just an accident like you say, can you give me a good reason why she still ran away?" I froze to his question. 'Why?' I… didn't know why. 'Was there a good reason? If she was innocent, then she wouldn't have left, would she? Maybe she was scared… but, was she scared of being accused...or getting caught?'

"Listen, I just got a call back from Junichiro with further intel from Kaiya, so I'm going to question Mr Miyazaki in the interrogation room." Kunikida said to me in a sigh as he walks past me. "You're welcome to join me if you want, but I don't want to discuss this anymore until after the interview." I then hear him say in a grumble, "We've already got too much on our plate, and I'd rather not eat more than I can chew." I turned in his direction and I see him walk away. As he almost reaches the door to the end of the hallway to the office door, an unusual thought came to me. 'If there was a reason why Kaiya caused the explosion and hurt Ranpo intentionally, would her father know? Probably not, but then, would he know why she would run away if she was innocent? He might give us a reason to why she ran from us and the scene.' So then, almost in a run, I sped out of the hallway and into the office just as I was able to catch up with Kunikida.

Just a quick exclaimer; I may be finished with Chapter 6 by the middle of August and I might be able to squeeze in Chapter 7 (last of part 1) before the beginning of November. During around September and October, I will be working on another short Bungou Stray Dogs story that is inspired by the fanfic by "aiupenn."

Thank You for reading!