Chapter 10

The 'unlucky' day-

It is a day that when Chuuya will experience of inability to control over his ability. He himself do not know the reason behind why but at least there are signs that will indicate before his rampage. Such as nightmares, weakness, and sudden appearance of velvet swirls around his body are some of its examples. Moreover, this day do not only involve the user himself, but also his former partner, Dazai too.

Out of all the people, only Dazai can stop his power. Frustrating it is, but he has no choice but to rely on him every time when this day comes. In other words, the 'unlucky' day applies for both of them.

Dazai uttered in annoyance while holding his head with his both hands, jolting Tanizaki who was driving their speed boat. "That petite mafia, he's going to pay for this!" Dazai hissed and clicked his tongue, now his face turned darker and stressed. The junior just gulped and pretended that he didn't hear anything while feeling sorry for Chuuya for he knows how cunning and mischievous Dazai will be when he will plan something against his enemy, especially when he is in a bad mood.

Moments later, something caught his attention. "Dazai-san, is that Chuuya-san?!" Tanizaki pointed out as soon as he spotted someone hovering in the air, chuckling while raising his both hands to his side. Dazai squinted his eyes to confirm and nodded.

"Yup, that's definitely Chuuya" then paused, scrutinizing his appearance from head to toe. "This is not looking good. Probably his body won't last more than, let's see, around 4…5 minutes, I guess."

"What!?" Tanizaki reacted in shock. "Then we should hurry! What shall we do?"

"Calm down, Tanizaki-kun. I have a plan" his senior reassured and brought out his phone. While dialing, both detectives heard loud laughter coming from afar. They scanned around their area and realized that it was coming from one of the halves of the split cruise. As their cruise went further forward, their eyes widened in awe when they saw one man cackling like a madman.

At first, they thought he is just a survivor who went crazy after experiencing the unfortunate event, but when they saw him gazing skywards, particularly towards Chuuya with his malignant grin, rush of horror runs down to their body.

"I-it can't be-" Tanizaki stuttered with uneasiness surging inside his chest "Is that S-Setsu…?" They then noticed that mysterious man extended his arms then snapped his fingers, a sign he activated his ability against the executive. But almost at the same timing, both detectives noticed that Chuuya had already formed black orbs above his palms. Tanizaki arched his eyebrow in wonder, trying to find out what is that, but Dazai reacted different.

He gasped and immediately alarmed his junior. "Tanizaki-kun, turned left! We should stay away from this area as far as possible. Hurry!" the sudden order of his senior bemused the younger, but complied as he turned the wheel towards left and raised its speed.

Just seconds after changing their course, Chuuya threw two orbs straight towards the split cruise, creating rogue waves as it hunts the cruises and speed boats around the split cruise.

""""""

Setsu admits. He was flabbergasted when his cruise was split into two in a blink of an eye. It took few seconds for him to process the situation in his mind before he got back to his senses. Due to the strong wave of the bay and overwhelming power, he unconsciously dropped his both hands and bottom on the floor. Good thing he managed to grab the metal rails before he let himself dive in to a cold water.

"So, this is 'Corruption'…" Setsu mumbled to himself with awe. He gazed skywards and scrutinized his opponent who is currently hovering up in the atmosphere, cackling like a madman despite his blood is still flowing from his left flank. The Despair boss felt as if he is fighting against a completely different person. No, probably a monster is more accurate to describe in this case. Warily, Setsu stood up from his position, careful enough not get the attention of the monster. Then slowly hid behind the wall until he assumed that he disappeared from the field of vision of Chuuya.

It was that moment, the executive raised and extended his right arm to his side, creating a mysterious dark orb, mixed with black and red light that is spinning in random order, appeared before his palm. After another seconds later, he shot them just few meters beside the split cruise which created a big hole in the middle of the bay. With the impact, it created continuous huge waves around the affected area.

Setsu whistled in amazement as he watched the water started to fill the hole, lost for words. He finally understood how his father was killed and why his father couldn't win the battle against Chuuya. It was beyond his expectation. This reality amused and gave trembles of excitement to Setsu. With a nervous smirk, he started to doubt of his survival, but still he had his chance of winning, at least.

Yes, Chuuya's ability is powerful, probably one of the strongest abilities in the world, but if he cannot control his own ability then the story will be different. Furthermore, Setsu has already imprinted the tattoo to the executive, albeit he cannot undo the Corruption, he has the ability to control its strength! In other words, he can let Chuuya use his Corruption even more, making him insane until he will deviate the gravity of his surroundings. Through that, he can also destroy Chuuya himself! Well, that was his goal afterall and he is about to succeed it. Unable to contain his crooked happiness, unconsciously he burst out laughing.

Chuuya perked his head to his side when he heard someone's laughter. When he glanced towards that direction, he saw a man laughing while holding his stomach. Locking on his target with his malicious eyes, he grinned and completely turned his body facing towards his target and raised both of his hands, preparing to shoot the compressed gravity ball anytime soon.

When Setsu decided to conduct his plan, he turned his body and extended towards his target but froze when his eyes met with the cold, empty eyes of the mafioso who was already preparing to throw his attack to kill Setsu. The D. boss flinched as waves of despair run throughout his body.

Fear has dominated his mind.

His arms started to tremble against his will. 'Why I can't move my body!?' Setsu thought as perturbation crawls in his mind. 'Am I afraid to die!?'. His train of thoughts were disrupted when he flinched after sensing another breathtaking bloodlust from above.

Chuuya then, with his high-tone scream, swung his arms downward, throwing the gravity balls towards Setsu.

"Who the hell can defeat this monster anyway…?" a hopeless smirk escaped from his lips before he was devoured by darkness.

"""""

While the Armed Detective Agency, Port Mafia and the rest of the Despair gang were escaping from the about-to-sink cruise, the military ferries arranged by the Detective Agency came for their rescue. Since Port Mafia is also involved in this case, and they are in a ceasefire with the detective agency, a temporary cooperation was formed again between the two big organization.

People in the military ferrieswitnessed the whole event. The Armed Detective Agency and Port Mafia in one ferry and the captured Despair gang members and military in the other ferry. No words came from their mouths nor even moved an inch from their place. So, this is the true form of Chuuya Nakahara, the executive of Port Mafia.

"S-Setsu… Setsu just disappeared-" Atsushi finally broke the heavy tension in their area while pedaling his foot backwards away from the handrail. "Not only Setsu, but the entire cruise!" Atsushi's legs gave in and fell onto his bottom as if his entire energy was drained on an instant. But that also goes the same with others. Some were covering their mouth with their both hands in horror, while some stood there paralyzed, for they still couldn't process their mind, hoping that this whole event is just a bloody nightmare.

"That is the true form of Chuuya-san's ability. But since he has no control over his ability in that original form, he will continue destroying everything around him unless his ability will be nullified before he dies" Akutagawa briefly explained and gritted his teeth in disappointment and anger. Though shock was still dominant in his thoughts, there was also portion of him frustrated for not being able to stop his senior to stop from becoming to that pathetic and monstrous state. How he wished he was stronger enough to not let Chuuya use his 'Corruption'.

"So that means, only Dazai-san can save him from that state?" Atsushi prompted and received a nod from the other.

"Where is Dazai-kun? I do not want to watch my precious subordinate being killed by his own ability" Mori, who was standing beside Fukuzawa, said while giving his query gaze to him.

"Don't worry, Mr." Ranpo spoke before Fukuzawa could reply "He is already nearby the cruise-" pointing towards the area where the D. gang cruise was located before its disappearance, "but I think he is in trouble". He then exchanged glances with Fukuzawa, forming a silent communication between the two. The elder then nodded and called Atsushi.

"Atsushi, can you go and backup Dazai?"

"Dazai and Tanizaki should be nearby. We can't just identify their current location because Tanizaki must be using his ability to hide their appearance from Mr. Fancy Hat." Ranpo added.

"And also, we can't stay in this place longer either. It is a matter of time before he will start attacking this ferry" Fukuzawa said. "And I'm sure Dazai needs your help"

"Then, let me also go" the young mafia stepped in.

"Akutagawa!?" Atsushi reacted and immediately stood up. The other just gave his sharp glance before he looked back again to the two leaders of the different organization, then stopped towards Mori's gaze, waiting for his approval.

Mori stared at him for awhile before he smiled and sighed. "Sure, go ahead. Your admiration towards Dazai-kun never change" he gave his approval and nodded. "But promise me to come back alive together with Chuuya-kun"

Akutagawa fixed his posture and gave his firm nod. Realizing the determination of his rival, Atsushi faced his President. "I will also do my best to save Chuuya-san and back-up Dazai-san and Tanizaki-san"

After both leaders gave their permission, the duo hoped down the ferry and landed on the speed boat. As soon as their foot settled on the boat, Atsushi grabbed the wheel and drove heading towards the final battle area.

Fukuzawa and the rest of the people in the military ferry watched them leave until they couldn't see their backs. The President then turned his back and faced his fellow detectives.

"Yosano-"

"Yes, President?"

"Prepare yourself. After this battle, we will be needing your help" after Fukuzawa said that Yosano gave her firm nod and returned a clear reply. Next, Fukuzawa called Kunikida, who was riding on a separate ferry, and ordered him to convey his message to the top military officer in their cruise to return to the port since capturing the criminals were one of their objectives of this mission.

Kunikida complied with his order then hanged his phone. Without taking more than five minutes, the other ferry started to leave the area. Fukuzawa then saw Kunikida and one of the military soldiers standing side to side and offered their salute in respect before they left.

"Fukuzawa-dono, you are really a kind man." Mori sneered as he shrugged his shoulders. "If I will give an order, I would have already let my subordinates kill them all to get revenge of my murdered men."

Fukuzawa gave his long stare then sighed.

"You are cruel as usual, Mori-sensei"

"""""

Meanwhile

While Atsushi is driving, he called his senior through his earpiece. "Dazai-san? This is Atsushi. Please answer if-"

"Nice timing, Atsushi-kun. I was also about to call you" Atsushi beamed and gave his brief towards Akutagawa to convey that Dazai answered his call. "-and I'm sure that Akutagawa is also with you, perhaps?"

"Yes, we are currently heading where Chuuya-san is"

"Yup, I can see you guys coming" Dazai remarked which jolted the younger in surprise.

"Where are you, Dazai-san?"

"Just at the opposite side from your position though you can't see us for now" and just like how his senior said, although Atsushi scanned the area before him, he neither saw speed boats nor people around them, but he knew around two people were somewhere nearby for he could smell their scent thanks to his sharp nose. Specifically, his ability.

"So, Dazai-san, what shall we-" before Atsushi could even end his sentence, Dazai interrupted with an exclaim.

"Atsushi-kun, stop!" his voice was filled with alarm. "Chuuya's condition is weird"

"Eh?" he didn't understand what he meant but when he looked back towards Akutagawa, he was surprise to see him wearing a pale expression which was totally unusual for him. Warily, Atsushi also gaze upwards then gasped.

In the cold atmosphere, they saw Chuuya was cringing his body while holding his head with his blood- stained hands, writhing in pain and breathing hard. Even though both groups had a distance between the executive, it was clear that Chuuya was struggling something within him. Drops of his precious crimson blood landed on the cheeks of Akutagawa and Atsushi, a sign that he is losing a lot of his blood.

"Chuu...ya…san…" the bewilderment owas written all over in his face. It was his first time to see his invisible senior to be drenched with blood in that despair form. Is this what his senior suppressing for the whole time?!

A moment later, Chuuya screamed as he abruptly swung his arms downwards together with the dark orbs. With the impact, he created another craters in the bay before the rough waves that both detectives and mafia hate rocked their speed boats, threatening them to fall onto the icy water.

Fortunately, albeit it is only a gist, the dark orbs were thrown at the sides of both groups. If there were positioning themselves horizontally centering on Chuuya, they have already been gone to the spirit world.

Barely, Atsushi turned the wheel of their speed boat and created distance between the rampaging executive while Akutagawa somehow prevented their vessel to be flipped upside down. How on earth they could stop Chuuya when he is already in that deadly state? How can they support Dazai to nullify him? It is too dangerous for them just to approach the executive.

"Atsushi-kun!" the younger flinched and returned to his senses through the sudden exclamation of his senior.

"Y-yes, Dazai-san?" he immediately replied.

"I have a plan. A plan to stop and save Chuuya"

""""""

Dazai and Tanizaki gasped in horror, no words came out from their mouth after witnessing the massive power of the executive. Strong waves attacked and abruptly rocked their speed boat, staggering their balance from standing. Splashes of cold water drenched their whole body which gave them waves of chills whenever the wind hit them. They barely survived and managed to keep their speedboat safe.

Dazai's eyes dilated and his face grimed after scrutinizing the mafioso from a closer view. It was beyond his expectation that Chuuya had already gone to this 'horrible' state. If he will recall his memories, today is the worst.

"W-what is happening!?" Tanizaki exclaimed, his voice wobbled, obviously terrified about the whole situation.

"He is losing his sanity-" Dazai replied between his heavy breathes. "But this is my first time to see him in that worst state. Perhaps before Setsu died, he casted his ability on Chuuya and planned to let him escalate the usage of 'Corruption'"

After musing for few moments, Tanizaki flinched and realized what Dazai meant. "It can't be-"

Dazai nodded and continued. "Yup, he tried to speed up the time limit of Chuuya, but he got spotted because of his foolish act then died. Anyway-" the elder heaved himself up and helped the younger to stand up.

"Are you ready Tanizaki-kun?"

The younger gave his nod as a reply as soon as he settled himself before the wheel.

"Atsushi-kun, are you guys ready?"

"Yes, Dazai-san. We can go anytime" Atsushi immediately replied. Dazai then looked up and observed Chuuya. Base on his calculation, probably Chuuya won't last more than two minutes, thanks to the unnecessary move that Setsu made.

"Dazai-san, Chuuya-san noticed us!"

"Roger. Begin with the plan"

Atsushi drives the speedboat while Akutagawa uses his Rashomon to attack the executive. Since he is a long- range user, he could at least maintain a good distance between them in case Chuuya might use his ability. They themselves are aware that if they will get hit by the void of black orb, they will be doomed for sure. Though it is risky, they should do this in order for them to give Dazai a chance to nullify Chuuya's ability. But this wasn't an easy task.

If they were fighting on a surface, it would have been easier for Dazai to capture Chuuya, but they are above the huge bay while their target is high up in the air. He can move as freely as he wishes which is a very big disadvantage for them.

Akutagawa didn't avert his eyes from the executive even a single second, who was following them from above, grinning, despite of his body condition. Whenever Akutagawa attacks his senior, he could not help but feel guilty and sorry.

Suddenly, without any warning, Chuuya then dives towards their direction, already preparing the gravity balls in his both palms. Akutagawa then immediately directed the detective to swerve to his side to avoid the lunge. Atsushi complied then sheered their speed boat by abruptly turning the steering wheel.

The moment when Atsushi steered the wheel, it was also the exact moment when Chuuya plunged into the water. Big wave of cold water splashed before their faces, but appeared to be nonchalant and stayed focused on getting a distance from the executive as far as possible. They felt as if their heart froze for a moment. If they were late even a second, they were dead. This possible outcome rose their breathing and goosebumps all over their body.

"Hey, Akutagawa-" Atsushi called between his heavy breathing. Akutagawa glanced the detective as a sign to continue speaking. "Dazai-san wants to talk with you, use my earpiece" he said. Akutagawa's eyes widened in surprise. He wondered what his former superior wants to discuss with him, especially in this timing. He then received the earpiece from Atsushi and responded.

"Akutagawa-kun?" It was certainly Dazai's voice. Akutagawa became nervous for a brief moment but was able to maintain his composure.

"Yes?"

"On my signal, lock Chuuya's movement and drag him down just before our speedboat. We will appear the moment when you will seize him, can you do it?" His orders were brief and concise. It's been a while since he received a direct command from his former superior whom he highly respect.

"Of course" he gave his firm reply. He then heard a chuckle from the other side of the earpiece and heard a faint 'thank you'. Akutagawa flinched and doubted his ears. Did he hear him, right? But if it was true, it was a big deal for him. Unconsciously, it made the mafioso to smirk but immediately shove this mirth off in order to concentrate to his given task. He then breath in and out to calm himself while trying to ignore the baffled stare from the weretiger.

Their mini awkward moment broke when surge of water suddenly gushes out skywards as if someone fired a big cannonball from the bottom of the bay. Incessant strong rain falls upon them for few moments, totally drenching their clothes and blocking their vision.

From the opposite side where the duo is, Dazai and Tanizaki were flabbergasted by the sudden outpour of water from the bottom. Their speedboat trembled as they staggered to maintain their balance. There is one thing that Dazai noticed. Chuuya's attacks are getting slower and weaker. In addition, his wounds and blood loss are getting worse. If he won't stop him anytime soon, his former partner will die.

"Tanizaki-kun, go closer to Chuuya" he commanded to his partner. Albeit Tanizaki was trembling in coldness and fear, he abided his words.

"Akutagawa-kun, be ready" Dazai reminded through his earpiece. 'Let's finish this game already' he thought while watching Chuuya cackling in the sky despite he is suffering from severe bleeding due to the effect of gravity that is giving stress to his whole body.

Chuuya keeps on cackling as his one palm had already started to make another sphere of compressed gravity. As he scanned the area, his eyes fell upon Atsushi and Akutagawa who were circling around him, purposely challenging him to fight against them. Dark grin appeared in his face and made a bigger orb albeit his arm is quivering due to its strain. But he doesn't care. He doesn't feel anything.

"Akutagawa-kun, now!" At the same timing when Dazai exclaimed his command, Tanizaki released his ability, letting their appearance expose. Simultaneously, Akutagawa summoned his ability then swiftly wrapped his Rashomon around the executive's body, leaving his raised arm free. Before Chuuya could swing his arm downward, Akutagawa pulled his body down towards Dazai's speedboat.

Due to the abrupt action that Akutagawa took, the black orb disappeared from Chuuya's palm and before he could release himself from the black thing off from his body, he flinched when someone grabbed his arm. Dazai uttered 'No Longer Human' which instantly brought bright azure and white light from his hands and rays of light disperse into different directions, each spiral containing words and Chinese characters.

"Come back, Chuuya!" Dazai shouted, hoping that he could awake his former partner from unconsciousness.

As if a curse was removed from the writhing mafia, the fuzzy irises of Chuuya came back to its original form while the velvet swirls that was embedded around his body gradually disappeared. Seeing no sign of resistance, Akutagawa carefully brought his body down and freed him from his ability.

As soon as Chuuya reached his feet on the ground, he dropped himself in four and released heavy coughs which caused his shoulders to convulse so much. Immediately he placed his hand to cover his mouth, but from between the thin gaps between his fingers a crimson substance trickled down to his hand and drops to the metal flooring. Unfortunately, due to his terrible condition, his trembling arms couldn't resist the enormous stress, his body gave in and dropped himself on the ground to his side.

Dazai's eyes twitched in surprise then grimaced when he noticed that the left flank area of Chuuya was completely drenched with his own blood comparing to the other areas of his body. He then knelt beside his former partner and bend his body forward, closer to the other.

"Chuuya, are you still alive?" he inquired while placing his hand before Chuuya's mouth to check if he is still breathing or not.

The mafia released few coughs before he started gasping again then gazed up to meet the detective's eyes. "O-Of course, y-you idi…ot…" and gasped for air again. "You're l-la…te…"

"I understand so don't speak, you lost a lot of blood" Dazai interfered with a hush when he noticed the severity of the injuries that Chuuya has. He then scrutinized his body from head to toe, the mafia was trembling due to the after effect of using 'Corruption' longer than expected plus they are above the water surface. Even a whiff of cold wind gives them wave of chills, slicing their skin through their icy air.

"Chuuya-san!"

"Dazai-san!"

Dazai perked his head up and saw his Atsushi and Akutagawa came over, both gasping in awe after observing Chuuya's situation.

"Dazai-san, Yosano-san will arrive here soon" Tanizaki, who was sitting in the driver's seat for the whole time finally spoke, giving everyone good news.

"D-dazai…" everyone flinched when Chuuya suddenly spoke despite he is in deplorable state.

"Chuuya, I told you not to spea-"

"Is every…one… s-safe…?"

His question caught Dazai off guard and sighed. "Yes, everyone, except the Despair Gang leader though. You finished him off" He answered with his soft voice. Hearing those words, as if Chuuya was lifted off from his worries, he smirked and closed his eyes.

"I…see…that's…g-good to hear-" his words trailed off after giving his enigmatic remark; his head completely dropped on the ground, letting his bright tangerine hair covering his eyes as it created shadow over his upper part of his face.

A complete moment of silence fell upon between the men before they could all react with the situation.

"Chuuya-san!" Akutagawa jumped over to the other boat and knelt beside his senior, opposite towards Dazai.

"Calm down, Akutagawa-kun. He is still alive" Dazai reassured after he checked the breathing signs of his former partner. "But his breathing is weak. He should be treated immediately or else-"

Before Dazai could end up his sentence, they all heard deep rumbling noise from above. As they all looked skywards, a helicopter was flying heading towards their direction. They then noticed someone opening its door and saw Yosano popping out from inside.

"Dazai! Leave the rest to me!"

"""""

THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE STORY \ (ㅎ-ㅎ)/