Kyandi: Welcome back, Kyandiacs!
Dimir: We're back with the next chapter.
Kyandi: I have to say, I really enjoy writing this story.
Dimir: Let me guess, you enjoy writing Osamu and Chuuya?
Kyandi: Bingo. The two of them are just so funny together.
Dimir: Yes, because watching Osamu anger Chuuya leading to Chuuya trying to kill him, is so hilarious.
Kyandi: Exactly!
Dimir: That was actually sarcasm.
Kyandi: I know. Anyway, everyone enjoy and review.
Dimir: Kyandi-sama does not own Bungou Stray Dogs. If she did, she would give everyone a fear of dolls.
Kyandi: What? They're creepy as hell!
Dimir: ...Agreed.
Chapter 7 Tis War
"I told you we shouldn't have given her that taser."
The current morning saw Dimir and Atsushi standing in the line of a food cart after having to apologize to a judge. The morning had started out with them taking Kyoka on her first job, which was a simple delivery job. All Kyoka had to do was deliver some documents to a judge. When they ran into a communication error that lead to them being unable to get upstairs to the judge's office, Kyoka had fallen back on her training with the mafia and had gotten carried away, leading to the girl tasing the judge.
Now Atsushi and Dimir were buying treats while Kyoka sulked over her failed job. Atsushi heaved a sigh when Dimir reminded him that she had suggested they not give Kyoka any kind of weapon.
"I know." he replied as they stepped up to give their order.
"Oh well. Hind sight is twenty/twenty, right? Anyway, at least she didn't hurt anyone too bad." Dimir remarked, taking the crepe Atsushi had just ordered her.
Handing over her share of the money, while Atsushi took the crepe he ordered for Kyoka, Dimir turned to walk away. Atsushi, after paying, joined her, the two heading back towards Kyoka.
"Yeah, there's that, at least." Atsushi agreed.
When Kyoka came into view, Dimir sighed. The girl looked dejected and was staring at the ground. It was clear that she was upset about failing.
"I hate seeing her upset." Dimir remarked.
"Me too. Come on." Dimir and Atsushi approached Kyoka, Atsushi holding out the crepe. "Here."
Kyoka took the crepe, Dimir and Atsushi taking a seat with Atsushi sitting between the two girls. Dimir gave Atsushi a nudge with an elbow, silently telling him to say something to cheer Kyoka up.
"What a mess, huh? The director has already smoothed things over with the judge. They're friends, after all. But that really was a huge shock! Seriously, Kyoka...your assassination skills-"
Dimir elbowed him hard in the ribs, cutting him off. The look she gave Atsushi told him, clearly, that he needed to steer away from the assassin talk.
"It went well all the way up to the power cut." Kyoka remarked.
"Yes, well...you didn't need to go that far." Dimir told her.
"Well, it's good to acquire some new skills." Atsushi added. "For example..."
"Venus flytrap?" Kyoka asked, referring to a seduction technique the mafia had taught her.
"Just forget all about that." Atsushi and Dimir told her in unison.
"Honestly, what kind of people teach that kind of thing to a fourteen year old?" Dimir asked, shaking her head.
Atsushi had to agree with her. It was then that his attention caught on the cellphone still dangling from around Kyoka's neck.
"That cellphone...you always have it with you." he remarked, Kyoka wrapping a hand around it. "A technician has rewritten the program. It won't receive any calls from the mafia anymore. But it probably didn't leave you with any good memories, did it?"
"It's very important to me." Kyoka corrected.
"Well...it's just a possibility, but if we can solve the mystery of your ability, and put your demon, who only obeys the voice coming from the phone, to good use, you can become an indispensable Detective Agency-"
"Absolutely not!" Kyoka snapped, cutting Atsushi off, dropping the crepe and getting some on her kimono. "Absolutely not. That thing...must never..."
"We get it, Kyoka. Just calm down." Dimir told her, getting to her feet. "I'm going to go get some napkins before that stains your clothes."
Atsushi gave her a grateful smile as Dimir turned and took off. When she was out of sight, Atsushi turned his attention back to Kyoka.
"I get it, but why-"
Atsushi was cut off when Kyoka's phone suddenly rang. With a beep, the phone answered itself.
"O Demon Snow. Punish he who approached Kyoka and lured her into this World of Lies"
Atsushi suddenly fell forward, eyes wide, as Demon Snow attacked him from behind, cutting him across the back. Kyoka could only stare in horror.
"Blood of vermin splattering, still a lovely sight to behold. Would you not agree, my beloved Kyoka?"
Kyoka's wide eyes came up, landing, finally, on the woman standing before her. Ozaki Kouyou, an executive member of the Port Mafia and the woman who had taken care of her when she had been apart of the mafia. Kyoka's heart skipped a beat in fear as the woman approached, a smile on her face.
"Do I find you in good health?" Ozaki asked. "My concern for you runs deep and my heart aches for you...yet, even so, you elect to mingle with such a wretched beast."
Atsushi let out a grunt of pain when Ozaki reached him and stomped a heel down on his injured back. Flipping her phone close so that Demon Snow vanished, Ozaki gave Kyoka a smile.
"But, I am here to save you. You need not worry anymore." Ozaki told her.
"How...you...the phone..."
Kyoka couldn't even form a full sentence, she was too shocked. Part of her wanted to call out to Dimir, to call the girl to her aid, but the other part of her knew that Ozaki would only hurt her as she had Atsushi, and she didn't want that to happen.
"Simple. It was merely a matter of finding the technician mentioned by this little cub," Ozaki ground her heel into Atsushi's back once more, causing him to cry out in pain. "And forcing it out of him. Nothing shall ever trouble you again. I will protect you."
"She will...never return to the mafia!" Atsushi snapped. "From now on, her ability will be of use to the Detective Agency!"
This statement had Ozaki jolting in shock before a single tear slid down her cheek.
"I really should have collected you without awaiting Ougai-dono's permission. You shall not be left in this lair of deceit and hypocrisy for a second longer." Ozaki said, approaching Kyoka and pulling the girl into a hug. "O, my poor Kyoka. Beguiled by honeyed words, deluded into thinking this was a world of light. But one day, these knaves will definitely exploit Demon Snow for the sake of their own profit. You would not like that, would you? However, worry not. These vermin with conniving intentions toward your ability, I shall reduce them to ashes."
"That's rich coming from the mafia...!"
Atsushi was cut off as something attacked him, slicing him from several angles. Before Atsushi's eyes, it appeared...a second demon just like that of Kyoka's ability.
"Too late." The demon sent Atsushi flying into a brick pillar, before piercing him through with its blade. Ozaki approached then, grabbing Atsushi's chin. "Apologies, lad. This is my job, I'm afraid."
"Stop it!" Kyoka demanded.
"Alas, such an endearing visage! I would dearly love to humor you, but I'm sorry. Ougai-dono's order is to kill this lad." Ozaki told her. "But not just the lad. The boss wants all agents of the Detective Agency dead. Well, all but one. In other words, 'tis war. All executive members have mobilized. But I pleaded with him for your life. So you have been spared. Come back, Kyoka. You are a flower of darkness, meant to thrive only in the dark."
"You're wrong." Kyoka snapped, surprising Ozaki. "I am not a flower of darkness."
Ozaki stared at the changed look in Kyoka's eyes. This was not the girl she had known. A new seed of hope had been planted in her and she had changed. It angered Ozaki to see this truth.
"How I hate you, lad." Ozaki told Atsushi. "That child is blinded by light. Light that you exposed her to. Fortunately, though, she is not yet beyond salvation."
Ozaki drew a sword of her own, turning to hold the blade to Atsushi's throat. The look in her eyes was clear. She was going to kill him with her own hands and she was going to enjoy every second of it.
"If this lad dies, surely you will find no place for yourself in the Detective Agency. Especially if you are the reason he dies." Ozaki said, pressing the blade to his neck until a single bead of blood had been drawn.
"Wait." Ozaki turned to look at Kyoka. "I understand. I'll go back, so..."
Ozaki smiled at Kyoka's surrender, lowering her blade and having Golden Demon remove its blade from pinning Atsushi in place.
"Everything I do, I do for you, Kyoka. You will understand one day." Ozaki said, holding her hand out to Kyoka.
Kyoka took hold of her hand and, ignoring a struggling Atsushi, started to walk away with Ozaki. They didn't get far when Kyoka leaned to the side, as if she was leaning into Ozaki's side, and Ozaki dropped the bamboo umbrella she was carrying. Ozaki grinned down at Kyoka, blood dripping from the hand she had wrapped around the knife Kyoka had just tried to plunge into her heart.
Yanking the knife free, Kyoka jumped back away from Ozaki. Ozaki, though, was proud instead of angry with the girl's display.
"Wonderfully done, Kyoka. You almost gave away no murderous intent." Ozaki told her.
It was then that Kyoka showed her the true target she had been aiming for. Raising her left hand, Kyoka showed that she now had Ozaki's cellphone in hand.
"Once a person has seen the world of light, before you know it, it's impossible to turn back. Dimir once told me..."Light is to darkness what love is to fear; in the presence of one, the other disappears. So don't be afraid of the light and don't run from love. It is what will fight off the darkness and chase away the fear."." Kyoka said, flipping open Ozaki's cellphone, all the while, picturing the bright smile Dimir had given her when she had said that.
"Don't use that, Kyoka." Ozaki ordered. "If you do, you will-"
"Demon Snow! Vanquish my foe!" Kyoka ordered, gripping the cellphone dangling from her neck.
Demon Snow appeared, clashing with Golden Demon as it came to the defense of its owner. The two demons fought, slicing up everything in their way as they clashed. While they battled, Kyoka attacked Ozaki, the woman drawing her sword in order to stop Kyoka's blade.
"You see?! This is the true nature of your blade! Kill everyone in your way. No need for threat, no room for bargains. Just like a demon." Ozaki told her.
"You're wrong!" Kyoka shouted, the two shoving away from each other.
"You know, Kyoka, it is not as if...I do not sympathize with you. However, some things are simply not meant to be. No matter how hard you, an assassin from birth, yearn for light, a flower that blooms in the dark, can only survive in darkness. If it still seeks light, it will only end up being burnt to a crisp by that blaze. Why would I know? Simple, I know because...because in the past, there once was a girl who was scorched by the light and reduced to ashes." Ozaki told her.
"But...even if that's really the case...how can I simply forget this wonderful dream now that I've seen it?!" Kyoka demanded, Demon Snow attacking once more, only to be stopped by Golden Demon just inches short of Ozaki.
"Come back, Kyoka. You know it deep in your heart." Ozaki said.
"No...I don't want to go back. Even so, I..."
"To achieve your objectives, you can legitimize all the slaughters you have committed. Your true nature will never change. If that was not the case, you would not be able to use Demon Snow as a weapon. Because Demon Snow...butchered your very own parents." Ozaki mercilessly said.
"Now way...why..."
At the sound of Atsushi's voice, the girl turned to look at him, seeing the horror on his face. Hit hard by the look on his face, Kyoka dropped Ozaki's cellphone, the device shattering as it hit the ground and Demon Snow vanishing along with it.
"That's not true...that's..."
Before Kyoka could finish her sentence, cars came rushing onto the scene, mafia members spilling from them and aiming guns at Kyoka and Atsushi.
"Let me protect you. You need not wield that blade for the sake of finding a place to belong ever again." Ozaki told Kyoka, as the young girl dropped her blade. She pulled Kyoka to her, letting them be surrounded by mafia men. "I shall leave the rest to you."
Atsushi watched in horror as Ozaki lead Kyoka away and he was unable to get up to help her. It was in that moment of helplessness, that help arrived.
"Please duck."
Atsushi's eyes widened as a car went flying over his head to crash into the mafia men around him. Whipping around, Atsushi was confronted with the sight of Kenji, Kunikida and Dimir running towards him.
"Atsushi! I'm so sorry I'm so late! I knew I had to call in help when I saw she was an Executive." Dimir said, dropping to her knees beside Atsushi. "I'm sorry I wasn't faster."
"No, it's fine." Atsushi told her as Kunikida knelt next to her.
"We made some modifications to Kyoka's phone. It sends us a signal whenever it receives a call. On top of that, Dimir called me just moments later and told us exactly where you were." Kunikida told him before grabbing him by the back of his shirt and yanking him to his feet. "Get up. How long are you gonna keep letting others protect you? Getting back on your feet even when you're full of holes...isn't such toughness the man-tiger's strength?"
"You vermin from the Detective Agency...!" Dimir rose to her feet, turning to look at Ozaki as she angrily glared at them. "I shall not let Kyoka look upon such poisonous light ever again!"
"Which is to say, you want an all-out war between the two organizations? At such a busy time?" Kunikida asked.
He was kept from an answer as Dimir stepped forward. The mafia men tensed, but didn't fire when she stopped just a few feet in front of her comrades. Ignoring the men and Ozaki, Dimir leaned to the side, trying to see Kyoka, who was hidden behind Ozaki.
"Kyoka? What is your opinion in all this?" Dimir asked, not the least bit concerned by the guns pointed at her.
Which her comrades understood, knowing that Dimir could easily just call forth Ao to protect her from any gun fire.
"She will go back with me!" Ozaki snapped at Dimir.
"Yes, I know that's your desire, but I'm not asking about that. I'm asking what Kyoka wants." Dimir replied. "After all, it's not your life we're talking about."
Ozaki stared at Dimir in shock at the blatant disregard the girl had for her. Dimir didn't even take her eyes off the kimono sleeve that mostly hid Kyoka from her view.
"She...she said a flower born in darkness, can never go into the light or it would burn." came Kyoka's voice.
"She did, did she? Well...You know, she's right." Shocked eyes turned to Dimir, her comrades unable to believe she had just said that. "But that being said...even flowers burnt to ashes give new life to sprouts stronger and more beautiful, that can, not only survive the blaze of light, but thrive in it. So, let it burn, Kyoka. Let it burn and grow stronger. Let the light burn away the past and give life to a bright, new future."
"How can you spout such atrocities?!" Ozaki snapped at her.
"Atrocities? My dear lady, you obviously don't know the meaning of the word for I am not being cruel in any way." Dimir replied, finally looking Ozaki in the eye. "I was born in the darkness, too. It was because of that, that I learned human nature is divided; it contains both darkness and light. You can choose to accept the darkness and lament it, or you can choose to expand the light until the darkness no longer dominates. What you choose, shows what kind of person you are. Kyoka, that's your choice. Not anyone else's."
"Enough! I will not let this stand!" Ozaki snapped.
Kunikida reached out, laying a hand on Dimir's shoulder and pulling her back to stand between him and Kenji. The tension in the air grew and it was clear that both sides were gearing up fight.
"Wow. Perfect timing."
All attention shifted as a new voice spoke. Walking their way, was two men. One had long hair and seemed less chatty, while the other wore overalls and was happily chatting.
"It seems like a fight's gonna break out any second now. It would've been so much more fun if we'd come just a bit later. Wanna go?" the one in the overalls, Steinbeck, asked his companion.
"Why not...? All this attention is making me...itch." the other, Lovecraft, replied.
"It can't be helped. Since we've got our pay from the Guild, we'd better get to work!" Steinbeck said, cheerfully taking a bite out of a potato he had in hand.
They were ability users from the Guild! Dimir had a really bad feeling about this and could feel Kunikida's hand on her shoulder tighten. Steinbeck turned to some of the mafia men, then, and pointed at them.
"It's gonna be dangerous there! Because the package is on it's way." Steinbeck warned.
Package?
What package?
"Move, Dimir!"
In the next second, Dimir felt herself be shoved, more like thrown, away from her co-workers. She hit the ground rolling, coming to a stop on her knees as something hit the ground, rising a smoke cloud. Coughing, Dimir waved smoke out of her face. When it cleared, what she was confronted with, was the appearance of four more people, three men and one woman. Despite the woman looking like some southern lady from America and one man looking like a priest, Dimir got a bad feeling from them. She was positive that they had to be ability users from the Guild.
Almost instantly, Ozaki ordered her men to fire on the four. While they were under a hail of bullets, Kunikida turned to Dimir.
"Dimir! Get out of here!" Kunikida demanded.
"But...what about you?!" Dimir asked.
"Don't worry about us! Get back to the office! NOW!" Kunikida ordered, snapping at her as he never had before.
Dimir flinched at his tone. She didn't want to leave her friends behind, couldn't. She didn't have it in her. She opened her mouth to argue further, but Kunikida beat her to the punch.
"Damn it! You know why you can't be capture! Get out of here by any means necessary!" he snapped.
With the stark reminder of the Director's orders, Dimir bit her bottom lip. Turning tail and running, leaving her comrades behind went against everything Dimir stood for, but she knew Kunikida had a point. Turning, she ran in the opposite direction of the Guild members, only to have Steinbeck step into her path.
"Sorry, but we can't let you go." he told her, giving her smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Kunikida said by any means necessary, didn't he? Then Dimir was going to have to fight ability with ability. Before Steinbeck's eyes, Dimir's eyes narrowed. With her next step, she bent her knees and, with a flash of lightning, rocketed into the air, flipping right over his head. The moment her feet touched the ground, she applied another spark of electricity to her step and bolted forward at speeds faster than her enemies could react to.
She didn't let up the gas until she took a sliding turn onto a street a good ten blocks away. Reducing her speed to normal levels, Dimir dug her phone out of her pocket. Flipping it open, the hit the first speed dial number, her phone instantly connecting her to Fukuzawa's personal phone. Putting the phone to her ear, she listened to it ring once, then twice, before someone picked up the line.
"Dimir-"
"Director! They need help!"
Back at the Armed Detective Agency office, Fukuzawa pulled the phone away from his ear and looked down at it as Dimir's voice came through, loud and clear and filled with distress. Looking across his desk to where Dazai and Yosano were standing, Fukuzawa put the phone on speaker.
"Dimir, calm down. What is happening?" he asked her.
"I called Mr. Doppo when a mafia executive attacked Atsushi. Just before he arrived, mafia men arrived. When Mr. Doppo and Kenji showed up, it looked like things might be fine since all of the mafia men were lower ranked members without abilities, but then two ability users from the Guild arrived. They were there to meet up with four more ability users from the Guild." Dimir explained in a rush, her words, now and then, separated by a gasp.
It was clear, listening to her, that she was running while she was on the phone. The urgency in her tone was not lost on them either.
"Dimir, where are you?" Fukuzawa asked.
"I don't know at the moment! I had to leave the others behind. Mr. Doppo told me to run, to get back to the office. I don't know what happened to the others. I think one of them is following m...EPP!"
There was the sound of something hitting the ground, followed by the sound of fumbling with the phone before Dimir's voice was back.
"Correction! Three are following me! I don't like what that might mean for Mr. Doppo and the others. You have to get help to them!" Dimir hurriedly said.
"Worry about them later, where are you?" Fukuzawa demanded.
"Uhh...I just exited the south entrance of Yamashita Park. I'm heading in the opposite direction of the office."
Fukuzawa was sure that she was doing that on purpose. She wouldn't come back to the office with three enemy ability users on her tail. Fukuzawa looked up at Dazai, the man getting the silent order. As Dazai left the office, Fukuzawa turned back to the phone.
"Dimir, Dazai is on his way. Get away from them and find a place to hide out until he can collect you. This is an order, Dimir...use any method you need to, to make it back to the office alright. Do you understand me?" Fukuzawa demanded.
"Yes sir. But the others-"
"Leave them to us. Be careful." Fukuzawa ordered.
On the other end of the line, Dimir could only pray that Fukuzawa and the others would reach Kunikida, Atsushi, Kenji, and Kyoka before anything too bad could happen. Promising she would be careful, Dimir hung up, shoving the phone in her pocket. When Steinbeck had attacked, she had picked up speed once more. A glance over her shoulder now, showed her that Steinbeck, Lovecraft, and their comrade, Twain, were still hot on her heels.
It also showed her the tentacle-like appendage that was closing in on her quick.
Dimir had only the time to raise her arms to defend her head before it struck her, hitting her in the mid-drift and sending her flying side-ways off her feet. If all of the air in her lungs wasn't forced out when she was hit, it was when her back collided painfully with a brick wall. Dimir gasped, coughing as she slid down the wall. Her ribs felt like they were on fire and every breath in, hurt.
So did every breath out, for that matter.
"You know that had to hurt."
Dimir opened her eyes, looking up as the three men closed in on her. It had been Twain that had spoken and he came to a stop just a few yards short of Dimir, bending over to peer down at her. Dimir forced her breathing to slow down. Hyperventilating wouldn't help her and she needed to be as calm as she could be when faced with three enemies.
"I think this one is the girl, Dimir. She's a newbie at the Agency and has a lightning based ability." Steinbeck remarked.
At this, Dimir couldn't help the laugh that left her, making her wince as pain stabbed through her chest. When all three looked down at her, Dimir was shifting, getting to her hands and knees despite the pain in both her chest and back. Sitting back on her heels, she forced herself to take a deep breath, finally setting her eyes on the three, a smile on her face.
"You really shouldn't talk about someone like they're not there. It's bad manners." she told them. "Also...you really should do better research next time you want to attack someone. Ao, Kuro, let's show these gentlemen what wrong assumptions lead to."
Lovecraft, who was standing between his two comrades, was surprised when someone suddenly wrapped their arms around his neck. All three men turned to look at the dark figure currently hanging from Lovecraft's shoulder, a black scarf tied around her left wrist. A second dark figure, this one with a blue scarf, appeared, knelling beside Dimir.
"You see, this is my ability, Ten Dark Women. And just for your information...Kuro, the one with the black scarf there...yeah, she explodes." Dimir told them, smiling brightly.
It was all the warning they got before the explosion rocked the street. Having been shielded from the explosion by Ao's shield, Dimir darted free of the smoke cloud, not waiting to see if she had managed to kill any of the three. Truth be told, she didn't want to know if she did. She just wanted to get out of there. Ignoring the pain in her body, Dimir ran. There was no time for her to nurse her wounds.
For example...
"Epp!"
Dimir was unable to hold back the noise when something suddenly grabbed her ankle, tripping her. A painful cry left her as she hit the ground, fire-like pain shooting through her chest. She was positive that she had broken ribs. The pain brought tears to her eyes and had her really wanting to just lay there, but she knew she couldn't.
Pushing herself up, Dimir looked back over her shoulder. Steinbeck was knelling, his hands on the ground, Twain next to him. The two had only mild scuff marks on their clothes while Lovecraft was laying on the ground behind them. Apparently, he had taken most of the explosion, sparing his two comrades, which, Dimir was sure, meant that Lovecraft's ability, whatever it was, allowed him to take the damage and be alright.
That or they used him to save themselves.
"Men outside of Japan really don't have any manners, do they?" Dimir asked.
"My apologies, but this is a job." Steinbeck told her.
"That, I get." Dimir replied, turning until she was sitting. Looking down at her ankle, she found a vine of some sort, wrapped around her ankle. She was pretty sure this was something to do with Steinbeck's ability since the same vines seemed to be growing out of one of his wrists. "A job is a job, regardless of what you have to do, if you aren't a moralist."
"Ah! So you do understand." Steinbeck said, smiling.
"I do." Dimir replied.
"I suppose that means you aren't a moralist yourself." Steinbeck remarked.
"Now I didn't say that. Everyone, even someone like you, have their own set of morals. I'm sure you're doing this for some kind of reason. I'm guessing it's for the money which means there's a reason for that since you don't seem like a materialistic type of man. Perhaps it's to better your situation, to make yourself comfortable, or perhaps it's for someone else. I'm leaning more towards the last one. Either way, that's your set of morals and it doesn't include my comfort." Dimir told him, pressing a hand to her chest.
It was getting a little difficult for Dimir to breathe and, for a moment, she wondered if, maybe, a piece of one of her broken ribs had pierced one of her lungs. She needed to get away as quickly as possible and call Dazai before her lung collapsed on her completely.
"Well, aren't you clever." Steinbeck said, surprised that she had managed to deduce that much.
"Not really. I just happen to have a very clever friend who is always looking for a challenge when it comes to deducing things. Also...I'm stalling." Dimir admitted.
"Stalling?" Twain repeated.
"Yep. Murasakino, if you would."
Twain and Steinbeck grunted as shadowy chains suddenly wrapped around them, binding them and paralyzing them. Following the chains with their eyes, they saw that they lead back to yet another shadowy figure, this one wearing a purple scarf tied around it's head.
"I get it...Ten Dark Women. There's ten of them. I'm willing to bet they all have different effects." Steinbeck remarked.
"You'd be right. It's a right useful ability to have." Dimir confirmed. "Aka, burn this off my ankle, will you."
Another figure appeared, a red scarf tied over the lower part of it's shadowy face. Reaching out, the figure touched the vines around Dimir's ankle, fire bursting to life. While it was a little too warm for Dimir, she dealt with it until the figure burned through the vines. Pulling her ankle free, Dimir turned her eyes on the two men.
"I hate to be rude and run when we were having such a...nice conversation, but I'm afraid I might have a bone fragment piercing one of my lungs. So...Pinku, put them to sleep and don't forget the third one over there. I'm not taking any chances." Dimir ordered.
The figure that appeared wore a pink scarf tied around it's thin waist. She appeared in front of Steinbeck and Twain. The two looked from the figure to Dimir, whose face was going white from pain. It was in that moment that Steinbeck thought about something.
Each of her figures had a different effect, but each of the effects they had seen so far, had been directly connected to the figures' bodies. The first ability they had seen, had been completely disconnected from any of the figures. In fact, the electricity seemed to have come from Dimir, herself.
That meant...
"You have more than one ability." Steinbeck said, looking at Dimir.
Dimir didn't confirm or deny it, but he could see it in the look on her face...he was spot on. With that serious look on her face, she pushed herself up from the ground, slowly. Standing, she wrapped an arm around her chest.
"Pinku, dust them now, please."
The last thing they saw before the pink figure blew in their faces, was Dimir turning her back on them.
-0-0-0-0-
"Utterly shameless, eh? All of you would be in your graves by now if it weren't for my ability."
Not that Atsushi was going to thank Yosano for her healing.
Thankfully, despite the thorough beating the Guild members had given them, Kunikida, Atsushi, and Kenji had been saved by the timely arrival of their own comrades and a healing from Yosano. Though, upon awaking, they had found that neither Dimir or Kyoka had made it back to the office. Yosano had filled them in that Dimir had been the one to call them and that that was why they had arrived so soon. She had also made sure to tell them that Dazai was currently out to fetch Dimir.
As for Kyoka, none of them knew where she was.
"How are you feeling?"
Kunikida's head flew up off his desk when Fukuzawa walked into the room, asking how they were. Kunikida picked up his glasses, putting them back on.
"Director. Apologies for not being able to prevent this mess." Kunikida told him.
"Fine." Fukuzawa said before turning to Yosano. "Any news from Dazai?"
"Not yet." Yosano told him.
Before anyone else could say something, the door to the office flew open and Junichirou ran into the room.
"Dazai is back with Dimir! She needs help!" he said.
Dazai came in through the door behind him, Dimir in his arms. The girl was considerably worse for wear, her knees bruised and bloody, scraps on her chin and bruises coloring her skin. Her face was white from pain and the girl was gasping for breath.
"She has broken ribs and one of them might have punctured her lung." Dazai said, Yosano instantly on the move.
"Infirmary." she told Dazai, moving ahead of him.
Dimir stopped Dazai, though, her eyes turning to Fukuzawa.
"I'm...I'm sorry...sir. I...had to...use two...of my abilities." she told him, getting the words out between gasps. "I'm...so sorry!"
Instead of saying something in reply. Fukuzawa laid a hand on her head, giving it a pat before he turned his eyes to Dazai.
"Take her to the infirmary." he told him, before looking at Dimir. "We'll talk after you're healed and have rested."
Removing his hand from her head, Fukuzawa let Dazai carry on to the infirmary. Fukuzawa continued to stare after them, even after they had vanished into the infirmary. When he finally spoke, it was clear he wasn't pleased.
"I'm heading out for a bit." he said, heading for the door.
"But heading out now-"
Atsushi was cut off as the door slammed close behind Fukuzawa.
With this attack on their members and four of them injured, Fukuzawa wasn't too happy. To top it off, now the Guild knew that Dimir possessed two abilities. With this, they would have to take some drastic steps.
First thing first...healing Dimir.
END
Kyandi: I have, thankfully, never broken ribs, but I do know what it feels like to not be able to breathe like that.
Dimir: Asthma?
Kyandi: Yep. And it sucks. That said, I'd love to have the ability to put others to sleep.
Dimir: You'd be using it on your family, left and right, right?
Kyandi: You know it. Sometimes, I just wish they would take a nap and be quiet for a little while.
Dimir: But even then, with a few of your family members, it's not quiet. Need I remind you of how loudly your father and sister snore?
Kyandi: No, you don't. The earplugs I have to sleep with remind me enough. Anyway, let's move on. Everyone, enjoy and review.
Dimir: We'll be back as soon as possible.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!