"Times like these are when the truth is most effective."

Ranpo stares ahead blankly. Ayame is sitting in front of him with some new documents. She holds them out for him and he takes them, reading through them and pulling useful information from the pages. He scribbles his notes on a piece of paper sloppily. Ayame watches him quietly, not saying a single word and letting him work in silence.

It's been six months since he was kidnapped. Ranpo doesn't think about anything except for the things Ayame asks of him. He doesn't think. Ranpo only knows pain and a gentle hand helps him through it. He doesn't think. He only knows to follow orders and carry out Ayame's will.

He's mostly figured out what she wanted to know. Her name is Ayame Murakami, daughter of Tanaka and Izumi Murakami. Both had a Gift and gave it to their daughter on the day of their deaths. They were killed by the Port Mafia for smuggling drugs into their territory. Ayame only survived because she used her mother's Gift to protect herself. After that, she wandered the streets of Yokohama and did what work she could to survive. Eventually, she had a run-in with the Port Mafia and killed everyone, though she became injured and lost a lot of her memories.

Now the pieces are back and Ayame knows who she is. Ranpo helped her as he promised. She can let him go now. As she promised. Ranpo scribbles down the last of his notes and hands the paper to Ayame. She smiles and reads through it, nodding happily.

"Thank you, Ranpo," she says to him.

He nods blankly. She stands and moves to him, sitting down by his side and taking his hand. He doesn't look at her and focuses on keeping the table in sight. The documents shift, spiraling through the air. Ayame presses her nail through his skin, but Ranpo doesn't react. He can't feel it. It's a part of his life now, pain and poison and torture and everything in between. He doesn't react. Ayame smiles cruelly, happy.

The illusions aren't that bad this time. He only drowns in an ocean of his blood for about a few seconds and then he's back, gasping. Ayame is still next to him, her nail still in his hand. She cocks her head to the side and he slowly looks at her. And then she dissolves, rotting in front of his eyes. She attacks him and bites her teeth into his neck, blood pouring everywhere. Ranpo stares ahead, gasping in pain and agony.

Her real hand is still very much holding his, and though he can feel it, he doesn't acknowledge it. The illusion fades. Every single one of them lasts for perhaps a few seconds, but to him, they seem like an eternity. Ayame is still there when he opens his eyes again.

She smiles at him and releases him, standing. For a moment, Ranpo thinks the day is done, but then the world spins and he's standing on the edge of a cliff. Dazai is behind him, a blank look on his face. Ranpo opens his mouth to speak to him, to ask him what he's doing there, but Dazai only reaches out and pushes him.

Ranpo falls over the edge with a scream. He lands on a rock that pierces him through the chest and he gurgles, blood pouring from his lips. He's never seen any of his friends in the illusions Ayame creates. His eyes widen as he realizes this is very bad. She's found a new way to cause him more pain. Phycological this time.

When he blinks, he's back on the couch and Ayame is standing by the door, talking to Himari #1. Ranpo doesn't move, he knows there's no point in trying to escape. She can switch places with him if she so chooses. He watches them quietly, head hurting. His hand is bleeding from where Ayame pierced him, but he doesn't move to clean up the blood.

Ayame comes back after a few moments and sees him watching her. She smiles kindly and settles next to him, fishing a piece of paper out of her pocket. She hands it to him and he looks at it. It has his name on it.

"What is this?" he asks, voice quiet.

"It's my trump card," she explains. "If I tap this, I can know where you are."

"Paper Location?" he asks, having heard of that ability before.

Ayame nods, "The fool was stupid enough to come looking for a fight. I had Tachi shut him down so I could steal his ability."

Ranpo hums. He says nothing for a moment and simply stares at the paper before handing it back to her. Ayame thanks him.

"You gave Nezumi and Tachi their abilities," Ranpo says. "Himari's, too."

"Indeed," Ayame says. "They are mine to take back whenever I want, but I can't fully use them because I already have two primary Gifts. If I give them to my clones, they can use them to their full extent."

"Fascinating," Ranpo mumbles.

"Would you like a Gift?" Ayame asks.

"What would you give me?" Ranpo wonders and then glances at her. "I could use it to escape."

Ayame chuckles, though there is no humor in her laugh. She knows Ranpo won't try that. Hell, even he knows he won't try it. She'll probably kill him if he does. She's capable of it, he knows it far too well. He's better off killing himself if it comes to that.

"I could give you anything you want," Ayame states.

"I don't need anything," Ranpo says. "I have my Ultra Deduction and that's fine."

"But it's not a Gift."

"Who cares."

Ayame is silent. She nods her head and looks away from him. Ranpo doesn't need a Gift, he's fine as is. But Ayame doesn't seem to think so. She looks troubled for some reason, but Ranpo knows it's futile to ask her what she's thinking about. She'll never tell him, after all. She likes to keep her secrets, and that's fine with him.

"I wish I knew what to give you," Ayame says eventually. "You could be useful to me."

"Perhaps," Ranpo says quietly. "But you know as well as I do that my loyalty lies with the Agency. You promised to return me as soon as I find out everything about you. That promise is almost fulfilled."

Ayame nods, "True. But I never said I'd return you immediately."

It takes him a second to realize what he just heard and he snaps his head around to look at her, a betrayed expression gracing his features. Ayame turns to face him and he sees the glint of amusement in her eyes. She doesn't care what he thinks, he's just her plaything, her experiment to pass the time with. She's keeping her promise, yet bending the rules to her will.

He's trapped.

He shoots upright from his seat on the couch and glares at her. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He's frozen to the floor, throat unable to form words. Ayame grins and glances at the door. Ranpo does the same.

Tachi stands there, his hand outstretched toward him. Ranpo's body is disabled, and his speech is gone. He glares a hole through Tachi's head and wishes he can sock him in the face but he's not able to move. Tachi moves into the room and grabs Ranpo's hair, tilting his head backward and exposing his neck.

Ayame stands and flips open her pocket knife, pressing the sharp blade against the soft flesh of Ranpo's neck. Ranpo doesn't dare swallow for fear of piercing his own skin, though he glares at Ayame fiercely. She lied to him. He's really only here for her sick sense of enjoyment.

"Don't worry, Ranpo," Ayame whispers, smiling happily. "When I'm done with you, the Agency will have a new problem on their hands. And it won't be me."

Ranpo feels the knife slice through his skin, blood running down his neck. He gags, falling forward. The knife pierces his throat fully and the pain is unbearable. Ayame disappears and he falls to the floor, the blood pooling beneath him. Feet appear in front of him and Ranpo glances up through his choking. They widen as he comes face to face with doctor Yosano. She gazes down at him, eyes hard and uncaring.

"Y-Yo…sona…" Ranpo manages.

Pain envelops his entire being and he watches with his darkening vision as Yosano crouches down, watching him without helping him. A cruel smirk appears on her face and she grabs his hair, lifting his face.

"You're a useless member of the Agency," she says to him. "We never needed you."

Ranpo knows it's a lie, he knows it in his gut because the Agency was created for him. But her words cut him deeply in some insecure part of his heart and tears fill his eyes. She must hate him now that he looks so pathetic. As she lifts his face, the wound on his neck becomes exposed and more blood streams out, filling the ground beneath him and soaking into his clothes.

Ranpo cries and feels himself die. It feels horrible and he can't understand why Dazai would ever want to kill himself. It's too much. The young detective closes his eyes and embraces his pain. And then he blinks and finds himself alive, being held up by Tachi. Ayame looks at him with a blank face, no emotions visible.

Ranpo feels tears wet his cheeks and he looks away from her, hanging his head. He can't escape this. He knows it. Ayame will keep him here until his mind breaks or until she has complete control over him. Truthfully, he has given up on his friends finding him. It's been too long and they should have discovered him by now, but they haven't. He doesn't think they'll ever find him. And now Ayame is using illusions of his friends killing him to make him suffer more.

"Bring him back to his room. I'll continue my session with him tomorrow," Ayame instructs Tachi.

The burly man nods and hauls Ranpo out of the room. He doesn't bother letting him walk. Ranpo can't. He's too out of it from Ayame's ability. Tachi walks him through the hallways and drops him in his room, closing and locking the door as he leaves. Ranpo lies on the ground, unmoving. He doesn't try to get up, knowing it'll be useless for a little while. The cold ground calms him a little but the vision of Yosano telling him he's useless has his breath stocking in his chest.

He squeezes his eyes shut and buries his face in his shoulder, tears wetting the fabric. He doesn't want to think about it, but he can't stop himself. Ayame will make every single one of his friends kill him. The last will probably be Fukuzawa, and Ranpo will be broken in an instant, he knows it. He'll be shattered from the inside and nobody can repair him. Not even Yosano.

Ranpo takes a deep breath and glances at his wrists. There are bruises everywhere, but most prominently there. Ayame makes it her mission to pierce him at least once every session they have. It's either a meeting about the documents where he needs to gather new information or deduce something further, or she wants to try and mind control him. He hasn't surrendered yet, but he knows it won't be long before he cracks.

Each illusion is perfectly crafted so that he dies in a horrible, painful way. Some seem to last for an eternity, others only a few seconds. Ranpo likes neither. Ayame is only doing this because she wants a pawn for some reason. Ranpo knows she has ulterior motives, but he can't figure her out, his mind is too broken already. He can't reason right, only when it concerns her request can he actually think. He doesn't know why. Maybe she's scrambling his head like eggs.

Ranpo huffs and slowly stands, making his way to his futon and collapsing on it. His whole body hurts and the sheets are cold and the bed itself is hard, but he doesn't care. He can sleep and that's all that matters. He doesn't care about anything else. When he gets comfortable under the futon, clothes still on and blood still on his hand, he's asleep within seconds, fatigue knocking him out.

After that, he's not sure what happens. Ranpo blinks and finds himself with Ayame, with no memory of how he got there or what has happened. He's in her room, her nail pierced through his arm. His eyes widen as she dissolves, and in her place, Atsushi appears. The boy uses his ability to transform into his tiger form and bites down on his arm, snapping it clean off. Ranpo screams.

He dies.

The next illusion is the same, though this time with Kyoka. She uses Demon Snow to pierce his chest and he bleeds out on the floor while she watches, her gaze cold and calculating. When he blinks, he's gasping and back on the couch in Ayame's room.

"Do you want a Gift?" Ayame asks him again.

"No," Ranpo forces out.

She pierces him again. Kunikida blows him to pieces. He blinks and he's back, head hurting, and eyes rolling in his skull. Ayame stands and leaves him to ly on the couch, uninterested now that he can't even form a reply. Ranpo shudders on the couch, visions of blood and death playing tricks with his mind. She's breaking him, he knows it. He won't last long like this.

Time blurs for him and he only remembers the visions that come next. He can't say they're pleasant, and he can't say he's the same person afterward. He's shattering, piece by horrible piece. Ayame is winning. Each vision is worse than the last.

Jun'ichiro strangles him with Light Snow, cruelly laughing and looking deranged.

Kenji slices him in two with a stop sign and then punches his head off his body.

The worst is the last. Ranpo knows it because it's the most vivid one he remembers. Ayame made it unbearable. She's made it so that he will instantly shatter and never be able to function normally again. He knows it the moment the illusion begins and he despairs.

He finds himself in the President's office, Fukuzawa behind his desk. He looks at Ranpo with a disappointed expression. Ranpo hates that look on his face and he slowly backs away. He can't outrun this, he knows, but he tries anyway.

"You disappoint me, Ranpo," Fukuzawa says clear as day.

His voice rings in Ranpo's ears and it's loud, terrible, and horrifying. He freezes where he stands, back pressed against the door. The office looks exactly as he remembers it, but he knows it's all wrong. Fukuzawa stands and moves toward him, looming over him.

"I no longer need you," Fukuzawa states, drawing his katana slowly.

Ranpo closes his eyes and wishes he could disappear, but he can't. He opens them again to see the President glaring down at him, anger and disgust clear on his face. Ranpo feels his heart shatter. He knows this isn't real, but the President is right there and he can touch him if he wants to. The illusions are too intricate, too real.

"I'm sorry," Ranpo whispers, his voice cracking as tears fill his eyes.

"Sorry won't cut it this time," Fukuzawa says.

In one movement, his sword slices through Ranpo's chest, and he feels the blood pouring out of the wound. He sags against the door, falling and lying in a pool of deep red blood. Fukuzawa stands and watches, a cruel glint in his eyes. Ranpo can do nothing but choke out bloodied apologies, the liquid seeping through his cracked lips. Tears mix with the blood and he can see Fukuzawa walking away.

The President doesn't care about him, why would he? He's not worth anything. He's just a pawn in a game. A useless, Gift-less human who can't do anything at all. His world darkens and Ranpo knows he's dying. He can only think about the huge disappointment he's been, and he cries through the pain.

Fukuzawa never cared about him. Nobody did.