Dazai's head rested on his desk. With his mouth, he blew on the sheets of case he had to settle. Beside him, Atsushi was writing a report, calm and concentrating on his task. The calm of the morning was suddenly interrupted by Kunikida who slapped Dazai's desk. He had just delivered some documents to Atsushi. Dazai turned to face him, head still on his desk, barely reacting to his provocation.

"Quit slacking off!" he exclaimed before turning around. Then he stopped halfway. A flash came to him. "Now that I remember... You have some explanation to give us, you lazy liar!" he exclaimed, pointing at him. "There wasn't any sale of a new edition of The Complete Suicide Guide!"

He proudly pushed up his glasses under the unimpressed gaze of his colleague. Atsushi for his part was frozen, hands in the air above his keyboard, sweating.

"I did some research and proved your whole story was a li-"

He didn't have time to finish his sentence before Dazai took out a book from under his desk and casually thrust it towards Kunikida. The man with glasses stopped abruptly when he saw the book. He suddenly took it in his hands. He examined the interior, looking for the slightest tampering. But he had to resolve himself. The book seemed to be new. Kunikida was at a loss for words. An uncomfortable silence settled in as Dazai patiently waited for an apology from his colleague for these false accusations. A weak apology then came to him. He accepted it with a smile.

"Well, good for you to have gotten a copy of it, Dazai-san. I guess..." Atsushi said to break the discomfort of the situation.

At this moment, Fukuzawa entered the room, followed by his assistants. Everyone stopped what they were doing, except Ranpo who continued eating his treats with both feet on his desk. Apart from the Great Detective, everyone had straightened up when the president arrived. Dazai had even sat up properly.

"We were asked to put a limit on the Port Mafia's misdeeds." Fukuzawa exclaimed sternly, arms crossed.

His employees nodded synchronously. Dazai was abruptly interrupted by the vibration of his phone in the pockets of his stretch coat. He quickly looked at the name on the display: Slug. Atsushi glanced at him and was taken aback by his mentor's worried expression. Noticing him, Dazai gave him a smile and put his cell back in his pockets. Something was wrong, he felt it.

Chuuya glanced at his phone screen as it came to voicemail again. He closed his phone suddenly, sighing. He was angry with himself for putting even the slightest hope in Dazai. He had left him again. After all, he could only rely on himself. His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a painful sensation that had returned. He felt the hot flashes rising within him. His breath was cut off. The pain made him tremble with fear. No, not again.

He grabbed onto the sink counter. He suddenly felt the urge to lean over the sink. He was choking. The pain was unbearable. A wave of pain shook Chuuya's body. It dragged on, exhausting him. The executive closed his eyes. He knew this pain. He had to wait for the wave to leave on its own. He ends up vomiting. Then the pain, that intense burning sensation, subsided. He found himself panting over the sink. Chuuya saw blood and bile mixing and sliding down the drain. He hadn't eaten anything since the day before. His stomach had nothing left to reject. However, his eyes lingered on the reddish liquid. He got up slowly, scared. He glanced at the mirror hanging on the wall in front of him. A shiver ran through him. On his face and neck, he saw the marks of his Corruption ability. His feet struck the door behind him as he stepped back. He closed his eyes, he needed to calm down. It was not possible. He hadn't activated Corruption. It wasn't possible, was it? Chuuya couldn't calm down. He knew this pain all too well. He couldn't pretend otherwise.

In his pockets, his phone began to vibrate. He forced himself to open his eyes, but refused to look at the mirror in front of him. With a shaking hand, he took out his phone. His boss was calling him. He was disappointed for a moment that it wasn't Dazai. But, he quickly pushed that feeling away.

Chuuya took a deep breath and answered, "Boss?"

"Chuuya-kun, I want to meet you now in my office." Mori demanded without taking the slightest detour. "I'll be waiting."

The executive replied in the affirmative when his boss was already hanging up. His eyes felt on the mirror again. The marks were no longer there. He chased away that memory. He brushed his teeth and changed.

As he closed the door to his apartment behind him, his phone rang again. He took it and, seeing that it was Dazai, he put it back in place.

Dazai waited until his superior's instructions were finished before coming up with a platonic excuse to walk away. Once alone in a corridor, he dialed Chuuya's number. The line rang several times before going to voicemail. Dazai felt his stomach tighten, his worry increased a notch. It wasn't his partner's habit to call him except when he was drunk and angry. It was too early in the morning for that to be the case. The recent change in Mori's behavior had him worried.

In the Port mafia boss office, Mori was standing in front of the window, his profile facing Chuuya. His subordinate was standing still in front of the door. Silence lingered in the room as Chuuya obediently waited for his boss's orders.

Mori's voice broke the silence. "We have a list of Port Mafia traitors, be sure to have them all eliminated. " Without another word, he handed the documents to Chuuya.

His subordinate glanced at the list of names. There was very little information; their name, their status in the mafia. Chuuya, however, recognized several of the men mentioned. He was surprised to find their name on the list.

Then he counted the number of traitors. Twenty-two people were accused of treason. He remained frozen on this number.

The execution of traitors in the underworld was a common thing. But, normally, there were one, two maybe even three traitors executed at a time. Everyone knew the dissuasive consequences of betraying the Port mafia.

Chuuya hesitated to attribute this high number to an uprising against Mori's sudden severity or an excess of paranoia on his part. " twenty-two traitor… isn't that a lot?" Chuuya dared after a long moment of silence. "What proof do we have?"

He looked up from the list, looking at his boss who was now facing him. He immediately regretted his comment. Mori glared at him.

"Are you sympathizing with the traitors, Chuuya-kun?" The tone of his voice gave the executive chills.

"No, boss." Chuuya understood that it was wiser not to add any words. His boss's annoyance had reached new heights for some time. And no one wanted to have the Port Mafia boss against them.

Mori returned his gaze to the city of Yokohama on the horizon after a moment. "They are the cancer eating away at the Port Mafia forces. They all must be executed. Make sure of it."

One hand behind his back, the other holding his hat to his chest, Chuuya tilted his head slightly. "Yes, boss."

Before Chuuya leaves the room, Mori catches his eye again. "Chuuya-kun, do not betray me."

Chuuya got on one knee, "I devote myself to you, boss."

Mori didn't add anything. He continued to look at the horizon.

Chuuya closed the door behind him, the list still in his hands. He felt tortured between his loyalty to his boss and his recent violent demands. Memories of the misdeeds of the former Port mafia boss came back to his mind. They were still vivid images in his eyes. He could not have obeyed such a boss. He only felt hatred towards him. However, Mori seemed to be heading down a similar path and the situation greatly worried Chuuya. He thought about Dazai's words. The idea of killing Mori seemed impossible to him. He couldn't bring himself to come to this. He hoped for an ability. But, then how could he get Dazai to meet Mori? In his paranoid state, Mori would never believe that he was afflicted by an ability. The mafioso sighed.

He reached the elevator with his head full of bitter thoughts. He rushed in and leaned against the wall. As he descended the many floors, he felt a wave of heat rise within him, accompanied by a suffocating pain. He felt like he was piercing from the inside. He raised a trembling hand to his face and removed his glove. The tips of his fingers were black. The mark gradually stretched before his eyes until it reached his knuckles. Then he saw the red marks of his Corruption ability on his forearms. Panic overcame him.