"You sure you're going to be alright?"
The teen rolled his eyes. "Yes Kunikida, for the hundredth time, I'll be alright," he grumbled.
He couldn't make out the man's eyes with the glare from his glasses, but he was sure the man was staring him down. The blonde sighed in defeat, "Alright then, if you need anything just call." The man wished him a goodnight before dismissing himself.
Danny sighed tiredly as he closed the door to his hotel room.
It was at the President's insistence that he be escorted to his hotel. After the growth in threats over the years in Yokohama, the Agency didn't want to take any chances that the teen's safety would be at risk.
He looked around and saw that it was a decent-sized room. There was a kitchenette, a small living room area (complete with a single couch and TV), and two doors. One door, which was left open, went to a small bedroom that was complete with a nightstand. The other door, which was closed, most likely led to the bathroom.
The teen walked over to his suitcase on the couch, which had been delivered there earlier, and pulled out a few clothes for pajamas.
He took a quick shower, threw on the white shirt and gray sweatpants he had picked out, and plopped down onto the couch. He frowned as he thought about the day's events.
"What a mess…" he muttered out loud as he covered his face with his arm.
So much for summer vacation…
He felt a soft breeze rush by him and his hair stood up as he felt a presence nearby. He quickly rolled off the couch and leaped into a defensive stance.
Standing behind the couch was a person with dark gray eyes and black hair pulled into a bun. They wore a gray v-neck shirt, black pants, and a long flared black coat. The left sleeve appeared torn off, exposing their arm, and revealed they also wore reddish-grey gloves. The right glove was complete while the left glove was fingerless.
"Hello, Phantom." A deep heavily accented voice greeted.
At first, Danny was surprised that the intruder spoke English until the teen locked his eyes on a certain silver-haired man with a black cane near the window.
His eyes narrowed at the older intruder. "Mr. Hirotsu, good to see you again," he greeted calmly.
The room was still.
"So…did the Black Lizard stop by for tea? Or is this going to turn into an unpleasant evening?" Danny asked as his eyes flashed a bright blue.
The cloaked person now recognized as Gin, took a step back, while the older gentleman was unaffected.
"We're not here on official business," Hirotsu reassured.
The teen and the elder had a stare-down for a solid beat.
Danny sighed in defeat and relaxed out of his defensive stance. He walked over to the kitchenette area, where both Black Lizard members followed hesitantly. He pulled out three glasses, pouring water for each of them.
"Sorry, but I haven't gone shopping yet. So the only thing I can offer is water for now," the teen commented as he pushed the drinks towards them.
"We appreciate it, though we can't be here long," Hirotsu smiled apologetically.
Danny nodded in understanding before leaning against the counter. "Alright, what does Mori want to know?"
Hirotsu shook his head. "He isn't aware of your presence yet. We caught wind of you first and wanted to get any information before the boss decided to take a more… dramatic approach."
Danny raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Straight to the point, huh? Well, ask away, though next time I would've preferred to catch up first."
The man chuckled as he sat down on a nearby chair, while Gin remained standing.
"Why are you back in Yokohama? And why were you seen with the detective agency?" he started, his tone formal and polite.
The teen shrugged nonchalantly. "The Agency asked for help on a recent case. They believed it may have had more supernatural origins and wanted my expertise."
Hirotsu frowned and his forehead creased. "I see… And how long do you plan to be here?"
Danny groaned in annoyance as the 'mess' from earlier was brought to the forefront of his brain. "Honestly, it'll depend on how quickly we can find and catch the culprit. But with the way things are looking, well… let's just say I'm not exactly optimistic."
The man smiled appreciatively as he stood up from the chair. He gave a polite bow, Gin following his example. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Fenton. I hope our next meeting will be as tame as this one."
"Yeah, so do I," Danny sighed tiredly before waving them off. "Now you two get going before you're missed or something. I'd rather have a few more Port Mafia-free days if you don't mind."
The older man and young assassin walked towards the door, the latter giving a shy wave goodbye as they walked out. The elder stopped for a moment, "Daniel…"
Danny let out an annoyed huff, he just wanted to be left alone so he could finally sleep. "What?"
The man turned to him with a concerned frown. "The Port Mafia has been showing interest in those unsolved cases. Whoever or whatever it is? Get it before Mori does."
The teen's brow furrowed as he locked eyes with the old man.
That can't mean anything good.
"Understood…" he replied with an understanding tone.
The man nodded and then took his leave as well, closing the door behind him.
The teen walked over and locked the door, making sure it was bolted.
He stood there for a moment before letting out an irritated sigh as his eyebrow twitched. "And just when I thought this case was hard enough."
Atsushi yawned as he walked tiredly toward the brick building the Agency was in.
The previous night was semi-restless as his younger roommate had bombarded him with unending questions about their recent visitor.
He heard a chuckle next to him and turned to see the blue-eyed American giving him a sympathetic look.
"Sorry about this, Atsushi. I totally would've been fine walking by myself if Fukuzwa hadn't been so insistent."
The weretiger shook his head with a reassuring smile. "It's no problem, Danny, it's not your fault anyways. My roommate was asking me all kinds of questions and we just sort of lost track of time."
The other smiled appreciatively before also letting out a yawn.
"Damn it, you passed it," He whined childishly.
The silver-haired teen immediately began to apologize profusely. "I am so sorry I didn't mean to-"
The other started laughing, causing a few people nearby to look on with confusion.
"Dude it's fine, I'm just messing with you," he chuckled teasingly.
Atsushi blinked before smiling apologetically. Admittedly, some jokes went right over his head.
They had just reached the entrance to the building when he noticed Danny start to go towards the staircase.
"Oh, Danny wait! Everyone wanted to meet up for coffee this morning," he informed with a smile as he pointed toward the coffee shop doors.
The other teen stopped and raised an eyebrow. He looked towards the coffee shop and back to Atsushi before shrugging and following him in.
"Morning!" The silver-haired teen called in as he held the door for Danny.
Dazai and Kunkida were seated at the bar top, Yosano and Ranpo were at one table, and the Tanizaki siblings were seated at another table next to them.
"Hey, morning Atsushi!" Junichiro greeted.
The blond adult frowned in concern. "Hey, kid, where's-"
"I'm right here, stick-in-the-mud," the American teen announced as he yawned again, falling in behind Atsushi.
"Well, a good morning to you too. Late night?" Dazai teased.
"Something like that," Danny sighed.
"Where's Kyouka and Kenji? Atushi inquired after noticing their absence,
"Oh, Kenji mentioned something about talking to some people he knows about where some recent supernatural activity has been going on," Junichiro answered.
"Any idea where they went?" Danny asked, his tone seeming hopeful.
"Nope," Dazai responded, popping the p.
The teen's eyebrow twitched. The silver-haired teen watched as the other sighed and grumbled to himself, "Guess we'll have to wait then…"
The cafe owner came from out back and immediately noticed the two, making sure to offer a gentle smile.
"Ah good morning, and to you as well Mr Fenton. It's been some time."
Atsushi's eyes widened as he looked between the two. Does even the owner know Danny?!
The American smiled brightly in return. "It has been a while, how have you-"
"Hey! I found the….straws…"
Lucy had come from the back and had stilled upon seeing the two by the door.
Atsushi smiled at the girl and gestured politely to the other teen. "Morning Lucy, this is-"
"Hello, Lucy… it's been a while."
The weretiger blinked.
The girl in question dropped the box of straws that were in her hand as she stared at the American.
It was quiet in the cafe as they all watched the scene play out.
A look of contemplation crossed Danny's face before he let out a defeated sigh. "Lucy-"
"Get out."
Atsushi turned to her with a confused frown. "What? Why?"
"Get out!"
The silver-haired teen was startled and started waving his arms frantically in front of him defensively. "Wait! What did I do?! Did I offend you again?! Is it something I did?!"
Lucy's brow twitched in irritation. "No! Not you you idiot! That- that thing next to you!" She pointed at Danny accusingly. "I want that thing to get out of here!"
The room's temperature dropped significantly, so much so that the windows started to fog over.
Atsushi's eyes widened as a cold chill sent up his spine, and the feeling of wanting to run came back.
What's happening?
"Danny-"
The weretiger turned to see Kunikida, Dazai, and Yosano had stood up from their seats and were eyeing them wearily but also warningly.
He looked next to him to see that Danny's eyes had turned bright green, and without missing a beat, his ability shot outwards in a wave again. And like a mirage, the figure, or doll, of Lucy's special ability appeared behind the girl.
"Hello Anne," Danny greeted nonchalantly, the calmness making shivers go down Atsushi's back.
Lucy immediately put her arms out and stood protectively in front of the Ability spirit. "You leave Anne out of this!"
The doll bent down closer to the girl with a frown.
"No, he's not being nice! He's just trying to trick you again!" the girl retorted.
Danny frowned but remained silent.
The silver-haired teen looked between the two and forced himself to step between them. This wasn't the place to fight, nor was it a good time.
"Lucy," Atsushi addressed calmly. "Danny is helping the Agency with a recent case, he's-"
"I don't care!" She cut off angrily, her fear beginning to show more and more. "You haven't seen it! You don't know what that thing is!"
Kunikida slammed his hand down on the table. "That's enough! Both of you stand down!"
Slowly, Anne faded from view and the room's temperature started to warm back up as Danny's eyes returned to their icy blue.
The American turned without another word and went to leave the coffee shop.
"Danny wait, we can talk about this," The silver-haired teen urged.
The other turned to him, his eyes unseeing, almost dead-like.
"I'll meet you guys upstairs. Enjoy your coffee."
The door closed leaving Atsushi unsure what to do.
"Lucy, that was uncalled for," Yosano scolded behind him.
He turned around to see the redhead scowl at the doctor. "I did what I had to do to protect you! All of you!" the girl shot back angrily.
"Was it to protect us? Or was it to protect yourself?" Dazai challenged.
The girl's eyes widened as she took a step back. Her expression changed from anger to fear, to guilt. She sat down at a table as she rubbed her arm.
Atsushi frowned at the girl. "Lucy, what did you mean when you said he tricked Anne before?"
She sighed and took off her waitressing hat and stared at it in her lap.
"Back when I was with the Guild, we sometimes did recruitment missions. When we were still in the States, Luisa had managed to get word about a potentially powerful ability user. So we took a visit there and asked around. Eventually, we ended up having to speak to the specialists around there and that's when we found the Fentons. It took a while, but we eventually found out it was- him."
"Let me guess, Fitzgerald wasn't going to take no for an answer and put a bounty on him instead," Dazai concluded as he crossed his arms.
She nodded her head. "At first, it was Mark and Huckleberry, then Lisa and Hawthorn…"
"No way all of them?!" Junichiro was awed, sweat forming on his brow.
Atsushi's eyes widened as he realized what she meant. "Wait, you mean he took down all of them?!"
She winced and nodded. "Fitzgerald got impatient and sent me and Lovecraft, hoping to at least capture him in Anne's room, but…" her eyes widened in fear, her grip on her hat tightening. "We managed to get him into Anne's room, but right when we thought we had the upper hand, he started to talk to Anne in some weird language. I was in too much shock and before I knew it, they both attacked Lovecraft. I had to quickly cancel my ability before he was taken away. Afterward, he froze Lovecraft and convinced Anne to keep me from following him while he escaped. Fitzgerald called off the bounty after that."
"So he can speak with Ability spirits… how interesting," Yosano mused in awe.
Atsushi's brow furrowed in confusion. "Wait froze? I thought his ability only allowed him to see ghosts and stuff?"
The adults stilled.
Lucy scoffed. "You think Fitzgerald would waste his time with someone who could see dead people?"
"Lucy-" Kunikida warned with a look.
She sent a glare of her own and turned back to Atsushi out of spite. "Daniel Fenton is registered as one of the most powerful ice ability users in the States."
The room went silent.
Atsushi blinked. "Wait, what?"
Ranpo cleared his throat gaining the room's attention.
"It would be best if you took a lunch break, sir," He addressed the café manager with a strange calmness.
The man only smiled politely and nodded before walking over to the door and flipping the sign to closed. He beckoned Lucy over and together they left for the back.
"Atsushi, please sit down. This is going to take some explaining," Ranpo invited as he got up from the booth.
He was startled by Ranpo's change in attitude but didn't question it as he found a seat across from the Tanizaki's.
"Kunikida will give you guys the run down while I go check on Danny. Anything that is said in this room stays in this room, got it?"
The younger members nodded.
"Good, now if you'll excuse me."
Ranpo left swiftly without another word.
Kunikida cleared his throat, gaining their attention. "Right then. What we're about to tell you is top secret, even government officials don't know about this."
Suddenly the situation felt a lot more serious than the weretiger originally thought.
"What you experienced yesterday was true. Daniel does have the ability to speak to and see ghosts or spirits. However, that is not his only ability."
The younger members frowned.
"What do you mean sir? Are you saying he has multiple?" Naomi asked.
"Exactly right. Two to be exact," he confirmed grimly.
The newer members' eyes widened.
"Two abilities? Is that even possible?" Tunichiro awed.
"We couldn't believe it either until we saw them both with our own eyes. If our lives weren't on the line at the time, I'm positive we still wouldn't have known about it," Dazai commented seriously.
"So what exactly are his abilities?" Atsushi inquired.
"Well, the one you two saw was Haunting in the Mist, that one isn't well known and is technically a secret. As you know, it allows Danny and those around him to see ghosts or the residue of one, but only when there's no direct sunlight," Dazai explained. "His other ability, the 'legal' one for lack of better words, is Between the Woods and Frozen Lake. This ability allows him to take water molecules and freeze them instantaneously. The reason why this is so powerful is that he can change the form into whatever he wants, whether it be a piercing icicle or an entire dome made of rock-solid ice."
They stared in awe at the older member.
"That's incredible. But why keep his other ability secret?" Junichiro asked, breaking the brief silence.
"If the government found out that a person can have two abilities, what do you think would happen?" Yosano grunted crossing her arms.
They didn't have to answer, because they already knew experimentation on ability users wasn't unheard of.
"Okay, but I'm still having a hard time understanding something…" the silver-haired teen admitted.
"What's on your mind Atsushi?" Dazai encouraged.
"Why would Lucy see him as inhuman? I mean, having two abilities just means he's a powerful ability user."
The adults looked at each other and came to a silent agreement.
Dazai sighed with an apologetic smile. "That, unfortunately, would be up to Danny to share. We've sort of been sworn to secrecy in that regard."
The weretiger was disappointed, but he understood wanting to let the teen have his privacy.
Danny smiled appreciatively as Ranpo handed him another bag of snacks as they sat on top of his desk.
"So this one might have a strange taste at first, but the more you eat the better they get," Ranpo commented.
The other opened it and tried one, his eyes widening. "Huh, that does taste kinda odd…" He tried another and nodded. "But I can see the appeal."
Ranpo started to rummage through his snack stash again, rambling about the newest finds.
When they first met, the teen didn't quite get along with the detective. Mainly because of logic versus the supernatural. But after Danny had brought some 'American' snacks with him on the vengeful spirit case, the two found something in common and worked things out. They've been friends ever since.
"Oh! I bought these since you liked them last time."
Ranpo put a small pouch of candy next to Danny, to which the latter nodded his thanks.
"Sorry, I didn't bring anything with me this time around. The call was kinda last minute," the teen smiled apologetically.
The detective waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I figured that would be the case, so I bought plenty for the both of us."
Danny stared out the window as his thoughts wandered to the interaction in the café.
"You know it's not true, so why put any thought into it?" Ranpo stated.
Danny frowned as he turned away from the window to see the other with a bored look. "Because it doesn't matter what I say or do, that girl will always think I'm something other than human."
Ranpo leaned back with a sigh, his eyes closed. "Last time I checked, she wasn't the one in charge of what or who is deemed human or not."
The raven-haired teen's eyebrow twitched. Within a beat, he swept the other's hand from under them and Ranpo flipped backward off the desk with a loud thump.
"HEY!" the other whined.
Danny smirked as he threw more chips into his mouth. "Well, maybe you should've been paying better attention," he teased.
"And maybe you shouldn't be talking with your mouth full."
Danny and Ranpo looked over to see Kunkida standing at the door.
The two snackers sighed in exasperation. "Whatever Kunkida," The two synced.
Kunikdia's brow twitched as he walked over to his desk. "As if one wasn't bad enough, now there's two of them," he grumbled.
"That's a bad thing? I wouldn't have to work for the rest of my life!" Dazai stated dreamily.
"You have a life?" They synced again.
Dazai immediately deflated. "Ouch…"
Danny caught Atsushi staring at him from across the room. He had been since he entered the room behind Dazai and it was starting to get uncomfortable. A lightbulb went off in his brain and a small smile appeared.
He let out a chuckle as he got off the desk. "You know, if you keep staring like that, my girlfriend might have some competition."
Atsushi blinked and flushed a bright red. "What?! No, I'm sorry that's not-" he went to take a step back and instead slipped on a small patch of ice. "-OMMF!"
The teen slowly got up and blinked in confusion.
"How did you-?"
"You weren't paying attention," Danny explained with a chuckle as he held out his arm to help him up.
"Oh- uh… thanks- or sorry?" he mumbled as he was helped off the ground.
Danny waved him off with a reassuring smile.
"Are you sure it's okay to be using your ability like that?" Junichiro asked as he walked up to them.
The teen shrugged. "I already guessed that you guys were being filled in after what Lucy said. Ranpo coming up here to distract me with snacks all but confirmed that."
"To be fair, I did want to show you the new stuff," Ranpo defended.
Danny rolled his eyes at the detective before turning back to the newer members. "So what do you want to know?"
Atsushi blinked. "Well uh… would you mind explaining how you made the- where'd it go?"
The raven-haired teen chuckled before pointing towards the ground. Without much thought, a small trail of ice appeared from Danny's foot to about where Atsushi had slipped.
The silver-haired teen's eyes went wide with awe. "That's amazing! What else can you do?"
Danny smirked as he held out his hand and a snowball formed in his palm. He carefully tossed it to Junichiro who caught it with ease.
"Wow, it's actually really cold," the Tanizaki sibling commented.
Danny shrugged. "It'll stay frozen for a few hours, so feel free to mess with it until then. Any more questions before we get to work?"
"Um, I have one. How have you kept two abilities from the public, wouldn't someone have found out by now?" Naomi asked as she walked up to join her sibling.
"I can actually answer half of this," Dazai cut in. "You see, even though Danny doesn't intend to send out EMPs when his ability activates, it works in his favor since it'll take out any kind of camera, listening device, or recording device. He also doesn't have a digital footprint the same way other people do."
Danny nodded. "That is one part of it. The other is that I was born with Between the Woods and Frozen Lake, while Haunting in the Mist developed later on. My parents found out a little before I met the Detective Agency so they've been a huge help in keeping everything secret too."
"So how did the Guild find you?" Junichiro asked with a confused frown.
"Luisa. She apparently found me through one of her contacts in Illinois. They had been keeping an eye out for ability users and I just so happened to have had a power mishap at a school sports event."
"'Power mishap'?" Atsushi frowned.
"I snapped and accidentally took out the entire block's plumbing," he shrugged.
The three teens paled.
He heard a stifled laugh come from Dazai. "Guess you could say… your school life went down the toilet."
Danny's brow twitched. "Dazai, I will kick your ass, I don't care that you're older than me."
Dazai chuckled and went to ruffle his hair. Without a second thought, Danny grabbed the man's wrist and judo-flipped him. The older male was left groaning on the floor as the younger members stared in awe and the older members were unfazed.
"To be fair, you should've seen that coming," Ranpo commented boredly.
"Are you alright, Dazai?" Atsushi asked unsurely.
"He'll be fine," Danny and Kunikida stated flatly.
"What did we miss?"
Danny turned to see Kenji and a young girl, probably around fourteen years old, close the office door behind them.
She had blue eyes and long dark hair which was pulled into low twin tails with matching flower pins. While she did have on a red kimono, which seemed odd given her age and where they were, the most notable thing to Danny (given his past encounters) was the cellphone and small rabbit doll both attached to her necklace.
Kenji went to stand by the secretary's desk while the girl started to walk to the rest of the group with a curious frown.
"Oh hey, Kyouka. You didn't miss much, just Dazai being Dazai," Atsushi nervously laughed.
The girl's eyes met Danny's and she went to bow her head before correcting herself and offered her hand instead. "You must be"
Danny saw the glimmer of metal and instinct took over as he immediately flipped backward, narrowly missing a blade aimed at his head.
"Demon Snow?!" Voices exclaimed.
The teen kept his expression neutral as he observed the ability spirit now protecting Kyouka.
She had long grey hair that was half up in a bun, while the rest went down to the skirt of her white kimono, and layered bangs closer to her face. Her eyes were pupilless glowing yellow and she had two straight red lines coming from the bottom of her eyes down her face with no mouth in sight, almost like she was wearing a mask. She also had pale white skin with a blue and purple aura, her sword sharing in the aura as its end was pointed at him in warning.
The room started moving again, but Danny didn't dare take his eyes off the spirit as those around him began to panic.
"Kyouka call her off!" Junichiro yelled.
"She's not listening! Demon Snow stand down!"
In the corner of his eye, he saw Atsushi's arms transform into white tiger claws and sent a glance to Dazai.
Danny could taste his stomach in his throat as his nerves spiked. 'Not like that! That's just going to aggravate her more!'
But before the other could intervene, a calm voice rang out over the room.
"Everyone stand down."
Without having to look, Danny knew the President had come out of his office and was standing not too far behind him.
After a moment of silence, he heard Fukuzawa grunt in affirmation. "Danny, you're clear."
Danny didn't bother to nod as he kept eye contact with the spirit.
"Demon Snow."
The spirit's eyes widened in surprise but she remained tense.
He chanced a look at the confused and fearful look in the girl's eyes versus the spirit. He quickly thought of a possible conclusion and decided to test it.
"You were told to protect her right?"
The spirit's gaze hardened as she pulled Kyouka behind her more.
He slowly offered a placating gesture with his hands. "I will not harm your charge, you have my word."
She seemed surprised by the use of the word 'charge'.
Danny chanced a look at Kyouka again and recalled the phone hanging around her neck was mentioned in her file.
"You've taken care of her all these years, and you've done such a good job keeping her safe."
Demon Snow's widened and the sword was lowered a little.
He decided to take the chance to walk closer, but her sword immediately came back up.
"Don't," the spirit whispered.
He felt shock go through the room when the spirit talked.
Danny immediately stopped and smiled apologetically. "Then I won't. Would you be willing to hear me out?"
She was silent for a beat before nodding reluctantly.
"I am not your enemy, nor am I hers," he started gently. "I am here to help solve a case with her friends. I'm here to stop a vengeful spirit that is taking others' lives needlessly and without cause."
"How can we trust you?" She asked unsurely.
How can she? Danny thought. There wasn't much he could use for proof, especially since he wasn't sure if the spirits around Yokohama would even know his name. He looked between the girl and the spirit and came to a decision. He couldn't leave them like this, so if there was even a slight chance, he'd have to take it.
He slowly started to walk towards the spirit, her guard going back up. But he didn't stop, instead, he walked right up until the sword was inches from his face.
The teen slowly raised his hand, Demon Snow seemed confused by this action but did nothing as she watched.
He reached the handle of the sword where the spirit's hand was and gently placed his hand on top of hers.
Her eyes widened in awe. "Who are you?" She whispered in disbelief.
"I am the one they call 'Phantom'," He answered, his eyes flashing bright green.
Demon Snow's sword fell to the ground in shock and she shakily touched the hand on top of the other one as though to check to see if he were real.
"You're real?" She inquired in awe.
"As real as you are," he confirmed, gently pulling his hand away with a soft smile. "May I speak to your charge?"
Demon Snow's widened as she turned to Kyouka with a conflicted look. The young girl was clearly confused but stayed silent during their exchange.
The spirit looked back at him and nodded. "You may, but a favor?"
He nodded with an encouraging smile.
"Speak to her for me?"
He smiled sympathetically and nodded. "If that is what you wish."
She nodded and looked back at Kyouka with apologetic eyes before disappearing from view.
Danny let out an audible sigh of relief when he was sure she dispersed.
"What… just happened?"
"That Atsushi was Danny's work in action," Dazai stated proudly.
Danny didn't have the energy to roll his eyes at the man's antics, he was still trying to calm his racing heartbeat.
"That was so cool! Can all Americans do that?" Kenji awed, now joining the rest of the group.
"Um excuse me?" A soft voice called out.
Danny smiled at the young girl. "You must be Kyouka, glad to finally meet you."
"Um thanks, are you the guest from America?"
He nodded. "Yep, my name is Danny."
"Dan-knee? Did I say it right?"
'Someone's a little socially challenged,' he thought with a chuckle.
"Yeah, you pretty much got it. And before I forget, Demon Snow would like for us to talk sometime," he smiled encouragingly.
"So she did speak?" Kunikida asked, bringing the attention back to Danny.
"Do all spirits speak?" Junichiro inquired.
The raven-haired teen rubbed his neck. "Not always, I was honestly surprised when Demon Snow did, she didn't seem like the type that could. She speaks fairly well considering the circumstances, but even if she didn't, the silent spirits communicate in different ways too."
"So how come we couldn't understand you?" Kyouka asked with a frown, her tone a little disappointed.
"That would be because they were speaking a dead language. Thus only those who have passed, are a spirit or are in tune with the spiritual realm can understand or speak it," The President answered.
"Wait, so Atsushi, could you understand them?" Kenji inquired with an excited smile.
Danny froze as he eyed the weretiger. 'Shit, I totally forgot that he could understand me!'
"Well, I couldn't really make out what Demon Snow was saying, I just got bits and pieces. Same thing with Danny too. I think they were talking too fast for me to really catch anything."
He internally let out a breath of relief. 'So maybe he didn't catch the name drop after all…'
"How interesting," Kunkida remarked out loud as he seemed to get lost in thought.
Fukuzawa cleared his throat. "Yes, well I think that's enough excitement for one morning, everyone, back to work, please. Danny, do you have time to meet me in my office?"
'Dammit.'
The teen steeled his expression as he nodded and sent an encouraging smile to Kyouka. "She does care deeply for you, sometimes it just requires a bit of patience to get to know someone," he offered.
The young girl thanked him quietly and walked over to join Atsushi. After that, everyone split up and got back to work.
The raven-haired teen walked over to the President's office and closed the door quietly behind him.
"What's up?"
"What happened?"
Danny stopped himself from wincing. 'Oh yeah, he definitely knows something.'
"You're going to have to be more specific, I've had an eventful morning," he stated with an amused and innocent tone.
"Last night."
'Shit.'
"Last night?"
Fukuzawa's eyebrow twitched. "I was told you seemed tired this morning and were kept up last night. What happened?" he demanded more than asked.
Danny decided to drop the innocent act as he rolled his eyes in irritation. "I can handle myself you know."
"I'm well aware. But I promised that I'd keep you safe and I intend to keep that promise. Whether you appreciate it or not."
The teen groaned and reluctantly told him about the events of the previous night with the visit from the Black Lizard.
"I see, and this was a threat?"
"A warning, not a threat. A threat is when you're given options. I wasn't given one, so it's a warning."
Fukuzawa's mind wandered to a particular detective but quickly brought himself back.
"Any ideas of what they could be after?"
Danny shrugged and crossed his arms. "I was going to ask you the same thing. Why would the Port Mafia want something they can't touch? Ghosts can't really be forced into doing stuff, and the only you could convince them to do something is to make them believe it's for their own interest."
"Perhaps they're using it as a lure."
The two turned to see Ranpo walk into the office.
The President sighed. "Knocking is preferred Ranpo, we've been over this."
"Yeah but I already knew what you two were talking about, so it's fine," the detective said waving him off.
"A lure is a good idea," Danny continued, ignoring the other's antics. "Use the vengeful ghost to try to gain the attention of the person you want. Fishing 101."
"Yeah except you're the fish," Ranpo reminded.
"Ugh, fine but I consider myself a blue tuna, at least they pay well," Danny groaned.
A lightbulb seemed to go off at the same time as Ranpo and Danny both looked at each other.
"The bounty?" Danny voiced unsurely.
"Nah, too cliché. Plus after you wiped the floor with them I'm pretty sure Fitzgerald wouldn't try that again."
"I don't know the guy is pretty persistent."
"I think they're just going with the 'want more power' cliché," Ranpo stated boredly.
"Oh, and that's less cliche than my idea?" Danny accused with a raised brow and crossed arms.
"No, it's probably more cliche and sounds like something Mori would definitely do. Thoughts boss?"
The two turned to the President who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in the same room as them.
He cleared his throat as he held his hands together on the desk. "Mori, as we know from last time, is well aware of your unique situation and may just be wanting more manpower. However, we have known the Port Mafia to sometimes kidnap ability users for their bounty, such as Atsushi in the past. I believe either theory is plausible. For now, let's focus on the case at hand and we will continue to have you be escorted. I think for extra safety, we should also start having someone stay with you at night, just until we finish solving this murder case."
Danny was about to object when the President's phone rang. The other quickly picked it up and waited. His expression turned stern and he thanked the person on the other end before hanging up.
"There's been another murder."
"Where?" Danny asked, shooting up from his seat with an angry expression.
"Only a few blocks east of here, we-"
Danny turned on his heel and made a beeline for the door.
"Daniel! Ranpo, go with him, grab-!"
He didn't hear the President finish as he quickly ran out of the office.