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Atsushi hated going to the Port Mafia's headquarters. 

He was always on edge whenever he came this way, even before he got onto the street where the building sat, and his nerves only got worse the closer he got. By the time he finally made his way to the front door and walked inside, his heart was usually prepared to jump out of his chest and run away. Far away. And honestly? He couldn't blame it. If he had the choice, Atsushi would probably run away with it. 

And the white-haired boy knew that he had nothing to worry about because of the cease-fire. Well, almost nothing. After all, it wasn't unheard of nowadays for an ADA member to come strolling into the Mafia base and vice-versa. In fact, he'd personally greeted Higuchi when she stopped by last week to drop off some information on the main suspect in a case he, Kyouka, and Tanizaki were working on! And she'd even stuck around afterward to get coffee with them at the cafe downstairs! Plus, it wasn't like this was Atsushi's first time in the mafia building. No, it was his fourth, which meant he'd already been here enough times for someone to kill him if they really wanted to. This line of thought didn't do much to comfort him though, because at this point he didn't think he'd ever be able to not be afraid every time he set foot in the Port Mafia's main building. 

At least all he had to do was drop off some papers and then he'd be able to book it all the way back to the agency.

As he walked through the door and started making his trek down the building's massive hallways, Atsushi could feel eyes drilling into the back of his head as Port Mafia members drifted through the halls around him. Luckily, he didn’t think that any (or at least not many) of the stares he was getting were malicious, but it still sent chills down his spine and made him want to turn tail and run, papers be damned. 

Atsushi traveled down a few halls like this, taking a few twists and turns until he was close to Hirotsu's office, where he'd be dropping off the papers currently held in his grasp- they were simple information that the agency had thought the man could use. A sort of thank you for the information the man had sent with Higuchi last week. 

The white-haired boy was almost at the man's office when he heard a voice followed by laughter. Turning the corner, he looked towards one side of the hall next to a window to find Kouyou talking to two women. One he recognized as Gin, and the other…

Wait a minute, who was that?

The woman standing between Gin and Kouyou had orange hair that fell down to her shoulders and was wearing a black dress with laced shoulders that went down to her just above her knees, gloves, and high-heeled shoes bringing it all together. Her arms were crossed in clear annoyance as she said something to the other two. 

Gin was the first of the three to notice him, her eyes whipping around to meet his own. At the black-haired girl’s fast movements, the new woman turned to look in his direction with blue eyes rimmed with black eyeliner and bright red lips. She narrowed her eyes for a moment before Kouyou said something to the other two, causing the mystery woman to nod and step back as Kouyou split away from the other two and made her way toward him. 

“Atsushi,” the executive said with a smile as she approached him. “To what do we owe the pleasure?” 

He blinked quickly, tearing his eyes away from the orange-haired woman to smile at her. “Oh- um- I’m just, uh, delivering some things to Hirotsu! He gave us some information last week that really helped us solve a case! The President said that we should return the favor and that you guys could probably use this information for something.” 

Kouyou raised an eyebrow, looking down at the papers in his hands before shrugging. “I think Gin mentioned something about giving you information. In fact, since she’s just over there, how about she leads you towards Hirotsu’s office?” 

“Oh that’s okay,” Atsushi began. “I’ve been here before, so-”

“No, I insist,” Kouyou said. She suddenly had a cold, threatening look in her eyes, causing him to remember all at once why she was an executive who was practically in charge of her own branch. “We don’t want you getting lost. Besides, we were just talking about an upcoming mission, and those are details that we were supposed to go over later anyhow. I’d rather wait to discuss something than have a weretiger walking around aimlessly.” 

“Uh- alright!” He exclaimed, standing stock-still as a chill went down his back and fear started to fill his heart. “I’d be happy to have her tag along!” 

“That’s good,” Kouyou said, smiling coyly at him before turning and walking over to where Gin and the mystery woman were standing. She said something, causing the two to turn and look at him before Gin shrugged, waving goodbye and walking towards him. The other two waved back at her, the mystery woman looking over her shoulder to wave at Atsushi. And, though he hated to admit it, he felt a blush rising on his cheeks when they made eye contact.

Why am I like this? He couldn’t help but think, mentally groaning. Gin shot him a look, raising an eyebrow before she turned and looked back at the other two women. She quickly seemed to realize what was going on, amusement shining in her eyes. She tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow as if prompting him to speak.

Come on, Gin was clearly saying. I just saw where you were looking. Cough it up. 

"I- I wasn't looking at anything! I just haven't seen that girl before!" He exclaimed, waving his hands around as he felt his face turn red. "Though, uh, what's her name? In case we have to work on a mission together in the future! I mean, she must be new here, right? Like she's from some other part of the Port Mafia or something?" 

Gin nearly shrugged, and though he couldn't see underneath the girl's mask Atsushi was almost positive that she was smirking. She could tell that he'd thought the orange-haired woman was pretty, and she wasn't going to just let it go. He could only pray that she didn't tell her brother about this, Atsushi realized in horror. Akutagawa already made fun of him and shot him down at every chance he got, the white-haired boy didn't need to give the other more things to snap at him over. 

"Wait wait wait- please don't tell your brother about this! I'll do anything you want! He doesn't need to know that I asked about that woman, right? Right" 

The black-haired girl huffed, rolling her eyes and waving a dismissive hand at him. Don't worry, she appeared to say. I won't tell him. 

"Thank you so much!" Atsushi exclaimed, bowing down almost as low as he could go. When he looked up, Gin was blushing and shaking her head. After a few moments in which he tried to once again apologize, the assassin turned on her heels and practically stormed down the hallway, causing him to let out a squeak of surprise and race after her in an attempt to keep up. Since when was she so fast anyway?! 

It was only a few minutes later that the two reached Hirotsu's office, Atsushi having not said a word since. Gin opened the man's door, stepping to the side for him to enter before entering herself and closing the door behind them. Hirotsu himself was sitting behind his desk, a small pile of papers off to the side. At the sound of the two entering, he looked up and raised an eyebrow. 

"Ah, the agency's weretiger. What are you doing here? And Gin, why are you with him? I thought that you were having a meeting with Kouyou and-" 

The girl nodded vigorously, effectively shutting down the other man. And just as I was about to figure out the woman's name, Atsushi thought in his mind with a sigh. Honestly, he didn't even know why he wanted to know her name so badly. Yes, she was pretty, and the dress had looked good on her along with the makeup, and- 

He shook his head, quickly ridding himself of the picture of the woman. He needed to focus. 

"Oh! I'm just here to drop off some papers as a kind of thanks for the information that you gave us last week! The President said that you would be happy to have it and it may help you with something!" 

Hirotsu paused for a moment, staring at him before the man stood up and looped around his desk to stand in front of him. "Well, tell him that I say thank you," the older man said. "I'll have to confirm that what's in it is true and not some trick to throw us off a trail, but if it's legit then I'll make sure to keep up a steady trade of information for information as the need for it arises. You can tell him that, and I'll let Mori know about this later on. Oh, and Gin," the man said. "After you escort Atsushi to the exit you can go back to Kouyou and finish clearing things up for your next mission. And by the way, is Chuuya back from his mission yet? I heard that he was supposed to return yesterday but something came up." 

The assassin nodded in reply. "Well, that's good. I talked to Kouyou only a few hours ago and he was still gone, so I’m assuming that he just got back recently?" Another nod. Atsushi looked between the two, watching as Hirotsu walked back around to the other side of his desk, setting the papers to the side before waving them off. "I'll have to go say hello later then. Perhaps after he settles in. I know that it takes a while to get changed and settled in after a mission like his, at least if he and Kouyou have anything to say about it." 

Confused, Atsushi just stood there, tilting his head to the side. He wanted to ask exactly what the other man meant, but figured that he may be crossing the line if it had something to do with a mission. After all, while the relationship between the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency was decent, they were still technically enemies and hid far more information from each other than they shared. 

Soon after, Gin led him back down the hall and towards the building’s entrance. The assassin didn’t say anything the rest of the way (well, to be fair, Atsushi had maybe heard her speak once throughout the entire time that they’d known each other- but still, his point stood), and soon he was waving goodbye to her and making his way down the street back to the agency. Through it all, he forgot about the mysterious, new orange-haired woman, quickly getting wrapped up in the usual chaos. 

Or, well, he forgot about her for the moment.

_____

It was one week later that a meeting was called between the Agency and Port Mafia. Apparently, there was a new gang made up purely of ability users forming just outside of the Port Mafia’s territory. Said gang had been responsible for six bank heists, drug smuggling, kidnapping, the murder of eleven police officers and nine citizens, as well as a jailbreak after one of their members was arrested. They'd tried to do a second one, but that had just ended in failure. 

Since the gang (who’d chosen to call themselves the Poison Crows) wasn’t technically in Port Mafia territory, there was little that they could do about it without catching the attention of other less-than-legal organizations, even though it was clear to almost everyone that the Poison Crows were taunting them and planned to start intruding on their territory once they got big enough. So, they’d turned towards the Agency. After all, Mori didn’t necessarily care how the gang was taken out, just as long as they weren’t going to be an issue anytime soon. So, for now, they’d let the Agency handle it legally. 

Legally or not though, there was one problem- getting close to the higher-ups of the gang, of which there were five. 

Atsushi was currently sitting next to Kunikida and watching as the President talked to Mori about the upcoming team-up. Apparently, while the gang currently wasn’t very strong, they had the possibility to become extremely dangerous and, if left to their own devices, could cause a lot of problems for both sides.

“All I’m saying is that we’ve dealt with situations like this before, and it’s necessary to approach this from a more… Undercover angle,” Mori said, smiling and leaning forward on the table. “It’s not uncommon knowledge in the ability portion of the criminal world that the Poison Crows like to throw large, over-the-top parties in order to secretly recruit more ability users. All we have to do is choose the right person or people to send in and get the job done.”

“That leaves a lot of room for risk that we could avoid though!” Kunikida spoke up from the President’s left side. “Between the two of us we have the manpower and abilities to walk in and take them out directly. Skirting around everything and only focusing on a select few with the idea that the others will crumble as soon as those few get taken out isn’t nearly as efficient, and more people could be hurt as a result.”

At that point, the President reached out and placed a hand on Kunikida’s shoulder. “I agree with Kunikida,” the man said. “However, I also want to hear what you have to say. From what I’ve been told,” his eyes drifted across the room to where Dazai was sitting, “you’ve organized and carried out quite a few successful undercover missions before. Even a few that are similar to the situation we currently find ourselves in.” 

Atsushi found his own eyes drifting to, just in time to see a mischievous smirk slip onto his mentor’s face. Well that’s never a good thing, he couldn’t help but think. He’d seen it enough times to know that nothing ever good followed that look. Then, to make the whole situation even more damning, the brown-haired man turned his gaze towards a certain orange-haired executive- whose eyes had immediately locked onto Dazai’s as well. 

“Don’t even fucking think about it,” Chuuya spat. “I refuse to be your automatic go-to. We haven’t even decided what kind of undercover mission we want to do yet!” 

“Aw, but Chuuya!” Dazai whined. “We at least need to have it as an option, right?” 

“No, we don’t.”

Atsushi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, and when he turned to look at the other Agency members who were there they also seemed confused. Well, everyone but the President and Ranpo, but that didn’t really surprise him at all. 

Across the table, Mori smiled and shot the orange-haired man a similar smile. “Well, we won’t have you as our go-to option, but if you’re still willing to be involved then I would like to keep you on the table.” 

Chuuya glared at Dazai, then turned and looked at his boss with what could only be described as defeat. “Fine,” he said. “It’s an option. Just- if we end up going with it and he absolutely has to be there I refuse to work alongside shitty Dazai like I used to, okay? I already had to put up with enough of that shit over the years, and the times that I’ve done this without him whining and laughing in my ear have been almost peaceful. I’d like to keep it that way.” 

“Wait, you’ve gone undercover without me!?” Dazai exclaimed in mock shock, putting a hand to his chest and falling backward in his seat. “But I thought I was the only one for you! We were perfect together! Did you go on them with someone else? Who was it? I need to talk to him for trying to steal you away from me!” 

“Oh shut up,” Chuuya spat. “I don’t need you specifically for those kinds of missions. You only went with me specifically because we were already partners. Besides, I’m not going to sit around on my ass and not be useful just because you decided to fuck off for four years. In case you never noticed, I’m good at this shit.”

Atsushi’s eyes shot between the two men as they focused on one another, Chuuya visibly becoming angrier by the second while Dazai slowly seemed to be becoming happier, most likely because the other was getting so visibly ticked off. Oh god, he couldn’t help but think. If we don’t wrap things up in the next few minutes then this is going to get ugly fast.

“Well,” the President suddenly said, probably picking up on the impending fight, “we’ll think about it some more, and I’ll have Kunikida and Ranpo look into some of the main leaders. When is the next party that the Poison Crows will be throwing?”

“That should be in three weeks' time, on the 28th of this month,” Kyouyo spoke up from her place next to Mori. “It’s basic information that the leaders of this group are… Womanizers. Or they at least like to think of themselves as such, which is something that we might be able to use to our advantage if we want to go down that route.” 

As she spoke, for some reason the executive shot Chuuya a look out of the corner of her eye. The orange-haired man huffed and rolled his eyes, refusing to make eye contact as a giddy smile spread across Dazai’s face. Atsushi was quickly getting the feeling that there was something else going on, but he couldn’t decide if he wanted to know what it was or not. With the excitement that Dazai had been showing over the course of the last few minutes though, he was leaning more towards not wanting to. 

As the meeting came to an end and both sides got up to leave, he saw Dazai shooting Chuuya mischievous smiles that the other was desperately trying to ignore. Slowly, Atsushi slunk over to where his mentor was standing. If he could possibly distract him enough to stop a fight from breaking out between the two ex-partners then he would try his hardest. 

“So, Dazai,” he began, conveniently slipping into the other’s field of vision just enough to block his view of Chuuya, “I forgot to ask earlier, but weren’t you talking about some new suicide method that you found in a new book you got this morning? I’m sorry but I forgot the details about it, could you tell me again?” 

There was a pause, and Atsushi watched in anticipation as the brown-haired man’s eyes flitted towards Chuuya one last time before he luckily turned towards him and smiled brightly, nodding.

“Oh I was! Wow, Atsushi, I didn’t know that you were listening so closely! I’m happy to go over the details again if you want to know, and I can even tell you about some of the other methods that I read about too! And while I’m at it, why not tell you about the beautiful woman that I met this morning on my way to the Agency!” 

He couldn’t help but let out an internal sigh of relief as his mentor seemingly let himself get wrapped up in conversation and slowly followed him when he turned to follow Kunikida and leave the room. As the two of them walked away, Atsushi shot a look in the Port Mafia’s direction and saw that Chuuya was wrapped up in a conversation with Kouyou- so much so that neither had appeared to hear the start of Dazai's little rant. He looked mildly annoyed, arms crossed and eyes narrowed as the woman laughed and said something. For some reason, the way that he stood seemed familiar, almost like he’d seen someone else do the exact same pose before… It was odd, but not something that he was going to put a lot of thought into. 

After all, why should he? Plenty of people stood like that. Besides, if he couldn’t remember who he’d seen mimicking the exact way the executive was standing they mustn’t have been too important. Just important enough to put the thought in his head, but that was it. Besides, there were more important things to focus on at the moment. Things like figuring out a game plan for how they were going to sneak into the Poison Crow’s party and get the information that they needed without making a scene. 

Besides, he might never see the mystery person from his memory again, so why bother?

_____

The next week and a half passed without much happening. Ranpo did some investigating (which took all of one hour) and found out that three of the top five members in the gang would be there- their leader, the second in command, and, most importantly, the group’s main information specialist. In other words, the man who would be able to tell them everything they needed and possibly knew more about some details than the boss did- or details on things that the boss didn’t even know about.

No, as long as they were able to capture that man in particular, the night would be considered a success. 

Just a week before the party was set, the Port Mafia called another meeting, this time to go over the plan that they’d created and give the Agency an opportunity for input. Just like last time, Mori himself, the two executives Chuuya and Kouyou, as well as a few select members from the Black Lizards showed up at the Agency and were all herded into the building’s main meeting room. Atsushi took his regular spot next to Kunikida and looked across the table towards where Gin was sitting next to Tachihara. Honestly, he was a bit surprised that Akutagawa hadn’t come. 

“Alright!” Mori began with a clap of his hands and a smile on his face that made Atsushi uneasy. “So, after much discussion, we’ve formed what we think is the perfect plan- we just need you to agree with it and choose who you wish to send in!” 

“Yes, we know,” the President said, arms crossed. “If you wouldn’t mind I’d appreciate you getting straight to the point. We only have a few days to prepare and I’d like to be as ready as possible before any more innocent lives are taken.”

“Of course, of course,” the mafia boss said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “Now, as I’m sure that some of you are aware,” his eyes flitted towards Dazai and Kyouka, “we’re known for our ability to go undercover and infiltrate our opponents in order to do whatever it is we need to do. So, I would like to use that tactic here. Now, Fukuzawa, didn’t one of your workers find out important details about the men who will be there?”

“Yep!” Ranpo spoke up, waving a hand in the air. “They have quite a few ability users, but most of them aren’t very well suited for battle. They have a lot of members overall though, and that’s the only reason that they’re even so high up on the danger list in the first place. When it comes down to it the boss and his second in command are a bit stupid, so the only one we’d have to worry about catching on to us would be the information specialist!” 

“Good,” Mori said with a smirk. “And I’m assuming that this means the boss and his second in command will be easy to deceive and most willing to let their guard down?” Ranpo nodded. “Wonderful. Then I’ve decided on what plan I think we should do, though you already knew that I’d be proposing that one before we even walked into the building, didn’t you oh great detective?” 

Ranpo nodded, smiling at the Port Mafia boss. “Sending in a distraction of that kind is simply the best way to go about it. The first two are flat-out stupid, and if they think they’re wooing a pretty woman they won’t give us the time of day if we’re acting a little bit suspicious. The second we distract the information specialist I would say that there’s nothing to worry about.” 

Wait what? 

Atsushi couldn’t help but freeze for a moment, shock shooting through him. If Ranpo was implying what he thought he was implying… Were they going to send a woman in to distract the three men while the Agency did what it needed to do? That made him a bit uncomfortable. After all, what if the three men were creeps who didn’t know how to keep their hands to themselves? What if they tried to pressure whoever they were sending in to do something… He didn’t even want to keep that train of thought going.

Shooting a look around the room, he observed everyone else’s reactions. Across the table, Mori was wearing his usual scheming smile, and Kouyou looked amused, almost like she was holding back a laugh, as was Horitsu. Behind her stood Tachihara, who was blushing bright red and looking at the floor while Higushi and Gin almost looked bored. The last Port Mafia member present, Chuuya, shared a similar look apart from slight annoyance as the man glared across the table to where, for some reason, Dazai looked overjoyed. 

All in all, no one in the Port Mafia seemed worried, shocked, or like this was even something out of the ordinary. Though, he guessed that if they were known for successful undercover missions that was to be expected. However, given some of the reactions, it was almost like they already knew who would be going undercover. Though, again, the weretiger guessed that that was to be expected. Maybe the woman they chose had already done some undercover missions and would be the best match for this one? 

Yeah, duh, that made sense. If they were going to come up with the mission, why not have someone from their side be sent in as a distraction, and why not know who that person was going to be? 

Besides, he didn’t think that the President would allow any of the women from the Agency to be sent in. First off, Kyouka was fourteen. Secondly, though he didn’t mean it in a bad way, he doubted that Yasono would be the kind of distraction that the Port Mafia had in mind. No, she’d probably just scare the men off. Definitely not ideal if the Agency wanted them to be captured for arrest. 

On the ADA’s side of the table, besides Dazai’s look of frankly concerning happiness and Ranpo’s knowing smile, for the most part everyone seemed to mirror his own shocked expression. Even the President. Except for Kyouka, he realized after a moment. No, the girl didn’t look shocked or confused, but instead bored. So she’d been expecting something like this? He guessed he shouldn’t be surprised, given her past as an assassin for the Port Mafia, but he still was. 

“So,” Fukuzawa said after a moment, “If I’m understanding what you and Ranpo are saying, the plan is to send in a woman and have her seduce the men until we can do what we need to do?” 

“Bingo!” Mori said. “And before you say anything, we already have someone chosen to send in. She’s done this several times before, and is strong enough to hold her own should the need arise. I can assure you that the men will be properly distracted, so you should be free to roam around as you see fit.” 

Dazai let out a verbal laugh at that. “Is it who I think it is?” He asked, sounding like a kid on Christmas morning, which was, again, worrying. “It has to be, right? I mean, the woman that I’m thinking of would be amazing for this kind of mission! And I’ll be there, so it would just make sense!” 

“Oh shut up!” Chuuya suddenly spat from across the table. “Who said anything about you going? Knowing your dumb ass you’d mess up the entire mission and give us all away!” 

“But I’m amazing at undercover missions like this, chibi! You know that more than anyone, considering we did some together back in the day! You should have more faith in me, you did back then!” 

Mori held up a hand then, essentially silencing the two. “You two bring up a good point,” he said. “I’m only going to be sending in a few people- that is to say, the people that I’ve brought with me today, apart from myself and Kouyou. Hirotsu has been the getaway driver for these types of missions before, so he’ll play that part again. Gin is going to be outside observing the party and making sure none of the three men leave. Chuuya, Tachihara, and Higushi will be sent in to act as guests. Tachihara and Higushi will be playing the part of a couple and interacting with the other guests. That way, we should be able to gather more information and have back up at the ready just in case.” 

Atsushi watched as the President paused for a moment before nodding. The older man opened his mouth and was about to say something when suddenly-

“And what about the woman? Is she included in that?” Kunikida interrupted from Atsushi’s right, echoing the thoughts that had been going through his own head. “It would be nice to know who she is beforehand.”

“Oh, the woman will be there,” Mori said, tilting his head and smiling. “Trust me, she will be. Whoever ends up going on this mission from the Agency’s side of things will get to meet her before everyone heads to the party.” 

Something about the way that Mori said that, as well as how he and Dazai had said she and woman was setting off multiple alarm bells in the back of his mind, though Atsushi couldn’t figure out why. Mori was just talking about the specific woman who was going to help them on the mission, and Dazai just knew who it was going to be. Sure, the way that they’d spoken about this mystery woman sounded weird, but there wasn’t any flat-out reason for him to be thrown off by it or suspicious.

The Agency’s president was silent for a moment before speaking. “I’ll have to think things over, but I’ll let you know who will be working on behalf of the Agency before the party. In the meantime, your plan makes sense and we’re willing to go along with it. Now, with a plan sorted out I believe that this meeting is over. We’ll see you again in ten days' time.” 

The mafia boss smiled, nodding his head. “We’ll be happy to see you then.”

As the mafia members all got up and made their way out of the building, Atsushi couldn’t help but be surprised that both sides, who were by all means supposed to be sworn enemies, were working together to take down a group that could easily become extremely powerful if given the chance. Granted, the only reason that both sides had teamed up was that the mafia had something to gain from them being gone, but still. It was something that he’d probably never get used to. 

After the mafia members had all left, the Agency made their way back towards the office, Ranpo quickly splitting off from the group to follow Fukuzawa into his office, probably to help determine who should go on the undercover mission. 

I wonder who’s going to go undercover, he couldn’t help but think. I guess we’ll just have to see. At least it won’t be me, right? That would be ridiculous. 

_____

Almost like the gods hated him, Atsushi was one of the Agency members chosen to go on the mission- and one of the three who were going inside the building. 

With him was Kunikida, who’d been chosen because his ability made it so that they wouldn’t technically be going in unarmed, and Dazai, who’d been chosen for two reasons. A), because they were going into a hornets' nest of ability users, and B) because he’d apparently done multiple undercover missions similar to this one as part of Double Black. 

Atsushi himself had apparently been chosen because of his great hearing and eyesight. In the President’s words:

“I was going over some of the plans with Nakahara, who will be leading the mission, and he said that your great hearing is going to be essential in carrying this out. Personally, I’d also like you to collect as much information as you can on all of the targets; the more information we gather the easier it will be for them to be prosecuted.”

Sure, he knew that the President was a smart man and knew what he was talking about, but still. Did he really have to go? Couldn’t he just stay at the office or go back to his dorm and wait to hear what happened tomorrow morning like everyone else in the Agency was? Surely there was someone in the Port Mafia who had hearing like his, right? Right? God, he wished there was.

Currently, the three of them were being driven towards a mafia-owned building three blocks away from the party, where they were supposed to meet up with the others and work out some final details. It was also the place where they’d finally be meeting the final member of their little Port Mafia-ADA ensemble: the woman who’d be distracting the three higher-ups while the rest of them gathered information. 

And see her he did, because as soon as they pulled up Atsushi’s attention was caught by a woman with orange hair that fell down to her shoulders wearing a bright red dress with loose shoulder straps that hugged her waist before bellowing out, the back of the dress falling to knees with the front making it halfway down her thighs. 

She was talking to Hirotsu, arms crossed in a familiar way and… Wait, she was wearing gloves that went halfway up her forearms and black heels paired with matching eyeliner, making her look a lot like a certain woman he’d seen at the mafia headquarters a few months back- one that he’d completely forgotten about until now.

Was she the woman he’d seen with Kouyou and Gin the last time he came to give those papers to Hirotsu!?

“We’re going to go park the car,” Kunikida said, interrupting his thoughts. “Atsushi, get out and go tell them that we’re here. Also, introduce us to the woman and let her know what’s going on if the Port Mafia hasn’t already.” For some reason that got Dazai to laugh, causing Kunikida to shoot him a confused yet exasperated look. Atsushi nodded, getting out of the car and turning towards where the mafia members were waiting.

The woman seemed to hear him getting out of the car, because she stopped talking to the man in front of her, turned towards them, and yep, that was definitely the same woman. 

Atsushi shyly raised a hand, waving as he walked over. “Um, hello!” He said, immediately going up to her. “My name’s Atsushi! I don’t think we’ve met before, but I remember seeing you the last time I went to the Port Mafia headquarters! I’m excited to work with you tonight!” He finished with a bow, being met with silence for a few seconds before some of the Port Mafia members began snickering. 

“You don’t have to bow,” the woman eventually said, her voice light and flowy. Atushi shot up, face bright red with embarrassment as his eyes met hers- a beautiful blue now that he saw them up close, almost like the ocean or a clear sky. Said blue eyes were filled with amusement, though he didn’t know at what- wait, had he embarrassed himself that much!? Great, now she probably thought that he was an idiot or something! 

Wait, honestly, why did he care so much?! He’d met plenty of other people before and left far worse first impressions, so why did her first impression of him matter this much? Sure, she was pretty, really pretty, and he could tell why she was going to be their distraction tonight, but-

“I-I’m sorry!” He eventually stuttered out. “I just figured since you’re going to be playing such a big part in this mission tonight I should show some respect!” 

“I told you it’s okay,” she replied, and this time something in her tone rang as familiar, though he couldn’t place what exactly it was. “Thanks for the compliment, though,” she added, batting her eyes. “I’m looking forward to working with you later as well. You’re the one who’s going to be listening in on what I’m saying to the three targets, right?” 

Atsushi opened his mouth when suddenly Dazai and Kunikida members rounded the corner, Dazai at the front waving a hand back and forth eagerly as he yelled at the top of his lungs:

“Hello, everyone! I see that the chibi is looking just as ugly as ever tonight!” 

Atsushi had about half a second to be confused and realize that he hadn’t seen Chuuya at all yet, so who was Dazai calling out to, when the gorgeous woman with the light, sweet voice and air of grace in front of him vanished. 

“Who the hell are you calling chibi you stupid mackerel?!” She shouted at the top of her lungs, whipping around and immediately losing her calm collection and delicacy as her voice dropped several octaves. “Moreover, why the fuck are you here? I thought we all agreed that I wouldn’t have to put up with your shit if I went along with this!” 

“Now now, Chuuya!” Dazai exclaimed as he walked up to where they were standing, smiling at the woman (no, man, definitely man). “Even if you’re wearing heels we all know that you’re a chibi, there’s no changing that. Never has been and never will be! Now, I noticed that you didn’t fight back and say that you weren’t ugly! Does that mean that you’ve finally accepted it?” 

“Oh shut the fuck up,” Chuuya responded, rolling his eyes. “I can’t focus on all the bullshit that comes out of your mouth, we’d all be here for hours if I did. Besides, we wouldn’t all be here if I was ugly, now would we? Actually,” blue eyes shot towards him, “just ask your new student! He looked head over heels for me just a second ago!” 

“What?! Atsushi, is that true? Did the slug trick you into falling for his bad looks?!” 

Atsushi didn’t reply, couldn’t. So the woman that he’d seen back then who he couldn’t help but stare at, the woman who he’d just approached and become a blushing mess over, was… Was… She was… She was actually a he, and he was Nakahara Chuuya. The same Nakahara Chuuya who could probably destroy half of the city in the blink of an eye if he so wanted. The same Nakahara Chuuya who was a Port Mafia executive. 

Again, it was almost like the gods hated him.

“Shit, I think I broke him,” Chuuya said, waving a hand in front of his face and looking mildly concerned. “Hey, weretiger. Sorry if I broke your brain, It was just too tempting so I had to mess with you a little when I realized you didn’t recognize me. Just… Uh, just think of it like me showing you how I open when I talk to my targets. Does that make it better?” 

Taking a deep breath, Atsushi finally looked up and met the other’s eyes. If he had felt embarrassed before, he wanted the ground to swallow him whole now. Looking the other man over, he internally groaned. Chuuya was still attractive, he guessed that that was the point after all, but knowing that one of the prettiest women he’d seen in a while was actually Nakahara Chuuya made all interest vanish immediately. 

“Yeah, sure, I guess that helps,” he managed to choke out after a few seconds. “Can we just forget that ever happened though? Please?” 

“Of course,” the orange-haired man replied, amusement still swimming in his eyes. “Well, I promise that I will at least. Don’t know about this asshole though,” he added on. “Speaking of, stop doing that asshole,” Chuuya hissed, shooting Dazai a glare before sharply elbowing him in the gut to shake off the other man who’d been trying to loop an arm around his waist and was slowly starting to pull him closer. 

Dazai looked like he was going to say something back when, thankfully, Kunikida cleared his throat and spoke up. He looked slightly red in the face and took a shaky breath before starting to speak.

“All of that aside,” he began as if Atsushi hadn’t just gone through a crisis, “we should work through the finer details and solidify which parts all of us are playing. While I am, uh, shocked as well to see that Chuuya will be the one distracting our targets, we are on a strict schedule and shouldn’t waste time talking.” 

Wait a minute, the white-haired boy couldn’t help but notice, he’s blushing, and he stuttered when he said he was surprised to see Chuuya. And he sounded a bit disappointed when he said that too. Does that mean-

“ Kunikida!” Dazai exclaimed with a dramatic gasp. “Don’t tell me that you fell for Chuuya’s measly looks as well! This is shocking! And you even sounded disappointed! Why, were you hoping to make a move on the hatrack? But wait, what about your criteria for finding the ideal woman?! You hadn’t even talked to him yet, or were you going to betray those for something as shallow as looks?!”

“Criteria?” Chuuya asked, raising an eyebrow before slapping Dazai as the man once again tried to pull him closer. “What criteria? You have a list of criteria for finding an ideal woman? Wait, how many of them did I meet? Now I’m curious.” 

“It- it doesn’t matter how many you met if you met any in the first place! Now, we need to stay on track so this mission can be done as efficiently as possible. Members of the Port Mafia, what are the things that you feel like we should go over?”

“I’m the one in charge of this little mission thank you very much, so you should be asking me,” Chuuya said, raising a gloved hand. “But the second person is Hirotsu, so if you have a question and I can’t answer it for whatever reason  just ask him.”

“Anyhow, the plan is to have Hirotsu drive me in first and drop me off right in front of the building so more people will see me arrive. I’ll get out of the car and go inside, mingle with the other guests for a bit and then track down our main targets,” he said as he turned towards Kunkida. “Speaking of which, who do you want me to go after first? I’m assuming it’s either the Boss or his informant.” 

Kunikida nodded. “If you could go after the informant that would be great. As we discussed earlier, the plan is to separate the information specialist away from the other two and towards the garden out back, where we can arrest him without the other two realizing it. However, it could be possible for us to separate him if you were distracting the other two, though that may be riskier. That’ll be if he’s even with them in the first place since, while he seems to go to these parties often, our reports have shown that he’s more likely to hold back and stay on his own.” 

Chuuya shrugged his shoulders. “We’ll see what the better option is as we go. Believe me, over the years I’ve learned that going into a situation like this and expecting everything to go as you planned is a bad idea. Sometimes you catch the eye of the wrong man, or they don’t want to leave with you. I’ll try to go with either of those plans, but don’t be surprised if I come up with my own on the spot.”

A nod. 

“Now,” Chuuya continued. “After I got there, Hirotsu will come back around to pick up Tachihara and Higushi- he’ll be dropping them off at the street corner. Meanwhile, Gin will be moving there on foot to avoid detection. Do you guys want him to do the same for you? It would make things easier, and I’ll warn you now that anything you bring besides weapons tends to be left behind if we run into trouble.”

“Wait,” Atsushi said. “Won’t he be recognized if he drops you off at the entrance and then comes back two more times? Even if he doesn’t pull up all the way surely people will recognize him or the car.” 

Hirotsu laughed from where he stood on the other side of the room. “Trust me, I’ve done enough of these to realize that people don’t pay attention to the car or the person who’s driving it- especially if someone eye-catching steps out of it. I could probably pull up directly to the front again and no one would notice.”

“Clever,” Kunikdia said. “Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say that the drive over would be nice, and we can just leave our car here.” Hirotsu nodded across from him. “That should be easy enough,” he said.

“Perfect,” Chuuya said. “Anyhow, once we get there I want all of you to be on the ground collecting information. I don’t care if it’s about our targets, the gang, or even some unrelated illegal shit, you remember it. Weretiger,” he turned to Atsushi, and immediately the Agency member felt fear shoot through him; “I want you to stay in my general vicinity and keep both an ear and an eye on me. Kunikida, you should be with him. Did you bring a page from your notebook like I told the President to tell you?” The blond-haired man nodded. “Great. I want you to create a smoke grenade when Atsushi hears me leading the man- or men- away. He’ll tell you and then a minute later I want you to activate it to confuse the other guests and book it towards the back door out to the garden. 

“And Atsushi,” he continued, “if you hear me say that I’m headed to the bathroom that means that you all need to make your way out of the building as soon as you can because something’s gone wrong. You and Kunikida should stick together, but I’ll also need you to tell the others as soon as you can. I’ll be fine, so just focus on getting yourselves out.” 

“Oh, oh, and what about me Chuuya?” Dazai asked, perking up from where he had finally managed to wrap himself around the mafioso and pull him into his chest without getting punted into next year by some miracle. Didn’t these two hate each other? “What part will I be playing?” 

How the bandaged man managed to get someone who apparently loathed him to let themselves be wrapped up in his grasp and act like what was going on was as natural as breathing, Atsushi didn’t know- almost didn’t want to know as he turned and saw some of the long-term mafia members not even blinking at the display. Almost like this kind of thing was normal for the two. Because knowing opened a door the weretiger didn’t feel like even approaching- ignorance was bliss and all that. 

“I don’t really have a specific plan for you, since I know you can’t follow a plan to save your life anyhow. Just stay the hell away from me and you can do whatever you want as long as it’s useful. Besides, you know how these things work so I don’t think you need much direction in the first place. For some god-awful reason I trust that you’ll do something actually helpful.”

“Aw, the slug has so much faith in me! He’s always so nice when he dresses like a girl on these missions, he should do this more often!” 

“Shut the fuck up shitty Dazai. No matter how much I trust you if it was up to me you wouldn’t be here in the first place. Honestly, you’re pushing your luck by even being in the same vicinity as me,” the orange-haired man spat. “Actually, let me go,” he said a second later and finally, finally, pushing himself out of the taller man’s grasp, immediately lessening Atsushi’s headache. It was almost like the man just realized the irony of the situation. “You’re going to mess up my disguise. Unlike you, I actually put in some effort for this mission and care about what I look like."

“Whaaat?” Dazai whined. “But Chuuya, you love it when I hold you like that, right? Right?” 

“No, I don’t; you’re disgusting. Now stop whining and let’s go.” 

Atsushi watched as the Port Mafia executive walked over to his subordinates and began giving directions, pointedly ignoring the whining man behind him with what appeared to be practiced easy. He guessed that they’d been partners for… What had Dazai said before? Three years? Before the brown-haired man left, so Chuuya was probably an expert at this point. Especially if the two had done several month-long missions before like his mentor had mentioned one time when Kunikida was yelling at him about taking too long on a case. 

Kunikida had promptly yelled back that the only reason those were so long was that they were in-depth missions and not something as simple as retrieving a stolen item from an ability user who had the ability to frame other people for ‘smaller’ crimes such as that. Of course, even though the blond-haired man had been making a fair and reasonable point, Dazai had simply brushed it off and gone back to dragging his feet on the case.

Needless to say, in the end it’d been Atsushi who’d been forced to retrieve the stolen item.

Before he knew it, the mafia members were already in their places and Hirotsu had brought the (admittedly luxurious) limo around to the front, waiting as Chuuya checked his hair and makeup one last time before giving a few final orders and slipping in through the side door. And, with that, the red-haired man was gone.

As he watched the car door shut and the vehicle started to roll away, Atsushi couldn’t help but turn back to the mafia members and feel slightly shocked at how casually they’d reacted to the car. Even Dazai hadn’t so much as blinked at the car! How common were these luxurious limbos in the Port Mafia? The Armed Detective Agency certainly didn’t have anything like that, and he was willing to bet that they never would. Hell, his pay was already small enough, there was no way he’d ever be able to relax in a limo like that on the regular. 

So he’d just have to take advantage of the fancy vehicle as best he could. 

Twenty minutes later Hirotsu returned stepping out of the car and walking over to them. “Chuuya got in without a hitch,” the man said, “and as I left I already saw a man standing outside the building and eyeing him up. Now all that’s left is to get the rest of you there and the rest of our plan should hopefully go off without a hitch. Tachihara, Higushi, it’s your turn. I’ll be back for the rest of you,” he turned his gaze back towards Kunikida, him, and Dazai, “soon after. Gin, Yasano, I believe that you two should start heading over now. It’ll take a bit longer to get there on foot.” 

The two nodded at that and moved towards the door, vanishing through it and into the night. 

The remaining Port Mafia members vanished into the car, and, just as he said, it wasn’t long before Hirtosu returned. Dazai moved towards the car like it was natural, opening the door and slipping in before motioning for Atsushi and Kunikida to do the same, the weretiger realizing that neither of them had moved from their spot.

“Come on, you two!” Dazai shouted, the smile on his face saying that he knew both of them were practically aw-struck by not only the sheer fanciness of the limo (it was nice even when Atushi compared it to other limos that he’d seen over the years) but the fact that the normally-bandage-covered man was being so casual about it.

From that thought, Atushi was sent down a rabbit hole of wondering if the reason Dazai was used to this level of class was because of other undercover missions he’d done over the years or if the Port Mafia paid him well enough that this was something he could simply afford. After all, even though he didn’t know him that well, Atsushi could tell with one glance that Chuuya probably made more money in a month than half of the Agency put together- surely Dazai had been making a similar salary before he left, right? So why was the man sleeping in the Agency dorms of all places?! Not to complain about it, but if Atsushi had the money to live somewhere fancy…

The two of them slipped into the car, sitting in silence for a bit before Dazai suddenly perked up next to him, smiling and clapping his hands.

“Alright!” The brown-haired man said. “So neither of you have been on an undercover mission before, right? Wait, don’t answer that Atsushi, I already know you haven’t.”

He was wearing the kind of smile that screamed danger, and Atsushi didn’t know if he should feel offended or afraid. A quick look to the other side of the car he saw Kunikida tense. They’d only been in the car for a little over two minutes and the man was already on high alert. Then again, he guessed that that was Dazai for you.

“Correct…” The blond-haired man said slowly, narrowing his eyes.

“Well,” Dazai said with a clap of his hands. “You heard Chuuya say that the two of us have done a lot of missions before, right? So I know a thing or two about this and I want to give you both some pointers!” 

“Really?” Atsushi asked, hesitant. There was a good chance that Dazai was just being Dazai, and that whatever he was about to say wasn’t going to be useful at all. But, if there was the chance to get at least one decent bit of advice then he was willing to listen. “I guess if you have some advice that you could give us…”

“Really!” Dazai chirped, “what do you say, Kunikida? Do you want to listen to some of my advice too?” 

The other man looked frustrated, eyes narrowed and tapping a foot. “Fine,” he spat after a moment. “But this better be good information. This is a serious mission, so don’t mess around or tell us something that would do more harm than good.” 

“Perfect!” He said, smiling. “How about I tell you about some of the most effective tactics Chuuya and I would use on these missions back in the day? You can even check with the slug if you think I’m lying about this, though I don’t know why you would ever think that.” 

“Of course,” Atsushi couldn’t help but mutter to himself. “I don’t know why we wouldn’t trust you at all.” 

“Why thank you for saying that, Atsushi! But anyhow, on to our main and most effective strategy!” 

“So, you know how the chibi is dressed up as a pretty woman tonight?” Atsushi and Kunikida hesitantly nodded. “Well, he’s been doing that for years now! Since just before we turned seventeen, really. And since he’s so good at playing the part of the pretty girl that’s what he’s always done. When it was the two of us working together, the two of us would either act all lovey-dovey with each other, I’d be a jealous lover, or sometimes I’d just be someone that was there while the slug did the seducing.”

"You and Chuuya pretended to be together?" Atsushi couldn't help but ask, eyes widening as he thought about the two people who hated each other pretending to be together. Wait, actually- the scene of his mentor holding the Mafia executive from behind only an hour ago shot through his mind. Yeah, actually, he could believe that- and if that was how they acted after being separated for four years and only recently getting back into contact he couldn't imagine what the two were like back in the day when they worked together and were therefore probably with each other more often than not.

"Yep!" Dazai exclaimed. "We were good at it too if you asked all the people we saw at those parties! It was our most effective tactic whenever we went undercover, you'd be surprised how many men fall for the dog's looks. Wait, actually, you two fell for his looks earlier! Oh, that's beautiful! It works, see?! From there we'd get the men jealous, or Chuuya would talk them up, or I would talk to them about 'sharing' the chibi, we were good at what we did! I think Mori sent us on about… Four missions like that together? Though who knows how many the chibi's done since then." 

"Wait," Atsushi couldn't help but ask, "how is this supposed to help us on the mission? Are you saying that…"

"That you and Kunikida should act like a couple? Maybe? Though to be honest I don't know how well you'd be willing to pull it off. Chuuya and I knew how to play the part, and even though I loathe to admit it, he's a good actor- especially in situations like this. You'd never expect it with how much anger he has in that tiny body of his, would you? The two of you though… I'm not so sure."

"We can both act!" Atsushi protested, though he didn't know why because he would much rather not pretend to be dating Kunikida or whatever else the man across from him was implying. Next to him, Kunikida seemed to be having a similar reaction, which only caused Dazai to laugh. 

"Oh, you definitely can't. You see, there's a difference between thinking you can act like a couple -or just acting in general- and being able to pull it off on these types of missions. Both of you have to be good at what you're doing, because if you aren't on your a-game someone is going to figure out what you're doing and then it's all downhill from there." 

It was at that moment that Hirotsu reached the drop-off point and told them to get out of the car. "I'll be waiting just around the corner in case things go bad," he said. "Hopefully it won't come to that though. Just remember to keep an eye on each other, and Atsushi- remember to keep an ear out for the signal- if you hear anything just spread the word to everyone else and then run. Remember, this party is full of dangerous people, but Tachihara and Higushi are there as backups. Don't rely on them though, because, as a reminder, neither of them have abilities." 

Dazai hummed, already slipping out of the car and stretching, Kunikida following suit as Atsushi let out a "got it!" And scrambled out after them.

"Alright, you two!" Dazai said, smiling at them and clapping his hands together as joy and amusement sprang onto his face. "Who's ready for their first undercover mission?"

Atsushi nodded in determination, Kunikida doing the same. Blend in with the crowd and get some information if you can, otherwise don't do anything. If someone talks to you, let Kunikida handle it. Dazai will be around if you really need any help. 

"I am!" He exclaimed, the blond-haired man next to him giving a sharp nod as well. After all, how hard could it be?

_____

As it turns out, he wasn't ready to do an undercover mission. 

The three of them walked into the giant ballroom-esk building, Dazai smiling kindly and bowing to the more upper-class-looking people scattered throughout the crowd amongst those who looked like they'd grabbed the cheapest suits they could find. Just like Atsushi had, really. 

Next to him, he saw Kunikida go tense, the man immediately trying to lower his shoulders and only half-succeeding. There were suddenly dozens of people around them, all of whom would no doubt immediately attack if they realized that the three men worked for the Armed Detective Agency. Without either of them noticing, Dazai suddenly appeared between them, smiling casually and putting a hand on both of their shoulders. 

"My two good friends!" The detective began, chuckling and talking in an upbeat tone that frankly didn't suit him at all. "Why so tense? We're here to get to know these nice people, there's no need to be nervous! Why look," he quickly tilted his head up and towards the right, "the boss has already found himself a beautiful girl! He knows how to have a fun time, so you two should let go and have one too!" 

"Yeah, he's right!" A blue-haired man who looked to be in his early twenties suddenly exclaimed loudly, stumbling and nearly falling flat on his face as he appeared in front of them. Very clearly drunk or high on something that’s probably not exactly legal, Atushi immediately realized. "You two should let loose, have a fun time! Who knows, maybe you'll even pull a babe like her!" 

Atsushi followed where Dazai and the blue-haired man had been indicating to see that, sure enough, Chuuya was fully pressed against the boss' side. He was holding the other man's arm so close that it was like they were glued together, all the while talking to the second in command that sat across from him on the c-shaped couch they were sitting at. After a minute the boss leaned in and pressed a kiss to Chuuya's cheek, which only caused the redhead to laugh. 

Atsushi was honestly shocked at how fast Chuuya had managed to worm his way into the boss' lap (almost literally) and was about to lean over and say something about it to his co-workers when suddenly an honest-to-god growl escaped the mouth of the brown-haired man next to him. 

Blue-hair seemed to have heard the noise, suddenly laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world. Yep, definitely drunk or high on something. "Man, you're really jealous! Don't worry, there are plenty of girls here who are nearly as pretty as her. I get it though, I’d be going for her too if my boss hadn’t already picked her up. Did almost as soon as he laid eyes on her!” 

“Oh?” Kunikida butted in, the man clearly trying his best to sound natural, and while he was doing a good job Atsushi thanked whatever god above watching over them that this man was clearly out of it and the other guests around them were trying to avoid the loud man. “He’s your boss? So you’re part of the Poison Crows?” 

“Yes sir!” The man cheered. “Just a guard, so I’m not one of the tops, but I’ll get there someday!” 

Kunikida grunted at that, and Atushi couldn’t help but agree. Sure, while it was still good to run into a member of the gang, it would have been handy if they were a bit higher up on the food chain than guard- something that translated almost directly to ‘expendable muscle’.

Atsushi watched out of the corner of his eye as Chuuya clearly said something to make the two men near him laugh, crossing his legs as he spoke in a way that very clearly showed them off. The Agency member wanted to look away, but instead, he forced his eyes to keep a look out and see what Chuuya’s body language was reading like. And, sure enough, after a few seconds of looking his tiger eyes let him see the subtle head turns and searches that the orange-haired man was doing throughout the crowd. He was clearly looking for Atsushi and Kunikida. 

“Uh, this has been a nice conversation,” he started, turning to face the blue-haired man with a polite smile on his face, “but I think we have to get going. We want to get around and talk to some more people and see who’s here!”

The blue-haired man smiled like he was in on some joke. “Oh, I get it!” He exclaimed. “Hey, anyone here specifically that you wanna talk to? I know people. You get it, ‘cuz I’m a gaurd and all? I’m happy to help show you around!” 

Atsushi nervously laughed, holding his hands up and about to refuse when suddenly an angered voice called through the crowd.

“AOI!” A black-haired man screamed, stalking up to where the four were standing and grabbing the drunk and/or high man in front of them. “Sorry about that,” he grumbled. “I turn around for one second and he’s gone, talking about ‘picking up babes’. I’ll let you two continue on whatever business talks you need to have, I’m taking him out of here before he fucks anything up.” 

The blue-haired man (Aoi, apparently?) whined at that and struggled, but his companion only held on tighter and dragged him away into the crowd. 

“Oh thank god, ” Atsushi couldn’t help but groan after a few seconds, earning some chuckles from a few random passersbys. Since when were people able to listen in on conversations so easily?! “I thought we’d have to distract him and run or something!”

“Oh, Atsushi!” Dazai laughed, slipping in between him and Kunikida to stand in front of them. “That was nothing compared to what I’ve seen before! Anyhow, you and Kunikida here should get going, I have some things that I want to try and do myself!”

“Wait, Da- where are you going?” Atsushi called out, only remembering last second to not say the other man’s name. Whereas he and Kunikida’s names wouldn’t be that well known on the underground scene, they’d simply be known as ‘Agency members’, Dazai’s reputation from his days with the Port Mafia still held strong. That wasn’t too surprising though, Atsushi figured, given everything that he’d learned about the man over time.

“Yes, shouldn’t we keep an eye on each other and try to stay together? Since we’re at a party and don’t want to get lost among the crowd or anything!” The blond-haired man quickly tacked on at the end.

“No, I’m good! I think you guys are too, you can talk to people and do important things without me there! Besides, it’s not like I’ll be just wandering around, I have my own stuff to do!” Dazai called back before waving at them, turning around, and vanishing into the crowd. 

Next to him, Kunikida was already fuming, and Atsushi knew that he’d have to act fast if he didn’t want attention put on them because his superior was yelling and chasing after a colleague. “Hey, uh, Kunikida?” He began, tapping the other’s arm. “I saw Ch- I saw her looking for us, we should get going towards where we’re supposed to be.” 

“Oh, yes,” the man said, almost immediately switching from anger to calm professionalism. “We need to stick to a schedule as best we can so let’s get going.” Atushi nodded and, just like that, the two men were heading towards their position, Atsushi immediately tuning in on what the men above them were saying.

“Oh come on baby, you gotta stop teasing me!” The man that Chuuya was leaning against said, laughing at something that the weretiger was almost 100% sure Chuuya had said. “Showing off like that? You’re killing me! What’ll it take?” 

“But I’m not teasing you!” Chuuya replied in an almost bratty girl’s voice. Now that he knew it was Chuuya speaking Atushi could hear the man’s voice under the acting, but if he didn’t know he wouldn’t be able to tell that the woman currently curled into the boss of the Poison Crows’ side was Port Mafia executive Chuuya Nakahara- hell, he hadn’t been able to tell earlier, a fact that he knew would haunt him for a long time to come. Oh, how he wished Dazai hadn’t been there to witness that little event. 

“Yeah you are,” came the voice of another man followed by a chuckle. “You really aren’t aware of it? I can tell when someone’s smart, and trust me, you’re a girl that seems smart.” The gang’s leader laughed again. “I agree with Sato!” He said. “He is smart, and that’s why he’s my second in command! You know just what you’re doing, wrapping me around you’re finger! Why I’d say that you’re just as dangerous as us with those looks of yours!”

Something must have shone on his face because a second later Kunikida leaned in. “What did you hear?” He asked. “Something important?” Atushi nodded, about to tell the other man what had happened, when he heard Chuuya speak up again. 

“Oh, so your name’s Sato?” He asked the second in command. “That’s right,” the man replied, clearly sounding pleased. “That’s a really pretty name,” the executive said. “It suits just how handsome you are. What about you, boss ? You have a pretty name too?” 

“You bet! It’s Tanaka, beautiful!” 

“Chuuya just got the two men up there to tell him their names,” Atsushi whispered. “The two of them are the second in command who’s named Sato, and the one that Chuuya’s leaning against is the boss- his name is Tanaka.” Kunikida nodded, and he could tell that the man wanted to whip out his notebook to write it down, but if there was any chance that someone would find is suspicious they couldn’t risk it. 

“So where is the informant?” He heard the man mutter under his breath, and Atsushi couldn’t help but wonder the same thing. That was who they were mainly after, after all, and they’d told Chuuya that. He guessed that the man probably couldn’t just flat-out ask for a specific person he probably wasn’t even supposed to know about and this was definitely the next best thing, but that would make the job harder for them in the long run.

“Wow, that is pretty! Maybe even prettier, sorry Sato,” he heard Chuuya reply, a teasing edge to his voice that practically had the two gang commanders swooning, bringing Atsushi’s attention back to what was being said above. 

“No, that’s fine,” the second in command replied with a laugh. “I see that you’ve already gotten close to the boss anyhow. Nothing too surprising, just maybe stay with me next time, yeah? Mix it up a little for the both of us- I mean if you keep choosing the same man every time it’ll get boring.” Atsushi couldn’t help but uncomfortably shift at the man’s words, and though he was sure Chuuya was still smiling the orange-haired man was probably grimacing on the inside. How the other put up with all of it he would never understand. 

“Oh, so I’m invited back?” He heard Chuuya ask. “Thank you! I love seeing how strong everyone is, especially you two! Just- what can I do to thank you?” 

There was silence for a moment before he heard the boss start laughing. “Well, since you asked… This place has a couple of rooms that no one goes to. How about you and me going back to one?” Atsushi flinched again, and Kunikida raised an eyebrow, clearly prompting him to say what he’d just heard. However, the weretiger held up a finger. Chuuya wouldn’t have brought up the possibility of… Sleeping together… If he wasn’t going to do something important for the plan next, right?

“Do you mean it?” He heard Chuuya reply, voice becoming small and laced with shyness. Damn, Dazai really hadn’t been exaggerating earlier when he said that the other man was a great actor. “I- I wanted to bring it up, but I was too nervous. I mean you- you could choose anyone here, why are you choosing me?”

“Easy,” the Atsushi heard the boss reply. “You’re beautiful, sweetheart. Now come on, let’s go before anyone misses us.” 

“Is your friend going to come?”

“Depends. Do you want to come with us, Sato?” 

“I mean, if the lady wants me to I’m not going to pass up on an opportunity like this one…” The second in command said with a slimy chuckle that sent shivers through Atsushi’s spine. Chuuya replied that he’d love it if both of them came and the trio slowly got up. 

Atsushi rocked back and forth on his feet slightly, listening in even closer than before. It felt like the right time to move, but Chuuya hadn’t given the signal yet. So, he stood there for another minute that seemed to drag along as the people above shifted around and joked before he finally-

“Can we stop at the garden on our way out? I heard that it’s just through the back door and it sounds so beautiful.” 

There it was. 

“Of course, love. But then we’re going to get to the fun part, right?” one of the men replied. “Of course,” Chuuya practically purred back before the three of them left.

Atsushi turned towards Kunikida and gave the man a nod. He nodded back, counting to 60 before pulling a small piece of paper out of his pocket, quickly turning it into a smoke bomb and throwing it up as high as it could go and watching as it went off, alerting the others that Chuuya had given the signal and keeping the guests distracted as he and Atsushi slipped out and towards the main hall leading to the back garden.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Tachihara and Higushi?” Atsushi asked as they started running down the hall. It felt wrong to just leave them behind. After all, what if they weren’t able to slip out while everyone was distracted and got caught? However, Kunikida just shook his head.

“Remember, we’re not supposed to stop. Besides, I believe I heard Chuuya saying that they would have their own way of getting out. I would say that we should worry about Dazai since, at least in theory, he’s supposed to have the same escape route as us, but that man will figure it out somehow- who even knew where he went after we ran into the drunk man. Besides, knowing that idiot he’ll probably beat us there anyhow.” 

Shit, I completely forgot about Dazai, Atsushi couldn’t help but think. Kunikida was right though. Dazai may seem reckless and go on and on about wanting to die, but at the end of the day he could (and would) take care of himself. So really he would just be worrying over nothing if he started getting worked up now. 

“You’re right, Kunikida. We need to focus on getting to where we’re supposed to meet Chuuya and the others, we can go back and search for Dazai if he doesn’t make it there soon after we do.” The blond-haired man nodded. “Now just focus on running,” he said, “we’ll be there soon. It’s just a few turns away.” 

Sure enough, only a minute later the two of them were nearing where the back door to the garden was located. As they got closer Atsushi began to pick up on the smells of other people. That smelled like Chuuya, the two other mafia members, and… Wait, was that blood?! Was someone hurt?! 

“Kunikida!” He shouted, “I can smell blood, and it smells like there’s a lot of it! I think someone got hurt!” The other man turned around, eyes wide before he turned back towards where they were running, a new look of determination on his face. If someone had gotten hurt-

Then the two men turned the corner and were faced with a scene neither of them had been expecting. 

All three mafia members were standing there, casually talking. Which, on its own, wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. In fact, if the two gang members were caught and the three had simply been waiting for both of them to show up he would have found it weirder if they weren’t talking. However, what made the scene weird and the fact that they were casually talking so unnerving was the source- no, sources of blood that were both lying on the ground only ten feet away. 

Because ten feet away from the small group of three were two bodies. More specifically, the bodies of the Poison Crows’ leader and his second in command. The boss had his throat slashed, running across the entire front half of his neck and almost deep enough that Atushi could see bone. It looked like the man had been stabbed in the gut and chest too if the giant tears in his shirt and the dark stains surrounding them were anything to go by. And was that… Had his eye been stabbed? It looked like the man may have been dragged a little as well, given the smears of blood on the white marble floor behind him.

As for the other man… Atsushi didn’t know if his condition was better or worse. The second in command had been stabbed clean through the chest as well as his calf, though he probably hadn’t suffered as much due to the already forming dark bruises resembling fingers that circled his neck. 

Atsushi felt like he was going to be sick. One look at Kunikida, who was now a pasty white, showed that he felt the exact same way. Was this kind of thing common? He guessed that since the three mafiosos looked as though they were simply talking about some game they’d seen last night it had to be. Wait, did that mean that Dazai had seen this kind of thing before? Had he acted this casually while standing so close to two bodies before? Had he ever killed someone like this before? 

Chuuya was the first in the group to notice them, and Atsushi belatedly realized that the man's hair had become messed up. More importantly though, he suddenly knew who had done the stabbing, because while Chuuya raised one hand to greet them his other was busy holding a knife almost completely covered in blood to the point that there was still some dripping off of it onto the ground. 

“There you guys are!” He called out. “We were beginning to wonder. Tachihara and Higushi got here a few minutes ago.” 

“We- we, uh…” Atsushi began, words failing him. Chuuya raised an eyebrow before blue eyes flicked over to the body in the middle of the hallway and the other against a wall, then down to the knife that he was still holding. “Oh,” the executive said after a moment. “Guess you two aren’t used to seeing bodies that look like this, huh?”

“Wha- no!” Kunikida exclaimed, seeming to gather himself first. “Why would we have?! More importantly, what happened? I thought that we were going to arrest them, not execute them in the middle of the hallway!”

“Well, I managed to get both of them back here, and then I killed them. Pretty clear cut if you ask me,” Chuuya replied, shrugging a shoulder, huffing and propping a hand on his hip as if to say why are you even asking this? 

“You… You did this all by yourself?” Atsushi finally managed to squeak out. Sure, it looked as though the two had both been stabbed to death (or in the case of the second in command, stabbed and then strangled) and Chuuya was holding a blood-covered knife, but he didn’t think that one person could do this amount of damage and do it so fast. Neither of the two looked like they had been hit by his ability, either. No, what the executive had done was done out of pure strength alone. “I- I thought- how? I would have at least thought that an assassin…”

Apparently that was funny, because Tachihara and Higushi both snorted, the latter of the two bringing a hand up to cover his mouth as he snickered. Chuuya shot the two of them a glare before rolling his eyes. 

“Yes, I did this all by myself, and yes, regularly this is the kind of thing that you’d see an assassin do, but they’d do it cleaner than I ended up doing. Usually someone in my position wouldn’t be trained in this kind of thing since it isn’t my area of focus, but someone I know used to be one of the top assassins in the world and he wouldn’t shut up until I let him give me some lessons for ‘self-defense’ on top of the martial arts training I already asked for. Like I can’t protect myself.” He muttered the last part, but Atsushi didn’t know if he was supposed to hear that part or not. 

“Aw, he just cares about you!” Tachihara laughed, earning him a harsh glare. 

“And as for the whole leaving them all alone to be arrested thing, sorry we lied. Are you that shocked, though? We’re the mafia, and these guys were becoming a little too cocky- we have to set an example. Besides, there should still be one guy alive, we’re just waiting for that lazy-” 

“Aw, did Chuuya get violent again?” A voice called out, and Atsushi whipped around to see Dazai casually skipping down the hall with a man tied up by the hands behind him, mouth covered in duct tape. The man’s eyes were wide with fear, and he seemed to shrink in on himself when he saw the others around before letting out a muffled cry of utter horror when his eyes fell on the two bodies of his higher-ups. 

“Shut the fuck up, Dazai. Why did you take so long to get him? Higushi said she saw the two of you talking when she and Tachihara were taking out the guards on their way here. She said she had to attack an extra three people just to make sure your stupid ass wasn’t followed while you caught him.” 

“Higushi and Tachihara were what?!” Kunikida shrieked. “I didn’t expect there to be any murder when I signed up for this case, let alone multiple! And Dazai! Who the hell is that?!” 

“Oh Kunikida, still so naive!” Dazai sighed, yanking the black-haired man behind him as he walked over. “You need to learn to expect these kinds of things when you work with the Port Mafia! They’re going to do what they want, especially if it’s a certain chibi at the head. As for who this is,” he shot the man a frankly terrifying smile, “this is the information specialist that you wanted! Chuuya would have gone after him but he was hiding away from the crowd! It took me forever to find him!” 

Across from them, Chuuya sighed. “And that, unfortunately, is why you’re here. I don't know if any of us would have been able to tell who that guy was in the first place.”

“Was that a compliment I just heard?!” Dazai exclaimed, eyes going wide as he stared at the executive, who shot him a look that would have evaporated him on the spot if it could kill. Atsushi would have been worried that the two would decide to kill each other if he hadn’t (unfortunately) bore witness to some of their fights before. Now come on, you guys have your man, let's get going before anyone realizes these two-” he motioned towards the two bodies on the ground “- are dead.” 

“And who’s fault is that?” Kunikida hissed, earning a laugh from Dazai and an annoyed huff from Chuuya. “Besides, how are we going to explain this when we hand him over to the police? ‘Oh, we teamed up with the Port Mafia and let them kill multiple people!’” 

“I don’t know, just say that you didn’t know we were here. We probably would have done this at some point anyhow,” Tachihara shrugged. Atsushi let out an internal groan. Why oh why did he have to be a part of this mission? Was it possible for him to just go back to running papers back and forth between the Agency and the Port Mafia? Anything to not be having a casual conversation while there was blood covering the ground and two bodies that had each been stabbed several times. 

“Good excuse!” Dazai chimed in with a snap of his fingers. "We should use that one!” And as he spoke, the man walked over to Atsushi and casually handed him the end of the rope he’d been holding still attached to the information specialist before skirting around the body that lay in the middle of the hall to stand next to the mafia members and whistling as though he was impressed the scene in front of him. “Wow, you really did get violent this time, Chuuya! What is Verlaine teaching you nowadays? Or did you just do this because you wanted to?”

“He isn’t ‘teaching’ me anything anymore, asshole. He wasn’t even teaching me anything when you left. And no, I didn’t do this ‘just for fun’, I did this because I needed them to both shut up as fast as I could, and my using my ability or a gun would have been too loud and people weren’t going to be distracted by that smoke grenade forever. Besides, I didn’t even have a gun on me in the first place, just a knife.”

Dazai gave a dismissive hum, stopping in front of Chuuya to look him up and down before pouting. “Aw, I was going to give you a hug but you have blood on you and I don’t want to ruin my clothes! Why did you have to kill them so sloppily? Maybe you should be taking lessons with Verlaine! I’ll have to talk to him about it at some point. Tell me, is he still refusing to leave the basement?” 

“Don’t act like getting a bit of blood on your clothes would ruin them, I know you don’t give a shit- remember how I had to throw out a shirt one time because it had a bloodstain on it and you refused to get rid of it? And as for Verlaine, please, be my guest and go see him. I’m sure he would love to see you after four years and finally carry out all those threats he’s been making since you left.” 

Tachihara shyly laughed from his spot next to Higushi. “I’ve heard a few, they’re definitely… Colorful.”

Atsushi didn’t know who this Veralin man was, but with the way Dazai’s face went pale at the mention of said man’s threats he got the feeling that he didn’t want to know who he was. The brown-haired man gave a nervous chuckle and pulled at his collar. There was an amused huff, and when the weretiger turned he saw that Higushi had opened the door to the garden, letting in Gin. The assassin nodded along to Tachihara's statement, which only made Dazai seem more nervous. 

“Well, we should stay on topic!” Dazai said, face still pale at the supposed threats being thrown his way. “As if you weren’t the one getting us off topic in the first place,” Kunikida muttered from next to Atsushi, causing the bandaged detective to wave a dismissive hand at them. “Hush, Kunikida! Now, as I was going to say before I got distracted, I stole Mr. Information Specilist’s phone here and contacted Hirotsu, so there should be a second Port Mafia vehicle waiting for us when we meet up with him! I figured it would be a bit of a squeeze for all of us into one car, and this way we can take him straight to the police station! I was also thinking that we could have Gin ride with us to help keep him in line!”

At that, the black-haired assassin narrowed her eyes at him, yet didn't immediately seem to reject the proposal.

The way his mentor spoke about calling a high-ranking mafia member to request an extra car and then saying that he wanted an assassin to ride with them and keep the one target they’d managed to catch because the other two were dead was going to give him a headache. It was moments like this that made him question why he’d joined the Agency. The sigh next to him told him that Kunikida felt the same way.

“Dazai,” Kunikida began, “while calling an extra car to take us directly to the police station will definitely save time, is it necessary to have an assassin with us? Not to say that I don’t trust any of you,” the man added on, shooting a look at the three mafia members in front of them, “but it seems a bit overkill if you ask me.” 

“Didn’t anyone tell you about this man’s ability?” Dazai asked, shooting his partner a look. “He can escape from almost any situation. That’s why I decided to go after him after I realized that he wasn’t sitting with the other men Chuuya was seducing. It’s also why I tied up his hands with a special knot that would take even him at least ten minutes to undo! So, I think having an assassin there will keep him in line if you know what I mean. And Gin’s currently one of the Port Mafia’s top assassins, right?” 

Higushi and Tachihara nodded, shooting their superior a look. Gin herself shot him a look as well, causing him to sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gin, would you be okay with riding with these idiots?” A pause, and then the black-haired assassin shrugged. “Alright. As long as you’re okay with it. Come back as soon as they get the idiot into the station though, okay? And report to me immediately so I know you made it back safely.” 

Gin nodded, moving across the hall to stand with them. The man that Atsushi was holding gave her a terrified look and took a step to the side when she shot him a look, eyes narrowed. Atsushi almost felt pity for him when the Black Lizard’s member put a hand on her knife as a subtle threat. 

“Perfect!” Dazai exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “Now, let's get going before someone comes looking down this hall and sees what the chibi did!” Everyone nodded, and for once Chuuya didn’t call his ex-partner out at the nickname, only crossing his arms and scowling before walking towards the door and motioning for his subordinates to follow him. 

“Thanks for helping out, I guess,” the executive said as the Agency slipped out after him and they made their way towards the two Port Mafia-issued limos. “The smoke bomb made getting out of there easier for the three of us, and it was handy to have the weretiger at the ready to give the signal. I doubt that we’ll be doing something of this scale again soon- if any undercover missions come up I’ll just probably handle those on my own or with one other person like usual- but if you ever want to I’d be up for it.” 

Kunikida gave a sharp nod that told Atsushi he was just being polite, while Atsushi himself gave a shy smile towards him. If they were ever invited to a joint undercover mission again he’d probably be begging not to go. Let someone else handle the stress and mental scarring. Unlike his co-workers,  Dazai smiled and very much looked like he’d want to participate again. The man was currently holding the informant’s rope again and gave it a slight tug as he leaned forward into Chuuya’s personal space- again, without immediately being punched.

“If you ever want someone to be part of a couple with you again I’d be happy to be invited! We can relive the old days, and I’ll be able to annoy you the whole time, just like I used to and I’d get to see you in a dress!! Besides, we used to pull off being a couple well!” 

They used to act like a couple and pulled it off well? Atsushi couldn’t help but think with a shiver at those words. The thought alone was going to give him nightmares.

“Fuck no,” Chuuya replied without hesitation. “Now go hand this bastard off so Gin can come back to the base. If she’s not back in the next three hours I’m tracking you three down and believe me it won’t be pretty.” 

It’s almost sweet that Chuuya cares about his subordinations that much , Atsushi couldn’t help but think. While he knew that the Agency would come looking for him if he vanished without a trace, and he didn’t mean to trash them, it would probably take a bit longer than three hours for them to go busting down the mafia’s walls. But maybe that was just because it was the mafia, he wasn’t sure. Either way, it was sweet and slightly surprising given the way he’d seen the other act around Dazai and how he fought in battle. He could almost forget that the orange-haired man had a triple-digit body count. 

“Got it!” Dazai said, smiling at the other man. “We’ll send her back as soon as we can! But if the chibi ever wants to come and see me- I mean, us,- at any point in time he’s definitely welcome to come!”

What. Atsushi couldn’t help but think, shooting his mentor a questioning glance. Kunikida looked downright disappointed.

“ Again, fuck no,” Chuuya said, crossing his arms. “No offense to the rest of your coworkers, but I know that you just want to get out of work you lazy bastard.” Kunikida suddenly smiled, the first smile Atsushi had seen out of him tonight, and eagerly nodded. “So he wouldn’t do paperwork even back then?” The man asked, causing Chuuya to shake his head with a sharp laugh. “No. That responsibility was all on me. I fought it at first, but after a while I realized it was just easier to shut up and do it- but sometimes after I used corruption he was kind enough to handle some of it. Didn’t mean he did it well, but the thought was there.” 

The three Agency members talked to the executive for a few more minutes before they (plus Gin) wandered to their limo and slipped inside, the information specialist still looking scared shitless as he was placed next to Dazai and across from Gin, who’d taken to pulling out one of her knives and casually sharpening it. Hell, even Atsushi, who was sitting the farthest away from her, was scared at the display. 

The four of them dropped the man off without any trouble, Kunikida talking to the officer and picking him up as Gin subtly slipped out of the car door and vanished into the night. Dazai waved after her, and it may have just been his imagination but Atsushi swore that he saw her wave back. Dazai’s relationship with his old coworkers (was that the word? He didn’t know and honestly wasn’t invested enough to care) was weird, and the weretiger would probably never understand it. 

Things went back to normal, and the Poison Crows were taken out just a week and a half later thanks to all the information they’d managed to get from the information specialist in exchange for a light sentence. In all honesty, after almost a month of nightmares Atsushi was able to forget that that night had ever happened. Well, that was until they got a phone call from Kouyou one day four months later.

“Chuuya will be going undercover and posing as a woman again,” the female executive said, and Atsushi swore he could hear a smile on the woman’s face. An amused one, like she knew that she was messing with them. “We’ll need one of you to play the part of his long-term boyfriend who's apparently planning on proposing soon if you wouldn’t mind. He gave glowing reviews the last time both of our sides worked together on a case like this.” 

True to what the man had said the last time they worked together, Dazai immediately volunteered. And to everyone’s surprise (was it really that surprising, actually?) Chuuya approved. Atsushi decided that he would never figure out the two’s relationship, and honestly, he never wanted to. He was better off that way. 

When Dazai came back he had a hickey on his neck that had apparently been ‘absolutely necessary’ when a few of the people they were trying to gather information from had begun to doubt their relationship. He’d had a happy look on his face all day and wouldn’t shut up about the ugly Chuuya had looked in his outfit and how he hoped he’d “never have to work with the chibi again.”

Yeah, Atsushi definitely didn’t want to know.