Chapter Text
It was once again the time of year for cherry blossoms to fall, the soft pink petals gracefully drifting through the air, before reaching their final resting place on the ground. Unfortunately, Atsushi Nakajima had no time to enjoy such a beautiful sight, as the sword of Kouyou Ozaki’s ability pierced through him, pinning him to one of the many pillars which decorate the area.
“Don’t take it too personally.” The Port Mafia member told him, a not in the least bit comforting smile on her face as she grabbed hold of his chin. “I’m merely doing what must be done.”
“Stop!” He heard Kyoka yell, as he spat out a mouthful of blood. “Leave him alone!”
Kouyou let go of Atsushi’s chin, turning slightly to look at Kyoka, this time with a genuine smile on her face. “Ah, you’re so cute, I wish I could do as you ask, but my job is to bring you back to the mafia and he stands in the way. You are a flower of darkness, you can only bloom there.”
Kyoka shook her head, a clear look of anger present on her usually emotionless face. “I’m not going back! I’m not a flower of darkness, the Agency is my home!”
It made Atsushi happy to hear Kyoka had fully accepted the Agency as her home, though he thought he’d probably be a lot happier if the circumstances it was said under were different. Kouyou, on the other hand, did not look the least bit happy about what Kyoka had said, her expression twisting into one of rage as she turned back towards Atsushi.
“It’s because of you!” She growled, placing her sword against Atsushi’s neck. “You’ve poisoned her with your light, and it will destroy her!”
Before she could do anything to harm him, however, a pebble flew through the air, smacking into her sword with great force and knocking it out of her hands. For a second, Kouyou froze, before whirling around in anger to face whoever had interfered in the fight. Her expression soon changed to shock however, as she saw who it was.
“What are you doing Chuuya?” She demanded in a an astonished voice, at the same time that Atsushi heard Kyoka softly utter a surprised
“Chuuya-san?”
Seeing that Kouyou was distracted, Atsushi took a second to move away from Kouyou, before stopping to observe the newcomer. As far as he could remember he’d never seen the man before, and given his short stature and the rather unique way his orange hair was cut, he didn’t seem easy to forget. Unfortunately that also meant Atsushi knew absolutely nothing about him, other than the fact that he was probably from the mafia, given that both Kyoka and Kouyou recognized him.
He had interfered in the fight, so Atsushi was hopeful that meant he wasn’t here to cause trouble, but he didn’t dare let his guard down.
“The Boss has revoked your permission to bring Kyoka back to the mafia, we’re not to cause conflict with the Agency right now.”
Atsushi couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that, provided that what this Chuuya had said was true, it would make things a lot easier if they weren’t having to watch their backs against the Mafia while dealing with the Guild. Kouyou, on the other hand didn’t look overly thrilled, and Atsushi took advantage of her distraction to motion to Kyoka, getting the girl to move to his side.
The smart move probably would have been for the two of them to take the opportunity to leave, but for some reason both of them couldn’t resist the urge to stay and find out just what was going on.
“And I suppose he decided that all on his own?” There was what sounded like a hint of accusation in Kouyou’s voice when she asked that, but Atsushi didn’t have the energy or motivation to figure out why she seemed to blame Chuuya for the Port Mafia’s bosses choice. He had enough to worry about without trying to figure out the inner dynamics of the Port Mafia.
If Chuuya was all bothered by the way his fellow mafia member was acting though, Atsushi certainly couldn’t tell. He just stared at the woman for a second with a neutral expression, before letting out a sigh.
“Ane-san, this is not the time for the mafia to be fighting a war on two fronts.” He said, softly enough that Atsushi’s not sure he would have heard it if the tiger didn’t grant him enhanced hearing. “There’s more going on than it seems.”
Kouyou stilled upon hearing that, the anger falling from her face as her expression shifted into a more neutral one, only a slight hint of worry in her eyes giving any indication of what exactly Chuuya’s words meant to her. Seeing how serious the both of them seemed, Atsushi was struck with the sudden urge to ask him what he’d meant, just what else was going on behind the scenes.
Before he could muster up the courage needed to ask a question that he likely wouldn’t get an answer to, he noticed Chuuya glancing at the air beside him, and seconds later he heard Kunikida’s voice.
“Atsushi! Are you and Kyoka okay?” Glancing over his shoulder, Atsushi saw Kunikida and Kenji running towards them.
“Kunikida-san! How…?”
“I had Kyoka’s phone set up to send a signal whenever she gets a call.” Kunikida explained absently, most of his attention focused on watching the mafia members standing nearby. “Why is it you always seem to get into trouble?”
Atsushi really wanted to say something in his defense, but he had to admit that he did end up in troublesome situations quite a lot. It wasn’t like he went looking for them though, the universe just seemed to personally have it out for him.
“That…the situation seems to be resolved though…” He pointed out, “The mafia apparently isn’t planning to get in conflict with the Agency right now.”
Kunikida looked doubtful, “They showed up to cause trouble and then just quit?” He narrowed his eyes, glancing over at Chuuya and Kouyou. “Just what are they up to?”
“You do know we can hear you, right?” Chuuya drawled, giving the three Agency members an unimpressed look. He didn’t seem at all bothered by the fact that the he and Kouyou were currently outnumbered by the Agency, though Atsushi wasn't sure that was because the two of them were strong enough they didn’t need to worry, or if there were other mafia members lurking nearby.
“Then perhaps you should explain yourself instead of just standing there.” Kunikida shot back.
Chuuya simply shrugged, “It’s just as your weretiger heard earlier, the mafia has made the decision to not cause any conflict with the Agency until the Guild is dealt with.” He looked as if he wanted to say something else as well but he suddenly paused, looking off slightly into the distance as if there was something there that the rest of them couldn’t be.
“There will likely be Guild members showing up here soon, the rest of their force has probably arrived by now” He suddenly warned, his expression serious.
Atsushi could tell from the look of doubt on Kunikida’s face that he was doubtful of what Chuuya had just said, which was understandable given how they had been enemies until like five minutes ago, not to mention it had come out nowhere. Kyoka was different however, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face.
“If Chuuya-san says there are people coming, then they probably are.” She whispered to Atsushi, who glanced at her with a curious expression. It seemed like she knew Chuuya pretty well, and he wanted to ask about it, but he figured this really wasn’t the time to do so.
Kyoka’s expression of faith in what Chuuya had said was backed up by the look of concern that appeared on Kouyou’s face upon hearing Chuuya’s words.
“How many are there likely to be?” She asked Chuuya in a voice that was only loud enough for him and Atsushi to hear, “Can we deal with them?”
Chuuya hummed thoughtfully, “Not without heavy losses on our side, of course I could use that, but since he’s not here it wouldn’t go well. Best to just retreat for now.”
Atsushi didn’t know who the ‘he’ that was being referred to was, nor what Chuuya meant by ‘that’, but the conversation was making him nervous. Apparently Kunikida felt the same, a frown on his face as he addressed the other three Agency members.
“For the time being, let’s head back to the Agency.”
As the four of them turned to leave, Chuuya’s voice called out to them. “Hey, pass on a message to your boss for us, our boss wants a meeting.”
Kunikida’s eyes narrowed but he nodded in acknowledgement, before herding the Agency members away from the area, keeping an eye over his shoulder as he did so. It was only once they’d traveled several streets away without any sign of an attack that he finally relaxed.
“Do you think the President will meet with them?” Atsushi asked, wondering why the Mafia had even requested such a thing.
“That’s up to him to decide.” Kunikida informed him, though it was clear from his expression that he was wondering the same thing as Atsushi. “Kyoka, did you know those two Mafia members?”
Kyoka nodded. “Kouyou Ozaki and Chuuya Nakahara, they’re both executives.”
“It’s probably true what they said about not causing conflict with the Agency then.” Kunikida admitted, before letting out an annoyed groan. “Ah, I can’t figure out just what it is they’re planning.”
Atsushi didn’t know either, and if Kenji or Kyoka had any ideas they didn’t say, so the four of them fell into silence as they continued back to the Agency. When they walked into the office, Tanizaki was pacing back and forth in worry, though neither Ranpo nor Dazai seemed particularly concerned; one focused on his snacks and the other reading through his suicide book yet again. That was about par for the course with the two of them though, and so Atsushi didn’t really feel offended by it.
“Are you guys okay?” Tanizaki asked, rushing over as soon as he caught sight of them. Kunikida gave a brief nod of his head, before glancing around the room.
“We’re fine, is the President in?”
“He’s in his office.” Ranpo said, not looking up from the bag of chips he was snacking on. Sometimes Atsushi really wondered what it was like to be him, incredibly smart and completely unbothered by most things, but given the price for that seemed to be a lack of competence in day to day life, he’d prefer to stay as he was.
Kunikida nodded in thanks, before heading towards the President's office, leaving behind Kyoka, Kenji and Atsushi to answer any questions the other’s had.
“What happened?” Tanizaki questioned, looking at the various tears and bloodstains on Atsushi’s clothing.
“That…” Atsushi hesitated. Despite having actually been there, truth be told he was a little confused about what exactly had happened, by the end it had been far from the usual kind of interaction they had with the mafia. “This mafia executive Kouyou,” He glanced at Kyoka for a moment to get confirmation that he’d gotten the name right, only continuing once she’d given a small nod. “She showed up to try and take Kyoka back, and we ended up fighting.”
Maybe describing it as fighting was being a little over generous, everything had been rather one sided after all. As embarrassing as it was to admit it, Atsushi knew that a lot of the time he wasn’t very useful in a fight; the tiger gave him plenty of benefits, but without any skill to back it up, he tended to be easily outmaneuvered by someone who actually knew what they were doing.
“So how’d you get away?” Tanizaki asked, apparently not even considering the possibility that Atsushi had simply won the fight. It was a bit hurtful, even if Atsushi had just barely been lamenting his lack of skill in a fight himself.
“It was really weird,” Atsushi recalled, “Another executive showed up and told Kouyou that she wasn’t allowed to go after Kyoka anymore, and that they weren’t to cause conflict with the Agency.”
He saw Dazai’s expression shift slightly upon hearing that, and Atsushi suddenly remembered that Dazai had once been part of the mafia; based on his reaction, he wondered if Dazai knew something about the executives they had run into. There was a part of him that really wanted to ask, but since he didn’t know how many people in the Agency actually knew about Dazai’s past, he figured now wasn’t the best time to do so. He could always bring it up later.
“So they just let you go?” Tanizaki questioned, his voice bewildered. “Just like that?”
“Basically?” Atsushi said, “Like I said, it was weird. We talked for a bit and then Chuuya, the other executive, claimed that there were Guild members coming and so we all left.”
“He claimed there were Guild members coming?” Yosano repeated, coming out of the infirmary. “Who’s to say that he wasn’t the one who called them there?”
“No way!” Kenji protested, speaking up from where he’d flopped onto Dazai’s couch. “He’s a nice guy, I can tell!”
Atsushi didn’t think he’d go so far as to call Chuuya a good guy, he was in the mafia after all, but he did agree that he didn’t think there had been any set up on his part. It didn’t make sense, not with the way that Chuuya had just paused suddenly before warning them, or with how seriously Kouyou had taken what he’d said.
Before he could bring that up however, Kyoka spoke up in Chuuya’s defense.
“Chuuya-san wouldn’t do that.” She said, her voice firm. “Since he said the mafia wasn’t going to cause conflict with the Agency, he wouldn’t try and set us up. And he wouldn’t have warned us if he did.” It was more words then Kyoka usually spoke, a fact that just further enforced what she had said, and though it was clear that Yosano wasn’t fully convinced, she didn’t make any further accusations.
An awkward silence filled the air for several moments after that, with no one really sure what to say. After a moment though, Atsushi remembered something he’d forgotten to mention.
“Oh! Chuuya said the Mafia’s boss wants to meet with the President.” Atsushi said, glancing in the direction of Fukuzawa’s office. He was pretty sure that was probably why Kunikida had been looking for him, and he couldn’t help but feel curious about what kind of conversation they were having.
“A meeting with the mafia?” There was a hint of something in Dazai’s voice that Atsushi couldn’t quite put his finger on, almost as if there was an entire story hidden in the tone in which he spoke. He wondered just what Dazai knew that he wasn’t sharing, but figured that like with most things that involved Dazai, any revelations would happen on his own timetable.
“What do you think they want to meet for?” Tanizaki questioned, looking confused. Atsushi didn’t blame him, he couldn’t figure it out either.
“Probably want to talk about an alliance.” Ranpo interjected, around a mouthful of some kind of snack cake. Everybody in the room turned to look at him, an expression of disgust flitting across their faces due to the sight of Ranpo talking with his mouth full.
“What do you mean by an alliance?” Yosano asked, her voice sharp. She didn’t seem overly thrilled at the prospect of any kind of team up with the mafia.
“Isn’t it obvious? They’ve stopped conflict with the Agency, they warned some of our members about a possible Guild attack and they’ve asked for a meeting, it’s clearly all paving the way to smooth things out for the offer of an alliance.”
It seemed like a bit of a leap of logic to Atsushi, but he’d never known Ranpo to be wrong, so it must be the case. “You think the President will go for it?”
Ranpo shrugged, “Who knows.” He said, before turning his attention back to his snacks. Atsushi didn’t have much time to mentally complain about how unhelpful that was, however, before the door to Fukuzawa’s office opened, and he and Kunikida stepped out.
The president glanced around the room at the assembled Agency members, a serious expression on his face. “We will be agreeing to the mafia’s request for a meeting.” He told them, apparently making the correct assumption that they already had been informed about the request.
Yosano pursed her lips, looking very unhappy about the whole situation, but she remained quiet. No one else protested, and so Fukuzawa turned his attention to Dazai.
“Dazai, can you arrange a meeting for us?”
Kunikda did a double take upon hearing that, looking back and forth between Fukuzawa and Dazai, a look of confusion on his face. “Hold on a minute, why is Dazai setting up the meeting?”
Dazai glanced over at him, an expression of pure innocence on his face. “Oh, I forgot I never told you. I used to be part of the Mafia!”