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Tangerine faded as purple drew into a gap between the coming blue, the sun now hiding behind buildings, though, through the gaps its orange escaped and reflected into the young girl's eyes.
Her orbs that bore a sullen sea clashed with the marmalade as they gazed out past the mahogany of the building she rested in and onto the greenery that was shrouded in shadow.
Nails, sharp as ever and freshly done, tapped against the finest China the woman owned, the girl's eyes drew towards her along with her head as it came back forward resting at an easier angle.
"Kyouka, my dear." Calming words graced the red stained lips of the executive, her eyes bore a sharp kindness in them accompanied by the sharp eyeliner that assisted the pearls of violet.
"Is there something bothering you?"
Kyouka looked down to her tea cup, the reflection of herself was blurry, unfocused, warped. She took a moment to think before looking up at her superior.
"Who is the Demon prodigy?"
Kōyō tensed. It was only for a moment, barely even a second, but Kyouka managed to catch it but she seemed to hide it. "Now. Where on Earth did you hear such a name?"
A lint of coldness washed over the room with her words, the tea steam seemingly dispersed with Kōyōs hidden malice.
"Verlaine-sensei spoke of him today." Kyouka paused. "And I've heard some people mumble about him."
A small breath was taken in and then out before the executive responded. "Why the sudden intrest?"
Her hands placed on her lap began to fidget, her fingers interlocking with each other before quickly changing course and rubbing as she answered, the look in her mentor's eyes making her anxious.
"Verlaine-sensei spoke somewhat bitterly about him... but... everyone else I've heard speaking about the Demon has seemed to respect him... I was just..." She paused, though she didn't need to speak as Kōyō finished:
"You want to know my opinions about him?"
Kyouka nodded.
"I see..." raising her manicured hand holding her tea mug Kōyō brought it to her lips, taking a sip, before placing it back down with a delicate clinch on the plate.
"The Demon prodigy was a child, he was a child bathed in the shadows and the darkness thriving off of it. He lived up to his name, he certainly did, but unlike devil's demons they have not fallen. Demons are bred and born for their roles and that's exactly what he was. The Demon prodigy was not a boy to be taken lightly, for in the bounds of the port mafia, he bloomed into a hideous thing but that hideousness fit him like a twisted glove..."
Kōyō paused before, "You could say, it was the blood of those whom he killed that was his water to satiate him. The Demon prodigy became the youngest executive in mafia history for a reason after all."
Kyouka frowned slightly. "Why... How did he leave then? If his place in the darkness was so preordained."
"Well, my dear, he was quite a smart young man and it was his intelligence that allowed for him to cut at his roots and flee. Something he did not factor in though was that his habitat is the Port Mafia and that without it he is nothing." Kōyō then closed her eyes with a small shrug, barely there,
"Don't worry your head over it though, one day, I'm sure he will return. A flower bred in darkness cannot survive without it after all."
Kyouka nodded and picked up her tea taking a sip, ah. It'd gone cold.
----
"Dazai-san, did you eat strange mushrooms again?" Atsushi sighed out in disappointment towards his mentor as he looked up at the man on his desk, hands on his hips.
"Nooooo! Of course not! Oh oh! Look over there there's the moby dick it's coming for us all again I can finally die!" Dazai prattled out in a deranged voice, pointing towards the ceiling fan.
Atushis hands moved from his hips to his face as he practically slapped it before dragging his hands down with a groan.
"Atsushi, do you need my assistance?" Kyouka asked, seemingly coming out of nowhere.
Now used to her doing such a thing Atsushi didn't so much as flinch at her sudden appearance as he only gave her a little smile, turning to her.
The weretiger placed his gloved hand on her head rubbing it, due to her headband her hair wasn't really affected by his action. "Thank you for the offer Kyouka-chan, but it's fine."
He then turned towards the kitchen where... "Kunikida-san!!!" The eighteen year old called out like a child calling for their mother.
Kyouka looked away from Atsushi as he wandered off to tell Kunikida the situation, her attention coming towards a Dazai who now had removed himself from standing on his desk to sitting in his chair, feet on the wooden surface as if he'd never been acting deranged in the first place.
Her soothing sea met his dull fire as she walked over to him.
"Dazai-san, are you feeling alright now?"
The man in question gave a wink with a cheery grin. Though it seemed like he was forcing the rise of his cheekbones. "Ahhh, thank you for worrying, Kyouka-chan!" He then threw a hand up, all fingers down aside from his thumb. "I am A-OK!"
Kyouka, though, didn't seem very convinced as her soothing sea became a bit turbulent like the tide kicking in, "Dazai-san... could we speak privately. In the cafe?"
"Hm? Well, I'd be a fool to refuse an opportunity to see my Belladonna!"
Dazai raised his feet off the desk and stood up quickly smiling down at the young girl. "Shall we?"
-
A small breeze came through the open door of the cafe, with the day being warmer than most, the cafe workers had opted for this option.
Kyouka sat across from her superior in the booth and they waited until their service came around.
"What can I get you both today?" Lucy announced her presence as she came over, she didn't bother with menus knowing any ADA member that came down always knew what they were going to have.
"A parfait, please." The younger of the two answered first which Lucy nodded at with a small smile, the animosity between the two fading ever quickly away.
Though, her smile was quickly replaced with a frown at Dazais reply.
"I'd love to see my Belladonna. Where art thou so that I may be graced by her presence?"
With a huff, Lucy crossed her arms. "She's on break currently and will continue to be on break everytime you show up as a customer here. Now, order."
Dazai pouted seemingly unimpressed by the unwarranted hostility Lucy had shown him upon their meeting. Oh! Sue a guy for asking every beautiful woman he sees for a double suicide! She should've been flattered yet all Dazai ended up with was a bruised cheek and an Atsushi telling him ‘told you so’.
"I'll take your finest tea then."
"Hmph, and I assume it'll go on your ever growing tab, Dazai?"
The man rolled his eyes before looking towards the former guild member. "Yes."
With a smug as ever grin Lucy spoke, "Your orders will be soon." Before she walked off.
"Atsushi-kun sure has an interesting taste in women..." The Detective announced solemnly his hand on his cheek.
Kyouka frowned. "What do you mean by that, Dazai-san?"
"Ah- nothing you need to worry about until you're much much older I'm sure."
He then removed his head from his hand as he sat up. "Now, was there anything you wished to speak to me about now?"
There was a beat of silence towards them, a shift in the wind released a cold gust of air into the cafe as the chimes outside of it sounded their cries.
"Did you used to be a part of the port mafia, too, Dazai-san?"
"..." He looked at her, seemingly bemused before a laugh burst from his throat. "Yes, yes I was, who told you? Was it Atsushi-kun?"
As if summoned by his name Lucy returned with their drinks, she gave a side glance to Dazai as she placed his and a smile to Kyouka before she returned back behind the counter to speak to the owner.
In response to his question the girl shook her head slightly, barely moving her head at all. "No, no he didn't. I figured it out myself. I had my suspicions but I wanted it to be confirmed by you yourself."
The former mafia member blinked at her before smiling with a head tilt. "I see, so you got your answer. Yes I was a previous member of the mafia, like you, it isn't much of a secret anymore."
Anymore .
"Dazai-San..." She picked up the spoon in the parfait and took a piece out of it. "When did you leave?"
She took a bite, not expecting the coldness of it to grace her teeth. Nethertheless she enjoyed the bite but not the silence as she awaited Dazai's answer.
The man took a sip of his tea and Kyouka felt her heart drop as she saw the mirrored elegance of her past mentor in his movements.
"Around four years ago now," he answered, his eyes boring a kindness in them that covered a harbouring emotion Kyouka couldn't figure out.
it was his intelligence that allowed for him to cut at his roots and flee.
No... no... no- Dazai... He couldn't be him right?... There was no way. It had to be a coincidence.
“Oh, you weren't there very long were you?” Kyouka asked silently hoping that he'd been there a year tops. A year within the mafia was barley anything after all!
Dazai paused thinking. “I was actually in the mafia for three years but four if you count before I officially joined!” He answered ever cheerful as if he wasn't speaking about the mafia!
his habitat is the Port Mafia and that without it he is nothing.
Dazai had been there four years… he'd been involved before he even joined!? He was… her age…
Four years involved with the mafia would make you feel at home especially when you started so young…
Demons are bred and born for their roles and that's exactly what he was.
Bred… and born… and if he was as young as her…
She'd said- she'd said the Demon prodigy was only fit in the mafia right?... Kōyō had told her-
Kyouka felt the coldness of the parfait through the glass as her hands cupped around it. A shiver ran up her spine. Dazai was the Demon prodigy- he was someone to be feared he was a danger-
A flower of darkness can only thrive in darkness. You are a flower, my dearest Kyouka.
…
Yet.
Here Kyouka was.
In the light, thriving.
Away from the darkness.
Kōyō was wrong about her wasn't she?
Why couldn't she be wrong about Dazai as well?
"Why do you ask?" The Detective broke her out of her thoughts as he had his tea at his lips, drinking after his question.
"I was just... wondering. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
With a huff of a chuckle, his shoulders lifting slightly if barely any, Dazai placed his tea back down with a smile once more.
Though it seemed more genuine, the rise of his cheekbones seemingly natural with the quirk of his lips working together to create a lovely sight.
"It's not problem at all, Kyouka-chan." His voice was gentle, calming even.
She took a bite of her parfait. Huh, it wasn't cold after all.
The two remained in silence as they finished their food and meal, Kyoukas on the house and Dazais on his already large tab before they headed up to the Detective Agency together.
Together.
Right where they belonged.
A former Devil.
And a former Demon.