Chapter Text
Atsushi and Akutagawa walk down the sidewalk together, not trying to kill each other for once. Instead just walking to a mission like normal partners.
“What did Dazai tell you about this mission?” Akutagawa asks, sounding tense.
“Not a whole lot. He said that it was really important that we catch the ability user. Said that they have a hallucination type ability, but he didn’t give me anything else. Why?”
“The only thing he said to me was that he wasn’t asking me to kill an ally of the mafia. As vague as he normally is, it’s not usually this bad. Something feels wrong, but he hung up before I could ask any questions.”
“If it felt wrong, why did you even come?”
“That is a stupid question, Jinko. You know why I’m here.”
“Yeah, I guess I do. Anyway, what’s our game plan? If they have an illusion ability, then anything can be fake as soon as we get into range. I don’t know how large that is, but how do we go about that?”
“Easy, I cut the air right before actually hitting the target. Rashomon cuts abilities, so that close, it should disappear. If not, I can just go for a non-lethal cut. A small one just to make sure that whatever it is is real.”
“Like a paper cut? Do you have the precision for that?”
“Yes, of course I do, you fool.”
“Stop being so persnickety. I was just making sure. I don’t want you to accidentally take off any of my limbs again.”
“Oh, believe me, if I do that, it’s on purpose.”
“You are so mean for literally no reason.”
Akutagawa smirks, showing off his teeth.
“Yeah, no reason at all.”
Atsushi makes a face.
“Please never smile like that again.”
“Can you please shut up?”
“Aw, you asked so politely.”
Akutagawa glares at him as they come up on the district that Dazai said their perp would be hiding in. Atsushi’s phone rings, causing him to pause.
“Do you want me to stop?” Akutagawa asks.
He glances at his phone.
“Nah, you can keep going. It’s Dazai, so I shouldn’t be long. Text me if you find him, but don’t engage by yourself.”
Akutagawa nods, tucking his hands in his pockets as he continues on.
Atsushi answers his phone with a cheerful, “Hey, Dazai, what’s up?”
“Are you with Akutagawa, or did you send him on without you?”
“I sent him forward. Do you need me to get him?”
“No, I wanted him gone. I needed to talk to you alone.”
“What did you want to talk about?”
“The perp. I wanted to tell you a little bit more.”
“Why wouldn’t Akutagawa be here for that?”
A weird suspicious feeling starts to take root the longer the conversation goes on. He looks around to see if Akutagawa is still in view, but he’s not.
“I just think that Akutagawa wouldn’t be able to be impartial.”
“Impartial?”
“Yes, I know that he hasn’t killed anyone because of your deal. However, I don’t trust his temper to hold forever.”
“What did this guy do? Can you get the point already? I have to get going.”
“Right, I can do that. He attacked an orphanage in a specific town. Got them to kill each other. That happens to be where Akutagawa grew up before I took him in. That’s why I don’t trust him. He can be very rash.”
“You think he’d really care about that? Anyone he knew wouldn’t be there anymore. He doesn’t seem like the sentimental value type.”
“I know, but he can be. I’ve known him a long time. Trust me on this. I’m only letting you know in case he figures out. Just to make sure that you’re ready in case he attacks you too.”
“Are you stalling?”
“No, but you should be prepared.”
Atsushi hangs up before Dazai can convince him to stay on the phone. He runs in the direction that Akutagawa walked in.
“Akutagawa!” he yells, even though he knows that there could be dangerous people lurking around.
Then he sees them, a group of police men outside of a nearby building. He runs over, trying to see what’s happening.
“Who are you?” one of them demands.
“I work with the Armed Detective Agency. What’s happening over here?”
“We just arrested one of the members of the Port Mafia. He was here to kill someone. We were too late to save them, but we were able to apprehend him with few injuries. Were you sent down on the same mission?”
“No, I was down here looking for a different perp . They weren’t part of the mafia.”
“Do you need help?”
“No, I don’t think he’ll have stuck around after this. I’ll just call my superior.”
The officer nods, and Atsushi rushes off to the side to call Dazai.
“What is wrong with you?!” he demands in a hushed whisper.
“I have a reason.”
“What do you mean? You led him to get arrested! Did he even actually kill the guy?”
“I can’t tell you anything, Atsushi.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. This is not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, and this is how things had to happen. I had to handle it this way. You’ll understand someday.”
“How long are you going to leave him there?”
“Oh, I’m not getting him out at all. I’ll leave that to someone else. The reason why this had to happen in the first place.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m going to do something about this if I have the power.”
“You don’t. Don’t start making trouble where you don’t have any. Leave him alone, and stay out of this.”
“No. I’m not doing that. He’s my partner. That’s your doing too.”
Atsushi hangs up, but most of the police have already left. So, he heads to the nearest police station. He shows them his ID and asks if they had processed any criminals in the last half hour. The man at the front desk looks at his ID closely before proudly telling him that they caught one of the Port Mafia’s top enforcers. They even had fingerprint and DNA evidence pinning him to the murder.
“I want to talk to him.”
“He’s not talking to anyone. We already tried.”
“I don’t care. He’ll talk to me.”
“If you say so. He’s still in the interrogation room anyway.”
He leads Atsushi to the interrogation room where Akutagawa is sitting. Akutagawa has his arms folded, leaning back in his chair with a bored look.
“Akutagawa.”
He frowns deeper as he turns to look at Atsushi.
“What do you want, Jinko?”
“I’m not sure yet. What happened?”
“I showed up at the warehouse that the perp was allegedly last seen at, and there was a body instead. Then the police arrived, and said that I murdered him. I assume that Dazai set me up. They said that they had fingerprints and DNA though I hadn’t touched anything yet. Also, the man was torn up, which I certainly could have done. Not that I leave fingerprints, cause this isn’t amateur hour.”
“Yeah, I talked to him. Why didn’t you just leave?”
“Cause the police were already there, and they were there in droves. I couldn’t just leave without killing at least half a dozen people.”
Atsushi drops back against his chair, his brain fuzzing out for a moment.
“He used me to get you arrested.”
Akutagawa laughs mirthlessly.
“First time? He’ll use you till there’s nothing left of you, or until you die. Both in my case.”
Atsushi looks up to see Akutagawa’s eyes cast downward. They’re dark, his jaw set, and his body tense.
“I’ll figure this out.”
“No you won’t. Not if he doesn’t want you to.”
“There has to be something I can do.”
Akutagawa doesn’t respond, doesn’t even look at him. Atsushi stands up, rushing back out of the room. He can’t take Akutagawa’s silence anymore, can’t take his lack of anger, and his acceptance of the situation. He barely gets outside before he’s throwing up in the grass. Despite everything, there isn’t a single thing he can do in the long run.