Chapter Text
Dazai cursed as he stalked up to the ADA's meeting room. Why did they have to hold a meeting first thing in the morning? It was absurd!
He suspected his partner had something to do with the meeting time. By now Dazai was convinced Kunikida's schedule had him in bed at 7:00 PM just to wake up at 3:00 AM.
Even so, it must be important if everyone's being called in. Unfortunately, Dazai would have to endure a 5:00 AM meeting. Perhaps they had gotten hired on an urgent case.
Dazai paused by the door just long enough to take a deep breath and erase the grouchy, exhausted expression he knew decorated his face. Flinging the door open at 5:01 AM, Dazai collapsed into his seat with a long sigh that earned him a glare from his partner. Everyone else was already there.
"I thought it was clear the meeting began at 5:00 sharp?" Kunikida scolded.
Dazai spun slowly in his chair. "Oh, really? See, I thought you said 5:00 dull, so I was just trying my best to keep to your schedule Kunikida-kun!" He leaned forward with a wide grin that pulled a muffled laugh from Yosano, who attempted to hide it with her hand.
Kunikida's eye twitched but he dropped the matter. "We don't have time to waste on your antics, Dazai. We should begin discussing our newest case. Based on the information we were given, it pertains to something both sensitive and dangerous. The book."
This grabbed Dazai's attention. It wasn't often the book was even mentioned in passing, even in their more major cases. For Kunikida to present the case this way, it must take a central role. There was a chance things would get messy and Dazai's mind was ready to rush forward and plan for every outcome, but he'd need more information first.
"We received word that an abandoned research facility containing highly classified documents on the book has seen more recent activity. Hardly anyone knows of the facility's existence so for anyone to go there and get past the old security measures they must have had a purpose.
"Worst case scenario is that they know something about the book and plan to use old research to find it or some way to access any of its power. There's a nonzero chance that this old facility has the whereabouts of a page of the book. If so, reality bending power could find its way into the wrong hands. That's why we need to investigate this incident further." Kunikida emphasized with his brow furrowed into a hard line.
Around the table every grew equally serious. Atsushi seemed a bit nervous about the prospect but determined nonetheless.
Kunikida shuffled through documents in a folder before settling on a page. "Six years ago the head researcher at this facility disappeared, assumed dead. But there are few suspects left who knew what was in that facility which means there's a chance the police weren't thorough enough in their search. We need to consider every possibility and pursue every lead, no matter how unlikely they seem."
Kunikida lifted the page up for everyone to see the file on the head researcher including a picture of him from six years ago. "This is the man we are looking for. Sakyo Komatsu."
Dazai froze, eyes locked onto the picture of the man's face as ice flooded his veins. His mind suddenly screamed danger and his eyes snapped down to stare at his hands folded on the table, now clenched so tight they'd turned white. Immediately his mind refused every thought. One tried to form, to find the context to all this, but it vanished before it could take shape. Something snapped at him that he could not think about this any further. He obeyed on instinct.
"Dazai? Do you know about this guy?" Kunikida's voice sounded simultaneously far away and closer than ever.
Dazai looked up, forcing a small smile onto his face. The words came before he could think about it. "Nope, never heard of him."
Kunikida stared a moment longer before he moved on to cover what they knew. As he spoke, Atsushi leaned over. "Dazai? You alright?"
Dazai didn’t spare him a glance. "Never better."
Atsushi frowned. "You sure? You seemed sorta shaken up. Have you really never heard of this guy?"
Dazai turned to him. "I really haven't. You should pay attention to Kunikida, Atsushi. Wouldn't want to miss the details of the case."
Reluctantly, Atsushi complied. But Dazai felt other eyes lingering on him. He ignored them. Hopefully they'd let it go. He had nothing to tell them.
As soon as the meeting ended Dazai stood to leave, intending to get away before anyone could ask him any questions. He wasn't so lucky.
"Dazai, hang on a moment."
Biting back a sigh, Dazai turned back around. "Yes?"
"You know something. Spill." Yosano commanded. Everyone paused, staring between the two. Of all the people who could've confronted him, Dazai was hoping most of all it wouldn't be Yosano. She wouldn't find the answers she was looking for like this. He didn't know anything and he told her as much.
"That's bull," Yosano said sharply, "you were as white as a ghost when Kunikida mentioned that guy. So just tell us already." She glared, seeming to try to pry the answers out of him through her gaze alone.
Just as Dazai opened his mouth to insist he really didn't, Ranpo cut in. "Actually, he's telling the truth." Dazai turned to see Ranpo staring straight at him, eyes glittering with curiosity. For once it made Dazai want to tense up. "But you have a suspicion don't you?" Ranpo tilted his head. "Something you know that you don't know?"
Dazai did tense up this time. He just wanted everyone to drop this. "I don't know what you're talking about." He heard his tension creep into his voice and nearly winced. He should have better control than that.
"Now that was a lie." Ranpo accused, pointing at him with a lollipop. "And that confirms what I was already thinking. So, what do you know?"
"Nothing." Dazai told him honestly. "Whatever I 'know' I've forgotten. There's no point chasing this line of questioning."
"Forgotten?" Ranpo parroted, ignoring Dazai's attempt at deflection.
Dazai sighed. He let the silence stretch between them, weighing his options as everyone looked on with bated breath.
No matter what he said next, Ranpo wouldn't walk away. He'd made the mistake of sparking his curiosity, and once Ranpo wanted to know something, he wouldn't stop till he found out. Now it was only a matter of deciding if he would drag this out or get it over with.
He chose the latter. "Some mission I went on in the Port Mafia with my old partner. I have no memory of it and neither does he. It was strange but we never figured out what it was about." Dazai forced every word past his teeth, heart clenching as he revealed something, anything, that he should be keeping secret. It was bizarre. He had no idea why he was reacting this way and it was equal parts fascinating and terrifying. Part of him was desperate to know more but in the end fear won, pushing him to get out of this conversation as soon as possible.
"If that's all, I'll be going. Work to be done and all that!" Dazai said with a half-hearted wave that managed to both start and end a touch too quickly. Taking advantage of his coworkers' stunned silence to escape the room. He prayed that would be the end of it, even though he knew that was way too good to be true.
__________
Ranpo watched Dazai leave. Everyone was silent for a few moments. Ranpo, however, was reeling with excitement over a challenging mystery mixing uneasily with concern for his friend. All at once, questions erupted from every corner of the room.
"What was that about?"
"What do you mean Dazai doesn't know but knows he forgot something?"
"How in the world is Dazai involved in this case?"
"Why doesn't he want to talk about it? Isn't he curious?"
As always, they all turned to Ranpo for the answers. He smiled brightly at them in a way that assured he'd get to the bottom of this. "Well, it seems Dazai got involved with this case a long time ago, but for some reason, he doesn't remember it at all." Ranpo summarized, making sure everyone was on the same page.
"So, some kind of amnesia?" Atsushi wondered aloud.
"Yep! He used to know something about this, but he was truthful when he said he doesn't anymore."
Yosano raised a hand to her chin as she got lost in thought. "His reaction lines up with what is expected of a repressed memory, something traumatic that he blocked out. He seemed agitated whenever we asked him more about it."
Ranpo nodded. "It seems that way. Something happened and whatever it was made him forget the events completely." He began with what he was certain of, but even Ranpo's mind was swimming.
This was a puzzle that was still missing too many pieces, even for Ranpo. And worse, the pieces he did have didn't quite fit. "But, even though he genuinely doesn't remember what happened, he seems scared to..." He rambled slowly, hoping the others could follow his thoughts. He got the feeling those memories weren't buried as deeply as they seemed, like they were almost on the verge of coming out while Dazai did everything in his power to make sure they didn't.
"If he doesn't want to talk about it anymore, we can't press him. He won't say any more than he's willing to." Ranpo concluded.
"So what, we just give up? Whatever it is Dazai's hiding, intentionally or not, it could help us make a breakthrough in this case. And I don't think I need to remind you why we need to solve this case as soon as possible." Kunikida said, serious as ever.
Ranpo smiled back at him. "Of course we're not giving up. But for now, Dazai is a dead end. We need to seek other sources. We don't need everyone focusing on Dazai's memory."
The others nodded, some a bit reluctantly. "I'll figure out Dazai's memory mystery in the background of this investigation." Ranpo promised.
Kunikida nodded, trusting Ranpo's ability to handle it. "In that case, let's get to work."
Everyone began trickling out of the meeting room. Ranpo grabbed Atsushi's arm before he could leave. "Atsushi, come with me to investigate our first lead on Dazai."
Atsushi blinked back at him. "Sure, but what's our lead? He didn't really tell us anything..."
Ranpo grinned at him. "We'll start with his ex-partner."