Chapter Text
It was strange enough that the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia had awakened in the same place. Even stranger was the fact that every single one of them had lost consciousness at the exact same moment and woken up together.
Fukuzawa, Kunikida, Ranpo, Yosano, and Atsushi were all there. The Tanizaki siblings, Kyoka, and Kenji were nowhere to be seen. Even their newest member, Sigma, was present. Honestly, it was nice that he had officially joined after the Decay of the Angel incident had ended and Fyodor was dead.
On the other side stood Mori, Chuuya, Akutagawa, Kouyou, and Hirotsu.
For a long moment, both groups simply stared at one another in bewilderment.
"Why is the Port Mafia here? ...Where are we?"
Atsushi asked anxiously as he stepped closer to Kunikida. It was obvious he had no idea what was going on, though that was perfectly understandable.
"We could ask the same thing."
Chuuya muttered as he scanned their surroundings. Everything around them was pure white, yet a massive screen seemed to stand directly in front of them.
"Dazai isn't here. If we're trapped inside someone's ability, it's perfectly normal for him to be absent."
Ranpo let out a relieved sigh after checking his pockets and finding a few packets of candy before calmly stating his conclusion. The real question was why they were here. Not knowing the answer was irritating the World's Greatest Detective more than anything.
"Whoever brought us here... I don't think their goal is to imprison us."
Mori smiled calmly, tilting his head ever so slightly. There was undisguised curiosity in his eyes. In truth, everyone seemed curious about what was happening, and until Dazai showed up to rescue them, they were apparently stuck here.
"Mackerel had better hurry up."
Standing beside Kouyou, Chuuya grumbled under his breath. Naturally, this entire situation was getting on his nerves. And with Dazai nowhere to be found, things were almost guaranteed to become even more troublesome.
As everyone exchanged theories, the enormous screen suddenly flickered to life.
The first thing that reached them was the sound of a violin.
The haunting melody echoed throughout the white space, instantly silencing everyone. One by one, they turned toward the screen.
The image gradually came into focus.
A calendar.
January 10th.
The date was from a week ago.
...Were they watching the past?
As the violin's melody swelled, the silhouette of someone standing with their back to the camera slowly appeared. They stood in front of a window, playing the violin with effortless skill.
But that wasn't what drew everyone's attention.
The man wore nothing but an oversized T-shirt that hung loosely over his body. As the camera slowly zoomed in, the scars covering his exposed legs, arms, and neck became increasingly visible.
Then those familiar brown locks came into view.
A chorus of shocked gasps escaped the room.
It was Dazai.
What was happening?
Why were they watching Dazai from the past?
It was also the first time most of them had ever seen him without his bandages. Mori, Chuuya, and Yosano already knew about many of those scars, but even they had never seen all of them.
If anything...
There seemed to be even more now.
"We're going to see Dazai's memories."
Ranpo said quietly, his green eyes fixed on the screen while his fingers tightened around the candy in his hand.
Everything about this revolved around Dazai.
And yet Ranpo was certain Dazai himself had no idea this was happening.
The young detective had always hidden himself behind layer after layer of bandages.
The violin grew louder.
Finally, they saw Dazai's face clearly.
His skin was even paler than usual, and the dark circles beneath his eyes stood out starkly against it.
Then those brown eyes slowly opened.
They were bloodshot, as though he had cried for hours.
Yet...
There wasn't the slightest trace of life left within them.
No one spoke.
But every single person present knew one thing.
None of them were going to like what they were about to witness.