Chapter Text
Rain patters against the big windows of the agency, creating a soothing ambiance for the employees currently present. Most members were at their desks, working on their respective cases. Others were quietly chattering, such as Ranpo and Yosano. It’s a slow day, so they weren’t getting very many walk-ins as is.
Akutagawa is sat at his own desk, completing paperwork he absolutely despises. It wasn’t exactly his intention to listen in on the conversation happening near the infirmary, not really. But since the office is quiet it would be hard not to overhear parts.
“… Disappearances… No witnesses…?” Yosano’s voice is low, careful. As if someone is listening when they shouldn’t be. Perhaps a breach in the Agency’s security.
“Yeah, the police shoved it onto us, suspecting it being an ability user.” Ranpo’s voice is much louder although muffled in a way that suggests he has candy in his mouth. “It makes you wonder, why do we even need them if they are so useless?”
Akutagawa loses interest and stares at his paperwork. Boring. After everything that went down in.. well, the past few months it has been winding down. Agency work has gotten boring (not like it has ever been interesting). He can tell the Agency is trying to be more gentle to him- he can tell by the fact that they shove the cases that don’t require much brainpower at him- even if they know he doesn’t need their coddling.
The office door opens up and breaks Akutagawa’s line of thought. Oda, late as usual. He gives a small wave to Akutagawa before turning his attention to Kunikida who has already risen to greet him. Well… Greet is a loose word.
“Oda! You should be glad it’s a slow day.” Kunikida scolds, but it doesn’t really hold weight. This conversation is routine due to how much Oda gets stalled talking to old women, or something,
“My bad. You know how those ladies get. I can never find it in myself to interrupt them.” Oda says with a half-hearted shrug. He’s not really that sorry, after all. “But I did hear something of interest from them. Something about a recent case Ranpo was given?”
Now that piques Akutagawa’s interest. Not because the case is even his business, but it’s more interesting than the busy work he’s given to mull over. This isn’t lost on the other two men, but they don’t acknowledge it.
Ranpo saunters over from where he was discussing with Yosano, with the physician trailing behind. He looks at Oda expectantly, an eyebrow raised.
“Did you? Well, spill. What could they have gathered that the World’s Greatest Detective couldn’t?”
“There’s a suspect running around. I’m sure you deduced that much, but they seem to have a combative ability. It wouldn’t be hard at all to bring them into custody.”
Ranpo’s eyebrows furrowed. “On what basis did they get that from? Are they morons on purpose? Clearly it’s going to be harder than our usual cases.”
“I mean, sure. But if it has to do with something with the disappearances it wouldn’t exactly hurt to check it out.”
“I guess. If you want to go check it out, be my guest. I would check near one of the mafia’s old money laundering buildings. The really broken down one.” Ranpo shrugs, popping another candy into his mouth, crossing his arms behind his head with a casual air to him.
Oda’s eyes flicker over to Akutagawa, who was definitely listening in on the conversation.
“Akutagawa. You’re up. Go check out that ability user. Scout out anybody suspicious. It shouldn’t be too hard.”
At least it isn’t more paperwork. Akutagawa stands up from his chair, giving an affirmative nod. Field work is his more favorable line of work, as it doesn’t require as much brainpower and is just much more entertaining. Plus, Rashoumon is getting antsy these days. She’s hungry for a good fight.
“What about you, Oda?” He asks, tilting his head just the slightest bit.
“About that, I can’t accompany you. If you ask someone else, they’d most likely be willing to help out. I’ve got a few cases that need to be completed by a strict deadline.” Oda shakes his head apologetically.
“I can’t, either.” Kunikida says, holding his notebook of Ideals. “I’ve got a strict schedule and going on a mission isn’t on it, sorry, Kid.”
Akutagawa ignores that last bit.
He glances around at the other members before deciding to just go solo. It’s not like he really needed anyone else on this mission in the first place. The likelihood of something happening is very low. Chances are, it was just some old lady gossip that shouldn’t have even been considered. However, it does beg the question: If it was just old lady talk, why hadn’t Ranpo shut it down as nonsense?
The detective makes his way out of the office and down the stairs to the entrance of the brick building. He pulls out a pair of sunglasses from a pocket in his coat to slip them on. Ranpo wasn’t very clear with where exactly the broken down building is supposed to be, so he has to take a guess.
He follows a cracked sidewalk lined by dying grass that has definitely seen better days. His loafers splash in the puddles in the dips of the sidewalk, making the material glisten. Since the details were so sparse to go off, he has to look for really any run-down building that looks like it has been used for money laundering. Lately, since more than half the city was destroyed by a certain gravity manipulator, it’s hard to tell what part of Yokohama Ranpo might have meant.
Eventually, after what feels like hours of wandering he nears a building that definitely matches the description he was given. The bricks are cracked, discolored, and even missing in a few spots, revealing the decaying wood of the foundation. The windows are smashed and boarded up in a few spots. As if it isn’t suspicious enough, there are a few signs posted. “No Trespassing” and “Private Property” for example. A faded business ad hung in the glass door, selling something. The words are so sun damaged Akutagawa would have to squint and really try to readd it. But as is, he has no interest.
A chill goes down his spine as soon as his foot crosses over an invisible boundary line between the property and the sidewalk. Rashoumon grows antsy in his coat, as if she can sense something he doesn’t quite pick up on yet. Usually it’s him controlling his ability, not her controlling him. Akutagawa is very much in tune with his ability, but she has nothing to be freaking out about.
Getting closer to the building enacts more of a reaction from Rashoumon, as if telling him to turn around and that it is a bad idea to keep going. With an irritated sigh, Akutagawa wills her to be quiet and wait until he requires her.
Footsteps that aren’t his sound close by, crunching on broken glass and rotted wood that fell at some point. This time, he allowed Rashoumon to get antsy and ready to attack. Despite the suspicion around the mission actually having any weight, he wouldn’t be caught off guard.
A beautiful woman stepped into view. She’s fairly tall, with long white hair and big brown eyes. She’s wearing a simple black dress with ballet flats, as she had just gotten dressed and threw whatever was closest on.
If Akutagawa weren’t any sharper, he might have fallen for her innocent act. No sane person would hang around a deteriorated building that already has a less-than-ideal reputation. Even she seems a little surprised to see him.
“Are you a detective?” Her voice is soft, yet already accusatory.
Akutagawa has little to no patience for small-talk like this. But he has to remember he is supposed to be a detective and help the people. “Yes. And who are you?”
She blinks at him. As if his hostility isn’t expected. “Ose, sir. I was just checking out the town. I’m new to Yokohama.”
Ose. Akutagawa tries to recall if he was ever given a hint about who the suspect is. A woman? A man? Maybe he should have swiped the file off of Ranpo’s desk to read up on information.
Only then, he realizes how stupid he has been up until now. Ose has already made her way within arms reach of him, and with a shy smile, she sweeps a piece of her hair behind her ear. Up close, she looks.. sinister.
His reflexes move faster than she does, though, Rashoumon striking out in a gray tendril. For once, he’s grateful for Rashoumon’s inability to sit still, hungry for a fight. The most unsettling part about this altercation, is that the woman doesn’t even look fazed, instead, she wraps a manicured hand around the sharp tendril.
Immediately, iron fills the surrounding air as her palm splits open, dripping blood. Ose just smiles, before a blinding light and sharp pain strike through him. It feels like his very soul is being ripped out of his body, along with every fiber of his existence.
Akutagawa only hears a sharp ringing in his ears at first, before excruciating pain registers in his body. And it’s not just in his lungs, no, it feels as if he was hit by a truck and broke all of his bones. But his bones didn’t feel broken, in fact, he can still move them. His vision clears, and the sky is blue, nothing like the dreary rain it was before.
How long has it been? He rubs his eyes as he sits up, not minding the ache in his body. Instead of being in front of that deteriorated building, said building is standing and in pristine condition. The sidewalk is not cracked and the grass isn’t dead. That’s the most curious thing to him, did they somehow speed fix it while he was out?
He sluggishly gets up, ignoring the pain. Akutagawa can’t do much sitting down, now, can he? He might as well go back to the Agency and inform them of his failures even if it stings his pride.
Akutagawa has to stumble his way down the sidewalk, ignoring the weird stares he gets from pedestrians. It’s only then that he realized he is still wet, his umbrella somehow got lost between Ose and now. But at least he still has his sunglasses to battle against the sun. There’s more differences he spots, the city looked as if it has been untouched. No destruction caused by a sorrowful lover. Now, that’s curious.
There’s a few explanations to this: 1. He’s in some weird coma or dream state. 2. The alternate universes the Man in Black was talking about before he jumped. 3. He has a brain injury. Akutagawa isn’t sure which one he wants it to be, but number two’s too outlandish.
His brain’s felt like it’s been sloshed all around, giving more evidence to the hitting his head theory. Eventually (given his limp and stumble), he sees the agency building come into view. Relief washes over him! Maybe he can tell Oda all about his discoveries and then debrief to Ranpo, who would then give him a lot more insight on what the fuck he just experienced.
…However. That excitement didn’t last long. In the cafe below the Agency, sometimes someone could peek into the windows and see the members gathered for their beverages of choice. And usually that wouldn’t be so unusual. But again, everything just has to be against him.
Among the gathered Agency members, he sees someone who shouldn’t be there. An anomaly, if you will. Brown hair, brown eyes (eyes?), and a smile all too knowing, the type that makes a shiver run through you, because he’s in on something you’re not. Him. The Man in Black. The former Port Mafia boss.
Dazai Osamu.
A walking dead man.. but that shouldn’t be possible. Akutagawa saw him jump with his own eyes. He was there for the aftermath, watching him splat on the ground and become nothing more than a puddle of brain matter and blood.
Maybe he did get sent to some fucked-up alternate universe.
His eyes drift away from The Man in Black and land on the White Reaper. But, no, that can’t be him. This guy looks too soft, less rugged than the feared were tiger of the mafia. And his bangs are a crime to be walking around with.
Akutagawa’s luck runs out at that minute, right as dual-colored eyes flick over and meet his own. Faced with the Weretiger’s stare with just the window and several feet between them, he understands in that second. Their rivalry transcends his own universe and into this one.
Atsushi gets up, but it’s not exactly in an enraged way. More irritation than anything else. He rushes out of the cafe, with shouts from the Agency members behind him.
“AKUTAGAWA!” Atsushi’s voice echoes in the several feet between them. Akutagawa is already out of it, but he’d be damned if he lets ANY version of the White Reaper yell at him.
“Huh? Quit yelling. You’re so loud.”
“Akutagawa-kun, what are you doing here?” Says that eerily smooth, effortlessly lazy voice that makes Akutagawa freeze.
His eyes meet Dazai’s.