ᴇᴛᴇʀɴᴀʟ

An Unprecedented Encounter

「"𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘸𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦" 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮」

••●••

"So, you wanted us to investigate something?"

Seated across Tanizaki was a blonde woman. She looked like any ordinary business lady you would see around Yokohoma. 

Yet something was odd about her. But Ayaki wasn't sure if the whispers her shadow was telling her is correct.

So she decided to observe the blonde lady, by pretending to watch the interaction taking place. 

She turned to her side, where Dazai was standing... wait, she was pretty sure he was standing next to her just a second ago...

"How beautiful!" 

'Oh.'

Her attention was directed back to the blond lady, who was now accompanied by Dazai, kneeling in front of her while delicately stroking her palm. "Such fleeting glory, like the petals of a water lily... and such touching sweetness!" His lips parted into a seductive smile, as his eyes twinkled brightly. "How would you like to join in a Double Suicide--?"

Smack!

Kunikida landed a vicious blow on the back of Dazai's head, before dragging him into the server room. "I sincerely apologize. Please forget about him." He casually said, before slipping into the room himself and closing the door behind him. Muffled sounds of an abused Dazai can be heard promptly after that.

The blonde lady returned toward Tanizaki. "I am calling upon you because behind our company's building, some people of low character are hanging about." 

'How the fuck is she reacting normally after that?'  

"...Low character? How so?" 

"I'm not entirely sure... but they appear in rags, and speak in a foreign language that I'm not familiar with."

"Smugglers I'd assume." 

Ayaki's head tilted towards the sound of the voice. Kunikida came back into view, pushing up his glasses. "No matter how much the military cracks down, they swarm the wharf like roaches." 

The albino sighed, quickly becoming bored of the conversation. Because at this point, her shadow had deemed the rest uninteresting. She turned toward the server room, opening the door and making sure she closed it. Dazai was sitting on the ground, still trying to recover from Kunikida brutal beating. 

Wordlessly, the albino sat next to him, Dazai moved his arm aside letting her comfortably snuggle on his side.

After a few minutes of silence, she glanced at the man. "Why'd you put a listening device?" 

The man hummed thoughtfully. "Why do you think?" 

"...That lady has other plans doesn't she?"  

"Yep!" Dazai answered, a little too cheerily for Ayaki's liking.

"Huh... Is that why her shadow is so secretive?"

He gave off a shrug. "Probably."

"..." 

He didn't give any answer. It would seem that he's pretty set on what he thinks of the blonde lady. And from the looks of it, it isn't anything good.

Dazai noticed her silence.  He gave a reassuring smile. "I'm certain it will work out fine. Besides, if something happens, I'll take care of it. Okay?"