ᴡᴇᴀᴋᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴠᴇɴɢᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ | ᴅᴀᴢᴀɪ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ✔️

XIV: A Different Route

"no.."

you muttered as he fell on the ground. "no no no no no.." you kept muttering to yourself as you fell on your knees, life slowly leaving your face. The blood pedal became bigger and then he slowly turned into dust and disappeared.

"This can't be happening," you mumbled, your voice disappearing into the void.
。。。

The sounds of spoons clinging inside the cups came back to your ears. At first, you resisted opening your eyes due to the sudden amount of sunlight coming through the window. Ranpo opened his eyes and his expression was nothing like before. He was smiling looking around at the people.

You looked down at your hand. The needle was still there, unused, between your thumb and index finger. You quickly hid it. this now makes sense ..

Ranpo Edogawa was not a skill-user after all.

But that was not the only miracle that happened. Dazai - the memory - was aware of being in Ranpo's mind palace. It was never something you had encountered before in other people's minds.

He is the only person you have met so far with such a skill. The ability to nullify other skills. if he nullified your skill, You should've been kicked out of Ranpo's mind. instead, that memory of Dazai was aware of his presence in such a place.

"Hope you made a choice, miss?" the waitress called on you, leaning in with a small notepad. you blinked out of your state, and ordered the first thing your eyes laid on from the menu. "Coming right up!" she said as she scribbled it down. behind her, you noticed a familiar figure entering the coffee shop. He waved at you, and only flashbacks throbbed in your head.

"I'll kill you very soon," were the last words Dazai's clone spoke of in Ranpo's mind.

"what's wrong, Yamada-san?" Ranpo asked. You looked back at him and realized your manipulation worked. He did not mention your real last name. "You look like you're about to throw up," he continued, only giving you an idea on what to do next. "That's true ... actually, I can't believe .. you read me .. like an open book," you pretended to hardly say it. You covered your mouth and asked the waitress for the location of the restroom.

"Are you okay, yn-san?" Dazai asked, triggering tears of fear in your eyes. Luckily, you were facing the other way. You waved at him as if everything was under control and entered the women's restroom.

You locked yourself in the bathroom, and sat on the ground as tears of terror slid down your cheeks.

。。。

As your figure disappeared behind the restroom doors, Dazai gave up and sat on the chair facing Ranpo. He didn't know where or how to begin. It was the moment of truth, whether his doubts were at their place or just mere worries. "She's a tough one to crack I must say," Ranpo started, reading the discomfort in Dazai's eyes. Now that he had Dazai's attention, he continued.

"She sure isn't like any other woman you've brought to the agency so far," he tapped his spoon on the plate making a repetitive sound. "but?" Dazai's impatience had the best of him. "Her name is yn Yamada. Now she definitely has secrets, but I'll leave them for you to discover," Ranpo concluded as he stood up.

"But what about all the searching I did?" Ranpo stopped walking and looked back at Dazai. "Are you sure her last name is Yamada?" Dazai continued. Ranpo couldn't help but smile. "As you can see, I've used my skill to crack her secret for you. You still doubt me?" Ranpo asked, waving his glasses in Dazai's way.