One Of Us

Numb Little Bug

Sayuri Rei

My next mission is assigned just a couple days after I return to the Agency. The President informs us that there has been a kidnapping, and sends me, Ranpo, and Dazai to the mall to investigate.

"We've been searching for hours,"  Dazai whines for the fifth time –he's been complaining all day. "Can't we just go home?"

"And the award for the worlds most annoying manchild goes to..." I murmur,  looking at him sideways.

Ranpo snorts, "You two are adorable."

"What?" Both of us say, shocked, at the same time. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that Dazai's glaring at him. He lets out a nervous chuckle, his expression still sharp. "What's that supposed to mean, dear Ranpo?"

Ranpo grins, "Oh, you know exactly what it means."

I look between the two, hoping for someone to elaborate.

Ranpo laughs, "aww look at her, Dazai, she looks like a lost puppy! I think you owe her a little explanation."

"She conned me into thinking she was dead for the past half a year, I don't owe her anything," he grumbles.

I self-consciously run my fingers through my white hair, my gaze dropping to my feet as we walk into the parking lot. We find the car and I reach for the handle on the passenger door, wrapping my fingers around the cool metal, when I hear Dazai's voice.

"Hey- Rei... I didn't mean it like that-"

"Guys..." I look up at both Ranpo and Dazai from the other side of the car. "Don't touch the car."

"What- Rei if this is about what I said..." Dazai begins, but his voice is distant. I hold up my hand for them to see. The device that clawed its way into my hand was almost like an exoskeleton for my palm, wrapping around my fingers and digging tons of tiny needles into my skin... But what scares me the most is the poison it's pumping into my system... the poison that's making me go numb.

"R-Rei?" Ranpo's voice sounds like he's underwater as my legs give out and I crumple to the floor, completely paralyzed.

A deep, rumbling laugh echoes through the parking garage that sets Ranpo and Dazai on edge. I can't see Ranpo from where I lay, but I can see Dazai. Quickly, though, both of them move around the car and form a sort of protective shield in front of me, both ready to jump into action, though I'm pretty sure both myself and Dazai know that Ranpo will need to be protected as well, because he can't exactly fight.

Ranpo starts towards me as if to help me up when- "Don't." Dazai snaps, "We don't know how that drug works. It could paralyze you too if you touch her."

"That is exactly correct, Dazai." I flinch at that voice. I know that voice... The man laughs again. I can see him out of the corner of my eye: Tall and lean, in his mid-forties; His hair is such a dark color of black that it shimmers in the low light of the parking garage. His face is sharp, and he's got a big, ugly scar over the bridge of his nose (courtesy of yours truly). His blue eyes bore into me, and his name surfaces: Katashi Akumu, leader of the Black Rose Mafia Syndicate – BRMS for short.

Dazai and I know him all too well. The only time Mori ever let us work together, or have any contact with each other, really, was when he assigned us to sneak into one of the BRMS's warehouses and shut down their weapons operation by blowing the place. We had to fight our way out, and that's how I gave Katashi that scar. Ever since we took down that weapons operation, the Black Rose Syndicate has been barely scraping by, fighting not to go bankrupt. But they lost almost all of their power over the part of the city where their headquarters is stationed, which was great for the Port Mafia, because it only allowed us–I mean, them, to expand.