ᴡᴇᴀᴋᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴠᴇɴɢᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ | ᴅᴀᴢᴀɪ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ✔️

XXVII: Breaking the manipulations

You didn't stick the landing. You stood up again, only for your left ankle to flare. You wanted to scream, yell the pain away, but you limped to get as far as you could from them. The bones in your left foot felt as if they broke into small pieces, you felt sick thinking of the pain that didn't stop.

It took the guy a few minutes to get out of the building and tell the others, and it was enough for you to get far, or so you thought.

"There she is!!" One of them yelled. You looked back at them, they outnumbered you. You had no choice but to run away. You looked back in front of you, and there stood your last chance. Like a miracle that came down from the sky.

It was a land phone.

You limped faster. Even if it hurted, you knew it was your last chance.

It was a good minute for you to call before they reached you. You pulled out the coins in your pockets, but they slipped from your wet hand. "Stupid coins," you spat picking up the coins. You struggled putting in the coins from your shaking hand. Then it was finally in. You raised your trembling fingers to dial the number.

But your mind blanked.

Your shallow breaths distracted you from thinking, and the seconds counted. You didn't memorize Dazai's number. You tried to think of any number that would be of help for you as you panicked. You looked back at the people coming for you.

30 seconds or less.
"Think of a number, a number!!" You yelled. Only then it hits you.
。。。

It was one gloomy, rainy morning in the Armed Detective Agency.

Each on their desk, finishing reports of missions they were on. Naomi assisted her brother by mentioning what she had seen in the mission, doctor Yosano was writing her own report on a mission she successfully executed, but Kenji was too tired to bother, and laid his head on his desk, sleeping peacefully.

Ranpo came into the room with yet another bowl of chocolate, ready to try all the other types of sweets he didn't try yet.

Just when he almost sat on his chair, the phone rang.

"I'll get it. See? I am doing work," he said, smiling wide. Yosano couldn't help but sigh. He picked up the phone, opening the line with the caller. "Armed Detective Agency. You better have a good riddle for me to solve!" He brightly said.

You on the other side, soaked in the rain, your ankle flaring, shaking hands holding onto the phone. you enchanted:

"you are no longer manipulated. you .. remember .. everything"

The bowl slipped from his hand, the glass breaking echoed in the quiet room.

All those who were in the room looked up at him, Kenji waking up too. Tanizaki looked down at the broken bowl, then up to Ranpo.

Shock controlled Ranpo's facials, he was trembling.

"What is happening, Ranpo-san?" Tanizaki asked, eyebrows furrowing while he closed his laptop. Yosano stood up, ready to help those in need.

"Where are you?!" Ranpo yelled, furious. The others flinched. No one dared to come closer or say another word. They all just waited patiently for him to explain something. The president then came into the room, a worried expression clear in his eyes. He eyed everyone, then he looked at Ranpo, who didn't look like himself at all.

What in the world is being told to him?! Tanizaki thought, walking closer to him, hoping he could hear the person on the line with Ranpo, though all he heard were Ranpo's panicked breaths. "Just hold on! We'll be there!" He yelled again. Only then, Tanizaki heard screams coming from the other end.

Ranpo tried his best to stay standing as you screamed for his help when the Jackals finally reached you. The call ended, and ranpo stood there, not saying anything, his vision darkening as all the memories came flooding back to him.

Dazai came up to him to ask about you, his confession to you in the cafe when he told you he knew your real last name, and then ... and then... you walking around in his mind.

His head pulsed with pain as memories were all coming back to him.

His small body swayed, not being able to stay balanced anymore. But Yosano was there to catch him before he went for the fall.

It was serious. Yosano looked down at Ranpo, she had never seen him terrified like this before. "What happened, Ranpo?!" The president asked as he kneeled down. "I knew the truth.. this whole time..." he mumbled to himself more than to the others. Tanizaki walked up to the phone to see the caller.

"It's a landline number," he told the others. Heads turned his way, then they all looked again at Ranpo, wondering what exactly was being told to him. Though it was silence that controlled, Ranpo's mind was filled with conversations, thoughts, the replaced memories that were too good to be real.

He closed his eyes, the area between his eyebrows wrinkling. He tried his best to organize the thoughts inside his mind. He had to act quick. He knew, but his head felt physically heavier with all the memories coming back.

He opened his eyes, gaze locked with the president, and finally said, "Call Dazai and Kunikida. Yn is in danger, she needs our help,"
。。。

Kunikida looked at Dazai from behind the glass. It was the first time that Kunikida witnessed Dazai lose his cool.

"Where are you holding yn hostage?!" warned Dazai. The girl's expression of fear was soon changed to anger when he asked that question. "hostage..is this what she told you?" she mumbled, looking down at her clasped hands.

Dazai gave her the silent treatment, waiting for her to say what she had. "she was especially sent to you for a reason, mr. detective," she continued, being ironic. Dazai's expression didn't change; Kunikida couldn't tell what was going inside Dazai's mind.

"she's the only one who can get into your head," she finally said after some silence, looking up at him, smiling. Dazai chuckled, placed his hand in his pocket and pulled out a gun. He quickly placed it on her head and clicked the safety lock off.

"You think I'm playing, right?" he said, eyes empty, looking down at her. She was petrified, but Kunikida knew Dazai could go far worse with her, considering his past in the port mafia..

"I asked a question. Where are you holding yn hostage?" he warned, pressing the barrel of the gun on her head.

Only then, a call came into Kunikida's phone. "The president?" he wondered as he took the call.