In the dead of the night, on the high dunes of Yokohama, awaited a dark man with a dark purpose. Another man, a petty thief, approached him on his steed.
"Do you have the magic crystals?" The tall man, having the resemblance of a cunning rat, asked.
"Yes. But you have to reward me first." The thief replied and smirked. Before any of them could say a word, a bird swooped down from the sky and snatched the crystals from the thief's hand. It dropped the crystals into the other man's palm and sat on his shoulder.
"Excellent work, Nikolai." The man said, and the bird seemed to preen at the compliment. The rat-man joined the two crystals, and a blinding light appeared as the result. The crystals flew around and wedged themselves onto the highest dune. The sand rose in the air and slowly took the shape of an old temple. At the gateway of the temple stood a demon. The demon spoke in a booming voice,
"Who dares to disturb my slumber!"
The thief felt a shiver run down his body. He gathered all his courage and said,
"It is I, Ivan Goncharov, a petty thief."
The demon hummed before it replied,
"Only one may enter and take the magical tiger teapot."
Ivan took a step forward, and another, and another one, until he stepped into the temple. As soon as he released a sigh of relief, the demon guarding the gateway swelled in size and gobbled up the thief. The temple fell apart into sand again, and the same booming voice was heard.
"Only one may enter. Seek out the diamond in the rough!"
The tall man and his bird stared at the dune.
"He proved to be quite unworthy. Very well then, I shall seek out this diamond in the rough."
With those words, he went back to Yokohama.
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" Come back here, you filthy dog!" The guards shouted at a brown-haired man, who held a piece of bread and some canned crab in his hands. The said brunette looked at the guards, then at the food in his hands, then back at the guards.
"Do I really have to work so hard just for a meal?" He bemoaned. Yet he still started running when he saw that the guards had climbed onto the building he was standing on. He used the strap of his satchel to slide down a clothesline, knocking away some clothes in the process. He landed on the roof of a shop and slid down onto the ground. He wrapped a shawl around himself to use it as a cloak.
"Don't think you'll get away that easily!" He heard a guard shout from the building.
"Do you think it was easy?" the brunette muttered to himself.
"Getting into trouble a bit too early, aren't you, Dazai?" One of the ladies chuckled. Dazai strode over to them and replied,
"Only if I get caught though~" Dazai drawled and sent a flirtatious wink to the ladies, who giggled. He felt a sudden tug on his makeshift cloak and was dragged back.
"There you are!" A huge guard growled just as Dazai whimpered,
"I'm in trouble."
Just in time, a sudden force knocked over the guard. Dazai looked around to see his trusty shapeshifter pal, Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, standing there in the form of a puffing bull.
"Perfect timing Ryuu!" Dazai exclaimed with a smile. Together, they evaded the guards skillfully, until they were stranded on top of yet another building. The guards were closing in on them, and Dazai saw only one way of escaping. Akutagawa must have read his mind, because the next instant, he changed into a bird and flapped away. Dazai took a blanket that was lying around and jumped off the building. The guards, mindless as they were jumped after him. In the end, Dazai made a safe landing on the ground while the guards fell into a lump of stinky fertilizer.
