Bungou Stray Dogs x OC ~ Alter Ego

Chapter 10

"I am full of surprises, my dear Kunikida. But, like everyone else, I have my limits. I am not able to read all the languages of the world."

Saying this, in a honeyed voice, Dazai had slightly tilted his head to the side, giving him a falsely innocent look that did not deceive anyone.

Trying to control his strained nerves, Kunikida shoved the letter back into Dazai's hands, without any care, before returning to his own desk.

"You're perfectly capable of spending your time doing nothing, aren't you? So, if you don't do anything else with your life, at least take care of this damn letter and let me work in peace."

And so, the blond man fell back into total silence, his eyes firmly staring at his computer screen. Leaving no other choice to Dazai, even if he had to admit that this small enigma pleased him well.

With his feet delicately placed on his desk, the brown-haired man started to 'work', simply opening a translation website on his phone. He could have very well used his computer to do this, but he used it so infrequently that he had long since forgotten the password.

Or so it seems. No one really knew the truth, and he did not seem to know either.

But, this way, it gave him an excuse to do even less during his already scarce working hours.

With some difficulty, Dazai finally managed to enter the few words written on the letter into his phone, before pressing the diction key, a robotic voice rising into the air almost immediately.

"Was für eine Schande," the voice rambled in a monotone.

Strongly enough to attract the attention of a certain long-haired blond again.

"Dazai, don't you want to-"

"What a pity", another voice cut him, this time male but still not very energetic, as the brown-haired man covered with bandages had pressed 'translate into Japanese'.

Which did not really help him. Why write something like that on such an expensive sheet of paper, in invisible ink, only to come and slip it under the door of a café, with the Agency's name on it?

It did not make sense. Was it a threat, a sign of a potential author's insanity, or just a joke?

Before he had time to think further, a hand grabbed the letter, once lying on his messy desk, right next to his shoes. He expected to see Kunikida, and was even more surprised to see that it was not his blond-haired partner.

"Seriously, Dazai? I thought you were smarter than that," Ranpo said disdainfully, looking down on the subject of his words. "It seems that no one is as good as me, after all. As I am in a good mood today, I will help the simple-minded to see more clearly."

He did not even have to put on his glasses to find the solution, since it was so obvious. With the letter in one hand and the lamp still lit in the other, Ranpo pointed the lamp at the nearest wall, a wry smile on his lips.

"Can someone close the curtains?" he asked in a triumphant voice.

His request was granted in no time, and total darkness fell over the office, except for the desk lamp, whose beam was still pointed firmly at the wall.

Ranpo slid the letter between the two, adjusting the position of the paper a little, before looking up, proud as a king.

"There you go!" he hummed happily, enjoying the confused looks of his colleagues.

Their eyes were focused on the wall, but they did not see how that advanced the mystery of this letter.

The paper was so thick that the light could not get through, deflecting the beam to the sides. But, in some places, where the embossed gilding was, well hidden in the middle of it, were a myriad of small holes, which were reflected on the opposite wall, the only places where the light could filter through.

Another long moment of silence, at the end of which a great burst of laughter was heard, which came simply from Dazai.

"Excellent!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands, sincerely impressed. "We expected no less from our greatest detective!"

Then, seeing that no one had understood yet, he resumed, sighing slightly, his feet still on his desk, and his buttocks still sprawled in his chair.

"Ranpo? I think I'll leave it to the expert."

Far from being offended, on the contrary, the aforementioned proudly raised his chest, pointing to his other hand, and more precisely to the thick black paper letter he was holding, which projected on the wall a multitude of small luminous spots.

"This, ladies and gentlemen... This is nothing but Braille! Kunikida, write it down quickly, so that we can start deciphering it!"

Without understanding why, but agreeing without discussion to the demands of his elder, the blond complied at full speed, the operation however becoming delicate knowing that the office was plunged in the dark. Noting with a clumsy hand the combination of small dots apparently without any particular meaning.

But if Ranpo said otherwise, it must be true, right?

Their star detective had never been wrong in his predictions, after all.

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By now, Yui was certain that the Agency had discovered her letter. And she even suspected that they had already managed to decipher her first little riddle, even though it was not overly complex admittedly.

She had heard about this Agency a long time ago, and had learned at the same time that their detectives were quite skilled. She was going to be forced to wait a while before starting the next step in her plan, though, and that just made her groan with frustration.

She just wanted to get back what had once been taken away from her, as soon as possible. But, if she had already waited years for this moment, what were a few more days?

She could not help but tremble with impatience despite these wise words, even if from the outside nothing let imagine it. With a smile on her face, blindfolded, an incredibly expensive dress on her and her cane in hand, Yui got into the car that was at her disposal, which obviously belonged to her wealthy father.

In addition to the contract with the Port Mafia, Yuuto Uemura had asked his daughter to do a few other things, which she had no choice but to follow to the letter. Making juicy deals was her specialty, so her father took advantage of the fact that his daughter was at Yokohama to multiply potential partnerships, among other trivial things.

Yui knew full well that, through this so-called freedom her adoptive father was giving her, the truth was quite different. Her stay here was nothing more and nothing less than a test, to see if the young woman was reliable and competent enough to take care of herself from time to time, alone. Especially away from the direct influence of her family.

Well, not really alone, actually. Because, of course, Aiko was not letting her out of her sight, without forgetting her bodyguards, in constant contact with her beloved father.

If she fulfilled her few tasks perfectly, she could then ask her father to give her a moment of rest, maybe an entire day if she was lucky.

For the time being, her car was racing through the busy streets of Yokohama, as a smile crept across her lips, imagining what this city might look like after dark.

Ruminations which would remain, alas, at the simple state of unattainable dream, she thought while caressing her metal pendant with her fingertips, well hidden in the long sleeve of her laced top.