Drop of blood (Soukoku)

Mystery

"I can't believe he's gone..." a white haired boy said as tears stung the brim of his eyes.

A blonde patted the boy on the shoulder as he sighed, "He did it to protect Yokohama, so he died for a good purpose."

"Kunikida-san...What happened to the book?"

"It's with Nakahara-san. Seems that Dazai gave it to him before he..."The blonde caught himself in that sentence. He didn't want to finish that sentence. He too felt utterly sad for his partner's passing.

The crowd in the halls slowly filled out and soon, it was only a ginger and a pink haired lady left.

"Ane-san....did I...did I do anything wrong?" The ginger was first to speak up. That was the first thing he said to the pink haired lady for the whole funeral. The older frowned as she shook her head in a comforting manner. "You didn't do anything wrong. We...just didn't make it in time..." Seeing the sadness and regret still plastered on the ginger's face, Kouyou continued, "At least Fyodor didn't get the book right?"

The pink-haired lady pointed at the simple looking yet dangerous book clutched in Chuuya's hands and pressed against his chest as if it was the most precious thing to him. Which probably was true, it was the last thing that Dazai gave him before leaving.

Chuuya looked up at the picture of the brunette in the middle of the room as he glanced at Kouyou who was still by his side. He was thankful for that, he truly was. "What happened to Tachihara?" Kouyou kept silent for a few seconds before she said, "From what I've heard, he's in jail, for ability users."

"Who would've known he was a traitor..." Chuuya mumbled, just loud enough for the pink head to hear. The ginger twisted the gold ring on his finger as he stood up, book in one hand. The pink haired obviously noticed the small but noticeable action. She took the ginger's hand in hers and smiled, "I'm sure Dazai-kun would want you to keep that. He did propose to you after all. " Kouyou rose to her feet as she suggested, "You want to get a cake or something?" The ginger nodded as he managed a smile before both of them went out of the room.

- - - - -

"I will get my hands on that book..." Fyodor bit his nails as his subordinate asked him, "Why do you want that book so badly anyways?"

The raven head looked up as he smiled. "That book makes anything come true with just a few simple words written inside it."

"Then what's in your way?" the red haired male asked, also quite intrigued by the book. "The location of it...Now that the eye of god has been destroyed, I have no clue where it is kept. That stupid detective knows but he won't tell me anything about it."

"Did you use the mind reader to read the detective's mind?" The red haired suggested.

Fyodor's eyes widened. "I thought he died during the war. He's still alive?"

"Alive and healthy alright. The Hunting Dogs used him when we did interrogations."

"Do you think you can get him for me?"

The red haired raised a brow and nodded. "I can try. He'll probably agree..."

"Do anything it takes to get him. He's essential in my plan."

- - - - -

The Port mafia and ADA decided to have a celebration for bringing down Fyodor and his gang. The war was finally over. However, both sides suffered some losses. ADA only lost Dazai, thanks to the brunette himself. However, that one loss made the whole office more quiet.

Port mafia sadly lost their lone dog, Akutagawa' Hirotsu and Gin sadly passed as well. Tachihara was found a traitor and now supposingly in jail.

Kouyou decided to make an agreement with the ADA and is now working together to protect Yokohama citizens.

"We haven't found Fyodor but he's alone now. It'll take him time to build a team again. So, let's strive to catch him and bring him down soon! To the ADA and port mafia!" Kouyou announced as everyone cheered in agreement.

As the ginger raised his glass of red wine, he flashed a smile at the ADA members who were giving him comforting smiles as they had full knowledge of the sad news. Chuuya wasn't the type who needed or wanted pity but he needed to reassure the ADA members that he was fine.

That day haunted him every night. He could still remember the stench of blood which choked him when he ran into the room. He saw the familiar beige coat on the floor with the brunette who was motionless. Then, his mind was filled with negative thoughts. He couldn't think straight. His eyes became blurry as he dropped to the ground, dropping the book onto the floor and he only realised he was screaming when Kouyou came rushing in, hugging him to snap him out back to reality.

Remembering that, the smile on Chuuya's face faded as he brought the rim of the glass to his lips, to try and hide the frown that was etched on his face. Thankfully, none of the ADA members saw as they were currently busy talking among themselves about their success. Chuuya, upon noticing that, removed the glass and placed it on the table as he stood up, ready to leave. However, he was stopped by a familiar blonde.

"Chuuya-san, are you leaving already?" Higuchi asked. The ginger turned and his eyes widened when he saw the multiple bandages covering her head and visible body. Higuchi must have noticed the shock as she chuckled, "Don't worry about me. The doctor said it'll heal." Chuuya hesitantly nodded as he gave a pitiful smile at the blonde as he answered, "I'm a bit tired. Need to get some sleep."

The blonde chuckled once again as she nodded, "After the whole fight, I think I'm going to drop dead."

The ginger patted Higuchi on the shoulder, trying to avoid the thick layers of bandages as he advised, "You should go home and rest. Your wounds will heal faster." Despite the smile and laughing, Chuuya knew the blonde was sad about the news about Akutagawa. She admired that boy after all. Chuuya continued smiling as he saw Higuchi slowly making her way to another table to talk with the others. He sighed when he saw the blonde almost fall if Atsushi hadn't supported her. He opened the doors, making sure to close it silently so no one noticed.

Kouyou would have stopped him and Akutagawa would have bid him goodbye politely while bowing. Hirotsu would have given him a supportive smile and Gin would have just smiled with her eyes silently. Dazai would have...

Shaking his head, Chuuya smiled nostalgically when he thought of how different people would have reacted to his actions but thinking about them would do him no good but only give him tears. He was about to leave until he heard a voice call out to him. "Nakahara kun?" He turned to see a very familiar annoying raven head.

"Ango...fancy seeing you here." He made a snarky reply as he turned his body to fully face the raven head. Ango put up a small smile as he asked, "How are you holding up?"

Chuuya's eyes softened. He recalled seeing Ango at Dazai's funeral. That man had stayed for quite long, one of the last to leave. He returned the smile as he replied, "Fine. You?" Ango, who was surprised with the kind and polite response, hesitated to answer. "Sad about the news. However, I'm happy Dazai-Kun will have somewhere up there to take care of him." Immediately understanding what Ango was saying, the ginger nodded. "Well, I have to go. See you around." Ango nodded as he turned to make his leave as well. Chuuya clenched and unclenched his fist as he walked back to his apartment silently.

— — — — — 

The raven haired male fished out his phone when he heard it buzzing away in his pocket. He didn't recognise the number and declined the number but sighed when he saw the same number calling him again. Knowing whoever was calling him wasn't going to give up easily, he answered, his brain thinking away on who was calling him now, especially after the war.

A chirpy 'hello' was heard from the opposite line. "Sorry, who's this?" Ango stopped in his tracks as he waited for a reply.

"It's me. I need your help..."