Found (Bungo Stray Dogs)

Chapter 13

Now that Chuuya had eliminated the threat that was Jane's phone, he decided to relax and be nicer to her. It wasn't her fault that she was with Dazai, he kept telling himself. The car with her phone had driven off, but the other remained. Jane was looking quite suspicious of him.

"Do you like flowers by any chance? There's a really nice garden nearby – the Lake Garden. Have you been there?"

"I haven't."

"Then I'd like to show it to you."

Jane studied Chuuya's face and saw no sign of ill will. His voice echoed through her head, "Why do you trust Dazai and not me?"

"Alright. You got me a bit curious." She smiled slightly out of obligation. He wasn't expecting her to smile so he simply opened the car door for her. She got in and he joined her in the back seat. The car drove off.

"How far is it?" Jane immediately asked.

"Not very far," Chuuya gave a vague answer.

Jane gave up and didn't even try to talk to him. She decided to re-analyze all her interactions with Dazai. Most of them were positive, but some were a bit suspicious. But more importantly, as Jane thought about it, she had no romantic feelings for Dazai. Sure, they had had some cute interactions, but it occurred to her that she saw Dazai only as a friend.

After a while the car stopped. "We're here," Chuuya said.

Jane got out and found herself in front of a highly ornate iron gate with a matching arch. A tall stone wall surrounded the park, but she could see trees with different colored and shaped leaves reaching much higher than the wall.

Chuuya pushed open the gate, allowing Jane to enter.

"Wow, Sir Nakahara... it's beautiful," she gasped as she took in the wild yet tamed beauty of the lush trees, small ponds and abundant rose bushes. The walkway was lined with smaller flower beds which were hidden between smaller bushes and stones.

"There are some areas of this garden that are especially pretty. I'd like to show you one, if you're interested."

Jane chuckled. "Of course I am!" It was as if she had never been suspicious of Chuuya in the first place. He led the way, walking slowly, and she followed him, walking even slower to maintain a distance. Either whatever he wanted to show must have been really close, or he wanted Jane to take in the beauty as much as possible.

The distance didn't seem to bother him since he was eager to speak, "Do you remember you asked me why I joined the Mafia? Do you still want to know?"

Jane actually didn't care that much, but thought it might be interesting to know. She asked him to share.

"I'll keep it short. I was actually investigating something that interested the Mafia as well, so Mori captured me and made me work with Dazai. We never really got along well. He was the thinking, scheming type; I was the reckless attacking type. I was part of another organization, but I wasn't a good leader. Thanks to Dazai's schemes, my own organization betrayed me. But I still joined the Mafia, because I came to respect Mori as a leader. His orders were and are fantastic."

Jane felt combative. "So you found a person whose orders you wanted to follow? You don't care about the lives you're ruining or ending or helping to ruin and end?"

"Boss is calculating, but he never kills without a good reason. I know that his orders are for the benefit of the organization and the preservation and protection of the city. Besides, my ability is quite aggressive by itself. I couldn't use it outside the Mafia."

"I guess if you see yourself as virtuous, you can justify anything."

He chuckled. "I didn't expect you to understand. But you're right. I might have just lied and tried to justify it to myself."

Despite her better judgment, the walls Jane had put up to keep Chuuya away crumbled down at that moment, but she decided to run with it. He had made himself vulnerable in front of her and admitted his mistake – and she felt that they were close to a breakthrough in his reasoning.

Jane noticed a bench and pulled Chuuya towards it, sitting on it. He joined her, although a bit puzzled at Jane's quick change. She held Chuuya's gloved hands.

"I know we're not close or anything, but please tell me. If that was a lie, what's the truth? I want to understand you, Sir Nakahara. Chuuya!"

His heart flipped at the sound of her calling him by his given name. Her eyes sparkled, Chuuya noticed. She was genuinely smiling for the first time ever, to him at least. Her hands grabbed his firmly; she was not afraid. He felt like he could collapse and she'd carry him to safety. But it must have been his mind imagining things.

"I am not sure, I'll have to think about it."

Her grip didn't weaken. "I'll be waiting for your response, Chuuya."

Chuuya looked into her eyes once more – they were still sparkling. Her lips were still smiling. He didn't want it to end.

He moved his hands so that they were holding hers. "What will happen if I tell you?"

"Probably nothing." She laughed. Her smile revealed her teeth and spread to her eyes this time. "I'll just understand you better."

Chuuya couldn't help but smile back this time. Jane was happy she saw such a human side of a ruthless Mafia member with whom she was forced to spend quite a lot of time. She kept her walls down.

"Sorry for interrupting like this. How about we continue?"

"Of course." He stood, helping Jane up. He even offered her his arm to lean on this time and she accepted it. They continued walking at a slow pace, Jane enjoying the view and Chuuya thinking of his answer.

He suddenly came to a stop and took out his phone. He gently pulled his arm from Jane's and took a few steps away. His replies were short.

Jane gave him a worried look. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm sorry but we'll have to end it here today. But because I couldn't show you anything, could we perhaps continue this walk on another day?"

Jane's head told her that she should be relieved that she would be able to escape the situation, especially because she had agreed reluctantly. But her heart was disappointed until it was comforted by his offer.

"I'd love to."

He smiled. "I'm happy to hear that. We'll drive you back."

They got into the car again. Chuuya was happy to see that Jane seemed a lot more relaxed compared to before. But he had to ruin her mood eventually.

"We'll stop near the port to have a look at your phone before giving it back," he mentioned in a very by-the-way tone.

Jane's happy mood was, indeed, given a good excuse to leave. "Why take it away in the first place?"

"Like I said," Chuuya began, irritated, but softened a bit, "I don't trust Dazai. I trust you, but not him."

Jane felt embarrassed about asking such an obvious question and stared out the window until they arrived.