BSD x OC

Chapter 24

(A/N: Me, on Augest 1st: "Ali's birthday is in 12 days!" Me, after reading 117: "Maybe I shouldn't write the birthday chapter...")

Ali blinked a couple of times, "Eh?" She finally uttered.

"The... Port Mafia?" She asked, looking at Atsushi in shock, her body slightly shaking.

She stood up as she glared at Atsushi, "How could we ever work with a group like that?!" She yelled at him, her fist tightly clenched.

Atsushi flinched, but glared back, "I understand but... The town is the main priority here. If we want to save people, we have to work with them!" He retorted, standing up and staring down at her.

"Can't we just do that by ourselves!? Or without the help of the Port Mafia?!" Ali questioned, taking a step closer to Atsushi.

She lowered her voice, tilting her head up to look at him, "I refuse to work with a group... That'll force a young girl to kill for her own survival..." She told him, the light in her eyes fading away.

Atsushi flinched, remembering Kyouka. "I... Understand how you feel." He finally said, looking towards the ground.

Ali gritted her teeth together, "So why? Why are you of all people suggesting that we work with the Port Mafia?" She asked, "You've seen how it affected Kyouka, how she's been shaped to solve everything with violence, how she became a killer... How her childhood was taken away from her." She finished, her voice cracking at the end.

Shaking his head, Atsushi lifted his gaze from the ground, "I know... I know all of that. But the guilds aiming for total annihilation of Yokohama at this point... If we don't defeat the guild, more children will be forced into the same situation as her."

"Orphans, with nowhere to go. The only place willing to accept them being the Port Mafia, where they'll be shaped into... Murderers." He said, his eyes shifting uncomfortably to the side.

Ali looked at him for a moment longer, before her fist unclenched. She sighed as she turned around, walking up the steps to the exit of the tunnel.

Before she left, she stopped. The light of the sun shining through her messy hair, detailing every out of place strand.

She didn't turn to face Atsushi, "Do what you think is right." She finally said, walking out of the tunnel and away from Dazai and Atsushi.

Atsushi let out a sigh of relief, falling to the ground as he took a deep breath. "Thank God..." He said to himself, running his hand through his hair.

Dazai clapped a couple of times, before helping him up and patting him on the back. "Don't worry, I doubt she hates you... In fact I think that she respects you a little more." He said in a comforting voice.

...

Ali hid behind a tree next to Tanizaki as they listened to Fukuzawa and Mori negotiate over a ceasefire between the 2 groups.

Ali spun her knife in her hand as she listened to the two leaders talk, she watched carefully at the 2 other Port Mafia members standing behind Mori.

Gin Akutagawa and... Shit what was that  red-head dudes name again? I'll just call him bandage guy.

If either of them attack, I'll aim towards Gin first... According to his file, he's more dangerous, and is one of the possible future executives.

(A/N: She still doesn't know that Gin is a girl, so she's addressing her as "him".)

"Right here... Right now... We should settle all past accounts." Fukuzawa said, causing Tanizaki to activate his ability.