Untouchable || Dazai Osamu » book 2

03 | Hawthorne's Revenge

"Death. Death to all ability users.
Sleep in the earth forever, never waking up."

"Where is he?" Azure eyes narrowing into jagged slits, he grinds his teeth viciously. "Show yourself!"

With their senses spiked, the trio pricked their ears for any signs of an oncoming attack. Nothing escaped the sharp awareness of the ex-mafiosi as they stood, ready to pounce on whatever that's prowling around to attack them.

The soft howl of the winter air accompanied by the buzz of flickering street lights; the faint rustle of a coat stirring in the wind; the crunch of leather gloves.

And the whip of a ragged cape that mysteriously appeared out of nowhere.

"He disappeared?"

"Darn it-"

"Above you!"

(Y/n) and Chuya immediately jumped back, narrowly missing having their heads sliced off. But the curved blade wasn't heading towards them — it was heading towards the ravenette.

Akutagawa ducked down. Cursing under his breath, he summoned his ability just as the mad killer swung its scythe towards him. The blade hit a transparent wall in front of him, spitting space, defending himself.

(Y/n) dashed in the moment she saw his ability crack, the blade breaking through the shield protecting Akutagawa. Pushing him roughly to the side, the two tumbled in the dirt for a while, tearing skin, creating scars.

Missing his target, the assassin recovered himself slowly and turned towards them, swinging his scythe with ease. She squinted her eyes at the man, trying to get a good look at the face underneath the hood. Unfortunately, she could not identify the killer. A mask kept his face hidden.

"A masked assassin, huh? And an ability user killer." Her eyes darkened as she regarded the man with ragged clothing with bitter coldness. Akutagawa was first to take action. Summoning his ability again, the hem of his black coat morphed into several sharp blades protruding out of the brick walls from all direction. With this, the enemy would not be able to escape. The blades flew towards the assassin, cutting through the thin ragged cape covering the man.

(The assassin is...)

(Huh?)

The ragged piece of clothing fluttered to the ground like scrap cloth. Its wearer nowhere to be seen. A faint shadow overcasts them and instinctively they looked up. An audible crack was heard as the mask covering the assassin's face split cleanly into two and clattered against the rough surface of the ground.

"Oh? So you're the bastard that kills ability users?" Akutagawa's voice was laced with venom as the killer landed next to the broken mask, droplets of blood dripped from the sole of his shoes.

"The reverend of The Guild," The pupils in his eyes dilated as he spat out his answer. "Hawthorne. Is this all for that woman? The one I defeated in a fight to the death at the port."

Nathaniel cocked his head to the side, staring quizzically at Akutagawa. "You... Who are you?"

Akutagawa's face scrunched up in fury. He looked like he could punch all the crap out of the other party. His hatred plain for everyone to see. Bloodlust still runs through his veins. After all, habits die hard.

Mind reeling, (y/n) turned to her partners, exchanging knowing nods.

Plan A: Attacking head-on.

As the three rushed eagerly forward, taking Nathaniel's confusion as a chance to apprehend him. Unbeknownst to them, a counterattack had also been planned against them.

2 gunshots.

"Guh!"

2 9mm bullets flew past her. One over her head, another barely grazing her cheek. She felt it, the bullet cutting through the thin air, the force pushing the small metal forward at such a terrifying speed. The groans of those fighting alongside her made her turn around in worry. However, it was a bad idea, for the sight wasn't pretty.

Small, but deadly, the bullet sunk deep into the flesh of its targeted victim. Cries of agony could be heard as blood spurted from the open wound.

Her breath hitched as the familiar blood splatter reached her ears. The sound that resurfaced horrid memories of blood and death. She stumbled a few steps backwards, watching as her friends crumpled to the ground, unable to stand.

Another gunshot.

That was all it took. The force hits the dead centre of her chest, impact causing her to arch her back inwards. The urge to suddenly throw up overwhelmed her as the thick, metallic taste of blood gushed up and pooled under her tongue.

Having all her energy and strength drained, her knees gave out and hit the hard concrete ground. She hunched over to cough out the bloody substance, but it only made things worse as the metal dug deeper into her flesh, an agonising pain shooting through her chest.

Writhing in pain, she fixed a watery glare at the figure hiding in the shadows of one of the rooms in the adjacent building, gazing down at the dimly-lit streets below.

(A sniper?)

"Your vitals weren't hit. You'll survive," Nathaniel spoked. "But that'll do."

Droplets of blood floated in mid-air and formed into letters, allowing Nathaniel to step on the red letters and make his escape. Akutagawa and Chuya's fist clenched around their bloodied clothes and grimaced. A faint glow appearing above their gunshot wound.

An infection.

A virus.

She faded in and out of consciousness, each second felt like eternity as her vision slowly began to deteriorate away like dust, her stubbornness refusing to let her heavy eyelids droop. Her head rolled to the side, smearing blood and dirt on her face.

Blood. There's so much of it.

Her vision was coloured a dark shade of crimson and senses were filled with an ominous ring only she could hear.

(Time... Running out...)

A soft clatter of footsteps made her body stir and her eyes turned to look at new visitor. A saviour?

"Does it hurt?"

A long mane of snow-white hair was all her mind could register. Stunning red orbs a kaleidoscope of pure malice stared down at her entire being. Eyes glazed over with pain and vision waning in and out of focus, she was only able to trace out the silhouette of the ghostly figure in front of her.

"Of course not. It feels like a slice of heaven." Forcing the words out of her lips, she managed to be sarcastic despite her current situation.

The unknown man chuckled darkly, obviously enjoying as she struggled to not submit to the temptation of shutting her eyes. His lips parted, softly murmuring something she couldn't comprehend. His voice was drowned out by the incessant ringing in her eardrums. Pale lips then curled into a mocking grin as his talon-like fingers dipped into the sticky crimson liquid surrounding her fragile frame.

"Soon, we'll cleanse the world from the sins of all ability users."

Her body twitched at his words, eyes flickering open. But that person was no longer there. Instead, all she could see was an elongated body, coiling and uncoiling itself in the ink-black sky suspended high above her.

A dragon.

†

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