The Dark Era

Ch.18 Dethroned

It's currently the next day. I was walking through the woods, located on the coast line of Suribachi City, alone. It was just me and my tiger plushie. I had a feeling I should be here. Besides, Dazai ordered me to go ahead while he waited for the proper forces to back him up. I was to scout the area.

As I make my way through, I enter a clearing at the edge of the woods. It was a small ledge with stairs leading up to a small cemetery on it.

"..."

Sitting on the tombstone, closest to the end of the ledge as Chuuya.

"Chuuya-san."

He looks back a me.

"Shiori? What, you quit the mafia or something?" he asks as I walk up to his side.

"No one has ever quit and live." I simply replied.

"...I see."

He turns around and jumps off.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"...I want to keep you safe by my side."

"...I didn't leave the Port Mafia if that's what you're thinking."

"I know. But, I did say I was going to take you away."

"..."

I follow Chuuya down the small set of stairs. Once we reach the bottom, we were greeted by the boy from the arcade.

"I've been looking for you, Chuuya."

When the boy notices me, he sends me a death glare. Chuuya stands protectively in front of me.

"Shirase. How did you find me here?"

Shirase refocuses on Chuuya and smiles.

"I wanted to apologize to you. We did some soul-searching after what happened." he answers as he walks right up to Chuuya.

He's very close, something is off.

"We have a good understanding of the Sheep's problems now."

He stops walking as once he's behind Chuuya, and next to me.

"So we all talked it over and came up with a solution."

Chuuya turns, keeping me behind him, to face Shirase as he replies. Shirase gets closer to Chuuya as he did.

"If it's something you decided together, I won't-"

Without letting him finish talking, Shirase stabbed Chuuya in the right side of his stomach. In shock, Chuuya freezes. I quickly push Shirase away from him as he collapses on the ground. I open the back of my plushie and pull out my gun. I take aim at Chuuya's former friend. Shirase just takes a few steps back while smirking.

"Decision was, we attack you from outside your periphery, when your guard is completely down. That way, you won't have time to use your ability. Right, Chuuya?"

Chuuya grits his teeth before looking up at the Sheep boy.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"You shouldn't try to move. I rubbed rat poison on the blade. Your limbs will be numb and immobilized for a while."

"...Boss taught me how to cure something as simple as that. So your plan won't work. I will kill you now."

Shirase glares at me.

"Don't Shiori." Chuuya orders.

"...Yes, Chuuya-san."

I put my gun down.

"Chuuya...you wouldn't have to go through this if you weren't so strong!"

Having shouted that, G.S.S. soldiers appear from behind him. Their guns were pointed right at us. A few children of the Sheep appear beside them as well.

"Guys!"

"This is the solution we chose." Shirase explains. "We'll team up with the G.S.S. We all came to the realization that if you were to side with the Port Mafia, you'd get everyone in the Sheep killed."

"I'd never betray the organization!"

The pain from the knife still in his gut forces him to stop talking. I go to Chuuya's side and do my best to comfort him. Watching us, Shirase continued to talk.

"Unlike you, the G.S.S. doesn't change it's loyalties on a whim. They can be trusted as long as they can profit. This is the smarter way to fight against the Port Mafia!"

Chuuya was hurt by his old friend's words. The look was all over his face.

"I suppose I was the fool."

"Say the word."

Chuuya looks at me.

"I'm a loyal guard dog to Dazai-san. I choose to follow you because I feel like it's right. So I'm your dog too. I'm your pet. These people hurt you, so give me orders. I could kill everyone here in minutes. I've been training to do so this pass year."

"Shut up, kid! You, against us?! You only have one little gun against us!"

I look towards Shirase.

"My name is Shiori. I'm eleven years old and adopted by the Port Mafia. I'm learning how to read, and I feel nothing... I'm also trained to kill four people in one minute."

"Yeah right! You're just a little girl! What could you do?!"

"...I used to think the same thing. But I was wrong. She's strong. Stronger then any one of you."

After saying that, Chuuya grabs me and hold me tight as he uses his ability. The ground beneath us breaks and collapses. We slide down and stop once we're hiden under the ledge. We stay silent as we hear Shirase barking orders.

"He may be weakened by the poison, but it won't be enough to kill him! Find him, and the little girl, quickly! Don't let them live!"

I look back at Chuuya once they were gone. Chuuya grabs the knife's handle and pulls it out.

"Sh*t." he mumbles as he tosses the weapon to the side.

He grits his teeth again. I place my hand on his wound and applied pressure to lessen the blood flowing out of his body. Chuuya thinks to himself out loud as I do this.

"..."Leader," my ass. I was ruining the organization this entire time."

"...Chuuya-san..."

"Hey, Chuuya, thanks for keeping Ori-chan safe."