A Touch of Sorrow [Dazai x OC x Chuuya]

Triginta Septem

"The number you're trying to call is not reachable. Please leave your message after the beep." 

"Hey Chuuya-kun. Um... it's the day of the mission, I'm... I'm just calling to let you know that. I left some food on the table, you can heat it up for dinner...if you come back. Call me when you get this."

"I love you..."

Beep beep beep.

=====

Standing before the tall Zenrin-mon gate was this one young lady dressed in a black vest with plum red shirt underneath. She wore a simple hairdo, high bun with simple sakura ornament. Sharp eyeliner and natural blush enhanced her features, yet making that pretty face unfamiliar to those knew of her. 

This part of the city was always bustling with life day and night. It would've been much nicer if she could enjoy the place for a holiday trip instead of for business. After this mission she might return to have one, after this one last mission.

The buzzes in the earpiece couldn't drown out the talking of those around. By night the place seemed even more enchanting, with neon lights bathed the town in bright flares, with giggles of the tourists bringing life to the place. It was difficult to keep one's self from being distracted. 

The stroll came to an end as before her stood a tako poke restaurant with a theme different from most shops in there. The exterior designs brought a foreign feeling compared to those around, with blue as its theme color, it felt almost like sea.

"Hawaiian Breeze."

The moment she received the files of the organization she had spotted the similarities between the cipher and its locations. The files mentioned a restaurant selling tako poke, a Hawaiian-native dish, in the center of Chinatown. The dish was well-known to Japanese people yet, to see it in Chukagai was surely something out of one's expectation. There wasn't much to say about whether Ren was actually there, but it was the only clue that held much value at that moment.

The wooden door pulled open as the guest stepped in. To her surprise, once again, it was a foreign man that greeted her. He was well-mannered, and fluent in Japanese, he led her to a table where another waitress took over the ordering. Their faces were never absent a smile. 

"One order of tako poke. Anything else, miss? A drink perhaps?" 

"A bottle of rose champagne of your recommendation, thank you." Rei folded the menu and returned it to the waitress, their hands brushed over each other ever so slightly.

With a light bow and a radiant grin, the woman left her table to the back where the kitchen was. Rei followed their every movement, studied their countenances, seemingly, none of them noticed anything unusual about Rei. They treated her like every other customer.

The same waitress returned with her order and once she was done with etiquette, the waitress removed herself swiftly to leave Rei to her meal. One bite, in the earpiece rose an eager voice from the other side.

"Rei-san, we're in. Waiting for your next order."

Rei closed her eyes, setting down the utensils as she reached for the glass of wine. The sparkling liquid filled her mouth. 

"Get rid of the employees in the kitchen, the trapdoor leading in is on 5 o'clock." 

The after taste of rosé was like heaven.

She sat there enjoying her meal when the shooting took place, what happened in that very kitchen was not known to those people outside. Rei had set up a very simple closing board outside, and on the inside, they were all unconscious, living their wildest dreams through the trigger of her biological smoke bomb.