ANGEL'S ASHES, bungou stray dogs [on hold]

xxvi. tell me there's more

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𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋'𝐒 𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐒

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘴𝘪𝘹: 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦

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𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨

     THERE'S A TELL-TALE SCENT of smoke in the air, the buildings scorched and barely more than charred rubble. Sitting on the windowsill, Angel stares out over the dilapidation and blood-spattered streets, humming lowly at the beautiful battlefield scenery, silver eyes glowing with pure delight. This is the world she was brought into and raised in, and it's more her home than almost anything else she has come across in the past twelve years of her life. A world of pure destruction in the palm of her hand sounds like a dream come true, despite her young age.

     "Come here, my dear," the Boss calls from his bed in one of his more saner moments, voice frail and sickly but still full of authority. It's only when Angel is sitting cross-legged on the bed beside him that he reaches out with a wrinkled hand, the hand she holds in her own pair. "I need you to do something for me."

     "Of course, gramps," she replies, more than eager to prove herself yet again to this man that's taken the young girl under his protection and raised her to be the weapon she is today. "What do you want me to do?"

     "Kill them all. Kill everyone who stands in the way of the Port Mafia, in the way of your legacy; prove to the world we're a force to be reckoned with; and bring pride and respect to our name."

     "I'll do that even without you having to ask. Don't worry. We're in safe hands."

     Before anything else can be said in the silence, a shiver runs down Angel's spine at the turning of the door handle. Slipping into the shadows, black catsuit helping her blend with the darkness, her breathing shallows and quietens as unease pools. As far as Angel is aware, nobody should be allowed to enter the Boss' room without direct permission — including the Executives, and the amnesiac European spy — and that makes the unease come to a rolling boil. Even as the door slowly opens inward to reveal the doctor treating the Boss' illness, Angel knows everything is about to come crashing down.

     Ōgai Mori strides in, white doctor's coat billowing about behind him, but the middle-aged man isn't the one piquing Angel's interest once her analytical gaze focuses on the young male trailing behind the doctor with a somewhat expressionless look on his face. Clad in a suit and innumerable bandages, if she weren't aware of the entirety of the Port Mafia's people, Angel would almost go as far to say that he's one of them, but the fact she's never seen him before proves this is one of the doctor's other patients outside of his long-standing work for the Port Mafia.