Enemies

Leaving

Ren sat at the Agency with a book in her hands, listening to some of the Armed Detective Agency members discussing their resources, which she wrote down later, and watched everyone do what they usually did, noting it down as unnecessary but interesting pieces of information. She thought about what Dazai had told her the night before, and what his friend had said to him. That friend would have probably been Oda Sakunosuke, someone who Dazai was a close with while he was still in the Port Mafia according to Mori. She had read up on him, and he was certainly less bloodthirsty and violent as some of the other Port Mafia agents, being a skilled fighter but never actually killing until his death. His ability was also interesting, and Ren could start to piece together how their relationship, along with Ango, worked.

The Agency was noticeably more quiet when Dazai went out so solve cases, and she could see the difference in how the atmosphere changed and how everybody worked. As soon as he came back, the first thing he did was go to her.

"Hello Aiko-chan! I just solved another case. I doubt anybody other than Ranpo over here could have solved it. Just goes to show how incredibly knowledgable I am. And you will be leaving by the end of today, so we'll make sure to guarantee your safety."

He comes off as an egotistical jerk right now. Your behaviour here and at your place is extremely inconsistent. But if I remember correctly I have sufficient information on you and your colleagues, so I no longer have a reason to be here. Dazai's told me quite a bit about himself and the Armed Detective Agency, and things have fortunately been going smoothly.

Dazai seemed to have become a lot closer to Ren since he started talking to her about himself, which made her job easier, and she could focus more on the other Armed Detective Agency members. Dazai was a capable actor, almost as good as Ren, and she could see that in his interactions with the other Armed Detective Agnency members. She definitely found that having a crystal clear and detailed plan made everything easier and was quite looking forward to dropping the act once she was done.

"Aiko-chan, do you want to get something to eat with me and Atsushi-kun?" Dazai called out to her.

"Sure." She stood up and followed them out to a restaurant nearby, and listened to them talking as she ate quietly.

"So, how long will you be in Kyoto for, Suzuki-san?" Atsushi said between mouthfuls.

"Around a month. It's been a while since I've seen my family, so I want to set aside enough time to catch up with them." She never really cared about families, and never felt what it was like to be a part of one, so she found them largely unnecessary.

Ren didn't attempt to get any more information out of them that would disrupt the flow of the conversation, and tried to at least partially enjoy a decent conversation, which she didn't really, but still paid close attention to everything they were saying.

"Also you seem to have gotten a lot closer to Dazai-san. What happened?" Atsushi said randomly as Ren ate her noodles.

"We talked. Nothing else really happened." She shrugged and Dazai nodded.

"Aiko-chan is certainly an interesting person, but she is not as charming as I am, if I do say so myself." He grinned.

As much as Ren wanted to show off her acting skills and punch Dazai in the face, she couldn't, and just smiled in response. The atmosphere was quite calm and relaxed, and she smiled as she watched Dazai tease Atsushi effortlessly.

"That was nice." she said as she walked back to the Agency with them.

"Yeah, I thought so too. So, Suzuki-san, would you like us to take you to the airport?"

"If you want to. Or else I can hail a cab." She made sure she had her plane ticket in her bag.

"Ok. We'll take you there, so don't worry about transportation." Atsushi smiled and Ren followed them back to the Agency where she picked up her luggage and went into the car.

Dazai was the one driving, and he didn't seem to be good at it. The ride was quite bumpy, and there were many sudden breaks, but he still tried to talk to Ren and Atsushi while they made their way to the airport. Ren was checking through all her belongings, and they arrived at the airport shortly. Dragging out her suitcase, she waved to them.

"Thank you for looking after me, Dazai-san! And thank you for your hospitality, Atsushi-san!" She smiled as they drove off, and after making sure they were gone and that no one was watching her, she walked around to the back where she found Chuuya waiting.

"Ok, I've finished the task." She said in a monotonous voice, completely different to the cheerful one she used with the Armed Detective Agency.

"You were frighteningly quick... How the fuck did you get Dazai to open up to you like that?! As much as I don't want to say it, you deserve the credit for this." He looked shocked as he started the engine.

"I don't need credit. I used logic and knowledge of how humans think. Now let's get back. I want to change into my uniform and take out this hairstyle." She took out her hair tie and so her hair went down her back, with a few strands over one shoulder and some of it covering her left eye and pulling on her mask.

"So, uh- how do you feel about being promoted?" Chuuya tried to make the situation less awkward.

"It is certainly an accomplishment if I do get promoted. If I do, then I will be thankful and strive to improve my methods further."

"But you're already the top spy and assassin in the Port Mafia." Chuuya clicked his tongue and hit the brakes as they pulled up to headquarters. He was significantly better at driving than Dazai, and the ride was a lot smoother. Ren shrugged and stepped out. "You should be happier about this. A lot of time I wonder whether or not you're a robot with how little emotion you show."

"I do have emotions, though emotions interfere with work. Feeling sorry will do nothing for the people I am stealing information from or planning to kill." She took her outfit from her suitcase and went into the bathroom quickly, changing into a dark black trench coat that extended down to her knees at the front and ankles at the back, a white shirt with a black tie, a grey vest and grey pants she could move around easily in, while pulling on a pair of black gloves and putting on a choker.

She didn't particularly stand out in terms of her outfit, but she wasn't advertising to the whole world that she was 'The Midnight Shadow', and it was functional. Ren went with Chuuya up to Mori's office, where she brought out her report and gave it to him silently, the look in her eyes cold and distant. Mori read through it quickly and looked up at her, satisfied.

"I think you have done an excellent job, and you completed it in a couple of weeks, which is impressive. I see you have gathered quite a bit of intel on the Armed Detective Agency. You will be officially promoted to Executive as of today. Congratulations. As per your request, it will not be announced publicly, only that there's a new Executive. Your next assignment will be given tomorrow. I look forward to seeing how you work." He smiled, resting his chin on his hand.

"Thank you, Boss."

"It's my pleasure. And welcome home, Takahashi Ren."

- - -

saying 'emotions interfere with work' makes her sound like Jumin from Mystic Messenger lol

I based her character for Aiko off of MC from 707's route in Mystic Messenger, since Dazai acts kinda like Seven. Do I play too much Mystic Messenger? Probably. 

Her outfit in the Port Mafia is probably most similar to Chuuya's, but she wears her jacket properly, doesn't wear a hat, she wear a mask and her tie is different. 

Also when I wrote this I spent five minutes googling how to spell Ranpo's name, only to find that 'it doesn't matter. In the original Japanese people say "Ranpo" but in the romanised version people write "Rampo"' and being the person who speaks mediocre Japanese that I am, I chose the first one.