Enemies

Death?

There was a knock on the door of the Armed Detective Agency office, and Kunikida sighed, standing up and opening the door. The person was dressed in a suit, reminiscent of the agents from the Black Lizard in the Port Mafia, and everyone was immediately suspicious, prepared for an attack. They stood to attention as Kunikida frowned, letting them in and waiting for them to say something.

"Speak." He had his notebook ready if they had backup and tried to attack.

"I have a message from the Boss." Everyone turned toward him. "Takahashi Ren... is dead."

Dazai's eyes widened, trying to absorb the information. Atsushi looked at him in concern, and Dazai's face was clouded over with worry.

I need more proof, since it seems like the type of thing she would plan in advance. But if it's actually real then...

He felt a sudden sense of dread as he thought more about it.

"Do you have any more information?" He asked the agent, his expression darkening.

"No, that was the only message I was instructed to give." They said plainly.

"Do you know any more details?" He asked again.

"Again, I do not. I was only instructed to give you this message. I do not know who it is referring to, and anything beyond the message is knowledge I do not know." They said without skipping a beat.

"I request to be brought over to ask Mori about it." He pointed at the messenger.

"Dazai-san," Atsushi started.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." He grinned as everyone stared after him in disbelief.

The messenger nodded slowly and motioned for him to follow. Dazai walked into headquarters with him, thinking through everything that was happening. The halls were familiar and he followed along, looking at the dark windows that showed a view of the city. They stood in front of two heavy dark oak doors, with a simple carving but were still large enough to loom over anyone who stood in front of it. The handles had a golden sheen, and were as ornate as the door.

"Enter." He heard Mori's voice from inside the room.

Dazai had a solemn look on his face as he entered Mori's office, and Mori looked at him, smiling to himself. 

"Dazai-kun, welcome. I think I know what, or who you're going to ask about." Mori rested his chin on his hands, his face faintly illuminated by a few candles, leaving the rest of it in the shadow of the room.

The rest of the room was dark, and the interior had a long table that stretched across most of the room. Elise was playing with something in the corner, and the silence seemed to sink in, which made most people afraid.

"Good, I don't have to explain. What information do you have?" Dazai rested his hand on the table and leaned in to see Mori watching him.

"The Mafia doesn't just give away information for free, though I will give you some. Takahashi was being detained in a cell in the Tokugawa-kai base. Yesterday there was an explosion. Looking at the aftermath and the footage it seems that she did not survive the incident, and it seemed to be suicide." Dazai frowned.

"Where's the footage?" Mori brought out a screen from behind his desk and had a look through.

"They were kind enough to show me the footage." He opened a video file and turned it towards Dazai, who leaned in to see what was shown.

The camera was standard quality, and he saw Ren bringing out a small lemon shaped object from her pocket, taking out a pin that was attached to the stem and turning to the camera, removing her mask for a moment and smirking directly at it with a mischievous glint in her eye, before putting it back on and dropping the object, which soon engulfed the room in smoke and flames, sending shock waves throughout the entire building and shaking the camera. Mori skipped to after the explosion where some people were investigating the aftermath. The walls were scorched black and were partially destroyed with burn marks everywhere, and there were charred remnants of a body and a jacket spread out and tattered throughout the room, from the floor to the walls.