0.8

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everybody was gathered in the secluded part of the agency's office, they sat across from their client who was a young woman. Her hair was blonde and came down to her shoulders, Her eyes where a deep brown color. She wore a black suit that was left unbuttoned.

erity who had come in the office a bit later then the rest had taken a quick glance at the woman and immediately knew something was off about her, she decided to take a seat outside the secluded area in front of an open window, where she perched her feet onto the window sill.

enjoying the soft breeze as her head was leaned back with her eyes closed, relishing in the effects of the aspirin as she listened closely.

"So..." tanizaki trailed off as he looked through the papers "You've mentioned that you'd like to request an investigation but what manner of investigation are we speaking of here?" he asked her before dazai suddenly crouched down in front of her, holding her hand.

"Beautiful" dazai spoke as he looked up at the lady "You're a lady as ephemeral and elegant as a lotus"

i'm guessing he flirts with every woman he meets

"Would you be willing to join me in a double suicide-" he continued before being cut off by kunikida who punched him.

"What?" the woman questioned.

"Ah, apologies for the disturbance" kunikida said as he walked over to dazai who laid on the floor "Don't worry, please disregard what just happened" he spoke as he grabbed dazai at the back of his collar and dragged him into a room next door "Please continue"

the door closed on it's own before shouts and the sound of a beating was heard.

that's gotta hurt

"Regarding my request" the woman spoke up making everybody turn back to her with sweatdropped expressions

"Y-yes?" tanizaki questioned

atsushi was a bit surprised that she was capable of carrying on like everything was normal.

"Well, it seems there's recently been a group of, distasteful people loitering in my company's back alley" the woman explained.

"And by distasteful, you mean..." tanizaki trailed off.

"They appear to be dressed in rags some of them have been heard speaking a foreign tongue" the woman said before the door to the room next door opened.

this sounds like something the police could handel, so why come to the armed detective agency?

"They must be smugglers or some such" kunikida spoke up as he walked back into the office, showing dazai beat up on the floor behind him before he closed the door.

"The military police may police all they want but they keep multiplying like rats on a ship" kunikida said "They're unavoidable in a port town"

"Right" the woman spoke softly as she looked down "If we had some evidence that they're running afoul of the law, we could reach out to the military police. so..."

"You want us to stake out the place and get that evidence" kunikida said before looking down at atsushi "Brat"

still, i'm pretty sure if she brought this up to the police they would still be able to do something before sending her here

"Huh?" atsushi questioned as he looked up at kunikida.

"You go" kunikida told him.

"What?" atsushi shouted.

"It's a simple stakeout job" kunikida told him "Besides, smugglers are mostly harmless. they're usually only good at making a break for it, it's the perfect job for you" he continued.

thinking if he should let erity go with them but thought against it, having a feeling he should keeps his eye on them as long as they worked at the agency, knowing what could happen because of a certain other person if he didn't.

"But..." atsushi trailed off.

"Tanizaki, go with him" kunikida said as he turned to tanizaki.

"If he's going, i'm going, too!" naomi exclaimed as she hugged her brother from behind.

with that the three of them started to prepare themselves to head out.

so i don't have to go? neat

-

erity had replaced herself on the couch now, where she sat with her back against the left arm, her arms laid over it with her head leaned back as she looked at the sky with her earbuds around her neck.

when she noticed the woman had gotten up, she had too, and as the woman turned to leave they had noticed erity but only gave them a glance before starting to make their way to the door to leave.

erity made it so that they passed each other and without anybody noticing she slipped a bug into the woman's pocket.

"Hey, brat" kunikida said to catch atshushi's attention, who was clearly a bit nervous for his first job "It's not that i lack sympathy for your unlucky, ill-begotten life. as such, i'll give you one hint for surviving in this city" he took out his notebook and grabbed a picture from inside, showing it to atsushi.

it was of a boy with a slim build and very pale skin. He has short, choppy black hair with side bangs that reach his chin and turn white at the tips. His eyes are a dark empty grey, sharp and baggy. He wore a long, black coat reaching past his knees over black fitting pants and black dress shoes. Underneath his coat, he dons a white dress shirt, decorated with a layered ruffled fabric. He also wore a white jabot.

"Don't run into him, if you do. run" kunikida warned him, atsushi took the photo and inspected it closer.

"Who is he?" atsushi asked.

"A mafioso" dazai spoke up, sitting on the desk with headphones around his neck "Though we call them that because we don't know anything else"

"they're a vicious criminal organization who claim the port as their territory" kunikida explained "They're called the port mafia"

"They're the most dangerous bunch in the underground world of this city, of them. the one in the photo. is a very dangerous man beyond even this agency's reach" kunikida continued.

i doubt that

erity listened as she had her eyes closed, she herself knew of the port mafia as she had heard of them before but had the luck of never running in to them. although she knew for a fact that even if she had, they wouldn't be a problem to her.

"Why is he dangerous?" atsushi asked.

"Because he's gifted, his ability happens to be of the ruthless sort of specialized for slaughter" kunikida told him, erity glanced at dazai who she noticed had a knowing look "Not even the military police stand a chance against him, i wouldn't want to fight him either"

"What's his name?" atsushi asked as he looked back down at the picture.

"It's akutagawa" kunikida told him.

erity guessed dazai must have felt her eyes on him as he turned to look at her, eyes connecting, the knowing look stayed but changed as he smiled a little.

-

dazai layed on the other couched that was across the one from erity who had decided to also lay down, while she had her earbuds in, dazai whore his headphones. both listening through the bug they had planted into the woman's pockets.

while listening through the bug erity also listened to dazai who was singing.

"Oh oh yeah~ You can't do a double-suicide alone..."

erity felt her earbuds being tugged away making her open her eyes and see it was kunikida who had also taken of dazai's headphones making him stop singing and also look up at kunikida.

"Hey, dazai" he spoke, turned to dazai "what about the job?" he asked him before turning to erity "And you, don't think because your a newbie your aloud to slack of" he told her and let out a sigh, thinking it might have been better if he had sent her with the others

"I'm waiting for a sign from above" dazai answered as he smiled.

"i'm not" came erity's simple answer, overlapping with dazai's.

"Huh?" kunikida questioned looking at both of them confused.

"With two, you can...Double-suicide...Double-suicide..." dazai continued to sing as he now layed down the other way with his headphones back on that he had been able to slip out of kunikida's hand.

kunikida looked down shocked at his hand which he was holding the headphones in, before looking at his other hand that he noticed didn't hold erity's earbuds anymore making him turn and look at her, she now also laid down the other way with her earbuds back in and her eyes closed again.

"Where here, this way" erity heard through her earbuds and noticed dazai stop singing, she figured he must have realized something was up with that woman too and also bugged her, listening in with his headphones.

"it's kind of creepy" atsushi said.

"That's strange, is this really the right place? Um..." tanizaki asked.

"The name's higuchi" the woman answered.

"Higuchi-san, smugglers are a cowardly bunch, they'll always have an escape route but this is a dead end. if anyone came after them from that direction, they'd have nowhere to run" tanizaki explained.

"That's right" the woman spoke as a loud thud was heard "I apologize, i led you in a trap. my real target was you! akutagawa-senpai"

"Akutagawa?!" atsushi and tanizaki shouted in shock.

"I have them, as planned" the woman spoke and a second latter gunshots where heard making erity rip out her earbuds and sit up at the same time as dazai as he took of his headphones.

they both turned to each other before nodding and getting up. making their way out the office, it didn't surprise dazai to much to see that erity had also known the woman had been lying, although he did wonder how she had bugged her.

"I'm taking erity-kun on his first job, take care of the agency while where gone. see you later kunikida-kun~!" dazai spoke quickly as he and erity walked out the office , door closing behind them.

"hey! wait, dammit!" they heard kunikida shout after them but they where already going down the stairs.