Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume 5 Chapter 1 Part 2

1—2

A few hours later, Atsushi returned to the Armed Detective Agency—a redbrick building near the port. He was heading to the conference room. After slowly opening the heavy door, he walked inside. The room was neither spacious nor cramped but had just the right amount of space for meetings. A large screen hung from a wall while a whiteboard stood by another. In the center of the room was a long table with close to a dozen people huddled around it—all members of an armed organization that oversaw the twilight that existed between the worlds of day and night.
The Armed Detective Agency was a group of skill users who handled cases in the port city of Yokohama that the authorities alone couldn’t solve, and every policy and decision ever made was done here in this conference room. A silver-haired man took a seat near the entrance, where he had a clear view of everyone sitting at the table. His aura was very relaxed, just like his elegantly colored kimono. And yet, he was dignified with a sharp gaze, making it clear he was no ordinary man. A talented martial artist once known as Ginrou, the Silver Wolf, he was now president of the Armed Detective Agency. His name was Yukichi Fukuzawa.
An office clerk at the agency, Haruno stood diagonally behind Fukuzawa. She seemed to be something of a secretary. Standing in front of the screen with a red ribbon tied at his neck and his hair pulled back in a long ponytail was Doppo Kunikida. It looked like he was going to be conducting the meeting. Dressed in a collared shirt and vest that perfectly fit his tall frame, he adjusted his glasses with an extremely serious stare.
The individual already seated with a bunch of snacks scattered over the table was Ranpo Edogawa. He wore a cape with a loosely fitted tie and a flat cap, the kind of ensemble you would find in a Western detective novel. Ranpo was generally childlike and guileless, with innocent almond-shaped eyes that were nearly impossible to read. Nevertheless, he was the heart of the agency, and while he was just an ordinary human, he had an extraordinary brain that allowed him to uncover truths in the blink of an eye.
Sitting across from him was Akiko Yosano, her neatly trimmed hair grazing her shoulders complemented by a butterfly hairpin. She wore a well-fitted white collared shirt with a black tie, black skirt, and black gloves as if she were in mourning. She sat so quietly that no one would ever doubt her wit and beauty…as long as she kept her mouth shut…
Compared to the majestic Yosano, the young man sitting next to her, Junichirou Tanizaki—essentially a salesclerk for the agency—had a face that just screamed helpless. He had light hair and a pale complexion and wore a slightly oversize, long-sleeved knit shirt that exposed his delicate- looking collarbone. A troubled expression crossed his face as his beautiful sister, Naomi Tanizaki, who was sitting by his side, nestled coquettishly next to him.
This was nothing new, but Naomi and Tanizaki were so uncomfortably close that Atsushi had to avert his gaze. However, the boy who sat across from Tanizaki—Kenji Miyazawa—didn’t seem fazed in the least as he cheerfully chatted with Ranpo at his side. He was dressed in well-worn overalls and a straw hat. His friendly smile was accented by the freckles on his cheeks.
Sitting one seat away from Kenji, as if to distance herself from his cheerfulness, was a kimono-clad girl named Kyouka Izumi who had just recently joined the Armed Detective Agency. Her long black hair was bunched into two low pigtails with flower hair ties, and she had long, curved eyelashes. Her expression was still. While she seemed somewhat cold, Atsushi already knew that she really wasn’t. He was sure the empty seat next to her was for him. In fact, her encouraging gaze prompted Atsushi to take the seat between her and Kenji. Even Kyouka, who was once used by the Port Mafia as an assassin for her skill Demon Snow, seemed to have adapted to the agency.

Fukuzawa, Haruno, Kunikida, Ranpo, Yosano, Tanizaki, Naomi, Kenji, Kyouka, and…Atsushi—all the agency members were present for the meeting, save for Dazai. Seeing so many gathered here, Atsushi could feel that the topic was going to be serious. He grew nervous. Just what had happened?
After everyone was seated, Kunikida turned off the lights. Then a video of a city was projected onto the screen. There was an old-fashioned-looking street with eye-catching brick buildings lined up one after another. It was unrefined yet somehow nostalgic. Displayed on the corner of the screen was the time and location: midnight, Dihua Street, Taiwan. After a few moments went by, the footage showed what appeared to be a faint mist beginning to rise. It was fog. It slowly rose, clearly getting denser as it engulfed the street. Once the street was completely hidden beneath the fog, the video was fast-forwarded.
“This is security footage from three years ago in Taipei, Taiwan,” Kunikida solemnly explained. “As you can see, a dense fog appeared within a mere few minutes before vanishing. However, this was not due to unusual weather.”
The fog cleared, and the footage was stopped before switching to another event. Click. A photo popped up on the screen. It appeared to be the same location as before, but it was a close-up of an alleyway between two brick buildings. A large crowd had gathered around something in the middle of the street. An even more zoomed-in photograph was displayed next, revealing what that “something” was. Lying facedown on the ground
—
“A suspicious body was discovered after the fog cleared… The burnt corpse you see here.”
—were the charred remains of a human.
Whatever did this to the victim was so hot that even the ground was scorched. Obviously, no hair or clothes remained on the corpse, but there were no bones left, either. There was no way to make out the victim’s face or features—and understandably so. It was so grotesque that Atsushi began to feel sick. “How awful,” he couldn’t help but murmur. Burning a body until it carbonized wasn’t something someone in their right mind would do
—that is, if this were done by human hand.
Atsushi knit his brow as the others fell silent after witnessing such a horrific sight. Ranpo, however, made an observation as he chomped away at his snacks:
“They’re a skill user.”
“Precisely. Impressive as always, Ranpo.” Doppo Kunikida complimented his colleague with a firm nod. “Specifically, a fire-wielding skill user well-known in the area.”
Kunikida then pressed a button on the remote and displayed the next photograph.
“This is a picture of Singapore, one year ago.”
The screen showed a Merlion statue with its lion head and fish body. However, the focus wasn’t on the area of the white statue commonly seen in magazines—the front side that faced the bay—but its back. A man was crucified to it with his arms and legs listlessly hanging. His skin had turned pale, but most surprising of all were the countless red and black playing cards piercing his body. He was very clearly dead.
“Sure enough, that same thick fog appeared, and immediately after it dissipated, another suspicious body was found. He was a highly skilled assassin with the ability to manipulate playing cards,” Kunikida explained with a detached tone before clicking the remote again. The picture of the mutilated body disappeared, replaced with a photograph of a woman impaled by icicles.
“This happened half a year ago in Detroit. You get the gist: This body was found after the fog as well.”
The photo showed a busy street surrounded by high-rise buildings, yet for some reason, there were numerous icicles jutting out of the ground. The colossal, crystal-clear spears had pierced the woman high in the air, killing her. Kunikida continued: “As you have probably guessed, she was an ice- wielding skill user.”
“In other words…,” began Fukuzawa, “…following this mysterious fog, skill users around the world have died after using their own skills on themselves.”
Kenji immediately turned to Kunikida. “Does that mean this fog is somehow responsible for what happened to them?”
He’d phrased it in the form of a question, but it was more of a confirmation. It would be hard to believe that the bizarre deaths of the skill users and the fog covering the city were unrelated.
“There have been one hundred and twenty-eight confirmed cases considered to be of the same nature. Over five hundred skill users have died as a result,” Kunikida replied. He pushed up his glasses with his index finger. “The Special Division for Unusual Powers refers to this chain of events as the Serial Skill User Suicide Phenomenon. And speaking of suicide…”
Kunikida suddenly looked up, and a cold chill shot down Atsushi’s spine.
Oh, crap, Atsushi thought.
“…what happened to that idiot Dazai?” Kunikida asked.
I knew he was gonna ask! Who else besides Dazai would come to mind with the word suicide?
Atsushi’s shoulders slumped dramatically. Kyouka shot him a quizzical look, but this was no time to be worried about that. Atsushi didn’t want to answer Kunikida’s question…but he didn’t have any other choice. His expression tense, Atsushi replied, “…He apparently thought of a new way to kill himself.”
“That oxygen-stealing bastard…!” Kunikida screamed to no one’s surprise.
I knew this would happen, thought Atsushi. It was understandable, though. There were only so many times Dazai could do this to Kunikida before he lost his temper. It had become such a regular occurrence that Atsushi was actually starting to sympathize with Kunikida, even. Both Kunikida’s face and voice were burning with rage. But while Kunikida was furiously giving him an earful of what he should have done, Atsushi suddenly heard Ranpo mutter, “I see…”
Ranpo then began packing his cherished snacks into the office safe as if he had just thought of something. Kenji curiously tilted his head to the side. “What are you doing?” he said.
“It’s a secret.” Ranpo smirked as he continued to stuff his snacks into the safe while Kenji sat there, confused. After shooting the two of them a quick glance, Tanizaki knit his brow and asked, “So does every skill user commit suicide when they touch this fog?”
He was clearly concerned, but a moment later, Naomi threw her arms around him.
“I would never let that happen to you! I can’t have you kill yourself and leave me behind!”
With an enraptured gaze, Naomi tightened her grip around him…then tightened some more.
“N-Naomi…?”
Tanizaki panicked, but Naomi paid him no mind. Her cheeks turned red for some reason as she nearly strangled him in her arms.
“You’re suffocating me! You’re suffocating meeeeee!” Tanizaki yelled while Yosano calmly spoke up.
“So what does all of this have to do with us?” she asked as she looked at the documents in her hands. “I know you’re not just asking us to be careful because we’re skill users, too.”
Kunikida nodded solemnly after he’d finished giving Atsushi an earful. “We’ve received an inquiry from the Special Division for Unusual
Powers to investigate the incidents,” he firmly replied. “They learned that the man assumed to be involved in these suicides has made his way to Yokohama, so they have asked us to search for and capture him.”
Atsushi sat straight up in surprise. It wasn’t difficult to imagine how dangerous this was going to be. Click. Click. Kunikida clicked the remote.
“…This is our target.”
On the screen was a picture of a frail young man with long, wavy white hair and a pale complexion reminiscent of snow, with crimson eyes that glowed dimly. The only things known about him were his nationality, name, and age. Every other entry had Unknown written next to it.
“Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, twenty-nine years old. All we know about him is that he is some sort of skill user and goes by the alias the Collector.”
“The Collector…,” Kenji repeated. Atsushi’s shoulders trembled slightly.
The Collector. Tatsuhiko Shibusawa.
Atsushi gazed at the man’s picture as if his name was drawing him in. It felt like Shibusawa was quietly staring right back at him. Even though he knew that wasn’t possible, Atsushi thought he would start seeing things if he kept looking into the eyes of the man in the picture.
“…”
All of a sudden, he was overcome by an odd sensation—as if there was something like a door in the depths of his heart.

I mustn’t open it.

The thought mysteriously came to him, and he began to zone out wondering what “it” was.
“What’s wrong?” Kyouka asked, snapping Atsushi out of his trance. Even after taking a second look at Tatsuhiko Shibusawa’s photograph, he didn’t get that odd feeling he got a moment ago. Perhaps it was just his imagination.
“…It’s nothing.”
Atsushi smirked to himself and shook his head. The lights were suddenly turned on with a click, instantly brightening the conference room. Now that everyone was able to see one another, Fukuzawa made an announcement: “The Armed Detective Agency will be taking this job.”
Everyone’s expression grew tense. Atsushi straightened his spine before looking over at Fukuzawa.
“The victims in every one of these cases have been skill users,” Fukuzawa stated. “This is also to protect the lives of you all here at the agency. More than anything, I get the sense that ignoring this case will only invite even greater public harm.”
Atsushi pursed his lips at the ominous prediction. That was something that had to be avoided at all costs. He waited for Fukuzawa’s next words with bated breath. Then, with a piercing gaze, Fukuzawa declared: “The search for this man starts now. Do everything and anything you can to find him.”