Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume 6 Chapter 2 Part 3

Chapter 2 Part 3

The Mafia headquarters began to shake, activating the emergency devices and setting off the alarm that the building was in danger of collapsing. The hallway’s foundation began collapsing. Furniture was destroyed, and countless cracks ran down the walls. Taken aback by the destruction and alarm, the remaining Mafia soldiers grabbed their guns with one hand and their radios with the other as they darted through the building.
In the midst of the chaos, Akutagawa and Tanizaki slowly walked to the end of the hallway, hidden behind Tanizaki’s skill, then slipped inside the janitor’s closet. After making sure there weren’t any security cameras, Tanizaki locked the door and sat down on the floor. He then looked up at Akutagawa and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Leaning against the wall, Akutagawa covered his mouth and lightly coughed. “Minor injuries… Just like this assassin’s as well.”
He looked down at his feet where Kyouka lay unconscious, restrained by his skill’s fabric. Her long eyelashes hung over her gently shut eyes. Akutagawa had grabbed her with his skill and took her with him.
“Why did you bring her?” Tanizaki asked.
But Akutagawa did not answer. He simply gazed at Kyouka, then faced Tanizaki and asked a question of his own: “Where is her cell phone?”
“Right here.” Tanizaki slipped it out of his sleeve and showed him. “Ranpo told me about the Port Mafia’s assassin Kyouka Izumi. He said that her skill Demon Snow only obeys her orders when she speaks to it through this phone.”
“I’ve heard similar rumors as well,” Akutagawa said calmly. “Which means she could be of use to us in more ways than one.”
“How so?”
“First, I need you to tell me something.” Akutagawa lightly coughed and looked at him. “Why did you come, Tanizaki? This battle is my private affair. I alone made the decision to come here. There is no reason for the agency to help, much less risk your life to sneak into Port Mafia’s headquarters to save me. What is this, sympathy for a fool who lost his sister?”
“No. I came because I’m a detective.” Tanizaki smiled awkwardly. “We have a lot in common, but you’re not a detective. And a detective wouldn’t look the other way when someone was risking their life to save their sister from being killed.”

Akutagawa’s eyes narrowed. “‘Killed’?”
“This letter.” Tanizaki pulled a letter out of his pocket. “It’s the letter you received at the café. It’s from the Port Mafia’s boss, and it gives the date and time your sister Gin is going to be executed.”
“What?!”
Akutagawa snatched the letter right out of his hand and began carefully looking it over.
“It says the execution is today at sundown. There isn’t even an hour left to spare,” said Tanizaki with a harsh stare. “After the president read the letter, he put all our current work on hold and ordered us to assist you. The others are coming up with a plan as we speak. However…”
Tanizaki’s expression suddenly turned grim as he continued, “We barely even have an hour left, which limits what we can do. We still don’t even know why the Port Mafia’s boss sent the agency a notice of your sister’s execution.”
“He’s taunting me.” Akutagawa coldly crushed the letter in his hand. “That bastard is trying to provoke me. ‘Come to the top floor before time is up. You must sacrifice yourself if you wish to save your sister.’”
“So it’s a trap, huh?” Tanizaki looked deadly serious. “What are you gonna do?”
“Naturally, I’m going to play his game. I’ll break through his traps, dispose of my enemies, and defeat the man in black on the top floor.”
“But…” Tanizaki wore a sour expression as he stared at him. “The Mafia’s most powerful skill users are going to stand in your way. They might be as powerful as the ones you just fought or even stronger. I can use my skill to make you seem invisible, but there’s nothing I can do about the shutters on each floor. You could drill a hole through them with your skill, but that would set the alarm off and give away your location. What should we—?”
A voice suddenly cut Tanizaki off from the other side of the door: “You don’t need to do anything…because your lives end here.”
The door immediately exploded, sending pieces of the wall pelting into the room. Countless shadowy figures stood on the other side of the broken door.
“I can’t believe you chose to hide in a closet. You do know you’re being pursued, right?” said a young voice.

“What?! B-but how did you…?”
Tanizaki stared at the door, his mouth agape. Standing there were over a dozen armed Mafia soldiers, and an innocent-looking youth with short, white hair was in the center.
“Detective, you may be able to hide your bodies with that skill, but it appears you can’t hide your smell,” intoned Atsushi Nakajima. “I used my tiger’s sense of smell to find you. Finding wounded prey is what carnivores are good at, after all.”
Several guns were promptly aimed at Akutagawa and Tanizaki. The situation instantly grew increasingly dire.
“Heh-heh… Heh-heh-heh…”
A laugh unbefitting the tense atmosphere echoed.
“A carnivore? Do you know what a carnivore’s weakness is, Tiger? It’s that they’re not used to being hunted.” Akutagawa’s lips curled into a blood-chilling sneer as black flames burned in his eyes. “Never would they expect the prey to be waiting for them in the hunting ground.”
“‘Waiting’?” Atsushi knitted his brow. “Observe.”
Akutagawa placed a cell phone to his ear. It was Kyouka’s phone that Tanizaki had swiped from her.
“Demon Snow, kill your master Kyouka one hour from now.” “What?!”
Atsushi was taken aback and tried to leap forward, but Akutagawa kept him at bay with his fabric blades while he continued giving orders into the phone:
“You are only to stop if my voice gives you the order, and do not respond to anyone else’s voice over the next hour.”
Demon Snow appeared, then floated by Akutagawa’s side with its sword drawn like a loyal servant. Atsushi was the first to realize what happened.
“Damn it…!”
His eyes opened wide as he glared at Akutagawa, who looked back with an air of nonchalance.
“Now, Tiger, do you understand the situation you are in? Take me to the top floor.”
“Tsk…!”
Akutagawa took a step forward, and the Mafia soldiers turned their guns on him in alarm.
“Men! Lower your guns!” roared Atsushi, his anger shaking the walls. The soldiers shifted their gaze in bewilderment, so he shouted once more. “I said lower your weapons! Now! Do you not get it? Kyouka’s Demon Snow only follows orders from the voice that speaks into her phone! No matter what!”
“Exactly,” said Akutagawa. “And the demon is going to kill her one hour from now, so you must do as I say if you wish to save her life. In other words…”
“You’re…taking her hostage…!”
“Precisely. So what’s it going to be, Tiger? Will you sacrifice the girl and resort to violence and domination like you mafiosi always do?”
Atsushi didn’t respond. He lowered his gaze and placed his head in his hands.
“Don’t…hurt her…”
His voice was trembling with anger.
…No, it wasn’t anger.
“What the…?” muttered Tanizaki. “Something’s not right.”
Atsushi began to squeeze his head with both hands until his knuckles turned white and his fingernails dug into his skin.
“No… I have to protect her… I must… ‘Those who fail to protect others do not deserve to live…’ ‘Those who fail to…’”
Both Tanizaki and Akutagawa, and even the Mafia soldiers, were closely observing Atsushi. His voice wasn’t trembling with rage. Every muscle in his body wasn’t tense because he was ready to fight.
This was fear.
“Okay. I’ll do as you say. I’ll take you to the top floor…so don’t hurt Kyouka. You have to let her go,” demanded Atsushi with terror in his eyes. His teeth chattered as cold sweat dripped down his face.
After staring at him expressionlessly for a few moments, Akutagawa replied, “Very well. You have my word.”
“Everyone, lower your weapons. This is an order. I’ll kill anyone who disobeys,” Atsushi commanded his men before he began walking into the hall. “This way.”
The city below the boss’s office glowed in the evening sun. Dazai sat alone at his desk with his arms crossed, his smirk so subtle that it was almost nonexistent. There was a faint darkness in his eyes as he gazed at the space between this world and the next.
“It’s finally time to start phase four,” Dazai muttered hoarsely as he stood from his desk. “Let’s do this.”
His light footsteps echoed as he crossed the room before opening a door and vanishing from his office.