The Guild

Her Dazai free days were soon over and the man was back in the office, annoying her teacher and looking for new methods to off himself.

His victim that morning was poor Atsushi, whom he asked to write his report for him about his capture by the Mafia.

" You know, Port Mafia should have kept you locked up. I would personally pay them to do so," Kath told him when she saw his smirk after Atsushi was obliged to write the report.

" If they did, you wouldn't be having these data right now." The man held a flash drive with a smug smirk. " It's about the mastermind who placed the bounty on Atsushi-kun's head."

" You had that with you for the whole time since you escaped the Mafia and you didn't open your mouth!" Kath bolted to her feet, yelling out at the careless Dazai.

" Well, I didn't have a chance to do so."

Liar. She glared but slumped back in her chair.

" According to the Port Mafia's communication records, the bounty was funded by the leader of The Guild, a North American organization of the gifted."

Her ears pricked up hearing that name, it was one she was familiar with for a friend of hers used to tell her stories about that organization.

" Wasn't the Guild considered an urban legend?" Kunikida questioned Dazai's information.

" It's as real as any of us present here are," Kath told him. " Mike never shut up about them. Maybe he kind of fancied them." She gave a prolonged sigh as she recalled her friend's enthusiasm whenever he was talking about them.

" Why would such a group want Atsushi?" Kunikida asked the question they had been pondering on for so long.

" Hm, maybe it's the same way rich people tend to spend extra many or rare animal hides and heads," Kath mumbled as she twirled in her chair, unaware of Atsushi clutching his head and neck as though to keep them in place. " Maybe they're the type who collect skills or something."

" Won't put it past them," Dazai stated nonchalantly, the flash drive still dangling in between his long thin fingers. " Once one obtains money they won't stop wanting things."

Just then, the sound of a chopper's fan hitting the air vigorously could be heard, making them snap their heads to the window. It was so close Kath thought the helicopter might have been just by the side of the building. She wasn't entirely mistaken.

As a flustered Tanizaki called out for them, they rushed to the roof just in time to see a black chopper landing in the middle of the street and blocking traffic.

Does being rich allow people to do whatever the heck they want?! Kath unfortunately knew the answer to that question very well.

Standing before them were three people, a young red-haired woman around Atsushi's age, a brunette man in a green fork-tailed coat, and a blond man in some kind of a fancy suit. By the look of it, he was the leader.

He was hauling a metallic briefcase over his shoulder as he looked down at them. A look Kath knew well, one she had received a lot in her early days. He looked at them as though they were nothing but low riffraff who had to celebrate his very existence and marvel over how special he was.

I don't like him. It was a strong feeling in her gut that made her repulsive of him, his smirk, his outfit, even his expensive perfume, she could bear nothing of them. Maybe because everything about him was probing some old memory from her days of misery and poverty.

She could bet her life wedges that the briefcase held money he intended to use for bribery. It made her sick. " Please let's kick them away," she pleaded with her teacher who merely held a hand before her as though he knew she was going to do it anyway.

" We can't. They apparently came to discuss something, let's give them the benefit of the doubt right now." His expression wasn't welcoming though." After all, we don't kick people unless they start a fight themselves."

Kath clicked her tongue and back in annoyance. " Fine, I'll get the tea brewing then."

The Armed Detective Agency always started with serving tea to whoever knocked on its door instead of breaking it. Other matters could be solved later…

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Kath didn't know she had been holding her breath until Francis and his company left the president's office. It was nothing short of a miracle that there had been no fighting whatsoever during the few minutes they had stayed.

Little did she know that rich people would not leave silently without getting what they wanted. And that was what precisely happened. For that day, marked the beginning of a three-sided war…

✦ -─────────- ✦

Kenji didn't return that day after he escorted the Guild's members out. All that was found of him was his hat lying on the threshold of the lounge. Tanizaki was holding it that morning as though hoping to figure something out of it by turning it in his hands for the umpteenth time before their attention was caught by the news report.

A whole building of seven floors vanished into thin air with no traces of it ever existed in a single night. What was even more worrying was the fact that the building in some way or another, belonged to the Port Mafia.

They're not simply targeting us, but they're trying to get on the mafia's nerves. What does that rich guy exactly want?

No answer was found.

Kunikida prohibited them from ever wandering on their own after what happened. So, in order to look for the missing Kenji, he divided them into two teams, Tanizaki and Atsushi's, though Naomi decided to tag along, and her and Kyouka's. They agreed to split and search the city for anything that could lead to Kenji's whereabouts.

Kyouka was quiet and didn't utter a word as they walked along the streets with Kath's birds flying overhead, searching the side and back alleys. The girl only seemed to be listening and nodded her head whenever Kath suggested they took a turn or stopped to check on a suspicious lane.

Eventually, the woman was finding the silence too heavy she stopped on her track and turned to face Kyouka. " Listen, Kyouka-chan, you don't need to keep your composure around me or treat whatever I say like orders. Just… be yourself."

" Be myself?" The girl tilted herself in confusion.

" I mean, your behavior is rather uptight around me, though according to Atsushi-kun when you were out on that dat-" she faked a cough. " I mean hanging around, you seemed more expressive and open."

" It's different," the girl stated calmly. " This is work, and I need to treat things seriously."

Hearing a kid her age saying that made her wonder if she should be ashamed or feel sorry for the girl. " I'm not telling you to neglect your work, but… so just you know, you can talk, say whatever you have in mind. You can even disagree with me if you think I'm going the wrong way. We're not the Port Mafia."

Kyouka seemed to ponder on her words and her shoulders lowered a bit. Kath took it as a sign to gently pat her shoulder and offer her a kind smile.

" We would never use you while you're with us. So you don't have to be on guard and stiff all the time. And of course, this is not an order," she trailed off, feeling the need to remind her. " I know that what you've been through was difficult, so it's okay to get loose. Honestly look at Rampo-san, he barely does his work and he gets away with it. Even Kunikida-sensei can't do anything about him, and he isn't one who tolerates slacking off."

At Kath's complaint, Kyouka sniggered in an attempt to suppress her laughter. Kath's smile softened. It's a start.

As she stood up and checked on her phone again, she saw Atsushi and the rest on one of her video tabs, only for a brief moment because soon, they and a whole bunch of passersby vanished into thin air. " What the what!"

Kyouka, who had been peering down at the footage rushed off without saying a word. Not that Kath needed her to say what she intended to do.

They retraced their steps back to the agency and then a few blocks further. When they reached where Atsushi, Tanizaki, and Naomi disappeared, there seemed to be some traffic disturbance.

Upon closer look, Kath could see Atsushi and the rest kneeling down on the ground, looking puzzled. It seemed as though they were mysteriously dropped down from the sky with no recollection of what they were doing.

A few seconds later, they all managed to drag themselves back to the safety of the curb and away from the loud honking of the cars. Atsushi ran off somewhere, apparently after some girl before Kyouka chased after him and gave him a tight squeeze.

" Kyouka-chan? Hanazawa-san? Why are you…"

" I was worried," the younger girl mumbled.

" We saw you go poof on one of my cameras," said Kath as one of her bird plushies landed on her shoulder.

" Thank you, and sorry for worrying you. But it's alright now." He assured them with a smile, though mostly facing the younger girl.

Oh my god! He's such a cinnamon roll! I want to lock him up and keep him safe!

Kath cleared her throat to drown her inwardly squealing before she looked up as a man in a white coat approached them, talking with Atsushi.

Kath's face went blue. Blood froze in her vines and she could swear her breathing halted. She could by no means mistook the man. Their encounter wasn't long before. He was the mafia's boss.

Mori merely thanked Atsushi and then turned on his heels, flashing her a side smirk as he caught her glaring at him. But that was all. He left them without causing the slightest wound.

Kyouka dropped to her knees by her side, apparently recognizing the man, and barely could hold herself together out of fear. Right! She is considered a traitor to the Port Mafia!

" Kyouka-chan, it's alright…" Kath tried to keep her voice as sturdy as she could. There is no way she could comfort the girl if she was too trembling in fear. " He's gone, he had nothing to do with you."

After a few deep breaths, Kyouka collected herself before standing up with Atsushi's help. " What's the matter? Did that man do something to you?"

Kath looked him up and down. " What happened between you both?"

" Um, he kind of helped me when I was fighting this Guild member."

Helped? No, he was just using Atsushi-kun to have one less Guild member to deal with. With a sigh, Kath looked him in the eye. " Listen carefully and try not to freak out, that man was…"...

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" The freaking boss you say!" Kunikida shouted while scanning them for any injuries. When he seemed satisfied, he regained his calm.

" I didn't know who he was until Hanazawa-san informed me." Atsushi seemed shaken by the revelation for his face seemed paler than usual.

" I've only met him once, and even then I felt nothing but pure malice from him." Kyouka was rather calm, seeing her reaction earlier.

" So far, he didn't harm any of us. Maybe we can assume he as well is making the Guild as their priority." Kath mumbled as she looked up at her teacher.

" A strong possibility, for the Guild had targeted them after all. And Port Mafia aren't known for tolerating provocations." Kunikida thought out loud with a finger placed on his chin.

" Either way, Atsushi-kun and the rest are safe and sound and Kenji-kun is back to us," said Dazai while Kenji waved from his desk. " We can count this as a victory right, Kunikida-kun~."

" I'm not sure that's exactly-"

" Well, it's not that we won a war, but we won a battle, right? This should be enough for now." Kath had to agree with Dazai on this. For now, she merely wanted to relish the fact that they were all there, safe and sound.

Giving a sigh, Kunikida balanced his glasses. " Very well then."

They won a battle. It was a start, a mere simple step to be taken down in the path of war, a path that was proven to be tricky and hard…