A Zombified Yokohama

That evening, Kath understood what Dazai meant by the city would be razed to the ground.

One would think reality suddenly got swapped with one of those zombie calamity movies, and it was, to a certain degree.

It didn't help her temper at all that Kunikida was affected as well and had to be tied up in the office so he wouldn't harm himself or anyone else with only Dazai by his side.

With no knowledge of how it started and how to stop it, the other Agency members were left with no choice but to evacuate unaffected civilians into shelters before the situation could even worsen.

Could it even get worse than this?

Kath doubted as she had her birds search for survivors, from there, Kenji and the rest took care of transporting them.

Suddenly her extended sense caught sight of something else, blonde hair, a black suit, and a gun weapon… Higuchi was dealing with a bunch of those zombified individuals.

Not only Higuchi, despite them not running into any of the Detective Agency, Port Mafia was also engaged in the rescue efforts.

It was then that Dazai's words hit her again. " Despite what it seems, I still care for this town as much as any of you does."

They must be the same too.

" Tanizaki-kun, Kenji-kun! When you're done there pull back and take refuge as well! It seems the situation is getting tense."

" What about you?" Tanizaki's voice came from her comm.

" I've got something to confirm first. I will be back soon." She then shut her comm off before running in the direction in which she had spotted Higuchi. Wherever that woman was, Akutagawa was sure to be nearby.

However, the last thing Kath expected was to find Higuchi cornered. " Duck down!"

Higuchi did. Using a thread, she manipulated a fox to plushie to hop at the huddle around the woman

It breathed out a ball of fire that forced them to back.

" You alright?"

" Why are you here? Why are you helping?"

" I'm here for Ryuu. And I'm helping because that's my job as a detective," she told her, her fox still keeping the infected people at bay using its fire. Higuchi was rather taken aback by what the small stuffed animal could do.

" It will run out of gasoline soon! Get up, we need to get away!" She pulled the other woman to her feet and ushered her to a side alley while the fox kept covering their back using its fire.

" How do you do that?" Higuchi asked, panting from the effort to keep her speed.

" The fire?" Kath tugged at her fire, retrieving back the doll that landed in her arms. " It has a built-in mechanism that allows it to breathe flames."

" Not your ability?"

" Nope, the most I can do with my ability is…" They rounded a corner, only to be met with more zombies at its end. The footsteps of the ones that were chasing after them could be heard not far behind.

" Shoot! Grab on!" She flung her hand up, launching her wires at a nearby light pole, and, as she retracted them, they were both pulled off the ground and towards the nearest rooftop they could reach.

Kath kneeled, cradling a bloodied and disfigured hand in her other one, grunting in pain. The weight of two people and the quick draw of the strings curved their marks on her hands, breaking her middle and index fingers altogether.

" Well, at least we're safe here." She huffed, only to realize the muzzle pointed at her head. " You want to shoot me?"

" It's a chance I'm not going to miss."

" Unfortunately you did just now." The gun was swept out of Higuchi's hand while the silvery wires wrung around her arms and torso, tethering her.

Kath grabbed the gun with her left uninjured hand and staffed it within her jacket. " You're welcome for saving your life by the way."

" I didn't ask for your help!"

" Geesh, you sound like Ryuu. Yeah, you didn't ask for my help, but you accepted it when you had no other choice." Kath shrugged as she peered over the ledge at the city down there. It was utter chaos, with vehicles toppled and colliding against each other, fire lapping at buildings and trees alike, and rubbles strewn all over the place. " There is just no way an attack of such scale could be covered up."

" If only Q's doll could be retrieved…"

" A doll?" Kath didn't get what the woman was murmuring about.

" More importantly, what did you want from Senpai? You said you came for him!"

" Oh right. Where is that brickhead then, leaving you behind again?"

" What do you want?"

" Just want to make sure he's alive. Last time I checked, he was bedridden and it's not like you informed me about anything since the raid."

" You left." Higuchi raised an accusing eyebrow at her.

" Only because your men arrived. If they found me there, it could have ended up rather badly for both of us."

Both women stared into each other's eyes, neither of them wanting to back and give the other the satisfaction of winning the argument. It wasn't until a spear of light pierced the crimson sky of the twilight and caught their attention.

" What was that?"

Kath squinted her eyes at the direction the light beam struck in. " Atsushi-kun…?"

Not before long, the sound of continuous rapid shots filled the air. " Bloody hell!" Kath cried when she spotted the orange line of dashes moving towards them. They were going to be shot dead if they didn't find shelter.

Dragging Higuchi by the collar, she pulled her up and towards a door at the other side of the roof. Kicking it open, they both began climbing down the stairs just as the glass windows behind them shattered, the shock wave sending them flinging face-first into the ground. Fortunately, it wasn't a high fall and all they got were more shallow wounds.

" I thought I was a goner…" Kath sighed looking at the destruction outside the building.

" I think something exploded not far away," Higuchi added.

" The heck is wrong with that rich man! I tell you, he has unfixed screws in his mind." Both women stood up and dusted their outfits just as a shadow stood by the building's door.

Kath quickly drew her gun and pointed it at the person before they had raised their hand in the air. " Wait! Wait don't shoot!"

Kath narrowed her eyes as she double-checked the person. She was a woman, and she didn't look anything like a zombie. " I just… I just don't understand what happened! I was in the park one moment, and the next I found myself in front of this building! I really don't know what happened!"

" The park?" Kath questioned, slowly lowering her gun. Higuchi walked up to her.

" Does that mean, the mind control was undone?! But how?"

Kath's eyes widened and she caught up and she ran a hand through her golden locks. " Bloody Dazai…"

As they stepped out of the building, they could see a cloud of purple smoke engulfing the center of Yokohama, making it all but impossible to see the sky. " What's that?"

" A smoke screen. It's made to render any sniping attacks unfeasible. A jammer." Kath answered before a breath found its way out of her lips. " It's over for now."

" So it seems." Higuchi's bearing seemed to be that of relief. Even for a short while, Yokohama was once again safe.

" Then, where the heck is that damned good-for-nothing Ryuu?"

" Stop badmouthing Senpai!"

" If he were to leave you on your own in that bloody hell of a situation then I ought to use more offensive words! Where the hell is he?"

Higuchi dropped her shoulders and sighed. " Senpai wasn't dispatched today. Because he received an injury in a mission a week ago, the boss didn't allow him to partake in any missions since."

" Injured… a week ago… hold the horses…" Kath rubbed her forehead and clicked her tongue. " Knowing that idiot and his stubbornness, I bet anything he dashed into action before he made a full recovery. Which then turned against him and caused him to get even more injuries. Am I right!"

" Uh… um, right."

" The heck is wrong with him! Is he willing to cut his life short?! That damn…" And the fuming girl continued on throwing a string of insults in English that even Higuchi, a Port Mafia member, who is supposedly used to the world of insults in her line of work, could never retell.

After she calmed down, Kath placed a hand on her waist and sighed deeply. " You truly…" She then spun around to Higuchi and threw back her pistol. " When you get back, make sure you tie him up to the bed with a belt or something. That unrelenting Ryuu won't stop just because his boss told him to take a break and rest. Please look after him."

And she trudged away, squeezing her wounded arm to slow down the gush of the blood trickling and leaving a trail in her wake.