Chapter 52
It was Dazai Osamu who ended up in trouble first.
Asuka Kazuya heard about him going to confront Shibusawa Tatsuhiko, who somehow managed to blow up the headquarters of all organizations involved in the Dragon’s Head Conflict overnight.
In the instigator’s words, this was the best way to end the conflict.
No longer about fighting over assets or targeting each other, from the moment Shibusawa Tatsuhiko brazenly appeared on the streets, the Dragon’s Head Conflict turned into a war against himself.
The Port Mafia quickly dispatched search and rescue teams, but they couldn’t find Dazai Osamu in the wreckage.
Tachihara’s reaction to this was “great,” without Dazai, the executive candidate position was definitely his.
The pianist: “Is it that simple?”
The pianist: “You know that after the Verlaine incident, the Boss won’t let us become executives.”
Tachihara pouted, calling him a killjoy.
“What do you think?” Ignoring their argument, the Public Relations Officer wasn’t concerned about Dazai, instead looking down at Asuka Kazuya sitting on the cabinet. “Kazuya-kun, don’t tell me this is also related to you?”
“…Me?” Asuka Kazuya yawned, waking up slightly at the mention of his name.
“How could I get out of the building? I thought it was an earthquake when he detonated the bomb.”
The Public Relations Officer thought for a moment: “If you really want to go out, I can pretend to be you and distract Ozaki-kanbu for a while.”
The doctor smiled weakly: “Heh heh… we’ll be discovered in five minutes…”
The Public Relations Officer smiled brightly: “You’d last a minute at most, Akutagawa twenty seconds, are you any better?”
Maintaining his usual coldness, Akutagawa glanced at the Public Relations Officer, annoyed at being dragged into this.
“I’ll have to disappoint you,” Asuka Kazuya said, flipping through the news on his phone. “I really don’t know anything about Dazai’s plan. That being said, I can guess he’s not dead, that guy probably got captured on purpose, planning to report Shibusawa Tatsuhiko’s location somehow.”
“…”
Silence. Asuka Kazuya looked up, puzzled, seeing the five people staring at him warily, suspecting he was possessed by Rokudo Mukuro.
Asuka Kazuya: “…”
Asuka Kazuya: “What?! Isn’t this obvious?!”
Asuka Kazuya was exasperated, his voice louder than usual.
The Public Relations Officer spread his hands, putting on an innocent look.
“So, your plan is to wait for Chuuya to find Dazai’s signal? And when he goes there, you’ll attack our Boss?”
Asuka Kazuya: “…”
Asuka Kazuya: “Still calling him ‘Boss,’ how disgusting.”
Mori Ougai was undoubtedly the most suitable person for that position. The Port Mafia had just gone through turmoil, if there was another internal conflict, they definitely wouldn’t survive in Yokohama.
The reason Asuka Kazuya was still here was to prevent Mori Ougai and Kindled Taneda from scheming during the war. Like detaining Chuuya with some strange excuse, Asuka Kazuya knew they were capable of that.
Chuuya said no one in this city wanted to die.
But Asuka Kazuya had only been here for a few days and already saw piles of bodies being transported by trucks.
“What’s the big deal?” The Public Relations Officer smiled familiarly. “Of course, if you’re willing to join the Port Mafia, Kazuya-kun, I would personally be very happy.”
That would make Amuro Tooru call three times a day to scold him.
Asuka Kazuya refused, recalling that Amuro Tooru should have arrived abroad by now. To treat Sasagawa Ryohei’s injuries, the Vongola originally planned to invite Yosano Akiko, but her confidentiality measures were too good, the Vongola could only reach him.
[Impossible, what do I gain by telling you?]
[You’re still alive.]
The man on the other end smiled, giving a mysterious answer.
[Asuka-kakka, this is the Vongola’s reward for you and your friend.]
[…]
The final agreement was for the Vongola to send Sasagawa Ryohei back to Japan. And knowing who betrayed him, Asuka Kazuya was chased and beaten up by Yosano Akiko before coming to the Port Mafia.
[“Thou Shalt Not Die”] didn’t use her cleaver when hitting him, snorting that they were even now, then asking if he had found his respected senpai.
Asuka Kazuya choked, telling her that he had found the wrong person.
Yosano Akiko really hit him on the head this time.
[I was so worried for nothing.]
In conclusion, Asuka Kazuya had no interest in becoming a mafia member. Joining the Port Mafia meant dealing with other criminal organizations, he’d had enough of undercover work and preferred a freelance career.
That being said, if Chuuya, not the Public Relations Officer, invited him, he might consider it.
But that was impossible. Chuuya wanted him to sever ties with any occupation that required using his ability.
Asuka Kazuya lowered his eyes, checking the time on his phone.
This was the third time he had looked at the screen. The pianist understood, guessing he was waiting for someone’s call.
“Alright,” the pianist said, “let’s assume Dazai’s plan has nothing to do with you. But in Tokyo, the Special Abilities Division seems to have held a secret meeting this afternoon…”
The pianist abruptly stopped mid-sentence, standing motionless as if waiting for Asuka Kazuya to reply.
“Asuka-kun, as a member of the Port Mafia, I have to ask you this question.”
“When will the Special Abilities Division’s internal conflict reach Yokohama?”
The meeting at the MPD ended. The executive officer rushed back to headquarters to report, carrying the police files. The situation with Asuka Kazuya was completely out of control. He hadn’t expected him to release a group of people during his last visit, even intercepting their recall order for ability users to suppress Nakahara Chuuya during the Dragon’s Head Conflict.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs officials sat in the round conference hall, discussing solutions, including the fuming military police representatives, who condemned the Special Abilities Division’s failure, saying unstable ability users should have been under their custody from the beginning.
“Don’t play Captain Hindsight,” Kindled Taneda said, his calm voice standing out in the noisy environment. “Asuka Kazuya and Verlaine, the Transcendentalist, are from the same place. Letting him join the military police, once he appears in front of foreign ability users, would easily cause political problems.”
“So there’s no problem now?” The man beside Kindled Taneda sneered. “The British delegation has already met him, I say we shouldn’t have let them go, they must have made some secret agreement, which is why Asuka instigated so many ability users to go rogue.”
“Oh, by not letting them go, you mean starting a war with the Clock Tower Attendants?”
“Even if we do, we might not lose, Hunting Dog’s Fukuchi is world-renowned.”
“Japan, as the losing side of the war, has no Transcendentalists. What’s the use of reputation? If a few Transcendentalists join forces, ten Fukuchis wouldn’t be enough.”
“So you’re saying we do nothing?”
“We have to resolve this before it escalates. Since the British representative didn’t take him back, it means we can handle it however we want.”
“What about France?”
“We’ll deal with it when they find out, we’ll just say we didn’t know, we thought he was just an ordinary child when we brought him back.”
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the military police were clearly in agreement. Kindled Taneda’s expression darkened, knowing the consequences of their forceful approach. That child clearly responded to kindness, not force, no one knew what would happen if he was pushed to the edge.
Ultimately, having ability users managed by people who didn’t understand abilities was absurd.
Kindled Taneda took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose, recalling his recent conversation with Mori Ougai. The latter had changed his mind, saying the Port Mafia didn’t want to get involved, and the Special Abilities Division was only asking for trouble.
[Burning bridges?]
[Don’t be so rigid, Taneda-kakka, the situation is changing.]
“Then it’s decided,”
One of the Ministry officials said.
“Immediately dispatch military police armed forces, capture Subject A1067 before Europe finds out.”
“The White Kirin is still active in Yokohama,”
Kindled Taneda interrupted them expressionlessly.
“Sending armed forces in now will only result in annihilation.”
Kindled Taneda was silent for half a minute, watching the man open the file in front of him for the first time since the meeting started, seemingly checking who the White Kirin was.
“…Why didn’t Fukuchi-kakka come personally?” After a moment of speechlessness, Kindled Taneda turned to a younger member of the military police.
Suehiro Tecchou was also confused, only saying: “The captain has food poisoning, he’s still vomiting.”
Kindled Taneda: “…”
Could you make up a more believable excuse?! Food poisoning? There was no hope for Japan’s ability world.
“Your thoughts?”
“My thoughts?”
“You raised A1067, you should understand his danger level. If we need the Hunting Dogs, we’ll need his complete file.”
Suehiro Tecchou, acting captain of the Hunting Dogs, asked Kindled Taneda seriously.
“Kazuya-kun…”
Kindled Taneda leaned back nostalgically.
“Kazuya-kun raised himself, I can’t answer that question. Although he’s a member of the Special Abilities Division, as you can see, we can’t control his missions most of the time.”
Staying in Japan was worse than being on a business trip. Kindled Taneda once saw an official asking the young Asuka Kazuya for a favor, asking him to use his ability to bless his affair so his wife wouldn’t find out.
“…Is that so?”
Suehiro Tecchou looked away, deep in thought.
“Actually, the captain isn’t suffering from food poisoning, he has a hangover, they told me not to tell the truth, it’s Jouno and Teruko who have food poisoning.”
Kindled Taneda: …
Was there something wrong with this guy’s brain too?
Kindled Taneda glanced at the person behind Suehiro Tecchou, who smiled awkwardly, saying, “Sorry, Captain Suehiro is just very serious.”
Only upholding his own justice, unaffected by others, and basically never lying.
Known as the unbreakable wall of the military, Suehiro Tecchou was actually quite troublesome to deal with.
“Are we done yet?”
Seemingly losing his patience, Kindled Taneda heard someone complain.
“Then let’s discuss this after the White Kirin incident is over, during this time—”
Before the man could finish, Suehiro Tecchou’s sword was drawn, the sharp blade grazing his cheek and piercing the wall behind him.
There were scraps of clothing pinned there. Another young man, his arm bleeding, stood beside him, his facial features shifting, only saying, “You noticed?” upon seeing Suehiro Tecchou act.
“Suehiro!” the startled Ministry official yelled. “Are you crazy?!”
Suehiro Tecchou didn’t even look at him, instead asking the injured ability user, “What’s your purpose?”
“Just delivering a message,” the young man narrowed his eyes, unafraid even with many guns pointed at him. “Haven’t you noticed that this room has no signal since just now?”
Almost as soon as he finished, Suehiro Tecchou’s phone vibrated. Not just his, but everyone’s phones rang simultaneously.
Then the large screen at the front of the conference hall turned on, the live broadcast having just started, but already reaching every corner of the world.
“Ability users, as the name suggests, are humans with special abilities.”
The young man’s skin was pale, his blond hair cascading over his shoulders, his green eyes clear and bright, yet devoid of emotion under the sunlight.
“For the past eighteen years, I’ve been serving the government. Whether it’s war, stealing intel, or covering up a certain official’s murder. Since the age of eight, they’ve been telling me that helping others solve problems is justice.”
“I’ve been thinking about the accuracy of this statement.”
Suehiro Tecchou turned around, sheathing his sword, seeing the higher-ups pushing blame and yelling about why they couldn’t stop the broadcast, but hearing Asuka Kazuya’s slow and firm words.
“20XX, March 6th, a primary school in South Africa was bombed, 326 students died, because the military misidentified the target and launched missiles at innocent people.”
“20XX, May 11th, Councilman Yamashita advocated for the capture of homeless people and conducted ability modification experiments on them, taking advantage of the fact that no one would report them missing, 1251 people died, the experiment ended in failure.”
“20XX, June 8th…”
With every incident Asuka Kazuya mentioned, a new trending topic appeared online.
Suehiro Tecchou calmly watched him, just like Amuro Tooru, across the ocean, watching the broadcast on his phone.
The young man smiled, continuing for a full half hour.
“Since the beginning of the conflict in Yokohama, no one cares about the bodies piling up in the streets. When the government deployed the ability user Shibusawa Tatsuhiko, they didn’t consider whose lover, whose mother, whose friend was lying on the street.”
“They’ve been using ability users so casually for too long, they’ve forgotten that they’re also human.”
In the Port Mafia lounge, a withered rose from a vase slowly fell to the ground. Asuka Kazuya looked up, meeting the gazes of his friends through the screen.
“Someone told me that humans should have their own thoughts, they told me there’s still a lot of time, I can learn slowly.”
“Because of this, even if it means death, or spending the rest of my life in prison, it’s the same. I learned for a long time before finding the so-called justice and the answer.”
Using Dazai to distract Nakahara Chuuya was real.
Using the organization to distract Amuro Tooru was also real.
“I always believe that ability users should also have the right to control their own lives. No one should die without reason, and no truth should be buried just because of power.”
“I also always believe that the public has the right to know the truth and to exercise their right to supervise legally and reasonably.”
Asuka Kazuya had planned this since the day he left the Special Abilities Division.
The young man’s back was straight, a gentle smile on his lips, his golden hair ruffled by the wind, his words frank, his entire being as bright as sunlight.
This was his, his alone.
A pyrrhic victory.
