"This isn't going anywhere," Dazai sighed, "you're hopeless, Atsushi." He glanced at his watch, "I'm going to head back, now."

  "Back to your husband?" Kyouka asked.

  Dazai's hands twitched as he smiled aggressively, "hahaha no. I've already heard that one today."

  "Who else said you're married?" Sigma asked curiously.

  "Elise," Dazai shook his head, "she's still a menace even without Mori's influence."

  Kyouka smiled, "that's cute. I bet you two act even more like a couple when nobody is around."

  "Would you let it go?" Dazai shook his head, "there's nothing like that between us."

  "Mhm," both Sigma and Kyouka shared a knowing look.

  "Stop plotting against me," Dazai huffed, "I'm leaving." He stomped out of the house.

  Atsushi laid down on the floor pitifully, "I don't know what to talk about now..."

  "How about you ask him iceberg questions?" Sigma suggested.

  ———

  "I was starting to wonder if you were going to leave all the work for me," Ango glanced in Dazai's direction as he came in.

  "Thank god you're back," Chuuya set down the papers in his hands, "my eyes are bleeding just from looking at that."

  Dazai sat down at the desk with a sigh, "as much as I'd love to be doing anything else, I know you need me."

  Ango rolled his eyes, "the sooner we get this done, the better. So far, I'm thinking this code is his will. Though, it would be nice if it gave us the name of the killer..."

  "I doubt it," Dazai sifted through a few papers, "he couldn't predict the future..."

  Chuuya went still at that.

  Dazai looked over at him, "what?"

  "Nothing," he shook his head as he stood up. "I'm going to go check on Elise..." He exited into the hidden room.

  Elise wasn't sleeping. She was sitting up on the bed, flipping through a notebook.

  "What'd you find?" Chuuya asked with a smile as he sat beside her.

  "One of my old notebooks..." she flipped another page. This particular notebook was filled with crayon drawings.

  Chuuya paused, "do you remember when-"

  Elise sighed, "these walls are only soundproof one way, I could hear you guys talking..."

  The mafia boss gently put a hand on her arm, "you predicted Akutagawa's death... What else did you know about?"

  Elise held her tongue.

  "Please, I know it's hard, but if you were able to predict that, there had to have been something else. Anything helps."

  Elise absently flipped a few pages, refusing to look anywhere else.

  Chuuya sighed quietly, "alright..." He stood up, "just let me know if you remember anything..."

  "Strange how human she is now, isn't it?" Dazai smiled to himself as Chuuya came back in.

  Ango nodded, "she was believably human before, but now she's a lot more material."

  Chuuya put his hands in his pockets, "she can hear us, you know. It's only soundproof one way."

  "I know," Dazai leaned back in his chair.

  Chuuya shook his head as he sat down, "this is just a lot."

  "You're upset because you have nothing to do," Dazai looked over at him, "you hate leaving this in someone else's hands."

  "I don't hate it. I just feel useless," Chuuya let out a long and heavy sigh as he leaned his head back.

  "Don't," Ango said, "you've done a lot already." He wrote down a few notes, "and the more we decipher, the more we find that Mori trusted you a lot."

  Dazai sighed, "and the more I discover that Mori knew I was one of the only people who knew this code. He is using perfect grammar to make fun of how bad I used to be at this code."

  The door opened and in stepped Elise. She walked over to the desk and slid her notebook onto it.

  At first Ango was ready to get yelled at by the little girl, then he felt his stomach drop.

  Scrawled out on the paper in crayon was a drawing of what seemed to be a bloody corpse with a name written beside it.

  It was dead silent in the room for a very long time. Nobody moved. Nobody even breathed.

  Then Dazai smiled, "I guess we have our killer, now. Ango, you stay here and keep decoding. I'll call up Atsushi and Akutagawa to assist Chuuya, Elise, and I in catching him."

  Ango nodded, shaking himself from his thoughts, "I'll... I'll get the file on him and forward it to you."

  Dazai stood up and pulled out his phone, "time to get back to work, then."

  Chuuya slid the notebook over to Ango as he got up as well. "I'll notify the other executives."

——————

  "Stop freaking out," Sigma chuckled, "you're doing great."

  "Compliment him," Kyouka offered, "let him know that you still see him as a person."

  Atsushi groaned, "why is this so hard?!"

  "It really isn't," Sigma shook his head, "you're just nervous."

  "Yeah, you're acting like a baby."

  "Kyouka," Sigma put his hand on his hip, "only positive comments."

  Kyouka sighed, "but it's true."

  "Still, you could be a little kinder," he said.

  Atsushi screamed, fumbling with his phone when it started ringing. Then he loosed a breath of relief, "it's just Dazai..."

  Sigma and Kyouka sighed. "Don't scare us like that..."

  Atsushi put the phone to his ear, "yeah?"

  "We know who the killer is and we're tracking him down now." Dazai spoke over the phone.

  "Really? That was quicker than I thought."

  "Well, Elise has a lot of hidden talents. Meet us by the train station downtown," he instructed.

  "Okay, is there anything I should bring? What do we need to be ready for?"

  "Just bring yourself, don't bother Sigma or Kyouka with this,"

  Atsushi nodded, "I'll be right there."

——————

  "He should be incredibly easy to spot," Dazai said.

  "Well, yeah, if he's a corpse..." Atsushi sighed.

  Akutagawa nodded in agreement, watching the station and the people milling about. He wasn't all that happy to be in a place that was so heavily populated... but this was for Elise.

  "Elise, are you sure you're okay with this?" Chuuya asked through the radio.

  She nodded from where she was sitting on a bench, within everyone's eyesight. "I don't mind being used as bait. I'll punch his lights out if he gets too close."

  "I doubt that will need to happen," Chuuya assured her, "we'll get to him before he gets to you."

  Elise started kicking her feet, "mhm..."

  It wasn't very long before Atsushi whispered into his radio, "I think I see him. Approaching the ticket booth from the southeast..."

  There stood a tall figure wearing a thick trench coat, even though it was the warmer months. Incredibly suspicious. Almost too suspicious.

  Elise discreetly glanced in that direction, "I cant see him from here..."

  "Don't worry," Chuuya spoke softly, "I'm going to get closer."

  "You don't have to," Akutagwa said, "I can smell him from here. He's definitely a corpse. It can't possibly be anyone else."

  Dazai smirked, "feel free to engage when Elise gives the signal."

  Everyone nodded and went silent.

  Elise kept looking around, trying her best to look like a carefree child. She found it so much harder to act now that she was a real person... It had been so easy to play the part of a sassy little girl when she didn't have a choice...

  Then she laid eyes on a tall man in a coat and hat, both of which looked too big for him. He was slowly walking in Elise's direction, swaying as he moved.

  "Dazai," Chuuya looked over at him from across the courtyard, "would you-"

  "Of course," he smiled back, nodding his head.

  "I didn't even finish..."

  "You don't need to," Dazai turned and started walking.

  Chuuya folded his arms, going back to watching Elise.

  The mystery figure certainly smelled bad! Elise had to fight the urge to wrinkle her face once he got closer. He stopped several feet away, seemingly staring at her.

  She blinked at him, "need something, mister?"

  He slowly lifted his hand, speaking in a soft voice, "I know where your parents are..."

  "You do?" Elise asked. In order to lure out this individual, Dazai had the train station make an announcement about a missing child fitting Elise's description. Though it worked, everyone couldn't help but wonder how Dazai knew he would be here...

  He nodded, "he's gone. I killed him."

  Elise frowned, "you could at least try a little harder to hide your identity."

  "Why would I? I'm a free man now..." he gazed around the station.

  "Huh? You murdered a Mafia boss... do you have any idea what kind of people are hunting you down?"

  "Ability users... People who use and abuse their very souls... what we used to be," he held his hand out to her again. He knelt down, his sleeve falling into the crook of his elbow. His hand and arm were obviously rotting flesh, and it smelled *awful*.

  Elise gagged, covering her mouth, "what are you talking about???"

  "I'm not the one who killed your master," he withdrew his hand, resting it against his knee. "I was his supernatural ability. When we fought... Elise, you and I created a singularity because we are opposites. You are what your human was most attracted to, I'm what my human was most repulsed by... Now they're both dead and gone. We're alive... free... human..."

  "No..." Elise shook her head, "no offense, but you're literally rotting."

  "None taken..." he shook his head, "what will you do now?"

  Elise paused, "what are you asking?..."

  "I'm..." he chose his words carefully, "going to try to live... for as long as this body will hold up..." He let out a quiet sigh.

  "Before I answer," Elise hardened her expression, "I want to know why you killed Mori."

  "... he ran the Mafia. My master worked for an enemy organization and wanted revenge... I'm sure being a Mafia boss means everyone is out to get you..."

  "True..." Elise looked at him for a long moment. "What if... what if we're stuck like this forever?..."

  He lowered his head, "I hope that won't happen... I hope to die... I hope for you to grow up and live a full life..."

  Elise bit her lip, "now that I'm... alive... it doesn't feel right..."

  He chuckled, his voice cracking in quite an ugly way. "We're half of a whole... we may never feel complete again... Unfair, isn't it?... I hated my master, and yet... I feel upset that he's gone..."

  Elise nodded, "yeah... me too..."

  "*Are* you human now?" Someone new asked. Standing at Elise's side was Dazai.

  Both Elise and the man looked at him in surprise.

  "You'll never know for sure, right?" Dazai asked. "Unless I touch you. My ability nullifies all other abilities. No exceptions."

  "Please," the man held his hand out towards him. "I have to know."

  Dazai smiled in an almost sad way, "of course you do..." He pressed his fingers against his hand.

  Dazai's ability activated, their hands glowing bright blue. But the man didn't disappear. His skin started dissolving into nothing, leaving a perfectly unblemished hand behind. He let out a gasp, staring at his own arm.

  Dazai pulled his hand back, "interesting..."

  "I..." he threw his coat off to reveal himself to be a perfectly normal-looking man. He smiled in disbelief, putting his hands against his chest.

  "Well, I guess you're human *now*," Elise observed.

  He nodded, "this is amazing... Thank you so much. Thank you."

  "You're welcome and all," Dazai waved his hand, "but we've got some more questions for you. Would you mind accompanying us back?"

  "Not at all," he couldn't stop smiling.

  "Elise," Dazai turned to her, holding his hand out, "would you like to-"

  "No thanks," she shook her head. "I think I'm okay with being young for a while... I don't know what I'll become if you touch me..."

  "Fair point," Dazai nodded. "Let's head back, then."

  "That was surprisingly uneventful," Akutagawa remarked.

  "That's a good thing," Atsushi sighed. "There are a lot of people around, I was starting to worry..."

  "Yeah..." Akutagwa nodded.

  "Are you okay?" Atsushi crossed over to his position.

  "I'm alright..." Akutagwa loosed a quiet sigh, "it's just... a lot of people..."

  Atsushi took his hand, "don't worry, we're leaving now."

  "I know," Akutagawa stared at their hands as Atsushi started pulling him out of the station.

  "Hey, uhm," Atsushi grew nervous, "after we get this all sorted out..."

  "Mhm..."

  "Maybe we should... I dunno, uhm, go do something... together..." Atsushi stumbled on his words, avoiding looking at his partner.

  Akutagawa smiled softly, curling Rashomon around their hands. "That sounds wonderful..."

  "G-great," Atsushi smiled nervously, "uhm, we- we can talk about details later."

  "Right," Akutagawa's cheeks started to get a little bit pink.