"That should just about do it."

"It's perfect!" Sayuri announced as she looked at the banquet table that they had set up.

"Imagine how happy that punk's going to be when he finds out he's getting such a grand party," Dazai spoke as stood on the at the end of the table, crouching down as he stayed on his toes. "All this hoopla in honor of his new-found freedom from the Sheep."

"Dazai."

Both Dazai and Oda looked to the source of the voice.

Rando walked over to the two with a blank expression. "You said you finally discovered who is responsible for Arahabaki. Is that really true? Or were you lying just so you could torment Chuuya, perhaps?"

"I'm afraid both things are true," Dazai replied with a small smirk pulling at his lips. "I said what I did in front him so that he'd be interested in taking on the bet. But I do happen to know who's behind it."

Sayuri hummed as she stood beside Dazai, leaning against the back of the chair he was crouched on.

"Really? Tell me who it is then," Rando requested as his eyes widened a bit.

"It's you, Rando. Admit it," Dazai said coldly. "You impersonated the former boss and spread rumors about Arahabaki. Do you have anything to say?"

"How did you come up with that?" Rando asked as he feigned innocence.

"Because you made a mistake. Avery basic mistake," Dazai replied while Sayuri grabbed a strawberry from the table, eating it as she listened to the two converse.

"What mistake is that?" Rando questioned curiously.

"The sea," Dazai spoke as he stared at Rando. "It was when you were talking earlier and you said that you saw Arahabaki and the black flames."

"Oh. Yes, I did say that. Because that's what I saw after it happened. Hie do you figure that's a mistake?"

Sayuri nearly choked on her strawberry as a laugh bubbled from her.

"Are you sure you want me to spoil it for you?" Dazai replied, his slight grin returning.

Rando gave a nod. "Tell me."

"It happened close to the center of Suribachi City, but Suribachi City is a hemispherical valley basin that was carved out by the explosion," Dazai explained.

The revelation was visible on Rando's face as he leaned forward where he sat. "Oh! I understand!"

"Exactly. There's no way you could've seen the sea. If you were inside a giant bowl roughly two kilometers wide, the sea would never be within sight, no matter how tall you stood," Dazai continued. "So why would you say you saw it if it wasn't possible? I believed you when you described Arahabaki, since it sounded like you were telling the truth. So it's strange, isn't it? It's because you previously had seen the sea. That's why you made the mistake. It's subtle, but I caught it."

"You saw the sea before the city of Suribachi was ever created," Sayu spoke, reaching over the table to grab a dorayaki from a platter. "Before the giant explosion eight years ago, at the end of the conflict."

"You had a bet with Chuuya about who could settle this first, right? Do you think you've won that bet? Because you're the first to find out who was behind it all? Isn't it cheating that you had Oda helping you?"

A distant cry was heard and it quickly became louder as the source came closer.

A streak of red came blasting through the wall of the warehouse, taking Rando threw the window of the looking room.

Debris flew up all over the table and ruined the food.

"Not the cake! I wanted to eat that!" Sayuri whined as she looked at the splattered dessert.

Chuuya stood on the ground floor in front of Rando. "I'm the one who's won the bet with the suicidal maniac. This all you're doing, Rando. You can't fool me. I saw through you from the very beginning. You've been lying this whole time."

"Okay, stop!" Dazai cried as he walked towards Chuuya with Sayu sulking beside him.

"What?!" Chuuya turned to glare at the bandage waster. "Why you- what the hell, man?!"

"Just so you know, I was the one who solved it and made the announcement first. In fact, I was just in the middle of explaining the method behind the mystery."

"In the middle of explaining. So you weren't finished. Then I am the winner," Chuuya remarked.

"There's no way you've won, but I'll let you explain your your version of the riddle. How did you conclude that Rando was behind it?" Dazai questioned expectantly.

"What is there to conclude? Anyone could've figured it out from what he said," Chuuya replied with a grimace. "Every single eye witness qccount has clearly stated in the report that they saw the former boss. And then this guy comes along and says he's seen Arahabaki itself."

"Basically you're saying there's no such thing as gods, then?" Rando inferred, still sitting on the ground. "That's how you solved the riddle? Did I get that right?"

"No. It's the opposite," Chuuya denied. "I figured it out because gods do exist. I'm sure of it."

"So you're confident that Arahabaki exists, huh?"

"Yeah. You saw it, too, didn't you? Eight years ago. I mean, there's no way you could've given such a precise account of it otherwise," Chuuya spoke as he stared down Rando.

"Chuuya, I have a question for you. Do you know where Arahabaki is right now?" Rando asked as he pushed himself up off the floor. "Tell me, boy."

"If you know, you should tell him," Dazai spoke up. "Rando's going to be executed for endangering the Port Mafia, so there's no harm in letting him know."

"Damnit, what the hell is it sith everyone? Why does everybody wanna meet that thing? Jeez it's not like it has the power to revive the dead or something. That thing doesn't have any kind of personality or even have a mind of its own. It's like a typhoon or an earthquake."

"It doesn't need a personality. It's pure destruction," Rando mused. "It's devastation had no limits. It scorched the earth, stains the skies, and rumbles the air. This thing from the other side is unfathomable, Chuuya. That power is enough for me. Where is this thing beyond human comprehension? This thing that burned me alive?"

Chuuya slowly walked towards the bundled man with a cold stare. "I'll tell you if you really wanna know. Arahabaki is me."

Dazai and Sayuri looked up in shock, not expecting that answer from the boy.

"What did you say?" Dazai mumbled.

Rando let out a slight chuckle. "I had a feeling it might turn out to be you."

"I only have memories of one part of my life. Unlike you, I didn't lose my memories from trauma. My life only really started eight years ago," Chuuya explained, kicked a rock aside as he stared at the ground. "Before that... everything was just darkness. Somewhere in that darkness I was floating aimlessly."

Sayuri saw Chuuya pause for a moment and she realized that there was something else that he knew that he wasn't saying.

"Eventually, someone's hand broke through the outer edges of that void and dragged me into the outside world. That hand was yours, wasn't it?" Chuuya raised his gaze back up to Rando. "Where did you find me? To find the answer, I decided to follow this case. Now, tell me everything that you know."

"Very well then," Rando replied with a grin. "Of anyone, you have the right to be told."

Rando held out his hand and before anyone could fully react, he shot a glowing yellow cube at Chuuya which threw him backwards to the staircase which lef to the veiwong platform.

"Why didn't his gravity powers work?" Dazai mumbled as he glanced back at Chuuya.

"Unlike a bullet, the subspace I control doesn't abide by the laws of physics," Rando explained as he let another yellow cube fall to the floor, sinking into the ground upon which they all stood. "It is of another world entirely which has been closed of from this one and I alone hold the key.

The ground began to glow around them and Sayu instinctively moved closer to Dazai.

Sheer walls of glowing yellow erupted around them, kanji flowing across the surface. Outside of the warehouse erupted a larger box of the same walls.

"As such, only if I allow you to, may you enter. And only if I allow you to, may you leave."

"So you lock just us in here? What about Chuuya?!" Sayuri glared at Rando as she stepped forward only for Dazai to hold out his arm in front of him.

"No. He and Chuuya are locked in the subspace. We are outside. You must know what my ability is then, Rando," Dazai spoke, his tone and expression holding equal coldness.

"You son of a-" Chuuya shouted as he shout of the rubble he had been blasted into. He shot himself towards Rando who easily dodged.

"You survived that blast? Nothing less from Arahabaki," Rando remarked with an excited grin on his face.

The bundled man raised himself into the air with a cube of his subspace. Chuuya used a piece of the rubble to fly up after Rando, raising his leg to strike a kick.

Rando stopped the movement with his ability and chuckled. "Nice try, but it is of no use. You cannot hope to reach me while I'm in this space, while I, on the other hand, can strike you at will."

Sayuri and Dazai watched helplessly as Rando mercilessly attacked Chuuya.

Sayu ran to the wall of the substance that they were locked out of, banging on the wall with her fist. "There has to be a way out of this, Osa! Come on! You're the smartest one here! You gotta think of a way!"

Chuuya used the walls around Dazai and Sayuri to block himself from Rando's attacks before he looked at Dazai. "Any kind of ability that touches that kid gets nullified. If you try to quarantine him with your subspace, you'll make a good opening for me."

"His existence is truly heretical. The ultimate, anti-gifted weapon, unrivaled even back in the west," Rando replied.

"The west?" Dazai mumbled as he narrowed his eyes at Rando.

"But that's fine," Rando continued with a grin.

"Osa!"

Dazai was pulled from his thoughts as he heard Sayuri scream. He whipped his head around as a scythe came slashing down. Pain gripped his chest as he was pulled back, presumably by Sayuri.

The two landed on the ground and looked up to see the one and only former boss of the Port Mafia with a giant black and red scythe resting on his shoulder.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" The raspy voice of the boss came as he grinned.

"Yeah. You look good for someone who's dead, Boss," Sayu said with gritted teeth as she held Dazai in her arms. "Well... former boss."

Dazai let out a pained chuckle as he grasped his blooded chest.

"There's no way he could've hurt that idiot with a special ability," Chuuya said from outside the wall.

"You're right," Sayuri agreed, her eyes not leaving their target.

"It's because his giant scythe isn't an ability at all," Dazai replied. "It's as real as you or Sayu."

"I see. So there's a possibility it could really kill you, then," Chuuya realized.

"The former boss is dead," Dazai muttered as the gears turned. "What exactly did you do, Rando?"

"My ability can turn corpses that reside in my subspace into supernatural being which I command. The only drawback is that I can only command one at a time," Rando explained from upon his suspended subspace.

"Quite impressive. You've been hiding that ability from the organization this whole time?" Dazai remarked as Sayu helped him to his feet. "Just who are you really?"

"Before joining the Port Mafia, I was a gifted spy from the west. I traveled to this country to obtain a being- one of incredible power that the government of Japan had discovered, or so they say."

"And that being was Arahabaki," Dazai inferred which elicited a nod from Rando.

"Thw sole purpose of my plan from the very beginning has been to kill you, Chuuya," Rando explained, his gaze shifting to the ginger. "And then use my powers to control you and Arahabaki from beyond the grave. Dazai, if the boss were to learn what you just have about me, he would surely attempt to have me assassinated. And I have no doubt in my mind that he woukd employ his most trusted assassin, which would be Miss Oda. Because of that, you both must die here, along with Chuuya."

"Hey," Dazai spoke as he turned to look at Chuuya with a smirk pulling at his lips. "I say we kill them both. Together."

"Huh? You mean you actually want to live now?" Chuuya scoffed.

"Believe it or not, I'm actually starting to like working for the Port Mafia. In the outside world, death is kept away from everyday life. But in the Mafia's world, death is an extension of, and even a part of everyday life. I personally find more truth behind that way of thinking. After all, dying isn't the opposite of living like the majority of people think it is, but a part of the experience of life itself. Without observing death up close, one can't capture the full picture of what it means to live."

"Really..." Chuuya's grin only grew wider. "You, the suicidal maniac, actually wanna live. You serious?"

"I figure it's worth giving a shot," Dazai replied coldly. "I can't promise more than that."

"You won't have to," the old boss rumbled before taking a slice at Dazai and Sayuri. "Time to die, children!"

Dazai pulled Sayuri down with him to dodge the swing of the scythe.

"Oh, really?" Dazai mocked which made the boss growl.

Dazai ducked under the next swing, making a run for the way that Chuuya stood on the opposite side of.

Sayuri whipped out her pistol and shot at the old boss to distract him.

Dazai reached out to touch the wall, only for Rando to push it back away from him which made Chuuya flip backwards out of the way.

"You see it now, right?" Dazai spoke ad he looked at Chuuya. "What you need to do?"

"Don't you start giving me orders," Chuuya grumbled before having to jump backwards to avoid Rando's attack from above.

Dazai turned back to see Sayuri jump off the blade of the boss' scythe, taking two more shots which he easily blocked. The brunette stood up to move, gripping at his chest as the pain tore through him.

He looked at the blood soaking through his shirt before looking back to see Sayuri's arm get sliced open. She didn't even flinch as her sleeve became darkened by the crimson red flowing from her damaged skin. He noticed that she had another large cut along her leg that was gushing.

God, how could she even function without crippling in pain. He could barely stand it.

He made eye contact with Sayuri for only half of a second, but he could see everything he needed to in her eyes. She was holding the boss back. She knew that he was in pain, but she also knew that he was the only one who could do this.

He ran at the old boss as he grit his teeth, fighting through the pain. "Let's go, Chuuya!"

Chuuya's feet were planted into the ground just outside the wall as he gave his ability all he had. "Better move your ass, Dazai. You piece of shit."

"This is the end for you!" The old boss swung at Dazai before Sayuri could stop him and the scythe hit his casted arm.

"Dazai!"

"Osa!"

Dazai merely smirked as he looked at the cast that was holding back to sharp point of the giant scythe, the force of the strike ripping the bandages of his arm to reveal the metal plating underneath.

The strike shoved Dazai backwards towards the wall by Chuuya. "You ready?!"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Chuuya cried as he held his hand outstretched towards the wall.

"You can't!" Rando wailed, pulling the wall away from Dazai, but Chuuya stood his ground.

As the wall pulled back, the bit in front of Chuuya stayed stagnant, though obviously struggling to try and move from the force of Chuuya's ability.

Dazai's hand met Chuuya's and they hands intertwined, allowing Dazai to touch the subspace wall. The moment his skin touched the subspace, it dissolved it a flash of bright light.

Chuuya flew up on a piece of rubble, glaring at Rando. "It's over. Not even you can escape gravity."

He slammed his fist down, throwing Rando into the floor below with force.

Dazai just casually walked towards the former boss as he began to disappear. "If Rando's subspace vanishes, naturally, so will you. Anyway..."

The old boss let out a rage full roar as he raised his scythe once more, however Dazai ran forward, shoving his fist full into the corpse's gaped mouth.

"I won't get another chance to say this, so thank you," Dazai spoke calmly before the boss exploded in a burst of light.

He turned slowly, letting the metal plating fall from his arm before he walked over to Chuuya who was stood over Rando who laid on the floor, defeated.

"You some sort of shitty magician now, Dazai?" Chuuya mocked.

"Really, Chuuya? Did you think I was wearing a cast for no good reason?" Dazai remarked as he stopped beside Chuuya. "You'll tell us everything we want now, won't you, Rando?"

"It was on that day, eight years ago. I had infiltrated this country with my colleague. And that is when it all happened," Rando began as he looked at the ceiling.

"What did?" Dazai questioned.

"We came here in order to steal a being of remarkable power that was being housed in a secret military facility. But upon reaching our target before I was able to obtain it, my partner betrayed both me and our country. He and I fought over the entity and amidst the struggle we were discovered and apprehended by the Japanese military."

Dazai gripped his chest as he rested his weight on his right leg, listening to Rando's story for the report he woukd no doubt have to write.

"In order to escape with my life, I had no choice but to unleash you the being I had stolen from your dark prison and I attempted to use my ability to take control. But before I could react you blew up the facility in an instant. The records were lost along with my memories. My name isn't Rando. Someone I met here simply mistook the type of hat I wore as a Rando, and that became my name."

"What happened to your partner?" Dazai spoke again.

"I killed him with my own hands," Rando replied calmly. "Chuuya, I suspect you are not in fact Arahabaki itself, but a human vessel that was chosen to keep it restrained. You're very strong. Not because Arahabaki, but simply your strength as a human being."

Chuuya scoffed as he averted his gaze to the floor and turned around. "Sure whatever."

"Regardless of what's living inside of you, you'll always be yourself. That is solace enough is it not. Every human being every living... They go about their lives on this Earth without knowing what they truly are. How strange... for the first... my body feels warm."

Silence fell over them for a moment as the life drained from Rando's eyes.

"Well, that wraps that up. Whaddya say we see if we can salvage any of that food, hey, Sayu?" Dazai quipped before turning around. His eyes widened when he saw Sayuri lying on the floor a ways back. "Sayuri?!"

Chuuya looked up as Dazai ran to the red haired girl and he quickly jogged over as well.

"I'm okay," she groaned. "I just need a second."

Dazai dropped down beside her and she gave her signature cheeky grin which gave him a sense of relief.

"Though I doubt any of the food made it," she whined as she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"We can just grab a new cake from the store. How 'bout that?" Dazai offered, helping her to her feet.

"Sounds great, but we should probably get patched up a bit first. My place isn't too far from here. Wanna come, Chuuya?" Sayuri offered.

"I appreciate it, but I've got some thinking to do," Chuuya said in a low tone.

"You hesitated before," Sayu spoke after another moment.

Chuuya looked at her with raised brow. "What?"

"Before, when you were talking about your past. You held something back. Something you didn't tell Rando. What were you going to say?" Sayuri questioned curiously as they began to walk out of the warehouse.

"There was something I didn't tell Rando. When I was in the darkness... I remember someone calling me. A girl's voice. She called me Chuuya Nakahara. She was begging me not to let go of her hand... to not leave her. I heard her voice constantly. When I came into the light, I stopped hearing her, but I knew that was my name. Chuuya Nakahara."

Dazai watched Chuuya's expression, seeing that he looked pained by the thought.

"Did you find the girl who was calling you?" Sayuri asked.

"No... but maybe it's like what Rando said. My body is just a vessel. Maybe that girl was from my life before I became Arahabaki."

"Well, if you ever wanna go after that life, I don't know about this butthead-" Sayuri spoke as she nudged Dazai. "-but I'll help you out any time."

"Thanks," Chuuya replied with a small smile before they went their separate ways.

"So, do I finally get to see the Oda siblings' base of operations?" Dazai teased as he and Sayu helped each other walk towards the city.

"Yeah. I just hope my brother doesn't have a heart attack."