Warning
POV changes
Mentions of death

"Dazai, Akutagawa and I can't use our abilities."

My eyes went wide, my hand just resting on the handle to the door to enter the building, but I couldn't move.

"Atsushi, what do you mean that you can't use them?"

There could be several possibilities as to why they couldn't but no matter which one it could be, there was something that caused it.

"Akutagawa and I were fighting some of Shizuko's men at the back of the building when our abilities suddenly stopped working," he answered sounding slightly panicked.

"But it appears we aren't the only ones with that problem," Akutagawa chimed in. "A few of Shizuko's men that we were fighting seem not to be able to use them either.

Not the only ones? I wonder what could have happened to cause them not to be able to use their abilities?

I looked back at Kyoka who was standing by the helicopter. "Can you use Demon Snow?"

She nodded, summoning the katana wielding phantom behind her.

Kyoka could summon Demon Snow but Atsushi and Akutagawa couldn't use Rashomon or Beast Beneath the Moonlight.

That's when it occured to me.

"Atsushi, when your ability stopped, did it feel like when I've nullified your ability?" I asked, hoping that could be the answer to all the questions running through my head.

There was a pause as though he was thinking about it, before I heard his voice through my ear piece again. "Now that you mention it, it did feel like that-"

"Even so, that doesn't explain anything!" Akutagawa barked, irritation lacing his voice. "You would need to touch us for our abilities to be nulled but you weren't around when that happened!"

A singularity. One that was created when I touched Miya.

I remembered feeling like my own was being used against me, almost like it was some sort of ricochet from when I touched her.

Was it possible to have more than one ability? It's not something I've seen happen in history but that didn't necessarily mean it wasn't possible. But putting Miya's case into consideration, it could be possible.

"Atsushi, I'm sended Kyoka to come help you. Meet with Kunikuda at the rendezvous point." I nodded to Kyoka who returned my nod before running towards the direction of the back of the warehouse.

"What about you, Dazai?"

I turned back around, placing my hand on the door handle to the stairs, tirning it and opening the door to enter.

"I'm going to have a little chat with Shizuko."

*****

Odasaku's P.O.V.

It was an odd feeling, one I didn't quite have the words to describe, something that I don't think I've ever felt before.

I felt warm but not in a way that I felt feverish, more in a way that it was like a piece of dry ice that's been wrapped in a warm towel.

My body felt unfamiliar, yet it felt the same as it had always felt. Whatever it was, it seemed like it was starting to flicker, like there was someone gently blowing on a candle's flame.

"So, are you just going to stand here and hold me at gun point, Sakunosuke?" Shizuko asked, leaning back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he stared at me.

"If I let you escape, there's no telling what you'd do next time." I held my gun steadily aimed at him, not moving from his form.

He rolled his eyes. "Last I heard about you, you were killed working for the Port Mafia, which was a shame when I had to find someone new to kill any witnesses to my work."

I was silent, having no interest in really talking about my life after joining the Port Mafia. I had lost a lot during my last mission in the Mafia; my dream, a friend, the kids, and even my own life.

I had been listening to everything that was going on outside from my ear piece and from the sounds of it, Dazai's daughter was alright, but there was now a new problem to figure out.

"You look like you spaced out there, Sakunosuke, probably not such a good idea with someone such as myself around."

I focused on Shizuko again, realizing that he now had a gun in his hand and was pointing it at me and in the next second, he had pulled the trigger and shot me in the forehead.

My head was knocked back from the impact of the bullet. My gun fell from my hand as my body dropped back before hitting the ground.

"You look like you spaced out there, Sakunosuke, probably not such a good idea with-"

I shot the gun from his hand as he started to lift it, a hiss leaving his lips as he scowled at me.

"Just because I died, doesn't mean I lost my ability, Shizuko." I returned my aim back to his head, where I held it, not taking my eyes off him.

Shizuko rolled his eyes. "You know, it's funny how this happened. I knew that you had joined the Port Mafia but it wasn't until later that I met Osamu. I didn't think that the two of you would have known each other, especially since it was said that you were the lowest member of the Mafia."

"I met Dazai before I joined the Port Mafia. He-"

"I got shot and Odasaku here had to be a good samaritan and help me, even though I was so close to finally meeting death." Dazai's voice came from the doorway as he made his way into the room.

He had his hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat. His voice had a bit of a joking element to it but his expression was the complete opposite.

His eyes were cold and dark, his brown irises looked almost red with how they were slightly narrowed into a glare. His lips were turned down into a frown, no signs of amusement whatsoever.

Dazai stopped right in front of Shizuko, staring down at him, a look of deadly intent.

"Dazai, what are you doing here?" I asked, looking from Shizuko to him.

He didn't answer me, instead staring at white haired man. "What do you know about singularities, Shizuko?"

The man in front of him raised an eyebrow. "Can't say I know much about them. I'm not an ability user so I don't care for the study as much," Shizuko responded without much interest. "Why? Did something happen with that experiment?"

"A Singularity occurs when two abilities cancel each other out and create something different from either one or when one ability becomes unstable and caves in on itself," Dazai began to explain as he pulled out his phone.

"The first way typically happens when the abilities are complete opposites of each other or almost exactly the same-"

"Like my fight with Gide," I interrupted him. "Both of us could see a few seconds into the future and it casued both of us to not be able to."

Dazai looked from his phone me with a smile. "Exactly."

Shizuko rolled his eyes. "The hell does this have to do with me, Osamu?"

Dazai looked back at him before pocketing his pocket. "Because we have a bit of time to chat before the Special Operations Division is here."

"The Special Ops? Like I said, I'm not a Gift user."

"But you are under contract with something that can be considered special. So, for now, let's talk." Dazai's smile was grim as he stared at Shizuko who seemed more nervous than he had been since we got here.

"You've made a lot of things to be proud of, Shizuko, and honestly, many of them could have been put to better use." Dazai signalled for me to lower my gun to which I did.

"But I think that Miyako might have been your greatest one yet," he said, Shizuko's eyes widening in surprise.

He scoffed, "That so-called infant is my greatest? How do you figure?"

Dazai smirked, pulling out a photo. I looked down at it and saw it was a picture of Chuuya sitting in a office chair with Miya asleep on his chest.

"Making a human life isn't as easy as one would think. Naturally, it seems like nothing to have intercourse and then watch as a mother grows with that new life, but with biochemistry and engineering, you had to watch over that growing fetus to make sure no mistakes were made, that chemicals were properly measured, and that the temperature was right."

As Dazai explained all this, I could see the look on Shizuko's face seemed to change, like all of this information was just starting to sink in. He had cared for Miya in her growth, nurturing her from a small embryo to when she was removed from where she was grown.

"Not only that, you managed to create a life that has two abilities, instead of one, which is something not easily done by even some of the most intelligent of ability researchers."

Two abilities? I remembered Dazai telling me about Miya having a gravity ability like Chuuya but he never mentioned a second one.

Unless-

"When I went to go save Miya and Chuuya, something interesting happened. I touched Miya and it felt like my own ability was used back against me in that instance. What's more, after landing, two of my subordinates informed me that they couldn't use their abilities."

Miya and Dazai had created a Singularity, making an EMP for abilities. If that were the case, then I shouldn't have been able to use mine when Shizuko tried to shoot me.

"Dazai, wouldn't that mean that no one would be about to use their abilities then?" I asked, curious to the answer.

He shook his head. "My ability works only on active abilities, like if Akutagawa is using Rashomon. The Singularity that was created from Miya and me was an amplified version of No Longer Human, meaning it would only nullify the ones that were active when it happened."

"Wait a minute," Shizuko said with a laugh, "you're telling me that I created something that no one else has done before and I gave it to you and your stupid redhead?" Shizuko seemed like he couldn't believe it.

What was his deal about Miyako? Why did he not want to acknowledge her as more than just some failed experiment? Maybe there was more between Dazai and Shizuko than what I knew.

"And you planned to kill her, didn't you? I didn't think about it before when I agreed to come and trade off to free Ranpo and Miya, but now that I think about it, I don't see you being the type to let people go."

Dazai took a step closer to Shizuko. "I got to say though, not many people know how to get to me. You, however, found a way to make me panic and think irrationally, choosing the option that was presented to me instead of looking around for another choice."

Now that Dazai mentioned it, he was right. Dazai was usually sly and well thought out, coming up with elaborate schemes and plans, setting up preparations before anyone knew what he was doing.

This time though, he just willingly agreed to follow with the enemies orders. He never panicked, never lost his composure, never...

Dazai had never really had anything to lose because he was used to not caring what happened to him. He wanted to die, wanted to experience death up close. He didn't imagine that that death would be his friend, would be me dying in his arms.

He gave up the person he loved most to try and protect him, pretended to hate Chuuya in hopes that he wouldn't have to watch him die.

Now this situation, one where he willingly agreed without thinking, willingly gave himself up in hopes thatbhis daughter would return to Chuuya safely to grow and be happy even if it meant his suffering.

"However, luckily for me and unfortunately for you, one of you companions decided to help my side of the case," Dazai continued to say.

Shizuko snarled. "Don't think you've won just because Hasegawa helped you out. Even if the Special Operations Division takes me, they can't do anything to me since I'm not an ability user."

"No, they can't, but they can still hand you over to the police and let them charge you," Dazai agreed, his sinister smirk widening on his face. "And from what Odasaku said, the Brother's Grimm will be the ones delivering judgement."

Shizuko's eyes widened, whether in realization or something else, I wouldn't now as there were the sounds of running in the halls.

"Sounds like the Special Ops are here." Dazai took a few steps back, away from Shizuko as men and women stormed the room with guns.

Dazai placed a hand on top of mine and lowered it as Shizuko was surrounded, all eyes on him as he glared, not pleased with the turn of events that were no longer in his favor.

"Odasaku," Dazai whispered to me, his eyes on the men in front of us. "Thank you and I'm sorry."

I looked at him about to ask why he was apologizing when I was interrupted.

"Dazai, I'm not sure how you keep ending up in these situations but I'm asking you to stop," a familiar voice stated, sounding exasperated.

That voice, I knew that voice. I looked over and watched as Ango walked into the room, his expression tired as his eyes were currently on his glasses in his hands as he cleaned the lens.

Dazai hummed, his playful smile was back. "I couldn't really help it with this one. Not when something so important to me was taken."

Ango sighed again as he put his glasses back on. He looked up and he seemed to freeze as his face seemed to turn pale, his eyes on me as they widened. "Odasaku? But you were-"

"Dead. I know," I answered, not really sure what to say to him.

Before I was killed, I remember that we had our falling out with him after he betrayed our trust. It's been four years since then from what Dazai had told me, so is it possible that Dazai and Ango were on good terms again?

"Right, guess I should have mentioned that Odasaku was brought back like all the others. My bad," Dazai said, feigning innocence with a smile.

Ango stared at me for a moment longer before sighing, looking away. "We can talk about this later. As for right now, you can fill me in on what happened here."

It didn't take long for Dazai to explain what went down here and everything that had led up to it. Shizuko was arrested and led outside and into a police vehicle.

Once Dazai and Ango had finished talking with either on this matter, Dazai approached me. "Ango was wondering if he could talk to you. I have an idea of what it's about and I honestly think it'd be a good idea to have this talk."

I nodded as he walked past me. I turned and looked at him. "Where are you going?"

He slipped his hands into his pockets. "To find Atsushi and Akutagawa. I want to see how they held up without their abilities," he answered, continuing to walk away.

I nodded again before turning back around and making my way to where Ango was.

Dazai's P.O.V.

"Dazai, the time frame for anyone who has been brought back has been two weeks. How long has Odasaku been back for?"

Ango's words played through my head as I walked, going to look for Atsushi and Akutagawa.

Two weeks wasn't very long but at the same time, it was enough time to give to those who had regrets or unfinished business in their lives.

There were so many questions that I didn't have answers to, though maybe some of those questions needed to remain unanswered. The others just meant I had a lot of research to do once this game of cat and mouse was over with.

I heaved a sigh to myself. "What a mess this has been."

As I said that, I heard a meow, making me stop and look at the metal lidded trash can to my left where a calico cat was perched, staring at me with big brown eyes.

Oh, right, he was here.

I gave a smile. "I guess I should be thanking you, for helping Ranpo take care of Miya when Chuuya and I couldn't." I walked over to him. "And thank you for saving me."

He stared at me for a moment, that cat-like smile on his face before meowing again, standing all four legs and hopping off the trash can, walking in the direction I had come from as I turned and started walking forward again.

And there you have the chapter after four months of on and off writing. I'm going to be honest, I love this story, enjoy writing it, but I've been having to fight myself to write it. (I also just started school.)

BSD is my comfort fandom but I've been getting into some others and having story ideas for those and then my ADHD has been on crack, going between writing something else, writing some of this, and then being so dead that sleep is the only option.

Anyway, one or two chapters left, not including the epilogue. Hope you guys liked the chapter and I hope it wasn't as confusing as it was writing it.

I hupe you all have a wonderful morning, noon, and night! Bye!!