The Dark Era

Ch.24 Dark Rage

Movement.

I quickly push Oda out of the way to only be shot in his stead. I was shot in the left side of my chest.

"Shiori!"

Oda quickly catches me as I collapsed. Dazai was right by my side as well. The sniper, who we just had shot, stood pointing his gun at Dazai and Oda with a trembling hand.

"She'll be fine. It didn't hit any vitals." Oda examines me.

But the good news didn't calm Dazai. He kept his cool, but his dark expression told everyone how livid he was at this moment. The sniper will die by Dazai's hands by the end of the night.

Dazai stood and face the sniper with his dark expression.

"Well, you're a tough one, aren't you? Believe me when I say I hold you all in high regard. There has never been an organization that has come straight for the Port Mafia's throat like yours has. You even have the guts to shoot an executive's assistant. That was your biggest mistake tonight."

"Dazai!" Oda calls out.

Dazai begins to walk toward the sniper. Oda reaches out in an attempt to stop him.

"Don't!"

But his hand grasps nothing but air. Dazai moves closer, stopping right in front of the barrel of the enemy's gun. Dazai held a dark smirk on his face.

"I hope you can see the joy in my eyes. All you have to do is bend your finger a little and the thing I've awaited so long will be delivered to me. My only fear is that you'll miss your target... Bt I'm sure you can do the job. You're a sniper after all."

"Dazai!"

"Either way, you're going to die. It's better to put an enemy underboss in the grave before he can kill you himself. Because if you don't kill me before you die...I'll make you suffer for hurting my assistant. So how about it? Why not put an enemy underboss in the grave while you're at it."

"Enough, Dazai! Shiori's okay, just in pain." Oda tries to reason.

"Enough more reason for him to kill me before I get my hands on him. I'm begging you. Take me with you. Do it before I can cause damage to you. Wake me from this nightmare you placed me in. Do it before I can take control of my dream."

"Dazai!"

A gun shot reverberated through the alley with the sound of Oda's voice.

"Argh!"

The sniper clutches his shoulder as he screams in pain. Oda had drawn his gun and put a bullet in the sniper. Following his lead, the other operatives opened fire with their sub-machineguns, and the sniper collapses. Dazai turns back to Oda with an relaxed expression.

"Sorry to put you on edge like that. You have to admit, that was a pretty convincing act, right?"

"Act? You can't act about the feeling of murder you had. You became protective."

"Yes...the parts about Shiori were true. But I knew he couldn't hit me. His left cheek had a bruise from his rifle. That tells us he's left handed. Not only was he using his off hand, but he could also barely stand."

The bandages covering Dazai's right eye start to turn dark red. They were soaking up the blood dripping down Dazai's head.

"And then there's the fact he was using that old pistol. He'd have to actually press it against my forehead if he wanted to hit me. I figured if I could buy time by talking to him so his arm would get tired, and then you'd take care of the rest. The only thing that still pisses me off that, even with all that, he still managed to hit Shiori. He had a one out of billion chance to hit her. Somehow, he managed that. So...I wanted to kill him."

"That enough. We're done here."

Oda picks me up in his arms and turns away from Dazai.

"...Odasaku."

Also facing the other direction, Dazai utters one las thing.

"Take care of Ango."

"...I will."

"...Take care of Shiori for a while for me. I...don't want her seeing me like this."

"I will."

I rest my head on his shoulder, catching his attention.

"...The pain..."

"...We're going to get you help."

"Where's Dazai-san going?"

I watch as his blurry figure and the other operatives walk off. Oda noticed how much trouble I was having staying awake.

"He needs to cool off. He'll be by your side again soon. For now, I'll be looking after you."

"...Okay."

So Oda takes me off to fix me up.