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There were certain things in life that Chuuya expected, he expected the sun to rise in the east, he expected his subordinates to obey his orders, he expected Dazai to be annoying, he expected to one day die from Corruption; he’d hadn’t been expecting to spend his day off babysitting subordinates who had decided to go ghost hunting. Admittedly it was his own fault he’d ended up in such a situation, Hirotsu had asked him for a favor and since the man rarely asked for help unless it was important, Chuuya had agreed before even hearing the request; he immensely regretted that decision now.
The mafia had recently 'evicted' an organization that had been encroaching on the Mafia's territory from their headquarters in an old building, and proceeded to seize said building for their own uses. Unfortunately after hearing and seeing what they claimed were weird noises and moving shadows there, a couple of members of the Black Lizard, namely Tachihara and Gin, had decided the place was haunted and that the obvious thing to do was get a camera and ghost hunting equipment and investigate.
Truth be told Chuuya wasn’t really sure if Gin really thought the place was haunted or if she was just going along with it to mess with Tachihara, but whatever the case was Hirotsu had for some reason decided to go along with it, so long as they had supervision to make sure they didn't get into too much trouble. Which was where Chuuya came in.
Originally Hirotsu had been planning to keep an eye on them himself, but something had come up that Mori needed him for and so he'd asked Chuuya to do it for him. Of course Chuuya had wanted to change his mind and say no once he'd found out what the favor was, but he was a man of his word and he'd already told Hirotsu yes, which was why he was currently standing out in the cold while Tachihara and Gin hauled equipment out of a car.
Higuchi was there too, for reasons that Chuuya wasn’t entirely sure of, but he suspected it was probably because she thought doing things with Gin and getting close to her would help gain Akutagawa's interest. Personally he thought she'd make more progress if she just bucked up and asked him out on a date, but she hadn’t bothered to ask his opinion and he wasn’t one to go around giving unsolicited advice on relationships. Though if she continued pining without taking action for much longer he might change his mind on that.
Whatever the reason Higuchi had tagged along was though, to Chuuya it just meant there was one more person he had to keep an eye on, which was annoying. He really just wanted the night to be over already.
Pulling himself from his self-pitying thoughts, Chuuya sighed as he watched the three mafia members divvy up equipment, he had no idea where they’d gotten all of it or how much it had cost and quite frankly he preferred it that way. It seemed like such a waste of money, but as someone who regularly bought expensive wine he supposed he didn’t really have much room to criticize.
Gin seemed to have been designated as the cameraman, which was probably the best choice since as a trained assassin she’d have the steadiest hands, not to mention she’d probably be more comfortable behind the camera than she would be in front of it. Though really Chuuya wasn’t sure why they even felt the need to film; hopefully it was just for the sake of having proof if they found a ghost, which they wouldn’t, and not because they were planning to post it online or something. He didn’t know how Mori would react if they were to do that.
“Alright, we’re all set!” Tachihara exclaimed, after what seemed like an excessively long period of preparation to Chuuya, “Gin, start filming.” Gin offered a thumbs up and turned on the camera, focusing it on Higuchi and Tachihara,
“Hey there, I’m Tachihara and this is Higuchi,” The Black Lizard stated, waving casually to the camera “And today we’re going to be investigating whether or not this building, which until recently was the headquarters of the Spira Group, is haunted!”
Chuuya couldn’t help but let out a sigh; given how dramatic he knew he himself could be at times, he didn’t really have any room to criticize Tachihara for making a production out of things, but that didn’t mean it didn’t worry him. His actions seemed to scream that he had plans for the footage that were more than just evidence of ghosts.
Unfortunately, his sigh drew Tachihara’s attention, who proceeded to wander over and toss an arm around Chuuya’s shoulders, making him wish for the first time ever that he didn’t encourage his subordinates to be so casual with him. Not that he disliked Tachihara or anything, the man was quite fun to be around, but he felt like he was getting dragged further into something he didn’t want to be involved with.
“And of course Chuuya-san is also here to help!”
“Only if by help, you mean babysit the three of you.” Chuuya deadpanned as he glared at Tachihara, who visibly deflated. It wouldn’t have been egotistical of Chuuya if he were to state that he was probably the most well liked member of the mafia, that was just a fact; it was well known that Chuuya treated his men well and cared for their wellbeing, that combined with the way he was always willing to lend a shoulder or an ear to anyone, had earned him the love of his subordinates. Despite how kind he was however, his men also knew better than to make him angry; it wasn’t easy to make him mad, not unless your name was Dazai Osamu, but if you managed to then you were in trouble.
Tachihara seemed to recover quickly though and he shot a blinding grin at the camera,
“Anyway, let’s quickly go over the history of this place. It was built about 30 years ago and started out as the headquarters of a law firm but they ended up having to sell the building after a tax scandal, after that it went through a couple of different owners and several remodels, some people say it was even owned by a serial killer at some point; but since no one seems to be able to name which owner it was, there’s reason to doubt that claim.” Chuuya had to admit he was a little impressed at the amount of research Tachihara seemed to have done, even if he thought it was for a ridiculous reason. “The latest owner was the CEO of the Spira Group, a shipping company that served as a front for a criminal organization.”
“According to rumors.” Chuuya quickly interjected, there had been plenty of rumors floating around about the Spira Group not being totally legitimate, but only members of the underworld knew for sure it was true. Realization of his blunder flashed in Tachihara’s eyes for a moment but he quickly played it off,
“Yeah, yeah, the rumors were most likely true though. I mean it was a pretty suspicious company, it appeared out of nowhere and then just mysteriously disappeared.” If it wasn’t for the fact that Chuuya had known Gin since she was a little girl, he would have missed the way her body was shaking in silent laughter at Tachihara describing the Spira Group’s disappearance as mysterious.
Except for Higuchi, everyone present had taken part in the Spira raid and the Black Lizard’s had been in charge of getting rid of the bodies, nothing about the situation was mysterious to them.
“Anyway, people have reported hearing weird noises and seeing silhouettes through the windows, it’s also been said that shadows seem to follow people who’ve entered.”
“That’s what shadows do.” Chuuya muttered under his breath and he saw Gin, who he’d moved to stand by, shaking with silent laughter again.
Tachihara had been standing too far away to hear Chuuya’s words and continued on blissfully unaware of the mockery, though Chuuya’s position close to the camera would probably mean he’d hear it later when he watched the video. Honestly he’d probably feel somewhat bad about it if it wasn’t for the fact that it was three in the morning and he was standing out in the cold instead of lying in his nice warm bed.
Tachihara seemed to have finally finished his explanation of why they were there and what they were planning to do and was headed for the front doors of the office, motioning with his hand for the rest of them to follow.
Higuchi and Gin proceeded to do just that, and after a brief moment of wondering if he could maybe sneak off for a bit to take a nap and then come back and pretend he'd been there the whole time, Chuuya reluctantly followed after.
Hirotsu was so going to owe him.
Truth be told Gin really didn't think that the Spira office was haunted, sure she’d seen and heard several of the things that had made Tachihara believe there were ghosts, but she thought there were probably logical explanations for it all. She wasn’t about to miss out on a chance to mess with her co-commander though and so when he’d started talking about how he was sure the place was haunted she’d smiled and nodded and then jumped at the chance when he’d mentioned the idea of investigating.
Tachihara wanted to try and find evidence that the place was haunted and she wanted to see him get scared and make a fool of himself, it was a win-win situation for the both of them. As she followed him with the camera, the green glow of night vision mode casting everything on the screen in an eerie light, she thought he was doing a pretty good job already; they’d only just made it past the lobby and he’d already jumped at several shadows.
Higuchi seemed to be even more skittish than him and Gin found herself wondering, not for the first time that night, why the woman had tagged along. Unlike the rest of them she hadn’t been part of the team that had cleared the place, so it wasn’t like she’d seen any of the strange stuff that had happened and given how jumpy she seemed to be, it was unlikely that she was just a fan of spooky stuff. Thankfully though, while curious, she didn’t really care about the reason that much; while she appreciated Higuchi’s loyalty to her brother, she really didn’t care much about the woman.
“Alright.” Tachihara exclaimed, suddenly coming to a halt in front of the entrance to a large meeting room, “So this is one of the most active areas in the building, people have said they heard whispering noises while in here, so we’re going to hang out for a bit and see if we hear anything.”
As she stepped into the room Gin glanced about, taking note of the way the seals around the windows were cracked and falling apart, leaving openings big enough for a sea breeze to blow through and make strange noises; Chuuya seemed to be looking in the same direction and the two of them shared a knowing look behind their companion’s backs.
“So Tachihara-kun,” Higuchi questioned, the nervous shake in her voice likely inaudible to anybody who hadn’t been trained to detect things like that, “Why do you think this room in particular is so haunted?”
Tachihara rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he considered the question,
“Well this was a meeting room, maybe someone died during a meeting and hasn’t realized they’re dead or that the meetings over. And so they keep trying to participate, hence the whispers.” He suggested, and Gin had to admit it was a pretty good explanation, or it least it would be if ghosts were real.
"Stuck in a never ending meeting huh? Sounds like a fate worse than death." Chuuya muttered to the air, and while Gin didn't know if he'd actually intended for them to hear his words, everyone nodded in agreement; skeptics and believers united for a moment by the horror that was meetings.
"The poor ghost." Higuchi whispered and just like that the feeling of unity was shattered as Chuuya fixed the woman with a disapproving look.
"There's not really a ghost Higuchi, this place isn't haunted." He scolded, and Higuchi stared at him in confusion
"I thought you believed in ghosts Chuuya-san." She stated and was suddenly Chuuya who wore the confused expression.
"Why on earth would you think know that?" He questioned and Higuchi seemed to wilt slightly under his gaze.
"Eh, well last year around Halloween Kajii mentioned the idea of visiting a haunted building and you said 'what's wrong with the one we work in?' and then left the room" For the first time that night Gin failed to hold herself back and had to quickly cover her snort of laughter, she remembered that incident; Chuuya had given no explanation for his statement before walking out of the room, and half the people who had heard him had freaked out.
Her brother had been one of them, though he'd at least been more subtle about then the others, it had still taken her almost an hour to calm himself down and convince him Chuuya had been joking though. From what she'd heard Hirotsu had been forced to do something similar for several of the Black Lizards, but apparently no one had done that for Higuchi.
"Chuuya-san was joking." Tachihara said, serving as a voice of reason for the first time that night, "Headquarters is not haunted…." He paused for just a second too long, "Probably."
"This hallway is known as the Hall of Shadows!" Tachihara proudly proclaimed as he waved his hand in a wide gesture towards the hallway in front of them, it was located on the left side of the building and seemed to go on for far longer than it should. There were windows set into the walls at intervals but they were tightly shuttered closed, allowing little light in even during the day time, which only added to the rather eerie atmosphere of the hall. Personally he found the place to be impressively creepy, but it seemed not everyone in the group shared his opinion.
"The Hall of Shadows, really?" Chuuya questioned in a pained voice, and while it was hard to tell because of the mask, Tachihara was pretty sure Gin was trying to hold back from laughing. Honestly the more time that passed, the more convinced he became that she didn't actually share his belief that the place was haunted and instead was just messing with him; it was just the kind of thing she’d do after all.
“Hey, I didn’t name the place.” Tachihara stated defensively, just barely holding back from snapping instead; he admired and respected Chuuya, far more than he should considering he was spying on the Mafia for the Hunting Dogs, but he was getting kind of tired of his skepticism and snippy comments. “Look, it’s a hallway and people have seen shadows standing in front of the windows, hence Hall of Shadows.”
Chuuya’s expression still looked like the name was causing him physical pain, but he didn’t make another comment and Tachihara was willing to take whatever victories he could get.
“Anyway, the shadows are usually only seen from the outside so we probably won’t actually catch sight of any.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw a brief expression of disbelief flash across Chuuya’s face but he couldn't figure out why, it felt like he was missing something. He decided to ignore it though and instead pulled a small radio like device out of his pocket and wiggled it in front of the group. "However, we are going to try and see if we can contact some spirits with this.”
His three companions just stared at him and then at the device in his hand and then back to him again before Higuchi finally asked what they all seemed to be wondering,
"Uh, how? Is that some kind of digital ouija board or something?" Tachihara shook his head,
"Nope, " He told them, popping the p, "This is a spirit box, it flips through radio channels really quickly to make white noise which spirits can manipulate in order to speak to people." Higuchi looked suitably impressed by the explanation, while Chuuya just appeared bored and Gin remained as unreadable as she always did; he'd already decided to not let any of their reactions bother him anymore though, so Tachihara simply ignored them and flipped on the box.
The sound of static split the quiet air and everyone with free hands, which was only Higuchi and Chuuya, clapped them over their ears and shot a glare at both the offending device and Tachihara who winced sheepishly. Thankfully after a moment the static lost it's loudness and instead evened out into a constant stream of white noise that was still annoying, but no longer painful to the ears.
“Alright, is there anything in particular you guys want to ask the ghosts?” Tachihara questioned,
“Ask them if they’ll go haunt Dazai for me.” Chuuya requested sarcastically, or at least he assumed it was sarcastically given lack of belief he’d shown in ghosts so far, but regardless of the motivation Tachihara decided it was best to just ignore him. No one else seemed to have any ideas, in fact Higuchi seemed rather apprehensive about the very idea of trying to talk to the spirits, so he decided he'd just start with something simple.
"Can you tell us your names? Or what binds you to this place?" A minute passed without any sound save for the white noise, and Tachihara’s shoulders started to droop in disappointment when suddenly the spirit box crackled, causing him to sucked in a breath in anticipation.
"....Cur...ry." For a second not a word was spoken as they all just stared at the device, but then Chuuya snorted before breaking down in laughter. The others turned their stares at him for a moment before grinning and joining in the laughter.
The longer Higuchi spent in the office the more she was coming to regret her decision to tag along, when she’d first overheard Tachihara and Gin talking about their plans; or rather Tachihara talking and Gin just sort of nodding along, she’d thought it was a great opportunity and jumped in to ask if she could come along. It wasn’t that she had a great love of ghost hunting, in fact it was quite the opposite, the idea of ghosts terrified her; but Gin was going and as she was Akutagawa’s sister it was important to become close to her, not only because it would possibly help her get closer to Akutagawa but also because it was important to be on good terms with her future sister-in-law.
With every noise she heard though she found herself thinking more and more about what a bad idea it had been, if only Akutagawa himself had come along, then at least she could have maybe tried jumping into his arms when she got scared. He hadn’t even been invited though, which admittedly was probably just as well, as he would have likely said no and scoffed at the rest of them.
Higuchi was shaken out of her thoughts by a hand suddenly clamping down on her shoulder and she let out a loud shriek, which was followed by an impressively high jump; at the sound both Tachihara and Gin quickly turned to stare at her with wide eyes, before sighing almost in unison and turning back around. Feeling slightly miffed by their actions, but also relieved because it meant there probably wasn't some undead creature waiting to eat, Higuchi hesitantly turned around to see a rather annoyed looking Chuuya rubbing his ear,
"The f*** was that Higuchi?" He questioned with a glare and she let out a nervous laugh,
"I'm sorry Chuuya-san, you scared me." She apologized, desperately hoping he wasn't mad at her; Higuchi was no stranger to being yelled at but she'd never experienced Chuuya's rage and from what she'd heard of it, she had no desire to. Luckily though, Chuuya eyes softened at her apology, though since the glare was replaced by what seemed to be a look of pity, she wasn't really sure she liked it any better.
"There aren't any ghosts haunting this place Higuchi," He told her in a comforting tone, "And even if there were they couldn't hurt you." The fact that Chuuya, the second in command of the Port Mafia who was basically a one man army, was trying to reassure her despite the fact that she had just barely tried to deafen him, made Higuchi feel touched; but she just could bring herself to believe him.
There were too many weird things that had happened, like the whispering noises in the office room from earlier, or the cold chill that pervaded one of the offices they'd passed through earlier, or the voice that had been heard on the spirit box; plus the previous occupants of the building had been brutally slaughtered by a Port Mafia strike team and from what she'd heard violent deaths were more likely to leave behind unquiet spirits. What if the ghosts recognized the four of them as members of the Mafia? How angry would that make them? Higuchi had known before she'd joined the Mafia that dying was just a risk that came with the job, but she didn't want to die while not on duty, especially not via ghosts, what if they all ended up trapped in the building as ghosts themselves?
She hadn't even noticed that she was starting to hyperventilate until Chuuya grabbed her hands, the touch helping ground her back in reality,
"Shh, hey it's okay. You're okay." He told her, his tone was calm and gentle, the exact opposite of what someone would usually expect from a mafia executive; it reminded her of when she was little and had to comfort her sister after a nightmare, Chuuya’s voice held the same soothing vibration that hers once had, and she found herself absently wondering if he had younger siblings as well.
"I'm sorry Chuuya-san." She apologized for the second time that night, "I got a little too worked up thinking about the ghosts." It was an embarrassing thing to admit, especially given Chuuya’s seeming lack of belief in the supernatural, but he didn't mock or sneer at her like she was worried he would. Instead he simply gave her a concerned look,
"Higuchi, if you're not comfortable here it's okay to say so; we can leave if you need to, there are plenty of others days Tachihara can complete his wild goose hunt." Over the man's shoulder Higuchi could see Tachihara opening his mouth in what was probably a protest, but he was silenced by Chuuya turning around to stare at him. With his back to her Higuchi couldn't tell just what Chuuya’s expression was, but the way Tachihara seemed to sink into himself made her wonder if he'd been taking lessons from Mori.
"Um..if you're sure it's okay, then I...I think I'd like to leave" She felt like a coward saying as much, she was a member of the mafia for heaven's sake, she shouldn't be afraid of the possibility of ghosts, but she was and she didn't think she could stand staying any longer.
"Alright, let's go then." Chuuya declared, making a come on gesture towards Gin and Tachihara with his fingers. As the four of them began making their way back towards the entrance he winked at her. "Don't worry, if any ghosts attack us before we get out we'll just sacrifice Tachihara and run."
"Hey!"
"Well that was a huge waste of time." Chuuya groaned as he unceremoniously collapsed onto his couch and rubbed tiredly at his eyes, it was almost six in the morning and even with them having cut things short he'd only just gotten back from the nights ghost-hunting adventure. Nothing had been found of course, just like he'd expected, but he'd definitely learned to always ask what favor was needed before agreeing to one.
"I don't know, I thought it was rather fun." Chuuya glared at the translucent figure of a red haired man that was smiling at him from across the room.
"Oh shut up."