Twisted Innocence

An Unstable Bomber

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."

- Sun Tzu (The Art of War)

~oOo~

        The four quickly made their way over to the Armed Detective Agency's headquarters once Kunikida delivered the news about the bomber. Once they reached the building, Atsushi hesitantly spoke up. "Um..."

        "What?" Kunikida replied in annoyance. "The agency's on the fourth floor."

        "That's not what I wanted to ask."

        "Let's take the stairs, just in case," Dazai said, the four trekking up the steps. 

        "Excuse me..."

        "Quiet!" Kunikida hissed, keeping his voice low as they approached the office door.

        "Oh, sorry." Atsushi promptly shut his mouth, silencing himself. 

        "Let's go, Atsushi-kun," Dazai firmly told the young boy as they prepared to open the door, before turning his attention towards the black-haired girl accompanying them. "Sei-chan, stay as close to me as you can, all right?"

        "Got it!" Seiko nodded, remembering to lower her voice as she stuck close to her caretaker. 

        "What?" Atsushi blinked, processing Dazai's earlier words. 

~oOo~

        A young orange-haired teenager sat on the front desk where a device laid next to him, clutching tightly onto a beeping remote of some sort with a trembling hand. "I can't..." he muttered, covering his face with his other hand. A young girl around his age with long black hair and a school uniform sat tied up in front of him, her mouth gagged as her head drooped down. "I can't take it anymore..."

        The employees hid around a corner watching worriedly at the bomber and his hostage. "It's all your fault..." The man continued, his voice growing hysteric as he spoke, not noticing Kunikida quietly opening the door and running inside to crouch behind the indoor plants, followed by the other three. "The Armed Detective Agency's fault."

        He removed his hand from his face as he glared ahead, a resentful expression on his face. "Where's the president? Bring the president!" He demanded as he violently tugged up the hostage by the back of her collar, the girl's eyes widened in pure terror. "I'll blow everyone to kingdom come."

        "A personal grudge?" Dazai muttered in thought as they peeked over the plants. "That's inconvenient." 

        "Yeah..." Kunikida agreed. 

        "Mr. Bomber looks like he could snap at any time now..." Seiko worriedly commented as she held onto Dazai's coat.

        "Why am I here...?" Atsushi sweatdropped, feeling rather awkward to be involved in such a tense situation. 

        "The bomber seems pretty furious at the agency." Kunikida observed.  

        "I don't think I'll be of any use," Atsushi grimaced at the sight of the visibly unstable bomber. "May I go now?"

        "We do attract a lot of ill will," Dazai mused, watching the bomber impatiently tap his leg on the desk as he kept an eye on the hostage. "Just the other day, a guy like this fellow tried to get rough with Sei-chan when he saw that she was with me."