Chapter 18

Flowers and Autumn Leaves, Snow and Gold (花と紅葉、雪と金色,) is the 18th chapter of the Bungo Stray Dogs manga.

Summary
Golden Demon continues to attack Atsushi. Just as Asushi is slammed against a wall, Kōyō approaches him and apologizes since she is only doing her job. Kyōka then shouts stop to Kōyō. Kōyō then diverts her attention to Kyōka and describes her face as lovely which makes Kōyō want to do something for her but unfortunately, she cannot since she has to deal with Atsushi. Kōyō also states that Mori's orders is to eradicate all of Armed Detective Agency members and describes the situation as war since all the leaders are in motion, however she appealed to come to Kyōka's rescue and she was granted permission. Kōyō then tells Kyōka to go back amnd describes her as a flower in the dark and Kyōka will only find sustenance in darkness.

Kyōka refuses and strongly states that she is not a flower of darkness. Kōyō the blames Atsushi for blinding Kyōka for showering her with light and draws her blade and threatens Atsushi. Kyōka then stops her and decides to go with her at the last minute in order to get her to spare his life. Just as Kyōka is going with Kōyō, she draws her dagger and tries to attack Kōyō. It turns out that Kyōka was actually using the opportunity to stab Kōyō, who blocked the dagger. Kyōka then pulls out her cellphone and decides to use Demon Snow to defeat Kōyō.

In another part of town, two Guild members had crashed their pickup truck into a post, and decide to walk to their destination, mentioning a package that will be arriving soon. Meanwhile, Kyōka's and Kōyō's demons fight. Kouyou tells her that as an assassin, no matter how much she wants to go to the light, she can ultimately only survive in the darkness. She refers to a time when she was younger when she tried to escape the Mafia with an older man, but he was killed. She tells her that her true nature will never change, since she's using Demon Snow, who killed her parents. This shocked Kyōka so much that she went with Kōyō without a struggle. A bunch of people from the Mafia also show up, and they prepare to get rid of Atsushi. Luckily, he is saved by Kenji Miyazawa and Kunikida at the last minute, who had tracked Kyōka's phone.

As the Agency and the Mafia prepare to standoff, the two Guild members from before, Howard Phillips Lovecraft and John Steinbeck, show up. Immediately after, the rest of the Guild: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Mitchell, Herman Melville, and Mark Twain drop down from the sky. The Mafia shoots at them. Afterwards, the Guild leaves, leaving the bodies of the Agency and the Mafia behind. At the Mafia headquarters, Mori looks worried as he is told about Kōyō and her squad.

Abilities

 * Golden Demon
 * Demon Snow

Battles

 * Kyōka Izumi vs. Kōyō Ozaki

Trivia

 * The chapter name is a play on Kyōka and Kōyō's names and abilities: 花 (hana, also read as ka) meaning "flower" from Kyōka's name, 紅葉 (kōyō) meaning "autumn leaves" from Kōyō's name, 雪 (yuki) meaning "snow" from Demon Snow's name and 金色 (kin'iro) meaning "gold" from Golden Demon's name.