#dazai's trying to get over it. with the help of the new mafia hire.

[carrotkicks]

[sends them to school au!]

takes place directly after this comic. Dazai meets Oda! Dazai vents to Oda! About her torrid love life too... It's okay the storm will pass.

[dinosaurtsukki]

dating the armed detective agency’s medic

a/n: of course i have to write one for the ADA even though i’m a biased port mafia bitch. there’s a bit more characters here so i’ll try to keep each one short but still very fluffy and sweet <3

this man is always getting himself injured and even though agency has yosano, fukuzawa thought it would be a good idea to hire another medic who could deal with less life-threatening injuries

ofc dazai flirts with you the first chance he gets and every time he comes into your clinic

dazai: good morning my dear belladonna! the weather is beautiful today, but not as beautiful as you of course

you: YOUR ARM IS BROKEN PLEASE SIT DOWN

although as much as he likes to slightly mess with you, dazai genuinely enjoys coming to the clinic and being treated by someone like you

he likes observing your hands and how careful they are when they bandage his arm or that cute little scrunch of your brows when you’re bandaging his forehead

while on a mission, atsushi and kunikida go the extra length to protect dazai because they know you’re worried about him 

and then one day dazai comes into your clinic again and instantly you think that something has happened

until he surprises you by bringing out a bouquet of flowers

‘if i get injured less on missions, would you let me take you out on a date?’

jokes on you though after you guys date dazai finds every excuse to visit you in the clinic

he’ll get papercuts on purpose just so he can get you to put a bandage on them 

kunikida is annoyed because dazai they’re just papercuts jfc also please go back to work

seeing that you’re always concerned about his health and well-being, dazai finds himself making much less attempts cause he knows the stress it puts on you when you have to bandage him up after and make sure he’s alright

thanks to you our man is able to take care of himself a bit more

even though he is your boyfriend he’s still going to mess with you in any way he can

he’ll barge into your office claiming that his chest hurts because you didn’t give him a kiss that morning

also will highkey hug you from behind even if you’re treating another patient

the first time he meets you is for a physical exam check-up because it was required at the agency and he feels embarrassed at first seeing that the agency’s medic was gorgeous

atsushi was fresh out of the orphanage so of course he was quite malnourished and still had some injuries from his abuse

you had no idea who’d dare hurt such a sweet boy so you do your best to treat him and instructed atsushi to come in for some follow-up check-ups

although when he comes in for that check-up he talks about how he’s been healthy because he eats a lot of chazuke and you’re like ‘oh no, no, no, please eat other things too’

you end up packing him a bento box because he’s your patient so ofc you have to keep him healthy 

the two of you run into each other a lot in the morning because atsushi tends to come in way earlier than he’s supposed to so you often find him sitting in front of the locked door

thus begins your early morning chats. atsushi’s always polite and never interrupts when you talk and you love how he shows so much interest in whatever you say

atsushi began to realize that he has feelings for you but boy is he bad at concealing them also ranpo kind of busted him in front of everyone in the agency including you

but atsushi was saved by you hinting that you wouldn’t mind going on a date with him at all and he’s ecstatic until he realizes he hasn’t been on a date before

he takes you out to a nice restaurant and insists on paying for everything

nothing much changes with your routine but atsushi likes to bring you breakfast in the morning and the two of you have little dates before going into the office

he knows how worried you get when he goes out on especially dangerous missions but he does everything he can to protect the city and the new home he found with the agency and you

this guy was one of the people, other than yosano and fukuzawa, who interviewed you for the job and you can’t forget how intense he was when it came to asking questions

of course, you answered all of them well but kunikida was very serious that you knew how dangerous it could be to be involved with the agency

there was a self-defense portion in the interview that you knew about and of course kunikida was the one who added that

to his pleasant surprise, you managed to dodge all his incoming attacks (kunikida lowkey found it hot, like that’s requirement number ten on his list checked right there)

kunikida does get injured a fair amount during missions and he doesn’t want to get dissected by yosano all the time so he goes to your clinic that’s right near the office

he likes how efficiently you work and how gentle your hands are that even when you’re stitching up his wound he almost can’t feel a thing

however, kunikida does have a bad habit of not resting for the appropriate number of days. like, even with a bullet wound he’ll still hobble over to his desk to finish his paperwork

once, he came down with a terrible case of the flu so of course you sent him home only for kunikida to sneak back into the office when he thought no one was looking

you ended up taking kunikida home but poor guy could barely do anything by himself so you took care of him too

kunikida is definitely the delirious babbling when he’s sick so he ends up talking about his list of traits for an ideal woman and how you filled out a good portion of it

when he wakes up (much more sane) he sees you reading that list on his notebook and he’s like WAIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING

he handed you the notebook personally before passing out and kunikida can’t live it down

you: well, even if i don’t match all these requirements, would you still be interested in going out?

kunikida: yes... please

everyone can tell that kunikida’s about to go on a date because of how nervous he is the entire day

he knows how tight your schedule can be and how busy he is with with work but he always makes time to have his lunchbreak with you

loves to hear about your day and even has some space in his notebook dedicated to any interesting stories you have

the first time you met him was when he also had his physical check-up which ranpo insisted he didn’t need but fukuzawa made him so he had no choice but to follow

the entire time ranpo’s just like ‘nothing’s wrong with me, see?’ and then you do a simple dental check-up and find that he has like two cavities he didn’t want to tell anyone about it because he’s scared of the dentist *cue ranpo trying to run away and you grabbing him by the poncho*

of course fukuzawa makes him go to the dentist too but ranpo insists that you have to be the one to take him and schedule the appointment and come along

truth be told, you’ve always been pretty attracted to ranpo because you know of his skill as a detective so you were excited to have this day with him

only for you to have to physically restrain ranpo to the dentist’s chair (you even had to call kenji to help) while his teeth was getting checked

ranpo was squeezing your hand the entire time and he was fairly grumpy after the whole ordeal that he wouldn’t even talk to you until he asked if you could get ice cream

you: the dentist just told you to eat less sweets

ranpo: but i neeeeed them

you: fine, how about frozen yogurt?

after the dentist trip, you know how much of a hard time ranpo has with eating less sweets so you decide to leave fruit on his desk as a healthier alternative but he won’t TOUCH IT

after some bribery on fukuzawa’s part (’i’ll acknowledge you if you eat fruit more and also tell atsushi to give you a piggyback ride every day’) he finally concedes

he actually finds himself liking fruit so in the afternoon he’ll swing by the office just in time for you to be slicing fruit

ranpo gets over the fact that you sent him to the dentist and enjoys his time in the clinic eating fruit with you and sleeping on the cots inside

your clinic is where he hides when he doesn’t want to do work and when he pouts and asks you to say that he’s sick you can’t help but go along with it

he’s also super physically affectionate around you. will literally have his body draped over yours sometimes while you work

people start talking about how you two look good there and one time someone asked if the two of you are dating and ranpo’s like ‘of course we are!’

and you’re surprised self is about to protest when ranpo smirks at you and says ‘why? am i wrong?’

lmao ofc he’s not you’ve been struggling to keep yourself from being a flustered mess around him

he’s still clingy around you but this time he comes into the clinic every few minutes to ask for a kiss

▸ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ◂

taglist (check out my post for details on being part of my taglist): @waitforitillwritemywayout @atsumu-brainrot​ @laure-chan @goodfoodxoxoxo ​ @guardianangelswings @ah-kaashi @amberalisa​

[straymackerel]

Headcanons for dazai, chuuya and fukuzawa (and maybe if you want too and have time mori too) with a s/o who often forgets to drink and eat over the day? Stay healthy and i hope you are doing good :)

➽─{hiii lovely i’m trying my best to stay healthy and hope everyone else is too! thank u bbg}─❥

dazai osamu

• ok but he also forgets to eat and drink all the time

• he’s a stinky boy with matted hair and a suicide wish, not exactly the epitome of self care

• oddly enough, the two of you manage to bond over your flaws, though dazai is much worse than you

• sometimes one of you will crawl into bed and both your stomachs will go brrrrr, so expect lots of late night snacks when you’re with him.

• insomnia cookies, midnight pub crawls, 4 am pizza delivery, you name it

• if anyone’s pulling your collective shit together, it’s gonna have to be you, because dazai doesn’t really care about his own wellbeing 😅😅

• but once he realizes that you’re affected by his tendencies too, he’ll start to take initiative. he genuinely wishes health and happiness for his raison d'etre

• the only kinda food he knows how to make is breakfast food, so expect steamed rice and miso soup and pan fried fish in your near future.

• it might turn out a little burnt the first few times but you know what? it’s the thought that counts

• he’ll swing by and bring bento boxes to your school/work on his lunch break

• when he slacks off at work he might give you a phone call just to tell you you’re the best lover he could ask for… and also to drink some water

• he might finally start bringing a water bottle to the detective agency, to which his coworkers ask him if he’s ok and if he hit his head or something

• if helping himself = helping you, then fuck it, he’ll do it

nakahara chuuya

• chuuya keeps his fridge well-stocked and he straight up tells you to take advantage of it

• and oh my, his pantry––it’s loaded. if it weren’t for your forgetful ways, you would never go hungry

• when he learns of your self-neglect, he makes sure your favorite foods are always available; that way, you have extra incentive to eat

• he brings this beautiful tall glass pitcher full of water to your room every morning for easy access...

• …but he also thinks wine counts as hydration, so that’s a little problematic.

• on nights when he can’t come home, he’ll ring you asap and make sure you get dinner

• he’s a pretty good chef when he has the time, so his home-cooked meals are top-notch (but it’s on a rare occasion)

• chuuya wouldn’t think twice about hiring a personal chef for you, one who can make all sorts of delicious japanese and international food cause he’s fancy like that

• he schemes with the chef to make sure you’re getting proper nutrition in proper portions at proper times, which is pretty nice cause you won’t have to figure it out yourself

• chuuya is lowkey a little jealous of you because he’d love to kick back at home, eat amazing food, and down it with alcohol water more often

• and on his few days off he’ll do just that, relaxing with you in his arms in the meanwhile

fukuzawa yukichi

• initially assumes you’re at least capable of eating and drinking every day

• genuinely befuddled when he realizes people like you exist

• he finds it extremely confusing––how does one neglect their basic human functions..?

• he is surrounded by a great deal of hungry hungry orphan kids after all, making you an anomaly

• fukuzawa is firm on the matter: “three meals and three liters of water a day. no excuses, we’re gonna get to the bottom of this.”

• takes a pragmatic approach to all of this, even consulting yosano for help

• he has yosano lecture you on the importance of eating/drinking properly, warning of malnutrition and exhaustion

• will install a telecare system in your home, the kind that prompts you to eat if you’re absent from the kitchen for hours on end

• the president of the ada may be busy catching criminals every day, but he’s never too busy to pack you a healthy lunch

• (he learned how to cook when he was raising ranpo up; he’s pretty fast at it now, especially anything that requires some kinda slicing and dicing)

• he’d secretly love to spoon-feed you, so pleaaaase let him if he ever lets that slip 🥺❤️

mori ougai

• he doesn’t say anything when he first notices, opting to simply observe you

• this guy, this absolute bastard... when he notices a potential weakness his first instinct is to see how to exploit it

• he wonders if it’s easier manipulate and take advantage of you when you’re in a hungry, physically weakened state. he might test out a theory or two without you realizing

• whether you forget to eat/drink because you’re stressed, busy, bad at managing time, careless, or just not equipped with a substantial appetite, he figures out the underlying reason of your absentmindedness

• he’ll help you out after some time, but expect him to periodically withdraw his support to remind you of his influence over you.

• mori will go to mafia hq, find the first culinary school dropout he has under his thumb, and say “you! yes, you. you work for my darling now.”

• the poor recruit is threatened with the penalty of death if he doesn’t do his new job right

• mori doesn’t comment on your condition much, but elise will find a way to tease you over it

• ex. if you get in a fight over mori’s attention, she’ll yell at you to “leave us be!!! just go drink some water or something!!!’

• generally, you’ll be well taken care of. just don’t forget that the snake has fangs.

--

sources

link i

link ii

[pearl-blue-musings]

Good Trouble pt. 1

Hi Hi

Thank you to @styxtm for giving me the courage to go through with this story. It’s one I’ve spent lots of time mulling over, so like with my other stories it’ll be slow updates! 

Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs 

Pairing: Dazai Osamu x fem!reader

Warnings: mentions of guns and killing

Hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door unlocks, letting the stale air of the apartment hit your face in comparison to the warm air outside. You sigh heavily as you set your bag down on the bench near the entrance way. Work had been intense, more than usual but it was nothing you couldn’t handle. However, upon entering your apartment your eyes were on red alert. Your years of training haven’t failed you, despite not wanting to use your honed skills or needing to recently.

The bench you placed your bag on was just a couple centimeters off from where it usually sits. You noticed the coloring on the floor to be slightly off, causing you to silence your steps as you make your way into the kitchen. The staleness seemed off as you close your eyes to heighten your sense of smell. Musty cologne. That’s what it is; a smell you haven’t smelled in a long time. You stalk along the counter, having your back turned away from the fridge and hallway.

That’s when you hear it.

To the common ear, it would have gone unnoticed, but you heard the breath of someone you haven’t wanted to see ever again. Before they could attack, you swiftly grab the knife to your left and elbow the stranger behind you. He’s hunched over and you grab at his neck to pin him against the wall with the knife at his throat.

“Easy, kid! You wouldn’t kill me would you?”

Your eyes darken as the knife pushes closer to his throat.

“Ah ah, that’s not your style (Y/n). You don’t kill. Never have. So let me go, yeah?”

You scoff, feeling the sweat gather at your brow from your actions and frustrations. You let him go, allowing the man to catch his breath. Still on edge, you keep your knife near you as you slide it up your sleeve to free your hands. You place them on your hips as you watch the man who has defended you when no one else would.

“What is it, Toono?”

He doesn’t miss the hiss in your voice as his eyes soften at you. “That’s no way to treat me after all I’ve done for you and your father! Yipe!”

He feels the air blow by him quickly as the knife that was up your sleeve was now in the wall behind him, right by his ear. Toono’s eyes turn to his left to see where the knife could have hurt him. He turns to you, seeing your pissed off expression and steps away from the weapon.

Toono clears his throat as he presses on. “Anyways, your old man has a job for you-“

“Not interested.”

“But you’re the best and everyone knows it.”

You step up to him quickly, placing your forearm on his throat to hold him in place. “As I’ve said many, many times: I’m done. I want nothing to do with that man. You of all people should know that.”

The older man doesn’t miss the hiss and crack in your voice as you turn away from him. It’s unfortunate, but he does know better. Hell, he was the one who helped you get your own place and escape the clutches of your father, for now at least. He looks to your hunched over figure, noticing your slight tremor in your left hand as you hold onto your self harder.

Toono’s instincts to protect you kicked in when he sees your disposition. “Kid, are you okay? Your hand is-“

“Toono I’m fine!” You yell out, “now please. Please leave.”

He breathes deeply before scavenging for something in his pocket. He gently taps you on the shoulder to catch your gaze and study your face, maybe for the last time. “You have no choice, (Y/n). He’ll kill me if I still have this file and information on me and that you aren’t helping.”

You ignore his pleas as his hand is held out to you with the manila folder.

“Please kid! You gotta take this. It’s either take this job, or your father will kill me to kill you.”

You unclench your fists and relax your shoulders. Toono isn’t a person who would come to see you for no reason, or without good intentions. If he’s coming to you directly that means it must be of the utmost importance to whatever it is your father has planned for the world. You wordlessly take the folder and try to commit it to memory.

“Dazai Osamu. Why does my father want this guy out of the picture?”

You study his profile for a bit before landing on his picture. Armed Detective Agency? Port Mafia? Why hadn’t you heard of these places or people before? It’s true you’re relatively new to the city, but these names seem and sound legendary. You’re shocked to see that your father doesn’t know his ability, only that it can hinder his process. You ignore the funny feeling in your stomach as you continue to study your target.

You may be a hired help for your dad, but you never killed. It’s not that you couldn’t; you absolutely could. But you made the conscious choice to not to. It left a sick feeling in your stomach at the thought of taking another person’s life, despite the evils they may have done or aided in. Oh how your father wanted you to kill, but that was one disposition he could never beat with you.

All it took for you to give up killing was tracking someone involved with the government. You had the gun in your hand, ready to stealthily kill the corrupt worker when a tall man with tan walked into your visual. When your eyes met, including your targets, something in you broke. Who was this man you had to kill? He could have family and friends that would miss him; what if the roles were reversed? Your left hand faltered as two pairs of eyes stare at you wondering what your next move was going to be.

The sound of metal clanking against the ground of the alleyway had broken you from your stupor. The taller man had carefully approached you, wiping away at your tears and wrapped you in a secure hug. You miss him wave off your target but you didn’t care. He could live and still be miserable for all you knew; I mean was he really corrupt or was that something spun by your father?

You had been so caught up in your head you missed the stranger asking you questions. His soothing voice brought you back to reality.

“Hey, what’s your name and what’s your business with my friend here?”

You met his gaze and notice how nice his dark brown eyes look under the streetlight. You stuttered over your words before fumbling out, “It’s (Y/n). I don’t trust you with my surname. I’m, er I was, supposed to kill him but… I couldn’t.”

The man next to you chuckled as he urged the two of you off the ground. He led you away from the light and into an abandoned alleyway to continue your conversation. You hadn’t given up too much information but you began to feel comfortable around the stranger that had calmed you down.

“You kill for you father?” His voice calm and soothing as he handed you a piece of candy.

You nodded in thanks and whisper. “This was supposed to be my first one. If you hadn’t stopped me- Wait how did you stop me? You shouldn’t have seen me!”

His laugh, a laugh you never wanted to forget as years went on. “It’s my ability. I had a feeling something bad was going to happen after we grabbed our usual drinks so I tailed him.”

A small breath had left your lips as you eat the candy the man had given you. You rested your head against the cold brick wall as your thoughts ran wild. This was your first assignment for him and you failed. All of your training, all of your stealth work was supposed to lead up to this but you failed; your mission was incomplete. Your boss wouldn’t accept that. Your father wouldn’t accept that. “Why are you talking to me, I tried to kill your friend.”

“I hate killing.”

You were surprised at his honesty and turned to him staring up into what he could see of the night sky. “I may work for questionable people but I will never kill. And I could sense that in you too.

“I’m Oda Sakunosuke and if you’d let me I’d like to help you.”

The sound of your microwave beeping brought you back to the present after remembering your first failed killing. You never killed after that, but you would only be called to trail, track, and scout for your boss. For some reason, he didn’t make you kill; you thought briefly that maybe your father had a soft side. But you weren’t keeping your hopes up. You open up the microwave, grabbing your instant dinner and return to the table to eat. You stare again at the file Toono left you. There’s something about the look in this person’s eye that unnerves you but calms you in a weird way.

“Dazai Osamu,” you muse out loud, “just what trouble are you going to cause me?”

[along-came-atsushi]

Novel Recap: Osamu Dazai’s Entrance Exam

Prologue & Chapter 1

Man, it’s been some time since I’ve started this little series. And originally I wanted to do Dark Era first. But since 2020 has been a shit year so far I’m not in the mood to read even more depressing stuff. So, I decided for something a little brighter.

Also: “Recap”, that was the word I was looking for, after I failed to come up with a proper name lol.

As most of you probably already know the first light novel is the original story from season 1, episodes 6 & 7. But it’s without Atsushi, since Atsushi hasn’t been introduced as a main character yet. They also gave some of Dazai’s original lines to Atsushi, which I think is not the best decision, since it alters the characterization. There are also some heavy differences between the novel and its anime counterpart. I personally prefer the novel.

But anyway, let’s get started, we’re inside Kunikida’s mind the whole time. This is going to be fun.

The prologue begins with Kunikida explaining what his ideals are, how he met his ideals, why he married his ideals, and when he plans to have babies with his ideals.

My name is Doppo Kunikida, an idealist who lives in reality, a realist who pursues ideals.

I have this stupid mug I bought back when I started studying. It will now forever remind me of Kunikida:

And this is a record of the struggles between a man who yearns for the realization of ideals and a new hire destined to interfere with them.

The following interference of ideals took place between 5 pm and 6 pm [ding ding]

Also here are some interesting excerpts from his ideals...notebook...diary... ideals-diary. I’m gonna call it that now:

Takekoshi came to my house. We took a stroll under the moonlight together.

Ha, gAAAAAAAAYYYY.

I ate a pear. It wasn’t sweet.

Then why did you eat it in the first place????

The story continues to turn into a beginning of a Brooklyn 99 episode, but it’s with Dazai and Kunikida chasing some random thief. Come to think about it, isn’t the ADA supposed to take only cases the police can’t deal with? Guess the police in the BSD universe is even more incompetent than I thought.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s all according to plan. More importantly, guess what I just saw.”

“I don’t care!”

“It’s this incredibly rare book called ‘The Complete Suicide’. I’ve been searching all over for it, and I just noticed it on display in the used bookstore back there-- Ah! I have to go back and buy it before someone else does.”

And that’s how Dazai met the love of his life. Can we also talk about that the title “The Complete Suicide” sounds rather strange? Especially when I translate it into German: “Der Komplette Selbstmord”. Oh god, fuck off, book!

But no matter how twisted my partner’s interests are, no matter how much he tries to sabotage the mission, I will not allow the criminal to escape for failure is not written in my schedule.

“For failure is not written in my schedule.” -> That is an awesome and inspiring quote. I want it on a t-shirt. Or on another mug.

After a chase through a crowd of people they’re able to catch the thief, thanks to Kunikida’s ability and Dazai’s... uh... plan.

One resident speaks up. “J-just who are you people?”

I whip out my detective license and hold it up in the air so everyone can see.

“There is no need for concern. We’re with the Armed Detective Agency.”

[Brooklyn 99 intro starts playing]

.

And that’s it for the prologue! On to chapter 1:

8th

It rained this morning. A quiet shower, but frigid like the depth of winter. I yearn to live for my ideals. I strive for my ideals. I move forward without fear, without fatigue, without hesitation. Neither dreams nor honor will be pursued--for how euphoric it an be to solely devote oneself to quotidian tasks.

Why does this sound like the lyrics to an Evanescence song? *sad Amy Lee voice* Frigiiiii~d like the depth of wiiiiiii~nteeeee~r

Also... Kunikida, you must be a blast to have on a date. No wonder the women swoon over you.

But despite its [the building of the ADA] appearance, it’s so sturdily built that even machine-gun artillery fire from the outside wouldn’t cause any damage to the interior. That may sound oddly specific, but it’s happened to us.

*nods heavily* Sounds like completely normal work hazards to me, don’t know what you’re talking about.

Kunikida tells us that he checks his schedule many times. Like... really many times. Probably also while using the bathroom. I don’t know if this is a normal behaviour, but okay. So he goes to work and finds Dazai being high thanks to shrooms, dancing around in the office, to everyone’s demise.

“Whoa there’s a giant sea anemone outside the window, Kunikida! A banana... It’s eating a banana! And it’s even removing the white stringy bits!”

Yes, this man is a terrifying genius and an ex-Port Mafia executive.

Man, I should try these mushrooms one day, too. Dazai’s visions really sound entertaining.

I pour coffee into my mug as I always do.

I really hope we share the same mug, Kunikida! Don’t disappoint me!

But now, I don’t want to hide my all time fav quote from Dazai from you:

“Oh, I’ve got it. I need to take off my clothes. I need to get naked to get higher ratings! It’s simple, really! Let us undress! After that, we can all put on full-body thighs, go to the bank, and dance the hopak!”

Yes, this man is a terrifying genius and an ex-Port Mafia executive.

I land a roundhouse kick to the back of Dazai’s head, knocking him against the wall and rendering him unconscious.

Everyone in the ADA after that:

.

We’re told how Kunikida and Dazai met and the day he was introduced as a new employee into the ADA

In that moment, I suddenly sense a cold, piercing light in his eyes, as if he were calmly evaluating his senior--no, as if he were staring into my very soul through the eyes of a heavenly, enlightened sage. [...] Was I seeing things? Could my mind have been playing tricks on me?

Dazai uses Leer. It’s very effective.

If you only know the anime version, than you completely missed the fact that Fukuzawa and Kunikida had a conversation about Dazai. They both realize that there must be something wrong about his alleged background, because it doesn’t quite add up. And then there is also the fact that his ability is extremely dangerous.

“I would like you to bring Dazai with you while you work and see if he can be trusted. If you ever feel he could be an emissary, intelligence operative, or spy of some sort, then you are to fire him without hesitation. However, if you sense any sign of wickedness in his heart...”

The president takes a black automatic pistol out from a bag behind him, then presents it to me.

You do not fuck with shachou and his family.

.

The next day they meet with a teenage hacker boy called Rokuzu, because the ADA received an anonymous email requesting them to investigate a haunted building. And since neither the Ghostbusters nor the Winchester brothers reside in Yokohoma that task also falls into the ADA’s hands.

“Anyway, it’s not like you to be late. What, were you on a ‘date’ or something?”

He makes a circle with one hand and shoves a finger in it with the other.

Typical teenage boy behaviour.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I only plan on going on dates with the woman I marry. And according to the ‘Future Plans’ page in my notebook [...] it’s going to be another six years before I get married.”

“Hold up. You already got a girl you’re gonna marry?”

“Not for another four years.”

Thank god, we live in times with apps like tinder and stuff, so we can all schedule our marriage and dating plans.

The next things happen pretty much the same as in the anime. They ask the teenage hacker boy to look up the sender of the mail, they meet with the taxi driver who tells them about the abduction of several people, Dazai tries to Tokyo Drift but fails miserably (which wasn’t shown in the anime) and then they investigate the haunted building, which turns out to be an abandoned hospital. They do this in the middle of the night, of course.

Oh, and Kunikida is absolutely terrified of ghosts. *deep voice* You’re in Silent Hill, son.

They hear a scream for help and run to the rescue, just in time to find a woman named Sasaki almost drowning in a tank. Thankfully she gets rescued by these two gentlemen, otherwise it may have been the end for her.

Aside from Dazai’s overcoat, she’s nearly naked and soaking wet in the middle of the night.

Damn, that poor woman. She must be freezing.

Her hands tightly wrapped around her elbows and her legs stretched out on the floor are especially delicate.

Uuuhhh.... Kunikida? Dunno if this is the right moment to-

The clothes clinging to her body sketch the outline of an alluring figure.

This man needs a hug.

I feel almost as if I could see through her remarkably fine porcelain skin.

Maybe a little bit more than just a hug.

Wet hair clings to her nape as water drips onto her chest.

Kunikida STAHP!

I avert my gaze for absolutely no reason.

“absolutely no reason” -> PFFFFFFFF. Sasaki tells them that there are other people trapped here and wants to lead Dazai and Kunikida to them.

“... Wait.” I place a hand on Miss Sasaki’’s shoulder, stopping her. “Dazai, what do you think?”

“The way she’s dressed makes me feel things,” he says with a straight face.

“Be serious.!”

“with a straight face” -> so no feeling things at all? Dazai stop playing straight already. Even Kunikida doesn’t buy it anymore.

Anyways Dazai thinks Sasaki’s story is a little bit too convenient. They’re searching for the other victims trapped here, but when they find them it’s already too late, since a poison gas trap somehow activates and they have to retreat.

[patchwork-panda]

If A Moment Is All We Are (22/?)

AO3 link: here

“Hey, Kirako-san?”

I knocked quietly against the open doorway of the clerk room and poked my head into the room. Kirako was sitting by the window with her laptop open, clearly engrossed in shopping for a new collar for her cat, “Mii-chan,” and she jumped when I called her name a little louder.

“Kirako-san?”

“I’m working hard, I swear!” she shrieked, rapidly closing a bunch of windows all at once. “Don’t write me up!!”

“Relax, Kirako-san,” I laughed, “it’s just me. I’m not going to tell anyone what you were doing but if I were you...”

I looked around and lowered my voice to a whisper.

“I wouldn’t go with that fuchsia collar,” I said, grinning, “It’ll clash with the orange in Mii-chan’s fur.”

“You think?” Kirako groused as I nodded firmly.

She sighed.

“Still, I’m glad it’s just you, Kyou-chan,” she mumbled, putting her hand on her chest and leaning back in her chair. “Kunikida-san would have my head for sure if he caught me shopping during work hours. Do you need something from me?”

I nodded.

It had been almost a full day since the explosion at Yamazaki Shuji’s second apartment. As the firefighters continued to put out the flames, Kunikida and I went back to Katai’s place, retrieved a small handful of printouts and then immediately returned to the Agency. I decided to leave the black access card with Katai, in case he needed it for something else and Katai, for his part, agreed to call me back the minute he found something new, in exchange for nothing more than a simple grocery run.

“I don’t like to leave the house,” he’d mumbled quietly before burrowing back into his futon like a hibernating bear in a cave.

With Katai’s printouts to guide me, I spent the rest of yesterday afternoon trying to find anything else I could on the aliases “Tsushima Shuji” and “Yamazaki Shuji.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much beyond what Katai had already figured out. I ended up staying a full hour past the end of my shift, alternating between manically searching the internet and hitting my head against my desk in frustration until a very concerned Atsushi shook me and insisted I call it quits for the day.

But just when I thought I was going to be at a dead end, I remembered this morning that Kunikida and Dazai had been the ones to orchestrate Mrs. Yamazaki’s relocation. If they’d done it shortly after I’d first informed them of her upcoming murder, then they were sure to have documented their proceedings somewhere, as part of the paperwork they did when they finished a case—my case.

I’d run so fast to the clerk room that I’d nearly tripped on my way there.

So here I was, standing before Kirako, with my fingers crossed in my burgundy skirt pocket, hoping that she might have something for me.

“I’m looking for my case files.”

Kirako adjusted her glasses and squinted at me through her bright pink frames.

“But... you haven’t turned them in yet,” she said, sounding confused.

“No, not those,” I said, shaking my head. “The files Dazai-san and Kunikida-san turned in when they rescued me from Akutagawa at the art gallery.”

Kirako’s forest-green eyes widened.

“You want those?”

For a second, she looked uncomfortable.

“Uh. Kyou-chan... You sure you want those?” she asked again, staring doubtfully at me. “Most people generally avoid looking at their own case files... depending on who wrote the reports, they’re not always that flattering...”

“I’m sure,” I said firmly, “And I’m not after my own information, I’m trying to look into Yamazaki Tomie-san, my old neighbor.”

“Your old neighbor?” she asked, turning back to the computer and pulling up the filing software. “Are you just looking out of curiosity? Because this says she’s been relocated to Nagano.”

“Yeah, I know about that,” I admitted, “But is there anything else on her? Or her husband? Anything that Dazai-san or Kunikida-san might’ve filed around the time when I joined?”

“Let’s check...”

Kirako began typing but when she found what she was looking for, I heard a sound like a buzzer. I glanced over her shoulder at a grayed-out file. It looked a little like the hidden files Katai had dug up on Mr. Yamazaki yesterday.

“What’s that noise?” I asked curiously.

Kirako frowned.

“That’s weird,” she mumbled, clicking the mouse again. “It looks like the file is locked.”

“Locked?” I repeated incredulously, staring at the screen in shock. “But you’re the highest ranking clerk—you have access to everything! How could it be locked?”

“I don’t know,” Kirako said quietly, clicking through, “it’s probably some kind of error. Either that or whoever wrote it made it so that only they or President Fukuzawa could open it, which doesn’t happen too often...”

She shot me an apologetic look.

“We can ask IT to look into it but for now, I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

I slapped my hand over my face and groaned as Kirako clicked through a few more screens.

“You know,” she said, scrolling through what seemed to be a separate document, “from the looks of this bit here, Yamazaki Tomie-san might actually be in witness protection. If that’s the case, I’m not sure how much you’re going to be able to find on her here with us...”

She glanced up at me.

“Why are you looking into her right now?” she asked. Her features softened into a sympathetic smile. “Do you miss her, Kyou-chan? If you just want to talk to her, I’m sure it can wait.”

“I did think about reaching out yesterday,” I admitted, thinking back to my conversation with Kyouka and Atsushi about bento boxes, “but this has something to do with my current case. The company that hired me and Dazai-san thinks her husband stole a lot of money from them.”

Kirako’s eyes shot up into her bangs.

“Really? Well, if that’s the case, maybe you could try the police department? If he’s a known criminal, they might have something?”

I chewed my cheek.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea...”

If Mr. and Mrs. Yamazaki were in some kind of trouble with the Port Mafia or the criminal underworld, then asking the police could draw more unwanted attention to them. And even if that weren’t the case, if Mrs. Yamazaki was in witness protection, there’s no way someone like me, an employee of a private detective agency, would be allowed access to that kind of information, no matter how important Ranpo-san liked to say we were.

Not to mention, the last time I checked in with the police, I ended up being confronted by Akutagawa and nearly getting my legs chopped off...

“Wait...” I mumbled, suddenly remembering something. “Maybe Dazai-san has her information. He’s the one who told me she relocated, after all, maybe he has her phone number—”

“Whose number would I have?” a familiar tenor voice chirped from behind me.

I whirled.

“Dazai-san!”

For once, I was actually happy to see him and it must’ve shown on my face because the bandaged brunette brightened up instantly.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise!” he declared, his chocolate-brown eyes sparkling as he regarded me. “Now why can’t you smile this sweetly for me every time I see you?”

“Do you happen to have Yamazaki Tomie-san’s phone number by any chance?” I asked, choosing to ignore his previous remark. “You know, my old neighbor?”

One of Dazai’s dark eyebrows quirked upwards into his messy bangs.

“No...? Why would I have that?” he asked blankly.

As usual, he wasn’t wearing his trench coat while he was in the office and he crossed his bandaged arms with a confused look on his face.

“She’s married. And a bit old for me, don’t you think?”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Normally, I wouldn’t hesitate to call him out for being too flirty for his own good but right now, I needed something from him and it was probably wisest to stay on his good side.

“I just thought,” I said slowly, “that you might have it since you were the last person to come into contact with her after... the incident at the art gallery.”

“Ohhh, I see,” Dazai murmured, rubbing his chin. “You’re trying to check up on her, aren’t you? Well, sorry to disappoint you, Kusunoki-kun, but I don’t have it.”

I felt my shoulders droop in disappointment.

“But if you like...” Dazai offered, that impish grin sliding back onto his face, “I could help you track her down. In exchange for a small favor, of course.”

“You’re going to help me find her,” I said, smiling as pleasantly as possible, “because it’s relevant to our case. I went over to Katai-san’s yesterday and—”

“That’s right!” Dazai suddenly exclaimed, clapping his hands together in excitement, “How did everything go with Kunikida-kun yester—”

I slapped both my hands over his mouth to stop him from saying anything further and shot a horrified look over my shoulder at Kirako, who, thankfully, only looked confused.

“Dazai-san.”

There was an edge to my smile and without removing one of my hands from his mouth, I started pushing him out the door.

“Could I speak to you about our case? In private?”

Without waiting for him to answer, I pushed him right past the threshold and nodded politely to Kirako as we left. I didn’t take my hand off Dazai’s mouth (ugh, this felt so weird) until I’d pushed him into the conference room. This time, however, I didn’t lock the door.

“What are you doing?!” I snapped, all patience exhausted. “Why would you bring up Kunikida-san in front of Kirako-san?! I thought you said you wouldn’t tell anyone!”

“I wasn’t going to!” Dazai claimed, looking affronted, “I just wanted to know what you found out at Katai’s place.”

As I eyed him suspiciously, Dazai put up both hands in a gesture of surrender.

“Well, it turns out, Tsushima Shuji and Yamazaki Shuji are the same person,” I told him. “Katai managed to get into the company employee files and I recognized the ID photo he pulled up. It looks like it was taken a few decades ago, around the time Shuji-san and Tomie-san got married. They must’ve moved here from Nagano when Tanaka Investments hired him.”

“So he’s been working at the company this whole time,” Dazai mumbled, tapping his chin. “Interesting.”

“What about you, Dazai-san?” I asked, putting a hand on my hip. “I didn’t see you all afternoon yesterday—”

“Oh?”

Dazai suddenly perked up, taking his hand off his chin.

“Did you miss me, my sweet—?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” I cut him off, slapping away his hands before he could put them somewhere I’d make him regret. “I’m asking you what you found yesterday while I was talking to Katai-san. He said he was going to try to trace everything he could of Yamazaki Shuji today and that he’d call me once he’d finished but I’d like to hear what you found.”

I crossed my arms and fixed him with a suspicious look.

“You said you were going out to talk to some information brokers yesterday, didn’t you? Don’t tell me you actually stayed at my desk all day, huffing my markers or something? And no—”

I jabbed a finger in his face like he was a misbehaving dog. Dazai had suddenly looked a little too excited at the prospect of digging through my desk for Sharpies.

“I’m not going to let you do that,” I stressed. “For one, it’s not going to kill you, just get you high as a kite, and two, you’ll dry them out and then I won’t be able to use them any more.”

I crossed my arms as Dazai wilted visibly and let out a heavy sigh.

“I’m not going to go through your desk,” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his bandaged neck. “Not for markers, anyway. But you’re right, that’s not important. We should talk about what I learned about Shuji-san.”

He pulled out a chair for me and gestured for me to sit.

Making a mental note to move anything even remotely toxic out of my desk and into my locker, I also let out a heavy sigh and sat.

“So my information corroborates yours,” Dazai said, pulling out his own chair and scooting noisily against the tiles until he was squished up right next to me in the large, empty conference room.

He took out a set of papers from inside his black vest and put them down on the long table in front of us.

“Yamazaki Shuji does appear to be our target’s real name. He grew up in Nagano, where he met his wife, Tomie-san, then relocated with her to Yokohama when Tanaka Investments scouted him. Over the years, he rose up through the ranks until he became one of their most senior accountants and account managers.”

Dazai placed another document on the table.

“According to these records, Shuji-san took a lot of business trips abroad and was rarely at the company. His last visit to the company headquarters took place about a month ago.”

“Wait a second,” I said, shifting the set of papers on the table. “Katai-san says Shuji-san seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth a month ago, but his card was used to get building access two nights ago—the night before the bombing.”

I glanced up at Dazai.

“That means someone used his card to get into the building—probably to set the bomb that nearly got us yesterday.”

Dazai nodded.

“I assume you saw the dead bird in the trash can?” he asked, leaning one bandaged arm on the table as he looked at me, his striped shirt sleeve scuffing up one set of the documents.

“I did,” I replied, trying to shove his arm off the papers but he wouldn’t budge. I gave up. “President Tanaka must’ve tightened security because he’s afraid someone’s after him. And given there was that bombing at Shuji-san’s second apartment, I can’t blame him.”

Dazai raised an eyebrow.

“‘Second’ apartment?” he asked, “Why do you call it that?”

“Because,” I said, surprised.

He hadn’t figured it out?

“His first apartment is the one he shared with his wife, down the hall where I lived.”

Dazai grew quiet. He seemed to be scrutinizing me very carefully and for just a moment, the look in his bright brown eyes appeared to be one of pity. At once, I frowned.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Kusunoki,” Dazai began.

He tapped his fingers against the table as he studied me.

“Let me ask you a question. It’s a philosophical question but, please, humor me for a second.”

“What?” I asked, taken aback. “A philosophy question? Now?”

Dazai nodded and at the look in his eyes, I was struck silent.

I’d seen the expression in those clear brown eyes once before, the night I was rescued from the gallery. It was the same look Dazai had given me when I was holding that glass shard to my own neck... like he was seeing something in me that I didn’t want to see in myself...

The brightly lit room suddenly felt warm and stuffy. My heart began to race.

“...What is it?”

“It’s from an old book I read once,” Dazai said, still staring deep into my eyes, “Let’s say for nine years, I had an apple. I believed it was a goodly apple but after possessing it for those nine years and one day, I discover that it is rotten to its core.”

He lowered his gaze momentarily, his thick, dark bangs dropping just a little over his eyes.

“Had been the whole time, actually, even though I had not been aware of it,” he said, smiling softly to no one in particular.

I could barely breathe.

“Would it be fair to say then,” Dazai continued, glancing back up at me, “that I had possessed for nine years, a goodly apple?”

“I...”

I looked away.

“I’m not sure I understand the question.”

“I think you do.”

And with that, Dazai gently laid one large, half bandaged hand over mine. My heart stopped as the weight of his hand settled against it.

“Answer my question, Kusunoki,” he said gently. “Did I, for those nine years, possess a goodly apple?”

His fingers closed around mine.

“Dazai...?”

I felt a lump forming in my throat as I stared back into his deep brown eyes.

Was he really asking about an apple...?

I could tell Dazai was waiting patiently for my answer, so with some difficulty, I swallowed and opened my mouth to speak. I couldn’t bring myself to move my hand out from under his.

“I think...” I replied slowly, “that it was. A goodly apple that is. You spent nine good years with it, didn’t you? And it brought you joy.”

“Joy?” Dazai asked, his dark brows drawing together momentarily in thought.

“Yes.”

I studied his face as I answered.

“They say time heals all wounds. I’m sure you will always remember the moment you found out about the rotten core, but as time passes, the pain will start to fade and you’ll be left with the memories of those nine good years instead. And if it’s the nine years you remember best, then...”

I smiled and Dazai’s dark eyes widened just a fraction. His hand twitched where it lay over mine.

“Yes. It was a goodly apple.”

“Kyou...” Dazai breathed.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. Dazai was staring at me as if he had never properly seen my face before and I felt my face warm under the intensity of his stare. And in that moment, the curtains behind his dark eyes seemed to lift... and I found myself once again seeing a side of Dazai that I’d only caught fleeting glimpses of before...

It was the same Dazai who pulled away from me yesterday morning, when I’d reached back to place my hand over his.

And the same lonely Dazai who’d walked me home that cold, spring night...

... and asked me to join him in double suicide.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Hey... Dazai?”

I bit my lip.

“Are you okay? Why did you ask me this question?”

At once, Dazai smiled. The curtains came down like a steel door and his mask snapped back into place. It all happened so quickly that I was left wondering what I had just seen—and if I had actually seen anything at all.

Dazai’s smile softened and he slowly leaned in.

“I’m fine,” he whispered sweetly, giving my hand a light, affectionate squeeze. “But is that your final answer, Kyou-chan? Do you really believe in the healing power of time so strongly?”

“I—I do,” I stammered, my heart suddenly beating faster than before as his eyes seemed to darken. “I mean, of course I do. Why—”

My voice caught in my throat and I cleared it lightly to try to stop the words from sticking.

“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked, “when my own Ability allows me to see the future?”

Dimly, I thought back to Saeki Mei from the convenience store, the woman who had been kidnapped during my first case. I thought about how I’d seen a vision of her in the summer, through the old manager’s eyes. Mei would be laughing and jogging and wearing new blonde highlights in her pitch-black hair when she returned in July. And Mei would be back. The manager had assured me of this.

“I’ve seen it,” I said at last, staring back into his eyes. “I’ve seen people heal.”

“That’s good,” Dazai said quietly, still watching me with that inscrutable look in his eyes. He started leaning in close. “Good to hear...”

“Um, Dazai...?” I whispered, my heart beating so loud I was sure he could hear it too. “Sh-shouldn’t we go back to talking about the case...?”

“Case?” Dazai repeated absentmindedly.

The sound of someone knocking on the conference room door drew my attention and Dazai and I looked up as one as Tanizaki Junichiro poked his head into the room.

“Oh, there you are, Kusunoki-san,” he said.

I saw his eyes shift towards the table, where Dazai’s hand still lay over mine and at once, I shifted and pulled my hand back. Dazai, however, hadn’t moved.

“I was looking for you,” Tanizaki continued, opening the door further and stepping fully into the room.

He jerked a thumb behind him towards the direction of the main lobby.

“I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind cleaning up the area around your desk a little. We’re expecting some deliveries this afternoon and Kunikida-san asked us to keep the main office space clear for it...”

He glanced at the set of printouts spread out across the table.

“Unless, of course, you’re discussing a case and you’re busy? I can come back later, you know.”

“No, it’s okay!” I said, jumping to attention the instant Kunikida’s name crossed Tanizaki’s lips. “I can help. Unless...”

I shot an annoyed glance at Dazai, who quickly stifled an audible snicker behind one half-bandaged hand.

“...we need to do this now?”

“No, it can wait,” Dazai said, the ghost of his laughter still visible in the smile on his face.

He pulled out a handheld gaming console from somewhere underneath the desk and started up some sort of game, ignoring me as I frowned at him.

So that’s why he chose to sit here—he must’ve taped all sorts of weird toys and things under the table so he wouldn’t get bored during conferences.

It wasn’t necessarily because he was trying to get close to me...

“Uh, Kusunoki-san?” Tanizaki prompted me, “You still coming?”

“Yeah!” I replied, not understanding where the strange sense of disappointment was coming from. I turned to look at Dazai, who was now sitting with his feet on the table, almost scuffing the printouts, fully immersed in playing his game.

“Guess I’ll get going then?”

Without looking up at me, Dazai nodded. He pursed his lips in concentration and continued madly pushing at the buttons on his console.

“Yeah, sure, go,” he said in between spurts of frantic button mashing. “Let’s pick this back up when I’ve beaten this second boss—I mean, when you’re done out there.”

Victory music blasted from the speakers and Dazai let out a raucous cheer. He put down the device for just a second and winked.

“Go impress Kunikida-kun.”

“You—!”

I bit back my retort as I saw the look of confusion on Tanizaki’s face. I slapped a hand over my face and sighed.

“Never mind. See you later, Dazai-san.”

“Ciao!”

Rolling my eyes, I followed Tanizaki out the door as the sounds of video game music resumed playing.

“Oh, and Kusunoki-kun?”

I turned back slightly at the sound of Dazai’s voice.

“Yes?”

I heard fight music playing over the speakers of Dazai’s gaming console. He met my gaze and smiled.

“There’s no need to worry about Yamazaki Tomie-san. I checked in on her nephew a few days ago and she’s doing well. She said to tell you ‘hi.’”

I brought my hand up to my mouth.

“Dazai-san...!”

He actually went and checked on her?

“Thank you,” I said, smiling warmly at him. “That’s... surprisingly sweet of you.”

“I can be full of surprises,” Dazai quipped, grinning cheekily. “Have fun!”

And with that, he went back to his game. Still smiling, I let the door close behind me, the tinny sounds of electronic bells and whistles disappearing as the conference room sealed itself once more.

***

“So what kind of deliveries are we expecting today?” I asked as Tanizaki shuffled about the empty main office with a simple broom and dustpan in his hands.

It was relatively early in the afternoon but it seemed everyone was out. Everyone except for me, Tanizaki, Dazai, and Kirako, anyway. Kunikida had apparently left Tanizaki in charge of the main office area (his sister was out running shopping errands for the office) and Kirako in charge of the clerks while a few of the detectives accompanied President Fukuzawa to escort a foreign diplomat around Yokohama. Because Dazai and I were working on a relatively big case, we were allowed to remain. Everyone else, it seemed, was out working in the field. I paused my own sweeping to glance over at Kyouka’s desk, which had been refurbished and delivered yesterday, just before I started this case with Dazai.

“Is someone else getting an improved desk?”

“No, but we’re getting some new equipment,” Tanizaki replied, sweeping towards the main door. “First thing coming this afternoon is a fancy new printer, the kind with the copier built in. Haruno-san’s been asking for it for months and Kunikida-san finally caved.”

“Ah.” I smiled. “Good for her.”

I might not have been with the Agency long, but even a couple of weeks was enough for me to find out how difficult it was to get Kunikida to spend money. That man watched the budget like accounting was his second job... which it probably was, I realized with a silent grimace.

If I was doing the math correctly (I might not be, I still remembered that overblown math lesson Kunikida gave me after I passed my Entrance Exam), the overall costs from my Entrance Exam still might not have been recovered yet. Not by me alone, anyway.

“By the way, how did everything go yesterday?” Tanizaki asked with a friendly smile.

“Dazai’s lying!!” I exclaimed in a rush, squeezing my broom handle so tightly in my hands that it nearly bent. “I don’t know what you heard but it’s not true! It was all professional, I swear!!”

Tanizaki blinked at me in confusion, then slowly and steadily started backing away.

“Uhh, okay,” he said slowly, putting his broom up defensively, the way one might when facing a dangerous animal, “I didn’t hear anything in particular, just that you met with Katai-san and you needed to talk to him about your case?”

“Oh,” I breathed out, instantly settling down. “Oh, right. Yeah, everything went fine.”

Hoping it would put Tanizaki at ease, I laughed a little.

“Katai-san is an interesting person, isn’t he?” I said, resuming my sweeping. “I heard he used to work for the Agency, years ago and it seems the only person he really keeps in touch with is Kunikida-san. Have you met Katai-san, Tanizaki-kun?”

At once, Tanizaki’s face darkened and I actually flinched when I saw the murderous look in his red-tinted eyes.

“Yeah, I have,” the redhead growled, nearly snapping his broom in half as he recalled some offensive incident. “I’d heard he gets really weird around girls but I’ll never forget the shit he pulled around Naomi. The way he stared at her...”

His grip tightened on his broom handle and this time, it was my turn to back away from Tanizaki as he trailed off and fumed in silence. Yosano had warned me never to ask any questions about the Tanizaki siblings’ relationship and I thought it best to take her advice. Two weeks in the Agency was more than enough for me to guess...

“I-it’s lucky I wasn’t exactly Katai-san’s type, then huh?” I tried to joke.

Although Katai had thought I was Kunikida’s...

Just thinking about it made my face burn so I looked away and continued sweeping.

“Yeah, that’s good,” Tanizaki mumbled, making his way towards the trash can by the client booth.

He set his broom against the stained glass paneling and opened up the lid

“So you’re making progress on your case, then?” Tanizaki asked as I nodded and joined him by the trash bin. “That’s good. It seems like a tough one. Tougher still since you’re working with Dazai-san. I mean.”

He elbowed me slightly and laughed.

“Speaking of men who get weird around girls, am I right?”

Tanizaki continued chuckling to himself as I emptied my dustbin into the trash but I couldn’t bring myself to return the laugh.

Dazai was definitely the worst kind of flirt but there was something about him back there, something different from his usual antics. Nobody had ever looked at me the way Dazai had just now... like he was trying—really trying—to get to know me. Like he was utterly fascinated by me...

And that he really liked what he saw...

I put down the dustbin and broom and stared into the trash, at the ashes from the fire Dazai had set yesterday.

Why had he asked me that question...? He clearly hadn’t been asking me about a literal apple but why did Dazai want to ask about my worldview so suddenly? And why did he seem so surprised by my answer?

So genuinely surprised... and pleased?

I bit my lip as I thought about the way his hand had rested against mine and how I hadn’t moved away.

I hadn’t moved away because I didn’t want to...

Why?

Why does my heart beat so fast when he looks at me like that...?

Why does his smile make me want to stop and stare at him for hours on end?

I closed my eyes and tried to put the thoughts out of my head but no sooner had I done so than a memory floated back to me—the memory of the day I’d met Dazai—the way he’d smiled when he handed me my drawing, the way his eyes had sparkled when he’d caught me staring...

I put my hand up to my face and covered my eyes.

Why can’t I stop thinking about him all of a sudden?

The only man I liked was Kunikida... and only Kunikida...

Right...?

“Kusunoki-san?” Tanizaki asked, sounding confused and slightly concerned when I suddenly and violently twitched, as if I were falling asleep on my feet and abruptly woke back up.

He leaned over to peer into the trash with me.

“What are you looking at? Oh.”

He wrinkled his nose and sighed when he saw the charred ring of residue in the metal bin.

“The fire, huh? Yeah it’s a good thing you weren’t here when Dazai did that. I swear to God, all hell broke loose right before lunch yesterday. Kunikida basically lost it—you should’ve heard him yelling and screaming—”

“Should I take this outside and wash it?” I asked, pointing to the can but Tanizaki was already shaking his head.

“Nah, you don’t need to. We can ask the building janitor to take care of it. Then again...”

He studied my face, looking slightly concerned.

“If you need a breath of fresh air,” he said, “we could always just make a quick trip to the larger bins out back. I’ll take these. Why don’t you go to the shredders by the printer and see what you can get?”

Nodding furiously, I hurried off towards the printers—only to trip on the very trash can I’d just offered to clean up. I fell to the ground with an undignified squawk of surprise, spilling ashes and scraps of paper everywhere as the trash can rolled away on its side. I leaped to my feet.

“Sorry!” I exclaimed, scrambling to clean up the mess I’d just made. “Let me get this—”

“That’s fine, but you don’t have to use your hands!” Tanizaki cried, looking frantic and now more worried than ever. “Kusunoki, what’s going on? Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I insisted, picking up scraps of paper and flinging them into the trash, completely disregarding Tanizaki’s protests. “This was my fault so I’ll...”

I trailed off as my eyes landed on a name on one of the larger scraps of paper. The corner was burned and there were dried chunks of fire extinguisher foam on the black ink of the text, but I could still make out the words.

It was an autopsy report, forwarded to the Armed Detective Agency by request of one of the detectives looking into an open case.

The name of the victim: Yamazaki Tomie.

And the detective who had requested the report...

Dazai Osamu.

[crow-writes-stuff]

Dark

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dazai Osamu & Kunikida Doppo (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu & Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs) Characters: Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Kunikida Doppo (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs) Additional Tags: Whumptober 2020, Power Outage, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Caring Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Even if he doesn't admit it, Chuuya-Typical Swearing Series: Part 7 of Soukoku Whumptober 2020 Summary:

An ability user causes a sudden power outage. Dazai and Kunikida go to investigate and meet Chuuya, who's in a rough shape.

Ao3

The lights go out. Dazai blinks into the sudden darkness. Huh.

He sighs as he hears Kunikida get up. He really shouldn't have let himself get pulled into an allnighter. After a bit of rustling and some annoyed muttering, he hears the telltale click of a flashlight being turned on. Except there is still no light. "What the-?" That's Kunikida. "I made sure the batteries are at full capacity." Dazai yawns audibly. "Maybe you made a mistake?"

Before his partner can answer, they hear tires screeching on the street outside, followed by a crash. Dazai gets up and hurries to the window, lightly touching the furniture around him to find his way. Kunikida is right behind him.

The street is dark. Completly. No street light, no car lights, no moon. The latter can be explained by it being a new moon this night. And the street lights are also no surprise, considering the power outage. But the car lights are worrying. Because Dazai can still hear the cars moving.

"This isn't natural," Kunikida states and finds Dazai's arm. They make their way out of the office, down the stairs and onto the street. People seem to finally have come to their senses, as most cars have by now at least stopped moving. There are some specks of light. Lighters appear to still be working. Taking this information, Kunikida produces his notebook and soon hands Dazai one. It's of the wind-resistant kind. Smart. Both of them now equipped with their tiny flames they head over to the crash site.

"Is anyone hurt?" Kunikida asks the gathered people. "Nah, we slowed down thankfully," answers a man, waving them off. "Don't get how all the lights turned off though." "We're investigating that." They are? Oh, well. Probably.

Dazai takes another look around. Sure enough, he notices something. "Kunikida." His partner turns around, immediately seeing it too. Far, far down the street, the lights are turning back on. "I think it's moving." "An ability user?" Dazai nods. He starts into the opposite direction of the returning lights.

Kunikida is right behind him. Sometimes, they catch glimpses of light in front of them, but every time it's gone almost immediately.

"Looks like our friend isn't moving much faster than us." "But they are moving. We should hurry up. We don't know if they have a goal in mind or if this is just a random attack." Dazai hums. "At least we have an idea of their ability's radius."

There is a sudden flash of light in tune with the sound of an explosion. Then another one. And another one.

They barely exchange looks before speeding up towards the source. Soon enough, they hear yelling. And laughter. Laughter, that Dazai unfortunately recognizes.

"Stop throwing your bombs around! We're supposed to make light, not ruin the whole place!" "I am making light! Can you not see what my beautiful lemon bombs are accomplishing?" The unmistakable figure of Kajii finally comes into view. He's accompanied by a clearly agitated Tachihara. There is the beginning of a small bonfire near them, but they clearly got... distracted. Tachihara is currently shaking Kajii by the coat lapels, while the other laughs.

Dazai sighs. Another bomb gets thrown. It explodes while still in the air, not doing any damage. Dazai sighs again.

The mafia members finally notice them. Tachihara has one gun trained on each of them without a moment of hesitation. Dazai lifts his arms with a lazy smile. "Don't worry, we're not here for you. We're just trying to find the one responsible for the outage." "Really?" Tachihara looks sceptical but lowers his hands. "We've got some guys on it too. Don't get in their way." He indicates for them to move on. "Of course," Dazai smiles and pulls Kunikida with him. The explosions soon return.

"That went smoother than expected," Dazai says once they've gained some distance. "And we can assume that the Port Mafia isn't responsible for this." Dazai shrugs. "I didn't expect them to be. This endangers the city after all." Kunikida hums thoughtfully.

The lights stop moving away eventually. They're on the outskirts of the city by now. It doesn't take long to find the building that seems to be in the centre of it all.

Gunfire.

They duck behind a container, Kunikida pulling out a pistol.

There is a loud crash, and the shooting stops.

Kunikida nods towards the entrance. They have almost reached it, when the door suddenly flies open, followed by three men. They land heavily on the ground and don't get up. Exchanging a quick look, Dazai looks into the building. It's a warehouse. Filled with a distinct red glow. And a lot of bodies.

"Where is the fucker?" Dazai makes a face. If he wasn't sure before, he is now.

Still cautious, Kunikida creeps into the room, Dazai following behind.

Chuuya is standing amidst the bodies, holding one of them up with one hand. The red glow makes it hard to see any details, but whoever the person is, they seem to be shaking their head. Chuuya clicks his tongue and throws them to the side. Directly towards Dazai and Kunikida. They only just manage to jump out of the way.

"Watch it," Dazai complains, causing Chuuya to snap towards them. "What the fuck are you doing here?" Dazai shrugs. Kunikida isn't lowering his gun, he notes. "Same thing as you, I presume."

Chuuya stays silent for a moment before shaking his head. "Fine. But I'm the one that gets their head." "We won't let you kill them if we have another choice," Kunikida interjects. Chuuya stares at him, before pressing out: "We'll see about that."

They have finally stepped close enough to really see Chuuya. The receding glow of his ability helps. Dazai whistles. "Wow, what happened to you?"

Chuuya looks rough. His coat is shredded at multiple points, his pants ripped as well. And he's bleeding. There is blood on his temple, matting some hair to his face. Another wound is on his upper thigh, more are scattered across his arms. Dazai swallows down any possible emotion.

"None of your fucking business." Chuuya turns away. "Let's just find that asshole."

It doesn't take them long. Since Chuuya has already taken out most of the people around, finding the one quivering man hiding in a closet isn't difficult. He falls to his knees immediately when they open it. "I'm so sorry! Please don't kill me, please! I'm sorry!" He continues rambling apologies and pleads for his life as Chuuya steps forward and picks him up by the collar.

"I'll tell you everything you want! Please don't hurt me!"

Kunikida steps towards them, ready to intervene, but Dazai holds him back. For now. "Who hired you?" Chuuya asks through gritted teeth. The man is sobbing at this point. "I don't know their names, but they're based in Yokosuka! I can give you everything I have if you let me live!" Chuuya seems to consider it. Before he can say anything though, the man continues: "I didn't want you dead, I swear! But they said it's the only way and they'd kill me if I didn't cooperate."

That's interesting.

There is a brief flash of disgust on his face before Chuuya literally throws the man into Kunikida's arms. The rambling turns towards thanking him over and over. It's incredibly annoying. Dazai is glad when Kunikida manages to shut the man up.

When they leave the warehouse, the street lights have turned back on. While Kunikida calls someone from the Agency to pick them up, Dazai turns to Chuuya. "So, they were out to get you, huh?", he says in a cheerful voice.

Chuuya sighs, leaning against a wall. "I was driving. Shit turned dark while I was in a curve and they immediately started shooting." Dazai hums. "They must have planned this for quite some time."

Silence stretches between them. Finally, Chuuya pushes away from the wall. "Are you going to tell who he's working for?" Dazai considers it. He should say no. The Port Mafia doesn't take kindly to attacks like this. But this is Chuuya.

He nods. "When we find out." Chuuya stares at him. "You already know, don't you?" "I have my suspicions. But it would be foolish to attack only based on that." Chuuya rolls his eyes. "Whatever. I'm leaving."

Dazai hums. "You should probably get that checked out." He gestures to his own head. "Wouldn't do if you lost the few brain cells you have." "Fuck off." The familiar red glow returns and Chuuya pushes himself off the ground. Dazai watches him until he's out of sight.

With a sigh, he turns towards Kunikida. His partner is watching him. "He'll be fine." Dazai blinks. "I'm not worried about him." Kunikida raises an eyebrow. "Sure." He thankfully changes the topic: "Yosano will be here soon."

Dazai nods and returns to the wall Chuuya was just leaning on. Of course, he's not worried. Chuuya's harder to kill than most people Dazai has met in his life. He still hopes Chuuya gets his head checked out. Just in case.

[yukinohananana017]

Random Bungou Stray Dogs AUs

In which my brain refuses to sleep and instead makes random aus in the middle of the night : part 2 electric boogalo

Some of these might not make sense, I'm not claiming otherwise. It's my brain having fun again. please send help. I'm mostly doing this to get it out of my system, but I hope you guys enjoy it. May contain spoilers.

Assassin!Fem!Atsushi meets a young orphaned homeless boy named Kyoka, who reminds her of her old self, after saving the said boy from a gang the mercenary/assassin was hired to eliminate. Kyoka met his saviour, who comes in the form of a beautiful lady with hair the colour of the moon and heterochromia eyes and turns to a graceful tiger under the moonlight. He decided to follow the lady after she gives him a reason to live. Atsushi becomes mentor and a familial figure as a result.

Oda Sakunosuke didn't expect to wake up again, especially in a cage, nor did he expect to become a tiger, who's also coincidentally a young orphan named Atsushi who's badly treated by basically everyone around him. He takes it to his duty to take care of the young boy, despite being a probably haunting spirit and the boy being probably his reincarnation, but hey, details. On the bright side, he's kind-of a tiger now? (Oda reincarnates as Atsushi, with a twist.)

Different abilities, and consequently, different roles and personalities au (not completely though). In which everyone's abilities are different and named under a different name based on a different book of the authors. Kyoka's Ruby Mist allows her to cast hallucinations/illusions of her target's worse fears/regrets/nightmares. Atsushi is now a doctor, but he looks like a patient Because his rare healing ability, Light, Wind and Dreams, can only activate when his patients are unconscious and he is injured. Kyoka sometimes help to knock them out, gleefully, and worries over the doctor/brother figure who gets too injured and tired for her own liking. Dazai, with his ability of the Setting Sun, probably has a bit (lot) of a crush on the young doctor, and worries for him just as much. Ranpo snickers. Kyoka and Atsushi met and joined ADA early.

Everyone is somehow related to one another. Fukuzawa has blood relations to Atsushi, Dazai and Ranpo are chaotic cousins, Yosano and the Tanizaki siblings are distant relatives, and no one can figure out how Kenji and Kunikida are related.

Abilities becomes humans as a result of an ability. (Inspired by Dead Apple) Abilities now have human forms and are sentient. Atsushi is baffled to see his look-alike that has tiger features with a foul mouth yet acts kinda overprotective over him, but he's still a little shit. Dazai's ability becomes a young woman who looks eerily like Dazai but has the personality of a calm and straight headed person who can manifest chains. Kyoka meets Yukinoshita/Demon Snow and talks to the kind lady/ability, who looks very similar to her mother. Kouyou joins with Golden Demon as well. Chuuya is baffled by Arahabaki, who politely requests popcorn and acts very regal, but is still very much amused by the turn of events. No one can tell Rashomon's gender (*looks at Gin*), but they're definitely calm and kinda Victorian? Very attached to their master. They don't mix well with Taiga (a foul-mouthed lone tiger who gets pissed 24/7 and has zero-manners), the beast, surprise surprise. No Longer Human, gets tired of having to restrain them sometimes so they don't destroy the cafe.

Karl isn't a raccoon, but a Tanuki thank you very much. The youkai get a kick of watching his owner baffled of his feelings to the green-eyed detective.

Soukoku, shin soukoku and their mentors swap places. Fukuzawa gets annoyed of Mori, a mafia member who has an uncharacteristic grudge on him and obsession with his sister(?), and becomes shin soukoku somehow. Akutagawa and Atsushi are now Soukoku and likes to snark to each other about edgy and punk hair and how they would love to see them riddled in bullets ("I hope you die via bullets!" "The feeling is mutual jinko."). Chuuya is tired, he's getting too old for this, Dazai is amused, no matter the age.

Sakura survives and inherits Odasaku's ability to see the future. She is now determined to somehow save people by her new-found ability while trying to push her traumatic memories away. She still misses her father and her siblings very much. She meets some detectives along the way, not knowing that the green-eyed one has met her father before, but the new detective with bandages seems familiar...

Atsushi's healing ability isn't his. He maybe a were-tiger, but his healing ability comes from someone else, who died trying to protect him. He only notices when he tries to find his parents, and finds out of of his family members has an ability, Light, Wind and Dreams, which they somehow transferred to Atsushi when he was a mere baby. He doesn't know how to react to this, now knowing he has two gifts.

More to come probably, knowing the mess that is my brain. Feel free to go crazy with these suggestions.

[laceymorganwrites]

Gravity boy

Word Count: 3.020

Pairing: Chuuya x reader

Warnings: swearing

A/N: this was very much fun to write! I hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it

“How do we know you´re not a spy?” you asked the newest recruit of the agency, crossing your arms. He just smiled sadly. “Because I promised a good friend of mine to be a better person”.

His words and the sincerity that came with them left you speechless.

Dazai was a strange person to say at least, you thought.

It was your job to research every potential new member of the agency and the things you found out about Dazai scared you. He was one of the strongest executives and part of the strongest team in the Mafia, all the things he has done… and now he asked to be part of the agency?

It didn´t make any sense. At least not to you.

But for whatever reason the director gave him a chance anyway.

Time passed and Dazai proved himself a valuable member of the agency, thanks to him you solved many mysteries and finished missions in almost no time whatsoever.

Your first suspicions went away and it was as if Dazai has always been a part of the agency.

Nevertheless he couldn´t run from his past any longer.

You had your hands full of research on your current enemy, your eyes scanned the screen of your computer as you desperately tried to find out anything useful. Ranpo sat next to you to figure out a plan of attack, you were in a heated conversation about whether you could risk a raid or should attack from afar.

Ranpo was in favor of the raid, he argued it would be done quicker and nothing could go wrong.

You on the other hand were in favor of the attack from afar, you were a sniper and you could control the situation better this way. With the overview this granted everything would go smoothly.

“You wanna bet? We could split up, whoever finishes the mission first wins” you suggested, still not paying any attention to your surroundings.

“Bet on what?” Ranpo asked, but you could already tell he would accept.

“If you win, I´ll buy you your favorite snacks. And if I win…” you had to think a while.

“If I win you have to do my paperwork for a week!” Ranpo whined a bit, but in the end he gave in.

“We found their hideout, guys!” you announced happily.

Ranpo and you were just about to decide your teams when a deafening rumble occurred.

Your eyes wandered to the direction of the strange sound and you watched as the entrance door fell down with a loud crash.

Jumping slightly at the loudness, you got up from your seat and walked over to where Dazai and the rest were standing, Ranpo following close after.

“Chuuya-kun… I see you still haven´t grown an inch” Dazai spoke up with a weird undertone.

So the person who kicked down the door so rudely was his former partner in the mafia.

When he finally showed himself and entered the room, you couldn´t help but feel like time stood still.

You couldn´t help but notice the fire in his steel blue eyes that seemed to pierce through everything. And the way his hair seemed to dance around his shoulders, you imagined its softness. Lastly there was something about his facial expression that made the heat rise in your cheeks.

If somebody told you beforehand there would be handsome men like him in the mafia, you      would´ve considered changing jobs.

“Shut up, Dazai! I´m a grown man” he snapped at him and pouted a bit.

“Cute…” you whispered, earning a raised eyebrow from Ranpo and a shaking head from Yosano.

You blushed at the realization that you just said that out loud.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Dazai asked, you never saw him this annoyed, it made you chuckle ever so slightly.

“I come in peace, you idiot. Don´t make me change my mind” Chuuya growled.

You used the moment of disbelief and silence on Dazai´s side to speak up.

“Um… Sorry to interrupt, but was it really necessary to kick our door down? It doesn´t really give a peaceful impression” you asked, pointing at the broken door.

Chuuya gave you a look of confusion before replying: “Erm… I guess not” he mentioned flatly, glaring at you two seconds longer before turning to Dazai again.

Why did no one tell him the Agency hired such beauties? It took a while for Chuuya to finally take his eyes off you, normally he never lost his cool but there was just something about you that made him forget all his words. How could a single glance at you have such an effect on him? The suicidal´s face held an amused expression.

“Cat got your tongue, Chuuya-kun?” Dazai chuckled. “Shut up, Dazai!” the ginger yelled at him.

Why did the suicidal maniac always have to embarrass him like that?

“Do you mind telling us why you´re here? I have a bet to win” Ranpo chimed in, making you scoff. As if you´d let him win…

“Oh, right. The boss told me to help with your current mission. As a sign of good will for the new alliance” he spat the words as if they were poison after he finally found his voice again. He practically had to rip his eyes off you forcefully and it hurt him as much as that sounded.

You exchanged suspicious looks with your colleagues.

An alliance between the agency and mafia? As if that would ever work… but then again, the director went out to have a talk with the mafia´s boss today.

“Ranpo-kun, you can pick first” you told him, it was nice to know the director succeeded in pursuing the mafia boss to accept the alliance.

“Yosano” he smiled and you took your turns until your teams were chosen.

Team Ranpo consisted of him, Yosano and Dazai. You got Kunikida and Chuuya who was still a bit confused by the situation.

“Ranpo and me have a bet. Whoever finishes the mission first wins. He and his team are gonna raid the base and we are gonna attack from above” you filled him in.

“Understood” he nodded, still hanging at your lips as if there was no tomorrow.

Chuuya didn´t have his actions and thoughts under control and it annoyed him to no end, this never happened to him before.

“Alright! I´m getting my gun and then we´re good to go!” you chirped as you hurried over to your desk, grabbing the needed equipment.

Ranpo´s team were already on the move and you followed close after, positioning yourself on the roof of the opposite building of the enemy´s hideout.

“Kunikida, stand watch outside and take care of the escapees, Chuuya, secure the entrances and make sure nobody can get out the back” you ordered.

While the two did their jobs you put together your gun and laid flat on the roof, taking your aim.

Now you just had to wait for the right opportunity.

The target, the boss of the enemy´s organization, entered the building and you were almost ready to shoot when Ranpo´s team barged in. The people tried to flee from the backdoor but Kunikida and Chuuya did a good job defeating them, giving you time to take out the boss.

Two minutes after Ranpo´s team entered your team finished the mission and won the bet.

You grinned widely, escaping the roof of the building and joining your team.

“Good job, everyone!” you announced and walked over to Chuuya.

“You still have to fix our door, gravity boy” you teased him, making him blush slightly.

“Don´t call me that!” he groaned, resulting in your giggling.

“But it´s your power, isn´t it?” you continued.

“Yeah, but… I don´t call you sniper person!” he argued.

You laughed out loud. “You wouldn´t be wrong” you smiled at him.

“Chuuya-kun, stay away from our lovely (Y/N), would ya?” Dazai came up to you.

“We were just having some fun, Dazai” you defended him.

“He´s not the kind of guy to have fun with. I don´t want you hanging around him, (Y/N). He´s only going to break your heart” he let you know.

The cold look he gave Chuuya made you uncomfortable, you just teased him a bit, it didn´t even mean anything. You wondered why those two hated each other so much.

“I´ll let the boss know the mission succeeded” Chuuya told you.

“It was nice working with you, (Y/N)” he cracked a smile you could only return.

“Likewise, gravity boy” you giggled.

“Stop calling me that already!” Chuuya whined, making you laugh.

Hearing the sound of your laugh made his heart jump in his chest, he felt dizzy for a reason and couldn´t help but smile at you.

Then he saw the way Dazai looked at him and left for his headquarters.

“I hope you never have to see this man again, (Y/N)” Dazai told you when you got back to the agency.

You rolled your eyes, you knew for a fact Dazai didn´t like you that way, so why was he behaving like a jealous bitch?

“Could you stop it already, Dazai? What´s so bad about him? You´re acting as if it´s the end of the world when nothing happened” you groaned, just wishing he´d stop being so over dramatic.

Dazai chuckled in a dangerously low way, he did this sometimes to intimidate enemies.

You gulped, having a bad feeling about this.

“What´s so bad about him? I can tell you all about it, (Y/N). But all you have to know right now is that he´s a dangerous man who doesn´t have himself under control and when he wants something he uses every means necessary to obtain it. He is very violent, very angry… I just want you to know this now. I don´t want you finding out when it´s already too late.” he warned you.

You couldn´t help but burst out in laughter at Dazai´s try to scare you.

“All that you just said, isn´t that kind of what the mafia is all about? I bet you were just the same when you worked with them. And besides… weren´t you two partners? And very effective as a team? Isn´t it obvious to have that kind of attitude to achieve those things. That doesn´t mean he is like that in private. But all that doesn´t matter because like I said: it doesn´t mean anything” you crossed your arms.

In the same instance the director walked in, nodding at the two of you as a greeting.

“Gather around everyone, I have a few announcements to make” he said and promptly the whole staff of the agency gathered.

“First of all I want to congratulate you on completing the mission so splendidly. This is the perfect example for the ability of this alliance to work. Because of this we were invited to a party at the mafia´s headquarters tonight. Please make sure to behave.” he dismissed you.

As soon as you heard that there was going to be a party you asked yourself who the hell thought that would be a good idea.

Seriously, the mafia and the agency, in one room?

Were they out of their fucking minds? It´s like they wanted people to go at each other´s throats.

Normally you wouldn´t go to such events, you thought it a waste of time. Despite, you were just the office staff, were you even allowed to attend such an event?

Well, that was until a certain handsome ginger factor rapidly changed the equation.

You were so going.

Saying you panicked trying to figure out what to wear and how to approach Chuuya would be the understatement of the century.

You almost lost your mind and in the end you decided not to go, but luckily Yosano dragged you to the headquarters herself.

Now there was no going back.

Entering the big room the party was already going quite well, nobody seemed to notice you.

You should be sad, Yosano left you alone to hang out with Ranpo and the others, nobody even seemed to see you yet alone know it was kind of you who made the mission a success.

It was like you didn´t even existed.

Any other person would be sad, but not you.

You never felt comfortable boasting about your success or having everyone´s eyes on you. That´s the reason you signed up for the office job when you could have very well been more than capable of being a field agent.

You used this situation of being invisible to think about how you could leave this party.

“(Y/N)?” Chuuya approached you, the last thing you thought would happen.

This did mess with your plan, but also with your brain, how did you speak again? “Oh, um… hello Chuuya.” well, that certainly wasn´t how you did it.

Somehow you always managed to make a fool of yourself when you were around pretty boys.

“I didn´t think you´d come...” he mumbled, not meeting your eyes and fidgeting his with his hands in his pockets.

“And miss a chance of seeing you, gravity boy?” you giggled, where you got the sudden confidence? You couldn´t tell, must´ve been the energy radiating of Chuuya. “Not a chance” you stretched your words and gazed into his eyes a bit, smiling at him.

And before he knew it Chuuya returned your look, getting caught in your beautiful eyes that seemed to long for something. He bet he had the same look right now, only that he was longing for them.

“Well, that´s nice… but I don´t think Dazai would approve” he sounded sad and it infuriated you.

“Dazai has no say in with who I spend my time with” you told him.

Chuuya nodded and then gave you a warm smile.

“You know I hate parties like these, you´re just forced to talk to people you don´t like. And honestly the only person I want to be around right now is you” he sighed.

And you could use someone to pinch you right now to prove this was in fact happening and not just a stupid dream.

“Do you want to go out with me?” Chuuya asked you boldly and you asked yourself again if you weren´t dreaming.

“Me? You want to go out with me? Are you joking?” you tried to formulate your confusion but  didn´t even recognize you were talking.

“Well yeah, I wouldn´t be asking otherwise. But I understand if you don´t want to, I won´t bother you again” he sounded glum all of a sudden and you finally realized that this wasn´t a dream but really happening. You could wonder why later, now you needed to make the best out of the situation.

“Chuuya wait! Of course I want to go out with you, I just wasn´t sure if you were serious. I mean I´m just an office worker and you´re the top executive…” you mumbled, you knew someone like you would normally never be approached by someone like Chuuya but for whatever reason it happened.

Chuuya chuckled. “Don´t let our jobs and ranks interfere with this… I want to go out with you because you´re beautiful and I want to get to know you better, that´s all there is to it” he explained.

His words somehow touched your heart and you had to smile.

“Well, let´s leave this party then” you suggested bravely.

“Gladly” Chuuya said relieved, putting his arm around your waist gently.

You felt yourself get dizzy at the sudden contact.

The two of you walked for a while until you arrived in a park where you sat down on a bench.

During the way you talked a lot and the atmosphere was magical, Chuuya was incredibly funny and such a gentleman.

“You know, I don´t get what Dazai has against you… all these things he said about you just aren´t true. Honestly, he talks about you as if you are some kind of monster” you laughed, trying to lighten up the mood, but oh how you failed.

Chuuya´s body stiffened. “He´s not wrong, (Y/N). I am a monster and I´m reminded of that every day. There are thigns about me you don´t know, the things I do when I lose control of my ability… it scares me” he whispered.

You frowned, gently taking his hand into yours.

“I refuse to believe Dazai´s words are true. He´s just trying to prove his nonexistent superiority over you. Besides… aren´t monsters ugly and hideous? And if I can tell you one thing I know for sure you´re not it´s ugly and hideous. Like honestly, if you were truly to be a monster as you claim to be, I´d be having a problem. Because that would mean I´m attracted to a monster. And I just refuse to believe that monsters are as handsome as you! But what´s more important is that you´re very kind, monsters are not. Monsters don´t give a shit about you, they just kill you. And you´re funny too. Now I´ve never seen a monster that´s funny, well, maybe in really bad movies, but this isn´t just a bad movie, this is reality, you know? And…” you were lost in your thoughts, rambling on and on about all the reasons Chuuya couldn´t be a monster and Dazai was an idiot for saying so. Chuuya looked at you all the way through and for once in his life felt like an actual human being.

He smiled to himself, thinking about how this wasn´t a dream, but he just had to make sure his mind didn´t play tricks on him.

So he leaned closer to you, interrupting your speech by grabbing your face gently and softly pressing his lips onto yours, muffling a surprised gasp of yours with a kiss.

And for goodness sake you would be damned if monsters kissed like that, made your knees melt like that. You pressed your body closer to his and wrapped your arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.

You never wanted it to end, fuck oxygen, if this was how you would die, then so be it, it´d be with a smile on your lips.

[misstinfoilhat]

Whumptober 2019 #9: Shackles - Bungou Stray Dogs

“Uhu, no.” “Kunikida-kun...”

“No.”

“I don't see the big deal...”

“Still no.”

“In that case, I have to make it an order.”

“B-but, director...”

To Kunikida's defense, he held his sulks rather stoically for a twenty-four-year-old who was throwing a fit inside a hotel lobby.

“You and Dazai-kun is sharing a room, and that's final,” Fukuzawa announced dryly, if not a little miffed. They were all tired from traveling and were looking forward to spending the night in the comfort of a fancy hotel. The Agency had been given a mission by a large corporation in Akita. It wasn't a particularly complicated mission, and they expected it to mostly be of the theoretical kind, which was why Fukuzawa, Kunikida, Dazai and Ranpo had gone, instead of the agents with the more physical abilities like Atsushi, Kyouka and Kenji.

Really, if it hadn't been for the fact that the company they'd been hired employed a large amount of ability users, it would have been a police matter more than anything.

Kunikida growled defeatedly, trying his hardest to ignore the bandaged nuisance that stood behind him, leaning his head on his shoulder and grinning triumphantly. Not only did he have to sit with him on the train, listening to the cacophony of Dazai's double suicide composition, but now he had to room with him too. He usually didn't long to spend any prolonged amount of time with the miniature detective either, who, despite almost being nearly thirty years old was licking a lollipop vigorously while the Armed Detective President was literally helping him with a wry zipper on his coat. But, considering the alternative, he'd take that infantile genius any day.

“Well, let's hit the hay,” Dazai announced cheerily, grabbing the keycard from the reception clerk as she was about to hand it over to Kunikida, leaving the idealistic man fuming with fury.

Calm down, Droppo. It would be highly unideal to blow a fuse as early in the mission like this. You can hang in there for a couple of days. You're a strong person. You can fight the urge to strangle him.

“Hey, MacGyver,” Dazai singsonged happily. If Kunikida had been a little more alert, he would have stopped himself from reacting to such a stupid nickname. Unfortunately, he did look up at the dark-haired idiot, standing a couple of steps up in the staircase, giving him exactly what he wanted. Attention. “Snoozer's losers!” Dazai splurted out and jolted up the stairs with childlike glee. I can fight the urge to strangle him.

                                                           ➈➈➈

The hotel room was spacious and nice, with dark wood parquet floors and crème colored walls with one accent wall in paneling that matched the floors. The lights radiated warmth, which could almost remind one of the illumination of a fireplace. Two single beds were placed in the middle of the room, both with frames in a pleasant brown color, covered in light bedsheets and bedspreads that matched the rest of the tasteful interior.

Dazai noticed how the surroundings immediately soothed Kunikida's sour mood. Good, he thought.

Personally, he had never understood how one's habitat could affect one's mood that much. He had never been one for materialism. Really, he was more than satisfied as long as he had a roof over his head. A bed and a blanket were a bonus, and an own bathroom with bathroom facilities was simply a luxury.

He guessed he preferred the simplicity of having nothing more but the bare necessities. As an executive in the Port Mafia, he had been completely overwhelmed by the opulence of his executive suite. His dorm room at the Agency felt much more comfortable to him. “Well, I guess we should go to bed. We have an early start tomorrow,” Kunikida determined, placing his suitcase on the bed he had decided on (the one farthest from the window, because the air seeps through the cracks and can give you a throat or ear infection, Dazai mimicked in his mind), and started to unpack the neatly folded clothes inside. Dazai shoved his own light traveling bag inside the larger space of the closet, ignoring the disapproving glare from his partner, before shrugging off his jacket and gingerly placing it on a wooden hanger before hanging it inside and shutting the door. The only thing he grabbed from his bag before tossing it aside, was his toiletries which he brought with him into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

At least, seemingly, getting ready for bed. This was exactly what Dazai had dreaded. This mission was going to take at least a week to complete, and he would have to share a bedroom this whole time. Usually, he would unwrap his bandages at night to let his skin breathe, but that was out of the question. The worst part of this whole trip was that he couldn't remember the last time he had gotten an undisturbed night of sleep. There was a lot about his past he couldn't remember. It seemed to have been blocked out of his mind, and he had no desire of getting those pieces of his life back. But at night when unconscious, things tended to come back to him. Nightmares would terrorize him every single night when he was able to sleep. Once, after an especially long time of being unable to even shut his eyes without being struck by his past abuse like a lightning bolt, Yosano had slipped him a bottle of sleeping aids. Apparently, he looked like shit (her words) and it was clear he wasn't getting enough sleep. That night he had tried them. Reading the possible side effects being nausea, headaches, sleepiness (well duh), he saw that one of them were actually suicidal thoughts- so, if he wasn't able to get a peaceful night of sleep from them, there still might be something good to come from of it. It was the worst night he could remember ever having (at least sleeping wise). Before even falling asleep, he started hallucinating terrifying images. The branches scratching at his windows suddenly turned into fingers grasping at the henges and trying to get in. The ceiling was suddenly melting and faceless people were appearing out of the shadows gliding against the walls, throwing their grisly chains after him and trying to pull him back into the hell his mind had been gracious enough to suppress. And when he was incapable of keeping himself awake, he'd been trapped inside the night terrors for several hours, the drugs making it impossible to tear himself awake. That night had covered more of his horrid past than any night before or since. So, he had already decided that he wasn't going to sleep on this mission. He was completely capable of going several days without sleep, he'd done it many times. An entire week though, he was unsure about, but he would do the best he could. Finishing brushing his teeth and changing his bandages, an ordeal that usually took him about forty five minutes, he changed into his sleeping attire, a long-sleeved cotton shirt in white and black sweatpants, and returned to Kunikida in their joint room.

“About time, what the hell were you even doing in there?” Kunikida growled irritated.

“Stealing soap,” Dazai shrugged and settled into his bed. “Are you insane?” Kunikida snapped, starting a tirade about professionalism, hygiene (because; could they really know if they set out new soap to every new guest? They might re-melt old bars or refill bottles with old soap- to which Dazai answered that in which case, it was a good thing that he took it so they couldn't reuse it anymore) and the general criminal system because of it was technically a criminal offense to steal anything.

Dazai tuned his partner out. He actually enjoyed the familiar background noise before the dreaded night. There was something comforting about the normality of it, reminding him that everything was actually just like it was supposed to be and that nothing was going to lurk out from the dark corners or try to get in through the windows in spite the fact that they were currently residing on the thirteenth floor.

While Kunikida set the timer for his nightly ritual, Dazai settled in for the night, putting on his earphones and sinking underneath the hospitality of his thick comforter.                                                           ➈➈➈

The next day, Kunikida woke up at six in the morning like he always did. Even if everyone wasn't going to meet up until nine, Dazai knew that Kunikida would never, not even on the weekends, sleep in late. Dazai was grateful for the predictability of his partner's actions. That meant that he could lay down and pretend to be asleep before he woke up. Dazai had spent the night reading over the mission files more times than he cared to hold a count of, as well as re-reading his trusted favorite book, gathering inspiration in case the mission would become extremely tedious and he had to concoct a suicide poison of office supplies. Ink or battery acid seemed like his safest bets- sniffing sharpies would likely just make the work more entertaining, and before he would even know it, they might have another “mushroom incident” on their hands. Kunikida had not been happy with him that day (which was reason enough for a repetition).

The day went by painfully slowly. It was apparent that he would be stuck in a vacant office for the majority of the week, trying to crack hidden codes left by the culprits to communicate between each other in a series of sealed documents. It seemed like work suited best for Ranpo, but the kid wasn't even able to figure out how to turn on the damn computer, so that left the boring part of their mission to him.

Once nighttime dawned upon them once again, Dazai repeated his schpiel, getting ready for bed and settling under the covers without much hassle, pretending to be asleep before Kunikida was done in the bathroom. He had started to become tired now, but he knew he had another night in him easily.                                                         ➈➈➈ 

The day after looked much like the day before, with him downing coffee, locked inside the office, scrolling through hundreds of pages of numbers and codes, trying to keep himself alert of any series of numbers that didn't seem to add up. It was getting harder now. His eyesight seemed to double from time to time if he didn't stay fixated, and he fell in and out of concentration, staring sheepishly onto the screen, scrolling down the pages mindlessly.                                                        ➈➈➈

On the fourth day, he had started getting concerned glances from his coworkers. He wasn't blind (just nearly, but only on the one eye), he could see the dark circles under his eyes in the mirror, and he had a constant twitch at the edge of his left one. He felt it too. He was so tired that turning his head towards the president to answer his question (that he had no idea what was) at their morning meeting, felt like he had to rotate a small mountain all on his own. “...your daily report, do you have it?” Fukuzawa repeated. Dazai couldn't remember if he asked him to repeat or not, but he nodded carefully, not wanting to rattle his aching head more than necessary, and pulled outa neatly assembled folder and handed it over.

“There's definitely some correspondence there. It's subtle. They're using a...” He couldn't remember the word for it. Frowning slightly, he made a gesture at them to forget about it. “Ranpo can figure it out. I've highlighted what I could find.”

The rest of the meeting went by without much input from him. Only small noises of approval or disapproval when he was being addressed directly, and he was seriously starting to consider sniffing on the sharpies for a shot of energy.

It was almost a relief once he was able to lock himself back into the dark room with the computer and cases of flash drives. Heavily, he collapsed into the comfortable chair he'd been provided with and poured himself a cup of coffee before booting up the computer and busying himself with his work.                                                        ➈➈➈ Before he even realized it, he jerked awake, quickly realizing he had nodded off. Two weary hands came up to drag over his face, and for a short while, he just sat there, resting his head while trying to wipe the fatigue from his facial features. He wasn't sure if he could do this anymore. At some point, he would have to get some shut-eye. Knowing from experience that clinical depression tended to become so much worse from a couple of days without sleep, as well as the increased paranoia that his state of mind could not handle.

The problem was, that the paranoia he would feel when sleep-deprived, was not the same kind of paranoia he should have felt then and there. Because if he did, he might have been more altered to the shadow that lurked behind him.

Before he could register the firm grasp on his hair, his head was thrown forwards, hitting the keyboard at high force. Immediately, he felt his nose crack on impact and he glided, stunned, to the floor.

Within seconds after hitting the floor, a boot stomped on his chest. The wind got knocked out of him, and he struggled to get his body to obey his commands. A little too late, he grabbed at the boot, but it slipped through his fingers before it came down on him once again. A choked gasp escaped him before he kicked with his feet, trying to roll over and get up.

The unknown apparition got in another few hits before he was on his feet. Dazai blocked the next couple of punches as the culprit seemed to start charging an ability induced attack. Dazai calmly touched the person, and the energy he was producing between his hands was killed off instantly. Using the moment of confusion to his advantage, Dazai grabbed the dark-clad figure by the shoulder and spun him around, pressing him violently against the wall. Finally, footsteps were heard outside, and the door was quickly unlocked. Fukuzawa and Kunikida entered, stun gun and katana raised, ready for attack. Ranpo was standing a couple of feet behind them, curious while on guard. “Dazai, are you okay?” Fukuzawa inquired grimly, slowly lowering his weapon as he deemed the situation under control. Dazai tried to sniff in the blood streaming from his nose before he turned around, but the flow was too heavy and he had to admit defeat and let it flow freely.

“Peachy,” he grinned as convincingly as he could, not loosening his hold on his attacker until Kunikida came to take over. Dazai let go and slowly waggled away in a sudden dizzy spell, steadying himself against the wall. He didn't even realize that he drifted down to a sitting position on the floor before Fukuzawa leaned down and held a strong hand on his shoulder.

“Come on, Kunikida can take care of things here. I'll take you to a doctor.”

He was sure he argued against it, but the next time Dazai found himself aware of his surroundings, he sat on the examination table at a doctor's office, getting his broken nose forced back into place with a wet cracking sound.

Apparently, he had broken his nose and a rib and needed a few stitches on the bridge of his nose and over his right eyebrow.

At this point, he felt so out of it that he was unable to argue when Fukuzawa decided to steady him back into the waiting car once he was fixed up, and followed him back to his hotel room. Once inside, he was discarded on his bed, where he fell asleep instantly.                                                            ➈➈➈

He was shackled to the wall. Tight, rough chains bore into his fragile skin as he tried to wiggle his wrists out of them, adding to the burning, bleeding marks varnishing his juvenile skin. He had figured out how to dislocate his thumbs now, making it easier to slip his hands through the firm iron rings of his cuffs. So now, they had placed another cuff around his neck. Even if he tired- he couldn't dislocate that. Not if he wanted to get away from here.

There was no way in hell that he'd give them the satisfaction of killing himself in here- they were not going to see him crumble. Not going to see him give up. He was going to keep breathing until the day he could look them in the eyes as they bled out and suffered from the same torture they had inflicted upon him for years on end. He was going to live until the day he could hear them scream in agony. Hear them beg for release.

Years went by before he could do that. Years of burning hot branding irons, electricity, and painful medical experiments. Years of watching clones of himself being developed inside test tubes, maturing inside small bottles of liquid and being born from sick DNA splicing and engineering.

His clones always turned out so macabre. Usually developing an extra body part or completely missing one. The ones that clearly was lacking his ability of nullification were slain as soon as they were “born”, and the ones who did, usually died a long agonizing death from organ failure, if they were ever viable at all.

Their remains were laying there, rotting inside his holding cell. He couldn't even smell it anymore, he was so used to it.

His head hurt. It always did when he was starting to remember something. Something he had forgotten and was fighting its way to the surface, usually making his grim existence even more unbearable.

What triggered it this time, seemed to be the new chain around his neck. ...it was raining. His clothes felt heavy, making his emaciated body struggle even harder to move. The memory was blue- usually symbolizing that it was bad. All his memories were blue or red. But the red ones had only come recently, and he hadn't even been granted the fortune of suppressing them yet.

He was staggering along, suddenly dropping to his knees in a puddle, quickly being pulled up by the chain around his neck by... someone. A man. He didn't have a face, but he still visited in his dreams sometimes.

It was the day he got here- he hadn't even realized that there was a before. For the longest time, he thought he was one of the experiments. The clones.

...maybe he was. Maybe he was just that one successful clone, abilities, memories and all from the original host. Fuck! He was such an abomination- he had never had the right to be alive at all. No wonder life was so painful.

And then, they were back, those nameless, faceless scientists, and he knew it was time for another round of... of...

...of what exactly, he wasn't sure. He only remembered it would be cruel and extremely agonizing.

The cuffs were taken off- but it didn't matter. He didn't have the strength to hold himself up anyway. His head thudded to the stone floor, while his hands laid uselessly by his side, his body unable to move. New shackles were added, and he felt his already dislocated elbows being tugged forward, forcing him to try and stand up but he couldn't only stumble his way after them, as fast as he was physically able.

Once inside the room (the room- the- the fucking room), he understood what was going to happen. He couldn't quite see it but he still knew and it was bad he had done bad and it was starting all over again. He was hurled onto the table (the cold table, the one that always hurt and he didn't want to please don't-) and leather straps were being tightly fastened on his head, chest, arms, abdomen and feet.

The doctor prepared the needle that was supposed to make him mellow and obey but it hurt- hurt so much and it slowly, agonizingly slowly, was being lowered towards his...

“Dazai!”

Finally catching his breath, he threw himself off the bed he suddenly knew he was lying on and scrambled across the floor, pushing his back against the wall (because the wall is safe, no one can come up from behind- no one can surprise me and I can fight if they do) and curled tightly in on himself, hiding behind his knees and simultaneously protecting his vitals.

How long had he forgotten to breathe?

He was out of breath, panting, before he realized that he wasn't tied down anymore.

And he was certainly not alone. Shit.

Hesitantly, he looked up and into the somber, steeled gaze of Fukuzawa, who was standing over him in a slight crouch. Dazail looked to his sides, making sure that there weren't any more spectators before he warily brushed both of his hands through his hair, winching a little as his fingers brushed over the newly stitched wound over his eyebrow.

“I had a bad dream,” Dazai chuckled apologetically, trying his best to glue on a smile for his superior.

“Yes, you seem to be prone to those,” Fukuzawa answered gravely, not averting his eyes from his subordinate.

“Tsk, not really,” Dazai tried but understood that his bluff had been caught long before this moment. He lowered his head, resting it on his knees while waiting for Fukuzawa's verdict.

The silver-haired man used a bit more time than Dazai had anticipated before he spoke again.

“I'm sorry for this.”

His reply made Dazai's slightly swollen eyes peer up. Unintelligble, he uttered a weak, “Huh?”

“I'm sorry for putting you through this. I know sharing rooms is hard for you.”

Dazai had no idea where this was coming from. How in the world could Fukuzawa know about his nightmares? Unable to say anything in return, he just looked quizzically at his elder.

“I've read Yosano's reports, Dazai-kun. I know about your nightmares. They’ve occurred everytime you've been commited to the infirmary since you started with us, and I don't think I have to tell you that it's been quite a lot of times during these past years.”

There was a small pause, clearly left for Dazai to say something. But when he didn't, Fukuzawa continued.

“So, I know how you struggle with sleeping. And I knew before going on this mission that you'd have a hard time... I know you, Dazai-kun. You wouldn't want to be a nuisance. Unfortunatly, we only got these two rooms, the rest of the hotel is stacked. I thought that sharing a room with  Kunikida would be the best way for you to relax. If I could, I'd put Ranpo, Kunikida and myself in one room and you by yourself... but that would've been a bit strange...”

Dazai was slowly beginning to relax now that his boss was starting to speak a little more informally. He always liked to witness the humanity of the usually stoic man. Lowering his shoulders a bit and working on the strenght to get back to bed, the trembling in his knees made it clear to him that he wasn't ready to move just yet. Now, he felt like he needed to say something. Something to disarm the situation.

“I...” was all he could muster before his voice broke off and he had to settle back into his defensive seat on the floor. Fukuzawa seemed saddened by it, which only crushed Dazai’s heart. He never wanted to see the man who had taken a chance on him when no one else would in such disarray because of his own foolishness. He loathed himself for it.

“If it's of any consolation, the guy you caught has admitted to everything. He's given us all the names of his culprits, and we're looking at a hefty bonus for finishing the job early.”

Dazai mustered up a smile, tired eyes creaking at the raising of his cheekbones. Fukuzawa retuned it and leaned down, helping Dazai stand up and settle onto the bed.

“Now, I want you to sleep. We're not leaving until tomorrow morning, and the rest of us have a lot of work to do down at the police station. You've done your part and then some. We probably won't return until late. Will you be okay here by yourself?”

Dazai was already half asleep on the bed but nodded vaugly before letting out a deep, easy exhale and grabbed onto his pillow. Never had he been comfortable being in such a vounerable position in front of anyone. He wasn't sure if it simply was exhaustion or if it was... trust? But for the first time since he didn't know when, he felt happy to settle into bed, for several hours of a good night's sleep.

Fukuzawa stayed with him until soft snores were heard steaidly with each breath of Dazai’s broken nose. Then, he gingerly pulled the comforter over him, before shutting the lights and exiting the room.

Ranpo and Kunikida was waiting outside.

“How's he doing?” Ranpo asked worriedly with a slight knot between his eyebrows.

“Better,” Fukuzawa answered with a soft smile, ruffling his as-good-as-adopted son's head over his hat.

“Is he asleep?” Kunikida asked grimly, trying to get a look inside the room before Fukuzawa carefully closed the door, trying to make it as soundless as possible to not jostle their sleeping coworker.

“For now,” the silver-fox replied earnestly. There wasn't any quick-fix to Dazai's issues, but this was a start as good as any.

The three of them walked silently towards the second hotel room, ready to settle in for the night. It was time for Dazai to rest comfortably. And if that meant for one of three grown men to swallow their pride and sleep on a sofabed, that would just have to do.

[goddamnitdazai]

Port Mafia Tattoo Shop AU

Another self indulgent AU hc post nobody asked for. This is a weird mix of a high school AU too because everyone is 18 except for Kouyou (20), Hirotsu (40), Gin & Higuchi (16).~ [Chuuya] - Tattoo Artist { specializes in watercolor and surrealism but can bang out a new school tattoo and make it look like a sticker. } • Started working at the shop when he was fifteen. It was across the street from a bar he did dishes at in high school and he’d always doodle outside during his smoke breaks. One day one of the artists and partial owners walked by and offered to teach him under the table after school. • The biggest tattoo on his body is a phoenix that starts in the center of his chest and spreads down his left shoulder to the middle of his arm. It was Kouyou’s birthday present to him on his 18th birthday—she took a few of his drawings and melded it with her own. [Akutagawa]  - Piercing Specialist { known for corset piercings and intricate non-permanent piercings for photo shoots and cons } • Gin dragged him into the shop because she wanted her belly button pierced for her 16th birthday and Chuuya recognized Akutagawa from school. Weirdly enough Akutagawa had a fascination with piercings, and once he watched his sister get one he kept inching towards the piercing gun. Kouyou mention in passing they were looking to hire a trainee. He of course didn’t accept until both Gin and Chuuya pushed him towards the front desk to fill out paper work. • Under Chuuya’s watch Akutagawa started sketching more after becoming the official shop’s piercer—but his true talent lies in the intricate piercings used in photoshoots or for conventions. He’s the only man in Yokohama that can give people corset piercings without tearing or destroying the skin. As for tattooing he’s on the fence about it and doesn’t have a solid grip on his artistic style yet. [Gin] -Receptionist   • Work part-time as the shop’s receptionist and helps clean the tools with another girl from her school, Higuchi. Gin’s nervous about getting a tattoo but she loves watching Hirotsu’s new apprentice Michizou practice his new school style on clients. • Has no interest in working as a tattoo artists or piercer as a profession but she loves the atmosphere of the shop and looks up to Kouyou as a woman in power. A lot of her love and sex advice happens at the shop when she’s helping Kouyou clean her area and tools. [Higuchi] -Receptionist,/Akutagawa’s assistant  • Aspires to be Akutagawa’s apprentice but he refuses to teach until she’s eighteen (even though Kouyou offered to pay under the table like she did with Chuuya). She dotes on him, cleans his equipment, and runs his social media accounts (without being asked) and helps with daily things around the shop like filing, appointments, and cleaning. • She’s offered to let Akutagawa practice new piercings on her when they come into fashion, but the only one he’s been willing to do on her were surface piercings solely to see how long they stayed in. The experiment is still going and Higuchi is rigorous about cleaning the tiny gem pierced into her hip bone. [Kouyou]  -Owner/ Tattoo Artist { specializes in realism, water color, neo traditional } • Started the shop with start-up money from a silent partner when she was twenty and continues to run it with Hirotsu. Kouyou was originally from Tokyo but was tired of getting bounced around in the system, so when she was fourteen she ran off and started working in a restaurant where down the street from the shop. When she was fifteen she lied about her age and started apprenticing, but she was so talented Hirtosu pretended he didn’t know her real age. • Kouyou’s art has been featured in multiple tattoo magazines, and she’s actively speaking out on sexist trolls on social media in the tattoo world who try and put her down. She expects the best out of her employees and doesn’t take shit, even if Chuuya’s had a shitty day and a hangover that could kill Satan she expects his ass to do his best work or nothing at all. Has an entire cherry blossom tree up her spine with petals spreading over her shoulders down to her forearms—Hirtosu started the tradition of gifting tattoos to underage apprentices—that was her gift when she turned 18. [Hirotsu]  - Owner/Tattoo Artist { specializes in traditional, realism, and tribal } • ‘Grandpa’ of the shop tbh, and he’s always bugging his artists (especially Akutagawa) to eat and take care of their hands. He’ll point out if someone’s not hydrating enough after a long stretch of tattooing and he hates using the computers to look for references. He’d rather freehand and he’s damn good at it—it’s what he’s known for. His original and intricate designs that just come out with zero effort. • Keeps in touch with a young kid named Dazai who taught himself how to tattoo at home out of boredom. He worked at the shop for a little but kept getting annoyed with the rules and standards so he set off to start his own one-man traveling tattoo shop. Sometime he stops by to show Hirotsu his work when Chuuya isn’t there. Hirotsu learned how to use Instagram just to keep up with Dazai’s work secretly. [Tachihara]  - Tattoo Apprentice { learning everything, prefers new school } • Learns from Chuuya sometimes because Chuuya is better at new school, but he’s really Hirotsu’s apprentice. Has a hard time not getting snappy when Hirotsu makes him practice traditional, but he knows he should have a well-rounded education over specializing from the beginning. He followed Chuuya’s Instagram a few months back and tracked down the shop. Instead of asking for an interview he shoved his artwork in Chuuya’s face and stuttered about wanting to learn from him. • He has a crush on the receptionist and likes when she watches him draw, but he’s too nervous to ask her out because her brother has threatened to kill him with a piercing gun, twice. Sometimes he sneaks little drawings in notes and slides them to her when Akutagawa is in the back doing something or he bribes Higuchi to distract him so he can talk to Gin on his break. [Mori] - Owner/Business Partner • He met Kouyou as a teenager and ate at the restaurant a lot between college classes. When he mysteriously came into a large amount of money he offered to help Hirotsu buy the property out rather than lease the shop and gave Kouyou a percentage to buy her way in. He knows enough about the tactical ways of business and tattooing, and often bugs Hirotsu to convince Dazai to come back to the shop. • Too nervous to get any actual tattoos, but he once let Elise draw a picture and Kouyou used semi-permanent ink to draw it on his arm—while muttering under her breath what a pussy he was. 

[dinosaurtsukki]

dating the port mafia’s medic

a/n: basically headcanons of port mafia members dating one of the organization’s medics who happen to be you. i just thought this would be cute and i’m craving fluff. also these are,,, really long.

feat. akutagawa, chuuya, and odasaku

akutagawa ryuunosuke:

you were the doctor that mori specifically assigned to him to help with his lung condition

even though akutagawa was supposed to have regular, weekly sessions he’d only come in like,, twice a month and that was after you texted mori that he hasn’t been visiting you

akutagawa isn’t all too comfortable with the fact that he has to take off his shirt so that you could put him in an x-ray gown or when you need to listen to his breathing with a stethoscope

but you’re incredibly patient with him and also the pay is good so you persist

at one point during one of your sessions, akutagawa grumbles about having to come to the clinic when he just wants to live long enough to make dazai proud

and you’re like ‘is that so?’

“personally, i’d feel kind of sad if you had to die so early”

that kind of gets akutagawa thinking. he can tell by the way you said it that you had no ulterior motives behind it

akutagawa: but,,, i'm your most troublesome patient

you: oh my god you think you're troublesome ??

you start to rant abt all the patients you had to treat before who didn't believe in vaccines or got their elbows stuck in weird places

akutagawa finds your stories really entertaining so he ends up enjoying and willingly going to his sessions with you

after that first fight with atsushi, you ended up taking care of akutagawa and patching up his body 

literal days of you just being at his bedside, worrying and hoping that he'll wake up and then you suddenly realize that maybe you have feelings for him

when akutagawa regains consciousness, he finds that he doesn't entirely hate the situation he's in because he gets to see you more often

he likes listening to more of your stories while you sit at his bedside. eventually he opens up with stories of his own (most of them are abt his missions so yeah)

akutagawa begins visiting your clinic more and one day he comes in even though he doesn't have a session and then agonizes over why the heck he did that

good guy senpai chuuya is basically all 'idk are you in love or something?'

to akutagawa it's utterly unacceptable and he hides his feelings for so long until you're the one who decides to confess to him

and to your surprise, he hesitantly asks if maybe you two would like to be in a relationship

you two are awkward about it at first. akutagawa doesn't really know if drinking tea at your clinic could be considered a 'date' but he does like these moments

both of you have pretty hectic schedules since m your patients are also mafia members and you have to be on-call all the time but akutagawa is really understanding

he likes seeing you in casual clothes but he also thinks you look good in a labcoat (he probably borrowed it when you were not looking to try it on)

because akutagawa has grown quite accustomed to your touch and initiates holding hands with you (in private ofc)

he's still not used to the idea of you taking care of him not just as a doctor but as his s/o but it makes a nice change for once

chuuya nakahara:

the first time he met you was after a mission when he was taking one of his subordinates to the emergency room of the infirmary

you were the doctor on-duty that night and the first time chuuya laid his eyes on you he was like 'damn'

who knew the mafia doctors were this hot amirite

ofc you were also kind of starstruck to see mafia executive chuuya nakahara in the emergency room but you had a job to do and a man was losing blood

you: what's his type?

chuuya: uh,, h/c hair, beautiful eyes, labcoat...

you: i mean... his blood type

chuuya's got it bad. after that night he couldn't stop thinking about that cute medic aka you

but he didn't even know what your shifts were so he LOOKS FOR YOUR CASE FILE IN THE RECORDS

it's like he's gonna commit a murder or something but no he's looking for information on you

the guy’s pretty impressed when he looks at your resume and definitely sees why you were hired to be a doctor at the mafia but that only makes him want to see you more

but questions is, how does he make it look like he was just ‘passing by the infirmary’ and not that he’s actively looking for you

tsundere boy is tsundere

because chuuya almost NEVER gets injured in fights and he’s got a reputation for that and now does he get himself injured on purpose just to see you?

well, the opportunity presents itself in the form of him and dazai fighting cthulhu aka lovecraft but we all know its cthulhu 

chuuya wakes up on a hospital bed to you checking in on him and he almost falls off the bed in shock

but then after he gets his bearings he realizes what an IDEAL SITUATION THIS IS

although it’s kind of hard to flirt with someone when you’re in a hospital gown with an IV infusion stuck to his arm

nonetheless, he finally decides to ask you out after his last day of treatment and you’re shocked of course but agree

although your first date ends up being rain-checked because a patient comes in a new mission for chuuya comes up

actually almost all your dates get rain-checked until after a mission, chuuya decides to visit your clinic with a bouquet of flowers just when you get off your shift

chuuya: are... you free?

you: yeah. are... you free?

both of you are too tired for a fancy restaurant date so you two end up at a cozy bar to share a drink

chuuya loves listening to your stories and talking to you. he literally has his chin on his hands listening to how you made a makeshift tourniquet out of your labcoat while you were on the field

both of you are really busy people but chuuya likes to stop by your clinic once in a while

you always have fresh flowers on your table because chuuya brings them for you

sometimes he’ll come home to you already tired and passed out 

oda sakunosuke:

the first time he met you was after a particularly rough mission and you were luckily there at the emergency room to treat him 

this guy had a concussion and needed stitches asap but instead he was asking you to treat his companions first 

you quickly treated him and let him rest and of course the first thing he asks when he wakes up is how everyone else is doing

your intrigued of course because you’ve never met a mafia member who was like him 

the second time you met him, odasaku actually brought someone from the enemy faction along because he didn’t think that leaving him to die was the right choice

he didn’t know if you would treat them because you were loyal to the mafia but you also had your own moral code as a doctor to treat patients no matter who they were

odasaku stuck around the emergency room knowing that it was going to take you hours to treat the man and when you come out, you’re surprised to see him there with a cup of coffee

the two of you end up sitting in the hallway and talking about all sorts of things. you love listening to how odasaku stopped killing so that he can fulfill his dream of being a writer

he on the other hand loves hearing about how you went through the hell that was med school because you were dedicated to saving lives

maybe odasaku doesn’t mind getting injured so much because that means he gets to see you but also you can’t help but feel worried about him

one time, one of the odasaku’s adopted kids gets really sick and the first person he ends up calling is you because he has no idea what to do 

to his relief, you show up right at the curry restaurant and are very much ready to help

odasaku admires how good you are with kids. even though they just met you, they’ve already taken a liking to your calm, sweet presence

you even pull out your stethoscope and let them take turns listening to each other’s heartbeats

until a kid walks up to oda to check his heartbeat and is like ‘uh,,, your heart is beating really fast’

cue all the kids singing “ODA LOVES Y/N, ODA LOVES Y/N”

you look up at oda and he doesn’t look away and now you know

after that day, oda asks if you would like to maybe have a drink with him or visit a cafe and you say that you would love to

odasaku loves to drop by your clinic because he’s such a caring boyfriend and he knows how stressed you are from your work

he even comes by in the morning to bring you your coffee and he memorizes your order

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