Chapter Text
They waited behind the cover of trees, air laced with anticipation. Chuuya watched Dazai intently, noticing every minute movement under his skin, waiting for a signal to move ahead. Dazai turned around to meet his gaze, his eyes had an eerie focus, with a subtle nod, they were on the move.
Dazai's steps were elegant and muffled, each step of his looked like it was deliberate, planned. He almost danced on the ground, his body moved like water. Stealth wasn't Chuuya's forte, he liked announcing his presence and inviting his opponent into a fierce battle, one that ended in a bloodbath. Normally Dazai shaped his plans around Chuuya's comfort but this time he seemed hell-bent on having the woman and her 'army' entirely alive.
Chuuya didn't get it. Dazai rarely bothered informing him of what his ulterior motive was, Chuuya was just supposed to blindly trust him and take a leap of faith; he felt like a police dog, just following instructions without any resistance.
Dazai tapped him out of trance by a slight touch of the wrist. He motioned for Chuuya to fall right behind him, hiding behind a narrow wall away from guards on patrol, their bodies were forced into close proximity and all the feelings that Chuuya kept tightly bottled up threatened to spill out. Dazai was painfully oblivious to his internal struggle, entirely focused on the patrol guards outside, and Dazai was right - the situation was unique. Normally during their ambushes the guards are relaxed, chatting or doing something. These guards moved like robots, something possessed, their eyes moved in an unnatural almost rigid manner, it wasn't human.
Not that Chuuya would know much about human.
The guards passed them, the twilight sky only aided their deceit, without warning Dazai pounced of the men, jabbing a syringe into his neck, in the blink of an eye the other man was down too.
Chuuya's mouth gaped a little, he was furious that Dazai did not give him any prior warning, what if something went wrong?
"Chuuya-kun should stop staring, it's making me blush"
"What the fuck was that?"
"That," said Dazai whilst lazily picking up the man's phone, "was to make sure she has absolutely no warning before we show up."
"You slimy bastard what are you getting at here?"
"All in due time Chuuya."
Chuuya scoffed, what else could he do? There wasn't even any point questioning Dazai any further, he'd just continue talking in circles. The mission went on, they slipped through corridors unnoticed and Chuuya had to physically make an effort to hide his surprise at Dazai's agility. He barely made any noise while moving forward, if Dazai wanted to Chuuya was sure he'd be dead before knowing what hit him. No wonder he was Mori's right hand.
They found themselves outside a large door, Dazai pinned down the coordinates of the place using one of the unconscious men's phones, Chuuya held his breath. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the manic glint in Dazai's eye, the one that practically spelled trouble.
"Chuuya do your thing."
Chuuya hesitated for a second, then he tore the door from its hinges right off, inside armed guards immediately took shots at him, it was in vain. Gravity shielded him from all of them and he turned them back around on the men. In a couple of seconds they all had bullet-wounds, piece of cake.
Dazai slipped past him going straight for the woman ahead, she had a bluish tinge to her skin, and she seemed to be frozen in place, Dazai walked up behind her and wrapped his long fingers in the space between her neck and shoulder - a mockery of intimacy. He leaned in close to her ear, "You're in over your head, you know that right?"
She only shivered in response, eyes darting wildly to the walls, as if she hoped someone would fall right through them.
"You can't call them," whispered Dazai, manic grin spreading, "You've lost your trump card. They won't come get you."
"Wh-what did you do?"
"Doesn't matter," Dazai was pulling out his gun, clicking off the safety, "either way, you're going to be dead."
His voice calm, gentle, Chuuya felt goosebumps. The woman began crying, sobbing hysterically as the weight of the gun pressed to the back of her head caught up to her.
"Please, please I'll do anything, what do you want? Don't shoot, I'm sorry," she was oddly coherent for the sobbing, "what do you want? I promise anything, I'll give you anything." Her eyes darted around wildly, trying to find an ounce of sympathy, she didn't move a muscle, she couldn't see Dazai behind her, and suddenly it dawned on her that there was another boy in the room:
"You. What do you want? I'll give it to you, I swear ask me anything, I'll tell you, I'll tell you all of it. Just let me live, please just let me live, I can't die, I won't die. I have so much- please- I can't-" she broke into sobs again.
"If you want to kill her pull the trigger and get it over with. Stop relishing in her hysteria you fucking maniac."
Dazai ignored him, and stepped out in front of the woman, gun still pointing towards her temple, he leaned in close enough for her to feel threatened by the proximity, "Anything?" he purred, "I want you to come with me to the Port Mafia. Tell me what your plan was, and how this little ability of yours works. I'll let you live."
The woman nodded, and Dazai lowered his gun. He called backup to escort the woman and practically skipped over the unconscious men on their way out.
"Why did you want her alive?"
"Chuuya is such a simpleton. Did you not notice how the men looked like puppets?'
"Something about their eyes seemed odd to me."
"Yes, too rigid, too controlled. Her ability is to take over consciousness, she can manipulate people's minds remotely, but the drawback is that it takes too much of her mental energy. She tried controlling too much, like a puppeteer who controls her puppets with such tight strings that when you cut the strings all she has left are bound fingers. The reason she was frozen in place after your assault wasn't out of fear, it was because you abruptly severed multiple connections with her conscious, she was still reeling in from the shock. She's a smart woman, if she msters her ability we could put her to use."
"Sheesh what the hell? That's fucking creepy. She takes over consciousness? So the person becomes like a husk of something or do they have to watch some bitch take over their body?"
"Ah Chuuya, always so moral, see you and I are working with the same information, so I'm not very sure about that."
"Liar. You refused to tell me anything till the absolute last moment. You'll get us killed someday."
"Does Chuuya have no faith in me? I would never deprive my dog of the ecstasy that comes with surprise. Ignorance is bliss, no?"
"You're just fucking with me"
"Oh you wish."
Chuuya's ears turned red, he tried masking it with anger, but the way Dazai smirked knowingly at him there was no going around this. To avoid further embarrassment he backed out and they walked in silence.
In the ride back to the mafia Dazai was oddly quiet. He gazed outside the window, his cheek buried in the of his palm. His eyes seemed distant. For now, Chuuya let it go, he had his own stuff to worry about. The woman's ability left him feeling uneasy, he didn't like the concept of someone being able to "take over" your body. It was unnatural, it was dehumanising. He wondered if those men would get their former selves back, wondered if they'd live the remainder of their lives knowing at some point all they were was a tool, a vessel to obtain something they never understood. It was a feeling that hit home.