Chapter Text
Dazai Osamu had been doomed to suffer for as long as he could remember.
When his abilities manifested at the age of three, his parents were terrified. Before long, he found himself in the hands of an organization known as the Collectors. Being an Omega... possessing two abilities... every one of those things had turned his life into a nightmare. As a Prime Omega, it had already been decided that when his first heat arrived, he would be bonded to the elderly Alpha who led the organization. Until then, he was trained, tortured, and forced to learn countless things.
Fortunately, his first heat never came before he managed to escape.
It was after fleeing the organization and desperately trying to hide that he met Odasaku and Ango.
He was only fifteen years old.
More than anything, he needed somewhere he could finally feel safe.
And somehow...
Those two gave him exactly that.
At first, Dazai didn't trust either of them. But he needed help, so he accepted Odasaku's offer and moved into his home.
Little by little, they grew closer.
Odasaku was gentle and thoughtful.
He wasn't like any Alpha Dazai had ever met.
Whenever nightmares kept him awake at night, Odasaku would sit beside him, read books aloud, and patiently help him calm down.
As time passed, Dazai became comfortable around both of them.
Before long, he had even started teasing them and filling the house with laughter.
His feelings for Odasaku only continued to grow stronger.
When they finally bonded, Dazai truly believed everything was going to be alright.
How terribly wrong he had been...
Everything was perfect after he became pregnant.
It stayed that way until their baby was seven months along.
Then...
That mission appeared.
It was the first time Dazai had ever argued with Odasaku.
And it would be the last.
When Odasaku left for the mission, Dazai couldn't stay behind.
He followed him.
All he wanted...
Was for Odasaku to come home safely.
He didn't.
By the time Dazai arrived...
His mate was already lying lifeless on the ground.
Before he could even begin to process what had happened...
Before his throat had gone raw from screaming...
His labor began.
It was far too early.
It wasn't supposed to happen yet.
As though the heartbreak, the terror, and the unbearable grief weren't enough...
He gave birth.
But the baby placed in his arms...
Wasn't breathing.
A little girl.
Stillborn.
Every baby item Dazai had lovingly bought became meaningless.
Neither his mate...
Nor his daughter...
Was alive anymore.
In the end, all he had left were the ashes of the two people he had loved more than anything...
And the little crab plush toy he had bought for his daughter.
Dazai had lashed out at Ango as well.
He knew it was Ango who had convinced Odasaku to accept that mission.
When everything was over...
Dazai was the one who had lost everything.
This city...
This country...
Had brought him nothing but pain.
Unable to bear the weight of it all, he began hurting himself again.
Russia's freezing air, the cuts scattered across his skin, and the ache in his heart seemed to exist in perfect harmony.
He was only nineteen years old.
Yet he had already walked through hell more than once.
During his time there, he met Fyodor, Nikolai, and Sigma, the Omega of their little group. His intellect rivaled Fyodor's, and that similarity drew them together almost immediately. As time passed, they grew even closer, until one day Dazai realized he truly considered the three of them his friends.
Fyodor liked to call him a devilish genius.
Well...
Dazai couldn't exactly deny it.
His mind could be terrifying whenever he chose to let it be.
A devil.
A magician.
A clown.
A gambler.
Quite the strange group, wasn't it?
Dazai knew that.
If Odasaku were watching him now, he'd probably be thinking one of two things.
First...
Why on earth had Dazai surrounded himself with such insane people?
Second...
He'd probably just be happy that Dazai had finally found friends.
That was simply who Dazai was.
A man who hurt himself.
A man obsessed with the idea of death.
Someone who had lost far too much.
And now...
He was ready to make every single person hunting him regret it.
It didn't matter who they were.
Dazai Osamu intended to destroy them all.
--
A heavy silence lingered throughout the Armed Detective Agency.
After everything they had learned the previous day, everyone had gone home in silence before returning the following morning. Yet the atmosphere hadn't changed. Knowing that the man they had been searching for carried such a tragic past weighed heavily on all of them.
"Tomorrow is January 10th."
"It's Odasaku's birthday."
Ranpo absentmindedly toyed with the wrapper of one of his candies. Once he had everyone's attention, he looked up at the rest of the Agency, his green eyes unusually serious.
"Dazai Osamu will definitely visit the cemetery."
"We should go there early tomorrow morning."
If Dazai was truly back in Yokohama, there was no way he would miss Odasaku's birthday.
Of course, no one knew what time he would come.
But Ranpo didn't mind waiting all day.
"Ranpo's right."
Fukuzawa nodded in agreement before turning toward his office.
"Tomorrow, Kunikida, Chuuya, and Ranpo will keep watch at the cemetery. If anything happens, contact the rest of us immediately."
With their assignments decided, there was nothing left to do but wait for morning.
Every one of them hoped they could help Dazai.
And they intended to do everything they could.
---
The next morning, at exactly seven o'clock, the three detectives arrived at the cemetery.
They had already found Odasaku's grave.
Beside it rested a much smaller one.
The grave of the baby who had never had the chance to live.
The sight alone was enough to break anyone's heart.
Even hiding nearby while keeping watch over the graves couldn't ease the heaviness settling in their chests.
"I honestly don't even know what to say."
Kunikida adjusted his glasses with a quiet sigh.
"No one deserves to go through a loss like this."
"Because of that bastard Ango."
Chuuya muttered under his breath, shoving both hands into his coat pockets.
The man had admitted it himself.
He was the one who had persuaded Odasaku to take that mission.
As far as Chuuya was concerned...
The blame rested squarely on his shoulders.
"It doesn't matter whose fault it was."
Ranpo's voice remained calm.
"What's done is done."
"Our priority is finding Dazai and getting him somewhere safe."
Still...
Ango's warning refused to leave his mind.
Underestimating Dazai would be the greatest mistake anyone could make.
There had been far too much certainty in those words for them to be meaningless.
Ranpo couldn't stop thinking about it.
He needed to meet Dazai.
He needed to understand him.
Minutes slowly turned into hours.
Eventually, the clock struck noon.
If they were being honest...
All three of them were getting bored.
Was Dazai really not going to come?
Just as Chuuya opened his mouth to complain, Ranpo suddenly reached over and covered it with one hand.
Someone was approaching the graves.
All three detectives widened their eyes.
The young man stopped in front of the two gravestones before quietly lowering himself to the ground between them. Resting gently in his lap was a small plush crab.
He leaned his head back against Odasaku's gravestone.
As his face came fully into view...
There was no room left for doubt.
Dazai Osamu had come.
And the man they had been searching for all this time...
Was none other than Shuji.