Chapter Text
The blond was pacing the infirmary and it was honestly getting on Yosano’s nerves. The kid would be fine. Eventually.
His particular brand of cursed magic absorbed most of her healing one, which meant that she had to treat him with the double amount as well as the old fashioned way for it to work. The same backwards, way, his affinity for Dark magic made the Corrupted one flow better.
Fukuzawa had passed by earlier and made sure that he was all right, even if unconscious. The woman hadn’t missed the way his hand had clenched over the hilt of the sword before he threaded it through the dark locks, but she almost teased him about it.
She didn’t though. There was something much deeper plaguing the man’s mind after he left.
Kunikida was only annoying though.
“You can leave” Yosano said as she finally got off the bed. Dazai was on some light painkiller and he was not going to wake up for the next few hours anyway.
“I don’t understand!” the man yelled in a way that the woman knew, from her own school years, that it was actually worry masked by anger. “What happened?”
Yosano sighed. “Simple: his body reacted badly to light magic.”
“What?”
She looked him in the eye “You’re not supposed to know this” and she made sure to glare the fear of doctors into her colleague “But he was cursed as a child. I don’t know the specifics, but he can’t really use light magic without severe repercussions. His body can only properly use dark magic and said dark magic absorbs the light magic of everyone else.”
“Why wasn’t I informed about this? He is my student!”
“His guardian” she spit the title “insisted this be kept under wraps” of course, he had personally contacted her to make sure she didn’t accidentally break his new acquisition. “Most teachers gave up when they hear ‘squib’”
Kunikida looked really guilty at that, but Yosano didn’t try to spare him. The kid had insisted on not using magic and the blond, like always, had pushed too far. Maybe like this he would learn that people had certain limits and leave it at that.
~O~
It was dark when Fukuzawa made it to the infirmary once again. He had had a busy day, but Yosano had told him that this might be important, so he arrived as fast as he could. Which, with him being a DADA teacher and all, was really really hard to achieve anywhere before 21:00.
The man knocked and the woman looked up. Fukuzawa still remembered how young she was when he had rescued her from Mori, how anxious she was to start school four years later than everyone else. Fukuzawa remembered the dead look in her eye, look he had yet and hoped he never will have to see in Dazai.
“Finally” she scoffed and pushed her hair behind her ear, sign that she was stressed. “Your kid wonder has come up with more things I don’t like.”
“You said he was okay this morning” The man frowned.
“Yes” she rubbed her eyelids before she sat on a chair “But I discovered something more when I went deeper” she pulled out a clipboard. “Tell me, how familiar are you with unbreakable vows?”
“Quite”
She nodded. “Well, it appears Dazai has been put under a Dark unbreakable vow. It has been thoroughly enhanced with magic and I can’t quite say what else it does.”
“Did he….”
“No” she shook his head “It wasn’t Mori who put it there.” she sighed “It appears to have been tattooed into his skin, which is why you probably feel the Dark Magic constantly going into him.”
“Oh” the man said.
“Yeah” Yosano sighed “Look, I doubt there’s anything we can do about it, but I had to tell you to keep a closer eye on that kid.”
“I’m pretty sure it can be considered stalking at this point.” Fukuzawa muttered. Yosano whacked him with her clipboard.
“I’m not joking!” she said through gritted teeth. She then sighed and shook her head. “There’s one more thing: he absorbs all magic, but he has been absorbing alarming amounts of Dark Magic lately.”
The teacher’s eyes widened. “That means….”
“That there is a supply….”
“That’s not possible” The man rubbed his jaw “Either me or Sensei would have noticed it…..”
“Not if it’s something strong enough to conceal it.” Yosano said. The man looked up “There’s something powerful going around right now. And I want you to promise me to keep an eye on them all, ok?!” she shoved the clipboard under his throat and the man held no doubts that she could find a way to kill him with it.
“All right. I promise, I’ll keep an eye out for the dark magic and one eye on Dazai.”
“Good” she said “I don’t want to see another kid ruined by Mori.”
~O~
Apparently, it took the other kids a month to properly start bullying the discount cripple and consequentially dark magic user in Hogwarts. Dazai knew it would eventually happen, but still, he mourned the days where all he would get were words.
Words he could deal with. He was good with them, he could match them up, change them, twist and turn the way he desired. Words were easy to control.
Actions, not so much. Not when they came from others. Not when they were damaging his property and messing up his things. Not when he felt the dark power boiling at the tips of his fingertips and had to remember himself he will get no golden medal for killing them.
Not anymore.
Some kids had started to grow brains and develop sentience as well as basic thought process, because someone had put a charm on a wall he was used to leaning on, which deactivated and spilled a lot of spoiled food on both him and his books. And he had about ten more minutes to get to class or else Koyou would get mad at him and give him extra homework. And That meant less time to get outside and Lovecraft always caught him when he was out past his curfew.
The boy was resigning himself to a night of learning about spells he was never going to use anyway, when the familiar presence appeared. Dazai looked up, ready to bolt, but Nakahara held out his hands.
“Wait! I won’t chase you this time, I promise.”
“And why should I believe you?”
“Because I want to help.”
“Awfully nice of you” Dazai frowned, but it wasn’t like he could go anywhere, since most of his books were already on the ground and if he left, someone would probably steal them. And Mori wouldn’t buy him new ones if he knew the truth, because he’d just tell him to put the fear of God into the people who messed with him.
“Well thanks, that was the point!” Chuuya snapped. He then pulled out his wand and pointed at the books. He more or less whisper yelled the spell he wanted to use and his books were once again clean. “I wish I could do that to your clothes too….”
“Thanks” Dazai said as he dusted his soaked clothes.
“Hey” Chuua said “Can you tell me about Arrahabaki?”
“No.” Dazai said in a bored voice.
The redhead looked like he wanted to cuss before he took a deep breath, nodded and walked away. Dazai blinked. He didn’t expect that.
The boy shrugged and turned to go his way.
~O~
Fukuzawa was walking through the forest when he saw the kid. For the first time, he wasn’t there to look for him, but rather to relax. There were no students pestering him to raise their grades in the forest.
When he saw the boy with bandaged wrists, his first thought was that Dazai never asked for his grades to be raised, so his mental rule was still technically the same.
Dazai was talking to the Thestrals. Not an uncommon occurrence, Lovecraft had mentioned it a couple of times, but it was the first time Fukuzawa witnessed it himself. And it was, honestly…. baffling.
Dazai actually seemed happy. He was calm, he was relaxed and the most alive Fukuzawa had seen him in the two years since he had met him. The man contemplated leaving him alone. He was ready to take a different route, when one of the creature lifted its head and looked him in the eye.
Dazai turned to watch him, all ease draining from his shoulders and the smile freezing in a fake one, too similar to what Mori used.
“Sensei?” he asked. His voice was high and happy, but his stance was obviously defensive.
“I’m not here to scold you” Fukuzawa stepped fully into the light and kept his hand off his katana. “I was just wondering what you are doing” he looked at the animal and raised his hand. The Thestral took a step forward and placed his head into his palm. Dazai minutely relaxed. “There are not many children who can see them.”
“There are not many children like me either” Dazai mumbled and Fukuzawa chuckled.
“I know.” he said. He wanted to ask about the Unbreakable Vow. He wanted to ask the kid if he was okay, if Mori had tried anything, he wanted to ask the kid about the deep dark magic residing deep inside him.
But he couldn’t.
So instead he said. “They are quite beautiful creatures. Too bad one must pay such a price to see them.” The boy nodded. “I saw you talking to them. Do you understand what they say?”
“Yes.”
“How peculiar” But also not surprising. Fukuzawa couldn’t say he was surprised that Dazai could hear them, the same way it wasn’t shocking when Lovecraft revealed the same thing one faithful morning over coffee. How did the man manage to slip eldritch talk in a conversation about Wizarding politics, Fukuzawa was still confused. He took his hand off of the horse. “The earlier offer still stands. If you want to talk about anything, you can always pass by my office.”
“Dully noted” Dazai nodded solemnly in a way that told Fukuzawa he was probably not even going to step on the floor unless truly necessary.
The man sighed and left the kid alone.
~O~
Dazai was finishing his homework for the day when the Vessel sat near him. Weirdly enough, Arahabaki’s presence was muted today, like the god was asleep or something. Coincidentally, Chuuya seemed to be in a less shitty mood himself.
“Can you help me?” he said through gritted teeth in a way that made it obvious that he didn’t want to ask that. Dazai cupped his hands underneath his chin. There was still that minute dread under him and going through his veins, but it was lessened today. His tattoo was also not throbbing. Arahabaki wasn’t in his presence, and without Arahabaki, Chuuya wasn’t that scary.
Dazai knew he couldn’t really fix his ruined reputation all that easily, but he could mess with the kid how he wanted.
“I most certainly can. The question is, will I?” he sat up “Are you worthy enough to be in my presence, are you good enough to deserve my help?”
Purpose achieved, Chuuya was fuming and trying to whack him with a tome. Dazai skilfully dodged and smiled in a bright way.
“Shut up” Chuuya growled. He took a deep breath. “Can you help me with the transfiguration homework?”
Dazai blinked. “I don’t do transfiguration anymore.”
“You don’t do practical. You still know the theory and right now, the theory is kicking my ass.”
Dazai rubbed his chin, pretending to be thinking. “I don’t know. Seeing you getting your ass kicked is a pleasure I have yet to indulge in.”
“You little…”
“But why are you asking for my help?” Dazai tilted his head “Don’t you have some other friends who can help you?”
Chuuya sighed “Koyou gave them detention to clean her bonsais after interrupting her class. And we have a transfiguration test tomorrow. So, will you move your flat ass and help me not fail?!”
“Ask me nicely.” Dazai smirked and Chuuya really really wanted to murder him. For a second, Dazai was sure he would just throw his books away and storm out of the library. But then, he took a deep breath and looked at Dazai.
“Will you please help me pass the test?”
Dazai gave him a shit eating grin and pushed his own papers away “Well of course…”
~O~
There was a certain amount of assault Dazai was willing to endure, and this was already too much. The boy fell back into the thoughts of maiming and dismemberment, he would happily forget them all if it meant he didn’t have to deal with the huge, unforgiving mirror looming on the other side of the room.
The Mirror of Erised was not a myth, but for a lot of people, it was a dream. A way to achieve what your heart most desired but without being able to grasp it.
For him, it was a nightmare that tainted the real world.
Dazai couldn’t remember the first time he stepped through it, but he remembered the last. He remembered being ten and crawling on the ground while the other small body heaved in pain. He remembered looking at it for the first time and feeling the dread and the tendrils slipping out to drag him back.
Dazai didn’t remember much, but he remembered enough to fear.
It was dark.
The kids who had locked him up in there had somehow found out that he was afraid of the mirror and thought it a nice joke. They had waited and taunted him for a while, but Dazai hadn’t answered.
Maybe he should’ve. Maybe he should’ve cried and he should’ve screamed, pride be damned, if it meant they hadn’t left and that he didn’t have to be locked in the same room with this thing.
Because most people saw what they loved.
Dazai heard what he hated. He heard the screams and the pleas. He heard the promises and the honey coated words, nothing but sharp razors underneath.
He didn’t look at the glass because he didn’t want to see more.
It was Dark.
It was painful.
It was cold.
It had been a few hours. It could have been more. Dazai didn’t move. If he moved, he would be seen and if he was to be seen, he’s have to run.
And he didn’t know where he could run.
He had no space to do so and no nails to dig into the stone.
It was dark and only his demonic eye could see.
~O~
It was dark, it was late and it was past curfew, yet Chuuya was banging on Fukuzawa’s door and hoping that the man was still there. He didn’t know what would happen if he wasn’t.
Thankfully, his old and quite murder professor was still awake.
“Nakahara, you have five seconds….”
“Dazai has been locked in a room and I don’t know where!” he said in a fast motion “It’s the one with the mirror in it!”
That woke the man up and made him curse under his breath before he started marching down the hall. Chuuya followed quickly behind him. He was getting ready for bed (since lack of robes) when he heard Tachihara’s offhand comment about teaching the squib a lesson. A little angry manhandling and he had gotten the location, which was why he ran to Fukuzawa. He wasn’t smart, but even he realised the Dark Magic attached to that thing and didn’t want to mess up and get himself and Dazai in an even bigger trouble than they already were.
The man walked very fast and they reached a door in no time. Chuuya would have been able to recognise it by the simple fact that it was barricaded with furniture. Of course, normal magic wouldn’t cut it, so it had to be something he couldn’t physically move.
Fukuzawa destroyed them and walked in.
Dazai was huddled in a corner, hands gripping at his hair like they wanted to pull it out of its roots. The teacher kneeled near him.
“Dazai?” he asked in a calm voice.
“Dazai?” Chuuya took a step forward but the boy whimpered and pulled away from his voice. The teacher sighed.
“Thank you for telling me. I’ll let you know how he is in the morning.”
The redhead recognised the dismissal, but that didn’t mean he liked it. Still, he gritted his teeth, nodded and walked out of the room.
Fukuzawa was left alone with Dazai.
“Dazai?” he said in an easy voice, the type he used with Ranpo in the beginning when he happened to get something wrong. The boy didn’t look at him, didn’t take his head off his knees.
The teacher sighed. He needed to take the kid out of the range of the mirror. He picked Dazai up and started walking down the stairs. The boy leaned in and fisted his shirt like his life depended on it.
~O~
Fukuzawa was pacing his office and, for the first time, he did something he had sworn to never do again.
He called Mori.
It didn’t take the devil too long to respond. “Aaah, Fukuzawa, quite a surprise to have you call me” he said in that amicable voice of his the Silver Wolf needed too many years to properly read as a threat.
“Well I wouldn’t have, had this not been important.” the man took a deep breath “What the hell is the deal with Dazai? How much did you do to him and how much did he have from before?”
“I believe this is the kind of question the kid can only answer himself” the man smiled in a condescending way.
“Well, the boy has an unbreakable vow tattooed into his skin, so he really can’t” the man kept his stance. He couldn’t see the demon anywhere in sight, but that didn’t mean much, all things considered. “So, I’m asking for his sake, what’s happening.”
“Well then” the man waved his arm “Pull up a chair and some anti-nausea pills, because I’ve got some tea to spill about the boy.”
The man’s voice was pleasant as he spoke, never changing cadence, no matter if he talked weather or massacres.
An hour later, Fukuzawa was mindlessly staring into space as Mori sipped from the tea that had materialised itself at his side.
“I can’t believe….” the man mumbled.
“Well then, I hope you soon will. I’d hate to lose Dazai.” he smiled yet his teeth were sharp like a shark’s and his eyes spoke of endless pain. “So don’t lose him”
The man ended the call.
~O~
It had taken Dazai a few hours to properly wake up. Yosano told him that it wasn’t necessarily magic, but also shock. Fukuzawa had visited the teen and told him to remain in bed for the next few days, which of course, meant that he had snuck out of the infirmary the moment it was convenient.
The dark energy from the moment Fukuzawa entered the office was clue enough.
The man sighed and circled his desk until he could peer under it and look at the kid. “You’re not a cat.”
Dazai was huddled inside, lanky limbs and big sparkly eyes.
“Meow.”
The man sighed. “You’re not cute enough for that.”
Dazai didn’t get out. He only looked at the man with enough pain to last a dozen. “You know.”
It was a statement. The man sighed.
“Yeah. Mori told me.”
Dazai didn’t look at him. “And what now? Can you do anything about it? About Arahabaki?”
Fukuzawa sighed “It’s not that easy, kid.”
“You’re an auror! Isn’t that your job?!”
Fukuzawa looked at the kid deadpan before dragging him out. “As I said, it’s not that simple.”
“Mori could do it.” Dazai mumbled.
Working with Mori had made the man very proficient at spotting manipulation, and this one was laughable.
“Then you should ask him.” his voice was stern and unwavering. Dazai seemed to melt a little in his seat.
“Don’t you think I tried?”
The teacher sighed. “I’ll look into it. But you know that this is ancient magic.” he sighed “I’m not even sure there are sources on this.”
“They aren’t in the Forbidden section” he mumbled.
“You’re not allowed there.”
Dazai didn’t respond. The man sighed before he looked at the clock. He still had another hour until he had to teach and drag the kid to his room to properly sleep. He apparated a kettle near him “Tea?”
~O~
It was lunch when Dazai took the place next to Chuuya. The redhead looked up, surprised. Dazai hadn’t shown his face for almost a week after the Mirror Incident. Chuuya was currently eating alone, not quite able to forgive Tachihara and the rest for the prank, not when Dazai was almost left catatonic.
“Hi” he said, like the eloquent he was.
“Fukuzawa told me what you did” Dazai started, blunter than ever, which surprised the redhead. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome”
There was an awkward pause between them for a few seconds before Dazai spoke. “I can tell you about Arahabaki. Meet me in the Library when you’re done.” and with that, he sat up and left Chuuya to chew in silence.
The boy finished his meal in a hurry and more or less scrambled to the meeting place. A part of him expected Dazai not to be there, but he was. He was and he was looking restless. Chuuya threw himself in the chair near.
“How much do you know?” Dazai asked.
“That this thing in my head calls itself a god.” And that he wants you.
The boy gulped. “I don’t know how much I’m allowed to tell you.”
From inside him, a deep voice rumbled.
Tell the sparkling that I let him.
Chuuya gulped. “He says you can.”
Dazai nodded. “All right then” he wrenched his hands and it was obviously a great effort for him. “I’ll start and don’t interrupt me. If you have questions, ask me at the end.”
Chuuya nodded.
Dazai took a deep breath and started. “Do you know what the Mirror of Erised is?” Chuuya shook his head “It’s a mirror that shows you what you want the most. Well, that’s what a lot of people say” he looked the boy in the eye. “Truth is, the mirror is actually a portal to a different world. A works of demons and dark magic. And Gods. What you see in the mirror is what you wish, but it’s actually what you can find on the other side. But any wish came through there is morphed in such a horrible way you resent the moment you uttered it.” he seemed lost in thought and Chuuya entertained the thought of snapping him out of it but stopped himself when Dazai took another breath to calm himself.
“Arahabaki was one of the powerful gods.” Dazai took a deep breath “About five years ago, he wanted to leave the world and corrupt this one, because humans are so much easier to control. He tried to get away, but the thing is, because the portal it a mirror, when something goes from there to here, it gets reversed. So, he went from a powerful god to a nasty spirit possessing your body.”
Chuuya blinked, not knowing what to say. They sat in silence for a while, the redhead processing the new amount of information. He wished that he would be more surprised than he was. He wished that he could be shocked or revolted……
He just felt numb.
Chuuya looked up. “How is this tied to you?”
Dazai sighed. “I got into the other world when I was a kid. I don’t remember the time before” he spoke in a dead voice, like he wasn’t really there. “When I entered, I had a very high magic level. They called me a prodigy” he laughed, a mirthless laugh but then continued. “Arahabaki took fancy to me. And he made me his Familiar”
Chuuya felt his breath catch in his throat, like his flesh had suddenly turned to stone on his bones. Arahabaki was silently chuckling, like he wanted to reach and stroke Dazai’s hair to tell him ‘good job.’
He pointed at his eye. “The eyes are the window to the soul. If you lose your eye, you cannot leave that world. Most people pull their eyes out and replace them with things like buttons, to keep their real ones safe” he pulled his hair out of his right eye. “Arahabaki took mine and gave me his when he did the bond. That way, he was capable of using me like a battery, of draining me dry.” he let his hair fall. “He intended for me to remain in the other world so he could have a steady source.”
He sighed. “But I happened to follow. I happened to fall through the Mirror and stumble upon a ten year old redhead passed out as the God I hated took over his body” he looked Chuuya in the eyes as the redhead slowly put the pieces together. “I just happened to be hit by the spell too.” he sighed “My powers got reversed. I can’t do light magic. I can only absorb it in order to survive and convert it into Dark magic.”
Chuuya didn’t know what to say for a while. “I’m sorry” was all he could push out.
“I know”
~O~
What happened over the next few weeks was both slow and fast in a way Chuuya couldn’t explain. In a way he wasn’t overly fond of trying.
Him and Dazai started spending more time together. It wasn’t necessarily something they discussed. They just sat near each other during lunch and while homework. Dazai stopped picking the farthest bench from him, started looking him in the eye and stopped looking like a haunted animal.
The fear never went away, but it got tamer.
Chuuya didn’t know what to say about this other than he liked it.
~O~
It was a few months later when Dazai dragged Chuuya to the Forbidden Forest after hours. The redhead didn’t know when he started seeing the other as a constant in his life and not a nuisance. It had been slow, too slow, he barely even noticed it. The redhead tried to keep up, but Dazai was too fast and too giddy.
They came to a clearing and Dazai giggled. “Chuuya” he said as he was almost bouncing on his feet. “Can you trust me?”
“I’m already suspicious”
“Close your eyes.”
The redhead sighed but complied. Dazai took his arm and raised it. Chuuya had half a mind to yell at him not to shove it in something weird, but, all too fast, there was something smooth and velvety under it.
“Careful. She’s sensitive” Dazai whispered in a happy voice.
Chuuya let his hand slide up what turned out to be a muzzle, then a slender neck that went up too high for the boy to reach. Chuuya opened his eyes.
There was nothing there.
But there was something under his fingers.
“What…”
“That’s a Thestral” Dazai said, petting the same invisible thing. “They can only be seen by people who’ve seen death.” he smiled and leaned his face on the thing. “That is because they are ghosts who didn’t yet pass on.”
“What?!”
Dazai giggled. “Yeah. You see, a few hundred years ago, there was a man who lost his family. He went to the mirror and asked it to bring them back. The Demons on the other side agreed, but they brought them back as Thestrals. Eventually, the man killed someone else, to be able to see them again.” Dazai turned sad. “But the demons had played him once again. He couldn’t understand them. They were of the other world. Only someone who’s seen the other side can truly grasp their language.”
Chuuya was silent for a few seconds. “Does that mean that you can understand them?”
The boy threw him a shit eating grin “How else do you think I know so much about everyone?”
~O~
But of course, even this, like all good things, wasn’t meant to last. Because Arahabaki wasn’t only possessive of his things. He was also a god. He was also centuries old and knew how things worked. Knew how to bid his time while he recharged.
He knew how the fickle humans think and, above all, he knew the messed up yet fragile mind of his pet.
~O~
Dazai blamed himself for that. He blamed himself for a lot, and he was guilty for a lot, but he should have really been able to predict this one. He didn’t know why he let his guard down.
He shouldn’t have.
He didn’t know when he started to trust Chuuya.
It just happened.
But he did know that something had went very very wrong the moment the arms around him caught him like a cage and a way too smooth voice whispered in his year.
“Missed you, little spark.”
~O~
He was tied up. He was gagged. He was helpless.
Chuuya Arahabaki was there. This time human, but with ancient markings on his arms and empty eyes. Empty eyes of which one was his.
His shirt was torn open, Dark letters exposed to light, No longer human written backwards so it could be read in that cursed mirror. Gashes all over his torso so blood could poor and lay on the silver surface for the ritual.
“Why?” he asked, mostly because he couldn’t stand the silence.
“You weren’t meant to leave.” the God spoke, and the boy was relieved it was its own voice, not Chuuya’s. “You were meant to stay back and power me.” the thing gritted its teeth “You forced me to live for five years with scraps of life, of energy. I barely made it with the skin of my teeth in this mortal body” a smirk not meant for a human mouth appeared “And I will make sure to never have to again.”
Dazai wished to feel angry. He wished to feel scared. He wished for any emotion that would power him instead of the bone numbing helplessness and resignation.
He wished there was some part of him that would still fight back.
~O~
Fukuzawa was glad he had kept his promise to the boy and looked into the ancient gods. He was glad that he had talked to Lovecraft and that he had taken Natsume’s advice to put some dark magic detector.
Because he didn’t expect it to go off in the middle of the night.
~O~
There were knives and razor blades floating near his face. The mirror was no longer just a mirror but a portal. A gate. A door Dazai knew all too well what was behind it.
“Stand” his patron commanded. The knives got closer to his face.
“I can’t”
“You have just enough energy to crawl” there was pain and then blood staining his sleeve. “And you don’t need all your limbs for that.”
Dazai stood. His limbs protested but he kept going. The God wouldn’t touch him, because Dazai would absorb his power.
The boy was in front of the mirror and didn’t know what to do not to step in.
.
.
.
Fukuzawa didn’t enter with a bang. He didn’t slam the door and didn’t destroy it. But Dazai wouldn’t have noticed him even if he did.
He turned around and saw the man.
She saw him with murder in his eyes, and he saw him with his hand on that cursed blade.
He knew what the man intended and that was, perhaps, the only advantage he had over Arahabaki.
Dazai tackled him to the ground and grabbed his face, skin on skin so his curse could work.
Fukuzawa slammed the blade though the other’s shoulder.
Arahabaki’s scream was not human, and Dazai found that all too satisfying. But he wasn’t conscious much past that.
He wasn’t conscious for the way Fukuzawa slammed his sword into the open portal and sent the cursed soul of the god back to where it belonged.
He wasn’t conscious for the way the man sheathed his weapon, the one he swore to never use again and fell to his knees to breathe.
He wasn’t conscious for the way the man floated Chuuya and cradled him to his chest as he carried him out of the room.
~O~
The room was big and the windows were open. Wind was entering room and passing over the faces of the two boys. Neither of them were asleep, even though both pretended to.
“He’s gone” Chuuya said as he let his uninjured hand fall to the side.
Dazai let a lazy, relaxed smile crawl up his lips.
“I know” he whispered as his fingers found the other’s.