Chapter Text
The next time Atsushi goes to work, Akutagawa is glued to his side. The guard dog analogy drifts through Atsushi’s head once again as he locks his apartment door behind them, and feels Akutagawa stiffen as the door to apartment 187 swings open. Atsushi turns around, reaching for the newspapers Akutagawa reluctantly holds out to him, and gives a nod to his neighbor.
“Did you get a noise complaint yet?” Atsushi bristles, recalling the screaming match from the night previous. Kunikida leans against his doorframe, expression impassive as he looks from Atsushi to Akutagawa. Akutagawa averts his gaze, boring holes into the hallway floor.
“Did you get a boyfriend, finally?” He counters, and Atsushi doesn’t need to look at Akutagawa to know the man is now staring directly at him.
Atsushi purses his lips, and then opens his mouth to answer, but Akutagawa beats him to it.
“Yeah. I moved in last week.”
Atsushi snaps his mouth shut.
Kunikida chuckles, pushing his glasses back into place with a nod. He shares an intense look with Akutagawa, and Atsushi gets the feeling that there’s something he isn’t quite getting - especially when Akutagawa impatiently hums, grabbing one of Atsushi’s suspenders and snapping it against his shoulder.
“We should be going now. It was nice to finally meet the resident noise disturbance, though.”
“Right. Make sure that kid doesn’t push himself too hard, will ya? Don’t keep him up at night.”
Atsushi takes that comment as his opportunity to kick his legs into gear, taking quick steps towards the staircase. Akutagawa gives a dry laugh, lips quirking up into a polite smile as he waves and descends after Atsushi.
They both have a lot to mull over, but Atsushi shoves it all aside as he works his route, making small talk with Akutagawa as they walk. It isn’t until they both arrive home, Atsushi sliding his shoes off and stepping into the living room that he faces Akutagawa, takes a small breath,
“Why did you tell him we’re dating?”
Atsushi curses himself, curses the way the question comes out, curses the expression that crosses his not-boyfriend’s face - he freezes as well, mouth agape as he tries to find some excuse.
“We needed a cover story eventually,” is what he settles on, but his tone of voice is weak and unsure. Atsushi shakes his head.
“He gave us an opportunity to get one, so I took it,” he tries again.
“We could have settled on something else,” Atsushi starts, hands raising in exasperation when Akutagawa inevitably cuts him off, tries to save his own ass once again.
“I didn’t think you would have such a problem with it.” His eyes drop to Atsushi’s tie clip. Atsushi’s gaze follows, and he curses the tiny flag resting on his chest too.
“Well, I don’t, I just-”
“It sounds like you do.”
Atsushi inhales deeply, and Akutagawa’s eyes bore into him in response. Part of him thinks that the demon might actually be a sadist, maybe just a little, enough to torment him in small ways that make him want to pull his hair out.
“The problem,” Atsushi takes another breath, balls his fists,
“Is that you never tell me anything. You never...you never ask me what’s going on, and you take care of everything yourself--
“You’re hiding something from me, and cleaning up the mess you make by running me in circles!”
Atsushi’s voice bounces off the walls, silence swallowing the room after it’s faded to just another memory burned into both of their brains. Akutagawa’s staring at him again, eyes wide and swirling with emotion - looking at him like he’s hurt again - and Atsushi tears his gaze away for his own sake.
The pull on his head, the overwhelming feeling that he’s been here before, said these words before returns, and Atsushi drops himself down onto the couch with his head in his hands. A few moments pass, filled with more silence, overbearing silence as Akutagawa eventually seats himself down next to Atsushi.
He sighs, picking at a loose thread from his jeans. Twirling it between his fingers, drawing the red line out until he plucks it out and laughs. Atsushi watches him, watches the thread drop onto the floor, and watches as a wall crumbles right before him. Akutagawa frowns deeply, and it’s the most expressive he’s ever seen the man.
“It really isn’t that important, whatever you think I’m hiding.”
The wall begins to rebuild itself, and Atsushi wants to desperately claw at it, yell that it does matter when Akutagawa looks at him like he’s seen a ghost.
But something, or rather, someone beats him to it.
“I, for one, think communication is always important. Wouldn’t you agree, Atsushi-kun?”
Two heads whip around to face a third, nearly transparent and poking through the wall, beaming at the pair. Akutagawa makes a choked noise, Atsushi stares helplessly, and their new guest just..laughs.
He laughs, and laughs, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes until Akutagawa makes a grab for his hair, pure anger shining in his gaze. He just barely misses, a string of expletives leaving his lips as the head of brown hair pokes back where it came from.
Atsushi, still at a loss for words, just stares at the place the head had been. Blinks a few times, head cocking to the side as everything sinks in--
“You know him?” Atsushi notes that today seems to be filled with new things, new things that he didn’t really enjoy - from their argument to their peeping tom, and now the palpable rage that rolls off of Akutagawa in waves. He shoves himself up from the couch, and every hair on Atsushi’s body stands on edge as Akutagawa grabs him by the back of the shirt, hoists him up and basically drags him to the door.
“Wait, wait, wait, what are you--”
Atsushi’s arms windmill, voice pitched up in an exasperated whine as his hands make contact with the one holding him up, slapping it gently a few times. Akutagawa releases him finally, but only adjusts his grip to latch onto Atsushi’s wrist and continue dragging him out the door.
“We’re paying your neighbor and his friend a visit,” he seethes, and Atsushi resigns himself to being towed away.
Kunikida’s already waiting and opens the door as they approach, catching Akutagawa’s eye as he moves to the side, silently letting them in. Atsushi feels as if he’s entered a warzone, fists balling as he looks from the vein protruding out of Kunikida’s temple to the vice grip Akutagawa has on his wrist.
The same laugh from earlier, high and chaotic, drags him straight out of his panic - only to submerge him in another bout of confusion. As if he hasn’t had enough of that already. Akutagawa’s eyes are glued to their impromptu visitor as it floats about, returning the attention to the pair he’s disturbed.
“It seems the cat is out of the bag, wouldn’t you agree?”
Atsushi’s eyes follow the faded figure floating up towards Kunikida’s ceiling. At first he thinks the spirit is dragging a roll of toilet paper behind him in a lazy attempt to teepee the living room, but a closer look reveals that gauze hangs loose from each wrist. Something about the image feels familiar to him, like he should recognize the figure that is now smiling back down at him. His gaze is intense, filled with something bordering glee as he stares at Atsushi like he’s the only person in the room. A chill runs down his spine. Kunikida finally steps forward, head angled upward at the man in question.
“Dazai, enough.” He huffed, and that sense of familiarity washes over Atsushi once more. Dazai, Dazai...where has he heard that name before? Something akin to a growl sounds behind him, and he feels Akutagawa shift ever so slightly closer to his back. It seems Atsushi’s not the only one off-put by the poltergeist, as one look at the demon behind him reveals that he’s shifted back into his original form, tendrils and aura radiating malice. The hair on Atsushi’s neck stands up, and he releases an exasperated sigh. Leave it to him to get caught in some paranormal cat-fight.
“Enough? I’ve hardly done anything, Kunikida-kun!”
“Drifting into their apartment uninvited is nothing to you? How many times have we talked about this, Dazai? You almost sent the woman above us into an early grave when you decided-oh, hey, poking my empty, idiotic head through the floor is a wonderful idea!”
Kunikida’s voice rises to a shout, presumably to intimidate the troublemaker into submission...but does the exact opposite. Dazai’s smile only grows larger, hands clasping in front of him.
“Oh, but it was! Then I could have crossed into the light with a beautiful woman instead of waiting for you, Kunikida-kun!”
Atsushi gives the brunet a displeased look, backing closer to Akutagawa; who shifts back into his physical form in order to place a cold hand on Atsushi’s shoulder. The two other men in the room continue to bicker, causing a few stomps from the aforementioned woman above to shake the ceiling. At that, they pipe down.
“Anyone want to fill me in on what the hell is going on?” Atsushi finally speaks up, stepping out from Akutagawa’s grip.
The room remains silent save for Dazai’s incessant humming,clearly content at the situation he’s caused. Kunikida avoids Atsushi’s eyes, staring through the floor as Akutagawa had before.
The silence feels maddening. Atsushi drags his hands down his face, the heels of his palms pressing down as he tries to make any kind of sense as to what he’s gotten himself into. There has to be some sort of paranormal social media, or something, there’s no way that all of these spirits just show up like the building is a hotspot.
There’s no way that all of this is just a coincidence, as much as he wishes it was. Hands still over his face, he takes another deep breath.
“Does anyone want to fill me in on why I feel sick with nostalgia when I look at Akutagawa? Or why Dazai knew my name before I even met him?
“Does anyone want to clue me in on why I suddenly have every paranormal being in the book attached to my hip?” He laughs, bitterly, and then drops his hands from his face.
Dazai nods, and floats down to the floor. When his feet touch the ground, his body becomes fully visible, bandages now tucked neatly away under layers of clothing. When he moves, his coat drags just barely against the floor, and Akutagawa instinctively takes a step forward as well.
“Easy now, hound,” Dazai’s hands splay out in front of him before making themselves at home in the pockets of his pants.
Atsushi has half a mind to laugh at the name, the absurdity of how everything fits together like a puzzle, but there’s no room to laugh at his own misfortune once Dazai speaks again.
“Since no one else will take the initiative, I guess I’ll have to,” he begins, lazily dragging his feet as he sidles up next to Kunikida. A slender hand slaps itself onto his shoulder, and Kunikida sighs in defeat.
“This big guy will be able to explain it easier than I will, though.”
When Kunikida doesn’t answer, Dazai tightens his grip on the man’s shoulder just enough to be noticable.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Akutagawa breaks his silence from next to Atsushi, voice low.
“Wasn’t the whole point to keep him in the dark? You already messed this up once,” he nods to Dazai, who simply shrugs.
“We can’t keep him in the dark forever, regardless of my track record. He already caught on, and faster than Chuuya ever did.”
Atsushi’s head spins with new information, scattered and not completely legible. Dazai clears his throat.
“Say, do you believe in past lives?”