Chapter Text
They all felt the same about family. They didn’t hate each other. They all got along relatively well, and maybe even enjoyed each other's presence, but it was always a difficult topic for them. They never felt truly like a family. It seemed Mori was their only common ground. And they hated that. But they all also hated their father, so maybe he wasn’t the only thing they all had in common. And really, the only one who had any actual blood connection to him was Elise.
“Ah, wonderful,” Mori greeted, “thank you, my children, for getting ready and coming down here so quickly!” Mori called all of them down, and had them get ready as quickly as possible. He claimed to have something important to say.
He allowed them to eat breakfast as he spoke, although Kyu was just playing with their food with a very bored expression. He sat at the very end of the table, Elise and Dazai preoccupying either side of him, while Yosano sat next to Elise, and Kyu next to Dazai, farthest from him. They all gave him their undivided, although reluctant, attention.
He cleared his throat, “now, children, I will be away on a business trip, the obligation of being a mafia boss. Yosano-kun will be in charge of the house, while Dazai-kun will take up my duties here in Yokohama.”
Dazai paused as he had a chopstick full of rice held halfway up to his mouth, before dropping it back into his bowl and nodding curtly, Yosano and the younger children gave no reaction.
“About me, I’ll be going too, Rintarou?”
Mori smiled and nodded at his youngest, (and favorite) child, “of course you will, Elise-Chan.” Said girl hummed in response, before going back to silently eating her food.
After they had finished, Mori pulled Elise up to her room to finish getting packed, leaving Kyu, Yosano, and Dazai to clean up. As always. Dazai was doing the dishes while Yosano and Kyu cleaned up the table.
It was peaceful, and quiet. When they were done, Mori and Elise were already at the door holding only a few bags, with two men in black suits carrying most of their stuff. They said their goodbyes for now before walking out, into a large black car. Yosano slammed the door shut, before sighing.
“Alright, let’s get those bitches of chores done,” her two younger siblings nodded in agreement. Some people, perhaps, may think this is child labor. Having just these kids clean up a house so big? Preposterous. If they were so rich, why didn’t they just have maids and servants? But they’d scoff at that. It would feel even more preposterous to let a stranger into their home. Someone who hasn’t lived here their whole life, and understands the supposed wonders of this accursed house.
Just the thought of having a foreign person who didn’t live in their home there, invited over to clean..to be intimate with this very building.. no. Just..no. It just felt wrong.
No one was ever allowed here. No one ever wanted to be here.
No, it was a job for only those who resided there. And although they abhorred it, they were resigned to it. Plus, Mori couldn’t do it, he was always so busy.
The day went on pretty dryly. (Read: they did absolutely nothing), and were bored the whole day. There was really nothing to do around the house, other than cleaning, and going over schoolwork (which they hated,) and such. Yosano went around the house, placing sticky notes all over the extra doors, like she would usually when it was her turn to count them. Because goddamn it, Dazai never did anything to mark them.
Speaking of, he actually had something to do. He was at the Port Mafia Headquarters, figuring out the state of affairs, as he would be in charge of manning it in Yokohama while Mori was gone on whatever his business trip was.
Yosano was placing a sticky note on one door, huffing, when she heard it. Wailing. Yosano went to check it out, it was coming from a room. But, wasn’t she in this area earlier?
She looked around, and yes, she was there before. She marked the doors earlier, but as she ran her hands over the wood, she tried recalling seeing this door earlier; but she doesn’t remember. She knows this isn’t a normal door, but she was here before, and she wouldn’t have missed it. The wailing grew louder, and louder. She stared at the door for one hesitant second, before just slapping a sticky note on it and calling it a day. It was.. strange , to say the least. Doors never showed up this late, always either early in the morning, or late at night.
She pondered whether she should tell Mori or Dazai about this, but she quickly shot down that idea. Dazai would be too busy and preoccupied taking over Mori’s duties for the week Mori would be gone. And for Mori: first of all, he was away on a business trip. Second of all, they all detest just speaking to him. And should they confide anything to him? Oh, how ridiculous. Especially since it didn’t seem like such a big deal at the moment.. oh, she would regret that line of thought.
So she just left it alone. Perhaps it was nothing, and she was simply overthinking it. Who knew? She definitely didn’t, or else she wouldn’t be in this predicament.
She ignored the giggles and pitter-patter of the little, transparent children running by.
That was the last task, and she decided to give herself a break for the day. She had absolutely no idea what to do. She was bored. She would go out, but she didn’t feel like leaving Kyu alone, so she just put something on the TV, and allowed it to play as background noise while she tried to take a nap on the couch. The wailing stopped, but it continued playing in her head, and the thought of what might be in there never left her mind. She stared blankly at the vaulted roof as she tried to drift off. She remembered when they were kids, her, Dazai, and the one person who ever dared to enter their house would go up there. It was a breath of fresh air, and one of the most peaceful parts of their house. They never had to worry about any of the unorthodoxy of their ‘home.’ Or any stress that may come with.
Not too long later, Kyu came to her asking for food, so she worked on making dinner. Dazai came home soon after, as she and Kyu finished. Dazai claimed he would go to bed and eat later, but Yosano wouldn’t have it, knowing he probably wouldn’t even eat at all and that he probably hadn't eaten since breakfast.
As Dazai scarfed down the ramen Yosano put together, she tried engaging him in small-talk.
“So, what’s the current state of affairs with the mafia?”
“Nothing much, strangely. A few nuisances, and small-gangs with the audacity to try and oppose the mafia, but nothing really big,” he replied, mundanely. There was a pause before he continued, “It’s.. unsettling, to say the least.” He had a more disconcerted expression, now. Yosano hummed in response, cocking her head. The mafia was never dull, there was always something going on. Something important to deal with. It makes Yosano wonder if something bigger is going on, or will happen, but knowing Mori and Dazai, if there was, they’d probably have it figured out.
Yosano watched Dazai finish eating, and they tidied up the table together afterwards, electing to just deal with the dishes in the morning. So they both went upstairs, put Kyu to bed, did a triple check on the house and all the doors, before promptly going to sleep. Effectively ending the day, and dreading the next one.