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“Ningen Shikaku.”
Dazai frowns at his two protégés after nullifying their Abilities. They were supposed to be training together to fight against the Rats; they ended up fighting each other. He doesn’t know what triggered it but Akutagawa looked as if he had seen something on the ground before he suddenly snapped…
“Are you two soulmates?”
Before Dazai can question them any further, Akutagawa excuses himself. Dazai looks at Atsushi pointedly.
“You must have known the moment you met.”
“And the first thing he did was try to kill me, Dazai-san,” Atsushi says as he stands up.
He looks furious and Dazai knows exactly why. For Atsushi, meeting his soulmate must have been the one thing that made him think he was worthy to live. He had probably held on to the hope that someone out there loves him and then it turned out to be Akutagawa.
Not exactly the best surprise.
“He saw the red thread lying on the ground. He saw that ours were connected and he still took my leg.”
Dazai laughs. “Typical Akutagawa-kun.”
“What?”
“He never did believe in such things, Atsushi-kun.”
“How about you, Dazai-san?”
Dazai stares at his tangled and knotted thread, a mangled fishnet. Compared to his, Atsushi’s looks pristine despite the tiny knots here and there. Footsteps approach and Dazai looks up to meet sky blue eyes. His eyes fall to the string wrapped around Chuuya’s finger, stretched thin from where the redhead had tried to rip it apart.
“I do,” Dazai says simply. “You need to talk to Akutagawa-kun.”
Chuuya shoves a disgruntled Akutagawa into the room and stalks out. Dazai follows after the trail of red string he leaves behind. Once the door shuts behind him, Akutagawa glares at Atsushi.
“Tch.”
Atsushi tries to swallow his anger. He takes a deep breath before he walks right up to Akutagawa. It takes everything in him to glare into the other man’s eyes. He’s not afraid of him; he’s afraid of what he’ll see reflected in those black orbs.
“Akutagawa, I know why you hate me. I hate myself too. You think I don’t deserve Dazai-san’s attention? I don’t too. But somehow, for some reason, he thinks I’m worth putting this much effort into, and he thinks that I’m worthy to be your partner. I know you don’t think I am. I don’t either! But it has come to this so can we just ignore the fact that there’s this red string tying us together and just do our job?”
Atsushi steps away the moment he finishes but is pulled back by Akutagawa.
“Ignore it?” Akutagawa hisses. He grabs the red thread and yanks on it, causing Atsushi to stumble into his chest though Rashoumon stops him before he can touch Akutagawa. “How? It’s right here! It’s like a parasite.”
Atsushi stumbles backwards, the words hurting more than he thought possible. He doesn’t care about Akutagawa’s opinion… does he? He misses the look of concern flashing in Akutagawa’s eyes.
“Jinko, I…”
Atsushi chuckles dryly. “What? What else do you have to say, Akutagawa?”
Akutagawa’s eyes flash and he steps forward. “Stop acting as if you’re a victim in this, Jinko! You hate it as much as I do!”
“I don’t,” Atsushi says simply. “I really don’t. Sure I hated you initially. You’re so powerful and yet you couldn't see that. I hated how you weren’t content with your talent and skills. I hated how you kept coming after me and, most of all, I hated the things you said to me. But…”
“But?”
“But then I realised that we’re the same. You hate yourself. I hate myself too. And since both fate and Dazai-san put us together… well, there must be a reason for that, don’t you think?”
Akutagawa remains resolutely silent.
“You probably think I’m dumb, but, no, wait, you do think I’m dumb so this doesn't make a difference anyway, but I think that maybe we’re supposed to save each other.”
Akutagawa scoffs. “From what?”
“From ourselves.”
Akutagawa’s breath hitches and he growls lowly in his throat. Atsushi sighs as he starts to walk away.
“I’m trying here, Akutagawa, but I can’t keep doing this. You want to go back to pretending this string doesn't exist? Fine, but just remember that I at least tried.”
Rashoumon wraps around Atsushi’s arm, halting his movements.
“I never said that I wouldn't try, Jinko,” Akutagawa hisses. “Don’t you dare walk out of here all righteous.”
Atsushi tries not to smile as he turns around. “So are you saying that you’re in this?”
“I’m saying that I’m not a failure who gives up before trying!” Akutagawa snaps. “And I’ll show you who’s better at this, Jinko.”
Atsushi rolls his eyes. Of course Akutagawa would make everything into a competition. And Atsushi doubts he even knows what his last statement sounds like. It’d be awfully romantic, if it weren’t Akutagawa who uttered those words.
But Atsushi’s eyes soften when he sees the struggle on Akutagawa’s face. It must be hard for Akutagawa to be connected to someone whom he despises so much. Atsushi makes a promise to himself that even if he ends up sinking, he’ll still try his best to save Akutagawa. Better one than none at all.
“Well, let’s get back to training,” Atsushi says with a smile. He thinks about patting Akutagawa’s shoulder as he passes him but thinks better of it; it’s probably too early for that.
Akutagawa doesn't move as he continues to stare at the door. He mumbles something.
“I can’t hear you.”
“I said,” Akutagawa growls as he turns around. Atsushi sees the slight hesitance in his eyes before Akutagawa looks away. “I don’t hate you, Jinko.”
Atsushi’s eyes widen before a smile blossoms on his face. “Thank you, Akutagawa.”
Akutagawa merely scoffs.
Outside the room, Chuuya raises an eyebrow at Dazai and asks, “did you plan this?” at the same time Dazai says, “all according to plan.”
He smirks at Chuuya and the Executive rolls his eyes.