Chapter Text
Atsushi blinks.
The sight in front of him doesn’t change, so he blinks again.
It still doesn’t change.
So he does the next best thing. He retreats to his room and hides behind his door, peeking out from a very slim margin, before he calls out: “Are you now part of the Agency, Chuuya-san?”
Atsushi’s voice is loud enough to carry to the two people loitering in front of Dazai-san’s doorway. Atsushi doesn’t use his Ability on his ears so he can hear whatever they’re talking about, but even without the assistance of the tiger, he’s able to hear Chuuya-san smack Dazai-san, hard.
“Haaaaa?! What kind of question is that?!”
“Um, a curious one?” Atsushi doesn’t quite trust the volatile mafioso to not punt him to the moon, so he stays behind his door. He’s going to be late at this rate, but Kunikida-san is surely not that unreasonable to not let this tardiness go. “Uhh, I’m sorry if I’m wrong!”
“Damn right, you’re wrong!”
“Chuuya, you’re spouting nonsense, did you forget how to speak ‘human’ again?”
“I’ll show you nonsense!”
There’s a sound of enthusiastic kicking, followed by Dazai-san’s plaintive moans about domestic abuse.
Atsushi wonders why Chuuya-san is coming out of Dazai-san’s dorm room so early in the morning, if he’s not going to be a part of the Agency…
⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆
Atsushi doesn’t quite forget about the encounter, but it definitely leaves the forefront of his mind. He’s reminded about it when four days later, he’s walking back home with Kyouka-chan when he bumps into Chuuya-san on their way back to the dorm.
Contrary to her reaction to virtually any other member of the Port Mafia, Kyouka-chan actually doesn’t flinch upon seeing the Port Mafia Executive. She actually offers a bow and a shy wave, something that Chuuya-san returns warmly. It makes Atsushi think that it’s really just Akutagawa’s resting bitch face that scares Kyouka-chan off (oh, and all the murders, all the emotional manipulation, all the harsh words, but really, resting bitch face).
“Erm, good afternoon, Chuuya-san.”
“Atsushi, right?” Chuuya-san rubs the back of his neck, as though he’s embarrassed. “Good afternoon to you too. Same to you, Kyouka.”
“…Dazai-san still has to finish a report.” Kyouka-chan speaks up, still a bit shy, but definitely confident about her news. “He’s being guarded by Kunikida-san and Yosano-san so he can’t escape.”
“That bandage-wasting-device…” Chuuya-san whips out his phone and punches an angry text message on it. “I told him to stop texting me and focus! He’s being irresponsible again!”
It’s a strange feeling to hear a member of another organization complain about Dazai-san. But then again, Chuuya-san is not just anyone, is he?
“Do you want to have dinner with us instead, Chuuya-san?”
Chuuya-san looks at him with laser-like focus. Dazai-san’s always prattling about how Chuuya-san’s this vertically-challenged, alcoholic, super-gullible, gravity-manipulator, ex-partner of his – but Dazai-san has neglected to mention the fact that Chuuya-san’s stare feels like a whole other dimension of Ability. Atsushi feels like he’s being dissected on the spot; it makes him a little hot under his collar, unused to such attention. But then Chuuya-san seems to have deemed his offer acceptable, because he looks away with a little smile on his face. He’s texting someone, then he brings the phone up to his ear, requesting for two additional reservations.
“Dinner’s on me,” is what Chuuya-san says after his phone call. Before Atsushi can cheer about his wallet getting breathing space for the day, there’s a black car that stops on the nearby road. Chuuya-san gestures for the two of them to get in. Atsushi cheers about getting chauffeured in a sleek limousine.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆
Atsushi and Kyouka-chan enjoy the entire dinner, even if they’re both more partial to the dessert portion of the meal. As expected of Chuuya-san, he’s able to reserve a private room in a high-class, high-rise, hotel restaurant easily. As expected of Chuuya-san, he’s also sly like Dazai-san in inviting Akutagawa to join them in the restaurant, disguising it as a mission that he has to clear to get acknowledgement.
“You’re here as that Dazai’s replacement,” Chuuya-san says, the moment Akutagawa comes in and gets overcome by a constipated expression at the sight of Atsushi. “You can’t run away.”
It’s a surefire combo of getting Akutagawa to mash his teeth together and snarl, as he stays put and actually takes the seat beside Chuuya-san. It’s such an amazing technique, because Akutagawa’s ‘jinko’ even sounds cute, like he’s a tomcat that’s been sprayed with a hose beforehand. Chuuya-san doesn’t seem to find it that amazing, because he doesn’t even gloat about his success at getting Akutagawa to behave. It’s such a strange behavior and Atsushi wonders, not for the first time, about the other man’s real ability. Managing to survive Dazai-san and enforcing Akutagawa’s social niceties and being on first-name basis with all of the restaurant staff so far—it’s too amazing.
“Chuuya-san, please teach me your ways.”
“…You. I’ve always thought that people from the Agency are touched in the head,” Chuuya-san says with a shake of his head. “But you seem to be the most sensible of them all. I like you, kid.”
“I like you too, Chuuya-san!”
“JINKO!”
Atsushi wags a finger, enjoying the upper-hand. “I’m more well-liked by senpais than you, take that, Akutagawa!”
“You fool,” Akutagawa spits at him, Rashomon springing up and acting like some hyperactive radar antenna, the elongated tip with some caricature of a face spinning above them, as though to detect intruders. “You just signed your death wish.”
Kyouka-chan is usually the first to spring to Atsushi’s defense (which is nice and all, but it sometimes makes Atsushi feel a bit guilty and inadequate), but now, she’s busy sampling all of the desserts. She doesn’t even flinch at Akutagawa’s words, so she must be aware of that so-called ‘death wish’ already.
Atsushi keeps the smile on his face, emboldened by the fact that Chuuya-san seems to be observing how he deals with Akutagawa. “You… Really, you shouldn’t be so quick to—”
But then the door to their private room bangs open, the lights from the chandelier above their table suddenly shutting off. It doesn’t quite succeed in plunging the room in total darkness, because there are still a couple of lights lining the walls, but it does make for a grand entrance. Kyouka-chan shifts so that she’s hovering protectively over her desserts, Rashomon forms a mini-dome around Akutagawa, and Chuuya-san’s smiling like he’s amused-disgruntled-pleased.
“Atsushi-kun~~~♪” Comes the singsong from their intruder, a deadly smile on his face. “Did I hear that right~~~?♫”
Atsushi feels sweat forming on his temples. “…uh, hi, Dazai-san?”
“Did you just confess your love to this petite mafia over here~~~?♬”
Akutagawa makes a gesture, a cutting motion across his throat. Atsushi can’t even find time to glare at him, for not warning him about this insanity ahead of time.
It’s too late though, because Dazai-san’s coming over and draping his arms around Chuuya-san, as though he’s a kid who’s tugging his life-sized teddy bear close to him, away from all the cooties of his classmates. “As your senpai, I can’t allow you to make such tragic life choices!”
“Oi, there’s nothing tragic about confessing to me!”
“So he did confess to you?!”
“I did not confess!”
Dazai-san is cuddling Chuuya-san to his chest, and he’s practically inhaling the reddish curls, but he still manages to look terrifying, even though it’s just his eyes that are visible from his angle. “Are you saying that you don’t like Chuuya then?”
Atsushi feels his brain short-circuit. What even is the right answer?! If he says ‘yes’, then he has a feeling he’ll go back to his dorm and find out that he’s been reserved a slot at the bottom of Yokohama Bay. If he says ‘no’, then he has a feeling he’ll not even have the chance to go back to his dorm. Oh god, he still has so much chazuke and so much food that he wants to experience!
Because Chuuya-san is amazing though, he comes to his rescue, by headbutting Dazai-san’s chin. “Stupid octopus fucker, stop being a good-for-nothing bastard and don’t fucking scare your kouhai!”
It’s very strange though, because despite the harsh words, Chuuya-san is smiling rather indulgently.
…Huh.
He must really like Dazai-san, to not only put up with this, but also enjoy their time together.
It escapes Atsushi’s lips rather easily, because it’s a pure, honest observation: “Chuuya-san really is amazing.”
There’s the sound of Akutagawa face-palming, and then—
Dazai-san, with a smile that can make hardened prisoners pee their pants: “At~su~shi~kun~~~♪”
Followed by Chuuya-san smacking his arm with enough force to make Dazai-san stumble towards Akutagawa (Rashomon reacting admirably quickly; Akutagawa’s grateful nod towards him isn’t admirable at all).
“Behave in front of the kids, damn it.”
“Ah, Chuuya!!!” Dazai-san claps his hands together, his eyes shining. “Do I need to update our family register to add these three kids?”
“…our family register?!”
Dazai-san continues, “But isn’t that too cruel to the budding romance between Akutagawa-kun and Atsushi-kun?”
“There’s no budding romance, please go ahead and add me to the register,” Akutagawa says quickly, too quickly, without pausing to cough or breathe.
“…again, our family register?!”
While Chuuya-san’s stuck at that part, Atsushi’s more concerned with: “Budding romance?!”
“…so you’ll be my new family?” Kyouka-chan asks, considers it for a moment, before nodding in acceptance. “Chuuya-okaasan. …Dazai-san.”
“Why am I the mother?! But good for you, Kyouka, this guy’s not worthy of being anyone’s father at all.”
“But just the other night, you called me dad—”
Dazai-san doesn’t manage to finish his sentence, for he’s sent flying out of the room with one well-aimed punch.
“NOT IN FRONT OF THE KIDS!”
Still—Chuuya-san, despite his exclamation, and despite the fact that he just sent Dazai-san flying by a couple of meters, looks quite happy. Atsushi thinks that it won’t be so bad, having this as a family.
(Even if—budding romance?!)