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They were just talking on the phone. At first it was about Port Mafia business, but it had become more casual. It was a simple conversation; however, it was out of the ordinary for them: after all, they weren’t arguing, for once.
The chat was interrupted for a moment by a slight cough on Chuuya’s end.
They continued with the conversation, a few more coughs scattered in. A few turned into a lot, and the coughs started to get worse.
”Are you sick or something?” Dazai’s voice came muffled through the phone. ”Have you been spending too much time around Akutagawa?” He joked, but Chuuya didn’t laugh.
“No, I just-“ Cough. “-there’s just something in my throat,” Chuuya replied, trying to muffle his coughs with his arm.
”Whatever you say. Just don’t die,” Dazai’s voice was indifferent.
The coughing only continued to worsen. Between coughs, Chuuya uttered an “I should go” and hung up.
He got up and headed towards his bathroom, stumbling over himself. What the fuck is going on? He hunched over the sink, coughing profusely.
And then, in a moment, it was over.
Glancing down at the sink, he saw red splotches. Maybe it’s blood from using Corruption, he thought, but it wasn’t just blood that he had coughed up. He reached in to grab the object.
A single petal of a red camellia.
—
How the hell did I cough up a goddamn flower?
Chuuya’s face expressed frustration as he opened the door to his office. This expression sunk further as he saw the scene inside.
Dazai was seated on top of Chuuya’s desk, whistling some bothersome tune as he swung his legs. Clad in his usual black along with excessive bangages, he seemed especially jolly.
Chuuya coughed. “Get off my desk, asshole,” he commanded, crossing his arms as the door closed behind him. “What are you doing in here?” He coughed again.
“I don’t even get a proper greeting? You’re so mean to me, Chuuya! First you hang up on me, and now you don’t even give me the time of day?” Dazai feigned sadness, dramatically exaggerating his mannerisms.
Chuuya huffed. “Hello, Dazai,” he reluctantly greeted, coughing quietly once more. For a moment, he wondered why he always gave in to Dazai’s dramatics and ridiculous requests, but it was only a fleeting thought. “...are you going to tell me your deal, or what?”
“A Double Black assignment,” Dazai held up a file. “Fun, right?” He smirked, holding it out of the short redhead’s reach as he tried to grab for it. “But we can’t accept it if you’re too sick, you know?”
Chuuya groaned. “I’m not. A cough is nothing. Let me see it,” he demanded; however, his aggressive stance was interrupted by another, harsher cough.
“Okay.” Dazai dropped the file on the floor, and finally stepped off of Chuuya’s desk. He began talking as Chuuya reached down to pick it up. “The boss wants us to get rid of that group that’s been trying to mess with us lately. He told me that ‘they’re just getting annoying.’”
“Doesn’t he have anything better for us to do?” Chuuya scoffed, opening the file to read it closer. Another cough. “Whatever, this should be easy.”
Dazai nodded. “The group has a tip about a Port Mafia outpost. They’re expecting to be able to take out a fair amount of operatives with a sneak attack,” he said with a shrug. “Well, we’ll be waiting for them.”
With a cough, Chuuya looked up at Dazai. “So what, we’re just going to sit there and wait for them to come to us? Ugh, and I have to be there with you...” he grumbled, coughing again.
“What, you don’t value the important partner bonding time we’ll be getting?” Dazai smirked, but it quickly turned to an exaggerated frown. “Honestly, I understand. I hate being around you, too.” While he spoke, Chuuya’s coughing turned into a slight fit, almost to the point where Chuuya may not have heard Dazai’s statement. Dazai seemed to pay no mind to this. “Anyway, I guess it’s also important to mention that this group has an ability user in their midst. There may be more, but we know that their leader is able to take energy from others to strengthen himself.”
“Oh yeah?” Chuuya coughed again. “Cool.”
“Well then. Go ahead and finish clearing your throat, we’re leaving soon,” Dazai explained, then left the room.
Chuuya felt his eyes lingering on the door for a moment too long, but was snapped out of it by another cough. As he returned to reading the file, he got distracted thinking that maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to be able to hang out with Dazai for a few hours. Maybe he didn’t mean it when he groaned about having to be with Dazai.
Maybe we do need partner bonding time.
His train of thought was interrupted by another sudden coughing fit. Not wanting to disturb others, he covered his mouth with his hand to muffle it as the coughs got harsher and coarser, and then it was over.
He pulled his hand away. In it sat 3 petals of a red camellia.
—
In typical fashion, they just so happened to be in the woods, in a remote cabin. It almost felt too corny to be a believable outpost for the Port Mafia, of all things, but the nearby trade route was likely what sold it.
“How long do we have to wait, again?” Chuuya sighed, glancing around the cabin as they entered. It was quite small; just a kitchen and a lounge area, as well as two doors which he could only assume led to a bathroom and a bedroom. He coughed.
“However long it takes them to show up. Likely a few hours or so, I’d say,” Dazai shrugged, hanging up his coat. “Don’t really feel like waiting, but at least we can finally deal with this annoying group...” he let out a sigh, subtly cracked his knuckles, and immediately lounged on the couch.
Hanging up his hat, Chuuya meant to reply, but he just muttered a “mhm” through his coughs. It wasn’t like he had much to say; anyway, he trusted Dazai’s prediction.
Without much else to do, Chuuya took a quick tour of the cabin. He found that his suspicions about the bathroom and the bedroom were correct. What he wasn’t expecting was to find some food in the fridge. How considerate, he thought rather sarcastically.
Now bored, Chuuya sat down at the small table in the kitchen, resting his legs on top of it. There really wasn’t anything to do here besides make conversation with his partner —
Now draped across the couch, the brunet was sound asleep. Strangely, Chuuya smiled softly at this sight. It wasn’t one he saw often.
A menacing mafia executive, huh...it’s funny how peaceful he looks when he’s asleep...
The fond moment was abruptly cut short with Chuuya’s coughing starting up again, now more violently than before. He stepped out of the chair, coughing more roughly as he walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He collapsed on the floor, and for a while, things were blurry. He couldn’t think; all he could do was cough, and cough, and cough,
There was a knock at the door.
“You’re making a lot of noise.” Dazai’s voice. Of course. It was no surprise that he’d woken up.
Chuuya slammed his foot against the door, causing it to rumble loudly. “Fuck off, you bastard,” he yelled, but his voice was strained. When there was no response, he finally looked down at the floor around him.
It was blanketed in red camellia petals. There were far too many to count; a huge amplification from the last few times.
Stillness filled the air as he continued to sit and stare. Why is this happening to me? he wondered, but deep inside, he knew the answer to his question.
He finally stood up and brushed himself off, quickly cleaning up the petals and flushing them(an easy feat with his ability, it seemed). Before stepping out of the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror.
He looked like complete shit, but he couldn’t find a reason to care.
Chuuya finally stepped out of the bathroom, half expecting Dazai to say something again — but he didn’t. Dazai’s back was turned; it appeared that he was too invested in some book to notice.
Of course. I shouldn’t have expected anything different, that asshole, Chuuya thought as he retreated to the bedroom.
As the door shut, Dazai glanced over his shoulder at the space Chuuya had just occupied, and simply sighed.
—
Chuuya laid down on the bed with a huff, staring at the ceiling. He had a stinging feeling that he was running away, and that the petals he continued to cough up were a grim reminder of something, something that continued to catch up to him. He just didn’t want to admit to it.
But, just a second before he closed his eyes and drifted off into unconsciousness, a moment of clarity:
He was hopelessly in love with Dazai Osamu, and his feelings would never be returned.
—
“Man, sick Chuuya is so boring and distant!” Dazai groaned, stretching his head back directly behind him to see a sleepy Chuuya emerging from his nap. “Come on, I can tell you’ve been avoiding me this whole time, you know.”
“Maybe I just don’t want to talk to you,” Chuuya rolled his eyes, but sat down on the other end of the couch anyway, resting his elbow on the arm.
“I’m sure you don’t,” Dazai laughed, watching as Chuuya sat down.
Chuuya just coughed.
“I have a question for you.” Dazai stretched his legs out across the couch, resting his feet on Chuuya. Chuuya tried to say something in protest, but Dazai kept talking. “Do you trust me, Chuuya?”
Chuuya paused his attempt to push Dazai’s legs away for a moment. Of all things he was expecting, that question was the last. “Well...yeah, I guess so. You’re my partner, I have to trust you, even if I hate you,” he suggested, scratching the back of his head. “Why are you asking me that?” He coughed quietly.
“That’s a shit reason to trust someone,” Dazai stated bluntly, looking at Chuuya blankly. “Why do you actually trust me?”
“Huh? You avoided my question!” Chuuya furrowed his brows, looking at Dazai with a frustrated expression. Before thinking of an answer, he coughed again. “Well, I guess it’s because...” Cough. “I don’t know, you’ve always got my back, I’ve got yours,” Cough. “and we’ve been partners for a long time —“
Just as Chuuya started becoming a little bit genuine, he was interrupted. “Oh, they’re here,” Dazai glanced towards the window.
“What? How do you know?”
“Ah, there was a little detail I forgot to tell Chuuya...” Dazai went on, ignoring the redhead completely.
“Huh?”
“The tip that pesky group got about this place... apparently told them that the boss would be here. I didn’t tell Chuuya because —“
Chuuya’s face felt hot and quickly turned angry. “You mean to fucking tell me that they’re going to storm in prepared to take down the boss?”
“—I wanted to see the look on his face. Oh, look, I made the little man mad,” Dazai smirked.
“Oh, fuck off, you walking bandage ad-!” Chuuya got up off the couch, grabbing his hat off from where it was hanging and putting it on his head. “I fucking hate you, dumbass! We’re going to be outnumbered, you know that?”
There was silence as the tension in the room started to die down. Once the mood became neutral, Dazai appeared next to Chuuya, taking his coat down and draping it over his shoulders. “I trust you too, Chuuya.”
“Yeah?” Chuuya felt a warmth in his chest, but before he could embrace it, he coughed once again.
—
Outside, the rustle of leaves signaled the arrival of the group. They sat in wait, preparing to move in and strike.
Dazai stepped out of the cabin in a cheerful manner, and there was a pep in his step as he walked away from it.
”That’s one of the Port Mafia’s executives. The boss must be inside, I’ll bet,” a voice crackled over earpiece radios throughout the bushes.
Dazai smirked, putting his hands in his pockets.
”There are executives here? We weren’t told about that. This seems dangerous.”
”Don’t worry, we’re prepared to deal with this. Proceed as normal, get ready to shoot.”
”You don’t think it’s weird that he’s just standing there?”
”Whatever the reason, he’s unprotected. On my count, 3, 2, 1,”
The sounds of gunfire reverberated through the forest.
“Fuck you,” Chuuya groaned as he let the bullets all drop to the ground. “That was the worst plan I’ve ever seen! What if I didn’t stop the bullets from hitting you?”
Dazai just laughed. “Did you already forget? We just talked about trust.”
Footsoldiers from the opposing group emerged from the forest around them, some of them shooting more in futile attempt to assassinate the two; Chuuya would never let that happen. Manipulating bullets was nothing with his ability. He shot them straight back, crippling a few of the soldiers.
“Okay, genius, what’s the next phase of your plan here? There’s a lot of these motherfuckers,” Chuuya yelled over the chaos, standing with his fists at ready. It seemed that the firing had stopped as the duo was surrounded.
“Hmm...I don’t know. Just do what we always do.” Chuuya could feel Dazai’s smirk and he didn’t even have to look at his face.
Dazai then ducked, and Chuuya used his back as a springboard to kick the nearest enemy in the face. It should have been enough to at least remove whoever it was from the fight, but the victim stood up like normal.
He was dressed quite differently than the rest of the soldiers; in a long blue coat and a long fitted shirt. Next to him floated what appeared to be a fish made out of water. Chuuya looked confused at how this guy had gotten up from a blow like that. Looking over his shoulder, he now noticed that he, too, had a much smaller water-fish floating near his head.
“What-“ Chuuya tried to swat it away, but it stayed.
“Found the ability user,” Dazai smiled. “...I guess he’ll be able to take your energy if you touch him...Well, it won’t affect me, anyway.”
Chuuya heard Dazai crack his knuckles. The firing from around them started up again, and Chuuya, of course, had to be the one to deal with it while Dazai was busy distracting the ability user.
The ability user simply stood there, seeming to wait for Dazai to make the first move. Feeling invited, Dazai simply walked up and touched him on the shoulder. No Longer Human was activated, and the fish that was following Chuuya vanished. “That’s a bit unfair, don’t you think?” Dazai asked with a smile.
All the while, Chuuya still had to continue doing what he could to take out as many people as he could, but the waves of men kept coming. He couldn’t keep up.
“An ability nullifier?” The ability user hardly seemed surprised. He just used the opportunity to then punch Dazai in the face. “I see how it is.”
Dazai smiled, as if he expected this to happen. He glanced back at Chuuya, who seemed to be getting overwhelmed by the amount of reinforcements being brought in. Chuuya returned the look, and within that momentary glance they shared, an unspoken understanding occurred.
Chuuya swiftly pulled off his gloves.
Grantors of dark disgrace,
you need not wake me again.
Red marks swirled around Chuuya’s body. His hat flew off of his head as a crater formed around where he had stood. In his hand a gravity pocket formed and began consuming what was around it, haphazardly tossing it at random.
While the ability user was distracted with Chuuya, Dazai swept under his feet and pulled him into a chokehold, pressing the barrel of a gun against his forehead. “This was never a fair fight,” Dazai whispered, his voice quite emotionless.
Chuuya had continued causing havoc at the scene. The soldiers attempted to shoot at him; however, their efforts were futile, as the bullets were simply pulled in by the gravity pockets and thrown right back.
Dazai, now with the hostage of the ability user as his meat shield, was able to observe Chuuya’s rage quite clearly.
As was usual when he used corruption, Chuuya was coughing and yelling, but because of his behavior as of recent, Dazai had become intrigued. He was sure to pay close attention whenever the redhead coughed, and soon enough, he got his answer:
Whenever Chuuya coughed, he would cough up flower petals.
Soon enough, the destruction caused by Chuuya’s ability had either crippled the enemy forces or caused them to retreat. “Well, that’s that-“ Dazai began, but was interrupted by a coldness pushed up against his thigh.
Click. Click.
“What?” The ability user’s voice was quiet and hoarse. “How-“
Dazai held up 6 bullets. “Missing something?” He spoke with a hint of cynicism as a smirk crossed his face.
A look of dread fell upon the ability user, realizing his last line of defending himself had been taken. “Shit,” he mumbled, and Dazai pressed the barrel of his own gun further into the ability user’s head.
“That’s too bad,” Dazai whispered once again. The gun clicked. “If you’ll excuse me, I should probably stop my partner from killing himself,” he started, “Tragic that you had to live your life as an annoyance.”
The gunshot echoed throughout the area.
—
Dazai brushed off his hands, walking over to where Chuuya was still having a party with his ability. “Hey, Chuuya,” Dazai said as he grabbed him by the wrist. “It’s over.”
The red that shrouded Chuuya dissipated, and his corruption ended. Immediately following, he collapsed into Dazai, who caught him. It seemed as if he was clinging to Dazai like his life depended on it.
“...hey idiot Dazai,” Chuuya muttered, his voice strained, “thank you.” He passed out in Dazai’s arms.
Dazai felt a pang in his chest. For a moment he just stood there, a genuine smile spreading across his face. Chuuya had never thanked him before.
Dazai lifted the sleeping Chuuya, finding his hat and replacing it on his head. He had some things to think about.
—
When he woke up, Chuuya immediately noticed that he was in a bed, but certainly not one he had ever known. He groaned, sitting up, swinging his legs over to the side of the bed and grabbing his head, trying to clear the image of the room around him to make sense of it. Finally the blurriness cleared, and he recognized where he was —
“Hey, sleeping beauty, you’re awake! Thought I’d have to give you a kiss.”
Dazai’s apartment...?
Chuuya frowned at this comment, though this response felt like a contradiction of his desires. “...why am I here? You should’ve just taken me back to base,” he suggested, glancing down at his hands.
Dazai walked over from across the room. “Why, I can’t watch over my partner when he’s blacked out, not to mention sick?” He answered with a warm smile as he sat down on the bed next to Chuuya.
“You’ve never done this before, though,” Chuuya spoke with a frown, crossing his arms and looking away.
“I don’t feel like doing everything the same as always,” Dazai sighed, shrugging. “Change is nice.”
Chuuya humphed, but reopened his stance as his hands returned to his sides. He suddenly felt a bit more comfortable in the room.
For a moment, there was a serene silence.
“Why did you hide that you were coughing up flowers?” Dazai interrupted, tilting his head slightly. While he most likely knew the answer, his interest was genuine.
“What are you talking about?” Chuuya got defensive, looking away from Dazai. His eyes drifted to the floor.
Dazai put his hand on Chuuya’s shoulder. “You told me that you trusted me, didn’t you?” He reminded, attempting to be reassuring.
Chuuya’s eyes flickered from the floor back to Dazai multiple times before finally meeting Dazai’s. “What are you getting at here?”
“Why were you coughing them up?” Dazai asked, his expression still unchanging from a fond, gentle smile. “I’m sure you know, even if you won’t admit it.”
“What’s the point of that question?” Chuuya broke eye contact again, but his body stayed faced towards the other. “Of course I know why, and at this point I’m sure you know, so don’t — “ He cut himself off, red creeping up his face. In that moment, he noticed that his cough had ceased.
“Funny, isn’t it? You’ve just realized that it’s gone.”
Chuuya’s eyes met Dazai’s again at this statement. He didn’t immediately understand, and he tried to defend himself; “I — “
“Despite what I say sometimes — what you say, too — I would do anything for you, and I know you’d do the same for me,” Dazai interrupted Chuuya, clearly having things to say. His hand gently and subtly brushed against the redhead’s. “I noticed recently; we’re more than partners.”
Before Chuuya could react, Dazai leaned in and kissed him. Chuuya’s eyes were wide with shock at this sudden move, but as he felt Dazai’s hand cover his own, they fluttered and closed. Chuuya’s free hand sat on Dazai’s chest. The moments they sat there together were long and passionate; it almost felt as if their kiss was the only thing going on, and all other matters disappeared.
When they finally pulled away, the feeling was immediately missed by the both of them.
Chuuya rested his head in the crook of Dazai’s neck, loosely embracing him. “I hate you for making me think this was one-sided,” he spoke gently and with a small smile.
Dazai wrapped his arms around Chuuya, pulling him closer. “I love you, too, Chuuya.”