Chapter Text
Dazai Osamu had been three years old when he realized something very crucial about his life. His brain had finally matured enough to recognize and remember the thoughts that run through his head. It hadn’t taken him long to put the big picture of his current reality together. Though there were a tone of factors that annoyed him greatly. Like puzzle pieces he couldn’t fit. Facts that didn’t make sense. But he knew he would be able to figure them out with time. Dazai knew already that he would find the best curse of action.
He was three and a half year old when he started to really dislike his adopted father without a reason. Well not without reason really, he just denied the reasons his slowly maturing brain supplied. Visions, images, pictures appeared in his mind like a movie. Showing him a world that wasn’t his yet he felt like it was his at the same time, which greatly influence how he saw the man now. Dazai didn’t really want to call them memories but he also refrained from calling them future visions. After all there were no gifted in his reality. He tried it, he even asked his adoptive father if he could summon a little girl, turned out he couldn’t. Somehow that knowledge relived him to some degree.
Dazai was four when he finally had come to accept the fact that he had been sort of reborn as the same person just without his ability in what he now called an alternative reality. He accepted that he possessed the memories of an alternative self that was gifted. Later he also realized, that his life was going town the drain before he could start really living or take control of his surroundings. Seeing how he was four and Mori still had a say in what he could and couldn’t do. At least he could take revenge by “accidentally” driving up the bills, not like he meant to flood the house the first three times it happened.
So here he was now a year after his first realization. Perched on the top of the stairs and waiting for the man to enter their home. A click resounded. The door at the foot of the stairs opened. He readied the super soaker, he was barely able to hold up.
“Osamu! I am home, I also brought some guests with me.” He aimed at the black haired man coming into view now.
Finally the man looked up the stairs and he fired.
“TAKE THAT OLD MAN!” He yelled at the top of his lungs as a steady stream of water hit the mans face. He didn’t realize that the man behind Mori was also getting hit by some of the water. In fact he obviously choose to ignore the way to familiar white haired man.
Dazai Osamu had decided to be the greatest little shit he could be to make Mori Ogai’s life hell. He was definitely not carrying his alternative self's feelings of frustrations, annoyance, dislike and hate over into his reality. And he was definitely not acting on his own frustrations with life.
“OSAMU DAZAI!”
Abandoning the super soaker, he escaped with a huge grin on his face. He listened for Mori’s angry stomps that came up the stairs. Still grinning he stopped in the doorway of his room one hand on his door. His eyes twinkled with mischievousness. Just as Mori came to a stop close to him and looked ready to lecture him, Dazai waved cheerfully and smiled innocently as if he didn’t know what he did wrong.
The brown haired four years old could see the gears in Mori’s head working, thinking of what else Dazai could have planned now. Thankfully the man still seemed to think that he was being a little shit to gain the mans attention. Oh how wrong his dear adoptive father was. In the end a sigh escaped the man before he put on a strained smile. Accepting his adoptive child’s antics in defeat, Dazai assumed.
“Osamu-” He slammed the door of his room shut before Mori could finish the last syllable of his name. Quickly he turned the lock on his door and dragged the conveniently placed chair, that was next to his door, under the handle in case Mori remembered the spare key. He snickered as he heard the muffled frustrated voice raising slightly in volume. A flat out maniac laugh escaped him the moment Mori banged on his door spewing threats of taking all his toys if he didn’t open the door.
Once his laughter subsided, Dazai plopped down onto the ground and lay on his back staring at his ceiling, a smile still placed on his face. Yet his thoughts wandered towards things that would usually make him frown. The conflict between this reality and the one the brown haired boy was able to remember bothered him. The gap was to big. His adoptive father's personality seemed to be slightly different from the man that his alternative self knew. Was the lack of gifted in his world to blame for that? Why was he even aware of the alternative reality?
Dazai really wanted to blame the book. It was the only thing that could explain his reality. If the memories of his alternative self were right than a single page had had already enough power to change how the public saw his friends. If someone had used the book to erase the gifted... his world started to blur and his mind became fuzzy. Focusing his thought became harder.
The four years old frowned as he banned all thoughts of the book from his mind and the world became clear again. He didn’t dare complete the thoughts that started. He hated it when his mind became fuzzy. But that always happened when he tried to think of the book. It was like an outside force was trying to prevent him to figure something out about it.
Reluctantly Dazai accepted this for the umpteenth time, that would stop him from figuring out more about his reality.
“You can’t compare him to this kid, I think he needs more friends.” Dazai’s ears perked up at the familiar voice. His mood instantly did a 180 as he grinned. It was about time he found some of the others.
“OF COURSE HE CAN’T BE COMPARED WITH ME!” A loud childish voice shouted and Dazai’s eyes twinkled. He remembered the white haired man he had ignored earlier. If his reality stayed true to any relations of the alternative world than he knew exactly who the two voices belonged to.
Jumping up Dazai sprinted, to the door, pushed the chair asside and unlocked the door. He opened it just a gap wide so he could see out. True to his expectations there stood younger versions of Fukuzawa Yukichi and Edogawa Ranpo. He shook his head. They weren’t younger versions they were his realities Fukuzawa and Ranpo. Dazai eyed the two curious, wondering how much they were like the alternative versions. But before the brown haired child could follow that train of thoughts any deeper, green eyes focused on him.
“Ah! The turtle is sticking its head out!” Ranpo loudly announced pointing at Dazai who blinked surprised. His first reaction was to slam his door shut again, sadly Mori was faster this time and pushed his door fully open. He whined in protest and pouted at the man that was now smiling creepily nice down at him. A shiver run down Dazai’s back as memories of his alternative self flashed in his mind.
“Osamu, behave. You have been rude enough.” That tone definitely send another shiver down his back. He glanced over at Fukuzawa but turned his attention back to his adopted father. A towel was hanging around the black haired mans neck, he was still smiling at him but Mori’s eyes weren’t. He was probably still mad about the water gun attack.
“I wanted to introduce an old friend of mine, Fukuzawa Yukichi. He recently adopted this kid here, Ranpo-kun.” Mori paused and Dazai glanced over at the two. Ranpo was tilting his head while sucking on a lollipop, the hand that had pointed at him earlier was now clutching onto the ends of Fukuzawa’s yukata. It seemed that even in this reality the man was fond of wearing those.
“Since Ranpo-kun is only four years older than you and you are a pretty smart kid, we thought it would be a good idea to let you play together.” Mori continued but Dazai mostly drowned him out. He couldn’t really say he knew those two already, though he didn’t know these two.
“Just to make it clear.” Ranpo suddenly interjected, pulling everyones attention towards him. “You should feel honored to be able to play with me, the futures world best detective!”
Tilting his head Dazai wasn’t sure if he should sweat drop or laugh at this. This Ranpo appeared to have just the same sort of self confidence. In the end Dazai choose to laugh, especially after Fukuzawa lightly hit the back of Ranpo's head and curtly ’ordered’ him to behave.
Grinning brightly Dazai decided to act as a child his age. “Sure but you should know that I will outsmart you whenever I feel like it!”
He liked the way Ranpo’s eyes twinkled at the challenge or Fukuzawa’s lips twitched ever so slightly upwards. Mori had eyed him with interest but Dazai didn’t give a thing about that. Instead he smiled even brighter, for some weird reasons he felt happy having these two in his life now.
Whatever reason there was for him to have the memories of his alternative self, he would figure it out and the best way to do so was obviously to assemble the Armed Detective Agency again. Besides he was curious how the others would be like in this reality.