Chapter Text
Chuuya stared at the note in his hands blankly, eyes reflecting none of the turmoil he felt spiraling in his chest and head. His mouth was pressed into a firm line, fiery red hair framing his face as he just... stared at the paper that Mori had given to him.
Wipe out the enemy, leave no survivors.
That part was easy, he could do that. He was Chuuya Nakahara. He'd done it before when he had Dazai by his side, he could do it again.
The next part was what had caught him off guard.
Use Corruption.
Chuuya let out a heavy sigh after staring at the two words for what felt like a few hours, which in reality was only a minute or two. Crumpling up the note he tossed it to the side before flopping onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. He raised a hand to run through his hair, mouth parted slightly as his eyes grew wet. If Mori was willing to toss away his life just like that, it meant no one truly cared about him. He knew at some point he'd be used as a suicide pawn- he'd expected it. But it didn't help lift the weight from his shoulders that he was expected to die.
But he couldn't defy the bosses orders. It had to be done. If he was expected to use Corruption without Dazai there to save his ass, he was going to have to do it. And oddly, he didn't feel too apposed to the idea. Maybe finally he could be at peace- well.. now he was starting to sound like Dazai. Ugh. He could call him but... he couldn't. He wasn't emotionally prepared. So death it was, dramatic, right?
Lifting his head as his phone rang out, Chuuya blindly reached out until he felt his phone and lifted the device to squint at the caller ID, the redhead let out a low sigh before accepting the call and lifting the phone to his ear. "Akutagawa."
"Chuuya."
"Why are you calling?"
"The boss mentioned needing a new executive soon, what's that about?"
Chuuya sighed, forcing his limbs to move as he sat up. He stood again and moved to collect his hat, placing it on his red locks. "Boss is sending me to wipe out an enemy organization."
"And?"
"I have to use Corruption."
Chuuya blinked in confusion as the call suddenly ended. Well, he supposed Akutagawa wasn't the best at ending calls. He couldn't blame him, because he wasn't either. Letting out a low sigh, the redhead picked up his coat and draped it over his shoulders before glancing around the room. It was nice, having a roof over his head. But now, heading out the door to the location of his mission, he knew he'd die being remembered as nothing more than a weapon of the Port Mafia.
Akutagawa inhaled sharply through his nose as he hastily entered a number he'd memorized for.... reasons. Dazai's number. Hesitating for a moment, the male exhaled before clicking the call button.
Pressing the phone to his ear once again, Akutagawa tapped his foot impatiently, praying silently that his former mentor would pick up. And stopping himself from letting out a sigh of relief as he picked up, the black haired male didn't even give the other time to speak.
"Chuuya is going to use Corruption."
Dazai was just hanging out in the office like usual, doing some research when his phone rang. He wasn't too surprised by that, he figured it was work related and picked it up leaning back in his chair as he opened his mouth to say hello. Nothing could have prepared him for what he heard as soon as he put his phone up to his ear.
Upon hearing akutagawas voice and those words he shot straight to standing as quickly as he could. Chuuya.... the thought of him dying sent icy cold fear running through his veins. He pretended to hate the man but that was about the opposite from the truth. He only 'hated' Chuuya to cope with the guilt of leaving him behind and if he died because of that Dazai wasn't sure he could live with himself anymore.
He didn't waste time asking any unnecessary questions, his immediate reply was simply "where?". He was already just about ready to go , walking over and grabbing kunikidas car keys off his desk and ignoring the questioning looks from all the ada members present. He couldn't blame them tho, he knew he must look terrified and he never looked terrified. He'd almost always kept a calm demeanor with all his work partners but now? He didn't even think to.
Kunikida didn't even protest his keys being stolen like he normally would have. In all honesty he was worried as well as shocked at Dazais frantic behavior. Something must have been seriously wrong and tho he and his work partner didn't always get along he still cared about him. "What's happening" he asked as the rest of the members just stared.
dazai shook his head and gave him an almost pleading look before mouthing "I'll explain later" and darted our the door without waiting for a reaction. He was definitely panicked, and his chest hurt, which for now he was just blaming on the adrenaline. He was terrified, images of what would happen if he was too late flashed through his head as he rushed out, headed to where he knew kunikida parked his car.
He couldn't be too late, that simply wasn't an option because he didn't know what he'd do if he was. Gods why hadn't he begged Chuuya to leave with him all those years ago. Then he wouldn't be in danger now, why hadn't he seen this coming he should have thought about this. He had almost tripped once just running out of the office and forced himself to slow down as he waited for akutagawa to tell him where to go.
Despite already rushing out of the office and overthinking himself into a panicked state it had just been a matter of seconds since he picked up the phone. It felt like everything else was in slow motion and he had to take a minute just to breathe. Dazai hadn't been this scared in years.
Akugatawa winced a bit as he heard the brunette moving around. The raven color haired male hesitated, mouth pressed into a firm line. Should he really hand off Chuuya's location...?
Shaking his head, Akugatawa sighed softly. He had no other choice.
"I'm texting you the address." He replied, putting the phone on speaker as he swiftly typed up where the mission was supposed to take place and sent it to Dazai. "And Dazai?" He hesitated once again before exhaling sharply, shoulders slumping. "Please save him."
With that the call was abruptly ended, leaving an empty silence.
Chuuya stared up at the warehouse with empty eyes, heart pounding in his chest.
He knew this was it. He couldn't help but turn blue eyes to the sky one last time. The clouds looked so fluffy.... the sounds of the city were so soothing, and deep down the redhead couldn't help but wonder if the city would miss him just as much as he would miss it.
Probably not.
He was just a weapon to be cast aside.
Chuuya stared into the large warehouse, and he could sense the people. He could hear the loading of many guns, and he couldn't help but let out an irritated sigh. Tugging off his gloves carefully, he casted them aside carefully to lay on the ground. He raised a shaking hand to clutch at his hat and carefully removed it as well. Staring at the item he'd come to adore for a moment, a single tear rolled down his cheek as he tossed it to the side to follow his gloves.
Shrugging off his jacket, Chuuya tilted his head to gaze back up at the sky one last time. Red locks framed his pale face and blue eyes scanned the sky, almost as if searching. But within a few seconds they had closed, bare hands clenched tightly at his sides as he inhaled shakily.
"Oh, grantors of dark disgrace - you need not wake me again."
The red marks of Corruption danced across his skin, and blue eyes snapped open. His pupils were narrowed down to mere slits and he stomped fowards, ground letting out a sickening crack as he advanced on his target. He was going to tear this place to the ground. The redhead reeled his arm back and hurled a compressed ball of gravity into the area, sending debris flying and smoke spiraling into the air, signalling the destruction. Hollow laughter echoed from his mouth, blood dripping from his nose, mouth, and ears as he attacked anything in sight, murdering anyone in the area within a terrifying few seconds.
These were his last moments.
Hell awaited him, and Chuuya screamed to the heavens.
Dazai was caught off guard by akutagawa asking him to save Chuuya like that because, by akutagawas standards that was practically begging. The detective wondered briefly what Chuuya had done to gain his previous subordinates loyalty so much. What didn't surprise him was the click that ended the call before he could respond.
And if he really thought about it, akutagawas lack of ability to deal with emotions or show weakness was his fault. There were a lot of things he could have done differently with him. But that wasn't something he could afford to feel guilty about at the moment so he was forced to push those thoughts aside. Right now he had to save Chuuya, no matter what this wasn't something he could fail at.
The detective lowered his phone and read the address, thank god it wasn't too far away. With a shaky intake of breath he put his phone in his pocket and sprinted to kunikidas car. He unlocked it and got in, his hands shook when he closed the door and started the car. He was having a hard time keeping a practical train of thought separate from the storm of worst case scenarios clouding his mind.
Dazai felt like he could hardly even breathe and silently cursed himself for not being able to stay calm. "Focus damnit" he muttered under his breath before driving off. He had all the shortcuts around here practically memorized so in theory he should be able to get there in time but that did little to reassure him in his panicked state.
It felt like it took hours to drive to the location when in reality it was just a matter of minutes, the tell tale crashes and noises of destruction just made him even more scared. He knew how Chuuyas ability worked like the back of his hand and by the time he got there the redhead would probably be coughing up blood.
What if he misjudged it though? What if he wasn't there in time? What if Chuuya died after all how the hell would he cope with that? He could've stand the mere thought of it, he'd already fucked up enough by abandoning him. If he let his former partner die, well, the guilt of that would probably crush him. As it was now he barely managed to put up a front all the time with the other ada members he couldn't handle anything else.
Finally, finally he pulled up to the location and practically leapt out of the car, running as fast as he could to the source of the destruction that surrounded him. It didn't take long to reach him and when he did grab the smaller males arm he didn't even wait for him to collapse like he usually would have. Instead he just pulled him into a hug. "Chuuya..."
Tears pricked at the detectives eyes and he was completely sure the redhead would be able to feel if not hear how hard and fast his heart was beating. But he didn't even care, he felt relieved and guilty and his chest hurt even more and he didn't even know why tears started running down his face. He just knew Chuuya was still standing and would almost definitely be okay, and that was all that really mattered.