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Akutagawa Ryuunosuke appreciated the Port Mafia.
How could he not? Without the Port Mafia, he’d be nothing.
The Port Mafia gave him and his sibling, Gin, so many things they never had before.
For one, it gave them both purpose.
Before it, what had the two of them been? Nothing more than two of the faceless homeless children who wandered the streets like rats. Their only motivation with every passing day was to eat and survive, like animals.
Now in the Port Mafia, they had duty and purpose. Sure, their roles may be to kill, but that at least made them known. They knew their place in the hierarchy, instead of wondering if they had a place in this world at all. It had been a long time since the two of them wondered aloud why they had been born.
The Port Mafia had given him and Gin a home, an actual home.
Even years later, Ryunnosuke still marveled at this fact. Back on the streets, having a permanent place to stay was unheard of. At best, he, Gin, and their friends could squat at a place or area for a few weeks, but they would inevitably be chased out by someone or forced out by other circumstances.
But now, the two of them had a place of their own. They no longer had to worry about rain or snow, or vicious dogs trying to rip their limbs off when they were asleep. Now they had a roof over their heads, walls to protect them, and a place to return to. It was an amount of stability and comfort they had never been afforded before, and to this day, Ryuunosuke was still paranoid it would one day be taken away from them somehow.
The Port Mafia gave them money.
That was something the two of them were never used to having. Even now, they acted frugal with their money, rarely spending it on anything other than necessities. The two of them never admitted aloud, but they both feared being too frivolous with their newfound wealth, something Chuuya, who spent his money on luxuries all the time, made fun of them for.
The Port Mafia gave them skills.
Before, they had been young and inexperienced with their respective weapons. Rashomon had once been used as nothing more than something to perform puppet shows to Gin and to bite at the hands of pimps who tried to pick up him, Gin, or any of the others. When Gin had used sharp objects to defend themself and him, they had been clumsy, unskilled.
Now, the two of them were both killing machines. Rashomon could remove limbs with ease and Gin was such a proficient assassin with their knife, that sometimes it skeeved even Ryunnosuke out.
Both of them could show the world they couldn’t be messed with. Not that easily.
The Port Mafia had given them both mentor figures. His in the form of Dazai, and theirs in the form of Hirotsu.
But as much as the Port Mafia gave them both, it did do one negative thing to his life, and that was it had strained his relationship with his sibling.
Not that his relationship with his sibling was bad or anything. They still got along, still talked, still smiled at each other…
But there was undoubtedly a distance between them now.
He didn’t know what exactly it was stemming from. Maybe it was their different schedules. The Port Mafia didn’t exactly have a normal work schedule, and they both reported to different people. Sometimes they would go weeks without seeing each other, and even when they did, they were too tired to do much other than sleep.
Maybe it was that they had become different people. They weren’t young and on the streets, needing to rely on each other for protection anymore. They could protect themselves now.
They also changed in personality. Both of them had grown quieter, more serious, colder.
Maybe both of those factors contributed a bit, but after some thought, Ryuunosuke was sure that their distance was a safety measure of sorts. An emotional one. After all, life in the Port Mafia was dangerous. They were constantly being put in life or death scenarios, and while they were skilled, there was always the chance they might not come back alive from one of their missions.
There were times when they both brushed scarily close with death. They’ve managed to overcome in the end, but there may be one day when they didn’t - and that meant one sibling might be without the other.
It was a painful thought for Ryuunosuke, to be in a world without Gin. They had been the only thing in his life keeping him grounded for a long time. In some ways, they still were.
If they died, he knew he’d be somewhat to blame as well. He was the one whose decision dragged them into the Port Mafia life. So if they died… he didn’t want to even think about it.
So maybe it was a protective measure, the reason they held each other at an arm’s length now. To save themselves the pain if something did happen.
But maybe he was wrong. Maybe it wasn’t that at all. He didn’t know.
All he did know, was that when he heard the door open and saw Gin come in, all he felt was a feeling of relief.