Chapter Text
“Youth and Other Stories”
by Mori Ougai
In a world of heroes and villains, people had to fight for peace everyday.
The young and the old, the poor and the rich, the men and the women. No one was completely happy in this world, because there was always something lurking around the corner to ruin that happiness they had.
When Quirks first evolved into China 200 years ago, a massive rift broke out across the entire world. After all, a glowing baby wasn't exactly normal, and the fact that the baby seemed to be able to control said glow was even more out of the normal.
Supernatural abilities were a thing of imagination, then, but now, it's ingrained in our everyday lives like a force of nature. Which, in theory, is pretty much what it is.
The law evolved as well, and heroes were birthed from the good side while villains were birthed from the bad side. Exactly like a fairy tale.
Fights and fights and fights happened everyday, crime rates rose to the limit, and heroes fought for justice while villains fought for their ideals. It was something that was bound to happen one day, and it was bound to ruin the world someday as well.
As of today, the crime organization Port Mafia runs the city of Yokohama. It is their territory, and anyone who dared enter their territory without permission was executed like cockroaches. They instill fear in the people living outside of Yokohama, and bring peace to the citizens living inside of the city.
And I, Dazai Osamu, am part of that crime organization that has dedicated itself to protecting Yokohama using every way possible.
People outside of Yokohama–those who know nothing better–see the world in black and white, unaware that, when black and white clash, they merge to form grey.
To outsiders, the Port Mafia is nothing but the blackest of the black, but to everyone who knew better, specifically the citizens of Yokohama, they know that we are but a grey color, neither good or bad, justice or evil. We are the ones who keep the balance even, keep the trouble out and away from what and those we care for, and know better than anyone else that the world is full of color.
We just have to make everyone else see it.
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It was a normal day.
Well, it had been a normal day.
For the battle pair of Port Mafia, Soukoku, it was.
Chuuya had just come back from a short mission involving suspicious warehouses, equally suspicious craters and a shitton of bullets and blood splattering everywhere, getting on his shirt and trousers, and was lounging in Dazai's creepily neat office.
Yes, Dazai had an office, and yes, it looked like it came straight out of a magazine, with a cherry wood desk and spotless windows and floors covered by soft, plush carpets as well as a painting of a war scene hanging on the wall at the back.
And yes, Chuuya hangs out in Dazai's office. It's a nice space and, however magazine-creepy it may be, was comfortable and had a nice, grey couch that the redhead sunk onto, the soft velvet and sweet comfort instantly relieving his tensed and slightly sore muscles.
A pleasured groan came from his mouth, a gloved hand reaching behind his shoulder and rubbing at a particularly knotted muscle, feeling it loosen up bit by bit until there was no more than smooth, sore tendons. He sniffed, head tilting to face the brunette sitting at the desk with his feet propped up, and released a sigh.
“Aren't you gonna do your goddamn paperwork, shitty Dazai?” He sighed, sitting up to a more comfortable–and proper–position. His partner hummed, playing an intense-seeming match on a sleek black gaming device, with his fingers rapidly pressing buttons and his eye flickering around the rectangular screen. Dazai hummed. “Hmmm, I'll do it later,” He waved a hand dismissively before it went back to pressing different buttons at a fast pace.
Chuuya sighed and rolled his eyes. “Besides, don't you have a report to work on?” The younger brunette added, eyes still fixed on the screen as peculiar sounds came from the speakers. The redhead tsk'ed, carefully stretching his back muscles to relieve the rest of it before running a hand through his hair. “I'll do it later.” He mimicked, reaching over to one of the brown cabinets that flanked the couch, picking up a red apple from the fruit bowl. Again, Dazai only hummed in response.
The remaining time was spent in silence with nothing but the video game sounds coming from Dazai's PSP and the sounds of Chuuya eating, something that was treasured between the two reluctant friends (not that they would ever admit that they were just that to each other, or, well, to anyone really) as their time together usually consisted of loud screaming and yelling as well as Chuuya swinging kicks and punches towards a laughing Dazai's way, who dodged all of them with ease.
It was silent, until a firm knock on the door to the office broke it. Dazai didn't stop playing hia game, but he did say, “Come in.”
The door opened and was revealed to be a Port Mafia secretary, a petite brunette woman dressed in a white blouse, blazer, black pencil skirt and sleek heels combo. When Chuuya turned, he recognized the long-lashed woman to be Tanaka Chiaki, one of the more experienced ladies that made up the secretaries and assistants of Port Mafia. “Dazai-san, Chuuya-san, the Boss requested your presence at his office.” Tanaka did not bother for a greeting, instead heading straight to the point as it was clearly an important matter.
Dazai immediately paused his game, placing it on the desk and removing his feet from said desk, while Chuuya immediately gravitated the remains of his apple to the trashcan next to the desk and straightened his back. Dazai nodded at the woman standing in the doorway. “Alright. We will be there in a moment's notice.” He replied shortly. Tanaka nodded and closed the door as she left immediately after.
Chuuya stood up, wiping the apple juice on the corners of his mouth with the back of a gloved hand, fixing the hat on his head. “What do you think the Boss wants us in for?” He asked Dazai as they left the office and headed towards Mori's.
Dazai shrugged, though there was a glint in his visible eye that Chuuya couldn't quite place. “Nothing good, that's for sure. Unless you weren't already aware of that, Chibi-chan.” He smirked, which made the shorter male grit his teeth and send a sloppy punch his way, to which Dazai dodged with a delighted chuckle. “Shut it, shitty Dazai!” He barked at the one-eyed brunette.
The rest of their walk was spent with the two bickering, nothing new for them, until they quieted when they reached the office. Dazai didn't bother to knock, instead opening the door and entering, Chuuya doing the same after him and closing the door behind them.
“You called for us, Boss?” Chuuya started cautiously. The floor-to-ceiling window let white rays of sunlight filter into the otherwise dark room, making the redhead remember his and Dazai's first meeting and sending a pang of nostalgia appear in Chuuya's chest before he shook it off.
Mori looked as dark and regal as ever, sitting in a chair akin to a throne behind a wide, dark-colored desk, and smirking at the two teenagers from across the room. The familiar smirk made Chuuya shift nervously. When he glanced around, Elise was nowhere in sight, which she usually was if the business Mori called them in for was for something like assigning missions and asking for their report on said missions and such, meaning what they were going to call them in for was much more serious than that.
“Why, yes, I did.” His voice, hinted with something that sounded like seriousness, sent shivers down Chuuya's spine. “Please come closer, you two. You are too far for me to talk to properly.” Chuuya immediately started snarking the man in his head and, by the brief flash of annoyance on Dazai's face, he was too. However, the two kept silent and approached the older man's desk until they were standing right in front of him.
“Remember when I said I had an important meeting that could gain us a new alliance with a powerful group?” The two nodded like a pair of bobbleheads. “Well, we came to an agreement and set the alliance in stone.” Mori said, taking out a set of papers from one of the desk's cabinets and setting them on the desk, placing two fingers on top of them. He did not yet gave them a signal to take them, so Chuuya settled for staring at them curiously.
“That's great, Boss,” Chuuya responded unsurely, as it seemed Dazai was not willing to talk. It was uncharacteristic, as Dazai did most of the talking when they were called in to Mori's office for this and that. Chuuya assumed that he was trying to deduce Mori's intentions. “But what does that have to do with the two of us?” He questioned next.
The smirk on Mori's face widened a bit, making Chuuya more nervous than he was before. “The powerful group that we are now in alliance with is the principal of U.A High and it's staff.” He said.
Chuuya exploded.
“What?!” He exclaimed disbelievingly, a look of horror on his face. Beside him, Dazai was tense, his eyes narrowing and the line of his mouth tilting into a frown. “Why?!” Chuuya asked, staring at the Boss incredulously as though he had told the redhead that Kouyou was confiscating his cupboard of wine. Which, Chuuya thought, was almost as bad as the situation at hand.
Mori's smirk settled into a mockingly gentle smile that made Chuuya's hands twitch, the smile reminding him so easily of Dazai whenever he started mocking the hell out of the older male. “Exactly. Why?” Mori repeated, eyes flickering from Chuuya to Dazai.
It was silent for a brief, tense moment, before Dazai finally spoke up. “You're planning something in which U.A is heavily involved,” He said, his statement sounding suspiciously like a soft accusation. Mori didn't say anything, which prompted Dazai to continue. “and we have something to do with it as well.” Dazai then said, which made Chuuya tense. The brunette then frowned. “Why?” He pressed.
Mori's smile widened. “Have either of you heard of All For One?” He asked instead of answering. Chuuya shook his head, a little confused by the strange name, while Dazai tilted his head slightly to the side. “All For One? Isn't he the villain that had the trouble of earning the title of the number one hero, All Might's biggest enemy?” The boy inquired. Mori nodded.
“Correct. According to some of our underground sources, All For One is back on the road and is supposedly plotting something against All Might and the entirety of hero society in general, and Yokohama could possibly be targeted as well, considering the hustle and bustle of hero society in the Kamino Ward and the few hero agencies that reside in Yokohama.” He explained.
This information made Chuuya inhale sharply, while Dazai bit his lip and shifted, eye flickering around the room. “Knew we shouldn't have let them come in.” Chuuya murmured. “Well, it can't be helped, I suppose.” Dazai sighed, his voice laced with a bit of tiredness. Chuuya couldn't blame him; he was pretty sure that the young executive had been pulling several all-nighters in the past week doing extra work for Mori and such, judging by how much the boy yawned and his new habit of napping everywhere.
There were very few hero agencies and heroes in general in the relatively peaceful surroundings of Yokohama–excluding the Kamino Ward–, as the city mainly consisted of quirkless citizens and was known for its relatively low crime rate compared to other cities. Because of this, heroes tended to stay out of the peaceful city, though there were some that took the initiative to set up a hero agency in said city, however those hero agencies have been few and far between ever since Mori became boss.
Chuuya was pretty sure that there were only two or three hero agencies in the city at this point, and he bumped into Gunhead a number of times. He was a pretty chill guy, and Chuuya admired his martial arts skills, but a hero was a hero, and if it caused some sort of rift or trouble in the Port Mafia's beloved Yokohama, then he wasn't having it.
Mori continued to speak. “Ever since it was announced that All Might will be taking up a teaching position of U.A, the principal suspects that All For One will be targeting it first. Because of this, he got in contact with our intelligence agent Sakaguchi-san and had a meeting with me arranged regarding this matter. He is apparently aware that All For One has been a thorn in the Port Mafia's side for a while now.”
Now, that. That threw Chuuya off. “Wait, so there's a villain threatening the Port Mafia? Since when?” He asked, a bit of disbelief laced in his voice. “Tsk, tsk. Has chibbiko not picked up a Port Mafia history book or heard stories? All For One has been threatening us since wayyyyy before Mori-san here became boss. He's been silent for awhile after All Might defeated him, but I guess he's back now.” Dazai teased while explaining at the same time. Chuuya's mouth formed an 'o' shape, before he turned to Mori.
“What are you planning to do?” He questioned, narrowing his eyes at Mori suspiciously. Mori smirked. “Why, take him down of course! Of course, we have to be subtle about it and catch him off-guard if we want it to be successful, but I already have that allll planned out!” He said cheerfully. The man slid the stack of papers that Chuuya forgot about over to them. However, he continued talking, so the two refrained from picking it up and reading it.
”Anyway, we talked for a bit and agreed to team up in order to bring him down using our own separate means while at the same time working with each other officially to do so. His conditions were that we don't attack or target anyone, a staff member or a student, that is from U.A or has high connections with U.A. Our conditions are so that they don't meddle with our plans or try to launch an investigation or arrest on any of us. You will all be meeting some of them every once in awhile, or on a mission that includes a hero or two, so don't worry about not recognizing who is who.”
Chuuya frowned at the implication that they might be working with a hero of all people on a mission, but kept his mouth shut. Mori gave a signal that it was alright to read the papers, so Dazai picked the stack up and started to read through them. “Alright. What does this have to do with us specifically?” Chuuya demanded, and Dazai stopped reading for a moment to await Mori's answer.
Mori smirked darkly, sending chills up the two teenagers' spines, before uttering something that would simultaneously piss off and inconvenience the infamous battle pair of the Port Mafia.
“You two will be attending U.A High as undercover students in the hero department with the principal's permission, gaining you leverage in hiding from All For One and his goons and more leverage in taking them down.”
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“WHAT?!”