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Today couldn’t have been worse, Atsushi decided. It first started when he tried to drop off a file to the Agency President, but a man, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, stopped him. They fought in the middle of the small café below the Agency, then Atsushi left, not wanting to get punished by Dazai like he knew would happen. His efforts were for nothing. He knocked on the large doors, the barrier connecting if he has a job and can live or if he’s going onto the streets to die. “Come in” a voice said from inside the room. Atsushi opened the door and went in, bowing before his boss. “Dazai-san, I wish to report something. The job didn’t go the way you wished, instead, one of the members caught me and fought with me.” He said while looking down. Dazai frowned. “I didn’t think you were so incompetent, Atsushi-kun. I thought you would’ve been able to do a simple job without messing it up. Come here, Atsushi-kun.” Obeying, he walked closer to Dazai, slightly fearful as to what Dazai is going to do to him. “On your knees, Atsushi-kun. Your back towards me and take off your shirt and jacket.” Doing as he is told, Atsushi obeys, taking off his shirt to reveal old scars and new wounds and he gets on his knees gingerly, making sure that his back is facing his new master. “You wouldn’t happen to have a coin on you, would you?” Atsushi nodded, handing a small fifty-yen coin to him. The sound of a drawer opening and closing made Atsushi tense up and fix his position. ‘Maybe if I sit properly, I won’t get punished as much.’ He thought to himself, not wanting to carry more wounds and scars than before. He already has enough from his old orphanage and from other punishments. “Oh Atsushi-kun…you do know I love you, right?” Dazai whispered in his ear, causing a nod to be forced out of Atsushi. “Then why do you keep forcing me to punish you, Atsushi-kun? Why must you keep forcing me to hurt the ones I love?” Before Atsushi could respond, something searing hot and circular was placed on his back, causing Atsushi to yelp slightly in pain. Dazai smirks at the reaction given, wanting more. Putting another coin over the lighter to heat it up and placing it on the back of the younger, he watches at the once stoic commander shrivels, sobbing as he begs for mercy. ‘He never did last long.’ Dazai thought to himself, smirking as he places another coin on the boys back, another sob being drawn out. “P-please, please stop, boss. I’m so sorry I failed to complete the mission.” Atsushi begged, the searing hot pain not something he’s used to. The boss slid his hand in between the collar and the skin on Atsushi’s neck and pulled, causing blood to drip down his neck, gurgles of begs barely heard as more blood is forced out of the weak body. Whispering in Atsushi’s ear, he spoke “Next time, do the job properly, or die trying,” before pushing the boy off him, all the coins falling off his back. “I truly do love you, Atsushi. You just need to do your job properly. You have another job. Do it and do not disappoint me.” Dazai smirked while speaking. He watched as Atsushi quickly dressed himself then leave once he’s done.
Atsushi quickly walked out of the tall building to start his mission, his vision still blurry due to pain, his steps weak. He ignored the other people giving him weird looks, telling himself that he’s alright. Stepping into an alleyway, his knees buckled as he fell to the ground, wincing in pain when his shirt rubs against his new wounds. ‘Pathetic,’ Atsushi scolded himself. ‘This is nothing compared to what the orphanage did…get up, damn it! Get up! Continue your job before you get even worse off!’ Try as he might, he couldn’t seem to will his body to do what he wanted. He growled quietly in irritation before forcing himself to crawl into a dark and secluded area of the alleyway, his body fully giving out once he positions himself properly. Looking around sleepily to make sure he was covered, he finally allowed himself to drift off into the unconscious. Maybe when he wakes up, he won’t be kidnapped…who is he kidding though? He’s a wanted criminal with no family, he’s an easy target. Right before allowing himself to fall into the darkness, Atsushi swears he heard someone walk into the alleyway, calling out his name. Who would be looking for him though? No one…
Waking up, Atsushi looked around, noticing that he wasn’t in the alleyway, to his horror. He was in a small room, the walls barren and the window closed. Oddly enough, Atsushi has never felt more rested. Looking over, Atsushi yelped when he was face to face to his enemy, Akutagawa Ryunosuke. “You’re an idiot, I hope you know that.” He chided, sipping his tea, not taking his eyes off Atsushi. “You thrash in your sleep.” Atsushi was confused. ‘How did I get here? I was in the alleyway’ he thought frantically, not expecting to meet up with his enemy so soon. Setting down his cup, Akutagawa walked over to Atsushi, handing him a simple shirt. “You were asleep in an alleyway. I took you back with me incase the Agency needs you.” He lied. “I suggest you take off that collar, I couldn’t get it off to clean it. It was almost like it was in your neck.” Atsushi chuckled darkly. “Yeah, I’ll have to do that…” As if he could take it off, he thought bitterly. Putting on his shirt and ignoring his onlooker, Atsushi rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, still too on guard to fully get comfortable. “I saw those marks on your back. They look fresh. Who did that?” Pausing what he was doing, he looked over in slight shock at Akutagawa. “Punishment for not doing what I was told. Does that not happen to you?” It was Akutagawa’s turn to look shocked. “No…not physical punishment, no…is that normal for you?” “Of course it is…one wrong move and the whole plan your life has been planned around will fail and you will become useless. Being thrown away isn’t something I want to happen.” As he spoke, Atsushi looked down at his hands. He has and will continue to kill with these hands. As self-deprecating closed in on Atsushi, he felt soft hands lift his head slightly, cupping his face like he was made of glass. “Those marks were because of me, wasn’t it.” He asked quietly, his tone full of worry while he shows none on his face. Not being able to trust his voice, Atsushi shook his head. “I-it wasn’t because of you…I promise…” he spoke after a few moments of silence, his voice cracking. He hesitates, then also cups Akutagawa’s face. “It was because of my own mistakes I got hurt…I can heal anyways…there’s no issue, I promise. If I wanted to leave, I would.” Atsushi lied. They both knew it was a lie, but both didn’t want to bring it up. They both knew that he was unsafe where he worked and that this wouldn’t the last time that he would get unusual and cruel punishments like this. But for a few short moments, they can pretend the world is ok and that they’ll be ok while holding each other close.