Chapter Text
The Port Mafia was a hefty job, especially for a fifteen-year-old with no real choice. Dazai always remembered how he would occasionally see kids his age goofing around and having fun; he remembers when he once was able to do that, it was a long time ago, though, he’s now used to forgetting it. His days of teenhood were now the opposite of what he should be doing: instead of going to the cinema with friends, he’d train others older than him to kill. Instead of hanging out and going to high school parties, he’d visit a bar with his only two friends – both of which he considered a sort of father figure. His life wasn’t quite what his younger self would have hoped. He no longer saw the joy in things he’d once wished to do – now, instead, he deemed them as childish and useless.
High school was a big one. Back then, when he used to live with his family, he and his friends were counting the days until they’d graduate middle school and get a fresh start as high schoolers. It had all been planned out too. He knew where he was going to sit, he had his friends, and his teachers liked him too. He was gifted in more ways than one; and yet, he still didn't feel fullied.
His favorite subject was always science, though his favorite pass time was the philosophy of humans. Maybe that was when he started drifting apart from the rest of them; but, alas, he doesn’t dare breach forward. His days of dreaming of high school and science awards are long gone. Just as he was leaving middle school, he witnessed all his traumas catch up to him. He decided to commit to the greatest sin of them all: committing. That was when he met Mori. That was the day the child in him got locked away with no form of escape, only bars to call out for help.
It’s been a year since then. To cope with the forbidden jealousy of the kids from the nearby school, he decided to drink. He knew it was impractical: it was midnight and he had an important job tomorrow to take care of, but he frankly had nothing else to distract him. That was until he stumbled into the Lupin bar. There sat a young boy talking with the bartender.
“You seem very bright for your age, back in my day, we all struggled with getting a single problem right. Thank god for your brain, son, you might save someone one day.”
“Thank you, sir. But with all due respect, I don’t think math will save anyone. Math is only the language of science; by itself, it won’t do much.”
“Yes, but communication is key to a partnership. It’s like my mother always used to say: science and math are the basis for a relationship. She was a smart woman, wouldn’t you agree, Dazai?”
“Dazai?”
Dazai felt himself freeze. He’d never seen a person so beautiful, yet he still felt irritated at the stranger. He couldn’t see why, but the maths had itched him and now he felt lifeless. The boy looked at him in the eyes and smiled – a smile so beautiful that only Aphrodite herself could’ve crafted it.
“Oh, um. Hello, I am Doppo Kunikida I study at the nearby school, you must be Osamu Dazai.”
He stared at the blond. For once in his life, he stared. He couldn’t identify why he felt this way, or why the hell time just stopped out of nowhere, but he could only see the other man – or boy.
Collecting himself up, he answered after a split second. Giggling, Dazai responded. “Well, well… it seems I'm popular,” a small smirk appeared on his lips, “yes, I am Osamu Dazai. It’s great meeting you, Kunikida.” His smile faded into one of a calm, collected human being. “Well, you are the youngest Port Mafia executive in its history; we kind of have to watch out for you and your subordinates when walking to and fro school.” Kunikida mumbled.
“Oh.”
The brunette couldn’t pinpoint why this fact unsettled him. It wasn’t him being feared, but maybe it was the calmness the teenager stated it with. He was excluded from the pack, one he so desperately longed for as a child. Kunikida didn’t seem to notice the pain the fifteen-year-old was in, quite the opposite, actually. Instead, he prompted the other to ask a calm question. “So, do you need any help with that?” The blond turned back to stare at his paper with such eyes that you would assume the poor boy is writing off his taxes. “Actually, yes. Do you know anything about gravity?” Dazai smirked like a madman filing his plans. “Why yes, I do understand gravity. What are you having a problem with?”
“I just can’t understand how to apply the formula. I’m usually good a this, but the homework is so confusing – not to mention the fact I've never heard half of these words in my life.”
“Aren’t you in high school?”
The teen sighed, “I just got into high school. I’m 15, we didn’t cover much of this.” He looked Dazai dead in the eyes, a look of judgment, but also one of help. Admittedly, Dazai went to a private school located in a U.S. territory, so he didn’t know much about the Japanese schooling system, nor did he get far enough into the school for him to understand gravity. So, he did what he did best: joke. “Well, I don’t know much about gravity’s formula, I do know that gravity pulls down objects towards the center of the earth or something, no?” Dazai looked over the question the boy seemed to be stuck at. Number 7, the teen had already noted off a few things.
“Well, it says here that g equals negative nine point eight, maybe start working with that?” Kunikida looked over his shoulders at the brunette, surprised that an executive was just as confused as he was. “How are you also confused?!”
“I never studied this!”
“Well, maybe you should go to school, dimwitt!”
“How rude!” Dazai sighed, dramatically falling onto the seat next to the blond. “Besides,” he mumbled into his hand, “Mori wouldn't let me.” A fair bit of silence fell upon the room – the only noise being the bartender cleaning glasses and plates, that was until a pencil dropped louder than any bullet Dazai has ever fired. “Mori? As in, the executive Mori?” Dazai laughed at Kunikida’s shock, but it quickly turned into a fallen smile once he saw how nervous the boy looked – squirming around and looking in every direction. He wanted to tell him not to worry because Mori was probably off in his office, but another idea overtook the former.
“I know!”
“Huh?”
Taking Kunikida’s hands in his own, Dazai smiled wickedly. “How about, I just go to school with you? Then we can both learn about gravity. Doesn't that sound like a fun idea, Kunikida?”
Kunikida looked tired, but even then you could tell he was completely opposed to the former’s idea with his immediate decline.
“C’mon-”
“No. There are too many things that come into play, sir. There's no one to sign you up, no one to pay for you, and even then, everyone will only be scared of you and your reputation.” The second he stopped talking, Kunikida immediately realized what he had said, but it was too late.
What an executive decides can only be altered, but never replaced.
“Ok, ok. You have me there, but how about, I just go visit you? It’d be only to help. Pretty please?!” Dazai surely looked insane: he had puppy eyes begging to follow a man he just met not even an hour ago. The man in question seemed less fearful of the mafia prodigy but more weary and concerned for his well-being.
“As fun as it sounds to be driven around by a mafioso, I will have to decline. It’s currently almost one am, and I need o get home before my mom sends a search party to look for me.” Kunikida stood up. He ignored the signs of confusion – and mild jealousy – of the other.
Dazai sat on his stool looking at the other’s feet reach the door. He started to look towards the bartender, ready to order his usual, before he heard Kunikida talk again. “Oh, and executive,” Dazai looked at the man’s kind eyes, “good night, and take care of yourself.” His smile was all that it took to send Dazai smiling. Opposing his usually fake smile and tone, the brunette donned a small smile and nodded his head. “You too.”