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Dazai welcomed the cold feeling of the boss’s office. He always knew he would be the boss and inherit the Port Mafia one day; it had always just been a question of when the situation called for him to put a knife to Mori’s throat.
And now, he found himself walking across the room, opting to ignore the view through the large windows—he’d never really enjoyed anything supposedly ‘beautiful’ anyway—as he made his way to the desk.
Mori’s body was still slumped over the desk, having ordered everyone that he not be disturbed. Obviously, he had no control over Dazai ignoring that request to come in and kill him the night before.
He hummed happily as he nudged the body until it was sliding off the desk—his desk, now.
The body hit the floor with a satisfying thud, and Dazai found himself smirking in amusement as he slid into the cushy chair.
He opened Mori’s laptop, clacking away and disregarding any of the important work sitting open.
Obviously, he had memorized all of Mori’s passwords and such, so he had no trouble getting into his email and writing up one of his own.
Company-wide meeting. Gather in the foyer, where you will receive instructions. You have one hour until the meeting.
Dazai smiled coldly as he pressed send to all of the Port Mafia’s members. They had no idea what was coming.
So far, only a few choice people knew about the boss’s recent passing, though they didn’t know many of the specifics. Chuuya, Oda, Ango and Akutagawa all were in the know, but had no idea how Dazai would be handling the aftermath.
Dazai felt his face stretch in a smile too wide for his lips; he had dreamed of this day for years.
Dazai spent the rest of his time looking through Mori’s papers and documents, on his laptop and in his drawers. He had called Ango a little while ago to find him one specific document.
He wanted the document that would confirm his succession as Mori’s replacement. Not that he needed it; everyone knew Dazai was next in line, and no one would stand up to try and take the throne from him. But it was the sentiment that he was after; for everyone to know that Mori’s oh so faithful right hand man had put a merciless knife to his throat.
Dazai would never forget the look on Mori’s face when it had happened. At first he had been smiling when Dazai had broached the subject of what he had done to his Chuuya.
Mori had been cocky, flaunting it like some sort of victory. He had thought of it as a win that Chuuya couldn’t fight back against his own boss. Even with the strength of a hundred powerful ability users, Chuuya hadn’t been able to fight back against his superior, the person who was supposed to keep him safe and protected. Chuuya couldn’t bring himself to save himself.
But Dazai would make sure he never had to fear again. The only thing he would fear is authority, as Chuuya had a nasty habit of not being able to refuse a higher-up’s orders.
But Dazai would keep him from that. He would be Chuuya’s only higher-up, and he would make sure to keep Chuuya from any harm that would ever try to befall him again.
Someone knocked on the door; Dazai knew it was Ango before even letting him in.
Ango was silent up until he came to a stop at the front of Dazai’s new desk, opting to ignore the body off to the side, blood spilling on the carpet and dripping off the desk where it had been resting earlier.
“I have it here, Boss.”
Dazai smiled at him, though it was a plastic expression, holding out a flippant hand for Ango to place the file in.
It was light, likely only one sheet of paper in there; one that Mori hoped Dazai would never be after.
His smile grew a little less genuine, and a little colder, as he opened the file to rest on Mori’s last intentions; that should something happen to him, Dazai would take over the Port Mafia as his successor.
“Thank you, Ango.” Dazai hummed, setting the folder down on the other side of the desk to keep it from soaking up any blood. “I assume you will be attending the meeting later?”
Ango nodded curtly. “Yes, Boss.”
Dazai sighed, propping his arm on his desk leaning his face onto his fist.
“Y’know, you don’t have to call me ‘boss’ all the time. Only really in formal circumstances.”
“Right.” Ango nodded. “Sorry, Bo- I, uh, Dazai-san.”
Dazai smiled, sitting back up in his chair. Mori really did have expensive taste, and had an obsession with only the most comfortable pieces of furniture. It almost made Dazai want to roll his eyes.
“You are dismissed, Ango.” He leaned all the way back in his chair, crossing his hands over his stomach. “Until the meeting.”
“Yes, Dazai-san.” He bowed, turning away and striding towards the exit.
“Extend my best wishes to Oda, will you?”
Ango didn’t turn around as he gripped the door’s handle.
“Yes, Boss.”
And then he was gone.
-
Ango wasn’t sure exactly what to expect as he stood in the foyer, Oda by his side, as the entire Port Mafia ensemble had gathered to wait for who they thought was Mori.
Oh, we’re waiting for the boss alright.
Ango knew Dazai had a dark side—darker than perhaps even Mori. He knew to expect something equally dramatic and traumatizing for this meeting. It was no doubt Dazai’s announcement that he was the new boss effective immediately.
Ango didn’t see Nakahara anywhere. Either the kid was showing up with Dazai, or he was choosing to skip the meeting entirely.
Ango could understand that. The kid had barely had any time to process what had happened the day before. It had to be a lot to handle in one sitting.
Dazai’s subordinate, little Akutagawa, was standing near the edge of the crowd, where most of the executives were huddled. He was holding hands with his little sister, with Kouyou standing behind both of them—she must have just arrived back from her business out of town.
Ango felt himself secretly wishing she knew what was going on, so she would have the semblance of mind to cover their eyes for what might’ve been about to happen. If anyone else was enlightened in this situation, it would be Nakahara’s direct mentor.
The doors to the foyer opened, and Ango felt dread sinking into the pit of his stomach. He really hated how echoey the room was, as everyone gathered could hear Dazai’s every step.
Now, this wasn’t necessarily odd. Usually Dazai and Mori would either arrive together, or a few minutes apart. Those around him began shifting, probably assuming that his entrance signaled the start of the meeting.
But instead of descending the stairs and joining the rest of the executives, Dazai stopped in the center of the platform, looking down over those gathered.
A disturbed silence settled over the crowd, Ango spying several people sharing glances with each other.
Dazai surveyed every movement with his cold eye, a shadow looming over his face. He stood there for maybe a few silent minutes, no one daring to make a sound under his scrutiny.
Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.
“As of now, the Port Mafia is under new management.” He grinned, that manic grin that made everyone’s hair stand on edge. “I am your new boss. Any questions?”
Obviously, only the executives had enough gall to speak up, Kouyou piping up from her side of the room.
“What happened to Mori-san?”
Dazai’s smile darkened, as did his eye as seemingly all the light left.
“I’m so glad you asked.”
He stuffed his hand into his pocket, and several members in Ango’s line of vision stiffened; Dazai, even in a good mood, was often unpredictable and easily set off.
He pulled out a remote, and clicked the center button. A whirring sounded as the projector in the room turned on, taking a few moments for it to power up. Finally, as the screen came into focus, Ango felt his blood turn to ice.
On the screen displayed Mori—or, more accurately, his body—plastered to what seemed to be the wall of his old office like a crucifix. Knives were punctured into his corpse to keep it suspended, plunged deep and leaking blood from the wounds. Judging by how little escaped, there wasn’t much of his blood left to be spilt, but Dazai was milking him for all he was worth.
“Mori has unfortunately found himself in an ill-fated situation.” Dazai sighed, light and flippant. “Luckily for us, though, I am here to take his place as your new benevolent boss.”
He surveyed the crowd with his dead eye again, this time dread and terror clasping everyone’s chests and squeezing. Ango hadn’t wanted to picture what lengths Dazai would go to in order to bring about Mori’s comeuppance.
“If anyone has anything to say to me, please leave a comment in the suggestion box!” Dazai said cheerfully, clapping his hands together and dropping the remote.
“Oh, and be sure to sign your name.” His expression turned cold once again. “I would love to know what you all think of this new circumstance.”
That said, Dazai turned on his heel and stalked off once again, footsteps echoing throughout the room as the terror sunk into the silent crowd, no one daring to make a move.
“Will someone please turn off the projector?”
Ango felt Oda shift and move forward from beside him, but he turned to the person who had made the request. That had been Kouyou, for sure.
Their eyes met, as she had taken notice of Oda’s movement. Ango felt himself sigh in relief that she was covering the Akutagawa children’s eyes, their faces pressed into her as everyone waited with bated breath for Oda to shut off the screen.
Once the image was removed, those in the room seemed to settle a bit. It’s not like no one had seen this coming; Dazai was a force to be reckoned with, and it was only a matter of time before he aspired to take Mori’s position. But no one had foreseen that he would have made his move so quickly.
Ango’s phone buzzed, as did apparently everyone’s in the room. Ango checked his phone to see a new message, from the boss’s email address.
Meeting adjourned. Everyone return to workstations.
With nothing else to do, the Port Mafia members did what they were conditioned to do: follow orders. The lesser members broke up and began striding stiffly back to their work positions. Ango watched Oda move to do the same.
He sighed, turning to where the executives were all apparently conversing with each other. If anyone would speak up about this new arrangement, it was one of them.
“-and where is Chuuya-kun?”
“I haven’t seen him, but-”
“Did you two see anything?”
Ango watched as Kouyou knelt in front of the Akutagawa siblings, who both looked small even at eye level.
Gin shook her head slowly, but Akutagawa made no move to respond at all. Ango’s gut clenched thinking about him having to see Dazai’s presentation.
He turned away, forcing his legs to move back towards his office. He didn’t want to spend another second in this godforsaken foyer.
-
“What do you think, Chuuya?”
Dazai stood behind Chuuya, hands resting on the chair his chibi was sitting in as they looked up at Dazai’s new lovely office decoration, right above his desk. Now whenever someone came in, they would have to come face to face with the previous boss’s rotting corpse; a reminder of what Dazai did to those who crossed him.
“Do you like it?”
Chuuya hadn’t said anything, his face hadn’t moved. Dazai really hated this look on him; his chibi was supposed to be expressive, loud and annoying. He was supposed to be the only one who shouted and fought with Dazai, the only one who could get away with it.
Why did he have to be so quiet now?
“Chuuya,” Dazai hated how pained his voice sounded. Damn it, why was he going soft now? “Please, say something.”
He really just needed to hear his chibi say anything, and he would calm down. But until he heard Chuuya’s voice again, he wouldn’t know if he had done enough to please his partner. He wouldn’t know if his chibi was going to be okay.
But then he felt Chuuya’s hand slide up to grasp one of his own, enveloping Dazai in his warmth.
Chuuya took a shaky breath.
“Serves the bastard right.”
Dazai felt a chuckle burble from his throat as he flipped his hand over to grip Chuuya’s more firmly, using his other hand to stroke down Chuuya’s cheek gently.
“You certainly said it, chibi.”
Chuuya huffed, looking up to meet Dazai’s eyes just so the latter could see him roll his eyes.
“Don’t call me that, mackerel.”
Dazai felt his smile grow even wider; there was his Chuuya.
Dazai withdrew the hand on Chuuya’s face to swat his shoulder gently.
“So you’re the boss now.” Chuuya hummed, lowering his chin to look back up ahead. “Such a strange notion. I’m not going to be your equal anymore.”
Dazai huffed. “You’ve never been my equal. There are ways I’m better, and ways you are.”
He leaned down as Chuuya lifted his eyes again.
“I don’t want you as a simple executive anymore.”
Chuuya cocked his head. “And what’s that supposed to mean? You’re demoting me now?”
Dazai shook his head as a smile made its way across his lips. Chuuya watched the movement closely.
“I’m going to need a bodyguard, right?” He gave his dog a lopsided grin. “How do you feel about being my right hand man?”
Chuuya huffed, but there was a smile playing on his lips.
“Whatever you say, Boss.”