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Kouyou opened the office door and slipped in discreetly, only to be met with a bottle smashing against the wall beside her. She decides to forgo the usual lecture and step farther into the room.
“Fuck Off!” These are the first words she hears from the boy in nearly a week.
“I thought you knew better than to use that language with me?” She asks, sitting down on the dark red couch that’s been pushed up against the wall, gesturing for the young executive to join her.
He doesn’t, though she suspected he wouldn’t.
She took a minute to look at the usually pristine office.
Though Chuuya’s side of the room remained untouched, the area around Dazai’s desk was a disaster.
Multiple empty bottles of whiskey and Sake surrounded the trash bin in a spiral pattern leading outwards. Multiple sets of knives sat embedded in the wall. Bandages and gauze were strewn across the floor, though they looked to be clean. Dazai’s coat sat discarded on the back of his chair, and he had thrown the suit jacket and vest that he usually wore somewhere. She took concerned note of the pill bottles that sat on his desk, along with a box cutter and half a bottle of whiskey.
“Yes, and I thought I made it clear I wasn’t to be disturbed?” Dazai snarled from his place, pacing behind his desk.
It was true, he made it very clear that if someone were to try and enter the office he shared with Chuuya, even Chuuya himself, would be shot. She eyed the gun on his desk warily, but quickly dismissed the worry, Dazai was unstable, certainly, but he wouldn’t want to deal with the possible repercussions of shooting her.
She nodded, “That you have, but Chuuya will be returning from fieldwork in two days, and I’m sure he would also like to spend some time in his office as well.”
“Well too bad for him.”
“Dazai.” He glanced at her but continued to pace. “Dazai, this tantrum has gone uninterrupted for three days, you need to come out eventually.”
They both knew that was technically not true, Dazai and Chuuya put a minifridge and multiple snack baskets in the room when Chuuya started sharing, there was an adjoining bathroom, bandages in Dazai’s desk, and when he eventually ran out of food, he could just order one of the grunts to get him more.
However, the mafia was suffering, and Mori’s patience was running thin. She told him as much.
Dazai winced at the man's name before scoffing, “Well then I guess Mori will just have to go fuck himself.”
She raised an eyebrow at the words, before glancing around the room, and, sure enough, every camera or recording device had been taken apart or simply destroyed, even the small ones that she guessed must have been hidden.
So they were able to speak freely.
She activated her ability. “Golden Demon, watch the door.”
The ability did just that, floating over to the mahogany doors, peaking through the tiny gap between the double doors.
“Why’d you do that?” Dazai questioned.
“Because you and I need to talk and I don’t want anyone to overhear us.”
He blew some hair out of his face and continued pacing, much more annoyed than before. “Okay? So talk.”
Taking a deep breath, she asked him. “How long have you known?”
He stopped, facing away from her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His voice was cold, cutting like a frozen knife, and if she were anyone else she would have apologized profusely before leaving because when the Demon Prodigy spoke to you like that, you could only pray he would show mercy. But Kouyou wasn’t anyone else, and she could see his fingers clutching at his shirt, so tight his knuckles were almost white.
“Dazai. I’m not going to insult you by trying to sugarcoat this situation, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t insult me by acting like I don’t know what I’m talking about. How long have you known?” She asked again.
The fight left him, for the first time in a while his shoulders seemed to droop, honestly exhausted and he shuffled over the couch, sitting down on the floor right next to her legs, but not quite touching. He looked ahead, out the large window that overlooked the city, and as did she. She could feel him relax with her eyes no longer on him.
“‘Bout a week.” He answered.
“I see.”
“How did you find out?” He asked.
“You’ve been moody, despondent, and angry over the last couple of weeks. Along with being more emotional than I think I have ever seen you, though you’ve done an excellent job of hiding it.”
“Not good enough if you noticed.” He mumbled, and though she couldn’t see, she was sure he was pouting.
“And, along with all of that,” She pulled a delicate hand out of her sleeve and handed the little plastic baggy containing her evidence to the boy on the floor, “one of my people found this in your trash.”
He glanced up at her. “You have people going through my trash?”
Her lips quirked for a moment. “I have someone going through everyone's trash.”
He snorted, before eyeing the plastic stick in the baggy. The pink plus sign made his stomach turn. “Does he know?” She asked.
“Of course not. I’m not sure what he’d do, I’m just sure it would be bad.” Dazai signed. “Are you gonna tell him?”
“No.” She answered, not a moment of hesitation.
He nodded before dropping the test on the floor and drawing his knees up to his chin, burying his face in his knees. “What am I gonna do?” His question came out muffled.
“What do you want to do?”
“If I knew I wouldn’t be asking you.”
“No, I suppose you wouldn’t.” She sighed, preparing for a difficult conversation that neither of them was ready for. “You have some options. Judging by the fact you haven’t told him yet, you don’t want Mori to know?” A shake of his head was all she needed. “Okay. Do you want to keep the baby?”
Dazai’s head shot up with a grown, glaring at her before looking back out over the city. “Don’t… Don’t call it that. It’s not a baby. It’s a parasite that’s sucking my blood and life force.”
She nodded. “Alright, do you want to keep it?”
“What part of what I just said makes you think I want to ‘ keep it’ ?”
She nodded. “Then we terminate the… it.”
Pregnancy.
She was going to say pregnancy. Dazai’s pregnant. The Demon Prodigy, made of ice and calculation. At only sixteen. With the man who was meant to be his caretaker. With the man who tortured him, isolated him, and broke him.
Kouyou is slow to anger, always has been. The burning hot fury was never something she could understand, her anger was cold and sharp, much like Dazai. She thinks she understands it now. What Chuuya is talking about, is this all-consuming need, anger, rage.
Her loyalty to Mori has always been finite. He killed the man who took the love of her life, that was something she could never repay him for, so she did not waste her time trying. He was good for the mafia, knew how to run an organization, and always left her to her business.
But she truly debated getting up, beckoning Golden Demon and Dazai to follow her, up to Mori’s office, breaking the door down, and ordering Golden Demon to cut that wretched little man into pieces. She would do it herself, but she imagined she’d be too busy saying, “See, Lad. He will never hurt you like this again.”
It’s a pipe dream. She knows killing him would destabilize the mafia, and she would need time to plan to take over after him. Besides, that wouldn’t really help Dazai, the damage long since done.
He snorted at the suggestion. “He’s my doctor. It’s not like I can ask him, and he would hear if I went to any other doctor in the country. Let’s just admit it, I’m fucked.”
“Not necessarily.”
His interest peaked.
“I know a doctor, who runs a clinic. He does this sort of thing for my girls often, Mori doesn’t know. I’m sure he’d be more than willing to help you.” Kouyou suggested.
“Is he trustworthy?”
“Yes.”
“If it were you… would you do it?”
“Yes.” Not a second of hesitation.
“Okay. Okay, I’ll see your doctor.” Dazai agreed.
Kouyou sighed with relief. “Alright, I will get in contact with him.”
She was about to stand, when Dazai asked, “Can… Can you stay a while?” Relaxing back into the couch, she reached out and gently placed her hand on Dazai’s head, beginning to card through his unruly hair. He tensed, before eventually relaxing, leaning his weight onto her leg, resting his head on her knee.
No Longer Human buzzed as her fingertips made contact with his scalp, spreading the icy feeling through her body, and she felt Golden Demon dissipate near the door. His ability silenced the near-constant buzz of Golden Demon’s energy in her body, the buzz was not unpleasant, but Dazai’s ability felt like taking a dip in ice water after an excruciatingly hot summer day.
One day , she thinks to herself, One day, Mori will get what’s coming to him.
“I really don’t understand why I have to deal with him when he’s like this. The office was a mess!”
“Because you’re his partner,” Kouyou said simply, walking at a brisk pace, Chuuya following quickly behind her.
She could feel him rolling his eyes, but let her continue. However, she stayed silent until they reached her office. A guard opened the door for her and Chuuya.
Her office was like every other executive's office, large, luxurious, and overlooking the city. Hers was decorated with flowers, and the walls lined with ornate swords and art. Chuuya sat down at the Chabudai and Kouyou sat down across from him.
Tea was already left out on the table with some cookies, set out by one of her girls. And, as per her request, her parasol was set out next to her spot.
She opened it up and angled it towards the camera staring down at them. “Lad, look at the damage to the runner on this parasol, I may have to get a new one. So disappointing.”
Chuuya was on the edge of pointing out the fact that he had never seen her open an umbrella, or parasol inside before and that hers seemed to be in peak condition. However, he did notice her purposeful obstruction of the camera. So he waits for her to keep talking. And she does, continuing on about the structure of a parasol, and how difficult it will be to find something just right, though she already had so many.
If he wasn’t already on edge he might not have noticed the note being slid across the table.
The note glowed red for a moment as it slid itself into his pocket, though Chuuya himself did not, given the relatively light weight of the paper.
“It is most unfortunate, Ane-San.” He agrees.
She nods and closes the parasol, before sipping her tea.
He stays in her office for the next hour before being dismissed. When he gets back to his apartment he sits down on the couch with a glass of wine and opens the note.
He recognizes Kouyou’s handwriting before he even sees the words.
Chuuya-
I need you to take Dazai to this address, in two days. You two need to be there at exactly 6:30, not a moment later. You will take one of my cars, you will find the keys on your bedside table. Discretion is of the utmost priority. No one can know where you are going and no one can know I sent you. Only the three of us know, not any of the other executives and not Mori. It should remain that way. Wait for him to finish and when he is done, take him home.
You can not speak of this. Not a word uttered between the three of us. Burn this when you have memorized the address.
-Your Ane-san
Under her signature is an address, and he commits it to memory, then heads out to his balcony, where he and Dazai smoke when he’s over.
He finds his cigarettes and his lighter behind a long-dead potted plant. He lights up the cigarette, then holds the lighter behind the paper. He sees an extra message appear before the fire burns a hole through the paper and the fire begins to consume it.
In kindness there is strength.
Chuuya tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, glancing at Dazai next to him every couple of seconds. The redhead noted the obvious mood he was in.
The brunet hadn't said a word when he got in the car, just buckled himself in and leaned his head against the window. Chuuya was starting to get annoyed with the silence, Dazai was always loud, even when he was in a bad mood, he was loud and obnoxious, and took too much pleasure in making Chuuya’s life a hellhole.
But he hadn’t said a word.
Chuuya could imagine what he would say if he wasn’t pouting about something. “Chuuya’s too short to drive, how are you supposed to reach the pedals?” Never mind that Dazai wrecked three cars in the last five months.
He breathed a sigh of relief when they finally reached the address Ane-san had directed them to. It was a little, crumbling clinic. Very different from the one Chuuya saw Mori working in. The health hazards on the outside were enough to have Chuuya wrinkle his nose.
“Is this the right spot?” He asked, knowing Dazai knew more about what they were doing than he did.
Dazai hummed and walked to the door, and Chuuya, like the idiot he is, followed. The brunette knocked once on the door. It opened a crack to reveal a young woman with black hair tied up in a bun. She was wearing scrubs and had on a pair of glasses. Dazai took a note out of his pocket and handed it to her. She skimmed it before allowing them into the building.
She gestured to a couple of uncomfortable plastic chairs, where two other people were sitting. Chuuya sat down but Dazai didn’t.
He started to walk with the nurse before Chuuya stopped him. “Where are you going?”
“I have a meeting.” Dazai’s blank face changed into a smirk. “It’s smart people stuff, your tiny brain wouldn’t get it.” He flicked Chuuya on the forehead, then left through a set of doors with the nurse.
Chuuya huffed and sat back down. The two others in the waiting area were both women. The first looked tired, and Chuuya almost thought she was asleep. She held her hands over her stomach, kneading slightly at the soft flesh covered by the fabric of a too-big hoodie. The hood was up, casting a slight shadow over her face, but Chuuya could clearly see a large, hand-shaped bruise covering her neck. The other was a girl with fading blue hair, and dark blond roots, not much older than him. She had earbuds in and was scrolling through her phone. She was also holding her stomach, almost like she had a stomach ache.
He was by no means stupid. People always talked about Dazai’s intelligence, and while anyone would look like an idiot next to him, Chuuya was smart enough to figure out where exactly they were.
Something in his stomach tightened. He found out Dazai wasn’t born a boy a couple of months ago on a mission. And… he had always suspected… about Mori and Dazai.
He felt as sick as the girl across from him looked. He leaned back and closed his eyes, resolving to talk with Dazai once he was done.
He felt a hand jostle him awake. He looked up at Dazai’s pale face.
“We’re done here.”
Chuuya stood and saw Dazai slip the nurse an envelope, of what he assumed was payment. He saw the nurse take the blue-haired girl through the doors as they left.
They got into the car and Dazai reached over to fiddle with the radio. He turned to some obnoxious pop song and began to hum along. After five minutes though, Chuuya couldn't stand the dishonesty he felt permeating the car. He turned the radio down and Dazai whined.
Chuuya cut off his complaints by simply asking, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Dazai stared at him before sighing and leaning back into the passenger seat. “Why do you think?”
“Damn it Dazai, this is serious! I don’t want to deal with your games.”
“I’m not playing a game.” They were both silent for a long time.
“I know it’s serious!” Dazai snapped, blowing a piece of floppy brown hair out of his face, and looked out the window again. “I bought a pregnancy test, sour candy, and a slushie when I found out. I’ve never been more scared in my entire life. I’m not a parent, I'm a kid playing dress up. Of course, this is serious.”
Chuuya glanced at Dazai from the corner of his eye. He’s right, Dazai’s always right. He can’t even imagine Dazai as a parent. He’s good with Elise and Q, but they don’t really count. He never thought of Dazai as someone scared of anything, but now that he thinks about it, that was real fear as the nurse led him away.
“Alright.” They sat in silence for almost the entire drive before Chuuya asked. “Do you want to go to my apartment and play video games?”
Dazai turned his head away from the window to look at his companion. His lips quirked upwards and he nodded.
“Cool.”
“Cool.”
Atsushi flinched as the door to the agency swung open and slammed against the wall. He whipped his head around to see Executive Chuuya Nakahara, fuming in the doorway.
He internally groaned. Knowing whatever it was, it was Dazai’s fault.
Kunikida stood up. “Nakahara-san, please state your business here.” It’s an open secret that Kunikida and Chuuya-san often get drinks together after work, mainly to commiserate about having Dazai as a partner.
However, during business hours, Kunikida is often cold to the Mafia executive. Given their opposing careers.
Chuuya takes the attitude in stride though. “I’m here for Dazai. Not on business.” Atsushi did take note of the fact that the redhead was in a more casual version of his regular outfit, with no flowing coat or hat.
“Very well.” Kunikida took a big breath and shouted out, “DAZAI!”
The brunette popped his head out of Yosano’s infirmary. “Yes, Kunikida-kun?”
“Nakahara-san is here to see you.” He said, before sitting back down and returning to his seat and continuing his work. Atsushi followed his lead, as did the Tanazaki’s and Kouyka. Though the kids only pretended to do their work. Double Black fighting was prime entertainment in the sometimes boring office.
Dazai walked out and stood at the other end of the office, the two of them appearing almost like they were in a Mexican standoff.
“Where have you been?” Chuuya-san bit out.
“Here? Chuuya is your hat eating your brain again, that you forgot where I work?” Dazai smirked.
Chuuya-san’s scowl only seemed to deepen at Dazai’s joking nature. “I haven’t heard from you in nearly a week. Thought you finally kicked it.” Even with Chuuya’s flippant attitude, Atsushi could tell he had been concerned. They all were when Dazai disappeared.
“I just…” Dazai’s words trailed off, unsure of what to say.
Chuuya-san’s concern only seemed to grow. Dazai was never at a loss for words. Ever.
“Did… did I do something wrong?” He whispered.
Everyone at the agency knew about whatever was going on with the Mafia executive, and his ex-partner.
The horror on Dazai’s face at Chuuya’s words was almost tangible. “No! No, no, no, no! That’s definatly not it!”
“Then what!? What is going on!?”
“I’m pregnant!”
A hush fell over the office. Everyone knew Dazai was trans, he had always been very open about it. But, the idea that Dazai, cold, calculating, disconnected Dazai, could be pregnant, was kind of alien.
The eyes in the office, even Kunikida, turned to the redhead. Who stood there gaping like a fish, staring in shock at Dazai.
The seconds of silence ticked by, with no word from Chuuya before Dazai finally broke it. “Well, go on then. Shout, scream, say something!” Almost none of them had ever heard Dazai shout before, it was a bit uncomfortable.
Finally, Chuuya spoke up. “I’m gonna be a dad?” His blue eyes almost glowed in excitement.
Dazai’s face broke into a grin. “Yeah, you’re gonna be a dad.” He whispered.
In an instant Chuuya was across the room, sweeping Dazai up in his arms. “We’re gonna have a baby!?”
“We’re gonna have a baby!” Dazai squealed in Chuuya’s arms as he spun the brunette around.
The two seemed to fall into their own world, talking about all things baby related. The agency stood in equal parts shock and excitement.
Atsushi had always wanted a little sibling.