Chapter Text
Atsushi stands by the river, waiting on someone that he can actually rob. However it doesn’t take long for a snobby woman in tight designer clothes to walk past. She’s alone, which is good for Atsushi. He takes off. It’s not long before he’s settled in an alleyway, surveying his loot. It’s a pretty good haul. The best part for him though is how happy he feels. He hasn’t felt this alive… he’s not sure how long it’s been, it might be the first time. He grins.
“I think I may be able to take this somewhere. First I have to get good, then I can branch out.”
A Year Later
Akutagawa walks up to the ADA’s front door. He doesn’t stop at the receptionist’s desk. Everyone jumps up when he walks into the office, immediately defensive. He barely spares them a glance.
“Akutagawa, what are you doing here?” the blonde one with glasses asks, but Akutagawa ignores him.
“I asked him to come. What did you think he was doing? Coming into this building alone to try and assassinate all of us in broad daylight?” Dazai scoffs.
“Dazai, what did you need me for?”
“I wanted the Port Mafia’s help with our shared thief problem.”
“Oh, you mean the rumors?”
“Oh, they’re not just rumors. There’s a thief, and he’s stolen from every criminal organization in the area except for the Port Mafia. He hasn’t gotten to them yet, but just give it time. He’s also the one that is rumored to be the key to finding the book. The one that the Guild was looking for, and the Decay Of Angels is looking for right now.”
“Huh, what do you want me to do?”
“I want the Mafia’s firepower to capture him once we figure out where he’s gonna be.”
“Who specifically?”
“You and the Chibi.”
“Chuuya isn’t going to like that.”
“That’s why I’m not talking to Chuuya, I’m talking to you.”
Akutagawa nods his understanding, not seeming too bothered by the way that Dazai is clearly using him. It is making everyone else in the room uncomfortable though. Dazai waves them off before speaking again.
“So, I’ll text you the details when we get them. Be ready with what I asked for. This needs to be quick. Everyone is looking for this man, and we need to get to him first.”
“Who is he?”
“We don’t know. All we know is that he’s really good at what he does, and his code name is Snow.”
“Even my ability doesn’t work on him,” Ranpo chimes in. “I can’t even figure out how old he is, or where he worked before he came to Yokohama.”
He sounds pouty now, which causes Akutagawa to raise a judgemental eyebrow.
“Alright, I’ll be ready.” He breezes back out. Despite his bold words, it takes the ADA and the police department almost a month of looking before they can find his next target. They still have no idea where his hideout is, so they have to intercept him during his next job, although they’re not sure when that’s going to be. Dazai shoots Akutagawa a quick text before getting ready for his stakeout. Twenty minutes later he walks up to a black sedan parked outside of the research building that he’s going to be staking out. He knocks on the window. It rolls down to show Port Mafia Executive Chuuya Nakahara.
“Get in, you useless waste of space.”
He climbs inside.
“Aw, Chibi, don’t be like that. You’re hurting my feelings.”
He puts his hand over his heart to emphasize his point. Akutagawa is silent in the passenger seat, which is unusual seeing as he usually jumps to Dazai’s defense. Instead his eyes are trained on the building to his left. Chuuya huffs, rolling his eyes.
“Why did I have to come?”
“Because we needed battle oriented abilities, and I thought that it was a good idea to have the Port Mafia come so they can take the blame for property damage and injuries.”
“What?!?! Are you freaking kidding me? You better be!”
“No, I’m not. Think about it, what harm does that do for you? You’re known for destroying things, all the time. What’s one more building? However, if we get pinned for it, we may go to jail.”
Chuuya grumbles, but doesn’t argue anymore. They sit there for almost six hours before anything happens. When it does, Dazai isn’t paying any attention. He’s messing with Chuuya’s hair, braiding a piece of it. Chuuya is staring at the building so intently that he hasn’t even noticed. Akutagawa is the one to speak though.
“Did you see that?”
“What?”
“Someone fired a taser on the top floor. He’s already inside, and we missed him.”
“The best escape option would be to go on the roof. Get up there, Akutagawa. We’ll meet you there as soon as we can,” Dazai commands, getting out of the car.
“I can go with him now,” Chuuya protests.
“I need you for something else first.”
Chuuya’s eyes flash, but he agrees. Akutagawa uses Rashomon to propel himself up level by level. He reaches the roof right as someone in a hoodie hops from the roof to the next building. He easily jumps it, moving faster than a normal individual. Akutagawa growls, thinking of the last time that he ran. Then Dazai comes into his mind, and he takes off after the man. It doesn’t take the man long to notice Akutagawa chasing him. He slides down the nearest fire escape. What he doesn’t account for is the diversity of Akutagawa’s ability. Akutagawa drops off of the side of the building, using Rashomon to catch himself right before he hits the ground. He reaches out to grab the man, barely grasping his hoodie before he gets kicked in the chest. He drops, wheezing. The man stands there for a moment, seeming to be watching him.
“He’s from the Port Mafia,” the man whispers, not loud enough for Akutagawa to hear him.
He takes off immediately, knowing that if he doesn’t get away now, this man’s reinforcement would catch up with him soon. Akutagawa is just starting to gather himself when Dazai and Chuuya show up.
“Akutagawa! Are you alright?”
Chuuya kneels down, grabbing Akutagawa’s shoulder.
“I’m fine.”
“You lost him,” Dazai says, sounding disappointed.
“Not completely.”
“What does that mean?”
Before Akutagawa can answer, Chuuya growls. “Shut up! He could have died.”
“He’s a mafia member, he could die walking down the street to go home.”
“He could, but it’s not likely. Do you not see what he did to himself? We’re not helping you anymore. I’m getting him to a hospital. Best of luck with your stupid escapade.”
He pulls Akutagawa to his feet, dragging one of his arms over his shoulders.
“Akutagawa?” Dazai asks.
Akutagawa doesn’t respond though, choosing to look down instead. Chuuya gives Dazai one more glare before pulling Akutagawa away. Dazai has to personally come to the mafia’s main base and pester them for three days straight before someone would take him to Akutagawa. It’s clear that Chuuya told them not to. However, Gin is the one to approach him on the third day.
“Come with me, my brother wishes to see you.”
“Sweet,” Dazai replies, swiftly following her.
She takes him to the infirmary where Akutagawa is pulling on his coat. Chuuya is standing in the corner and he does not look happy.
“You wished to see me.”
Gin moves out of the room, leaving the three of them alone.
“Wow, you guys are doing a good job of keeping all of your people healthy,” he says when no one replies.
“I put a tracker on your thief while I was chasing him. We’re going to go with you to apprehend him.”
“Sweet, let’s hope that tracker isn’t out of date.”
Chuuya rolls his eyes. “If it is, we’re not listening to one word of complaint.”
Dazai sticks his tongue out. Chuuya drives them while Akutagawa navigates. They end up in the poorest part of town.
“This shouldn’t be where a master thief lives,” Chuuya comments, looking around.
Dazai hums, thinking. They stop in front of a small, beat up, moldy house.
“This is where he is, or at least the hoodie that he was wearing that day.”
It doesn’t take much to jimmy the door open, and it’s not hard for Chuuya and Dazai to see and take care of all of the traps and sensors planted around.
“Wow, this guy is good. How long do you think he’s been doing this?” Chuuya asks as he peeks into the hallway.
“I’d say at least ten years,” Dazai replies, looking at how old some of the tricks around here are.
“He’s not here right now, but there’s food in a pot on the stove. It looks like he either just ate or is coming back to eat soon,” Akutagawa calls from the kitchen.
“Alright, we’ll wait. I found a black hoodie,” Dazai crows, prancing out of the man’s bedroom.
It’s bare, not giving away anything about him. He flops down on the couch next to Chuuya.
“That’s the one that he was wearing.”
“I figured.”
It only takes twenty minutes for the door to open. Dazai locked it again, covering over any signs that the door was forcibly opened. A young boy walks in with grocery bags. He has light gray hair and segmental heterochromatic eyes. He’s wearing black jeans with holes littering them, and a gray zip up hoodie. He doesn’t look surprised that there are two people on his couch. Akutagawa is in the man’s room, out of sight.
“Where’s Snow?” Dazai immediately asks.
“Who are you guys?” the kid asks, searching through his grocery bags for something.
“I work with the ADA, and this guy is from the Port Mafia. Now, unless you want to get caught in the crossfire, you should tell me where Snow is. How do you know him?”
The kid grabs a package of instant noodles out of the bag and starts them in the microwave before turning back towards Dazai. He leans against the stove.
“What do you guys want with him?”
“Don’t worry about that. Where is he?”
“Well-”
The microwave beeps, cutting him off. He takes his noodles out, adding them to the soup on the stove.
“Sit down. Tell the other guy to come in here. Then I’ll get you guys some food, and we’ll talk.”
“Akutagawa, get in here.”
Akutagawa walks in, looking the kid up and down immediately.
“Down dog,” Dazai commands.
It’s only a minute before the kid comes in with four bowls of soup. He puts one down in front of each of them.
“Here you go.”
Chuuya nods, but Akutagawa refuses to even take his. He puts it down in front of Akutagawa, moving on to Dazai.
“Are you stalling so he can escape?”
“Nope,” he replies, popping the p at the end.
“Then what are you doing?”
“Making my guests comfortable.”
He sits down across from Dazai, sitting on the edge of the table.
“I’m Snow, how can I help you?”
He takes a bite of his soup while Dazai stares at him.
“No you’re not. How old are you?”
“I’m nineteen.”
“There’s no way.”
“I know, but I had a knack for it when I started. It was odd.”
“He’s telling the truth. I put it together earlier, but I knew that you wouldn’t believe that someone could pick up these skills that fast. How long have you been doing this, kid?”
“A little over a year. I didn’t start my big heists until six months ago. Now, what do you want with me?”
“Have you heard the rumors about the man who can find the book?” Chuuya asks.
“The book? You mean the one that can create anything as long as there’s a cohesive narrative?” Snow asks in between bites.
“Yes.”
“I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never heard anything about someone knowing where it is. Honestly, I don’t really believe that it’s real.”
“It is, and I’ve heard rumors that you’re the key to finding it,” Dazai says, leaning forward.
Snow leans back.
“You’re in my personal space. Anyway, that’s crazy, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Just come back with us before someone else finds you. Everyone is looking for you, and someone worse will come behind us.”
“I think I’ll take my chances. I do have to move now though, cause someone probably followed you here.”
He stands up, putting his bowl down.
“By the way, I’m really sorry about our last interaction,” he says, turning towards Akutagawa.
“What does your ability do? Who are you really?” Akutagawa demands.
“Well, I mean, you’ve already seen my face, and it’s not like my old name is really that big of a secret. My name is Haru,” he says, offering Akutagawa his hand.
Akutagawa hesitantly takes it. Snow shakes his hand.
“It was nice meeting all of you, but you should leave before I do. You wouldn’t want those bad people to catch up with you.”
Chuuya rolls his eyes.
“He had to be sarcastic, didn’t he?” he mutters.
“What about your ability?” Dazai asks.
“I don’t reveal all my secrets upon first meeting,” he says, walking down the hall towards his room.
Before Dazai can say anything else, the outside wall of the hallway blows inwards. It tosses Snow into the other wall hard with debris falling on top of him.
“I think someone followed us here,” Chuuya says casually as he strolls over to the hole in the wall.
As soon as he’s in sight of the men outside, they open fire. He sends the bullets back at them, slinging Snow over his shoulder.
“Let’s go out the back,” Akutagawa suggests.
Dazai nods, and they all rush out of the back door. It doesn’t take them long to get back to ADA headquarters. Snow is still unconscious, his head is bleeding pretty heavily.
“Someone go get Yosano,” Dazai commands as Chuuya drops Snow into Dazai’s chair.
“Hey,” he whines.
“Who is that?” Kenji asks, coming closer.
“This is Snow.”
Kunikida comes back with Yosano, who raises one eyebrow.
“Don’t use your ability, if you don’t mind. I just need for you to patch up his head, and then see if you can wake him up. If you use your ability on him, he’ll sleep forever.”
“Fine.”
Once she’s done, she uses smelling salts to wake him up. He groans, pulling away from her.
“There, happy?” she demands even as he puts his head back down.
Ranpo walks in with hot chocolate. He nearly drops it when he sees Snow.
“What is he doing here?”
“This is Snow.”
“Are you serious?”
Dazai nods. “Why?”
“What did he tell you about himself?”
“He said that his name is Haru, and he isn’t going to tell us what his ability is.”
“That’s not his name. His name is Atsushi Nakajima. He was part of this big scandal about a year ago. He went missing, so an investigation was conducted.”
“That makes sense, what’s the point?”
“He lived at an orphanage, and they found out that the orphanage was experimenting on him. Specifically his ability. We still don’t know what it was and they never managed to find out, but they never found him either. They’re not even sure what was done to him.”
“Wow, that’s a lot. So, his name is Atsushi? That’s a much better name than the one that he gave us. Although I’m not surprised that he lied to us. Especially if he didn’t see the story about the investigation. He might think that we’ll send him back.”
Atsushi opens his eyes, reluctantly.
“Wow, that’s a headache. Where am I?” He doesn’t sound perturbed, just curious.
“You’re at the ADA,” Dazai jumps in, motioning around.
“So, you did lead someone to my house. Man, that sucks. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to buy all new clothes this time.”
“You’re not going anywhere, you’re staying here in our custody until I say differently.”
“As if.”
“We know who you are, Atsushi Nakajima. You don’t have to run anymore. Just help us with our stuff, and we’ll let you go. Then you can go back to stealing from whoever you want to.”
“How do you know my name?”
“I saw your picture in the paper a while ago. You had a really bad haircut, but other than that, you look exactly the same,” Ranpo comments.
“Ugh, fine, what do you want?”
“To figure out how you can lead us to the book.”
“I didn’t realize that you were serious about that. I don’t know where that is, or how to find it. I can’t help you. I wasn’t lying about that.”
“Look, I know that whatever secrets you carry with you, you don’t know about them either. I also know that coercion isn’t going to work. You need to work with us willingly. However, I think you’ll do just that. You’re just as curious about your past as we are, if not more. As much as you pretend like your past and the things that were done to you don’t haunt you, they do. I can cut you a deal if you agree to help.”
“I’m not worried about my time before the orphanage, but…”
“So, you don’t care about your biological parents, but you’re curious about the people at the orphanage. You wanna know why that stuff happened to you.”
Atsushi nods, immediately wincing. He puts a hand against the bandages on his head.
“Did you put stitches in my head?” he asks, sounding a little panicked.
“Yes, why?”
“You need to take those out.”
“I’ll go get some numbing cream, just give me a minute.”
“No, I don’t need that. Can you please just take them out?”
“Yes, why?”
“Cause I have a passive regenerative aspect to my ability, and skin is growing over the stitches right now.”
Her eyes widen, and she unwraps his head. She takes the stitches out, occasionally having to cut skin away with her pocket knife. She rewraps his head once she’s done.
“Alright, that was fun. I’m gonna go clean myself up.”
Atsushi smiles at her, immediately causing her to smile back. He has a very nice smile, very sweet and unbothered.
“I can get you a meeting with anyone that you want. They’re all in jail, I can do anything I want with them. Anything you want.”
“I also want access to all of the files on what happened.”
“You know, what happened to you is probably directly tied to your biological parents,” Chuuya points out.
“I’m aware, and if that is the case, I can deal with that later. I don’t want to get in over my head. I’ll start there, and move on.”
“What have you been doing all of this time?” Ranpo asks, leaning forward.
“I’ve been robbing people.”
“Why doesn’t my ability work on you?”
“I don’t know, I don’t even know what ability you're talking about. I don’t know you.”
“Who do you steal from and why?” Akutagawa demands, taking a step towards him.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re far too nice to be a normal thief.”
“Well, I mean, I like to think that I’m nice. Sometimes. Anyway, I steal from anyone that uses their money for ill. Then I put it back into something better.”
“You’re an interesting individual,” Yosano comments.
Dazai is watching Atsushi with intense interest.
“How would you feel about not being a thief anymore, Atsushi? What if you picked a different career after this is over?”
“Pass, I’m not really a team player. I like what I’ve got going on right now.”
“Hm, we’ll see how long you keep that attitude.”
Atsushi nods, looking at Dazai like he’s crazy, which he is.
“Can I go buy some new clothes please?”
“Yes, you’re free to do whatever you want, sweetheart. We’re not in the business of kidnapping, unlike some people in this room,” Yosano says from the doorway, looking pointedly at Chuuya and Akutagawa.
Chuuya raises his hands. “Hey, I’ve been kidnapped way more times than I’ve kidnapped other people.”
Everyone turns to look at him, bewildered.
“What?” He shrugs.
Akutagawa pinches his nose.
“Chuuya, remember.”
“I know my reputation. I didn’t mean to.”
“Are you on something?” Dazai asks, getting really close to Chuuya’s face.
Chuuya casually smacks him into the wall as he responds,” Actually, I am. Nothing illegal though,” he adds quickly.
“We’re mafia, why would they care if you were on drugs?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to work with a crackhead, and I’m in the mafia.”
“Did Mori give you something again?” Akutagawa asks.
“Shut up.”
Dazai groans as he stumbles to his feet.
“Ugh, that hurt. Chuuuya,” he whines. “I don’t like whatever prescription Mori put you on.”
“Does it look like I care what you think?”
“Whatever, I’m just saying. You probably shouldn’t trust that man. He may have doctor chicken scratch handwriting, but he is one of those creepy doctors that’ll steal your organs.”
Atsushi sputters from where he’s sitting.
“I thought you left,” Dazai says.
“I didn’t, yet. What are you guys wrapped up in? Ew, no. No, forget that I asked. I don’t wanna know.”
He stands up.
“That’s not gonna cause you to run off, right?”
“No.”
Despite his words, he races out of the room without looking back.
“I’m going to go after him,” Akutagawa says, breezing past Chuuya and Dazai. He walks quickly after Atsushi.
Man, today has been a weird day, Atsushi thinks as he pulls his hoodie off.
There’s too much blood on it for him to continue wearing it. He tosses it in the garbage in the lobby. There isn’t anything that he can do about the blood on his jeans. Akutagawa comes up behind him.
“Hey, you shouldn’t go out wearing that.”
“What am I gonna wear then? You guys got my home blown up,” he reminds him.
“Hang on. Just wait here.”
He walks out of the building, leaving Atsushi in the lobby. Atsushi waits for a few minutes, tapping his foot. Akutagawa walks back in with a backpack. He tosses a pair of jeans at Atsushi. They’re gray, which isn’t really Atsushi’s style, but he’s not gonna complain.
“Are these yours?”
Akutagawa nods.
“If you own this then why are you dressed like that?”
“This is what Dazai told me to wear.”
“Huh, okaaay.”
He walks towards the bathroom.
“Make sure that you wipe off your shoes while you’re in there,” Akutagawa commands.
“Will do, captain.”
Akutagawa rolls his eyes, choosing to ignore Atsushi. Atsushi changes clothes, then cleans his shoes in the sink. Since they’re just leather boots, they’re not hard to clean. He comes out of the bathroom five minutes after he walked in. Akutagawa is still waiting, ignoring the very dirty look that the receptionist is giving him. Atsushi walks out, Akutagawa following behind.
“They don’t seem to like you very much. Why are you hanging around them? Is it Dazai?”
“No.”
“You know, you don’t have to be so stingy all of the time. Would it kill you to be nice?”
“No.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you when I hit you the other day.”
“Ok.”
“Did you just shut down?”
“No.”
“Ok.”
I don’t think I like this guy very much. Maybe I shouldn’t do all of this after all.
“You thinking of backing out?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t, this is important. The whole world depends on us getting this book first. Has anyone told you about The Decay Of The Angels?”
Atsushi shakes his head.
“They’re also looking for the book, but they want to eradicate abilities. We’ve managed to keep them at bay, purely because no one can find this book. If someone else gets to you first, they won’t be as nice as we’ve been.”
“I know, but I’m not scared. I haven’t been scared of anything for a while now.”
“Since the headmaster?” he asks without looking away.
Atsushi stiffens.
“Wow, everyone really knows everything about that, huh?”
“I don’t know. All I do know is that I recognized the story that Ranpo told. I didn’t recognize you, and I have no way to know if what I know is the full story. That’s yours to tell and to keep to yourself.”
“How would you know how the headmaster made me feel anyway? I never said that scared me.”
“It didn’t scare you. The experience wasn’t the problem. The human cruelty behind it was what scared you. You don’t know what those experiments did to you, but the only thing that you’re asking about is why he did it. I know all of this because I had my own person like that a while ago. Nothing that was done to me scared me, but the intentions behind it did.”
Atsushi doesn’t respond, wondering how he could have misjudged this man so badly. Akutagawa doesn’t comment on his thoughtfulness as they walk up to the mall.
“Why are we here?” he asks.
“This is where I shop. I go to the Gap and Old Navy.”
“Wow, ok.”
“Where do you shop if you’re not wearing that?”
“I either go shopping with Chuuya, or I go to Walmart.”
Atsushi laughs. “So, were you judging me?”
“No, but anyone who’s good at stealing doesn’t go to cheap places. They buy nice clothes.”
“Well, I buy sturdy clothes.”
“It’s not about that. Either way, no one would believe that you’re Snow. Speaking of which, why do people call you that?”
“That was my nickname at the orphanage, so I started introducing myself as that after I left. It stuck.”
“Hm.”
“As for why that was my nickname, it had to do with my ability. The adults couldn’t be bothered to learn my name, so they just called me Snow instead. The kids picked up on it, and it became my nickname. What about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you have any nicknames, and if you do, where did you get them? Do you have like a street name or something?”
Akutagawa snickers. “They call me the rabid dog of the Port Mafia.”
“Oof, you didn’t pick that, right?”
“No, my mentor called me that, and unfortunately it stuck.”
“Wow, well, do you have any nicknames?”
“I have someone that calls me Ryuu and someone that calls me Aku.”
“Those are both cute, but I think I like the first one better. Is that from your first name?”
“Yes.”
They’re walking through the men’s section now, Atsushi looking through the clothes. He grabs some jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, and sleeping clothes.
“Do you always wear hoodies?”
“Yeah, for the most part. They’re comfy and good for covering up skin without clinging to you like long sleeve shirts.”
He weaves through the store to the cash register. The woman looks Akutagawa up and down skeptically, but rings everything up. Atsushi pulls out his credit card. They also go to a shoe store before walking back outside. Atsushi is staring off into the distance as they walk back to the agency.
“Are you sure that you want to go back, because you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into,” Akutagawa warns him.
“Yeah, I’m sure, but aren’t you supposed to be trying to convince me to stay?”
“I believe that you should be informed and make your own decision. I shouldn’t do that for you. That would be unbelievably rude.”
Atsushi smiles. “I know that this probably won’t end well for me, but I need to know. I can’t let this opportunity pass me by. Not when all of them are being held in prisons that don’t take visitors. If Dazai can get me in there, I’ll help him find his magic book.”
“Alright.”
The agency is in chaos when they step back inside the office.