Work Text:
They had a meeting with the Port Mafia today.
The tension around the office was so thick it could be cut with a knife.
Even Dazai, who would never take anything seriously (or so it seemed to those unobservant), showed the slightest hint of unease. It was clear he knew something the rest of them –aside from Ranpo– didn't. Yet neither genius (yes, Dazai was also a genius, as hard as it may be for some to believe because of the way he acts) said anything, Atsushi could only hope it wouldn't be important.
Oh- wait, Ranpo got up and walked towards Dazai's desk. He brushed some things aside, and moved to sit in the now empty space. Ranpo looked serious while sucking his lollipop.
The agency held their breath, when Ranpo was serious it could very well mean bad news were on the way.
"You know you can just ask shachou and he will excuse you from the meeting, right?" Ranpo's voice rang loudly through the office, being the only noise in quite a while. "I'm sure he will understand."
Everyone sighed as quietly as they could. Souheki still noticed them listening, being mindful of their words as to not reveal anything unnecessary.
Just as Kunikida was about to begin chastising both of them for planning to skip work, especially something as important as a meeting with the PM, Dazai's cheery voice –which sounded slightly more forced than usual, only perceptible to Atsushi, because of his tiger sense, and Ranpo– replied to Ranpo's previous words.
"I can't."
Ranpo opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by Dazai's dramatic sigh and continuation. "If I remember correctly, it is a strategy meeting for a joint mission. I am needed there as one of the agency's strategists."
"We can hold our own against Mori's tricks, if that's what you're worried about."
"I don't doubt you can, but you have to remember that he is a master in warfare matters. As intelligent as you are, your expertise is in deduction, while I'm better suited in prediction, which works better for strategies."
"...Still."
Dazai-san smiled, small yet knowing.
"I'll do my best not to let his words get to me..."
"Hmph,” Ranpo reacted like a child who didn’t get what they wanted, crossing his arms, “you better." The concern behind that statement was only obvious to them, and Yosano, but she was still in the infirmary.
Apparently satisfied for now, Ranpo went back to his own seat.
The rest of the agency was silent, Souheki (even if Dazai never acknowledged the nickname) interactions always left them either speechless or confused, whether it was for a good or bad reason, that’s up for debate. So, silently, they collectively decided to just go back to work, dread pooling in their guts for what was to come.
The time had arrived, everyone had gotten into place to receive their guests. Atsushi could tell his co-workers were trying their best to hide how nervous they were, though he had to admit they were doing a terrible job. Not that he was doing much better, mind you. The only ones doing a decent job were the senior detectives, Kyouka-chan and the president. However, Kunikida was a bit too stiff. At least Dazai had gone back to his usual cheery persona. The unease from earlier completely gone.
Before he could continue his train of thought, the office's door was opened.
The Port Mafia's boss entered the room with a serious demeanor, he was escorted by the Black Lizzard's Commander, Hirotsu, the gravity manipulator, executive Nakahara and Akutagawa. Mori walked further into the room, but stopped for a moment upon passing Dazai-san.
"Dazai-kun, great to see you in good shape." Dazai just nodded at him with a smile, "Mori-san."
Mori frowned in that fake manner that was too similar to Dazai's for comfort.
"Not even a hello? How rude." He tried to take a step closer to Dazai, making Atsushi clench his hands in a fist, ready to defend his mentor.
"Mori-sensei, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t harass my employees." Fukuzawa’s eyes held a determined and stern look. He may not have been able to protect Dazai like he did Yosano, but he would do what he could to ensure that all his employees could thrive in the light. It was obvious in the way he acted.
Mori looked up to Fukuzawa and walked towards him.
"Fukuzawa-dono."
“Mori-sensei.”
They just nodded at each other as acknowledgement.
"I believe we should get down to business."
“Of course, follow me.”
As everyone made their way into the meeting, no one noticed a certain chibi redhead exchanging worried looks with a lanky brunette. It had always come in handy for Soukoku to be able to communicate non-verbally, this time was no exception.
…
Once everyone was seated down, the leaders of both organizations finally commenced the dreaded meeting.
“You have such a nice meeting room, it definitely shows more hospitality than the one back at HQ-” Despite the ‘nice’ comment, Mori’s tone was sarcastic, in such a way that it wouldn’t be outwardly obvious unless you were familiar with him. He was trying to deviate for what they were here to discuss, attempting to drag the meeting for longer than it needed to be.
“What is it that we may assist you with, Mori-sensei?” Fukuzawa’s tone remained neutral, but it was clear that he wouldn’t put up with any bullshit Mori tried to throw his way.
“Always running my fun, huh?” He glanced at Fukuzawa, but sighed once he recognized the look on his face.
“Fine, fine.” Mori interlocked his fingers,”There is a new criminal organization that recently entered Yokohama. They have been causing quite a bit of trouble for us. We’ve tried tracking them down, but they’re very sneaky. Chuuya here has been on this assignment, so, Chuuya-kun, care to explain?”
Chuuya nodded and stood up, then went on to explain in detail everything he had gathered on the case. Suspected members, their past whereabouts, methods, crimes, abilities, everything you could think of. Despite Chuuya not having the same level of skill as Dazai, he was still incredibly efficient and rarely, if ever, failed any missions.
It had doubtlessly become boring for the agency members, who still had no idea what part they would play in this whole shebang.
When Nakahara finally finished with all the information, Ranpo spoke up.
“I don’t see what this has to do with the agency.” He was looking straight at Mori. “The Port Mafia is more than capable of taking care of them.”
“Well, you see, our teams were unable to locate them, and everytime they were able to, the base was evacuated even before we could make our move. They are efficient, extremely so. We requested this help so we can destroy them before they get a good enough foothold on Yokohama to become a sufficient threat. So,” Mori smiled, “I thought we could use a little someone’s specific set of skills.”
Before Fukuzawa could ask who he was referring to, Mori directed his gaze towards Dazai. “Wouldn’t you agree, Dazai-kun?” The agency tensed. “I sure do hope you haven’t gotten rusty, my little doll.”
Dazai paled at the nickname. No one had thought they could get paler than before, but they were proven wrong.
The word was a trigger that only Chuuya and Mori knew about, having more people find out about it only added to the restlessness they were trying so hard to shove down into the back of their depthless mind.
“Your skills were some of the best the mafia could offer, my precious little demoness. The Demon Prodigy…”
…
They zoned out.
Everything was spinning, they knew Mori was still talking and revealing a lot of things they’d rather keep to themselves.
Was this another plan to get them back?
To make the others hate them, leaving them with no choice but to return to the darkness?
He also called Dazai a girl. They are not a girl. Mori only refers to them as such when he is trying to get them to spiral.
It’s working and they hate it.
It reminds them of when they were younger, another victim of Mori’s twisted preferences.
They are not in the darkness anymore. No matter how black their blood was, they would do their best to remain in the light. Even if it burned, even if they were not suited for it, Odasaku’s last wish depended on it. And they would rather die than let that go to waste.
Although that doesn’t mean much when coming from them.
They are trying their damn best to not show any reaction to the provocations, on the outside Dazai just looks slightly tense. It was a bad idea to attend the meeting. They should have listened to Ranpo on this.
They were too tired for this shit right now, or ever, really.
They are spiraling, only vaguely aware of what is happening around them.
From what Dazai can hear, though it is quite muffled, Fukuzawa cut the meeting short. Something about how they can discuss this at a later date, one on one.
Then, slowly but surely, the Port Mafia members walked out of the room, except for their boss.
Before they could give it more of a thought, Dazai feels hands on his shoulders. The physical contact snapping them back to their senses and to the forefront of their mind. …
“Dazai-san?” Atsushi couldn’t help but feel worried for his mentor. The moment Mori started talking about using their skills they tensed, and not long after, dissociated. Dazai knew Atsushi had noticed because of his tiger enhanced senses, but even to the blind, it was quite obvious they weren’t all there.
Still, it warmed their cold, empty heart to know their mentee cared so much for them.
At least they did things right this time around.
They’d still had to fix things with Akutagawa, but it wasn’t the right time yet.
“Huh?” Due to the spiraling that had just taken place, they were a bit disoriented.
Then their eyes landed on Mori, who has yet to exit the room.
The simple sight of him made them come back to full awareness so fast it made them dizzy. They hated how much it reminded them of the old days, back when they were in the mafia, or in Mori’s clinic. The mere thought made their skin crawl.
“Dazai-kun, before I leave.” Mori turned to him, a smile too knowing came onto his face. Dazai just wanted to punch it right off. Maybe they could slit his throat right now. No- it would be too risky with the others from the mafia still here. Though they doubt Hirotsu or Chuuya would dare to harm them. They weren’t too sure about Akutagawa, their mind still foggy to predict everything accordingly.
“You should start taking better care of yourself,” he started walking closer to them, nobody from the agency stopped him, perhaps too afraid to do so, “I can’t believe them to be detectives if they could not notice how badly you're doing.”
Fukuzawa was itching to grab his katana. But refrained from doing so because of the current truce.
Mori got close enough to pull him up from their chair and into a hug, though it was not filled with mock concern, based on his previous statement, but with a possessiveness that made Dazai just wish to have never been born in the first place.
“How I miss the days where you were under my command. My beautiful girl.” That wicked grin came back into Mori’s face as he watched as they impossibly stilled. Even stopped breathing.
The moment Shachou saw the unusual stillness, he took action.
“Mori-sensei. I suggest you leave now.”
“But why? I see no harm in talking to my former mentee.” Mori didn’t even have the decency to pull away, just turned his head towards the president.
“Let me rephrase. It is not a suggestion, but an order. Leave. Now.”
Mori let go of Dazai with an annoyed sigh and started his tread to the door. But right before he left the room, he said something that was the final straw for them.
“Hopefully we’ll be working with each other soon, Shuuji-kun.”
Mori then left. But it was too late, as Dazai’s composure was far too compromised for them to steady it quickly enough to keep anyone from noticing.
The silence in the room was uncomfortable for everyone, yet it did not last long, only for a minute or two.
“I-” Dazai could barely get the word out before their knees gave out, thankfully, Kunikida was close enough to catch them before they could hit their head on something. He helped sit Dazai on the chair they were in moments prior and ordered Atsushi to get them a glass of water.
Their mind was just trying to take a break from all the emotions that came over Dazai throughout the meeting. All that hiding had left them exhausted, only wanting a good rest despite Dazai’s affinity for forgetting about it. Mori’s comments had only quickened the exhaustion threatening to take them over.
The dizziness was overpowering, and black spots had already started to swarm their vision.
The last thing they heard before losing consciousness was Ranpo’s voice.
“Call Nakahara.”
…
Turns out there was no need to do that, because Chuuya had never left. But instead made up some elaborate excuse so he could stay.
When he went back to the meeting room, he definitely expected for Dazai to be in some stage of dissociation, but when he saw them go limp in the chair he panicked. Quickly rushing to their side and pushing Dazai’s new partner aside.
“Ah. Good that you’re here.” The annoying detective’s voice said from somewhere behind him. He did not care enough at the moment to figure out where exactly.
“Take Dazai home and let him rest. He needs it.” Fukuzawa’s voice resonated throughout the entire room. Tone stern, but in a good, concerned way. His sole presence demanded respect, but not in a forceful way, like Mori’s did.
“Tell him he has the next two days off.” Blondie looked like he wanted to protest, but taking in the situation made him decide against it.
Chuuya’s glad that his damn mackerel ended up here of all places after their deflection. At first he was mad, they were married for fucks sake. But the more he thought about it, the more he was glad Dazai had left. Sure- he was hurt that he was left behind once again. Yet seeing his partner in the light, with a shine in their eyes that had only been present in some select few moments during their teenage years.
It did things to Chuuya’s heart. Things that, when they first met, he’d rather not put a name to due to the complicated relationship he and Dazai held.
“I will.” That was the only thing he could come up with to say, still deep in his thoughts, but paying enough attention to respond and act normally. It was an act Dazai had helped him perfect when they were sixteen.
And so he picked Dazai up in a piggy back carry, like how they would do to him after using corruption.
And just like that, Chuuya left the building, Dazai on his back.
When they got to his motorbike, he somehow managed to secure the limp body he was carrying so that they would not fall off mid-ride.
On the way back to his penthouse, his thoughts caught back up with him.
The whole day had been tiresome on an entirely new level, as were most days there was a meeting between the organizations. Though it was never this bad, Mori usually kept his provoking toned down enough so it wouldn’t affect whatever they were discussing.
Was this another of his plots?
As much as Chuuya was loyal to the mafia, he never did like the boss. Not only because of what he now knew that he did to his partner (former, but nobody cares), yet also because of his own reasons. Including Elise, at first he had thought she was Mori’s daughter, but when Kouyou explained the boss’ ability to him when he was 16, he had nearly thrown up.
Seriously, who could be so utterly repulsive as to like children that way.
His boss, apparently.
It took Chuuya a few embarrassingly long months to connect the dots about Dazai’s relationship with Mori, pieces slowly –agonizingly so– falling into place. He had been so repulsed by his suspicions that he went as far as to confront his partner about it instead of questioning Ane-san.
He was incredibly angry, still is, about everything going on behind his back, yet relief flooded through him when Dazai confirmed that Mori had never gone further than uncomfortable comments and unwanted touches. It was still horrible, but at least it wasn’t as bad as it could have gotten.
Oh- they were here.
The ride was way shorter than Chuuya remembered. Perhaps it was because he was consumed in his thoughts.
No worries, he could finally lay down and cuddle with his spouse to forget about the miserable day that could now be put behind them.
…
Dazai awoke with a groan. Their head was hurting a lot and it took a little bit for their vision to clear.
Ah.
They were lying in bed at Chuuya’s –their– home, cuddling in bed with each other.
Dazai could wake up to this sight every single day and would never get tired of it. It was a reminder of how they had people that cared for them, loved them. It simply made them want to get up and live another day, if just to see those people smile.
And yet acting on those thoughts seemed impossible, their body refusing to cooperate. At least they had Chuuya with them, who, albeit not the most patient, did his best to stay by their side, to bring Dazai comfort even when they had hurt each other countless times in the past.
Before they could go down another spiral of thoughts, strong arms pulled them back to reality. Reminded of their current situation, Dazai decided to just go back to sleep for now.
They could worry about everything later.
For now, drowsiness was already overtaking their mind.
Dazai could always rely on Chuuya.
He was their safety net.
Always there to catch them when they fell.