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Chuuya shakes his head. “No, I’m not going to an Agency party.”
“We’re creating goodwill,” Kouyou says, frowning at him.
“You just want to see Kyouka,” he accuses, matching her aggression.
“That is not true.”
“Why do I need to come?”
“Because you’re an executive, and at least two need to be there. You’re the most engaged executive that the mafia has. You do the most.”
“So that means that you want me to do more? That makes sense,” he grumbles.
“We don’t have to stay long, and there’s gonna be alcohol.”
“I doubt they have a good taste in alcohol.”
“The agency isn’t providing it. The meeting place was picked and paid for by the mafia. The bar there is quite extensive.”
“Ugh, fine. When is it?”
“Tonight, and it starts at eight. Don’t be late,” she says, quickly walking out.
“… I can’t believe she waited to tell me until right before,” he says incredulously.
He shakes his head, and walks to his room to get ready. It’s already seven o’ clock, so it’s later than he would usually start getting ready for an event at eight. He also likes to be early just in case. So, he picks an outfit and changes clothes quickly. He decides on a maroon button up with black dress pants and a dress jacket to match. He puts some eyeliner on and uses makeup to cover a few visible bruises before putting his gloves back on.
“Alright, now I’m ready to go,” he mumbles as he places his hat on his head.
It’s a quick motorcycle ride to the address that Kouyou sent him. One of the agency members is waiting by the door, greeting people as they come in. He can see his eyes roam over each person for a moment, checking them for weapons discreetly. He smiles as he parks his bike. He takes a moment to straighten his clothes and run a hand through his hair before he approaches the door.
“Nakahara,” the man says, his voice tight.
It’s obvious that he was hoping that Chuuya wouldn’t show up.
“Just try to behave and avoid Dazai.”
“You’re his new partner, right?” he asks, the information coming to the surface suddenly.
“Yes, is that gonna be a problem?”
“Nah, I was just gonna say good luck. He’s insufferable.”
He brushes past him, into the hall. There aren’t many people around. All of the agency members are dotted around the room while the few mafia members are in clusters of two and threes around the room. Chuuya looks around one more time, taking note of where everyone is before heading over to Kouyou. She’s watching Kyouka from a distance, a wistful look on her face.
“Stop torturing yourself. You failed with her. That doesn’t mean that you should let it haunt you. If you don’t keep going, it’ll follow you forever.”
“Aren’t I allowed to grieve for a little while though?”
“Of course. Just know that I’m going to hold you to a certain time frame.”
“Can you leave me be? Just go hit the bar or something,” she says venomously, her eyes dark.
Chuuya sighs, shaking his head.
“Fine.”
He walks off, a headache starting to make itself known.
“Ugh, all of this stress is gonna kill me,” he mutters as he sits down at the bar.
It’s not long before a woman sidles up to him.
“Hey.”
Chuuya turns slightly towards her, raising one eyebrow.
“Hi.”
She’s uncomfortably close to him, causing him to scoot his chair an inch to the left, away from her. She frowns.
“So, where do you work? Mafia or Agency?”
“Mafia, you?”
“I work as a clerk at the Agency. So, do you have a girlfriend?”
“Well, you’re blunt. I’m sorry, but I’m not interested.”
“Oh, a boyfriend then?”
“Ok, I think this conversation is over.”
He stands up, attempting to move away. The girl grabs his wrist, pulling him back slightly.
“Don’t touch me. You don’t want to go there. If you lay your hands on me again, I will lay you out. I don’t care if this is a joint event, and you work for the agency.”
She looks surprised, but lets go of him.
“Thank you. Have a nice night,” he says, his voice tight.
He walks to the other side of the bar instead of forgoing the bar altogether. There isn’t anyone here that he’d want to talk to, so he gets another glass of wine instead. A few people come up to talk to him, but he makes the conversations short since his patience and temper are running short. Much to his surprise, Dazai hasn’t come to harass him even once. He’s too tipsy to be concerned though.
I shouldn’t get drunk. I think I’m gonna stop now. I’m tipsy enough that this party might be bearable, but I also won’t do anything embarrassing.
Chuuya sighs, putting his head in the heel of his palm. His eyes roam around the room, and he’s once again confused. He can only see two agency members right now.
Where are they?
Chuuya contemplates getting up to figure out what’s going on, but his vision doubles. Suddenly he feels like he’s going to throw up. He gets up, stumbling slightly. No one’s paying him any attention, which he’s currently grateful for. There’s a reason he covers bruises and injuries, no one can see him vulnerable. Not anymore at least. He stumbles to the bathroom, which is also empty. The sudden lack of people around barely registers before he’s throwing up in the toilet. His head is spinning, and his vision is blurring and going in and out. He barely registers the door opening behind him.
Dazai looks around the meeting room stashed in the back of the mafia’s chosen venue. Kouyou is there with her arms folded. Most of the agency members are either watching the perimeter, or in the party area to keep suspicions low. There was supposed to be another mafia executive though, and Dazai was hoping it would be Chuuya. For now though, the meeting is about to start, and Kouyou is alone. She’s the type to tell Chuuya that it’s a normal party, and drag him over at the last minute, but he isn’t there.
“Where’s Chuuya?” he asks, leaning across the table.
The president gives him a hard look to make sure he behaves himself.
“I was going to bring him with me, but he’s busy.”
“So he’s not here?”
“No, he’s here.”
“So you guys got into a fight?”
“Yes.”
Dazai pouts. He’s not gonna be able to annoy Chuuya until the meeting is over.
Once it’s over, I could go find him.
Dazai brightens at the thought. Kouyou notices his face, and frowns.
“What are you thinking?”
“Nothing.”
“Leave the boy alone.”
“Hmmmm.”
“Let’s start,” the president interrupts.
The meeting only lasts for fifteen minutes before the whole building shakes. It’s quick and sudden. Silence reigns for a few seconds before Dazai is out of his chair. Fukuzawa follows him out, but he makes a direct line to Ranpo as soon as they enter the party room. Dazai looks around. His coworkers don’t seem to know where the commotion is coming from either. His eyes scan the room, not seeing anything out of the ordinary.
Maybe Chuuya knows what’s going on.
He looks for the familiar red hair and ugly hat. He doesn’t see him anywhere, and there’s no way that Chuuya wouldn’t have been on edge by the building shaking like that. He scans the room one more time, ignoring the crowds of panicked people. He notices that the door to the men’s bathroom is slightly ajar. He jogs over, ignoring Atsushi asking where he’s going. He steps inside, his eyes widening.
Chuuya is tucked against the side of a stall, his eyes blank. He almost looks dead, but Dazai can see his chest rising and falling shallowly. One of the women who works in the file room at the agency is against the other wall. She only has one arm and there’s blood everywhere. She also kind of looks dead. Dazai calls an ambulance before kneeling down in front of Chuuya. There’s a hole in the ceiling, showing the next few rooms above them.
He blew her arm off. What happened? he wonders, not even considering the fact that Chuuya could have killed one of the agency members.
“Chuuya?”
Chuuya’s eyes slide over to him, wavering slightly. He’s shaking slightly as if he’s cold, and he’s obviously confused.
“Chuuya, how many fingers am I holding up?” he asks, holding up three fingers in front of Chuuya’s face.
“Hghm?”
“Chuuya is so stupid. I said how many fingers am I holding up?”
“Smven?” he asks, slurred and confused.
“Did you just say seven? How would I even do that with one hand?”
He can hear the paramedics outside so he leaves the bathroom.
“In here,” he calls.
Everyone turns towards him.
“Dazai, what happened?” Atsushi asks, running over.
“Don’t go in there.”
The paramedics rush past him. They obviously didn’t know that there were two victims, because one approaches Dazai after a few minutes.
“We’re gonna take her to the ambulance. Someone will come get Mr. Nakahara in a minute.”
Dazai nods, making his way back into the bathroom. The woman is taken out of the room so Dazai sits down in front of Chuuya again. His eyes are drifting shut so Dazai pokes him. He knows that there probably isn’t anything wrong with Chuuya going to sleep, but he can’t help it. He hasn’t gotten to annoy Chuuya all night. Chuuya moves forward, attempting to bite Dazai’s finger. He falls instead. Dazai snickers until Chuuya starts seizing.
“Shit.”
He pulls Chuuya onto his side, and unfastens the choker around his neck. He’s still seizing when the paramedics come back. It’s not long before they leave with Chuuya too. Everyone saw them take out the agency employee, and now everyone sees the paramedics leaving with Chuuya Nakahara. He’s still seizing, and everyone else is just standing there in shock.
“What could have happened to incapacitate the strongest ability user in Yokohama and hurt one of our clerks?” Tanizaki asks.
“I’m not certain, but I think Chuuya did that to her. I’m not sure what happened to him though,” Dazai replies, folding his arms.
“What? Nakahara did that? That’s a breach of the treaty. She could die!”
Dazai nods.
“I’m aware.”
He grabs his coat and walks out, not even caring to inform Kouyou of what happened. He goes to the hospital to wait. He’s not allowed to see Chuuya for almost six hours. Once he can though, he makes his way to Chuuya’s room. He’s sitting in bed, rubbing his nose.
“What happened?” Dazai demands, slight anger creeping into his tone.
“That’s a good question actually. First, what did I do?”
“You took one of our people’s arms off.”
“Oh, is she dead?” he asks, his tone casual.
“No.”
“Ok.”
“Answer my question, Chuuya.”
“I started feeling sick, so I headed to the bathroom. Then she grabbed my butt, and I guess I blew her arm off. I figured out after I got here that she roofied me.”
“That explains why you did that. It also means that we broke the treaty first. Crap, Kunikida isn’t going to be happy.”
“Don’t worry about that. As long as you guys can get over what I did, I can talk to the boss. He won’t pursue anything if I tell him not to.”
“That also doesn’t explain why you had a seizure.”
“She put drugs in a few of my drinks, and I overdosed. Apparently you know what is the only reason I’m alive right now.”
“Well, I’ll talk to the president. I’m sure that we can get this smoothed over. Also, she’ll be laid off immediately.”
Chuuya nods, looking down at his lap. He doesn’t meet Dazai’s eyes, knowing that if he does, he’ll see the murderous look of the Demon Prodigy. He never liked when that look was on his behalf.
“I’ll see you around, Chuuya.”
“Ok.”
Dazai spares one look back before leaving. Chuuya meets his eyes for a second before looking away again.