Chapter Text
Chapter One
It was quiet, dark, and damp out. The sun had set hours ago, but that’s when work usually picked up. The Port Mafia did most of their violence in darkness, and their victims were often brought here in a desperate bid to survive. Their rates were affordable, but the reputation of the Anti-Death Agency was shrouded in discomforting whispers. The doctor is a butcher, they say; they save lives but steal your soul; if you enter that office and you live, your mind will never be the same. What you save in yen you pay in memories.
Fukuzawa Yokichi sat opposite the entrance at what would be the receptionist desk if they had one. He had his hands folded in his robes as he stared at the door, carefully straddling the line between sleep and alertness. His days were usually spent getting supplies, doing the paperwork, and preparing food. His nights were spent sitting in this chair, waiting, until they weren't.
His head jerked slightly as something made a noise outside. He kept his eyes half closed as his hand drifted to where his sword used to be. He swore, old habits die painfully. He sighed and stood up, taking a deep breath and facing the door as it swung open, ringing the little brass bell hanging above.
A slight woman, around 20 years old with polite posture and stern eyes, pushed through, bowing as she entered. “Good evening, sir,” She said, her voice quiet and firm, the flowers pinned to her sensible robe wilting slightly, blood quickly drying on the petals.
Fukuzawa sighed and relaxed slightly. “Ah, It’s you Ms. Li. I felt some agitation and worried we were facing trouble again.”
Li Ruzhen nodded, “You’re not far off. I have a patient for you. He’s a bit… I think the doctor needs to see him now.”
Fukuzawa snapped to attention and strode to the shelf, where he grabbed the paperwork and a bottle of amber liquid. “Then bring him in. You don’t need to ask.”
“I’m sorry, sir, it’s just… I’m having some trouble. If you could assist me…?” she asked, keeping her eyes away from him.
Fukuzawa furrowed his brow. “You usually don’t have any difficulty.” He put the paper down on the table where he kept his tea set. “Is he a larger man, or…”
“No, quite slight. It’s just… look,” she interrupted herself and closed her eyes, clasping the flowers to her chest. “Flowers in the Mirror!” she said with purpose. A few seconds paused and Fukuzawa narrowed his eyes as nothing happened.
“I see. Show me to him.”
Ruzhen held the door open for him and scurried down the alley with Fukuzawa following. A few turns and they rounded a corner where a young man lay on the concrete, with a thin tidy man in glasses standing over him. “Ahh, Fukuzawa. I’m glad you came in time.”
“Of course, Ango. What brings you here?” Fukuzawa kneeled by the young man on the ground and gently rolled him over, stopping as he saw the expression on the boys face change.
“I heard a cat yowling and found this young man bleeding in an alley beside him. I thought it best if you and your agency assisted,” he looked like he needed a cigarette or seven. “Luckily I ran into Ms. Li.”
Ruzhen bowed, which Ango reflectively returned. Fukuzawa stared at the patient. His arms were slashed open, and while the bleeding had clearly slowed he was still losing blood at an alarming rate. He had some kind of injury over his right eye which was slowly turning purple as a cut in the tear duct bled slightly. He was wearing a white dress shirt, stained brown with the new blood mixing with old, and, Fukuzawa could tell before he even checked the pockets, absolutely no ID or information.
“Is he…” Fukuzawa started.
“Not a hit, as far as I can tell. No stomach wounds, no gunpowder. The only injuries seem to be self inflicted,” his lip twitched. “I tried to remember what happened to him, but it seems my ability has… short circuited.”
“It’s a good thing you got my attention,” Fukuzawa said with purpose. “Li, Ango, if you could help him onto my back…”
The three working together hoisted the injured boy onto Fukuzawa’s back, the patients bleeding arms draped over his shoulders as he walked as smoothly as he could back to the office.
Fukuzawa dropped the boy, gently, onto one of the white gurneys in the front office. “Doctor! We require your attention!”
From the back office, Yosano Akiko pushed through the curtain and looked at the patient. “Oh dear, what have we here…”
“Not a hit, apparently. But clearly tied to the Port Mafia one way or the other,” Fukuzawa said. “A few of the usual hints of a target. Wallet and information has been stolen, but no other real signs.”
“And his teeth?” Asked Yosano, pushing the boys lip open. “Unclean but still here. That’s a relief. Not a fad I’m a big fan of. Okay, take him into the back and I’ll work my magic.”
Fukuzawa nodded and turned to Li and Ango, who were lingering in the door way. “Li, please take Ango to get some tea. Return in a couple hours.” He passed a small purse of coins to Li who bowed and escorted Ango out.
“No chance I get to see the good doctor work, is there?” Ango asked, smiling.
“Of course not. Please enjoy yourself and try to relax. We’ll take care of things here,” Fukuzawa returned the smile.
Ango looked at Li and sighed. “I know a nice bar nearby. They serve tea as well.” He took her elbow, much to her blushing chagrin, and walked out into the darkness.
Fukuzawa locked the door and pushed the gurney into the back. Yosano had slipped into a loose robe and stood with one hand on her hip and the other suspended, as if holding a cigarette. “Please hurry. I don’t even need to cause any more injuries, the poor boy looks a second from death.”
Fukuzawa nodded and stepped back. Yosano cracked her knuckles and held her gloved hand on the slowly beating chest of the young man. She closed her eyes, as if feeling his life force, before declaiming: “Thou Shalt Not Die!”
There was a pause. She opened her eyes, suspicion filling them. “Thou shalt not die!” she said again. Her lip twitched as panic started flooding through her entire system. “Thou shalt not, die you asshole!” she cried. Tears started flowing from her eyes.
“I was worried about that,” Fukuzawa said quietly.
“What’s happening? Yokichi, what the hell is going on?”
“I’m sorry. I had to see it myself. It seems the young lad has some sort of… neutralizing ability.”
“What?” Yosano snapped. “Sir, please fetch me some painkillers. I’ll have to do this manually…”
Fukuzawa nodded and left. Yosano ran over to her desk and started rifling through her notes. She stopped when the boy started to make a small gurgling noise that slowly grew into a morbid chuckle.
“Gonna have to do better than that to stop me,” he mumbled.
“What did you do to me?” Yosano growled, walking to stand over him, her eyes searching his wounded body.
“Nothin’,” he said, his voice low and struggling, “It just happens. No longer human. Can’t control it, I’m afraid…” he coughed, blood splattering Yosano’s face as she stood over him. She wiped the blood off with her sleeve without wincing.
“If you were awake why didn’t you tell us?” Yosano said, panic starting to settle down and activate her.
“Aw, and not get to have a pretty lady touch my chest?” The boy grinned, a bit of blood dribbling through his smile, “An angel, you are…”
“That’s not what they call me,” Yosano said, quietly. Fukuzawa entered. She looked over at him as he nodded and passed her the bottle of amber liquid. “Drink this, it’ll ease the pain.” Fukuzawa slipped out of the room. Despite his silent movement, the boy’s swollen eye tracked him perfectly.
“Oh, thank you. Not a fan…” he said, taking a sip before making a face, “Ew, gross. No I think I’ll take the pain. I’ll be dead in about a minute by my count, anyway.”
“Not if I can help it,” growled Yosano, grabbing a needle and a spool of thread and a cotton towel soaked into anti-septic fluid. She wiped down his arms with the sanitizer, causing him to moan in a way that made her deeply uncomfortable, before dropping the towel into a bin by her feet. She began to patch up his arm wounds with a deft hand, “Stop squirming or you’ll make me screw it up.”
“What if I want you to screw it up?” smiled the young man.
“Then you’re an even bigger idiot than I thought,” She quickly did the other arm as fast as she could. She looked at her handy work. It would leave a nasty scar, but the bleeding had stopped. She grabbed a role of bandages and started to tidy him up the best she could. She removed his shirt and stopped, seeing his entire body covered in thick layers of yellowing cloth. “You’re… you’re already bandaged.”
“It’s not my first time,” said the boy, woozily.
She looked at him, his eyes changing colour, his skin turning a slightly greenish hue, his hand beginning to spasm. She recognized the signs. “Oh god, did you drink some poison?”
“Nothing too fancy. I wanted it to kick in after I passed out, but it seems like—“
Yosano growled and pulled him up to a sitting position. She put one hand on his shoulder and thrust her fist into his stomach. “You’re not dying on me, do you understand?” She punched him again, causing him to retch. She hit him again, causing a small spray of puke to explode out of him. She whirled him around, wrapping her arms around him and pushing her fist into his stomach. She started to thrust up, causing him to throw up messily onto the floor.
She laid him down on the gurney and ran to the shelves as he moaned. She grabbed a stiffly unread book from the pile and flipped through it. She walked over to the man and lifted his head up, opened one of his eyes with a gloved hand and peered into it.
“Okay…” she opened his mouth and looked at his tongue and silently measured how swollen it was. She flipped through the book until something caught her eye and she stopped. “God dammit it wasn’t even a poison, you just ate some bad mushrooms didn’t you.”
“So they weren’t poisonous mushrooms?” he coughed, “Dang, the merchant lied to me. I’ll have to complain.”
Yosano sighed and put the book back on the shelf. She stepped up to him and took his pulse. “I can’t say you’re out of the woods, but the trees are getting a lot thinner.” She pulled a syringe off the cart of rarely used supplies and stuck it in a bottle of clear yellow fluid. She drew a measured amount and jabbed it into him through the bandage.
“Ow! Meanie…” he whined.
“Shut up. Get some rest. You’re not going to die on my watch.” She slunk over to her desk and plopped down. She removed her bloody robe and started putting her shirt back on.
“I take it back… you’re no angel, you’re a bully. No double suicide for you…”
“What’s your name?” Yosano asked pulling a stack of paperwork out of her desk. “I need it so I know who to bill.”
The man laughed quietly through the pain. “No money, could I leave an IOU?”
Yosano sighed and put the pen down. “Then tell me so I know what to call you when I wake you up tomorrow.”
The man turned to her, as if pondering if a false name would be worthwhile. He sighed and did an exaggerated shrug, wincing as pain shot through his body. “Dazai. Osamu Dazai, age 14.”
“Thank you Dazai. My name is Dr. Akiko Yosano. 18.”
“Ahh, a young maiden. Where did you get your degree?” He asked as he started to fall under the medications affect.
“I didn’t. Rest up Dazai. We’ll speak in the morning.” She watched as he started to snore. She breathed in. It was touch and go but he survived. She got up and hoisted him up and removed the bandages wrapped around him. Trying not to look, she washed him down with the anti-septic and changed his bandages, wrapping him tighter and more comfortably than his rough attempts. When done, she rolled him onto his side and put a little bowl under his mouth to catch any more vomit. The brief look she got at his body showed that most of his wounds were old, far older than someone his age should have suffered, and she didn’t want to add drowning in his own vomit to the list.
She removed her gloves and slipped on a clean pair. She walked out to the front office where Fukuzawa was stewing in his thoughts.
“He’ll live, whether he wants to or not,” Yosano said, flopping down onto the chair next to Fukuzawa.
“Good work, Dr. Yosano. I’m… bothered by this.”
“I can tell,” Yosano said, turning to him. “I haven’t seen you like this since we first met. What’s bothering you?”
“It’s just how… he was smiling. He was bleeding out on the street, and yet he smiled as if he knew he was going to be okay. As if…”
“As if he knew we’d find him,” Yosano said softly. She looked at her mentor. He had dragged her out of the asylum two years ago to found this office, and despite seeing him every day and night she still felt like she barely knew him.
“Ever since Mori—“
“Don’t say his name,” snapped Yosano. She stood up and stretched. “If nobody else comes in I’ll go to bed. Do you think my ability will return?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” He closed his eyes and felt the world around him. “It only cancels for a brief period. I expect Li’s has already returned. I think mine are coming back as we speak.”
“Okay, good. Don’t stay up too late, I want you awake when the patient gets up.” She started back towards her room, watching him carefully.
“I will,” he said. He waited until he heard her door close and he breathed out. Mori, you bastard. You had to go and die before I could do you the honour, he thought. This young man reminded him of his old partner, though younger and with more of an edge than the renegade doctor though. If he wasn’t mistaken then things were going to change soon, and not necessarily for the better.
He sighed. Violence had been surging lately, with most of the Port Mafia’s rival gangs being quietly eliminated. The police were useless, if not entirely in debt to the Mafia, and even petty gangs like the Sheep were left in ashes. Things were accelerating in ways he didn’t care for. Perhaps… maybe if this boy had the brains he projected, then maybe…
Fukuzawa felt for his sword. He rarely missed carrying it, but the lack of weight on his hip was a heavy load. Dark days were ahead.