Chapter Text
‘Have you heard of kitsune?’
How did Dazai get this burn?
The boss.
Did the boss do this to him?
‘Have you heard of kitsune?’
Chuuya growled under his breath in annoyance as he scrolled through the search results for kitsune. Of course, he had some basic knowledge of them, but was hardly familiar with their mythology.
‘Have you heard of kitsune?’
Mori never spoke aimlessly, and never without at least three meanings hidden within his honeyed words.
Normally, Chuuya would leave deciphering the boss’s words to Dazai, but seeing as Dazai was currently passed out on the couch, Chuuya couldn’t ask him. And Chuuya was feeling far too antsy to just move on.
‘W-what would you like, master?’
Chuuya shivered. Even remembering those words leaving Dazai's mouth left a weird sensation is his throat.
‘Have you heard of kitsune?’
Chuuya clicked on a link.
The kitsune has been labeled as a "witch animal", who also qualifies the supernatural foxes as being "goblin foxes" or "fox spirits". The kitsune exhibit the ability of bakeru or transforming its shape and appearance, and bakasu, capable of trickery or bewitching; these terms are related to the generic term bakemono meaning "spectre" or "goblin."
There are also legends of the kitsune being used as familiars to do the biddings of their masters, called kitsune-mochi or "fox-possessors". The yamabushi or lay monks training in the wild have the reputation of using kiko. In some cases, the fox or fox-spirit summoned is called the osaki. The familiar may also be known as the kuda-gitsune because they were believed to be so small, or become so small as to fit inside a tube.
Chuuya frowned. This didn’t really help him.
He went back and clicked another link.
Orange_marmalade
//Can kitsune be controlled using their hoshi no tama? Ive seen that drifting around but I can't find any exact source
MLPlover545
//I always thouht they can only be controlled by gods when full grown, but when they’re younger they can be controled by yokai or even normal people
HowAboutNo-sexual
//what do you mean by an exact source?
Orange_marmalade
//I mean, like, an official myth or smth
He kept on reading, bewildered. What did any of this have to do with Dazai? Mori was talking about it metaphorically, maybe? Dazai and Chuuya were bound to serve the boss, after all. He might as well hold their souls.
A groan distracted him. Chuuya looked over to see Dazai sitting up from the couch.
“Oi, bastard,” Chuuya said.
“What a cruel greeting, chibi,” Dazai said, yawning. Dazai stretched, but Chuuya noticed his movements seemed off.
Oh well. It wasn’t Chuuya’s problem. “What the fuck is a kitsune?”
Dazai twitched, then leaned back on the couch. “Slug really is dumb; he doesn’t know what a kitsune is.”
“Oh fuck off, you know what I'm talking about.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Dazai asked innocently.
Chuuya scoffed. Of course the bandage waster would make this harder than it needed to be. “Stop playing dumb, Mori literally said something about kitsune when we left his office.”
Chuuya was certain he didn’t imagine Dazai hesitating for a second before shrugging nonchalantly. “I don’t know if you noticed, slug, but I wasn’t conscious when you left Mori's office.”
Chuuya snorted. “You literally walked out with me.”
Again, Dazai hesitated. “Of course, silly me. Still, I don’t know what you want me to say about kitsune.”
Chuuya frowned at him. this whole interaction was just… off. Dazai wasn’t acting normal, he wasn’t dancing around Chuuya's questions with grace, he was just bluntly deflecting.
“Ok,” Chuuya said slowly, “then, what is that thing on your neck?” Chuuya raised an eyebrow as Dazai's hand flew to the back of his neck.
“It’s a different bandage,” he mumbled, looking confused.
“Yeah, you were being fucking shifty so I had to check if you were injured,” Chuuya said, irritated. Dazai looked up at him as though he hadn’t expected a response. “So what the fuck is it?”
Dazai looked at him calculatedly. “It’s a mark,” he finally said.
Chuuya glared at him. “Yeah, no shit. But what—”
“Well, thank you for taking care of your m- owner, slug,” Dazai stuttered. He stood up. “I'm going to go now.”
“You can't just drop this shit on me and then ditch, oi!”
“Never asked you to help,” Dazai hummed, making his way to the door.
“Mori ordered me to, you bastard!” Chuuya shouted, disbelieving. “It’s not like I wanted to deal with your bandaged ass!”
“Well, you won't have to anymore, because I'm leaving.”
Chuuya snarled. Of course the fish wouldn’t care to tell Chuuya what all of it meant. Chuuya should have known. “Get back here, you piece of shit! I want an-”
Dazai turned around, walking back over to Chuuya.
Chuuya gaped. Dazai actually listened to him?
“Well, I'm here,” Dazai said resentfully. Was his voice quivering?
“What is that mark on your neck?” Chuuya asked. “And why the fuck are you acting weirder than usual?”
Dazai huffed. “None of your business, slug. Can I go now?”
“No, you can't fucking go! I had to deal with Mori and then your sorry ass! I want to know why!”
“You had to deal with Mori?” Dazai asked lowly. He looked cold, his eye dark and his face set. “You don’t know anything about dealing with Mori. All you know of Mori is your precious ‘leader,’ and you want to lecture me about dealing with him? You think above your station.”
Chuuya aimed a kick for Dazai, expecting him to dodge. Dazai didn’t, and Chuuya got the satisfaction of feeling his foot meet Dazai's side. Dazai was pushed backwards, his gangly form folding in on itself as he fell. “I'm an executive too, asshole. I'm not just your fucking dog, we’re equals now.”
Dazai laughed, pulling himself to his feet. His hands were trembling. “We are not equal,” he said quietly. “We never have been, and we never will be.”
Chuuya was confused and annoyed. Not that that was unusual when it came to the bandaged bastard, but it was more so than ordinary.
“Explain yourself.”
As he had been doing for the past couple weeks, Dazai almost shuddered. But then he raised an eyebrow, looking up at Chuuya from where he lay on the couch in his office at headquarters. “What are you wanting me to explain?”
“Why are you acting so weird?”
“Because slug has somehow become even more annoying than usual.”
Chuuya growled. “No, you don’t get to do this. You being weird is starting to affect our missions. I don’t want to lose my position because you're being a pain in the ass.”
Dazai snorted. “Chibi is at no risk of losing his position.”
“Not everyone can be the Demon Prodigy,” Chuuya snarled. Dazai darkened.
“You don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Then explain, damn it! We’re supposed to be partners!”
“We can't be partners with such a power disparity,” Dazai said haughtily. His hands had started to shake again.
“Why are you suddenly so focused on that?! The dog jokes were bad enough, but you won't stop smearing in my face that you think you are better!”
Dazai rolled his eyes, moving to get up and leave.
“Stay there,” Chuuya growled. Dazai listened—Dazai shuddered, his eye fluttering as his jaw clenched—and stayed where he was. “I want you to explain yourself.”
“Well, I don’t want to explain myself,” Dazai said, his voice sounding strangled. His eye darted around the room, twitching away whenever it landed on Chuuya.
“You don’t get a choice!” Chuuya snapped.
Dazai flinched, hard, pressing himself against the couch. He mumbled something, staring at Chuuya's feet.
“What?!” Chuuya growled.
“S-sorry,” Dazai whispered, still pushing himself into the couch cushions.
“Yeah, sure you are,” he growled.
“I am,” Dazai pleaded, his eye flicking between Chuuya's feet and his face. “I am, please, master-”
“Stop fucking calling me that!” Chuuya shouted.
Dazai flinched, nodding frantically. “Y-yes sir, I- I’ll stop, sir. I'm sorry, sir,” he said, his eye wide with fear.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Chuuya demanded, throwing his arms in the air and turning around, unable to stand seeing Dazai's stupid face – unable to stand seeing Dazai looking so scared. But he couldn’t block out an unmistakable whimper. “One second you're telling me I'm an idiot, and the next you're acting like this! If this is some fucking prank you're trying to pull to make me an idiot again for caring then it won't work, I'm not fucking falling for it again!”
Dazai didn’t respond. Chuuya turned back to see he was still curled up, his eye following Chuuya's movements with hawk-like focus. When Chuuya turned, Dazai flicked his eyes up to see his face before looking back at his feet.
“What are you doing?” Chuuya demanded, annoyed. He was so fucking lost, nothing made sense. The bastard had always been annoying, he had always been a condescending prick, but since that day in Mori's office Dazai had been acting plain incomprehensibly, and he refused to explain himself.
“N-nothing, sir,” Dazai said quickly.
“Why are you cringing like I'm going to-” Chuuya cut himself off. “… I'm going to fucking regret this,” he said to himself. He crouched in front of Dazai, who looked startled. “Why are you acting like this?”
Dazai swallowed, staring into Chuuya's face. “Like what, sir?”
“Like a jittery fucking squirrel.”
Dazai looked confused. “I don’t understand,” he whispered. He pressed his eye shut as Chuuya shifted his weight, turning his face as though expecting to be struck.
“Do you even know where you are?”
Dazai frowned, opening his eye and looking around the room. “N-no, sir,” he said after a minute, looking upset that he couldn’t answer Chuuya's question.
Chuuya sighed, furious at his own bleeding heart. Dazai would surely make him regret this later, but he couldn’t, he just couldn’t, leave Dazai like this. He couldn’t leave anybody like this. “Dazai, we are in your office at headquarters. We aren’t wherever you think you are.”
“Yes, sir,” Dazai whispered.
Chuuya chewed his lip. What he was lacking was context. Maybe Dazai wasn’t trying to be a prick—Chuuya scoffed. Dazai was always trying to be a prick. But maybe he wasn’t being a prick just to piss Chuuya off. After all, over their year and a half of partnership Dazai had never made Chuuya feel this particular brand of worthless. Insulted him, taunted him, sure, but he had never been so focused on ‘station’ or whatever the fuck.
“Dazai,” he said after thinking for a minute. Dazai looked up at him immediately. “Who do you think I am?”
Dazai looked confused, but answered, “My master?”
Chuuya cringed, but shouldered on. “Who is your master?”
“Y-you…?”
“And who am I?”
“A̷̢̻̺̼͎͕̺̞̬͇͐̈̇̂̊̀̉r̸͓̪̘̒̾̄̈́̉̃̎̿̑a̴̧̲̥͖͓̹̬̔̈́̍̏̾̒̆̔h̷͙͇̰̮̄̽͌̑̕à̸̰̞̫̞͔͙͓̰͕̦͙̮̊̏̆͋̈́̍̕͘ḇ̷̧̢̦͖̳̬̝̹̘̣̭̮̎̆͒à̵̢̘̟͍̌͐̃̈̄̍̀͒̚ķ̸̛̞̻̠̔́̌͝͝i̵̢̳̠͙͖̟͓͗͒ -sama…?”
Chuuya felt himself stiffen. “What?” he growled.
Dazai blanched. “N-no, I meant- I- you're my- I'm not-” he stammered frantically, obviously petrified. “I- I- who- what do you want me to say?” he finished, barely audible. “I'm stupid, I don’t know what you want me to say. Please.”
Chuuya tried to breathe evenly, tried not to let his anger consume him. “This better not be a prank, or I will fucking pummel you.”
Dazai started to tremble violently. “P-please, sir, please. I'm so sorry. I didn’t- I didn’t mean to offend you, sir, I'm just-” He scrabbled for something to say. “I'm just a stupid kitsune, I didn’t mean to offend you, please, please have mercy on me, please…”
‘Have you heard of kitsune?’
“You're,” he started, and Dazai cut himself off at once, “a kitsune?”
Dazai nodded; there were tears running down his face.
“You're being serious?” Chuuya tried to laugh.
Small white ball called hoshi no tama…
Kitsune can be controlled by gods using their hoshi no tama…
Familiars… true name…
Dazai nodded, still biting his lips together.
“You don’t- where are your ears, then?” Chuuya tried. He really didn’t like what was unfolding, he was actually starting to hope Dazai was being a prick solely for the sake of being a prick. At least then, Chuuya wouldn’t have this growing, writhing anxiety in his gut.
“H-hidden, sir,” Dazai whispered, his voice strangled. “Do you want me to bring them out?”
Chuuya nodded.
And, with a shimmering of air and a feeling of wind, there were two white ears sitting on top of Dazai's head.
Chuuya gaped at him. It must be an ability- except nobody could use a mirage ability on Dazai, so- “You're really a kitsune,” he breathed.
Dazai nodded, tears still tracing down his cheeks. “Yes, sir. I'm sorry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Chuuya felt stupid. “Nevermind,” he muttered. “You're not even aware of who I am.”
Dazai's breath picked up another notch. “Please,” he whispered. “I’ll do better. I promise I won't forget. Please, please tell me, I won't forget ever again, I swear.”
“Breathe slower, idiot,” Chuuya said automatically. Dazai's breaths slowed, though he only looked more frightened. “Look, I'm not mad at you,” he tried. “And I'm not Arahabaki,” he added vehemently.
Dazai nodded frantically.
“I'm Chuuya,” Chuuya said, feeling silly.
But Dazai just nodded, his eyes widening. “Yes, yes, Chuuya-sama, sir,” he gasped, a drowning man clinging to a life vest. “You're Chuuya-sama. Not A̷̢̻̺̼͎͕̺̞̬͇͐̈̇̂̊̀̉r̸͓̪̘̒̾̄̈́̉̃̎̿̑a̴̧̲̥͖͓̹̬̔̈́̍̏̾̒̆̔h̷͙͇̰̮̄̽͌̑̕à̸̰̞̫̞͔͙͓̰͕̦͙̮̊̏̆͋̈́̍̕͘ḇ̷̧̢̦͖̳̬̝̹̘̣̭̮̎̆͒à̵̢̘̟͍̌͐̃̈̄̍̀͒̚ķ̸̛̞̻̠̔́̌͝͝i̵̢̳̠͙͖̟͓͗͒ -sama. I won't forget again, I swear.”
“And I'm not your master, I'm your partner.”
Dazai looked bewildered, but too scared to deny him.
Chuuya sighed – Dazai flinched – and sat back. “Dazai,” he said, keeping his voice even, “we are in your office at headquarters. Today, I had lessons with Ane-san, then did a shit-ton of paperwork. I had to do all the paper work for the Jade mission because a certain mackerel refused to be bothered. Then I went to the gym to train…”
Chuuya continued in this vein while Dazai seemed to calm down. Eventually, he blinked wearily, looking around. “What,” he started, his voice scratchy.
“You back?” Chuuya asked quietly.
Dazai blinked at him. “Yes?”
Chuuya nodded, standing up and stretching out his stiff limbs. “Great. Because now, you're going to explain.”
Dazai sighed, rolling his shoulders. “I'm not going to be bossed around by-”
“By your 'master’?” Chuuya asked, scoffing as Dazai froze up.
“What are you talking about,” Dazai snapped, failing at sounding scornful. His hands were trembling again. Chuuya tried to soften his voice.
“Dazai, you just had a whole damn flashback. And I know you're a kitsune,” Chuuya said. Dazai huffed.
“I'm not a kitsune. You seriously fell for that?”
Chuuya raised an eyebrow. “You still have ears.”
Dazai's hands flew to his head, and then his ears were gone. He opened his mouth.
“Don’t try and deny it,” Chuuya said preemptively.
Dazai shuddered, his mouth snapping shut. “Ok, so what if I am?”
“So that’s why you’ve been acting so fucking weird.”
“Look, just leave it alone, okay?” Dazai said, looking annoyed. “I'm tired, so shoo.” He made a shooing gesture with his hands.
Chuuya glared at him. “You don’t think we need to talk about this?”
“Nope,” Dazai said, popping the ‘p’.
“Dazai, you literally froze up yesterday during a mission and didn’t move until I came to get you,” Chuuya deadpanned.
“You're the one who told me to stay still,” Dazai hummed.
“Yeah, and I definitely wanted you to stay still as they aimed a fucking bazooka at you.”
“Well, good thing I didn’t move then.”
“Dazai-”
“I'm not doing this right now, Chuuya. You're yapping way too much, even for a dog. It’s giving me a headache.”
Dazai looked at him. Chuuya paused. For the first time in three weeks, Dazai seemed to be trying to communicate with him. A passage of communication seemed to have opened up again.
I'm tired. Just let me wait a little longer.
Chuuya huffed. “Fine, let’s just go home.”
“Is that an invitation to your house?” Dazai singsonged. Regardless, he stood up, stretching.
“You literally invite yourself over all the fucking time.”
“You just have such a comfortable couch.”
“And you live in a literal field of waste. Anything is better than that.”
“Says the stinky dog.”
Chuuya didn’t mention how Dazai's hands were still trembling faintly, satisfied that he would be able to force Dazai to explain more later. For now, he just followed his partner, familiar banter again passing between them.