Chapter Text
Dazai sat numbly in his office chair, staring blankly at a picture he had tacked to the wall and running over a thousand things in his mind at once, eventually just shutting them out and studying the picture in silence. It contained a middle aged man with auburn hair and short stubble, a book with a badge plastered to it being held in his hands. He wasn’t very expressive in the photo, but obviously carried some excitement as a small, contained smile rested on his lips for the camera and the book was clenched tightly, almost possessively. That photo had been taken at an author interview, the man having won his first award for his new novel, a book about an orphan fighting his way to find a home. Dazai had read it himself and it had left him speechless, never having been so moved by a book in his life. That author was definitely making good use of his ability to write freely.
But how long had it taken him to get there? If he had gathered his information correctly, hours of sleepless nights sitting before a window and writing his life away, just to achieve his dreams. But if Dazai was being honest, that sounded amazing compared to how his life could have turned out. He was so happy that he could do what he wanted without effort, and wished the other him could too. If only he was still alive and he hadn’t failed him like he had done so badly..
“Dazai, I have the requests. Obsessing again?”
Dazai’s thoughts were interrupted by a rich voice approaching behind him, having entered the room unnoticed and coming to his desk to set some letters down. He turned around in his chair and blinked at the ginger executive, currently spreading the papers out in front of him, then fully woke from his dreaming and took a large sigh. Chuuya was the only one he allowed in his office for the sole fact he couldn’t let anyone else know about his studies, and the only reason he had let him in on the discovery was because he was too close to him to avoid it. In reality, if one or two more people found out, the world would crash down in destruction and everything Dazai had been striving for would be lost, so he had to be careful. Fortunately, Chuuya was an ace at the art of secrecy.
“Help requests, I presume?” He questioned, lazily glancing over the monotonous letters begging him to send their associations aids from the Port Mafia. He rarely accepted to keep the Mafia’s image solo, but occasionally there would be something that would benefit both sides so he was forced to constantly read over the incessant requests.
“Yes, I told you about them earlier, stop getting lost in your head,” Chuuya rebuked, standing back and sticking his hands in his pockets. Dazai frowned at him, offended, but ignored the insult and turned back around to gaze at the collage of information on his wall and sigh about his troubles.
“He released a notice about a new book, exciting, right?”
“I mean sure.” Chuuya shrugged. “You’ve never been a big reader besides that vile suicide manual, but when it comes to this random man you’re his biggest fan. Oda Sakunoske. The world’s most recent aspiring author.”
“You know the reason,” Dazai pouted, kicking his legs up onto the wall so he was a complete right angle.
“Cause in another universe he died and couldn’t, right?” Chuuya replied, leaning against the desk and glancing over the wall. “And you wanna support him in what he couldn't do there. I know.”
“We were friends too,” Dazai reminded dolefully. “I could have done better and let him survive.”
“Osamu, shut up about that already,” Chuuya said, getting off the desk and walking around to where he was. “From what you’ve told me, it wasn’t your fault. So dramatic.” Dazai turned his head and looked up at Chuuya standing above him. He opened his mouth to speak but the executive placed a hand over it before he could utter a sound. “And don’t you dare protest, mackerel.”
He only spoke through the muffling of his mute. “I’m your boss, it’s a little disrespectful to call me mackerel, don't you agree?”
Chuuya made a “tsk” noise and rolled his eyes, removing his hand and turning around, his arms still in his pockets.
“Just get to work already, as your executive I have the right to keep you on track. And the right to call you mackerel on the side. I’m leaving.”
Dazai audibly gasped as he walked away from the desk. “Offensive. You’re fired.”
“Eh?!” Chuuya fought back. “You’d never. You’re too scared of a life without me.”
“Who said?” He objected, folding his arms like a child. “I could kick you out right now and not bat an eye.”
Chuuya frowned and pushed the door open. “That better be a lie or else you’re dead.”
“Sure, sure.”
“You’re such a child despite your position,” he insulted and disappeared, leaving Dazai alone with his work and a feeling of sorrow. Of course he blamed himself for letting the other Oda die. It was stupid, but if the person who had let it happen was a different version of him, of course there could be some blame on his very soul. He hated himself so much for it. If there was any way to fix what had gone wrong, he’d take it without a second thought. Odasaku deserved to live. He could have done better and let that happen.
——
The only sound on the street besides the occasional rush of a car were Dazai’s fine footsteps, ringing on the pavement and offering the small street a reason to not be lonely. The day was one in the middle of spring, not too hot but not too cool, and just enough for Dazai to still wear his coat without getting overheated. The cherry blossoms had just begun to bloom, not enough to shower the streets with yet, but only to show little buds waking up on the branches which offered the population excitement for the weeks to come. Dazai had never been one to particularly enjoy the blossoms. Sure, they were pretty and nice to spend a day under, but he didn’t find himself attracted to them in general, although he wasn’t too sure why. It was as if something inside him had died and ruined his love for things of beauty.
Currently he was heading back to the Mafia from a classified meeting, taking a walk instead of driving to clear his head, although the driver had assumed it was so he could view the city up close. He didn’t exactly mind the city, but then again something inside him had died and the passion for it he had felt before was extinct, now leaving him to just deal with it emotionlessly as a duty he held like all the others. But anyway, he had to clear his mind away from work and get his thoughts sorted out.
It was as he was doing this and heading onto a more busier street that he ran into one of his subordinates, his shoulder draped with his fur coat and a low streak of blood slashed across his face. Ah. Atsushi. What might he be doing out at a time like this?
The moment their gaze met, Atsushi immediately redirected his path and headed towards Dazai with a curious expression on his face.
“Boss. What are you doing out here?”
Dazai stopped walking, his hands in his pockets, and looked down at the white-haired kid. “I’d like to ask the same thing.”
Atsushi answered immediately in a formal way. “I’m on a mission. It’s nothing much but includes some conflicts, so I’m waiting for my ability to regenerate my injuries.” While he was still speaking, the gash across his cheek slowly began to fade, leaving only a streak of dried blood to crumple off his skin. Dazai nodded absentmindedly.
The Atsushi in the other universe was so much more innocent and pure hearted.
“Good luck then, Atsushi,” he said, placing a hand on his head and giving a relaxed smile. “Don’t get too involved.”
The tiger raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”
Dazai only smiled and shook his head, wishing him the best and soon after continuing home. He felt like the moment he had looked through the window to the other universe, nothing could be the same in how he viewed certain people.
About an hour later, back in his boring office, Dazai sat leaning back in his chair, staring at the ceiling and not wanting to open the remaining letters. The first few had been obvious declines, and he felt useless opening the rest just to likely have the same result. Plus it included having to research associations through opening multiple files that sometimes got impossible to find, and commonly he simply avoided the whole process and said no. He sighed. Monotonous boss work.
Finally on the last letter and having successfully located this specific association’s file, Dazai tiredly scrolled through the paragraphs of information and wondered how long it took for Ango to write up all these reports. It sounded boring and if that was him he’d kill himself on the spot. But fortunately he wasn’t, and his
only job was to look through them, so he’d be fine for now.
It was as his lazy eyes were scanning the page when he noticed a bio about a certain member, a specific word catching his gaze and causing his eyes to widen. His posture stiffened.
Hugh Everett. Ability: The Multiverse
——
“Okay, so you’re saying we are going to allow this anonymous association protection from.. what again? The police?”
Dazai nodded with wide, alive eyes. “Yes. They don’t have a permit and have begun to be spotted by the police, so they need a method of escape.”
Chuuya stood back, his eyes narrowing and suspecting something else was up. He had been called into his office expecting news to decline all the offers, just to be met with an excited Dazai, almost jumping for joy with the current problem at hand. He hadn’t seen him so excited in almost years, and it definitely wasn’t because he got to protect a random group from security.
“Hum,” he pondered, looking over the letter Dazai had handed over. “So they have some ability users.” This seemed to spark his enthusiasm even more.
“Yes, around three, but Chuuya look at this one.” The letter was covered up with a printed page containing a bio of a slender looking man with fluffy hair, and he glanced at it curiously as Dazai stared at him expectantly.
“Hugh Everett. 31 years old and ability… The Multiverse? The fuck’s that supposed to mean?”
“Chuuya, he can travel the multiverses as well as time,” he explained, getting up and placing a hand on his collaged wall. “Do you understand this opportunity? If we offer to help them with the use of his ability in return, I can go and save Oda. Chuuya, I can save the other Oda.”
Chuuya only blinked at him in dumbfounded shock. There was only one thing running through his mind.
“Osamu. It’s not your responsibility.”
Dazai’s eyes went blank and he stared emotionlessly at Chuuya. Had he expected him to be enthusiastic and readily help him with this discovery? Of course not. Chuuya was too realistic for that. And the main thing was that he hated Dazai’s fixation on the other Oda. But that couldn’t stop him, no he needed to take this chance.
“Maybe not, but I can make it mine.” He took his hand off the wall and returned to the paper. “Send out a letter of acceptance in return for using one of their member’s abilities soon, please. We will offer them a fourth of our forces.”
“Dazai, I need you to understand how risky this is,” Chuuya interrupted, not moving. “There’s something called fate, and if fate wanted Oda to-“
“If fate wanted Oda to die he would’ve died here too,” he interrupted back, putting his papers away and throwing on his coat. “I believe it’s something I can change.”
“Where are you going, idiot, I need to talk to you about this,” Chuuya retorted, removing his hands from his pockets to stop him from leaving. “This is a bad idea.”
“I have a meeting now, we can talk later.”
“No, even if we talk later I know you won’t be swayed,” he declared, standing in his way. “Why do you care so much for someone you don’t even know?”
Dazai sighed and stepped towards him, cupping his face which caused him to frown. “Because a part of me did and I need to help that part. Be a good executive and help me, will you?” He smiled at the end and Chuuya looked away, not responding but knowing he had no other choice. When Dazai was set on something it was seldom his plan was interrupted, and definitely not because of himself arguing about it. He was just concerned, because something about this whole thing gave him a bad feeling.
He couldn’t afford to lose him more than anything.
——
The lights slowly flickered on as a few days later Dazai Osamu, the boss of the city’s Port Mafia, stepped into an old-looking room and was directed to a seat while the two members who had brought him in scurried away to notify the rest of his arrival. The room was a dark one, lodged into a crevice of the outskirts of Yokohama, and it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years. The rest of the house was undoubtedly the same, and he wondered what the kind of organization that lived in a place like this did on a daily basis. All he had picked up from the files, and now obvious by the crates around him, was that they assisted in illegal trades that sometimes got violent. Having a member who could jump back in time must be useful in those situations, then.
A minute later the two previous men reentered the room, still looking nervous, and held the door open as a tall man with slick backed hair wearing a loose fitting suit topped by an old jacket entered behind them and nodded at Dazai.
“Shio Goro,” one of the two announced. “Head of the Shio Organization which you are currently welcomed into.”
Dazai stood and nodded back. “Dazai Osamu. Nice to be acquainted.”
“Please, sit,” Shio requested, taking a seat in front of him. “Hisao, bring us tea.”
“Yes, sir,” the second said and they both disappeared again, leaving the two bosses alone with each other to spend the first few moments studying each other’s faces and wondering about intentions. However, a few seconds later Shio spoke again, his arms crossed over his chest and his legs kicked back.
“So. You’re willing to help us?”
“Yup, that is correct,” Dazai responded casually, not breaking eye contact. “But I’m sure you read the conditions?”
Shio nodded with a smile. “Yes, you offered a fourth of your forces in return for the use of one of our abilities. And that would be of much help, so thank you. It gets hard running from the police.”
“As I can imagine.” Dazai smiled back. “Being the boss must be hard work.”
“The same to you,” he returned with a nod, but then paused. “But I’ve been meaning to ask, which one of our members do you plan to use? We only have three in total, and none of them have very useful offensive abilities, so say, what’s the reason? I feel like I have the right to know, yeah?”
“Of course,” Dazai agreed, watching as the man returned with a plate of tea. “I would like to make use of your Multiverse ability, Everett I believe?”
“Everett, yes,” he confirmed, receiving the tea and shooing him off. “A very skillful one at that. Do you need to reverse time?”
“In a way,” Dazai hummed, lifting his plate. “But I think my business should stay my business, so I’d appreciate it if you simply sent him my way.”
“Of course, my fault,” Shio apologized, taking back his inquiry. “He’s not in the building at the moment but I can send him to your headquarters the moment I see him, is that good?”
“Indeed, that’s fine”, he agreed, taking a sip. The flavor was… bland to say the least.
“Great!” Shio responded. “I’ll also ask, when will your men come into force, and will you lend any ability users?”
“Eh, I might send one or two, it depends on the situation. And they’ll be out the moment I hear from Everett.” He paused. “But I’ll be going on a trip likely after that, so you won’t hear from me soon.”
He nodded in understanding. “Alright, that’s great. Thank you for your assistance.”
“And thank you for yours.”
After a few more exchanges he rose to leave, but then Shio stopped him, the tone in his voice significantly different than before.
“Ah, before you go, let me warn you about Everett’s ability.”
Dazai turned around and showed he was listening.
“The times before where he’s sent other people into different universes… it’s not been very consistent. Apparently things get shot around and stuff, but nothing life threatening, just.. dangerous, I guess? There’s a bunch of rules he will explain, but still, have caution.”
“I will, thanks for informing me.”
He said it with a smile because even though he was aware of the risk, he wasn’t going to be stopped from saving Odasaku.
——
“Dazai, you have someone here to see you.”
Dazai, who had been finishing up work in his office for the past hour, lifted his head to find Chuuya looking down at him with an emotionless gaze and waiting for a reply. He put his pen down and pushed back from the desk.
“And that is..?”
“He said his name is Hugh Everett,” Chuuya replied monotonously, “from the Shio Organization. And let me guess, he happens to be the one with the Multiverse ability, am I right?”
Dazai smiled and stood up. “It’s just like Chuuya to be so smart. Is he waiting in the outer room?”
“Are you leaving?” The words came out of his mouth so suddenly that even Chuuya himself was surprised he had said them, but Dazai only looked at him blankly. Was he leaving? Of course. As soon as possible.
“I’ll be back in a few days,” he replied after a moment. “It won’t take long.”
“Yeah, sure,” Chuuya scoffed, turning his body as Dazai walked away from the desk. “I trust your craftiness enough and I don’t doubt you won’t get yourself killed, but this all seems so stupid to me.”
“I’m aware, Chuuya, you’ve expressed it enough,” he sighed in reply, reaching the door and putting a hand out to open it. “But don’t worry, once I find you in the other universe I’ll treat you as much as you like, is that good?”
Chuuya rolled his eyes and followed him to the door. “Yeah, like I’d even know. I just hope I don’t cut your head off before you get back.”
Dazai smiled. “Yeah, that seems like something you’d do.” And with that he opened the door.
Standing in the middle of the room with an oversized sweater which hid his hands and shoes that looked like platforms was a middle aged man, looking younger than he actually was. His posture slumped a bit as he stood there waiting, and Dazai noticed his eyes flicking absently around the room, almost as if he wanted to leave. However, the moment he noticed that the two had entered, he straightened up and nodded in their direction as they approached, folding his hands and waiting for the next action. Once Dazai reached him he sat down in his usual chair, Chuuya taking his place behind him, and eyed the man up and down for a moment before speaking.
“Everett?”
He responded immediately in a quiet tone. “Yeah.”
“Show some respect,” Chuuya immediately interrupted, causing him to wince.
“Yes, sir,” he corrected and studied the ground, obviously awkward. Dazai hadn’t expected a thirty-year-old man to be so shy.
“Hmm, and you have the ability to travel through time and space, correct?” He questioned, wanting the man to explain it for himself.
“Yes, sir,” was the response. “Different.. different universes and time periods.”
“An impressive ability, I must say,” Dazai hummed, his legs crossed. “So, I’m sure you already know about the deal I have made with your boss?”
“Yes, sir,” he replied quickly, eying Chuuya. The poor soul had gotten scared of him.
“Great, so now for my request.” Everett looked at him expectantly as he paused. “I would like you to transport me into another universe during the time period of a few years ago. Can you do that?”
He stiffened wonderingly, not expecting the Port Mafia boss to have a fancy in multiverse traveling, but responded anyway. “Yes, sir, I can. There are… things to explain, but yes. But why?”
“Do not question my boss’s actions,” Chuuya objected before Dazai could respond. “Is respect not something you do?”
“Chuuya, Chuuya, he’s fine,” Dazai assured, waving his hand while Everett cowered back nervously. “Hypocritical much?”
“You-“
“Anyway,” he interrupted, turning back to the man who definitely looked like he wanted to go home, “I just need to save a certain someone, that’s it. I’d like for you to explain the process to me and then send me where I want to go whenever you can, okay?”
“Yes- yes, sir. But be warned, sometimes fate won’t allow certain things to change.”
“See, I told you, idiot,” Chuuya muttered in Dazai’s direction, too low for Everett to hear, but the boss ignored him and spoke in reply.
“Ah, that’s fine, I’m sure what I’m changing isn’t defined by fate. So. Can you complete my request now?”
Everett’s eyes winced and a tiny sigh was released through his nose, but nonetheless he nodded slowly and unfolded his hands. “Yeah, probably. Only you won’t be back for two days if you do, unless of course you want me to send you in permanently, so are you sure there isn’t anything you’ll miss here in that time?”
“Yup, I’m sure!” He acknowledged, standing up. “My executive here will have everything under control in my absence, so no worries. Alright then. Follow me.”
The three then headed out of his main office, Chuuya bringing up the rear to make sure Everett didn’t go anywhere, and entered an elevator where Dazai took them to the last floor, then boarding a flight of stairs which took them straight to the roof. The moment the shy man stepped out of the door, he immediately tensed up in fear at seeing the height they were at, and proceeded in trying to back up towards the stairs again. Unfortunately this only caused him to run into Chuuya, which made him even more scared, and soon he was slowly following Dazai close to the edge when suddenly he stopped and turned back to face him.
“Alright, Everett, go ahead and teach me everything there is to know about universe traveling!”
The man stared at him uneasily. In the past he had never seen anyone with such a big smile in anticipation to use his ability, no, they were usually faces of fear as they asked him to whisk them away so they could live a different life than the dreaded one they were currently in. It was either that or more fear as he removed opponents out of his way by shoving them into a different universe just to come back in another two days. And this man.. he wanted to save someone? Did someone close to him die and now he wanted to go save him in another universe? If that was the case, then why not just go back in time in the current one? It made no sense to him, but as much as he wanted to ask, he was too scared of his short executive behind them rebuking him so that he didn’t say a thing and instead only stared in confusion at the boss ahead of him. He couldn’t tell what he was thinking and that scared him.
And the fact they were so high scared him even more. A shiver ran up his spine. He hated heights.
“R-right,” he stuttered, teeth chattering as a whiff of cold air swept through the area. Freezing too. “The main things are that you can only travel to a certain time period once, and once you’re there you only have 48 hours before you return to this universe. If you want to go back to that certain time, you have to either enter two days before or two days after, not the exact same time. It’s… it’s like you use up your permit for that period.”
Dazai nodded in understanding. So he only had one chance at saving Oda. That definitely didn’t make the pressure higher.
“Wait, so from what you said earlier, it’s possible to stay there permanently?” Chuuya questioned, causing him to wince and glance behind him.
“Y-yes, there’s two ways I can send you in,” he replied nervously, not liking to be around the ginger. “If I send you in temporarily, like I said you’ll be back in two days. But if I send you in permanently, it’s impossible to come back. It’s two sides of my ability.”
“Hmm,” Chuuya growled, not liking the idea.
“And also,” Everett continued, shifting his stance, “when you’re transported, you get transported into the body that shares your same soul in that universe, which is generally the other you. And once you do, you’ll also have access to all the memories the other you had, so- so it might be a bit overwhelming. Oh, and that other you might keep some of your own memories after you leave their body and return, so yeah… it might confuse them why they have random memories for a while. Sorry, I’m bad at explaining things. I don’t usually do this often.”
Dazai shook his head and sunk his hands into his pockets. “No, it’s fine. Everything makes sense. But a question, what about what your boss warned me about? The skipping?”
“The skipping?” He questioned, sweeping his hair out of his face as the wind blew it around. “What do you- oh.”
“You know?”
“That…” he began, unsure of how to explain it. “I mean, personally I’ve never experienced it, but sometimes the people who travel with my ability experience random, unplanned movement into another universe that wasn’t the one I sent them to, but only for an hour at a time and then they’re back. It’s nothing dangerous, just annoying.”
“How is that not dangerous?” Chuuya scowled from behind him, causing him to flinch and turn around.
“Well- I mean the most it could do is give you a bit of a headache and-“
“I believe you,” Dazai interrupted, sighing at Chuuya for being overprotective again, and continued. “Well thank you for the overview, but is that all? I would say I’m ready now.” Everett looked back at the Port Mafia boss and eyed his smile again, then sighed, fully turning back and dropping his head.
“Yes, that’s it. I could do it now if you’d like. But your executive..” he glanced back at the ginger in fear he’d get mad and continued, “he’ll have to leave so he won’t accidentally get pulled with you.”
“Eh? Are you serious?” He retorted, his hands tightening in his pockets. “Why should I-“
“Well, Chuuuuyyyyaaa, I guess you don’t get to see me leave,” Dazai called to him, heading in his direction and waving a hand with a smile. “Make sure the Port Mafia doesn’t get blown up for me, will you? Or can I not trust you?”
“Tsk, I’ll be fine, mackerel,” he grumbled, looking past him with a frown. Dazai placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Make sure to offer these guys as much support as they need, I’ll be back in a few days. See you then.”
Chuuya turned around, obviously not liking his decision and accordingly acting cold towards him. “Mmm. See you.” With that he returned back into the stairwell and disappeared from sight, the last thing from him being his footsteps which eventually faded away in the sound of the wind. Dazai sighed, turned around slowly, and called towards the man with his eyes closed tiredly.
“Alright, Everett. I’m ready.”
Hugh, who had been furrowing his eyebrows in confusion as to why the boss and executive acted closer than what would be expected, snapped back to reality with a start and straightened up in a ready position.
“Ah- yes, sir, I’ll go ahead then.”
He received a smile and two eyes cracking back open at him. “You remind me of the other Atsushi a bit.”
Everett paused. “I’m sorry..?” Dazai shook his head.
“Nothing. Alright, go ahead.”
“Right, right.” Everett shook his head and quickly approached the boss, then placing a shy hand on his shoulder and taking a deep breath. “Do you… have the time and place in mind?”
“Yup.”
Everett nodded quickly and focused again. “Okay, I’ll transport you now, just don’t lose the location.” He inhaled again, noticing that Dazai was looking over the edge of the roof blankly, and closed his eyes. A sudden glow overtook the spot where he was making contact with his shoulder and soon the glow spread across Dazai’s entire body, enveloping him until the brightness was so extreme that he couldn’t be seen.
And suddenly the light went out and the only person standing on the roof was Everett, his hand shaking in the aftermath.
“Phew, I can go inside now,” he muttered and quickly darted into the building.