Chapter Text
Dazai was upset. He wasn’t faking it to meet an end; He was fuming over an annual annoyance. This annoyance was discontinued after the previous boss went crazy. Unfortunately, Mori was the boss now, and he decided it was a wonderful idea to hold an annual event. The reinstated holiday event was well known as the mafia’s best event of the year: The yearly Christmas Party.
Dazai had planned on skipping the event entirely, but the moment he had the thought of it, Mori called him into his office. A smile hung across his face, “I do hope to see you at the event, Dazai”
“I wasn’t planning on going,” Dazai replied. When a look crossed Mori’s face showing obvious displeasure, Dazai continued, “I wouldn’t have thought you’d want me there. I’d be a bit out of place..”
A silence enveloped the room. Although nothing was said, Dazai got the message quite clearly: I’m going to that party whether I like it or not. A sigh slipped from Dazai’s mouth.
“I don’t wish to cause you trouble, I hope you know that,” Mori shrugged his shoulders and shook his head with look of swift acceptance.
Bullshit, you’re just worried that I’ll go off and get myself killed. You won’t have your witness without me. Dazai’s expressionless face stared back at Mori, and he almost hesitated adding on to the order. If Dazai had a more empathetic boss, Mori may have actually waved off the original order, but Dazai didn’t and Mori added to his original commands anyway.
“Mingle too, please. Even if it ends up in a scuffle, it’s better for you to be seen interacting with others than for you to stand off in the corner,” Mori turned to face a table behind his desk. He picked up some black cloth off of it, and handed it to Dazai. “I’ve prepared a suit for you to wear so make sure you look presentable.”
“I’m not even in the mafia,” Dazai had pointed out a fact that neither had decidedly brought up since the execution of the previous mafia boss. “Why do I have to mingle with others?”
“Well, you can always join us; We’ve been ready to welcome you for quite some time now,” Mori said—He had been waiting for Dazai to bring it up.
No matter how hard he had pushed Dazai into the corner of accepting his offer of employment, Dazai never did. If he couldn’t rope him in through affiliation with the mafia, then he wouldn’t be able to. Either he accepts my offer, or he’ll be caught for the crimes he’s committed, Mori thought it was inevitable that Dazai would join the mafia. He’s too intelligent to not realize that he has no options.
“I’ll pass,” Dazai took the clothing Mori gave him, and began to walk away.
“Be smart, Dazai,” Mori’s voice was slightly off—A change that only happens with irritation, and with his back to him, Dazai wore a smile. He’s frustrated that I didn’t accept. Did he really think that I would actually feel backed into a corner with the thought of the police arresting me? Relishing in his small victory, Dazai cleared his throat.
“I do believe that I could still say to the police that I was forced to commit these crimes.” Mori didn’t like that argument.
“You know that claim is weak,” A counter was offered. “They can’t be sure you were forced into it, and you would still end up sentenced to prison”
“Maybe,” Dazai hummed. “But at the very least, I’ll be dragging down the one that forced me into the position in the first place. That victory would be much more satisfying than staying out of jail” With that, Dazai left.
That small victory doesn’t matter now—Mori still got what he wanted. Dazai’s reflection of the conversation had only agitated him more. I still have to go to that stupid Christmas party, and I have to talk to people.
He wasn’t upset that he was missing out on previous plans—He didn’t have any to begin with. The event was certainly not something he would willingly go to. Not only did it have a lot of people that he knew he wouldn’t mesh well with, but he also hates Christmas. The holiday wasn’t—and has never been—for him.
Thus began the long wait in the corner of the room. He watched as everyone mingled, and a peculiar thought crossed his mind. Where is Mori? For a man that seemed as though it would be the end of the world if Dazai didn’t attend, it’s quite odd that he wouldn’t show himself. He dismisses the thought deciding that he most likely late because of an uncooperative Elise.
He went back to people watching and a piece of him wished he was like everyone else at the party. The moment he arrived, Dazai knew that he didn’t fit in—He’s a kid, and everyone else is an adult. What adult would want to hang out with him when there are so many more options?
“All by yourself?” A sweet voice asked. Dazai’s attention was taken by the woman standing before him. Her very presence caused his thoughts just a moment ago to become false. A bit of irritation reached Dazai’s face before he quickly covers it up. He has always hated being wrong. “I’m surprised Mr. Mori let you stay by yourself..”
“I’m surprised that you even bothered to come over to me, Ms. Kōyō,” Dazai smiled. She wrinkled her nose at the name.
“I’m too young to be a Ms. anything,” Kōyō sighed. “Call me something like Sister; I’m barely that much older than you”
“Okay, Big Sis,” Dazai said; His expression turned lighthearted the moment he saw her face. She didn’t like the name she gave herself, but looked like she didn’t want to stop him. After all, she was the one that suggested it. “How do you view Mori in all this?”
“You want to talk about Politics within the mafia? At a party?” The question took Dazai off guard. What else are you supposed to do at a party? “There’s no reason for you to try persuading me onto Mr. Mori’s side—I already am”
“Mind if I ask why?” The question was genuine on Dazai’s part. He was already well aware that Mori was lying, but even if the lie was convincing, many were still very loyal to the previous boss.
“You could say that I’m holding a petty grudge against my previous boss,” Kōyō replied simply. She didn’t elaborate, and that frustrated Dazai.
“Ms. Kōyō and Dazai—it’s nice to see familiar faces at this party,” Hirotsu arrived in that moment. He was the sole reason that Dazai didn’t poke around further into Kōyō’s past. “It looks like I arrived at the wrong time though. People are already drinking too much”
It didn’t take a lot to recognize who Hirotsu was talking about—it’s blatantly obvious. A group of women wearing fancy dresses. One woman in particular was unaware of how close she was to spilling wine on a man not too far from her.
“They're too drunk for this early into the party,” Kōyō commented. “It’s been—what? 20 minutes since it officially started?”
“I probably would have been them if you hadn’t of come along,” Dazai yawned as the two adults looked over at him.
“When?” Hirotsu’s question brought a smile to Dazai’s face.
“When the boss dragged me into being his little underling, of course,” The words spit like acid down his throat. It was a great contrast to the expression he hung of his face. “I would either have been at the bottom of a bottle, or I would have succeeded in my quest of death”
“You’re voice sounds too cheery for the words you’re speaking,” Kōyō sighs before taking a sip of her drink. “Besides, someone most likely would have come along before you could succeed. All it takes is a single person for a perspective such as yours to change”
“Oh, one’s finally made contact,” Hirotsu changes the rather uncomfortable subject quickly. He points to the scene—The man yelling at the woman who spilled wine all over his clothes. She shouts back, and one of the ladies walked backward away from the scene. It didn’t help that she edged right into another woman, and a second argument started.
“Don’t ever become them; Bar fights don’t ever produce good,” Hirotsu spoke; An amused expression appearing on his face.
“They’re entertaining,” Dazai shrugs. “I could become the clown for a good laugh at times”
“That will get tiring quick,” Koyo joins into the conversation again. She pats his head, “Don’t make yourself into the butt of the joke to make others laugh”
“Who said I was doing it for others to laugh at?” Dazai laughs. He watched the commotion rise as another few men enter the arguments.
As the arguments heat up, the three watched as guns were pulled out and pointed. The situation is disarmed after two people are killed. Great party, Dazai thinks to himself; His sarcasm reaching even his thoughts.
The night did not end with that fight. Another breaks out between three women, and each began throwing their drinks. Unfortunately, there was poor aim, and most other people were involved in the fight after alcohol was thrown at them. The fights ended with someone flipping a table, and a man yelling about calling the police to bust the guest for mafia affiliation. The party ended quite quickly after that move.
The three escaped swiftly out the back door they were hovering around. As they left out the backside of the alley, they watched as police started down the front and went into the building. Fortunately for them, the police thought nothing of the three in the alleyway.
“Well..” Dazai’s laugh is just barely stifled. “That was certainly something, wasn’t it?”
“That proved his point,” Kōyō gestures towards the ruined party. “He said, ‘Nothing good comes out of getting into a bar fight,’ and they all got arrested by the police”
“We’re lucky we weren’t,” Hirotsu sighs.
“You wouldn’t have gone with them quietly, would you?” Dazai asks; Leaving the alley unperturbed. “‘Cause if it was me, I would have killed them on the spot”
“I don’t doubt that,” Kōyō nods her head. “I don’t think that’s what he was getting at, however”
“You haven’t committed that bad of crimes yet, and if you were to take the first step of murder, you would have lost the leverage you had over Mr. Mori,” Hirotsu points out. “You can’t claim to have been manipulated into killing if you did it to a police officer that was trying to arrest you for very real crimes”
A thought occurs to Dazai as he stops in place. “Is Mori so desperate for me to join that he’s willing to turn in his entire syndicate to the police?” It was a rhetoric question; He knew the answer the moment Hirotsu pointed out that he would have no way of defending himself in court.
“I’m afraid so,” The answer comes from the right hand of the man himself. “As you know, I was in the room when he ordered you to attend the party, and he was not a fan of your win in the battle”
“So he chose to overlook the battle,” Dazai sighs as a mirthless smiles crosses his face. “And win the war at the cost of his own power”
“Strategy takes sacrifice for a battle to be won correctly,” Kōyō adds. “It simply comes with the territory.”
“Well, too bad for him; I didn’t have one too many drinks,” Dazai hums before continuing down the alleyway.