Work Text:
There was really only one outcome Dazai had already realised this would go the way it was supposed to. He had studied the possibilities, weighted the outcomes, and decided on the limits of losses like he always did.
He had known. And deemed it a worthy cost. Even when he had brushed off Atsushi’s concerns and Kunkida’s warnings, when Ranpoe had stared at him before bowing his head in respect that he did not give slightly, he had known. That it would come to this. That this is the only outcome with the least losses.
This is the only way it should have gone. He has known this since Sigma finally woke up on the plane and told him exactly what the Demon could do. This had been the plan. That everyone focuses towards getting him to Fyodor so he can finish this.
But now, staring at the body in front of him, he is scared, just for a second, that he will regret it. This is something he has wanted since Mori found him wasting away on the streets, something he has not stopped wanting as the years dragged on, fulfilling a dear friend’s last prophecy.
You will never find a reason to live..there will never be anything that can surpass your mind. There is no place in this world that can fill your loneliness.
It was only fair then, to find a purpose to die instead.
He regrets lying to his friends, to the people who have despite everything become so important to him, but this was needed. The Demon Prodigy was needed, not Dazai Osamu.
The Demon Prodigy watches the final breath leave the man’s body as the sword he stole out of its hands finally clatters to the ground. Once an immortal monster, he looks now like the human he hasn’t been for centuries. It feels the exact moment the Demon takes his last breath in that body, latching onto it, only to find a mirror. The Demon Prodigy bares its teeth with glee as its ability flares, clawing away at the remnants. Then it is gone too, leaving only Dazai Osamu behind to watch his own final moments alone.
Dazai knows this was the only way as the blood pools around him. This is how Yokohoma lives, as he dies and takes Fyodor with him.
The remnants of the airport begin to collapse around him, almost as if the earth knows the weight of the soul that has finally been quelled. He tries to find possibilities of his friends getting out of the ruins in time but the pain is slowly taking over. He cannot think past the familiar red. If he was a believer he would have prayed, to whatever god there was to get them out on time.
Then he sees it, even in a dying haze - a red more familiar than this - the red of a soul he knows better than his own. A single thought of clarity occurs, taking over his entire being. Taking over the pain.
Chuuya-
No.
He should have known, really. He had known, and hoped that this would not be the outcome. That he would somehow hate him enough not to do this.
No.
The cost is no longer something he can pay. He has miscalculated.
No.
But Chuuya is a God in his own right. It is only fair that the only god he would ever believe in would choose to spite him in the end.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chuuya had known. He had known from the moment Dazai shut off into himself on the hurried plane ride back, or when he had waved him away and told him to find Akutagawa and Atsushi and get them to safety instead of taking that undead idiot head-on with him.
He had known, with every inch of his body but had refused to believe out of spite that Dazai would do this to him. To all of them.
He should have known, because leaving him behind is what Dazai does best.
The anger building within him is a familiar ache. It is an anger that should have formed earlier. It is an anger that has made a home in him for four years. For seven. It is anger at the audacity to choose for him.
The familiar rage builds. The anger and hurt that was named Arahabaki simmers, waiting to explode as the airport collapses within itself.
Chuuya had once been told that his loyalty would be the end of him. Dazai has called him his dog since they met and both of them have known that Chuuya will never be the one to leave. He should do what he does best, fight and break till he gets what he wants or he can give no more.They have both known since fifteen, Dazai's life is his to take.
And yet. And yet, the building is collapsing around them. He can feel Atsushi and Akutagawa behind him trying to figure out what to do even as they fight. This is not their burden to bear, not yet. With Dazai’s choice, it is his. To give him what he wants. To ensure that his life is the only one lost.
The weight settles within him even as the rage approaches corruption, colliding with the need to protect what is his.
The words are familiar. He knows instinctively that he will never need them again.
Granters of dark disgrace, you need not wake me again.
—--------------------------------------------------------
The wrathful god turns the airport over, the entire wreckage hanging midair in red light, frozen as it waits for him to decide on his judgement. Spheres of red break it apart until there is no trace that it ever existed. And yet, the people within it remain untouched. Any debris that got too close is immediately dust. Vengeance spares them, like she knows, like the god wrecking havoc knows even in his grief, the weight of the humanity he holds.
The being moves like there is an invisible string forcing it forward, a single command to find. Arahabaki makes it to the centre of the crater that was once an airport. It's poetic that they should find each in a godforsaken crater again, just like they had at fifteen.
The man who was titled Arahabaki stares at the man who was (is) his partner bleeding out in front of him.
He wants to punch him.
Dazai reaches out to touch him, even though they both know it doesn't really matter anymore. His hand is gentle on his face in a manner only Chuuya has seen before.
Chuuya still wants to punch him. But there is so much blood. There is so much blood on both of them. He opens his mouth to shout or scream but there is only thought ringing in his head.
Dazai dazai dazai dazai -
—-----------------------------------------------------
Chuuya pulls him out of his stupor like he always has. The light has returned to his eyes now, even as they are breaking and it's his Chuuya that's staring back at him. His Chuuya, broken and bleeding, when he was always the one who was supposed to live.
Dazai realises that Chuuya is repeating his name like a desperate prayer as he pulls him into his arms, so much anger that is really fear.
“Why did you do that, you idiot. Are you really so desperate to die ?”
Ahh Chuuya. Berating him till the very end. You'd think at least now he deserves to be let off, when he is dying in such an embarrsing manner.
He only realises that he said that out loud when Chuuya’s grip on him tightens. Blood is leaking out of his mouth. Maybe that would explain the wetness on Dazai’s face.
“Why do you never take me with you, you asshole?”
Chuuya has always been his reason to live. Now Dazai will be the reason Chuuya dies.
Chuuya’s face breaks and Dazai realises Chuuya is still shaking the same time he realises that the wetness on his face are his own tears.
He's crying, he's finally crying as the man who was supposed to be his hated rival, his dearest mirror bleeds out with him.
There are no abilities anymore. It is just Dazai and Chuuya, just a few breaths that will be stolen from them.
“I would have come with you”, Chuuya says. Still shaking, tears mixing with his own and Dazai knows he is not talking about just today.
The weight of that choice settles into his slowing heart. He has taken four years from this man. He has no right to take more, even if it would break him.
He brushes his thumb against the salt and blood on Chuuya’s face.
“Together”
Chuuya stops shaking, his hand reaching out to hold Dazai’s palm pressed against his face.
His eyes light up with the familiar blue fire that ignites Dazai’s soul as he nods slightly.
“Together”
Three words forced into one. That has always been how it has been for them. Since that godforsaken day that Chuuya's friends made their choice and Dazai gave him a single choice he could make. Since the Boss forced them together into a team
Double Black. One damned, broken soul in two bodies.
There is no universe where half a soul survives. There is no universe where one would live or die without the other. If there is or was, the one left behind would end the world out of spite.
Together.
Together. The price is paid. War scatters into the wind to fight another day.