Chapter Text
The tallest door he had ever seen was right in front of him; the enchanting colors of the stained glass of the window, now stained by mold and time, reflected on the floor as the sun illuminated the house.
Plants and branches seemed to have made their way up on the house’s walls, as all the wood that once decorated the home was now clearly damaged by what he guessed were years of rain, sun and wind.
“Is this the house? Doesn’t it look a little… abandoned? Like, are we sure someone lives here?”
Yuan asked with furrowed eyebrows. No one blamed her, they may not live in the most ‘luxurious’ of places, but this place did look abandoned, even more so than their own place.
“Well I sure hope so ‘cause whoever this guy is promised good money” Shirase said in a sigh as he walked between Chuuya and Yuan.
Now with his friends behind him; a creepying tingle in the back of his mind reminded him how badly he hoped for a human to open instead of the skeleton of some pirate looking for revenge or his missing love.
He knocked on the door and, much to his relief, the hand that hid on the other side was covered by skin, unnaturally pale skin but skin nonetheless.
“Ah! You must be the…” He lifted his hand “‘ghosthunters’” he finished, using his fingers as quotation marks while a smirk made its way into his face.
“What are you insinuating huh?!” Chuuya said, a little louder than normal, pushing Shirase to the side to be in front of the boy; his features becoming more clear the closer he got. His ghostly white skin, his barely combed brunette hair, the slightly yellow tint of his teeth, the color of his eyes that, despite their obvious brownish tint, seemed to shine like a just barely visible crimson light in the bottom of a dark and black pit.
…
That wasn’t the point.
“Chuuya…” Shirase put a hand on his friend’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down before turning to look at the boy, eyebrows slightly furrowed.
“Ah, how rude of me! I didn't introduce myself to my ‘heroes’!” He teased dramatically; the grin on his face grew as he let out a small, almost silent giggle.
He took a hand to his chest as he bowed and placed the other one in front of Chuuya.
“Osamu Dazai, it's a… pleasure to meet you”
Chuuya, bless his… expressive heart, put on his ‘what the fuck is wrong with this guy’ face. Dazai’s grin only grew wider.
“I'm the one who hired you! Although…” Dazai straightened himself as he thought.
“Do you actually want us to exorcise a ghost?” Yuan’s voice suddenly cut through the silence, she was now standing right next to Shirase.
“Hmm, I suppose I do…” he said with just enough uncertainty in his voice to annoy them.
“Ah well~! Don't worry, I'll bring back your ‘ghostbuster’ friend safe and sound!”
“Hu-” Shirase tried to speak but was abruptly interrupted by Dazai grabbing onto Chuuya’s arm and pulling him into the house, slamming the door right after.
“Hey! What are you doing?! Open up!” Chuuya could hear Yuan and Shirase banging on the door, he slammed Dazai aside, ignoring the silent cry that followed a worrisome crunch.
He rushed to the front, grabbing onto the door handle as if his life depended on it, and maybe it did, because as soon as his hand grazed the cold metal, all noise stopped.
No more banging, no more screaming. Hell even the chipping of the birds and the ever so quiet wind quietened as the handle twisted. Chills ran down his spine when despite how much he twisted and twisted, it didn't open.
He was trapped, locked in a house with a weirdo. Like a monkey in a cage.
Like a rat in a lab.
He acted out of pure instinct and so, he attacked the first thing in sight, which just so happened to be a sitting Dazai.
“Ah… even tiny people can be aggressive…” Dazai teased.
Chuuya had thrown himself on top of Dazai, immobilizing him against the wall.
“What the fuck did y-”
“AH, well… this isn't quite the point of your visit now, is it?” Dazai said with a smile from ear to ear that made Chuuya doubt if being trapped was really the scariest thing happening.
Chuuya’s face must have been enough of an answer for Dazai as he kept going.
“You know…exorcise ghosts…uhh what I hired you for…?" Dazai's face turned incredibly quickly into a pout.
He took advantage of the silence to appreciate the view. Chuuya, he guessed his name was, had pretty decent face features. His double colored eyes were the peculiarity that caught his attention the most, so much so he could honestly stare at them for hours.
Chuuya, on the other side, found himself staring into the blackness of his eyes, as if trying to pick out any emotion in them. Dazai believed it to be useless.
He was no more than a human shaped doll with no emotions left. Nothing more than a soulless being with an empty heart.
“Hmph… how sad, seems I chose the wrong one”
Chuuya’s eye twitched. He gave Dazai one last slam against the wall and stood up.
The taller one followed, grabbing his arm with the other one, seemingly in pain.
“What is going on?” Chuuya said in a harsh tone, one he reserved for annoying people.
“Hmm… I'm not quite sure… I suppose in movie terms, there is something like a curse in the house” he smiled again. A smile that he worked so hard on, one made to replicate human emotion.
Chuuya seemed to consider his answer carefully. A curse did sound plausible, meaning…
“Ghosts are usually the ones behind curses… is there any place in the house where you think a ghost could be hiding in?” He asked while he looked around.
“Maybe so, but it wouldn't be as fun if I do your job for you~!” His smile sharpened.
Chuuya ignored him. He went around the house as Dazai followed behind him, announcing as dramatically as he could what room they were in.
Ghosts were people, lifeless beings, yet not soulless, they were nothing more than humans that stopped breathing and so they were prone to get attached to things, whether it was inanimate objects or living things but for a full house to be cursed…
They walked across the house until, at the last room, Dazai stopped following him, and stared.
Chuuya decided that was just a ‘Dazai thing’ and opened the door.
He sighed in relief when there was nothing on the other side, it was just an empty room. A pretty one at that.
The walls were colored in a pastel blue shade, there was a darker blue line that separated the wall by the middle, decorated with white stickers that he guessed were resembling bunnies. The carpet floor looked comparably cleaner than the rest of the house, along with the window, which showed a rainy day.
…
It wasn't raining outside.
Right before he stepped a foot inside, someone pulled him back. They lost their balance and fell backwards.
Dazai made a quiet noise that Chuuya wasn't sure how to interpret, if he had to guess, we would think it was because of the pain he most likely felt from before.
“What the hell dude?!” Chuuya screamed as he stood up with wobbly legs.
He turned back to look at the room and noticed how the soft rain from before quickly turned into a storm. The plants outside danced along with the wind, yet there was no sound. Not even a whisper.
He was squinting at the window from outside the room when he felt someone, who he hoped was Dazai as the alternative was quite scary, push him inside.
The ghost was there. As soon as he touched the room, he felt it. His breath wavered as the nausea hit him; his legs were suddenly failing him and he fell.
Dazai stared from outside, his face devoid of any emotion. He took a deep breath and went in, pulling Chuuya up in the process.
“There there, no need to be so dramatic chibi…” Dazai said in a snarky tone, almost rolling his eyes.
“W-what the fuck did you call me…?!” Chuuya said weakly. He hated it, he was not weak.
“What incredible determination must I say… almost beautiful. You know, most don't even make it in the house!” Dazai kept the teasing tone on, smirking at Chuuya's disgusted face.
Chuuya tried to keep breathing, deep and calm breaths as he stabilized. “Why are you so weird…” His voice was low, so much so Dazai almost didn't hear him.
“How rude of you,” he said dramatically “stupid dog…” he whispered, not silent enough for Chuuya not to hear, which led to an impressively long string of curses and insults from the redhead.
Chuuya had gained his composure, or at least enough of it to stand on his own and think properly. Due to… whatever it was that happened, he was now sure the ghost was in the room; he was so glad his friends were lazy enough to make a bet to see who would carry the equipment bag, even more so to have been the one to lose said bet.
He took out a book from inside the bag and placed it in the middle of the room, or where he guessed was the middle— everything was still a bit foggy.
Once he had moved far from it, dragging Dazai along, the book started shining. Blue hues enveloped the room as it opened on its own, landing on page 258.
If Dazai had to guess, he'd say Chuuya was using an ability, gravity manipulation most likely, to move some other items around the room. “Hey, put this on that corner.” He said to Dazai, pointing to the corner opposite from where they were kneeling before handing him a candle.
Dazai stared, going back and forth between looking at the cande and looking directly into Chuuya's eyes.
“What?” Chuuya stared back at him, “Ah… No thanks!” Dazai gave him a closed eyed smile.
“Fuck you mean” Chuuya said, bringing the candle closer to him
Dazai avoided his hand like the plague, “I'm not doing that” he didn't think it sounded like teasing, but apparently, Chuuya did, if the constant twitching of his eye meant something. Oh well, he wasn't about to risk the years of research he had to do to find a way out of the house.
“I swear to god…” he hesitated for a moment before continuing “whatever…”
The shorter one kept moving, every item put down made the room shine brighter. Dazai believed he could even see what he guessed were stars, or he could have been hallucinating, but who really knows.
It truly was beautiful, nothing like he had ever seen before. It seemed like Chuuya noticed his fanboying because he couldn't take his eyes off of Dazai's.
The room shook harshly and, for a moment, everything went black. He felt as if a weight lifted off his shoulders and the light went back.
“I hope you really do pay us well,” Chuuya said tiredly.
“I'm not one to break my promises.” Dazai said proudly.
“Chuuya!! Chuuya, where are you!?”
Chuuya immediately recognized Yuan's voice from the hallway. He wobbly stood up, walking over to where the sound was coming from.
“Chuuya!” Yuan screamed when she saw him. “Dude what the fuck was that?! We couldn't enter!” Shirase said behind her.
Dazai stood behind Chuuya, and suddenly, his black eyes had some light in them.
“Ah… I suppose I can pay now.”
…
Chuuya sighed “Yeah…”
— - - - —
Since the ‘ghostbusters' job was done now, they had gone back to wherever they came from.
Dazai now stared at the front door.
All the memories from years ago flooding his mind. How mad the blurry faced ghost was when he killed him.
He remembered the first time he realized he was trapped, all the different ways he had tried to get out. How many exorcists and ‘ghostbusters' had died as soon as they stepped foot on the house. All useless.
He kept staring. He stared for hours, not daring to go and enjoy his newfound liberty because he knew. Deep down in the void that formed him he knew he deserved to stay trapped. To never interact with the outside world ever again, to never have the sun touch his skin again.
He sighed and closed the door, maybe tomorrow he could try again to get out.