Chapter Text
Chuuya fidgets with the pendant now dangling from his choker. The new addition to one of his staple accessories will take some getting used to. He lightly traces the 双 engraved onto one side, looking out the window as the waning light of day blurs the cityscape into a mixture of oranges and greys.
Carefully, he turns the pendant around and taps at the 黒 engraved there. Pushing at the pendant's edge, the smooth surface gives way slightly and rolls with his thumb. No sound or light emits from the thing.
He sighs and mutters a quick "...bastard," before deactivating the one-way communicator and letting it fall against his neck once more.
That Dazai thinks himself real clever. Chuuya grasps at the pendant again. At least the characters he chose to engrave on it aren't too bad.
He tightens his hold on the thing, watching as the car finally slows to a stand-still. Hirotsu-san doesn't bother entering the parking garage, since he's just dropping Chuuya off here with his things. Two other sleek black cars park on either side of them, and Chuuya waits patiently for someone to open his door for him, the role he's meant to play at the forefront of his mind.
The door opens and Chuuya reaches for where his hat had sat beside him. He puts it on as he steps onto the curb, tilting the hem just-so to hide his eyes as guards exit from the other cars and fan out around him. Some lady with a clipboard is standing by the entrance to the apartment complex he'll be staying in.
She's obviously with the Hero Commission, and Chuuya should probably be paying more attention to her words as she introduces herself. He does no such thing, keeping his head tilted and reaching one hand up to fidget with the pendant, the perfect picture of nervous and reluctant. Hirotsu-san steps away to notify the guards they'd sent ahead that their entourage has arrived, while some of the guards break away to gather his luggage. Chuuya waits for Hirotsu-san to rejoin the entourage before letting the lady lead them to what will presumably be his room.
She points out the lobby along the way, an ostentatiously decorated room with two people manning a service desk. Chuuya has the brief thought that such a thing would be more at place at a hotel than an apartment complex, before dismissing it. He's not meant to question such a costly expenditure while in character. Perhaps those workers double as security personnel.
The lady leads them to an elevator, where their posse squeezes into the space and maintains silence until they stop at the fourth floor. They're led to the end of the hall, right in front of a pair of double doors. The lady turns around to face him, drawing a key ring out of her pocket and dangling it from her hand.
"This is the lodgings we have provided for your stay, Ozaki-kun. I hope you find it to your liking."
Chuuya says nothing as the guards take the key and enter the room before him, not at all innocuous as they start inspecting every inch for possible bugs.
Hirotsu-san remains standing outside with him, having been instructed to not allow the Hero Commission to interact with Chuuya alone. The wide smile on the lady's face does not fade or falter in the slightest. She merely reaches into her pocket again and draws out a plain business card.
"If you find any need for something, you may reach me through this number. Please, do not hesitate to call for anything. That said," she taps at an order form folded beneath the business card. "We at the Hero Commission are happy to accommodate you in whichever way possible. You can visit the closest tech store to receive a phone that will allow you to contact your family in Yokohama." Impossibly, her smile only widens when Chuuya reluctantly accepts the card and attached paper. He's gonna have to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Hirotsu-san gives him a look, and Chuuya sighs before dipping his head in farewell. The lady finally takes her leave.
Once she's out of sight, Chuuya gives the business card a brief glance, memorizing the number on it before handing both papers over to Hirotsu-san. Just in case it becomes important. The old man promptly rips the card to shreds and pockets the order form, finally leading them into the apartment. Just beyond the entrance, a short hallway serves as a foyer, with small hooks hanging on the wall and a shoe cupboard decorating the space.
To the left, a doorway reveals a living room and open-concept kitchen, the two spaces separated only by an island counter. It's smaller than what he'd been provided by the Port Mafia, and he can just imagine Kouyou's face when she inevitably visits. He surveys the guards getting rid of the two couches and coffee table that had been occupying the living room, and turns to give Hirotsu-san a raised eyebrow. The man simply nods back to the direction they came from, where the early group of guards is bringing in replacement furniture.
Chuuya sighs and turns to the sliding door at the left-most wall. Behind it is an enclosed patio, with stairs leading up to a second floor. Deciding to explore, he leaves them to their tasks and makes his way upstairs. The small loft has another pair of sliding doors to separate it from what appears to be one large room. It takes up nearly the entire floor plan, only refraining thanks to what must be the bathroom and a walk-in closet.
Chuuya walks to the center of the empty room, spinning in a circle and taking it in. It's not bad. He walks towards the windows, gazing out towards the city. But it's not home.
His apartment has a vantage point to the section of the city it looks out on, the complex itself seemingly situated atop higher ground. The windows show a series of stone steps that lead down onto the main road, also branching into a park entrance nearby. Beyond that, high-rise lights twinkle as the city settles into the night.
It really is quite the gilded cage.
The guards make quick work of assembling a new bedframe and decorating the mattress while Chuuya remains standing by the window. He considers asking them after the time, but refrains. These men are not his subordinates, and he has no wish to see them act as though they are.
It's not long before only Hirotsu-san remains, dismissing the other guards when they attempt to take the final suitcase from his hands. Most of his new wardrobe has been organized into the closet, but this suitcase contains Chuuya's more personal belongings. He takes it from the old man with a grateful nod, the late hour finally registering.
Carelessly, Chuuya chucks the suitcase into the closet, resolving to deal with it properly some other time. He sets his hat onto the bedside table and digs into his coat pocket for the burner phone given to him for this mission. It's a plain flip phone like any other, with only four contacts programmed into it. Unsurprisingly, the contact labeled 'Master' has bombarded him with texts.
He curses at the damned name, flipping the phone closed with a satisfying click.
"Long day, Chuuya-san?" Something in Hirotsu-san's tone seems almost teasing.
Chuuya shoots him a glare, setting the phone down next to his hat.
"Shut up, old man."
"That's not proper speech for a respectful young man." Now the other's definitely teasing, but Chuuya finds he prefers that to the deferential way the others had been treating him since this assignment began. Practice, Kouyou had said. Method acting, Lipmann would've called it. Chuuya clears his throat.
"...I ask that you please leave me to my silence, oh, good sir."
Hirotsu-san chuckles.
Chuuya manages to throw him a small smile before sighing, finally sitting down on the bed. It sinks further than he'd expected, and he throws his arms back to refrain from falling on his back.
"This is gonna take some getting used to," he mutters.
"I'm sure you don't need my assurance about your ability to adapt."
" 'Course not. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it though," he huffs, blowing a wayward curl away from his face.
A nod is respectively angled at him. "Is there anything I can do for you before taking my leave?"
"...Do you know when Kouyou's visiting?"
"The day after your entrance exam, so three days from now."
Chuuya frowns. "And you'll be staying until then? It's really not necessary."
"All according to plan, Chuuya-san. We have our roles to play, and will not provide the enemy an opening so early on." The old man looks at him with what could only be descirbed as sympathy, and Chuuya turns his face away from him.
"Right, right... I just," he sighs again, running a hand through his hair before giving in to the temptation of laying down and staring up at the ceiling. "This kinda ploy really isn't my thing."
"You're the operative best suited for this mission, as you're well aware."
"Only because that idiot doesn't care about pretending to- not be some creep for long enough to be here, in my stead!"
"...Perhaps so. But that only reiterates my point, Chuuya-san."
Chuuya reaches up to fiddle with the pendant on his choker.
"This is all so stupid."
"You've lodged your complaints a-plenty. I'm sure Mori-san will compensate you in accordance."
"I have to pretend to be fifteen again- as if anyone would buy that, how humiliating..."
The silence is telling. Had Dazai been present, he undoubtedly would've made some joke about Chuuya being short. He glares at the ceiling. "What, no comment?"
"Not at this time, Chuuya-san."
"Hah hah," he doesn't have to look up to know Hirotsu-san is smiling. "Get to your station then, I'm going to sleep."
"Have a good night, Chuuya-san."
"...You as well."
The sound of Hirotsu-san locking up the apartment behind him makes the following silence all the more prevalent. Chuuya lays in it for a few minutes before heaving himself up into a sitting position again. Slowly, he makes his way to the closet, dragging the lone suitcase open and digging out his favorite pajamas.
He changes in the bathroom, taking care not to look in the mirror as he wipes away a layer of foundation from his skin. He knows what his reflection would reveal- freckles and jagged pink lines that have yet to fully fade.
Chuuya turns off the overhead light promptly once he enters his new bedroom and lets his eyes adjust to the darkness. "What a day..." he says to absolutely no one, briefly clutching at his pendant before letting it go again.
He flops onto the bed and grabs one of the fluffy pillows by his head, hugging it to his chest. Unbidden, Dazai's smug face swims against his closed eyelids. Chuuya groans, bringing the pillow up to muffle the sound.
It's going to be a long few months.
☆*:.｡.
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Mission Assignment : [REDACTED]
Operative A5158
Alias: Ozaki Chuuya (pre: Verlaine)
In accordance with the Tripartite's protocols, the Special Division for Unusual Powers has relinquished the leadership role in negotiating with Japan's HPSC to the Port Mafia. For further compliance, operative A5158 is requested to acquiesce with the HPSC's desire to have a gifted teenager attend Hero Schooling for the terms of one year. [REDACTED] Contact with Truth-Telling QUIRK agent is expected, operative is encouraged to enact as honest a profile as possible. [REDACTED] Ongoing support and communications will be provided. Suspicion of VILLAIN activity is to be monitored without engaging, to clarify: operative is not to engage with VILLAINs under default profile. [REDACTED] Failure to act accordingly will see operative A5158 removed from assignment.
*Let hero-society learn what it's like to brave a storm, Chuuya-kun. ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭