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Chapter Text

It was late at night in a large house on the outskirts of Yokohama, Japan. An 11 year old boy by the name of Osamu Dazai sat silently on his bed in his small bedroom.

Infront of Dazai stood a tall man named Mori Ougai, who was wrapping bandages around the small boy's right eye, which was the only part of Dazai's body that the boy couldn't wrap by himself. Or, at least the only part that he needed a mirror to wrap, which he wasn't allowed to have in his too-small bedroom.

Dazai's dull red-brown eye bore into Mori, watching his movements with an almost eerie amount of observation as the older man wrapped his right eye, which was paler than the other and missing the pupil.

Mori paid no mind to the staring as he brushed some of Dazai's curly brown hair away from the eye he was wrapping. The child's legs, arms, torso, neck and right eye were all covered in bandages, and, besides Dazai and Mori, no one was quite sure why.

Dazai quietly picked at the small amount of exposed skin on his neck, it was a habit that Mori despised but unfortunately the boy didn't care about his opinion nor could he control the habit.

"There," Mori states as he finishes bandaging the eye. He frowns when Dazai doesn't respond and he realizes that the boy is picking at his skin again.

"Stop that." The older man orders as he gives a harsh slap to Dazai's arm, which makes the boy flinch as he retracts his hand and holds it to his chest protectively.

"Can't have you doing that when our special guests are here tomorrow, now can we?" Mori asks coldly.

Dazai shakes his head quickly to show that he won't do it again, which makes Mori's mouth twist into a satisfied yet unsettling smile.

You see, back when Dazai was a small 8 year old by the name of Shuji Tsushima, he watched his abusive father stab his neglectful mother in the chest. His mother died and his father was sent to jail, where he later got killed.

This string of events led to Shuji being 'taken in' by a doctor named Mori who already had a child named Elise. But soon enough Mori revealed that he worked not only as a local doctor, but as a doctor of an organization called the Port Mafia, which practically runs the underground of Yokohama.

Mori gave Shuji his new name, faked his death via suicide and began his cruel training. Then, last year he was officially recruited into the Port Mafia after Mori murdered the previous boss and claiming the title of 'Boss'.

Although, to the rest of the Mafia their boss had finally succumbed to his illness and age during a visit from Mori and his adopted son, Dazai.

In the end, while Dazai still had a quite energetic, rambunctious personality, when around Mori and those he didn't know, he was reserved and practically emotionless. Mori took great pride in the way that Dazai had turned and was now sending him out on his first mission outside of Yokohama.

Just then, Dazai's bedroom door was opened by his 'siblings', Elise, Kyouka and Q. Kyouka and Q were other victims of Dazai's training, meanwhile Elise was the man's ability.

Yokohama was home to people born with something called 'abilities'. A spontaneous genetic mutation that resulted in supernatural alien-like powers. No one knows why or how abilities are gifted upon certain people at birth, but the city had accepted it and adapted to the unusual circumstances. 

Mori's ability is called 'Vita Sexualisis', which allows him to manifest a person who's personality and appearance were configured however he wanted, thus resulting in Elise. A 9 year old girl with wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

Dazai also had an ability called 'No Longer Human', which allows him to nullify other abilities through skin-to-skin physical contact.

"Rintarou." Elise says firmly, using a nickname she had come up with for Mori rather than his real name.

Mori turns to face the small girl, who seemed to be the leader of their little trio.

"What is it Elise-chan?" Mori asks calmly while crouching down to the small child's level.

"Kyouka and Q want to see Osamu before he leaves since they're going to stay with Kouyou for a few days for Kyouka's training." Elise explained, gesturing to the others while she spoke.

Mori thought for a moment before sighing in exasperation, knowing that if he doesn't agree then Elise will keep pestering him about it until he agrees. He straightens up and with a stern look he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

For a moment it's silent as the kids look at each other awkwardly before Q bursts into tears and hurries forward to cling onto Dazai's leg.

The young child, originally named Kyusaku Yumeno, was 3 years old, having been 'taken in' by Mori after their parents abandoned them due to their unusual appearance as well as in fear of Q's ability.

Q's hair was naturally split into two colors: half white and half brown. Their hair isn't too unusual but their eyes definitely are: black iris' with yellow pupils - one pupil a normal circle while the other was a star. Their ability, 'Dogra Magra' was the power to control peoples minds, the physical representation of which being a very creepy doll that they always carried around with them.

Dazai picks Q up and lets them settle on his lap while Kyouka climbs onto the bed and leans against his side.

Kyouka had been 'taken in' last year after her parents were assassinated in front of her. Before her mother died she had passed her ability, 'Demon Snow', on to Kyouka. Obviously, because Kyouka is 5 and the ability wasn't originally hers, she lacks control over the phantom swordsman that is her ability, so she often trains with a Port Mafia executive, Kouyou, who has a similar ability called 'Golden Demon'.

Dazai gently wrapped his arms around the children, running his fingers carefully through Kyouka's black hair.

Elise tightens the bow in her hair, a gift from Dazai, before climbing onto the bed and sitting next to him, careful not to get too close. She knows better than to touch Dazai when he doesn't have his gloves on to prevent accidentally nullifying her.

"Please don't go..." Kyouka mumbled, blinking up at Dazai with a pleading look in her dark blue eyes.

"Sorry Kyouka, but i have to, Mori's orders," He responds.

"We gonna miss you 'samu." Q whines as they wipe away their tears.

"I know buddy, I'll miss you guys too." Dazai says softly. Mori never bothered to tell them if Q was a girl or a boy so they often referred to them using gender neutral terms.

"Will you at least visit us for the holidays? Stupid Rintarou always goes away all holiday and leaves us here alone. I'm super capable but I also can't cook or reach the higher cupboards." Elise states will a small pout.

"I'm not sure, but if I can then I will." Dazai responds soothingly. Mori had said that his mission was important and out of Yokohama, but besides that he didn't know much about what he would be doing. Although he assumed the 'special guests' tomorrow will have something to do with it.

The three kids nod as they hop off the bed, leaving with a quick goodbye before Mori gets too impatient waiting for them to finish talking to Dazai.

Once they leave, Mori re-enters, grabs the leftover bandages and leaves. Judging by the prominent click after the door closed, it's safe to assume that Dazai has been locked in his room...again.

Chapter Text

The next day, two men appeared on the streets near the outskirts of Yokohama. It was as if magic had brought them there, leaving no trace of how.

They wore old robes that looked like they belong in a renaissance fair. If there had been anyone else around the men would surely be getting many weird stares.

"Why must we come all the way to Japan just to recruit some muggleborn, Headmaster?" One of them, a cold looking man with black hair and dark eyes by the name of Severus Snape asks.

"Well, how else is the young lad going to find out he's a wizard?" The second one, a pale man with long white hair and a matching beard with the name Albus Dumbledore responded.

"I'm sure there are plenty of suitable wizarding schools in Japan he could attend." Snape said coldly.

These were no normal men, they were the potions professor and headmaster of Hogwarts; School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, located in the UK.

"This is a... special, case Severus," Dumbledore states, his baby blue eyes scanning the nice houses that lined the streets.

"And yet, you refuse to tell me what said 'special case' is." Snape responded bitterly.

"Hush now Severus, we've arrived." The older man says as they stop before a nice standard home.

Dumbledore walks up to the door and knocked firmly, Snape trailing behind him reluctantly.

After a moment or two the door opened to reveal a man with dark purple eyes and black hair. He wore a white lab coat, which led the wizards to believe he was some sort of doctor or scientist.

"Kon'nichiwa. Nanika otetsudai shimashou ka?" The man asked calmly ("Hello. How may i help you?").

"...pardon? Do you perhaps know English?" Dumbledore asks politely.

"Oh!" The man exclaims, "My apologies, I should have known you weren't Japanese." He said, his voice was thick with an accent but nonetheless he was able to speak English.

"It's quite alright, are you Ougai Mori?" Dumbledore asked.

The man, Mori, nodded as he opened the door a bit more.

"Would you like to come in?"

The wizards agreed politely as they entered the house. It was spotless, if not for the child-sized shoes on a rack near the door then Snape wouldn't have thought any children lived here.

Mori gestured for them to take a seat in the living room on the couch, which they did as the other man sat in an armchair across from them.

Snape noticed that the living room and kitchen, which was very open concept, was bare of any toys or things a child would usually leave around the house.

"So, how may I help you?" Mori asks curiously.

"Glad you asked. We came here to tell you that your son has been accepted into Hogwarts; School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Dumbledore said, Mori's eyes widening at his words.

"Witchcraft and Wizardry? No, you must have made some mistake, or is this some kind of... joke?" Mori said.

"No mistake sir, nor is it a joke. Magic is everywhere, the community is quite large. We are simply well-hidden." Dumbledore explained patiently.

It took a bit more explaining but eventually Mori seemed convinced and the man left to retrieve his son.

After a few minutes he re-emerged with a small brown haired boy trailing after him.

The child sat down where Mori had been previously, the two shared a few words in Japanese before Mori left with a polite "I'll leave you to it".

Something that immediately caught both the wizard's eyes were the bandages wrapped around the boy's right eye, peeking out of his shirts collar and sleeves. It was easy to assume his arms and possibly more places were covered in bandages.

"What's your name child?" Dumbledore asked after a moment of suffocatingly awkward silence.

"...Osamu Dazai." The boy responded after a moment. The two men before him noted the different last name than his father but didn't comment on it.

Dumbledore smiled warmly at the child while Snape scowled and observed closely. There was something about this boy that just didn't feel right to Snape.

"Do you perhaps have any siblings Osamu? I noticed some shoes by the door that certainly wouldn't fit you," Dumbledore asked calmly.

The boy nodded in response.

"It's Dazai, sir. In Japan it's custom that only family and close friends use someone's first name," He explained before remembering the initial question and adding, "And I have three little siblings."

When Dazai spoke he also had a thick accent, but he seemed to know English better than his father does.

"Apologies, Dazai. How old are your siblings?" Dumbledore questioned kindly.

"Uhm... Elise is 9, Kyouka is 5 and Q is 3." Dazai responded quietly.

Snape's eyes narrowed:

'If there really were children that young here, there presence should be known by now,' he thought with light suspicion. 

"Q?" Snape piped in, questioning the youngest child's name, which seemed odd even for a foreign name. 

"It's a nickname," Dazai said, which cleared that up, after all, parents rarely named their children a single letter of the alphabet.

"I see. And where are your siblings right now, boy?" Snape asked coldly.

"Q and Kyouka are on a playdate. Elise is somewhere around here though." The boy responded casually.

"How lovely, is she perhaps shy? Most children would be trying to figure out who's in their house by now," Dumbledore said with a light chuckle.

Dazai opens his mouth to respond but he's cut off by the living room door being practically thrown open by a small blonde girl, that must be Elise. 

She walked over to Dazai's chair with determination that only a nine year old child can possess. Elise stopped in front of her brother, holding out a red bow.

The wizards silently take note of the obvious difference in Dazai, Elise and Mori's appearances.

"Osamu-ni, watashi no yumi no koto-de tetsudatte moraemasu ka?" Elise asked softly ("Osamu, can you help me with my bow please?").

The men weren't sure what exactly had just been asked, but they got the general idea as Dazai nodded and gently took the bow from Elise's hands.

"Furimuku," Dazai said ("Turn around,").

Elise nodded and turned around, waiting patiently as Dazai positioned the bow in her hair, careful not to touch her skin.

"Hora, ittekimasu Elise-chan." He said as he finished putting the bow in the little girl's hair ("There you go Elise.).

Elise reached up, feeling the bow in her hair before smiling brightly.

"Arigatou!" She called as she runs out of the room, seeming to pay no mind to the strangers in her home ("Thank you!").

Although the two wizards weren't sure what exactly had been said, they didn't need to know as it was obvious to them it had been a good interaction.

However Snape did find it a bit odd that Elise had shown up exactly as they'd been discussing her. He wasn't sure if he was just overthinking it, but it seemed almost like an extremely well-rehearsed script.

"She seems kind." Dumbledore commented.

Dazai just nodded, and as it became obvious he would make no further response, Dumbledore spoke up again.

"Anyways, we came here to inform you that you've been accepted into Hogwarts; School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Congratulations, Dazai." He said, flawlessly switching topics.

Dazai stared at him for a moment, his face morphing into a shocked look as he glanced between the two men before him.

"Wizardry... like. fantasy magic? How did I get accepted if I never enrolled?" Dazai asked, looking bewildered and overall confused.

"There is no 'enrolling' boy. You are either accepted or never even invited." Snape responded sternly.

"And I can assure you that it is no fantasy, magic is very much real. Say, have you ever noticed odd things happen around you, things that seem impossible?" Dumbledore prodded, gently pushing the whole wizard idea into the boy's head.

Dazai blinked a few times, thinking, before he slowly nodded.

"That was magic my dear boy."

"...oh." Was all that Dazai said, clearly still processing this information.

"Yes, 'oh' indeed," Dumbledore chuckled as he stood up, Snape following his lead. "Severus here will come retrieve you in two days time to aid you in collecting your school supplies. I'll see you when school starts Dazai."

And with that, they walked themselves out. Apparating back to England as soon as they had found an unpopulated alleyway.