Chapter Text
Akutagawa
His lung disease was getting worse it seemed. At least, that’s what he thought until he started coughing up flowers.
Hanahaki
He knew exactly who it was for
Dazai
I mean, it had to be for Dazai didn’t it? He wanted his approval more than anything.
Didn’t he?
—————————
It took about a month before anyone found out.
And of course when someone did find out, it was that stupid, good for nothing weretiger.
It was an easy mission, normally it would have been, but his game was of due to the disease painfully ripping out his insides.
The weretiger noticed right away
“Akutagawa are you alright?”
“I’m fine jinko, it’s none of your concern”
He had said, walking in front of Atsushi so he would drop the subject.
But during the mission his attacks were slow and Atsushi did most of the work.
Then, at the very end, when Dazai and Chuuya were there and they were just cleaning up the scene, he saw Atsushi with Dazai, both of them laughing and chatting.
Dazai laughing.
He was filled with jealousy and felt the flowers creep further up his throat until he couldn’t ignore them anymore.
“I remembered I have to do something. I must leave now.” He said rushing away to a nearby alleyway
He barely made it out of sight before the wretched petals came spilling from his mouth.
Along with petals, memories of when Dazai used to train him flashed across his vision as he coughed and coughed.
“pathetic.”
“If your that slow on the attack you’ll be dead before you can blink”
“Worthless”
“I don’t know why we took yo-“
“Akutagawa?” Atsushi was peering around the corner of the alleyway
Shoot, he must have followed him.
“Akutagawa? Are you ok? Why are their bloody flower petals around you?”
Then it dawned on the weretiger.
“You have hanahaki!!?? Who for?!”
“Dazai-san” he wheezed out, a few blood stained petals falling from his lips.
“Oh” Atsushi said, not knowing how to react to the information. I mean loving someone of the same gender was a sin, the orphanage master had drilled that deep into his mind.
He felt he needed to react with something more that just “oh” though.
“Are you gonna get the surgery?” He asks.
“Not yet. I will wait until I absolutely have too, weretiger”
“Why Akutagawa? Wouldn’t you rathe-“
Akutagawa cut him of.
“No jinko, it’s not that simple.”
“Alright? Would you at least accept my help then? I mean, your not exactly able to do much without coughing.”
Ah, the weretiger was more observant than he realised. He had noticed that Akutagawa had indeed been coughing more that usual throughout the mission and, well, whatever this was.
“No. This conversation never happened.” He said, going to stand up and leave.
Sadly, he didn’t get very far before he had to grab onto the wall for support, his vision filling with stars as he fought the dizziness.
Using Rashomon, he managed to steady himself, but barely.
“Akutagawa let me help!”
“No weretiger, I’m fine.”
“I’ll tell Dazai-san”
Rashomon is at Atsushi’s throat in an instant.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“I would so! Please Akutagawa!”
“Fine. But breath a word, one word to Dazai-san and I will end you.”
Atsushi’s eyes widened with shock. Although he had offered, he didn’t expect the mafioso to accept his help, even with his empty threats.
“Since you insist on “helping” me, you can make sure I don’t collapse before I return home”
“Of course Akutagawa!” Atsushi said, and he couldn’t help but feel happy that Akutagawa trusted him to do this.
—————————
High above them, on the sixth floor of the building above, Dazai watched from the window.
“Their so clueless it’s painful to watch.”
He remarked
“Well, we were like that too you know. Give them some credit” Chuuya said.
“True. I wonder if they’ll figure it out in time.”
—————————
Atsushi
“Good morning everyone!” He said as he entered the agency.
“Good morning Atsushi.” Ranpo said. Strangely there was no one else there.
“Morning Atsushi!” Dazai said, walking through the door behind him.
“Where is everyone?”
“Oh, they’re all at some meeting. Me and Dazai still here because we’re not allowed to go to meetings after the last one. I guess you just didn’t get told about it.” Ranpo said, munching on some candy
Well, this would definitely end in some sort of disaster. He thought to himself, and he was right, just not in the way he expected.
As expected, after about an hour of doing paperwork- well Atsushi doing paperwork, Dazai and Ranpo slacking of, Dazai got bored of pretending to work.
“I’m boredddd. We should do something interesting.”
“Won’t Kunikida get mad if we don’t do our work?”
“Nah, I’m sure he won’t mind. We can just tell him that we had to go out by on an urgent mission.” Dazai said
“What urgent mission?”
“Not being bored to death. Come on Atsushi-kun it’ll be fun.”
“Yeah I’m with Dazai on this one.” Ranpo chimed in.
“Ok… what are we gonna do then?” Atsushi said, still mostly against the idea of this.
“Ooh we should play truth or dare.” Dazai said with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“Come on, that’s not fair, you and Ranpo will cheat!”
“How do you even cheat in truth or dare?”
Dazai questioned.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure you two will find a way to.”
“I’m fine with it, it’s not like I have anything better to do.” Ranpo butted in.
“That’s settled then! We’re playing. I’ll go first!” Dazai said, strangely enthusiastic.
“Atsushi-kun! Truth or dare?”
“Truth” he said, not trusting Dazai not to make up a dare similar to “murder someone” “commit a felony” or “commit suicide with me”
“Ok then… Atsushi, do you like Akutagawa?” Dazai said with a smirk.
“What! No! That would be a sin!” Atsushi said stumbling over his words.
Dazai and Ranpo shared a significant look.
“Atsushi, who told you that?” Ranpo asked gently.
“The orphanage master”
“That makes sense then. Atsushi that’s not actually true you know” Dazai says with an extremely serious expression.
“But it’s a sin. The bible says so, he showed me where it was written!”
“It’s not Atsushi. If it was a sin, or illegal or whatever, half the agency would be sinners or in jail.”
“Either way, it doesn’t matter. I don’t like Akutagawa, and that’s what you asked, Dazai. I guess it’s my turn now?”
He said in an attempt to stop the awkward conversation.
And the game continued in a similar fashion, but with marginally less drama. And obviously, when the rest of the agency returned, Kunikida yelled at them for barely doing any work.
Still, even later Atsushi couldn’t stop thinking about the earlier conversation. Why would they have thought he liked Akutagawa? And liking someone of the same gender wasn’t a sin?
Also, he thought of how happy he was that Akutagawa accepted his help, how much better a mission was when Akutagawa was there.
Was it possible Dazai’s question wasn’t as random as he thought it was? Had he noticed something Atsushi hadn’t? No, that was ridiculous. He didn’t like guys.
—————————
Akutagawa
He awoke covered in petals and blood. There was no way he could clean this up himself before Gin woke up.
Luckily rashomon could destroy the evidence in a heartbeat.
But just before he called his ability, something caught his eye. A flower was almost fully formed, save for a few missing petals.
This was bad. Really bad. If the disease was progressing this quickly, he would have maybe a few weeks at most without getting the surgery.
Then he heard a knock on the door.
Quickly, he called rashomon to destroy the evidence, and got up to answer the door.
“Hi Akutagawa!”
“Jinko.”
“Can I come in?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Well I figured I’d come over and make you breakfast!”
“That is entirely unnecessary. I am ill, not dying.”
“But you are literally dying. Also I wanted to! I have nothing to do before work anyway.” Atsushi says with a smile.
“Jinko, it is unnecessary.”
Unfortunately for Akutagawa, the hanahaki decides this is a perfect time to have a coughing fit.
More flowers come out of his mouth, spilling onto the floor.
“See, it is definitely necessary.”
Atsushi says, not having yet noticed the larger amount of flowers.
“Oh wow that’s a lot of flowers. Well, on the bright side at least we’ll have something to put on your grave if you, you know, die.”
“Jinko, I will not die. Also, if you even think of putting these wretched flowers, or any flowers for that matter, on my grave if I did die, I will personally confirm your spot in hell.”
The weretiger just stood there, unsure how to react to Akutagawa’s outburst. Akutagawa, realising he was not going to leave no matter how visibly hostile towards him he was, turned around and walked inside, Atsushi following him.
“So what do you want me to make you?”
Atsushi asked.
Akutagawa considered this for a moment.
“Tea.” He said, deciding that it was the simplest thing he could ask for and therefore get Atsushi out of his house the soonest.
“Ok!” Atsushi said, walking towards what he assumed was the kitchen.
“Jinko.”
“Yes?”
“That’s the bathroom. The kitchen is over there.” He said, pointing in the opposite direction.
“Oops, sorry.” Atsushi said, blushing a little
—————————
“Are you gonna tell him?” Chuuya was leaning on the wall in front of Akutagawa.
“Tell who what?” Akutagawa said. He had not expected to be confronted by Chuuya.
“Tell Atsushi that you like him?” Chuuya says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“I don’t like Atsushi.”
“But you have hanahaki for him.”
“I have Hanahaki for Dazai.”
“No you don’t”
“I hate that weretiger, even if it’s not for Dazai it’s certainly not for HIM.”
Chuuya just shakes his head and starts walking away. “Think of this when I’m right and you end up almost dying!” He calls as he leaves.
Akutagawa’s hanahaki decides to show up, making him fall to the ground coughing up flowers. They are all either fully formed or almost fully formed. Shit! He was running out of time.
Pulling out his phone, he googled “hanahaki removal surgeon” the only result anywhere near him was someone called Dimovet noreit, kind of a strange name but whatever. The next opening was in two days so he booked that. With the hanahaki progressing so quickly, he should get it removed as soon as possible.
—————————
Atsushi, the next day
After more encounters with Akutagawa over the past day, he was sure of one thing. Akutagawa’s hanahaki disease was worsening a lot faster than he’d expected.
He must really like Dazai. Atsushi thought, and for some reason that made him kinda sad. Against his better judgement, he opened his (the agency’s that they had gifted him) laptop and googled “how to know if you like someone.”
The results filled the screen immediately, but it was a quiz that attracted his attention. Welp, I may as well take this he thought.
The quiz (found this somewhere online but changed it a bit)
How often do you think about them?
A) Multiple times per day
B) Maybe once a day
C) Whenever I see them
D) I never think about them
Do you find ways to talk to them?
A) Yes, we’re best friends
B) Yes
C) No, I go out of my way to avoid them
D) I’m too nervous to start a conversation
Do you get nervous around them?
A) yes, I get super flustered
B) no, why would I?
C) yes, but I do with everyone
D) nerves are for the weak
The quiz continued in such a fashion until he eventually finished it, and his results came onto the screen.
You definitely like them!
Wait what!
The entire reason he took this quiz was so he could make sure he wasn’t into Akutagawa! “Stupid quiz must be wrong” he mumbled to himself. He would have thrown the computer across the room, but he didn’t want to break something of the agency’s.
He may as well go and visit the invalid, he had the afternoon of from work as well - something about staying home if they won’t work? He couldn’t remember - but either way he found himself at Akutagawa’s door.
“You can go away weretiger. I’m getting the surgery.”
“What!? I thought you said you wouldn’t!”
“I said I wouldn’t until I had to. It is progressing faster that expected.”
“Oh. When are you getting it then?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Where is it? Maybe I could come? I have the day of tomorrow as well.”
Akutagawa paused, considering this. The weretiger could still tell others, he had no way of knowing if he would follow through with his threats.
“Fine. You may accompany me.”
He gave Atsushi the address and time, then promptly closed the door in his face.
—————————
Akutagawa, a day later
His shoes were annoyingly loud on the tilled floor.
“Akutagawa?” The receptionist called out, and he stood up to walk into the operating room.
Atsushi followed him.
“Weretiger, you are not meant to follow me in here.”
“Oh right sorry.” He said flustered.
“I see your case has progressed quite significantly. Before I begin the surgery, is there any chance the person could return your feelings?” The doctor questioned.
“No.”
“Ok, I’ll put you under anaesthetic now.”
He nodded, and the world went dark.
—————————
“The procedure was successful, how are you feeling?”
“Fine. Why should I feel different?”
“Alright then, you are free to go, just refrain from physical activity for the next two to three weeks.” The doctor said as he walked out of the room.
“Akutagawa!” A white haired boy came rushing over to him.
Something familiar stirred inside of him at the sight of the boy, but he didn’t remember what.
“Who… Who are you?”