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It was a well known fact that the Port Mafia was famous for its club scene, they had one in every district and they were the number one place to get your mind off of any issue that could possibly be plaguing even the cleanest mind.
Overall, all kinds of people were drawn in by the sharp exterior black painted walls with no sign and the bright red lights shining from within, they flocked like moths to a flame.
And that’s what made them so successful.
It wasn’t really Akutagawas cup of tea, in fact he despised it all ; the loud music and strobe lights it made his head hurt and chest tight, too many people and general lunacy that he deemed it to be far below him.
Chūya however was a regular, in fact he acted as a sort of upper management for some of the more successful clubs.
He was also known to dance at a few of them but that was a whole different story, one Akutagawa didn’t care to look into.
He had been dragged straight from the archive room over this hovel, though it wasn’t actually hovel in reality it was quite nice, all the furniture was new and clean and the music was all live and of decent quality but Aku being Aku still detested the place wanting nothing more than to go home and sleep yet Chūya was insistent on him coming down for the night.
He didn’t quite know when Chūya slipped away, he looked around the crowded room but the small ginger man was nowhere to be seen, however that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn't there, it’s as he said he was a very small man losing him in a crowd was not a difficult feat, Aku just figured he’d show up on a pole completely smashed in half an hour or so and at that point he could sneak off and go back to the safety of his apartment.
But until then he’d linger by the wall, staring at the floor with a bitter look in his eyes, it didn’t help that he wasn’t a drinker so there really was no appeal to this place whatsoever.
“Yeah, Yeah I’ll get it”
Akutagawa felt his ears prick up, that was a voice he knew though the sound of the speakers drowned it out slightly he couldn’t quite place where he knew it from, they seemed to be quite frustrated and pissed in a more passive aggressive undertone kind of way rather than being directly pissy, that again reminded Aku of something he couldn’t pinpoint.
“Where’d you say you left it ?!”
The voice called out again.
“I can’t hear you, you’re breaking up”
Perhaps they were on the phone, Akutagawa made no attempt to locate the voice, making eye contact with the wrong person in a place like this could lead to you getting your eyes gouged out, not that Akutagawa couldn’t hold his own of course he just really liked this shirt and didn’t fancy getting blood on it.
“At this rate you can go find it yourself Dazai”
With that Akutagawa's head shot up, now his interests had truly been pricked.
He scanned the room, searching for the source of the voice before landing on another boy on the opposite side of the room, he seemed to be just as uninterested by the club scene as he was.
Wait a moment.
Akutagawa couldn’t believe he didn’t recognise him.
The music was loud sure and he wasn’t in his usual undistinguished get up but to completely blank him from his memory was inexcusable.
What the hell was the weretiger doing in an official Port Mafia club ?!
If he was in his right mind he would have killed the other boy then and there, pierced his heart with Rashōmon where he stood but instead he simply glared, a mixture of confusion and disgust in his blackened irises.
Atsushi clearly hadn’t noticed him, to be fair he was standing in the back of the room in all black, it was fair enough to not spot him out immediately, though to be completely clueless took him by surprise especially with the weretigers heightened instincts and senses.
He watched as Atsushi let out a frustrated sigh, pushing his choppy silver hair back with one of his gloved hands. He appeared to still be on the phone … to Dazai. That made Akutagawa feel weird.
He didn’t like the way Dazai made him feel, it was like his whole stomach flipped inside out and all his organs were dumped across the floor and he would just sit and watch as Dazai took his heel to every single one, trampling them.
He’d then go on to blame Akutagawa for getting his shoes dirty, Aku would probably apologise for it too.
What an odd feeling.
Akutagawa couldn’t recall a single time Dazai made him feel good, he just chased the idea of the possibility that maybe just maybe he could receive the validation he so desperately craved.
He doubted he would ever get it though, but the single possible timeline was one he’d chase until his lungs collapsed and his legs snapped.
His eyes didn’t drift from the other as he blocked out the entirety of the room, watching carefully at the movement of the other's mouth and how his face crinkled in frustration anytime he stopped to let Dazai speak on the other end of the line.
“Okay yeah I get that but I don’t understand why the hell you can’t come get it yourself, I can’t find it and to be honest I can’t be bothered to keep looking”
Akutagawa's eyes widened in intrigue, Dazai wanted the weretiger to retrieve something for him, what could that possibly be ?
He watched as Atsushi rubbed his eyes, observing how Atsushis slitted pupils shifted in size as he did so before reverting back to a more circular structure, Aku had never noticed that before.
He felt almost pensive as he stared at the other from afar, he had no obligation to say or do anything he could just watch.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
Akutagawa cleared his throat, the smoke of the room made his lungs feel tight and throat swollen, he needed some air.
When he reopened his eyes the weretiger was gone, just like that he’d vanished into the crowd right under Aku’s nose.
He snapped his head to look around but Atsushi truly had disappeared into thin air. The women on the stage was singing quite passionately now, it was some song Akutagawa was unfamiliar with yet to be honest if the song was even remotely deemed mainstream he had no taste for it, well whatever it was he knew it was about someone called Gabriela and for some reason she needed to keep her hands off, Aku wasn’t paying particular attention to the music as he scanned the room.
But still Atsushi was gone.
“Akutagawa?”
Aku practically got whiplash by the speed his neck snapped around.
Just as quickly as the weretiger had disappeared he had reappeared and was now standing about a meter beside him, how Aku didn’t notice his approach was a mystery to himself.
“Jinko”
Akutagawa snapped back quickly, he didn’t wish to stretch this ordeal out any further.
“It’s pretty loud in here I think I nearly crapped myself when I heard you cough”
Atsushi laughed awkwardly, of course he had heard that with the tigers remarkable hearing ability not a single word could ever be muttered without Atsushi hearing it clear as day.
“What do I owe the displeasure of this conversation”
Akutagawa crossed his arms, to notice him was one thing but to approach him was another.
Wasn’t he supposed to be terrified right now ?
The weretiger was becoming bolder and more confident, that concerned Akutagawa ; it meant Atsushi was getting stronger, which posed a severe threat to not only himself but his over compensated ego.
“Oh yeah right”
Atsushi frowned, Aku took note of this it appeared before Atsushi was just trying to be polite but after initial contact he realised he didn’t like Akutagawa enough to be nice to him.
“Dazai left something and he asked me to find it, I don’t know why ? He’s around here somewhere so I don’t understand why he can’t just find it himself”
Atsushi groaned, Akutagawa's ears pricked up again,
Dazai was here ?!
Like right now ?!
Before a pit began to fill his stomach, he cocked his head to the side a frustrated look dawning his porcelain features.
“You are aware Nakahara Chūya is also here tonight”
Akutagawa replied casually, stuffing both his hands in the deep pockets of his coat, almost looking down on the other boy. He saw it as a personal challenge to gain the upper hand in their conversations. Was it wildly petty ? Yes. But a win was a win.
“Oh good grief”
Atsushi groaned, pulling his skin down with his palms.
Soukoku …
The thought was unbearable.
The pair couldn’t fathom a more insufferable duo, the constant bickering and rage baiting was completely and utterly infuriating to the highest degree.
Lord forbid they run into each other but that was a futile request, they were like magnets.
“What was it you were searching for anyway ?”
Akutagawa questioned, a small edge of nerves could be heard in his voice. Though slight, Atsushi noticed almost immediately.
“Oh yeah right, it’s whatever the hell this is”
Atsushi lifted his pixelated phone screen into Aku’s face lazily, the mafioso glared at him before snatching the phone out of his hand to look at it better, the dim lighting made the bright screen fuzzy and blurry.
So much so he had to take out his glasses, a rare feat indeed, ignoring Atsushi's furrowed brow and puzzled expression as he did so.
You :
So what am i actually looking for ?!
Dazai :
Okay so like picture a spoon but it’s like pointed and long but it’s more like a toothpick
You :
Riiiiiight, so that helps literally no one.
Dazai :
You’ll figure it out byiiiiii :D
Akutagawa read the messages before returning his gaze to Atsushi, an eyebrow raised and a mild glare from behind his glasses.
“See what I mean”
Atsushi sighed, taking his phone back and pocketing it in his jeans lazily, Aku simply stared at the other.
It was weird to see the other in such casual fashions, Atsushi was wearing navy blue wide legged jeans and a baggy white cable knit sweater. Aku however was still in his typical work clothes, in a way for the first time in his life he felt underdressed.
“We have a store room if you’d like to check there”
Akutagawa coughed into his fist avoiding eye contact, the last thing Aku wanted to do was help the weretiger however the thought of providing a service to Dazai swayed his opinions on the matter.
“Wait really ?”
Atsushi frowned as he looked up from the floor, this felt too helpful to be an offer from the Akutagawa he knew.
“Are you coming Jinko”
Akutagawa had already begun walking away as Atsushi had to break into a slight jog pushing past people to catch up to him.
The storage room was of no particular mention, boxes stacked all the way up to the ceiling filled with products Atsushi didn’t care to look into at risk of getting involved in some unspoken drug ring.
However the room being completely lit was a nice change of scenery from the red and black of the main room, of course the lights did have a mild flicker which was to be expected in behind the scenes.
“To be honest I’ve never even been here before tonight but most of these hovels seem to operate the same.”
Atsushi sat on a foldout table, scanning the entirety of the room for some kind of sign for whatever the hell Dazai wanted him to retrieve.
“Wow you must really like this place Akutagawa”
Atsushi replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes as Aku snapped his head around.
“I’ll have you know I detest this place and all the others like it”
He snapped taking Atsushi by surprise at the fury of his response, though he really shouldn’t have been Aku was always overcompensating in that same dramatic fashion.
“Then why are you here ?”
Atsushi pressed, hopping off the table to begin rummaging through an open box.
“I don’t answer to you, what the hell are -you- doing here Jinko”
Akutagawa lent up against the wall, he seemed to be in a fairly irritable mood but then again that was a common occurrence.
“Dazai wanted to go out and decided to drag me for some reason before completely ditching me, I figured he’d just show up in a pole in half an hour and then I can sneak out and go home”
Atsushi sighed, Aku found it rather concerning how perfectly his reasons for being there mirrored his own, it was mildly unsettling.
Akutagawa hummed in response.
——————————————————
After a long while of searching the pair was unable to find anything akin to what Dazai was looking for.
“Do you wanna give up ?”
Atsushi heaved, cracking his back as he turned to face Aku.
“You can’t give up on a request from Dazai”
Akutagawa stammered, panicked, his eyes were wide and Atsushi could almost see the dregs of fear within them.
“Why not ? Besides he probably just made it up to see if I’d be gullible enough to fall for it”
Atsushi laughed, he never could quite comprehend why Akutagawa was so dead set on licking Dazai's boots.
He knew Dazai was the one to train him when he was still a part of the Port Mafia but other than that Atsushi actually knew very little of the details.
That was probably why he was so dismissive of Akutagawa's statement, he saw no reason to worry himself with such a stupid treasure hunt for whatever the hell Dazai wanted this time for any longer.
“If Dazai asks you to do something then you do it, if Dazai tells you to move the mountains then you roll up your sleeves and move them, if Dazai asks you to kill yourself then you take the gun and bite the bullet and you do it because Dazai asked you to”
Akutagawa yelled, his eyes flared and wide with fear, Atsushi backed away slightly; he had clearly tweaked a nerve.
“But why ?”
Atsushi questioned, his patience was growing thin and he wanted to rip up the carpet and uncover the dust and debris underneath.
He wanted to know why Akutagawa was so damn afraid.
“He’s my superior, sure but I have no obligation to fulfill his stupid little requests when we’re not working. I do this out of kindness and want to help, not fear, but I have boundaries and he pushes them constantly sure, but I don’t have to do anything he says outside of work.”
Akutagawa stared at the boy in front of him, he hated how Atsushi would never understand how privileged he was.
The right to say no ?
How the hell was that fair?
It wasn’t.
The scars that desecrated his entire body were all the work of his time in the streets and Dazai.
He simply obeyed,
It was easier that way.
But even then Dazai was still never happy.
Atsushi however could blatantly refuse and order and still have the tender nurturing care awaiting him afterwards was unforgivable.
“Why Dazai took you in I will never understand”
Akutagawa replied, his voice dripping with disgust and hatred with every syllable like a punch to the gut.
Atsushi's face however didn’t budge, he stared at him with Aku believed to be pity but in all reality it was sympathy.
“Akutagawa, it’s okay.”
Atsushi extended a hand to Akutagawa, an alien kind of gesture Aku would never expect from his sworn rival.
“Dazai asked this of me, not you, you won’t be punished for something that was never your responsibility to begin with”
The weretiger smiled, his gloved hand still extended.
Akutagawa didn’t know how to react, he wanted to feel insulted by the gesture but something deep and hollow was swirling inside him.
The room sort of paused, nothing seemed to progress.
Akutagawa had completely frozen up.
He didn’t know what to do or say so he just glared at Atsushi.
“You know, I know this cafe, it’s open 24 hours and kinda dingy but it’d be quiet if you wanna get away for a bit.”
Atsushi asked, not breaking eye contact, it was such a rare feeling to feel so incredibly safe in the company of someone so immensely strong.
“Fine”
Akutagawa smacked Atsushi's hand away but that split second of contact told both of them exactly what they needed to know.
“ATSUSHI THERE YOU ARE”
Dazai sang out excitedly slinking over to the pair, a wide grin plastered across his face.
It almost felt like a culture shock everytime Aku saw Dazai, his skin was far more tanned and he wore colours not to mention how he could see both eyes.
It felt unsettling.
Akutagawa could feel his face drop at the sight, he didn’t know what to do with himself in the man’s presence.
To be honest he just wanted to curl up in a ball and sob but such behavior was not acceptable for a grown man so he simply stood in a pure plastered silence.
“Don’t worry bout that thing by the way, I found it”
Dazai was still smiling just as bright as he wrapped both his thin bandaged arms around Atsushi shoulders from behind him, his chest against Atsushi's back as he did so.
Atsushi seemed to be unbothered by the contact, sighing and shaking his head.
“Look see I’ve got it right here”
Dazai laughed, reaching an arm into his pocket to pull out the object he’d sent Atsushi on a wild goose chase to find.
“Tadah”
His smile was wide as ever as he held it out proudly.
“Dazai … that’s a fork”
Atsushi looked over his shoulder at the man behind him completely defeated at the other insistence on being ever so frustrating.
“Yeah I forgot what it was called”
He dismissed laughing as he pocketed the silverware again before resting his head on the boy's shoulder, shifting his gaze to Akutagawa who was simply glaring at the pair, those dark maroon eyes drawing out a shiver on eye contact.
“I almost didn’t notice you Akutagawa, you’re so inconspicuous over there”
Dazai laughed smugly, he was well aware of what he was doing and he found it immensely amusing.
This was the first time Akutagawa had felt jealousy in this form.
He usually felt such an indescribable jealousy for Atsushi and Dazais treatment of him but as of right now, only in this moment, it was Dazai he wanted to be removed from the narrative.
He didn’t like the way he was so close with his contact on Atsushi, even if he knew damn well Dazai's tastes were the more aggressive no shit taken kind of guy, he still didn’t like the way Atsushi was so unaffected by it.
“You’re actually the worst sometimes Osamu, you had me running around all evening looking for a freaking fork thanks a lot man”
Atsushi sighed, shaking his head in disbelief at Dazai's determination to be a twat.
“Hey Atsushi, where did you run off to anyway ?”
Dazai questioned his eyes not moving from Akutagawa who was trying his hardest to keep a neutral expression, despite his wildly repressed jealousy.
“Looking for your stupid fork but it looks like you found it so I’ll leave you to it”
With that Atsushi shrugged Dazai off turning to leave, Akutagawa was amazed at Atsushi's bluntness.
He couldn’t comprehend how Atsushi was so confident in his disrespect to who just might be the most important man alive.
“Awwww you’re no fun you haven’t even drunk anything yet and you still wanna ditch”
Dazai whined in response, Atsushi only glared raising an eyebrow as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Yeah cause you’re legit the worst personal comprehensible to get drunk with, cause to be honest you don’t even get drunk no matter how much you drink and you find it funny when everyone else is completely smashed”
Atsushi replied bitterly, the ada had thrown a few parties since his arrival and the entirety of his previous statement was completely factual.
“MACKEREL YOU SON OF A BITCH THERE YOU ARE”
A voice yelled out from behind, only Dazai turned around to face the man, Aku and Atsushi only shuddered, they’d hoped to avoid those two completely.
“Oh, miss me ~”
Dazai cooed mockingly smirking at the smaller man, his usual teasing demeanour returning to him.
“NO YOU JUST FUCKING DITCHED ME … AGAIN YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH”
He prodded an accusatory gloved finger into Dazais chest as he held up both of his hands in protest.
“What ? You were done, what's the issue ?”
Dazai shrugged only further pissing Chūya off.
“I DONT KNOW MAYBE THE FACT YOU JUST GOT UP AND WALKED OFF WITHOUT ANOTHER WORD LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED”
He grabbed Dazai by the collar pulling him down as he continued to yell at him, half it in French the other quarter in Italian and just general slurs of hatred towards the weasel of a man in front of him.
Atsushi and Akutagawa nodded at eachother in a sort of silent way of saying.
Let’s get the fuck out of here whilst we still can.
“Hey Akutagawa how come you agreed to come anyway”
Atsushi pondered aloud, his finger tracing the rim of his glass as they sat in what could possibly be the sketchiest and dingiest cafe in all of Yokohama.
“To here or the harlot house ?”
Akutagawa had a peaceful expression upon his face as mirrored the weretigers tracing in his own cup with his thumb.
“Eitheror”
Atsushi replied casually, it was quite a calm dynamic being shared between them, one that neither had expected in the company between them.
“Chūya asked me to, he’s my superior so I obeyed and I came here because I loathed that place more than I do your company so it balances out.”
Aku replied bluntly, neither was looking at the other instead taking in the scenery of the place Atsushi had brought them.
He only hummed in response. It was a typical Akutagawa style response so he didn’t know what he was expecting.
“You could’ve gone home”
Atsushi rested his head on his hands, tilting his head slightly as his choppy silver bangs flopping off his face.
“Did it ever cross your tiny mammal brain that perhaps I didn’t want to go home Jinko.”
After saying that he took a long sip of the coffee Atsushi had insisted on buying for him.
“Me neither to be honest”
Atsushi laughed nervously as he mirrored Akutagawa's sip, it was strange how he didn’t mind Aku’s company nearly as much as he’d expected.
“Why wouldn’t you want to come home, you’re life’s great”
Akutagawa glared down the man in front of him, the other only looked at him before throwing his gaze back to the floor.
“Yeeeeaaahh you’d think”
Atsushi sighed.
“Do you want to go somewhere to get your mind off of it”
Akutagawa didn’t know why he even proposed the idea, maybe the fumes from the club had made him tipsy.
“Where do you have in mind ?”
Atsushi smirked knowingly.
Akutagawa didn’t like that, his silence filling the cafe as Atsushi stared him down with his slitted pupils.
“Your place then ?”
Not another word was shared between the pair as they vacated the premises, the stars hanging above them in the blanket of navy sky.