Chapter Text
It wasn’t much past early morning when the bird gracefully flew through the sky; its feathers gracefully buffered by the wind, before promptly smacking into the window. Dazai watched with a blank expression as the owl slid its face across the clean glass wall, making a sharp squeaking sound before quickly descending towards the ground.
Elise looked up from her drawing for a moment to watch. Her hands stilled on the crayon she held in her hands. It took only a second more for her to silently continue her drawing of the dying hound.
What a painful suicide that must have been for the bird. Dazai wondered what had driven it to such high levels of despair to end itself in such a gruesome way. He sighed and looked back at Elise. She was still sitting in her chair, scratching her red crayon across the paper. Mori was right by her side; his attention appeared to only focus on her. Dazai, however, could see the cogs whirring in his mind. Was it the newly formed group of gnats called the Sheep, or was it ideas on how to recruit the newest ability wielder?
Before he could think further on the matter, another owl slammed into the window. Dazai whipped his head around and this time, even Mori looked up. Like its predecessor, the bird slid slowly down the glass before plummeting to the ground many floors below.
Dazai blinked. Mori’s expression was pensive. Annoyance flickered across Elise’s face.
When the third bird came into view, all their eyes were already focused on the window. Unlike the previous ones, it had learned from the other’s mistakes and stopped just shortly before it hit the glass. It flew in one place and started pecking on the window. The sound was loud in the otherwise silent room. Now that he was looking close enough, Dazai could see that the bird carried a letter in its talons.
His curiosity peaked; Dazai opened the window just enough to let the owl in. It deftly flew through the open window, showing that the bird definitely had some experience with this. It flapped its wings and landed on the table right beside Mori. Then, it dropped the letter from its beak onto the same table and quickly flew away.
Mori picked up the letter in one hand and reached into his coat pocket with the other. He withdrew a knife and sliced through the seal imprinted on the letter. The doctor then set the letter down again on the table and pulled out its contents.
Though the paper in Mori’s hands was small, Dazai could see from the bled through ink that the words were small and compact. Dazai carefully observed Mori’s expression as he read through the paper.
After a moment, recognition flickered across the man’s face before it morphed into a more contemplative look. It was another minute before Mori spoke. “Dazai, this letter is addressed to you.” The tone was blank, neither holding an excited or bored air to it.
Unlike Mori’s reaction, Dazai gave a sharp smile. “What is the letter about? Is it a threat? Does it tell me to go kill myself?”
“No, it is an admission to an esteemed place of learning.”
Immediately, Dazai’s smile fell flat. “You want me to go to school?”
Mori let out a small hum. “Not just any school. It teaches its students how to use magic.”
“Abilities?” Dazai corrected questioningly.
“No, magic. Potion making, charms, the like.”
“And you... want me to go?”
Mori didn’t respond, but that was enough of an answer as any. “One of the professors will arrive tomorrow morning to get your supplies with you. Be ready then.”
“You know, there’s a convenient open window right there. It would be a quick death.”
“Not today, Dazai. I have some men I need killed.” Mori yet again reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of folded paper. He passed it to Dazai.
On the script, there were a few words written in a neat scrawl. Five names and an address. “This shouldn’t take you too long, I hope?”
“When do you want to job done by?” Dazai turned back to look at the doctor, but his eyes were already focused back on Elise. The letter was firmly gripped in his hands, and Dazai found himself unable to ask if he could look at it. Instead, Dazai stole another glance at the slip in his hands and walked out of the room.
Upon arriving at the location of the address, Dazai found the slip slightly crumpled. Going to school, him? Was Mori getting ready to treat him like a school child? Dazai pulled out his gun and cocked it. He then opened the door to the abandoned complex and started to fire.
The bang of the gun was loud in Dazai’s ears, but he didn’t flinch. It wasn’t as if the sounds of gunshots were anything new to him, after all. In an instant, one of the targets were down. A bullet to the head, that was all Dazai needed to snuff out their lives. A bullet to the head, that was all Dazai need to snuff out his own life.
Not today, Dazai. A voice in his head gently reminded him.
Dazai fired again, this time taking out a tall slender woman in the far back. The blood painted her eyes a red hue as it spread across her face.
The remaining three targets began to pull out their own weapons. Though startled by the surprise attack, they knew what they were doing. However, they were too late. Dazai turned his gun again and shot three more times. With every bang, one by one the targets fell to the ground, dead.
If it were anyone else, they would probably been able to smell the sharp, metallic scent of blood in the air. Dazai though had started becoming numb to the smell. Day by day, such a thing had been harder to notice. So now, faced with the bodies lying still on the ground, Dazai could only feel like Mori had wasted his time. Couldn’t the doctor just as easily have sent someone else in his place? How pointless this was.
On returning to the Headquarters, Dazai chose not to ask why he’d been sent out for the mission. There was no reason for it, really. He went in and killed people, he came out and the mission was complete. There was nothing more to it. In undercover or difficult missions, Mori needed his expertise, but with simple missions like this there was really no need for such questions.
As he sat back down in his usual chair, Mori didn’t ask how the mission had gone. He only accepted its easy completion and returned to peering down at Elise. Dazai tried not to let the discomfort he was feeling appear on his face.
Without turning to look at Dazai he said, “Well? Aren’t you going to ask me about magic?”
“What is there to ask?” If Mori was lying to him, then there was a reason for it. Otherwise, Mori was telling him the truth. There was nothing more to it.
Mori just shook his head, retracting the statement. “Ah, nothing too bothersome. You’re sure to see tomorrow, anyways.”
Dazai narrowed his eyes at the vague response but didn’t inquire further. Instead, he just walked off to his room in the penthouse and waited there, no longer wanting to see the looks Mori gave Elise even when everyone was looking.
Inside, Dazai picked up a deck of cards and started setting up a small game of solitaire for himself. As he flipped over each card, he felt his mind start to wander. Magic, huh? Well, wouldn’t that be interesting.