Chapter Text
Chuuya paced back and forth across the hospital room, glaring daggers at the brunette lying unconscious in the hospital bed.
Although the doctors and nurses couldn't see him, they still spoke aloud as they discussed Osamu's condition, allowing Chuuya to hear every word.
His mortal had attempted to overdose on his sleeping pills.
It hadn't killed him.
Instead, it had left him in a small coma.
Chuuya clenched his fists.
He had been assigned to Dazai Osamu from the moment the boy was born. For years, Chuuya had patiently waited for the inevitable moment when Osamu's life would finally come to an end.
And yet, somehow, Osamu always managed to escape him.
Every single time.
Chuuya had seen him walk away from situations that should have ended his life. He had watched Osamu throw himself into danger with an almost insulting disregard for his own mortality.
And every time, Chuuya had been there.
Waiting.
Watching.
Hoping, perhaps, that this would finally be the moment.
But apparently not.
The brunette's fingers twitched faintly against the hospital sheets.
Chuuya's eyes narrowed.
"...You're kidding me."
The heart monitor continued its steady beeping.
Alive.
Still alive.
Of course he was.
Chuuya dragged a hand down his face, already feeling the headache forming.
"Dazai Osamu," he muttered bitterly, glaring at the unconscious man. "What the hell am I going to do with you?"
“You’re unbelievable,” Chuuya hissed.
Osamu, naturally, did not respond.
Chuuya folded his arms.
“You know, most people make my job easier.”
Nothing.
“I’ve never had a human work this hard to avoid dying.”
Still nothing.
Chuuya stared at him for several seconds.
Then he sighed.
“Why the hell did I get stuck with you, of all people?"
The question hung unanswered in the quiet hospital room.
Chuuya knew it would.
Osamu was unconscious, after all.
Still, that had never stopped him from complaining to the man before.
Chuuya dragged a hand down his face and glanced toward the heart monitor.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Annoyingly steady.
His eyes narrowed.
“You know what?” he muttered. “I’m starting to think you’re doing this on purpose.”
Osamu remained motionless.
Chuuya leaned closer.
“You hear me, don’t you?”
Nothing.
“Probably not.”
He straightened and shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat.
Being a reaper was supposed to be simple.
At least, that was what he had been told.
You were assigned a mortal. You watched them. You learned their habits, their personality, their fears. When their life reached its natural end, you guided them into the afterlife.
That was it.
No complications.
No attachments.
No problems.
Chuuya had been assigned Osamu when the boy was still young.
At first, Chuuya had thought nothing of it.
Humans came and went.
He had watched Osamu grow from a quiet, strange child into an even stranger teenager.
Then an adult.
Then a walking disaster.
Chuuya glanced at the sleeping brunette.
“Seriously. What are you?”
The heart monitor continued its steady rhythm.
Then Osamu's fingers twitched.
Chuuya froze.
He stared at the man, eyes narrowing, as the other twitched again.
He couldn't possibly be awake yet. He took the pills only hours ago.
He steps closer, and grunts as something prevents him from getting closer.
He stood a few feet away, dumbfounded, and looks around the room, confused.
He froze as his eyes land upon a figure drapped in white, black hair that glistened purple in the light. His eyes gleam lilac, focused on dazai. He wore a smug smirk as he turned towards chuuya.
Chuuya stared.
The stranger stared back.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Fyodor's smirk widened.
"How unfortunate."
Chuuya's eye twitched.
"...Who the hell are you?"
The figure tilted his head.
"Is that really the first question you wish to ask?"
"Considering you're standing between me and my mortal, yeah."
Fyodor's lilac eyes flickered toward Osamu.
"Your mortal?"
"Yes."
"Interesting."
There was something deeply irritating about the way he said it.
Chuuya took another step forward.
The invisible force stopped him again.
His expression darkened.
"What the hell is this?"
"A boundary."
"No shit."
Fyodor's smile became almost amused.
"You cannot cross it."
"Why?"
"Because you are Death."
Chuuya's fingers curled into fists.
"And you're supposed to be what?"
Fyodor looked almost offended by the question.
"Life."
Silence.
Chuuya blinked.
Then he looked at Osamu.
Then back at Fyodor.
Then at Osamu again.
"...You're kidding me."
"I assure you, I am not."
Chuuya pointed accusingly at the unconscious brunette.
"So you're the reason this bastard keeps surviving?"
Fyodor's smile said everything before he even answered.
"Among other things."
Chuuya's eye twitched harder.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
Osamu's heart monitor continued to beep steadily behind them.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Fyodor glanced toward it.
"His life is rather persistent."
"Persistent?"
Chuuya scoffed.
"That's one word for it."
He folded his arms.
"I've watched this idiot survive things that should've killed him. I've waited years for his life to finally end."
"And yet it hasn't."
"No."
"Curious."
"Infuriating."
Fyodor hummed.
"Perhaps both."
Chuuya glared at him.
"So what, you just follow him around?"
"Not quite."
Fyodor's gaze returned to Osamu.
"I ensure that his thread does not break before its appointed time."
Chuuya went still.
His expression slowly changed.
"Appointed time?"
"Every mortal has one."
"Then you know when his is."
"Of course."
Chuuya stared at him.
For the first time since entering the room, his anger gave way to something else.
Suspicion.
"You know when Osamu is going to die."
Fyodor smiled.
"I do."
Chuuya's eyes narrowed.
"Then tell me."
"No."
The answer came far too easily.
Chuuya's jaw tightened.
"Why?"
"Because knowing the destination would defeat the purpose of the journey."
"Don't give me that philosophical bullshit."
Fyodor chuckled softly.
"You are rather impatient for a creature whose entire existence revolves around waiting."
Chuuya's expression darkened.
"And you're rather smug for someone who isn't supposed to be here."
Fyodor's smile vanished.
For the briefest moment, the atmosphere changed.
The heart monitor continued beeping.
Fyodor looked at Chuuya.
Then at Dazai.
"He is not supposed to be here either."
Chuuya frowned.
"What?"
Fyodor stepped closer to the bed.
His hand hovered above Osamu's chest, never quite touching him.
"Your mortal has been approaching death far more often than he should."
Chuuya's irritation faded.
"...What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that something is wrong."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Chuuya looked at Osamu.
The brunette remained completely still.
"Wrong how?"
Fyodor's lilac eyes narrowed.
"I don't know yet."
That answer unsettled Chuuya more than he wanted to admit.
For years, Osamu had been an impossible contradiction.
A mortal who constantly escaped death.
A life that refused to end.
And now, for the first time, Chuuya was beginning to wonder if Osamu wasn't escaping death at all.
Maybe something else was keeping him alive.
Something neither of them understood.
Fyodor slowly lowered his hand.
"Perhaps," he murmured, "we should stop trying to kill each other long enough to discover why."
Chuuya stared at him.
"...You want to work with me?"
"I want to understand what is happening to him."
Chuuya glanced at Osamu.
Then back at Fyodor.
He sighed.
"This is going to be a fucking nightmare."
Fyodor's smirk returned.
"Most likely."
Behind them, Osamu's fingers twitched.
Neither of them noticed.
Not yet.