Summary: Some said that he did not have emotions. Ougai Mori, the Port Mafia Boss, always looked for the optimal solution to a problem and executed it with cold precision. Dad!Mori, oneshot.

1 year before Dragon Head Feud, six years before Yokohama's three-way war
Port Mafia Headquarters
0402 hours

Some said that he did not have emotions. Ougai Mori, the Port Mafia Boss, always looked for the optimal solution to a problem and executed it with cold precision.

There was, however, two people that had crept through his armor of apathy. Those who secretly whispered about him not having a heart would be surprised to learn that he was fighting back a laugh at his two young asset's antics.

"Dazai, I will strangle you with your own entrails if you don't stop interrupting me," Chuuya roared. He punched his partner in the shoulder, hard.

While Chuuya finished the report, Dazai whined about the pain.

Mori gestured to his apprentice. "Dazai-kun, anything to add?" He questioned.

"Nothing," Dazai chirped. "Chibi covered everything."

Chuuya clenched his fist and whirled to face his partner. "What did you call me?"

XXX

Port Mafia Headquarters

Double Black was reported missing a few hours later. They never made it to their apartment.

For now, all Mori could do was wait. He needed more information.

Kouyou came in. The sheath of her katana was splattered with blood. The blood flecks on her kimono blended in well, appearing as cherries on a tree.

Mori poured tea for them, the pot had been brewing for the past few minutes in preparation for Kouyou's visit. He smiled and pressed the tips of his fingers together as he listened to the intel his executive had gathered.

Mori hummed as he went over the plan he was putting together in his head. He had to wait for a bit more information before sending it out.

XXX

Nagoya, Japan
Third day after kidnapping
0223 hours

He was leading the raid himself. Of course, that didn't mean being the first person to walk in, he wasn't suicidal.

Mori watched a line of black suits get torn to shreds by gunfire, his remaining men returned shots. Bullets riddled the walls, leaving cracks and metal embedded in the plaster.

He stepped forward for a better view. Following the flick of his hand, Elise flew towards the enemy. Armed with a scapel, his ability cut through the enemy forces. He clicked his tongue, Elise would need new clothes, she was quickly getting covered in blood.

The room cleared, he entered the long hallway. He kept his hands folded behind his back, his fingers curled around a scapel.

Flanking him and checking each room were two lines of uninjured men in black suits.

Mori's black shoes were coated in slick blood, although he had tried to step around the puddles as he went. This predicament was shared by his subordinates. The footprints left by the mafia members were a slick crimson red, leaving a trail on the white tiled floor.

A few minutes into searching, a man called out that he had found the room.

Mori nodded and stalked towards his subordinate. Elise willingly stayed in the hall. He ordered his men to keep an eye on things and entered the room.

It was a well lit room, clean, with one bed. That was something worst than it being dim. Good lighting made it harder to sleep and threw off the body's circadian rhythm. It was easier to break people when they were exhausted and couldn't keep track of the time.

The two teenagers were chained together, two locks ensuring the loops of chain wouldn't be tampered with. Chuuya had bloodstained bandages around his right arm. An IV bag was strung up, feeding into a vein on his left arm. He was unconscious, breathing even, muscles completely relaxed.

Dazai looked small in his black coat. He was sitting on the floor, eaning his back against the bed. His head snapped towards the door the moment Mori stepped inside. The bags beneath his eyes were black. Orange, purple, and green bruises peeked out from under his collar and sleeves.

"Can you give me a summary of what's happened?" Mori asked. He started unwrapping the bandages around Chuuya's arm.

Dazai told the tale in a monotone voice. He was distancing himself from the events as much as he could. His voice was a bit hoarse, probably from screaming.

They both ignored the occasional shout and loud bangs of a gunshots echoing through the building. At first Dazai would tense and pause at the louder ones.

Mori hummed occasionally, listening intently to Dazai's report.

There were large cuts down the inside of Chuuya's arm, they were starting to scab over. The pale skin around the wounds was coated with blood.

Dazai finished. He shifted positions, sitting on the bed, arm twisted awkwardly behind him. His gaze was focused on Chuuya's arm.

"What's in the IV bag?" Mori asked. He opened up the doctor's bag he had grabbed from a cabinet in his office. It was an artifact from Mori's days as an underground doctor, the contents and their placement in the worn black leather bag were familiar to him. He didn't have to look down as he fished out a roll of bandages and some cleaning wipes.

"I don't know the name. But it's a sleeping drug."

Mori nodded. He held out a lock picking kit to Dazai. Dazai needed something to do, other then watch Mori work and mentally go through Chuuya's chance of dying from infection.

Dazai hesitantly closed his fingers around it. He opened it, a small smile on his face as he chose which one to use. He started working on Chuuya's.

Mori wiped the bloodied skin on Chuuya's arm clean. With clean bandages, he started wrapping the wounds back up.

Dazai undid the lock keeping the chain around Chuuya's wrist. Growing a bit more confident at his success he stopped second guessing his moves and worked on his own.

Mori slipped the needle from Chuuya's left arm with practiced ease. The drug should wear off soon. Chuuya's body burned through drugs and alcohol at a shockingly fast rate, likely because his origins weren't natural.

"You can walk, right?" Mori questioned. He shrugged off his black trenchcoat and cocooned the boy in it. It was winter and the air outside was chilly. Mori picked Chuuya up, resorting to carrying the boy bridal style so as to not agitate his arm.

"Yes, Boss." Dazai's lock hit the floor, followed by the clanking and clattering of a chain. He grabbed Chuuya's hat from the tiled floor, where it had fallen. Dazai's partner would be mad for weeks if Chuuya lost his hat.

The boy became a ball of tension again when Mori opened the door to leave. Acting on instinct, Mori put a hand on Dazai's head to reassure him. The skin contact activated Dazai's ability, No Longer Human, which deactivated Mori's own ability temporarily. Elise disappeared from the hallway outside.

Dazai stayed a step behind Mori as they left the room, a silent black wraith that was almost asleep on his feet.

Mori gave Hirotsu the job of handling the rest. Which was mainly calling a clean up crew to take care of the mess and hunting down any enemy who had escaped.

Hirotsu nodded to Mori, accepting the job of being in charge, even though it was a bit of a pain. He saw the bundled up Chuuya in Mori's arms, his eyebrows rose slightly. His eyes also caught sight of the smaller figure almost hiding behind the Boss and he gruffly said, "I suggest getting some sleep, Dazai-kun."

Dazai gave a single nod. It was rude and considered nigh insubordination to ignore someone higher ranked than you. But besides that, Hirotsu was a bit like an old grandfather to all the teenagers and children of the Port Mafia, often giving out tips on fighting while not on missions.

"I'll make sure he does," Mori replied, a smile plastered on his face.

After a quick journey through the cold air, they made it to Mori's car.

Mori opened the back seat door and Dazai climbed in. He followed with Chuuya still wrapped up in his coat.

He told the driver where to go and then rolled up the privacy window in between. Mori trusted the few drivers he had-all personally vetted by him- but the less rumors spread the better.

Mori sat Chuuya up, the wounded arm carefully positioned in the redhead's lap. Being unconscious, Chuuya's head almost immediately fell onto Mori's shoulder.

Dazai gave his partner his hat back, reaching over Mori to do so. He muttered an insult about fashion choices, even though he knew Chuuya could not hear him. He positioned the hat so that Chuuya's eyes were shaded from the glaring streetlights they passed. Dazai settled back into his seat.

"Sleep," Mori ordered. "You're about to collapse and it's a long drive back to Yokohama."

Dazai rolled his eyes and tried to lay down. His back on the seat and legs propped beside the far edge of the window. His coat was balled up as a pillow for his head.

"You know you can't sleep like that." Mori knew Dazai was an insomniac who couldn't fall asleep while on a mission. He also knew that Dazai could only fall asleep when mostly stretched out and on his back. From Dazai's actions, at the least, the bruises were on his front, not his back.

Dazai pouted. He shifted his position. The best way to get more room was to get into Mori's. That decided, he inched towards his mentor, his pillow coat still under his head.

Mori sighed. Dazai was moving slowly, almost as if he didn't want to sleep. Which, honestly, wouldn't surprise Mori, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence. He grabbed Dazai's shoulder and pulled the boy's head and coat onto his lap.

Dazai blinked up at him. "Why?" His voice was still hoarse.

"You need to sleep," Mori curtly responded.

"I don't want to," Dazai objected, petulant.

Mori ignored the comment. He started to gently carding his fingers through Dazai's brown hair-careful to not tug on the bandages around the boy's eye.

Dazai's visible eye closed. He tilted his head towards his mentor, slowly relaxing. A few minutes of gentle stroking lulled him into sleep.

Touching Dazai only increases the time Elise couldn't be there, but Mori's thoughts weren't on his usually constant friend right now. His thoughts were on the two young teenagers-only important assets, he reminded himself-sleeping on him. He would have to take care to monitor their mental states himself, he didn't want either of them to snap and go mad. He would look over Dazai's bruises and Chuuya's cut, to ensure they were physically sound as well.

With Dazai asleep, Mori pulled on the boy's white shirt collar. Doing so exposed a bit more of the bruising on Dazai's neck. On the plus side, Dazai wouldn't try to hang himself while recuperating at Mori's apartment. On the other hand, it looked like Dazai had been strangled for several seconds. Because of the hand size, Mori estimated the person to be rather large.

"Boss?" A voice next to his eye muttered in confusion.

Mori gently pulled Dazai's collar back up. "Yes, Chuuya-kun?"

"Am I hallucinating? Am I sleeping?" Chuuya wondered, the words slurred together. The drug on his veins hadn't worn off entirely.

"No, you're not," Mori replied.

Chuuya's voice grew a bit more desperate. "Were we rescued? Were we actually rescued?" His left fist clenched, nails digging into his palm.

Mori nodded slightly, careful not to disturb the head on his shoulder. "Yes. You and Dazai were rescued about forty minutes ago."

Chuuya was silent for a few minutes. He was turning over what Mori had said. He could feel fresh bandages on his arms. He could feel the weight of his hat on his head, see that it was shading his eyes from the street lights. He accepted that this was reality, none of his dreams had this amount of detail. He shifted his head to a more comfortable position.

The effect of the drugs were gone, leaving Chuuya with a deep seated exhaustion and stinging cuts on his arm. He would try to sit up and take his head off the Boss's shoulder, but he was afraid of smacking his head against the window. "Did you rescue us?"

Mori hummed quietly. He had gone back to combing his hand through Dazai's hair, as his sleeping apprentice seemed uneasy, probably having a bad dream. He would wake Dazai up, but he doubted Dazai had slept at all over the past two and a half days. "I led the raid, yes."

Chuuya's smile was apparent in his warm tone. "Thanks, Boss."

Mori blinked, slightly surprised. No, he hadn't expected this. He hadn't predicted any of the two's reactions, he had focused on the enemy. A smile curled on his face, the edge of which Chuuya could barely see. It was not an empty one that chilled a person to their bones, it was a small genuine smile. "You're welcome."

A/N

I wish Mori was more of a dad, that would have been awesome. But I'll settle for writing stories in which he had a soft spot for Soukoku (and acts like a dad when they get hurt).

My thanks to TKDGirl17 for betaing!

-Silver