Disclaimer: I do not own Bungou Stray Dogs or any of the characters.
His phone rang and the sound irritated Chuuya to no bound. He was on a mission in America to take down a rival organization and whoever was calling him should've known not to call him since he could be in the middle of a fight, which he was. Only one person would call him at the worst possible time: Dazai.
Usually his partner, Dazai, would be with him but Chuuya decided to go on the mission alone. They had a fight right before he was assigned the mission. So he decided to go on the mission by himself and give himself time to breathe. At first, he thought Dazai was calling him to annoy him so was surprised when it wasn't him. Mori's name flashed on the screen and he wondered why the mafia's leader was calling him.
"Let's get this over with. I have to take this phone call. My boss hates to be kept waiting," Chuuya looked down at the enemy's leader that was struggling to stand again. Chuuya had already defeated the members of the organization and their bodies littered the warehouse. He placed his foot on the leader's heart and didn't hesitate before activating his ability.
After the leader screamed one last time, the only sound left in the room was his ringing phone. He was barely able to give a respectful greeting before Mori said calmly, "Dazai betrayed us."
The phone slipped through Chuuya's fingers. Its dull thud on the ground echoed Mori's word. Those three words that shook his heart more than the screams of pain he heard earlier.
"This better be some shitty prank, Dazai!" Chuuya threw open the door to their apartment. He expected to see Dazai sitting in the living room but the room was empty. Still unable to accept the implication of the quiet apartment, he ran to their bedroom.
Empty.
Dazai's clothes were gone. The files and cases he was working on were gone. Any evidence of Dazai was gone, leaving only Chuuya standing alone. Even though there was no physical evidence of him left, Chuuya could still see shadows of him everywhere in the room: the table where they would eat together; the couch where they read together; the bed where they spent quiet nights.
Chuuya sat in Dazai's desk, where Dazai would often work. Closing his eyes, he could easily see Dazai sitting in the chair he was in now. How many different sides of Dazai have he seen in this one spot? The determination he had to solve a case and his frustration when he was having difficulty. Those aspects of him that only Chuuya could see as his partner.
A part of Chuuya wanted to think that Dazai wouldn't leave and betray the mafia. Thinking that, Chuuya began to look through the desk. He must've left behind a hint of where he went and why. Most of the drawers he opened were empty but Chuuya knew that Dazai wouldn't leave hints somewhere obvious.
Finally, Chuuya found a hardcover book within one of the drawers. He skimmed through the book but it seemed to be nothing but a short novel about a suicidal man. Nothing was particularly interesting about the book and anyone else would've disregarded it. But he knew Dazai. He took apart the binding of the book and found a ring within the spine of the book.
The ring that they had fought over before Chuuya left on his mission. At first, the only thing Chuuya could feel was a numb as he stared at the ring. He took off his glove and stared at the matching ring he wore. He couldn't bring himself to look at the ring as he thought back to that night.
"Why won't you wear your ring, Chuuya? Your wonderful and considerate partner bought it for you. It even matches my ring." Dazai jumped onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Chuuya. "I feel so hurt that you don't wanna wear my ring."
"Get off me! I'm trying to finish reading this report and I can't do that if you keep bothering me." Chuuya tried to push Dazai away but his partner was much taller than him so it was difficult. Dazai swiped the folder from Chuuya and threw it off the bed. When Chuuya reached for it, Dazai threaded their fingers together. Smoothly, Dazai slipped the ring onto Chuuya's finger.
"Right where it belongs. Now people know that we're partners. How about we go out for drinks at Lupin and I can show you off to Oda and Ango." Dazai insisted and Chuuya sighed in response. Chuuya reached back and poked his cheek, signalling him to loosen his grip. Once Dazai did, Chuuya turned in his arms so they could face each other.
"I have work and so do you. We don't have time to go out drinking-"
"Do you think I believe that? You never turn down a chance to drink wine. Just yesterday you opened a bottle to celebrate finishing your poem. If I didn't know better, I would think you don't want to meet my friends." Dazai pouted but there was a deep hurt in his eyes. Chuuya saw it but didn't know how he could lessen it. So he only stroked Dazai's hair when he placed his head on his shoulder.
"This isn't just a job to me, Dazai. This is my, our, life. You should understand that. Now let go of me so I can finish those files." Dazai loosened his hold but never let go. Chuuya picked up the files that dropped on the ground and started to organize them. Dazai looked over his shoulder and read the files as well.
"Will you wear it?" Dazai asked and touch the ring on Chuuya's finger.
"Depends. Do you have some sort of scheme with this thing? Is there a tracker in here? A hearing device? I wouldn't put either pass you." Chuuya laughed as he pulled on a glove, covering it. "I'll wear your silly ring but I don't think we can show off to everyone like you want to. If one of us is captured, the other will be in danger. I don't want to be used as a bargaining chip and have to save you at the same time."
"I'm the one who always have to save you. If it wasn't for my plans, you wouldn't be able to complete a mission on your own."
"I would be able to complete our missions faster if it weren't for your constant detours. Do you know how embarrassing it is when I have to ask people if they've seen a pile of bandages floating in a river? You gave me this stupid ring and say you want to spend our lives together but then I find you in a ditch!"
"Don't be like that, Chuuya~" Dazai said in a teasing voice and it turned into a laugh when Chuuya glared at him. "Why don't we just have a double-"
"You suggest a double suicide and I'll throw you out the window." Chuuya warned. Dazai didn't take the warning to heart.
"Bandage wasting idiot!" Chuuya screamed and threw the ring across the room. His ability gave it much more momentum and the ring left an indent in the wall before falling to the ground. Everywhere he turned he saw memories of them together. He couldn't stand them mocking him.
So he vented his anger. Every time he saw Dazai's shadow, he used his ability to destroy another piece of furniture. He chased the shadow but couldn't catch it to destroy it. In the end, the room was a mess like his emotions. He looked over the room but didn't know what he should do next. He heard the door open behind him but Chuuya could sense that it wasn't Dazai.
"Well, this is a mess." Chuuya turned to face Mori but couldn't bring himself to greet his boss. He didn't know if he would start screaming or crying if he did try to speak. "I'm guessing that you're the one that did this and not Dazai. It must be painful to learn that your partner betrayed you."
"My partner," Chuuya echoed bitterly. "Where is he now?"
"I was hoping that you could tell me that. We captured him but you must know that Dazai is a tricky one to keep. He escaped and we're trying to find where he is now. But it shouldn't be too difficult to find him again. There's nowhere and no one he can go to now. Right, Chuuya?" Mori stressed the question and Chuuya bit his lower lip.
"How should I know? I was only his partner."
"Man, I'm so hungry!" Dazai whined. He felt as if his body was going to give out at any moment but there was nothing he could do until he start his plan. He thought of several plans but they just weren't feasible now that he was on the run from the mafia. There was no one he could turn to.
His sharps instincts warned him that someone was approaching him so he ran into an alley to hide. For the past week he had evaded the mafia's lackeys but there was something different about the person approaching him. He knew if he hid now, it was almost a certainty that he would be found so he had to find a way to out run them without them seeing him.
"Desperate times calls for desperate measures." Dazai laughed to himself when he saw a garbage truck approached the alley. The moment it stopped at the red light, he climbed into back. He shut it firmly behind him and breathed out a breath of relief since it didn't seem like the person chasing him saw him.
The truck jerked for a moment but Dazai thought that it was only a pothole until the lid began to open. He took out his knife, prepared to fight.
"Isn't it fitting that I found a piece of trash like you here?" Dazai's heart stopped when Chuuya entered. He let the door fall and it became almost completely dark around them. Dazai knew that he should attack now before Chuuya could call the other mafia members. Every logical bone in his body told him to do so but something stopped him. His heart.
"Got nothing to say to your partner? Well, just stay quiet because I have something I want to say to you before I beat you to a pulp and drag you back to the mafia. Did you really think I wouldn't be able to find you even after all your pointless preaching about partners knowing each other?" Chuuya voice was even but Dazai knew his anger was barely restrained.
"Are you going to fight me then?" Dazai asked in an equally low voice. "There's really no point so why bother? If I win, I get to leave. If you win, I'll just escape again. So why don't you let me go and save us both time? For old time sakes, my dear-"
"You really want to piss me off don't you?" Chuuya screamed. He wadded his way through the garbage and punched him. Dazai didn't try to dodge or counter once he saw the tears in Chuuya's eyes. He'll let him punch him once but that wouldn't lessen the pain either of them felt. The punch sent him back until he hit the wall. He grunted when Chuuya grabbed his neck and restrained him against the wall.
"You said that there were only two outcomes but there's one more. I can kill you right now." Chuuya said in a low voice but there was no hint of him activating his ability. They both stood there in silence, waiting for the other to attack. "I can…"
"You won't." Dazai corrected and expected his words to trigger Chuuya's anger again. Instead, Chuuya's hands fell uselessly to his side and he leaned his forehead against Dazai's chest. Chuuya could hear a heartbeat but he didn't know if it was his or Dazai's. Neither reached for the other though they both desperately wanted to.
"You're right. Mori didn't assign me with your capture. In fact, he told me not to look for you because my emotions might get in the way. I didn't come here to kill you. I came here to get rid of these and the trash seems like the best place to do it." Chuuya stepped back and took Dazai's hand. He didn't meet Dazai's eyes as he dropped the items in his hand.
Dazai stared at the two rings in his hand. "So we're not partners anymore?"
"That's a silly question. Of course we're not." Chuuya opened the truck door and started to step out but stopped. For the first time, he met Dazai's eyes. "The next time we meet, we'll be enemies so don't think this meeting changes that fact. Come anywhere near me or the mafia again and you'll be giving me a reason to crush you."
"I wouldn't expect anything differently. Actually, I thought you would come to tell me that before now but I knew you would come eventually. You might say we're not partners anymore but there's still no one who knows you more than me. There's something you want to ask me and this might be your last chance. Don't you want to know why I left?"
"Do I want to know that there's something so important that you're willing to leave your partner for it?" Chuuya laughed self-deprecatingly. "You can tell me but in the end it doesn't changes things. The mafia is my life but it isn't ours anymore. Take those rings and sell them so you can buy something. You probably haven't had something to eat for days now."
Chuuya left and closed the truck door, pitching Dazai in darkness again. He looked down at the rings in his hands that shined in the darkness. Sells them? They could be the price to immortality and he still wouldn't sell them. He could still remember his thoughts when he bought the rings. Be my partner forever.
Husband. Boyfriend. Best friend. They were all synonymous with partner and that was what he liked to think of them as. Dazai knew that Chuuya would confront him eventually but during that entire time he didn't know what he would do when it did happen. For the first time in his life, he didn't have a plan. He didn't know what he should do.
What would he answer with if Chuuya did ask him for the reason he left? Dazai didn't know. On one hand, he wanted Chuuya to understand and to lessen the feelings of betrayal he must have. But on the other hand, the mafia was Chuuya's life and Dazai couldn't force him to abandon it. If he knew the truth, Chuuya would be forced to choose between his partner and the mafia.
Dazai knew which Chuuya would choose. They each had their pasts before the mafia and Dazai would never want Chuuya to go back to running and fighting for his life.
So he hurt the one person he wanted to protect, his partner.
This is the first time I ever wrote for one of my yaoi ships. I never did before because I didn't think I would be able to but I decided just to write them like I would write any other ship. Came out better than I thought it would. At first I wanted to write about their lives before Dazai left but then I just turned into this angst train XD