"Chuuya!"
The door to the hospital room slammed open, and despite him expecting it, Chuuya jumped a little.
"This is the hospital Dazai, keep your voice down, will ya?"
Chuuya said in a low, and surprisingly cold voice, giving Dazai pause. Chuuya had never used that voice on Dazai, except in some kind of jest like when he intentionally get caught by the Port Mafia.
It... froze his heart, somehow.
"You escaped the hospital just now, didn't you?" Dazai said in his Demon Prodigy voice, equally cold and equally low.
It was late at night, but despite the cold the window is open, letting in a biting breeze.
A gloom seems to set in the dim hospital room.
"Yeah, so what?" Replied Chuuya defiantly.
Dazai had to bite his lips to suppress the anger and frustration. No, getting Chuuya angrier wouldn't serve him at all. After sacrificing his 4 years streak of withdrawal he'd finally dipped back into illegal activities to protect the chibi, the last thing he needed is losing him emotionally instead.
That said, it's so hard to force himself to be civil.
"Where did you go?"
"You don't know? Or rather... you didn't notice?"
Somewhere he was supposed to know, or noticed... His eyes widen slightly.
"Akutagawa gave you the location, didn't he? The stray dog... biting its master as soon as my head was turned..."
Dazai's hands were in fists, but he relaxed quickly enough. Now is not the time to let anger get the better of him. He's been dying to make up with Chuuya for so long, even though it was barely two days yet since their argument on the plane.
He'd finally made it here, it's no use getting angry.
"Chuuya… I'm—"
It was then that Chuuya got off the bed, crossed the few meters separating them, and put his arms around Dazai.
The taller man froze, but the word "sorry" didn't die on his lips. If anything, the unexpected hug fueled his conscience even further. Dazai finished what he was going to say,
"I'm sorry, Chuuya."
Without raising his head from its position buried in Dazai's chest, Chuuya responded,
"Let's stop this, Dazai."
He'd been waiting for this too, and if the speech he's giving is a little prepared, it only showed how nervous he was to ensure this meeting goes as well as could be hoped.
"The enemy was caught already. Even if the 'bomb' he'd planted went off, you can cancel it by touching that bastard. Keeping me away wouldn't have anything to do with my safety anymore. I'm always safest with you, as I'd said before….. Trust me, Dazai. Let's work together, let's be partners again. Please don't— please don't—"
Please don't leave me alone anymore.
Then, a horrifying thought struck Chuuya square in the chest, making it hard to breath. There was another possibility, wasn't there? Another explanation for why Dazai was so eager to have him hospitalized?
"Or….. you don't want me around, after all…."
The hands around Dazai went limp, dropping to his sides. But before he knew it, he himself was wrapped tightly in a warm embrace.
"Chuuya….. don't say that," Dazai's voice was trembling just slightly, "Please, don't say that, because it'd never be true."
Right…. there's no way it'll be like that.
Smiling slightly at his own stupidity, Chuuya resumed hugging Dazai, and the two stayed like that for a long, long moment.
Having made up, the newly reformed Double Black settled back to discuss their course of action.
Dazai popped a piece of grape into his mouth, causing veins to pop on the chibi's head, "That's my get well soon souvenir, shitty mackerel! And we're supposed to be planning! You hear? Planning!"
"I'm the one doing all the planning anyway, so I should get all the food too, no?"
"You stupid, shitty bandage wasting device!" Chuuya got up halfway on the bed and raised his fist.
A graceful finger on Chuuya's forehead plopped him down properly onto the hospital bed.
"Alright, alright. But patients get to stay in bed." The taller man said bringing up the blanket and firmly tucking the small redhead in. "As for the plan…."
Dazai resumed his seat on the stool beside the bed, this time setting the half eaten fruit basket aside.
"We have two targets now. One is the ability user himself, the tattooist. The other is the 'bomb', the person who looks like you, who'd been tattooed the marks of Corruption, and will be a threat if left alone."
Chuuya nodded gravely. "Dazai, the kid was probably tricked into it."
Right, the 'bomb' unmistakably have red hair and blue eyes. For him to have similar height to Chuuya, he must be a half Asian or still a child. From the database in Port Mafia that Akutagawa got for him, it's likely the latter. The kid could have been bribed or threatened into it. The news is getting around— no kid would willing have himself tattooed knowing they'll die in less than one minute if that power was ever to be activated.
"Yes Chuuya, that's probably true. We'll have no choice but to find him first and prevent him from activating it at all."
"Yeah."
"Now where to find him…. While the features is distinctive in the Japanese underworld, the kid would have to hide it because of the tattoo marks. That means he'll be covering his body and face quite well. He can't go anywhere…."
"We don't know what he intends to do, do we?"
"Unfortunately, no. The interrogation is ongoing, but the bastard hasn't let anything slip up until now."
Chuuya frowned slightly. "You're…. torturing him."
It wasn't really a question, so Dazai didn't answer. Instead he said, "It's worth it."
It's worth anything to protect the redhead. Even having to torture someone else, even having to abandon all the progress, all the positive changes he'd undergone for the last few years.
Even breaking the promise to Odasaku.
"…..Thanks, Dazai." Chuuya mumbled quietly, to which Dazai responded with a huge, face splitting, radiant smile.
"Of course!"
"That's completely cheesy." Said the redhead.
Still grinning, Dazai crossed his arms and settled back in the most self satisfied posture the world has ever seen.
"So?" Chuuya prompted, a little annoyed at the display but glad to see Dazai smiling so genuinely.
Raising a knowing finger, Dazai laid out the plan:
"I'm going to keep an eye on our hostage to provide insurance. The tattooed kid would likely have you as his target, so he'll be searching for us. We will in turn search for him before he can find us, Chuuya'll catch him by surprise so he'd have no time to use his power. If he does, I'll use No Longer Human to immediately neutralize it. The rest, is up to you, Chuuya."
The redhead listened, liking every 'we' and 'us' thrown out there.
Finally he nodded. "A good plan, as always."
"I'll be stuck near the hostage, so this'll depend on you, Chuuya."
Grinning like a second sun, Chuuya replied,
"Leave it to me, Dazai!"
