Disclaimer! I do not own Bungou Stray Dogs. The characters are owned by Kafka Asagiri and illustrated by Sango Harukawa. The only things I own are my storyline and OC's. I am not making money off of this story, nor do I plan to.
This story takes place sometime after season 3 of the anime. This can be seen as canon divergence as I do not follow the manga nor the light novels.
…...
Yokohama Park at 10:00 at night was spooky, and that was saying something considering Charlie saw ghosts on a regular basis. She had brought her jumper with her on the car ride down, but it was still a chilly night, given it was still April. She hid her hands in her sleeves and adjusted her bag that sat across her chest.
Checking her phone, Charlie saw it was 10:37. Seven minutes past her meeting time, and the entire time since she arrived, she had been wandering the park looking for Dazai. But, unfortunately, the ex-mafioso was nowhere to be found.
"He's over here." Came Oda's voice, and she jumped, turning to see the ghost hovering a few meters away. He pointed, and she finally spotted Dazai's shadowy form standing underneath a tree.
As Charlie approached, Oda hovered by her side. He didn't say anything, and she got the feeling that he was a man of few words. But, he seemed sad, constantly glancing around him as if looking for someone. She made a note to ask him about it later if she survived this meeting, that is.
Soon she stood toe to toe with Dazai. He was tall, a lot taller than her, at least six inches. His tan trench coat did nothing but make his legs look longer and make him look even taller than he already was. But, looking up into those brown eyes of his, she saw nothing but darkness.
"You're late." He commented, standing casually with his hands in his coat pockets.
"You didn't exactly tell me where to meet you in Yokohama Park. This is a big place, you know." She snapped back, and he shrugged,
"I suppose I didn't."
The two of them stood in silence for a moment before Charlie sighed and pulled her satchel over her head and dropped to a knee as she rummaged inside.
"I suppose you'll be wanting my notes? I brought them with me." She said, pulling out the stack of slightly wrinkled papers from her bag and holding them up for Dazai to take. However, he didn't take them right away. Instead, he just stood there, watching Charlie with those dark eyes of his. She hesitated, drawing her documents closer to her chest in apprehension. Just what did he want? Not to exchange information, that much was now evident.
"Well, are you going to take them or not?" She asked, and Dazai cocked his head to the side, gaze calculating and curious in a dark kind of way.
"What is your ability?" He asked out of the blue, and Charlie froze. So he didn't know about her ability. That was good. She had no intention of giving that kind of information to someone like him.
"That information is private." She said quickly, and he raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think you have the right to withhold that from me. Seeing as I have all the cards. I could easily get you thrown in jail for all the crimes you have committed." He said casually, and she frowned,
"What crimes?" At this, Dazai laughed, a cold sound that made her shiver.
"Cutting up bodies for the Port Mafia for one. You may just do autopsies, but that doesn't mean it isn't a crime. Especially since those autopsies are illegal." He said, and she bit the inside of her cheek. Of course, she already knew that she was technically performing illegal autopsies. She worked partially with the Port Mafia, for heaven's sake.
Charlie shuffled the documents in her hand and glowered at Dazai.
"Is that all you wanted? Not to come exchange information but to threaten me?" She demanded, and he shrugged,
"I did want to exchange information, but the threats just came along with it." He replied calmly, and Charlie took off her glasses to rub at her eyes and pinch the bridge of her nose. Oda let out a quiet laugh,
"Oh Dazai, you never change." He whispered, and she barely refrained from shooting him a dirty look. She was being threatened, and he was being all nostalgic. Charlie shoved the papers at Dazai, making him step back a pace and take them out of reflex than anything else.
He took the time to flip through the documents and skim each one, taking out his phone to take pictures of each page. Charlie stood awkwardly off to the side and watched him. After he was done flipping through the papers, he handed them back, reached into the pocket of his coat, and pulled out a thumb drive.
Their fingers brushed as he was giving it to her.
There was a small burst of bluish-white light from his fingers, and everything went silent.
Like really silent.
The ghosts disappeared, and she couldn't hear nor see them anymore.
Charlie stumbled back, and Dazai withdrew his hand as if he had been burned. He glanced at his hand and then to her. Charlie had her hands clamped over her ringing ears.
What was that? His ability?
She heard Oda come back into existence, watched him phase back into her visible spectrum. He looked just as confused as she felt. But he quickly recovered and drifted closer.
"His ability. It's called 'No Longer Human,' it nullifies any ability he touches." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder as she slipped the thumb drive into her bag.
"No Longer Human. Got it." She said and nodded to herself.
"And how do you know that?" Came Dazai's voice, and she froze. She had said that out loud, hadn't she?
Crap.
She looked up and saw those dark eyes boring holes into her own. Dazai's nonchalant air had disappeared and was replaced with something more sinister. Charlie chewed on her bottom lip, wringing her hands over and over. How was she supposed to explain her way out of this one? She very well couldn't go around explaining her ability to people every time she got into trouble with it.
Oda drifted closer to Dazai and sighed, hands on his hips.
"You don't have to threaten her, you know. She's actually quite nice." He said, and Charlie refrained from smiling. At least she had Oda on her side. But that wouldn't help her in the long run if she couldn't get out of this situation.
"I— I looked you up in Port Mafia records. Mori had your ability listed." She said hastily, and Dazai let out a bark of laughter,
"Nice try. My records from the Port Mafia have been destroyed. Try again." He said and took a step closer, almost toe to toe with Charlie. She took a step back.
"I—I asked Chuuya?" It was a last-ditch effort. She really didn't do well with confrontation. There was a reason she worked with dead bodies. They didn't talk back. For the most part.
Dazai took another step closer, backing Charlie up until her back was against the tree. She began to shiver, partially because she was cold and partially because she was incredibly nervous. He leaned down until their noses brushed.
"So you know Chuuya hm? But he wouldn't tell you about my ability. He simply hates me too much." He mused, and Charlie flinched. Oda drifted ever closer as Dazai's hand strayed to the waistband of his trousers. Had he brought a gun with him? Of course, he did.
"Don't shoot her, Dazai," Oda said and tried to reach for the gun, but his hand brushed through the weapon as if it wasn't even there.
"Would Oda want you to shoot me?" She blurted, frantic to get him out of her space and away from her.
It worked. He recoiled as if struck in the face and took a step back, then two, his hand went limp, and he dropped the gun to the ground.
Charlie took her chance and ducked away, speeding up into a sprint. She had to get away. She ducked underneath a tree branch and shoved her papers into her bag as she did so. The cement path was winding as she tried to retrace her steps back towards traffic so she could hail a cab and get the heck out of there. Maybe she could get back before Chuuya woke up and had the chance to freak out.
A hand clamped around her wrist, and she was dragged to a stop in a flash of bluish-white light. It was silent again. Oda was gone. Then, whipping her head around, she came face to face with Dazai. His face was unreadable, those dark eyes of his boring into her own. His shoulders were tense as he pulled her closer until their noses were almost touching,
"How do you know that name?" He demanded, his voice cold and ruthless as if calculating how to kill her if she gave him the wrong answer. She swallowed and tugged at Dazai's hand. It didn't budge. He stared, waiting for her response.
Charlie knew nothing she would say would make any sense. How could it? It was a miracle Chuuya accepted her explanation at all. How would Dazai take it if she told him the truth? If she told him someone he likely cared about was following him around from beyond the grave.
But somehow, she figured she didn't have a choice in the matter.
So, she took a deep breath. "Here we go." She thought and started to speak.
"He told me. A couple of days ago, when I was at the Armed Detective Agency, he approached me." She said, and Dazai dropped her wrist. Slowly, Oda faded back into existence. He looked vaguely startled. She had to wonder what he felt when he disappeared if he felt anything at all. Could ghosts feel things?
"Oda is—" She cut Dazai off, holding up a hand.
"Dead, I know. He died from a bullet wound. I'd say about a decade ago if I'm guessing right." She said, her eyes straying to Oda, who shrugged,
"Give or take a few years." Was all he said. Dazai actually looked stunned. He let go of her wrist as if it were a hot iron, bringing his bandaged hand back to his side.
"How—" Charlie cut him off again. She seriously needed to stop interrupting people.
"It's my ability: the Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain. I see dead people. They tend to follow people around. Oda just happens to be following you." She said quickly, and Dazai's face changed. His eyes widened, and his mouth ever so slightly dropped agape.
"Why is he following me?" He whispered, face pale, and she swore she saw his eyes watering. It must have been a trick of the light, right? At his words, Charlie looked at Oda. He was looking at her, drifting closer so he could set a hand on Dazai's shoulder.
"I want him to know… I want him to know that I'm proud of him for choosing the side that helps people." He said, Charlie, repeating what he said out loud for Dazai to hear. The taller man recoiled again as if burned, hand coming up to cover his mouth. He looked shaken up, an expression Charlie never thought she would see on his face.
Charlie chewed on the inside of her cheek, thinking things over.
"Would you like to see him?" She asked, and Dazai's head whipped to look at her, eyes going wider with shock.
"You mean—I could actually see him?" He asked, hesitant but curious. Charlie nodded and gestured for Oda to drift over to her side. Dazai watched her with new eyes, now understanding all her strange gestures and habits and the fact that her eyes kept drifting to the side.
Oda reached her side and stuck out a hand.
"I want to see him face to face." He said, and Charlie reached out to grasp his hand in her own. She closed her eyes,
"You'll have about ten minutes. After that, I can't hold it any longer." She said to both Dazai and Oda. Both men gave her an 'okay'. With that, she took a deep breath and summoned the bubbling in her chest. It made her fingers and toes tingle.
"Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain: To be Read at Dusk." She said softly and felt the tingling abruptly leave her body.
She heard Dazai gasp as Oda suddenly faded into his view. Oda turned, and Dazai's dark brown eyes locked on his blank white ones, then the gunshot wound that was still oozing blood. Dazai reached out a hand but hesitated. His ability would make Oda disappear, and Charlie wasn't one hundred percent sure she would be able to make him visible again. So instead, she gave a smile to Dazai, who was entranced at the sight of his friend.
Charlie took a step back,
"You have ten minutes." She said softly, and Dazai nodded, eyes glossy with unshed tears. Oda offered him a smile,
"I'm proud of you, Osamu." He said, and Charlie took that as her cue to leave. She turned and left the two ex-mafiosos to talk. She could faintly hear Dazai's voice crack as she approached the street to hail a taxi. Reaching into her bag, she wrapped her hand around the thumb drive that Dazai had given her.
Her task was done. Charlie hadn't died. On the contrary, she felt Dazai might be more willing to help her in the future now that he had his talk with Oda.
Now it was time to return to Chuuya's apartment and hope he was still asleep.
…
FairyTailWzard's OC's (these are mine! Do not steal them!):
Charlene "Charlie" Dickens: Sleep-deprived 23-year-old medical examiner works to solve homicides and perform for the police, Port Mafia, and the Armed Detective Agency. Ability: The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain; allows her to see and interact with the spirits of the dead.
Rudyard Kipling: Deceased Englishman in his 30s, unknown background. Ability: The Jungle Book; he can manifest his tattoos into real animals. He has the tattoos of a python, a Bengal tiger, and a giant bear.
Jacob Marley: He is Charlie's assistant in the morgue and during autopsies. He lives with his nephew Tim Cratchit and businessman Ebenezer Scrooge.
"Bones": Port Mafia member found dead
Katrina Van Tassel: Port Mafia member found dead
Ichabod Crane: Port Mafia member found dead. The only one not to come back as a ghost.
Diedrich Knickerbocker: Port Mafia member found dead. Ability: Storyteller-Basically whatever he reads/writes becomes a reality.
Dickens Family: Mother, father, eight children. Charlie's family.
Washington Irving: Suspected serial killer still on the loose.