Authors note. Sorry this chapter took a while to come out, I made it a lot longer cause I was worried I was rushing the story a bit. I tried my best to have all the characters act like they normally would, even though Chuuya might seem to care for Dazai here more than in the show. Please let me know what you think of it. Hope you enjoy it!
All occupants in the room were silent. The only noises heard was the sound of their heavy breathing. All eyes had turned on the man who had just stepped into the room. The man himself was a statue, eyes not having moved from where he had been looking at Dazai. The other two agency members who were not a part of the staring contest were looking between this stranger and their friend, wondering what the connection was between them.
Dazai was lost. His mind was yelling things at him but at the same time, his mind was empty. This wasn't right. Odasaku had died. He had died in Dazai's arms. He had heard his final words, listened helplessly as he had taken his final breath, and had sat on multiple occasions by his friend's grave, mourning his loss. So how… how was he standing just ten feet in front of him? Dazai could see the rise and fall of his chest, further solidifying the fact that he was indeed alive. While it was possible that Dazai was seeing things, the silence coming from Kunikida and Atsushi pretty much confirmed that they were also seeing the same thing. Dazai desperately wanted to go towards the man in front of him, to prove that he was real. He had spent many nights wishing to see his friend again, but knowing that it was not possible, and now in some sick and twisted way, his dream had become a reality. But he was at a loss at what to do or say. So he remained firmly rooted where he stood, being unable to do anything other than pathetically stare at his dead friend.
Oda didn't know what to say. What are you meant to say to someone who watched you die? Oda really had no clue why he had been brought back. All he knew is that someone's gift had brought him back from the dead, and that he was forced to go along with what they said. He had no clue why he was here, but now, looking at Dazai's pleading face, as if he was wishing that the man in front of him was real and not a dream, he had a terrible feeling about why he had been brought back to the world of the living.
Then Dazai called his name, and after that everything became a blur. The man Dazai had previously had beneath his foot had used Dazai's distracted state of mind to quickly get the jump on him. He kicked Dazai in the stomach from his position on the floor, and then went to sweep his legs out from under him. Dazai fell back, having to quickly re-establish his footing while regaining his breath. As soon as he stood again, his eyes continued to look towards Odasaku. As if he was afraid that, should he dare to look away, the impossible illusion in front of him would disappear.
Kunikida and Atsushi quickly snapped out of their daze, moving to help Dazai while their combatant remained almost motionless on the floor, blood still dripping from his back and pooling onto the floor. They both ran forward, fully intending to attack the man who had managed to push Dazai off of him, however the man was fast, despite the injuries he had sustained from Dazai's previous attacks. He avoided their attacks and ran towards Odasaku at the door.
"Ha! What's the matter Dazai?" He asked in a mocking tone. "You look as if you have seen a ghost!"
Dazai was still motionless. Still rooted to the spot. Still staring into Odasaku's equally confused eyes. Dazai wanted nothing more for this sick dream to be real. But at the same time, he didn't know how his friend could be standing before him, it just didn't seem possible to him. If there was someone with the ability to bring people back to life, the Mafia and Mori would have been all over that person before they could blink.
The day Odasaku died was the day that Dazai's life had changed forever. He had taken Odasaku's last words of advice and had left the Mafia, had stayed underground for 2 years in order to get a clean slate, then spent the rest of his days helping others. Just as Odasaku had said he should do in his final moments. Now, seeing Odasaku alive again. Dazai was overcome with the need to run up to Odasaku and tell him all about what he had been up to. Would Oda be proud of him? Had he actually done what his friend had asked of him, or had he just wasted years of his life trying to fill out his friend's final request? He didn't know. And that was more tortuous than anything he had dealt with growing up. Physical pains could be dealt with, but emotional ones? They were a lot harder to deal with, something Dazai knew all too well.
The silver haired man now stood in front of Oda, blocking Dazai's view of him. Oda went to walk around the man in order to go towards Dazai. He knew he had a lot to explain, not all of it he knew, but he would be damned if he wasn't able to see his friend again after so many years had passed.
Now that Oda stopped and actually looked at Dazai, he looked a lot older than the last time Oda had seen him. How much time had actually passed since his death? Dazai looked like he was in his early twenties by now. His right eye remained uncovered, and the bandage he so often had worn on his cheek was no longer there. He now wore a coat very similar to his own, it was a long sand-coloured trench coat that almost went down to his ankles. He still wore bandages around his arms, neck and presumably his torso as well. Dazai's hair had taken a lighter hue than he remembered, and he now wore a blue pendant over his white shirt. He looked well kept, Oda only hoped that it meant that Dazai had managed to find some meaning in life, if only a little. How he desperately wanted to go up to his friend, embrace him, and hear about what had happened to him. Was he still a part of the Mafia? He hoped not. He hoped that Dazai had taken his advice and left that life behind. The fact that he was no longer wearing the trench coat that Mori had given him, gave Oda hope that Dazai had found the right path. But before he was able to make any move towards his friend, he was blocked by the silver haired man from before.
"As touching as this reunion has been for both of you, I'm afraid we must take our leave." The man mockingly bowed and pushed Oda behind the door, yelling at him to get to the car outside.
Oda wanted to fight back, wanted to go and see his friend. But he was helpless to disobey them, and so had to go towards the car.
I'm sorry Dazai. I will come back for you, I promise
"Till we meet again Dazai!" The man said as he followed Oda's path towards the car.
"Damn! We can't let them get away!" Kunikida yelled. He began to run towards the stairs, unsure what he was going to do to stop them , but still determined to do something. However, Kunikida was too distracted with the two people who had already escaped, and failed to take note of the other bloody pile who was now standing, leaving through the side exit to escape.
"Kunikida! Stop!" Atsushi cried out. He knew that there was nothing they could do anymore, and one look at Dazai, and he knew where his priorities needed to be right now. Dazai was still motionless, yet he was breathing very harshly, eyes not moving from where the man Dazai had called out to as 'Odasaku' had stood. Then Dazai's breathing got worse. His eyes were unfocused and he was breathing in irregular patterns. Atsushi didn't have much medical knowledge, but he knew a panic attack when he saw one. Dazai was clearly freaking out about something, likely the strange man that had walked in, and was certainly not in the right frame of mind. However Kunikida remained oblivious to this as he went to follow the car, or stop it before it got too far. He paid no mind to Dazai or Atsushi, trusting that they would both be fine. Distantly he heard Atsushi's cries for help, but was so caught up in finding a way to catch their enemies that he pretty much blocked out Atsushi's cries.
"Kunikida please!" Atsushi practically had to beg. Kunikida was still, at first, focused on where their opponents had escaped to, but one look at Dazai stopped his movements and made him focus on how dishevelled his friend actually was. To put it frankly, Dazai was a mess. Atsushi had lowered him into a kneeling position on the ground, though Dazai had not seemed to register the change in positions.
"Dazai..." Kunikida asked hesitantly. Dazai's head snapped and looked up at him, his glossed over eyes looking directly into Kunikida's. Kunikida took a step back, he had never seen Dazai like this.
Dazai was going over everything that had happened, hoping to make some sort of sense of it all. He had been sent on a job to investigate a warehouse with Kunikida and Atsushi. They fought against two unknown adversaries. He had defeated his opponent and then... then he had walked in. He had seen Odasaku. That was when everything suddenly caught up to him at once.
"ODASAKU! ODASAKU COME BACK!" Dazai screamed. He then swiftly got up, though he stumbled on his feet, and ran towards the door where he had last seen Odasaku. "ODASAKU! DON'T LEAVE! ODASAKU!" Tears began streaming down his face, but he was too lost within his mind to care or notice.
"DAZAI!" Kunikida roared. "Dazai what are you doing! Get a hold of yourself!" Kunikida ran towards Dazai's stumbling figure, grabbing hold of his shoulders and holding him upright.
"NO NO, LET ME GO! ODASAKU!" Dazai cried, he was forced to look on as the car holding his once dead friend drove off, his arm reaching out, as if he could somehow keep Odasaku there by sheer willpower alone. "No no no no no no, he's here, he's actually here, he's alive, he's alive, how, why, he's alive... he's alive..." At this point Dazai had collapsed to the ground in Kunikida's arms, his head was hung low and he had whispered the final few words to himself. Kunikida had been forced to lean down in order to hear him. Dazai's face, that was normally so composed and calm, had become an emotional wreck. Kunikida had never seen him like this in all the years they had worked together. Something was very clearly wrong, Kunikida didn't quite know what, but he was going to find out.
"Dazai, what's wrong? Please, answer me." Kunikida asked as calmly as he could, though it seemed as though Dazai had not heard him. He just kept repeating the words 'Odasaku' and 'he's alive'. Kunikida and Atsushi looked towards one another and made a silent decision to help get Dazai to the car and back to the agency, where they could properly figure this thing out.
The car ride home was silent, save for Dazai's incoherent mumbling. By the time they had returned everyone was sitting around anxiously waiting for them, they had come back much later than the scheduled time, and with the increased activity of the Mafia, and the continuous threat of Fyodor, everyone had rightfully been a bit concerned over their fellow agency members.
"You guys are back!" Kenji called out cheerfully, getting up from his seat on the desk. Everyone looked relieved at seeing their friends return safely. However the cheerful attitude was quickly dropped when they saw the sight of Dazai. He looked awful, he was pale and Kunikida had an arm wrapped around him so he didn't fall. At this everyone was put on edge. They had never seen Dazai as anything other than his cool calm and collected self. Obviously they had seen him when he acted like an idiot, or pretended to be hurt by Kunikida's comments, but they all knew that was for show. No, they had never seen him look so genuinely distraught over anything before, they had never seen Dazai with an emotion that was not one he purposely put on display.
"Dazai?" Asked a hesitant Junichirō. He had never in his life seen Dazai look as... as horrible as he did now. And he was sure that that was the same thought that was going through everyone's heads at that moment.
"What happened out there?" Came Fukuzawa's stern voice. Despite his sometimes outwardly cold nature, he cared deeply for all of the agency's members, and so when one of them was clearly suffering, he wanted to do whatever he could to help. He did a quick scan of all three of them. Physically they all seemed fine, a few scratches and bruises, nothing new from a mission like that. So then what had happened that had caused Dazai to be acting like this? For as long as Fukuzawa had known him, Dazai had never acted like this. He wasn't even sure that Dazai knew he was in the agency, or that anything was going on at all.
"We're not sure, President." Reported Kunikida, however, if you listened closely, you could hear the hints of concern in his voice. On the outside, Kunikida was calm, however inside, he was in turmoil, he felt useless, not being able to help Dazai or even understand what was wrong with him. "We went to the warehouse, fought and defeated the two men there, then a third one came out from the door and Dazai froze up. Then when they left he began screaming for 'Odasaku' to come back, saying 'he's alive'."
By the end of his report, everyone in the room was even more confused than they had been before. Atsushi had taken Dazai to his Agency room. He was still unresponsive and didn't seem to be aware of what was happening around him. However Atsushi had noticed that at the sound of Odasaku's name, Dazai had tensed up, his eyes had widened, and he had begun shaking. But Atsushi didn't know what else to do for him, so he left Dazai to gather his thoughts and joined everyone else in the other room.
"What should we do?" Asked a concerned Kenji. He wanted to help Dazai, but he didn't know the first place to start. None of them did. Dazai's past, although they now knew that he had been an executive in the Port Mafia, was unknown. To say that Dazai rarely talked about his past would be an understatement. He never mentioned it, ever. It was only due to extreme circumstances that they even learnt about his previous affiliation with the Mafia. They had no clue where to start.
"Hmm, we need to find as much information regarding Dazai's past as we can, so we may be able to find out who this 'Odasaku' person is." Kunikida made sure to whisper that last part, as if he was worried that Dazai would somehow hear him. He didn't know the importance of this man, but he clearly meant something to Dazai, so that must be the first place they needed to start.
"Uh..." Atsushi spoke up, "I think I might know where to start." At this all eyes turned to Atsushi and he jumped at the sudden attention he had received.
"What did you have in mind?" The President asked. Dazai was a member of his Agency for 2 years now. He may not always understand Dazai's motivations, but he knew that Dazai had a troubled past. They all knew that much after the discovery of how Dazai had practically been tortured by his father, the previous boss of the Port Mafia, since Dazai was just a small child. Dazai had known nothing except pain and suffering, and then, even when his torture had ended with the death of the boss, he had no where else to go, so had joined the Mafia. Leading him down a path of death and destruction. While they still didn't know why Dazai had decided to leave the Mafia, they were grateful for it either way.
"W- well, Dazai's old partner, Chuuya, was the one who gave us the information about Dazai's childhood... so maybe he knows more about Dazai's past."
"He's got a good point." Damn why didn't I think of that. Kunikida thought. "But how are we going to contact him?"
"We can just call Akutagawa. Atsushi can do it." All eyes in the room now turned to Ranpo, who was now perched on the side of his desk, with a sweet in his mouth. "Call Akutagawa, and ask him to pass us through to Chuuya. Simple"
"How are you sure they will even listen to us?" Kunikida understood that Chuuya had been Dazai's old partner, but would Chuuya really be willing to help them?
"I'm sure. One mention of Dazai's name to Akutagawa, and he'll be willing to give us anything we ask for." Ranpo sounded confident, and with his 'ability' he was never wrong. "Chuuya may be a bit harder to get information out of, but once we tell him what happened, he'll tell us everything we want to know."
"Are you sure about this Ranpo?" The President never really questioned Ranpo, but members of the Port Mafia giving up information so easily? Seemed like a little bit of a stretch, even for Ranpo. But he had never been wrong before, so they decided to take his advice.
Atsushi used the agency's phone and called the number that he knew would get him to Akutagawa. And just as they thought...
"Akutagawa here,"
"H- hi Akutagawa..."
"Weretiger! What do you want, why are you calling this number?"
Everyone in the Agency huddled around Atsushi and the phone, all of them wanting to be able to hear what was said on both sides.
"Well, it's about Dazai..." This certainly gathered a response out of Akutagawa.
"What! What is it about Dazai" While his tone sounded more desperate, rather than concerned, you could still hear the slight twinge of fear behind his words. He may curse Dazai's name, but deep down he still craved for Dazai's approval and recognition.
"Uh something happened today," Atsushi wasn't too sure what Akutagawa's response would be exactly, but he was glad at least that it didn't sound like he was going to hang up at all. "Look, I was just wondering if we could talk to Chuuya."
"And why exactly do you want to talk to Chuuya?" Akutagawa asked suspiciously.
"We went to a warehouse today, and we saw this guy there." Atsushi decided to skip out on some of the unnecessary details of their operation, "When Dazai saw him he called him 'Odasaku'?"
They all heard Akutagawa's surprised response, and how the line went completely silent. Atsushi was half worried that Akutagawa had hung up on him.
"That is not possible. That man died many years ago. I don't know who Dazai saw, but it was most certainly not Odasaku." Akutagawa seemed pretty sure in his response. But Dazai would not have called out the way he did if it wasn't the man he thought it was. Not to mention the fact that the man looked at Dazai with a sense of recognition, so there must be some connection between the two of them.
"Look," Kunikida spoke over the phone, "Dazai knows what he saw. We know that Chuuya was Dazai's old partner, so we were hoping to get information out of him about Dazai's past. That is, unless you know something that could be helpful to us?"
Akutagawa sighed, "I cannot say I know much about Dazai. But I do know that Odasaku used to be a friend of Dazai's, but he was killed in action. After that, Dazai left the Mafia and went underground, only to resurface as a part of your pathetic agency." By the end Akutagawa sounded bitter and annoyed, displaying his dislike for the agency very clearly. "I will admit, Chuuya is likely to know a lot more about Dazai than I do."
"Then please, let us talk to him," Some people in the agency would disapprove of the fact that Atsushi was almost begging Akutagawa for assistance, but it seemed to be working. "Please, if you won't do it for us, could you do it for Dazai?"
This caused Akutagawa to pause. "Very well, I will put you through to Chuuya. You will have to give me a minute."
Everyone silently celebrated. The first half of the plan was working, now they needed to talk to Chuuya.
They heard talking, or yelling, over the other side of the phone, until they heard a familiar voice.
"Chuuya Nakahara speaking, what do you want?" He spoke gruffly, as if he didn't want to be there, which to be honest, he probably didn't.
"Chuuya, it Kunikida," Kunikida had taken the phone from Atsushi at this point, deciding it would be best for him to do the rest of the speaking. "Look, we need to talk about Dazai."
"What had that suicidal maniac done now? And why are you calling us about it?"
"We had an encounter today-" Kunikida began.
"Yeah and what's that got to do with me?" Chuuya was clearly very impatient. The perfect partner for Dazai, Kunikida thought.
"Just let me explain already," Said a frustrated Kunikida. "We had an encounter today... with a man Dazai referred to as 'Odasaku'"
The line was silent. On the other end, Chuuya's eyes had widened, and he had found his breath caught in his throat.
After a moment of silence, they finally got a response "That's not possible, ok. That man is dead. Dazai clearly didn't see what he thought he did."
"Funny, we got the exact same response from Akutagawa," Chuuya remained silent. "He also told us that it was not possible, and that Dazai must have seen something else. So tell me, what is the significance of Odasaku." Kunikida was determined to get answers, and the fact that both their answers were so similar, meant that the name did mean something, something that they didn't want to bring up.
Chuuya sighed and rubbed the bridge between his eyes. Dazai was never going to not be a problem for him.
"Look, this isn't the type of conversation I can have just over the phone." Chuuya said. "I'll send you a location. Meet me there."
"How do we know this won't be a trap?" Kunikida, and the rest of the agency, were not exactly fond of the Mafia, to put it lightly. And the convenience of them being able to arrange a meeting like this, provides the perfect opportunity to create an ambush.
"You don't."
Everyone in the Agency froze at his words. Were they really going to set a trap for them?
"You have no way of knowing for sure that this won't be a trap." Chuuya began. "All you have is my word, I only want to talk to you about Dazai."
Kunikida had to stop to consider his proposition. It would be a risk, they would be forced to trust Chuuya, a member of the Port Mafia, to stay true to his word.
"Alright then," Kunikida decided. They needed to do this for Dazai. In order to help him they needed to learn more about him, and who Odasaku was.
And with that, the conversation was over as the line went silent on both ends.
"Are we sure we can trust them?" Junichirō asked nervously.
"We don't really have a choice." Kunikida replied, "If we want to help Dazai, we need to do this."
"Hey, we just got a message from an unknown number." Atsushi said as he looked at the notification on his computer. "It must be where Chuuya wants us to meet him."
"Kunikida, Atsushi and Ranpo." The three whose names had been called all looked up towards the President. "You three shall be the ones to meet with the Port Mafia. Atsushi, is there a set time in that message?"
Atsushi looked over the message again, and at the end of the message, "At sunset tomorrow."
"Well the Mafia always likes to work at night." Sighed Kunikida.
"Very well, then it's settled. You three shall meet with the Port Mafia tomorrow at sunset, learn everything you can." Fukuzawa ordered. "Should you need any form of assistance, contact us and we shall arrive shortly. We must help Dazai, and the only way to do that, is to learn who this 'Odasaku' man is."
"Yes President." A chorus of voices spoke.
Don't worry Dazai. Atsushi thought. It's my turn to help you.
So that was the third chapter! Please review and let me know what you think of it. I'll try and get the next chapter up as quickly as possible.