Authors note: hi guys, sorry for the wait again. I had written a draft for this but decided to re-write it, so it took a little longer to finish. Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think of it.
Thank you Kareena13, Slyphinchan, Knetterzak for reviewing! I promise I will update sooner!
They weren't sure exactly what they would need in order to break into the Port Mafia. It was easy to say that's what they were going to do, but much less easy to actually do it. Of course they were still going to try. They knew Dazai was not exactly... in the right frame of mind... with everything that had been going on.
Atsushi was feeling overridden with guilt. While a part of him knew he had to have left in order to talk to Chuuya, he still couldn't help feeling that it was partly his fault. He hadn't been there to support Dazai when he had needed him the most, and now Dazai was gone. But they would get him back. There was no doubt in his mind about that, even if it was a rather daunting task, starting a fight with the entirety of the Port Mafia...
Kunikida was working with Ranpo in the main office, trying to figure out a strategy that would work, and not leave them all injured and dead. It wasn't exactly easy to bust into the Port Mafia. Maybe for someone like Dazai, who seemed to still have some form of reputation there, but not for them. If they just arrived on the scene with nothing, they would be shot down and surrounded immediately. So they needed a better plan. One that wouldn't get them all killed, and would help them drag Dazai's sorry ass back home with them.
Tensions remained high in the agency, everyone was busy doing something. Whether it was gathering supplies, working on strategies, or just mulling over how this fight was actually gonna go down, no one was just sitting around doing nothing. They didn't have time for that. For all they knew, Dazai could already be being held hostage, or even already be dead. They all knew that plenty of people in the Mafia would love to get their revenge on Dazai, and who knew what Mori was going to do when he found out that Dazai had gone to visit the Port Mafia again.
Mori looked up at Dazai. His eyes were cold and calculating as they stared down at him, just as they had always been, even when Mori had known him as a teenager. Dazai's eyes had never shone in any way, they were always dark and unnerving. Which was one of the reasons everyone was always so intimidated by him. But not Mori. He had seen Dazai enough times to no longer be affected by the lack of life shown from those eyes. Though, there seemed to be some emotion that was extremely rare to be seen behind his eyes at that moment. Fear. As well as confusion. Now this was what truly scared Mori. The fact that Dazai looked afraid and confused about... something.
What could have possibly happened to make Dazai look like this?
A cool silence had settled between the two. With Mori waiting for Dazai to explain why and how he had suddenly arrived. He had given strict orders to his guards to not let anyone in as he was doing his paperwork. Though he had to admit, this turn of events was turning out far more interesting. Eventually, Dazai broke the prevailing silence.
"Hello Mori!"
It was said in such a deceptively sweet tone, as he tilted his head to the side, closed his eyes and gave a smile towards him. Mori was stunned for a moment. The sudden change in emotions threw him off guard. But he had to remind himself that this was Dazai. You never knew what to expect with him.
"Dazai…" Mori began almost hesitantly. "What brings you here?"
"Now that is a very interesting story!"
Dazai was now sitting half on Mori's desk, holding a hand up to his chin, as if in thought. Mori looked at this with a twisted sense of familiarity. It seemed Dazai had not changed much since he had left the Mafia. Still playing mind games, still using emotions as a way to fool people and throw them off guard. It had always been his strategy. Acting overly happy one second, only to turn dead serious the next, and then vice versa. With Dazai, you never knew what you were going to get. But for someone like Mori, who had known Dazai for most of his life, these sudden changes were to be expected. It was Dazai's way of throwing off his enemies, and even his friends. He didn't like it when people knew what he was going to do next. Or for them to be able to predict his next thoughts.
Mori was thrown out of his thought process by Dazai's next question.
"Happen to know anyone who can, say I don't know, bring people back from the dead?"
Mori stared at Dazai with a blank but confused expression. Dazai had said the last line, while staring directly into Mori's eyes, as if trying to discern everything that was going through Mori's head, with no shred of humour. He was dead serious.
Mori was unable to fathom an answer. Someone who could bring people back from the dead? It seemed impossible. Sure their abilities were incredibly powerful and meant they would do things no other human could, but to be able to bring someone back from the dead? It was just a bit too much.
"I only ask because something has happened recently, and I was just wondering if you might have had a hand in it."
Dazai was now back with the energetic and goofy tone, emphasising the 'you' as he looked directly at Mori.
Mori cleared his throat, and prepared to give Dazai an answer. All of this had been so sudden and unexpected, he had no real idea of what had brought this on exactly. Obviously, someone had been brought back from the dead somehow, but what he couldn't understand is why Dazai had immediately thought it was the Mafia.
"I am afraid I do not have any clue what you are speaking of. I have not even heard about anyone being able to bring people back from the dead."
Mori answered in a serious tone. Dazai was not the only one who was able to hide his true emotions.
Dazai seemed to contemplate for a second, before suddenly standing up, making his coat fly out behind him as he turned to look out the windows at the retreating sun, allowing an almost peaceful expression to fall on his face. Though Mori could see behind that, there was turmoil. Something was clearly troubling Dazai.
"Tell me Dazai, why did you come straight here to ask me about this?"
Mori enquired.
"Surely you would have a better idea about who had the power to bring someone back from the dead?"
Mori knew that their agency had a lot of information on a lot of people, and if the Mafia had someone who was able to revive others, they would have exploited that person a long time ago.
"Oh I know exactly who it was."
Dazai replied without even turning to look at Mori, he just continued to stare out at the sunset.
This caused Mori to falter yet again.
"If you already know who it was... then why did you come here, to ask me about it?"
"Because, you are one of the few people to have the information and the knowledge to have done something like this."
Dazai's tone was becoming accusatory and dark. There was a reason Mori had used him for the more... threatening jobs when he was still an executive in the Mafia. Dazai was extremely intimidating when he wanted to be, which was one of the reasons he had been such a good exec. But in this case, Mori did not exactly want to be on the receiving end of Dazai's wrath. Even if he had no clue what Dazai was talking about.
"I am afraid I do not know of this information that you speak of."
"Oh but you do."
Dazai had now turned to look directly at Mori. His eyes pierced into his soul. Mori refrained from looking away.
"Here," Dazai began, now walking towards Mori's desk again, "allow me to explain a little more."
Mori looked towards Dazai expectantly, waiting for answers. He could have had someone come in here to take Dazai away almost immediately, but he was curious to see where this would go.
Dazai stopped directly in front of Mori's desk and allowed his next words to be said without a hint of emotion.
"Odasaku is alive."
"Damn him."
Chuuya grumbled to himself as he made his way back to the Port Mafia. Dazai was becoming such a pain in the ass. As if he hadn't always been that! Even when he was no longer in the Mafia, Dazai still found ways to thoroughly piss him off.
But this whole situation with Oda was something else. On one hand, he couldn't care any less. This was Dazai's issue, not his. But on the other hand, he did hate to see his friend suffer. No, they are not friends! Dazai abandoned them! He left him. Dazai was not his friend. Dazai annoyed the hell out of him, he's nothing more than a betraying piece of shit.
But... no one really deserved the shit that Dazai had been through. Emotions piled through Chuuya's head, giving him a splitting headache.
"Damn you Dazai, you're more trouble than your worth."
Chuuya whispered to himself. He was now approaching the main office for the Mafia, fully intending to go straight to bed and try his best to not think about what had happened, and how, if Mori ever found out about this, he had no doubt that he would be dead on the sidewalk by tomorrow. He had given out information to their enemies. Even though it hadn't been anything that would really affect the Mafia, it would likely still be seen as a betrayal, and he wasn't Dazai, he couldn't just leave the Mafia and expect nothing to happen.
He also didn't have any intention of ever leaving the Mafia. Though he would love to drag Dazai's sorry ass back to it. He was the one that pulled Chuuya into the Mafia in the first place, so it only seemed fair that Chuuya would be the one to bring Dazai back home. But... Dazai was the one who betrayed them. For whatever reason. So, as much as Chuuya did want Dazai to come back to them, although he would never admit that to ANYONE, he knew the chances of Dazai leaving the Agency were slim to none.
Chuuya sighed to himself as he walked through the doors, he was obviously well known in the Mafia as the guards simply stepped to the side in order to let him in. He had to admit, he rather enjoyed the power that he held here. He tilted his head down, his hat now shielding his eyes. He began his walk towards his room, fully intending to go straight to sleep to mull over everything that had happened. However, that plan was brought to an abrupt halt when he overheard a certain event that had apparently just taken place.
"I know. Who would have ever thought that Dazai would ever show his face here again?!"
"Yeah, but I mean, no one stopped him. He just waltzed right through!"
The conversation was happening between two random people Chuuya did not care to learn about in any way. All he had heard was that Dazai had been here at some point. Maybe he was still here? Chuuya had to know.
He broke from his original path, to walk directly towards the two thugs. They both turned to look at him with fear in their eyes. They were not sure why an executive had stormed up to them, looking like he wanted to murder them on the spot.
"What did you just say?"
It was said so calmly, as if he was just asking them a friendly question. Yet that just made them both more afraid of him and what they could have possibly done to piss him off. Chuuya's reputation was nothing to make fun of, there was a reason he had been made an executive.
"U-uh, w-we were just t-talking about how Dazai h-had been seen walking t-through here e-earlier."
The man's voice had become progressively quieter as he had spoken, due to Chuuya's rising anger. Chuuya began to glow red as his anger activated his ability.
I am going to kill him!
What was Dazai doing here? Those fucks at the agency had said that they had someone who had been looking after Dazai! So how was he here now? Then it hit him. Of course! How could he be so stupid! Dazai suddenly sees Oda alive, and so goes straight to the Mafia in order to get answers. Dazai was never one to sit around too long. He no doubt snuck out from the agency.
Chuuya steeled himself over and quickly turned and walked away from those thugs to go straight towards Mori's office. Which was where Dazai would have gone first, he had no doubt about that.
Chuuya found himself starting to run. He was almost afraid that he was going to be too late, and that Dazai would have already left. He had to catch him before he was able to leave. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say, but he just had to speak to him.
He had it to Mori's office in no time. However was stopped by the guards in front of the doors.
"I'm sorry, but Mori asked for no one to disturb him."
"I don't give a damn! Now let me in!"
Chuuya was angry. That was for sure. He could tell that Dazai was behind those doors, and he wanted nothing more than to yell at that idiot about... something he hadn't decided on yet, but he knew that he wanted to yell at him. But these damn guards were standing in his way.
"I'm afraid we cannot let you do that."
Chuuya could just about hear someone walking towards the door from the other side. He finally decided he had enough, consequence be damned, so he used his ability to throw the guards out the way.
However, just as he opened the door and prepared to rush in, he had to suddenly stop his momentum to avoid bumping into the one man he was looking for.
"Well that was a lovely conversation Mori!"
Dazai exclaimed with false cheer, waving goodbye to Mori. Dazai then gave a single glance towards Chuuya, and went to walk out the door. Turning his back to Mori completely, as he began walking out of his office.
"Yes," Came the smooth reply of Mori, "It was very... informative. Until next time, Dazai."
And with that, Mori turned back to the papers on his desk, acting as if the person who had betrayed the Mafia was not standing right in front of them. However, Chuuya was not amused and wanted answers, now.
"Hey! Someone care to explain to me what the hell is going on here?"
Most people would not be able to get away with yelling like that, especially in front of Mori, but Chuuya did not really care. He knew that there would likely be no real repercussion to his yelling, and all he really cared about at that moment was getting answers. While he knew one side of it, having learnt about it from Dazai's Agency friends, he wanted to know what had been said by Dazai.
"Ahh, Chuuya," Mori looked up from his work to see his executive impatiently standing at the door. "What brings you here?"
Dazai had stopped by the door and was now looking towards Chuuya from the corner of his eyes, still facing as if he was planning to leave. Chuuya was caught unable to think of anything, he hadn't exactly thought about what he was actually going to say, too caught up in trying to catch Dazai before he left. He settled for angrily asking what had been going on.
"Well you see," came the manipulative voice of Mori, "Dazai and I were just having a simple conversation. Nothing that concerns you, since you should not have even been allowed to enter this room."
Now that comment hurt Chuuya more than he cared to admit. He may not have been on Dazai's level, but he was still an executive in the Port Mafia, and he deserved answers. Normally he wouldn't have really cared about something like this, but in this case he did. He cared about anything that concerned Dazai, whether it was suicide attempts, or whether he had decided to just casually walk into the Port Mafia with no resistance.
"Sorry boss but that just won't fly with me," Chuuya was taking a risk talking back to Mori like this, but he really didn't care at that moment, "Now I feel like I deserve some answers here. Dazai just waltzes into the Mafia, into your office, has a 'lovely conversation' with you, and then fucks off? I don't think so."
Chuuya switched from glaring towards Dazai and Mori as he made his little speech. It was plainly obvious to anyone that Mori still wanted Dazai to return as a member of the Mafia, he made no real move to hide it. Mori had even offered Dazai his old position back, willing to just overlook his betrayal. Chuuya knew that it would be extremely beneficial for the Mafia to have Dazai back on their side, but at the same time, it would be hard for people to take orders from someone who had betrayed them.
"Well, if you must know," Dazai began, finally making himself a part of their conversation, "I was just asking about an old friend."
And with that, Dazai turned and continued walking out of Mori's office. Chuuya stared at him blankly for a second, before rushing to follow him out of the door. In his office, Mori sighed, a small smirk brushing his lips, before returning back to his paperwork at last.
Dazai had wanted this little trip to be quick so he could make it back to the Agency, hopefully before anyone noticed he was gone. However, that was rather unlikely. Dazai had no doubt that they had now discovered he was missing, and were now looking all over for him. He knew it was possible, and probably likely, that Ranpo had figured out where he was going, and they were all now rushing to 'save him' from the Mafia.
But in the end, it was worth it. After he had told Mori about Odasaku's resurrection, he had been able to confirm some of his suspicions, as well as find out some new information. Now came the hard part, trying to get Chuuya off his tail, and trying to stop an all out war from beginning between the Agency and the Mafia.
Dazai continued to walk out of the Mafia, with no one blocking his path. Aside from Chuuya who he could hear coming up behind him. He sighed inwardly to himself. He hadn't wanted to run into Chuuya, he knew it was almost inevitable, but he had still hoped he could have avoided a meeting with his old partner.
"Dazai! Dazai wait up!" Chuuya called out.
But Dazai didn't wait around for him, he kept marching towards the doors. Dazai had a feeling that his colleagues would be here any second, and he needed to be outside in order to make sure no one died unnecessarily.
Chuuya was now catching up with him, but he couldn't let that distract him. He had a feeling the others were just outside the door, and he was proven right as he stepped outside. He could see almost all of the agency members walking towards the Mafia, with Kunikida walking in the front. Some people were missing, like Ranpo and the President. He wasn't sure what their plan was exactly, but he was ready to put an end to it.
And that's exactly what happened. At the sight of Dazai Kunikida stopped in his tracks and stared at him. Dazai returned the glare evenly. Kunikida's face became full of shock and anger. A rather familiar sight.
"DAZAI! What the hell is wrong with you, you suicidal maniac! What are you doing at the Port Mafia!"
Dazai had no doubt that Ranpo had quickly deduced what Dazai had been thinking when he had left his apartment. So Kunikida also likely knew why he had left, but had decided to ask anyway. Dazai was tired, and for once was not willing to play any kind of game with Kunikida. He could see they had all come prepared with the intention of a full out war with the Mafia, and while he was honoured that they would go that far for him, all he wanted was to go home and sleep for a day.
However that was apparently not what Kunikida had in mind. He ran up to Dazai and grabbed him by his collar, holding him above the ground. Dazai looked down at him with a smirk on his lips. He may be tired but he never missed an opportunity to annoy his partner. Speaking of partners, Chuuya was now behind them, looking angrily up at Kunikida. Dazai knew this was going to get out of hand real soon, and so decided to wrap things up.
"Well Kunikida, such a surprise to see you here!"
"Don't play those games with me Dazai! Now, we are going back to the agency where you will stay put while we sort this whole thing out!"
Dazai sighed in false disappointment as he continued to mock Kunikida. By this point, most of their colleagues had now caught up to them and were watching this rather strange and yet familiar sight with a sense of dread.
"Very well," Dazai began, "Farewell Chuuya, until we meet again!"
And with that, Dazai got out of Kunikida's choke hold, and began walking away from all of them, as if nothing had happened. Everyone stared at his retreating form, no one quite sure what to do. The members of the agency, having come fully prepared to take on the Mafia, were left confused, just standing around not quite sure where to go next. Kunikida had to contact Ranpo and the President to update them on recent events, and to tell them to go back to the agency to intercept Dazai, promising that he would explain more when they all got back.
Kunikida gave a side glance towards Chuuya who seemed to be almost as shocked as the rest of them, but as soon as Chuuya saw Kunikida's glare, he returned with one of his own. Despite their temporary alliance of sorts, they were by no means allies.
Kunikida signalled for the rest of his colleagues to follow him as they returned back to the Agency. While a lot of them had been wary about the fight, some of them had been slightly looking forward to a large battle. But regardless, they were all happy to return home with no injuries, and with Dazai.
Chuuya watched their retracting backs. While he would never admit it, he was slightly sad to see Dazai go. He had hoped to be able to speak with him at least one more time. Maybe to even ask him whether he was alright. He knew that Dazai was hiding his true feelings about this whole situation, and he knew that it was affecting Dazai more than he was letting on. Dazai was always good at hiding his true emotions, he always had been, for as long as Chuuya had known him. That was just how Dazai was.
"Well that all sounds very promising."
Declared a man with a smooth Russian accent. He placed his tea cup back down on the table as he looked towards the man standing in the back of the room. The man's head was tilted down, an expression of guilt plastered on his face. His long coat became dirty from the grime on the wall he was leaning against, but the man could not bring himself to care.
Fyodor smirked at the sight. His plan was going perfectly. He had also heard from some of his informants, that Dazai had recently paid a visit to the Mafia, just as he had wanted. The more rattled and confused Dazai was, the better. It would make him all the easier to mess with. This was what Fyodor loved. To get inside someone's head and tear them apart from the inside. However someone like Dazai often posed more of a challenge. Dazai was smart and cunning, there was a reason he had been known as the Demon Prodigy of the Mafia, he was highly intelligent and most people would be no match against him. However, Dazai had one downfall. He cared. Most people like Dazai did not care whether someone they knew lived or died, but Dazai was different. He cared about certain people who were close to him, and that made him vulnerable. Despite not caring for his own life, he cared for those around him, making him just like everyone else.
Which was slightly disappointing for Fyodor. He had to admit, he had been hoping for more of a challenge from someone with Dazai's reputation. But it did not matter, Dazai was still harder to defeat than anyone he had come across before, which would make breaking him, so much more enjoyable.
"Let them know that I am ready to continue with the next phase of the plan." Fyodor looked towards the man in the corner again, "It is time we pay Dazai another visit."
Odasaku was a mess. He now had some idea as to why he had been brought here, and it was not good. He had overheard the man with the Russian accent talking about Dazai, though he could not hear exactly what was said. But he knew now that it was definitely not good. He had been brought here as part of a plan to take down Dazai.
He was standing in a room with the man he had first seen when he had awoken. That itself was a rather strange experience to say the least. He was suddenly thrown back to the world of the living, a place he no longer belonged, and was now part of some plan to take down his old friend. With no way to escape this place, he was forced to remain, wandering the halls, trying to find some way to escape. But to no avail.
He didn't know what to do. He had found that most of the time he had control over his own movements, but as soon as he was given an order, it was like his body began to move by itself. He had no control over it. Which meant that, when he sees Dazai again, he may have no choice but to fight him. If that happened to be the command he was given. And he had no doubt that these sadistic people would do anything to destroy Dazai from the inside out. And what better way to do that than by having him fight, and maybe even kill, his oldest friend.
Authors note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one will come out soon. Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far. I was also wondering if u guys wanted to hear the conversation that Dazai had with Mori, just as Chuuya had interrupted them, just let me know if that's something you would want me to write about.