Authors note: Hi guys, hope you enjoy this new chapter. The next one might take a while to come out as I'm planning to do quite a big chapter, but I hope you still enjoy this one.
Dazai was sitting in his apartment, looking up at the ceiling. He knew that Fyodor was the one behind all of this, and his talk with Mori had confirmed some of Dazai's suspicions. The Mafia were not a part of it. He hadn't thought that they were, but he still felt the need to check. He was at war with Fyodor, each of them trying to outsmart the other, and at the moment, Dazai was at a disadvantage. Fyodor had more information and more power than Dazai at this point. So Dazai had to do what he could in order to take Fyodor down. It was a battle of minds. Their kind of fights were not always fought with hand to hand combat, of course that was a part of it, but the real challenge came when trying to outsmart the other.
Dazai knew that Fyodor had Odasaku, and that he somehow had him under his control. It was the only explanation Dazai had as to why Odasaku had left the way he did. Nothing else made sense in Dazai's mind. Not the way Oda was alive, not the way Oda just... just left him, no... none of it made sense.
Oda wouldn't leave... he was Dazai's friend. At least, that was what he always said... but in the end, he had still left him. It may have been four years ago now, but Dazai was still not over it, having to watch as life drained from his friends' eyes. As the colour in his skin became a pale white, as his body grew heavier and limp as he lost any strength he had left, and as he had muttered his final words to Dazai. He had left, he had died, and left Dazai all alone.
Dazai had no one after that. He was lost, confused, and he didn't know where to go. Oda had told him that he had to leave the Mafia... but... to leave the only family he had ever known... He had never been sure as to whether he had made the right choice that day. Had he actually done what his friend had asked? Or had he just wasted his life, fulfilling a useless promise. And now he had been given a chance to find an answer to his question, but... that chance at redemption, the chance to talk to his friend one final time, had been ripped away from him before his very eyes. Fyodor had the control, he had the power. Leaving Dazai with nothing.
Suddenly he heard a knock at his door, and through the bottom of the door came a small piece of paper. Dazai looked at it with morbid interest. He couldn't think of anyone he knew who would ever send him any form of letter, so Dazai was filled with caution as he approached the mysterious envelope. He picked it up off the ground to find it had no form of address on it of any kind. Just his own name, written on the front in messy handwriting, as if it had been written by a child. He examined the note, and saw no other writing. He was tempted to go and tell the others about this, but decided against it. Kunikida had already yelled at him enough after his little 'stunt' visiting the Port Mafia, and he knew a letter like this would get them all involved. Which was the last thing he wanted.
Despite portraying himself as someone who could not care any less about what happened to himself, he did care about what happened to those he held close to him. So he didn't want his friends to be any more involved in this than they already were. This was between him and Fyodor. No one had to get hurt because of him. Though he had a bad feeling Fyodor was not going to let them just stay out of it unharmed.
He turned his attention back to the note. He opened the envelope to see nothing more than a piece of paper, with some crudely written writing on it. He took the paper out of the envelope and read it.
Dear Dazai,
I hope this message finds you well. I am sure you are dying to see your old friend once more. He certainly has been eager to see you.
If you want to see him again, please come to this address ********** at sunset in two days time, and please, do come alone. I would hate for anyone else to spoil the reunion. I am sure it will be an eventful meeting.
Fyodor.
Dazai placed the note down on the table. He knew what this meant. Fyodor was going to have him talk to Odasaku. The only thing Dazai still had trouble with, was why. Why had Fyodor done all of this? Was it all just to take him down? Fyodor was doing a lot of work to try and ensure that Dazai was broken beyond repair, and he had to admit, it had worked pretty well. The first time Dazai had seen Odasaku alive, he had become a mess, thoughts all fought inside his head as he tried to wrap his mind around what he was seeing in front of him. He had been lost and confused, just like when Oda had died. At the time, Dazai had not known where to go. And even after all these years, he still didn't. Oda being alive again, while Dazai now understood more of what was happening, was still destroying him from the inside out. Just as Fyodor no doubt wanted. Dazai couldn't allow himself to become that man's puppet. He had to find a way to beat him. The only question was how.
But the only way to do that was to go and face Fyodor himself. He wouldn't allow Fyodor to continue to hide behind his tricks any longer. Even if it meant having to face Odasaku.
Kunikida knew that Dazai was hiding something. Despite the fact that many people thought that he and Dazai didn't get along, that wasn't true. They did make a good team when they needed to. And so Kunikida knew when Dazai was being even more secretive than usual. He no longer allowed any one in his apartment, where Kunikida had once heard Dazai talking to himself while walking past his door. He hadn't quite been able to hear everything that Dazai had said, but he had heard the words, 'Odasaku', 'sunset', 'letter'. When he had tried to question Dazai about it, he had just waved him off and said it was nothing. However, that only caused Kunikida's suspicions to grow. It had been a little more than a day since they had 'rescued' Dazai from the Mafia.
More like he just walked out of there on his own.
Kunikida had to admit, he really didn't know much at all about Dazai. Sure he had learnt more about him thanks to Chuuya, but Dazai had never really told them anything about what his life had been like while he was in the Mafia. While Dazai had never lied to them about it, he had never gone out of his way to talk to them about it either. Kunikida could understand though. Dazai was a very secretive person, and it also wasn't great to say that you used to be in the Mafia. Especially considering the level that Dazai had been at. They had learnt that he had been the youngest executive in the Mafia, ever. That was no small feat. And Kunikida had no doubt that Dazai had killed many people during his time as an executive.
But that didn't mean that Dazai couldn't talk to them now. They knew more than they did before, so they could now help him. Kunikida decided that he wasn't going to just let Dazai sulk in his apartment anymore, so he made the decision to go and talk with him. He wasn't too sure what he would talk about... but he had a feeling that Dazai just needed someone to talk to.
He made up his mind and left his seat in the office to go towards the apartment block. However, just as he made it to Dazai's door, he heard what sounded like furniture being moved. He moved quickly to open the door to make sure Dazai was alright. Knowing that maniac he could be doing anything. But, just as he tried to open the door, he found that the handle wouldn't budge. He kept trying it but the door didn't open, no matter how hard he tried.
"DAZAI!" Kunikida yelled as he continued to struggle, trying to open the door, "OPEN THE DAMN DOOR DAZAI!"
Kunikida could tell that the door was locked, but there seemed to be something else holding it in place. Kunikida took a step back and rammed into the door, but no luck. He heard something move on the other side of the door, but it still did not open. He tried again, and again, and again, but it wasn't working. He didn't have superstrength like Kenji did, but he didn't have time to go and look for him. He had to get to Dazai now. For all he knew, Dazai was trying to kill himself on the other side of that door. Kunikida wouldn't put it past him. All the stress with the Mafia and seeing his old friend alive again, may have just been enough to push Dazai over the edge.
Kunikida kept pushing against the door. Praying to whoever was listening that he wasn't too late, and that Dazai was ok on the other side of the door. The door was beginning to loosen, he was now able to see inside the room through a small slit in the door. He kept trying, kept pushing against the door until he was finally able to break it down.
When he went inside he was greeted with Dazai staring at him while standing at the open windowsill, looking as if he was about to jump out. The windows were too close to the ground for Dazai to be thinking about jumping from there as a way to kill himself. Which just left Kunikida confused as to why Dazai had barricaded his door and was now blankly staring at him from the window.
After another moment of silence, Kunikida tried to lunge towards Dazai, however that only caused Dazai to quickly leap out of the window, with Kunikida trying to catch him before he left. However he was too late. By the time he had made it to the windows ledge, having to avoid all the furniture on the ground, Dazai had already jumped out and had landed in a crouch on the ground. The height from which he jumped must have injured his legs, but Dazai simply got up without missing a beat and, without looking back, ran off in some unknown direction. His body became illuminated by the setting sun, as his figure became a silhouette, shrouded in shadows. Kunikida watched him leave, feeling unable to do anything to stop him. He knew that, if he were to jump from the height, he would surely injure himself, as he was sure Dazai had.
It was then that kunikida noticed a small piece of paper on the floor by the window. It was addressed to Dazai. Kunikida's eyes widened as he read the note. Anger overtook him as he crumpled the piece of paper in his hands.
He had read everything on the paper, and was now even more angry than before. Why had Dazai hidden this from them? They would have been able to help him! But instead of asking for any kind of help, Dazai just left, telling them nothing. Kunikida was sure Dazai hadn't meant to drop that note, and hadn't thought that anyone was going to try and open his door while he was trying to escape. So, while Kunikida now understood why Dazai had been acting so strange lately, he didn't know where to go from there. If he went to gather everyone together, that would take time away from being able to catch Dazai before he made it to the address. However, if he just went now, with no back up, he had no doubt that Fyodor's men would be there, ready to take him out.
Speaking of which. The note had been written by Fyodor? He was the one behind all of this? Thinking about it, it made sense. Dazai may have not told them much when he had returned from the Mafia, but he had said that he was now sure that they had not been the ones behind this. That meant that, if the Mafia weren't involved, there was a very small list of people who had the motive or the means to pull something like this off. And Fyodor was probably on the top of that list.
But he didn't have time to think about the implications of that right now. He would be able to sort that out later, but first he needed to catch up to Dazai, he was already wasting his time. He decided that the best and most efficient way to do this would be to phone the President, while he chased Dazai. That was he knew that the President would be able to tell everyone the situation, and he would be able to make sure Dazai didn't do anything stupid. With that decided, he took out his notebook, and activated his ability.
Doppo poet.
He created a wire gun, which he used to leap from the apartment windows, shooting it at a neighbouring building, landing safely on the ground.
Once he had made it to the ground, he looked once more at the note in his hands. He knew that address. It was a large abandoned warehouse by the sea, one that had been used previously as a drug smuggling ring. It would take a while for Dazai to get there, especially if he was on foot, and he knew Dazai must have hurt his leg from that fall. But Dazai did always find ways to surprise him.
Kunikida knew that, in order to catch up to Dazai, he would need some vehicle instead of trying to run. But where was he going to get something he could use? Then he remembered. The Agency. They had department regulated vehicles in their garage. He would need to take one of them. He ran to the garage as fast as he could, and quickly jumped into the nearest car. He wasted no time in starting the engine. With one of his hands he drove through the streets, while the other unlocked his phone in order to phone the President.
The President answered quickly, his authoritative voice speaking over the phone. Kunikida quickly explained the situation to him, telling him to contact the others as well, and then promptly hung up. Now, he had to focus on finding Dazai before it was too late. He knew, and likely Dazai knew, that this was nothing more than a trap. Fyodor obviously had something else planned, something designed to take Dazai down once and for all. And Kunikida couldn't allow that to happen. If he had learnt anything over the past few weeks, it was that Dazai had been through a lot. More than Kunikida ever thought. Having to grow up in the Mafia with no one really there to support you, and then having the only person you could call your friend die right in front of you.
He was ripped from his thoughts by the sound of car horns going off around him. He had lost himself in his thoughts. He didn't have time for that. He could talk to Dazai about all of this later, what he needed to do now was make sure Dazai remained alive so he could lecture him again about not letting them help him.
"Just hang on Dazai," Kunikida spoke to himself as he leaned over the wheel, as he got closer and closer to his destination, "I'm coming for you."
When Atsushi got the call from the President, he suddenly felt dread rise up within him. There were only a number of reasons the President would be calling him, and none of them were good. Unfortunately, his suspicions were proven correct when he heard what Kunikida had told the President. Dazai was in trouble, again. But why hadn't he come to them for help? Did he not trust them enough? Whatever Dazai's reasoning, it wasn't important. All that mattered in that moment was getting to the destination that Kunikida had told them about.
He was unable to drive, so he got in the car with Yosano and Kyoka, as the three of them sat in silence. They were at least ten minutes behind everyone else, as Yosano had to get all the medical equipment she thought they may need from the agency.
The atmosphere in the car was tense. None of them were too sure what they were getting themselves into. All they knew was that Dazai was in trouble, and they had now learnt that Fyodor had been behind all of this.
Atsushi had thought at first that this had been because of the Mafia. It was the most obvious and likely possibility, but that had been proven wrong when they had met up with Chuuya. Looking back on it, they had never really suspected the Mafia, it had always been a thought in the back of his mind, but at the time his focus had been on finding out who Odaskaku was. So he had brushed those thoughts aside in favour of talking with Chuuya, and giving him the benefit of the doubt, mostly. But now, hearing that all of their strife, all of Dazai's suffering, all of their suffering, was caused by Fyodor. Atsushi wanted nothing more than to rip that man's head clean from his shoulders. Most of the time, Atsushi refrained from violence when he could, but not with this man. Fyodor was merciless and cruel. He did not care for anyone or anything, besides himself.
Atsushi looked out of the car window, everything in his vision became blurry as the speed of the car increased. Yosano clearly had no intentions of slowing down, or following the speed limit. But Atsushi didn't mind, he knew that Dazai no doubt had a plan, however that plan was likely risky and dangerous. Dazai may be a genius, but his plans could be at best reckless, and at worst downright insane. Atsushi looked down at his phone to check the map they were following in order to find the address. He felt he remembered the President saying something about a drug smuggling ring, but Atsushi had stopped paying attention by that point. Too busy running to find Yosano and Kyoka.
"Turn left here." Atsushi instructed, as he pointed out the window.
Yosano swiftly turned the car as soon as the turning came. Her hands were gripping the wheel in a death grip as her eyes remained steadily focused on the road in front of her. Nothing was distracting her, nothing besides her own wandering thoughts.
None of them knew exactly what to expect, but they had heard their President's orders, and had followed them without hesitation.
For Dazai.
They all thought.
Kunikida had driven the most direct route to the warehouse, and yet had not seen Dazai at any step of the way. While it was possible that he had just missed him, he had been keeping an extra eye on the sides of the road in case he saw him. Maybe Dazai had taken a more direct route on foot. That was the only explanation that Kunikida could think of. There was no way Dazai had made it there already, especially on an injured foot. He still had a chance to make it there on time.
Kunikida was nearing the warehouse, however some traffic had slowed him down. He didn't have time for this. Knowing Dazai, he was likely already there and was facing Fyodor alone. He had told the President to alert everyone of the situation, but he knew it would be awhile until they arrived. He had still not made it yet and he had quite a large head start. So he knew that backup would not arrive for a bit, and that he was the only one who could help Dazai right now. That was, if he could make it in time.
Eventually, the traffic dissipated, and Kunikida was now almost at the warehouse. He stopped the car only a couple blocks away, he didn't want to arrive right outside it, to avoid causing any suspicion.
As he got out of the car, he began to run down the side of the street. It was nearing night, so the streets were mostly empty. He kept his eyes on the warehouse as he ran. They likely had guards outside, so a fight was inevitable. Sure enough, as he got closer to the building, he saw two armed men outside, both standing outside a rather tall door.
The warehouse was quite large, meaning it had quite a few entrances. Kunikida was sure that Dazai was already in there, the difficult part was how he was going to sneak past those guards, without drawing any attention to himself.
He quickly came up with a plan, knowing that time was running out. He grabbed the gun he had in his pocket, and snuck closer to the warehouse. There were multiple cars outside the building. So Kunikida used them as he ran from one car to another. Constantly checking to make sure he had not been spotted. The guards seemed to be on edge, Kunikida just prayed that it was not because they had heard him. While he felt as though he would probably be able to take them both in a fight, he didn't want to alert anyone inside of his presence. That had the possibility of putting Dazai in danger.
He got to the last remaining cars, meaning he was not able to get any closer. Now, he had to make a choice. He could either use his gun to shoot them both right now, they wouldn't see it coming and wouldn't have enough time to react before they were both dead. However the sound from the gunshots was sure to attract unnecessary attention. His only other option was to find a way to get close enough to them in order to fight them with hand to hand combat. He was running out of time. He had to make a decision now!
A few hours earlier...
The sun was starting to set. He would have to leave in a minute. He looked around his room for things he could use to barricade the door. While he could lock the door, and didn't think that anyone would try and come in, he didn't want to take any chances.
His room had very little furniture. Despite being told that they were able to furnish their apartments with whatever they wanted, and having it all be paid for by the agency, his room had very little character to it. Aside from a few photos on the cabinets, everything in the rooms was the same as it had been when he had first arrived. Sure it was a little messier now, but it was still fundamentally the same. He had never seen a need for lavish furnishings, or anything like that. Growing up, he had never known anything other than a cold steel floor, with some blankets if he was lucky. And even as he got older, his situation had not changed much. He still slept on the floor, his body not being used to the softness of a futon. It was difficult going from sleeping on a hard and cold floor, to suddenly being engulfed by pillows and blankets. He tried to get used to the feeling of a futon, and some nights he was even able to sleep in it, but most of the time he just couldn't. It felt too wrong. Too comfortable. Too nice. So the futon remained, pushed to the side, unused.
But looking around the room, he saw the small table cabinets. They would be perfect. But before he could move them, he had to take off the picture frames that had been left there, as well as the glasses that had once contained some very strong alcohol. He stopped to look at the picture. He felt his legs grow weak, as he struggled to remain standing up. He then harshly fell to his knees, still holding the frame with the singular picture inside it. The picture itself had remained untouched and unharmed, even after all these years. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at the three figures in the photo. But he refused to let them fall. That was in the past. He had to move on. The frame was placed face down on the futon that sat in the corner, collecting dust.
Furniture kept piling up in front of the door, and eventually it became extremely difficult for anyone on the outside to break it down. Well, perhaps not for someone like Kenji, but most people would at least struggle with it.
He froze. Footsteps. They stopped outside his door. The handle started to move. He was frozen to the spot. Why would anyone be coming to see him, and anytime someone did, they would knock first.
The person trying to open the door became more frantic as they realised that it was completely locked and barricaded.
"DAZAI!" he heard Kunikida yell, "OPEN THE DAMN DOOR DAZAI!"
Shit. It was Kunikdia. He had to feel somewhat grateful that it had not been someone like Kenji, or even Atsushi. But he felt he might have even preferred them over Kunikida. He had to get out of here now. He couldn't allow them to follow him. This was between him and Fyodor.
There was a sudden bang against the door. Kunikida was trying to ram into it. He had to get out of here now. He had wanted to go a little more prepared, but that didn't seem to be an option anymore. He threw on his long coat, grabbed the letter he had been sent and hastily threw it into one of his pockets.
Kunikida was clearly becoming more worried, as the door had now been slightly pried open. However, just as he thought that, the door was suddenly pushed all the way, allowing Kunikida to step into his apartment.
They looked at each other for an awkward moment. He had already moved to leave through the window, just as Kunikida had broken in. He saw just as Kunikida made a lunge for him, and he quickly dashed out the window. It was by no means a very high jump, but, had he not landed it properly, he would have heavily injured his foot. As it was, he did feel as though it was slightly sprained, but it was nothing that he couldn't deal with. He began to run towards the warehouse. He had looked up its address as soon as he had read the letter. He went to his pocket to look at the note one last time as he ran, only to realise, he couldn't find it. It wasn't in his pocket.
Damn it. It must have dropped out as he was leaping through the window. This now meant that Kunikida would be able to read it, and would have no doubt told everyone else about it as well. This was not going exactly the way he had intended for it to go. But that didn't matter. His plan was still going to work. As long as all the other pieces fell into place.
Dazai took off into a fast sprint, heading straight towards the warehouse. He was sure that Kunikida was now going to be following in his footsteps, so he had to make sure that he got there before him.
Eventually Dazai made it to the address. He stopped outside, just before he would be in view of any guards out front. He knew that Fyodor had a plan, and Dazai was not planning to become his puppet. He made a plan to sneak in through a side exit he had spotted, and waited for the guards backs to turn. Then he made a run for it. He got to the door only to find it was locked.
He turned to look towards the guards to see they were about to turn back in his direction. Dazai quickly ran around to the corner of the building, holding his body against the wall. After a minute, he risked looking towards the guards again, only to find them both gone. He hastily looked around, worrying that they had spotted him and were now moving in to attack. But nothing came.
This must have been a part of Fyodor's plan.
Dazai stood straight and went to walk towards the entrance that had been made for him. He went to open the door... but he hesitated. Something really didn't feel right about this. Of course he knew what he was getting himself into when he accepted the invitation, but now that he was here. He wasn't so sure if he now wanted to go through with it. Seeing Oda again... it was almost too much. But he had to remind himself who he was doing this for. This was for his new friends. As much as he would love to have Odasaku alive again, to be able to sit in that bar one last time and share a final drink with him... it just wasn't possible. Oda had died. Dazai just had to accept that there was no bringing him back forever.
He pushed open the door. The warehouse was mostly empty, save for a single person standing in the middle of the room.
"Fyodor." Dazai spoke coldly.
"Dazai, it is so good to see you my friend." Fyodor replied in his smooth Russian accent.
Had anyone else been in the room, they may have been tricked to believe that this was a reunion of two old friends, however Dazai knew far differently. Fyodor's words may have appeared kind, but Dazai could easily see through his manipulative words.
"What do you want, Fyodor?"
Dazai was now standing more to the centre of the room, the doors having shut behind him. Dazai knew that he was playing right into Fyodor's hands by doing this, but he had a plan. He just had to make sure that no one came in to ruin it.
"Well, I think we both know the answer to that now don't we."
Fyodor looked towards Dazai, with a smile forming on his face.
"I just thought that you would want to see your old friend one last time."
And with that. Fyodor calmly stepped to the side, never breaking eye contact with Dazai, allowing another figure to emerge from the shadows. The man's features became clear as the fading light shone into the room from the windows littered along the walls.
His sand-coloured coat became illuminated by the sunset colours, as his face became clear, his eyes looked directly towards Dazai. The blood stains on his chest were still clearly visible, though the blood had since dried. His eyes looked towards Dazai, as if trying to reach out to him in any way he could.
Dazai looked back at him. He felt tears brimming his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He had to look away, it was all becoming too much for him. He knew what he had to do, he had already made the decision. But... seeing his old friend here once more, he felt hesitant. Looking towards the figure once more, seeing those eyes look at him with concern. Eyes that Dazai had not seen for the past 4 years, eyes that had been dead, but were now filled with life. But it wasn't really life, Dazai had to remind himself. As much as he wished it were true, as much as he would give anything for this all to end and for him and Oda to go back to how they were before everything. He knew that life was not that simple, and he knew that the man standing before him was not really alive. It was not the same man who had looked out for him before. The man who he had sat with on so many occasions had just had a drink with, the first man who Dazai had ever considered as his friend.
"Dazai, I am sure you two would love to catch up," Fyodor said, "However, I am afraid that I have other plans."
Dazai looked towards Fyodor, hatred burning in his eyes. But he had to control himself. Getting angry and losing control would be exactly what Fyodor wanted. And he couldn't allow that. He looked towards his friend one last time. Knowing this would be the last time he would ever be able to see him alive again. But he steeled himself over, something he had not had to do much since leaving the Mafia, and prepared himself for whatever Fyodor was about to say.
"Now, Sakunosuke, I think you know what to do from here."
Fyodor looked towards Dazai, his eyes widening with excitement. His next two words caused Dazai to freeze, his heart clenching. Oda looked towards Fyodor once more, then looked towards Dazai. His eyes watering as a single tear fell from his face at the command he had been given, knowing he was unable to disobey. Oda then suddenly rushed towards Dazai, giving him no time to prepare a block. Fyodor's words ringing through his head.
"Kill him."
Authors note: Sorry to leave u guys on a cliff hanger like that again, but I still hope u enjoyed this chapter! Plz review and let me know what you think!