Chapter 6

Later in the afternoon and after coercing Kunikida to give him something, anything, to do, Dazai watched someone familiar open the office door.

"~Chibi~" Dazai sang, "Did you miss me?"

The redhead scoffed indifferently as he jumped onto Junichiro's empty desk. Chuuya looked him up and down, taking in his new dark attire. Maybe it would have suited him once, but seeing the way Dazai seemed to glow in the light had made it look wrong in every sense of the word.

"Miss the suicidal waste of bandages who causes me nothing but trouble? Never," he huffed. "We have a mission tonight."

"Took him long enough to give the order."

"Sure, piss off the boss on your second day back. See how well that turns out for you." Dazai paled slightly. He was well aware of how that had turned out. "Anyways - I came to pick you up. No debriefing today since we just need to wipe those scumbags out when they meet tonight."

Chuuya watched the gears in his partner's head turn, grinding out plan A, B, C, D, and beyond. He didn't necessarily trust the man as far as he could throw him - which was pretty far - but his plans had never truly endangered him before.

Endager Dazai? Every time. Chuuya? Never.

It was odd that this hadn't dawned on him before, but the redhead brushed it off. Instead he opted to snatch a cigarette from his jacket pocket, only for it to be plucked from his lips.

"Uh-uh Chuuya. If you smoke in here you might give poor Kunikida an aneurysm." Kunikida raised an eye at the comment, watching the bandaged man dangle the cigarette far too high for the executive to reach.

"God damnit, Dazai! Give it back!" He jumped in annoyance, eventually activating his ability and snatching it back. "I'll go up to the roof," he grumbled, trying to restrain his irritation at Dazai casually following him. The metal stairs rattled as they made their way up, wind sending their hair and coats fluttering in all directions.

Dazai, quick to realize Chuuya's hat wanted to escape his head more desperately than he'd wanted to leave the awkward tension of the office, snatched it from the air as it began flying away. He turned with a fiery glint in his eye and tore it from Dazai's bandaged hands. The blue sky and piercing sunlight momentarily blinded Dazai in his right eye, the one he'd kept covered as a teen. All he could see from his photosensitive eye was foggy shapes, so it didn't quite phase him. He was used to it.

A quirk Dazai had mostly trained himself to suppress was already resurfacing, his right eyelid falling closed unintentionally. He strained to keep it open despite how unfocused it left his right peripheral vision. Chuuya had already walked onto the roof and had his elbows propped up on the narrow ledge with a cigarette held loosely in his fingers. Dazai joined him, swinging his legs over the edge of the building to get a better view of the city. The mirrored building glittered against the deep blue horizon and clear sky above them. Reflexively, Chuuya gripped Dazai's coat as a new rush of adrenaline ran through him.

Dazai cursed himself as he was frantically flung down onto the concrete and off the ledge by a gloved hand. An all too familiar sensation flooded his senses, leaving him too weak to sit up for a moment. Chuuya looked from the ledge to Dazai and back to the ledge, lips slightly parted in shock. He had been so accustomed to Dazai standing or sitting on ledges, silently contemplating throwing himself from them to find some sense of escape, that it had become a habit for him to drag him down. Of course, Dazai would never actually jump. At least, that's what he told himself. It would be far too messy, and if he did live it would be complete and utter hell.

Dazai strained to get up, drawing oxygen back into his lungs, barely choking down the agony he felt was taking too much effort. He stayed down, eyes scrunched in a foreign emotion Chuuya had never seen before.

This wasn't normal.

Dazai offered up a strained smile and sat up with a nearly inaudible wince. He had a mission - there was no way he could miss it. "What'd you go and do that for?" He whined with fake annoyance.

"Tsk - it was your own fault, shitty Dazai." Chuuya flicked the burnt down cigarette onto the ground, not bothering to grind it beneath his heel. Of course it wasn't, but Chuuya would be the last person to admit that. Dazai was obviously lying through his teeth, but even if he pried Chuuya knew he wouldn't get a straight answer. If anything else happened, however, he would have to force an answer out of him.

Keeping up his forced smile Dazai pulled himself off the ground, keeping his arm tucked against his side. If he hadn't snuck a few doses of extra-strong painkillers from Yosano's office he would be experiencing a lot more pain than he currently was. He checked his pocket, gently rolling his fingers over the four capsules resting inside.

It would be enough to get him through the mission, he thought, contemplating whether or not they'd affect his cognition too much. Of all the results from Mori's experiments on him, the thought making him scowl, this was the most annoying. No matter how many drugs or poisons were pumped into his system, Dazai seemed to have an extremely high tolerance for them. Sure, taking multiple doses of opioid painkillers would have been dangerous for a normal person, but for Dazai it only brought a shallow sense of relief.

Dazai leaned his back against the ledge so that he could see his partner looking out over Yokohama. "The sun's the prettiest star, isn't it, Chibi?"

"Like hell it is." A tiny smile flickered like the weak flame igniting the new cigarette resting between his lips.

"Pass me a light, would you?" Dazai sighed, opening his silver cigarette case with a click. The carvings in the sterling resembled cherry blossoms caught at a standstill around a prominent 'D' in the center. Seeing the case brought back memories, leaving Chuuya nearly speechless. It had been ages since he'd seen that piece, though, it looked brand new.

Shaking his head, Chuuya tossed an equally beautiful lighter to Dazai, who caught it with ease. The lighter lacked an initial but was decorated in ornate branches that covered each side. Neither of them said anything - the sentiment imbued in their metallic treasures was enough.

Dazai remembered it distinctly; his first birthday present. He didn't know how old he was, nor did he care. When someone would ask, he'd make an age up. Since Dazai had met Chuuya, though, he made sure they shared an age. No way was he going to let the chaotic King of the Sheep be older than him, no matter how petty it seemed. Mori seemed somewhat amused by this, but Chuuya's dumbfounded self was somewhere between angry and astonished upon finding out that Dazai had never celebrated a birthday. His response, of course, was to celebrate their sixteenth birthday by blowing a whole year's worth of savings on a cigarette case and lighter set.

Technically, neither of them were legally allowed to smoke but they made do. After all, Double Black wasn't exactly above extorting shopkeepers into the occasional pack.

Dazai smirked, lighting his own cigarette before tossing the lighter back to Chuuya. Both were somewhat content with the fact they'd kept something so sentimental after everything that happened.

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After finishing up on the roof, the men made their way back down to the warm office. The crisp evening air was refreshing but neither of them were interested in catching a chill before work. The warm glow of the ADA welcomed them back to the office as Dazai retook the place at his desk. Chuuya followed him, avoiding the awkward glances from the other members.

Atsushi, who was sitting at the desk beside Dazai, looked at him worriedly. No doubt itching to ask about Akutagawa. If he had to guess, those two had a similar dynamic to him and Dazai - full of absolute trust and constant miscommunication. By no means was it healthy, Chuuya was well aware of that, but it was still a relationship he appreciated. He rested a firm, gloved hand on the weretiger's shoulder in an effort to comfort him.

"He's doing better, okay? Akutagawa, I mean - he isn't in any real danger anymore." Atsushi looked up in surprise, though it was unclear if it was at Chuuya's sudden appearance or the good news.

"Thank you, Mr. Chuuya. Maybe… once he wakes up, could I go see him?"

"Maybe, kid. Maybe," Chuuya sighed. They really were the same. "Oi, Mackerel! We've got to go - it's already six and the Experimentalists are supposed to meet at seven."

"Aww, we have to go already? And here I was, ~getting ready to do some boring paperwork~" Dazai mused, pretending to be upset about getting out of work. "Well, I guess I have no choice in the matter. Onward, my little british girl!" He shouted. The heavily bandaged detective carefully hopped up onto his spinning desk chair. A bad idea, but great for comic relief. Even Atsushi let out a muffled laugh.

Chuuya pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand and steadied the chair with the other. "Shut up, stupid crab-for-brains."

"Someone's trying to be creative," He hummed while using Chuuya's shoulder for support as he stepped down. Despite how annoyed he was outwardly, Chuuya was excited for work for the first time in over four years.