Chapter 4:

Monster Without A Name Pt. 1

Warm.

Soft.

That's how she felt. Her eyes opened slowly. A Monitor was beeping to her left. She was in a small room it seemed, or rather, some sort of basement. There were no windows but a lot of lighting. Some bookshelves were down here. To her left was a door that was currently closed. Where was she? She realized she was hooked up to a monitor with an I.V. Drip in her left arm.

"What?" She murmured, as her vision became more focused.

"Oh good, you're awake," a far less cold version of Dazai beamed at her. His clothes were different too. She jolted for a moment, as he was wearing the outfit she'd seen from her future vision. Had she transcended realities? She sweat dropped. Okay this chipper version of Dazai was seriously whiplash from her first encounter with him.

She stared at him quietly.

"You're...not going to shoot me?" She found herself unable to stop herself from asking. He'd made such a point of that before.

"Shoot you?" Dazai's eyebrows raised. "Why? You saved my friend just like you said you would...your skill...is definitely remarkable, young lady."

He beamed at her. She looked away from him, lost in thought. He noted her silence and his smile faltered a little. He leaned back, hands in his lap. "My behavior before… I … have no excuse… a normal person would have bailed…"

"Yeah, I'm not normal, so there's that going for me," the girl replied in an attempt to make a joke.

Dazai blinked.

And then he chuckled.

"Ah, I suppose none of us are normal, huh?" He smiled, bemused from behind his hand as he eyed her.

The girl's eyes flickered. She didn't know how much time had passed. She didn't know if she had a right to actually ask how Odasaku was doing. But her face must have said it all because Dazai put a hand tentatively on her head, ruffling her hair. She made a noise of surprise, flinching like she'd be hit but Dazai kept his touch gentle.

"I owe you," he replied softly. "So, what can the great Dazai Osamu do in return for you?"

She pushed his hand off, looking away. "Just tell me...is your friend going...to be okay?"

Dazai was quiet. She looked at him, suddenly worried. Had Odasaku died after all? Had she failed? Was he really poisoning her slowly through the I.V.?

Dazai quirked a brow. "No, it's not poison," he said, bemused. She looked away quickly again, her face warming from embarrassment. She hated that she hadn't gotten the art down of not looking like an open book. Well, Dazai happened to be far more perceptive than a normal person as it was. "Oda will be okay," he said softly. "He's… still pretty shaken but… well.. the shock of having a kid jump in front of him with the intention of possibly dying sort of put some stuff into perspective for him I suppose you could say," Dazai chuckled.

"Ah," she groaned, puttin her face in her hands. "I'm sorry I slapped him," she winced, embarrassed. Dazai shrugged.

"I was gonna slap him too— you just beat me to it," he sighed, resting his chin in his hand, elbow on the bed, gazing at her now. She didn't like how intently he was looking at her. She felt like some animal on exhibit. She looked at her hands, sitting up more in the bed and just fidgeting with the hem of her sheet.

"So uh, where are we?" She looked around.

"Oh this? It's an underground hideout! Odasaku and I will be staying here for a few years most likely until we can get clean slates and all that," Dazai hummed, leaning back, hands behind his head, casually.

"An underground hideout?" The girl, named Alu, blinked. She sighed. "How long was I on this?" She pointed to her I.V. She hoped she hadn't been a bother.

"Oh, it's been a week," Dazai said cheerfully. "Honestly, you were in great health other than you know, being in a mini-coma. The doctor just said that you needed rest."

"A week?" Alu yelped. Her stomach suddenly growled loudly. She clutched it in pain. She was so hungry it physically hurt. Dazai eyed that and then he smiled.

"I see your stomach has awakened," he teased. "Why don't I go get you something to eat?"

Alu's face warmed. She hated people doing things for her. She felt like a burden and she shook her head quickly. "No, no it's okay! I have to get going—" she started to pull the I.V. out of her arm gently and Dazai didn't make any move to stop her.

"You got somewhere to be?" Dazai tilted his head as she pulled off her covers. She blinked. Her clothes had been replaced with a hospital top and shorts.

"Where are my clothes?" She yelped.

"Well they were kinda covered in blood, you know? But that's okay, Odasaku and I got you some fresh clothes!" Dazai said brightly. Alu grimaced holding her head in her hands.

"I really can't accept that," she groaned. "I barely have money as it is!"

"Well, we thought about that as well… and—" as he spoke, the door opened. Dazai paused looking over his shoulder. Alu raised her head as well. There was Oda, bandaged for the most part from his neck to his waist, wearing a simple long black t-shirt and loose sweat pants. He just shut the door and hesitated near it, eyeing Dazai.

Dazai beamed, "Oh hey, Odasaku! I was just talking about you!"

Alu felt nervous. She didn't know how involved she was supposed to even be with these two past saving Odasaku's life. That was her mission. She had been supposed to get in and then leave just as mysteriously. Why did she have to go and faint? This really made things more difficult for slipping away. She couldn't bring herself to look at Odasaku. She still felt bad for slapping an injured man even if he was railing on about absolute nonsense about dying and all that.

"I'm sorry!" Alu looked at the wall behind Odasaku, a guilty expression on her face.

Odasaku looked surprised. Dazai's expression was bemused. "What are you apologizing for?" Odasaku asked her, confused.

"I feel terrible...for hitting you…" she grimaced, "At the time, I just…" she trailed off.

Odasaku was quiet but he walked over and stood near where Dazai was sitting, and looked at her. Alu felt a bit cornered to be honest. Not that she didn't think they'd hurt her or anything, but well, they were in a small room, she couldn't feel her legs, and she felt like she was being analyzed like a fish in a tank. "Don't feel bad," Dazai said with a grin, " I was about to hit him too, remember?"

Odasaku made a face at Dazai. "That does sound like you, honestly," he sighed.

Dazai chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. "Well, it didn't come to that, did it?"

Odasaku ran a hand through his hair. He was still somewhat unshaven but Alu was glad to see that it looked like he was at least taking care of himself. Other than some stubble, he didn't look worse for wear. Her mind flashed back to the orphans and her eyes flickered. She gripped the sheets tightly. "Hey...Mr. Osamu…?" She tentatively addressed Dazai.

Odasaku quirked a brow at Dazai. "Mr. Osamu?" The slight tone of amusement was hard to keep out.

Dazai chuckled and held up his hands, "I didn't ask her to call me that-she chose to call me that! I swear!"

Alu didn't want to bring up the orphans, but she had to know something. "How much … did you tell him about me?" She looked at Dazai.

Dazai quieted. Odasaku blinked. "Wait, hold on, I thought you two didn't know each other?" He asked, puzzled.

"Ah, we don't, we don't," Dazai said, standing up and patting Odasaku's shoulder. "She probably just assumed that we talked about her, you know? While she was asleep! I promise the only thing I learned about her was her bra size!"

Alu threw a pillow at Dazai's head. Odasaku looked at Dazai with exasperation. "Dazai...are you serious?" His deadpan voice sounded like Dazai was in for a scolding. Dazai let the pillow hit him and plop to the floor. He just laughed.

Alu realized that Dazai hadn't told Odasaku anything about her or her ability. She felt grateful and honestly, relieved. She didn't want to complicate things as they were already complicated enough. "Hey, now that I think about it though, how old are you?" Dazai asked, tilting his head at her.

Alu blinked. "Oh...I'm fifteen…." she said sheepishly.

Odasaku and Dazai stared at her quiet for a moment. Alu began to sweat. "Um...is...that a problem?"

Dazai looked to Odasaku. "Hey, uh, we should probably make it clear that we're not doing anything weird with a minor…In fact, I 100% rescind my earlier joke...just to be clear...that was a joke… " Odasaku's expression and Alu's both matched comically; they made it clear that Dazai better have been kidding.

"You mean, we need to find a way to make our connection to her not feel like a couple of adult men keeping a girl in a secret underground room," Odasaku groaned, holding his face in his hand.

"Um...I can leave..." Alu suggested, meekly.

"Oh yeah, you mentioned not having a lot of money, though right?" Dazai brightly brought up. "Actually now that you mention it—you're not from Yokohama are you?"

Alu scratched her head. "No, I wasn't born here," she admitted. She eyed them both. She felt her chest swell with some relief. Though Oda looked tired, she hoped that time would at least help him cope. Now that the leader of Mimic was dead, that was at least one bullet dodged—literally.

"So then, where are your parents?" Odasaku asked, frowning, concerned.

Alu quieted. She looked away. "I don't have parents," she said softly. The two men exchanged glances with each other. Dazai hummed.

"Well that settles it then!" He beamed, extending his hand to Alu. "Odasaku and I will take you under our wing until you're at least 18!"

Alu furrowed her brow. "A couple of ex-mafia members are gonna play parents to a complete stranger they just met?" She couldn't help but sound deadpan. "I don't even have an I.D…. not like this country knows I exist—or any country actually…"

Dazai quirked a brow at Oda. "Well I mean, you put it like that…"

Odasaku looked at her, his expression hard to read. Alu looked around the room, feeling self conscious. "You came out of nowhere...and attempted to save my life," Odasaku said finally.

"I…" he trailed off. He looked to Dazai one last time. The men seemed to exchange some sort of silent message before he turned away and headed for the door. "For the meantime… Why don't you go get something to eat with Dazai?" Odasaku left the room, leaving Dazai once again alone with her.

Alu's stomach seemed to rumble on cue. Her face turned a bit red as she hugged her stomach with one arm. "Wait...I didn't save your life to have you owe me!" She flustered.

"That's exactly why we wanna do something nice for you," Dazai interjected brightly. Alu didn't know how she was going to get away from these two—specifically Dazai. She had been afraid of catching the Port Mafia's eye—specifically this man's. Of course, he said he was cutting ties so she didn't think he'd be turning her in anymore to his ex-boss.

"Can I have some privacy while I get dressed?" Alu asked, self conscious. Dazai nodded, getting up from the chair.

"Of course. The clothes are in the drawer of the bedside table. We had a nurse take your measurements, promise," he waved a hand, breezily. Alu eyed him. Dazai's facial expressions were both very expressive and yet they held a lot of emotion back. Whereas, she noted, when Odasaku was in the room, his mood was instantly a whole world brighter. Must be the power of a true bromance, she bemused. It wasn't her business what their relationship was, but she knew that deep down, they had a real friendship.

She nodded as Dazai shut the door behind himself, leaving her alone in the room. Gingerly getting out of the bed, she rubbed her legs to get the feeling back in them. Finally, she pulled out the clothes that Dazai and Odasaku had supposedly picked out for her. She blinked with surprise. These clothes closely resembled what she'd been wearing before! A dark purple top with long sleeves, dark pants, and a trench coat like the one she'd had before, but in dark brown, were folded in the drawer. Of course, she was already dressed in her undergarments—by the nurse—- she figured, so slipping into the other layers went much quicker. It fit her perfectly. She spotted the mirror near a bookshelf against the wall opposite her bed. Looking at herself in the mirror, she really liked the clothes. She sort of quieted though.

Did she have a right to accept something like this? Wasn't this personal gain? Would the universe punish her? Well, the universe made her clothes dirty so… She ran a hand through her long hair with a groan. If only she could read the mind of the universe. Would make her job so much easier. She spotted some long socks and a pair of boots at the foot of the bed. After she was fully dressed she gave herself a little twirl.

"Oh, the clothes fit," Dazai commented, brightening as she opened the door after a few minutes.

Alu nodded. "Yes...um, if you don't mind me asking, how much did these clothes cost you?"

"Cost is nothing," Dazai waved a hand, dismissively. "Look, you don't need to worry about that. Money is nothing compared to what you did," he trailed off.

Alu looked down at the ground. "I feel as though if I allow myself..to be treated like this...it'll look like I'm taking advantage of my skill to get things...out of other people," she flinched as she felt Dazai do something she hadn't expected. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to his side, her face buried in his trench coat from the right side. His free hand was in his opposing trench coat pocket.

"Seriously, you think too hard," Dazai sighed. "I think the universe can spare you a new outfit and at least a warm meal, don't you?"

Alu's heart thudded. It'd been a long time since she'd allowed herself to get close to people. She often did small things from a distance. Nothing super major, honestly. To be honest, bringing back Odasaku had been a first time for her to do anything of that level. "If I failed...you'd have killed me, right?" She spoke quietly.

Dazai blinked but let her push herself away. "Probably," he said subdued.

Alu smiled wryly. "At least you're honest."

"What can I say, it's one of my many qualities," he sighed, turning away and putting his hands in his pants pockets. "Well come along. There's this place we can go to without a target being put on my back," his chipper tone made her wonder if he honestly enjoyed the thought of a target on his back.

"Why does it sound like you'd enjoy that?" She asked, deadpan.

Dazai grinned. "Probably cuz I totally would," with a chuckle he led her through the hall of their underground bunker and into a big spacious room. It looked like a kitchen and living room was down here. There was a tv and though the walls were entirely stone and the floor was dirt and stone slabs, Alu thought it was kinda cool.

She followed Dazai out of the bunker entrance, watching him put in a code so quick she couldn't even catch it with her eyes. Her heart sank a little. Okay, so being able to leave with ease wasn't going to be easy. She'd figure out her next course of action after she at least got something to eat—and she wanted to at least pay them back for the clothes.

Lost in her thoughts, she walked into Dazai's back on accident. With a noise of surprise, she rubbed her face, as Dazai glanced over his shoulder at her. "Oh yeah, we're here!" He cheerfully gestured to an elevator. She blinked.

"The food place is in there?" She asked dumbly.

Dazai snickered. "No, but I can see why you thought that. We're going upstairs. C'mon." He pressed a button and the elevator doors opened. Stepping inside, he hit a button and an extra button appeared on the control! Alu watched, with wide eyes as an extra floor added itself to the light up list. Floor 5 which hadn't been there before, was now the floor they were headed for.

"How did you do that?" Alu blinked.

"Mm?" Dazai blinked. "Oh this floor is exclusive to people like me and Odasaku who need to be in hiding for a bit," he shrugged. "This building actually helps shelter people with histories like Odasaku's and mine."

"Oh...a neutral zone?" Alu tilted her head, fascinated.

Dazai blinked. "Yeah, a neutral zone," he nodded.

Alu wondered how it would look if she showed up with Dazai. Suddenly she felt self conscious. How old was this guy? "Um, since you know my age, you mind telling me how old you are?" She asked, sheepish.

Dazai blinked. "Oh right, I'm eighteen," he said brightly.

Well, that wouldn't make this look weird at all, she thought wryly.

"It's fine. We have ex-mafia of all different ages that pass through here. I'll do the talking, you just focus on finding something you want to eat, got it?' Dazai replied cheerfully, as the elevator door dinged loudly, opening up to a restaurant floor. With a window view of Yokohama's harbor, Alu thought it was beautiful. She stepped into the elegant dining room. Suddenly she felt very Frumpy.