This has been a really Dazai-centric fic, and I'm not really ready to finish it just yet... So I've written a chapter that is a bit more revolved around the agency's experience at the moment it all goes down in the previous chapter, as well as I'm kind of finishing up the main events to make room for a more light-hearted epilog.

All is dark. All is calm. All is good.

The only thing he can hear is the muffled sound of his fellow agents getting to work around him, and the only thing he can feel is leather gloves carefully caressing the side of his face and occasionally swiping away the unmanagable bangs from his face.

All is okay. All is over. All is well.

His father is dead. He knows. Not even a termite, like his old man, can withstand what had to be more than ten stabs to the head, and at least ten more to the chest. To be absolutely sure, he genuinely hopes that Mori will cut his head off and feed it to the pigs. Or better yet, his heart. You can never be too sure considering all the pestered animals that can keep on living without their heads. He'll let Mori dowhatever he wants to the body, as long as it's not burried beneath the same ground as his mother and sisters. He'll let Mori feed his sickest fantasies, just to make sure that the motherfucker burns in hell.

All is still. All is numb. All is dead.

Atsushi is stunned. With trembling knees, he's able to take one step before his legs buckle under his weight, but Yosano is quick to react and catches him before he can hit the ground. She's been keeping an eye out for all of their younger agents during the bloodied act, knowing fully that the sight before them would be overwhelming to anyone- and especially someone as inexperienced and impressionable as Atsushi.

Even if they all know about Dazai's past in the Port Mafia by now, Yosano (and to an extent, Kyouka) is probably the only ones who are capable of even nearly understanding what kind of measures Dazai has had to go through, to survive a lifestyle in the mafia that he did not choose for himself, but has been molded and broken into by callous hands.

The horrors he must have seen, as well as executed himself... from her own experience, she knows it's horrendous. And, him being a former executive, she can only begin to imagine how much worse he'd been through.

But he had been exposed to such cruel acts himself.

Until now, she was the only one in the agency who had seen the hideousness that had been done to his body underneath the bandages. It is nothing but evidence of a lifetime of torture.

But now, they have all seen it. What the mellow tempered jokester is hiding underneath the bandages.

Yosano got awakened from her thoughts as Atsushi ripped himself from her grip and ran out of the church. With that, she was reminded of the chaos around her. Her heart pulled her in one direction, wanting to make sure that Atsushi was okay, but a persistent Kunikda yelled for her assistance in the other.

"Kyouka," she started to say but needed not to say more. The petite girl ran after her friend- probably a little relieved to get away from the situation. Yosano made a mental note to talk to her later. This whole event probably brought back some very unpleasant memories for her too.

Yosano hurried and ran to Dazai's aid.

"Atsushi-kun?" Kyouka asked as softly as her already pleasant voice could muster, as she saw the boy huddled up and cradling himself right outside the door of the church. "Are you alright?"

Atsushi didn't answer, only grabbed his legs tighter and faintly shivered from the rain and sour wind.

"You should come back inside... I don't want you to get sick. They have covered the... body," she added.

"It's not that..." Atsushi finally answered. "I can take a dead body, Kyouka. I've seen blood and gore before. It's just..." he took a deep breath trying to make his voice sturdy. "I can't see Dazai like that. He's... he's supposed to be unbreakable, you know?"

Kyouka lowered her head. She knew, but she also knew. Knew a few things about the Port Mafia that Atsushi didn't. Things about Mori that anyone outside of the mafia would never know.

"You know," he chuckled, almost lightly, "once, he carried me all the way back to the infirmary after a really bad fight downtown. He had several broken ribs, a concussion, and a pretty bad knee injury. Yosano and Kunikida literally had to tackle him to the ground and tranquilize him to treat his injuries," Atsushi recalled bitterly. "Seeing him in such a vulnerable state right now... it's breaking my heart. I just can't take it. He's the closest thing to... maybe not a father, but at least a big brother, or a cool uncle, that I've ever had." Atsushi bit his lip and added, "also, seeing how he just used the remains of his energy to execute such a brutal killing... looking completely and utterly... unfeeling and unfazed by it, sends shivers through my whole body. I'm not sure I know that person..."

A touch on the arm from Kyouka interrupts him. She looks keenly into his eyes With her piercing light blue ones.

"Please, Atsushi. There's a lot you don't understand about Dazai-sama. There's a lot none of us will ever understand. But, you saw the marks on his body and you heard what the preacher said. I'm not sure if any of us would have acted any other way if we were in his position."

Atsushi knew she was probably right. He knew if he was in the same desperate state of mind as Dazai had been in then and there, and been given the opportunity to show the staff at the orphanage the same kind of treatment that he was given- he would.

Even so, he would need some time to process what he had just witnessed.

Kunikida hardly ever acted spontaneously. Obviously, even he couldn't foresee every possible turn of events, but it wasn't for the lack of trying.

This entire day had been agonizingly out of his control, and as Dazai fell unconscious after the confrontation and savage killing of the preacher (he wouldn't even give the man the acknowledgment of calling him Dazai's father), he decided to give in to the moment, letting go of his analytic thought process and acting purely from instinct and heart.

And his heart said to screw everything and get Dazai out of there alive.

Chuuya had already made it to Dazai. Kunikida could see him comforting and sheltering him, but wanted, all the same, to kick the vertically challenged Chucky look-a-like's face in for misusing his and his partner's trust.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded, reaching the two, hitting Chuuya's stupid hat off, just for his own satisfaction.

The redhead didn't even flinch and was more concerned with making Dazai comfortable despite his injuries.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Kunikida didn't know if he was referring to Dazai, him or the both of them. Probably the ladder. "I didn't know that Mori would let it go this far, but I should have. He always takes it too far."

Kunikida looked for the Port Mafia boss, but he had already disappeared.

'That fucking coward.'

He snapped his fingers and got the attention of Tanizaki and Kenji, as he noticed Yosano being held up with Atsushi.

"Please, if you're up to it, would you mind... trying to find something to cover the body with?" he asked quietly. Even with somewhat pallor looks, they both complied, probably relieved to get a task to distract themselves, even if it was a messy one.

He turned back to Chuuya and Dazai, only to realize that Dazai's face started to look strained, fusing into a tight grimace as his body gradually started trembling worse and worse.

"He's having a seizure!" Kunikida exclaimed and pushed a frozen Chuuya away, quickly turning Dazai on his side to clear his airways. "Yosano!"

The ambulance drove off with Dazai, accompanied by Yosano. Chuuya had redeemed himself a little by helping them to get rid of the body before anyone else would see it, as well as cleaning up the mess that had been made. They put their trust in Yosano to come up with some kind of story to explain Dazai's (somewhat embarrassingly for both the ADA and the hospital) third disappearance (sporting an external fixing device on his leg and a broken back) from the hospital and the state they sent him back in.

"You have some explaining to do," Kunikida stated sternly at Chuuya, as they watched the ambulance drive off.

"I don't think I'm the right person to do that," he said simply, but couldn't hide the clear discomfort of being interrogated.

"Your namby-pamby boss vanished out of the thin air. He didn't even stick around to make sure that Dazai was okay," Kunikida retorted sourly.

Chuuya smirked slightly, crossing his arms and started to walk towards his bike. "I don't mean Mori, Kunikida-kun."

At first, Kunikida was confused by the statement. He watched the back of the mafioso as he walked calmly away, but then it dawned upon him.

Could Dazai already have known what was going to happen?

…

Of course, he could.

Dazai looked peaceful in spite of Atsushi's inability not to imagine the scars that lay hidden underneath his bandages. The third operation in just a little less than a month had taken its toll on his mentor, and understandably so.

Atsushi didn't know if he would ever be able to look upon the man who, despite his many flaws- he had regarded as his hero, the same way ever again. He looked the same, but somehow, he felt different.

Even so, he hadn't moved from his bedside since he'd been allowed into his room. The others from the agency had returned to the dorms to get some much-needed rest, but something inside of Chuuya's stomach had made him unable to leave Dazai there by himself.

Dazai twitched slightly in the bed. Atsushi automatically stood up, leaning towards the railings, watching intently as his mentor started to wake up.

Bewildered hands moved towards his face, trying to remove the intruding nasal cannula before his eyes had even opened.

"Uh, no, stop it. I think you need that," Atsushi said nervously, grabbing Dazai's hands and placed them gently back by his side.

"So annoying," Dazai sighed hoarsely, before falling back to sleep.

Atsushi smiled.

Maybe Dazai was the same after all.

I can't seem to stop torturing Dazai, but let's be honest, isn't that why we're here?

I said that this would be the epilog. I lied. Unknowingly. The next one will be. Probably.

Thank you so much for reading! The positive responses have been overwhelming! I've been a little uninspired lately, but hopefully, that will change very soon!

Stay awesome, folks!