Leafing Through The Pages, I Found You
Summary: An Ability traps the ADA certain PM members in an illusion that shows them Dazai's life, before and as he became the man they know today.
7-8yo
As they were struggling to calm down from the hilarious way Tane and Gen'emon had 'escorted' their guests out, the world around them started shifting again, the by now familiar whirl of colors no longer causing anyone nausea, though some were still a bit disorientated by the time it stopped. This time, they recognized the scenery almost immediately, as they were watching a car drive across the iconic bridge in Yokohama, driving away from the residential and business areas and towards the industrial zone instead. Tane was driving while Gen'emon was trying to engage young Shuuji in a game of I Spy, though the now seven year old boy could not be bothered to look up from a book he was reading. Tane laughed whenever Gen'emon fake cried because he'd thought up a good one, only for their son to ignore his efforts because he was reading, apparently, some philosophy book.
"Is that really a child friendly book?" Atsushi asked and Kyouka just shrugged.
"So, another time skip?" Naomi commented and they all just watched as Tane finally parked the car, in front of a military base. Chuuya immediately flinched while Mori and Hirotsu frowned. The rest were not sure why there was so many negative reactions other than it being strange that a child was being taken to, apparently, tour what his father's company had been invited to invest in. Gen'emon was apparently rather reluctant to get involved with the military, what with the war going on, but he had been personally invited, and by an old friend, no less.
"But Tsushima Corp makes bulletproof glass," Shuuji replied when Gen'emon explained himself, to which his father just sighed.
"Yes, well, this is a research facility or something. I think they want something that will help secure doing experiments or something, as well as funding."
"But that's still so suspicious."
"We know, deary," Tane reassured, smiling sharply. And despite what one may think such an expression would do to a child, Shuuji did not flinch away from it, seemingly understanding it was not directed at him. "That's why we need to check it out. Even Otou-san has been growing suspicious of the activities happening here and since we got an invitation, it doesn't hurt to check it out. If it seems like it's something fishy, we can just leave. I'm sure no one will mind~"
The boy looked suspicious of that last bit but said nothing, just as a man in a lab coat over an incomplete, casual military uniform came out to greet them, immediately shaking hands with Gen'emon and even drawing him into a one-sided hug. "Gen'emon, how long has it been, huh!? You bastard! You didn't even invite me to the wedding!"
"Kansuke-kun, if you'd bother remembering, we didn't hold a real wedding," Tane said with amusement as she and Shuuji approached the men. "We just went to the courthouse on a Tuesday and signed the papers."
"Yeah,and poor little Gen'emon got sentenced to life with no parole," the man, Kansuke, teased, reaching up to ruffle Gen'emon's short hair. Kashimura Kansuke, as his pass stated, was a man of an average height, shorter by a couple of inches than Gen'emon, around Tane's height. He had broad shoulders and wide hips, strong arms and legs from an active life in a military base. This lifestyle also had him keeping his hair rather short, but even in the approaching evening darkness, it was clear he had bright, red hair. The most interesting feature about him were his eyes, one caramel brown, the other sky blue. He had a faint dusting of freckles over his nose and a strong, square jaw. He stood with confidence of a man well assured of his own strength and in possession of firearms but he did not appear overall cocky, despite the looks of his smiles. He appeared to be around Gen'emon's age.
"You say that as though you weren't the first one who wanted to marry her."
"I mean, I don't blame them," Yosano casually commented, to which Kouyou offered her a fist bump.
"This new guy's not bad looking, either," Naomi said slyly. "His eyes are especially interesting~!"
"He looks like Chuuya-san," Kyouka surprised them all by commenting. Quite a few jaws dropped as they realized that she was, indeed right. Kansuke did, indeed, look like an older, taller, broader, short haired Chuuya with heterochromia. Chuuya especially froze as he stared at the man and was able to list all the similarities between them.
"No ... That can't be, right?" He turned to his Boss, the person who's had the access to his old files the longest, but even Mori looked confused and surprised. Nothing like this was ever mentioned, especially not a Kashimura Kansuke. Not even in any of the paperwork regarding the project itself as a worker or assistant researcher.
"And who's this little fella?" Kansuke asked as he finally noticed Shuuji, who was looking up at him with a blank face. He seemed to do that often, especially around strangers. Or at least around strangers he didn't like? "You got yourself a crotch goblin without telling me? Gen! We used to be best buddies! Partners in crime! We robbed six banks together, but you can't pick up the phone to tell me you recuperated?"
"We tried, Kan," reminded Gen'emon. "But you changed your number when you joined the army and never told me your new one."
"Ah, right. Sorry about that. Confidentiality and all," he said sheepishly before approaching Shuuji and bending at the waist so they were more or less eye level. Shuuji did not seem impressed by him at all. "Hello there, brat! The name's Kansuke, your old man's best bud! What's your name?"
"Tsushima Shuuji."
Kansuke grimaced at the bland answer. "You sure this kid ins't some kind of robot? I've never heard a drier answer lacking so much personality. Are you sure you're feeding the kid right?"
"If I'm a robot, you just confirmed I'm smarter than you, so why should I bother with someone of a lesser level of intelligence than myself?"
Kansuke gaped at the boy while Gen'emon tried to repress his amusement. Tane didn't bother, charmed by her child's sassiness and fully encouraging it to develop further!
"Okay, so he was definitely a little shit since he was born," Yosano remarked dryly while a few people were trying not to roll on the floor laughing.
"So mean, too," Mor lamented, recalling the way his heart broke - or froze in fear, ya know, whichever - when Dazai told him he'd burned the coat Mori had gifted him.
"So if that little boy is Dazai-san and he says he's a robot, that means Dazai-san is also a robot?" Kenji asked, confused, and Gin took him to the side to patiently and gently explain what actually happened. Kenji beamed gratefully at her once he understood but that was enough to really send everyone into hysterics over the whole exchange.
"I swear this kid speaks in savage one-liners only," Tachihara managed to gasp out, still snickering.
"Yeah, laugh it up," Chuuya grumbled. "It won't be so funny when you meet him and need something from him but he tells you he's too busy breathing." That startled everyone into a new wave of laughter and even Chuuya had to snicker as he recalled that particular exchange. He wondered if they'll actually see his and Dazai's first encounter, or if these illusions/visions will even keep focusing on his former partner. Dazai was, after all, created by Natsume for the sake of Gen'emon and the man has been in each vision so far.
"Well, that's definitely Tane-san's child," Kansuke remarked when he recovered, sending the two older Tsushima's a dry look. "Still, nice to meet you, or whatever," he said to Shuuji before straightening up. "Now, why don't we go in? The rest of the investors are already inside and the tour's just about to start! I promise it'll be worth your time!"
"Let's just get this over with," Tane whispered to her husband and the Tsushima trio followed Kashimura into the base. The tour started shortly afterwards, consisting of roughly a dozen people, mostly associates of the project going on, or independent investors. They all tried to chat up Gen'emon or Tane, as the two were not only life partners but also business partners for their company, but the attention was mostly focused on the facility and the research it does.
"I have a bad feeling about this place," Tane eventually whispered to Gen'emon as they were halfway through the tour and the projects started sounding less and less ethical, this coming from a pair of former mafioso who used to be neck deep in blood for their roles in the organization. "Everything seems too ... perfect. They must really need some funding separate from the government if they're trying to sell all of this so hard. And that's not even mentioning the projects. I mean, Ability research? There's no way that's ethical, humane or legal."
"I agree," Gen'emon said solemnly. "We should leave." Immediately, he crouched down besides Shuuji and whispered something in his ear. Shuuji nodded and started complaining about his feet hurting him, how tired he was, that he was bored and just wanted to go home. Gen'emon gave a convincing exasperated sigh while Tane smiled apologetically to the rest of the tour participants.
"I apologize, everyone, but I'm afraid we must take our leave. Should we decide to participate in investing, you'll be hearing from our CFO. Goodnight and thank you for the wonderful tour." Both she and Gen'emon bowed before briskly walking away, Shuuji still whining.
"He always was a convincing actor," Kouyou murmured fondly. Chuuya, on the other hand, snorted as he recalled Dazai's 'acting' when Shirase had him at knife point in the arcade.
"That was a smart plan," Kunikida mused. "I wonder, did they take Dazai with them just so they can make a clean escape with the perfect excuse?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," Hirotsu hummed. "I may have never met either of them personally, but both Gen'emon-sama and Tane-dono were quite infamous for their wit. Knowing they were Dazai-san's parents more or less confirms their reputation."
The Tsushimas were almost in the clear when Kansuke caught up to them, insulted they would leave before the tour was done. "The good part was just to start!" He complained to Gen'emon, who handed Shuuji to Tane so he could talk with his friend freely. "Gen'emon, mate, we did the impossible! We figured out how singularities come to be! Listen, there's this old legend of a godly beast-"
"Let me just stop you right there, Kansuke," Gen'emon interrupted.
Chuuya felt his heart thundering in his chest. Kouyou moved to hold his hand as she realized just where they were in these visions right now.
"I hope you haven't forgotten that I am not stupid. I don't care what you've found, I don't really care if you continue your research, but I've left my darkness in the past, where it belongs. I am a family man now, I am doing my best to live a honest, safe life with Tane and Shuuji-chan. I refuse to be dragged into illegal bullshit when I got clemency from the Port Mafia as one of their Executives. I got a blessing to leave. I will not waste that and risk my family, especially not for human experimentation. I am a father now; what would Shuuji-chan think of me if he knew I was involved in something like that?"
"I'm a father, too, Gen'emon," retorted coldly Kansuke. "That didn't stop me. The war is still ongoing. All sides are now using Abilities on the frontlines. Being able to control a singularity would change human history!"
"That's not necessarily a good thing!" Hissed the black haired man. "Kansuke, if you do this, there's no going back from it. This is far worse than robbing banks, or being a Mafia Executive. This would be a crime against humanity. I will not participate in it. I wouldn't, even if I didn't have Tane and Shuuji-kun to worry about. I'm sorry, but this is not something I can condone. I can assure you that you will not be hearing from Tsushima Corp's CFO about any funding. I wish I could say sorry for that, too, but I am only sorry that I have to refuse a friend, not over what I'm refusing."
Kansuke chuckled darkly at the response. "You know, out of the two of us, I choose the more moral path all those years ago. You were busted out of jail by that weird cat man, but he left me in there. You know what he told me? That I was a 'bad influence' on precious Gen'emon, orphan with no name, no identity, my brother from the slums, but with such a bright future ahead of him. Yet, I served my time for that failed bank robbery, and then I joined the military and I served my country. I'm still serving, in fact. Yet you were the Port Mafia Executive, you married the girl we both fell in love with, you're the one who dares stand here and take the higher ground. You're nothing but a hypocrite and I hate myself for still loving you like a brother."
"Don't do this, Kansuke. Quit the project. Come work with me and Tane! I'll even match your current pay!"
But that just pissed Kansuke off and he reached for his gun, only to freeze as Tane seemed to practically materialize behind him, a blade to his throat. Chuckling bitterly, he conceded and Tane pushed him away from her and Gen'emon, glaring at him for the man he had become. Shuuji was hidden somewhere so he wouldn't become a visible, easy target and as a united front, Kansuke stood no chance against the Tsushima couple.
Instead, he turned his back on them and walked back towards his workplace. He paused and looked over his shoulder. "Let's have our boys meet one day, hmm, Tsushima? Maybe they'll get along better than we did." There was a bitter but also slightly sinister tone to the unsaid farewell as he left.
"I'd love that, Kashimura," Gen'emon said sadly as he watched his friend disappear, knowing it will never happen. Their friendship ended right then and there. There was no turning back.
"Why does he seem so sad? Shouldn't that be a good thing?" Kenji asked, frowning.
"It was an empty promise," Akutagawa answered. "They knew they would never meet on friendly terms again, but preferred not to say it, for the sake of not ruining the memories of their friendship."
"I want to say it's a stupid way to end their friendship, but I understand where Gen'emon is coming from," Higuchi said sadly. "Even the Port Mafia never condoned either human trafficking or human experimentation."
"But they never confirmed it was human experimentation, right?" Naomi asked, to which Chuuya shook his head.
"It definitely was," he said darkly.
Ranpo nodded. "It was all over the place. Besides, you can't research or experiment on Abilities without involving people. That is the only clue you need in order to figure out the facility was experimenting on humans."
"I applaud Gen'emon," Fukuzawa said honestly. "He seems to have truly turned a new leaf."
"It's inspiring," Kyouka agreed, wishing she'd known his story when she had been doubting whether a murderer of 35 people deserved to be given a second chance or was capable of change. She wondered why Dazai hadn't given her his father's example during that conversation that had given her hope to try.
"I can't believe he tried to pull a gun on you," Tane grumbled as they walked towards their car, having picked up Shuuji from where the woman had hidden him,
"I can't believe you were so quick to pull a knife on him," Gen'emon said, voice sounding a bit smitten and Tane winked at him.
"Just because I'm sickly does not mean I can't still kick ass and take names~"
Shuuji just looked up at his parents in confusion. 'Is this flirting?'
"HOLY SHIT!" Screamed Tachihara as that sentence floated around in little Shuuji's voice, startling everyone. "What the hell!?"
"It seems like we'll be hearing Dazai-kun's thoughts from now on," Mori mused, an interested undertone to his voice.
"Isn't that a little ... invasive?" Atsushi asked, nervous about his mentor's privacy.
"I agree with the jinko, for once, but it's not like we can stop it, either," Akutagawa grunted, not sure how he felt about this whole situation. While he had always wanted to know what Dazai was thinking, he wasn't sure he actually wanted to find out. Not like this, at the very least.
"If this is where that bandage wasting machine learned how to flirt, no wonder he's so weird about it," grumbled Kunikida, rubbing at his forehead as though the stave off a headache induced by recollections of Dazai's weird flirting routines.
"I think it's cute," Gin contradicted him. "Well, not Dazai-san's asking women to commit double suicide with him, but the Tsushima's flirting. And Dazai-san can be quite smooth if he actually puts effort in."
"Don't remind me," Kouyou grumbled, remembering that one time when Dazai had made half of her new girls fall in love with him in under an hour, only to leave them heartbroken when he never fulfilled any of the promises he made, starting with visiting them at their respective public houses under the Mafia's control and Kouyou's preview since he actually rarely went down to the red district unless he had something to investigate there.
'Adults are so weird.'
"That's gonna take some getting used to, though," Ranpo complained, still flinching in surprise along with everyone else, as they had the first time.
Still, Shuuji left his parents to their flirting and instead just casually observed his surroundings as they finally made it to their car. Just as Gen'emon was about to unlock them, alarms started blaring from the base behind them, making them whirl around in surprise to watch as explosions erupted from somewhere in the middle area. Gen'emon grabbed Tane and Shuuji by the hand and dragged them towards the car, running, when they felt the shift in the atmosphere. Knowing something big was coming, Gen'emon tried to activate his Ability. It was a rather strong one, all things considered, allowing him to create an invisible dome in a five meter diameter of the things or people he was touching. He's survived many explosions that way when he and Kansuke would go all out on a bank safe with explosives strong enough to make entire buildings quake.
However, as he tried to activate his Ability, he found that he was, for the first time in his life, unable to. It felt like he was reaching into a void for the power he had always relied on. Tane turned wide, panicked eyes as an immense heatwave already started reaching them and tears sprung to both their eyes as they realized they had no way to protect themselves, or Shuuji, the child they had sworn to love and protect. Without Gen'emon's Ability, they were doomed.
So, just as the facility behind them decimated, they dropped to their knees and wrapped themselves around Shuuji, trying to cover as much of his little body with their own in a futile attempt to save his life.
"Kaa-chan? Tou-chan?"
"We love you, Shuuji-chan. Kaa-chan and Tou-chan love you, no matter what, more than anything, okay? Just remember that," Tane said, trying not to sob. Gen'emon just held them both tighter.
"I'm so sorry. I love you, Tane, Shuuji-chan."
"NO!" Practically everyone except Mori screamed as the explosion blasted all three away, Chuuya's most guttural of them all, hand futilely reaching towards the younger version of his partner. Atsushi, Kyouka, Kenji and Higuchi openly sobbed as the immense heat almost immediately incinerated the Tsushima couple, just as it did the base and all of its surroundings, creating a huge crater which would later become home to Suribachi City, leaving nothing in its wake.
Nothing except two points of light that had somehow withstood the destructive storm.
And, of course, the source of the storm itself.
A quadrupedal being that did not look one bit human, covered in darkness and blazing heat, raged over the destruction it had wrought, attacking one point of light, glowing a bright yellow in the shape of cube. Within it stood a man Hirotsu, Kouyou, Chuuya and Mori recognized, as the traitor Randou slash spy Arthur Rimbaud fought for his life against the onslaught of Arahabaki's power unleashed on the world. He was faltering with each hit, direct or via graviton spheres, exhausting him and testing his concentration and resilience as the world around him burned and crumbled. Eventually, even he succumbed to the crushing weight of vicious gravity, losing consciousness and falling to the ground, thus loosing the beast's attention, too.
Instead, it focused on the other source of light.
A bright, consistent, steady glacial blue that everyone recognized.
Atsushi and Akutagawa both actually sobbed in relief when they saw a bloodied and bruised younger, disoriented version of their mentor manage to get up, struggling to stay on his feet but managing. No Longer Human was defying the conditions of their surroundings, protecting him from both the increased gravitational force and the heat Arahabaki's entrance had created as it, too, had been caused by the Ability.
"What the fuck," Kunikida and Tachihara moth whispered as the thing turned towards Shuuji and launched probably the biggest condensed black hole they've seen so far. More panicked yells followed as they all realized there was no way for an injured Shuuji to dodge, even if he wasn't suffering from what seemed to be a concussion. Instead, the little brunet just raised his arms in front of him as though to protect his head, only for a new burst of bluish white light to nullify the attack, canceling out any damage it would have dealt to Shuuji or the things behind him.
"Oh my gosh," a horrified Higuchi gasped as the beast seemed to cackle in delight at having an opponent that could withstand its attack.
"Why isn't he getting out of there!?" A crying Naomi desperately shouted. Kenji even tried to run over to the child and bodily remove it from the situation, but his arms only went through the boy since it was no more than a vision of events that have already past.
"How did Dazai-san even survive this?" A horrified Tanizaki wondered just as the thing of darkness and fire reached Shuuji. Its hand reached out, to claw or punch or just hurt and destroy, but just like with the graviton bombs, the second it made contact with Shuuji's body, No Longer Human lit up the night once again, nullifying the Ability. Suddenly, gravity went back to normal and the air slowly started cooling down, the consistent heat faltering. The beast stood frozen, still touching Shuuji, before whatever it was that was covering its body started receding, receding, receding until it all faded away into pale skin of a small, skinny ginger boy with wide blue eyes, unseeing for all they were as open as they can be, trembling in the aftermath of the released power with blood running out of open wounds, his nose, mouth and even ears. He collapsed almost immediately, his weight and momentum as he slammed into an unsteady Shuuji taking them both down.
On the ground, laying side by side, limbs interlocked, bloody and exhausted in the wake of the greatest catastrophe Yokohama has ever faced, were two now very recognizable and jaw-dropping boys.
Dazai Osamu, the freshly orphaned Tsushima Shuuji, and Nakahara Chuuya, the freshly escaped lab experiment, in the first moment their lives have intertwined, their destinies and fates inseparable forevermore under the deceptively beautiful full moon hovering over Yokohama.
"Oh my god," a despondent, panicking Chuuya breathed with immeasurable dread rising. "I killed Dazai's family ... I killed them. I ruined his childhood! I fucking murdered them-!"
"Chuuya, calm yourself," Kouyou said, trying to calm him down before he went into a full blown panic attack. Only she had never seen one happen to him before, so she wasn't sure how to help him. "It wasn't your fault! It was Rimbaud's and Verlaine's! It was N's and the scientists! You were not the one who unleashed Arahabaki-"
"You don't understand!" He wailed. "He's my partner and I nearly killed him! I killed his family! I-" Chuuya was rudely interrupted by Atsushi, of all people, slapping him across the face, even as he himself was still sniffling at his mentor's fate and the fate of the wonderful people that had been his parents.
"D-Dazai-san w-wouldn't blame you for i-it," he managed to hiccup out. "S-So you need to c-calm down, Chuuya-san."
Surprisingly, the slap worked. Atsushi himself had only dared try it because he remembered how effective the shock of pain had been when he had been having his own panic attack and existential crises after Q's Ability made him attack Naomi and Haruno during the Guild incident. It seems that was all Chuuya needed to gather himself enough to at least not panic. Instead, they all watched as both young Chuuya and Shuuji lost consciousness and slept the night away side by side until the looming moon was replaced by the rising sun.
Chuuya woke up.
Shuuji, however, did not.
There were sounds of disaster relief teams finally daring to enter the scene in the distance and that, for some reason, activated something primal in Chuuya, a fight or flight response. Since he was too exhausted and still rather injured - though nothing like the night before, the god he was a vessel to healing his body so he was at least mobile - to fight, he detangled himself from the brunet, hesitated for one moment, before reaching down to take him with him, instinctively using his Ability to help him carry the load. Only to find that gravity would not obey as bright light burst from the mysterious boy he'd woken up with. With no other choice, Chuuya left Shuuji where he was and, with Upon The Tainted Sorrow, shot off from the scene, to later be found by the Sheep and become their 'King', the infamous gravity manipulator.
Shuuji, though, was found by disaster relief and was carted off to a hospital for his wounds to be treated. He was identified and the hospital tried calling his parents, but their cellphones were unreachable. Instead, they called the manor and nearly gave poor Matsuki a heart-attack. It was left to the old servant to tell the old Boss the news, but he had already heard the preliminary reports from the scene and, knowing he had sent his beloved daughter and the son in law he'd loved as one of his own flesh and blood or even more to their demise, something within the old man's heart cracked and he was never the same.
The funeral for Tane and Gen'emon was held off for three weeks, hoping Shuuji would wake up from his coma in that time so he would be given the opportunity to grieve and get closure, but as there was no signs of him getting better any time soon, the old Boss ordered it. It was tear-jerking affair. Their pasts had not defined them and they were well loved. People from all over Aomori had come to Yokohama and everyone was more gutted than the person before them upon finding out the caskets were empty as there was nothing to salvage of the Tsushima couple. Many asked after Shuuji, but even Matsuki, the boy's current caretaker, didn't know his exact condition.
Tsushima Shuuji woke up on his eight birthday, 52 days after the explosion in Suribachi, alone in his hospital room, wrapped up in bandages almost from head to toe.
"Oh, the fucking irony," chuckled Chuuya bitterly.