#I'm tagging it as Dazatsu just in case ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[along-came-atsushi]

Hello, anon! :D And thank you for your trust in my opinions!

[The following quotes from Beast!AU are from @looking-for-stray-dogs.

A complete translation of the novel was made by @yanase-gr.]

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Dazai’s and Atsushi’s relationship in Beast is very complicated to begin with.

During their scenes Dazai is switching between being respectful towards Atsushi and then being pretty cold to him in the next moment.

Apparently Atsushi is allowed to do things other subordinates are not allowed to do. He actually calls Dazai “Dazai-san”, and not “boss”. Although, the hesitant way of him saying his name implies that he’s uncomfortable to do so:

“Thank you……very much, Dazai-san.”

Head still bowed, Atsushi said so in a nervous voice.

Immediately, Chuuya’s low voice interrupted. “Haah? Call him ‘Boss’, brat. You wanna be killed?”

Dazai must have either offered or ordered Atsushi to address him that way for whatever reasons. I doubt that Atsushi was the first to call him “Dazai-san” without being giving permission, since he has an awed and dependent perception of Dazai in Beast.

We know that Beast!Dazai has the knowledge of other realities/worlds, so he may want that subconsciously (being called “Dazai-san” by Atsushi), because he knows that in other realities/worlds he has a good relationship with him. Which is kind of a parallel when he sits with Beast!Odasaku in the bar and actually calls him “Odasaku” (much to Odasaku’s irritation), because he knows in another reality/world they were friends.

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Another thing Atsushi is allowed to do is being alone with Dazai. Chuuya as his bodyguard opposes to both these exceptions, calling Atsushi out to be more respectful towards Dazai and not allowing anyone to be alone with him, since that person could be trying to kill Dazai:

“Now now, Chuuya, it’s fine,” Dazai said while crossing his legs. “More importantly, I want to speak to him alone. Chuuya, leave us for a while.” [...]

“What’re you talking about. A mere member not even an executive member or your secretary seeing you directly, that’s already the exception of exceptions.”

“Why? Atsushi-kun’s a trusted subordinate.”

“It’s not about trust. What’re you gonna do if he’s controlled by an Ability, or a bomb was planted on him without his knowledge? There were precedents. Impossible that I’d give you permission for you two to be alone.”

.

[...] Dazai made a wry smile, and he turned to face Atsushi. “Be at ease, Atsushi-kun.”

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From what I understand from the fan translation is that in Beast Dazai also trained Atsushi. Of course, these sessions must have involved physical force, too. There is also the fact that in Beast Atsushi has to wear a spikey collar in order to suppress/control his tiger powers. Since he isn’t an ADA member there, and Fukuzawa with his ability cannot make him control the tiger, it’s the only way for him to do so. Otherwise he would be blindly going on rampages (which apparently did already happen in Beast), or he would be waiting inside a cage.

But I still doubt the training was as violent as between Canon!Dazai and Canon!Akutagawa. Because:

1.) Canon!Akutagawa disobeys Canon!Dazai’s orders (killing people he should not kill), for which he gets punished. This is something Beast!Atsushi does not do, he strictly follows Beast!Dazai’s orders. But more on that later.

2.) Beast!Odasaku says about Akutagawa‘s ability something like: “Your ability is strong, but you’re physically weak.” Something that’s also not the case with Atsushi, since he has the tiger’s regenerative powers and so on. So training him that violently may not be necessary for Beast!Dazai.

3.) Beast!Dazai planned from the very beginning to not let Beast!Atsushi stay forever in the PM:

There is the sound of clapping, and Dazai congratulates them.

“Atsushi-kun. You’re fired.”

Atsushi’s eyes widened for a moment from surprise, then he closed them immediately.

“……understood.”

“In exchange, go live in the outside world. I’ve made arrangements for somebody to take care of you. Go into the world of light, together with Kyouka-chan.”

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“Dazai-kun must have, in his own way, been worried for you for after he’s gone.” − Beast!Mori to Beast!Atsushi

He made arrangements that he would live a better life, after the incidents of Beast. Contrary to the canon storyline, where Dazai did not have any plans to bring Akutagawa out of PM. Also because at that time, he himself thought that he would stay there forever. Leaving PM was an impulsively made decision due to Odasaku’s death and last wish, and he didn’t bring Akutagawa with him. All these circumstances do not happen in Beast, and Beast!Dazai’s plans differ greatly from his canon self.

So from Canon!Dazai’s mindset it was important to teach Akutagawa how things work in the Mafia, and that he won’t survive there, if he ever shows weakness. Which isn’t the case with Beast!Atsushi.

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Even when Atsushi disobeyed Dazai one time (He went back to the orphanage and killed the headmaster, something which Dazai advised him against), Dazai seemingly didn’t punish Atsushi in any way. Because Atsushi was already punished in dealing with his trauma and guilt for killing the headmaster.

[Sidenote: Yes, even in Beast we have that stupid “AKSHUALLY the headmaster was a gOoD gUY uwu” narrative. Thanks, I hate it.]

It’s not mentioned anywhere that Atsushi was once punished by Dazai for anything or that he’s afraid of him in (physically) hurting him. Instead Atsushi begs Dazai for orders and states several times that he saved him:

“Please, order me, Dazai-san.” Somehow, Atsushi squeezed his voice out from behind trembling teeth. “Immediately. I will never again, go against your orders. Never, never, never.”

“I’ll believe that,” Dazai said while coolly looking down at Atsushi.

.

“That person [Dazai] saved me. He saved me from hell, and invited me to this organization. I will never betray that person’s orders.” [...] “He told me to join. Said that I’ll be granted what I wanted.”

Of course, their relationship in Beast is far from healthy and good. And it’s very shocking to read for the first time. But it’s also not as terrible and cruel as it was between Dazai and Akutagawa in the canon story. That of course, doesn’t make Atsushi’s mental state in Beast any better, and it doesn’t excuse Dazai’s treatment of Akutagawa in the canon story.

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In addition to this, I think that Beast!Atsushi and Beast!Dazai truly care for each other. Atsushi is visibly devastated when Dazai is about to commit suicide. And Dazai, as mentioned above, made preparations to have Atsushi live a better life. It’s just that they have complicated circumstances. Beast!Dazai’s main goal is to keep Odasaku alive, because Beast is the only reality/world where this is possible (which kind of gives Odasaku the role of a martyr in other realities/worlds). But to achieve this, he has to make everybody else suffer and keep a cold facade:

“Yes, this is a natural phenomenon.” Dazai’s voice carried the accompaniment of fatigue that had been thinly extended. “Nobody can stop it, nobody can fight against it. Even I cannot— if there’s one thing we can do, it is to love it. The truth that this world is one huge lie.”

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“It was dreadful,” the young man muttered. “It was really dreadful. To fight against Mimic without you, to have to succeed Mori-san, to make enemies of everyone and expand the organisation. It was all for this world’s—”

− Beast!Dazai to Beast!Odasaku

There is a sad parallel where Dazai says the following to Odasaku:

“A life with someone to say goodbye to, it’s a good life. If there’s someone who would feel pain from the goodbye, I’d wish for nothing more. Am I wrong?”

And the only person who actually feels sadness for Dazai’s death is Atsushi:

It was true that, after Dazai’s death, Atsushi hadn’t known what to do and had left Yokohama, refusing food, wandering in remote places. Even he hadn’t known why. But—he couldn’t help but do so.

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“You didn’t want to die, you just didn’t want to live. They are two completely different things.” − Beast!Elise to Beast!Atsushi