#Kouyou one chance please

[raccoonwxrks]

I believe the perfect woman doesn't exist...

Except Kouyou Ozaki, she sure is perfect as hell

[sskk-manifesto]

Kouyou just one chance please

[astxrailzz]

BSD HIGHSCHOOL HEADCANONS

FEAT: osamu dazai, chuuya nakahara, nikolai gogol, fyodor dostoevsky, sigma, atsushi nakajima, akutagawa ryunosuke

CONTENT: written from a british school pov!! mentions of vaping/dazai n nikolai selling overpriced vapes, atsushi n akutagawa scrapping, fake asthma attack (giggling writing these down)

AUTHORS NOTE: FIRST POST ON THISS ACCOUNT AND LOTS MORE TO COME!! will defo be doing another ones of these it was so fun to write (nikolai was my fav)

DAZAI YR11

dazai would defo be one of those popular boys who does absolutely NOTHING in class. all he does is piss around and fucks with chuuya

somehow he’d be in top set in a few classes and everyone else is like what???? HOW????

brings nothing to school and end up with a bunch of pens

i feel like in yr7-8 he was more introverted and quiet (like he was in the pm) but did a complete 180 change in yr9

LOVES the pepperoni pizza slices in the canteen, forces chuuya to buy a slice for him and throws a fit if they’re not being sold that day

”Chuuyaaaaaa! D’ya have any money- please please pleaseeeeee- they’re not even that expensive! You’re just broke, you seriously gonna let a poor guy like me starve?“

if chuuya doesn’t buy him it he gets atsushi to buy it instead

blows up everyone’s phone. please you’d think he lived in his phone if you texted him he’d respond in less than 15 seconds

had braces in yr7-8

started a business with nikolai scamming the younger years bc he was bored. they planned it out n everything in a maths class and not even a day later had set it up in the toilets. once people acc started falling for it and they were getting money he locked tf in

"It’s 15 quid for a vape.. hey bruv I don't make the rules! (he does) If you're gonna complain and not buy owt' you can piss off."

HAD RUMOURS GOING ABT HIM AND CHUUYA IN YR10. THEY WERE IN THE SAM CUBICAL PUFFING ON A VAPE AND SOMEONE WALKED IN ON THEMMMM, LITCH EVERYONE WAS SAYING THEY WERE GAY N HAD SEX. people still bring it up sometimes and dazai doesn't deny it

lowkey wishes it was true

ALL THE YR8-10 GIRLS THINK HE'S FIT

always has dts so he walks home with chuuya

CHUUYA YR11

does gcse pe bc he's super athletic

once again the yr8-10 girls think he's fit (he is)

got called a leprechaun and he started FUMING, same with being called scottish

got so pissed off at dazai once that he lobbed a pen into his eye which prompted dazai to dramatically fall off his chair and hit his head againnst the floor (chuuya didn't gaf)

every time he sees a yellow car he immedietly thinks abt dazai and starts looking around for him

"why's that car so fuckin' yellow- where's dazai."

50/50 chance that people know he is gonna punch the shit outa him or js think he's into him

stuck up for akutagawa once bc the poor boy was being dragged and now aku follows him around though he’d never admit it

EVERY TIME SOMEONE MENTIONS THAT RUMOUR HE GOES BRIGHT RED AND STARTS YAPPING AND SHOUTING

he denies it like his life depends on it

kouyou even teases him abt it please everyone hangs up on him

NIKOLAI YR11

Nikolai is 100% the class clown you cannot change my mind

owns all the school beef accounts and has videos of all the scraps (makes people pay to see them)

gets fyodor to help him with his homework

He’s the one who stuffs toilet roll down the sinks and blocks the toilets. He drags sigma along with him and sigma js attempts to get him to stop (it never works)

IF HE GETS CAUGHT DOING ANYTHING REMOTELY WRONG HE PINS THE BLAME ON SIGMA AND BEGS FYODOR TO BACK HIM UP LMAOAOAIAO

“WHAT?? no miss I would never- wha- why would I do that?? it was litch sigma miss please you gotta believe me, fedya was watching- weren’t you? WEREN'T YOU??”

(fyodor rats him out 9 times out of 10)

In class if he has a sub and gets told off he whines about it saying ‘oh it’s because I’m russian innit’

draws when he’s bored. doesn’t matter what on, he just vandalises everything

DRAMA/THEATRE KID FRFR (me), DRAMA IS ONE OF HIS FAV SUBJECTS ALONG WITH ART (HE TAKES THEM FOR GCSE)

drama teachers are the only ones that like him

sits with sigma and fyodor at lunch, some year sevens sit behind them so he spins around and taps them then spins back and acts like nothing happened (they think he’s weird and moves)

tried selling a yr7 a empty vape once and a teacher caught him, also hides behind toilet doors so when you open them he jumps out and puts you into cardiac arrest

for the business with dazai, he js pissed around the whole time. their business only lasted a week then they got found out bc some kid was pissy abt how it was extremely overpriced, they ended up getting suspended over it but pleaseeeee they went after that kid HELP

he sometimes put random stuff in the vapes like soap AHAHAHSHSHAH

FYODOR YR11

gets out of pe bc he's anemic. had to fight a war with the pe teachers to get out of it bc they claimed it wasn't a valid excuse, only let him out of it when he passed out playing badminton (nikolai took a video of it and constantly uses it as blackmail)

reads at lunch

got reported once bc somebody bumped into him and he threatened them saying smth corny like 'you better watch your back buddy' or ‘I will stab you at lunch’ and they got scared (tbh i would as well man is intimidating)

slt was called and a bag check had to be done, all they found were books (nerd 🤓)

sometimes quotes authors of the books he reads and completely denies everything if you mention it or question it

"hm? what? why would i quote that- i didnt even say that, what're you on about?" (starts sweating)

i think this is ooc buttt its funny so idgaf, watched deathnote in yr7 or 8 and acted like light as well as bought his own rip off book on temu, he'd wip it out if anyone got on his nerves and everybody took the piss out of him

THIS MADE ME GIGGLE SM I CAN IMAGINE TTHIS IS HOW NIKOLAI MEETS HIM AND HE JS BULLIES HIM

SIGMA YR10

so so soooo awkward

doesn't have ANY friends in his year, lingers around older years so his classmates stay AWAY.

only friends r nikolai and fyodor (nikolai dragged him to his table after seeing him being emo and fyodor tolerates him)

i think he'd be in middle set for most things, the exception being top in english.

common sigma phrase when anyone talks to him

"uh.. well- I uh- I mean-.. yes..?"

was walking behind atsushi one day and a pin off his backpack fell off (read atsushi's section for context). he picked it up for him and gave it back to him leading to atsushi buying him a radnor fizz as a thanks

lowkey wants to be friends with atsushi bc of how nice he was but IS TOO PUSSY TO TALK TO HIMMM

ATSUSHI YR9

has a bunch of cute keychains on his bag and people RIP THEM OFF ALL THE TIME he gen gets so upset over it

gets all his teachers small gifts like chocolates for holidays

most people in the school like him and the yr11s stick up for him bc he's mates with dazai

SCRAPPED AKUTAGAWA IN YR8 BC HE TOOK THE PISS OUT OF HIS HAIRCUT- DAZAI HAD TO DRAG THEM APART BC ALL THEY WERE DOING WAS WACKING EACHOTHER HELPPPP

waves and smiles at sigma every time he sees him

him and akutagawa eventually made up and they're semi friends purely bc aku doesn't want people to start saying shit like 'ooo the emo can make friends'

AKUTAGAWA YR9

he is so judgy he will fucking side eye you in the hallways and shit

EVERYTIME HE GOES TO THE TOILETS DAZAI IS THERE VAPING AND HE SWEARS HE GETS A ASTHMA ATTACK WITH THE AMOUNT OF SMOKE OR EHATEVA

follows gin and Chuuya around and gets them to batter people if they say anything to him

CONSTANTLY picked on for being edgy

"OI EMO! WRIST CHECK?????" or "barcode"

heard abt how fyodor got out of pe and faked having a asthma attack whilst running track, ATSUSHI THOUGHT HE WAS BEING FR AND STARTED SOBBING AHAHAHAHAH

watches horror movies with gin and buys her stuff occasionally (HEADCANNON THAT THEY SHOW THEIR LOVE THROUGH ACTS OF SERVICE)

semi friends with kaiji and higuchi (by this i mean he lets him yap and doesn't complain)

shaves his eyebrows off to seem edgy

[cerebralinvasion]

february yandere event!!

yikes! i just realized i haven’t posted here in like a month! soooo partially as an apology but mainly because i decided it’d be fun, we’re gonna do a little event! every day of february i’ll write a little bsd x reader drabble for you from this prompt list! with the twist being that all prompts are yandere inspired hehe… i don’t assign characters to a prompt until the day of so feel free to request characters for any day you want! one character can even have multiple slots!! okay that’s all for the notes!! list of prompts below!

1. “Aw, are you gonna cry? Go ahead, it’s not gonna change anything.” (kouyou)

2. “Please be good for me. I don’t want to hurt you.” (atsushi)

3. “I’m doing this for you! Why are you trying to stop me?!” (ranpo)

4. “My life is so bleak without you.”(dazai)

5. “I don’t care if your eyes are filled with love or hate, I just want you to look at me.” (higuchi)

6. “Did you really think you could escape?”(dazai)

7. “I’m all you have left now.”(mushitarou)

8. “What do they have that I don’t?!” (akutagawa)

9. “One more chance! I’m giving you one more chance to fucking stop resisting!” (chuuya)

10. “This might sound weird, but I like it when you’re sick. Because then you let me take care of you.”(yosano)

11. “Sweetheart…where are you hiding? I know you’re here. Come out, come out, wherever you are. I’ll find you anyways, I can hear your breathing.” (jouno)

12. “I don’t mind being a monster as long as I’m your monster.”(akutagawa)

13. “Listen, I’m giving you two choices. Either you start eating willingly or I’ll force you. There’s no way I’m letting you starve yourself to death.”(chuuya)

14. “Why…why do you keep resisting me? That’s not fair! Don’t I deserve to be happy too?!”(akutagawa)

15. “Love is patient. I, however, am not.”(mori)

16. “I just want to protect you. Nothing wrong with that, is it?”(jouno)

17. “Silly little thing. Don’t you realize that this is all your fault?” (fyodor)

18. “These people are stupid! Can’t they see that you’re mine?!” (ranpo)

19. “Good morning ~! Sleep well? I hope the bindings aren’t too tight. Did you know you’re quite the restless sleeper?” (dazai)

20. “hopeless? You think I’m hopeless? Sweetheart. Pigeon. Dove. Don’t you see that you’re the one caged here?”(nikolai)

21. “those bruises… did i do that…?”(chuuya)

22. “oh, you aren’t that drunk, don’t worry. i just drugged you.”(dazai)

23. “i keep pencils you’ve chewed on, pictures i’ve printed of you, clothes i’ve stolen from your room… you think i’m a creep, don’t you?”(poe)

24. “want to escape? tell me, what other person would ever love someone like you?” (fyodor)

25. “I know how fucked up this is. It’s just―there’s no other way I can keep you safe.”(chuuya)

26. “you don’t know how much i hate being this way- but i can’t change.” (tetcho)

27. “Don’t you dare fucking try it. You know you can’t outrun me.” (chuuya)

[dqzaiie]

short analysis of the new dazai art from chapter 111.5!

please note: this post may contain spoilers for the meursault arc.

i also made a thread about it on my twitter, so feel free to check that out if you'd like! :)

the flowers:

the flower shown next to him is resemblant of a columbine (or aquilegia). it represents love, faith, and (most importantly) hope. there are seven flower buds at different stages of development.

it comes in various colors. in this case, we aren’t able to specify which exactly, but we do see that it is very light compared to the darkness from which it is growing.

in certain contexts, this holds religious significance, which is interesting considering the relationship between fyodor and dazai contains a LOT of religious allusions.

"sprouting in the darkness...a bud of hope" is such a lovely contrast to "a flower that blooms in the dark can only survive in darkness”. given dazai’s past in the port mafia, and how kouyou said those words to convince both herself and kyouka that there was no chance of escaping, it exemplifies how dazai has moved on from his past into being the good man odasaku wanted him to be. 🥹

the clothing:

this is further conveyed by his clothing, as he is wearing his ada outfit!!! he has metaphorically (and, in the near future, physically) escaped meursault!

background:

i love the inclusion of the prison walls behind him, showing how he’s moved on from imprisonment. this also may be indicative of how his moves were outside of meursault, depending on his alliances to carry out his plans.

the chess match:

moving on to the chess piece he’s holding. throughout this arc, dazai has been shown to use the white pawns, while fyodor used the black pawns. him holding a black queen piece here cements his victory over fyodor.

the hand holding the queen is emerging from the light, pictured over a dark background, which may symbolize the dark methods he uses, but the light persona he maintains. despite his ability to align with evil, he still chooses to work for the side of good!

alternatively, rather than dazai and the flower being the referenced hope, one might choose to interpret this as the queen piece being the “bud of hope”, because chuuya (fyodor’s assumed queen) saved dazai and secured his victory!

this idea comes from the queen being able to move freely across the chess board, much like how chuuya was able to move freely around meursault. dazai’s queen was lucy, who provided the ada safety, but fyodor’s queen was never directly stated, leaving many to believe it was chuuya.

the queen is the most powerful piece in a game of chess, so dazai having both queens assured he held the upper hand against fyodor from the beginning, despite the many other factors he had no control over.

that’s all from me. hope you enjoyed these ramblings! apologies if any of this is incorrect. please feel free to correct me if that is the case, or to add on with any thoughts of your own!

[daz4i]

OKAY I'M DONE!!!!!!

this isn't every single character bc some i have a very shaky grasp on so i just skipped them

for some. i had a funny/angsty idea for an aspect and then went with it (for example: kouyou with light). there might be a better option but i like this one

i mostly used one blog for reference bc it has very convenient lists, but i tried to cross check with others as well jic

if you disagree with my takes that's perfectly fine 👍 i will admit i'm no expert on classpects lol and i encourage you to make your own post of this sort, if you'd like :)

if you wanna make art/fics/anything else inspired by any of these...... please tag me in it.......👀👉👈

that being said. here's my list of bsd classpects:

armed detective agency:

atsushi: page of breath

dazai: seer of void 

ranpo: heir of light

yosano: witch of life

kunikida: mage of time

kyouka: knight of space

kenji: sylph of hope

tanizaki: prince of mind

mafia:

akutagawa: maid of doom

chuuya: heir of blood

mori: rogue of life

kouyou: bard of light

higuchi: mage of heart

kajii: witch of mind

q: page of hope

odasaku: knight of space

decay of angels:

fyodor: bard of mind

nikolai: rogue of breath

sigma: page of blood

bram: mage of life

fukuchi: heir of time

chosen guild members bc i'm too lazy for everyone and idk enough about them:

francis: sylph of blood

poe: mage of mind

lucy: maid of space

hunting dogs:

tachihara: mage of blood

teruko: prince of life

jouno: sylph of rage

tecchou: heir of hope

others:

ango: maid of void

aya: witch of time

mushitarou: rogue of heart

bro the ada is the only one who has a chance of surviving this session fr

also if you're already here have some things that made me feel like i galaxy brained big time:

already posted abt it but, kyouka and odasaku being the same classpect (i knew i want them both to be space bc i thought it fit them and their vibe and patience. but then knight ended up being the best class option too. so)

jouno and tecchou being opposing aspects

^in turn, tecchou being the same aspect as kenji

kunikida and aya being the same aspect, and aya ending up a class that's considered "the same but stronger and more chaotic" than kunikida's

mori being a life player :) he's a doctor after all :)))) (tbh his personality fits a thief way more, but thieves are selfish while rogues work for the benefit of others. and i think that's a core thing about him. so!)

i had the doa trio's classpects locked and loaded in my brain for months now. i actually only made this list so i have an excuse to talk about them. i will not budge on these choices

ok that's it. if you wanna i can elaborate on specific choices but i'm way too lazy to explain every single one lol

[lil-vibes]

i would die if you wrote anything expanding on that post about chuuya being taken over by baki and just floating all over the place and speaking with an echo until he gets to dazai at the ADA office - that was a great idea, very cool

yooo thanks man !!!

here you go, a little more brainworms regarding that au!

• when Baki wakes up in a back alleyway and tries to stand up they overdo it and snap Chuuya's spine in the process. they try to walk and all of a sudden they are on the ground with mild pains from the vessel' legs. they aren't sure how a human body works, so for now they decide to just float.

• Baki, in my hc, is very curious for just about everything because it's quite rare that they 'view' the world through a humans' eyes

• piggybacking off of that, i think that they'd have trouble expressing their thoughts in the beggining (speaking in short, sometimes conflicting/unfinished sentences) because using human vocal cords without snapping them is difficult and also words have changed since the last time they were actively using them. Ranpo just chucks a dictionary at them and they absolutely ABSORB every word

• i also think that they'd want to sword fight with both Fukuzawa and Golden Demon/ Kouyou for fun

• they can make Dazai float and he just about gives up on life ( something something 'your human existence can not deny mine' yeah me thinks)

• i personally think that theyd be slightly more chill than expected, however when they get upset, or emotions generally run high, the control over the body begings to wobble. some examples of that being:

- the overlapping voices are the most common ones. they are a mass manifested through war and suffering and vengeance, thus Baki has to be extremely careful of how loud they speak because there's a great chance that someone's eardrums will explode.

- corruption markings are a damn near permanent fixture on Chuuya's skin, more so to help remind everyone that this isn't Chuuya in control right now (Dazai is constantly stressed about it, and has to consistently tell himself that it's fine), but they tend to grow and glow and move around like they are alive too, as if also taking offence that Baki is agitated. they also burn if touched directly

- people around an Agitated Baki feel like they are about to poof out of existence simply by being too close. Mori nearly dies once because Baki can see his general soul and is not pleased. it kinda feels like your blood suddenly starts running the other way, or your like heart is beating backwards and double in speed. not fun !

- sometimes birds fly into the windows. maybe the sky tints red, maybe there is ringing in the ears, static in the brain of those around them. maybe looking at Chuuya's form hurts a little, burns a little, blurs around the edges. what were his features again? what color were his eyes? his hair?

• Baki loves Chuuya and learning all about him :] ( "and his name? what is his name? we would love to know who our vessel is."

"it's Chuuya Nakahara.."

the entity thinks, hums for a bit, vibrations making the lights swim around it, then pleased, it smiles "hmm Chuuya... it suits him a lot" )

• disregarding stormbringer for a moment, when asked how exactly one traps a being like it, Baki kindly informs them that there are runes carved into every bone inside Chuuya. yes, they do mean every single one.

• also, and that's a little.... gruesome, but it's a misconception that Baki and Chuuya share only a consciousness. "it's like that most of the time, but right now what you are looking at is ... ah, let's say, our clothes. we are woven in-between his skin and bones and every blood vessel, but also we are separate. it's like a hand pupet? we are under his skin :)"

• Baki absolutely says unhinged things like its normal

• they also find it funny to tease Ranpo because they recognise just how smart of a human he is but also he's just that to them. a human

• i also have this scene when someone complains about the sun or something so Baki just,,, shifts either the Earth or the Sun a bit so that it's not shining directly at the person. everyone FREAKS abt this btw

• Baki also loves the Akutagawas and Kouyou bc Chuuya loves them :]

some skk things bc i love them:

• Baki tells Dazai, hand pressed against his heart, looking him dead in the eyes with that slightly unhinged expression "no wonder you hold onto warm things, for you have been warm once, then never again. no wonder you seek to be warm again" and Dazai just has to go through his day after that

• okay last thing off of the top of my head, but somehow they (the ada) get into the topic of worship and Baki casually drops that yes! they get prayers sometimes but nothing even begins to compare to the feeling of the worship from their most devoted person. naturally everyone wants to know who that is, and Baki tilts their head a little and then points to a Very Confused Dazai (Ranpo and Kunikida are exhanging money in the backround btw).

("but... i don't worship the hat rack?? what?"

"oh, but that can't be" they sway a little from their perch on Dazai's desk, appearing as if deep in thought. after the day, Dazai knows better. "but we can distinctly recal feeling a sort of warmth from you. say, how do you define worship? because it can be food offerings too. or thoughts about us or even just the pure, unrelenting faith that as long as you believe in us, your wish will be made into existence"

Dazai blinks at them, stunned.

"so now, has your answer changed?" )

• LAST one. Ranpo asks them if Dazai has ever nullified corruption with a kiss and Baki is like we think so? but Dazai denies that hard. Baki counters by saying that every place where 'coruption' has been nullified burns to this day. twice on left the wrist, once at the forearm. once at the right hand, once at the cheek, and once ot the lips. Dazai may or may not work harder to resolve the issue after that (he's never gonna beat the gay accusations)

(end of skk things hh)

• when it's time to surrender themselves back to Chuuyas will, Baki tells the ada + the Akutagawas and Kouyou, that when their time finally comes, when Chuuya is either one of them or dust in the wind, they will remember the kindness they have experienced. that they will live forever in the mind of a god

• Chuuya is so, so confused after waking up

[grymmnox]

weekly fic recs #24

i think this is 23. i think. it is not 23. smaller than usual as i haven’t done as much reading as i would’ve liked

fandom(s): bungo stray dogs, boku no hero academia (there’s a couple crossovers between bsd and mha)

ship(s): soukoku, shin soukoku, zenku soukoku, ranpoe, kousano (if thats what its called; kouyou/yosano), fyozai, erasermic

Oneshots

Full Tacit Understanding; setosdarkness - bungo stray dogs

teen and up | 3.1k words | chuuya/dazai, akutagawa/atsushi, poe/ranpo, fukuzawa/mori, kouyou/yosano

summary:

Chuuya breathes. Dazai answers, “Yamashita Park.” Ding.

(Kunikida despairs as he tallies yet another correct answer. “Just how are they doing this.”) (Lucy tugs at her braids as she sees the odd couple rack up points, frustrated and awed in equal measures. “What is wrong with Japan.”)

(Or, the one where they play charades and everyone gets traumatized by soukoku’s level of telepathy.)

there is nothing more special than your smile (you taught me that this was love); Bluejay20 - bsd/mha fusion

teen and up | 9.9k words | aizawa/hizashi, chuuya & Q

summary:

“It’s fine.” Aizawa says, then lies easily. “It’s a nice doll.”

At the compliment, the kid beams, eyes brightening.

“You think so? Mister Chuuya says he’s ugly but I don’t think so.” The kid twirls on the spot, lifting the doll above their head as they do so.

Aizawa takes a gamble. “This Chuuya…is he your guardian?”

“Nope!” the kid states, popping the p.

They don’t evaluate.

“Can you tell me your name—”

“Oh! And he—” the kid gestures towards the doll. “—can do tricks! Do you wanna see?”

Aizawa doesn’t even get a chance to try and respond, because the kid grips the head of the doll in their fist. As their innocent smile turn sadistic, and bright eyes turn dark, they pull.

Or, While on patrol Hitoshi and Aizawa meet a young, lost kid named Q. And while waiting for their guardian to retrieve them, end up learning that this kid's past is darker than it appears. This revelation leaves them with a lot more questions than answers.

grim’s notes: typical Q warnings 100% apply here

Complete

Baby Executive; BlowingYourMind - bungo stray dogs

teen and up | 26 chapters | 101.6k words | chuuya/dazai, chuuya & dazai | READ TAGS

summary:

Dazai's normally boring morning was shattered when a small pair of arms wrapped themselves around his knees and big azure eyes blinked up at him partnered with a stupidly happy grin.

Or

Chuuya is hit with an ability that reverses his age.

Prison Sentences; gev_ao3 - bungo stray dogs

teen and up | 14 chapters | 9.4k words | dazai/fyodor, dazai & fyodor | READ TAGS

summary:

--------------------------------

Some conversations between Dazai and Fyodor that should never leave the cell.

~a(n ongoing) drabble collection~

--------------------------------

grim’s notes: technically not complete, but also technically not incomplete either. so. it’s in this section now.

Duo Heroes, Double Black; Yellow_Canna - bsd/mha fusion

general audiences | 2 chapters | 22.1k words | chuuya/dazai, akutagawa & atsushi

summary:

“We are broadcasting this live above U.A High School and you won’t believe what we are seeing! Everyone, please take a look!”

In the middle of a no-longer-empty track field, were three black vehicles. The cars were parked in a straight line with the perfect distances apart from one another. In front of the line of cars was a table oddly standing out in the middle of the field with black sunshade set over it.

Men dressed in black suits stood in a perfect line between the cars and the table. They stood up straight, chin held high and hands folded behind their backs. It was obvious that these were well-trained bodyguards.

However, those weren’t what shocked the audiences sitting in front of their TVs. No…rather than the men and the cars...it was that single man prostrating on the ground, his attire making him stand out from all the black.

“ALL MIGHT! IT’S ALL MIGHT!” The reporter screamed, causing the microphone to ring from her sharp voice. “The former No.1 Hero who hasn’t been seen since the announcement of his retirement!! But…just what is this current situation?!”

What was the current situation?

That was what Toshinori wanted to know.

[madraleen]

Bungo Stray Dogs - Kafka Asagiri/Sango Harukawa Volumes 5-6: Tainted Eyes, Cats and Dogs, and Me Simping for Dazai - A Commentary (*anime spoilers)

-i'm such a simp for dazai, i saw him on the cover and was so delighted. ridiculous

-kouyou and ranpo are the same age? KOUYOU AND RANPO ARE THE SAME AGE?

-in the excitement of the anime, i don't think i appreciated properly the strength of character and the sense of self of kyouka. her will to become something else, something less sinister.

-kenji-kun <3

-okay but why is lovecraft so relatable -.- not leaving home, not wanting attention...

-i love dazai, have i mentioned that lately

-dazai's neck bandages aren't missing as often now. and it feels like the character designs are more set

-NO, DAZAI, YOU'RE NOT IN THE "with yosano-sensei we can keep ourselves healthy, as long as we don't die" GROUP, DON'T SAY "WE," JUST BE CAREFUL, YOU FUCKING DUMBASS

-DAZAI-CHUUYA POSTSCRIPT, HELP ME. i'm imagining dazai has chuuya in a chokehold, judging from chuuya's reaction

-ahaha, according to harukawa-sensei, then dazai has mafia eyes with a tiny touch of a "chance to go back" from having a stained psyche. ahaha...hah... *sob*

-well, in this volume dazai's eyes get "tainted" ie all black when he's about to interrogate kouyou, so i'll assume he's the one whose eyes get a bit tainted once their true nature comes to the surface, but i will keep a close watch on eyes from now on. i've noticed from the start that dazai's eyes span the monochrome rainbow anyway

-akutagawa be tainted to the core eyes-wise

-so when akutagawa's eyes turn white, is he vulnerable and not his usual tainted self- ARGH, am i going to be over-analyzing eyes now?!

-akutagawa and nathaniel have turned into somewhat of literary poets in their encounter, they don't usually speak like this

-honestly, props to yosano for not lopping ranpo's head off when he says "war is so boring"

-CHUUUUUYA. tainted-eyed CHUUUUUYA

-i keep voting tanizaki for the mafia because he'd fit right in, but you know what, maybe we should send them kenji-kun. he'd make everyone insane in one week tops and the mafia would be disbanded

-kenji's wide-eyed sparkly-eyed "OOH!" at chuuya? that's me when i see chuuya

-"do you think the agency is some stray dog" fukuzawa says- okay, so if the agency isn't a dog, and the mafia are dogs, it makes sense for dazai and kyouka to dislike dogs, but it's interesting that akutagawa dislikes dogs, but also he doesn't like himself very much either, so- *DEEP BREATH* i must stop with the cats and dogs thing

-ranpo, my lil bb <3

-yes yes chuuya's bio, we know, you dislike dazai as he dislikes you. sure jan. also chuuya is older by almost two months and you can't convince me they've never used that in an argument

-"dazai-san told me" DAZAI-SAN HAUNTS EVERYONE'S THOUGHTS, EVEN NAOMI'S!

-my my, what big tainted eyes you have there, mr lovecraft

-margaret's skill "able to make things wither away by exposing them to wind"?? we've barely seen that, i hope she gets to do more in the future

-i mean, kunikida my man, mr grape of wrath literally sticks seeds in his neck and grows vines, what's "simply bizarre" about lovecraft's tentacles? what, the transformation? your jinko literally transforms into a tiger

-yes, for tanizaki, naomi comes FIRST, before the agency, before good or evil or morals. to the rest of the agency, arguably the agency comes first. my man tanizaki, let me show you the way to port mafia. please child, relieve my fears. HE EVEN GOT TAINTED BLACK PUPILS FOR A BIT THERE, FFS

-me reading bsd: "mmhmm. mmhm, i see. mmhm." me reading bsd when dazai: "mmhmm :). mmhm, i see :))). mmhm :)))))."

-ONE MINUTE OF SCREEN TIME! IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN ONE MINUTE TO INCLUDE DAZAI TEASING THE DOG IN THE ANIME

-yes so, if the port mafia are dogs, and this dog barks at dazai, then dazai is a cat, and if a tiger is a cat, and natsume cat started the agency, and atsushi belongs to the agency, and the agency are the "foes" of port mafia, the agency are cats, cats vs dogs, and if dazai is a cat, then dazai decidedly belongs to the agency, do you see where i'm going with this

-aaand dazai continues to eat dog treats as though they're popcorn. okay sure

-dazai be like "only three plans? three HUNDRED plans, who do you think we are"

-dazai's "war is a living creature" fits very well with how he overpowers fyodor in the "end," with fyodor "losing" because dazai constantly readjusted his plans and improvised as things unfolded

-dazai be like "my mafia senses are tingling" when he ditches atsushi

-i'm sorry, but my man dazai is so beautiful. such a pretty man. such a pretty princess. i cannot.

-my girl higuchi doesn't have tainted eyes

-look at that man. look at that whole man. (*dazai. obviously)

-dazai is so wtf about mori-san's proposal to his returning to the port mafia that his eyes became untainted for a sec there.

-HAHAHA that's where you left the chapter?!?! WITH MORI'S QUESTION?! FOR A MONTH?! nooo!

-the bits about the actual authors are so interesting. higuchi feels nothing like the real higuchi. she feels more like her sister tbh

-re: "the heartless cur": I LOVE IT OMG. THE DAZAI-AKUTAGAWA MEETING STORY IS SO INTERESTING AND I'VE BEEN ASKING FOR IT FROM THE ANIME FOR AGES

-THE FRINGES OF AKU-KUN’S OUTFIT WOULD APPEAR TO SPROUT FLOWERS?!?! F-FLOWERS?!

-re: dazai's reputation: "he would kill his own parents in a second, take down buddha himself at first glance, and laugh it all off with cold cruelty afterward." TELL ME MORE

-dazai has a habit of letting his kouhai try to kill him before he adopts them, huh? a ceremonial ritual if you wish

-AKUTAGAWA WAS GIVEN AN ACTUAL HONEST CHOICE BY DAZAI! he would literally have provided for him and gin and then disappeared! but aku-kun chose differently!

-AND GOING BACK TO MY CATS-DOGS THING, mafia akutagawa "the heartless cur," "the silent mad dog"?? hello??

[ampheenix]

Death Note au for BSD?? yes please >:))

Younger Dazai as Light- Odasaku died a year ago, robbing his life of any colour it had, and he puts on a bubbly facade around his classmates and friends (the ADA) but in reality struggles to feel anything. One day he comes across the death note, and is stunned as he realizes its powers.

Oda had told him before he died to ‘be on the side that saves people’ (same as canon) and Dazai realises that the death note is his chance to fix the world, becoming Kira to get rid of criminals who (in his mind) killed his best friend.

(An older, less immature Dazai like in the series might have made a different choice, but in this au he’s more like 15-yr-old PM Dazai- except still traumatized from Oda)

Mori as Ryuk, who explains the power of the shinigami to him, amused with Dazai's decision to kill criminals using the notebook (He'd look even more terrifying than Ryuk as a shinigami tbh, less monstrous and more human-like but that makes him all the more eerie).

Akutagawa as Misa, holder of the second death note and puts Kira up on a pedestal, revering him for murdering the criminal who killed his family. Dazai uses him to further his goals, feeling nothing towards him although the younger boy borderline worships him (pretty similar to canon).

Chuuya as L, along with the rest of the PM as the police force. In this au Chuuya still has a hot temper but it’s more of a controlled, and efficient rage- he might be amiable in company but as soon as the door slams shut he’s gritting his teeth, kicking his chair back as he takes his anger out on a new case.

(At first I thought Chuuya as L might not fit due to the differences in intelligence, but really Chuuya is far smarter than he lets on- he's a tad gullible though)

Kouyou as Watari, who discovered 8-year-old Chuuya and brought him to an orphanage for intellectually gifted children (Wammy’s House), and being the most intelligent he became almost like an uncrowned king. Aka a parallel with the king of the sheep, if you will.)

[osarina]

ᡣ𐭩 YOU'RE TOO SWEET FOR ME

FEATURING: dazai osamu

SUMMARY: one chance encounter at a bar and suddenly you're seeing dazai osamu everywhere you go. you must have truly done wrong in your past life for you to run into him at so many places so frequently. you can't let this go on—for his sake and for yours—but the stupid civilian is worming his way into your life, blissfully unaware of who you are and what you do.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: AHHHHHHHH GUYS I HOPE UR EXCITED BECAUSE I AM, i've been obsessing over this literally since the idea first came to me, i'm rlly hoping you guys enjoy this half as much as i've loved writing it. civzai is truly becoming my roman empire. please leave a reblog! always appreciated!

GENERAL WARNINGS: fem!reader, port mafia executive!reader, civilian!dazai, dazai's struggles w suicide & sh, reader partakes in mafia business, dazai isn't dazai without a bit of obsessiveness and possessiveness (the possessiveness doesn't come til later but the obsessiveness starts from day 0).

SEE: WASTELAND, BABY! SERIES MASTERLIST

If you had known stopping at some random bar in the southern part of Hodogaya-ku would lead to a fucking college student attaching himself to you like a goddamn leech, then you would have gone to a different bar. You should’ve known better; this area is close to YNU, but you figured it was lowkey enough that most of the college students wouldn’t know about it. 

It’s just your luck that the most irritating one just so happened to.

Your eye twitches as you take another sip of your whiskey, pointedly ignoring the brunette who’d made his home on the barstool next to yours. He’s talking about something—an assignment for his creative writing class that you could hardly give half a shit about—and your head hurts. You’d been hoping for a quick drink before having to go back to headquarters and give Mori the rundown on the negotiations with Mishima.

You don’t want to go back. Mori pissed you off by scheduling this meeting without notifying you of it until literally thirty minutes before. But you also think that if you stay here any longer, you might murder this kid—and that’s saying a lot for someone who usually refuses to get her hands dirty.

“... but you see, I just have no inspiration,” the student—he said his name, but you ignored it—complains loudly, slumping over dramatically onto the bartop. “How am I supposed to write with no inspiration? I have no muse, no drive, no will to live. What do I do, bella?”

You side-eye him heavily before turning your attention back toward the bartender, Kobayashi, a man who knows who you are and what you do since this is a place that the lower ranking Mafiosos frequent, and is watching the scene taking place with an expression that’s nothing short of concern. You recognize some of the other bar patrons as well—one is an informant of yours that you’ve been meaning to get in contact with, two of Chuuya’s subordinates are here, and one of Kouyou’s.

“Luckily, I’ve run into you, bella,” the man sighs dreamily, big brown eyes peering up at you from where he’s draped across the bar. “You’ll be my muse, won’t you?” 

For the first time since you’ve arrived at the bar, you address him, “I think I would rather die.”

He blinks once. Twice. And then he laughs so loud that it draws half of the patrons’ attention. “Would you allow me to die with you?” he pleads, hands clasped together as he leans in closer to you. “I knew you were the one for me—it could be beautiful, a double suicide on the banks of Tsurumi. I-”

“Okay,” you say more to yourself than him, placing your wine glass on the bar and rising to your feet. “I’m leaving.”

He pushes his lip out as he watches you rise to your feet. You tell Kobayashi to put your drink on your tab before turning on your heel and making your way out of the bar. Much to your extreme displeasure, the student seems to follow you, scrambling after you.

“Wait! Won’t you give me your name? Number?” he cries. 

You slam the door to the bar in his face, but he’s unperturbed, yelping and pushing it right back open. You grit your teeth when you realize Albatross is the one who came to pick you up and bring you back to base, which means you’re never going to hear the end of this from him or any of the other Flags. You can already see him peering out the closed window, trying to figure out who’s chasing you.

“No.”

“How will I find you again then?” he laments, and to your horror, he catches up with you, trying to grab your wrist to stop you from leaving. You toss him a flinty look before snatching your wrist back. 

“That’s the point.” You smile sweetly. “You won’t.”

You get in the car and slam the door shut, pointedly locking it before turning your attention to Albatross, who’s already chewing on his bottom lip, trying not to laugh.

“So,” he starts with a tone that lets you know you’re very much not going to like whatever he’s about to say.

“Albatross, shut the fuck up.”

Dazai stares after you curiously, watching as you slam the door shut to a car that probably costs more than everything he’s ever owned in his entire life. He doesn’t think he’s ever met someone like you before, and he doesn’t even know what it is about you that’s drawing him in. 

You’re beautiful but cold, aloof but magnetic. He hadn’t been the only one affected by your presence—he’d noticed the lingering stares of other men in the bar, the way the bartender always rushed to ensure that your glass was full, hardly able to meet your eyes. Something itches in the back of his head, a gut feeling that maybe he’s missing something, but Dazai disregards it, leaning against the brick wall of the building behind him, tilting his head up to look up at the vast night sky. 

He does know one thing for sure, and that’s that he thinks he’s found his muse. After four years of the worst writer’s block he’s had in his life, Dazai’s fingers finally twitch for a pen.

He finds a smile curling onto his lips—a genuine one—and the muscles of his cheeks strain from the unfamiliar stretch.

For the first time since Odasaku’s death, the emptiness that has been endlessly plaguing Dazai’s chest is pushed out by a warmth that he hasn’t experienced in years. Letting out a shaky breath, giddy and excited in a way that leaves a skip in his step, Dazai makes his way back to his apartment rather than the bridge as he planned, intent on trying to figure out a way to find you again.

Maybe another day, Odasaku.

The gods are sick and cruel. You’ve known this since you were a child—seven years old and sitting in the center of piles of corpses after your village got caught in the crossfires of the Great War, rescued by a man who promised to send you right back if you couldn’t prove your worth to him. Your entire life, you feel like you’ve been the laughing stock of whatever higher beings there are, which is why you’re aggrieved but not surprised when that boy from the bar shows back up in your life.

You don’t even notice him at first. You’re exhausted—you’ve spent the past forty-eight hours awake and on comms for Akutagawa Gin and Tachihara Michizou as they infiltrated one of the low-rung gangs trying to move into the northern wards of Yokohama. It took longer for them to get to the leader than you thought it would, you were confident that it would be an in-and-out, less than twelve hours, but here you are two fucking days later, and you can’t even go back to your apartment and sleep because someone is demanding your immediate presence.

You wonder, sometimes, if death would be easier.

A part of you wants to just straight up ignore Mori and go back home to sleep. You personally think you deserve it, considering the mission went off without a single issue besides the unexpected length of it, but you also don’t want to hear the man bitch and make snide comments about insubordination, so you give your coffee order to the barista—your voice a bit too harsh, so you make up for it with a generous tip and then go wait for it at the opposite counter.

“Wowwww,” an unfortunately familiar voice croons from a nearby table. “Look at those bags. Someone didn’t sleep well last night.”

You think maybe death would be easier.

“As if my night couldn’t get any worse,” you say tightly, lips pressed together in a strained smile as you stare ahead, refusing to even turn to look at the irritating college student.

“It’s actually morning,” he says astutely.

“Find someone else to bother.”

He ignores you, naturally, and you let your eyes slide shut as you will yourself some patience when you hear the chair scrape against the ground, signaling him rising to his feet. You keep your gaze trained ahead even as you hear him approach you.

“Do you believe in fate, bella?” he hums, leaning over your shoulder to look at you.

You squint as you stare forward, rushing desperately for the barista to hurry up with your coffee, and you pointedly step away from him. “No.”

Well, you don’t actually know the answer to that question. Do you believe in fate? You don’t think you do. You like the idea of being able to carve out your own future without the meddling hands of gods trying to interfere, but can you really believe that everything in your life that’s happened to you is just by sheer chance? You’re not so sure.

“Well, I believe in fate,” he begins, and you already know you’re not going to like where this is going. “If I didn’t before, I certainly do now. What else could have led me to you again so soon? The red string tied around our fingers is demanding our love to finally bloom; it no longer tolerates the distance between us. My fated, no wonder I’ve evaded death for so long; it refused to embrace me because it knew I belonged in your arms instead!”

You almost don’t even register what he says, blinking a few times as the words process. 

“Genuinely, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

You turn to face the brunette, appalled, and he gives you a sweet smile before saying, “You’ll have to be more specific. There’s a lot of things wrong with me.”

“Clearly,” you scoff, shaking your head and taking your coffee from the barista.

You can already feel your phone buzzing incessantly in your pocket. You don’t even have to look to know it’s Mori asking where you are, probably Chuuya bitching about having to cover for you too. You can’t waste any more time lingering around, so without another thought or word, you promptly leave the cafe.

“Hey! Hey, wait!” he calls after you. Much to your displeasure, he scrambles to grab his over-the-shoulder backpack before, much to your displeasure, chasing after you. “My name is Dazai. Dazai Osamu.”

“Did I, at any point, ask?” you ask irritably, making your way down the street in the direction of the headquarters, hoping that he leaves you alone before you get there because the last thing you want to do is get there with him trailing you like a lost puppy. Albatross already saw him following after you once. If he catches the kid around you again, he’s going to start making assumptions, and that’s the last thing you need because he’ll immediately go gossip to Chuuya and Lippmann about it.

“Well, no,” Dazai says, “but won’t you give me your name in return?”

“No,” you say, giving him a smile as equally sweet as the one he gave you before. You roll your eyes as you take a sip of your coffee. “Don’t you have more productive things to do than bother me? Like, I don’t know, finishing that assignment you spent two hours bitching my ear off about a few nights ago?” 

“You remembered.” Dazai stares at you with stars in his eyes, face lighting up. “I thought you weren’t paying attention.”

“It’s hard not to pay attention when you’re babbling in my ear,” you say dryly, a bit put off by how surprised and pleased he is over you remembering what he’d been talking about. “Why are you still following me?”

“I want your name,” Dazai pouts, words drawn a bit long as if to make a point, but it only makes your eye twitch. “Your number, if you’re feeling generous.”

“Well, I’m in a decidedly bad mood, so you’re getting neither,” you say, giving him a faux sweet smile that makes him push his lip out even further. “You look ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously cute?” 

“No. Ridiculous.”

“Your beauty blinds me to your cruelty,” Dazai sighs dramatically. “I will not be driven away.”

“You should have more self-respect,” you say flatly, giving him yet another facetious smile before letting it drop and giving him a side-eye. You look him over once as you do; he’s dressed casually in a cream sweater and corduroy pants, a brown bag slung over his shoulder. Cute, but sickeningly… civilian. He seems to notice your judgment of him and looks offended—you speak before he can complain. “I have to go to work, so it’s time for you to leave.”

“To work?” Dazai blinks as if he hadn’t expected that from you, brows furrowing. “You look dead on your feet. You should be going home.”

I wish, you think mournfully. Even just the thought of your bed makes your body heavy with exhaustion. You just want to sleep, but Mori won’t even allow you the relief of that. You can’t help but wonder if you pissed him off because you have no idea why he’s being such an asshole. You don’t even think you did anything this time; you disagreed with him at one of the executive meetings last week, but you weren’t even rude while doing it. And you thought your idea was good. 

You realize that Dazai is still waiting for a response from you, and you try to recall what he’d said, rolling your eyes when you do.

“Wow, thank you.” Your voice is dry and sarcastic. You give him a withering look that he meets with a stupid smile. “The longer you hold me up, the longer it’ll take for me to get home and sleep, so kindly fuck off.”

Dazai sighs. “The things I do for love,” he says mournfully, stopping in his tracks and giving you a downcast look, brown eyes wide and sad and lips curled down. You’re actually a bit surprised that he gave in, letting out a hum of appreciation—you almost didn’t think he would. “The next time we meet, you have to give me your name.”

“We’re not going to meet again,” you say firmly, and you mean it this time because if you see this guy again, you’re going to flee in the other direction. For his sake and your dignity because it’s only a matter of time before unwelcome eyes catch you with him.

“We will,” he sings. “Fate demands it of us. Goodbye, bella. Have a good day.”

You don’t respond to him when you walk away. Dazai is still undeterred. He’s hardly stopped thinking of you since that night at the bar a few days ago. Every time his mind drifts off, he finds himself picturing your face, longing to talk to you again. He thinks maybe it’s a bit weird for him to be so enamored by you after just two brief meetings, but there’s just something about you that’s drawing him in like a moth to flame.

His eyes linger on you until you turn the block and disappear from view. He’s a bit put out over the fact that he still doesn’t have your name, but he thinks that the meeting is still a win in his eyes. First at the bar, now at this cafe, you must live or work somewhere in the eastern part of the Kanagawa Prefecture—Hodogaya-ku or Minami-ku, maybe Nishi or Naka. He’s leaning toward the latter, considering you’re heading eastward to get to wherever your work is.

And it would make sense. Naka-ku has all of the high-end corporations, and you must work for one of them. Your outfit the other day, your outfit today—not gaudy wealth, but wealth for sure. He thinks the black suits you wear cost more than his tuition, and the rings adorning your fingers cost a liver or three. You can’t be much older than him if you even are, so you’re probably just a nepo-baby—father owns one of the big corps and gave you a high-up position right out of school. Probably never had to work a day in your life, he thinks bitterly of all of the time he’s spent working odd jobs just to afford rent in the area, surviving off cheap ramen and canned crab.

But it’s a bit odd, isn’t it? You look like you haven’t slept in two days, maybe longer. Dazai almost felt bad for badgering you just because of how exhausted you seemed. Dazai can’t imagine any type of business demanding that type of energy from one of its workers—especially a nepo-baby.

Dazai finally shakes his head, glancing down at his phone to see the time, sighing when he realizes it’s time to get to class for his poetry workshop, a bit more pleased because, for the first time since classes started three months ago, he actually has something to give to the professor.

The next time you run into Dazai, you see him first. Despite vehemently telling yourself that you would run in the other direction if you happened upon him again, you find yourself hesitating. You don’t even know why you’re hesitating; you shouldn’t be hesitating. 

You’re stopping at one of the libraries at YNU to meet with an informant of yours—the son of the leader of your political opposition in the House of Councillors—all it took was a few sweet words and teasing smiles to have the boy wrapped around your finger, giving you all of the dirty details of his father's dealings for you to use against him when trying to sway the swing votes to your side.

It’s supposed to be an in-and-out meeting, and you don’t want to spend more than 15 minutes in this building if you don’t have to. You still have to meet with one of the oil barons from Venezuela that Mori is trying to get in bed with, and you’re hoping to meet with Mishima before the new military bill passes through the House of Representatives in two months—you suppose you can do that tomorrow, but you’re pretty sure he’s leaving to go deal with some issue with his narcotics trade in western Europe in a few days so you don’t want to leave it to the last minute.

The kid—you don’t even remember his first name, you only know that he’s Kimura’s asshole son, and he cares more about getting his dick wet than the sanctity of family secrets (not that it bothers you considering you’re benefiting from it, but you digress)—is surely already upstairs in one of the private study rooms waiting for you, but your feet are rooted to the ground.

Dazai Osamu sits at one of the study tables in the back, brows furrowed as he reads whatever textbook is in front of him, dressed in a cozy brown sweater. He looks distinctly displeased, tongue poking out between his lips as he scribbles away at his paper—you can’t tell what he’s reading or writing, but it notably does not look like creative writing.

He also looks distinctly lonely. He’s sitting alone at a table meant for four, and there are dozens of groups of students around him, chatting and laughing in their study groups. There are tables for one person lining the walls, so you can’t help but wonder if he chose the larger table specifically to spite the people coming in groups so they have to cram at a smaller table or if he’s meeting people here.

Before you can stop yourself—because you should stop yourself—you find yourself making your way over to him. He doesn’t even notice you at first, not until you’re right in front of the table and peering down at the textbook he’s reading: Intro to Engineering.

“That doesn’t look like creative writing,” you say dryly, lips quirking up in amusement when Dazai physically startles at your appearance, looking up at you with wide eyes and parted lips. Almost cute, if he wasn’t so annoying—you think maybe if he was one of Kouyou’s girls, you might’ve given him a chance.

For a second, Dazai looks as if he’s going to make a quip—you expect a loud comment about fate and love, but instead, his expression softens after a minute as he looks down at his textbook, making you tilt your head to the side curiously at the change in demeanor.

“Intro to Engineering,” he finally says with a wry smile, motioning toward the book. “A required class, much to my extreme displeasure.”

“Sounds terrible,” you say absently, gaze flicking around, noting all of the prying eyes now not-so-discreetly eyeing your table. 

You’re used to people staring at you, you have eyes on you pretty much at all times, and a bunch of nobody college students are nothing compared to the eyes of politicians and foreign mafiosos, half of whom want your head piked. Dazai, on the other hand, doesn’t look quite as comfortable beneath the stares of so many of his classmates, which is surprising to you, considering how bold he was with you at the bar and in public the other day. 

“Are you meeting people?” you ask curiously, glancing at the empty chairs around him.

For a second, Dazai looks flustered. You watch as his eyes dart from the chairs and back up to you, the faintest pink hue spreading across his cheeks. His lips part to respond, but no words leave then, and he finally pushes out, “Yes.”

A lie. A blatant one at that, and he can tell how poorly it came out from the way he winces. You blink, curious as to why he doesn’t want to admit he’s at the library alone, but then shrug because you don’t really care.

“Why are you here?” You raise your eyebrows at the sheer attitude in the question, almost caught off guard by it. Dazai clearly did not intend for it to come out that way, so he immediately shrinks and then adds too quickly, “You don’t go to school here, I mean.”

“Yeah… okay,” you say dryly, a bit offended, wondering why you even came over here. Dazai looks remorseful at his words but only averts his gaze down to the table. Finally, you sigh, choosing your words carefully because you don’t want him—or anyone—to know you’re meeting someone because if anyone finds out Kimura’s kid is feeding you information, you’d be in a shitty position. Instead, you go with, “I own this building. I come to check on it from time to time.”

Any remorse on Dazai’s face is gone as he stares at you flatly. “You… own this building?”

“I donated the money to have it built, yes,” you say, unsure of why he’s giving you such a deadpan expression. 

And it’s the truth: you did it three years ago when you first realized Kimura’s son was attending YNU as a freshman. You needed an excuse to come to campus and ‘run into him,’ so you decided to just have a library built with the reasoning that your deceased father attended the university, and you wanted it in his name. 

Did your father attend YNU? You have no idea—hardly even remember the man—but you had Piano Man forge some records to show that he did.

“Why?” Dazai asks.

“I was in a good mood,” you say sarcastically to evade the question.

“You were in a good mood, so you decided to spend hundreds of millions of yen on a library for a university you don’t even attend?” he questions doubtfully.

“I was in an exceptionally good mood,” you amend smugly.

The expression on Dazai’s face is nothing short of bitter and withering. “The next time you’re in a good mood, you should pay for my tuition and rent,” he says snidely.

“Well, my next project is a zoo,” you say, and you can tell from the way Dazai’s eyes narrow that he knows he’s not about to like what you’re going to say. “We can fit you in with the rest of the baboons, I suppose. That’ll be your new apartment.”

“Haha. Very funny.”

“I thought so.”

As you banter, there’s something sharp and calculating in his eyes that you don’t like—you vaguely noticed it in the past two meetings with him but are only really catching it now as he stares steadily at you, trying to figure you out. Which you can’t let happen, obviously, so you give him a faux-sweet smile instead and lift your hand to wave your fingers in a goodbye, preparing to make your leave and go find Kimura’s kid upstairs. 

“I have to go,” you say, and then add belatedly, “hope this never happens again.”

Dazai pushes his lip out into a pout reminiscent of the one he gave you the other day outside of the cafe, but his heart doesn’t seem to be in it this time. His eyes are distant as they flick around the vast library again, disappointed almost. Lonely. You don’t know why you’re still standing there and you especially don’t know why you find your lips parting to speak.

You very much don’t know why your name comes out, and when Dazai looks up at you, eyes wide and with a shine in them that wasn’t there before, a question ready on his lips, you almost hesitate. Almost find yourself at a loss for words. Something that hasn’t happened to you in… years, actually. 

What the fuck?

You play it off quickly. “You wanted my name, didn’t you?” you drawl, looking down at him unimpressed as if you’re not entirely horrified with yourself right now.

Dazai looks at you as if you’ve handed him the stars, sun, and moon on a silver platter, and you decide it’s time to leave before he can say anything else—more importantly before you can say anything else—lifting your hand lazily to wave at him over your shoulder without looking back. 

Once you’re well out of sight—all the way up the stairs leading to the private study rooms with the one-way glass windows looking down into the main section of the library—you finally allow yourself one last look.

Dazai still sits the same exact way you left him, staring at where you’d left with a stupid smile on his face and a starstruck look in his eyes. You roll your eyes, and you firmly choose to ignore the faint smile curving at the corners of your lips.

Your name rings through his head on repeat, a giddy feeling spreading through his chest. His whole body feels light and his fingers thrum across the wood of the table he’s sitting at, unable to stop the smile that rises to his lips. You approached him this time and you gave him your name—progress, good progress. In his exhilaration, he can almost ignore the dozens of curious eyes lingering on him wondering who you were and how you knew Dazai of all people. 

He supposes he can’t blame them for being curious—you’re someone who’s clearly not cut from the same cloth as the rest of them; if your clothes didn’t make that apparent enough, the way you hold yourself does. And to approach him… Dazai isn’t particularly liked by the other students in his year—they think he’s odd. Which, he is odd, but they could be more discreet about it.

“Hey, Dazai-kun, who was that?” one of the third-year boys asks, leaning over from his table to try to get Dazai’s attention, intrigued gaze pinned on where you’d disappeared to.

Dazai pointedly does not acknowledge him. Partially because he’s not about to encourage competition, you’re Dazai’s muse, and Dazai is not keen on sharing you, but mostly because he doesn’t even know the answer to that question. 

Who are you? 

Dazai knew you were wealthy just from the way you dressed, but the way you so casually mentioned that you’d donated the money for this library to be built a few years ago was absurd. You can’t be much older than him, so what? You were eighteen or nineteen, donating hundreds of millions, billions of yen to have a library built? And for what? It doesn’t make sense. Dazai prides himself on his shrewd mind and ability to read people, but he just can’t figure you out. 

He must be missing something

He pulls out his phone, clicking on the safari app before hesitating. You only gave him your first name—he doubts that he’ll actually find anything on you, but a part of him holds out hope because you clearly have more money than god, and anyone with that much money must have some heavy sway on politics and society. Rich people have the media following them like dogs looking for a bone.

So, he tries, and he’s sorely disappointed when only websites about name etymology and pronunciation pop up. He sighs as he flips to a new page in his notebook, giving up on trying to figure out these engineering formulas for now. 

Instead, he writes your name at the top of the page, tapping his pen to his lips as he tries to figure out who exactly his new muse is. 

You don’t see Dazai for two weeks after that. You don’t have the chance to—you’re busy getting ready for the gala the government is hosting to honor some agency based in Tokyo. An excuse so they can gather all of the House Representatives and Councillors in one spot for both sides to advocate for or against the major military bill passing through the National Diet in a month and a half. You’ll be attending to represent the Mori Corporation, as always, and you’re hoping Mishima sends Kiyomasa on behalf of Age of Blue Co., his own front for the Sun and Steel. You think with the two of you taking on the burden of convincing the swing votes, you’ll get it done.

Now, though, you’re in a foul mood because you have to waste time you don’t have out of your day to deal with one of the landlords the Port Mafia is leasing property to. He’s been skimping out on payments owed and, evidently, has grown balls that he certainly shouldn’t have, considering he had the nerve to turn away two of your subordinates when they came to collect. He obviously thinks he can get away with it because it's a low-priority issue compared to all of the other things going on with the military bill and developments in China and Russia with Cao Xueqin and Vladimir Nabokov. You have half a mind to stuff a 24 in his mouth and pull the trigger just to show him how low of a priority he really is. 

You might, honestly, depending on his decisions in the next ten minutes.

You get to the complex in Hodogaya-ku half-past six in the morning, wanting to get this done and out of the way well before Tolstoy arrives in the city at ten to meet with you about the rising issues in the mainland. For once, luck seems to be on your side because when Albatross pulls up to the complex, you see Mado on the phone outside, in a heated conversation with someone.

“Have fun,” Albatross sings as you push open the car door to make your way over to the older man.

Mado catches sight of you instantly, eyes widening and pallor taking on a ghastly color as he hangs up on whoever he is talking to so he can take a step back closer to the front doors of the complex. You tilt your head to the side, pointedly shifting your suit jacket so he can catch sight of the gun holstered at your side before hiding it again.

“I wouldn’t do that,” you say with a thin smile as you draw closer.

“You’re-” Mado begins but cuts himself off quickly.

“Mado-kun,” you greet, hands clasped behind your back as you watch the man carefully. “I hear you had an issue with two of my subordinates.”

“I-”

“Or, well, there was no issue because you quite rudely turned them away,” you amend dryly. “I’d love to know your reasoning. I’ve got a few running theories of my own.”

“You misunderstand-”

“The most plausible theory, in my opinion, is that you think you can slide under the radar because there are more important things going on right now. You think you can make quick money by shaving off the money owed to us to keep for yourself,” you continue, smile falling off your face. “If that’s the case, I’m afraid you’re sorely mistaken. The Port Mafia always repays its debts, and we always collect upon them.”

Mado takes in a stunted breath, then steps back again. “N-No. No, you misunderstand-” he tries again, and your lip curls up in frustration, eyes darting around the complex. 

It would be risky. Very risky. The Mafia controls all of the cameras in the complex, and you’re not in sight of any of the windows, but it’s broad daylight, and there’s always the off chance someone walks out while you’re in the process of putting a bullet through his skull. You’re just so fed up, and Albatross is right there…

You let out a puff of air, almost amused, as you take a step back and nod to yourself. Whatever, you think to yourself. It’s better than listening to him stumble over weak excuses, wasting even more of your time. Just as you’re about to reach for your gun, the door to the apartment complex slams open, and you halt.

“Really?” A familiar voice says, loud and frustrated. “You’re going to hang up on me now?”

You blink, head snapping to the side for your eyes to focus on Dazai Osamu, dressed in gray sweats and a black-tshirt, bandages wrapped all the way from his wrists disappearing under his shirt. He’s angry, brows furrowed as he glares at Mado, doesn’t even notice you standing there. Your irritation instantly fades, replaced with mild curiosity and entertainment.

“Dazai,” you greet easily, an amused smile curling at the corners of your lips. You ignore the stunned look Mado casts between the two of you. “You live here?”

Dazai freezes as soon as he hears your voice, brown eyes wide as looks at you, finally registering your presence. “You-what are you doing here?” He sounds caught off guard, in disbelief.

Almost the same question, almost the same tone as the way he asked why you were at the library two weeks ago, the smile on your lips now is decidedly mocking as you repeat the answer you gave him back then. “I own this building. The whole complex, actually.”

“You’re joking,” Dazai says flatly.

“Hmm,” you say, as if you’re thinking to yourself. “No, I don’t believe I am. Ask Mado-kun here, I’ve had to take time out of my day to come speak to him because he refuses to pay for the property we lease to him.”

You give Mado a faux-sweet smile, watching as he looks even more aghast as he looks between you and Dazai.

Dazai looks incensed by your words. “So not only do you refuse to fix my water problems, but you can’t even pay for the property?” he says snidely. “Somehow, I’m not surprised.”

You raise your eyebrows, glancing at Dazai and then back to Mado. “Is that so?”

“Dazai-san,” Mado laughs nervously. “Don’t be hasty now-”

“Hasty?” Dazai demands. “I’ve gone two weeks without water. Every time I call you about it, you blow me off.”

“How fascinating,” you say lightly, giving Mado a cool look. “Well, the complex will have a new landlord soon. Mado-kun, please head to the car so we can work out the details of terminating the contract.”

Mado stares at you as if you’ve just signed his death sentence. Which you suppose you have. Terminating the contract is a gentler way of putting terminating his life. You raise your eyebrows and lift your hand to shoo him away, making eye contact with Albatross who had stepped out of the car as soon as Dazai had come outside.

Albatross tosses you a wink and nods toward Dazai; you give him a withering look, directing your attention back to Dazai as Mado walks over to the sleek black car you’d arrived in.

The look Dazai gives you is akin to a kicked puppy, and his words are drawn out long as he speaks, a quiet whine that shouldn’t do something to you but it does. “I was suffering in your building for two weeks,” he pouts. “I should be compensated.”

You roll your eyes. “I’ll send someone to fix your water,” you say dryly. 

“You should give me your number,” Dazai says sweetly. “Just in case this happens again.”

“I’ll get you a new landlord and I’ll give you his number,” you say just as sweetly, relishing in the way he pushes his lip out even more.

“But what if it’s another bad landlord? I should have your number so I can call you just in case,” Dazai presses, tilting his head to the side and batting his lashes at you so blatantly that you have half a mind to snort and walk away.

Instead, you find yourself letting out a huff of laughter as you shake your head.

“Fine,” you say before you can stop yourself, which he clearly doesn’t expect from how his eyes shoot open, and you don’t expect from the way your heart rate spikes as soon as the words register. 

What the fuck?

You justify this by telling yourself that Mado’s inability to properly run the complex has, in turn, made the Mafia look bad, making it seem as if you’re unable to manage your own properties. It’s better to have someone who will instantly start complaining as soon as things go wrong so you can fix it right away.

Dazai scrambles to pull his phone from the pocket of his sweats and your lips quirk up a bit when you see the way his fingers are just barely trembling. 

Cute.

You can see him watching you anxiously from the corner of his eye as you type your number into his phone quickly with your first name and hand it back to him. A bit embarrassed by how quickly you gave in to him, you make up for it with: “Don’t bother me unless it’s urgent.”

“Mhm,” Dazai agrees as he takes his phone back from you, looking down at your contact information with bright eyes. Then he suddenly pouts, “You didn’t even give yourself a cute contact name. Just your first name. That’s so boring.”

You watch as he immediately starts typing and squint at him, “What did you change it to?” you ask suspiciously, trying to look, but he pockets his phone before you can, tossing you a saccharine smile.

“You should waive my rent too,” Dazai adds, voice soft and honeyed.

The fucking audacity of this kid, you think to yourself, almost laughing in disbelief. You just gave him your number against all better judgment—he has to have more than a few screws loose, maybe all of them. The worst part is, you think the more time you spend around him, the looser yours become, too, because somehow you’re actually considering it.

You shouldn’t even be having this conversation with him. He’s a civilian. You’re an executive in the Mafia. You shouldn’t have given him your number, you shouldn’t have given him your name, you shouldn’t have entertained any of this at all. He’s a civilian, and you can’t be giving him special treatment because he is a civilian. A normal guy going to university to live a normal life. The more time you spend around him, the more likely he is to become one of the nameless bodies dumped in the abandoned shipping container yard by the ports, caught in the crossfires of an underworld conflict that he shouldn’t be anywhere near just because he was seen with you.

This shouldn’t bother you. It shouldn’t. You’ve been the reason for countless deaths, pulled the trigger yourself on most, so why is it when you think of Dazai Osamu’s stupid big brown eyes glassy and empty—body forgotten and rotting in a pile of corpses in that dumping ground—do you find your mouth dry and your chest tight?

It’s an effort for you to force out a laugh and wave him off over your shoulder as you turn to leave. 

“Yeah, as if.”

There’s a skip in Dazai’s step as he makes his way back into his small studio apartment, fingers curled around his phone. As soon as he shuts the door, he flings himself onto his futon, pulling his phone out of his pocket and smiling at the new contact in it.

My Muse is what he’d changed the contact to from the boring name you’d entered it under as if you were only just an acquaintance to him and not his muse, his inspiration, his will to live. He clicks the message button on your contact and quickly types:

Dazai: hi (＠＾◡＾)

Instantly, it pops up that you read the message, and he waits anxiously for the three dots to appear, signaling that you’re typing a response, but they never come. He pouts to himself when he realizes that you’re not going to respond. A part of him wonders if maybe you gave him a fake number, but he doubts it. Still, Dazai wanted to get more information on you anyway, so he quickly pulls up a different contact. Dazai might not have a lot of friends, but he does have a lot of people who owe him favors.

Dazai: kataiii, remember when i helped u get a date with that brunette at the cafe? :P Katai: What do you want?

Dazai types in your number and promptly sends it to him. 

Dazai: tell me whatever info u can find about the person who owns this number.

Katai doesn’t respond, so Dazai figures that he’s already on the hunt. Instead, he grabs his notebook and flips right to the page where he’s been listing all of the things he’s noticed about you. 

Rich. Nepo baby?

Demanding job? What type of nepo baby has a demanding job?

REALLY rich? Built the nice library on campus, donated hundreds of millions of yen at 18/19 to build it—weird. Evaded answering when asked why.

Dazai taps his pen to his lips, trying to figure out what he wants to add on the next bullet point, and just as he thinks he’s formulated his next observation, his phone buzzes again.

Katai: No information. At all. Not even a name. Dazai: really? Katai: Yeah. Kind of weird, honestly. Usually I can find at least something small to go off of. It’s like this number doesn’t exist.

Interesting, Dazai thinks to himself, even more intrigued now as he sits up in his futon and starts making his next note. Wealthy, distant, cold, and apparently a ghost to even Katai Tamaya, who can usually find anyone and everyone with the smallest bit of information. 

Who are you?

You’re in a meeting with Mori, Kouyou, and Ace when you get the text. It’s from an unsaved number, but one that you already have ingrained in your head, considering you get several dozen texts a day from it. You don’t even know why you bother to check this time—you usually just ignore them until you have nothing better to do than see what he’s yapping on about. Maybe this time, it’s because it’s only a single message; you’re used to getting them en masse, eight or nine messages in a row, unnecessarily split up when they could’ve been combined into one message.

As Ace drones on about whatever issues he’s having at his casinos, you spare a glance down at your phone, unlocking it to click on the message. You halt when you see that the only thing Dazai sent you is a ping with his location. Your eyes flit back upward to make sure no one is looking at you, and then you type a quick message back.

You: ?

You wait, tongue scraping against the roof of your mouth as the three bubbles pop up on your phone. His response is quick, and your stress levels skyrocket when all he sends is a “help.” Your mind races as you try to figure out what to do—if you leave the meeting now, you’re bound to draw Mori’s attention, but…

You shouldn’t care. What are you doing? You should not care. He’s a random kid that you happened to run into a couple of times, who has somehow managed to convince himself that the two of you are fated. He’s delusional and annoying, and you’d probably be better off with him gone and unable to bother you. His existence puts you in danger as much as it does him, and the fact that you’re sitting here actually contemplating going to this location to see what’s wrong is proof enough of that.

Shit.

Once again, you’re forced to justify your own actions to yourself as you find yourself rising to your feet. You tell yourself you’re only heading there to put an end to this, to tell him that he has to stop bothering you, to stop texting a dozen times a minute, several times a day. To tell him that he has to forget about you and go back to whatever he was doing before he ran into you at the bar that night.

With all eyes on you, the cogs in your mind turn quickly for an excuse. You only come up with a vague and weak one, one that you know Mori will question later on.

“Something urgent just came up,” you say, smiling thinly at the three other executives at the round table. You pointedly ignore the curious look in Mori’s eyes, knowing nothing good ever comes from drawing his curiosity. “I have more important things to do than listen to Ace whine about his own failings.”

“You-” Ace spits out, face going red as he stands up, but you’re already leaving the conference room.

You: Have the car outside in 2 minutes. Albatross: not ur personal chauffeur 😒 i’m busy

You roll your eyes at the response as you make your way into the elevator, clicking the button to bring you down to the first floor. Each second in the elevator feels like an eternity, and you find yourself glancing back down at your phone frequently to see if Dazai sends another message, but he does not.

What are you doing?

You find yourself shaking your head, a bit lost and taken aback by your own actions, as the elevator doors slide open to the first-floor lobby. You ignore your subordinates and the other Mafia underlings as you make your way to the front doors of the headquarters. 

Albatross is dutifully waiting outside for you.

“Not my personal chauffeur, huh?” you say sarcastically as soon as you open the door to sit in the passenger seat. “What happened to being busy?”

“You take me for granted,” Albatross complains, head lolling to the side against the headrest to toss you a side-eye. “Where we goin’, doll?” 

You show him the location sent to you, and you pointedly ignore the knowing look Albatross gives you at the unsaved number in your phone. He takes it in his hand to zoom into the precise location and raises his eyebrows.

“The hell is he doing on that side of the city?” Albatross says more to himself than to you, putting the phone down and shifting the car into gear. You also pointedly ignore how he immediately knows who you’re rushing off to help. “‘s a ten minute drive. I’ll get there in three.”

Oh god. It’s not like you haven’t been in car chases with Albatross before, but you don’t think anything can prepare you for the lurching in your stomach as he takes off. They’re fun usually, but you’re also usually with Chuuya, and you’re also usually distracted trying to gun down whoever is giving chase, you’re not paying attention to how dangerously he’s weaving in and out of traffic to get from place to place.

Albatross looks entirely exhilarated. There’s a wide smile on his face, pupils blown wide, sunglasses hanging off the bridge of his nose as he leans forward. He lets out a wild laugh as he takes such a jarring turn that your shoulder slams against the car door. You toss him an angry glare, but Albatross is entirely unperturbed, doesn’t even notice as he lets out a whoop.

That side of the city. You hadn’t even noticed while in the meeting, sparing a glance back down at your phone. Dazai’s up in Tsuzuki-ku—all of the city is under the Port Mafia’s control, all of the city and well beyond, really, most of Japan is under the Port Mafia’s thumb, but the northern wards are frequently tested by lower-rung gangs hoping to try to sliver some of the Mafia’s heartland away from them. They always fail, but sometimes it can get messy, and recently, there’s been another making moves in Aoba-ku.

Your chest tightens in a way that it definitely shouldn’t. It wouldn’t be the first time a wannabe rival to the Mafia targeted someone close to an executive to try to get their hands on one, and you hadn’t exactly been subtly approaching him that day at the library. Two years ago, an organization called the Serpent’s Tongue targeted a girl Chuuya’d been talking to trying to get him to turn himself in—a civilian girl, actually, one that he dragged into this life just like you’re unintentionally doing with Dazai. He turned himself over for her; they killed her anyway, and the whole organization paid for it with their lives. So did all of their families. You don’t think Chuuya’s ever gotten over it.

You’re not trying to start a gang war for a civilian that you’ve met a handful of times, but…

“Should we call for backup?” Albatross asks you, uncharacteristically serious, as the two of you draw closer to the location sent to you. “What if it’s a trap? That Yakuza syndicate’s been pretty active up here in Aoba and Tsuzuki,”

“No,” you say, because you’re not fucking calling in the Black Lizards for this civilian. That’ll make this a whole operation, and then Mori will find out, and then everything will go to shit. “... I’ll text Chuuya.”

You: Where you at? Chuuya: Checking in on the ports in Kanagawa. What’s up?

You: Be on standby?

Chuuya: ??? Ok. What’s going on?

You don’t respond, slipping your phone back into your pocket and resting your head on the window. If Chuuya’s at the ports in Kanagawa-ku, then it won’t take him more than three or four minutes with the Tainted Sorrow to get to your location. You don’t need him barreling over here now if this is something you can handle on your own. The less people that know about Dazai fucking Osamu, the better.

“Uhhh,” Albatross begins. “I don’t think your boy’s in trouble, doll.”

Instantly, your blood pressure spikes.

You follow Albatross’s gaze to where he’s looking at a strip of shops, pulling to a stop in front of an affordable men’s warehouse. You stare blankly. Albatross looks like he’s about to start laughing.

“I’m going to kill him,” you breathe out, stepping out of the car and slamming the door shut so hard that you hear Albatross cursing at you from inside, even when you get all the way to the door of the store.

Your phone is buzzing incessantly, so you pull it out before you go into the building.

Chuuya: Hello?? What’s happening? Where are you? 

Bitterly, you type out a response.

You: Forget it. False alarm.

As soon as you open the door, you’re met with the overwhelming scent of shoe polish and cheap dye. A store attendant comes up to you to ask if you need help with anything, but you’ve already spotted Dazai in the back, looking lost as his eyes card between three black suits.

“You,” you spit out loud enough to get his attention. Dazai’s eyes widen as he looks up at you. “You have some nerve.”

“Bella.” Dazai ignores your ire, a smile lighting up his face. “You came!” 

“You said help,” you accuse angrily. “You said help and sent me a location with no explanation.”

“I do need help,” Dazai pouts. “I don’t know anything about suits. You wear such nice ones all the time, I figure you can help me pick one out.”

“Do I look like a goddamn stylist, Dazai?” You raise your voice, livid, blood still running hot from the panic you felt when you saw the text, how you’d exposed yourself in front of Mori, from the anxiety of trying to figure out if you needed to bring in the Black Lizards if this was a trap.

Dazai draws back a bit now as if only just realizing that you’re genuinely pissed, and you think you should take your gun and stick it in your own mouth because why are you feeling guilty when he’s the one in the wrong? You haven’t felt guilty for anything a day in your fucking life.

A sick part of you that you want to carve out and throw away defends him. How is he supposed to know the implications of what those messages could mean to someone like you? He’s a college student whose biggest problem of the day is working out the answers to his class assignments, and he has no idea who you are and what you do. He doesn’t know that the first thing that comes to your head is the sight of Chuuya’s girl’s head rolling on the fucking ground, watching him scream over her body. Doesn’t know that there are people out there with blood that runs as black as tar that are trying to hunt you down, would jump at the chance of any weakness to exploit.

You force yourself to calm down. You take a breath, take a step away, look up to the ceiling, and pray to a god you don’t believe in to give you the patience to get through this day.

“Well, since you’re here already…” Dazai tries, giving you a sweet smile and batting his long lashes.

Your eye twitches.

You drag your gaze from his face to the three suits he’s considering. Your lip curls up a bit in disfavor as you reach out to pinch the material between your fingers—it’s stiff and scratchy to the touch, surely uncomfortable to wear.

“What do you need this for?” you finally ask, glancing at him.

“I’m going on a date,” Dazai says proudly. You snort and look him over once. His jaw drops in offense, “That was so rude, what does that mean?”

“What do you really need it for?” you ask dryly. 

Dazai withers, shoulders slumping. “My journalist professor is having me attend some event with him. Told me to get something nice to wear so I don’t look out of place.”

“And you think this will do the job?” you ask distastefully. “This looks like something a high schooler would wear to a school dance.”

Dazai looks helplessly at the suit you’re judging. “How can you tell?” he whines. “It’s just a suit.”

“The material and the color. It’s washed out.”

“Why are rich people so pretentious?” Dazai mutters, more to himself than you, and you raise your eyebrows as you watch him pout, clearly taking in the differences between the suit he picked out and the one you’re wearing. Still, he continues bitterly, “It’s just a suit.”

“You’re going with a journalist. He’s going to want you to blend in so people aren’t careful about what they say around you,” you note offhandedly, tilting your head to the side as you look over him. “The more you dress like them, the less likely they’ll be to notice you and the looser their lips will be.”

This is your field of expertise, you learned all of this when you were thirteen and fourteen, just learning the ropes of mafia politics. The first lesson you learned was that of the importance of being able to camouflage yourself in any crowd—the importance of not only acting and sounding like you belong but looking like you belong. If one thing is even a little off, you’ll be sniffed out by bloodhounds. You don’t even notice how you’re absently lecturing him on it until you catch sight of him from the corner of your eye.

Dazai’s looking at you, curious and taking in your words. You don’t like the sudden intense attention from him, so against better judgment, you sigh and change the subject. 

“Come on,” you say. “I’ll take you somewhere else.”

Dazai’s mouth is dry as he trails after you into a luxury boutique in Nishi-ku. Everything about the place makes him feel uncomfortable and sorely out of place, from the way even the store attendants are dressed in suits that Dazai couldn’t dream of affording to the way he catches them casting looks toward one another as their eyes drift between you and Dazai.

“Yeah, uh, maybe we should go back to that warehouse? I can’t afford this,” Dazai says hesitantly, nearly tripping over a stand because he isn’t paying attention to where he’s walking.

“Obviously,” you say flatly, and Dazai would feel offended, but when he tries to peek around for the price on one of the suits near him, he finds, to his mortification, that there’s not even a price tag to look at. “Kido-san, can you get the backroom set up to take his measurements?”

Measurements, Dazai mouths to himself, feeling a bit lost.

An older man, who must be Kido, nods his head in acknowledgment. “Of course, hime.”

Dazai’s head snaps to the side, watching as your eye seems to twitch at the honorific. 

“Hime?” Dazai whispers urgently, growing more confused by the second. He thought he had a general idea of who you are but finds that every meeting with you leaves him more and more bewildered.

“Don’t call me that,” you scowl before turning to look at him. 

Dazai feels strangely seen under your stare, shifting on his feet from side to side as your gaze trails down from his face to his waist. You squint and then reach out, pinch the fabric of his cotton shirt, and pull it to the side; Dazai bites back a surprised yelp, which you seem to catch from how you give him a distinctly unimpressed look.

“I-” Dazai starts to say, but he doesn’t even know what he wants to say, so he just trails off awkwardly. 

You don’t seem to notice either way because whatever you’re looking for, you seem to have found, letting out a pleased hum as you make your way to the back of the store, leaving him alone with two female store attendants who are observing him like he’s some unknown specimen.

“So, how do you know her?” One finally approaches him with an excited gleam in her eyes, eager for some gossip. “Hime has never brought anyone to us before, not even Nakahara-sama.”

Dazai doesn’t know how to respond to that. Partially because he’s still caught on the way they address you as hime and partially because he’s caught on whoever ‘Nakahara-sama’ is and why they’re so impressed that you brought him here and not them. He feels smug about it, actually, so smug that he entirely forgets to respond until the woman draws back.

“Oh! We won’t tell anyone,” the woman rushes out, shaking her head as if thinking that’s why Dazai isn’t answering her question. “We have a completely confidential policy with our clients, and hime is our most important. We wouldn’t ever risk betraying her trust.”

Dazai’s mind is whirling, trying to store all of the information he’s receiving so he can put it down in his notebook when he gets home. Hime, the reverence in the store attendants’ voices when they talk about you, going to a boutique with a confidentiality policy… that’s all a bit weird, isn’t it? Dazai isn’t sure—rich people are weird in general, maybe it’s not unheard of for high-end boutiques like this to have policies in place in case clients come in and have to talk about their business. Nobody would want to go somewhere where attendants leak trade secrets for a quick buck. 

Hime, though, why-

“Stop badgering him.” Your voice rings through the small boutique as you step out from the backroom, arms folded across your chest as you give the two attendants a sharp look. “Dazai, come.”

Dazai feels like you’re treating him like a pet dog, but he does dutifully follow after you. You motion to a pedestal in the middle of the room and Dazai makes his way over to it, feeling a bit embarrassed as he stands on top of it. You lean against the wall, and Dazai isn’t really sure what to do when Kido waddles over with a measuring tape, so he holds his arms out.

You instantly snort and look away, Kido flattens his lips.

Dazai is embarrassed, but lowers his arms.

“Take off your clothes, Dazai-sama,” the older man snaps his fingers together.

Dazai freezes, hardly even taking note of the honorific because he’s mortified by what’s being requested of him. He does not want to do that because he doesn’t want you to see that he covers his whole body with bandages. He’s had more than enough people see the bandages and immediately cringe away, imagining what monstrosity must lie beneath them for Dazai to hardly even allow an inch of visible skin. Sensing his discomfort, he watches your eyes track down to the bandages peeking over his collar and sleeves, and then you pointedly turn around to face the wall, sighing as you pull out your phone.

Dazai’s lips part a bit in shock, not expecting you to immediately recognize the issue and move to try to fix it. He thinks maybe only one person ever in his life has been able to read him so easily, and he’s been gone for four years. 

For the first time since Odasaku’s death, Dazai feels like someone is actually seeing him.

“Shirt, Dazai-sama,” Kido urges impatiently, and Dazai swallows thickly as he pulls off his sweater, noticing the man pause when he sees the bandages wrapped around Dazai’s whole torso and chest.

“I don’t ever go without them,” Dazai says awkwardly, “I-”

“Take the measurements as is, Kido-san,” you say sharply from where you’re still facing the wall.

Kido doesn’t argue with you, immediately getting to work on measuring Dazai’s waist and hips. As he does, Dazai feels particularly uncomfortable with you still standing there facing the wall, so he finds himself talking.

“The day we met at the cafe, I was going to a poetry workshop,” he says suddenly. “For uni. It’s one of my classes this semester.”

“Yeah?” you ask, and Dazai is almost surprised that you’re indulging his conversation, a stupid smile twitching on his lips. “What’d they have you doing?”

“Our professor had us write free-verse,” Dazai continues, fingers thrumming against his thigh as he speaks—a nervous habit that he can’t seem to break. Kido slaps his hand to get him to stop when it messes up the measurement of his hips, and Dazai promptly stills. “I prefer free verse. It’s my favorite style of poetry.”

Dazai doesn’t really know why he’s rambling about this, but he can’t seem to shut himself up. He can feel his cheeks getting hot, realizing this probably isn’t a conversation you’d be interested in partaking in, and just as he’s about to awkwardly change the subject, you speak up.

“… I like narrative poetry,” you tell him after a few moments of silence. “Italian style. Terza rima.”

“The Divine Comedy” Dazai recognizes instantly, and then, a bit too doubtfully from the way you click your tongue in irritation, he adds, “You read poetry?” 

“Not often. I don’t have the time for it, but I am not uncultured,” you say, and Dazai smiles a bit—he can practically see the scowl that’s on your face. “But yes, The Divine Comedy, that’s my favorite”

Dazai tilts his head to the side, considering you in a new light. “Huh,” he says more to himself than you. “I didn’t expect that.”

“Put your shirt back on and remove your pants, Dazai-sama,” Kido orders and Dazai nearly jumps, almost having forgotten about the man in his conversation with you. Dazai quickly does as asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable standing there in his briefs with his bandages wrapped around his legs. “I’ll be quick.”

“Why is it your favorite?” Dazai asks curiously when Kido gets to work measuring each of Dazai’s thighs and calves.

You hum to yourself and then answer, “I’ve read all three parts, but Inferno is the one I go back to the most… it’s interesting. A perspective of the afterlife that I can appreciate. I enjoy the way he wrote the people in Hell—they’re very… human. Dante portrays them more realistically than most other authors and poets who center their works on Hell… It makes me feel better about myself.”

You give him a wry smile when you make your last comment and Dazai can’t help but flush a bit, caught off guard by the genuinity of it. He struggles to recall what you literally just said, and once he has, he nods, “Yeah, I think I agree with that.

“You’ve read?” you ask.

“Of course, I’ve read.” Dazai is almost offended by the question. “It’s the Divine Comedy.”

“Have you really read it, though? The translations don’t do it justice.”

Dazai blinks. “You can speak Italian?” 

“Several languages,” you drawl, as if it’s nothing. “Useful for business.”

Before Dazai can respond, Kido rises to his feet and motions for Dazai to pull back up his pants, noting down the measurements on his pad. “The rest I can do with your clothes on. You’re free to turn back around, hime.”

You do, and Dazai’s breath hitches at the unreadable expression on your face as you lean back against the wall and look over him. “What made you choose to go into English? Not exactly a useful major unless you plan on going into law or publishing.”

Oh. Dazai hesitates, throat bobbing as he swallows, lashes fluttering as he averts his gaze down toward the floor. “My friend… he passed away a few years ago. Right before I was about to enter college, actually. He asked me to finish his book for him—I told him I don’t know anything about writing and that it’ll turn out bad if he had me do it, but he insisted… and I mean, I can’t really say no to my dying best friend, can I?”

He thinks this might be the first time he’s talked about Odasaku out loud since his death. He didn’t go to the funeral, hasn’t talked to Ango since it all happened. He’s emotionally isolated himself from everyone for years, and Dazai is feeling more than a little vulnerable because he doesn’t even know why he’s telling you all of this. He just can’t seem to shut his mouth.

“I think you’ll do it justice,” you tell him after a few moments of silence.

Dazai looks up at you, dark eyes wide and imploring. He searches your face to see if you’re just fucking with him but only finds sincerity—you immediately look away, focusing on the wall instead. A smile tugs at the corners of his lips and he’s positively vibrating at your words until Kido lets out a heavy sigh.

“Dazai-sama, please stop moving so much.”

Dazai stills immediately and instead focuses on trying to help Kido finish up the measurements as quickly as possible. Dazai’s only been to this part of Nishi-ku a handful of times, but if he remembers correctly, there’s a cafe two blocks down, and this is his chance. 

This is his chance to ask you on a date. He has to take it. He hasn’t felt this giddy, this happy, this hopeful since before he lost Odasaku. Dazai hasn’t looked forward to the future like this in years, just surviving each day, wishing each passing one was his last, but not wanting to disappoint Odasaku by not fulfilling his last request. He’d been at his breaking point that day at the bar, but then he met you.

Then he met you. And yeah, you hadn’t shown much interest in him that night. Not at all, actually, but Dazai had never been drawn to someone like he’d been drawn to you before in his entire life. He’d known something was there, even if that did make him a little delusional. His heartbeat is erratic in his chest, and he’s clumsily trying to help speed things up, but he thinks he might be doing more harm than help. 

When Dazai looks over to you again, he finds himself flustered by the expression on your face. Your head is tilted to the side as you observe him, lips curved up, and a look in your eyes that can only be described as fondness. You don’t notice that he caught you staring, so Dazai tries to burn this image in his head as quickly as he can. He’s used to contemptuous, judgmental looks, he doesn’t think anyone has ever looked at him so affectionately before. It makes him feel warm, like he’s someone who’s capable of being loved. 

The look disappears as soon as you realize he caught you—Dazai misses it instantly. He watches instead as a flurry of conflicted emotions crosses over your face, and he wishes he could read your mind, know what you’re thinking, but he does know that he doesn’t like the painfully neutral expression that settles there, a dreadful feeling growing in his stomach that makes him feel as if something is wrong.

“Are you okay?” Dazai asks, trying to figure out what had changed so quickly.

You don’t respond to him—rather, you look at Kido instead, making his stomach drop.

“Is that all?” you finally ask as Kido rises to his feet.

“Yes, hime,” Kido tells you. “I’ve finished with the measurements.”

“Good,” you say, and then turn on your heel to leave without even sparing another glance toward Dazai. Caught off guard, he readjusts his shirt and nearly trips over his own feet, trying to rush after you. “When do you need this by, Dazai?”

Dazai doesn’t like the sudden distance in your tone, a far cry from the easy conversation the two of you had just been holding, but he forces himself to respond. “Uh, by the end of the month, I think?”

“Kido-san will have it done for you by the end of the week,” you say, tapping something into your phone, hardly paying attention to him. “Come back and pick it up then. Charge it to my card when you’ve figured out the pricing for it, yeah?” 

“Of course, hime,” Kido agrees and Dazai feels a bit unsettled.

“You’ll come with me to pick it up, bella?” he prods, nudging your shoulder and trying to peek over to see what you’re typing, trying to figure out if something is wrong, if he’d done something to cause the abrupt change in attitude or if you’d gotten a text about work or something instead. He feels a bit nervous, his tongue swollen in his mouth, watching you carefully.

You stare at him, and for a terrible, terrible second, Dazai thinks you’re about to tell him no. But then the tension in your brows disappears, letting out a soft puff of air as your expression smoothes out.

“Yeah,” you say quietly. “Yeah, I will.”

When Dazai smiles, feeling light and relieved, hopeful that maybe for the first time since Odasaku’s death, he won’t have to be alone, he misses the way your expression drops as you look away from him. 

“This needs to stop.”

You stiffen at the sound of Chuuya’s familiar voice coming from the door of your bedroom, your shirt half-unbuttoned as you get ready for bed. You raise your eyebrows, turning to look at him over your shoulder, a bit thrown off because you hadn’t even heard the elevator come up to your room.

“Please, enlighten me as to what has you so worked up that you’re barging into my bedroom while I’m half-dressed,” you say dryly, giving Chuuya a cool look as you turn to face him, crossing your arms over your chest.

Chuuya looks uncharacteristically angry at you, lips curled down, eyes cold. It almost makes you draw back, mind racing to try to figure out what you might’ve done to piss him off. You can’t remember the last time he’s been mad at you like this—you’re not sure if he ever has been.

“Dazai Osamu. Fourth year literature student at Yokohama National University. Graduated from Kanagawa Sohgoh High School four years ago. Currently living in building number 10511898050 in the residential area of Iwaicho in Hodogaya-ku, unit number 409. He has an eight am class Mondays and Wednesdays, a two pm class Tuesdays and Thursdays, a-”

“Enough,” you cut him off, voice clipped and heartbeat thudding in your ears as you stare at Chuuya, watching as he gives you a sharp look. 

“It took me less than ten minutes to get all of that information on him,” Chuuya says, voice low, “and no, I didn’t have Albatross help me. What the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m not doing anything,” you say, jaw tight. “He’s just some random fucking kid who I bumped into once and won’t leave me alone now, that’s-”

That’s a lie, you know it, and evidently, Chuuya knows it too from how he scoffs at you and shakes his head. Your expression twists, throat spasming as you swallow. You’d known you were in trouble since you left the boutique—when you’d caught your gaze lingering on him as he fumbled to help Kido with the measurements, only making more work for the poor man, a warm feeling spreading through your chest when you saw how he gradually became more and more comfortable as you entertained his conversation, rambling about poetry and literature, the solemn look that crossed his face when he spoke about his friend.

“I think you’ll do it justice.”

You hadn’t even noticed the way you instinctively made an effort to reassure him, not until he looked back up at you and you saw the pretty flush spreading across his cheeks, gaze flitting to the ground, too flustered to meet your eyes. It’d been like someone tossed cold water right over you, drawing you from your thoughts and smacking you right back into reality.

You had every intention of rebuking him as soon as you finished finalizing the details of the order with Kido—you did. You were going to tell him not to contact you again, that if he did, you’d block his number. You were going to tell him to forget about you and go back to whatever he was doing before he met you that night at the bar—you were. But when he looked down at you through his lashes, unsure and hesitant, as if he knew what you were about to say to him but had the slimmest hope that maybe he was wrong, and-

And you couldn’t do it.

Fuck.

Who even are you anymore? You’re so bitter that you can taste it in your mouth, it’s an ugly and uncomfortable taste. You don’t even know where this is coming from—the reluctance to hurt this kid, the weakness. Because that’s what this is, it’s a weakness, one that you know better than anyone that people will exploit, and you are still putting him in danger.

“Yeah?” Chuuya lets out an unamused laugh, taking a step forward and pulling something out of his pocket. His gaze is challenging, and you have a pit in your stomach, one that tells you you’re not going to like whatever he’s about to say. “The fuck is this then, huh?” 

He slaps a copy of your own credit card transactions down into your hand. Your blood boils when you see the red circle around the recent payment you made to Kido; above that, the 50k yen wired to the new landlord of the complex.

“You’re going to get this fucking kid killed,” Chuuya tells you, leaning in close. “You must realize that by now. You’re going to get him killed. If I could get all of this information so easily, it’s only a matter of time before one of our enemies does. That syndicate in the northern wards. The Red Chamber. Cao Xueqin will have him chopped into pieces and send you on a fucking treasure hunt across the city to get all of his limbs together for a proper burial. And for what? You’re bored? Is that it? You’re gonna have this kid tortured to death because you’re bored?”

You don’t answer, glaring at him as you try to calm yourself down, but you’re unusually rattled by Chuuya’s words. You find your mouth dry, your fingers shaking in your pockets. The sharp, snide words you would usually smack him back with die on your tongue, and you feel like a fool staring at him.

Your lack of response seems to trigger some sort of realization in Chuuya and you watch as his eyes widen briefly, leaning back.

“You actually care about him,” he says quietly, and now he’s the one who looks uncertain, averting his gaze to the side as he thinks.

“No, I don’t,” you correct immediately, shaking your head. “I don’t, Chuuya.”

“You do,” Chuuya murmurs. “It doesn’t matter. You can’t continue this. Cut it loose now, before it gets any further, before you end up getting him killed.”

“I’m not you,” you spit out, a low blow, you know. To Chuuya’s credit, he doesn’t react beyond a sharp inhale, nostrils flaring briefly.

“No, you’re not,” he agrees. “I wouldn’t be so fucking stupid to make the same mistake twice.”

“That was your mistake,” you hiss. “Not mine.”

Chuuya laughs, a huff that’s more mocking than amused, as he takes a step away from you. You’d think you’d prefer anger or hate more than the thinly veiled pity within them now. 

“It’ll be your mistake too soon,” he warns, stuffing his hands in his pocket as he turns to leave. “You’re smarter than this.”

You are. You are smarter than this. You know this will turn out the same way it did with Chuuya. You can picture it sometimes. Dazai’s body in place of hers, bruised and beaten, lacerations lining his cold body and his head severed from his neck—a trophy to be taken by your enemies. His blood stains your hands and clothes, no matter how much you scrub your skin raw and no matter how many new outfits you buy. Whenever you look down, you see his blood dripping off of you.

“I’m not reaching out to him again,” you finally say, ignoring the way your chest tightens. “Get the fuck out of my apartment, Chuuya.”

Chuuya looks back at you, not even bothering to hide the pity this time. You have half a mind to slap it right off of his face.

“For your sake and his, I hope you don’t.”

“Dazai-kun, are you even paying attention?”

Dazai startles out of his own head, blinking rapidly as his gaze focuses on Professor Ui, who’s watching Dazai with a disapproving frown. Dazai gives the older man a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sorry, Ui-sensei. I was distracted,” Dazai apologizes, glancing once more back down at his phone, smile softening a bit when he sees you read his messages complaining about such a late meeting on campus. You don’t respond, naturally, but Dazai can practically picture you rolling your eyes at him.

“Please focus,” Professor Ui says tightly. “It’s essential that you understand our plans going into this event. We have two weeks left to prepare.”

Dazai sighs as he puts his phone down, looking up at Professor Ui and the two other students who are going to be working this event with him, both of whom look irritated by Dazai’s lack of focus.

“The event we’ll be attending is going to be hosted at the Tocho for a special agency in Tokyo that handles violent crimes associated with criminal enterprises. They made huge progress in pushing the Scarlet Gang out of the Asakusa Ward—the government wants to celebrate them for it,” Professor Ui explains, for the second time clearly, seeing how the two other students share a look with one another. “The whole event is pretty much just a mask for Representatives and Councillors in the Diet to gather and advocate for and against a major military bill about to pass through the Lower House.”

Dazai can already feel himself losing focus again, itching to text you yet another update that you won’t respond to, but he knows you’ll read. He wonders what you’re doing right now—whatever rich people do at seven on a Thursday night, he supposes. Probably out drinking with people, he thinks, jealous that he’s stuck on campus getting the rundown on this stupid assignment. He pouts a bit to himself, wondering if you’re with other guys right now, listening to them ramble on in the same way Dazai did to you, but before his thoughts can spiral too much in that direction, Professor Ui clears his throat.

“Our goal during this event is to find viable proof to move forward with an exposé on a crime syndicate known as the Sun and Steel,” Professor Ui says, and Dazai suddenly straightens, interested in what his professor is saying. “We’ve received a tip that one of their executives is going to be attending this event under the pretense of being an interested party—invites have been sent out to a lot of major corporations who have stakes in the bill. We believe that the Sun and Steel is using a company called the Age of Blue as a front for its criminal activities—if we can find proof and expose them for what they are, it can be a major stepping stone to taking down some of the bigger organizations in Japan.”

“Ui-sensei,” Hinami says, leaning forward in her seat. “The government wouldn’t really let some mafias attend an event for an agency that’s dedicated to taking them down. That’s a bit…”

“Ironic,” Ayato snorts, folding his arms over his chest. “I mean, if there’s no proof of their front company being involved in shady shit—oh, uh, sorry, sensei—shady stuff, it’s not like they can just pick and choose which to invite. Or, well, they can, but it won’t be a good look.”

“Exactly,” Professor Ui says, “and the government can’t do anything about them until they have due cause.”

“That’s what we’re for,” Dazai notes, “... but why us? You’re an adjunct professor—work for Ivory Eagle, that newspaper company that everyone’s been talking about. You have a whole team, why do you need a bunch of college students?”

“Does it matter?” Ayato says with a sharp grin. “Imagine if we pull this off? Our careers would be set. We’d have helped with the takedown of a mafia.”

Dazai thinks it does matter, eyes settling on the unreadable expression on Professor Ui’s face. His two classmates might be giddy with anticipation over such a ‘cool’ assignment, but mafia business is dangerous. Dazai might be fond of the idea of death, but he’s got a final wish to fulfill before that—plus, the idea of being tortured to death isn’t exactly appealing to him. He’s not sure that it’s just a coincidence that Professor Ui chose three students who have no family to help with this assignment. Otsuka Ayato, a second-year student who was orphaned during the Dragon’s Head Conflict six years ago; Koda Hinami, a third-year student who's been in and out of the foster system since she was a baby; and Dazai, whose mother killed herself and whose aunt abandoned him, whose only guardian died four years ago.

No one would come looking for any of them if things went poorly. 

“You won’t be in danger,” Professor Ui assures them. “Just think of it as a way to test your skill in information gathering while in a conversational setting—go in there, observe, make small talk, and see what you can find out. They’ll have their guard up around my fellow journalists and I, you three are new faces. All you’re going to do is go in there and talk. No danger.”

Dazai isn’t convinced.

“Ui-sensei, you said this is meant to be a stepping stone?” Hinami asks curiously, changing the subject before Dazai can press any further. “A stepping stone for who?”

Professor Ui smiles thinly. “The Port Mafia.”

[yokohamapound]

Hello! I was wondering if I could request a post about nicknames but with gin, higuchi and kouyou please

Hey! I'm so glad to have an ask for the BSD ladies so thanks for sending it in!

Characters: Akutagawa Gin, Higuchi Ichiyou, Ozaki Kouyou

Warnings: None

Akutagawa Gin

Gin doesn't talk very much in general. At work, this is mostly because her voice gives her away as a girl, and she feels like her cute voice doesn't fit with the ruthless assassin image she's cultivated within the Port Mafia.

As for verbal affirmations and pet names, well, she is an Akutagawa, after all. She had the same awful childhood as Akutagawa. One that didn't really make it the norm to tell people how you feel about them. What little communication they had was focused on survival.

Based on how she dresses outside of work, Gin has had a chance to explore the softer side of her personality as she's grown up, but I still don't think using pet names would come very naturally to her.

She'll probably start off simple by sticking a -kun or a -chan on the end of your name for a softer form of address.

Very, very slowly, she'll work her way up to a very flustered "honey" or "sweetheart".

Only in private.

Higuchi Ichiyou

If Higuchi really loves you, she calls you "Akutagawa-senpai". Kidding.

Higuchi's kind of a romantic, but she also gets flustered easily. She won't be going for any kinky, out-there pet names or anything too cutesy. Let's face it, most of her daydreams about romance have been aimed at Akutagawa, and the thought of calling him either Daddy or snookums is enough to make her die inside.

Obviously she likes you for who you. She daydreams about what to call you, and immediately goes red when one of those spills out of her mouth by accident.

Honey is the one she likes the most.

Ozaki Kouyou

I think it comes as no surprise that Kouyou will refer to her partner with flower-based terms of endearment.

She might use general terms like flower, blossom, or petal, but you'll also get a special flower assigned to you based on your personality or how she feels about you at any particular time.

Kouyou is definitely an expert in hanakotoba, the Japanese language of flowers. Even her clothing is loaded with meanings—her kimono has both bellflowers and red spider lilies. In hanakotoba, bellflowers are supposed to mean "endless love" and "honesty". Spider lilies, especially red ones, are meant to signifiy "death" or "abandonment".

Pay special attention to any flower arrangements she sends you or places around your home because she's an ikebana expert and they definitely contain hidden messages. Given that Kouyou is a Port Mafia executive, it'd probably be wise to know ahead of time that she's mad at you. Then you can apologise with a bouquet of your own.

[sskk-manifesto]

KOUYOU JUST ONE CHANCE PLEASE

[anonymousewrites]

There's a Beauty; There's a Beast Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight: Final Petal

            Dazai sat in his lonely tower as the castle shook around him. Part of it was from the battering ram, part was from the second to last petal falling. Only one remained. In his mind, it was pointless to fight. (Y/N) was free with her father; she would not return. Dazai knew he would be a beast forever, but he was resigned to his fate as long as she knew (Y/N) was happy. The mob didn’t matter. He could die, and it wouldn’t matter.

            (Y/N), I just wish I had the chance to tell you I love you.

l

            The townspeople spilled into the entryway, which was now empty and dark.

            “Aren’t you concerned about this castle being infested with dark creatures?” asked Sigma. “If there is dark magic here, there’s no telling what could lurk in the shadows…”

            “Don’t lose your nerve, Sigma,” said Fyodor.

            “Where are we? This play seems almost familiar…” murmured a townsman. “Like I’ve been here before.”

            Another man leaned down to look at a teapot and teacup. “Huh, they even have faces painted on. This one looks like a grandmother.

            Kouyou opened her eyes. “Grandmother?!” She huffed in indignance. “Attack!”

            Fires flared up around the room, and the furniture came alive. The fight had begun. As townspeople fought against living household appliances, Fyodor ducked away and followed the path the mirror led him to. He was stalking in prey: the Beast. Behind him, Chuuya leapt down the stairs and knocked many men to the ground.

            “Goddamn, that fucking hurt,” he grumbled.

l

            Mori was still pacing through the town square, bored. He was only here to get paid, not for village drama. He paused and frowned when he saw Fukuzawa leaning against the carriage. Mori blinked.

            “Hello.” Fukuzawa nodded to him.

            Next to them, (Y/N) galloped by on Philip while Mori watched, impressed that the pair had escaped. She had discarded the fancy green dress for the white shirt and skirt underneath.

            “She’s always been adventurous,” remarked Fukuzawa.

            Mori just sighed. It looked like he wasn’t going to get paid. These small-town jobs are always trouble.

l

            “Excellent! Beat them to a pulp! Only the strong survive!” cried Akutagawa from the top of the stairs, surveying the fight below.

            “Well, then, the strong better join.” Akira had woken herself enough to come down and join the battle.

            “Go and teach them a lesson!” Akutagawa was pleased to have her up and about.

            Akira stood on the landing. “Alright. Get ‘em!” she commanded the books next her. They zipped down into the faces of villagers. Several angered men stormed up the stairs. “Fucking finally, some guys with guts!” She frowned. “Wait!” The men froze in confusion. “You look terrible! If I’m going to fight, someone in the battle needs to be properly dressed, and unfortunately, I can’t do that right now. So you’ll have to do.” Clothes, controlled by Akira, flew out of her drawers and whipped around the men until they were in elegant suits like the three musketeers (except for the third, who wore a lovely dress, which Akira thought looked darling on him). “There! Now, fight!” She slammed into them, and they went tumbling down the stairs. She sighed happily. “They went down in style. Beautiful.”

            Kouyou laughed as she hung onto a chandelier and poured tea onto the people below. Unfortunately, she slipped. Her friend gasped, but Sigma caught her. He elbowed the next man.

            “Thank you,” said Kouyou graciously.

            “Well, Fyodor has gone too far, so I want to help if I can,” said Sigma.

            “You’re doing wonderful!” called Akira from upstairs.

            “Hey! If you’re here, you may as well do something useful!” shouted Chuuya, kicking men down.

            “You want useful?! Fine!” Akira jumped over the railing and smashed into the ground, knocking men unconscious. “There!” she panted.

            Chuuya frowned but relented. “Adequate.”

            “If we ever get back to human form, I’m kicking your ass,” grumbled Akira as she watched Atsushi set off sparklers to spook the villagers out.

l

            Dazai heard footsteps but didn’t react. He just watched the pinprick lights of torches flee into the courtyard below. At least my friends won…

            “Hello, beast.” Fyodor smirked and raised his gun. Dazai turned to him. “I’m Fyodor. (Y/N) sent me.”

            Dazai’s eyes widened. “No…She wouldn’t…”

            “Oh, but she would,” said Fyodor.

            Dazai glared at Fyodor. “She wouldn’t. She’s not cruel.”

            Fyodor’s eyes narrowed. “You care about her…You love her!” And my angel cares about him. He needs to go. She’s mine! He forced a merciless laugh out. “You really think she’d fall for someone like you?” His possessive nature took hold, and he fired a bullet into Dazai’s shoulder.

            Dazai gritted his teeth and glared at Fyodor before smirking. He might have found his kinder side with (Y/N), but his demonic side still remained. Dazai raised an eyebrow at Fyodor. “Are you implying she’d fall for you?” he hissed. “Because at least I’m trying to be a better man. You’re just a monster from what I can see.”

            Fyodor kicked Dazai in the side, sending him falling to another level. He smirked and holstered his gun. Footsteps echoed up the stairs. Fyodor turned and reached for a knife, but it was gone. (Y/N) stood in front of him, holding his weapon. She threw it down the stairs, where it clattered to the ground floors below.

            “(Y/N)!” exclaimed Fyodor. For once, he was surprised. He thought he had handled her, and yet here she was.

            “Get away from him,” hissed (Y/N), a dangerous element in her voice that neither man had ever heard.

            Dazai lifted his head from the platform at the sound of her voice. She came back! She came back!

            Fyodor smirked and approached (Y/N). “You’re here. Wonderful. You can watch me destroy your precious Beast. Then, I’ll send your father off to an asylum where he won’t be any bother to us. And finally.” Fyodor grabbed her arm and wrenched her close enough that if she hadn’t hated her, it would have been romantic and intimate. However, (Y/N) merely despised it. “You will be mine.” He pulled out his gun. “And the Beast’s horns will be decorations above our door!”

            “Never! I don’t belong to you!” (Y/N) pushed him away.

            The ground beneath him cracked, and he tumbled down to the next floor. His gun fell farther. Fyodor ran after it; (Y/N) went the long way, returning inside to change floors.

            “I’m going to rip you limb from limb, even after you’re dead!” hissed Fyodor at Dazai.

            “For taking what’s ‘yours?’ ” questioned Dazai, jumping between towers. “Newsflash, (Y/N) isn’t someone you can own.”

            (Y/N) jumped as a bridge broke beneath her. She was on Dazai’s room’s balcony, across from him. “Dazai!” she called.

            He looked at her. “(Y/N)! You really came back!”

            “I had to help you!” shouted (Y/N).

            Dazai jumped down onto a bridge with gargoyles. He was making his way to (Y/N). A bullet rocketed into his arm as Fyodor jumped down next to him. He grabbed a fallen stone and clubbed Dazai over the head. Dazai stumbled onto an unstable stone bridge. Fyodor walked onto it. The possessiveness and desire for victory pumping through his veins blinded him to the cracks in the bridge.

            “Fyodor!” shouted (Y/N). “Stop!”

            Fyodor just smirked and swung at Dazai again. The Beast caught the club this time and stood. He cracked the stone, threw it to the side, and seized Fyodor by the collar, dangling him over the faraway ground.

            “Dazai!” cried (Y/N).

            His eyes swiveled to her, and his heart clenched. He stepped back and threw Fyodor down. For (Y/N), he’d be a better man. He wouldn’t act on his anger and kill Fyodor. “Go. Get out!”

            Snarling, Fyodor scrambled to his feet and darted down the tower. Dazai turned and jumped to (Y/N). He stood and took a step towards her. He was going to tell her how he felt, what she meant to him, how she made him feel, that he lov—.

            Bang!

            He collapsed as a bullet ripped into him. Fyodor reloaded his gun casually from the bridge level with the balcony. Even as (Y/N) tried to pull Dazai to safety, another bullet pierced his skin. He lay on his back next to the table with the precious green rose. As Fyodor smirked to himself, (Y/N) got up and scrambled for a rock. Lifting it above her, she threw it at Fyodor. It hit and fell to the bridge beside him. As he stumbled from the blow, the bridge rumbled beneath his feet. Fissures spread like spiderwebs. It cracked; Fyodor Dostoevsky fell to his death just before he could see the next sunrise.

            On the balcony, (Y/N) desperately applied pressure to Dazai’s wounds. She was trying not to cry in panic over his injuries. She held him close when she felt the bleeding continue. Dazai held her hand tight.

            “You came back…” he breathed, wincing.

            “I told you, I had to save you,” she murmured. “Now I’ll never leave again. I’ll be right here by your side.”

            Even in the midst of the haze of pain, Dazai’s heart swelled at the admission. “I-I’m sorry…but I think I’m going to leave…More painfully than I would have liked…”

            (Y/N) shook her head. “No, no, no! You’re going to be okay! We’re together now! It’s all going to be alright!”

            Dazai gently touched her cheek. “I’m glad I got to see you one last time…”

            The final emerald petal fell, and Dazai went limp.

            “No…” (Y/N) sobbed. “No, please, no!” She held him tight to her heart. “Please, no! Come back! Dazai, come back!” Tears ran down her face. “No…”

l

            Below in the courtyard, the exhausted servants watched the villagers go.

            “We did it…” breathed Atsushi, even as he felt his limbs stiffening as the curse set in completely.

            “Yes…We did…” Akira went still and keeled over. She was completely wooden and lifeless.

            “No!” croaked Chuuya as his limbs solidified. He turned to wood beside her as his fellow servants became lifeless. The curse was complete.

l

            (Y/N) sobbed over Dazai’s body. Her heart was broken beyond repair. “Come back, Dazai! Please! I love you!” She kissed his forehead gently.

            Behind her, Natsume emerged from the shadows and smiled. Freely given.

            He raised a hand, and the rose petals glowed emerald, rejuvenating themselves and floating. The glass shattered into tiny specks of green light. Shining brightly, magic flowed around (Y/N) and Dazai. The emerald glimmer enveloped Dazai and lifted him into the air. His claws faded into human hands. His horns faded into clouds of light. The bandages around his head fell away. His fangs receded. His matted hair smoothed into fluffy brown locks. Dazai landed and turned to her, a bright smile on his face. On his human face.

            “D-Dazai?” (Y/N)’s eyes widened, and her heart leapt for joy.

            “It’s me.” Dazai stepped forward. “It’s me.”

            (Y/N) slid her hands over his cheeks and behind his neck. He pulled her close.

            “I love you, (Y/N).”

            “I love you, Dazai.”

            He tugged her in and kissed her. With emerald still sparking around them, (Y/N) kissed back happily. True love incarnated strengthened the freeing magic. Around them, the castle rebuilt itself. The sun crested the horizon, illuminated the grand castle as spring was ushered in after many moons of ice. As its first rays touched the kingdom, the household was released.

            In a burst of cloth, Akira was freed, nearly falling over from the sudden transformation. Luckily, Chuuya smoothly caught her and held her.

            “Well, we’re human again.” He smirked teasingly. “Are you going to kick my ass?”

            Akira leaned in and considered. “Maybe later.” She kissed him, and he gladly reciprocated.

            Akutagawa grumbled and stretched his sore, stiff limbs.

            “We did it, Akutagawa!” chirped Atsushi, already bouncing around with boundless energy.

            “Yes, I suppose we did. You were right,” admitted Akutagawa.

            “It certainly feels nice to be human again,” said Kouyou. “Are you feeling alright, Kyouka? No light-headedness or injuries?”

            Kyouka shook her head and smiled. “No, I’m alright.”

            The townspeople approached, looks of bewilderment on their face. However, with the curse lifted, their memories were restored. They saw their dear friends and celebrated their return. All around, joy reigned. No one noticed Natsume slipping into the crowd, his work finished. A black carriage rolled up the castle, and a man with dark hair jumped down.

            Akira’s mouth dropped open. “…Dad?”

            “Akira,” said Mori.

            “I…I thought I would never see you again,” said Akira. “The curse took your memories, and I never thought you’d return to this land.”

            “Well…I wasn’t exactly here for a good reason, but I’m here. And I came as soon as my memories returned.” A tiny smile appeared on Mori’s face. “You’re my daughter. That never changed.”

            Akira grinned. “I missed you, Dad.”

            On the other top of the stairs, (Y/N) and Dazai stood watching the joyful reunions.

            “My prince!” said Atsushi, bowing as Dazai, human as ever, stepped onto the front steps.

            “My old friend, thank you for everything you did these past years for me. Thank you for never giving up on me,” said Dazai. He turned to Akutagawa. “And Akutagawa, you did well.”

            The poor boy nearly keeled over at the compliment.

            “Well, it looks like you were the heroine of this story.”

            (Y/N) turned and looked at the dark-haired, ruby-eyed woman in a stunning black and red dress. “Akira?”

            She threw out her arms dramatically. “Who else looks this fabulous? Other than you, of course.” She winked.

            Chuuya wound an arm around her waist. “I think I have style on par with yours.”

            “Really?” Akira raised an eyebrow.

            “You know you love it.”

            Akira used his choker to pull him closer. “Mhm, I do~.”

            (Y/N) laughed and leaned into Dazai. “More loves reunited. Today is quite the day.”

            Dazai kissed her forehead. “A day for celebration.” He turned to the flirting pair. “Do you think you two can pull together a show?”

            Akira and Chuuya smirked. “Of course.”

            “Are you getting a chance to perform the song you wrote for mine and Dazai’s date?” asked (Y/N).

            Akira raised her head high. “Kouyou did a lovely job, but it’s my turn now.”

            Dazai kissed (Y/N)’s hand. “Well, then, my love, it looks like we have a ball to prepare for.” He turned to the gathering before him. “You are all invited to the celebration!” A cheer went up. It truly was a joyous day.

l

In a scarlet gown, Akira stood next to her pianist, Chuuya, dressed in his finest complimentary suit. The usually temperamental pair were enthralled in their own performance. It had been so long since their last together, and all they could feel was bliss while making music together.

(Akira) “Tale as old as time, Tune as old as song, Bittersweet and strange, Finding you can change, Learning you were wrong!”

            On the ballroom floor, couples danced and twirled elegantly. In the center, (Y/N) and Dazai waltzed. (Y/N) was clad in a white dress with roses stitched into the bodice and skirt. Dazai wore a tan suit with a turquoise pendant. He still had bandages on his arms and neck, but his honey eyes shone in the sunlight streaming in through the windows above. Together, they spun around the dancefloor, as in sync as their hearts.

            Fukuzawa watched his daughter with a smile. She had found love and helped bring happiness to others through her fearless drive. He could not be prouder or happier for her.

(Akira) “Winter turns to spring, Famine turns to feast, Nature points the way, Nothing left to say, Beauty and the Beast.”

            Dazai pulled (Y/N) closer. ““I would give you the world if you asked me.”

            “I don’t want the world,” teased (Y/N), stepping slightly away.

            “What do you want?”

            (Y/N) smiled. “I want you.”

            “Then I give myself wholly to you, my love.” He twirled her to him. “Your will is my command.”

(Akira) “Certain as the sun, Rising in the east, Tale as old as time, Song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast! Tale as old as time, Song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast!”

            Dazai and (Y/N) kissed. True loves together at last.

[hanazou]

𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙝𝙪𝙪𝙮𝙖.

(while being shorter than him)

— a chaos of fun!

Word count : 1.5K

Shelf : Hardback

Genre : Romance and fluff, slight crack

Note : Sorry, anon! There was technical issue so I have to post this without your ask! I hope these are detailed enough to your expectations? I wrote more than I expected I would. Once again, thank you to the-foreigner for helping me figure out the tags!

Please enjoy!

 Where have you been all his life?

To say that Chuuya would simply be attracted to you because of your height sounds shallow, so let me phrase it this way; Chuuya is so used to having look up to people since many are taller than him all his life, both men and women, so it kind of does something different to his psyche when he sees you, being shorter than him.

Not to sound stereotypical but it's a given instinct that when you see someone shorter than you, you get the impression that they're cute and it triggers your protective instinct, right? This is what Chuuya feels about you. And since this sensation is new to him, he cherishes it.

Also, since Chuuya leans more towards masculinity, in your relationship with him, you're making him feel more manly. To speak a bit bluntly and in a nutshell, you boost his ego.

You make him feel even more confident and comfortable with himself. It's not that he wasn't confident before he dates you, you're just making him bolder with more sense of control and masculinity, making him feel validated. More dominant and more alpha.

But what does all of that mean, you ask? Here's the highlight of this post; Chuuya will pamper you as your prince charming while simultaneously being your playmate. Perfectly balanced.

Why? Because seeing you being petite, smaller than him, makes you appear as someone he should protect, but the romance doesn't replace the fun. When it comes to being Chuuya's darling, things never get overly cheesy. Yes he can be romantic (he is), but he's not the type to use sweet talks 24/7. He uses his "rough" ways to communicate his romanticism, one of them being your equal, hence the "playmate" dynamic.

Chuuya tells himself that you're his cute, little darling. He will say this to you straightforwardly except the "cute" part. If he casually and accidentally calls you cute from a slip of his tongue, you can definitely tease him back to get even.

He can be the big spoon and the "top" of your relationship, but he will be a switch if he's feeling sluggish. Being the "lead" sometimes makes him need a break, not from you, but from the energy it takes. Chuuya is an emotional guy and can be downright hysterical, and that takes energy, so he will turn to you for solace when he's worn out. To achieve that, Chuuya will utilize your height to bury his face into your neck or lean his forehead on your shoulder when work wears him down.

"Stay like this for a while," His voice blurs into mutters with his face on your shoulder. "Just three minutes."

Pat his head. Do it.

If you're the one feeling low, just put your head against his chest when you're both standing. Chuuya will be confused at first, but he'll silently ruffle your hair with your forehead still against his chest. It will be calming, I promise you.

Whether you're Port Mafia or a regular civilian (I find it easier for him to date someone from the PM though), you can count on Chuuya to be protective. He's already a protective guy by nature but when he sees you, his shorter darling, anywhere close to danger, that protective instinct doubles or even triples.

In fact, he wants you to rely on him. It's not that he wants you to be dependent—Chuuya just wants you to know that he always has your back. He's the combination of loyal and protective, so he wants to prove those qualities he takes pride in to you. Trust is a strong element for him, and by letting him know you count on him, you’re already securing his utmost loyalty and love.

One of the highlights of this post is his hat. You're shorter than him and it makes it easier for Chuuya to just plop his hat on your head on random occasions. No words, no thoughts, just putting his hat on you. It's the subconscious acts of love like this that makes him feel whole with you.

Kouyou will like you for colouring Chuuya's life. She'll make comments about how you both are fun to watch at, especially when you're both doing your silly dating antics, such as "My, my, energetic as always, aren't you both?"

Speaking of dating antics--Emotional maturity? We don't know her.

Doesn’t matter if you're only 2 cm or maybe 10 cm shorter than him. He will take any height advantage and have fun with it. A little too much, in fact.

Chuuya is not above using his ability to put objects in places he knows you can't reach but is close enough for you to struggle, just to watch you squirm. Confidence does things to this man, mischief being one of them. On the instances where you really can't reach up and it's not because of his tricks, something like this is bound to happen ;

"Huh, can't reach the top shelf, can ya? Don't worry, I've got you." He says, chest huffing with pride, before getting a ladder himself.

"...."

Mostly will lift you up to help since he wants to take the small chances to bond with you over simple moments. Short people solidarity. The height boost isn't much since short + short doesn't exactly equate to being tall, but hey, it's the thought and the comedic moments that count.

Speaking of comedic moments;

"Have you reached it yet?!" He asks loudly, craning his head from below you to see upwards. You're sitting on his shoulders and he's making sure he doesn't move around too much, or else you'll fall.

"Just a little bit more—!" You grunt, arm stretched. "Lift me up more, will you? Jump or something!"

"Do you want to fall? Forget it! Just reach higher!

"Maybe I can stand on your shoulders. Hold still--"

"Oi, this vest is 60,000 yen! And this is already the highest I'm lifting you! That's enough, I'll lower you down and just use my ability!"

"No! I'm already grazing it!"

And then you both will proceed to bicker in that weird, eye-catching position, for at least 2 more minutes. It will end if you either jump off him or he floats you down using his ability, and usually it's the latter.

[Sometimes the positions will switch (you lifting him up) but he's a solid 60 kg, it will be a challenge for your muscles and a good workout routine. Good luck getting him to agree to it though.]

[If that happens, chances are your legs will wobble just within seconds from lifting him. Good thing is it increases the humour and mischief in your relationship, downgrade is that it's too silly and stupid to look at to make it feel romantic]

Want to get back at his pranks? Here's a solution. Chuuya will vaporize if you use his clothes. He's taller than you, so let's say his shirt looks like a dress on you.

"W-What do you think you're wearing?!" Is what he shouts, but his flustered face says otherwise. [Bonus: for more critical hit, wear his choker(s). It does ‘things’ to him]

Yeah it's the little things like this that boost his confidence and optimism, and you don't mind him acting like the prince charming in an armour.

If anyone calls you (or even both of you) short, Chuuya will be pissed and defend you and himself since he assumes you also don't like being mocked for your height. He takes it upon himself to "fight" for you too. He has the "we're in this together" mentality.

And so do you. If any Port Mafia's enemies try to waver your confidence or Chuuya's by mocking your heights, it's going to be hell at that point.

If Dazai ever spots you and Chuuya together in public, he will say "Congratulations, Chuuya! You finally found someone shorter to date!" just when Chuuya mumbles "What's that shitty Dazai doing here?" under his breath.

Chuuya will try to kick his face while yelling "Huh?! What'd you just said about us!?"

Don't take what Dazai said personally, he did it to get on Chuuya's nerves, not yours. Instead, why don't you hold Chuuya back so he doesn't chase Dazai?

“Don’t you ever get bored arguing with him?!” You struggle to pull him back. You have to shout to outmatch his shouts.

Chuuya will be interested in height-related shenanigans with you, such as actually reading obviously fake advertisements that promises height growth and asking you if you're interested. He will only do this with you because he knows you won't make silly/berating comments about him. As I've said, trust is the secret ingredient in dating Chuuya.

"Hey, do you think this is real?" He shows you the poster he picked up. The dirt left by his sole on it is still there.

"Chuuya," You try really hard to stop sighing. "At this point, we have to stop lying to ourselves,"

But if the advertisement doesn't sound fake, let's say it utilises supposedly "effective acupuncture techniques", you will lessen the mature act and entertain him a bit.

In short, you and Chuuya will have an energetic and youthful relationship. It doesn't matter where you two are, be it in the cities or the ground zero of battle; if you two are there, people will see one hell of a lively, energetic, short duo.

📜 ; like what you read? visit my bookshop!

[infjsnightmare]

How You Met: Port Mafia Style

Before I start, thank you @jadegreenimmortality for sharing and liking my first one! It gave me the confidence to actually write this one! 💕 This is similar to the How You Met: ADA Style, except this one has spoilers via Gin's and a TW for human trafficking and blood via Aku's, so not as fluffy as before either. Those are the first two under the read more, so if you don't want to see spoilers or read about above mentioned TW, then please skip them. Characters like Ace, Oda, and Ango will be included in a later edition of this series. With that out if the way, here you go!

Gin: You were taking a back alley home to avoid the usual foot traffic around lunch time. You saw a small-framed man walking opposite you in the darkened street, his lower face covered in bandages with a black cloak wrapped around himself. You clutched your bag tightly and moved to give more space between you as you bumped into a dumpster. Locking eyes, you bolted for the corner. After a few minutes, you felt safely alone, relaxing until you heard the quick pitter-patter of footsteps. You turned to see the most beautiful woman dressed in a gray shirt and slacks, face red as if she'd been hurrying, her long hair messy and framing her face. In her hand you saw your wallet.

"I saw you running from someone back there and I think you dropped this."

Ryunosuke: The ocean breeze felt nice against your skin as you sat up against the warehouse by the docks. You were in the middle of unwrapping your lunch when you felt multiple hands grab at you, yanking out your earphones. A hand covered your mouth as you heard foreign words being exchanged among the traffickers. Tears filled your eyes wetting your face until you felt warm liquid covering your arms. The traffickers lay dead before you as a man whose face you'd seen many times on wanted posters walked rigidly towards you, his black trench coat fanning outwards in the wind.

"They were conducting business on Port Mafia grounds. Speak nothing of what you've seen here, understood?"

Chuuya: Sighing, you pushed open the door to dimly lit nightclub while the sound of jazz filled your ears. You were tired from work and needed a drink to help unwind. You skimmed the bar and sat yourself on a barstool next to a short red-head who was lazily swirling red wine in his glass. You stared at the menu bewildered by all the options while the bartender eyed you expectantly. Your brows furrowed, unsure of what to order until the man next you straightened up in his seat looking at you with piercing blue eyes.

"They'll have a glass of 2009 Vega Sicilia Unico. Put it on my tab."

Hirotsu: You were silently admiring the many different pieces at the latest art exhibit to come to town. The well lit gallery looked like perfection in your eyes. The droves of people coming and going couldn't even detract from its beauty. You came across a lonely corner of the exhibit and sat on a bench to observe the painting before you. The darker colors had muddled into the lighter pastels as if to taint them. You pondered various interpretations of the piece as an older gentleman took a seat next to you, eyes appraising the painting.

"As with all things in this world, light becomes tainted with darkness. You must have a keen eye to enjoy a piece like this."

Tachihara: The sun was shining, there was a light breeze and the trees provided just enough shade. It was the perfect atmosphere for your afternoon jog. You laced up your shoes and were off on your merry way. As you were jogging you noticed a young man with ruddy red hair run ahead of you. Trying to remain inconspicuous, you upped your pace to pull ahead of him. That was until he easily began running faster. After a few minutes of back and forth you had both broken into a full on sprint until you reached the end of the trail you were on, with him reaching the end just before you. You wiped your brow and looked up seeing the cheesiest grin.

"Best two out of three?"

Mori: You were honestly too old to be running around in the park and climbing on the playground equipment, but it was a quiet time where there were no children around. This was probably the only chance you were going to get to relive your youth. You felt the familiar rush of excitement as you climbed up the large set and jumped, grasping for the handle of a monkey bar. Only you didn't grasp it. You fell to the ground, bracing the full weight of your body on one forearm, hearing a loud "pop". Your shoulder was in excruciating pain and you could feel the heat building as it began to swell. You felt a gentle hand firmly holding your body still as a man with long dark hair and tired eyes examined you. He placed his other hand towards your injured shoulder, looking you in the eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm a doctor. But, this is going to hurt."

Higuchi: Your friend had been helping to push you along the trails, since the uneven ground was sometimes difficult to navigate alone in your wheelchair. But, lunch had finally caught up with your friend and they needed to make an emergency pit stop to the restroom. They engaged the brakes because of the incline and headed off to do their business. You were enjoying the chirping of the birds and the Ray's of sunlight streaming between the trees. Until your brakes broke. You felt your stomach sink as you rolled backwards, unable to see where you were going. You were about to use your hands to stop yourself when the chair stopped and began moving forward. You looked up to see a soft-featured blonde woman with her brows knit with worry.

"Are you alright? That could have been a nasty spill."

Kouyou: When you found the clearing in the forest, it felt like heaven. Your own personal sanctuary. You'd been coming here to practice guitar for a while now. Softly, you began adding in vocals as the breeze carried your voice away. The music entered your eardrums and you slowly lost yourself in it. So much so, that you didn't even notice the light and swift footsteps that began dancing as you played. That is until a flash of pink blurred your vision. You stopped playing to see an angelic woman twirling about and glancing at you with her cherry eyes. Her giggle twinkled like chimes.

"Please, do go on. It sounded lovely."

Kajii: The stars in the sky were absolutely gorgeous tonight. Winding down with a beer after the festival, you sat down on the soft grass at the bank of the river. You had hoped to see more of the fireworks, but it was so crowded, you could barely have seen in a foot in front of you. You then spotted bright, colorful lights not far off down the river from where you sat. Your curiosity got the better of you as you wandered down to where you saw a man with goggles and a lab coat furiously arranging various powders. He lit the first one, creating a small firework. The sound of your shoes kicking up some pebbles in the ground caught his attention. He grinned maniacally as he met eyes with you.

"You're going to want to stand back. This next one should be huge."