#akutagawa and gin obviously but later atsushi too

[lil-vibes]

royalty!skk au concept :)

I'm reading a royalty au right now and re-watched “House of the Dragon”, so as punishment from the gods or something, I keep thinking about a royalty!skk au with dragon rider!Chuuya who is bonded to two (2) dragons. 

One is called Tainted (or Sorrow it could go either way tbh). He is a deep, deep burgundy color and definitely on the larger side, but not that massive. Fast, nimble and very loyal to Chuuya.

The other one is an old, old she-dragon that is MASSIVE (Vhagar or Balerion sized, from House of the Dragon, pls look them up, Vhagar is done so well she’s my beloved) and respectively, that's Arahabaki. She's an ancient creature that mostly rests in a cave nearby, but will wreck absolute havoc as per canon. She's black, her scales glow and shine red in the sunlight. 

Chuuya as a little lad wandered off and found her napping in the forest or something, went up to this creature of war and started babbling to it and she was like ‘I guess I have a new rider now’, thus becoming Chuuya's first bond. His parents, upon learning that and being absolutely flabergasted went ‘yeah Fuck That’, and tried to bond him with another one. (it worked because he's build different and he deserves good things <3) 

Imagining Dazai riding Tainted for the first time and he's clinging onto Chuuya like ‘please please slow down I’m gonna fuckign die’ and Chuuya just laughs at him and dives straight down to mess with Dazai (read: flirt)

How people find out about Arahabaki (because I imagine a weapon like that would be hidden) is ,,,, I imagine that Chuuya and Tainted get shot down during some conflict. In the deafening silence after they hit the ground, in the distance, this deafening, agitated roar from a creature that you can't even imagine the size of, echoes across the field. A shadow flies overhead, clouds parting as Arahabaki flaps her massive wings, covering the sun as she lands above the fallen dragon and its rider, protective and deadly, daring ANYONE to even attempt to take a step towards them. 

Also I'm imagining Golden Demon as a magnificent, beautiful and deadly dragon with glistering pearl colored wings and golden tinted scales (kinda like how Sunfire is described in the books as a Sight To Behold tm)

[kunikiiida-kuuun]

BSD Locations- Yokohama Visit 2024 - Part 2

Part 2 of my adventure in Yokohama~!

Part 1 | Part 3

5. Motomachi Plaza (S3EP30)

The place where Higuchi was spying on Gin and then runs into Atsushi and Kunikida lol. Its a small mall (?) overlooking Motomachi street, the exact street where Atsushi and Dazai were walking in season 1 episode 2. She was spying from the first floor and honestly, it was a fairly noticeable place, hardly ideal for spying on anyone lmao. No wonder Atsushi and Kunikida noticed her immediately 😂

6. Yokohama Chinatown (S1EP9, S3EP30)

Only about 5 minutes walk from Motomachi street is Chinatown. Honestly I was kinda amazed at how near identical even the path leading to Chinatown was. I had to wait for a while for the signal to turn green. Having an ability like Katai would have been convenient hahaha XD. Gin's escape route in the anime is quite realistic from the point of view of the actual locations, which is just incredible!

The gate is so identical in the second screenshot and I noticed later that even the 7-eleven on the right makes an appearance in the anime. The gate in the first screenshot is probably a different one though :')

7. Yokohama Kantei Temple (S3EP36)

This temple only makes a brief appearance in the anime, when Tanizaki is talking to Dazai on the phone after his surgery. It's a really beautiful temple located inside Chinatown. There was another temple that looked similar, but that turned out to be a different one lol. You have to pay if you want to enter into the main shrine, otherwise it's free to enter :)

While I was taking some pictures, I unexpectedly ran into a couple of BSD fans here who saw my Kunikida ita bag lol XD. They were from Kyoto and were visiting Yokohama on the same mission as me HAHAHA. It was really wholesome and I was so happy to know there were other fans curious about the real life locations like me!!

8. Nippon Yusen Hikawa Maru, Yamashita Park (S3EP31)

Such a lovely place to spend the day, maybe even at night, walking around!! There were many benches and sitting areas to relax and catch up. I could have taken a similar picture to the anime, but I obviously got it wrong lol. This place was about 8-10 minutes walk from the temple in Chinatown. I think you can enter the cruise museum for a small fee. I only went to the souvenir shop outside in the port area to buy some souvenirs, and the cashier there was also a BSD fan!! They said their favorite character was Akutagawa! 🥹

9. World Square (S3EP30)

This is close to Yamashita Park, but honestly it was so much farther than I expected, and there's so many stairs to climb too. (My legs were already killing me at this point and it was just noon with still many places to cover 😭). Katai confessed his feelings to Gin here, and honestly I would hardly consider the actual location to be an ideal spot for a confession ajdlslfsjk. The fountain wasn't really working, there were many leaves scattered about and also it's so far away from Chinatown. How did they even get to this place? It was a nice and quiet neighborhood without too many people around though, so it's good for a private discussion I suppose.

10. Yokohama Marine Tower (S4EP41)

You can see the tower from this square too. This is the place where Ranpo and Poe meet Mushitarou in S4. I was planning to go to the actual tower after lunch, but as expected I couldn't manage my time very well considering I still had many other places I wanted to visit remaining in my list ajdlslfsjk.

That's the end of part 2! There will probably be two more parts...depending on how many images I can add in one post lol...

[invidiia]

⋆⭒˚｡⋆ "Happy Halloween!" 𖤐 bsd yanderes // reader

trick or treating with the yanderes of BSD! can be read as platonic or romantic.

m.list

[ a/n ; HII HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! i hope everyone's having a good day today! i'm going as reze for halloween, what about you guys? <3 separate posts for trick or treating prompt coming out later today! ]

[ warning ; yanderes lolsies, blood, mention of death/previous kidnapping ]

— disagrees with the very idea of you going out to trick or treat! aren't you too old for that anyway? only gives in when you beg. it'd be nice to let you get out of the house a little anyway.

— keeps a hand on your shoulder while you trick or treat. they don't even want to do this, it's just to make you happy, and they're willing to go out if it'll stop you from complaining about your predicament. tries to steer clear of other people, they're still cautious. absolutely afraid that you're going to rat them out and leave them.

— makes you share your candy as payment for letting you go out. you don't mind though.

FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY, JOUNO SAIGIKU, chuuya nakahara, yukichi fukuzawa, doppo kunikida, michizo tachihara, VERLAINE, agatha christie, ango sakaguchi, edgar allan poe, akiko yosano, ryuunosuke akutagawa, sigma, hirotsu?

— didn't plan to take you trick or treating, but wanted to. sure, they had an underlying fear you'd use that to run, but they knew they'd get you back anyway.

— goes with you to the door to ring the bell. (and depending on the character, might dress up with you, too!) keeps you close and doesn't let other people talk to you, other than kids that like your costume. you wouldn't tell a kid you were kidnapped, would you? probably not.

— goes through your bag of candy, probably pretending to find something they like, while they're making sure that there's nothing dangerous or something you snuck in. shares their candy with you, too!

osamu dazai, atsushi nakajima, sakunosuke oda, lucy maud montgomery, ichiyo higuchi, gin akutagawa, kyouka izumi (platonic), rimbaud, kouyo ozaki, tatsuhiko shibusawa

— gladly takes you, since it was their idea. they wanted to trick or treat with you, for both the candy, and getting to see you dress up and get a bunch of treats.

— obviously keeps you close. they doubt you'd run, and if you did? well, they'd just catch you and bring you right back. why would you run and ruin this night anyway? it's no fun to miss out on halloween! don't you want candy?

— shares their candy, watches horror movies with you, even makes little treats with you, like taking dough and wrapping it around a hot dog to make a mummy!

RANPO EDOGAWA, kenji miyazawa (platonic), mori.., ichiyo higuchi, q (platonic), nikolai gogol?

— forces you to go out with them, trick or treating or maybe just out cause it's halloween, nothing too social. probably kills someone for the blood to look real. "oh wow, that looks real!" "thanks, it is!"

i can't think of anyone who'd do this but nikolai idk

— platonic bonus :: probably goes through your bag. checks your candy for blades, or anything dangerous. they can't have you hurt, can they?

[ a/n ; "this isn't accurate!" suck my dick 😭 anyway uh if you see multiple on the same thingy, it's intentional, i probs couldnt pick just one. happy halloween !!! ]

[robsterskellington]

Shin Soukoku again being the more popular vote, huh? This snippet has Vanitas being more of a side character, but he's still involved.

Context: "In six months time, I'm going to kill you." Akutagawa never breaks his promises, right?

*It's time.*

That text had frozen Atsushi's heart, and made him feel sick. After getting the date confirmed, he realised that it had been exactly six months since the end of the Cannibalism Incident, and thus it was time for Akutagawa to fight Atsushi to the death.

*Why? Why did this have to happen? I thought we were getting along, I thought we finally understood each other!* His thoughts weren't helping matters in the slightest- he felt betrayed, but how could he not? Akutagawa had been hanging out with him a lot; sometimes they sparred and fought, sometimes they simply met for tea, and sometimes Akutagawa would simply be there whenever Byakko needed to run around in that beautiful forest.

But clearly it was all for nothing. Akutagawa would never break a promise, especially not for an *enemy*. That's all Atsushi was, in the end. And it hurt, oh God it hurt. He had to excuse himself and run to the bathroom, crying his eyes out. This was always going to happen, Atsushi knew that, but... knowing that the time had come, knowing that Akutagawa was ready to kill him, it made him throw up.

Eventually he emerged, and simply texted back to ask where to meet. Maybe Atsushi would beat Akutagawa? But then would Akutagawa stop if Atsushi defeated him, or would the fight only stop when one of them died? Atsushi had to come to terms with the fact that it was likely Akutagawa had only been so kind, so good to him, to soften him until he refused to fight him, which would just give Akutagawa an easy win.

His sour mood didn't go unnoticed, but nobody spoke to him. Vanitas seemed keen on keeping everyone away from him, and Ranpo was helping. Dazai wasn't in the office, he was likely bothering Chuuya. Atsushi suddenly growled and faced them, "What's the deal with you all?!"

"Atsushi, just calm down." Vanitas spoke softly and looked at him, "Just go meet Akutagawa, and we'll talk later, okay?" Vanitas had been informed of the promise, but he didn't look nervous. If anything, there was a slight smile hidden on his face, and Atsushi noticed a twinkle in Yosano's eyes. They were up to something, obviously.

Atsushi was texted a bunch of coordinates- he still struggled to read them, so he showed Kyouka, who instructed him to go to the Port, and to an abandoned warehouse that had red paint, crumbling off on the outside. She then gave Atsushi a big hug, since she clearly wasn't in the same know-how as Ranpo, Yosano and Vanitas, and whispered softly, "Even if he begs you, don't kill him. And please don't die, I can't lose you."

He held her tightly, then kissed her forehead. She truly was the little sister he wished he had. After taking a breath, he left, his tears dry and his heart hardened.

****

After a walk that took entirely too long as a result of Atsushi dragging his feet, he arrived at the designated location. The whole area was barren, save some dilapidated buildings. The warehouse he was sent to was empty, just the main structures and some railings remained.

Akutagawa was stood leaning against a pillar, scrolling on his phone, not even dressed in his usual gear- his iconic coat was nowhere to be seen, he was wearing black jeans, black converse and a sky blue hoodie. Only a select few people, (meaning Dazai, Gin and Atsushi), knew that Akutagawa's favourite colour was actually lighter shades of blue.

The outfit was... inappropriate. Not because of the clothes having anything wrong with them, but because Rashōmon wouldn't have a good reach with them, though Akutagawa obviously didn't care. He looked completely relaxed, as if he hadn't just summoned Atsushi for a death match. That sight completely enraged him and he clenched his fists.

"*AKUTAGAWA!!*"

Atsushi jumped down, shaking with fury, but Akutagawa looked calm. In fact, after seeing Atsushi, he grew a warm smile, one that made Atsushi's heart skip a beat, "Greetings, Weretiger."

"...*greetings*?! That's all you can say right now? Fucking *greetings*?!" What was Akutagawa's play? This was insulting and ridiculous, and Akutagawa had the audacity to downplay his feelings?!

Akutagawa stood up properly, and walked calmly towards Atsushi, keeping his hands in his pockets, "You're upset, but you shouldn't be." Before the younger man could shout again, Akutagawa gently continued, "Jinko. I've spent my entire life making and keeping promises. I've never broken a promise. Only now do I realise just how idiotic that is."

That wasn't what Atsushi expected. It wasn't stupid to keep promises, was it? That was when a horrible image flashed in Atsushi's mind- Fukuchi and that cursed sword, slashing Akutagawa's throat. If Atsushi hadn't made Akutagawa promise not to kill, they might not have even gotten to that point. They could have killed the bastard before he could summon the sword. He couldn't speak, and he couldn't look at the man in front of him.

Akutagawa saw Atsushi's expression, and took that as a sign to continue, "These past six months have taught me so much. Finding ways to resolve situations without killing is certainly a good alternative, and it's less paperwork." He was only half-joking, but saw that Atsushi didn't even crack a smile. Taking another breath, he got to his point: "I can't kill you. I don't want to, so I refuse. This will be the first promise I *break*."

"...what?" This wasn't real. It couldn't be. But he hoped it was, that he wouldn't wake up and find out that this was just a dream.

Akutagawa took a step closer and smiled at Atsushi, "I... wanted to know what my actual feelings were. So during the time limit I set for us, I decided to spend time with you. I've been alive for nearly 21 years, and I swear that I've never laughed, cried, or enjoyed myself as much as I have when we're together. Being around you simply feels right. If I kill you, then that's all gone, and I cannot allow that."

He couldn't ignore his emotions anymore, and he didn't even really understand his jealousy in the first place! Sure, Atsushi got all of Dazai's attention and praise, but one, he'd earned every word of encouragement and kindness, and two, Akutagawa was dealing with a version of Dazai that was toxic and cruel. The facts of the matter was that they were a great team, the New Double Black, and knew that they could trust each other in any life or death situation. Akutagawa was done being cold to Atsushi, the man he willingly gave up his life for.

Atsushi was shaking, he felt more emotional than he'd done in a long time. Without thinking, he hugged Akutagawa tightly, sobbing into his chest. The tears fell more when he felt the other wrapping his arms securely around him, the two of them just embracing. After a little longer, Atsushi sniffed, "...Ryū? Is this really what you want?"

"I want a lot more, but that'll come later." He chuckled weakly, stroking the back of Atsushi's head, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the Weretiger's warmth, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I wanted to, but I was so scared you wouldn't believe me. I didn't want you to hate me again, we've come so far from when we first met."

"Still, I'll get you for scaring me like that, you lunatic." They both laughed a little, and Atsushi finally calmed down, pulling away and wiping his eyes. They needed to talk things through properly, but while his emotions and mind were a bit fried, Atsushi looked up at Akutagawa, "I was scared. I didn't wanna die, I didn't wanna hurt you. Seeing you die on the ship..." he frowned then tilted his head, "You never answered my question. Why did you save me that day? Was it because of Dazai's orders, or because you wanted to kill me yourself back then?"

"Actually, when he ordered me to protect you, I initially refused at the time, like a fool." Akutagawa reached out and stroked Atsushi's cheek, "I saved you, simply because I wanted you to live. I wanted you to see that even if you thought you had no right to live, other people like myself disagree. You have every right to live, and I'm so grateful every day I see you, alive and well. No more suffering or pain."

He'd never heard those words before. Atsushi had never been told that others wanted him to live. Sometimes implications weren't enough. Sure, Kyouka had asked him not to die, but it wasn't quite the same. Someone being grateful that Atsushi was alive felt so foreign to him, so alien. Coming from Akutagawa, it felt sincere. Leaning into Akutagawa's touch, he felt tears well up again, but he didn't fight to keep them, just letting them fall.

Once he regained his composure, Atsushi assumed that maybe they could go out for tea or something, but Akutagawa looked nervous suddenly, "Actually, would you mind taking me to the Agency? I believe your head detective will have figured out that I'm not keeping this particular promise, so there's no need for hostility."

"I mean, sure. I can bring you." He knew now that after six months of not killing, Akutagawa had changed. There was no way he'd flip like a switch now, especially when Akutagawa had since acknowledged that Dazai belonged at the Agency. Akutagawa was in the Port Mafia, so killing was unavoidable, but Akutagawa would *try* not to, so that gave Atsushi some peace. But still, "May I ask why, first?"

"You may, and I shall tell." Akutagawa looked uncomfortable for a moment, then looked at Atsushi with a soft expression, "As you're aware, I have a lung disease that's slowly but surely killing me. However, five months ago, Vanitas had given me a medicine to soothe the pain, and allow me to breathe properly. Because of it, I have grown physically stronger, and I feel healthier."

Atsushi knew all this, of course. Vanitas had given Akutagawa the herbal remedy he'd concocted while the Port Mafia were still Vampires, and he'd been taking it for so long that his coughing was a rare occurrence now. The problem was that lungs, once damaged, tend to remain that way. The medication helped with the breathing difficulties, and helped Akutagawa do more with his body and life, but the lung disease would kill him in the end.

He felt his heart fill with light when Akutagawa continued: "Before, I was so weak that if your Doctor Yosano tried to use her Ability on me, I would have died before Thou Shalt Not Die could activate, which is one Hell of a feat, considering it can cure death in certain circumstances." He cleared his throat, "Now... I'm not that weak anymore. I can survive. So, please take me to her... so I can get rid of this cursed illness once and for all, and live for as long as I can."

Atsushi was having a day of emotional whiplash. What started off with pure fear, was now a situation that filled him with so much joy that he couldn't see straight. Acting without thinking, Atsushi threw his arms around Akutagawa, who held him securely and swung him around using the momentum created, laughing! It was so ridiculous, but they were both happy and clearly doing things in the heat of the moment. This was completely verified by Atsushi, slamming his lips onto Akutagawa's.

The Black Caped Beast, the Rabid Dog of the Port Mafia, was stunned silent and completely red in the face as the infamous Weretiger of the Armed Detective Agency kissed him like he needed Akutagawa's lips in order to breathe. In that moment, Akutagawa felt the same way, his arms holding Atsushi close, both of them aware of Byakko and Rashōmon purring within them, also happy.

Once they pulled apart, Atsushi grabbed Akutagawa's hand and practically dragged him to the Agency; it was a good thing that Akutagawa's lungs were already on the mend, at least now he could keep up without losing breath too fast and feeling like trash! He didn't want anything to ruin the moment they just had...

****

Vanitas and Ranpo had smug looks on their faces when they saw the boys return, and Akutagawa glared, "...you both really did call it."

"Yep!" Ranpo grinned as Vanitas explained, "However, we didn't want to risk anything going wrong, so we kept it to ourselves. The only other people who figured this out was the President, and Doctor Yosano."

As if summoned, Yosano came from the infirmary, looking surprised when Akutagawa bowed to her, "Doctor Yosano, after everything I've done, I understand if you refuse, but... I'm in desperate need of healing. Even with Vanitas' medicines, I'm not going to live too long with my lungs in this state. I'm willing to pay any price-"

Yosano cut him off by raising her hand, and looked at him, "You're a patient in need of help, and I'm aware that Vanitas' medicines can only do so much, while Mr. Mori is useless when it comes to diseases. You don't need to pay me anything, I'm just proud of you for finally admitting that you need help." She looked towards Atsushi and smiled, "You can trust me with Akutagawa's health."

It wouldn't take long, but Atsushi was still nervous at seeing Yosano drag Akutagawa into the infirmary. Kyouka had to hold him back when he heard the chainsaw whirring and Akutagawa's scream- he'd never heard Akutagawa scream with utter fear before, and he silently vowed that he would never let Akutagawa scream like that ever again. Kyouka hugged Atsushi, and he leaned into her. Obviously he knew that Yosano would cure Akutagawa completely, but it was still nerve-wracking to wait.

It was only a couple of minutes before Yosano came out, with a satisfied look, "Okay, that lung disease is all gone! And *yes* Atsushi, you can-" He zipped right past her before she could finish her sentence, but she found herself still doing so, "...see him now."

Vanitas laughed and went to make Yosano some tea to help her recover, "How bad?"

"If you hadn't given him that stuff, Akutagawa's lungs would have gotten worse. That boy hasn't smoked in his life, but his lungs were in a similar state to a chain smoker." She looked tired, but it was obvious that she thought it was worth it. "He probably would have died before meeting the six month deadline he'd set for Atsushi."

That was depressing, but unfortunately that was how unlucky life could be for some people. Akutagawa was already sickly, prone to infections and illnesses of all kinds. It was good that now he had support, and was able to trust people enough to help him. After giving Yosano the tea, Vanitas and Kyouka peaked inside the infirmary to see that Akutagawa was sound asleep in the bed, with Atsushi holding his hand and resting his head on the edge of aforementioned bed.

Vanitas smiled and grabbed an extra blanket, covering Atsushi's sleeping form before taking Kyouka's hand and leading her to the café to relax for a while. He'd already taken note of the fact that Akutagawa's breathing sounded steady, and he didn't look uncomfortable anymore. His chest no longer rattled, and he didn't cough himself awake.

*****

Akutagawa woke up an hour later, and he could immediately feel that he was *better*. It didn't feel like smoke was filling his lungs, and he couldn't taste blood in the back of his throat anymore. He felt someone squeeze his hand, and turned to smile at Atsushi taking a nap close to him. His heart hammered at the memory of that kiss, and he blushed to himself.

Maybe this partnership had more similarities to Chuuya and Dazai's than he thought. Working together, capable of destruction, and at the end of the day, they completed each other. Akutagawa and Atsushi weren't a single soul in two bodies, but their Abilities in the form of Kokko Zessō absolutely was.

Akutagawa smiled to himself as he watched Atsushi slowly awaken from his nap, and he couldn't help but stroke Atsushi's face when he saw that sleepy smile, "Ryū... how you feeling?"

"Healthy." That was honestly the best way to describe how he felt at this moment. Akutagawa leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Atsushi's, the pair of them holding each other like that for a moment.

It felt like now or never, so Atsushi spoke softly, "I... Ryū, I think I've made my thoughts clear, but I'm still gonna say it. I don't want us to be enemies anymore, or rivals. You may be in the Port Mafia, but that doesn't matter to me. I just... I just want to spend my life with you..."

That was something exceedingly dangerous to ask of a Mafia member, however Akutagawa completely returned that sentiment. He'd known Atsushi for months now, and they'd been through so much together. All Akutagawa wanted was to watch Atsushi live his life, while standing beside him the entire time. He'd never attack Atsushi, and he didn't particularly have any beef with the Agency, so a feud was pointless in his opinion.

All Akutagawa could do in response was pull Atsushi onto the bed with him, hold him close, and kiss him again. Atsushi squeaked, but wrapped his arms around Akutagawa and let them both sink into the bed, staying there for what felt like hours.

This was trust. This was loyalty. This was *love*.

[kenmakaminari]

BSD Headcanons

These are just a few headcanons I have for some of the bsd characters (though they are probably more just me pushing my own experiences onto the characters 😅).

(25 bullets long)

WARNINGS: mentions of csa, mori, slight (blink and miss it) mentions of skk and sskk, anxiety, a lot of angst

Dazai and Atsushi both hate people yelling. They have spent most of their life surrounded by angry yelling, so the sound really triggers their anxiety.

Kenji has the DIRTIEST mouth. The boy is only 14 but he already makes the other members of the ada blush with his remarks. Ranpo thinks it's the funniest things, and Kyouka has started picking up on some of his more common curses.

On the other hand, Atsushi doesn't cuss often, but when he does you know some shit is about to go down.

Atsushi is great with kids. though, it is more of a product of growing up in the orphanage.

Kunikida uses some of his "teacher tricks" on the ada members (eg. clapping his hands to get their attention, turning off the lights when people are being too loud, and saying "I'll wait" when people are talking over him). And the best part is IT WORKS

Kunikida tutors the younger members of the ada so they have more options for their future. Sometimes he ropes Dazai and Ranpo into helping when he's not sure about a certain topic.

Dazai, depending on the day, can either be amazing with kids, or a child's worst nightmare. Even so, neither Kyouka nor Kenji have ever been afraid of him.

Dazai was a victim of csa (from Mori). He's never told anyone, though Yosano, Fukuzawa, and Ranpo either already know, or have their suspicions. None of them have mentioned it though, not even to each other. Instead, they have decided to let Dazai come to them about it if he so wishes.

Chuuya knows that something was going on between Mori and Dazai, but he isn't sure what. He tried to bring it up once right before Dazai left but was shut down.

One time a lower member of the Mafia tried to make a move on Dazai right in front of Chuuya. Dazai froze when the member grabbed his arm to drag him away. Chuuya noticed and kicked them right at their temple. That member is still in a coma to this day.

Dazai makes his suicidal ideology into a joke so that its not awkward for him to come back after an unsuccessful attempt.

She hasn't put much thought into it at the moment, but when she's older Kyouka comes out as aromantic.

Yosano, Ranpo, and Dazai go to the cafe every Friday night to catch up with all the gossip that they missed through the week.

Ranpo and Yosano have a sibling relationship. They make fun of each other for everything, but the second someone else tries they go for blood.

Atsushi cries himself to sleep a lot

Dazai on the other hand, can't remember the last time he cried. It's been years at least

Dazai's psychological abuse from Mori runs so deep that sometimes he finds himself saying or doing something that reminds him of Mori.

When that happens he usually retreats into himself for the remainder of the day.

It's even worse when it's something he KNOWS he learned from Mori.

Akutagawa doesn't hold a grudge for anything Dazai did to him (even though he would have every right to)

Chuuya got Akutagawa a therapist (on his own dime) when he realized just how bad Dazai abused him

The only people who know that Gin is a girl are Akutagawa (obviously), Dazai, and Hirotsu.

Chuuya, Akutagawa, and Gin try to have a family dinner at least once a week

Later on Dazai and Atsushi join them

Kunikida is secretly protective of Dazai. Although Dazai has never spoken about his past, it isn't hard to see that he has faced some type of abuse. Especially for someone who had to go through seminars for spotting it.

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW!! THANK YOU FOR READING :)

[frankenjoly]

WAIT OKAY i am obsessed with this prompt: "Not focussing on the romantic love, but showing everyone they care for that they love them on this day turned out to be the best idea they ever had"

sooooooo what about that + the ada or that + black lizard family (maybe including higuchi, akutagawa, and kajii?)

this was so cute i had to do both hehehe

black lizard & more

Not focussing on romantic love, but showing everyone they care for that they love them on this day turned out to be the best idea they ever had.

Not like Gin herself was precisely against the romantic part of Valentine’s Day, quite the opposite; they had been wondering, weeks prior, if he maybe should take matters into their own hands and make a move. Which she was determined to do, just not right at the moment. They could leave it for later or even any other day… besides, trying in the moment he would less expect it had a nice and amusing ring to it. 

“Please, tell me these chocolates don’t have lemon inside.” Tachihara said, only half joking, while opening the box Kajii had brought.

“Pfft, obviously not. It’s orange. And they're very good, okay?” Once the box was open, Kajii took one of those chocolates himself.

“They are!” Higuchi instantly agreed, passing a bag full of cupcakes to Hirotsu. She even took one too once her hands were free. “You have to try them, senpai.”

Ryûnosuke simply nodded, focused on opening the boxes they both had brought, aiding himself with his ability. 

“Oh, what are those?” Tachihara didn't need to lean in so close to Gin in order to see, but he did. And they weren't going to be the one complaining.

“Macarons.” Gin and Ryû said, in perfect synchronization they didn't lose when reaching to take one each.

ada

Not focussing on romantic love, but showing everyone they care for that they love them on this day turned out to be the best idea they ever had.

Atsushi himself had been very well aware of how he wasn’t going to have any other plans for… reasons, part of them being he just wouldn’t dare… yet. Then a brief comment about being free talking to Kenji had kickstarted it all; he had instantly suggested going for celebrating love on a broader sense and started selling the idea out around the office.

So there they were, in the office’s kitchen, finishing the final touches of a cake they had baked with Kyôka.

“Couldn’t you have done it at home?” Ranpo said, eyes fixed on said cake and with an amused tone. “I mean, stop the teasing already? Please?” Yosano and Dazai instantly bursted into laughter, likely in agreement.

“It was Atsushi’s idea.” Kyôka swiftly replied, utterly ‘betraying’ him.

“C’mon, I didn’t wanna risk ruining the decorations on the way here…” The walk may not be exactly long, but still.

“You kinda sound like my first boss.” Yosano said, and snickers followed. “It’s a compliment, she was a sweetheart.” After that last comment, Kenji’s head turned towards the doctor’s direction, clearly in awe.

“Can you tell us more? No pressure.” At that point all of them were aware, in different levels of detail, of what her life had been before the Agency. And most curiosity revolved around everything before the war, for obvious reasons. Besides, it didn’t take a genius to understand she preferred them being nosy about that part.

“Only if I can skip the embarrassing stories.”

(Also on ao3.)

[tiniepuppet]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚Little!Akutagawa Headcanons˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

- Akutagawa's regression is pretty spotty, sometimes it's great, other times its horrible.

- He has a pretty wide age rang 2-13

- He's usually needs to be cared for the whole time, and generally is Chuuya, Gin or occasionally Atsushi that does so.

- Akutagawa loves when Chuuya carries him around! little guy is so happy being held.

- When Akutagawa first started regressing he wasn't sure what activities he'd like so Chuuya tried a bunch of different things! They found he likes really calm stuff coloring, watching cartoons, playing on the floor with his toys.

- He prefers softer toys, but he has more plastic toys because he's pretty rough with his things.

- On that note, he has a lot of toys.. since the PM pays him well when he's regressed he tends to order stuff online, forget, not notice the purchase on his finances, and then packages just show up a few days later with new toys.

- Big crybaby, but he tried to hide it. His CG's can get him to let it out pretty easy.

- He likes being babied, being called "baby boy", "tiny", "tot", "bab" and other variants helps him slip deeper and that's what he likes better than his older regression.

- It's easier for him to bathe when regressed, so lots of bath time regression for him!

- At home little! He loves the comfort of the apartment more then trying to go to places like the part or zoo or cafe's. He doesn't mind too much when Gin take him places though.

Below the cut are headcanons pertaining the bad side of Aku's regression. CW: mention of abuse, trauma, disordered eating from food insecurity.

- Aku forgets to eat when he's regressed a lot of the time, it just doesn't register to him that he has access to plenty of food, and he'll ration what he eats. If Gin's around he'll hand her his food a lot too and she gently explains that it's not like that anymore.

- Chuuya sometimes catches Aku hiding food when regressed. When this happens he pulls Aku away from it, and tells him he doesn't need to worry about going hungry, and that he's always going to make sure he's nice a full.

- Chuuya's always checking on when Aku last ate, and he gives him a LOT of snacks. He'd rather him be a little hyper from sugar than make his boy feel like he can't eat what he needs and then some.

- Akutagawa can't be around Dazai by himself when he's regressed. He either get scared of him and rashomon goes haywire (Dazai won't nullify rashomon until he needs to in these moments, simply because he doesn't want to scare him more by taking away his ability) or he gets dependent and tries to do a bunch of tasks for him to make him proud.

- That being said, rashomon does regularly go out of control when he's regressed, sometimes it okay, but other times it can be a real hazard to others that not Chuuya, or Gin. Rashomon likes Chuuya, and obviously Gin too so it doesn't bother them and more than likely will try to protect them alongside its regressed user.

- Usually his CG's try to take off his coat once he's regressed, just to be safer, but they're usually not successful until he's >7. Obviously Rashomon can still be summoned, but usually it's weaker without the coat.

- He's terrified of dogs when regressed and can't be near them without lashing out or breaking down in sobs.

[shadyteacup]

Do you have any BSD at Hogwarts headcanons?

You bet I do! I love bsd and hp so much. Here ya go!

Let's sort them into houses...

Slytherin

Dazai

Akutagawa

Mori

Kouyo

Hufflepuff

Atsushi

Kenji

Junichiro

Poe

Ravenclaw

Ranpo

Kyoka

Yosano

Fukuzawa

Kunikida

Griffindor

Naomi

Chhuya

Gin

Dazai would be a slytherin, there's no doubt about that. He is the literal embodiment of a slytherin. Cunning, manipulative, scheming, ambitious, smart, witty, self preservative.... you say 'slytherin' and he has it all.

I had some tough time sorting Akutagawa,but then realized that he, too, belongs in slytherin.

1. He is smart.

2. He doesn't give two fs about others. Not even his seniors. Remember that scene in dead apple where chuuya was sitting, all bruised and worn out, and had to ask him to help him out? Yeah, aku just acknowledged his senior, and was going to walk away, until chuuya ordered him to help out.

3. He only cares about the people that he considers to be close to him, them being Gin and Dazai. Basically, he chooses who he wants to consider his own.

4. Later on he realizes that he wants to kill dazai. Thjs means that he respects Dazai, and craves his acknowledgment, but hates him for what he has done to him, and wants to be the one to end him...That's the kind of passion a slytherin harbors for sm1, ngl.

Mori is an obvious slytherin. Always plotting his schemes, being prepared for any outcome, and getting his dirty work done from others. Basically, being a smart ass leader.

Kouyo belongs in slytherin. She is a slytherin queen. Yes, her pinkish orange aesthetic would look stunning as a gryff, but she's a slytherin, y'all.

Ravenclaw is house of intelligent, wise, witty, sharp and unique members.

Yosano, I feel, belongs to the ravenclaw house. She is super brilliant, and an amazing doctor. She doesn't have to rely on her ability to cure her patients. She is wise, and can take on whatever is thrown her way. I adore her so much.

Ranpo is, obviously, a ravenclaw.

He is super brilliant. I mean, look at the guy. But, he's not cunning, and is very honest. He doesn't filter his opinions before bestowing them upon others. He can't be scheming. Which is why he isn't in slytherin, contrary to popular belief.

Kyoka is a bad ass girl, so many consider her to be a griffindor. But this girl is smart af. She has the wisdom of an adult. She was raised by two extremely talented, smart and dangerous individuals, who had prepared her for the harsh world. And she really is ready to tackle the ruthless reality of the bsd world. She has studied the human anatomy, and knows methods of easily severing someone's lifeline. So I consider her to be a ravenclaw.

Kunikida is a smart, hardworking boy. He loves Fairplay, and is never one to back down from his word. Sometimes brutally honest, but always means good. Will think through his plans. Deep down, he's a gryffindor, someone who would take irrational decisions to save his loved ones, if push comes to shove. But overall, he's an incredible ravenclaw.

Naomi might seem superficial, and oddly clingy, but I feel that she is extremely caring, and supportive. She loves her brother junichiro dearly, and would give her life for him. She belongs in griffindor.

Chuuya...This boy is a gryffindor, periodt.

He's so loyal, and supportive and brave! He was meant to wear those golden robes! Plus, he's super impulsive amd very honest about his feelings, especially anger. That's a typical gryff baby.

Gin...She's loyal af. And brave. And hot. She gives me gryff vibes. She is beautiful, yet charmingly dangerous. Never one to back down. Won't hesitate to cut a bitch. Gin supremacy.

Atsushi is a soft baby, one that we must protect at all costs. He is innocent and views the world with such purity, it hurts. Hufflepuffs are known to have a positive outlook, and follow 'live and let live'. Sushi roll is the embodiment of a hufflepuff. He is so pure and cute and optimistic, omg... he's the type of guy who collects pretty flowers, but later on feels bad for plucking them...🥺.. I want to adopt him...

Kenji is a baby too. As a slytherin myself, I feel that all Hufflepuffs should be protected and preserved because they are a true gem. They must be loved at all times...Kenji is that rare gem that must be protected at all costs.

Junichiro, our emo boy. He is a huff too. He may seem edgy and not that soft, but oh boy, isn't he a softy. Poor baby can't tell naomi to back off. He is such a cutie. I love him. Must be protected.

Poe is such a soft guy. He is smart, and works so hard to accomplish his goal. He is super supportive and sporting too. Very shy. Hubby material. uwu

Hufflepuffs are hardworking sweet donuts that must be hugged and fed and loved and kissed on the forehead; babies, its you lot that keep me from hating this world.

[narrators-journal]

Months of tolerance

So, I was looking back at my ranpoe valentines story and I got an idea. Why not write a little collection? A little trio or so of Valentines-themed sort of ship stories?

And so, I wrote a second one for Shin-soukoku! Though, please be forgiving, I’m not a super big fan of Atsushi, so I don’t have a lot of ideas and experience on how he works and behaves, so I kinda took inspiration from the rp me and my friend did for BSD and their sort of rendition of Atsushi mixed with canon.

Atsushi had never really experienced Valentines day or White day, so when Dazai offered to take him out on one of his days off and introduce him to the basics of the event he accepted it. He was quick to find it to be a bit depressing.            “Dazai, I don't think I have any real...reason to be here," The tiger sighed, putting down one of the little Valentines bears he'd been looking at in the shop and looking over at the bandage-clad brunette that was to be his mentor in the ADA. The rail of a man just pouted at him,            "Nonsense, Atsushi! You're learning about romance," he assured, giving the white-haired man a sweet smile, which made Atsushi grimace,            "Yeah, but this holiday is obviously for couples, and I don't have any romantic partner of any sort," He pointed out, a stone of loneliness settling in the bottom of his stomach as he spoke, but his mentor simply snorted as if that point was moot.            "Sushi, you don't need a romantic partner to celebrate Valentines day, you can just as easily get gifts for friends. After all, I don't have a partner but I'm gonna get a gift for someone." He assured, and while the tiger was still a bit unsure, he just nodded.

After that, he just went back to milling around up and down the aisle as he poked at the little toys, knick knacks, or sweets scattered about until Dazai clapped his hands together in an idea,          "Atsushi! I have an idea for what you can do on Valentines day!" he chirped, bouncing on his feet in some childish, giddy high, "Why not get a gift for Ryuunosuke!" The tiger blinked and scowled at the idea,          "Why the hell would I do that? I don't have any sort of feelings for him," he about spat, almost feeling his lip curl in a snarl at the mere mention of the wheezing, gothic, Dazai fanboy. However, the brunette simply rolled his eyes at his venom,          "There is a very common phrase, 'kill your enemies with kindness', you ever hear it?" before the weretiger could answer, he continued, "Akutagawa doesn't like you. At all. Hates your guts. But! If you get him a gift, maybe be as friendly as you can be, you can get him to warm up to you!" the weretiger's scowl only deepened, which made his mentor huff and drop the excited, bubbly tone, "If you get him to like you, you won't have to spend quite as much on shirts every week." Atsushi ended up buying a cheap little gift for the goth. However, that now left him with a question. How was he to get the cheap plush cat to Akutagawa? He'd been pondering the question all through out the three days that led up to Valentines day, going back and forth on whether or not he should even bother with Dazai's stupid idea. Is it really worth risking getting stabbed again? Just to give this cheap little thing to a bastard like Akutagawa? He thought bitterly, though his cheeks burned a slight pink while he glared down at the floppy little beanie baby cat that was sprawled out on his meager little coffee table, staring up at the tiger with glassy amber eyes while he sat on his couch the evening before Valentines day. I'd sooner drink my own piss then give Akutagawa a Valentines gift. He told himself firmly, getting up from his couch and plucking the toy from the cheap table to get rid of it. To do this, he threw it out of his livingroom window into the darkness of the cold night and listened to it land in the dumpster across the street with a soft thud thanks to how hard he'd thrown it. And, with that, he shut his window with a decisive 'humph' and went to bed. Dazai was a smart man, but Atsushi was not going to have conflicting and confusing feelings plague him just to placate a violent asshole with a hateboner for him. An hour later, the tiger went out to the dumpster he'd heard the cat slam against and dug the poor thing out to be washed. Not that the weretiger had changed his mind or anything, he'd just spent money on the derpy little toy, he didn't want to waste it. Or, so he told himself. So, he instead returned it to his bedside table after washing it a few times, trying to see if he could somehow rub the new crack out of his amber eye while doing his best to get the dumpster stench out of its fur. If he really was going to 'kill Akutagawa with kindness' like Dazai said, the least he could do was make sure the gift didn't reek of three day old take out and dog vomit. When the next day came, he took the toy to work, then walked home with it draped over his arm after a day of dealing with petty couple squabbles that had turned nasty, or helping Ranpo to and from the smattering of robberies he'd been requested on. Y'know, this just proves why I should've kept this thing in the garbage, he fumed to himself, staring at the sidewalk ahead of him so he didn't see even more lovey-dovey couples for the day, If I gave this to Akutagawa somehow, all that would happen is I'd be a statistic. Nothing more. He hates me too much, it'd probably off- Atsushi's ill-tempered thoughts were cut short when he ran into someone else on the sidewalk, sending them both sprawling to the pavement.           "O-oh my god! I'm so sorry, are you hurt miss?!" The weretiger squeaked, hopping up to his feet at record speeds to offer a hand to the pretty lady in white. She had long black hair, and a familiar style of dress on, but it was her light, steel-colored eyes that finally got her face to click in the frazzled tiger's irrational mind.          "Oh!...Gin, right?" he asked as she took his hand and let him help her up while she nodded,          "Sorry, I didn't mean to run you over," she said, her voice as quiet as the first time he'd met her with Katai and Kunikida, but her words shot a nebulous sort of anxiety into his veins,         "Oh, no no no, it was my fault, I wasn't looking where I-I was going," he stammered, trying desperately to comfort her as he reached to dust her off, but then changed his mind half way, doing that would be super weird, so he instead tried to think up another way to make up for running into her. He felt awful for knocking her over, but had no clue what to do, so he just ended up putting a hand over his anxious heart and staying quiet. Gin, meanwhile, had spotted the saggy stuffed toy on the sidewalk,           "Um, is that yours?" She asked, picking it up and dusting the little thing off gently, snapping Atsushi out of his thoughts,          "What? Oh! Yeah, that's...actually, I bought it for...Akutagawa." he admitted, not knowing what else to say to explain why he had a stuffed cat. Gin blinked at him, raising an eyebrow,           "No offense, but why did you buy my brother a toy? Is it for Valentines day?" Atsushi gaped for a moment, for some reason his brain struggling to give even the simplest answer for a moment,          "I...D-Dazai suggested getting him a gift..." he muttered, his cheeks beginning to heat up as he spoke, which Gin seemed to notice, but she said nothing,          "Well, how about I deliver it to him? He likes cats, I'm sure he'd enjoy this one," she offered sweetly instead, and for a moment Atsushi could only stare at her while his cheeks undoubtedly glowed a healthy pink until he cleared his throat, get yourself together Atsushi! This is a fine way to get the damned gift to Akutagawa, then Dazai can get off your ass, he told himself, pushing down the weird flustered feeling in his chest,         "Um, t-that would be helpful," She nodded, smiling a bit at the toy cat. With that, she wished him well as the sky darkened from the yellow-purple gradient of Atsushi's eyes, to a dark, star-speckled blue, leaving the tiger to walk home and contemplate his day. For the next few days, the weretiger was on edge, just waiting for the wheezing goth to pop out from behind every corner ready to stab him. However, it never happened. Atsushi was expecting it, always at the ready to defend himself, but for the entire month he didn't even see his nemesis on jobs, let alone when he was walking home or too work. So, he began to relax. Maybe he really did enjoy the stuffed toy, he thought a month or so later on his walk home from the ADA. The thought brought an odd warm feeling to his chest, but he was swift to stomp the detested feeling back down into that part of himself he refused to acknowledge. He could accept his tiger, but he was not ready to face anything like that emotion. Then, something slammed into the side of his head. In an instant, Atsushi was knocked onto the sidewalk with his world swimming for a moment or two. In those moments, he laid there in a daze, forced to wait for his senses to return and the throbbing ache in his skull to die before he could finally stumble to his feet. When the pain stopped and he could bare to stand once again, the white-haired man looked around for what might've hit him in the head, but the only thing he found was a can of soda. A soda that, upon closer inspection, he found to be one of his favorites, which was weird enough, since usually his favorite soft drink doesn't fly at people's heads, but, no one was currently around to explain why an unopened, very dented can of his preferred soda was rolling around at his feet after knocking him on his ass like it had. He'd tried to look around, taking advantage of his improved night vision to try and spot anyone trying to hide from the blame for throwing it at him, but the street was currently sparse in other people in the area. However, after a moment of thinking, and examining the near-bursting can, it slowly dawned on the tiger who might've thrown it. Then, the date set in, bringing a stronger wave of hot embarrassment to his cheeks.           "Um?? T-thanks I guess?" he called out into the swiftly growing darkness, and then swiftly continued home, before the hiding goth caught sight of the way his cheeks tinged a small shade of pink or decided to come out to maul him for acknowledging him.

[colourscat]

please be mine

Akutagawa doesn’t hate Valentine’s Day, if anything, he would simply say he is indifferent to it. Throughout his entire life he has never had a reason to celebrate the holiday; when he was younger and him and Gin lived in the slumps the holiday never even as much as crossed his mind, but even after then when he joined the Port Mafia the idea of celebrating sucha banal holiday seemed ridiculously childish to him, as he clearly had much more important stuff going around him. But that was before. 

Before a flurry of sunset eyes and silver hair entered his life. This year, no matter how much he tried to forget about it, how much he tried to pretend he didn't care for it, it seemed like he couldn’t escape it. Everywhere he went he would be faced with annoyingly bright red and pink decorations and the sickening smell of too-sweet chocolate that all the stores were now apparently selling. He wanted to pretend to hate it, to be able to look at the displays showing off couple gifts and scoff with a roll of the eyes at all those stupid couples who were willing to spend thier money on obviously overpriced bouquets that would rot within a date, but he couldn’t. 

Instead, he would find himself imagining the different scenarios that might arise if he were to present Atsushi with such a gift, would he like the flowers? Would he blush? Would he look at Akutagawa with that soft smile of his that makes his eyes squint just so? Maybe he would enjoy it a bit too much, launching himself to hug Akutagawa as certain as always that the older male would catch him. His body would be pressed close to his own, Atsushi’s mouth right next to Akutagawa’s ears making it so that he can feel every small breath that escapes his lips.

( Akutagawa has to stop his imagination there, his mouth too dry and his pants too tight for such a public place. )

Sometimes he finds it funny to think about the past, to remember the days where he wanted nothing more than to kill Jinko, his mere existence a reminder of what he failed to achieve. But even then, there was an undeniable spark between them, a sort of compulsion to keep him close, to observe him. At the time he used to tell himself that this was nothing more than the fascination a predator feels against his prey, nothing more than the instinct of fight and competition. Even then it was obvious how he felt. 

They became closer when the Port Mafia and ADA reached a sort of truce, they would leave each other alone and when needed, they would provide support for each other. This truce, however, meant that Atsushi and Akutagawa ended up spending a lot more time together. Even if they hated each other’s guts, it was obvious to everyone how well they worked together, how much they made the other shine, so they were routinely assigned joint missions and from there a sort of trust built up between them. The change in their dynamic was soft and gradual (his hatred for the other boy beginning to mellow out into something else), until it wasn't. 

It happened during one of their missions. They had severely underestimated their enemy, thinking that this would be a simple stake-out, but it turns out they had been deceived and the enemy was waiting for them. As always, Atsushi wasted no time heading into the attack, he acted rashly and irrationally leaving himself open to all sorts of attacks. It all happened so fast, someone has slipped past Akutagawa and was heading towards him ( he could feel their bloodlust, the intent to kill more than obvious), and before he was even able to react, Atsushi was in front of him, protecting him from the blow that was coming his way. 

No matter how much he tries to remember what happened after that, he simply cannot, all he knows is that he wasted no time to retaliate; attacking person after person mercilessly leaving no one unharmed. He remembers an overwhelming feeling of desperation, the image of Atsushi on the ground blood pouring from his stomach flashing behind his eyes, his chest feeling as if it were going to rip open much like the man he was trying to protect. 

Once the mission was over (once Atsushi was safe) he realised he was pissed. He was beyond angry at the recklessness and selflessness Atsushi continued to fight with. He felt violent and unsettled and so, so worried. 

‘Akutagawa.��� Silence. He was not ready to look at him, let alone talk. 

‘Akutagawa please talk to me.’ Atsushi was louder this time, his tone bordering on pleading, but a hint of annoyance was still present. A moment passed and finally, Atsushi seemed to snap. 

‘I don't even understand why you are so angry at me. We accomplished our mission, nothing happened.’ At this Akutagawa could no longer contain his anger, his eye quickly moving towards the younger man, a sharp glare pointing at him. 

‘Nothing happened? Are you fucking stupid Jinko? You nearly died, you were bleeding out on the ground right in front of me!’ He finally shouted, letting out the fear he had been feeling since the moment Atsushi had been hurt. 

‘And why do you care? Don’t you want to kill me anyways? What difference does it make if I die now or later, it doesn’t matter if I get hurt as long as we accomplish what we need to.’ 

Throughout the conversation Atsushi had been sitting down, resting for a while before they headed back to their respective home, but now he was standing close to Akutagawa (so close that he could feel the warmth coming from him) almost pushing him against the wall as he pointed out his hypocrisy. And he was right. Why did Akutagawa even care? He had told himself so many times that he hated the weretiger and had sworn himself to destroy him, so why was he getting so agitated? 

He was feeling so out of control and confused and desperate, he had never felt this way before and he didn’t quite know how to confront it. There was also the fact that Atsushi was so close to him, they had never been so pressed up against each other and now Akutagawa could notice all these details about him, like the fact he likely hadn’t shaved in the past few days or that he had a little freckle right next to his right eye. Despite the fact that he smelled like blood and sweat, there was still an underlying scent that was so Atsushi that it made Akutagawa;s breath get stuck in his throat. 

All of these feelings were bubbling up inside him until he could no longer take it anymore, so he kissed him. It was angry and rough; teeth clashing each other and hands viciously gripping each other. He doesn’t quite know how it happened, but at some point they had ended up back in his flat, Atsushi pressing him hard against the mattress as he fucked himself on Akutagawa, their lips never leaving skin as saliva dripped down their chins. 

‘Fuck’, Atsushi said, his voice breathless as he bounced himself up and down Akutagawa’s cock, who in turned thrusted his hips up to try and maintained the ruthless rhythm the younger had settled. Suddenly, no longer willing to let the man take charge, he flipped them around, so that he now was trapped underneath him. Atsushi gasped beneath him, as Akutagawa slammed himself into him, making his thrusts long and hard, making sure to drag his length all through him, hitting his prostate every time. 

Eventually, Akutagawa started to feel his climax building so he desperately reached for Atsushi’s cock, pumping him hard and fast hoping to make him cum before he did.Akutagawa looks down on him again and sees how he now has spit falling from the corner of his mouth down his chin, so he leans forwards and licks it up, causing another shudder to arise from Atsushi’s body. Another groan falls from Atsushi’s lips, and then he cums, his body clenching down hard on Akutagawa as his legs shake, at this he couldn’t hold himself anymore and he lost himself to his orgasm. Leaving them both breathless as they tried to come back from their orgasm. 

After that first time, it sort of became a regular thing. Whenever they came back from missions, they would fuck, it would be rough and quick and as soon as it started it would be over, Atsushi would pick up his things and leave as if he had never been there. But as time progressed, their encounters did as well. 

Atsushi started spending the night, they started fucking on times other than missions. Fucking turned into cuddling which turned into late night conversations, giving a way into a weird sort of intimacy that neither of them had expected. Eventually, Atsushi started coming to his palace just to hang out, most of the time they didn’t even fuck anymore, just hanging out with each other enough for both of them. 

It reached a point where the sight of Atsushi sitting at his dining table was no longer a surprise. He would always be there sipping on tea with too much milk and too much sugar (impossibly sweet and so, so fitting to him), as he ignored Akutagawa’s complaints about how he was wasting his most expensive tea. It was during one of these occasions when he realised that oh, he was in love with him. Just fucking was no longer enough for him, it probably had never been. He wanted more, he wanted everything and anything that Atsushi would be willing to offer him. 

Which led him to his current predicament, as he was deliberating how and when to tell him. How exactly was he meant to say that he had stopped hating him a while ago, that perhaps he had never hated him at all, that he was now the most precious person he had in his life. 

His thoughts were abruptly brought to a stop when he spotted him. Atsushi was walking around the pier, looking peacefully at the sunset. He looked beautiful, the soft rays of light painting him in various golden hues as the wind played with his hair. He must have stood there staring at him for a while because eventually the younger man laughed. 

‘You don’t have to stand there staring at me, Ryuu. You can come and say hi.’ At this Akutagawa blushed immediately, he was certainly not planning on getting caught, the embarrassment causing him to lash out immediately. 

‘Who said I was staring at you studid Jinko. I’m just here to look at the sea, so mind you own fucking business.’ Harsh, too harsh, how did Akutagawa ever expect him to return his love when all he ever did was insult him? Thankfully, Atsushi didn’t take his jabs at heart, simply letting a short laugh escape from his lips. 

‘Oh well, you’re still more than welcomed to watch the sunset with me. It is Valentine’s Day after all.’

Slowly, Akutagawa walks up to him, trying to calm the thrumming of his heart and the heat that threatens to spread to his cheeks. They stand in silence for a moment, simply enjoying the sunset. Until Atsushi decides to speak again. 

‘So, why are you here then?’ Atsushi says, a mischievous smile lighting up his features. 

‘I only came here to watch the sunset, so don’t start getting any weird ideas.’ He says, pointedly keeping his gaze away from the other man. ‘What about you?’ He adds as a second thought, not quite ready to let the conversation fizzle out.

‘Same reason. I felt kinda lonely and thought maybe coming here would make me feel better.’ 

Akutagawa turns to look at him. He is constantly amazed at how unafraid the other man is to let himself be vulnerable. He opens himself up to Akutagawa again and again, expecting nothing but to be accepted. He wishes he had the same strength. Suddenly, Atsushi turns to look at him, a knowing look lighting up his eyes. 

‘You know Ryuu, you’re gonna miss the sunset if you keep staring at me instead.’ Even while mocking him he looks so beautiful, his eyes twinkling and his smile carefree. His chest tightens at the feeling of sheer want. He loves him, he loves him so much that he doesn’t know if he is ever gonna recover. 

‘I’m in love with you.’

Atsushi laughs. A soft gentle giggle falling from his lips that under any other circumstance it would have warmed up Akutagawa from the inside out but right now it felt like a bucket of ice water.  Shit. he shouldn’t have said that. Quickly he turns his head away from Atsushi, not wanting him to see the clear embarrassment on his face, or the dampness that threatens to spill from his eyes. 

Of course Atsushi doesn’t love him back. They are sworn enemies and hate each other, at some point even actively attempting to kill one another. Just because they fuck every now and then and just because Atsushi is friendlier to him now it doesn’t mean anything. He should’ve known that he was reading into things. Atsushi must have realised that he hurt his feelings because he abruptly stops his laugh, opting instead for talking to him:

‘Ryuu, I’m sorry for laughing but please look at me.’ His tone is pleading and by this point Akutagawa doesn’t think he can deny him of anything so he complies.

And he wishes he could regret it, but he can’t. Not when Atsushi is looking at him with the softest of smiles gracing his lips, his eyes barely crinkled at the corners and so much warmth in his expression. Akutagawa thinks he could look at him and laugh and laugh for days thinking about how he once used to despise the boy that now gently holds his heart in the palm of his hands. 

‘I’ve loved you for the longest time, and I just didn’t think you would ever feel the same way.’ Atsushi says, tears starting to spill from his eyes and Akutagawa’s heart stops. The beast that has lived permanently in his chest since he met Atsushi running wildly around his chest. 

‘Stupid Jinko.’ Is all he says because Atsiuhi is crying and he is stupid. He is so, so stupid; how could Akutagawa do anything but love him. He doesn’t say this though, still too awkward with his words to be able to express himself properly so he opts to just reach his hand over to Atsushi’s cheeks, gently wiping away the tears that have fallen from his eyes. 

...

( ‘Hey, Ryuu.’ Says Atsushi a while later, as they look at the sunset. Akutagawa simply hums in reply. 

‘Does this mean you are my valentine?’ 

‘Shut up Jinko.’) 

read it on ao3

[mpregwrites]

The whole thing starts because Akutagawa, probably on a long-standing mission to find less fatal and violent ways to ruin Atsushi’s life, decides that eating an even halfway proper amount of food before going out on a mission is below him and passes the fuck out when Atsushi needs him most. This leads to Atsushi taking way more bullets than was agreed upon while grumbling about what a shitty partner Akutagawa is, the whole time dragging said shitty partner out of the imminent realm of lead-flavored death raining down upon them.

He sits next to the bed the entire time Yosano is pumping fluids into Akutagawa to make sure that his irritated face is the first thing the bastard sees when he wakes up.

A good half an hour later, his patience pays off when Akutagawa blinks himself back to consciousness, takes in Atsushi’s deep frown, and closes his eyes again. “Weretiger.”

“Asshole,” Atsushi replies, and he can tell from Akutagawa’s heavy sigh that it cuts him just enough to make him feel the slightest hint of guilt. “Maybe if you ate more regularly, you wouldn’t pass out in the middle of gunfights. Do you know how many times I got shot because of you?”

“Obviously not enough, if you’re still alive to annoy me,” Akutagawa snips back. “Regrettably, you’re bulletproof. Shame.”

“For the last time, I’m not bulletproof, I’m death proof. It still hurts!”

“Whatever. I’m alive, congratulations, leave. I’m tired.”

Atsushi clenches and unclenches his fists a few times, the only thing holding him back from starting shit in Yosano’s office being the fact that he doesn’t want to start shit in Yosano’s office or she’s going to use him for ‘scientific experimentation’ again like she did the last time. Instead of causing a scene, he just inhales deeply and stands up, the chair scraping the floor as he does so. “Fine. Just take this, then,” he says, then drops something onto Akutagawa’s chest before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

Akutagawa looks down and sees a granola bar. The passive-aggressiveness is almost funny.

It would be one thing if it ended there, though, but it doesn’t. The next mission they run together goes much more smoothly, and after all is said and done Atsushi tosses the last unconscious body onto the pile of them, dusts himself off, and says, “Let’s get something to eat.”

If he had any eyebrows to raise, Akutagawa would do so, but all he can offer is the general area of an eyebrow cocking upward. “No thanks,” he replies, short and gruff as always. “I’m not hungry.”

“That wasn’t a request,” Atsushi says in retaliation, the challenge obvious in his voice. “You’ll notice I specifically phrased it so it wasn’t one.”

Sometimes it’s difficult to remind himself that technically, Akutagawa is the older one, what with the way he carries himself like an overgrown petulant child. He wrinkles his nose and Atsushi thinks this man is 23 and, with a great deal of effort, Akutagawa acquiesces. “It’s not because I like you,” Akutagawa says, because heaven forbid he doesn’t remind Atsushi at least three times a week that their partnership, while functional and pretty effective, is built on the desire of Dazai to make up for all of his own fuck-ups. It’s gotten better in the time since it officially unofficially formed—they’ve even done enough Good Deeds to get Akutagawa’s arrest warrant waived!—but there’s no way they’re ever not going to get on each other’s nerves. “Let’s just make it quick. I have important things to attend to.”

Like sucking up to Dazai-san? is on the tip of his tongue, as it usually is, but he isn’t in the mood to get bisected today, so he keeps it to himself. “Alright then, lead the way.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re paying,” Atsushi clarifies, “so you’re choosing. You owe me.”

Akutagawa crosses his arms and the petulance returns. It’s kind of cute sometimes, if Atsushi can look past the shaved eyebrows and everything else going on with Akutagawa’s, er, aesthetics. “I owe you nothing.”

Motioning at his thigh, Atsushi replies, “You put Rashoumon through my leg today.”

“You were in the way of the enemy.”

“My leg, Akutagawa! That hurt!”

He clicks his tongue. “You healed just fine.” He stuffs his hands in his pockets and turns to walk away, leaving Atsushi sputtering on the sidewalk. He’s only a couple dozen feet away when he looks over his shoulder at Atsushi’s flustered face and says, “Are you coming or not, Nakajima?”

Atsushi opens his mouth and closes it a few times, feeling way too similar to a dying fish, but his feet have the right idea and he crosses the distance between them in a few strides. “Just for that, I don’t want anything cheaper than wagyu!”

(For what it’s worth, he does get his wagyu, along with a peek at the bill when Akutagawa is fishing out his credit card that makes him choke on his dessert.

“Don’t die before I kill you,” is what Akutagawa says, but it sounds more like something edging toward genuine concern. Weird.)

For the next eight months, every time they run a successful mission Atsushi invites Akutagawa out for food. It’s familiar. Almost... comfortable.

(Four months in, Akutagawa walks into the kitchen with his pants halfway up his thighs and frowns at Gin. “They don’t fit.”

She silently pumps her fist. Finally, finally he’s out of a size 0. She makes a mental note to send Atsushi a fruit basket.)

After a particularly messy outing, Atsushi surveys the state of his clothes—tattered beyond help—and sighs. He’s exhausted from the rapid blood loss and regeneration more than he usually is, and not for the first time he wishes he had an Ability that didn’t lend itself so well to being everyone’s meat shield.

Akutagawa looks beat to all hell too, so at least he’s not alone. There’s a streak of dried blood smeared from Akutagawa’s nose across his cheek from when he tried to wipe it away, and Atsushi can see the spot on his sleeve he used to wipe it when Akutagawa holds out his hand to help him back to his feet. “Good job out there today,” he says, expectant.

“Yeah, you too. Good job,” Atsushi replies, and Akutagawa preens ever so slightly. “Ugh, I’m exhausted. See you later, I guess.”

He turns to head back toward the agency dorms with the rest of the ADA, but stops after a few steps when he realizes he has a tag-along. He starts walking again and so does Akutagawa, matching him step-for-step.

Start. Stop. Start. Stop.

His eyebrow is twitching violently when he whips to the side to address Akutagawa. “Do you mind?”

“No.”

“You don’t live in this direction. Stop following me.”

“We’re getting food.”

He’s about to tear Akutagawa a new one because he’s tired and just wants to go home and sleep after the crapsack day he’s had when the full force of what Akutagawa said hits him like a train. It was just like the otsukare incident. He really is the worst kind of person.

“Oh my god,” he says, face in his hands. “I Pavloved you again.”

(It’s the best gyoza he’s ever had, at least.)

[aspoonofsugar]

Where do you see Higuchi's arc heading? Do you think she will get more focus?

Hello friend!

After you sent this ask to me you wrote this meta on her yourself and I agree with many points you make!

I will now try to add something more.

Higuchi has gained focus in two different chapters which are An Occupation that does not suit Her and Addict. Both chapters focus on her relationship with Akutagawa and this fits with the idea that Higuchi is in the story to help him:

Higuchi’s objective is pretty clear and it is to help Akutagawa. However, it is not clear how this will happen plot-wise since there are many possibilities. At the same time, the objective of “helping her senpai” is an external one which is linked to the internal objective to become Akutagawa’s equal and to possibly start a relationship with him.

So, how can this happen? As stated above it is impossible to say for sure until their relationship gains more focus, but we can make some general considerations.

Akutagawa, like Higuchi, has a clear external objective (being recognized by Dazai) which is linked to an internal one (being worth of life). However, it is pretty clear that his arc is a case of what you want is different from what you need. In other words the external objective does not overlap with the internal one even if the character thinks so.

Atsushi has started showing Akutagawa this:

Akutagawa wants to be recognized by Dazai and thinks that the right way to do so is to become strong. However, this is not the case, like Atsushi tells him, because a person’s worth does not lie in physical strength. That said, I think that an ulterior step needs to be done here and it is that Akutagawa does not need to be recognized by Dazai at all. Akutagawa’s worth as a human being is not given to him by another person and he needs to understand it.

Let’s consider this:

Dazai compares Akutagawa to a former stray dog and in this metaphor Dazai himself is the master who picked him up. The idea that a person can gain value once they are picked up by another individual or an organization is one shared by many other characters, but I think that it is ultimately wrong. This does not mean that the relationships one builds are not important, but that thinking that these relationships (both healthy and unhealthy) can solve all one’s problems is wrong.

In the end it is as Dazai says here:

People are stray dogs and they can’t change it, but this is also why they can choose for themselves how to live and why they have possibilities. In other words the stray dogs of the title (imo) are not just people who are excluded or dismissed by society (even if it is clearly a theme), but humans in general and their struggling is what living means.

In other words, Akutagawa should realize sooner or later that the objective he has chosen to pursue is not what can help him, but that other things are. I would not be surprised if Higuchi will be one of these “other things”.

This is because their relationship too is subjected to the hierarchy the mafia imposes like the one between Dazai and Akutagawa was, but the chapter An Occupation that does not suit Her makes clear that Higuchi, despite her using codes linked to the mafia like “job” or “superior”, is actually aware of the fact that what she wants is not connected to the organization:

She wants to be close to Akutagawa and him to be safe. However, she is still not able to express it in a way which does not call back to their jobs:

In other words, Higuchi, differently from Akutagawa seems to know what she wants, but she does not know how to obtain it. In other words, she uses the wrong method because she keeps trying to grow close to Akutagawa while staying in the boundaries of their working relationship.

The chapter Addict shows more of it:

All in all, Higuchi can only attempt to grow closer to Akutagawa in a roundabout way and instead of being honest with her feelings and to admit that she is jealous she keeps finding excuses linked to her job.

What is more, this chapter is interesting also because of another thing aka that it presents Katai and Higuchi as foils.

Both are in love with a person and start investigating the “yamato nadeshiko” because of this. However, it is clear that none of them truly knows the object of their love.

Katai has only seen Gin from afar and knows nothing of her to the point that he fell for her despite his hate for criminals:

Higuchi obviously knows Akutagawa a little more, but her knowledge is limited to his work life. It is made clear that Higuchi knows very little about her superior’s personal life to the point that she ignored his relationship with both Dazai and Gin and up until the Guild arc he did not even know that Gin is a girl.

It is obvious that if Higuchi really wants to build a deep bond with Akutagawa she has to communicate and to get to know him better. This is also what the title of the chapter suggests. All in all, Katai’s crush for Gin is called an addiction and it mirrors Higuchi’s one for Akutagawa. This doesn’t mean that both relationships have no chance to develop into something important and deep (being it romantic or platonic), but the characters have to put effort into it and must at least know more of the people they are interested in.

The current arc seems to offer Higuchi the perfect chance to use what she learnt about Akutagawa in Addict to help her superior. As a matter of fact Gin was wounded and it is possible that Akutagawa will be in distress over it. Higuchi might help him out and grow closer to him as a result.

This is where I see Higuchi going. She could do so in different ways, but in the end I think she will face Akutagawa as an equal and help him find worth in himself since she clearly values him as a person, while the mafia does not:

Apart from that, I think we might have something more in store for Higuchi when it comes to her past and her ability.

The wiki says that the author confirmed that Higuchi has an ability even if she has still to reveal it. This is interesting because Higuchi has been among the first characters to have been introduced, so it is possible that the reveal of her ability has been postponed for a reason which might be linked to a specific plot point or to Higuchi’s past.

This is also something we know nothing about. In chapter 14 many characters say that Higuchi is not suited for the mafia:

But then why is she in the mafia in the first place? What is more, why is she Akutagawa’s direct subordinate and Black Lizard’s superior?

Let’s highlight that both Mori and Black Lizard compare Higuchi to Akutagawa as if her position is something she has obtained only thanks of him. However, there must be a reason for this since even Gin who is Akutagawa’s sister and a skilled assassin is Higuchi’s subordinate. In other words, Higuchi’s current position in the mafia is strange and there might be a reason for it. It is also possible that this reason has to do with her ability, with Akutagawa or with both. After all, Akutagawa himself was selected by Dazai because the latter saw potential in the former’s apparently useless ability, so I would not be surprised if Higuchi’s story had some similarities to Akutagawa’s. After all, as you yourself have explained in your meta Akutagawa treats Higuchi in a similar way to how Dazai treated him.

This is all when it comes to her. I hope it was of some help!

Thank you for the ask!

[malfunctioningmochi]

I finished the main Bungo anime last night (I’ve heard there’s OVAs and stuff but I’ll get to those sooner than later).

*this is my opinion, please don’t bite my head off if I don’t agree with something you like/dislike

*I try to avoid spoilers, but there are some vague things mentioned here and there

*this post talks mostly about things I liked, but there’s bound to be one or two things I definitely didn’t like

*I’m mentioning every character I particularly liked (and maybe two I didn’t like asdsfghe), so I won’t get to everyone

deep inhale

MMMMMMM

Atsushi is such a good cinnamon bun and I relate to him on so many levels. He just wants accepted despite his burdens and constantly self-loathes because he wants someone’s (anyone’s) approval. Like goddamn do I know that feeling. He’s able to overcome his demons when he really needs to, and I appreciate the character development of that getting easier for him. Sushi reminds me a lot of Allen Walker from D Gray Man and I think that’s why I like him so much.

I’m not a big fan of the “child killer wants to stop killing” stereotype in anime, but I also really liked Kyoka and Q despite this. Like, they’re just kids. It’s really shitty that fate threw them in the situations they were in (especially when Q got kidnapped asdtgrfd I cry every time), but at least Kyoka got to make the best of it. I know Q’s not dead but like, where he go? How is he?? ????

Yosano can step on my face and I’d still wanna be her friend. She’s hands-down my favorite female in the show. 10/10 doctor. The part with her and the lemon guy on the train is top-tier. Lemon guy is pretty good too.

I’ve heard there’s an OVA about Kunikida and a little girl but?? I want more Kunikida antics he’s such a good dad to the agency-- So is Fukuzawa.

Speaking of Dazai, ummm edgy boi???? I kid, I liked Dazai too (there weren’t too many characters I didn’t like, heh). The story of Oda made me cry, and it made me cry a lot. If I think about it for longer than five seconds, I’ll cry about it right now--

Ango is a big ol’ dick. Oda deserved better.

My boy Chuuya- My boy- He’s so good?? And I’ve had some things spoiled for me about him from non-anime canon, and I’m. He needs love. He and Atsushi both need many love. Also, big minority opinion here but before anyone asks, I don’t ship Dazai and Chuuya. I could make a whole rant post about it but it’s basically I can’t really ship characters who obviously don’t like eachother, whether it’s a “fake” dislike or not. I’ve had my own relationships like that and they were never good. Nonetheless, I do like Chuuya’s everything else.

Ryunosuke and Gin Akutagawa. There’s not much of Gin in the anime but I do love her all the same. Ryunosuke kinda pissed me off here and there (especially with how hypocritical he was towards Sushi in the final battle, the whole “fighting for acceptance” deal) but overall I think I liked him?? If anything, just because he’s batshit insane over Dazai of all people. Ryunosuke to Atsushi is like Kanda to Allen (another d gray man reference).

I don’t really need/want a romance plot in Bungo, but I’d be curious of how Kyoka and Lucy would get along on a personal level, considering I think they both have some sort of feelings for Atsushi. R.i.p Sushi you lady killer. Lucy was good too, as were most of the guild members.

Mark Twain needs a fucking shirt. I also wanted more Lovecraft and Poe like??? Lovecraft is great and Poe is really adorable, especially in the ending scenes where Ranpo invited him to the party.

Now that I’ve gotten my honorable mentions out of the way, there was one thing I didn’t like about the show. One single thing that, while it didn’t ruin it for me, did turn me off from it a little bit.

It all centers around me nitpicking Naomi. The way her voice does that weird cracking/squeaking thing about Junichiro made me wanna take my earbuds out until her scene was over. Not to mention the uh- the incest??? Like, I really don’t need that, thanks. Naomi and Junichiro could’ve been made to look like a close pair of siblings without implying that Naomi’s been at his dick.

Other than that, everything else I disliked I enjoyed disliking. Meaning that it didn’t turn me off from the show and made me excited for more. I can’t wait until the Dead Apple movie is subbed in English so I can watch it, and I feel for those of you who watched Bungo when it first came out and didn’t get any followup to the ending until now.

So if I had to give this anime a score, it would be like, a 9/10. The sole reason (besides the incest) for it not being a solid 10 (in my opinion) is because there wasn’t enough screentime for some of the characters I liked more, like Gin, Poe, Lovecraft, and Q.

Overall my favorite characters are Chuuya (obviously), Atsushi, Poe, and Yosano.

I also have a Bungo OC based on Fumiko Enchi/Ueda if anyone would be interested in hearing about her thank you. I don’t know how to end a long post.

[marlikesthings]

I know this chapter wasn’t perfect, but I liked it. I certainly didn’t expect things to finish so quickly, but I got more shin soukoku development, I got to see dazai and atsushi talking (+ proud dazai) and there was even a reference to oda at the end. 

I was very surprised to see akutagawa lending rashomon to atsushi!! I knew akutagawa was too interested in atsushi to kill him. Nevertheless, I never expected him to do that. I expected at best that akutagawa would use rashomon to pull out atsushi (and then have atsushi help him) but this was even better.

Atsushi looks great in black!!

His abilities combined with akutagawa’s are amazing. I am so proud of them. I can't believe their abilities combined are able to tear through abilities (It’s interesting how atsushi and akutagawa can, if they combine their powers, use an ability similar to dazai's nullifying ability).

I want atsushi to help akutagawa realize there are people who care about him and that being acknowledged by dazai should only be an objective, not his main reason to live. Same for atsushi. I want him to realize he has helped many people and that he is strong. Not just physically, but also mentally. I think it's a shame atsushi doesn't realize how mentally strong he is yet he can see that strength in akutagawa.  

They are a great team, not only they are strong, but they also understand each other’s pain. They see in the other what they can't see in themselves. They see the potential the other has but they don't see their own potential. And that's sad. Nevertheless, they are both trying to help the other although they might not accept it. It’s thanks to akutagawa that atsushi decided to confront his past, and it’s thanks to atsushi that akutagawa is changing for the better.

This whole page is amazing. Badass ADA and port mafia. Poor virus ability user XD His face when he realized he's screwed up was great jajaja

Mori and fukuzawa look cool here. Also, I like how they know what the other is thinking and how they acted as if they really considered forgiving the virus ability user.

Well dazai didn’t fail as I thought, but for some reason I am not so surprised, which is weird since contrary to some people who saw this coming, I was sure dazai had made a mistake. Anyway, I can’t say I was necessarily disappointed. I want dazai to learn to rely more on others. I thought that him making a mistake might lead to that, but if there is another way, then that’s also okay for me. I know dazai is very smart, but I don’t think he is invincible. Fyodor has definitely something up his sleeve, and there is still agatha who has yet to make an appearance. I was satisfied with the last scene (which I am going to develop later) because it shows that regardless of his brain, dazai is still human. He can be very smart, but he worries/suffers like everyone else. 

I believe that dazai cares about the agency members, especially kunikida and atsushi (although he doesn’t seem to want to form close bonds which is perfectly understandable considering his past: oda’s death and ango’s betrayal). If we can see dazai finally accepting he cares about them and that he wants to protect them, then I would be happy. I am obviously including all agency members here, but I believe kunikida and atsushi will the first to break down dazai's wall (especially the latter). I don’t think dazai will ever get over oda's death, and I think that’s alright. Oda changed his life and it’s thanks to him he met the ADA. It’s fine as long as he realizes he isn’t alone anymore.

It’s been a while since the last time we saw fitzgerald! I wasn’t expecting him to appear, but am glad he did. 

I know the development was pretty fast, but I don’t think this is the last time we will see fyodor. Why? Look at dazai's face after seeing fyodor’s ability and after they captured him.

He was also unexpectedly quiet when atsushi found him in the boat. 

Dazai is smart and something has been clearly bothering him ever since he last saw fyodor. Was he bothered by his ability? Was he bothered by how easily everything went? I don’t know. For all we know, fyodor could have known going to the cafe was a trap yet he still went. He did seem surprised, but then again, he could have pretended. For example, dazai seemed shocked/surprised last chapter but it turns out he knew fyodor wasn't there. Maybe he planned getting himself captured to find more information of the secret services? Let’s not forget this guy allowed port mafia to capture him just because he wanted information on their abilities. I think this is part of a bigger plan and that this is the calm before the storm. Maybe him and agatha had planned something and will later team up? It would be interesting if that was the case.

Interesting detail: Fyodor knows about the ‘eyes of god’. He might seem surprised, but if he knew about it then there's no way he didn't consider ADA and the guild might join forces to defeat him. He is too smart to make such a mistake. Or at least that's what I think. 

Also look at fyodor’s face here:

He doesn’t seem troubled at all. He is even smiling. This has nothing to do with it but to be able to kill someone just by being touched... just what is fyodor's ability? 

Another thing that I liked of this chapter was ango's appearance! There are many characters that appear in this chapter and that's a good thing (for me at least). Although, I would have liked to see lucy. She helped the ADA so I would have liked to see her in fukuzawa's recovery party. She isn't the only character missing though.

Kyouka interacting with other agency members makes me happy. Also, it's little bit late to worry about that tanizaki XD Their interaction was very cute. I don't think the director is going to be very hard on them, but I wonder what their punishment is going to be?

What was dazai thinking to not notice atsushi was behind him? Look at his face. He seems surprised to see atsushi. He always notices when people are behind him (like when higuchi and gin were following him), but here he was so concentrated he didn't pay attention to his surroundings...

Anyway, I really liked atsushi's and dazai's interaction in this chapter. First of all, I feel the need to say atsushi's expressions are great XD

Atsushi is so honest with dazai. When dazai was in the mafia, his only two friends were oda and ango. Dazai enjoyed talking with them, but they never told each other what they really thought. Oda only told dazai what he thought of him just before dying, which is a shame because when dazai realized there was someone who understood him, it was already too late. They were in the mafia so that was expected but it's still sad. 

“In the mafia, no one will look at what’s in their colleagues. This is an unspoken rule. They will not open up the lid over one’s chest to look at their heart and comment at the darkness stuffed within. This is a merit of the mafia.” 

(Credit: nkhrchy)

This has nothing to do with the chapter I know but I wanted to quote oda. This quote is so important because it shows how the mafia works (kind of). (This is also relevant for akutagawa).

Anyway, as I already said, atsushi is always honest with him. He always consults him when he has problems (chapter 39) and ask him for advice from time to time. What I want to say is, while dazai must be used to be consulted on certain things, I don't think he is used to people talking about themselves or people talking about their feelings. When he was with oda and ango he knew there were things they couldn't tell each other (except for oda since he was a low level member he didn't have any ‘secrets’. Except the kids, but dazai knew about them. I don't know if dazai knows about his past though). I think that being with atsushi is good for him. I also like how he is the one who ask questions here. He wants to know more about atsushi (and his partnership with akutagawa). He is always willing to listen to atsushi and I love that.

Also, I feel like dazai finally stopped pretending to be always happy. He is finally letting others see a new side of him (it's like he let his guard down). We only saw him acting quiet in front of atsushi (and fitzgerald) so we don’t really know if he is pretending in front of the other agency members or not. I really like how instead of pretending to be happy he allowed atsushi to see him worried/thoughtful. For me, this is proof that dazai acknowledges atsushi and that he feels comfortable enough to show him this side of him. (The more atsushi grows the more he resembles oda. Dazai loves oda, so I think he is finding it hard to keep pretending in front of atsushi. Or at least I hope so).

I hope one day dazai and atsushi will talk about their past. And that maybe one day dazai will tell atsushi about oda. I really want this to happen.

What is akutagawa trying to do? Things have obviously changed for both of them. Akutagawa is too involved with atsushi to kill him simply because he hates him (as he said). He is still trying to kill him though. This is just my personal opinion, but I think akutagawa is trying to kill him because he started feeling emotions he isn't used/supposed to. I mean, he knows too much about him. He works for the mafia. He isn't supposed to be too involved with the enemy. Befriending atsushi right now is impossible. He probably thinks feelings like friendship, trust, etc. makes him weak. I might be totally wrong though.

Akutagawa's shocked face is priceless. Atsushi is trying to make him understand that he isn't weak. If I understood this right, atsushi is telling him that he is strong. That he is mentally very strong. If he wasn't then akutagawa would have died long ago. His stubbornness, his tenacity, all of that saved akutagawa. Sure, he joined the mafia and he killed many people and that's not good but by doing so he managed to live, to survive all those years. I said akutagawa should depend less on dazai and I really think so, but if akutagawa had not made being acknowledged by dazai his goal, then he wouldn't have survived in the mafia and he wouldn't have a reason to live. Just like atsushi. Atsushi helps people not because that's what he originally wanted to do but because the headmaster’s voice forced him to do so. And just like akutagawa, his stubbornness (and the headmaster) is what helped him remain alive. Atsushi acknowledges akutagawa’s pain and struggles. Maybe akutagawa realized that? Atsushi and akutagawa are so different yet so similar. 

Now, akutagawa is working for the mafia (and he is an assassin to make things worse) so I am not sure how he is going to convince mori he won't kill for the next six month. It might just be me, but for some reason I don’t think mori is going to refuse him. Why? It’s not like akutagawa is not going to do anything in those six month. He is going to train in order to become stronger. At the end of the day this can only benefit the mafia. That’s how I see it at least. Of course, in the meantime the mafia will need someone to replace akutagawa, but they are supposed to be a big organization (though, we always see the same characters) so there should be someone willing/good enough to do the work.

I loved the image of atsushi looking far away because he seems so mature. His small world grew bigger, and even without the headmasters words right now, atsushi is helping akutagawa out of pure kindness. There is no reason for him to go out of his way after everything akutagawa did to him yet atsushi can’t bring himself to ignore him. Also, akutagawa proved these last few chapters (especially this one) that he wasn’t as bad as atsushi originally thought. I think this might also have influenced his decision in helping him. 

Moreover, atsushi finally accepted he has to change and that it is time he confronts his worse nightmare (the headmaster). I am so proud of him. I am so happy with all the development shin soukoku has. I am looking forward to how their relationship will go from now on.

Finally, atsushi will learn how to properly control his ability. I’ve been waiting for this moment! Also kunikida will train atsushi!!! Please I need to see that. I want to see them bonding. Kunikida learned from fukuzawa himself and he is a great fighter, so I have high hopes for atsushi. Moreover, atsushi being kunikida’s student! I need it now!!    

Dazai’s smile at the end is kind of hard to describe but it was a gentle smile (and I think it was also nostalgic because he was reminded of oda. I am not sure though). The way he looked at atsushi is also worth mentioning. Such a gentle look. Dazai is so proud of atsushi. I think that if oda was here he would love atsushi because that guy represents everything he believes. Where is my oda/atsushi interaction that I desperately need?

I was surprised to see akutagawa-oda parallels with “a mafia member who doesn't kill”. I also see oda-atsushi parallels. I mean, oda saved dazai just before dying. His words made him leave the mafia and stop killing. Here, atsushi is the one 'saving' akutagawa. 

It's interesting to notice how natsume saved oda, who in return saved dazai, who saved atsushi, etc. It’s like a chain. It’s also interesting since we know that the one who brought akutagawa into the mafia and taught him to kill is dazai, and now dazai’s new student is the one trying to save akutagawa. 

Anyway this was a good chapter for me. I love parallels, and my three favorite characters (atsushi, akutagawa and dazai) got a lot of panels so I am very satisfied! And of course oda’s mention at the end made things better (although it was also sad, because it reminds us that oda isn’t alive, why??) I know it was fast-paced but all the things above made this chapter worth it for me.

I want to see more of dazai and atsushi! I mean, oda/atsushi parallels were already there, but this is the first time that dazai seems to acknowledge this fact (though indirectly) in the manga. I know that the reference was for akutagawa, but the one who saved him was atsushi. I also wonder what does dazai think of akutagawa right now? His situation reminds him of oda, but that’s all we know. Of course, I am also looking forward to how akutagawa/atsushi partnership/relationship is going to develop!