#but from what I recall. he just trusts fukuzawa

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

so. so fukuchi implicitly believes fukuzawa incorruptible or at the very least the one he trusts in most, by agreeing that dictatorships are poisonous and yet still entrusting him with one order. but the intro to fukuzawa’s backstory we get is that he ultimately was changed by the nature of the assassinations he undertook; that he quit because he was starting to enjoy the killing. the ability to remain impartial and resist corruption of being is tied to the ability to step back from power. to step down when you’re ahead. but fukuzawa can no longer do that can he.

[kaurwreck]

oh!! I’m delighted you want to write bsd fic again… is there a specific wip you have in mind 👀

yes!

my dearly beloved @sarahworm is currently revising her sskk magnum opus, which rewired my brain. (it's never been published; i just have the privilege of being her favorite.) the premise is that akutagawa decides that he and atsushi need to have a "divorce" to cultivate their partnership as soukoku's successors. they decide to settle for secret fake dating and a secret fake breakup to simulate the same effect. shenanigans ensue. it's a delightful romcom.

my wip is a counterpart to hers. they'll both work as standalone fics, but my wip will take place in the background of her fic from the perspective of soukoku. the premise is that chuuya has noticed something odd with akutagawa and the weretiger and becomes protective. there's a level of projection based on his own relationship with dazai, with whom there's still a level of mmmm complicated lingering resentment. he and dazai start to try to untangle what's happening with the boys and to keep an eye on them, but only after chuuya swears to dazai that this is not a return to form for them and chuuya isn't going to sleep with him. except they keep getting derailed by sleeping together.

to honor bsd, and to stimulate myself creatively, i'm using the taming of the shrew as my framework. so the above is really the premise as chuuya understands it. from dazai's perspective, stalking the boys is an excuse to spend time with chuuya. it's also necessary to disprove chuuya's distrust of atsushi (which dazai knows is really his remnant distrust of dazai (romantically, obviously chuuya wouldn't hesitate to trust dazai with his life)).

most relevant to dazai: dazai is committing himself to pursuing chuuya sincerely, but since he's not going to embarrass himself by doing that overtly and since chuuya reacts badly to open displays of affection even without the layers of complications between them (recall that the flags had to hold chuuya at gunpoint to give him an anniversary gift). so, akutagawa is chuuya's bianca, but chuuya is also katherine.

also, like taming of the shrew, there will be an induction; in the induction, dazai and natsume conspire to convince mori and fukuzawa a stray calico is natsume so that natsume can return to a peaceful retirement, as they've been vying for his attention ever since they found out he was haruno's cat in the cannibalism arc.

i've already started writing it, and there are some details already mapped out, but i need to finish outlining it and adapting the taming of the shrew.

[growling]

ep12 i thiiiink that's the finale but i see theres a 13th titled skyfall?? anyway thats for later to ponder.......

wooohoooooo banger theme is back!!!!!!

oh hey ginger port mafia guy whose name i forgot....... ig nothing else besides the framing was written into the book so ill believe in whatever you had going on....... though that does make that reaction the military had to one of the four guy's appearance earlier a bit weird before like they wanted to shoot them i was under the impression they didn't know each other and then they just suddenly. nevermind. my brain is fried from this season terrible things have been done to it i may need some time to recover in order to make sense of like half the things that just happened

hiii teruko!!!!! :)))

OH YEAH HIS NAME IS TACHIHARA. ILL TRY TO NOT FORGET IT NEXT TIME!!!!!!!

i think they made tachihara the traitor because he was just so forgettable in the earlier seasons lmaoooo he's so generic looking............

such a banger theme. it makes me want to forgive all their atrocities

obsessed with whatever the fuck the sword guy and whitehairredtips guy have going on.

oh hi fukuzawa!!!

oooooh so the white hair guy is silly!!! he is silly cancel the panic!!! why does he give me kitty cat vibes..

are they friends jdhjghdksdfjsj????

"you still havent gotten married?" he's obviously aro. fukuzawa aro confirmed. though he and mori did have something going on ill just say this

oh yeah kunikida i forgot that guy was a thing!!!! i still cant quite recall what he looked like..... or his personality... it's just slipping away....... what was his name again..............

oooh i just noticed the whitehairredtips guy has a cane actually!!!! though its hard to see. the bare minimum......... blind guy has a cane............. clap clap................................. does he even need it if he has like. superhearing omnispacial awareness and psychic powers anyway. writers when they're forced to make a blind character- wait speaking of. whys it always the blind characters who get that???

i want whatever these two have. seriously.

UH OH THEY'RE ONTO LUCY

coffee man is in trouble...... i mean at least im glad we could trust that guy!!!! when in doubt. coffee man :) shame about the fingernails though. or did yosano fix those

i love these two. every scene they're in together is so entertaining. i want them to hate sex soooo badly but i cant even fantasize about that scenario tonite as i do not know their fucking names. ugh... well, i guess ill have to resort to............. whitehairredtips guy heard deep into sword guys orbs. then he took his meter long king kong dong out and p

i cant tell if sword guy is being manipulative rn or if he really means it...... anyway his ability name sure does suit him

i cant tell if hes doing the good old liar dazzle or if hes actually gonna seppuku himself. i mean he sure looks like the type of guy who'd do that!!

cool casino but i would fear for my LIFE if i ever was forced kicking and screaming to be there. please blow this up i cant bear looking at it

SIGMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! why does he give off wolfboy vibes why do i feel like he'd repost those very hard werewolf images on deviantart. he'd be into wolf's rain and shit. you get me??? he'd howl at the full moon and roleplay as a puppyboy on his secret tweeter alt before he comes out as just a full on therian

that was. very specific but you get me right???

ooooh are we abt to see teruko's ability???

i like the sigma guy he looks like he's barely keeping it together rn.

he looks like he's fresh out of his 18s how old is he

oh yeah he IS barely keeping it together rn jsdhgfhjkskdjf there there boy....

no way tachihiro just fell for the good ol coin trick........

oooooh tachihiro got the metal powers too...... i guess i should know this but still-

sigma's just a ball of panic. i wanna hug him then slam his head against a wall then hug him again then tell him its all his fault

ohhhh now teruko's gonna use her ability finally???

ok came back the next day

YEET the plane

sigma's just three years old leave him alone.... he doesn't know anything......

whys it always the 3 year olds........

i think sigma should be allowed to kill tbh

teruko you're hurt :(((((

oh and now they're BOTH getting fucked

lmaoooooooo good on you sigma. great plan sigma. let your creatures loose let them kill. he SHOULD be allowed to kill <3

absolutely enamored with sigma's existence. he will be made my third (3rd) pet freak along with Francis and Mushitaro

anyway bsd season 4 let's go gamers

ep1:

still waiting for chuuya to get unbooked. notify me immediately once he gets unbooked i can't take thsi

oh hi fukuzawa. put his wrinkles back on ffs

fukuzawa and ranpo flashback episode pretty please??

LET'S GOOOOOOO

oh oda's the assassin?? killer baby

ranpo voice heard my waters are cropped

i do not accept ranpo being the same age/older than oda. i will not accept this. let oda be like. 30+ or whatever

whys ranpo giving me ouma vibes in this outfit

ranpo don't care sunglasses emoji

oh yeah i had the feeling the secretary was the killer from the moment ranpo walked in lmao. now danganronpa execute him

coolest kid you've never met

good for ranpo for getting kicked out of the police after exposing all their shit as a teenager

snitch ranpo we love to see it it's okay if he does it he can do whatever he wants forever he's never been wrong in his life

orphan lore

oh he's 14 now. baby

"well done for today-" "that's it?? you're talking to a 14-year old who lost his parents his job and his future. thats all you got??" yes ranpo go fight for that sympathy points make that old man cry and shake from guilt

he's so sillyyy......... "*2 seconds after walking out the door* help me mister bodyguard i don't have work or a place to stay im going to die" yes ranpo go fight for that house and income pluck that old man out of everything he got (morally correct). i love how it literally works and fukuzawa says yeagh sure every time

with every single minute ranpo is on screen. i swear. with every single damn frame of that guy he gets more and more npd. like. that is a narcissist. you wrote a narcissist and made him the coolest most swag guy in the anime. and that's not even mentioning that guy's massive fucking autism and adhd

is this gonna be like rain code chapter 2 where where-

fukuzawa sweating voice damn that kids a genius and also deeply deeply unnerving why is he so op in the smarts stats what happened in his early childhood to ruin him forever like this

and ranpo's utterly clueless to that too he just thinks everybody else is an idiot or just acting real weird and hiding what they know for some reason.

"ive only just met you so i don't know much but- *lists his entire fucking biography*"

LEAVE THE BOY ALONE YOU KNOCKED HIM OVER FUKUZAWA YOU MONSTER!!!!!!!!!!! YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A CRUEL AND WICKED PERSON YOU WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH YOU HAVE NOT AND NEVER WILL CHANGE IN A MEANINGFUL WAY. CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D DO THIS...............

oh ok he apologized. but can he ever truly be forgiven........

the hat :)

new sonboy acquired

[dazaiaiko]

Apologies whose requests are still sitting in my inbox I have completed two and will be posting them soon!💕

So I was having writers block for a while and suddenly got a brain rot while re reading the manga and damn hear me out on this

Dazai x reader

angst to fluff(?)

warning: manga spoilers

A SQUEEZE

When you were informed by Fukuzawa-san that Dazai was taken to the Yokohama Special Ability Prison where he would be kept captive for time unknown. All of a sudden his mysterious actions over the past few days vaguely started to make sense.

You were not stupid, nope. In fact your insight in a situation was invaluable to many, but when it came to Dazai Osamu you were vulnerable to his plans and actions. Yet you loved him for it.

You recalled all those conversations between the two of you over the week:

“Y/n in case of a situation if I am not there stay calm and collected okay? Keep this pocket knife with you all the time just in case. And trust only the people we both know”

”I love you no matter what okay?”

“Ah I am going to miss this”

“Y/n you will have plenty of time without me later!! Cuddle with me!!”

“Y/n how about I teach you some martial arts for self defence huh?”

“Y/n don’t trust anyone if you don’t know them before hand or if you are doubtful even a tad bit about their intentions.”

“Trust Ango and Akutagawa with your life if possible”

You had speculated that he would probably be on a mission which resulted in him taking these over protective measures but a calamity of this extent was unpredictable.

He had only gone to a stupid competition right? So how come he suddenly gets imprisoned during the light of day?

Ango had erased all his past records from government files. So how come someone randomely got their hands on it?

All hell broke loose when The Armed Detective Agency was declared a criminal organisation on TV and especially when a few men came to your doorsteps. And with them? Ango.

“Y/n L/n there is no time to explain anything and I believe you have already heard the news about the ADA?”

“Stop spouting nonsense Ango. The ADA has done nothing wrong. It’s a totally framed situation and you know it too, so stop acting. Additionally I deserve an explanation for all the shit that’s happening. And I am so not in the mood to play along. Plus you know who is behind this plan don’t you?”

However you were taken aback when he spoke the next sentence.

“Cooperate with us or else you will be forced to Y/n L/n. Being an acquaintance of the ADA and the girlfriend of Osamu Dazai you are suspected of treason.” He pushed up his glasses as he spoke with absolute sternness.

You remembered what Dazai had told rather taught you over the last few days. Trust Ango with your life if possible.

All you had to do was trust him. There was more to this than it seemed. Plus you were no ability user getting out of here with just your martial art skills would be an impossible feat.

Considering all your options to escape in a moment you gave in.

You held out your hands in front of you reluctantly as they handcuffed you and guided you out of your own house.

However the “stern commanding act” of Ango only ever lasted till you were inside the Special Ability Division HQ’s. As soon as you were in, your handcuffs were unlocked and you were apologised to profusely by his staff.

“Y/n I am sorry back there. You can never know who is tailing you. Being your enemy right now is only a front so bear with us for now”

“So whom are we fooling with this fake enemity? May I know?”

“Fyodor. A plan of this scale can only be planned by that rat. Dazai has entrusted your safety to me. You are to stay here until everything is resolved and the ADA will be gathered here soon if possible”

“Typical of him…Anyways Where is everyone else right now?”

“Scattered across the city. Some are underground, Port Mafia. By now we have lost track. The situation does not seem good. From what I heard the Hunting Dogs are being assigned to this case.”

“If that is so, you should focus on bringing the non combative and no ability users who are acquaintances of the ADA here. Others would be able to hold off even for a little while against them. Naomi and Haruno and the secretaries should be brought here as soon as possible. The coffee shop owner and his wife are in trouble too for housing so called ‘criminals’”

“I see. That’s valuable intel on our side. I will make sure to do just that first”

You paused a little before biting your lip and speaking up again “Can I meet him atleast once Ango? Just a minute of contact would be fine. I only wanna know if he is okay”

“I am afraid not but he has been sending messages from within prison and there has been one specially addressed to you”

The note he handed to you held two simple words to the normal eyes but a nostalgic understanding for you :

To belladonna,

Squeeze Squeeze.

You were never one for PDA. Hell, your boyfriend was the definition of PDA. So you both had a rule made, a few days into the relationship. Whenever he wanted to hug you or cuddle with you, he would squeeze your hand twice in public to indicate that he wanted to get all touchy with you and thus you would excuse yourself from your present company and follow him somewhere private.

But it also meant something along the lines of: I love you too much….you?

And you would return the affection by squeezing his hands three times in return meaning : I love you more!

But seeing this now broke you down.

God knows how he was being treated there, whether he was eating, sleeping or even resting well to be honest.

Your insomniac lover could never sleep without holding your hands (touch starved child) so you wondered if he was tired from the lack of rest by now. If he felt all alone right this moment.

You held the note tight in your hand withholding your tears. You would not cry. You could not cry.

You couldn't afford to waste any more time when you knew how everyone else was in danger and they needed the help of your strategies more than ever. You would never surrender to the likes of Fyodor. You would play your part in this fiasco thoroughly.

When you both had started dating you knew about the complications of his job and the dangers that came with it. You had promised yourself to be his constant source of strength, not weakness and you would uphold that promise till the end.

This was a chess board now. Fyodor and Dazai, king against king, in a game of wits and you would play your part as the queen.

“Ango I will be completely honest. In simple words you don't need to provide me shelter and also, Tell me where Ranpo is. now.”

Months passed since that day, here you were in front of your office. Things had returned back to normal. almost.

The ADA had been proven not guilty of any crimes in a worldwide telecast and it was back to functioning normally in a new office for the moment, the older one being completely destroyed.

Yokohama was utterly annihilated but people were slowly moving on form the incident. Shops, offices and schools were gradually opening too. But your life was not yet completely normal. Dazai hadn't been released yet by the court's law and substantial investigation was still ongoing.

Dazai’s case was being presented in court and the trials seemed to last longer than they should have. He should have been released by now. You lay in your once shared bed with Dazai’s coat in embrace. The nostalgic smell of cheap cologne had faded too. All that was left were memories attached to it. Sweet Subtle memories.

You dozed off reminiscing about all the drunken nights full of giggles with you draped in his coat and him lying beside you.

When you woke up you felt hands holding yours. You jumped with a start and in the darkness of the room you saw a brunette kissing your knuckles slowly and carefully. Tending to each of them with utmost care as if they were the maximum of his worries right now,

He slowly looked up with tears lacing his brown orbs as he looked into yours which were equally wet with tears.

His eyes seemed so tired with drowsiness lacing his posture.

“Belladonna.... your poor lover couldn’t sleep without you in the prison.. won’t you hug me to sleep?”

His voice which was usually honey laced was now dripping with exhaustion and fatigue. He was holding his guard down tonight, only for you to see and embrace.

You beckoned him in bed and stroked his hair as he laid his head on your chest. He sighed in bliss as he felt that familiar warmth spreading withing him all over again.

He was finally reunited with his queen. Yes, you were his queen and the sole reason for his victory over someone as demonic as Fyodor. You were able to understand his plans and guide everyone accordingly.

The constant source of light and strength - Y/n

He laced his fingers with yours and squeezed it twice. He had been dying to do this rather than sending it in codes to Ango who would then read it shamelessly before giving it to his love, that bastard.

He had been dying to just lay lazily in your arms all day. Ramble about various things, hearing your occasional hums of approval and chuckles all the while listening keenly to the heartbeat of his angel.

He was living for the day he would be able to hold you in his arms again without any worry plaguing his mind.

He could not sleep at nights without embracing a part of you with him but when he did close his eyes it was only out of involuntary exhaustion.

When released out of prison he ran home for he knew you were waiting for him. For he knew it was his home. The place he could return to. He could return to you and your light.

Your light was never blinding It was only subtle, just enough to keep him at bay. Not overwhelming, just sweet warmth.

For nothing ever seemed to go right for this man and everything right soon meant nothing. But even a wilted flower gives birth to fresh blossoms so who was he to reject your love and warmth giving birth to something even warmer within him?

Noticeable or not he soon felt his hand being squeezed thrice in return and thus he smiled lightly before falling into his much deserved slumber.

The End

Now I will proceed to disappear for a week 😄

Calling ☎️: @nullified-kiss @jessbeinme15 @shinys-bsd-world-1 @nameless-shrimp @missrown @ravenina14 @ikin-y0u + taglist

For my masterlist visit here: 🖋🖋

[sirenascales]

-> double black [part six] 18+

-> Chuuya x 1stPOV!F!Reader x Dazai

-> Who knew getting fired from work could lead to this?

-> Content: SMUT, slight angst, violence, murder, swearing

The case is concluded and Chuuya collects his prize. [Chuuya x 1stPOV!F!Reader x Dazai]

3,461 words

warning: mentions of violence, murder, nsfw, smut, slight voyeurism

note: so i lied, there is one more part, which will be nothing but smut so be excited for that hehe

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Final || Masterlist

My ability is called Hell Hath No Fury and it gives me the ability to make a perfect clone of myself that is fueled by the anger, rage, pain and despair that dwells inside of me, and has been inside of me since I was small. The anger isn't something that's just there, I've been through a lot of things in my life that left my weary soul full of the negative emotions that powers my clone. I don't particularly like using my clone, as she could be quite scary. Like anger and hatred, she could be very hard to control sometimes.

"She is quite scary, huh?" Dazai hummed, voice full of humor as I told him about my ability, us now back at the ADA. I sat at my desk, shoulders slumped. "Took me by surprise~"

I laughed softly at him, shaking my head as I read the official report that was written at the conclusion of the Taichi investigation. There was an unreadable look on my face as I read through the text, Dazai swaying his chair from side to side beside me.

"It says that Taichi was killed by the drug dealer..." I repeated, grimacing as I recalled Chuuya shooting the same man right in his head. "I don't... know how to feel about this."

I was the one who killed Taichi, yet here I was, sitting at my desk in the ADA office with no consequences coming my way. Further reports say that the drug dealer soon met his own demise due to the retribution from the Port Mafia, which wasn't an exact lie.

"Just go along with it, Bella. The only ones who know the truth are-"

"I can't believe you would do something so... incredibly stupid." I winced as soon as Kunikida started barreling down on me, sighing as he continued to lecture me.

Of course, we had to tell Fukuzawa, as well as the rest of the core members of the ADA what happened. It was only fair, considering we had to make sure the story was solid. It was rather nerve wracking to say the least, and in total me fashion, I had cried right in front of the President.

I thought I would get fired, but all I got was a week's suspension. "Get some rest," Fukuzawa said to me, leaning back in his chair. "You're going to need it." I nodded my head, standing up and bowing to him quickly before I left his office.

"I guess I'll see you guys soon," I said to the others, holding my bag full of belongings in my hands. I gave them all one last wave before walking out of the office, aware of Dazai following behind me. As always, I chose to walk down the stairs, only going down two flights before I turned on my heel, dropping my bag and wrapping my arms tight around the taller man.

"Oof," Dazai gasped out before he wrapped his arms around me, chuckling a bit as he gave me a squeeze. "It's not like you'll be gone forever."

I sighed, keeping my face pressed against his chest. "I know. I think all the adrenaline from... everything finally left and now I honestly feel like shit. I'm so tired, Osamu."

"... would you like me to come with you?" Dazai asked and I shook my head, giving him a playful, scolding look.

"You need to finish that report, you lazy bastard," I replied, Dazai already whining and I rolled my eyes. "Call me later?"

Dazai stopped whining, gently cupping my face with his hand. He leaned in and kissed me, stealing my breath away as he always had. He smirked at my flushed face, stepping back. "Yeah. Now go."

I left him by the stairs, making my way back to my apartment. Now that I had a week off, I wasn't sure what I should do. I guess doing was Fukuzawa said and just resting would be a good thing, seeing as I was tired, both physically and emotionally.

But even as I try to sleep, I find myself tossing and turning, waking up every hour. I slumped on my back, letting out a frustrated breath as I stared at the ceiling.

"You know, bella... you're disrupting my beauty sleep," Dazai spoke from beside me and I rolled my eyes, huffing out a breath. Dazai chuckled softly, laying one arm under his head while the other rested over his tummy. "This will pass in time."

I sighed softly. "It's weird... I don't regret it."

"But you still took a life."

"Did you feel this way when you first killed someone?"

"... I honestly don't remember. When you're surrounded by nothing but darkness and carnage for a long time, stuff like that is nothing to be concerned about."

I frowned. "When you were in the Port Mafia... you were partners with Chuuya, right?"

"Like I said, we were the best~" Dazai sang and I smiled softly.

"Just imagining the two of you fighting together is kinda scary..."

"Well, when you have someone like Chuuya and the youngest executive in Port Mafia history, yeah, we were pretty scary!"

I choked. "You were an executive?!" I exclaimed in shock. I thought about Chuuya, and how he worked alongside the Leader of the Port Mafia himself. Dazai was that powerful? And with someone like Chuuya...?

"That's..."

"Terrifying?"

"Hot."

Dazai sputtered, bursting out into a fit of laughter. "You like dangerous men?"

I grinned widely, finally turning to cuddle against him. "Blame it on the daddy issues," I answered, making him snort. "Why did you leave?"

"You should try to get some sleep," Dazai replied, changing the subject and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah, though I won't be surprised if I can't," I mumbled unhappily, shifting a bit to get comfortable. I closed my eyes, hearing Dazai chuckled softly as I started to doze off.

Unsurprisingly, I slept like shit that night, my eyes were sore, the bags under my eyes puffy and dark. I groaned, waving Dazai goodbye tiredly as he left in the morning, heading to work after I scolded him for trying to sleep in and skip work.

The door closed behind him and I let myself fall back on my couch, just staring into nothing for a while before I grabbed my phone, pressing on Keiko's contact and calling her. She didn't answer.

After pressing the button on the side of her phone to end the incoming call, Keiko sighed nervously as she approached the man sitting in the desk before her, hands shaking as she placed down a large, thick envelope.

"Here you go. That's all of it," she said softly, quickly withdrawing her hands away and clasping them together against her chest.

Chuuya watched her carefully, noticing just how scared and timid Keiko was acting, and he honestly didn't blame her, not after what she's been through, and especially how Taichi continued to throw her under the bus, even after his death.

"I swear... I had nothing to do with what he was doing..." her voice trembled and Chuuya sighed deeply. He dug into his drawer, producing a cigarette for both himself and Keiko. She allowed him to light hers for her and there was a silence as they each took a drag.

"I believe you," Chuuya started, leaning back in his seat. "He used your name to open that offshore account and the safety deposit box, making sure not to have this all trail back to him." Keiko hung her head and Chuuya thought back to when he first saw her. She was way more outgoing and cheerful, and admittingly had a very sensual, attractive aura that even he himself would be into if she hadn't been with Taichi.

It was a shame to see that all gone, all because of one coward. It pissed Chuuya off immensely. She was essentially betrayed by someone she trusted, and Chuuya could relate to that all too well.

"But, everything is finally coming to a close with all the money Taichi stole from us coming back. Don't worry, Keiko, our investigation makes it more than clear that you are innocent in this. You have nothing to worry about," Chuuya said, but Keiko still looked troubled. She said my name softly and he looked at her questionably.

"What about her...?" she asked softly. "Is she clear?"

"You did see the official report, right?" Chuuya replied in turn, taking another drag from his cigarette. Keiko nodded silently. "It wasn't that hard to form the story. There was at least some truth to it. The drug dealer was as good as dead... as well as Taichi. She just beat us to it. We can let this slide."

Keiko sighed in relief, taking another drag from her own cigarette. "That's a relief... I was worried about what would happen to her."

"Nothing," Chuuya answered. "And we will be keeping an eye on her for a while too."

Keiko nodded in understanding. "I'm still worried about her, though. She's been having a hard time sleeping and I'm sure it's just... everything finally getting to her..." Keiko sighed deeply, rubbing her eyebrows. "But I don't know what to do... she's in this mess because of me, I wanna help her but I don't even know how to help myself!"

"And that should be your main focus right now," Chuuya spoke, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't worry about her. I'll take care of her."

"But why?" Keiko questioned. "It's not like you care about her. Or love her."

Chuuya rolled his eyes. "There's no love there, but she's... fun."

Keiko snorted at that. "She's not one for love and relationships. I guess that's why she's involved with you, and Dazai. There's a mutual understanding there, and I guess if it works for you guys, then it's okay. But-"

Chuuya quirked an eyebrow. "But?"

"She's still sensitive. She wears her heart on her sleeve, so even if there really is no love here, I'm sure she still cares for you guys. That's just how she is. So I ask... just don't hurt her. That's all. If it all ends... just make sure she doesn't get hurt." Keiko clenched her fists. "I don't know what I'll do to you if she does."

Chuuya just stared at her, pleasantly surprised. He let out a short laugh. "Are you threatening me?"

"Yes."

Chuuya grinned, laughing again as he shook his head. The loyalty in this friendship was honestly a sight to see. It was refreshing. "I don't usually respond well to threats, so I'll let this slide. You've done all you can do, so you can head on home if you want. If you're lucky, we won't see each other again."

"Well, if you're still seeing my best friend, we probably will," Keiko said, standing up, feeling a little less nervous. "Goodbye, Chuuya. Stay safe out there."

Chuuya nodded. "I hope you can heal and become your old self again. It's sad to not see that pretty smile on your face."

Keiko blushed brightly. "Shameless flirt," she shot at him playfully, turning away from him to leave. Chuuya laughed loudly from his desk.

"So, are you okay now?" I asked Keiko over the phone, her telling me about her meeting with Chuuya. She first apologized for ignoring my call, but it didn't bother me that much. I was only glad that she was doing okay.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Gonna spend the rest of the day home and figure out what to do."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well... I'm thinking of going away for a while. Maybe for six months... just to heal and find myself again."

"Six months?! What about your job?"

"I quit. I want to start my life over again, but I love Yokohama, so I figured... I can get another job when I come back! I'm gonna sell my condo too!"

I was stunned. "I... but where do you plan on even going?!"

"Hm... maybe Europe? I'm not sure yet. Are you... okay with me leaving?"

"Of course! I support you with everything you do in your life. I just want you to be safe and okay..."

"I'm glad. I'm pretty determined, but don't worry! I will always come home!"

Keiko and I talked for a while after that, a smile on my face as we ended the call. I was happy to see that Keiko was trying to turn her life around, proud of her for being so strong. It was rather inspiring, and helped me to gain my own strength to get my shit together as well.

The day went on, and I was in the kitchen making an early dinner when there was a knock on my door. I was annoyed, thinking it was Dazai flaking out on work again, but as I opened my door, I was surprised to see a certain red head at my door.

"Chuuya?"

"Wow. You look like shit."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed, turning and walking back into my kitchen, Chuuya following behind me.

"Gee, thanks."

"What are you doing?"

"Cooking an early dinner. You want some?"

"Yeah, sure."

It wasn't long until Chuuya and I sat across from each other, chowing down on some food and filling our bellies.

"So, what's up?" I asked him, drinking some water. Chuuya was still stuffing his face, almost choking at one point before he downed his glass of water to save himself.

"Well," Chuuya coughed. "I came here to collect my prize."

I blinked. "Your prize? What are- oh," I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. That stupid race Dazai proposed. Chuuya was the one who figured it all out first, and I was the prize for the lucky winner. "So, you wanna have sex later then? I'm cool with that."

Chuuya scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "No. Well, yes, but no. Not yet. I'm taking you somewhere."

I raised my eyebrows. "Where?"

"Shut up and don't worry about it. You'll see when you get there."

I narrowed my eyes at him, just wondering what the fuck he was up to. What could it possibly be that he wouldn't tell me what his plan was? It was rather suspicious and I began to grow wary.

But we finished eating and Chuuya didn't even give me a chance to pack before he dragged me out of my apartment. I managed to get my keys, phone and purse, and I gave him the stink eye the entire time I was stuck in the backseat of a fancy car with him.

"Are you having me killed?"

"I will if you don't shut up."

I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest as Chuuya took me to my supposed doom. But we arrived at our destination, and I was extremely confused as I looked up at the rather luxurious hotel. I didn't get the chance to question it, Chuuya leading me inside. We were immediately greeted by the hotel attendants, and led to the elevator. We rode it all the way to the top floor, the attendant leaving us alone as the doors opened and we walked out into the hallway.

"Chuuya..." I let out a small breath as he led me inside the penthouse, my jaw dropping as I took my first look at the very luxurious space. "What is this?"

"Keiko told me you were having a rough time," Chuuya spoke, taking off his hat and then his jacket, hanging them up carefully. "I figured this would help you. Full body massages, jacuzzi, anything you could ever want to just... relax. It's all here."

"But... Chuuya, you didn't have to," I whispered, still in awe with my face heated up.

"Well, just deal with it," Chuuya huffed.

"Isn't this expensive though?"

"It's nothing. Just... think about this as my prize. Taking care of you."

Now my face was burning hot, Chuuya's own flushed red. I gave him a look, his words making me smile a bit despite how flustered they made me.

"You sound like a sugar daddy."

He didn't respond. That made me giggle. "How long will we be here."

"For the week, until you get back to work."

"But how did you..." I trailed off, gasping when Chuuya gave me a light push further into the penthouse.

It was an amazing, large open area space with a full kitchen, all the top appliances, a flat screen and a huge king size bed. The bathroom was just as fabulous, the large soaker tub calling my name.

"Oh, I need to get in that," I declared, making Chuuya laugh lightly. He watched as I looked around the bathroom, taking it upon himself to start filling up the tub. I turned to him and smirked. "Will you join me?"

"Like you have to ask that."

After finding a nice smelling bath bomb to put in the tub, Chuuya and I undressed and carefully climbed inside, sighing blissfully as the hot water immediately began to relax our muscles. I sat between Chuuya's legs, my back against his chest and my head resting against his shoulder. My eyes were closed, Chuuya's strong hands roaming all over my body.

"Tired?" Chuuya asked me softly and I sighed, nodding my head.

"Yeah... like Keiko said, I've been having a shit time sleeping," I answered, turning my head to lightly kiss Chuuya's jaw lightly. "But maybe a relaxing massage would help. Oh, but it's kinda late, huh? The masseuse would be gone by now."

Chuuya's hands continue to roam my body, one moving south. I let out a deep sigh when he began to rub circles on my clit.

"Yeah... but I can think of other ways to make you sleep," Chuuya whispered in my ear before he bit into my earlobe. I sigh again, Chuuya then capturing my lips with his own.

After making me cum on his fingers in the tub, we finished up in there before we found ourselves tangled up in the sheets of the king sized bed. Chuuya had my legs thrown over his shoulders, his cock plunging deep into me with every thrust he made.

"You're mine..." Chuuya breathed out, hissing and moaning from the pleasure. "... for the entire week... gonna make sure the only name you know is mine." He growled, clenching the sheets on either side of me tightly in his fists.

"Oh, yes, yes yes!" I cried out, back arching off my bed, eyes going wide as a voice that was not Chuuya's spoke up.

"Oh, that's just cute."

Whipping our heads around, we were shocked to see a certain detective standing at the foot of the bed, lecherous grin on his pretty face. We froze, Chuuya's cock still inside me, my heart pounding in my chest.

"Dazai?!" I shrieked.

"How the fuck did you get in here?!" Chuuya followed, glaring at the man. "What the hell?!"

"You can't hide things from me~" Dazai sang, not even hiding the fact that he was enjoying what he was seeing, his eyes slowly trailing over both of our naked bodies. "I was wondering why you called me to ask about her schedule... so I did some digging."

Chuuya hung his head, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "I am going to kill you."

Dazai laughed heartily, waving his hand dismissively. "No, no! Don't let me disturb you! I can watch! You guys were having so much fun!"

Before Chuuya could even react, he ended up groaning, his wide blue eyes finding mine. "Did you... fucking like that?" he asked and I stuttered a bit. "Do you want him to watch us?"

Another chill went down my spine at the thought and Chuuya groaned again as I clenched tightly around him. Chuuya cursed, feeling his cock twitch inside of me. He cursed again, becoming more overcome with arousal.

"Interesting," he breathed out, small puffs of air hitting my face. He smirked slightly, glancing back at Dazai. "This brings back memories."

"Fond memories," Dazai hummed and I looked back and forth between the two of them questionably.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Both of their eyes were now on me, and the intensity of their gazes made me gasp sharply, another chill going down my spine.

"Why have him just watch," Chuuya began, nuzzling his face against my neck. "When he can join us? Oh, fuck, you squeezed me so tightly just now..."

I trembled, heart hammering in my chest at the mere idea. A threesome? With Chuuya and Dazai. Looking over, I catch Dazai slipping off his tan jacket, gulping as he started to work on getting his shirt off.

"We have a week, right? Oh, this is going to be so much fun."

-End

[my-introvert-hideout]

Nakajima Atsushi: ISFJ [BSD]

Si > Fe > Ti > Ne

*Based off Season 1 of the anime [Chapters 1-12] with character-based spoilers from the Wikis. I’ve also read a synopsis of “The Untold Story of the Founding of the Detective Agency,” which gives lots of insight into Fukuzawa and Ranpo in particular, and also I know Yosano’s backstory. The Onsen Drama will also make an appearance occasionally. I feel like I have a good enough grasp on their characters for this and will only add more examples rather than changing types in the future. (At least, I think so.)

I’VE ALSO SEEN HIM TYPED AS: INFP, ENFJ

Si is a main aspect of Atsushi’s character. It’s true he seems to have mild PTSD but he also displays this function in a way that’s detatched from that. Atsushi first refused to join the ADA because it’s such a chaotic workplace that demands a lot of Se and situational adaptability. However, since Se is his fifth function, he can deal with it well enough and we see him switch into this function relatively easily during more dire moments. He just much prefers Si. Atsushi is also very in-touch with his past and it often dictates his actions as well as self-worth. His mild obsession with money stems from his upbringing, as well. He also displays a sentiment of not wanting others to experience what he has, which is Si working with a feeling function. Atsushi is also a bit naive, believing things at face-value and showing not much affinity for Ni -- which eliminates ENFJ (they also have an Si blind spot, so that doesn’t work with him). He’s also often seen as one of the more ‘normal’ members of the agency, probably because ISFJs are the most common type if the statistics are to be trusted. As an INFJ, I never really found the others to be weird per se. When trying to figure out ADA members’ previous occupations, Atsushi stuck strictly to sensory things like clothing, which is not what I would’ve gone to at all. I would’ve needed more time, as well. (But that could just be that the creators didn’t want to dwell on the scene too long.) I’m also trying out this theory that generally someone’s likes and dislikes correspond to whether or not they’re a sensor or intuitive.

LIKES: Yokohama, cats, chazuke, chameleons

DISLIKES: Himself, his old orphanage

These are all pretty sensory, but of course there’s room for intuitive arguments; perhaps he likes ‘feel’ of the city rather than anything concrete. Still more physically dominant, though.

Fe is very expressive, as Atsushi definitely is. He has pretty exaggerated reactions to the ADA members at times, which probably also stems from his Si since he hasn’t met a lot of people like them most likely. Despite being a bit timid, Atsushi has a quite extroverted side to him. INFPs can be extroverted, as well, but in an Ne way that doesn’t necessarily need people to be fulfilled. Atsushi likes being around others in an Fe way, with a bit of Si comradery / community sprinkled in. It doesn’t seem enough for him to be an ESFJ, though. He also tries to accomodate people often, like when Kunikida’s onsen advice wasn’t really being listened to. I feel like his Fe is one of his more obvious traits, so this doesn’t need much explanation.

When I first started watching, I was prepared for a pure, somewhat clueless protagonist and was pleasantly surprised when Atsushi’s kinda snarky Ti made an appearance. He can cycle between thinking and feeling pretty well, as shown when he decided to leave the ADA early on in the series; Atsushi seemed rather cold and determined in a Ti way.

His Ne is most blatantly obvious when he was trying to guess Dazai’s possible occupations; he was kind of all over the place with random guesses. Atsushi’s inferior Ne could also be drawn to Kenji’s auxillary Ne.

Te Blind Spot: Tension between Atsushi and Kunikida mainly come from their Fi-Fe Te-Ti differences. His decision to leave the ADA at the beginning was greatly due to his Fe-Ti axis, which is perhaps a reason Kunikida was confused as to why Atsushi was acting the way he was; they use different judging functions. ESTJs use Fe the least, after all, and an Ni blind spot probably didn’t help in figuring Atsushi out. This difference was also seen in relation to Kyōka, both in terms of bringing her to the police and on the boat.

Si-Ti Loop: ‘An ISFJ in a Si-Ti loop will replay past events, usually traumatic ones, and relive these past experiences in their head. They will also try to come to a logical reasoning for why these things happened, and overanalyze the situation. However, they would not be able to come to a conclusion and would instead become stuck in this loop of recalling memories and analyzing them. In addition, they lose some of their ability to interact with the outer world in a healthy way, and instead withdraw into themselves and neglecting to talk over their feelings with others in their life.’ source Atsushi’s Si-Ti loop is a main reason he has such low self-esteem; it reasoned that those things happened and he was treated so poorly because of a fault with himself. While that may be somewhat true, it’s not completely accurate, especially not to the degree that Atsushi seems to think it is.

[patchwork-panda]

If A Moment Is All We Are (29/?)

AO3 link HERE

“Combat training?” I repeated as Kunikida nodded.

“Yeah. I heard about your last run-in with Akutagawa and well...”

He rubbed his neck again, looking awkward.

“Honestly, I’m relieved,” he said, “that you made it out alive. There are few who’ve met him and escaped and now you’ve done so twice. That was impressive. However...”

His jaw tensed and I instantly felt my heart sink as I recalled the words I’d said to Akutagawa back in the flaming wreckage of the garage.

“I’d rather die than be captured by the likes of you.”

I bit my lip.

Kunikida must’ve read the report, which meant he knew what I’d almost done. That was probably why he wanted to wait until we were alone to talk about it...

“And if I’m going down...”

I could still see Akutagawa’s steely gray eyes narrowing, still sense the smooth plastic of the car ignition underneath my index finger... still feel the cold, hard determination coursing through my veins as I lay in the wreckage of President Tanaka’s car, prepared to blow us both up.

“...I’m taking you with me.”

Kunikida looked up and without meaning to, I drew back.

“You were still seriously hurt,” he said at last, his voice low. “And if Dazai-san hadn’t brought you back to see Yosano-sensei in time...”

His expression grew solemn.

“You would have died...”

He grew quiet and as the silence filled the room, I felt a sudden flush of shame and embarrassment creep up the back of my neck.

Idiot.

I was a fool to think for even a moment that Kunikida had called me here to deliver the confession I’d been wanting to give him several years down the line.

What was I thinking?

It was such a far-fetched fantasy. There was no way Kunikida would confess to me first, much less reciprocate my feelings...

Kunikida sighed.

“I understand running into Akutagawa was...”

He paused to think.

“Unexpected,” he said at last. “But that’s why I wanted to talk to you about combat training.”

Kunikida’s gray-green eyes swept over me.

“I read your report, so I know you were trying to be careful. I know you only ran off to catch the bomber because your Ability had shown you exactly where she was going to be and that you worked carefully to avoid injury.”

His expression softened.

“I’m... glad. That you listened to me. I’m glad you took me seriously when I told you to take better care of yourself. I really can’t say it was entirely your fault you ran into trouble back there, but I do think it would’ve been a good idea to tell someone in the Agency, like your case partner, of your plans. Which brings me to my point...”

He gestured to the folders I’d been putting away at my work station.

“You’re going to be getting more and more solo assignments in the future,” he said, taking out his pen as well. “I trust you’ll call for backup in the future, should you need it—”

I felt a sudden stab of guilt.

“—but there will be moments where you’ll inevitably need to fend for yourself. And we won’t know when those moments will occur.”

Kunikida smiled at me then and I felt my heart flutter in my chest.

“Well, I suppose you might, if you’re anything like Atsushi-kun and your Ability ends up becoming more and more powerful. But let’s say it doesn’t happen very quickly or at all.”

I nodded, wondering if someday I really would have such power.

“I think it would be a good idea for you to learn some basic self-defense or martial arts skills.”

He got into a sort of kung fu stance that I thought I’d seen in a movie once and glanced back at me as he demonstrated. I tried to keep my eyes on his face instead of the way his clothes stretched over his musculature. My heart kept beating faster.

He has really nice arms...

“We can start with teaching you how to properly dodge, throw a punch or get out of a choke hold. You know, that sort of thing.”

He glanced back at me and I tore my eyes away from his biceps.

“President Fukuzawa was the one who taught me martial arts,” he said, a note of pride sneaking into his voice. “And I passed down what he taught me to Atsushi when he first joined. If you’re interested in learning from me as well...”

Kunikida’s smile shone bright.

“I would be happy to train you. One-on-one.”

His smile suddenly faltered a little and at once, he looked away. His cheeks were tinged with pink.

“I-if you’re okay with it, that is.”

I brought my fingers up to my lips.

“Kunikida-san...”

One-on-one training with my tall, handsome mentor?

How could I possibly say no?!

“I mean, we don’t have to if you’re not comfortable with it,” he elaborated, looking oddly flustered. “I could ask President Fukuzawa to train you instead if you’d rather have someone better--”

“I’d love to.”

He stopped talking immediately. He blinked.

“Huh...?”

“I’d love to have you as my teacher,” I replied, warmth flooding into my chest.

I smiled and bowed low.

“Please take care of me, Kunikida-san...”

“O-of course.”

When I straightened back up, I saw that he was adjusting his glasses, his face hidden by the pages of his olive-green notebook. He looked like he was rapidly flipping through the pages.

“In that case, do you think you’d be able to start tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

I pulled out my phone to check my schedule. Not much on there, but even if I did have a meeting or two, I’d move everything around just to be able to spend a little more time with Kunikida.

“Yes, I think so,” I said, putting it down. “What time?”

“Come to the training room at seven,” Kunikida answered, jotting the lesson down in his schedule.

He put the notebook back into his vest and smiled.

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

***

Training with Kunikida...!

I could hardly keep the smile off my face.

And from the sound of it, this was only going to be the first of many sessions...

I let out a long, drawn-out sigh, feeling like I was floating three feet off the ground as I drifted through the hallway.

Okay, sure. So neither of us had confessed our feelings to the other in the soft orange glow of the Agency office at sunset, but I was going to be getting training from Kunikida Doppo, the man who was both my mentor and my crush!

“I would be happy to train you. One-on-one.”

I barely managed to stifle an excited squeal.

Alone time with Kunikida...! He would be the first person I saw when I came to the office tomorrow morning and he’d be the first person I interacted with every other morning I had a training session as well.

I let out another happy sigh as I pictured us growing closer together over the course of the next several weeks, or however long these training sessions were going to last. Would we become close enough to the point where he’d one day feel comfortable calling me “Kyou?”

“Kyou...”

My cheeks grew warm as I imagined his deep, resonant voice calling out my first name, the look in his gray-green eyes as he turned his handsome face towards me, the way he would smile when he heard me calling him by his first name as well.

Ahh... if only that day could come soon...!

Even though I didn’t have my earbuds in, it felt like there was music playing all around me. I started humming under my breath as I reached into my bag and flipped out my phone.

I’d be meeting Kunikida at the training room on the first floor at seven. That meant I’d have to set my alarm so I could get up an hour earlier than usual...

Wait.

I stopped short and stared at the open memo on my phone.

Would I have enough time to make myself look decently presentable with only an extra hour to prepare? And what was I supposed to wear when I got there? It didn’t make sense to show up in my work clothes when he was going to be teaching me how to fight, so should I be wearing gym clothes and carry my work clothes in a bag?

And what about makeup? I wanted to make myself look cute for him (I always wanted to look my best around him!) but would he see it as appropriate for me to be wearing my usual light makeup? Or would he see it as me being frivolous and impractical when I was probably going to sweat it all off?

I felt the smile slowly sliding off my face as I thought about all the things I needed to do tonight to get ready for tomorrow.

I’d have to stop by a clothing store to get some new gym clothes (my old ones were really ratty and probably smelled bad), maybe go by a convenience store so I could buy some breakfast for tomorrow morning—oh, I should probably buy Kunikida some coffee too, to help wake him up and to thank him for doing all this extra work for me—

“Kusunoki-kuuuun—!”

I let out a shriek as someone suddenly popped out of a doorway on my left. That shriek immediately turned into a cry of frustration when I saw who it was.

Of course it would be Dazai. Who else?

“I was wondering why I hadn’t seen you leaving earlier,” I mumbled under my breath. “What are you doing here? Why were you hiding behind that door?”

“You were thinking about me?” Dazai gasped, ignoring everything else I’d said and latching onto that one statement. “Ahh~ I was thinking about you too, Kusunoki-kun! Were you waiting long for me? Did you want to go out for dinner perhaps? Or drinks? Or maybe we could—”

“If I said no to dinner with Yosano-sensei,” I deadpanned, side-stepping him before he could reach out and grab my hand, “what makes you think I’d say yes to you? And before you finish that sentence, the answer is no. I’m not joining you in a double suicide.”

His face fell.

“Always so cold, Kusunoki-kun!” he whined, looking injured as I brushed past him without so much as a second glance. “I was just asking if you wanted to spend some time together. I mean...”

He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked alongside me as I made my way to the stairs, easily keeping up with my hurried pace because of his long strides.

“You’re going to be spending plenty of time together with Kunikiiiida-kun in the future,” he said, stopping me in my tracks.

I turned to face him.

Dazai smiled.

“So why not spend a little time with me as well? I mean, I’m your mentor too, right?”

“You were listening in?” I asked, gripping my bag. “Again?”

“No, it was just a guess,” Dazai said, his grin widening as I scowled at him. “But I was right, wasn’t I?”

He scooted closer, looking for all intents and purposes like an overly excited puppy.

“So, so? Did you confess?” he asked, his brown eyes sparkling with excitement. “No, wait! Don’t tell me.”

He gasped dramatically, covering his mouth with his hands.

“Did Kunikida-kun confess to you? I mean, he’s the one who called you to the office after work when nobody else was going to be around right??”

“That’s not what happened!” I exclaimed, shoving my hands over his mouth. “And you need to stop talking so loudly! Kunikida-san is still here, you know! He stayed behind at the office to finish up some work so if you could just—”

“Oh, ish he mow?”

Peeling my hands away, Dazai walked past me, making a beeline for the office.

“Perfect. Thanks, I actually wanted to talk to him about something.”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” I cried, going after him. “He’s busy right now! And it’s after hours. Can’t you do this some other—?”

“I mean, if you’ve changed your mind and you’d rather go get dinner with me—”

“That’s not what I said.”

I stopped walking and sighed.

“Oh, never mind. Just go.”

I brought my hands up to my head and started rubbing my temples to stave off an oncoming headache.

They’re partners, so Kunikida’s probably used to this by now...

“Just go, huh?”

Dazai’s voice was quiet. Uncharacteristically so.

I let my hands drop away from my head and looked up to see Dazai standing there before me, in the middle of the hallway with his half-bandaged hands tucked into the pockets of his sand colored trench coat. For a moment, he was still and stood there studying me with an unreadable look in his deep brown eyes. He cocked his head to the side a little as he looked at me, his bangs falling just so about his eyes.

And as I watched, the corners of his lips twitched upwards into a smile... a smile that looked oddly wistful for the perpetually grinning Dazai.

“Sure thing,” he said quietly, his smile growing slowly wider.

“Kusunoki-kun.”

I fell silent.

“Dazai-san...?”

What... what was that...?

He laughed a little, a bright and happy sound that didn’t quite fit the look in his eyes earlier.

“Why don’t you go home now?” he asked, turning his back to me and heading for the main office. “You’ve got a long day coming up tomorrow and I think you could use the rest.”

He waved to me as he continued walking away.

“I’ll see you around.”

And with that, he opened the door to the Agency office and went in without giving me a second glance. The sound of the door shutting behind him seemed oddly final.

For a moment, I just stood there, staring down the hall at the spot where he’d just been as the light slowly and surely faded away from the fourth floor.

“Dazai...?”

As the sound of muffled voices floated towards me from behind the closed door, I gripped my bag and turned to go. I wasn’t like Dazai, so it wasn’t like I was going to stay and listen in. Whatever business they had with each other was none of my concern...

But as I reached the stairwell, I stopped short and shot one last glance down the hall towards the office.

Why was Dazai looking at me like that earlier?

“Is everything alright?”

The empty, darkened hallway did not respond.

***

Okay... Five minutes to seven...

Taking a deep breath in, I tucked my cell phone back into my pocket and knocked on the door. The reply came immediately.

“Come in.”

Warmth flooded into my chest at the sound of that familiar deep voice, my pulse already racing as I thought about what lay ahead.

Calm down, Kyou.

Kunikida said he was going to be here waiting for me and he was. There was nothing to get excited over, he was just keeping a promise he’d made to me yesterday and he was here early because he was a professional.

It wasn’t because he was looking forward to this as much as I was...

But my heart only beat faster as I gripped the knob and turned it, carefully pushing my way into the room past a surprisingly heavy door.

There was no reason for me to worry about oversleeping and missing the training session. I’d been so excited about this morning that I’d practically jumped out of bed the instant my alarm went off. I was so energized by the thought of spending almost a full hour alone with Kunikida that I hardly needed the can of coffee I’d bought at the convenience store this morning.

Trying (and failing) to keep the stupid grin off my face, I headed into the room, taking a brief moment to look around at the polished wooden floors and freshly painted walls. I never would’ve guessed that just opposite the Uzumaki Cafe, with its pretty stained glass windows and warm, comforting atmosphere, was a fully furnished training room.

I passed a stack of gym mats and a collection of wing chun dummies and headed for the front of the room, which was marked by a large, framed piece of calligraphy. Pitch-black ink curled and looped across the parchment to form a single phrase: “If you have an honest mind, everywhere is a dojo.”

And sitting quietly, just below that sign... was a tall, seated figure.

I felt my heart literally skip a beat.

Kunikida-san...

He was wearing a plain white martial arts gi, with a black cloth belt tied loosely around his waist and no shoes on his feet. As usual, his long blonde hair was tied back into a low ponytail at the base of his neck and it wound down his back between his shoulder blades like a thin river of gold. Bright morning sunlight streamed in all around us and I realized that the closer I got to him, the more it felt like I was holding my breath.

He looked so dignified sitting there like that, with eyes closed and legs crossed, his palms resting gently on the tops of his thighs. I watched as he took a deep breath in, his broad chest rising and then falling slightly as he exhaled, his glasses slipping just a fraction down the bridge of his nose.

I felt a small smile tugging at my cheeks as I saw that, wanting nothing more than to push those glasses back up for him—

“Kusunoki.”

I jumped. The contents of the plastic bag in my hand jangled noisily as I moved and I suddenly wished I hadn’t chosen canned coffee to bring to Kunikida this morning.

He’d spoken without opening his eyes.

“Y-yes?” I squeaked.

“Put that down.”

I dropped the bag.

“And come here.”

I swallowed.

“Okay.”

Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I bowed slightly, forgetting that he couldn’t see me and shuffled forward.

“Closer.”

A flush crept up the back of my neck and I shuffled forward a little more.

“Closer.”

I obeyed and kept moving forward until I was standing right next to him.

“Good. Now sit.”

I sat.

A tiny smile crossed Kunikida’s face and seeing it, I felt my heart skip another beat.

“I want you to close your eyes,” he said, “and take a deep breath in. Slowly... good... Hold it for four seconds and slowly breathe back out, counting four seconds again.”

He was meditating, I realized as I closed my eyes and did what I was told.

That’s why he was here earlier. Did he start every morning with meditation?

Or...

“Keep going,” he said gently. “Focus on your breathing and just your breathing, okay? We’re going to do this for five minutes.”

Was he doing this because he could tell I was a little nervous?

Warmth flowed through me and I felt my smile returning as I settled in next to him and tried to focus on my breathing. Silence settled in around us like a soft, comforting blanket and I could feel myself nodding off, my tiredness from the night before finally starting to catch up with me. My head dropped lower and lower towards my chest, a jumble of memories and sensations rising to the surface of my mind into the beginnings of a waking dream...

“Just go, huh?”

I jerked up, my head snapping back harder than I expected and I winced as I heard Kunikida stir next to me. One gray-green eye opened and peered out at me from behind those thin, rectangular frames.

“Falling asleep?”

“N-no!” I lied, flushing in shame. “I mean... yes. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. One minute left, okay?”

I nodded, realizing a little too late that he’d closed his eyes again and couldn’t see me any more.

“Okay.”

I closed my eyes too and tried to clear my head, but it wasn’t working any more.

I just kept seeing Dazai’s tall, trench-coat clad figure strolling down that empty, darkened hallway... alone.

I sighed.

The truth was, I felt kind of uneasy after my encounter with Dazai last night. Although I tried to put it out of my head as much as I could, I couldn’t help but wonder what it was he wanted to talk to Kunikida about. Why did he want to wait until everyone had left the office to talk? And why wouldn’t he look at me as he left?

Was I just being paranoid...?

Or...

Was I missing something? Something important?

Next to me, Kunikida sighed. I jerked my head towards him, another apology ready to go when I realized he was just breathing out, releasing one last long, steady stream of air between his lips as the meditation session came to an end. I shut my mouth and stayed quiet, suddenly feeling strangely guilty as I looked at him.

“There. That was pretty relaxing, wasn’t it?” Kunikida asked, turning to me with a soft smile.

“Y-yes,” I stammered, my heart pounding just a little faster at the sight of that smile. “It was...”

He nodded slightly, looking pleased, and slowly got to his feet.

“Thanks for coming early,” Kunikida said, his gray-green eyes warm. “It’s always nice to have an enthusiastic pupil to teach. Really nice, considering how things at the Agency usually are...”

“O-of course,” I stammered, my tongue suddenly feeling thick and clumsy in my mouth. “Thank you for offering to train me. I—I really appreciate it.”

“Oh, it’s really nothing,” Kunikida replied, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. “I just thought, as your mentor, I should...”

He cleared his throat abruptly and trailed off.

“A-anyway, have you ever taken any self-defense classes before, Kusunoki-kun?”

I shook my head and my neck cracked a little as I moved.

Apparently, I was in worse shape than I thought...

Not hearing the cracking noise, Kunikida nodded a little, seemingly deep in thought.

“I see...”

His gray-green eyes swept over me, his eyebrows knitting together as he spoke.

“Your Ability isn’t very useful for combat but unfortunately, like many others who possess information-gathering Abilities, you’ve had to defend yourself from being kidnapped or attacked. Based on what happened after your last encounter with Aktuagawa, I suspect the Port Mafia won’t go after you in the near future. However...”

His jaw tightened and I saw his expression darken in the bright morning light.

“There’s no telling who might target you in the future if your Ability grows more and more powerful. In fact, we should probably consider issuing you a gun in the near future, before you start taking any assignments that may require you to go out at night—”

“A gun?!” I squawked, backing away from him abruptly. “W-wait a minute, Kunikida-san! I thought today was—”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Kunikida said in a rush. “That’s not going to be happening right away. Like I said before, today we’re just going to go over some basics! However, please keep in mind that we are the Armed Detective Agency. In our line of work, combat seems almost unavoidable at times and so most of our members carry a weapon of some kind; there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have one as well.”

He grew quiet, his gray-green eyes downcast.

“Besides... I’d hate for something to happen to you when I could’ve...”

His lips were moving but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

My breath hitched in my throat.

“...Kunikida-san?”

At the sound of my voice, he twitched—jerking up so that his back was ramrod straight and I took another step back away from him as he turned around and let out what sounded like a violent series of coughs. He looked really red and I could feel my pulse pounding in my ears as he turned back around. He was standing there with the most flustered look on his face I’d ever seen...

“Um...?”

I could barely hear myself talking over the sound of my heart beating in my ears.

What was he going to say?!

“A-Are you okay—?”

“L-let’s get started, shall we?” Kunikida exclaimed, his voice strangely loud.

His face was still very red.

“Why don’t we work on dodging first? I think that’s a good place to start!”

“That sounds good!” I agreed, nodding vigorously. “How should we do this?”

“Ah, well, I can’t expect you to know how to dodge properly unless I show you first,” Kunikida said, the color not fading from his cheeks in the least. “So why don’t you throw a punch at me first and I’ll explain what I’m doing as we go?”

My jaw dropped.

“Hit you?!”

I waved my hands in front of me and shook my head.

“N-no!! I can’t hit you! Kunikida-san, you’re my—my—”

Oh God.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to calm myself down.

What was I getting all tongue-tied for now?! And why did I have to blush?!

“You’re my mentor,” I choked out at last as Kunikida somehow flushed darker, “I can’t just—!”

“Please don’t worry about that, Kusunoki-kun!” Kunikida said in a rush, “I can take it. I mean—! I don’t think you’re going to be able to land a hit on me. Wait, no that’s not what I meant—!”

He slapped a hand over his face and groaned as I suddenly felt the strongest urge to grab one of the canned coffees I’d gotten at the convenience store and knock myself out with it.

“I know you know how to dodge,” Kunikida said at last, his voice muffled.

He still hadn’t taken his hands away from his face. His ears were now the color of fresh beets.

“If you didn’t, Akutagawa would have captured you the first time for sure. The fact that you were able to evade him twice means that you have good instincts and on some level, you knew exactly what you were doing when you avoided his attacks.”

The color fading from his ears, he took his hands away from his face at last and finally glanced back over at me.

“We’re just going to take what you know already and refine it a little. Hopefully, if this goes well, you’ll leave here after a few sessions being able to dodge anything that comes your way. So...”

He took a deep breath, then stepped back and got into a fighting stance.

“If you’re ready, I want you to try to hit me.”

Swallowing a little, I mirrored his stance.

“O-okay. Then...”

I drew back my fist, intending to copy a move I’d seen in a ninja anime recently.

“Here I go.”

For the next few minutes, I tried to hit Kunikida. Either punching or kicking or swiping at him, whatever I could think of. At first it was a little hard trying to get close to him (I did still have a massive crush on him, after all) but as he calmly side-stepped hit after hit, not dropping his guard for even the briefest of moments, I started to relax. Soon, I’d gotten used to the idea of just being that close to him and the heat building in my face had less to do with embarrassment or flustered and more with the amount of exercise I was getting.

“Okay, and we’re going to stop there.”

The color had faded a little from Kunikida’s face and he was smiling slightly as he dropped his fists and addressed me.

“We’ll work on your attacks later but for now, I want you to try doing what I was doing. Let’s switch places and this time, I’ll try to hit you. Don’t worry, I’ll go slow.”

And as promised, he did.

I managed to avoid the first few hits but as the lesson dragged on, I found myself getting tired, sloppy. Without the added boost of adrenaline that came with the threat of death or capture, I wasn’t moving as quickly as I could and it wasn’t long before Kunikida raised his hand to indicate we should stop.

I was so out of shape...

“Okay, not bad,” he said, tapping his chin. “But I think I can give you a few pointers...”

I saw his smile widen just a fraction as I took my phone out of my pocket and opened up a fresh memo and warmth flooded through me as I saw the look in his sage-colored eyes. His expression was almost... affectionate?

“You’ve got the right idea,” he said, “and you’re pretty good at keeping your distance, which is key to keeping yourself safe if you want to avoid being hit. But, you have a tendency to turn your back on your opponent and I want to train you away from that. You see...”

He put his hand on my shoulder and slowly walked around me so that now I was no longer facing him. He swept one leg out so that his foot was touching the back of my shoe and positioned me so that I would lose my balance if he let go of my shoulder.

“When you can’t see your opponent, you can’t see them telegraphing an attack. If you can’t see where the attack is coming from, you won’t be able to get away.”

He moved his leg back and took his hand off my shoulder as I turned to face him.

“Remember to keep your eyes on your opponent whenever possible. Both so you can avoid those attacks and so you can counter attack. Now let’s try that again.”

Time passed quickly. To my surprise (and Kunikida’s), I picked up on what he said very quickly and as the pseudo-sparring session continued, I was able to avoid every attack with ease.

“Good.”

His fist came towards me, a little faster this time. I took a step to the left.

“Very good.”

Kunikida began picking up the pace and as I kept dodging his attacks, making sure to keep my eyes on him and his movements whenever possible, I saw a smile blooming on his face. After about ten minutes of these rounds, Kunikida clapped his hands together and nodded, looking very satisfied.

“Kusunoki-kun, I’m impressed,” he declared, beaming. “You picked that up pretty fast.”

“Ah, well, I have a pretty great teacher,” I said shyly, twisting a lock of hair between my fingers.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Kunikida looking so happy. Knowing that he was smiling because of something I’d done... I couldn’t help it if I was smiling as widely as he was.

“Since you’ve pretty much gotten the hang of dodging, let’s move on to counter attacks. There’s a whole range of techniques for countering grabs or holds of different kinds, so let’s do that next.”

He pointed at the fabric of his gi.

“We’ll do the exact same thing as before. I want you to grab the lapels of my clothes and I’ll demonstrate how to get out of it.”

His brows twitched together.

“Would you like me to put on gloves for this? Or are you comfortable enough with your Ability that skin contact won’t be a problem?”

“S-skin contact?”

What were we going to be doing?

“I think...” I decided slowly, “I want to try it without.”

I looked up at him, a strange sense of determination flowing through me.

“I... I don’t want to be wearing gloves all the time,” I said, my hands balling into fists.

I want my life back.

“I want to live like an ordinary person, as much as possible, and if I want to do that, I have to work to control my Ability.”

And I want to move forward.

“If President’s Fukuzawa’s Ability itself is not enough then...”

I looked up at him, my body tensing, resolve burning deep inside my chest.

“I’ll have to make up the difference.”

So that one day, I can finally stand beside you... beside all of you.

As your equals.

For a moment, Kunikida’s beautiful sage-green eyes widened.

“Kusunoki-kun...”

His mouth set into a line and his eyebrows slowly furrowed further. He studied me.

“Are you sure?”

I nodded.

“Okay, then.”

He patted his chest. “Grab hold.”

But as I reached my hands out towards Kunikida’s chest and gripped the lapels of his gi between my fingers, I came to the abrupt realization that he wasn’t wearing a shirt underneath... and by grabbing on to the fabric of his clothing, I was opening his gi and pulling it away from his chest.

Smooth, glowing skin glistened up on me, the thinnest sheen of workout sweat condensing on Kunikida’s toned, well-muscled chest and I felt my grip faltering as I stared straight ahead of me. I suddenly couldn’t talk.

“Uh, Kusunoki-kun?”

Oblivious to my current predicament, Kunikida tapped my hand.

“I’m gonna need you to actually grab me if I’m going to show you how to break free of an actual grab...”

My tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth. I could barely breathe. I swallowed thickly and tried to tighten my grip, praying he wouldn’t notice how much sweatier I’d just become.

“L-like... like this?”

“A little tighter.”

Oh God, my face was burning—burning!!

“How’s that?”

“Great.”

In one smooth motion, Kunikida moved his left hand across his chest and gripped my trembling right hand in his left. His hand was so large, it almost completely enveloped mine. He gripped my hand tightly and plowed on, completely unaware of how our positioning and overall height difference was causing me to literally tug his clothing off of his body.

“So this is going to sound counter-intuitive, but if you want to break free of a hold like this,” he said, gesturing at our positions with his free hand, “what you want to do is first trap your opponent.”

He pulled his arm down—the arm that had crossed over mine to grab my hand—and as he did so, both my arms folded downwards at the joint and I was pulled forward. My nose was now right up against his bare chest.

Heat exploded in my face.

I could feel the pull of my Ability but it was nothing next to the overpowering rush of sensations that flooded into my body as I tried to keep my face as far away from Kunikida’s chest as possible. I couldn’t hear anything above the pounding of my heart as Kunikida slowly and patiently explained the technique he was teaching me.

I was going to die... Die! But at least I was going to die a happy woman...!

“...Are you listening, Kusunoki-kun?”

My voice came out as a tiny squeak.

“Hm?”

“I asked if you were listening,” Kunikida rumbled and I bit back a groan as I saw a droplet of sweat slide down between his pecs. “I was talking about—oh.”

And for the second time this morning, he went completely red.

Kunikida let go of me at once. As we each backed several steps away from each other, I spun around and covered my face. I thought I heard him swearing softly under his breath.

“I-I’m so sorry, Kusunoki-kun,” he stammered, his voice sounding strangely muffled—like he was covering his face with his hands again.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I—”

“No, it’s okay!” I squeaked, not daring to turn around and look at him again.

I could still see that drop of sweat trickling down his chest...

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for!”

Absolutely nothing.

“You were just trying to show me something—!”

And as I stood there, several meters away from him, babbling like an absolute idiot in the middle of the training room, I heard a set of familiar voices carrying into the room from outside. It sounded like Yosano and Edogawa. If they were here, then it was almost eight...

“Ah!”

Kunikida let out a sigh of relief.

“It looks like it’s time to head up to work. Why don’t we pick this up another time and go upstairs with them?”

“Sounds good to me. Oh, wait!”

Suddenly remembering, I rushed towards the front of the room, where I’d left the plastic bag full of snacks and drinks I’d gotten at the convenience store this morning. Grabbing the bag, I plunged my hand into the middle and fished out a black canned coffee and croissant in a plastic bag.

“Here!”

I shoved both at him, my head inclined in a bow half out of respect, half so I wouldn’t have to look him in the face.

“I—I got you breakfast. I wanted to say thank you. For taking time out of your busy schedule to train me. I... really appreciate it.”

“Oh—!”

Kunikida sounded surprised. I risked a quick glance up and saw that he’d fixed his shirt. I tried not to think about whether I was relieved or disappointed.

“Thank you, Kusunoki-kun. That’s very thoughtful of you...”

“It’s really nothing!!” I exclaimed. “A-anyway, did you want to go upstairs together?”

“Oh, um...”

He trailed off and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I should stay here and clean up,” he said quietly, his eyes focused on something I couldn’t see. “Why don’t you go on ahead?”

He glanced back at me, a sort of half-smile tugging at his lips. His cheeks were still just a little pink.

“I’ll catch up with you later.”

I nodded.

“Okay, then. I’ll see you soon, Kunikida-san.”

As he nodded and turned away from me, I was struck with a sudden urge to ask another question.

“Kunikida-san?”

He glanced over his shoulder at me. I stopped chewing my lip and steeled my nerves.

“Same time tomorrow?”

There was a pause. Then he nodded.

My heart soared.

“Sure,” he said, his half-smile turning into a full one.

“Same time tomorrow.”

[pinkgirl94]

SOKOKU -Underworld’s Nightmare- Prologue

This is my first BSD fanfic & still writing right now. Please give me your impressions, opinions or whatever about my writing. I’ll be glad to read them. Enjoy reading!

Sokoku

In Japanese, it means Double Black. For what I know, it is a duo formed for annihilating people with no self-pity, filled with black hearts.

Black is a symbol of evil, blindness, mystery, death, sins and other meanings I can find especially in literature.

In Bungo Stray Dogs, black and white are the color representatives that stand out to me throughout the story. Yokohama, a port city in Kanagawa prefecture, where the story is set.

During the day, when the sun rises above and lights the world, people come out of their house and start their own tasks like a colony of ants come out of their nest and do their duty.

Students attend to their school and study, company men and women went to their office to report their duties, shops, cafes and other places open for business, and vehicles drive on the road.

The city is just like a normal one, like any other places in my view but behind it there is a dark side when the sun goes down and a gloomy but aesthetic full moon shows up. At night, many criminals crawl out from the shadow to pursue their sins of crimes.

There are some groups which have a few special ability users like the Port Mafia. Those group of ability users are the kind of people to control and terminate the people who will get in their way. They are dangerous people but not all of them are that kind.

Because of these crime activities, the government already made a department, known as Special Ability Department, that specializes in monitoring the ability users in the whole nation, even foreign ability users who will come to visit. The department also has ability users for handling the cases regarding that matter.

Other than a government department, there are also a few other organizations which also have ability users to use their ability for good especially solving crimes that normal detectives and the police cannot do such as Armed Detective Agency.

In Yokohama, the government, along with military police, handle the cases at day. At night, the criminal organizations take over the city.

The city is always in the midst of war between special ability organizations. In order to reach the balance and peace of the city, a certain person named Natsume Soseki made his plan by, as a start, created a duo. A strong but dangerous duo.

Fukuzawa and Mori

At first, both of them never knew nor met each other before. Fukuzawa Yukichi used to work at the government as a bodyguard. He was a lone wolf who never wanted to work with anyone until he met a young boy named Edogawa Ranpo.

Mori Ogai was an underground doctor who, had his own clinic, worked in the slum where poor and street rats stay. He always bring a doll-like little girl named Elise to his office and spoils her all the time and always by her side.

How did they met?

Twelve years before an establishment of Armed Detective Agency, Natsume gave Fukuzawa a request for protecting Mori. No clear answer why he gave that kind of request but, in order to establish his agency, he accepted it and met him at his clinic for the first time.

They seemed to be never clicked each other. For example, Mori acted indifferent toward Fukuzawa about his fighting skills will become dull and Fukuzawa felt annoying on that. But once in a blue moon, when they faced their enemies, the two of them finished them off like a tornado destroy everything in a flash.

At one night, Mori captured by the foreign criminal gang from South America. The gang captured him because he was an information broker so they will require his knowledge of Port Mafia’s armory location by torturing him. Fukuzawa then came to their hideout and save Mori.

It was impossible for a man get through tight security filled with armed men but, for Fukuzawa, he killed them all easily. After that, it was Mori’s turn to kill other men in the same room as him.

Fukuzawa uses his katana to kill the enemies and Mori hiding his bloodlust to trick them until he took out his scalpel to either slice or throw at their throat. Both of them are the unstoppable that even the top assassins cannot lift his finger to stop them.

This is how the first generation of Double Black, Fukuzawa and Mori, formed by Natsume. As a writer, I will write the continue tale of them in the first chapter, about finding the true purpose of their fighting alongside together before they become the leaders of their respective organizations.

Dazai and Chuuya

They were the second generation of Double Black under Mori’s care but worked for Port Mafia. These two were not much different when in comes to fight together but, in terms of strategy and fighting style, they were much crueler than Fukuzawa and Mori.

One is a man in mummy-like bandage around his body who showed his inner demon himself and the other is a great fighter with his incredible gravity control ability. All people of the underworld knew them as the worst enemies they have ever encountered.

At the age of fourteen, Dazai picked up by Mori as a patient for attempting suicide. He always a type of person who continuously attempts his suicides but failed many times, always got himself hurt whether by those attempts or by accidents. Mori then brought Dazai along as a witness for his assassination plan.

To kill Port Mafia's predecessor.

Mori told Dazai a cover story and so that he became a new boss of his organization as his own. He kept him safe and alive in order to avoid the suspicious of the predecessor's assassination. To gain the whole organization's trust toward him.

One year passed.

Ever since Mori became a boss, rumors about him assassinated the predecessor spread around the Port Mafia. He even heard a rumor about the predecessor, who supposedly dead and properly buried, was alive and caused ruckus in their turf. If anyone learn about his assassination plan, then his position as a boss will be lost.

So Mori leave the investigation of predecessor to Dazai and, during his investigation, that is how he met a young boy as the same age as him, Nakahara Chuya, previously knew as King of the Sheep.

Chuuya is a natural fighter who only uses his legs to brutally kick his opponents like how he kicked Dazai when they first met. He never use his hands to fight until now. He also possess a special ability to manipulate gravity around him and his enemies will be crushed suffocating by touching him even the slightest hit.

When Chuya captured by Dazai, thanked to his ability-nullification ability, and Hirotsu, another ability user and the person who tag along for the investigation, Mori decided to let Dazai and Chuuya to investigate together.

Both Dazai and Chuuya disagreed together at first but Mori explained that things will work well by working together, with Dazai’s nullification and Chuuya’s fighting skills and ability, so they ended up investigate together. All that time, they always arguing and fighting each other like the small brats fighting over the small problems.

Throughout their investigation, they confirmed that the predecessor was not actually alive but it was a being called Arahabaki, known as a god of calamity, that can shape-shifting its body controlled by another ability user. Chuuya revealed himself that Arahabaki they saw was not a real one but actually himself because of his past.

Chuuya’s past is not a happy memory not because he was abused or tortured by someone nor started a harsh life like any characters you have seen in other stories who met their unfortunate fate. He was an empty shell, mere human body.

Eight, years ago, Chuuya was born as a vessel to Arahabaki and sealed away by the Japanese military. One day, two men, Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, infiltrated the military base to take Arahabaki’s power but failed because Arahabaki was fully freed.

Arahabaki now merged with Chuuya and made his own personality and will but they lost their memories before the age of seven. Chuuya only recalled someone reached out to his hand and freed him from the seal.

Dazai and Chuuya found who controlled Arahabaki. It was Rando, a Port Mafia executive and his real name is Arthur Rimbaud, with his ability called “Illumination” that conjure hyperspace subregion. He joined Port Mafia in order to find Chuuya and kill him but failed to do so because Dazai and Chuuya defeated him in the end.

On Rando’s final breath, he gave Chuuya his final wish which is to keep living as a human being. Chuuya accepted his wish and still keeping onto him after that.

One month later.

Dazai finally became a mafioso and executive and made his own squadron. Chuuya also became a mafioso and even received Rando’s hat from Mori as a custom way of officially joining by giving a piece of clothing.

For the sake of continuing the event of their tale, I am going to write a chapter about an event when they fight against an enemy organization and made a debut as Sokoku which you never seen or read in the original work.

Atsushi and Akutagawa

Atsushi is an orphan and main protagonist of the series. At first, he had a low self-esteem, always considered himself useless by the people from his former orphanage especially the headmaster himself. After Dazai pick him up from the riverside while he was in a state of starvation, he recommended him to join the Armed Detective Agency and his life changed after meeting new people and slowly gain his self-worth.

Akutagawa is one of the antagonists and a member of the Port Mafia. He calls himself as Port Mafia’s dog and the agency members refer him as the most troublesome and dangerous ability user to be captured. Like Atsushi, he is an orphan along with his younger sister, Gin. They were raised in the slums of the city with other orphans. After the orphans were shot dead by a group of criminals and only him and her sister survived, Dazai picked them up, giving him a reason to live, to become stronger and get a praise from his teacher.

Their first meeting started with a bounty. The Port Mafia received an info from the Guild, a North America special ability organization, about a weretiger that needed to be captured with a big reward and that weretiger is Atsushi. They attempted to capture him a few times but Atsushi still be saved and protected by the detective agency.

In the last resort, Akutagawa successfully captured Atsushi and ready to deliver but Kyoka, a former assassin who became a detective agency member, tried to save him. Seeing her self-sacrifice for him in Atsushi’s eyes made him to save her and fight Akutagawa. That is when he finally begin gaining his self-confidence.

Both Atsushi and Akutagawa are always fighting in both physical and oral for their different resolve. Atsushi, who sacrifices himself to gain his right to live, and Akutagawa, who seeks an approve from a certain person, are likely same to gain something but different in terms of characteristics and morals.

During their final fight against Francis Fitzgerald, the Guild’s boss, they always arguing over their resolve like the stray dogs barking each other for finding out who is right and who is wrong and Francis saw them that way.

Which is why Dazai forced them to work together to defeat the boss and test his theory if their power have the potential to become a stronger duo than the previous Double Black pairs and he is right all along. Francis defeat with their combined abilities.

With Atsushi’s white tiger ability and Akutagawa’s black beast Rashomon, both of them are an unstoppable pair and that is the start of the new generation of Double Black, Shin Sokoku. Their tale of their fight is yet to end as I will write which they will face a new antagonist after the three-way war.

These three pairs are ferocious groups. Each character have different ideals and believe but their bond of fighting alongside is much stronger than we thought. When their tale is about to unfold, what are their string of fate lead to? Please enjoy reading them.