#but something about dazai just begs for tragedy

[zukkaoru]

i commend people who can write fluffy/lighthearted fics with dazai ships. unfortunately to me he is a vessel of unhappiness and will bring his own self destruction through his belief that he will never deserve love

[a-stray-wretched-dog]

i'm actually reading this so let me post my thoughts here ... when this gets completed i'll probably update this post. nobody asked for this but whatever, just if anyone wants to read this with me (like a fanfic mukbang???)

and if you're wondering. YES I DID MAKE THIS POST WHILE READING THE FANFIC (that's why i copy pasted some of the moments so i can react to them).

anyways thoughts time !!! ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ <3

title: when i saw the title i thought it was pretty intriguing, it just sounds so angsty and i don't know why but i started feeling some kind of dread just thinking about it.

summary: chills. literal chills. got me soo interested in reading the actual fic.

ok so let me get to the actual fanfic.

chapter 1. bad omens

summary: ok damn the summary is literally making me worried already ... 😭😭

But when you take a bone from a dog, it may become aggressive and do anything to get it back. The same can be said for if you take a sister from her brother.

aaaa i love that line sooo much, literally the descriptions fit akutagawa soo well ... like the dog thing and the brother thing-- it's just so good

His sister is the one thing that he will place above getting Dazai's approval.

OUCH. THAT IS BRUTAL 😭😭😭

She's prepared to let out a stream of insults, but she recognised the man in black with the atrocious haircut.

helpp .. author ... you did not with the haircut roast .. also higuchi you are so real for this

Mori tilted his head, a faked shocked expression plastered on his face. "I didn't think it mattered. Losing a singular member does not cause much harm to our organisation." Akutagawa, too overcome with rage, did not realise he was being manipulated.

OH DANG. THE MORIPULATION IS REALL WITH THIS ONE

"But look on the bright side, Akutagawa. Now there will be no one to hold you back." Gin never held him back, did she? He did make sure he wasnt too reckless while he was out on missions, to ensure he'd still be around to look after her. She was his moral compass, and kept him grounded. He supposed that, in a way, she ensured that he did not kill much anymore, but that was mostly because of the promise he made with the weretiger.

sheesh ... this is slicing my heart open

He hurries out the door, unaware of the tragedy that would soon occur.

oh no. this is bad .... 😭😭

overall thoughts for chapter 1: it's pretty short but there are more chapters anyways soo ... anyways this is really anxiety inducing and i'm just worried for akutagawa and gin the whole time, but at the same time i'm very curious on what would happen next ... ALSO WHAT IS WITH ALL THE FORESHADOWING??? I HATE IT IT'S MAKING ME SO DAMN WORRIED

chapter 2. bloodbath

summary: oh damn, this is where things get interesting

If Akutagawa's thoughts were a bit more coherent, he would have orchestrated a plan; “Get in, Grab Gin, Get out.” Unfortunately for his enemies, his mind was clouded with rage. The only thought going through his head was “revenge”. If he were to put his current “plan” into words, it would be “kill anyone in my way, get Gin, (maybe) kill everyone else”. It wasn't the best plan, was it? Especially so, considering his promise with the weretiger.But that didn't matter to him right now. Gin was the only person he cared about, and he wasn't going to let anyone take his sister from him.

damn akutagawa. damn. he's so dedicated to protecting his only family, gin 😭😭😭😭😭

The question was: why were two guards, obviously lacking in experience, armed with simple pistols protecting this organisations base on the front lines? It's like they were begging him to break in. Akutagawa had no time, nor was he in the mindset for, such suspicions.

OH UHM. UHM???? BRO I'M SO WORRIED. i swear if his current mood will be the thing that ends up hurting him or something, i'm gonna cry.

This warehouse was one of the places where Dazai trained him. This is where Dazai kicked him like three meters, causing him to spit up blood. This was where Dazai ranted about how useless Akutagawa and his ability was. This was where Dazai yelled at him for being too reckless. He began breathing heavily. However, his little PTSD moment was cut short, by a voice calling out his name.

this went from bad to worse, holy crap.

This man had Gin. And he had a gun.

NO. WHAT. WHYY. i mean i knew this was coming because of all the foreshadowing but it still makes me so .... 😭😭

The man frowned. “You really are a blade without a sheath. You could have been civil about this, talked to me. But you chose to slaughter my men. If you had tried reasoning with me, I would have considered sparing your sister. This is your fault.”

this actually reminds me of beast where atsushi tells akutagawa something similar ... ouch

“GIN!!!” he screamed, scrambling forward. The man smirked, a knife flashing from his sleeve, and he… Slits Gins Throat.

HUH. wait i didn't expect her to actually get killed??? someone tell me this isn't real. is this akutagawa's nightmare or something please i don't want this to be real

OH WAIT IT PROBABLY IS... THAT'S WHY THE FORESHADOWING WAS LITERALLY EVERYWHERE 😭😭

He climbs the stairs of his apartment building. He stops when he sees a man in black sitting outside his door, hugging his knees, drenched in blood. “Akutagawa??? Is that you????”

NO. WAIT IT'S REAL, IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED, SHE ACTUALLY DIED??? all his life he's tried to protect the people he loved and he ultimately faile- uhm anyways, akutagawa that's a really pathetic pose... have you become wea-

ok let me stop because this will finally be the shin soukoku moment i've been waiting for.

overall thoughts for chapter 2: i'm pretty sure this made me have some kind of dread ... because the way everything happened so quickly, even when i tried reading it slowly. this whole chapter i knew something bad was going to happen due to all the foreshadowing, but reading it right with my eyes and imagining how the scene would play in my head... gosh it was painful.

i just want to know what will happen next (it's probably going to be shin soukoku), and i hope things turn out better for akutagawa BECAUSE MY MAN IS TRAUMATIZED.

chapter 3. If I show my fangs will you tell me that they're cool?

summary: WOOHOO FINALLY SHIN SOUKOKU !!! i mean oh, this will be so angsty and i'm gonna cry or whatever

Akutagawa looked up at him. “I left the Port Mafia.”

woAh, that escalated quickly. i wonder what akutagawa will do after this, though ...

"Akutagawa? Are you alright in there?” For a moment, there was only silence. "I'm fine, weretiger“ he said in his usual tone of voice, but his voice was shaky, and full of guilt. As if he had done something wrong, something the weretiger wouldn't approve of, perhaps something self-destructive.

ATSUSHI YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT TO DO, GO COMFORT YOUR BF !!!

"Fine. Imma make some ochazuke while I wait for your coat to be done in the washing machine. I'll leave it outside and then I expect you to come out and give me an explanation.” He turned around to leave. "Thank you…” muttered Akutagawa. Atsushi's ears perked up at this rare statement. " ... WHAT did you just say to me?” “ I SAID NOTHING WERETIGER YOU'RE IMAGINING THINGS” Atsushi laughed to himself as he returned to the kitchen.

haha omg akutagawa is such a tsundere ... they're so cuteee 😭😭

“Show me your fangs weretiger.” Atsushi jumped at the sudden demand, but obliged. He opened his mouth so that his fangs were on display. He was prepared for an insult, or for Akutagawa to get up and leave. But his reaction was not what Atsushi expected. “I think they’re cool…” Akutagawa muttered. Atsushi perked up, closing his mouth and his cheeks flushed red. “Really???” Akutagawa looked away. “Forget that I said anything.”

ohh, this is what the chapter title was about ... also atsushi having fangs is so canon to me <3

Akutagawa looked down at his hands in his lap. “My sister was murdered.” Atsushi immediately leapt out of his seat and grabbed Akutagawa’s hands, attempting to comfort him. His mouth was agape in shock, wasn’t his sister an assassin? Couldn’t she have protected herself? Once Akutagawa felt Atsushi’s hands clasp his own, he looked up at the weretiger, tears brimming in his eyes. “Shit.” he thought. “Don’t let yourself appear vulnerable, Ryuunosuke.”

nah, the fact that akutagawa is still thinking about not letting his guard down ...also woohoo atsushi you are an A+ boyfriend !!

“I was so overcome with rage that someone would dare take my sister from me. I just got rid of anyone that got in my way.” He wipes at his eyes, still not meeting Atsushi’s gaze. “I’m still full of rage now, and I… hate that I didn’t get revenge on the one who killed her. I was too reckless.” Poor Akutagawa, he was really struggling at expressing how he felt. (A/N me fr)

sheesh akutagawa ... i kinda want to see him get revenge now

“Weretiger. I know how I can get revenge on my sister's murderer, and the one who organised it.” That piqued Atsushi’s interest. “How?” Akutagawa took a deep breath before he spoke. “I want to join the Detective Agency.” That took Atsushi by surprise. He sighed as he stood up, plucking his phone from his pocket. “Let me make a call.”

OH. NOW THINGS GET INTERESTING... THIS IS SUCH A COOL PLOT TWIST OH WHAT THE HELL

“Because you were the first person I thought of. And I have no one left who cares for me.” Atsushi furrowed his brow. “Shut up, I care for you.”

shin soukoku ... they're gonna make me cry what Is thIs

overall thoughts for chapter 3: i love me some shin soukoku, and the whole revenge ada plan thing sounds so cool. i just wish the best for both akutagawa and atsushi <3

chapter 4. my neck's awry and my brain's upside down

summary: ooh akutagawa joining the ada...

Alright, at least he had a chance. If he got into the agency, he’d have a chance to prove himself to Dazai! He’d get to be in a friendlier environment, and get revenge on the man who killed Gin and HIM. The only downsides would be that he’d probably be paid less, and he’d have to deal with the weretiger every day. But… maybe the second one wasn’t that bad? WAIT WHAT WAS HE THINKING? This wasn’t like him.

omg the last line 😭😭 also is this a more pros than cons thing, yeah i can't tell. but woohoo shin soukoku <33

“We should go to bed, we’ve got a long day ahead of us.” He says, pulling something from the closet. We. We. Who knew such a small pronoun could supply so much comfort? Now Akutagawa felt reassured that he wouldn’t be dealing with this alone. But still, he can’t let his guard down. Atsushi could be planning to get back at him for breaking their promise…

OMG... THE SSKK IS SSKK-ING!!! OMG AKUTAGAWA AND ATSUSHI GETTING CLOSER HERE IS EVERYTHINGGGG <3333

He coughs, his lungs screaming in pain. “Slow… down weretiger… Not everyone… can run at the pace of a tiger…”He said, taking breaks to gasp for breath. Atsushi tilted his head, momentarily confused. Akutagawa heard a sharp intake of breath from him as Atsushi remembered. His lung disease. They waited for Akutagawa to catch his breath, then they began to walk to the agency. They walked in an awkward silence, neither one of them wanting to or knowing how to start a conversation with the other.

oh nooo... the akutagawa lung disease 😭😭 i swear it ruins everything. and the awkward silence is giving me second hand-embarrassment istg, they're so real for that though.

The pair of them continued walking, and soon enough a large building came into sight. Akutagawa’s nerves grew and grew as he approached the Detective Agency building. He was ready for this. Well, mostly.

AAAHH OKAY THIS IS THE MOMENT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE... !!!!

overall thoughts for chapter 4: it was short but i liked it, some sskk crumbs i always love.

chapter 5. importannt

this is just the author's note on the fanfic... read it if you want but it has nothing to do with the actual contents of the fic.

overall thoughts for chapter 5: dang it 😭😭😭

chapter 6. i want to feel the fire that you kept from me

summary: okok akutagawa gets to know the members of the ada... i wonder how that will go

“So, you’re even more useless then. Without the Port Mafia’s resources and men, you would’ve failed all of your missions and have died a long time ago.” Dazai’s expression was dark, his eyes void of any emotion. His demeanour had suddenly become intimidating and threatening. The Agency members were shaken by thus personality shift. Akutagawa was nervous, but it appeared that he was used to this Dazai. “Dazai-san, I’ve only failed a few missions in the four years you’ve been gone!” Akutagawa sounded desperate, like a child begging for the attention if their parent. “The keyword there is ‘few’, implying that you still failed. It seems that training you was a waste of time after all. Clearly Mori wasn’t disciplining you enough.” Dazai spoke calmly, but he sounded threatening anyway. “No! I’ve been disciplining myself, Dazai-san! Your training didn’t go to waste!” Tanizaki felt sick to his stomach. He didn’t want to think of the ‘discipline’ the Port Mafia used, or of Akutagawa ‘disciplining’ himself. Dazai spoke again. “Stop saying my name. Why do you want to join the Agency anyway?” Akutagawa was struggling to find words, and looked to Atsushi, his eyes screaming ‘help!’. Before Atsushi could say anything, Ranpo spoke up. “His sisters been killed.”

OH WOW. THIS IS SUCH AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER... "Akutagawa sounded desperate, like a child begging for the attention if their parent." is so good yet so sad... omg i need to read this more this is getting good

Dazai’s demeanour returned to normal. “Gin?” he whispered, a slight hint of concern lacing his voice.Akutagawa looked to the floor. “But... how? Why?” It was clear which of the Akutagawa siblings Dazai preferred. For the first time in years, Dazai was at a loss for words. Tanizaki felt a rage bubble up within him. He couldn’t help but feel bad for Akutagawa. He didn’t know what he’d do if someone had killed Naomi. Well....He knew exactly what he’d do, but all of it was illegal.

my MY I WAS RIGHT THIS IS GETTING GOOD!!! also dazai returning to normal is so funny to me idk why. also tanizaki and naomi's relationship 😭😭

Why was his guard down in the first place? It fell the second he was let into Atsushi’s house last night. He had trusted Atsushi, that he’d protect him while he was vulnerable asleep. He cannot trust anyone. That was the first thing Dazai had told him when he joined the Port Mafia. “Do not trust anyone. Trust leads to vulnerability. Vulnerability leads to weakness. The weak have no place in the Port Mafia.” Akutagawa was jostled from his thoughts by the weretiger shuffling closet towards him. He blinked, slowly returning to reality and remembering his surroundings. There was a cup of lukewarm green tea in front of him that Tanizaki had bought for him. The aforementioned boy sat opposite Akutagawa, next to Dazai. Tanizaki wore an odd expression, like he was extremely angry and on the verge of tears. But why...?

oh my GOD why is this chapter so good... i swearr the way the characters emotions are written here is just... mmmhh !!!

Kunikida glared at Ranpo and muttered “How tactless” under his breath. Akutagawa didn’t mind. He liked how Ranpo wasn’t giving him pitiful looks like the others. Well, except for Dazai. He looked out of it, as if he was still processing what had happened. He was clearly mourning Gin. Akutagawa felt a twinge of jealousy. How could Dazai care about her and not him? He felt a sudden pang of guilt and shame. What the fuck was he thinking? His sister was DEAD, and he was still thinking of himself and proving himself to Dazai. He dug his nails into his thighs, only the fabric of the trousers he had borrowed from Atsushi stopping him from drawing blood. Noticing this, the weretiger shuffled closer, their arms touching.

SHEESH. AKUTAGAWA I CAN'T WITH YOU, DAZAI I CAN'T WITH YOU EITHER AND IT'S WEIRD BECAUSE it feels like i have to choose a side when they're both equally as bad ... yeah i don't even know anymore 😭

“Crap. And SOS message from Atsushi. He’s been taken hostage.” Akutagawa leapt to his feet. “Where. I’ll go retrieve him.” Tanizaki gave him the address, and Akutagawa quickly memorised it. He sprinted out the door, despite the strain it put on his lungs. Atsushi had saved him when he appeared on his doorstep, bloody and brooding. It was only fair that Akutagawa returned the favour now. As he left the café, he ran past Kyouka, who had just returned from an out-of-town mission.“Why was Akutagawa here?” Kyouka demanded. “Why was he muttering Atsushi’s name, and why was he sprinting out of here?” Dazai smirked, his demeanour returning to normal, although you could tell he wasn’t too happy with what he was about to say. “His entrance exam has begun.”

OH MY GOD???WHAT I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.. THIS IS THE PERFECT ENTERANCE EXAM FOR THIS KIND OF FIC AND I LOVE THAT!!! and omg akutagawa go save your bf !!! don't care about your lungs!!!

overall thoughts for chapter 6: this is definitely the best chapter so far. this is so good i need more of this actually. i literally screamed when i read this i love it so much !!!

Fandom: Bungo Stray

Title: Jinko, prepare for my absence

Writer: aoibb

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54561532

Status: Incomplete

Main Characters: Akutagawa, Atsushi

Description: Atsushi and Akutagawa go into the detective agency and meets some of the members

[dear-yandere]

Ah this is my first time requesting from you i'm so excited! Can you do a scenario of dazai with his crush who also live with him (they're best friends and extermly close) who is like the only person who understands him and expects him as a person and is always there for him but he's too hesitate to confess because she's too pure for him but then one day she gets a boyfriend aaaaaaaaa i hope this isn't too confusing! Thx in advance keep being great!

This wasn’t confusing at all! I actually wrote really long headcanons instead, hope these will do~

Osamu Dazai

★ It had been a slip-up on his part. Dazai had stopped devoting so much attention and time to keeping up with your daily happenings or routines, and the next thing he knew, you walked through those apartments doors hooked to another man’s arm. He trusted you to save yourself for him – either you didn’t know, or you didn’t particularly care. Even he couldn’t have predicted this.

★ Apologies – that’s all that came out of your lips at that point. You hadn’t expected him to be home, you said. You didn’t want to disturb him, you said. You’d leave with this mystery man, you said.

★ Heartbroken. He’s devastated and utterly heartbroken for the first time since Odasaku’s death, and you were the cause. You, the very cause of his happiness these days. Dazai can’t help but let out a soundless chuckle at the irony of it all. With love comes pain, he reminds himself. He knew opening up to someone else always ended in pain, but he let himself slip and fell in love with you all the same. You accepted him even when you hardly knew the depths of his darker side – the man he never wanted you to see. You were a rarity, a miracle personified – and even you’d been snatched from between his fingers.

★ He should’ve seen this coming, should’ve known that the longer he waited, the longer he hesitated and watched from afar with a placid smile on his face, the farther you’d wander from him. An angel like you could never be with a demon like him – yet he still hoped, still prayed to the heavens he’d lost faith in long ago.

★ Same mask, same smile – that’s all he can manage when you finally came home later that night, hair obviously patted down and fixed to hide the obvious happenings of your escapades. Dazai hardly catches your boyfriend’s name, much less hears your excuses or the second set of apologies leave your lips – he’s had enough. Everything is numb. Everything is bleak – draped in a thick layer of black and white as soon as he saw the light blush on your cheeks and the happiness in your eyes. All color has been sucked out of his life with such a simple gesture.

★ The only thing that stuck was… you’d called Dazai “just a roommate” as you walked through those doors earlier, reassuring your boyfriend that nothing was going on between you two. Nothing…? Was that all he meant to you? Did you always intend to keep him as nothing more than a roommate, even after you’d spent so much time breaking down his walls and making him fall for you?

★ The change is immediate. He’s distant, far more distant than usual, causing you to worry. Even when you approach him with that worried expression of yours, even when you sat by him like you’ve done nothing wrong, touched him gently like that’ll calm him like it always used to – it’s all wrong. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Nothing is going according to plan and no amount of comforting words and worried glances on your part will fix the tragedy he brought upon himself with his own hesitance.

★ Naturally, there’s only one solution and Dazai carries it out without batting an eye. Within the following week of Dazai being… introduced to your lover, you notice that your boyfriend  started acting weird. Nervous glances thrown at his surroundings, less touching and kissing, large amounts of time passing between texts, missed dates. You’re conflicted, wondering why both of the most important men in your life have become so cold. Was it your fault? Had you done something wrong, offended them without thinking? You have no choice but to profusely apologize, starting with your boyfriend, though the man does not pay your worries any mind – as if his mind is elsewhere, fearful, as if he saw this coming. As if he’s been warned.

★ Like a lost lamb without her shepherd, you go to Dazai for advice. You’ve seen him with countless women on his arms, albeit not for long once he scares them away with promises of double suicide, so surely he knows what to do… even if he was avoiding you as of late. It still comes as a surprise when he doesn’t spare you a second thought, acting as if you didn’t just ask for help with your new lover.

★ He’ll wait for you to plead, to get on your knees and cry and beg for him to open up to you again, to say how much you miss your nightly deep chats and his playful banter. He’ll feel bad at first, wondering if this is truly the right thing to do – Odasaku would never agree, but Dazai can’t help but regress to his old habits when you’re involved. He can’t lose you too, not when you were always within arm’s reach. 

★ But it needs to be done – this is the only way for you to prove how much you miss him, to realize how much you messed up without him so much as lifting a finger to help you realize your mistakes. That’s the only way your lesson will stick, after all. He’s had enough of keeping his dark side from you – you even went out of your way to bring it out with your own two hands, so you’ll have to pay the consequences. After all, lovers must love each other wholly.

★ When you’re at your lowest, depressed because your boyfriend seems to be leading you on and your best friend seems to hate you, Dazai will swoop back in with that charming smile and gentle eyes the hide a darkness you can never quite reach. You’re grateful, you’re happy, you’re obedient this time – anything to keep this side of him before your eyes.

★ “I’m always here for you, darling,“ he’ll say with honey-coated words. “He didn’t love you like I do”, he’ll coax as he strokes your cheek lovingly. You can see the mask back on his face, the mask you thought you’d successfully cracked, and you can’t help but fall prey to his words, feeling guilty that you’d done such a thing to your closest friend. 

★ He promises to let you atone for breaking his trust, promises to go back to his ‘old self’, all you have to do is forget about this other man…or rather, about any man besides him. And like a lamb to the slaughter – never questioning his darker motives, never questioning his twisted love – you do. Anything to go back to the old days, though he never had any intention of doing such a thing in the first place. No longer hiding, he’ll break you down to your constituents and build you anew, build you into a loyal lover than ever strays from his side this time.

[musicprincess655]

Dazai and Chuuya are, as it turns out, less than pleased to wake up to find a plot to infiltrate the Correctional Facility brewing right under their noses. Chuuya yells at them all about trying to get themselves killed for almost an hour while Dazai sits stone faced behind him. Atsushi feels a little bad that Gin gets included in this, because she didn’t know anything. He and Akutagawa both kept their plans from her.

Then, when Chuuya is done yelling, Dazai steps forward to offer his plan.

“There’s someone we need to talk to first,” he says. “Someone who knows more about No. 6 than the rest of us combined.”

“You’re finally involving him?” Chuuya asks. “Aren’t you the one who keeps saying we should leave him alone?”

“Suicide missions are special circumstances,” Dazai says. “Much as I can’t wait to go out in a blaze of glory, I do want it to be effective.”

“Who are we talking about?” Atsushi asks. He looks to Akutagawa, but Akutagawa shrugs.

“Someone I’ve known a very long time,” Dazai says. “Someone who deserves to live in peace, after everything he’s done for me.”

“Quit being cryptic,” Chuuya complains. “We’re going to see Oda.”

That doesn’t do anything to clear up Atsushi’s confusion, and by the looks on Akutagawa and Gin’s faces, they don’t know any more than him. Dazai and Chuuya don’t seem inclined to tell them anything more, so instead, Atsushi and the Akutagawa siblings follow them out the door.

“See?” Akutagawa says softly at Atsushi’s side, quiet enough to escape everyone else’s notice. “Everyone is so ready to help you. Don’t go charging in by yourself.”

“You were going to do the same thing,” Atsushi says. “And you lied too. You’re no better than me.”

“I was trying to help,” Akutagawa says. “Aren’t you the one who’s all big on helping others?”

“I never asked you to die for me,” Atsushi says. “I don’t want you to die for me.”

“Fine,” Akutagawa growls. “No more lies. No more goodbye kisses.”

“Done.”

Atsushi feels a little bad about that one, too. He’d gotten caught up in the moment, thinking it was the last time he’d be close to Akutagawa, and all his thoughts about his feelings had still been bubbling right under the surface, and he’d acted without thinking. He hadn’t even considered Akutagawa’s feelings on it, and he’d honestly expected Akutagawa to punch him for the kiss. That he’d let Atsushi do it, that he hadn’t retaliated, that now, he’s asking for Atsushi to never kiss him for a reason like that again, means that Atsushi has very seriously misjudged what Akutagawa might feel.

And that, surprisingly enough, is something he feels guilty about. He’s never had an issue using Akutagawa’s feelings to get him to do things before. This is different, though. Atsushi hadn’t really meant the kiss as a manipulation. He’d just wanted one, and it had been for all the wrong reasons. Of course Akutagawa wouldn’t want another like that.

Dazai leads them to a small, nondescript house in the middle of the West Block. It’s a little rundown, just like everything else in the area, but there’s nothing special about it. Atsushi could have passed it a thousand times without thinking anything of it.

Dazai knocks on the door, and a young woman answers, a little younger than Atsushi.

“Dazai-san!” she cheers. “Odasaku, Dazai-san’s here!”

“Can we come in, Sakura-chan?” Dazai asks. He’s much gentler with her than he is with other people. Atsushi’s curiosity rages. Who are these people, and what are they to Dazai?

“Who are they?” Sakura asks, stepping aside to let them enter.

“You remember Chuuya, don’t you?” Dazai asks. “He hasn’t grown any taller, after all.”

“Dazai!”

“Not the time,” Gin interrupts.

“I remember him,” Sakura says. “Who are they?”

“You know how Odasaku takes care of the five of you?” Dazai asks. “Chuuya and I look after the three of them.”

“Five?” Gin asks Chuuya quietly.

“Oda is a saint of a man,” Chuuya says. “He adopts orphans.”

“You took care of us.”

“You and your brother barely count. You basically adopted us right back.”

“What are we doing here?” Atsushi asks. “Who is Oda?”

“Dazai-kun, Chuuya-kun,” a voice enters the room, so much deeper than Sakura’s. “And you’ve brought your kids.”

“We’re all adults,” Akutagawa grumbles. Atsushi ignores him, trying to place the source of the voice.

An older man in a wheelchair looks at them curiously, eyes a strange rusty color.

“Odasaku, this is Gin, Ryuunosuke, and Atsushi,” Dazai says. “You three, this is Odasaku. He helped build No. 6.”

“Proof that we can’t all be perfect,” Oda says. “It’s good to finally meet you all. Well, good to meet Ryuu-kun and Atsushi-kun. It’s nice to see Gin-chan again.”

“We’ve met?” Gin asks.

“You were much smaller,” Oda says. “These two tried to pass you off to me. Something about them being too young to look after a child.”

“We were both nineteen at the time,” Chuuya says. “You already had all five of yours.”

“Prime reason for why I didn’t have room for another,” Oda says. “But I’m guessing you’re not here to catch up.”

“I’m sorry,” Atsushi cuts into the reunion. “You helped build No. 6?”

Akutagawa is tense by his side, and Atsushi half expects to have to stop him from leaping forward and beating Oda to death with his fists. Atsushi can’t let that fight happen. Oda is in a wheelchair, after all.

“I think we might have a lot to talk about,” Oda says. “Sakura-chan, would you mind making some tea?”

As she leaves, disappearing through a door into the house, Oda gestures for them all to sit. Atsushi ends up on the couch between Akutagawa and Gin, while Chuuya sits in an armchair and Dazai perches next to him on the arm.

“Now, Atsushi-kun, was it?” Oda asks. “Does that scar go all the way down?”

Atsushi brushes a reflexive hand under his eye. Nobody he spends time around pays the scar any attention anymore, used to it in his appearance. At Dazai’s encouraging nod, Atsushi unbuttons his shirt enough to show Oda where the scar cuts across his stomach.

“A parasitic wasp,” Oda says. “Never thought I’d see another survivor.”

“You know about the parasitic wasps?” Atsushi asks. Then, “there are more people like me?”

“Tell me everything you know,” Oda says. “From the beginning.”

So Atsushi does. He tells Oda of the corpse he investigated when he was still in No. 6, his suspicions about what causes the mysterious deaths, how the Akutagawa siblings saved him from No. 6, how he came to live in the West Block, his current mission to save Lucy. All the while, he can barely hold back questions of his own. He’s been looking, ever since he left No. 6, ever since the consequences no longer mattered, for the answers to the biggest lies. Oda, if he really did help build No. 6, should know more than anyone what those answers are.

Atsushi fully intends to interrogate Oda as soon as he finishes his story, but before he can say anything, twin cries of pain cut him off.

Both Gin and Akutagawa are doubled over in pain, clutching at their heads. Atsushi reaches for one and then the other, trying to help, trying to see what’s wrong. They weren’t attacked, and there’s no reason for something to only affect the two of them.

At his touch, both of them curl into them. Gin tries to worm between his body and the back of the couch, as if perhaps he can shield her from whatever is happening. Akutagawa buries his face in Atsushi’s shoulder, like he can block out this attack like the light.

“What’s happening?” Atsushi begs.

Chuuya is suddenly there, pulling Gin away from Atsushi, trying to get her to open her eyes and answer the same question. Atsushi turns his attention back to Akutagawa, who is slowly opening his eyes, panting, still wincing.

“There’s that damn song again,” he grumbles.

“What song?” Atsushi asks.

“You can hear it too?” Gin asks. She’s pulled her face mask down, and her hair has fallen around her face from where she clutched at it. “I thought it was just a dream.”

“I used to sing it to myself in the Correctional Facility, but I thought I forgot it,” Akutagawa says. “I keep having dreams about it, though.”

“Could you sing it now?” Oda asks. Atsushi expects both of them to refuse, but instead, they glance at each other and break into song.

Atsushi knows from Kyouka that they seem like different people when they sing, but he’s never seen it until now, and hadn’t truly appreciated what Kyouka meant. Their voices weave together in tight harmony, not at all how he would have expected either of them to sound, singing a song about humans stealing hearts, about the forces of nature embracing them and returning to them, about laying down to rest. Atsushi feels an unexpected peace steal over his heart. The light almost seems to shine brighter around them, dust motes floating through the air like shimmering gold, and the effect fades as soon as the siblings stop singing, collapsing once more into Atsushi’s sides.

It’s beautiful in a way that Atsushi isn’t sure he’s meant to touch.

“I never thought I’d meet someone who can sing that song again,” Oda says. “And now there’s two of you. No wonder No. 6 wanted you.”

“Wanted them for what?” Atsushi demands. “Who are you, really, and what do you know? Why did No. 6 want them? What does No. 6 want?”

Oda sits back in his chair with a sad smile.

“When we first started to build No. 6, this isn’t what any of us planned,” he says. “It was supposed to be a chance to start over. War and natural disaster ruined most of the planet, wiped out most of the population, but the last of the inhabitable land, the last of the people, we were meant to be brought together by tragedy. We were all full of passion, full of ideas of a perfect city without poverty or discrimination.”

“That worked out real well for you, didn’t it?” Akutagawa scoffs. Atsushi nudges his shoulder, eyes fixed on Oda.

“As with most things, a few people ruined it for everyone,” Oda says. “A few elites got the idea that they deserved more privileges, and they cut down anyone who stood against them. They turned No. 6 into the monster it is now. A beast surrounded by walls.”

“And what were you doing?” Atsushi asks. “With that monster you helped create?”

“I worked in a group that scouted the areas outside the walls,” Oda says. “We were supposed to see what land could be made habitable, and we were gone for months at a time. I didn’t see any of this until it was too late. I was too obsessed with my work, and with Elyurias.”

“Elyurias?”

Atsushi doesn’t miss the way both Akutagawa and Gin tense beside him.

“She’s something like a god,” Oda says. “She has power humans don’t, and she lives in the forests outside of No. 6. When I first met her, I couldn’t look away. I thought I could see in her a way to chase the vision I had for No. 6. With her power, the perfect world could be possible.”

“And that’s not what ended up happening, is it?” Atsushi asks. Oda shakes his head.

“I submitted my report to the higher ups,” he says. “I got chased out here for my troubles. The West Block didn’t exist yet. It was considered uninhabitable land, back then. But other people were driven out with me, and it didn’t take long for us to find a way to live.”

“And your higher ups took that report and burned our home to the ground,” Akutagawa says.

“Yes,” Oda confirms. “That was…almost fourteen years ago, now. You would have been, what?”

“Seven,” Akutagawa says. “Gin was five. We were lucky to escape with our lives.”

“You lived where Elyurias lived?” Atsushi asks.

“These two are the last survivors of the Forest Folk,” Oda says. “They protected Elyurias with their lives. So No. 6 took those away.”

Here is the answer to the question neither Atsushi nor Dazai was able to answer. It wasn’t that the village was a threat to No. 6. They had something No. 6 wanted. They had Elyurias, and when they wouldn’t give her up, No. 6 destroyed them.

Atsushi tightens his arms around Akutagawa and Gin’s shoulders.

“Here’s what I don’t understand,” Akutagawa says. “Neither of us remember our lives there. I don’t know Elyurias. I’ve never spoken to her.”

“What do you think that song is?” Oda asks. “Among the Forest Folk, there were some people who could speak to Elyurias. They were called Singers. That song you hear is her reaching out to you. Beckoning you.”

“Beckoning where?”

“That, I don’t know.” Oda sighs. “I was never truly a scientist. I was just supposed to find a new place for people to live. I don’t have the answers you want. And I can’t help you get into the Correctional Facility. Even if I did know anything about it, my information would be years out of date.”

“This is still more than we knew before,” Dazai says. “We know what No. 6 wants now. That’s a big one.”

“They’re experimenting on their own citizens again,” Oda says. “Or at least, they never stopped what they started when I was still there. They wanted to find a host for Elyurias, one they could control. That might be what your friend Lucy is caught up in.”

“Then they won’t kill her?” Atsushi asks.

“No, but she might wish they had,” Chuuya says darkly. “If that’s all you can tell us, we should get going. We don’t want to bother you for too long.”

“You’re always welcome here, Chuuya-kun,” Oda says. “You can always come along when Dazai-kun visits.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Atsushi has plenty to turn over in his mind as they walk back to the bunker. The origins of No. 6, the village where Akutagawa and Gin grew up, Elyurias. The relationship Dazai, Chuuya, and Oda have is something that can wait for later examination.

Atsushi is so wrapped up in his thoughts that he doesn’t even realize someone is in the bunker when they return until Akutagawa stops dead beside him.

Kyouka stands placidly inside the room, a woman Atsushi doesn’t recognize sitting beside her.

“Ane-san?” Chuuya asks. “What are you doing here?”

“If it’s a request from Kyouka-chan, how can I refuse?” the woman replies. Ane-san, Chuuya called her. That must make this woman Kouyou.

“The information you asked for isn’t something I can get on my own,” Kyouka tells Akutagawa. “She agreed to help.”

“We have an idea for getting the information you need,” Kouyou says. “But I doubt anyone here will like it.”

Atsushi, Akutagawa, and Gin sit on the couch, Dazai and Chuuya taking the spare chair. Chuuya leans forward.

“What’s the idea?”