Chapter Text
I
Monster in the Moonlight
A beautiful sunset reflected on the calm riverbanks of Yokohama. Clouds drifted lazily, painted with hues of red and yellow from the dropping ball of fire. To any others, it was a sign of the end of the day. To another, it looked like….
...A bowl of Chazuke?
A boy was lying face down on the grassy banks of the river. He was starving to death and the only thing he could see was a bowl of Chazuke. The dried plum peppered with seaweed, and chicken, coupled with salted kelp.
Slight drool escaped his mouth and his stomach let out a ravenous sound. Tears prickled the boy's eyes as he sat up. Reality was catching up to him.
The boy had white choppy hair with a single side bang on his right side. He had unique tiger yellow eyes that were filled with hunger and desolation.
His name was Atsushi. He was currently on the brink of starvation. He had been kicked out of the orphanage he had been currently occupying and was now penniless and starving.
Yes… the boy’s life sucked…. Badly.
Atsushi stood up, his eyes glinting as he stared at the river resolutely. “I’m going to survive!” He exclaimed loudly. He paused, pondering on how to get the lovely Chazuke in his stomach. ‘I’m going to mug the next person. Survival is necessary.’ He decided, pumping a fist in the air.
He glanced around to find a person to mug when he saw a nice fancy hat floating in the river. It was black with a small chain on the side and crimson ribbon around it. Atsushi’s eyes glinted. Perhaps the hat would be worth something.
Decision made, he quickly waded through the stream and snatched the hat, quickly making his way back onto the desolate river banks. As he examined the soaking but still in good conditioned hat, he heard a loud voice.
“Fuck! My hat!!!” A slightly high pitched but male voice yelled in panic. “Where did it fly to?”
Following the voice, Atsushi turned to see a short, almost child like figure rushing towards the edge of the river bank a few feet from him. The person had not spotted him yet, too busy scanning the river. Atsushi took that moment to take a look at the man. The person had uniquely styled hair, curled and wild that lengthened on one side of his hair. It was a unique color of bright orange that caught his eyes other than the person’s voice or height.
The next thing that caught his eyes was the person’s clothes.
The person wore very fine but dark clothes. He was in a black suit with a lighter grey best. He wore a white button up collared shirt that peeked out with a strange x shaped cross over it. He also had a small black choker around his neck. A large ankle-length black coat with light-coloured lining and lapels sat upon his shoulders like a cape.
He looked rich.
Atsushi took a step forward when the person turned around, his bright blue eyes meeting Atsushi’s. Atsushi blinked at the beautiful almost feminine face before he realized the person was a male. The pretty man’s eyes zeroed onto the hat and in a flash, he was in front of Atsushi, holding the hat to his chest.
Atsushi staggered backwards in surprise, the man had moved so fast!
The person grinned, setting the hat on his head despite the dampness. “You must have saved my hat.” It was a statement, not a question.
Atsushi nodded warily. “I did.” He said slowly.
“Thanks!” The other said cheerfully before offering a hand, “Nakahara Chuuya.”
“Nakajima Atsushi.” Atsushi said slowly. “You’re welcome I guess.”
Chuuya opened his mouth to say something when Atsushi’s stomach let out an enormous growl. There was a pause before Chuuya burst out laughing and Atsushi flushed red.
“...Are you hungry?” Chuuya asked tentatively.
Atsushi sighed, “To be honest, I haven’t eaten in several days….”
GROOOOWWWLLLLL
“This hat is very important to me.” Chuuya informed the white haired boy, “Since you saved it, I’ll treat to you dinner. What do you want to eat?”
Chuuya began to turn to walk away when a loud yell caused the short man to jump, back rigid.
“HEEEEEYYYYY!!!!”
Chuuya turned around, his face pale and eyes wide, “Shit!”
“So this was where you ran off to!” The person who yelled at them snapped out from across the banks. He was also a tall well dressed man with a vest and a ribbon around his neck. He had blonde hair and glasses.
Chuuya offered a weak smile. “K-kunikida!”
Kunikida crossed his arms, a frown in his face. “You ran off so suddenly in the middle of the job that I had to finish everything by myself! You’re usually not like this so what set you off Chuuya? Other than your horrendous drinking habits, you’re not too hard to manage!”
Chuuya flushed, “Who the hell are you calling a terrible drinker?!” He shouted back, waving his fist, “But now that you’re here, you can treat this guy!”
“Don’t go using my wallet on your whims!” Kunikida screamed out, “I know you have enough money on your own! With your clothes and everything, you must have a lot from your previous work”
Chuuya winced, “I… don’t really like using it too much!” He called out. “I’m only using the money I get from the Agency! You’ve been there longer so you should have more money!”
“If you stop using your money on your wine, you would have more!” Kunikida screamed.
Chuuya crossed his arms, ignoring the fuming Kunikida as he turned to the confused Atsushi, “So what do you want eat? Glasses there will treat you.” That caused another violent spiel from said ‘glasses.’
“If it isn’t so much trouble…” Atsushi began, “Can I please have Chizuke?”
“Chuuya!” Kunikida growled, “Feeding the boy is great and all but we don’t have time for this!”
Chuuya shrugged, “I was indebted to him.”
“You suddenly ran off,” Kunikida continued, “And one else can catch up to your speed in the agency, mins you. Now, because of you, I’m so behind on my schedule.”
“I’m not always causing you trouble.” Chuuya frowned, “I do my work you know! You could have someone else who is lazy and causes you trouble and makes you do all the work and tease you and is suicidal….” He suddenly trailed off, his face turning carefully blank before forcing a smile. “But you have someone as great as me!”
“That’s not the point!” Kunikida roared before he slammed his notebook down in front of Chuuya and Atsushi who startled. “You ruined my schedule and even once is a serious problem1”
Atsushi tipped his head.
As if Atsushi had asked a question, Kunikida began to rant. “This is not just a regular notebook either. It is my aspiration! The compass of my life! There is no ‘run after Chuuya’ or ‘feed some boy Chazuke’ in any of my schedule! You made me off schedule!” He pointed an accusatory finger at Atsushi before turning it towards Chuuya who was leaning back on his chair and yawning.
“Mngunumuu?” Atsushi mumbled through chewing.
Kunikida slammed his fist on the table, “We are busy people with work! Chuuya here ran off so he didn’t hear everything but the government has asked us to go capture a wild beast!”
“A wild beast?” Atsushi wondered out loud.
Chuuya grinned, “Apparently it’s a dangerous one.” He rolled his shoulders, “I haven’t been able to let loose in a while. Hopefully this serves as some challenge!”
“Well, thank you so much for the food!” Atsushi exclaimed. “After I got kicked out from the orphanage, I had to fend for myself.”
“What?!” Chuuya exclaimed, “What kind of fucking bastards would do that?” He cracked his knuckles, “I ought to set them straight! No child deserves to be thrown on the streets!” His eyes darkened.
“Calm down Chuuya.” Kunikida sighed. “Besides, that’s out of our hands. We’re not taking pity on unfortunate brats. We’re not a charity.”
“If you’re not charity, what do you do anyways?” Atsushi tipped his head.
Chuuya grinned, “We’re detectives!”
Kunikida grunted, “We’re not those detective that do little things like looking for lost cats. We specialize in especially important murders. Have you heard of the armed detective agency?”
“Why the hell are we following this kid around?” Kunikida grumbled.
The two were walking behind Atsushi who glanced at the two detectives nervously as he continue to walk down the road while looking for shelter.
‘“Because.” Chuuya hissed back, “He saved my hat and he said he was being followed by that tiger. If we follow him or stay near him, the tiger may come.”
Kunikida pressed up his glasses, “Your idea better be good.” He said warily.
“Hey! My plans aren’t bad. They might not always work like some people’s but they are often successful.” Chuuya protested.
Atsushi suddenly froze in the middle of the street as a loud clang was heard. Immediately he got in a feral position. Chuuya and Kunikida froze as well, their senses alert as they looked around.
Chuuya’s face turned serious as he raised a hand, his other gripping the collar of his long coat.
“Kunikida, can you check that out?” Chuuya questioned his whole body tense. His raised hand slipped inside his coat to close on the tilt of his knife.
Kunikida nodded shortly, “On it.”
“I-i-i-it’s here!” Atsushi stammered, eyes wide in panic. “It’s here to get me!”
“Calm down.” Chuuya informed him, “Kunikida went to check. Besides,” He cracked his knuckles with a smirk on his face, “I’ll beat it to pulp.” He promised confidently.
Chuuya turned his back on the boy to look around the area they had stopped. They were in the middle of a neighborhood, right at the point of intersection, leaving four different opening that the tiger could appear on. The neighborhood was closed off by brick walls so it was impossible to see beyond it nor try to escape through there.
Twisting his head side to side, he looked around, eyes darting around to look for any signs of movement. He also kept an eye out for Kunikida to return. There was something awfully wrong about this night. His instinct told him right now to run and leave everything behind. The last time his instincts told him that was the time that he had to use tainted.
Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, he frowned. “Hey, I don’t sense anything particular. We should move…”
Chuuya trailed off when he felt something behind him and he slowly turned around, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw Atsushi’s eyes roll back and his body began to change.
Without hesitation, Chuuya jumped back, raising an arm to cover his face as the pavement where he had been standing before exploded, large pieces of concrete showering outward as a large paw slammed onto the ground.
“Well...shit.” He stared at the enormous white tiger with familiar golden eyes. “That brat’s the tiger?” The boy’s characteristics and his unique situation began to make sense as well as the things the boy had told them happening around him. “He doesn’t realize what he is.” He said out loud, his eyes meeting the tiger’s sentient yellow eyes.
The tiger let out a deep guttural roar before it lunged at him. Chuuya easily manipulated his ability to jump over the tiger, flipping and landing behind it neatly as the tiger whirled around to rush at him again. Chuuya turned, bracing his feet as he slightly bent his knees, his fist cocked back. The ground underneath his shoes cracked.
When the tiger was just a few centimeters in front of him, Chuuya drove his fist on the tiger’s large head, his whole body twisting as he slamming the tiger on to the ground by the force of his fist.
Atsushi predictably went down… hard. A huge tiger shaped crater surrounded him as he lied there, knocked out cold.
Rolling his shoulders, Chuuya let out a yawn. “And I thought he would give me some trouble.” He mumbled before he looked down to examine the tiger.
Chuuya nudged the still body with the tip of his shoe, frowning when he realized the tiger was completely knocked out. “Oi oi. Wake up! I”m not fucking carrying you anywhere or leaving you here!”
The tiger predictably did not respond.
Chuuya scratched his head, he suddenly realized the direness of his situation. He can’t just carry around an enormous tiger around in the middle of Yokohama! “Shouldn’t he have shifted back by now?”
Predictably there was no answer and Chuuya let out a frustrated sigh. With a groan, he took a step closer to pick the tiger up. Before his hand could touch Atsushi’s body, he heard clapping sounds. The sounds echoed eerily at the intersection, bouncing off the walls and making it impossible to detect where the origin of the sound was coming from.
Chuuya tensed, his whole body coiling in a crouched position as his head twisted side to side, trying to figure out where the clapping sounds came from.
He felt his blood chill and body freeze when very familiar lanky arms hugged him from behind, over his shoulders.
Dark locks tickled his cheeks as a chin rested on his shoulders.
“Wahhh~ The tiger’s knocked out cold!” A voice stated cheerfully. “Chuuya is so strong~”
Chuuya couldn’t move. Blood pounded in his head and he felt his body trembling slightly, from what, he didn’t know. His mouth felt dry and his pupils dilated.
“I was looking for Chuuya~” The voice continued, “And I finally found you~”
Chuuya’s spit was caught on his throat and he knew he was beginning to hyperventilate.
“Chuuuuuuuyaaaaa.” The voice drawled out as the arms around him tightened. Chuuya let out a yelp as he felt pain blossom on his left ear, “Are you ignoring me?” The voice had turned from cheerful and teasing to dark and dangerous.
“Did you just fucking bite me?” Chuuya shrieked, finally getting out of his stupor. “What the fuck?!” He felt a chill race through his spine at the change in the voice’s inflection.
“Ahhh! Chuuya finally answered me!” The voice stated cheerfully before snuggling into Chuuya. “I missed youuuuuuuu~”
“Get off of me!” Chuuya stated heatedly while his eyes flickered around, looking for escape or Kunikida. He didn’t want the man coming here to see this scene.
Not because he was embarrassed but because he knew Kunikida would not leave alive if he saw this moment.
“Waaaahhh Chuuya is so mean.” He could hear the pout in the person’s voice as the arms around him loosened and left him. Chuuya turned around, his teeth bared in a small snarl of distaste. However, he knew that no matter how hard he tried, the other would be able to see the palpable fear inside him.
The full moon shone its light on the clearing, bathing the tiger’s body in its light, turning it back into Atsushi’s prone form. It also illuminated the the man standing in front of him, shining him with an ethereal glow.
Chuuya felt his heart stop at the other’s face. The moment those arms had wound around him, he had known who it was. However, it was very different from knowing to seeing his face again.
He hadn’t changed at all.
White bandages were wrapped around one eye along with a large patch on his cheek. The man had dark brown hair that framed his face along with the small smirk on his lips. Dead brown eyes stared back at him.
He wore mafia black. From head to toe except the white button up shirt. A black tie, crooked, sat around his neck and an oversized coat sat upon his shoulder like a cape, much like how Chuuya wore his. His suit jacket was folded along the arms, stopping short of his elbow. Bandages were wound on his arms and one could see more bandages around the person’s neck.
Chuuya took a sharp intake of breath before asking, “What the fuck are you doing here, Dazai?” He felt proud of how steady his voice was. His voice had not betrayed him yet.
Dazai smirked, “I already told you. Have you gone deaf, Chibi? I wanted to see you again!”
“Well you saw me.” Chuuya snapped, “Now leave.” His whole body tensed, seeing him again just spelled for trouble.
“I can’t do that.” Dazai’s voice had turned cold and dull. His lone brown eye stared at him down. “I came here to get the Jinko you see.” His lone brown eye turned frostier.
“I won’t let you take him.” Chuuya growled. His hand landed on his hat, allowing him to push it tighter down on his head, “I don’t need my ability to kill you.” His left hand clenched into a fist.
“Perhaps not.” Dazai mused, “But killing me doesn’t mean defeating Port Mafia.” He said it so knowingly, as if he knew exactly what Chuuya was thinking and exactly what he would do. It was disconcerting.
“I don’t need to defeat Port Mafia.” Chuuya snapped. “Besides, if I can kill you now, there will be no one to stop me.” It was true, if Chuuya truly wanted to defeat Port Mafia after Dazai’s death, all he had to do was use tainted. Not everyone would be killed before Chuuya’s time was up but Port Mafia would be thoroughly destroyed and would take years for it to rebuild itself.
Dazai tilted his head, an amused smirk on his lips, “But can you kill me Chuuya?” His knowing tone infuriated Chuuya because Chuuya knew that he couldn’t kill Dazai. Not from the lack of will or even from the lack of strength but because unless Dazai wanted to die, he wouldn’t.
Chuuya opened his mouth to answer when Dazai continued, “Besides, your little friend in glasses, your new… partner, won’t be able to defeat Akutagawa.” He stated the word ‘partner’ with disgust.
Chuuya jolted, “You fucking bastard! What did you do to him?” He felt fear fill him, more than what he was currently feeling now. Chuuya had no doubt that he would survive this encounter with barely a scratch. The only one who was strong enough to even harm him was the Port Mafia boss and Kouyou-neesan after all. He knew for sure that both was not present at this moment.
Kunikida, however, was a different story. Although Kunikida had a unique ability and a good head on his shoulder, he wasn’t anywhere near Akutagawa’s vicious ability. Not to mention that Akutagawa would do anything to win Dazai’s favor, anything.
“The question you should be asking,” Dazai shook his head, “Is what I will be doing to him.” He smiled, “Aaaannnndddd the phone should ring about… now.”
As if on cue, the phone rang. Dazai picked it up, smiling as he flipped it open. The smile did not read his dead fish eyes and that frightened Chuuya more than anything. The man in front of him held no love for Kunikida and the only thing stopping him from torturing Kunikida was Chuuya. He left the phone in speaker mode so that Chuuya could hear what the other was saying.
“Dazai-san.” Akutagawa’s voice sounded from the speaker, “I got him.” The pure devotion in his voice was sickening.
“Good work Akutagawa-kun!” Dazai said cheerfully while staring at Chuuya challengingly. “His power involves writing, right? Why don’t you cut off his fingers so his power becomes useless~”
“As you wi-” Akutagawa begin when Chuuya interrupted, “Stop!”
Akutagawa seemed startled by the familiar voice, “Chuuya-san?” His voice held uncertainty, even Akutagawa had a healthy dose of fear and respect for Chuuya.
“I swear to God that if you touch his hair, Akutagawa, I’m going to end you.” Chuuya snarled in anger, “And everyone you care about.” The ground around him began to crack, “You would do well to heed my warning.”
“What a mafia thing to say~” Dazai said cheerfully, uncaring of the display of power and anger surrounding Chuuya.
“Chuuya?” Kunikida’s voice sounded over the phone, sounding pained and almost desperate. He did not know how these men knew Chuuya but that could come later… if he survived the encounter. “Take the boy and run! They aren’t to be trifled with! Don’t mind me!”
Dazai stared at the phone in disgust, “Akutagawa, you have your orders.” His voice had turned emotionless, flat. His dead eyes bore into the phone as if he could see Kunikida.
There was hesitance in Akutagawa’s voice as he warred over his loyalty to Dazai and to his fear of Chuuya’s promise. His loyalty to Dazai won out. “....As you wish, Dazai-san.”
“Wait!” Chuuya shouted again, “Dazai, please. I’ll do whatever you want, leave him alone.” The only way to get through this was Dazai, the one who held the key to everything.
“Anything?” Dazai’s eyes glinted. Glee shone in his eyes as his plan obviously came into fruition.
Chuuya swallowed, “Under certain limits. I refuse to leave the agency.” He wanted to bang his head on the wall; he should never have promised something so broad but it was the only thing that probably Dazai would have stopped for.
Dazai pouted before shrugging, “Okay then~ Akutagawa, knock him out and go back to base. Leave him on the streets… or in the dumpster. I’ll handle things from here.”
“.... Yes, Dazai-san.” The relief in Akutagawa’s voice was palpable. The line went silent.
Chuuya looked down at the floor in defeat, “What do you want Dazai?”
“It’s been four years already since we last met!” Dazai said cheerfully, picking his way past Atsushi’s prone body. He paused in front of Chuuya and Chuuya concentrated on looking at Dazai’s shoes. He felt his heart clench as he realized that the worn, bloodstained shoe was the same one he had bought Dazai four years ago. He closed his eyes as he felt Dazai’s hand reach out to raise his chin so that Chuuya was meeting his gaze. Chuuya opened his eyes to stare directly into Dazai’s lone eye.
“All I want is just a kiss!” Dazai flashed a smile. “That’s not too hard is it?”
“A kiss?” Chuuya couldn’t believe his ears, “You did all this for just a fucking kiss?!”
“It’s not just a kiss!” Dazai pouted, “It’s Chuuya’s kiss in four years! So I went looking for you~”
Chuuya looked at him blankly, “You’re not going to try to drag me back or anything?”
Dazai’s eyes darkened, “Not yet.” He said softly, calculatingly.“When the time comes, you’ll want to come back.”
Chuuya stared at him aghast before nodding jerkily, “And Atsushi?”
Dazai stared down at the fainted werecat, “Well,” He smiled cheekily, “If you give me another kiss, I’ll leave peacefully and the werecat can be in your care for another day or two.”
Chuuya hesitated before stepping closer, his eyes meeting Dazai’s dark eye. He felt fear and something else when he saw the lust and insanity in Dazai’s single eye as he stared at Chuuya hungrily.
With a trembling hand, he grabbed Dazai’s tie and pulled the man’s face closer to him. Hesitating, he planted a quick peck on the lips before starting to back away.
“Nah-ah!” Dazai’s hand whipped out, grabbing his arm, “That’s not a kiss!”
“Yes it is, you shitty bastard!” Chuuya snapped.
Dazai stared at him before glancing back down at Atsushi. The meaning was clear and Chuuya gritted his teeth before grabbing the bastard’s tie again and forced their lips together. He could feel the other’s grin as Chuuya opened his mouth, letting the other’s tongue in.
Immediately, Dazai took control, pressing Chuuya’s smaller body against his own as he ravished the smaller male’s mouth. Chuuya couldn’t help moan to his horror. It felt so right and Chuuya knew that he had missed this no matter how much he would deny it later.
The two finally separated when they ran out of breath.
“There.” Chuuya snapped, backing away, his limbs shaking when he felt some semblance of control. He felt mortified of how long that had gone on and the sounds he had made.
Dazai was frowned, his eye however glinted victoriously, before he smiled confidently, “Now that I know where you are, I’ll leave peacefully although I think you still owe me a kiss.”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t know where I was.” Chuuya stated, he was actually surprised that the man had approached him so late.
Dazai frowned, his single eye narrowing, “Chuuya is so mean, I was overseas for four years, ever since you left. In France of course, I was looking for you there.” He smiled coldly, “I came back a few hours ago.” He paused before continuing, “I miscalculated.” He admitted freely, “I thought you would have gone to France… no you would have gone to France but you didn’t choose, right Chuuya?” Dazai smiled, “Someone else told you where to go and hid you from my eyesight all these years. There are very few people in the world who can do that. I must say I know exactly who.”
Chuuya felt his blood run cold as the other turned around and began to walk away, a single hand waving in goodbye.
“Now that I’m in Yokohama again and I know exactly where you are and who you are with, I’ll see you again soon~” Dazai laughed before he disappeared in the shadows.
Chuuya let go of a breath that he hadn’t known he was holding when Dazai disappeared from sight. He fell to his knees next to Atsushi’s prone body, his whole body trembling.
Four years and the bastard still held so much power over him and the bastard knew it too.
Chuuya clenched his fist, hating the fact that the single kiss made him weak on his knees.
He truly hated the Dazai who had changed so much.
Most of all, he hated himself and the heart that beated faster whenever the bastard was there.