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Something is terribly wrong, and both of them know it. There’s a silence between the two of them, which isn’t all that unusual in and of itself save for the fact that they aren’t at each other’s throats. And normally, Chuuya would be thrilled that Dazai has nothing to say for once, except that he knows that a quiet Dazai is a dangerous one.
“Oi!” He barks, glancing back at his partner. Dazai is perched on an overturned oil drum, legs crossed neatly over one another and staring up at the sky. At the sound of Chuuya’s voice, his eyes flicker downward towards his partner. “What’s going on in that mind of yours Dazai?”
Dazai tilts his head at him, visible eye blinking once, twice, before giving him a grin. “Thought you said I wasn’t capable of thinking Chuuya.”
“Shut up.” The redhead mumbles, moving to sit next to his partner. His feet aren’t long enough to touch the ground and he glares at Dazai, daring him to make a crack about his height as he is so prone to do.
When his only response is to smile, Chuuya knows for sure that something is very, very wrong. He’s trying desperately to figure out just what it is when Dazai speaks again.
“I’m thinking I’m going to head out for a while.”
It’s an innocent statement. It’s a simple statement. It could mean something as basic as, ‘I’m going to get a few drinks, walk about town for a bit.’
It could mean that, but it doesn’t. It’s so much more, so very serious, and Dazai doesn’t seem fazed at all by what he’s just said and what it means.
What it means is that Dazai is turning traitor. What it means is that he’s abandoning everything he’s known in life, abandoning the Port Mafia, abandoning Chuuya. It means that there will be a bounty on his head the size of which Chuuya can barely comprehend. And all he has to go on is this one simple sentence, but him and Dazai have been partners for a long time and Chuuya knows better, knows that tone of Dazai’s voice, knows that look in his eye, and can feel deep down that things are very wrong.
And Dazai knows that, and Chuuya knows that, but most importantly, Dazai knows that Chuuya knows.
For once in his life, Chuuya is at a loss for words. “Yeah?” Is what he manages to get out, staring hard at his partner.
The taller male hums in response. “Yeah.”
His mind is obviously made up, and nothing Chuuya says at this point will matter because Dazai is the most stubborn man he’s ever had the misfortune to know. Dazai must get something out of his silence, because he stands up, brushing dirt off of his coat and starts to walk off.
“Dazai!” Chuuya leaps off the oil drum after the other, stopping just behind him. He’s moved on impulse as he has for all of his life, with no plan as to what he’s actually going to do.
“Chuuya.” Dazai stops and twists his head back to glance at his partner. The moon is out and it forms a twisted sort of halo behind his head, making his bandages glow in the pale light.
He stops and stares and considered everything the two of them have been through together. He considers what Dazai leaving means for the future, and what will happen the next time the two of them meet. He considers all this-and then takes a step back.
“See you later.” He mumbles, staring at the ground.
*
Hours later, when he’s left alone in his apartment, he turns over a bottle of ‘89 Petrus and debates when exactly he should let Mori know that his partner has gone rogue. He figures that he can give Dazai one nights head start, just for old times sake.
He pops the cork from the bottle, and takes a long drink straight it, trying to ignore how much abandonment hurts.