Chapter Text
"Oda… saku?"
Before opening his eyes, Osamu Dazai already knew three things.
One: he was naked on a cold ground made of stone.
Two: he was handcuffed to the wall by his left wrist.
Three: he was inside a Port Mafia’s cell.
Indeed, when Dazai opened his eyes, he confirmed all those things were true. He was lying on a hard floor that hurt his bones. The chain attached to his hand wasn’t long enough to allow him to move much. He could hear screams of other people in the background, who were banging the well known metal bars of the mafia’s prison.
The only thing Dazai didn’t predict was seeing Sakunosuke Oda’s face upon his own.
The man was staring down at him, kneeling by his side, frowning with a worried expression in his face.
Dazai froze. It wasn’t happening. Oda died four years ago.
Was he dreaming?
Was he dead?
"So… I made it.. eventually, huh?" Dazai raised his hand to cup Oda’s cheek. "Hell looks like Heaven more than I expected."
When Dazai’s fingers touched Oda’s face, he instantly disappeared. Dazai sat up, startled. The handcuff stretched his wrist and hurt him. He winced, stepped back and leaned against the wall.
Oda was the result of an ability, then.
Such a disappointment. No skill could bring the dead back to life, Dazai had looked for that kind of ability user before. Someone had recreated a physical image of Oda.
Furthermore, the user knew Dazai intimately. Otherwise, they would have created another person, such an ADA member like Atsushi or Kunikida.
And no one knew about Oda’s relationship with Dazai, but Ango and Akutagawa, whose abilities were different.
Dazai knew, without a doubt, who was the only person in the world able to create that situation.
Despite knowing he was fake, as soon as Oda appeared again, something moved inside Dazai. His feelings overcame his logic.
Oda was standing in the corner of the cell, out of reach, staring at him again. Dazai tried to crawl towards Oda, but the chain didn’t let him get close enough.
Dazai used his other hand to look for a hidden hairpin in his head, because he always carried one with him. Nothing. He was also naked and without his bandages, so he couldn't use any other thing to free himself. Of course, he had been examined thoroughly.
Ah… that clever motherfucker of a capturer.
"Come closer, Odasaku" Dazai whispered, kneeled half way between them, waving the free hand and trying to reach him. "Can you hear me? Can you talk to me?"
Oda walked a few steps and crouched down in front of him. He seemed real. The image was solid, not a ghost. The recreation was carefully detailed.
He was as imperfectly perfect as Dazai remembered.
Over the years, Oda’s features had faded in Dazai's memory, especially in his dreams and nightmares, where he could no longer see his face. Dazai took a moment to examine him.
Oda was wearing the same clothes he wore the day he died. His red hair was messy, due to the swirl in the middle of his forehead, that always made a strand of hair stand up in his head. His eyes were the same colour, a shade of brown that started darker in the pupil, and faded to a lighter shade towards the end of the iris. A few short hairs covered his jaw, its shape so square that blades could be sharpened in it.
His face, his face…
Dazai raised his hand and put it over Oda’s mouth, without touching him. Just holding the fingers above the lips. With his other hand, he pulled the chain as far as he could and did the same gesture in Oda’s cheek. Dazai wanted to touch him so bad.
He would be willing to die to touch the real Oda just one more time.
Oda smiled and raised his hand to place it on Dazai’s head.
"No!" Dazai screamed, running away from him.
Too late. Oda had touched one of Dazai’s hairs. He wasn’t there anymore.
A cruel laugh echoed through the cell. Dazai, furious, turned towards the noise. The handcuff gave a tug that made him fall backwards. The light that came through the thick bars of the prison was blinding.
Resigned, Dazai looked at the silhouette of the ability user.
Dazai's eyes were black as coal.
"That was a really low blow." he snapped. "Are you running out of good tricks to play with me?"
"Tch, tch, tch" Ougai Mori answered. "That’s not the right way to address your boss."
"My boss is Yukichi Fukuzawa. You are a miserable man who runs a rotten organization."
"Oh… you’re so wrong" Mori replied, pursing his lips and faking dissapointment. "So you don’t remember… well, I gave you hard sedatives to lock you here. You should know I’m your boss now, and you’ll treat me respectfully as the executive you are."
Dazai laughed so hard that he hurt his head against the wall.
"Don’t lecture me. I made it clear I’d only return by your side to murder you. I don’t remember how I got inside here, but you know well that I’ll go out and back to the Agency."
"You're still so predictable to me, Dazai" Mori continued with his fake disappointed voice. "You’ll never be more than a child who needs to be grounded. I thought that all this time in the ADA would have changed something in you. Instead, your past will always be your greatest weakness."
"Do you want to talk about weaknesses?" Dazai smiled. "You’re aware I’m the only one who knows your precious little secret."
Mori smiled back. He seemed entertained. As if he had missed talking to someone on the same level.
"Give it a month, and everything I said will come true” Mori said.
Dazai had discovered Mori’s true ability when he was 16 years old. Mori could make a replica of any dead person, as long as he had seen them before.
Like Elise, his first love, who Mori reincarnated... as a child.
Everyone else in the Port Mafia thought that only Elise was his ability, except for Dazai. He never said anything, because Mori could control the illusions at will, so the secret was useful in special operations.
Mori snapped his fingers, in a dramatic and unnecessary gesture. Oda reappeared. Standing next to Mori, outside the cell.
"Is that how you brought me here?" Dazai’s black eyes met Mori’s purple ones. "Are you using him against me?"
"I didn’t bring you anywhere, you came to me. I only put you on this cell" Mori answered. "Although, you smart boy, you’re right. Of course I’m going to use him against you."
Mori took a scalpel out of his clothes and stabbed Oda in the heart. Oda fell to his knees, grabbing his chest, blood flowing out of control between his fingers.
Dazai clenched one hand behind his back, so tightly that his nails hurt his palm. His lips trembled for a second, then he put his perfect poker face back. He leaned against the wall slowly, stretched his legs and laughed again.
Dazai tried to pretend that the scene didn’t disturb him at all.
"So you think you can hurt me this way?" Dazai’s voice was indifferent when he spoke. "I expected more from you, too. I’ve seen him die hundreds of times in my mind. I got over that grief a long time ago."
"Lying to yourself will bring you nothing but pain in the future" Mori replied.
He stepped over Oda’s body calmly, as he walked away from the cell.
The man stayed on the ground, screaming until he died. He was left with his open dead eyes looking at Dazai, and one hand lying towards the inside of the prison, as if asking for help.
Dazai desperately crawled forward and stretched his hand, trying to touch Oda, to end the show... but he couldn’t reach him.
He seemed real. The image was just like Oda. It was the same as reliving Dazai’s trauma all over again. If Dazai kept looking at the dead body, he would go crazy.
Dazai gathered all his strength left, and turned his head to look in a different direction.
When Mori was far enough, Oda finally disappeared. Dazai, still lying on the ground and looking into nothingness, saw Mori walking away. A little girl was bouncing next to him, with her blonde hair and a red dress fluttering around her.
That night, Dazai woke up sweating and with a racing heart from a nightmare. He looked around, he was alone in the cell. His mind was clearer now.
He remembered everything.
Mori was right, Dazai was there willingly.
During the fight against the vampires, Fukuzawa and Mori made a deal to transfer one of the ADA members to the Port Mafia.
Atsushi and Tanizaki offered themselves. Their good heart didn’t understand what they were volunteering for.
However, Dazai had other plans. It didn’t matter what Mori wanted, because Dazai had already decided who would be transferred.
The day of the exchanging, the Port Mafia and the ADA met in a neutral location. All ADA members were present, except Yosano. Mori showed up with his personal defense squad.
The agreement specified that Mori was free to choose any of them, so he was having fun and joking about it. Elise jumped around him, singing and asking for a “handsome boy”. The agents laughed at the girl’s excitement.
Next to Dazai, Fukuzawa grabbed the hilt of his sword tightly.
"I came to fulfill my part of the deal" he said. "Pick one of us and stop wasting our time."
"Wow… how rude. Well, let’s get to it" Mori’s voice dropped and Elise fell silent. "Order the weretiger to come to me."
Atsushi stepped forward. He was willing to sacrifice himself without a fear. He expected it. And accepted it. That was Atsushi.
Dazai placed a hand on the man’s shoulder and stopped him.
"Don’t move. I’ll go."
Mori burst into laughter. He laughed and laughed, again and again. He even clapped his hands a couple of times.
"Well done, Dazai, well done. What a representation of the goodness of your heart. Why do you think I’ll let you come back to me?"
"You said it yourself, my job as an executive is still vacant. I know you want to choose me, and you don’t do it, just because you think I won’t be loyal to you."
"It’s a logical conclusion after that… incident."
Dazai gritted his teeth. He had to endure the game. He was the only ADA member able to put up with Mori’s manipulation.
No one else could do it.
Mori would break whoever he wanted.
Except Fukuzawa, but he wasn’t an option, the members needed their boss. So Dazai had to sacrifice himself and survive whatever Mori had planned.
Anyway, Mori was pretending. He wasn’t afraid of being murdered by Dazai, because he was the only alternative to be the mafia boss. If Mori died, someone like the former boss could take over his job.
And Mori knew that Dazai would rather have the lesser evil.
That was the only reason why Dazai hadn't killed him yet. Dazai was his perfect rival, the one who knew and understood Mori’s mind the best. The one who could predict his strategies.
The Agency had an advantage with Mori alive and Dazai as a member.
Dazai would be the chosen one.
"Use your logic, Mori" Dazai replied. "I'm your optimal choice."
They both smiled. They knew they were playing with each other.
"You'll come back to me as my right hand man'' Mori agreed. "Your blood is mafia black, you can’t avoid your destiny. You’ll soon learn to be loyal to your home again."