Chapter Text
A clock ticked, clouds shifted. A phone rang, for the 9th time this hour. The sun rose and still Dazai hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. He was too busy thinking.
It had been a couple of months since the dragon head conflict, and he could feel the air begin to shift again. He could always feel when a change was coming. He felt it when he met Mori. When he first heard the name Arahabaki. When a certain assassin was moving around more frequently. When he can smell a familiar rat scurrying about.
Sometimes though, it was the small things. Data being somewhere it shouldn't. A file or two “missing” from the forgery dens. Miniscule changes in the patterns of opposing organizations. Even a leaf being out of place, somewhere it doesn’t belong.
He did know, of course, things were always changing. The world is big, after all. But could feel it in his gut that this… disturbance would end up with him having to do more work. And unfortunately for Dazai, his instincts were rarely wrong.
Despite being so deep in thought, the night really hadn’t been all that bad. It was peaceful (as peaceful as it could get for Dazai). There were no annoying, orange haired dogs–
Chuya, with an angry look on his face, flew through Dazais door leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. “Are you awake yet shitty Dazai? Boss needs us, haven't you seen the calls? God, I'm already fed up with you today.”
Dazai deadpanned. “Well hello to you too. Geeze, is this how you treat other people's homes? I really work hard to keep dirt out and here you come, blowing it all in.”
“The hell if I care, and anyways your rusty, trash filled shipping container barely counts as a house. You “live” in a radioactive dump that not even mice want to go near. Get your ass up, we have to see Mori.”
“Sigh... can't I get a break already? I really don’t feel like seeing that slimy doctor's face today.”
The last time Dazai saw Mori was after he tried to drive himself and the doctor off a bridge. Safe to say, Dazai wouldn't be getting a car anytime soon. Dazai hopes he isn’t still mad, the man is already a pain to deal with when he’s not feeling vengeful.
“Don’t care. Let's go. And quit talking like that about the boss!” Chuya grabbed Dazais arm and started pulling him to the now kicked down door.
“What a boot licker”
Inside an elevator on its way to the top of the mafia headquarters were the same two bickering boys as before.
“I'M NOT EVEN THAT SHORT YOU JACKASS. AND LIKE I SAID BEFORE, I'M STILL GROWING!!”
“Yeah yeah, keep telling yourself that.”
“I SWEAR TO GOD DAZAI IF YOU DON’T–”
“Boys, welcome!” The elevator doors were open, revealing a dim room where their boss sat. The floor was carpeted the color of crimson, Dazai wondered if that was intentional. Blood would blend into it perfectly. ”Please, come in and sit.”
Chuya bowed respectfully “good morning boss, apologies for being late.”
“Yeah, Chuya was too busy getting his beauty sleep so we ran behind schedule.”
Dazai dodged a punch to his face. “Shut the hell up!” the attacker screeched under his breath.
The duo walked up to Moris' desk, and took a seat down. Their boss had his fingers intertwined and seemed as if he had just been deep in thought. Plotting no doubt.
Dazai noticed papers sprawled across the bosses desk containing information on “mutants” and events happening in America. He could already feel the headache this meeting would be.
“Dazai!!” said a little girl coloring on the floor. “I miss you stupid Dazai! Look at what I drew!”
He glanced down at a scene containing Eleise and Q chopping the heads off of different mafia members, Dazai and Chuya included.
“How.. lovely.” he said in a dry, plain voice. He really couldn’t stand her. Especially knowing she was nothing more than the result of Moris’ skill.
“Tell Rintaro to let Q out so we can play! It's so boring and I want to do makeup!”
The two boys cringed at the mention of those two hanging out again.
The last time Q was out of his cage, he and Elise had stolen Mori’s car and ran it into the bank down the street. They're nearly as bad as dazai with cars. It's a wonder how she is even able to act independently from Mori, being his ability and all. Elise and Q being together makes a walking nightmare. And don’t even get him started on when they decided it was a good idea to lead a pack of stray (and rabid) dogs into the building. He is sure Q was intending to kill a good amount of grunts. What a mess.
“Now now, Elise–me and the boys have to talk about work. Why don’t you keep drawing?”
The girl crossed her arms and pouted “Hmh!”
“Sorry about that,” Mori said insincerely. “Let's get back to business, shall we? I'm sure you two know I didn't call both of you up here for no reason, I have a mission for you both.”
“Both, as in, the same mission?” Chuuya said with hopelessness
“I'm afraid so, yes”
Dazai cursed under his breath
“I'm going to have the two of you infiltrate the mutant school located in America, you’ve heard of it, yes?”
“The one run by Charles Xavier? Haven’t they been up and running for some time now? Why is this relevant to us all of a sudden?” Dazia answered his own question, “I'm guessing it's because of their increased mutant activity and influence over American powers? And I do remember hearing something about the mutants trying to get rid of one of our overseas shell businesses and ports. They have become quite pushy.”
“Yes, you are correct in that assumption. Furthermore, they have been involving themselves in other port mafia matters, such as our relationship with our own government. They seem to think our position of power in Japan is a threat, and that we could target mutants for our own gain. It has also been brought to my attention that an American mutant group was helping to fund and supply a few of the many groups involved in the dragon head conflict.”
Dazai also does recall gaining evidence to suggest that outside players were influencing the movement of opposing forces during the conflict. He brushed it off at the moment, but never forgot about it. Just because the information wasn’t helpful then doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be in the future. Dazai knows every piece of data can be used, and his brain has a hard time letting go of any hints.
Moris’ explanation droned on. “While not all of this is coming from the school directly, it still spells trouble for the future. I doubt they have any real influence on japan but I would still rather not have them digging around. They house some very powerful people that could get in the way of our business. The whole situation would not be ideal”
While all of that is true, Dazai doesn’t necessarily agree with his boss. Sure, mutants are powerful, but not nearly as strong as ability users. While mutants develop via genetic mutations, abilities are more enigmatic. They manifest through means that are still barely understood by science, and tend to be more intense compared to mutations (especially since mutations are much more influenced by the human body). The port mafia has a number of ability users that could force the mutants to take pressure off of their organization, so what exactly is Moris’ angle here? It must be about more than just the mutants…
Chuuya was puzzled “Why would they care about the port mafia, aren't they a school and sanctuary for young mutants in America?”
Dazai tried not to be bored listening to his boss explain since, naturally, he already knew why.
“While they are a school focused on protection and teaching, they are also a powerful political advocate for American mutants. They have been involved in numerous destructive affairs regarding mutants vs society. I had even considered getting us involved once, when it was beginning to be a concern for Yokohaman citizens. Their conflicts involve more than just America's population.”
He must be referring to when the Magneto guy (what a stupid name) was trying to get rid of the non-mutant population of the world. Dazai remembers that happening, and he had a feeling it would all work out in the end. Even if it didn’t, why should he care?
“But as I have told the both of you,” their boss continued. “The first to make a move will always win. I would rather not wait until things got out of hand again.”
“So, what exactly do you want us to do?” said the ginger
Mori had a scheming, slimy smirk on his face as he explained. “While you two go undercover, you will monitor the school's activity, specifically the movement and plans of the main X-men group that is in charge of the school. Give me reports on anything that could be of concern and eliminate any threats, immediate or future, inside and outside the school. Without causing further conflict for our organization of course.” he added.”
“Ok, but do you really have to send me on a mission with the bandaged freak? We would do so much better by being sent separately.” Chuuya pleaded
“Chuuya, are you questioning me?” Said Mori with a hint of amusement
Dazai internally rolled his eyes, and could tell Chuuya was doing the same.
“No, of course not boss.” spoke the tense and defeated ginger.
Please use your own discretion, and act as you think is necessary during your mission. I trust the both of you, especially after your recent promotion to executive.”
Oh great, he was using them becoming executives as an excuse to make them do extra work. How is Dazai meant to do his usual executive duties while babysitting a bunch of mutants? He’s sure Kouyou will help Chuya out with his work, he thought bitterly. Maybe he'll just dump all of his work on the hat-rack. Yeah, that sounds nice.
“You will leave for America in one week. please prepare, and once you are there try to get along. You are dismissed.”
While Dazai and Chuuya were taking the elevator back down the ginger spoke up. “This mission has no substance to it, does he really need to send Soukoku undercover for something as simple as some mutants messing around? I get they have some influence but still…”
“How dumb can you be Chuuya? Oh that's right, how could I forget. Extremely dumb.” Chuuya aimed a kick for Dazais’ stomach, but the brunet dodged.
“Anyways,” Dazai continued, “I'm sure there’s more going on with the mutant school–and the American government in general–for him to justify sending the two of us. I have a sneaky feeling that there may actually be an issue for the mafia brewing. You know Mori, he loves to be obnoxiously vague and not forthcoming with information.”
“Do you care to elaborate asshole, or are you just gonna string me along to you and the boss's freakish mind games?”
The elevator door opened. “See you later Chibi!!” Dazai rushed out of the building and began walking back to his dump.
The air had a heavy feel to it, as if gravity was working double time. “I swear, I'm gonna fucking kill that kid!”
It’s been four days since the meeting with Mori. Dazai was perched on a dock overlooking the sea. The night was damp and windy, It seemed as if a storm was incoming. The brunette's legs dangled over the dark and restless abyss that sat far below him.
Everything had begun to click into place the night after the meeting. He could feel countless plans forming in his head. Hundreds of possible outcomes to possible situations. It was in his nature to always be thinking like this, always looking for the next possible danger, always planning ahead. It wouldn’t do any good to be unprepared.
The main unknown of this whole ordeal is how his ability would interact with mutations. He has a few ideas, though. The most likely one being he nullifies their being able to control whatever power they have, and effectively reverting them to their usual, non mutated/non powered up form. Even though abilities and mutations were two different things, based on the research dazai had done, they do still seem to overlap. He is sure Mori was trying to see whether he’d figure that out or not. Otherwise, the man would have surely explained it himself. Of course, both him and the doctor knew it would be child's play for dazai to dig around and find out.
He thought about what his and Chuuyas first steps would be, and how his plot would, Ideally, fan out from there. Of course, there would always be room for a reasonable margin of error. With so many variables and pieces in play, things would always diverge from his preferred path.
Already he was starting to feel bored. He really hoped things would be more interesting once they get started. When the strings on Dazai aren't taught, things always go awry. Constant pressure is what keeps him moving. A lapse in the clock gives his mind too much time to wander towards other things.
But, he digresses. He supposed he should wrap up his business in Yokohama before leaving for the mutant school (He needs to burn sensitive papers and make sure his subordinates don’t get sloppy while he is gone)
Chuuya was really not looking forward to this mission. It hasn’t even started yet but Dazai is already causing trouble for him. Was it really that hard to clue him in on what the weirdo was planning? Really, he should be used to it by now, this is how things always go between them.
He still hasn’t fully forgiven Dazai for letting him get tortured by the scientist N. Yes, Chuuya understood that it was for his benefit in the end, but that was still a major asshole move! Dazai really just had to let Chuuya get dragged through the mud on that one, didn’t he?
Even thinking that though, Chuuya is grateful for his bandaged partner. He would never say it out loud, but he does have to admit, he has a lot of trust in Dazai (when it comes to serious stuff, that is).
Looking back on the whole Verline incident, he saw how Dazai was about to let Yokohama–the whole world, even– get destroyed if Chuuya chose to keep his buried memories. He is sure part of that is because Dazai is an emotionless freak that could care less about human lives, but it still meant something to Chuuya.
The red head got his thoughts back on track. He needed to stop thinking nice things about the person he hates most in the world. It was getting gross, And Chuuya remembered Dazai was also the one to give Verline information on people to assassinate in front of Chuuya. Fucking asshole.
And anyways, He should really start getting ready to leave. Dazai told him to not bring stuff, that they were going to act like runaway mutants, so Chuuya decided that instead he should say goodbye to Ane-san. He’ll miss her.
It was the day of the mission, and Dazai had just finished crushing old USBs that contained sensitive information. His “yard” (the trash pile outside of his shipping container) was covered with fragments of burnt up metal parts. Destroyed so that it would be impossible to be put back together or deciphered.
Even with the physical copies deleted, he knew there was still the smallest chance they could still be found on a computer. He really hated the digital world.
It’s almost impossible to get rid of data on the web.
Almost… Dazai still has his ways.
Him and Chuuya were waiting to board a mafia speed boat that leaves for America. If they go in through mafia trade routes, there won’t be any paper trail of them having entered the country recently (although there will already be suspicions due to their accents). From there, Skk will begin the first phase of his plan. Contact with the wolverine.
He hopes Chuuya won’t be too obnoxious, he is really going to hate looking at his partner's face, every. Single. Day.
It’s just Dazais' luck to be sent under cover with Chuuya of all people. But it is true that it’s not his preference to be sent with anyone. He would much prefer working alone, but he can see the benefits of having his dog with him.
And he knows Chuuya is more involved with this situation than the boss had let on.
Maybe he could have fun with this. His fire cracker of a partner does tend to make things more interesting for him.
As the boat pulled up to the dock, Skk got ready to board.
And so it begins.