Dazatsu Week Day 5 (Mafia AU)
It was supposed to be a completely ordinary day today.
He’d go on an early morning patrol around the base, come back at eat breakfast with everyone, spar with Chuuya, have some idle chat with Kouyou, entertain and talk to Q and Kyouka for a little bit, and go meet with Higuchi to see if he had any missions to go on and if he was free, he’d go visit the agency and spend time with his boyfriend and taunt his boyfriend’s new subordinate.
But things were different today
Today’s breakfast tasted differently, but he just ate all of it anyways, thinking that someone just decided to mix things up a bit that day.
But after a while, on the usual way to meet up with Chuuya, he felt sick and lethargic. The kind of feeling he only has when he eats one or two people whole in his tiger form and just wants to nap for days.
He managed to get to the usual area and was about to apologize to Chuuya and say he won’t be able to spar today when suddenly the red haired man suddenly grabbed his shoulders with a serious expression on his face.
“Atsushi, run,” Chuuya had this desperation in his eyes Atsushi never saw before.
He blinked and was about to open his mouth when Chuuya started to drag him towards a nearby door.
“Run!” Chuuya pushed him through the door. “Right now. Before it’s too late. Higuchi will tell you everything later. Now GO!”
The doors slammed shut and without thinking, Atsushi ran.
He recognized these halls, it was the hidden tunnels that he, Chuuya and Dazai discovered before while exploring before. The three kept it a secret from everyone, even from Mori.
He crashed into something and tumbled backward.
“Ouch!” Oh, it was a person he crashed into. “Senpai! I’m so sorry!”
Ah, it was Higuchi. Chuuya said he’d meet her here.
“Senpai, we have to hurry,” she helped him up and tugged him along, urging him to run faster, “You’re being hunted.”
Atsushi raised an eyebrow at her but kept running alongside her.
“There’s a bounty on your head now,” she explained, a pained expression on her face, “7 billion yen. I don’t know who and why they put it up, but the Port Mafia is willing to do a lot for that kind of money. Even giving you up.”
It made sense, now that Atsushi thought about it. Mori has been looking to get rid of him for a while now, sending him on the most dangerous and suicidal missions that would be impossible for anyone, even for the best executives. It was probably because he noticed that Atsushi has been sneaking off to the Armed Detective Agency, or maybe because he was very well liked by his subordinates and thought of him as a threat to his position? Or maybe it was just because Elise liked him better than Mori himself. Atsushi could never really tell with that man.
“Kouyou, Q, Kyouka and Chuuya are trying to distract the others as the best they can while you try to escape,” Higuchi continued and stopped at the end of the tunnel. “This is as far as I can go.”
Atsushi looked up and smelled the distinct smell of sea breeze. This door led to the outside. He couldn’t let Higuchi risk herself for him.
“Senpai?” Atsushi turned to her to see Higuchi tear up and trying to hold back the tears, “I’m really sorry I can’t do any more for you…but please stay safe, okay? Find somewhere safe.”
Atsushi gave her a smile. ’We’ll see each other again someday,’ he wanted to say, but he just nodded and ran out the door as fast as he can.
And then he was soon ambushed and shot at.
He should’ve known that Mori knew about the secret tunnels, Atsushi cursed at himself as he ran, flinching with every bullet that hit and tore through his skin. Mori probably put something in the food to stop him from turning into his tiger form and regenerating too, that bastard.
He didn’t know how many bullets that hit him or how many were on his tail or how long he ran, but after a while, he was able to lose them and hid in a nearby alley.
Atsushi slumped up against the wall and let out a shaky breath. He pressed against his wounds and hissed, the pain coursing throughout his body. He was bleeding out, fast, and he had no idea how he’s still alive despite being shot at least a million times.
Then again, he’s dying right now.
Atsushi let out another shaky breath, each breath he took felt more painful than then the last. His lungs were shot, and he was probably going to drown in his own blood if all of his blood out didn’t drain out by then.
He was dying, Atsushi realized. He couldn’t comprehend it. He was dying. He was dying in an alleyway. He was dying in the alleyway Dazai found him in years ago, alone and cold and dirty.
He thought it was quite poetic actually, the poetic type of poignancy he hated in the books that Dazai often read. He doubted Dazai would’ve wanted this kind of death.
Then again, he doubted the reason why Dazai chose him in the first place. The brunet never really told him after all, and Atsushi never pried. It was never his place to pry. He was just a random kid hiding in a box pretending to be a cat. He knew Dazai picked him up just for his ability, but now?
He didn’t know why he was kept him; why he stayed by his side; why he loved him.
He was worthless after all. The only use he had is to kill and to devour, but take that away from him and he was nothing. There was nothing to love about him. So why did Dazai love him?
“Then, why did Dazai-san save me?” Atsushi thought, feeling a cold numbness spread throughout his being. “But…I guess I can’t ask him that anymore.”
It felt like an eternity of waiting for death to come, with only his fears and doubts to accompany and consume him.
He stared at the wall with half lidded eyes and remembered that day all over again. The cold salty sea breeze, the dingy old cardboard box, the peaceful silence of the alley, and the echoes of the sharp click clacks of the bottom of Dazai’s shoes.
He was pretty sure those sounds were much slower, though, and could practically hear the frantic pace of the footsteps.
He blinked and soon saw Dazai kneeling right in front of him, actually looking genuinely scared and concerned for him. That was a rare expression coming from him, Atsushi felt glad that he’s able to see it directed at him.
Dazai was saying something, but Atsushi couldn’t really hear it. Nor see him that well either actually. Blood loss really does a lot to a person.
Atsushi felt himself being lifted up by Dazai and closed his eyes, feeling like he was being lulled to sleep by the muffled sounds of Dazai’s words and his warmth. Feeling as if all of his doubts were washed away in the arms of his savior, Atsushi let himself go to sleep.
“Sorry Dazai-san. I can’t keep my promise of dying together with you.”
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