Chapter Text
Chuuya didn't get much chance to see the sunny sky.
With the red-light district opening after the sunset and closing before the first peak of dawn, the redhead naturally sleeps during the day.
Today, however, was a special occasion.
He leaned against the window with his loosely tied kimono fanned out. His slender legs were sprawled over the tatami and his arms resting on the windowsill. Celeste blue eyes gazed up at the impossibly blue and vast sky.
It had been two days since receiving the card from Port Mafia.
The Teahouse has closed since then. Chuuya had gone for a quick stroll in the street at different times and he was acutely aware that he was being watched. His stalkers were well trained. They were far enough to not agitate Chuuya, but close enough to keep the Teahouse surrounded.
Such calculated distance pissed Chuuya off. The Port Mafia was fully aware of his capabilities. Worst, it wasn't just him. Chuuya was certain that they had researched Kunikida, Atsushi and Kenji too.
Tomorrow night, the Port Mafia will come.
Chuuya pushed his sake cup aside and stood up. He walked out of his room and into the quiet hallway. Kunikida had already sent all of their powerless staff away from the red-light district. The redhead didn’t know specifically where they went, nor did he ask. He trusted Kunikida to organize a safe place for them.
“Kunikida,” Chuuya called out when he saw the blond in the storage room, looking through the tea leaves like he always did before the opening. “We’re closed tonight.”
“I know. I simply can’t sleep until I check up on these,” Kunikida grumbled, running his fingers through the dried stocks.
Chuuya snorted, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed inside his sleeves.
“You can run while you still can,” the redhead offered.
“You’ve seen those people watching us. You still think we can leave?”
“I can send those grunts flying in a heartbeat.”
“The Port Mafia can have us surrounded in a heartbeat,” the blond countered, closing the wooden lid. He snatched his pen and began jolting things into his treasured notebook.
“Hm...” Chuuya’s blue eyes darted up and down over Kunikida. “Your notebook’s upside down, by the way.”
With that, the redhead walked away, leaving a frozen Kunikida to continue checking on their stocks. He walked to the lobby and saw Kenji there. The boy was carefree as always, sweeping the empty lobby where the tables and chairs were all removed.
“Morning, mama!” Kenji chirped when he saw him, waving his hand enthusiastically.
Chuuya couldn’t help but smile and made a small gesture back. He strolled down the hallway and came upon the garden. Like he thought, the white-haired boy was sitting on the edge of the walkway, absentmindedly kicking the grass by his bare feet.
It wasn’t until Chuuya sat down next to him that the boy was jolted out of his own thoughts. He turned and yelped at the sight of his mentor.
“Chuuya-san!”
“You looked like you’ve seen a ghost,” Chuuya joked, trying to lighten up the situation. Unfortunately, that made the boy panic even more.
“No, that’s not it! Sorry, I was just—”
“Relax, kid,” Chuuya sighed. “You should learn to loosen up.”
Atsushi went quiet and his eyes dropped to his feet with a deep frown tugging his lips.
Chuuya leaned back on his hands and looked up at the bright sky.
“Hey kid, what do you think about Soul Mates?”
“…What do you mean, Chuuya-san?” Atsushi asked quietly.
“Had you ever dreamed of finding your Soul Mate?”
“…I did,” Atsushi muttered. He pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his knee. The boy had done this subconsciously, but Chuuya could tell that this was a defensive position for someone feeling insecure.
“There was this children’s book I really liked in the orphanage. I saw it when other kids were reading it. I wasn’t allowed to touch the books there, so I snuck out of my room at nighttime to read it.”
“Ho~ it must be a really good book then.”
“It was a book about a small girl. She was abused in her family and no one has ever helped her. No one ever extended a hand to her...no one but her Soul Mate.”
Chuuya didn’t speak. There were a lot of stories in children’s books that painted the Soul Mates as shining knights in armour. It was one of the reasons why kids looked forward to meeting their Soul Mate so much. After all, who wouldn’t want a prince charming to come and save them from their hardest times? Some might even dream of becoming that prince and saving their other half.
Although those were all short-lived fantasies, there were always a handful of people desperately wishing for it to be true. These people were those who grew up in the darkness—never given the chance to see a speck of light.
Atsushi was the perfect example of that. Given his Soul Mate’s power, Chuuya was certain he had been saved many times already.
The redhead more or less knew about his past, be it from Atsushi himself or his own research. Perhaps the only thing that had kept the kid going was the existence of his Soul Mate. For people who had nothing, the thought of knowing there was someone in this world that will stand by his side was more precious than even life itself.
This made Chuuya berate himself for considering sending Atsushi away. Kunikida was right in stopping him. He was too hasty and wasn’t thinking straight. The Port Mafia aside, this was the boy’s Soul Mate.
It was a once in a lifetime chance for this boy to finally meet his Soul Mate.
“I’m so sorry, Chuuya-san!” Atsushi gritted his teeth and lowered his head even more. “Because of me, everything’s…I don’t...”
“Quit apologizing,” Chuuya huffed, tired of listening to the boy’s apologies. “You make it sound like we’re all going to die or something.”
“But—”
Chuuya stopped him by putting a hand onto his head and started ruffling up the soft white hair. “This is a once in a lifetime chance to meet your Soul Mate.” He smirked. “You should treasure it.”
Atsushi blinked up at Chuuya in surprise before a small, weak smile finally appeared on his lips.
“Thank you…Chuuya-san.”
Chuuya gave that messy hair another good rub before pulling his hand away.
“Chuuya-san.”
“Hm?”
“Does Chuuya-san ever think of your Soul Mate?”
Chuuya looked down at the kid, then back up to the sky.
“…All the time,” Chuuya admitted hushly. After all, he too was a person who was saved by his Soul Mate. It was impossible for him not to long for this other half of his Soul. “Now go get some sleep. We’ll need your strength tomorrow.”
Atsushi nodded with another small smile. Bidding Chuuya a goodnight, the boy walked away, leaving Chuuya alone in the garden.
When Sunday night finally arrived, the tenseness could even be felt throughout the entire Teahouse.
Chuuya stood in the lobby, arms crossed and brows furrowed. Kunikida stood beside him, tapping his foot impatiently and checking at his wristwatch every now and then. Kenji and Atsushi were behind him. The white-haired boy was fidgeting nervously while the blond youth was humming a weird tune and spinning his mop around.
“Time?” Chuuya asked.
“A minute before eight,” Kunikida replied, watching the second hand ticked by. The moment the clock struck eight, the front door of the Teahouse was kicked open. Chuuya’s brow twitched when the door fell out of its hinge and onto the floor.
Men and women dressed in black flooded into the Teahouse. The usually large Teahouse suddenly looked awfully cramped with all the people here. Chuuya had expected them to draw out their guns, but to his mild surprise, they didn’t. These people just stood along the walls with their hands behind their backs and postures straight.
When Chuuya caught a glimpse of a familiar face, he quickly stepped back to shield Atsushi from seeing this man.
“Kid, stay behind me,” Chuuya muttered low. “Don’t look up until I say so.”
Atsushi did as he was told, hiding behind Chuuya’s small but reassuring back and kept his head low. They can’t meet face to face yet. The moment they do, their souls will resonate and there will be no turning back. Chuuya won’t allow that to happen until he figured out what plans the Port Mafia had for Atsushi.
Akutagawa Ryuunosuke walked through the path formed by the grunts, silver eyes keenly shifted to the white-haired boy hiding behind the redhead. Chuuya and Kunikida watched him carefully, but he didn’t do anything and simply stepped to the side with his hands behind his back, taking a formal stance much like the rest.
“My~ such lovely evening, is it not?” An overly cheerful voice echoed through the tense atmosphere, causing Chuuya’s eyes to shift over to two men walking into the Teahouse. These two completely stood out from the rest of the grunts, be it their outfits, or the casual way they carried themselves.
The person walking at the front had dark brown hair, black suits and a long maroon scarf hung around his neck. Chuuya couldn’t see the man’s face, for that he was wearing a weird fox mask. And what’s more…that ceramic mask had no opening for the eye.
Could this person even see anything? Chuuya highly doubted it, but he didn’t walk like a blind man, which meant he was somehow able to see where he was going. Despite this man’s weird taste, Chuuya could tell from a quick glance this was the Port Mafia boss. Blue eyes quickly scanned over the man’s frame, catching glimpses of the bandages around his wrists and neck.
So that’s what they meant by covered in bandages?
Chuuya then turned to the man walking behind the Port Mafia boss. He had reddish-brown hair and was wearing a beige brown coat with sunglasses so dark that Chuuya can’t see through them. While Chuuya has never seen him before, he has heard of him.
Oda Sakunosuke—the Port Mafia boss’s right hand man. He was a nobody—the lowest ranking grunt within the Port Mafia. No one has heard of him, yet the day Port Mafia welcomed their new boss, this man was instantly given the seat of an Executive.
“Arahabaki?” Although it was a question, Chuuya was certain that this man with the fox mask was Arahabaki.
The man snorted, seeming to find what Chuuya had said extremely amusing.
“What do you want?” The redhead demanded, feeling unpleasant just looking at him.
“We simply came to drink tea. This is a Teahouse, no?” The Port Mafia boss sighed. “Your customer service is very poor.”
“Guests don’t kick the front door down,” Chuuya pointed out.
“Can you blame me for your Teahouse’s poor construction?”
“Cut the crap and get to the point.” Chuuya didn’t feel like playing games with this man. “Why are you here?”
“Oh? I thought you knew why we’re here, Nakahara Chuuya.” The brunet purred out his name in a way that made goosebumps crawled over the redhead’s skin. He didn’t know what this feeling was, but it was dangerous.
No one from the Teahouse spoke. They didn’t need to, for that the Port Mafia boss waved a hand and Akutagawa stepped forward.
“I’ve heard that my loyal dog’s Soul Mate is here, so we came to pay a visit.”
Chuuya scanned his eyes over Akutagawa. The man looked apathetic to the situation, as though he’s not even here to meet his Soul Mate, but to stand in a meeting.
“And what will you do after they meet?” Chuuya questioned.
“That will depend on you, my dear,” the man while walking forward.
Chuuya immediately nudged Atsushi over to Kunikida who pulled the kid and backed away a little. The redhead stood on his ground, refusing to back down even with the Port Mafia boss only half a meter away from him.
“Tell me, Chuuya...”
The Port Mafia boss slowly lifted a hand to his mask and Chuuya braced himself. All of the muscles in his body tightened as he observed the man’s actions carefully. He watched those long, slender fingers gripped the surface of his mask. With a simple tug, the red string that was tying the mask around his head came loose, falling to the side and the ceramic mask fell onto the floor between the two of them in a sharp shattering sound.
Chuuya couldn’t move.
He couldn’t even breathe.
He stared into that eye…it was the same eye that would stare back at him every time he looked at the mirror. There was no mistake! The brown eye with a tint of red that changes according to the lighting…
“...What will you do?”
That was the same eye as the one in his left socket.
“ARRGH!”
“C-Chuuya-san?!”
“Chuuya-san!!”
“Mama?!”
Three different voices shouted, but Chuuya couldn’t care about it at the moment.
His body was shaking with sweats breaking out of his skin and soaking his kimono. He was barely able to keep himself standing. He covered his left eye, but that didn’t stop his eye from moving so rapidly that Chuuya feared it might pop out from his socket. He could feel something deep inside him beginning to thrash—threatening to tear his body apart from inside out.
“You…you…!” Chuuya choked, blue eye stared up to the man standing in front of him in disbelief.
The person that had saved him so many times…the one that was always looking out for him…
This was his Soul Mate.
The Port Mafia boss, the infamous Arahabaki, was his Soul Mate.
And this Soul Mate of his had known that all along.
“Ass…hole…!” Chuuya staggered back, but he couldn’t get far before the Port Mafia boss grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him into his arms.
Chuuya felt like his body was on fire. He wanted to pull away, wanted to scream…but all he felt was the need to grab onto the other and never let go. He resisted the urges with all his might, but the Port Mafia boss didn’t. The man wrapped his arms around his smaller frame, holding onto him tightly while maintaining their eye contact.
At first glance, the Port Mafia boss didn’t seem to be affected like Chuuya was, but that wasn’t the case now that the redhead has the chance to get a closer look at him. While he didn’t openly express his pain, his brows were furrowed with cold sweat rolling down his forehead.
But despite also being in pain, the Port Mafia boss looked overjoyed. That single eye visible on his face was staring down at Chuuya almost possessively with a wide smirk on his lips.
“So, Chuuya?” The man dipped his head down and Chuuya found himself drowning in that dark brown eye. “What will you do?”
Click
The Port Mafia boss stopped with their noses millimeters away from grazing. His eye narrowed dangerously, but he didn’t look away from Chuuya. Chuuya however, did. He snapped his head to the side, breaking from trance to see Kunikida holding a gun against the Port Mafia boss’s head.
It all happened in a second.
The next second, the men that had been on standby all whipped out their guns and took aim at Kunikida.
“Release him,” Kunikida almost gritted out those words. The veins on his neck stuck out visibly, showing how angry he currently was. They had all assumed that the Port Mafia had been after Atsushi, but that wasn’t the case.
It was Chuuya they were after all this time!
Kenji raised his mop defensively, looking at the guns pointed towards them. Atsushi on the other hand was keeping his head low, but anyone could tell how much he wanted to look up and see what was going on.
“Release him!” Kunikida was nearly shouting, barely able to hold back the urge to pull the trigger and kill the man.
After what seemed like an eternity, the brunet finally looked away from Chuuya. The moment his eyes fell on Kunikida, the blond felt a pressure he never felt before. A droplet of sweat rolled down the side of his face as he stared into that lifeless eye that was like a black hole, sucking him into the abyss.
“Don’t you dare…!” A dark hiss came from the person within the Port Mafia boss’s arms. Before the man could even react, he was violently kicked in the gut, the force propelling him away.
“Dazai-sama!” Akutagawa hurriedly ran forward to catch the man. The right-hand man of the boss still hadn’t moved. He stood there like a statue despite his boss being kicked in front of him.
That itself was off, but Chuuya wasn’t in the right mind to care. He glared at the Port Mafia boss with rage bubbling inside him.
“Lay a finger on them and I’ll kill you!” He snarled, eyes crazed with bloodlust pouring out of his body.
“Pfft…hahahaha!”
Chuuya’s glare hardened at the Port Mafia boss sitting on the ground with Akutagawa crouched by his side. The brunet was laughing as if the redhead had told him a hilarious joke.
The man held out a hand and the weapons that were pointing at them were instantly tucked away.
Chuuya’s legs wobbled lightly. Had Kunikida not grabbed him by the arm, he was certain he would fall over. The pain was starting to become unbearable. Just how in the world was that bastard still laughing when he should be feeling the same?
“Kunikida…” Chuuya winced, lowering his voice so that Kunikida was the only one who could hear. “My Ability…it didn’t work!”
Kunikida’s eyes widened. He turned to see Dazai slowly getting back onto his feet and patting the dust off his clothes like it was nothing. This wouldn’t have been possible if Chuuya had used his Ability.
The blond sucked in a sharp breath when he remembered the rumours he heard of Arahabaki. A single man capable of leaving destruction wherever he went. His power was theorized to be psychokinesis, but if they looked at it from another angle, Chuuya’s power could also be easily mistaken for psychokinesis.
“It can’t be...!” Kunikida looked back to Chuuya and released a startled gasp. There was already blood oozing out of the redhead’s left eye. The hand cupping that eye was smeared in blood with the crimson fluid dripping down the redhead’s chin.
“Ah~ to think my Soul Mate is so good at giving romantic speeches!” The Port Mafia boss was chuckling despite the increased amount of sweat he was letting out. “I take that as a yes for us to bond?”
“Fuck you!” Chuuya roared. “I rather die!”
“Oh my! A double suicide?! Chuuya, you shouldn’t have!”
“Shut up! Who the hell’s going to die with you?!”
“True, we should get to know each other first, don’t you agree?”
Chuuya gritted his teeth at how composed the man was acting. If it wasn’t for the blood seeping through the bandages around the man’s left eye, he would have been fooled to think the other wasn’t feeling the pain of being torn apart from the inside.
“What should I do? Looks like I’ll die tonight without the chance of knowing my beloved Soul Mate, Odasaku~” The Port Mafia boss turned to his unmoving right-hand man.
“Dazai, you…!” The Executive spoke for the first time since appearing here. He sounded extremely troubled, but there was no hesitance in his movement when he stepped forward.
With every part of his body screaming in pain and breaking apart, Chuuya couldn’t do anything as Kunikida shoved him into Atsushi and Kenji’s arms.
“Chuuya-san!”
“Mama!”
The two kids called, but Chuuya could barely hear them. He turned around to see Kunikida’s back.
“Kunikida—” Chuuya choked before looking down to see the piece of paper Kunikida was clenching underneath his sleeve.
“I’m sorry,” The Port Mafia Executive suddenly said and reached for his sunglasses. “It’s not my intention to meet under these circumstances. He may be a shitty boss to work for, but I can’t let him die.”
Chuuya felt coldness spreading through his body, numbing his arms and legs upon seeing that familiar gesture. It can’t be…that sunglasses…perhaps it was not because it was dark that he can’t see the man’s face, but that it wasn’t transparent to begin with!
“Stop him, Kenji!” Chuuya screamed just as the Executive rushed towards them, the sunglasses thrown into the air.
Kunikida, realizing the same thing Chuuya had, turned his head away and activated his Ability.
Kenji charged forward, but a black spike-like object shot out of the ground, breaking through the wooden floor and heading towards the boy’s heart. Chuuya threw his fist out, red aura coating his hand to knock the attack away from the freckled blond.
Feeling a presence sneaking up behind him, he kicked his leg back, only for the person to narrowly dodge his attack. When a long arm wrapped around his body, Chuuya felt his power disappear again.
It was the same as before when he failed to use his power to pulverize the man!
“Kunikida-san! Chuuya-san!” Atsushi shouted at the sight of his two mentors engaging with the enemies. His limbs transformed, about to jump into the battle when a blur of black appeared before him.
“Atsushi!” Chuuya screamed, but was too late.
Everything had happened and ended in a matter of seconds.
Chuuya couldn’t even care about the man holding him from behind. He stared in horror upon seeing all of his companions being restrained by the Port Mafia.
Kunikida was on the ground with the Executive on top of him, holding both his wrists down to prevent him from utilizing that smoke bomb that had materialized in his hand.
That moment Chuuya shouted Atsushi’s name, Kunikida who had been fighting against the Executive was momentarily distracted, his eyes snapping open towards Atsushi’s direction. That was all the other needed to make their eyes meet. It was as though he had somehow known Kunikida was going to do that. The moment their eyes met, Kunikida was powerless with the larger male pinning him to the ground, taking away his ability to struggle.
Kenji rush in to help, but a red-haired woman whom Chuuya recognized as another Port Mafia Executive had appeared, resting a katana over the freckled boy’s neck to stop him.
And Atsushi…Atsushi was staring at Akutagawa who had appeared before him, their eyes locked.
Pained cries and grunts filled the air. All four males were instantly on the ground, clutching onto their Soul Mate’s eyes like Chuuya.
“What will you do, Chuuya?” The man holding him purred into his ear—like the whisper of a devil. Chuuya couldn’t stop the betrayal and hurt inside him when he saw the people who were his family had their futures all ruined because of this one bastard.
So overwhelmed with rage, Chuuya’s face became ice-cold and expressionless, unlike his usual angry self. It was like the calm before a storm. Rather than raging and lashing out, he shoved the man off him.
“You want us to bond, right?” Chuuya muttered, looking at Kunikida, then to Atsushi and Kenji. “If your people hurt a single one of them…”
“They won’t,” The Port Mafia boss promised softly.
There was strange warmth in his voice, but Chuuya couldn’t hear it. He couldn’t hear anything other than mockery. Giving one look to Kenji and signal him to stay put, he led the man into one of the vacant rooms in the Teahouse and locked the door.
Blood dripped down his face and pain continued to wreck his body, but he felt strangely numb. His eyes were hollow as the man embraced him from behind and kissed him on the cheek.
He couldn’t forgive him.
He won’t forgive this sick bastard that set them all up like this.
So Chuuya turned and sucker-punched the man in the face, knocking him down onto the tatami. The Port Mafia boss didn’t fight back—didn’t do anything, in fact. He just laid on the tatami with Chuuya straddling him. The redhead reached out and ripped off the bandage on the man’s face, revealing the blue eye that belonged to him.
That eye was now bathed in blood, much like Chuuya’s.
It was at that moment that memories of the past flickered by his mind.
Two times.
This man—no, to be precise, it was half of this man’s soul that had saved him two times.
Both times, Chuuya was given families and a brand new chance of making something for himself.
Quietly, the anger inside him dissipated, leaving Chuuya utterly confused and lost. He didn’t know what to do anymore.
Gritting his teeth, Chuuya violently tugged the man’s pants off and then his underwear.
“Chuuya—”
“Shut up!” Chuuya shouted. Sweats trickled down his chin, mixing with the trails of blood flowing from his eye as he glared at the man who was staring back at him.
“Just get this over with,” The moment Chuuya said that, he felt the air around the Port Mafia boss changed. He saw that fake cheerfulness vanishing from the man’s face, leaving behind a solemn look. He snorted, about to make some rude remark when the man parted his lips and spoke.
“You’re going to hurt yourself.”
Chuuya froze for a good couple of seconds before his previous anger returned.
“Why do you care?” He spat angrily. How dare this guy acted like he cared when he was the one who did this!
The man didn’t respond. He reached into his pocket and tossed something right at Chuuya.
The gravity manipulator caught it with ease and looked down to find that it was a small, elegant glass container with thick transparent fluid inside.
Living in a red-light district, Chuuya immediately knew what this was. It was lotion.
The redhead felt shame and mockery engulfing him, until he couldn’t breathe. The man had been so confident that Chuuya was going to become his that he even prepared this kind of thing?
“Is it fun, toying with other people’s lives like this?” Chuuya asked slowly, eyes never leaving the small bottle of lotion.
“You may not believe me now, but I’m not here to hurt you, Chuuya,” The Port Mafia boss said quietly.
“Not here to hurt me?” Chuuya cackled before he hurled the lotion so hard that it flew across the room and shattered against the wall. “Are you fucking kidding me?!”
“Chuuya—”
“Don’t. Call. My. Name!” Chuuya snarled. He grabbed the man’s collar and pulled him up so that they were eye to eye. “Don’t act like you even care!”
“…You’re right,” The Port Mafia boss sighed. He looked back at Chuuya with a steady gaze. “I’ll show you then.”
Before Chuuya could even process what those words meant, he was thrown off the man with his back slamming into the tatami. When he looked up, the man was already hovering over him, pulling his legs apart.
Chuuya sucked in a sharp breath when he felt something plunging deep into his body. With his entire body already suffering immense pain, he couldn’t tell if it had hurt or not. The only thing he could feel was the uncomfortable fullness in his lower abdomen. He could feel the man’s balls pressing against his ass, meaning that he was completely inside.
Chuuya squeezed his eyes shut. He could feel the heat inside his body grew and began to move.
“Chuuya.”
Chuuya opened his eyes at the call of his name, catching a glimpse of those brown and blue eyes before his lips were captured in a deep kiss. The redhead wrapped his arms around the man’s neck and kissed back, his actions guided by the pure need of his body.
Then, the real pain came.
The redhead felt like he had returned back to those endless days in the laboratory. He felt like someone was cutting up his body, opening him up and messing around with his inside. It hurt so much that Chuuya screamed into the Port Mafia boss’s mouth, with the man’s scream echoing back against him to form some kind of messed up symphony.
Black spots began to fill his vision, little by little until he finally couldn’t hold it any longer and blacked out.
Chuuya didn’t know how long he had been out for.
He felt like he was floating in the water, watching a screen being played in front of him. He couldn’t hear the content of what was being played, but through the screen, it was like he was peering into the life of another person.
Chuuya watched, submerged within the cold water, unable to talk or move as these images slowly played the life of a person he has never met before. While he couldn’t hear anything, he could always feel the emotion bubbling around him. He didn’t know if these emotions belonged to him, or the person whose eyes he was seeing through.
Sadness and despair nearly ripped him apart as he watched, horrified by everything played within that screen. He wanted to scream, he wanted to reach out to the person who was seeing these images, but he couldn’t.
For the longest time, he couldn’t do anything.
All that changed much, much later on. At times, Chuuya would escape the grasp of the water and enter the world within the screen. He was freed to speak, free to move, free to explore the world there…but Chuuya never did any of that. Whenever he stepped out into that world, he was always angry at the idiot who was constantly trying to kill himself.
He wanted to yell at him and tell him how selfish he was. But more than anything, Chuuya wanted to hold that person in his arms and tell him he wasn’t alone. Unfortunately, that wish was an impossible one to begin with.
It almost became a game between them, one stubbornly trying to seek death, while the other sought to live. Every single day, Chuuya found himself in charge of filling his—their—stomach with proper food. The redhead never understood how he knew so much about food despite the owner of the body never caring about it. In fact, ever since the owner of this body became seven, Chuuya started to gain weird knowledge.
Many of which he already knew, but there were always some small things that he didn’t.
Then one day, the screen was covered up.
He was engulfed in the darkness without a ray of light showing him the way. He was angry at being shut out, but more than anything, Chuuya was scared. He was scared of not being able to stop the body owner without the ability to see. Thankfully, his fear didn’t last long. He soon realized that even without seeing, he could feel it when the body’s owner was in danger and got out in time to save the idiot.
Drifting in the darkness with nothing to do, Chuuya’s method to pass time was to sleep. Whenever he woke, it was always to the sense of danger around him. Every time Chuuya’s eyes snapped open, he would automatically activate the power that only he had, protecting the body from the incoming danger.
He didn’t know when, but eventually, he began talking to the body owner through words. After their first exchange of words, Chuuya decided the owner of the body was an asshole…not that he ever thought otherwise. Yet strangely he could never bring himself to hate the other. Knowing that he could now look forward to reading what the other had to say brought a smile to his lips as he slept in the dark, waiting for the time to be called.
Then, the Port Mafia happened.
When Chuuya opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the enemies before him; the second was the feeling of a book in his hand.
[Become me.]
That was the message sent to him from his other half.
It was at that point that their game of life and death came to an end. In exchange, they played an even more dangerous game. It was officially after the Port Mafia accepted them that he was given a name—Arahabaki.
The owner of the body had loosened the bandages over the screen. No longer was it pitch black, yet the view wasn’t clear either. But that was enough for Chuuya to make out what was happening. He played along with the body owner’s plans, doing his best to pretend to become the other.
It was also thanks to this that he finally learned of the body owner’s name—Dazai Osamu.
Chuuya accompanied Dazai through the years within the Port Mafia. He, himself, had participated in so many battles that he already lost count of how people he killed. Every time Chuuya was called out, it was in the middle of a battlefield.
This cycle over and over. Sometimes, Chuuya thought that this would be their lives now...just battles and killing. That was, until Oda Sakunosuke came along.
The Port Mafia grunt was the first person to find out about their secret, also becoming the first person Chuuya could call a friend. Chuuya liked talking to the guy. He was a good person to talk to, especially when Chuuya wanted to rant to someone about his body’s owner. A lot of times, Oda Sakunosuke would tell him stories about said body owner which gave Chuuya more details than seeing from the Soul Mate's eye.
But then, that day happened.
Chuuya had no idea what had happened. He was floating within the darkness like usual when he felt pain shaking him through the core. There was a float of negative emotions so strong that Chuuya could barely breathe.
He had only felt this kind of emotion two times. Once was when the body owner first committed suicide, the second was when that moron slit his wrists.
For the first time in Chuuya’s life, he reached out, tearing apart the fabric between space and into the outside. He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew that Dazai needed his help.
The moment he felt the familiar control over the body, he ripped the bandages off his eyes and came face to face with a startled Mori. He gave one look around before he dashed towards the window, activating his Ability and jumped outside—shattering the window in the process.
As he dropped towards the ground, Chuuya dug Dazai’s pocket before he found a crumpled piece of paper with an address.
When Chuuya arrived at his destination, he was just in time to see Oda Sakunosuke getting shot. There was no time to think, so Chuuya did what he was best at and acted. He grabbed Sakunosuke and rushed to the nearest hospital, all while muttering over and over for the other not to die.
“Please…” Sakunosuke’s voice was so faint that Chuuya could barely hear him in the roaring wind as he flew towards the hospital. “Save him...he...wants to die…”
Chuuya’s insides turned cold. He looked down at the man who was desperately clutching onto his wound to stop the blood lost.
This wasn’t Sakunosuke. It was his Soul Mate.
“Please…” the Soul Mate whispered with Sakunosuke’s mouth over and over, pleading Chuuya to save him.
Oda Sakunosuke did not die.
At the last moment when the bullet was about to hit, Sakunosuke's Soul Mate appeared and dodged at the last second, causing the bullet to miss the vitals. That along with the Soul Mate’s strong will to survive, Sakunosuke made it through the operation. Chuuya guarded the man until he woke up four hours after the surgery. The one who opened his eyes was unsurprisingly the Soul Mate.
Sakunosuke’s Soul Mate was very polite. Chuuya’s first thought after exchanging a couple of words was that these two would make a good match. From the Soul Mate, Chuuya learned of everything that happened to Oda Sakunosuke...along with why he wanted to die.
Rather than feeling sorry for the man’s loss, Chuuya became angrier—especially when these were all told to him from the lips of his Soul Mate. The Soul Mate who had to helplessly witness everything yet couldn’t do anything about it.
This Soul Mate wasn’t fortunate like Chuuya to have an Ability that could stop and deflect bullets. The only thing he could do was to beg for someone else to save Sakunosuke.
Chuuya had never wanted to punch the man so hard in the face. He never thought that there could be anything or anyone more infuriating than his body owner! To think that Oda Sakunosuke would one day break that long-standing record...it made him want to laugh.
“Thank you, for saving him,” the Soul Mate told Chuuya on the third day after the surgery.
“You’re going back?” Chuuya asked despite already knowing the answer.
Sakunosuke nodded. “Please, look after him. Although I’ve taken pain killers, the wound is still tender, he—”
“I’m gonna pummel him,” Chuuya told the Soul Mate bluntly, causing the made to look stunned for a short moment before he let out a small smile.
“As long as you don’t agitate the wound. This body is still frail.”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” the brunet snorted.
“…For the longest time, I envy you,” Sakunosuke mumbled and slowly closed his eyes. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Chuuya-san.”
“Let’s meet again when you find out your name.” Chuuya smiled, watching the man completely relaxed before his body tensed up the next second.
That was all Chuuya needed to know that they Switched.
With a hop, he landed onto the narrow hospital bed and straddled the man. He grabbed the man’s throat with his left hand, pinning him down while his right hand pulled back into a tight fist.
The moment those calm eyes opened, Chuuya smashed his fist down. While he didn’t activate his Ability in that punch, he also didn’t hold back. The heart rate monitor went crazy as Chuuya pulled his fist back and punched him again in the exact same place.
“You fucking bastard!” He roared, grabbing the man’s hospital gown and lifting him up.
Sakunosuke coughed, spitting out some blood with the swell on his face already beginning to form.
“Chuuya—”
“Shut up!” Chuuya bellowed. “Did you become suicidal after hanging around this guy for so long?! I thought you were better than that!”
“Chuuya, you don’t understand—”
“Damn right I don’t!” Chuuya growled. “I don’t understand why you or this bastard wanted to die so fucking badly and I don’t want to! I just want to know this, did you ever think of what happens after you die?!”
Chuuya gave the man a hard shook. Despite how angry he was, he still managed to remind himself that this man was injured and such violent movement could tear open his stitches. So Chuuya slammed the man back down and stared at him dead in the eyes.
“Did you ever think about your Soul Mate?!”
That made Sakunosuke freeze.
It was obvious that he never did.
No one ever did, including the body of the man Chuuya was using.
“How do you think your Soul Mate would feel if you die?!”
“That has nothing to do with it.”
“Like hell it doesn’t! Who do you think saved you!” Chuuya roared angrily. “Your Soul Mate took the pain for you and endured it until I got you to the hospital! They’re the one who helped you make it through because they wanted you to live!”
Chuuya grabbed the plain notebook on the nightstand and smacked it in the man’s pathetic mug.
“If you want to go to hell that badly, do it after you read this. Your Soul Mate spent a fucking day writing it! If you still want to die after that, I will gladly send you off!”
With that, Chuuya stomped out of the room.
He grabbed a nurse that was passing by, informing her that the patient inside needed additional treatment before sitting down on a bench next to Sakunosuke’s room. Now that he revealed himself to Mori, there was no telling what the Port Mafia would do...especially when Sakunosuke himself was supposed to be a sacrificial pawn.
He’ll need to guard both this body and the man inside until Dazai regains control to figure out what they will do from here on out.
Chuuya didn’t know what was written inside that notebook, but whatever it was, it at least calmed Sakunosuke down. After he was certain that everything was fine, he returned to the dark space where he belonged, giving Dazai back the control of his body. The last thing he saw was Sakunosuke sleeping soundlessly on the hospital bed before everything became pitch black.
The redhead had assumed that he would be let out soon. With everything that happened, he expected the Port Mafia to start hunting them down and for the asshole to call him out in the middle of a battlefield like always...
However, that never happened.
Chuuya drifted within the endless darkness, unable to do anything but wait for something that didn’t come and may never will.
Did something happen to Sakunosuke?
Did Mori do something to Dazai?
So many questions ran by his head, but there was no one to give him the answer.
He didn’t know how long he had slept in this darkness.
Weeks?
Months?
Years?
Just when Chuuya thought he would never see the outside again, a speck of light suddenly shined through the darkness one day.
Chuuya looked up and saw the light growing stronger as the bandage was removed one layer at a time.
The first thing Chuuya saw when the screen became fully uncovered was Dazai.
Chuuya stared at the image of the brunet reflected in the mirror, completely mesmerized. Because Dazai never looked into mirrors after covering his Soul Mate's eye, Chuuya’s memory of the brunet was back when he was just a young boy. Sure he had looked into mirrors before when he took over the man’s body, but the expressions on the face belonged to him, not Dazai.
When Chuuya finally got to see the man, he felt warmth flooding through him and the unbearable yearning to reach out and touch him.
“I’ll see you soon.”
Those were the words Dazai mouthed to him in the mirror before Chuuya was thrown back into the darkness again.
Instead of the endless waiting and anxiety, Chuuya found himself smiling, believing in the man’s word.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
Chuuya woke to the feeling of a warm hand gently caressing his cheek.
He slowly opened his eyes, a little disoriented when he gazed up to the person hovering over him.
The first thing Chuuya saw was the pair of warm brown eyes, looking down at him gently. They were a rare pair of matching coloured eyes, even though one side was covered in blood.
Chuuya blinked, feeling a bit disoriented by his now much wider vision. Except the left vision was reddish and was still throbbing in pain. He groaned and closed his eyes, needing a moment before he could open them again.
“Da…zai…?” He called out almost hesitantly, reaching his hands up to touch the man’s cheeks.
The brunet smiled and leaned into the redhead’s touch, his eyes never breaking contact.
“Do you believe me now, Chuuya?” Dazai smiled. It may be a small smile, but it was a genuine smile.
Chuuya blinked a bit more before it all came back to him. He was instantly awake and his gentle touch on the brunet’s cheeks turned harsh. Veins stuck out from the back of his hands as he squashed the man’s skull between his palms.
"Chuu—" And then, Dazai’s head was pulled down and their lips smacked together in a rough but passionate kiss. The brunet stiffened at the redhead's sudden move. Just when he got over the shock and began to savour that addicting flavour, Chuuya pushed his head away and began yelling at him.
“Are you stupid?! What the fuck was up with that stunt you pulled?! I could have hurt you!”
I was going to hurt you—were the unsaid words.
“Oh? Is Chuuya worried about me?” Dazai asked teasingly.
“Of course, you idiot!” Chuuya all but screamed in the man’s face. His blue eyes narrowed in displeasure when he saw the teasing look on the other’s face morphed into surprise. But that shock soon changed again, turning into warmth as the brunet grabbed the redhead’s smaller wrists, pulling them aside so he could dip his head down and capture the rosy lips.
“Thank you, Chuuya,” he mumbled against his Soul Mate’s petal-soft lips before completely sealing their mouths together.
Chuuya welcomed his touch, sliding his hands through the soft brown hair to pull him down until there wasn’t a single gap between their bodies. Chuuya moaned at the large hand’s tender touch. Despite not being a fighter, Dazai still had to learn basic combat moves and weapons such as knives and guns like all other Port Mafia grunts. Throughout the years, callous developed over his palms compared to Chuuya who didn't have any due to his free lifestyle at the Teahouse. The redhead moaned, enjoying the touch of those hands and nearly choked when brunet’s sly tongue slithered into his mouth without any warning.
One of his legs that were wrapped around the brunet raised up and kicked him on the back, but Dazai deepened the kiss and tangled their tongues around each other. And then...Dazai's hip suddenly moved. It wasn't a big movement, but the shock it sent throughout Chuuya's body was enough for the redhead to turn his face away—breaking the kiss and let out a wanton mewl.
"W-What—!"
“Don’t tell me that chibi forgot we’re still connected?” Dazai snickered at the adorable reaction.
“Who are you calling—ah, chibi?!” Chuuya’s body quaked when the brunet thrust his hip forward again. “Stop moving, you pervert!”
“But what was it that Chuuya said again?” Dazai smacked their hips together again, earning another delicious cry from the beauty beneath him. “Ah right, just get this over with.”
“Don’t tell me you’re angry about—ahn…about that!”
“Yeah, I’m angry,” Dazai pouted. “You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to this moment, yet chibi said such hurtful words to me.”
“Who’s fault was that?!” Chuuya shouted, grabbing onto Dazai with shaky hands and the lanky man began to set a slow, torturous rhythm.
Chuuya threw his head back and let out a small groan. How in the world was he going in and out so smoothly?!
“You didn’t think I’d really go inside you raw, did you?” Dazai said teasingly. Chuuya opened his eyes and saw Dazai dangling a familiar looking bottle over him. The bottle was identical to the one Chuuya had smashed into the wall…and this one was missing the lube inside.
Chuuya tried to speak, but all that came out of his lips were yelps and moans with the bastard hitting his sweet spot with precision.
“Y-you—ngh!” Chuuya desperately clenched onto the body sliding up and down on top of him. “How do you—?!”
“Well…when you were out of it I’ve been doing some small experiments~” Dazai shamelessly admitted to taking advantage of the redhead while he was still drowning in his new memories.
It was also then that Chuuya finally noticed that the Port Mafia boss was completely naked. Pieces of clothes that were once on his body were now discarded somewhere into the room. Chuuya on the other hand was still wearing his kimono, but his obi had been untied and thrown into the corner of the room. He was no different than being naked with the kimono pooled at his side, covering only his arms that were still through the sleeves.
Chuuya wanted to curse and scream at the other, but all that came from his lips were broken sounds from pleasure. He wrapped his arms tightly around Dazai’s neck, holding onto dear life while the other fucked him into the tatami.
Dazai’s movements were getting faster and desperate. Chuuya could tell that the other was close. He smirked, purposely tightening his muscles and enjoyed the way Dazai shuddered, pace breaking with the cock inside his body pulsing. The redhead opened his mouth, about to taunt the man but let out a sharp yelp upon having his own cock grabbed.
“That’s no good, Chuu~ya,” Dazai sang sweetly by his ear, and pushed himself forward so hard that the smaller male’s body jerked upward from the force.
Skillful hands stroke the redhead’s leaking cock all while Dazai’s own cock rubbed against Chuuya’s prostate repeatedly, making the smaller male constantly see stars exploding before his eyes.
“Dazai—aah!” Chuuya’s arms and legs wrapped around Dazai, his entire body trembling hard as he finally cummed. Thick white spurts of semen shot out of his hard and aching cock, splattering over his abdomen.
Dazai took in the delicious sight with a dark, possessive gaze. He licked his lips, giving Chuuya's poor cock a few more rubs before grabbing the gravity user's hands and pinning them over his hand.
Chuuya screamed when the man began pounding into him vigorously with his teeth attacking his neck—chewing and kissing the delicate skin to leave behind a trail of hickeys. Chuuya gritted his teeth, tears spilling out of his eyes from the oversensitivity with his passage pulsing every time that hard cock drilled into him. His prostate was assaulted and abused over and over until Chuuya couldn't think of anything else but the man on top of him. He wrapped his legs tightly around the man's hips and let out a sharp gasp when Dazai plunged into him and didn't pull out again.
The brunet's body was shaking and Chuuya felt thick hot fluid gushing into him.
“Hn…” Dazai groaned, pulling out slightly and a last small thrust to make sure he let out every drop to fill the gorgeous being beneath him.
Chuuya opened his eyes—unsure when he had closed it—to see that warm, adoring look on the brunet's face. He panted heavily, trying to regain his breath much like the other man. They stared at one another, wanting to take in as much of each other as they could and engrave everything they see into their memories.
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this, Chuuya.” Dazai leaned down and sighed blissfully when their skin met. He began trailing butterfly kisses onto that well-defined collarbone while his hands slipped under Chuuya and began sliding downward.
Chuuya shuddered at the tender touches. He took in a couple more breathes to calm his raging heartbeat before he planted his feet down onto the tatami. Crimson kimono fluttered around his body as he flipped them around, easily throwing Dazai onto his back with him on top—their hips still connected. Chuuya bit his lower lips, fighting off the urge to moan when the cock sank deeper inside him.
“Chuuya…” Dazai let out a breathless gasp of his name, hands flying up to grip onto the smaller man’s pale hips.
“Just lay still, shitty Dazai.” Chuuya smirked and rolled his hip, enjoying the way the Port Mafia boss’s face scrunched up in pleasure.
“You were having your way with me, now I’m returning the favour.” He slapped those pesky hands off his hips. He lifted himself all the way to the tip before sinking back, making both of them shiver.
He rolled his hips a couple more times until Dazai’s cock was hard again. Chuuya steadily his breathing and began to move. He shifted his hips, recalling the way Dazai had slammed into him and tried to copy it. It took a couple of tries, but after he found the right rhythm and angle, Chuuya was letting out gasps and moans. He lost his breathing pattern and the feeling was so intense that he felt his toes tingled.
Dazai wasn’t doing any better. Chuuya may not have realized, but every time he pulled away, his passage would tighten—trying to stop the brunet’s cock from leaving. And when he sinks down, his muscles would loosen to swallow the brunet. Worst of all, with him laying there doing nothing, Dazai had more time to take in Chuuya and really looked at him.
He watched that slender figure rocking on top of him. The ceiling light above cast a layer of soft lighting over his body, giving the redhead a delicate touch despite the brunet knowing full well that this man was anything but delicate. With each of his movements, his pumpkin orange hair and camelia red kimono would flutter like the wings of butterfly lit up in flames.
Chuuya was like fire in the dark night and Dazai a helpless moth drawn towards him.
“Chuuya…!”
"Ah!"
Chuuya gasped when Dazai suddenly sat up and wrapped those long arms around him. The redhead wasn't given time to think before the hips underneath him began to grind against his butt, the tip of the cock inside his body grinding against that small bundle of nerves.
“Dazai!” Chuuya grabbed onto Dazai. They move together, their bodies in perfect sync while their tongues engage in a wild battle. A sheen of sweat coated both of their bodies with Chuuya cumming first and Dazai following a split second after.
Completely worn out, Chuuya rested his forehead against the man's boney shoulder with his legs dangling on either side of him. Under normal circumstances, Chuuya should have more stamina than this, but the whole bonding really wore him out. His eyes were starting to slip close when he felt something being wrapped around his neck. Too lazy to move, he lifted a hand and felt something leathery wrapped around his throat.
Blue eyes blinked, pulling away from his Soul Mate so that he could feel the object better.
“What is this?”
“This?” Dazai hummed, hooking a finger under this object so that he could pull Chuuya up and dipped his head to kiss the beautiful neck that was covered in his marks. “My present for Chuuya. They have to know who you belong to, after all.”
Chuuya didn’t ask who Dazai was talking about, nor could he care that Dazai had put a fucking collar around his neck. He was tired and had enough of the man’s bullshit for the night. Right now, all he wanted was to sleep.
Like Chuuya, Dazai was also tired. It was thanks to all the years of Chuuya using his body in fights that he could keep up for so long. He maneuvered them so that he could rest his back against a wall and grabbed his coat lying nearby. He pulled Chuuya down against him and wrapped them up in his black coat.
Chuuya let out a cute yawn and snuggled against Dazai, tucking his head under the other’s chin.
“Dazai…”
“Yes, love?”
“Kunikida and Atsushi…”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure they’re all getting along~”
There was a hint of something in Dazai’s voice when he said this, but Chuuya was too tired to figure out what that something was. He felt Dazai leaned down until the brunet’s lips gently brushing by the shell of his ears.
“I love you, Chuuya.”
“I love you too, shitty bastard,” Chuuya muttered back. He pulled his face out of the comfortable warmth to bite the most powerful man in Yokohama on the side of his jaw. "Now stop being a creep and go to sleep."
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
It was another usual night at Yokohama’s underground red-light district.
Beneath the starry night sky, the street was filled with red lanterns with men and women roamed about.
BAAAAAM
A loud sound blasted into the night, startling the people passing by. However, when they looked towards the source of the sound, they immediately went back to whatever they were doing.
Even if that Teahouse was known for having untouchable beauties, no one would dare to give it another look let alone going near it—not after that incident two weeks ago.
“Good job, kid!” Chuuya congratulated his student. “You’ve finally reached two hours!”
No response came from the new hole in the garden. There was, however, broken coughs coming from behind the redhead.
Chuuya glanced over his shoulder to see the raven-haired man slowly getting onto his feet, but ultimately collapsed and he spat out more stomach acid thanks to being hit in the gut.
“Don’t push yourself too hard, Akutagawa.” Chuuya frowned when he noticed the other trying to get up again.
“I can still—”
“If you still have strength, then take your Soul Mate over there and go clean up.” Chuuya pointed at the hole where the silver-haired youth was in. “I’ll get Kenji to bring some food after you two get out of the bath. I don’t care what that shitty boss of yours planted into your head, but resting is also an important part of the training.”
Chuuya ordered, patting the Port Mafia’s infamous Mad Dog’s shoulder as he walked by. Akutagawa didn’t argue back and bowed respectfully towards his boss’s Soul Mate.
Ever since Dazai brought his men and stormed into the Teahouse, it became known throughout the underground world that this Teahouse had become part of Port Mafia’s territory. Chuuya was pretty certain that everything went along with the shitty mackerel's plan, considering how Akutagawa has been assigned over to guard the Teahouse and to train with Atsushi under Chuuya. Considering how well matched these two’s Abilities were, it was more beneficial for them to be together at all times and learn to fight as one.
Chuuya didn’t mind. He was pretty much training Akutagawa anyways thanks to the Switch. Although Akutagawa never showed it on his face, he was pleased with the arrangements. After getting half of his soul back from Atsushi, Akutagawa saw Chuuya as a second mentor. The only issue was that the Mad Dog has the tendency to attack him at any moment disregarding the time and place.
Thankfully, Atsushi was always there to stop his crazy Soul Mate from going wild (and saving him from getting pulverized by their mentor and Kunikida should he break anything).
“Good evening, mama!” Kenji greeted when he ran by, carrying stacks after stacks of trays filled with food.
“Hey! Don’t run in the hallways!” Chuuya chided, earning another “Yes mama!” before the happy blond disappeared from his sight.
The redhead heaved out a heavy sigh.
Chuuya had tried to get that bandaged bastard to tell him what in the world he did to make these kids so persistent in calling him Mama. Unfortunately for him, Dazai was born with a silver tongue and an expert in the arts of flirting.
In other words, the fucking bastard dodged all of his questions through sexual harassment.
Eventually, Chuuya gave up and accepted the fact that his workers will never address him normally.
He activated his Ability, flying to the top floor of the Teahouse and sat down on the wooden railing. This was the only place he could get the full view of the floors below. He looked down at the lobby from high above, observing the guests in black suits enter through the main door.
While Chuuya didn’t recognize all of them, those people certainly recognized him from how they all bowed respectfully whenever they caught sight of him. By now, the entire Port Mafia knew about Chuuya being the Soul Mate of their boss.
As for who Arahabaki really was, that remained a mystery.
Chuuya can’t say he’s comfortable with the Port Mafias coming to his Teahouse every night. For one thing, he wasn’t used to all the formality these people displayed towards him. Now that all of his guests were part of the Port Mafia, security was naturally no longer an issue. Aside from training the kids, the redhead didn’t have much to do anymore. He leaned against a wooden pillar and pulled up one of his legs. His kimono split opened at his hip, showing off a generous proportion of the redhead’s smooth leg.
This was a usual sitting gesture for Chuuya whenever he watched the street from his window. Since this was a red-light district, showing a bit of skin wasn’t anything unusual. Chuuya never cared about what other people thought either. Anyone stupid enough to approach him were all sent flying out of the district.
While Chuuya didn’t think much of it, the people down there were having completely different thoughts. The moment Chuuya sat down, they had all buried their faces into their teacups—as if competing who could shove their face inside the tiny cup first.
Sweats soaked their suits as they prayed for their boss’s Soul Mate to hurry and realize how much danger his gesture put them into. Some of them that couldn’t move their eyes away in time even got a glimpse of the redhead’s underwear!!
If their boss was to ever find out…they might become the next one to bite the curb.
[Chuuya~!]
The image of his name flickered across his mind, causing Chuuya to raise a brow. He was no longer surprised compared to when this first happened. Even so, it was still a very strange sensation he couldn’t fully get used to.
It was common knowledge that connections between two souls will be established after bonding. Once that connection was established, Soul Mates will be able to communicate with each other no matter where they are.
The general mass called this telepathically, but now that the redhead experienced it first hand, it was nothing close to telepathy. It wasn’t like his Soul Mate was speaking inside his head. It was more similar to a message—like a letter or an email. Words would appear within his mind, naturally forming into a sentence that allowed him to instantly register what his Soul Mate had sent him without the need to read those words.
Chuuya didn’t know how any of this works, yet he was naturally able to use this connection without any issues.
[What is it?] He responded, rather irritated. [Didn’t I tell you not to bother me tonight?]
[So cold, Chuuya. Can’t I call my Soul Mate and tell him I missed him?]
[We saw each other two nights ago.] Chuuya reminded the brunet and looked down to see his workers darting through the mass of black.
[Exactly, it’s been two nights!]
[Don’t you have work to do? Piss off before I get Sakunosuke and tell him you’re slacking off.]
By Sakunosuke, what Chuuya really meant was to get Kunikida to pass the message to his Soul Mate.
[Chuuya.]
Chuuya furrowed his brow at the uneasiness he was feeling.
Suddenly, he jerked up and felt all of his hair standing on the root with goosebumps crawling over his skin. Alarms started going off in his head. His heartbeat quickened and an unpleasant feeling overtook him.
“Chuuya-san!” Kunikida rounded from the corner, calling out to him urgently.
[I’m going to die.]
Before those words could even finish imprinting itself within his mind, Chuuya was gone. The blue of his eyes melted into umber brown, while in the far distance, a pair of umber brown eyes morphed into the colour of the morning sky.
The brunet was only given time to register that he was in a car before he grabbed the person sitting beside him. He activated his Ability, they burst out of the car and flew into the nearest alleyway.
A second later, the car blew up, engulfed within crimson flames that lit up the dark street. Screeches of tires could be heard and black vehicles similar to the one he was on gathered around the exploded car.
“Thank you, Chuuya.” The person in Chuuya’s grip heaved out a long sigh. It was the sigh of a man who was so done with his life. “I told Dazai to tell you earlier, but he insisted that you’ll know.”
“That asshole!” Chuuya growled and released Sakunosuke. Before Chuuya could even shout at his idiotic Soul Mate, his Soul Mate ended up screaming at him first.
[CHUUYA!!]
Chuuya jumped when he felt his soul trembling at the sudden impact of the link. It was as if Dazai had practically jammed those words into his soul, causing it to vibrate from the intensity.
Beside him. Sakunosuke raised a brow and gave him a curious glance.
[W-what is it?] It couldn’t be that there’s an enemy attack on the Teahouse, could it?
[HOW COULD YOU SIT IN THIS KIND OF POSTURE?!]
“SHUT UP!” Chuuya accidentally roared out loud, causing the Port Mafia grunts running up to their boss and Executive to freeze in fear.
The next second, they were all bowing down to Chuuya—or Dazai in their eyes—awaiting their punishments. With their heads hung low, none of them noticed how their boss’s brown eyes were no longer brown, but sapphire blue glowing gently in the darkness.
Chuuya wasn’t fazed. If anything, he adapted to the situation instantly thanks to his years of experience with Switch and pretending to be Dazai.
“Capture the ones that inspected my car and send them to the Kouyou,” Chuuya ordered calmly in Dazai’s smooth voice.
“Yes, boss!”
The men hung their heads even lower as Chuuya walked by them with Sakunosuke beside him. He chose a random car and went into the passenger seat with Sakunosuke getting behind the wheel.
Once the doors were closed, it was just the two of them and Chuuya was finally allowed to relax.
“Sakunosuke, tell Kunikida to keep an eye on that idiot. I’ll kill him if he does anything strange with my body.” He grumbled while reaching into Dazai's jacket to pull out a small black box. He opened it up, revealing a pair of brown contact lens inside.
“Don’t worry, Kunikida already knows,” Sakunosuke replied with a light smile and started up the car. “I already informed him of the situation.”
Ah, come to think of it, Chuuya did see Kunikida running up to him before he activated the Switch.
“You’re not paid enough for this shitty job,” Chuuya lamented and began putting on the contact lens, hiding the real color of his current eyes. They drove down the street once more with Dazai's men following closely.
[What’s the situation?] Chuuya demanded inside his head.
[We’re heading for a trade…is what they want me to think. The enemy’s trying to lure me out and kill me, so save me, Chuuya!]
Chuuya sighed, somehow knowing that was the case. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sakunosuke’s eye twitch. No doubt Kunikida was telling him something…which led Chuuya to believe that his mate was bullying Kunikida again.
Ever since the six of them bonded, Dazai had gotten Chuuya’s memories and knew all he needed about Kunikida. Kunikida was the same, having seen the stuff Dazai pulled through the eye of Sakunosuke.
Since then, the two of them had a…well, very strong opinion of each other.
Kunikida hated the Port Mafia boss.
The Port Mafia boss, on the other hand, seemed to have developed a joy of tormenting the blond.
Chuuya could still remember the last time Dazai secretly doodled in Kunikida’s notebook with an obnoxious green marker. The redhead had to use Switch to take over Dazai’s body just in time as Kunikida—who took over Sakunosuke’s body—attempted to strangle Dazai to death.
It didn’t help that Akutagawa was also in Dazai’s office that night. As the loyal Mafia dog that he was, he took hierarchy seriously and was at lost when the right-hand man and the boss began to fight. He didn’t know whether or not to intervene, so in the end, Atsushi went into Akutagawa’s body and jumped in to stop Kunikida.
Coincidentally, it was at that time that Kouyou and Hirotsu entered the office to bring their reports to their boss. What they saw was Akutagawa (Atsushi) grabbing onto a murderous Sakunosuke (Kunikida) from behind with Dazai (Chuuya) on the ground gasping for breath.
[Chuuya.]
[What now?]
[Come back soon, I want to hold you in my arms.]
The corner of Chuuya’s lips twitched as the car drove into a dark tunnel. He wanted to retort, asking if Dazai wanted to embrace his own body considering that they had Switched. However, Chuuya didn’t. He hid his face into his palm, hiding the small smile that was there.
“Hey Sakunosuke, I’m going to unleash Arahabaki,” Chuuya informed the Executive who pulled out his phone to quickly type the message to the underlings. “How far?”
“Not much longer.” Sakunosuke narrowed his eyes. “Around the corner.”
Chuuya smirked as blue eyes darkened.
[Dazai.]
[Yes love?]
[Pull me out in five minutes.]
[Of course, partner.]
Chuuya could feel the warmth from those words that flickered by. The car came to a stop in front of the warehouse and Dazai’s men ran out to take their positions. One of them came up to the car and opened the door, bowing respectfully as Dazai stepped outside.
“Be careful, boss,” Sakunosuke spoke that same line as usual.
Chuuya held up a hand, signaling the men not to move and walked up to the warehouse alone.
[Hey Chuuya.]
[What is it now?]
“Oh, Grantors of Dark Disgrace…” Chuuya chanted. Crimson aura shrouded his body in a low hum and the gravitation pull around him increased. He raised a long, elegant leg and with a simple kick, the heavy metallic door was sent flying. Screams and shouts echoed from inside, but Chuuya didn’t care and leisurely strolled in.
[I love you, chibi.]
The brunet paused before his lips curled up in a warm smile.
[Love you too, shithead.]
“Do Not Wake me Again.”