It 's been a while since Chuuya found himself

this

bewildered by a situation. Months. Years. A lifetime. Not even that.

Because none of his past experiences compare to the sight of the mafia boss peacefully stretched out on the couch with an iPad on his chest and

dozing.

They were doing their thing, Dazai being lazy and chatty as he went on about his typical workday and Chuuya his shadow, then Dazai sat down because he apparently focuses so much better when he 's comfortable. Considering the man wasn 't doing anything exciting or worth watching, Chuuya used the time to do more of his writing exercises. However, when he looked up after a while, he discovered that Dazai had fallen asleep, and now here he is.

It could be a trap. Chuuya wouldn 't put it past him to either prank or test him by pretending to sleep, which is why he takes a few steps closer to take a good look. Dazai 's breathing is even,

too even

to fake something like that. His expression is relaxed. He looks younger but also more human, more real.

Chuuya snaps his fingers right in front of his face. Nothing happens.

Straightening his spine, Chuuya places his hands on his hips as he considers what to do.

Technically, nothing. God knows Dazai needs that rest since naps are the only sleep he gets.

But it 's also an opportunity. Sure, it would be easy to kill Dazai when he 's asleep, but as Chuuya told himself and his friends many times already: cutting off the head of this snake will not be enough. So even if Chuuya won 't touch Dazai while he 's passed out, he can use the time to snoop around and finally set their plans in motion.

Because one can never be too sure with a little person like Dazai, Chuuya stares extra hard, hoping his instincts are sharpened enough to spot a liar from a genuinely unconscious man. He doesn 't find any signs of treachery, only a pale, unnervingly handsome face, clearly asleep.

It takes Chuuya a few seconds longer than it should to quietly step away and tiptoe through the office. He 's not sure

where

to even begin in a room this big and vast, yet so hollow of anything substantial.

Now, where would a man like Dazai keep his secrets? The desk seems too obvious of a choice '

Then again. What if he 's hiding things in plain sight?

The desk it is.

Shooting glances at the couch now and then, Chuuya approaches it. As silently as he can manage, he opens the drawers. Every single one of them. Files, papers, notebooks ' all of it

useless

because he can 't decipher them yet. Fuck.

What is he even trying to find like this, huh? Photographic evidence?

Chuuya takes a hopeful peek inside the next drawer and '

He instantlyshut its again. Nothing suspicious. Just a pack of condoms and lube. It throws him off course for a few moments, thoughts swirling around in his head like annoying bugs. Why does Dazai keep that shit

here?

Well, okay, he does spend most of his time here too but '

Chuuya eyes the desk. Dazai doesn 't fuck people here, does he?

(The lube makes his line of reasoning wander astray as well. Does that mean Dazai fucks men, or is he just one of the more considerate people that use lube with every partner they have? Sure, yeah, they 're

husbands,

but in the grand scheme of things, the nature of an arranged marriage reveals nothing about someone 's sexuality. Dazai could be straight. Or not. And '

It really doesn 't matter.)

The rest of the drawers don 't have much to offer either, so he scans the surface. Although he wouldn 't say it 's pristine and neat, it 's not messy either. It 's just kind of empty. The only colorful thing is a red-and-white box of matches with a name on it that he thinks says '

Bar Lupin.

Feeling desperate and like he 's running out of time, he grabs the box of candles. He hopes that they will smell good enough to overshadow his total failure of an inside job except '

Inside, he finds an entire batch of USB flash drives instead of candles ' although the scent of the ones that used to be kept there lingers. It smells like vanilla.

Now that is interesting.

He can 't steal all of them. Too obvious. But taking one and then returning it as soon as possible will do the trick. Chuuya picks a random one and pockets it when he hears a small, muffled noise from the couch.

A whimper.

Apathetic, broken whimper.

Throat working to swallow down a lump in there, Chuuya makes his way to the couch, half-afraid that he 'll find Dazai awake, half-afraid that he will find something else. Dazai 's still asleep but his face doesn 't look as relaxed anymore, definitely not as peaceful when it 's twisted into something anxious, terrified even, twitching every now and then. Chuuya himself might not dream but he has seen this expression on his friends late at night when they tried to sleep and got haunted by memories instead.

Nightmares.

Chuuya 's leg kicks the couch before he can really think about it. Dazai 's eyes fly open. For a drawn-out moment, the two of them simply stare at each other.

'You were, uh ' ' Chuuya starts. Then he reconsiders his words and lets his brows tug into a familiar scowl. 'You can sleep later. I gotta ask you something. '

Lashes fluttering, Dazai yawns and stretches out his arms like a lazy cat before slowly sitting up. 'What is it? '

'I want to go visit my friends. '

'I 'm still waiting for the question. ' Dazai reaches under the coffee table that 's standing next to the couch, fumbles around for a bit until he pulls out a small ziplock bag with white powder in it.

Chuuya 's too immersed in watching him crush the coke with a bank card before he registers Dazai 's comment. He clears his throat. 'I just want to make sure I won 't have to listen to you whine about symbolism and meanings for the next few days if I do. '

'Do whatever you want, Chuuya, ' Dazai says. It doesn 't sound like a lie or a challenge. Like in most cases, Dazai seems startlingly honest about it. 'And that still wasn 't a question. '

'Fine. ' Chuuya huffs softly. For some reason, this stupid back-and-forth makes him want to smile. 'Then I guess I just wanted to yell at you. And ' let you know where I 'm going. So you know I didn 't run away. '

'That 's very considerate of you, Chu~uya. ' Dazai leans down then, long fingers holding a rolled yellow-ish 10,000 yen note as he snorts the neat and long line of coke in one go. His nostrils flare after he 's done, sniffing loudly a few times, before he offers Chuuya a crooked grin, tilting his head. 'Need a chemical bost before you make the trip? '

Although Chuuya is undoubtedly no stranger to drugs, he 's never tried cocaine before, only its cheap, dirty sibling speed, which wasn 't very impressive. All it ever gave him was the urgent need to chew on something and a racing heart. But he didn 't feel high. He just felt oddly clear in his head. Nothing special.

So coke doesn 't look very appealing to him either.

'I 'm good, ' Chuuya mutters. 'I 'll see you later. '

His only reply is a content hum.

This casual familiarity between the two of them

is

strange

,

Chuuya realizes that in the back of his head, but the odd thing is that it doesn 't

feel

weird. Not really. He has been shadowing Dazai for the last few days now, listening to him grumble about too much paperwork, verbally spar with every single person that enters his office and give Chuuya his writing and reading lessons in-between. And all this time, Dazai has been a bit annoying, sure, an occasional smart-ass, yes, but other than that bearable company. (

Interesting, funny company

is what Chuuya does not let himself think.)

Considering this development comes with its benefit, it 's not worth mulling his head over for longer than necessary.

According to Yuan, the sheep are lodged on the twelfth floor, an entire story with single rooms and bigger apartments. His fingers keep fidgeting with the collar of his wine-red shirt when he reaches the door of apartment number

20.12,

suddenly wishing he would have bothered to change his outfit before coming here. Too little too late, though, This is the least of his problems with his friends anyway.

He hears muffled voices from inside even before he knocks. They only hush after the door opens and the people inside see him.

Chuuya doesn 't wait for the person in front of him, Shougo, to say something before he steps inside and closes the door behind him. Whatever little party was happening here clearly has come to a stop, everybody 's head turned towards him, the silence so loud you could hear a pinfall.

'Why is everybody so ' Chuuya, hey! ' That 's Yuan, sticking her head inside from the other room, short pink hair falling over her shoulders. Her smile quickly bleeds into a wince, though, when nobody else says anything.

'What do you want? ' Luca finally asks, sitting on the window sill with a grim expression.

Of course, the question is directed at none other than Chuuya. He could snap back and tell him that he still belongs to them, still theirs, and that he doesn 't need a reason to be here and that he certainly doesn 't need to hear his attitude, but it 's been a while since he last saw all of them ' or most of them anyway since some of his people aren 't here ' and he doesn 't want to waste this visit with fighting. So Chuuya pulls out the USB stick and looks at their most computer-savvy member that is sitting on the lower bunk bed. 'I need Misao. '

At the mention of her name, she raises one unimpressed eyebrow before patting the seat next to her. 'Well, come on in then, stranger. What do you have? '

'I was hoping you could tell me that, ' Chuuya says, handing over the flash drive. 'There are more of them where I got 'em from, but I figured it 'd be less suspicious to only borrow one for now. '

Misao mns hims as she sticks the stolen good into the laptop on her lap.

'I want to see too, ' Yuan exclaims, throwing herself next to him and peeking over at Misao working. Her gaze travels to Chuuya only a few seconds later, though, and she bumps shoulders with him. 'Got my first mission under that Kouyou woman tomorrow. '

Chuuya blinks. 'Really? '

'What, you had doubts? '

'Well, ' he scratches the back of his neck, 'Kouyou is Kouyou. '

Yuan rolls her eyes. 'And Yuan is Yuan. Will you be there, too? You are working for her, right? '

'Not tomorrow as far as I 'm aware. '

'What are you doing then? Aside from stealing flash drives? '

'Uh, I 'm ' ' Chuuya 's pretty thankful when Shiro, one of their youngest, sits down on the edge of the bed with big, wide eyes. 'Hey, kiddo. What 's up? '

'Do you know what happened to that man? Was he really crucified? '

The more his friends talk to him, the more relaxed the others seem to get, quickly forgetting about that punishing silence just a few moments ago and crowding around the bed to get all the gossip. All aside from Luca, of course.

'Shirase said it was really gross! '

'I heard that the Jesus freaks did it. Is that true? '

'Do you know anything about it? '

Scratching the side of his temple, Chuuya sighs. 'The only thing I know is that he was an inside man in the Bishop 's Staff. '

Well, that and he was also sitting next to Dazai when he replayed the man 's last recorded message that he sent the mafia before he was killed, which depicted some pretty valuable and yet gruesome information about the religious group. Something that 's not only highly classified and cannot get out as of yet but also that is entirely useless to the sheep.

'I told you guys, ' Luca suddenly says after he seems to have changed his mind about joining the conversation and, therefore Chuuya. 'It was done by the anti-ability organization. They 've been cleansing the streets for years now... '

There are a lot of parties and groups that are hesitant about anything ability-related or that demand better ability regulations and even public, visible identifaction, but from what Chuuya heard in those recordings, the Bishop 's Staff are pretty damn radical about it. They want the complete and utter eradication of abilities, claiming that they 're unnatural and the 'lord 's way of testing his believers to see whether they will succumb to the temptation of the evil or stay on the righteous path.

'... and it looks like they 're finally getting around to deal with the port mafia. '

Chuuya 's eyes snap up to Luca and the smug smirk on his face. 'Finally? They crucify people. '

'The methods are harsh, sure, ' Luca shrugs. 'But can you blame them when it 's ability users that they 're dealing with? '

'Luca, ' Yuan says lowly.

'What? I know you 're all thinking the same thing. I 'm just the only one brave enough to voice it. '

'I don 't know, ' Shougo mumbles. 'They 've always sorta freaked me out. Have you ever talked to one of them? They 're so damn insistent! '

'They 're brain-washed freaks, ' Yuan mutters. 'There 's nothing good about that. '

'How are

they

the ones that are brain-washed? ' Luca scoffs.

Chuuya feels Yuan tense next to him. 'Are you saying we 're brain-waished? '

'Look around you. Port mafia is full of ability users. Why is that? '

Having heard enough, Chuuya lets out a quiet, bitter laugh. 'Maybe because people like those religious freaks constantly villainize them even when they 've done nothing wrong? '

'Nothing wrong? You seriously saying the port mafia has done nothing wrong? '

'No, ' Chuuya snaps. 'That 's not what I 'm fucking saying. I 'm talking about all the ability users, not the ones who work here. Of course, there are some bad apples. There always are! But that doesn 't mean that you can just throw

all

of them into one pot. '

'I think the crime statistics all over the world beg to differ ' '

'Um, guys, ' Misao says.

'Who do you think makes those statistics? ' Chuuya asks.

'So what, the law enforcement now is lying to its people? '

'You think they wouldn 't? '

'GUYS, ' Misao snaps.

Chuuya 's mouth falls shut, and he finally tears his eyes away from Luca and to the girl next to him. 'Did you find anything? '

'That depends. Does this mean anything to you? '

Her laptop screen shows ' numbers and letters. Whether it 's the fact that Chuuya 's reading skills are still in their early stages of development or whether it 's because there truly is no meaning to this, he doesn 't know. '...no? '

Yuan 's head almost bumps into his as she leans over his lap to look at the screen, her brows furrowing. 'I 'm pretty sure those are coordinates. '

'Coordinates, ' Chuuya repeats. 'You sure? '

'Yeah, look. ' She lets her finger hover over specific letters. '0 degrees, 41 minutes, 21.4 seconds north and 74 degrees, 2 minutes, 40.2 seconds west. '

At the same time, Misao opens another tab and copy-pastes the coordinates into what Chuuya assumes to be google. It only takes a few seconds before the results show them '

'The golden palace hotel, ' Misao says with a small frown.

'Isn 't that owned by the mafia anyway? ' Yuan asks before shooting Chuuya a look. 'This is kinda lame, not gonna lie. '

Chuuya rolls his eyes. 'Well, how am I supposed to know what 's going to be on the USB stick before opening it? '

'I know. I know. So what are we going to do with it? '

'I 'll return the flash drive, ' Chuuya says. 'And maybe borrow another one. '

'Don 't you think we should at least check it out? '

'I guess. '

'So, are you free right now? '

Chuuya is still supposed to be Dazai 's shadow, pretty sure that he shouldn 't spend his entire day out in the city looking for clues of something they have no idea what it is, but then again, it 's not that weird to spend more than a few hours with his friends, right? Dazai will be busy napping or working either way, so what the hell.

'Let me change into something less conspicuous first, ' Chuuya says as he slides off the bed. The moment he does, though, Shiro tugs at his sleeve.

'Can I come with you? I 'm so bored all the time. '

'You don 't have anything to do? ' Chuuya asks.

'No! I only get assigned, like, one job a week, and they 're always so boring! '

A few other of his friends seem to agree.

'Who knew the mafia would be such a snooze fest? '

'We still get paid plenty, though, so I can 't complain. '

'Who cares about the money? I miss stealing booze and robbing jewelry stores! '

Drowning out all of the wildly differing opinions, Chuuya glances down at Shiro, trying to mend his words to let him down gently. Thankfully, Yuan beats him to do it.

'I 'm sorry, kiddo, but it 's too obvious if the three of us go. We have to be really, really careful. '

'But you 're going! And you have pink hair! '

'Well, ' Chuuya says, 'that 's why we 're going to get changed first. I 'm giving her a wig! '

Shiro blinks up at him. 'You have wigs? '

Chuuya hopes his nod is convincing.

'So Yuan gets to go with you

and

visit your flat, too?! '

'You can visit me too ' '

'Come on, ' Yuan wraps her hand around Chuuya and drags him to the door. 'We gotta go. '

'Can we all visit you? ' Shiro still asks.

How is he supposed to say no to that? 'Of course, you can! '

'Can we ' '

They 're out of the door before Shiro can finish the question. Yuan lets out a long, dramatic sigh. 'You really have to start saying no to them. Boundaries, you know. '

Chuuya rubs his temple. 'I don 't mind if they visit. I have enough space and love for everyone. '

Except maybe Luca who '

Even thinking of what he said ' god, what he

implied

with Chuuya, an ability user, in the same room, makes a fresh swell of rage rise in him.

'I love them too but have you met us? ' Yuan elbows him hard

.

'They 're going to think you gave them permission to throw a party there, and then they 're going to trash the entire place. Don 't let them do that. It 's such a beautiful penthouse, and I haven 't even tried out that crazy bathtub yet. '

'I can 't believe you 're the one gatekeeping the penthouse from our friends, and still, I 'm the one who always gets shit, ' Chuuya mutters as they step into the elevator.

Yuan offers him a blinding grin and frames her face. 'You don 't have to tell me how awesome I am. I already know. '

Contrary to what Chuuya claimed, he does not actually have any wigs in his apartment ' at least, not that he knows of. He looks through the closet but only sees what he already found before: some suits, dusty books, hangers. Wig or no, he still changes into a tight pair of black pants and a leather jacket, hoping that he will pass off as a simple civilian while he puts his hair into a bun and throws a matching black cap over it.

'How do I look? '

'Like someone from

Matrix,

' Yuan replies, shaking her head as she herself tries to find something. 'It 's so not fair. Why do you get free clothes while I only get that boring, plain suit? '

'I only got them because of Kouyou. ' Well, that and apparently Dazai wanted them to ' match. But Chuuya conveniently lets that fact slide for now. 'She 'll take care of you, too. Speaking of, are you sure you want in on that? '

'Of course, I 'm sure. You know, you 're not the only one who should do all the work. '

Chuuya frowns. 'Huh? '

'Get on the inside, find dirt, and basically sell your soul for the sheep, I mean. ' Yuan shoots him a look. 'You always say we 're family, so why don 't you ever let us help you? '

'It 's not that easy, ' he mutters as he makes sure the dragon egg is warm and safe inside its nest of blankets. 'This is dangerous territory. You could get hurt. '

'So could you. '

'But I 'm ' '

'You 're what? The invincible gravity manipulator? Well, guess what, Chuuya. Luca was right about one thing, and it 's hat everyone here has abilities as well. You could get hurt, too. '

'But

I

got us into this mess, ' he says. Isn 't it only fair that he should be the one to get them out of it as well?

'You didn 't tell Shirase to break into that man 's home and get arrested. '

No, he didn 't. But was that really the turning point? Or was it just an excuse for the mafia, for Dazai, to finally swoop in and get him? Because isn 't that why they 're here? Because of Chuuya?

He 's not sure whether telling Yuan this would make her laugh or curse him out, so for now, he doesn 't mention it. 'I just need you to understand what you 're getting into, ' he finally says. 'Kouyou 's two main domains are the brothels and the interrogation unit. ' Neither of them is very

easy.

Yuan only gives him a small, unimpressed stare over her shoulder. 'I know. You done yet? '

Chuuya rolls his eyes but nods. Not like she gives him much of a choice.

In the end, Yuan settles on a beige coat and a black cap to hide her hair. Both of them put on sunglasses as well. Then they 're off. Using the elevator and the lobby would be too careless, so Chuuya scoops his friend up in his arms, and they basically jump down -- although with

for the tainted sorrow

, it 's like a gentle, natural lift down.

'Man, ' Yuan sighs dreamily. 'I missed this. '

Chuuya grins. 'Me too. '

The hotel is a bit too far away to walk, so they get themselves a cab, and Yuan ends up paying. Chuuya would offer to do it himself, but somehow he 's never discussed his salary with Dazai before or whether he even has one. He 's sure he does ' considering all of Dazai 's plans for him, he simply hasn 't seen it yet. And frankly, he 's a bit afraid to do it too. He 's not really interested in the mafia 's blood money.

When they step out of the car, Chuuya 's head immediately takes in the towering, beautiful building in front of them. Not taller than the mafia base itself, but still impressive. Chuuya 's almost sure the clerk at the entrance won 't let them inside, not when Chuuya looks like a damn tourist, but somehow, he does, holding the door open for them with a polite smile.

'Okay, ' Chuuya murmurs. 'Look for anything suspicious. Any mafia members. Or maybe some politicians we could blackmail. '

'Do you think I know what a politician looks like? '

'Fuck, you 're right. They all kinda look the same. '

'Let me google ' '

'Oh my god, get down! '

Looking around furiously, Yuan hisses, 'get down

where?! '

Chuuya ignores her as he pulls both of them behind a huge, shiny pillar in the lobby and prays to the gods above it 's enough to hide them.

'Why are we hiding? ' Yuan whispers.

'Because I saw Albatross, ' Chuuya whispers back.

'You saw a bird?! '

'No, he 's a ' '

The moment a big, strange hand lands on Chuuya 's back, he shuts up. Despite the way the touch is feather-light, soft almost, his blood runs cold. Even the immediate reaction to search

for the tainted sorrow

deep in his bones feels muddled by that paralyzing fear.

'Hello, Chuuya darling. ' Except ' this voice does not belong to a stranger at all.

No

. 'Fancy seeing you here. '

Dazai.

Although all signs point to them being in grave, grave danger, Chuuya still feels his muscles go lax with relief as he turns around. 'What are you doing here? ' he asks as soon as he gets a good look at Dazai. 'Weren 't you back at the base just an hour ago? '

Dazai 's appearance at the auction was a novelty. And now he 's outside again?

Dazai lets his eyes take in Yuan for exactly one second before he zeros in on Chuuya only, offering him an enigmatic smile and a shrug. 'Well, I was, but then I got requested for a meeting here. What an odd coincidence, don 't you think? '

'Very odd, ' Chuuya agrees, trying to keep his expression neutral even though ' even though Dazai surely knows what Chuuya is trying to find here, right? This isn 't a coincidence. This is being caught in a mousetrap, except the owner of the house is patient and in the mood to play games.

'I have a feeling the person is not going to show up, though, ' Dazai says. 'Care to join me for dinner? '

'Um ' ' Chuuya glances at Yuan, who seems to be holding onto the last shreds of her patience to keep silent as she stands there, biting her cheek. 'Sure. '

'Wonderful, ' Dazai replies and then jerks his head away from the pillar. 'And do stop hiding here, will you? '

Thankfully, he takes the lead, which gives Chuuya and Yuan a few moments of privacy and the opportunity to talk ' or, well, whisper-shout at each other:

'Why did you agree?! '

'You don 't know Dazai, ' Chuuya hisses. 'He would have found a way to make us eat! '

Yuan rubs her hand over her temple. 'Oh my god, he 's going to serve

us

for dinner! '

'It will be fine ' I think. '

'Fine?! We were caught red-handed! '

Yes, but '

Would Dazai really bother to take them out for dinner just to punish them? Besides, Chuuya has long since learned that the line he 's walking isn 't

that

fine, not when Dazai needs something that he will not get by losing Chuuya first.

'It will be fine, ' Chuuya says again, squeezing her arm. 'Just act natural. '

As soon as a waiter inside the restaurant spots them, or rather Dazai, he hurries over and directs them towards a roomy table next to a ginormous, shimmering aquarium, dozens of different fish swimming around. Yuan sits down next to Chuuya, and Dazai takes the seat across from him. Even though Chuuya insisted it would be fine, his heart is starting to hammer loudly inside his chest.

He 's gotten used to doing these kinds of things with Dazai. A little. But with Yuan here, he is not quite sure how to act anymore, so he buries his head in the menu before he sees all the

text

and, with a mute whimper, realizes that he 's still not good enough to read and understand 90% of these things!

'Chuuya, ' he suddenly hears Dazai say, 'do you like fish? '

Lowering the menu enough to meet his gaze, Chuuya blinks. Dazai looks as casual as ever, like the question is completely innocent, but Chuuya has a feeling he knows what he 's trying to do. And to be honest, he feels an immense wave of gratitude spill through his blood. 'I do. '

'Then you should try

the Kinmedai no Netsuke

, number 49. '

'Okay, ' Chuuya says, a soft puff escaping him as he tries to reign in a thankful smile. 'Thank you. '

'I don 't like fish, ' Yuan announces then.

'Good for you, ' Dazai mutters. 'There are enough other dishes to pick out from. '

Having spent his entire life with Yuan, Chuuya knows that she is not the least bit picky about her food and that fish has never been a problem before. Though, he does understand why she would act like that. It 's not every day that you get to spend a dinner with the head of the port mafia, after all. It 's not like Dazai is particularly nice to her either, definitely not as friendly as he is to Chuuya.

Even though Chuuya and Yuan order themselves water and coke, Dazai gets the waiter to bring them a bottle of red wine too, pouring each of them a glass. It looks pretty expensive, but as Chuuya is used to the cheap, boxed stuff, impressing him is not hard.

Dazai must notice him eyeing the bottle, so he nods at it. 'Go on. Try it. It 's -- ' His lips clamp shut for a moment, then he smiles. '... my favorite. '

Curious, Chuuya lifts the glass to his lips and takes a small sip, letting the wine wash over his tongue and down his throat. His eyes widen immediately. 'This tastes so good?! ' Not just like burned gasoline that they used to drink to kill their brain cells and forget about their miserable lives for a night. This

really

tastes good. Something you drink because you genuinely enjoy doing it.

Cheek resting against his palm, Dazai just watches him take another sip, looking mighty content with this outcome.

'Wow, ' Yuan suddenly says next to him, and Chuuya has to suppress cringing at himself for almost forgetting that she 's been here this entire time, too. 'This sure is good. '

'It 's from an ancient property in France 's Southern Rh 'ne, near the town of Gigondas and situated in Mont Ventoux, ' Dazai says with a faint shrug. 'The owners ' Nicole and Xavier Rolet have quite the magical touch when it comes to their wines. '

A flabbergasted laugh escapes Chuuya. 'How do you even know that? '

'And what a coincidence that Chuuya is such a fan of France, ' Yuan mutters under her breath. 'Yeah. How do you know that? Do you do research on every wine before you flaunt it? '

Dazai barely acknowledges Yuan, instead choosing to play around with the napkin and only glance at Chuuya every so often. 'Well, I 've been to their winery once. It 's hard to forget such a beautiful residence. '

'You 've been to France? ' Chuuya can 't help but blurt out.

Dazai nods.

'How was it? '

'I was sent there to track a member that had either gone rogue or missing, so, unfortunately, I did not get to do a typical sightseeing tour, but it was still beautiful. My favorite thing were all the

boulangeries

and

p 'tisseries

you could find at every corner. '

One might assume that Chuuya would have no idea what the foreign words mean, what with his inability to even properly master his native language, but truth be told, he knows

exactly

what

boulangerie

and

p 'tisserie

means. French bakeries and pastry shops. Because he used to frantically obsess over anything related to France when he was younger, and apparently still does.

'That 's so ' ' Chuuya wants to say

cool

and maybe ask Dazai another few dozen questions, but he 's already shown too much excitement over this little fact anyway, so he collects himself and leans back in his seat, shifting his goofy expression into a calm nod. 'Interesting. Very interesting. '

Across from him, Dazai squints ever so slightly before accepting the shift in the mood without another comment.

Chuuya wants to ask why Dazai came here in the first place and why his 'partner ' didn 't show up, but that could lead him to ask

Chuuya

why he came here. As long as Dazai is content to ignore the elephant in the room, Chuuya is, too. When he casts a glance towards Yuan, she 's busy inspecting the labels on the wine bottle as if trying to confirm what Dazai told them.

'Yuan 's first day with Kouyou is tomorrow, ' Chuuya says then. Perhaps it 's a feeble attempt to break the ice between the two, but can you blame him? It feels awkward. Tense. 'Thank you for talking to her. '

Dazai hums. 'So I 've heard. Congratulations. '

Yuan raises her chin as she looks at him. 'Thanks. '

'Don 't come crying to Chuuya when you start regretting it, though. '

Her face instantly balks. 'I won 't regret it, you ' ' She visibly stops herself from saying something stupid in the spur of the moment. She schools her expression into something more neutral. 'Believe it or not, but I 'm not as weak as you think. '

'Whether you 're weak or strong doesn 't matter. Everything is breakable, in the end, and Kouyou knows that better than anyone. '

Yuan just shakes her head, clearly refusing to believe it. A part of Chuuya understands her hesitancy to be spooked because Kouyou is tough, sure, and she does intimidate him, but other than that, she 's not ' that bad, right? Then again, he only really spent a few days directly working under her so far. He spent more time with Dazai if you add it all up. Plus, he caught his team, his 'subordinates ' whispering to each other that they 're glad they got Chuuya as a superior instead of Kouyou. So out of the two of them, who will know Kouyou better? Chuuya or Dazai?

'So why isn 't Chuuya going to be there tomorrow? ' Yuan asks then. 'I thought he was working under Kouyou too? '

'Chuuya 's busy, ' Dazai replies easily.

'Doing what? '

'Prepping for an important business. Nothing you should worry about. '

Oh, yeah.

That

meeting is in a few days. Chuuya has avoided thinking about it so far, happy to pretend he won 't have to deal with some random assholes and talk to them about shipping routes and money.

'Chuuya 's my friend and family. ' Yuan 's voice is impressively calm this time. 'And 90% of the time, he is off doing god knows what. So forgive me for worrying why that is. '

Chuuya sighs. 'Yuan ' '

'No, I think it 's a valid concern?! '

'Chuuya is sitting right there, ' Dazai points out. 'So maybe instead of interrupting him, just ask him

. '

Yuan doesn 't look happy about it, but her expression still wilts like a flower. Thankfully, that 's when the waiter decides to arrive with their food, the timing truly impeccable. The man sets down their places in front of each of them, starting with Dazai, of course, asks whether they want something else and then leaves as quietly as he appeared.

Having an excuse not to talk, Chuuya digs into his fish. Dazai must have really great taste because, once again, it 's delicious, satisfying cravings that Chuuya never even knew he had.

Not even five minutes have passed when Dazai 's phone buzzes. He fishes it out and glances at it intently before deciding to pick it up, brows furrowed ever so slightly. The person on the other end must speak first. Chuuya pauses when Dazai 's eyes evidently fall to

him.

Is his streak of luck finally ending?

Did someone call Dazai about the USB stick perhaps?

Will they '

'Thank you, ' Dazai says and hangs up, still looking at Chuuya. 'Someone broke into your apartment. '

The chopsticks between his fingers almost slip out. 'What? '

Dazai taps some things on his phone, then slides it over the table so Chuuya can look at it. 'I assume these belong to you. '

Chuuya feels Yuan lean closer to have a look as well. They both stare at the grayscale video footage on the phone that shows a couple of people crowding in front of a door. Their faces are clearly the ones of their friends. The sheep.

'Yeah, ' he mutters. 'Fuck. '

Yuan lets out a dry huff. 'Those fuckers. Didn 't I say they would do something stupid? '

'It 's my fault, ' Chuuya admits as he lifts his eyes to meet Dazai 's gaze. 'I told them they could visit me. I just didn 't think they 'd break in there. ' Even though he expects to be met with irritation or maybe even anger, considering that 's the sheep clearly breaking very important rules, all he finds is a small, lopsided grin. Dazai doesn 't look bothered in the slightest.

'We can still finish the food and take care of it later if you want? '

As good as it tastes ' 'They 'll do something much worse than break the door if we wait, ' Chuuya says. 'We should probably go. '

'Very well. I 'll call a car for you two. '

Dazai somehow manages to catch the waiter to tell him to box their food so they can take it home ' something Chuuya even sees Yuan be not only surprised by but a little glad since it would really be a waste to throw it all away. Apparently energized and ready to kick their friends ' asses, she takes the lead, and Chuuya uses that opportunity to turn back to Dazai.

'Thanks for all of this, ' he says. 'And I 'm sorry about the sheep. '

God knows, the mafia has enough money for a broken door and a security system but somehow it still feels rude. Not only to Dazai but to Chuuya as well. What about

come visit me

screams

break into my apartment?

Especially when the sheep knew damn well what Chuuya and Yuan were doing at that time and that it could cost them if they got caught.

Across from him, Dazai turns a little and wraps his fingers around the bottle of wine before he offers it to Chuuya. 'I have a feeling you will need it. '

Mouth hanging open slightly, Chuuya accepts it. His throat feels a little dry as he swallows.

'I 'm sure you can handle them on your own, but if you need me to, I can come along. '

'I think, ' Chuuya says slowly, 'that would only add fuel to the fire. '

'Yeah. ' Dazai 's chest falls with an exhale. 'I figured. '

Chuuya 's not sure why he keeps standing there like there is more to say when there isn 't. Still, it takes him defiantly longer than it should to realize that Yuan is probably already waiting for him outside, wondering where he is. 'Okay, I really gotta go before they break my bathtub or something. See you '? '

'Tomorrow? ' Dazai finishes. 'We can practice for the meeting. '

Chuuya nods. 'Right. Tomorrow. See you then. '

Somehow his exit still feels a little rushed, more than a little awkward, and Chuuya ends up wandering blindly for a few minutes outside the hotel, looking for pink hair. Apparently, Yuan was waiting for him in the car already because he only sees her after she opens the door and waves him over.

As soon as he sits down, Chuuya lets his head fall back, and his eyes flutter shut, feeling like a month 's worth of energy, tension, and stress seep out of his body. 'That was close. '

'That was

weird

, ' Yuan says instead. 'Is he ' is he always like that with you? '

Opening his eyes again, Chuuya glances at her. 'Like what? '

'So nice and chatty and, you know, looking at you like the sun shines out of your ass? '

'He definitely does not look at me like that, ' Chuuya retorts with a frown. What the hell?

Yuan raises one brow. 'I might be exaggerating a teeny tiny but, but that man does not look at you like he looks at me. '

'Well, duh. You don 't have to spend as much time with him as I do. '

'Chuuya, honey, I don 't think

that 's

what makes us different. ' Head shaking, she crosses her arms, clearly mulling over things. 'Something is off with this guy. The way he talks to you ' didn 't you think it was strange when he talked about France? '

'What exactly is supposed to be strange about that? '

'It 's like he knew you turn into a little fanboy every time someone mentions the country. '

Chuuya snorts. 'Okay, I know you 're trying to understand his motives ' trust me, I do too, and

I fail every time

' this is absurd. France has good wines. It 's really nothing crazy. And he visited their winery. I 'd mention it too. '

'Yeah, he was there for a

mission

, but somehow he got time to visit a winery? ' Yuan makes a vague hand gesture. 'Does that sound logical to you? Because it sounds like bullshit to me. '

Okay, she has a point with that. Still.

'Maybe the mission was in the winery? '

Yuan turns to shoot him a bewildered look. 'Seriously. And since when are you trying so hard to defend him? '

'I 'm not defending him! ' Chuuya 's hands curl and uncurl in frustration. 'All I 'm saying is that you 're getting worked up over things that don 't really matter in the end. Who cares that Dazai bought french wine?! '

'Okay, ' she says, 'then let 's talk about things that do matters, like, say, for example, the fact that he literally caught us spying on him and then didn 't even mention it. And that 'I was supposed to meet someone there ' sounded like total bullshit. What was that about then? '

Chuuya lets out a long sigh. 'I have a theory about that. '

Yuan wordlessly tells him to go on.

'I don 't believe that he was going to meet someone there either, ' he relents, 'but rather that he somehow knew the flash drive was opened, and that 's why he went there? Does that make sense? '

'I guess. ' Yuan 's long painted nails tap against her crossed arms. 'Let 's ask Misao since we 're about to see her anyway. '

That reminder makes Chuuya rub his hands over his forehead as memories of the sheep 's past break-ins flash through his mind. It always ended up with either a huge party or a total demolition of everything inside, which amounts to the same thing because things get broken either way.

'Why would they do that? ' Chuuya wonders aloud. It 's a little quiet, a little sad. 'They have to know how dangerous it could have been for us, for

you,

if things hadn 't turned out the way they did? '

'I 'd say they 're just acting out against the mafia, but.. ' She makes a humph-ing sound. 'It 's not like they are being mistreated or anything. To be honest, I think it 's Luca. '

Chuuya 's head slowly turns to her. Silent.

Yuan meets his gaze. 'Did you hear the way he talked about '? '

'About abilities? ' Chuuya breathes out a humorless laugh. 'Yeah. It 's like he really believes that they 're inherently bad. ' Like

Chuuya

is.

And it 's not that Chuuya claims to be a saint. Because he isn 't. He has done things awful things that hurt others. But not because he 's a damn ability user.

'Can 't wait for him to see your dragon egg, ' Yuan jokes.

However, that makes Chuuya realize that she is right. The sheep are inside his apartment.

Their heads snap towards each other.

'The dragon egg. '

Thankfully, it 's only five minutes to the base, but Chuuya still spends them pestering the poor driver to floor it. There 's an awful, dark feeling inside his chest that tells him that Kafka will no longer

be

once they arrive. That it will be too late.

Yuan seems to share the same worries ' thank god ' so they kick off at the speed of light as soon as the car comes to a halt, bumping into and almost running over a few people on their way to Chuuya 's floor.

Muffled bass and music come from inside when they arrive, and Chuuya doesn 't bother using his key card since the door will have to get fixed anyway, making his entrance by kicking in the thing. In any other case, he would be happy to do that again. Not now, though.

Now he 's just pissed.

His friends are spread all over the place. Some are in the kitchen, opening and closing cabinets in the search for liquor probably, others are in the living room, cigarettes and joins dangling from between their lips, and it 's so loud that they don 't even notice Chuuya barging in.

And Luca '

Luca is lounging in the lover 's seat next to the couch like a goddamn self-proclaimed king with a bottle of

beer

in his hands, and a few of the others spread around him.

After Chuuya sets aside the food and the bottle of wine on the kitchen counter, not bothering to greet his friends there, he stomps over to that idiot. Luca 's mouth curves into a stupid smirk when he sees him coming.

'Hey, Chuuya. How did Yuan 's and your little mission go? '

Chuuya slaps the beer out of his hand in reply. The bottle splashes and shatters into a thousand pieces on the closest wall.

Luca blinks.

'What the hell do you think you 're doing? ' Chuuya hisses.

Someone tugs at his sleeve. It 's Shiro. 'Chuuya-san, you said we could hang out here? '

'Or was that just another lie? ' Luca mutters, frowning at the thin line of red on his hand.

Sighing, Chuuya crouches down in front of Shiro. 'You can, but you guys broke in here ' and the people who own this apartment, powerful people, saw that you did. It 's dangerous. You could have gotten hurt. Yuan and I could have. '

'But we didn 't, ' Luca points out, ever so thankfully. 'No one did anything. So why are you mad? '

'That 's only because we talked to the boss before he sent out his men, ' Yuan suddenly cuts in from behind. 'We said we 'd take care of it. If we hadn 't done that in time, you guys would have been in deep shit. And for what? ' She holds up a bottle. 'A little party with

beer?

You couldn 't manage to get something stronger? '

'Oi, it 's still noon. ' And that 's Shirase. Chuuya didn 't even notice that he was here, too. 'We were waiting for you two to join the party. ' Then he squats down in front of a shopping bag and fishes out several bottles of hard liquor with a cheerful grin. 'So how about it? You guys talked to the big boss, everything 's fine, and I think we all deserve a little fun after the last few weeks. Am I right, or am I right? '

Everyone in the apartment cheers. Someone turns the music even louder.

Of course, they think Shirase is right.

Chuuya doesn 't. Not really. He thinks they 're acting like spoiled, entitled children who don 't realize that they 're not just kids on the street anymore. That they can 't simply break the rules, get drunk, and do whatever the hell they want anymore.

But he doesn 't bother voicing any of that out loud, not unless he truly wants them to start hating him.

And honestly, maybe it 's even better that way. Perhaps if they stay out of the games of the mafia and of Dazai, they will also stay safe. And if that means Chuuya will have to do it all on his own, that 's fine. Probably easier, too.

He disappears into his bedroom to check out the damage they 've done to it, only to find that the dragon egg is gone. Heart slamming wildly, he lifts the bed to see if it perhaps rolled under it, and nope. Not there either. He scours his entire room for it, but it 's gone.

Someone probably saw it decided that it 's ' a toy or something like that, so it 's most likely still somewhere in the apartment.

Please let it be still there

, he prays to the gods above.

Since the real party has begun, it 's even louder. His friends slowly start to get more and more drunk, which is good because they probably won 't notice Chuuya searching every corner of his apartment and crawling on the floors. But also dangerous because they could accidentally destroy the egg in the process.

Chuuya 's trying to see whether the egg is somewhere under the couch when he has the misfortune of overhearing what his friends are talking about.

' ' and they 're really smart about it, too. They even have a party in the national diet. '

'I don 't know, dude. Do you really wanna put your trust in a religious group? When has that ever worked out? '

'Okay, sure, but you can 't deny that they 're effective. Not even the freaking SDFUP or the government has managed to get rid of that many ability users. '

'Yeah, probably because that 's blatant discrimination? '

'Oh, come on. Ability users can do whatever and kill as many people as they want, but when it 's normal people fighting back, it 's suddenly discrimination? '

'Dude ' '

'I agree that some of 'em are ' bad ' but don 't you think that 's too generalizing? '

'If ability users are that bad, then why did you fuck one, Luca? '

'Hahaha! '

'Pfft, shut up.

He

is the best example. He 's a good guy but look at him now. Sucking up to the mafia-like he was born to be here. And it 's not like his ability doesn 't affect him either. C 'mon now, we all saw it, right? He is not as in control as he pretends to be all the time. '

The music becomes somewhat muffled, echoing around Chuuya in thumping, dizzying repetitions. He blinks, then blinks again and looks down and '

The red glow of

the tainted sorrow

outlines his hands, and he quickly lifts them, wills his ability to go the fuck away before he accidentally breaks through the floor. When nothing happens except for his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths, Chuuya opens his eyes again.

'-- whether you want to or not, you should still involve him. '

'Who gives a damn about our rules when we 're not even ourselves anymore either? '

Chuuya doesn 't want to listen to another word of this. He gets to his feet, not caring about whether his people see him either, and starts searching for his egg again.

In the end, he finds it in the kitchen next to a couple of avocados that Dazai brought him a few days ago. Admittedly, they do look

somewhat

alike if avocados were much bigger and had scales. He stuffs it into an empty shopping bag and hides it on a shelf, hoping his friends won 't find it this time.

He tries. For a few hours, he tries to stay at his own party, talk to his friends, and pretend like he 's enjoying this like he used to enjoy the parties before all this. But soon, Yuan leaves with the explanation that she needs to get up early the next day, and she tries to get as many people to come with her as possible. She fails. Their friends, when drunk, are defiant, irritating brats. And Chuuya keeps hearing what Luca said about him. That he 's not in control. That his ability is bad, evil. If it came from any other person, he would have a good laugh about it and maybe even put on a show for entertainment purposes, but '

It 's different when something like that comes from the people that are supposed to be your friends. Very different when they actually believe in the false information that they spew.

The thing that ultimately tops it off is Shirase puking into his bed.

That is when Chuuya grabs the dragon egg, the bottle of wine and decides that it 's time to leave. And there is only one place that he really has to go to right now.

When Chuuya started shadowing Dazai, he finally got that key card he was so passionate about on his first day, which means that getting to the top floor is not a problem. The question is whether Dazai will even let him in.

Chuuya takes his time waltzing down the dark hallway, only illuminated by the city lights outside, and swinging the bag with Kafka in it back and forth. He stops eventually in case it 's bad for the poor egg.

His throat is thick when he stops in front of Dazai 's office and the four men that are stationed in front of it. 'I 'm here to see the boss, ' he says, holding up his ID card. 'Nakahara Chuuya. '

The guard on the far right taps his earpiece and mutters something that 's not loud enough for Chuuya to catch. However, not even a few moments later, a clicking sound echoes through the space before they open the double solid door to let him through.

Chuuya 's sneakers echo through the dim-lit office as he turns the corner and makes his way inside. The desk is abandoned, but there is a light coming from the place where the couches are, so he makes his way towards it. The lamp is turned on on the coffee table. No one 's there, though.

Just when he 's about to go back to the desk and return the USB stick, one of the doors opens, and Dazai comes out. He 's not wearing the scarf or the coat or even the jacket of his suit anymore. Just his white shirt, a few buttons unpopped like he was just about to change but got interrupted. He also looks tired.

'

'Chuuya? '