N. Chuuya X Fem! Reader: The Territory of Gravity

15.2 - Dazai, Chuuya, Age Fifteen

"Mafia's budget needs to be cut down, our bank's crashing," you groaned.

"Why would that be, I assumed I had a secure account?" A man with slicked back black hair questioned.

"Payment for the guns has been overdue for two weeks," you glared. "I'm not sending troops out with butter knives in their hands because you were irresponsible with our money. And that's not all, police was nearly able to track our traces. I had to dispatch high ranking members to support the low ranking ones, three times this month."

"What a predicament," the man groaned, turning to his textbooks.

He scanned through a bundle of documents, frown burying deeper into his forehead the more papers he looked at. A man who looked like a doctor, speaking to his closest accomplices in what looked like a hospital.

Though he was neither a boss nor was this a hospital.

He was Mori Ougai, the boss of the most powerful criminal organisation in Yokohama, the Port Mafia. While he may not have gotten his position through ethical means, he was certainly a smart and powerful boss.

"Cancellation of the protection business would be counterproductive," Mori sighed. "We can't possibly intensify conflicts with other organisations, we'd only loose territory. My this is such a troubling decision. How is there so much work, and all the problems only increased ever since I became a boss."

"That was a year ago, and I've been your advisor the entire time," you scoffed. "The only times we had problems were when you ignored your own Consigerie."

"Perhaps I'm not suited for the job then," Mori mused. "What do you think Dazai-kun? Are you listening to me?"

"I am," the boy grinned. "Not!"

"Which is it?" Mori groaned.

The boy who answered Mori's question was sat atop a medical stool, clearly bored. He wasn't a part of the mafia, unlike you, who grew up here. He had black hair and white bandages on his forehead, as well as an oversized black trench coat draped over his skinny figure. The boy was none other than your friend, Dazai Osamu, aged 15 just like you.

"Because Mori-San's always talking about boring things!" Dazai said as he played with medical equipment. "At this point you're almost chanting a sutra, 'I have no money, no information, and my subordinates have no faith in me' eventhough you should've known all that from the start."

"That's true..." Mori admitted, scratching his head for answers. "Why are you mixing the high blood pressure medication with the low blood pressure one anyways?"

"Huh? Oh I'm wondering if something amazing would happen and cause me to die if I mix and drink them!" Dazai shrugged.

"You can't die!" Mori glared, snatching the medication away. "How did you even reach the shelf?"

"No, no, I want to die!" Dazai protested, attempting to get the medicine back. "It's boring so I really want to die! As painlessly and simply as possible, as much as possible! Mori-San, do something!"

You grit your teeth and ignored the commotion behind you, continuing to scan the documents. Dazai regularly attempted suicide, something you tried to talk him out of every time. Though he merely believed you were crafting lies, like any good superior officer should. He didn't think you actually wanted him alive for anything other than the mafia's benefit. So he went against your orders every time and attempted suicide, often recklessly as well. You eventually let him be, not wanting to face the pain of having to talk him out of death again. Though you never let it show to him how much his need to die hurt you, you assumed it would only make him feel worse, which you wanted to avoid.

"If you be an obedient and good child I'll tell you the prescription sometime," Mori bribed.

"You lie! You say that, but you'll just order me around and let me hold on to that troublesome thought without telling me anything for another year!" Dazai whined. "If it'll be like that then I'll betray you and join an enemy organisation!"

You knew exactly why Mori didn't reveal any information to Dazai. Not just because he was necessary for the charade of the will forgery, but because he would ultimately lose either you or his throne in the process as well. You wouldn't hesitate to kill him, should you find out he'd aided your friend's suicide, so you always ensured Mori stopped them.

"You're a good boy, so don't say such irresponsible things," Mori scolded. "And if you do betray me, you won't be able to die painlessly."

"You'll have to be tortured, most likely by the commanding officer or boss," you choked out. "And that'll be me if you ever betray us. I will kill Mori-San if he's the one who drove you away. And you've seen how I torture. You wouldn't want that now, would you?"

"Not just that, you were also the only witness to the previous boss's last words when I took his position," Mori reminded. "In other words, you're my alibi. If I were to let you die that easily, it would be troublesome, not just because my Consigerie would take my life."

"If it weren't for the fact that running this place would be too much responsibility, I would've done it already," you spat out, crossing your arms.

"Of course you would've, I don't doubt," Mori laughed, ruffling your hair.

"So we didn't achieve our aim, huh?" Dazai asked.

"Pardon?" Mori questioned, suddenly defensive.

"Eventhough choosing a patient who failed to commit suicide as your accomplice was such a good idea. Even after a year has passed, I'm still living like this. Thanks to you, this uneasy feeling never disappears," Dazai accused.

For a brief second, Mori looked as if his insides were drenched with ice cold water. He looked so nervous and sick to the stomach, it worried even you.

"... what are you talking about?" Mori responded coolly.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. The uneasiness I'm talking about is the uneasiness of not knowing whether the assassination plot was leaked or not," Dazai pressed.

As always, it was impossible to read Dazai's emotions and thoughts from his expression in the presence of Mori. He always held it as calm as a frozen lake. Except this time, with his cold eyes, that were slightly disappointed, it was easy to tell what he wanted.

"An assassination is only complete when the mouths of everyone involved in the forgery is sworn to secrecy or their mouths are sealed," you explained. "I'm mafioso, and I have no reason to expose you as the Boss's death benefited me. But Osamu is neither mafioso, nor did the previous Boss's death benefit him, so he could easily expose you and join another organisation."

"With regard to that, you chose the perfect accomplice. After all, no one would suspect me. After you became boss with my testimony... even if I achieved my goal of committing suicide..." Dazai trailed off, though the meaning was clear.

Mori could easily cover his traces, had he picked a boy who wanted to live. But if Dazai committed suicide, it would only point directly to Mori, and he would be elected out of office. That was something Mori couldn't risk.

".... just kidding. It's fun to say such irresponsible things and worry a great person. It's my favourite entertainment recently," Dazai shrugged, returning back to his daydreaming state.

"You remind me of someone I know," Mori chuckled.

"Who?" Dazai asked, curious.

"Anyway, stop testing adults. Me, silencing you? If I wanted to I would've done so a long time ago. It's easier than breathing. And how many times do you think I stopped your suicides this year? It's really troublesome, you know. Once it seemed like I was a hero in a movie when I had to dismantle the bomb under your chair."

"Where did you even get the bomb from?" You questioned, though received no answer.

"Dazai-kun, if you really want, I can prescribe you some medication to help you relax," Mori sighed, grabbing a quill and scribbling something, much to your friend's excitement. "In return I want both of you to investigate something. It's nothing big, nothing serious, but you're the only ones I can turn to for this."

"You wouldn't willingly place yourself at my mercy," you glared, pointing a gun at his chest. "Explain yourself."

"The place called Suribachigai near Yokohama, it's a foreign settlement," Mori explained. "There are rumours about a certain person appearing there. I want you to find out the truth behind these rumours. If the two of you split up, Dazai-kun, invoke the Silver Oracle. Show it to anyone and they have to obey you. L/N-kun already has it because of her status, so you needn't worry about her."

"A certain person?" Dazai asked, looking down at the document of the Silver Oracle that was handed to him.

"Try guessing," Mori smirked.

"I don't even want to think about it," Dazai grumbled.

Your eyes widened as you connected the dots and realised who the threat was, and instantly lowered your gun.

"Even as a joke, if it caused the most powerful person in the mafia to worry, it must be big. Not only that, if the rumour requires the assistance of the Silver Oracle, the problem is likely not the person rather the rumour itself. A rumour which needs to be destroyed and proven wrong, for its mere existence poses a threat to the organisation," Dazai thought aloud. "And considering you only want us to go instead of some extraordinary specialist alongside the Consigerie, it means that only we have a connection to that person. That person, it's the old boss, isn't it?"

"Bingo," you smirked.

"In this world now exists a person who shouldn't be able to. He died, I killed him, you saw it and you saw me confirm his death," Mori explained. "After all, I even held a grand funeral for him."

"It's true then that you can't rely on anyone else," you sighed.

"The medicine. It's a promise," Dazai bartered. "You definitely have to keep it, ok?"

"This is your first job," you realised.

"Welcome to the mafia, Dazai-kun," Mori smiled.

"By the way, the person similar to me - who is it?" Dazai asked.

"Me," Mori grinned.

Dazai stood confused for a moment, as if his now boss had just sprouted a second head. Shrugging, he turned to leave alongside you, though was stopped when Mori asked another question.

"Tell me Dazai-kun," Mori began. "Why is it that you wish to die so much?"

Dazai pursed his lips, though answered nonetheless.

"Let's turn that question around, shall we?" He offered. "Is there really any point to this thing we call living?"

Truth is, there wasn't.