Withering moon lit rose

Chapter 11

Run. Run! RUN! That was the only thought rushing through Akutgawa's head as he held Atsushi close to his chest, funny how in the time Akutagawa and Atsushi had known each other this was the closest they had ever been to each other.

Akutagawa continued to run back the way he had initially travelled until he wound up on a nearly vacant street. It wouldn't be easy to disappear with limited people about, after all the pair of them kind of stood out. Akutagawa continued to make his way down the street, the lamps guiding his way slightly. He could hear footsteps not too far behind, shouts from a man could be heard, Akutagawa assumed it was the silver haired man. Akutagawa could see his and Gin's apartment complex not too far away at this point, he prayed that Chuuya had made it to the apartment at this point otherwise he wouldn't have much options in keeping hold of Atsushi. He pushed his way past the couple who lived on the first floor, they had just been returning from a late night venture. No seconds to spare Akutagawa traversed up the flights of stairs, his already weak lungs struggling to keep up. He could see his door within sight, however as he made his way halfway across the landing a deep pain shot through his shoulder blade. Akutagawa loosened his grip on Atsushi before colliding with the ground, Atsushi rolled one way while Akutagawa rolled the other.

The silver haired man lowered his gun, meanwhile Akutagawa rolled to his knees holding his shoulder while it seethed in pain.

"Huh, tough luck kid. My boss wants your boyfriend." Akutagawa felt his cheeks redden ever so slightly. "Not my boyfriend! I want him dead!" The silver haired man laughed, "Huh, sure kid." The man then began to slowly make his way towards Atsushi's unconscious body.

"Rashomon!" The tendrils latched into the ground dragging Akutagawa towards the body. A determined expression plastered across his face, he still hadn't fully put his mind to what Chuuya had said earlier. He just didn't want to see the white haired male leave so soon, not when he hadn't fully made his decision about his own feelings for the boy.

"You just don't know when to give in, do you kid?" The silver haired man raised his gun and placed it against Akutagawa's forehead, the younger male's expression never faulting. He was determined to keep Atsushi safe as long as he could, but part of him knew it wouldn't be that long. Akutagawa closed his eyes, waiting for the bullet to shoot. But it never came.

"Dammit!" The man cried as Akutagawa felt the cold metal of the gun leave his head. Akutagawa opened his eyes to be met with his door wide open, Chuuya stood in the doorway. Dazai holding Gin back as she intended to launch herself towards her brother, but Dazai knew better. Dazai moved his focus to the silver haired man and smirked as he recognised him.

"My, my. What do we have here? A rogue farm animal?" Dazai laughed at his own joke, meanwhile Chuuya had a hardened look on his face.

"The infamous demon prodigy, lucky seeing you here huh? I guess you brought your guard dog with you?" The silver haired man laughed as he nursed his aching hand. "Silence Shirase." Chuuya muttered in an angered tone.

"What the fuck! Do you want, with my subordinate?" Chuuya spat out, Shirase released his hand and pointed at Atsushi who was now in Akutagawa's arms once again. "Why would I want that useless brat?" Akutagawa felt himself loosen his grip on Atsushi slightly, but quickly tightened it and brought him closer to his chest.

"What did you call hi-" Before Chuuya could finish his words a blur rushed past him and landed a punch directly on Shirase's face. The man was now laying down on the floor, nursing his cheek slightly. Before he could raise himself higher he was met with a foot in his chest.

Dazai.

"Dazai?" Chuuya asked in confusion, that appeared to snap Dazai out of his trance that he had ended up in. "Heh, the demon has a heart after all?" Shirase spat out, however Dazai pressed more weight onto his foot, before kicking Shirase straight in the face causing blood to gush from his nose.

"No." He answered, all emotion had left him. It was a good thing Atsushi wasn't conscious to witness this side of Dazai, it would have struck him with fear to his core. "No?" Shirase answered.

"I tore it out, a long time ago. It was a corpse." With that, Dazai walked away from Shirase towards Akutagawa. He bent down and placed his hand on his head, then made his way to the apartment. Gin made sure to stay out of his path as he made his way inside.

"Shirase! What's taking you so long?" Shouted a voice from the stairwell, when she eventually arrived at the top Akutagawa recognised her as the girl from earlier, Yu. When she laid her eyes on Shirase on the ground she rushed over.

"Who did this to you?" She cried as she knelt beside him, "That demon." Yu understood who he meant immediately. She moved her eyes away from Shirase and saw Chuuya. "Chuuya!" She cried in excitement and quickly jumped to her knees forgetting about Shirase for a moment. "I've missed you so much!" She skipped over to him and tried to grab at his arm like she used to. "Don't touch me Yuan." He gritted out, "If you so much as go near any of my people again I will not be held responsible for what happens to any of you." She grumbled in response, "Jeez, I don't even know why you disappeared all these years ago. You just upped and left?" At that point Chuuya had lost all this patience with these people. He balled his hand into a tight fist and locked it perfectly with Yuan's.

"You know DAMN WELL why I left!" He shouted with all the pent up anger he'd been restraining since they arrived on this floor. "You were there that day! I looked to you for help! And all you gave me was a smug grin and you turned your back on me!" Chuuya slowly activated his ability, stepping forwards slowly leaving his footprints on the surface of the floor. Yuan slowly crawled backwards to where Shirase was laying.

"You were the ones who turned their back on me! So I returned the favour in kind!" He scrunched his fist once more, "Ahhhh!" Yuan cried, when she opened her eyes she saw Chuuya had punched the earth between her legs instead of her.

"This is the last time, I will let you go. Now leave. Leave and get out of my life!" He screamed as the couple moved backwards at his final words. Just as they loaded into the lift Shirase locked eyes with Chuuya. "Guess you never changed? Still the monster we always knew!" He laughed to his heart's desire however recoiled in pain from scrunching his face when laughing, the lift doors drawing shut.