Death Becomes Us (Dazai x Reader)

Chapter Two

A/N for people who read the original book: we are getting rid of the now vs then chapters and flashback narrative of the original story. 

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Dazai froze in place, the smirk slipping from his face.

"Stop the act?" he repeated quickly regaining his composure as he straightened up and haughtily placed his hands in his pants pockets, "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

Y/n laughed lightly as she crossed her arms, jutting a hip out to the side.

"Yeah?" she asked, eyebrows raised, "I think you do."

That was how the trouble had started. Sure, she was light hearted and had wings that made her look like an angle, but Dazai knew she had seen something in him that day. With a single glance, she had somehow managed to peek through his facade and that was terrifying to him. No one had ever been able to do that so quickly before save Mori. The worst part was, he had absolutely no idea how far in she had seen.

Dazai dealt with his discomfort the only way he knew how. While remaining polite and light hearted, trying to get his work done no matter how much it sucked so that he didn't get fired, he shut himself off to her. Every smile, every friendly wave, every hello she tossed his way when their paths cross he returned with silence and a stoic face. Y/n was nothing if not persistent and did not let it deter her one bit.

That was when the teasing had started. It had been nice enough at first, relatively friendly insults he had begun to throw her way. To his surprise, instead of finally catching the hint, she had matched him. It had been two months and what had started out as a way to distance himself from his coworker had turned into a competition of sorts, each trying to one up the other in their jabs.

"What!" came Y/n's cry, echoing through the halls of the Agency, "I'm not useless! we just haven had a case yet where I'm needed."

"Exactly my point." smirked Dazai, crossing his arms and leaning back on his desk, "I've been working here for months and you haven't done a single thing yet."

She had made the mistake of looking over at him on her way to the kitchen. Y/n's only goal had been a fresh cup of coffee, but he had felt her eyes on the back of his neck as he had leaned over his work.

"That's because we haven't been doing anything my power applies to." she pouted.

"Oh yeah? What is your power again?"

"I told you, it's called Deus ex Machina."

"So you have wings, right?"

"Yes."

"You can fly?"

"Yeah."

"And how's that useful again?"

"You lit-"

"Y/n! I need your help!" came Tanizaki's voice from the hall.

The h/c haired girl ran out the door without a second look at Dazai, her cup abandoned on his desk. He looked over at it with distain before slowly getting to his feet and following her path. Stepping out into the hallway, he found Y/n talking to Tanizaki and Yosano who were supporting a woman who appeared to be having a panic attack.

"She came in to hire us and Kunikida asked her what was going on and then she just started hyperventilating and saying she couldn't breathe and I don't know what to do! Is she dying?" Tanizaki exclaimed, his words coming out in one big rush.

Y/n knelt down on the floor, gently cupping the woman's face in her hands and looked intently into her eyes.

"No, she's just scared." she said after a moment, her voice quiet and soft, "I'll calm her down and then we can figure out how to help her."

"Oh yeah?" goaded Dazai from where he stood, leaning against the door frame, "And how are you gonna do that?"

Y/n simply ignored him, and Dazai's eyes grew wide as he watched the small girl spread her wings. In the time he had been working at the Agency, it was true he had never seen her use her ability. It was the first time she had opened them like this while he was there. The wings were so big they nearly filled the whole hallway. She closed her eyes and began to emanate a soft light, the woman's face still held in her hands.

"Ability: Divine Calm!" she called softly as she opened her eyes.

The light faded and the woman took a deep breath, straightening up.

"Can you tell us what happened ma'am?" asked Y/n, removing her hands from the woman's face and leading her gently into one of the conference rooms.

"So what is your ability, mind reading?" Dazai questioned as Y/n reentered the main office, sighing as she shut the door behind her.

"No." she indignantly responded, walking over to her desk and taking a seat at it without so much as a look in his direction.

"Well," Dazai began, taking his feet off his own desk and watching as she rummaged around for a pen, "what does it do then?"

"What do you care." she shot back, a venom lacing the undertone of her voice.

"We are coworkers after all, shouldn't I know? Just so you don't fuck me up if we get sent on an assignment together."

Having at last found a pen, she turned to the blank report in front of her.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. I'm a healer. I do injuries and minds." her response was curt as she put pen to paper.

Dazai had heard Y/n be short with him before, but he could tell there was something different about it this time. Something was eating away at her it was obvious. She sat at her desk, eyes fixed on the paper in front of her, pen poised to write more than the woman she had spoken to's name, but instead she just sat there, staring at it.

"Are you okay?" Dazai asked reluctantly after a minute.

Y/n sighed as she at last turned to look at him. There was none of the familiar hint of joy in her eyes as was normal for the playful girl.

"Don't act like you fucking care when you don't." she said coldly, shaking her head before turning back to her work, "Just leave me alone, Dazai."

He didn't know if it was due to Y/n revealing this new side to herself or his boredom, but Dazai felt a sudden interest in his coworker. It was an interest he hadn't felt in the past few months, since coming to the Agency. It was the all consuming kind, the kind that ate away at him until satisfied.

"Was it what that woman said?" he asked before quickly adding, just to make sure she didn't think he really did care about her or anything, "Or have you finally realized the fact your ability sucks?"

He raised his hand, turning it over in front of his eyes, examining his nail beds as he spoke. When Y/n's answer never came, however, he shot a look over at her again.

Bent over her work, she was trembling. Dazai's brow furrowed slightly as his hand fell back to his side. He leaned forward.

"Y/n-" he began to say but was cut off by Y/n herself, slamming her pen down onto the table.

"You know what? Fuck you." she looked up at him, still trembling, still leaning over her desk.

Dazai opened his mouth to speak but Y/n interrupted him once again, straightening herself up as she did so.

"Fuck you, Dazai. I tried to be nice, despite your constant cruelty. I tried to play you're silly games cause I thought: 'oh he's just one of those friends where you guys tease each other all the time.' I thought: 'when it comes down to it, he's probably a nice person' but no." she pulled herself to her feet, hands on her desk as she glared at him from across the room, "You're just a fucking asshole."

rewritten: December 10th 2023

Edited: January 27th 2024