Dynasty

Chapter 1

Some days, it's hard, to see...

&&&

                   Birds flew together in the air as the blazing sun slowly rose from its sleepy perch beyond the horizon. The sky was painted many shades of red, orange, purple and gold, and cool breezes blew peacefully over their feathered bodies, swirling and whistling around the buildings and few people walking in the early hours of the morning, almost as if it were dancing gracefully to an unknown source of music. Most people were home in their houses at this time. Some who had night jobs had just returned home and got ready to obtain some much needed rest while others, like business men and medics, had just left home to commence long hours of tiring shifts at work.

                       The aura of the environment was very peaceful considering the major battle that had just taken place. The three way war between the Guild, the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency had finally ended a few months before. The Port Mafia and The Armed Detective Agency now had a formal truce and constantly constructed joined missions between different members. While work did continue as normal, it spiced things up a bit to have mafia members continuously passing through the agency, despite not planning to blow anything up.

                     Atsushi sat comfortably on the windowsill of his dorm's dining room, peacefully watching the sun rise. A steaming cup of green tea sat graciously between the palms of his hands and every so often, he took a few sips of the warm liquid. Mornings like this were, surprisingly, not very rare for Atsushi. They occurred every time he had a bad night, which was almost always. Nightmares and memories plagued his mind day and night, and he just couldn't find a way to make them stop. It was easier to distract himself whenever he was doing missions or was buried in piles and piles of his and Dazai's paperwork; it was the reason he always agreed to do the man's paperwork even though it was always tiring to complete. However, due to the recent events, he'd had more free time than before. Meaning more nightmares.

                   Because of this, he began startling awake at ungodly hours with a scream caught at the back of his throat, accidentally waking Kyouka. Feeling guilty, he made sure to wake up without making a sound from then on. From there, he'd crawl out of the closet, making sure Kyouka didn't wake up, and make a pot of tea. Then he'd wait for his special guest to arrive. Speaking of which, said guest should be arriving soon. As if on que, there was a knock on the door and someone else walked inside the small apartment.

       "Ohayo gozaimasu Dazai-san," he called softly to the man behind him.

        "Ohayo Atsushi-kun," Dazai replied calmly.

                    Dazai leaned against the edge of the windowsill, nursing the cup of tea Atsushi had left on the dining room table for him in his hands. They both watched the sun as it continued to rise, basking in its warm rays and the peaceful silence they'd created.

         "So how are you today Dazai-san? Was last night any good or was it the usual?" Atsushi questioned. 

         "It was...  better than normal but still difficult," The man replied softly. Atsushi could hear the tiredness in his voice though. It saddened him to know his mentor had nightmares, causing him to also have insomnia, just the same as him. He wished he could take all of Dazai's pain away. Conversations like this happened often between the two of them. 

                      They'd gotten pretty close over the time in which Atsushi had come to Agency. He trusted Dazai more than anyone else although he cared just as much for the rest of the agency as well. Even a certain few mafiosos had managed to worm their way into his heart. However, he spent most of his time with Dazai, though Kyouka came in at a very close second. They'd begun opening up to each other about certain things and Atsushi was grateful that Dazai had trusted him enough to do that.