Chrysanthemum Garden [Dazai x Reader] ✓

1. Born an arsonist

'She will be the most suited for this job,' Mother affirmed, her skinny finger outstretched towards me as she presented my awkward figure to Boss Mori. 'She can get it done in the blink of an eye -'

'I can't let you do that,' he returned, chin resting on his loosely intertwined fingers, cuffed under wrist-long white gloves. 'What should we do if something goes wrong? - If she can't drop unconscious? It does require quite some willpower to hold a chloroform-dabbed cloth to your own nose (a large dosage, mind you) to knock yourself out. I believe you're aware of the negative effects such a chemical has on her body, yes?' He tilted his head and revealed a sly grin, lips curled as if he were a predator looking down at their helpless prey with false pity - 'I thought your husband would've told you so, too.'

The mentioned man (her husband) was someone who was seldom spoken of, the main reason for such being how sensitive Mother was towards the topic; whenever mentioned, her tongue never failed to hiss murderous threats, and with the knowledge of her ability, one would know better than to bring him into any conversation. Boss was possibly the only person in the Mafia - even the world for that matter - who never saw himself the victim of her verbal ferocity or physical aggression, and he never seemed shaken by the glare she aimed at him as a replacement.

I was not biologically related to Mother nor her husband; my past was something that was never kept a secret from me; I was made to revise every detail of my story I had no memories of thoroughly: I was an orphan, I was told, but my adoption was clear to have been a result of personal investment over sympathy for my story, the state I was in, and the guilt that polished my mind.

"You killed your parents when you were just born. Not only that, but you burned down the hospital that accommodated your mother - you are quite the specimen." - this phrase, amongst similar others, lived in the earliest of my memories when I was told to settle on a stool behind a strange man with hands that ran through various see-through glass bottles, each labelled with a sticker and thick strokes across them. "If you weren't immune to smoke, it's possible you would have burned the whole country too."

'This isn't be the first time she's done a job like these,' Mother insisted, snapping me back to reality, a faint tone of impatience and irritation creeping her voice as she spoke to the Port Mafia's boss. 'She's used to it by now, aren't you, [Y/N]?'

But she couldn't change his mind no matter how hard she tried; she further highlighted that my absence of membership with the said organisation would play to their advantage if I was ever caught, saving them the trouble of claiming to have lost a member - but he dismissed that too.

'She's not part of the Mafia, that is correct, which then means that it's not an obligation of hers to complete the job you have been assigned to complete.'

As reluctant as Mother was, she forced herself to bow in defeat and led her way out of his office, having me silently follow behind her when I figured that my presence was not wanted nor needed in Mori's office any longer and that I should see myself out of his sight and Elise's sight - this being the blonde girl whom he seemed to obsess over for reasons I was unsure of.

The moment the doors closed behind us, Mother grabbed my wrist tightly and pinched my flesh with her nails, a force capable of leaving behind a temporary mark after release. She reached for my earlobe with her other hand and brought it closer to her lips, whispering the address of the location she was assigned to be at - a corporate building, she said - and gave me an array of names I failed to retain in my memory.

'Take that drug with you or whatever, I don't really care; as long as you can make yourself pass out I don't care, understood? Let me break it down for you:' she continued through gritted teeth and low intonation. 'It's got horrible side effects and it could eventually kill you, but that's only what we're aiming for because - Akutagawa!'