The End Of It All | Akutagawa Ryunosuke x Any! Reader

{Chapter 9}

"Again." Another rush towards their dark haired partner. Another failure to repeat the miracle they had prior.

"Again." Failure after failure ensued as rage built up inside Y/N. Two weeks they had been working on this unknown power. One which they had not managed to use since. 

"WHY WON'T IT WORK??!" Y/N shouted, their brain starting to panic. They couldn't fail, failure was bad. Failure was not an option. They had to succeed. 

"Give yourself a break, we'll come back tomorrow." Akutagawa said coldly. He looked towards them, knowing that they had both been through this before. Their face reminded him of the fear they both had to get something wrong around Dazai. A somewhat guilty feeling crept upon him, he was bringing this pain back. He had to find a way to make this power work to save them sooner. 

Awkwardness fell on the two as they left the dungeon to go back to their shared office. Y/N's anger lingered and Akutagawa was unable to comfort them. It was becoming a struggle for both of them, a struggle which the both must battle through together. 

Y/N was obviously tired. They were practically falling asleep on their desk as the two carried out the limited work they had been given whilst trying to figure out this enigma. Sleep was greatly required as they had pushed themself to the limit day upon day upon day. From across the room, their partner noticed this and decided to do something good for once in his life. 

"I'll finish this, you can go home." 

"You sure?"

"Yes, now go." They left as Akutagawa was left to his own devices, finishing up the paperwork consisting of information on targets and updates on the research the pair were doing. Stress was something that Akutagawa was familiar with, but when that stress applied to someone he cared deeply for, he felt far more guilty for not meeting deadlines. 

That night, the dark haired man eat by himself before deciding to head off to bed, but sleep did not come. Thoughts flicked through his tired brain, trying to think of methods to help his partner out with this unknown skill they now possessed. How did this skill form? They were held in the grasps of that man. He was about to kill them. There was an unusual look upon their face, one which he had not seen in a long time. 

Fear.

Suddenly, it dawned upon him what he had to do. He didn't want to do it, but it was the only lead he had. Dread filled him, he didn't want them to be scared of him. However, this was the only method which he was confident would work. 

Morning rolled around quickly and soon the two were back in the basement dungeon. He had prepared himself for this moment. All of the hope within him landing on the slight chance that this would work. 

"Go."

Y/N ran towards them but he grabbed them by the neck with Rashomon and slammed their body against the wall. They hung there with their eyes locked onto Akutagawa in a concerned manor, causing his heart to crack but he couldn't let that distract him. This had to work. Slowly, Y/N's ominous looking man walked towards them, his skill billowing from his coat in four daggers pointing towards his 'target'. 

"Ryunosuke? What are you-" The Rashomon strip holding onto their neck moved to their mouth as he replaced his skill on their neck with his hand. He saw the tears brimming in their eyes, making him feel even more guilty than he already was. 

"I'm going to kill you, Y/N." He put the sadistic smile on his face which his partner knew all too well. They hit the arm which was connected to the hand now restricting their trachea from taking in the oxygen it needed. Akutagawa felt one tap and then there was nothing in front of him. Confusion is putting it lightly. Where could they have possibly gone? He looked down at his hands which had done such awful things to Y/N. He had to find them and apologise. 

"Oi, genius. Turn around." He did what the voice told him and there they were. Sitting down on the ground, their back against the other wall. Relief washed over him despite his confusion still lingering. 

"What happened?" He asked, still wondering how they suddenly disappeared from in front of him. 

"Your plan to increase my fear worked, and I must say, it was pretty convincing." One hour he must have been stood their, with his killing intent written across his face. 

"I'm sorry." Were the only words he could muster over the sheer relief he felt from learning that his cruel method worked. Strange feelings rushed through him. He wanted to embrace them, something which he had felt before but never to this intensity and definitely not toward any other person. 

"It's fine, as long as you promise never to kill me for real. That was terrifying." Akutagawa nodded in response, his mind still running wild. They still needed to channel this power in order for it to be of use to the Mafia but he was glad that his plan had worked and that they didn't hate him for it. A heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders, sure, there was still a weight there but it was considerably lighter. 

Y/N looked at their partner, they could see the cogs whirring inside his brain, trying to figure out what this discovery meant. They walked over to Akutagawa and reached their hand up to his shoulder. "Don't lay it all on yourself, we can work on this together." Suddenly, Y/N felt two arms wrap around them. He was... hugging them. It was as if he was unconsciously doing it but it felt nice. Comforting even. They looked up at Akutagawa as he looked down at them. He realised what he was doing and let go quickly. 

"Sorry." 

"It's fine."

"I should have thought about what I was doing."

"It was nice." That slipped out. They probably should have kept that in, their heart rate increased, nervous as to what they let out. A soft smile spread across the lips of their partner which made a strange fuzzy feeling form inside Y/N's stomach. One which they could not understand. 

"Shall we talk upstairs?" Akutagawa suggested to which their partner nodded in response. The two walked up the stairs to their shared office on the second floor of the Port Mafia building. Sitting down in their respective seats, the two began discussing their relevant theories. 

"So, I require fear to activate this. Will I only be able to activate it when I am close to death?" 

"Possibly, but there may be a way to change that." The middle distance became of interest to Akutagawa as he focused on something in his mind. 

"How?" 

"If you can find a way to channel this fear, bring it to the front, you may be able to activate this power." Y/N thought about this and how this may affect their training in the future. Fear was about to take over their mind and control their power. Were they really ready to let their fear take control? 

Once the day was over, the pair walked back to their apartment block together as usual, picking up their post on the way up. Y/N noticed a hand written letter within their pile of bills and bank statements. 

"Interesting." 

Akutagawa and Y/N parted at the top of the stairs to enter their respective apartments, causing Y/N's full focus to fall on the letter in their hands. They peeled the flap from the back of the envelope, took out the piece of paper and began to read. 

Y/N,

I am giving you another chance. Meet me at Lupin bar at 10pm tomorrow and we'll discuss your situation. It is in your best interests that you arrive as I have my ways of finding you if you don't.

- Dazai

Looking back to the envelope, they noticed that there was no stamp nor address on the front. It simply had their name on. He knew their exact location and had threatened them. Dazai has strategically engineered there to be no choice for them. They could only agree.

"Shit."