the other side of paradise | bsd x gn!reader

six.

a/n: two chapters in two days?? who am i?? i do think this one is a bit all over the place though

It's dark when you open your eyes. Dark? Strange. You are certain it's supposed to be sunny today. Well, never mind. You'll think about this later. First, you decide to get up. Except you can't. Something on your right wrist pulls you back. It feels cold, like some sort of metal. You don't have to think hard about it, because the light turns on soon after. You're in a room you've never seen before, with your wrist cuffed to Dazai Osamu himself.

Oh, right. Memories of the previous night flood back into your brain. Even though Chuuya is out of town, you still decided to go to the park alone. Bad decision. The last thing you heard before you sat on the swing was Dazai's voice. "Found you!" You would've jumped in fright if the world hadn't turned black immediately after.

Back to the current situation.

"Good morning sleeping beauty!" Dazai greets cheerfully. He looks just like the last time you saw him. A pale slender face, slight bags under the beautiful eyes, hair unkept and his head, neck and arms covered in bandages. The only new addition are the silver handcuffs, binding the two of you together.

"Morning," you respond without thinking. Wait. Was he... sitting in the dark, waiting for you to wake up? Creepy.

"Did you sleep well? I apologize for the kidnapping, but it was the only way I could get you here."

"Oh, was it? Who knows, if you had asked, maybe I would've gone with you without struggling. I'm not really fond of these if I'm being honest." You wave your arm sarcastically to show the handcuffs on your wrist, effectively pulling the brunette's hand along.

Dazai grabs your hand with his, intertwines your fingers together and leans closer to your face. The mischievous smirk sends shivers down your spine. "The handcuffs are only a safety precaution. But if you play nice, we can take them off and I'll just hold your hand. My ability nullifies all other abilities. By constantly touching you, I can make sure you never get an opportunity to use yours ever again. I'm not letting you escape. Not under my watch," he purrs, gently tracing his finger along your jaw. His eyes are looking into yours, but they seem unfocused.

To be honest, you're scared. Port mafia Dazai is absolutely terrifying. If he spots even a slight weakness, he will jump at it and exploit it. Which is exactly why you must pretend being kidnapped is nothing new to you. As far he is concerned, you are not scared. Not scared at all.

You roll your eyes. "Yeah right, okay. I have a question though. Why am I in this random room? I'd expect the Port Mafia to stuff their captives into a torture chamber of some sort. Or even the boss' office if their luck is especially terrible."

As if pulled from a daydream, Dazai's eyes become clear again. He lets go of your hand, leans back, and gives you an answer. "Actually, the boss doesn't know your here. Call it a ... bargaining chip of mine if you will. Nothing you should be concerned about."

You give a confused frown. "That makes zero sense. Why would you hide me from the man you're literally working for? Besides, where are you going to leave me when you go meet him? Surely you won't just put a bag over my head and call it a day. Even if you manage to find a decent solution, I can escape the moment you stop touching me."

Dazai's face brightens. "Oh, I'll leave you with a dear friend of mine when I can't look after you! You can't escape him either even if you try! He's too smart for that." His eyes turn threatening as he continues talking. "I'll find you and kill everyone you care about if you try to escape anyway hehehe." How does he deliver such threatening lines with such a child-like expression?

"Okay!" he claps. "Let's go introduce you to my friend. He's downstairs right now. I actually think you're going to love him. Odasaku is a very cool guy."

No way. "What do you mean downstairs? Where even are we?"

Without giving you an answer, Dazai drags you out of the room, past the other door and down the conveniently placed stairs right beside it.

The delicious smell of food invades your nostrils as the two of you enter the big space. The diner is mostly empty, except for the three people by the counter. On one side, there's who you guess is the owner. He seems to be in his fifties, wearing a yellow apron.

On the other side, sitting on the tall stools, are two people eating curry. They turn around when they hear you and your kidnapper enter. You freeze in shock. One is, as expected, none other than Sakunosuke Oda. The person next to him however...

"Oh, Anastasia!" Dazai waves. "I didn't realize you were here as well. Did Odasaku finally ask you out?"

What is she doing here? You didn't think you'd ever see her again.

Dazai walks forward, pulling you along and Anastasia gives the two of you a bright smile, ignoring his teasing completely.

"I didn't realize you and (y/n) knew each other. It's been... what? A few months since we've last seen each other?"

Your eyes narrow and you don't answer. She shrugs and continues chatting with the boy next to you.

There's no character named Anastasia in the manga. Not as far as you remember. And especially there isn't one that has connections to both Oda and Dazai.

You're not the only one who notes something is wrong. Oda's dark brown eyes widen as he notices the handcuffs, connecting you to the mafioso. "Dazai, why are you handcuffed together? Surely you didn't..."

Dazai doesn't even wait for Oda to finish his sentence. "Yup! I just kidnapped them yesterday. I was going to introduce them to you, since I'll leave them to you when I can't be with them."

Odasaku's brow furrows. "Dazai, I can't just-"

"Oh oh oh, I can look after them!" Anastasia interrupts, her red hair bouncing as she jumps in her seat, trying to raise her hand up as high as possible. All heads turn towards her, and she give her reasoning. "The two of you are busy with the Mimic stuff, aren't you? I have nothing else to do, and I would like to take the opportunity to catch up with (Y/n). We are very similar, after all."

Dazai brings his free hand to his chin, rubbing it in contemplation. "Hm, I don't know how I feel about that."

"Pleaseee. We could even stay here, with the kids, so you'd know where we are at all times." Anastasia gives him her best pleading eyes. They're terrible and wouldn't work on you at all, but Dazai lets out a fake sigh.

"Fine. I guess I wouldn't want my guest to get hurt when I deal with Mimic. They'll stay with you. You really have to stay here, though. No going anywhere else."

Anastasia salutes jokingly. "Yes, Sir!"

Dazai nods, gives you a warning look and unlocks the handcuffs. Anastasia grabs your hand immediately and drags you upstairs, this time to the kids' room. You just barely notice the serious expression forming on Dazai's face as you exit.

The children are absolute sweethearts. They introduce themselves as Kousuke, Katsumi, Yuu, Shinji and Sakura. Anastasia seems to know them already and tells them to not give you any trouble.

You offer them some candy you always keep in your pocket for Ranpo, and they immediately take a liking to you. The red-haired woman scolds them, telling them they shouldn't take candy from strangers, but the children only laugh.

The boys declare themselves as your designated bodyguards and you can't help but chuckle. The youngest, Sakura, draws flowers on a piece of paper, and shyly gives it to you.

After an hour or so, Anastasia lends you her phone. You immediately text Ranpo, whose number you already know by heart, telling him that everything's okay and he should tell the others to not worry. He sends you back an okay, with a knowing emoji.

a/n: fyi I'm going to skip quite a bit of the 2nd light novel, because i don't want the reader to be in scenes and not contribute anything!