Constant Denial? [Soukuko]

Chapter 4: I Never Left You, Dead

Atsushi's eyes flutter from a breeze of cold air hitting them. He looks up to see a man with candle-like hair and a black coat draped over his shoulders.

"Geez took you longer than the Mackerel to wake up from one hit". Atsushi turns his body to find that he isn't tied down by anything other than his wrists, but Dazai isn't tied down by anything at all. He just sat with his arms and legs crossed looking straight forward at Chuuya. He had no need to look up due to the height of him.

"Ohh please, it didn't take too long. You shouldn't lie, Slug." Dazai says with a smirk.

"Shut it Mackerel, I'm talking to the tiger"

"Oh but what about little old me, you didn't even bother to tie me up, and now you want to leave me for the tiger", he says while throwing his arms around with dramatic flair.

"There's no point to tieing you down. You'd find a way out as usual"

"Ohhh, you mean like last time?"

Atsushi looks between the two as they toss insults back and forth at each other. The room is filled with the two's bitching until a sound of footsteps fills the room. Dazai and Chuuya silence once they see who's entered.

"Boss, you've arrived", Chuuya gave a slight bow toward Mori.

"Now, who do we have here? A tiger-man and a former executive, what a joy to have you both back here, but I only needed one. Chuuya do you have an explanation why there are two, and perhaps why one's untied from the chair?" Mori keeps his head straight in alliance with Dazai, neither breaking contact with the other's numb gaze.

"Not with disrespect Boss, but you never told me which exactly" Chuuya's voice has a quieter tone than his normal, as if he's worried. He looks up with questions filling his mind. "Which were we meant to get alone, Boss?".

The room fell silent, Mori and Dazai's gazes didn't break until footsteps from outside the room rushed past the door, making an echo throughout the large room. Mori looked away from Dazai and to Chuuya.

"What was mentioned in the conversation we had before I sent you and the Black Lizard to retrieve one?" He wore a face filled with eagerness, waiting for Chuuya to bring up what they had spoken of before any of this came into the plan. Chuuya's eyes widened slightly for a moment in recall of their conversation, he hesitates to open his mouth to speak but continues with an explanation.

"You and I talked about Double Black", Chuuya said in a tone close to a whisper. Dazai lets out an annoyed sigh.

"Come on Chibi. None of us can hear you", Dazai's focus goes directly at Chuuya who's irritated by just the thought. Dazai knows that what he's doing will push one of the many buttons Chuuya's body has toward him.

The room falls silent for a moment, he and Chuuya's stares are locked on one another until he snaps at the comment.

"MORI WANTS US BACK TOGETHER FOR EMERGENCIES AGAIN! You damn mackerel." He drops his head in frustration while Dazai doesn't move an inch, but instead sits pondering the thought of bringing back Double Black. He isn't too upset at the thought, he just wonders what the reasoning behind its return would be. Atsushi is beside him trying to understand what is going on between the three of them.

"There's been a new enemy to the Port Mafia as well as your agency. They have extraordinary abilities, however they don't have an ability. You two fought lovecraft and succeeded in protecting both agencies. This situation is almost the same as the last. I need both of you to work together and get rid of it for both of us, what do you say Dazai?" Mori looks at Dazai with a smile almost approaching both ends of his face. Dazai looks down at Chuuya's tacky shoes while thinking to himself about the possibilities and outcomes of saying Yes or No. He is silent for a minute before looking back up to Chuuya with an answer.

"I'll do it.", Atsushi's head jerks up at the sound of words leaving Dazai's mouth, Chuuya's eyes widen in disbelief of what he is hearing.

"Are you crazy! What about the agency's approval? We can't just join the other side if something like this is happening and we didn't know about it until now!" He said leaning forward from the chair with his half chained body.

"Atsushi, if we tell the agency about this do you think they'd choose to ignore this. To stop this thing now is our best option. What will we do if it gets stronger as we wait?"

"But shouldn't we contact them to at least inform them of the situation?" Atsushi's face grows worried from the distress of the situation now presented in front of him. Chuuya, with his face on edge, looks up at Dazai who's now looking back. They're eyes stare at one another for more than a moment before Chuuya's eyes narrow.

"I'll do this, on one condition" He says as Dazai begins a grin. "The moment that the job is done, you nullify corruption if it was needed." He lets out a small sigh of disbelief that'd he agree to this again. Even after he trusted Dazai the last time and got left behind at the location. He'd still use corruption, trusting he'll be nullified. Chuuya hates to admit such a feeling, but he is still willing to put his life in the hands of Dazai as the last resort.

"Okay, agreed. But if the beast is the same as lovecraft we won't need it for long, once I plant a bomb inside that is. The most we'd need your corrupted form for would be a final throw. Even then, you'd choose if or when that'd come." Chuuya's face contorted in recognition of Dazai's plan. Dazai is an intelligent man who knows how people think. Chuuya, best of all. However, years of partnership has led him to understand almost all of Dazai's mind games. He knows this is how Dazai gets him to be comfortable using corruption, by guaranteeing he will be nullified by the end. But he hasn't lied about it yet. "Or we could try to finish it with one of the Port's large supply of bombs as well. It would be destroyed all at once, leaving it unable to regenerate afterwards. However if we use a bomb that's not fit for the area we're in, it'll kill hundreds of people and cause mass distuction."

Mori smiles and scoffs at the idea. While turning to walk out of the room he said, "I give both of you full permission to continue with this plan, I'll have a bombing team to be ready at you two's command if or when needed." He stops walking and turns to look over his shoulder. "I truly hope you two will be brought back together by this. Maybe this will bring yourselves back, and we'd truly have Double Black back.'' His low expression changes to a mindful and expecting grin.

He exits the room and lightly closes the door, Chuuya's body whips over in front of Dazai's. With his jaw clenched as he slaps Dazai across his face with his back hand. Dazai, unfazed as he saw it coming, catches it on its way off his face.

"Are you kidding me, you damn Mackerel. Do you have any idea what hell you've just started! What makes you think I'd want to work with you again, after everything!" Chuuya's eyes begin to shake slightly, either from stress or trying to hold back his anger. Instead he closes them and begins to speak. A hand goes over his mouth, stopping whatever was about to exit. At the moment the hand hit his mouth his eyes reopen in slight shock but otherwise stay irritated. Dazai gives a grin of reassurance towards him.

"Relax Slug, I have a plan. Have I ever been wrong in my plans?"  An agitated sigh leaves from underneath his hand. "I've never left you for dead, have I?". Chuuya's eyes remain irritated but now have a shortened sense of tranquility to them. He stays with Dazai's hand holding his and the other over Chuuya's mouth for only a few moments more before Chuuya takes a breath and begins to walk towards the doors. He's almost to the door before he points to a small table to the left of Atsushi and Dazai.

"You can call your Agency from that phone, a paper explaining the measures of working together is there as well. I suggest you read it fully before committing to anything.", he exits the room and leaves the door open on his way out, his expression unknown to the others, but Both know it's despising the ideas of what will happen tonight.

Nvm I don't know how long each of these will end up being. :]