To See You Again (Chuuya Nakahara x Reader x Dazai Osamu)

Chapter Sixteen

After her meeting with Mori, Chuuya didn't see Y/n as much anymore. She mostly kept to her room. Mori seemed to have enlisted some trusted men in his inner circle of body guards to deliver her work and meals to her. The door was never locked, but she never set foot outside without someone accompanying her. There hadn't been another mission together since their last. Chuuya couldn't help but wonder if it was because she was avoiding him, after the hug.

When he entered her room that day to notify her of the fake mission they were about to go on, he hoped beyond reason that whatever men Mori had been sending to her did not know the nature of her ability. The room was changed, the four poster bed had branches and a canopy of leaves and there were vines growing up the bars on the windows. The very floor itself had sprouted.

Y/n grinned at him as he shut the door, her display of emotion was unnerving. Holding up her arms, she seemed to say look, look at all I've done but a word never left her lips.

"It's amazing." Chuuya admitted.

"Who'd have guessed." She was giddy, he was the only one she knew she could trust with her secret, the only person who could share in the revelation of it all.

"That you could be more than just rot?"

Nodding, Y/n walked over to Chuuya. They stood a few inches apart and she looked up at him. She had changed since their last interaction. Not to say that she wasn't still the same strange girl he knew before, just that she was much less guarded around him now. It only made the task at hand harder.

"I can create such beautiful things now. Look."

Bending perfectly at the waist as if she were a doll, Y/n touched her hand to the ground. As she raised it, a single rose grew. With a pinch of her fingers, she cut the base of the stem and handed it to Chuuya.

"It is beautiful."

Examining it carefully, he spun the rose slowly by its stem. It was everything a rose should be, everything the idea of a flower promised. He was impressed.

"You managed to get control of it quite quickly."

His gaze returned to Y/n's expectant face.

"It's not any different from growing a mushroom." she shrugged, "I just have to think about different things."

"What do you mean?"

Curiosity took control. Chuuya's ability came from a god, he had always wondered what it was like for other people.

"Well, when I want to destroy things, I just have to focus on negative emotions. All I have to do is touch something and think about something I hate like the wind, or something bad that has happened to me, and the mold will grow from me. I always thought my power came from all that rage but I found if I focus on hopeful things instead, things that make me happy, good things can come out too."

"What were you thinking of when you grew this?"

"You, of course."

Heat rushed to Chuuya's cheeks and he shook his head slightly, trying to dispel the things her answer had raised in him.

"Have you thought of a new name for it? Now that you know your ability can do more, I mean."

"I... hadn't thought about that. I guess it probably needs one." seemingly remembering that it was of his own volition Chuuya had come to her room and not because she had called, Y/n changed the subject. "What did you need from me?"

Chuuya cleared his throat. The reason he had come lay heavy on his mind and he tried his best not to show it.

"We have a mission, from the Boss."

"Let me put my shoes on."

They had filled the time in the car with idle chatter and Y/n didn't seem to suspect a thing as she followed Chuuya into the bar. He was savoring every last moment he got with her, knowing the negative impact his actions would have on their relationship. He hoped that she would thank him for it someday, but knew this was a huge betrayal of her trust and in opposition to what she had directly expressed to him in conversation. Chuuya knew Y/n didn't want to join the Agency, but he didn't have another choice. It was the only way that she had a chance of not falling right back into Mori's pocket.

Catching sight of Dazai sitting in the corner table Chuuya was leading her two, Y/n slowed her step.

"Chuuya."

It was a warning and one he was going to have to risk the consequences of not heeding. Stopping in front of the table, Y/n stood mostly behind him as if she was shielding herself from the taller man.

"Right on time." Dazai hummed.

"Chuuya, what's going on."

It was not a question and it pained him to hear the harshness return to her voice. He had come so close to being truly and completely friends with her, that was all.

"Y/n" he began, turning to face the girl who took a step back in response, evidently wary of the situation, "I need you to go with him."

"I don't want to go with him. I want to stay with you."

"Its your only chance of getting out."

She shook her head.

"Not unless you're going to come with me."

He did not realize how much Y/n had grown to trust him over the time they'd shared until she said those words. It only made what he knew he had to do even harder.

"I can't, you know that."

"You're just as ruinous as me." she could be so stubborn sometimes

"Yes but I chose to be this way. You never got the chance to be anything else, I want you to have that chance."

"Yes, well I want to stay with you."

Chuuya looked over at Dazai who got to his feet and came up beside him.

"Chuuya has told me about the new aspects of your ability you've discovered."

Y/n looked poised to run, her eyes flitting back and forth between the two men. As if someone had flipped a switch in her, she suddenly became stoic once again. Smoothing down her skirt with her hands, she looked at them each.

"Seems like, as usual, I don't really have a say in the matter." her voice was like ice against their ears.

"Of course you have a say." Chuuya began but Y/n cut him off sharply.

"I've told you how I feel about this and you have deemed that unimportant to the situation. I'll go with him and that way you both can fulfill whatever savior-complex obsessions you have."

A satisfied smile crept its way across Dazai's face and he stepped forward, holding out an arm for her. Y/n shot him a disapproving look before fixing her gaze on Chuuya once again. She took a step towards him.

"I'm sorry." he said softly, "It was all I could think of. I needed to get you out of there, that place is destroying you."

"It destroyed me years ago."

He took his hands in both his own, running his fingers over her bruised knuckles.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do it sooner."

"I trusted you Chuuya." Y/n slowly pulled her hands from his, "I trusted you."

"I know. I'm sorry."

She shook her head slightly, looking to the side.

"Just know, the only reason I'm doing this is for you."