The Untold Origins of The Port Mafia

♘ A Detective Must Be Armed ♘

Mori didn't even bother trying to cover himself once he knew he was found out. "He is going to die sooner or later, Osamu, you must be ready for that. Why keep him from having a poetic death, from having the peace he so wants?"

"He can have that while he's alive."

"If he truly wanted it, he would've left it, left you, but no. He's a coward, that's why he doesn't kill. Having an attachment to him will only drag you down. And it will get him killed, painfully, and you will lose him, and it will be your fault. He'll never leave you, you're using him. Let him go. Then he can be free."

But Dazai is a selfish bastard. "No."

"Alright then, have it as you wish."

Two weeks later, Dazai has everything arranged. Burnt hats, drugged wine, a car bomb. All ready to go at a moment's notice. Secret files relating to the Tripartite Framework, the brainchild of a man named Nastume, the only piece missing, one to rule the day. This is what Dazai tells Oda when he takes him to a small coffee shop in Nerima, Tokyo's 20th ward. They need to be far away where no one in the Port Mafia can listen in.

"This is good, but I don't want you to do it for me, I want you to do it for yourself. You don't really want to leave Nakahara-san, do you?" He looks concerned.

"I don't know, I just . . ."

"And so suddenly, I thought you liked him a lot?"

"I do . . . but have you ever seen the statistics?"

"On what?"

"Teen relationships. They rarely last more than 2 years. It's been a year. And I'm me, it's a miracle we've made it this long. He's just going to leave me sooner or later."

"Where did you read something like that?"

"Very reliable sources." Dazai proclaims, taking a suspiciously long sip of his coffee.

Oda raises an eyebrow, "If it has pop-up adverts, it doesn't count."

"Hmph! Pop-up adverts don't make the information any less correct."

"Maybe, and perhaps that is true, but if anyone is the exception, it's you and Nakahara-san. I don't want you to leave a place where you're happy just for my sake. And don't you dare use me as an excuse for sabotaging your first happy relationship! I won't have it."

Dazai looks down, choosing to watch his reflection in his drink rather than face Oda's piercing eyes. He's much more observant than he gives himself credit for.

"The end is inevitable, Odasaku. Instead of suffering and crying about it, I'd like to help you fulfil your life's dream. Isn't that a good enough reason?"

Oda considers it, and seeing he won't change the younger boy's mind, he nods.

"Yes, on one condition."

"Anything for Odasaku."

"You bring the Akutagawas along with us."

Dazai tenses, "Why? Ryuunosuke belongs with the mafia, it's the only place for someone like him. What would we do with his gift, with his urge to kill?"

"The urge to kill that you gave him. You owe this to him, Dazai."

"He had it long before me. He's angry at the world and he needs a place to get out that anger."

"Exactly, with this so-called detective agency you propose we can give him a safe place to actually work out some of his many issues."

Dazai frowns. "He and I are different. I know neither right nor wrong, it's all the same. He has a sense of morals and chooses to rip, tear, and kill anyhow. He's too far gone for help or to be of any use to us."