AT DEATH'S DOOR ── bsd

i.

── › chapter one.

i. dazai

Tea lined honey speckled itself across the dimmed bar, the only illumination being offered by warm lights as no windows were to be seen. Empty glasses were wedged between shelves behind the bartender, a mellowness being smoothed into the shadows layered on the wall. It was quiet. Something that you've come to get to know since working here. The vague memory of you, who took on the appearance of just a frail 16 year old, begging the manager in the crimson vest to let you work.

He didn't need to know you were in fact, not 16, but quite possibly over 100 years old at most. Let alone the truth that teenagers can't handle the responsibility of alcohol until they were 20 in Japan. Surprised, he didn't seem to mind the extra help.

The bar had become a second home of sorts, spending time in it more than you would at your worn down apartment. It proved to be a good source of entertainment and income to get you by.

Finding solace in the peace, you enjoyed the repetitive task of polishing glasses that have already been cleaned, before it getting interrupted by one of the frequent visitors of Lupin. You could already tell who it was based on the way the stairs creaked underneath his weight despite him being a silent demon. Walking into the quiet yet inconspicuous badgers nest, Dazai Osamu bared his teeth in a lopsided grin.

"Well look who it is! You took up another shift [last name]?" He settled down in his usual spot eagerly, his bandaged face bringing a familiar nauseating feeling to crawl up your spine.

"Manager is feeling under the weather today so I decided to take over." you shrugged, thankfully preparing the young man's drink beforehand and sliding it across the counter, the singular ice cube clinking inside its cup. Dazai accepted it with a low hum, delicate but murderous fingers drumming a haunting melody on the bar's surface.

You couldn't help but notice the lack of two other presences beside him.

"Are Sakunosuke and Ango joining tonight? It's not like them to be absent." You observed as Dazai threw his head back like a child, mouth stretched out rather dramatically. You continuously ask yourself how this man was a Port Mafia executive but tend to not dwell on the nature of it for too long.

"No, the two are busy; as always." He huffed through his nose which you found amusing. Returning to a glass unworthy of polishing, you absentmindedly focused on the task at hand. Soft jazz music filtered through the hanging silence and at first, it felt like two friends enjoying each other's company, if not for the secrets pressing between them. Did Dazai even consider you a friend? Or just a teen (yet immortal) bartender making drinks to whomever walks in? The thought had flitted through your mind before, an enigma he was. A mystery worth solving.

Dazai beat you to the punch with his dangerous curiosity, "So, since it's just us, you want to finally explain how a kid like yourself got a job as a bartender?"

Your face turned sour and you retaliated, "Do you wanna explain how you became a mafiaso?" You saw him shift in the corner of your eye, especially the sneaky smirk now woven onto his lips.

"Nah."

"Perfect."

Dazai being Dazai, you had suspected he knew something was up about you. After all, you met him when he was younger than he was now, him clearly aging and maturing — getting more and more dangerous, you noted — while you stayed the same, a boring slate.

The sight of a lanky but scrawny boy entered your mind when he took his first shot of whiskey, nose crinkling up in distaste at the strong bitterness. Although you wouldn't condone underage drinking, Dazai Osamu had done far more troublesome things than drinking whiskey underage. Thankfully working at a bar such as a hidden gem like Lupin, you were able to hear passing whispers of the demon prodigy belonging to the port mafia. Especially Oda's words ringing in your mind like a never ending mantra that began to silence itself to just simple humming.

"The biggest misfortune for Dazai's enemies, is that they are Dazai's enemies."

You remembered laughing at it, thinking it was foolish. But you were proved wrong with the way Oda's gaze was shadowed over by seriousness and well, truth. It was that day you stopped doubting the people you've come across. God, maybe immortality has really gotten to you.

"Hellooo? Earth to [last name]?"

The crisp sound of snapping startled you out of your head, your eyes focusing on the very boy occupying your thoughts. Staring into that empty gaze, you concluded long ago only to be reminded time and time again that Dazai was just a broken boy meeting his ultimate demise. And maybe he already had.

"Ah, my apologies Dazai. I must have zoned out."

He leaned back to his original position, a content expression swiftly overtaking his face that you didn't know he could possess.

"Reminiscing?"

You smiled, "something like that."

o1; AUTHORS NOTE —
i can't believe i wrote this in like an hour am i high or something what happened.