Hide and Seek with Your Soul

Chapter 3

He had to get to Chuuya.

The following half an hour was a blur as Dazai raced through alleys, turning at corners and passing through shortcuts only he knew. Finally locating one of the Mafia's escape doors , he wrenched it open and hurried towards the infirmary, ignoring the scandalized looks the guards gave him, their looks clearly conveying that they expected a more calm composure from the right-hand man of the Boss.

Dazai however couldn't care less, his entire mind and being focused on entirely one thing – Chuuya.

However, when Dazai finally burst through the infirmary doors, locking his eyes on Chuuya's bed in the far corner, his heart sank with disappointment and rage as he finally noticed the people huddled around the bed, a nurse looking scared out of her wits at the furious expression on Dazai's face, two guards, and none other than Mori, his boss.

Seeing as Chuuya was fucking unconscious, it meant he'd failed. He'd failed a mission for the first time and on a mission to save his partner nevertheless. He'd rather admit his undying love for Chuuya to the whole Mafia, however, before he showcased his emotions in front of Mori, and so in a matter of seconds Dazai's face was composed into a calm and clear expression, devoid of emotion as he stared expectantly at Mori, a heavy contrast to the rage coursing through his veins and the almost irrepressible urge to strangle Mori's greasy head with his bare hands, for one thing was certain- he'd been given false information, and Mori was going to pay. 

"Ah, Dazai-kun. I find my payment has not yet been done?"

Mori's shrewd face showcased nothing but mere amusement as he titled his head annoyingly in Dazai's direction, the faint smile playing at his lips enraging Dazai even more as he struggled to keep anger out of his voice.

"Mori-sensei. I am rather surprised, for you expect me, of all men, to give payment for false information?"

"False information, Dazai-kun?"

"I assure you, I know well of your old age, Mori-sensei- but I trust you're not yet short-sighted enough to not see full well that Chuuya is still unconscious?"

"Ah, it appears that mind of your's is working at last, Dazai-kun." All traces of amusement were gone from Mori's face in an instant, the only thing remaining on the face was pure contempt as he sneered at Dazai.

"I have been watching, brat, as you rush here and there, barely conscious, neglecting work, turning in paperwork half-done, wasting your time worrying about him. Have you forgotten, perhaps, all that you learnt in my office? Have you really gotten so attached that you have forgotten what you really are? For you are my creation. You have no emotion, yes? You are merely a weapon, a monster, a Demon Prodigy. And it's high time I've taught you a lesson. I can't have my right-hand man dealing with things as mundane as emotions, now can I, brat?" 

Dazai was well aware of the ringing in his ears as he stared blankly ahead, his mind suddenly teeming with horrid flashbacks to the fierce smell of antiseptic, blinding white lights above him and the harsh orders yelled at him as the cold steel of a scalpel cut through his flesh, allowing him a mere taste of the death he so longed for, before dragging him back to reality as his scars grew day by day...the coolness he'd faked for days slowly turning into reality...the few emotions he'd held closest to his heart fading away to be replaced with a dull sense of blankness.

Mori was still talking, and it was all Dazai could do to keep his gaze on his Boss, his mind far away as his mind took him a few years back...