ANGEL'S ASHES, bungou stray dogs [on hold]

xxix. draconic figure

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𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋'𝐒 𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐒

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦: 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦

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     JOLTING, ANGEL'S HANDS FLY to her sternum, agony pooling in her chest and upper back. It feels as though she has been stabbed, but there's no way that's even possible considering Chūya and herself are currently the only ones in the back of this blasted plane. Stumbling to the side, Angel rams into the side of the plane, making Chūya's blue eyes fly to her out of pure instinct, no longer focused on our mission but instead on her phantom pain. He's quick to make sure Angel is not hurt, but that only makes him worry more, brow furrowed as he pulls back to look at her.

     "What the hell was that?" Chūya demands. "One second you're fine and the next... I don't even know what the hell's goin' on."

     Angel shake her head and straightens, the piercing pain changing to a dull throb. "I have an idea, but I really don't want to test it today. Maybe tomorrow when we're all healed up from this fucking mess." Rolling her shoulders, she turns her attention to Chūya, determined. "We need to save Dazai before he really ends up getting himself killed. I'm sure neither of us want that."

     "Tch. Don't go playin' the hero, angel. None of us are the good guys."

     "Never said we were, demon, but we have a human pet that's gotten himself into a rather sticky situation."

     Chūya's lips curl into an amused smirk and he pulls Angel into a hug, something he's rare to do even in the worst of times, so she knows that, despite the confident front he's putting up right now, he's feeling sick to his stomach. That in itself makes her feel off, knowing that someone as sure and determined as Chūya is feeling as though they may not survive tonight if there's a spanner thrown into the works. No matter the side it's thrown by, they'd all be lucky to survive thanks to the unexpected arrival of another party — including the more than likely arrival of the Order of the Clock Tower, under the command of Agatha Christie.

     "Anomaly readings are increasing," informs one of the government underlings through Angel's earpiece, their voice painful to listen to thanks to the rise in pitch at their rising fear of the situation at hand. In all honesty, there's no need for them to be so worried when Chūya and Angel herself are the ones who've been handed the mission. "They're five times higher than they were six years ago! Make that five and a half times, and growing!"

     "What's the status of A5158 and A5160?!" Ango demands, his voice more irritating over comms than in person.

     "Try to keep your shit, would ya?" Chūya growls beside Angel, more than fed up with Ango.

     Angel huffs and rolls her neck. "Don't go panicking until we're dead, would you?"

     They both watch as the drop door of the carrier plane opens, wind causing Chūya's coat and hair to fly about. Angel's eyes widen minimally as she realises just what they're looking down upon: a sea of smoky fog and a beautiful red dragon with a pink crystal on its forehead. Chūya starts taking off his gloves, and Angel knows that this is the one time they are going to be using their trump cards together with the smallest amount of doubt of Dazai being able to bring them back to the people they are now.

     "Chūya, Angel, by now it's likely Dazai has been eliminated. If you use your Corrupted and Hallowed forms, then you're..."

     "I don't give a damn about that," Chūya murmurs with complete sincerity. "Angel and I know what we're doing."

     "Don't be such a party pooper," Angel sighs with no bite. "This isn't the first time we've gone in blind without Dazai being on hand."

     "Why would you say that?" Ango demands, sounding somewhat worried about them. "Then you won't be able to take my life as your reward for doing the job."

     "Don't get cocky, asshole," Chūya snaps. "You were just a lowly infiltrator six years ago, nobody would listen to you when you said it was a mistake to hire Shibusawa. He's the one who screwed things up. That idiot Dazai is still alive in that tower, I'm sure of it. I'm gonna go give him a good smack. I'm hanging up."

     Chūya hangs up and finishes taking off his gloves, letting them go, both him and Angel watching as they're taken by the wind. Reaching over, Angel laces her fingers with his, relishing in the warmth of him against her icy skin for what could be the last time if they don't get to Dazai in time. Chūya must be thinking the same, because he doesn't protest, instead squeezing Angel's hand, in search of some kind of comfort before they head out to fight a fucking dragon of all things. Honestly, people say that creatures from fantasy novels could never be part of the physical world, and yet here's the proof such things can come to fruition.

     "We're approaching the target," a cyan-haired woman informs, walking over to them.

     "Aren't you the chick I saw a while back?" Chūya asks, looking back at her.

     "I'm Tsujimura. Do you really intend to do this?"

     "Yeah."

     "It'll never work. You're not in the same league. That monster is beyond human comprehension. Try to fight it, and you're gonna die."

     "You're gonna have to give us a better reason than that to chicken out and go home. Do you know when it's okay to chicken out and go home?"

     Tsujimura is silent for a moment before she answers. "No, I don't."

     "Well, the answer's never."

     Chūya runs and jumps out of the carrier plane, his black trench coat following after his gloves. With their hands still linked, Angels finds herself running alongside him before being flung out into the night air, still high above the fog and the dragon. If nothing, this view is stunning, and this fight is about to be one for whatever history books they decide to write about Yokohama, if any — and Angel is more than happy to die by Chūya and Dazai's sides if that's what tonight has in store for the wholly broken triad, but she has a feeling that they are all going to survive no matter what.

     Sharing one final look, Chūya and Angel release their hold on each other and say those cursed words in order to save the one they love.

     "Grantors of Dark Disgrace, you need not...you need not wake me again!"

     "Seal away my soul and take hold, Desecrator of Heaven!"

• • • • • •

So, yes, I'm separating this chapter from the next for a damn good reason: Dead Apple doesn't have much I can write for without making everyone too OC for both of our likings, and I'm finding that shorter chapters may be the way to go in some instances - unlike the 14 page chapter I did for the Double Black episode in season 2.

Also, with how the movie plays out, there's not much I can do with Angel, Chūya and Dazai until after the battle in the next chapter, so expect some fluff and maybe a little something on the touchy-feely side after the next chapter. I need to work on their dynamic a little more, and their dynamic relies more on actions than it does on words.