philophobia | soukoku

feverfew

tw: mentions of suicide

dazai mixed the two medicines carefully with the stirrer. 

mori, his boss, was fretting over the statistics of the port mafia, worrying about strength and weapons, in which dazai clearly wasn't listening. he could care less about that kind of stuff. to be honest, he just wanted to die.

"maybe we just aren't cut out for this." mori sighed, sinking into his chair. he swiveled around, facing the young mafia executive. "what do you think, dazai-kun?" he asked.

dazai lifted his head to the doctor, still stirring the medicines. "come on, mori-san..." he said. "not having enough money, not having intel, not having the trust of your subordinates...you knew that from the beginning, didn't you?" the boy stated bleakly. 

"you're so mean." mori pouted. "say, why are you mixing hypertension medication with hypotension medication?" the doctor pointed to the beaker in dazai's hands. 

"i thought taking them together might be a comfortable way to die." dazai replied casually.

"dazai-kun, you were there when i inherited the boss's seat." mori said in a lower voice. he turned his head to his executive. "you're a witness for his will." 

and?

dazai ignored him, taking the beaker to his lips to take a drink. "i can't have you dying so willy-nilly." mori's words interrupted him, lowering the beaker. he lowered his shoulders, a dark gaze falling over his eyes.

"how do you feel, boss?"

mori titled his head.

"you made an error in judgement." dazai turned his body to face his boss. "it was smart of you to choose someone who attempts suicide as your accomplice, but here i am, a year later, alive." his voice was deadpan. why was he still alive? only god knows.

"i made no error." mori replied. "you and i were successful in our mission together."

"the mission isn't complete until those who were involved in the assassination are silenced. to that end, i was a perfect accomplice." dazai stated simply. "even if i ended my life in a suicide of unknown motivation, after you became the boss thanks to my testimony," he lifted his head. "no one would suspect a thing." 

a sinister smirk rested on mori's face. "you remind me of someone." he said. 

dazai glanced at him. 

"if i was going to silence you, i would've done it long ago." mori shrugged. "if you really want, i can prepare something that'll end your life comfortably." he offered.

dazai lit up. "really?" he asked anticipatedly.

"in exchange, i want ask you to do a quick investigation." the doctor turned back to his desk and picked up a quill. ugh. of course there's a catch. "it's not a big deal. there's no danger involved."

"sounds so sketchy." dazai rolled his eyes. "no danger" his ass. once you join the port mafia, you're signing up for that shit for free.

"i trust that you know about suribachi city in the yokohama settlement." mori turned to face dazai. "there's a rumor going around that a certain individual has emerged in that area. i want you to investigate that rumor." he held up a piece of paper. "this contract is a delegation of authority. they call it the 'silver message'. show this to any port mafia member and they'll do anything you ask of them."

dazai was gaining interest. "who is the rumor about?" he asked, showing no emotion in his voice. 

"take a guess."