Chapter Text
November 23rd, 4 years before.
The first time they spoke to each other, Chuuya's Japanese was shit and his accent was thick. Dazai had to bite back any smug smiles and corrections, knowing that Kouyou would probably smack him on the head for laughing at all the hard work she had put into teaching the boy Japanese.
It wasn't the first time he had met the boy, per se. They've seen each other often before their 'official' introduction. Usually when Dazai accompanied Mori on his meetings with the executives, one of which was the half-Italian's caretaker, Kouyou, so naturally Chuuya had tagged along with her to the meetings too.
Upon their official introduction, Kouyou beckoned the small redhead forward. Chuuya introduced himself formally, stuttering a bit along the way. He seemed nervous, though Dazai wasn't sure why. After all, Dazai practically radiated joy.
Of course, Dazai had come prepared. Mori had told him he would be meeting his mission partner today, so of course he prepared a little something for little Chuuya.
"Dazai Osamu," he extended a hand towards the young redhead with a smile, "Just Dazai's fine."
It was a trap, though, a trap that Chuuya had walked right into. The second Chuuya took Dazai's hand in his, there was a sharp sizzle of electricity and a quiet buzz. Chuuya immediately retracted his hand with a yelp, his face turning the colour of his hair.
Dazai covered his mouth as he laughed, ignoring Kouyou's death glares at him as Chuuya hid behind her kimono sleeves, holding his victimized hand with his other. Dazai almost felt bad for their first impression going this way. Almost, but almost is never enough. He kept on giggling.
"Apologise!" Chuuya shouted at him, pointing at the brunette accusingly.
"Sorry," He said, but he wasn't sorry at all. This guy would not last long in the Mafia if he could fall into such a simple trap such as this.
"You'll get used to his rotten attitude." Kouyou reassured, though her glare directed at Dazai did not falter in the slightest. He made a mental note to lock all doors and windows in his room that night, just in case.
"Che?" The boy looked up at his mentor, confused. Dazai didn't know much Italian, but it was obvious Chuuya was asking what was going on.
"You're going to become partners, after all."
Ah, so Chuuya was led into this agreement blindly...
It didn't seem like he was happy with this. Dazai wasn't either. He insisted he'd be fine on his own but Mori didn't listen to him and claimed it was a brilliant idea to pair him up with someone. And so he was here today, meeting this Italian redhead that was supposed to be his partner for... Well, until they died, probably.
"Dazai and I? Partners?" Chuuya looked back between Dazai and Kouyou, looking for an answer.
His pronunciation of Dazai's name was funny. He dragged out his vowels for too long, and he accentuated the letter 'z'. He did not sound like a native at all, even though he was supposedly half-Japanese. Dazai wondered if his parents had ever spoken Japanese to him before he learned it from Kouyou. From the sound of it, probably not.
"It's Da-zai," the brunet teased, "Da-zai-san."
Chuuya gave him a weird look and a roll of his eyes. He had probably been corrected on his pronunciations a million times before and it must be getting annoying for him. His struggling was amusing though and Dazai lived to annoy.
"Whatever, Dazai," he crossed his arms and shot him a glare.
"No, no, it's 'Da-zai-sa-ma-is-the-best'. Try it!" Dazai said each syllable slowly. He smiled smugly at his new partner as his cheeks flushed an angry bright red again. This guy was way too easy to fluster. How did Mori even come to the conclusion that this would be a good idea, considering Dazai's tendency to annoy the living Hell out of everyone?
"Lads, play nice." Kouyou warned with her dazzling smile. It was a deadly smile, a sure sign to stop misbehaving before she cut them both up into tiny little pieces using her Ability.
Dazai nodded with a cheerful smile, not letting the obvious danger in Kouyou's smile get to him. "Sorry, Kouyou."
Kouyou seemed satisfied with his response, though Dazai was definitely still going to put up traps around his room. Again, just in case.
Chuuya's glare at Dazai hadn't dropped at all though and his blue eyes burned with the an intensity that almost matched Kouyou's. Dazai stuck his tongue out at him.
Kouyou must have noticed the tension between the two. "Alright, why don't you lads go outside and get to know each other?" She smiled pleasantly. Dazai knew that was an order and not a suggestion.
Chuuya sighed bitterly and crossed his arms. "Alright, let's go, Dazai." Nope, his accent was still in the way of a perfect pronunciation. Poor guy.
With that, they left the room.
=+=+=+=
"What Ability do you have, anyway?" Chuuya asked on their way down the corridors of the Port Mafia headquarters. The hallways were dim and cold, as always.
Dazai smirked. "What's your's?"
"Gravity manipulation," Chuuya said. His words sounded so practiced Dazai wondered just how many times he had been taught to say them. "Again, your's is?" Chuuya asked impatiently.
"I'd show you but I don't know if you trust me," Dazai smirked as Chuuya perked up at his words. Caught him.
"What do you mean?"
"I could demonstrate it for you," Dazai repeated, "that is, if you let me use it on you."
Chuuya immediately tensed up at that. His disgusted look practically screamed 'No way in Hell!' at Dazai. However, after a brief pause, Chuuya must have caught on that if Dazai didn't show him then he wouldn't tell him. Plus, they had to be partners... And partners needed to trust one another, no matter how irritating the other was.
"Fine." Chuuya agreed, causing the brightest smile to appear on the brunet's face.
"Okay!" Dazai cheered, "Stand on the ceiling." He requested, pointing up.
The redhead looked up at the ceiling in confusion, then back at Dazai's cheery face and encouraging gestures. He sighed in defeat and began glowing a dim red, activating his Ability. With his hands in his pockets, Chuuya casually walked up the wall and to the ceiling. "What now?"
The ceiling was high enough so that Dazai could stand underneath where Chuuya stood and there would still be a big gap between them left. Or maybe Chuuya was just incredibly short. Probably the latter.
Dazai walked underneath Chuuya. "Do you trust me, Chuuya?" He looked up at the redhead on the ceiling.
Chuuya looked really tempted to say 'no'. It almost made Dazai laugh at how conflicted he looked. The redhead nodded 'yes' despite his obvious lack of trust in Dazai.
"Hold out your hand..." Dazai watched as Chuuya did as he was told, reaching down (or up for him?) towards Dazai slowly.
Dazai smirked and reached out to Chuuya, making sure he touched his wrist where his glove ended, and deactivated Chuuya's Ability. In that split second, Dazai wondered if he should catch Chuuya as he fell or not. And, because he valued his life, Dazai settled on the first, more making-him-look-trustworthy option.
The redhead let out a surprised yelp as his Ability stopped working and gravity pulled him down. He shut his eyes and prepared himself for the hard impact against the floor, but there was none.
Dazai caught Chuuya, stumbling forward a bit as he almost lost his balance. He definitely underestimated just how light Chuuya was. Was that a side effect of his Ability?
Chuuya opened his eyes and found himself in Dazai's arms. Dazai could instantly read the shock in Chuuya's blue eyes (which were really nice and also really close right now).
"What the fuck..?" Chuuya breathed out in an almost-whisper, though Dazai wasn't really sure what he meant. Dazai's nullifying Ability? Dazai being compassionate enough to catch him? Dazai's stunning looks and gorgeous brown eyes? Please elaborate, Chuuya.
Chuuya did elaborate. "How did you do that?" He stared at the brunet with wide eyes.
"That's my Ability!" Dazai smiled cheerfully and cocked his head to the side, "I can stop anyone from using their Ability as long I'm touching them."
Instantly, Dazai could feel Chuuya trying to use his Ability while still in his arms, testing if what Dazai had said was actually true. His Ability would not work as much as Chuuya tried though, but Dazai found it cute how Chuuya thought he could overpower him somehow.
Suddenly, Chuuya jumped and blushed red - probably hit by the realisation that he was being held by the infamous Dazai Osamu - hit Dazai's arm and wiggled out of his grasp hastily. Dazai laughed as the elder tripped and almost fell over. Chuuya glared daggers back at him.
"You could have just, told me to just, levitate instead," Chuuya stumbled over his words, blushing madly in embarrassment. He was so easily flustered, which made him a perfect target for Dazai's future pranks. Just imagine Chuuya's reactions!
"Nah," Dazai waved him off, "I thought this way we'd gain trust faster, y'know?" He excused.
"Seriously, dude? Or are you tricking me again?" Chuuya's tone was accusing.
"No, not at all! I'm hurt that you think of me this way, Chuuya!" He dramatically clutched his heart with one hand and placed the other on this forehead in mock hurt.
Chuuya did not seem to find this amusing, however. "Sei demente." He muttered. Whatever it was that he said, it did not sound like a compliment.
Dazai only shrugged and gave Chuuya his characteristic smile, which only seemed to aggravate the redhead more. How were they ever supposed to work well together as partners?