Common Enemy

chapter 5

As the morning rolled around, the group made their separate ways to the park which was apparently their temporary base, that was until Dazai told them his plan.

It was 6:15 and Dazai had only just awoken, "shit." he muttered to himself and forced himself out of bed. He rushed to his closet and put on his regular clothing items. While brushing his teeth he decided to check if he had any new messages, not really worrying about the fact he was already 20 minutes late.

-23 missed calls-

From Mom

"Ugh why has Kunikida called me so many times he knows i'm always late." Dazai muttered, rolling his eyes and called him back. Kunikida answered immediately, "where are you? Are you okay? Why aren't you here?" He screamed down the phone to abarely awake Dazai. 'Why was he so worried? He needs to chill' he thought.

"Chill ku-ni-ki-da im fineee!" Dazai cooed down the phone, a mouth full of toothpaste. He spat it out and continued, "I woke up late soz! on my way now." he lied.

He heard Kunikida tell the others there that he was fine and that he was just an idiot. Then he ended the call and Dazai proceeded to get ready, placing his toothbrush back and making his way to the door of his apartment.

He pulled on his coat and huffed. He dreaded the coversation he'd be having in the next 20 minutes.

Once Dazai made it to the entrance of the park he yawned, spying his team on a nearby bench. As he walked closer he could see that all of their faces looked angry and annoyed.

"Whats up guys," he began cheerfully, "you can't all have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!" he joked, sitting down in between Atsushi and Ranpo, almost knocking the detective off... again.

Kunikida, who was standing up, rubbed his temples and replied, "we thought you'd been targeted again you waste of space!" he shouted at him, leaning closer to his face.

This earned him a small smile from Dazai, it was actually quite nice having people that cared for him even if they didn't always show one another.

"Oh.. super sorry!" Dazai smiled and lay back on the bench, "it's just soooo early!"

Evryones faces relaxed and a few small smiles of relief appeared and then Atsushi asked the much anticipated important question.

"so Dazai..." he began, "where are we going to be working now that the agency's not available?" Everyone turned their heads to face Dazai, eagerly awaiting his answer.

He smiled. "Just hear me out okay..." Dazai began, almost nervously, when suddenly a loud crash was heard in the distance followed by a, "oh shit! Sorry." and a loud scream.

The agency member's heads turned around quickly and they prepared for whatever was in front of them. Kunikida prepared his ideals, kyoka summoned demon snow, naomi hid behind tanizaki and Atsushi's arm contorted into a tiger's.

As the figure got closer, they noticed a familiar red glow and Dazai began to walk towards them.

"Is that...Chuuya!?" Atsushi yelled out, lowering his arm and tilting his head like a cat.

"What on earth is HE doing here!" shouted Kunikida, as confused as ever. Chuuya emerged from a cloud of smoke of his own doing and smirked.

"Is that any way to speak to your new landlord?" he laughed, stopping right in front of Dazai.

His face dropped as soon as he saw his ex-partner.

"Drank any milk recently?" Dazai greeted him, smiling playfully, attempting to tap him on the head.

Chuuya let out an annoyed grunt and caught Dazai's arm before he could touch him, "shut up bandage freak, still not dead i see?" The red head hissed, angrily. The tension between the two was almost malleable.

Dazai and Chuuya both turned to face the group that were all staring at them, awaiting some kind of exclamation.

"W-what do you mean landlord?" Atsushi said, bewildered.

Chuuya looked up at Dazai, "go on slug, you tell 'em" he said playfully. Dazai genuinely looked scared.

"Sooo guys.." Dazai began, looking at his coworkers who all stared at him with a mixture of confusion and anger. "We are going to be staying with the port mafia... just temporary you know." he said, looking down at the ground.

WHAT!?" he heard Kunikida yell out. Dazai looked down at Chuuya who was looking as smug as ever.

"Don't enjoy this too much, short stack" he grimaced at him.

"Look, they'll be able to protect us that way and it's a good way to discuss plans with them since we're working together." Dazai said.

The group was obviously not happy, especially not Kunikida.

After a few moments of tense silence a quiet voice emerged.

"Look guys..." Atsushi began, "we need to do everything we can to protect Dazai! We can put up with them for as long as it takes if it means Dazai is safe!" He yelled, closing his eyes, clearly fearing the reaction of the group.

"Hey Jinko! I'm standing right here!" Chuuya said angrily, narrowing his eyebrows at him.

Dazai smiled at Atsushi and gave him a small nod.

Kunikida sighed and adjusted his glasses. "I suppose Dazai would do the same for us. I'm in." He said, loudly.

"Would i?" Dazai said, surprised. Kunikida and the rest glared at him and Chuyya let out a small snigger.

"Oh.. of course I would!" Dazai said as he smiled at Kunikida.

The group gathered around and started discussing things, every now and then looking over at Dazai and Chuuya.

"We have a few extra spaces for you to work but Mori said he'll be putting us into partners and separate teams to make everything go faster." Chuuya said, turning to Dazai.

"Just like old times eh?" Dazai replied, smirking at Chuuya who did not look impressed.

Chuyya ignored his comment and continued.

"The partnerships have been thought out by Mori himself, he knows what he's doing so i'd tell your team that!" Chuuya said, as loyal as ever to his boss.

"What makes you think they'd disagree with the partnerships?" Dazai said, immediately realizing the mistake he'd made.

The two looked over at the arguing mess that was the agency.

"Oh.. " said Dazai. Chuuya laughed and looked up at him. This whole thing was making him feel things, reminding him of what he felt back when he and Dazai were partners in the port mafia all that time ago.

Chuuya checked his watch. "Right come on fuckers.. Lets go." he yelled over to the group that were finally done arguing. They looked over at him and sighed.

"How exciting!!" shouted Dazai as he made his way over to the group.

"Are you sure about this Dazai?" he heard Atsushi say quietly. They walked together following behind Chuuya with the rest of the group. Dazai looked at the front of the line to the small red head and sighed.

"I might hate the port mafia and Chuuya but I sure as hell trust him with my life." he smiled down at Atsushi who looked shocked.

So this was the connection that the famous 'double black' duo had, he thought as he looked back up at the tall man beside him.

"I hope you're right." chimed in Kunikida from in front of thyme in the group.

"When am I ever wrong?" replied Dazai, with a smug smile, causing Kunikida to roll his eyes and turn back around.

As they eventually reached the port mafia base, Chuuya turned around and stopped. "Welcome to hell mother fuckers!"

"God, I hope I'm right too Kunikida..." Dazai muttered to himself almost silently.