Soukoku One-Shots

Broken Stone and Bleeding Hearts

request from the lovely calmlb on ao3! (if you'd also like to make a request, head to my curiouscat page once i open them back up again ;)

In hindsight, Dazai probably should have known that this was a bad idea.

After having just come back from a four-day mission overseas, he and Chuuya were practically dead. There was no shouting, no insults, no pushing each other back and forth like children.

In the Port Mafia, it was a widespread belief that Double Black was far more terrifying when they were docile and sleepy-eyed.

The only person who didn't seem to feel that way was Mori, and Dazai only assumed this because his smile looked just as slimy as always. "Dazai, Chuuya," he said by way of greeting. "Your mission was successful."

That wasn't quite a question, Dazai decided.

"It was," he said when it was obvious Chuuya wasn't going to reply. He looked like he was about to fall asleep right in front of the Boss, in fact. "Everything has been taken care of."

"Wonderful," Mori replied evenly. Even though Dazai, an avid insomniac, felt like he might nod off if given just a moment of silence, he could see Mori's eyes gleaming. That was never a good sign.

"I have another mission for the both of you," was what Mori said next, expression never faltering. He sat on the other side of his desk, hands folded and smile complacent, as Dazai's entire world fell apart.

Another mission. Another mission. Another. Mission.

At the very same moment, Dazai and Chuuya whirled to look at each other, and Dazai could only assume that the horror on Chuuya's face matched that of his own. Pure, unfiltered despair. Dazai was too tired to care about hiding it, and he guessed that Chuuya felt the same.

Chuuya turned to look back at Mori. "Another mission?" he repeated quietly, sounding weaker than Dazai had ever heard him. Not even Corruption could make him sound so hopeless.

Mori, like the demon from hell that he was, nodded politely. "Of course," he said. Of course. Of course they would be worked to the bone, because they were Double-Black and there was no one better.

Dazai had never wanted to die more.

"There is a large gang operating underground called the Setting Sun," Mori began mercilessly. "They have been interfering with our cargo transportation and taken a group of our lower-ranked members hostage. You two will infiltrate their base of operations, remove our men from the site, and reduce the rest to rubble." He looked at them expectantly, either oblivious to their suffering or uncaring. Knowing Mori, it was most certainly the latter. "Any questions?"

A pause. Dazai couldn't think of any questions because he could hardly think at all, but it seemed Chuuya was faring better.

"Procedure if we can't save them?" he asked, voice scratchy and low. It was unfairly sexy, Dazai thought miserably, given their situation. If only they were well-rested and alone.

"Leave them," was Mori's nonchalant reply as he waved a hand. "If they need to be crushed by the debris, so be it. Do your best to remove them, though. Cannon fodder is always useful."

Dazai snorted, and he immediately regretted it when Mori's gaze fixed on him, smile placid. If only he were in better condition, he'd be able to control urges like that. Laughing at something Mori said was never a good idea.

"You'll leave in three hours," he said, apparently disregarding the situation. "Go to the east exit this time; Hirotsu will be waiting for you both."

It was a clear dismissal. Dazai mustered his remaining strength and stood, making to leave when he realized that Chuuya was still in his chair.