Bandages and Salt (PJO X BSD AU)

Chapter fifty-five

Shame washes over me as I realize that I had been doing just that.

"Who even is that guy?" I ask hotly, an irrational annoyance flashes through me as I watch as the younger teen clings onto the older man's arm like some kind of little kid holding onto their father's hand.

The teen didn't so much as flinch when the older redhead ruffled the younger boy's hair affectionately. They were too far away now for me to see the pair clearly, but I don't think that I was imaging it when it seemed as if the bandage waste leaned into the touch.

"Oda Sakunosuke, I believe," the executive replied, her voice still holding that disappointed note to it that made me understand exactly what it meant to be reprimanded by a mother after all of these years of not having one. "He's currently the Port Mafia's lowest level grunt," the woman explained, the pair of us staying at the window even as the other figures were long gone now.

What the hell is he doing with Dazai of all people then?

The mackerel was the least sociable person in the entirety of the Port Mafia, even the two - tomedmbrat had more friends than the bandage waste did. But the position that the bastard was in was entirely that of his own making. Dazai only spent time with the boss, Ane-san on occasion, and me for the missions that we've worked on together. He pushes everyone else away as if we're all a sickness and he thinks that distance is the only cure. There was absolutely no reason for their paths to have crossed.

"Dazai seems rather fond of the man," the mafia executive continues, seeming to have judged correctly that I wanted to know more about the stranger. Not that I would ever admit that out loud. "Though I suppose that only makes sense," the woman adds cunningly, throwing the bait out there, but choosing to trail off and wait for me to grab it.

I just hoped that I come out of it better than the fish do.

She's going to make me ask.

"And why is that?" I ask almost bitterly, trying to keep my attitude from my tone but failing nonetheless. Ane-san did like having to teach manners once more.

The woman laughs almost sweetly though I know that it is anything but, her sleeve obscuring her face as she reaches up to cover her mouth. It doesn't take any sort of genius to understand that the executive found this far too amusing.

This is what happens when you lay down with snakes.

"The boy is the one that brought Sakunosuke into the mafia, lad."

I hate him. I hate them both.

Only in the darkness of my appartnemnt that night, as my fingers twitched desperately for a cigarette and the company that once came with it, was I able to place the emotion that had been tearing me so thoroughly apart:

Jealousy.

—-

Dazai POV

The sun set slowly on the port city as I waited for the older mafioso to make his way out of the building, metal sitting comfortably in my palm. The switchblade was small, easily concealable, and sharp and strong enough to severe fingers should the need arise.

And I knew that it just might.

The conflict had been growing quickly in recent times, the bodies piling up even as the Port Mafia hadn't yet chosen to interfere, letting all of the organizations wipe each other out first. Even so, the streets were becoming a dangerous place to be on after night, more so than the usual hazard for the demon city anyways. The organizations and gangs of Yokohama normally tried to keep the civilian casualties as low as they could, any higher and they knew that the government would step in to rectify the situation. The newest players on the board didn't seem to share the same ideal.