leo, leonis (Akutagawa x Reader)

Chapter Seven

Three years after Dazai's alleged death, something between Y/n and Akutagawa shifted. It had been unexpected, on both their ends, after so many years of quiet co-existence. 

They were sitting in a conference room, doing paperwork as was usual when it had happened. Y/n broke the silence she'd imposed between them years before when they'd first begun the tradition -- she reached out to him.

"Did you ever meet Odasaku?" 

Her voice was softer than it had ever been when directed towards Akutagawa. He looked up from the report he was working on and  looked over at her to find Y/n staring right at him. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Akutagawa looked away, unable to keep the contact for his pounding heart.

"I did." he said, cursing himself for the slight stutter in his words, "Once."

Y/n hummed lightly, leaning back in her chair. He shot a glance up at her and realized she was waiting for him to tell her the story. Akutagawa cleared his throat, placing his pen firmly on the table as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back as well. His eyes were still fixed on the table.

"It was back... when everything happened." he began, "About a day before actually. I was part of a shoot out against Mimic in a museum when, their leader attacked me. He was going to kill me but, that man saved my life. He said he had done it for... for Dazai."

Akutagawa paused momentarily at his name, sneaking another glance across the room at Y/n. She showed no reaction to it and so, he continued, editing the story, suddenly embarrassed by the truth. He didn't quite understand why but, he felt an overwhelming urge to exist as a positive in the strange girl's mind.

"I was weak then." he decided to say, "And foolish too. He made sure I got back to the Mafia safely."

"That does sound like Oda." Y/n replied after a moment, a fond smile on her face and a distant look in her eyes.

"How did you know him?"

She trained her gaze on him once again and this time, Akutagawa managed to keep eye contact with her.

"Ango, Oda, and... well, they used to go to this bar together to hang out." her voice had a nostalgic cadence as she spoke, like it was a treasured part of her past she was revealing to him. Akutagawa listened.

"They were friends, the three of them. He would bring me along sometimes. I was kind of their friend too because of it. They were kind men for the most part, if a little unsuited to one another. Oda was a foster parent, you know. He always talked about his kids, how he thought I'd get along with them even though they were younger than me. He asked me to baby sit a few times but... I was always too scared to agree. I felt like if I came too close to them, they'd be infected or something, lose their innocence. It..." she hesitated, "Oda, he had a rule for himself. I don't know if you know that. He swore he would never kill again. I don't know why he had it but, he used to be an assassin or something as a kid so it was a big deal, and it was important to him. It broke my heart when I found out how... how it happened."

She turned, looking out the window at the dark skyline of Yokohama. As she had spoken, Y/n too had crossed her arms across her chest. He realized then that maybe he wasn't the only one so afraid in the pair. Akutagawa sighed.

"I... Look, I tried to fight him when he rescued me." he admitted and Y/n turned back to him, her eyebrows raised, "I told you, I was foolish then. Anyways, I overheard why he didn't kill that day. I wasn't fully conscious. He had... he beat me, obviously, and knocked me out so I was drifting in and out as he spoke to the leader of Mimic. I heard him say that he wanted to write a book, and that he thought he couldn't write lives if he had ended them. I just... thought you might like to know that." he trailed off.