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               Dazai had been fidgeting with his fingers for what felt like hours. He was stuck sitting in an interrogation room; they had been caught. Months ago, in April, Mori-san had assigned them a mission outside of Yokohama, in the Quirk-filled, black-and-white hero society; Dazai's acting was perfect though, as was Chuuya's, he had no idea how they were caught. Dazai… didn't know? That's never happened before, Dazai took pride in knowing things before everyone else. 

               They were going to ask him about the Port Mafia, there was no doubt there. And probably how he got involved- how did he get involved again? His mother was- no, his grandfather was the former boss, his mother was simply the top assassin in the mafia before Verlaine arrived. And his father? Dazai never knew him and he didn't care; Mori was simply his mother's brother. 

               Dazai looked up from his hands when he heard the door open, he immediately remembered the detective; Namaosa Tsukauchi. The detective from the League of Villains attack on the USJ.

               “Dazai-Kun. It's nice to see you again.” The detective had started with, “How are you?”

               “You don't mean that.” The detective looked shocked, “You just want me to tell you as much about the Port as possible so, you can ship me off to the closest prison. You all have a black-and-white society; there is and will never be room for grey areas.”

               Tsukauchi looked directly into Dazai's eyes, there was something akin to regret in the detective's eyes, that only seemed to grow. “Can you tell me when your first interaction with a Port Mafia member was?”

               “The first? It probably would have been when I was conceived, or does that not count since I wasn't formed yet? Then, it would have to be my birth.” Osamu informed, there was a flash of confusion on Tsukauchi’s face. 

               “Would you be able to elaborate?” It sounded like Tsukauchi had become breathless. 

               “Both of my parents were high ranking members of the Port. Probably because my grandfather was the former boss before he finally kicked the bucket.” Osamu stated, apathetically- no, it was more detached. 

               “Is that so? I suppose the questions I ask you will be vastly different froNakahara's-Kun's then.” the detective began writing as he spoke as well, “Can you tell me when the adult around you began inserting you into the Mafia?”

               “When I was five.” Tsukauchi had to do a double take - Five!? - the kid hadn't even gone to school yet at that point. 

               “Uhm- how so, did they- did they go about inserting you into the mafia, at that- age?” Tsukauchi tried to pull himself together but, his blood was boiling due to the fact that a mother could actually be heartless enough to throw her child into an organization so stained with blood at such a young age. 

               “At first, my mother had me study multiple things like militarized war strategies from nearly a hundred different countries, along with Military History, Strategic Thought, International Relations, Diplomacy and Military Science; she had me study things like Political Science, Economics, and Psychology after about 6 months.” Tsukauchi's thoughts had a hard time keeping up - what? He was five, some adults wouldn't even be able to study all of that!? - “It was quite boring though. I was only allowed to read at that point and take the tests that she gave me.”

               “Wasn't that hard? Having to read and take tests on subjects you wouldn't understan-” Dazai interrupted him.

               “I understood it. I understood all of it, it was just too predictable.” Dazai's response was calm, with a terrifying intelligence- it reminded Tsukauchi of Nedzu, “at that age, I liked interacting with other people because I had yet to understand how regular people act and react.”  

               Yes, Dazai, as far as Tsukauchi could tell, was a real life ‘What-If’ scenario of if Nedzu was born as a human. 

               The next two hours were grueling for Tsukauchi's psyche. He had to ask Dazai to describe the physical and emotional ‘training’ that was obviously abuse borderline torture disguised as training which took about forty five minutes. For the next seventy five minutes Tsukauchi had to interrogate Dazai about the ‘torture-resistance training’ which was filled with raising his pain tolerance and- what Tsukauchi could barely swallow, sexual-torture tolerance. Dazai's main punishments were being forced to live in a cold shipping container if he lost consciousness before he could finish a session his torture ‘training’ and another one was being locked in a room with a pack of rabid dogs. 

               One thing was clear; Osamu Dazai was a child who had been groomed to become a criminal, a child who could not be responsible for the crimes he had committed. Only his mother, Grandfather and this uncle that Dazai referred to as ‘Mori-San’ were the ones responsible for his crimes, and unfortunately only one of the three was still alive. According to Dazai, Mori had killed his grandfather in order to take over the Port Mafia and Tane, Dazai's mother, had killed herself when Dazai was eight. 

               “Osamu, if I may? Is your quirk actually an ability?”

               “It's not his fault.” Tsukauchi had started with when he entered the room where all the U.A. Teachers were watching the Interrogation with Dazai, “We can't hold him responsible.”

               “Tsukauchi's right.” Shouta had, as expected, chose to take Tsukauchi's side and hopefully save a hurt child, “The kid was manipulated and groomed by his own family.”

The rest of the teachers were silent but, Shouta could see Hizashi and Nemuri nodding in his direction. 

               “Don't worry. I'll allow him to be protected by U.A.” Nedzu had finally spoken up, “I can't let so much potential get wasted after all!”

               Definitely interested due to Dazai's intelligence. 

               “Me and Shouta can take over as Dazai's guardians.” Yamada had suggested and Aizawa backed him up, soon enough Nemuri volunteered to take guardianship of Nakahara. 

               Yamada thought that Dazai's behavior during the Interrogation was worrisome. He had constantly hear the other students talking about how ‘annoying’ and ‘unserious’ Dazai was, Dazai was always joking around and surprisingly, Bakugou and his friend group always insisted on dragging Dazai around with them; Dazai always had bright sparkles in his eyes and a smile on his face. So, to see such a cold and detached look on his face, along with such an apathetic tone in his voice was disconcerting to say the least. 

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          They had planned for the information that Dazai and Chuuya were from the mafia, a secret but somehow the majority of UA’s population had found out about it. They had a private trial, with no press and only the necessary officials; which kept the information as private as possible and had all involved sign NDAs in order to keep all info private.

          Thankfully, Osamu and Chuuya were deemed innocent to all charges due to Osamu being manipulated and groomed in the mafia and Chuuya joining for pure survival. The ruling still wouldn’t stop the circulation of rumors throughout the school.

          Aizawa could already assume that his class had already picked sides due to the fact that when the day came that his class had asked for the pool, some students were playing water volleyball with dazai( who was wearing a wet shirt) and the others(over half the class) were doing a swim race to see who was faster. Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugou, Shoto Todoroki, Eijiro Kirishima, Mina Ashido, Denki Kaminari, Kyoka Jiro were the students who decided to play volleyball with Dazai, meanwhile the rest decided to race with Chuuya excluding Tsuyu Asui and Ochaco Uraraka who both decided not to come; Shinso was forced, seeing as both his parents are teachers but, his in the bathroom the entire time. 

          Despite not being there long(only when the students first got there and then to kick them out) Aizawa could clearly tell that the racing group had decided that Dazai ranked up with what they believed was Villains, mainly due to their pointed dirty looks. 

          Aizawa didn't see much of his students over break, but he had Mina and Kyoka arrive at his home dragging Bakugou and Todoroki behind them, requesting for Dazai to join them, in attempt to drag him around the mall and apparently getting Dazai to eat a full meal, to which Aizawa allowed them. What surprised him the most is that Dazai went—not without a struggle but, they managed to get multiple summer outfits and a full meal(it isn't much of a full meal if it's mainly desserts but, semantics).

          Nemuri had also said about how clean and polite Chuuya had a habit of acting, although he had a passion about video games; much like Dazai but, the kid kept his passion to himself. Dazai was basically the exact opposite of Chuuya, he was messy and distant and after he seemingly dropped his act of the class clown, he was very quiet and apathetic; as Nedzu said–An even more depressed version of Shouta. 

          Another morning Bakugou showed up(again?), with Kirishima following him, that doesn't make Aizawa feel good; hopefully they were here for Dazai. 

          “Hey there Aizawa-Sensei!” Kirishima started off with while Bakugou finished with, “Is bandages here?”

Thank god, he can go back to bed then! 

          “Yeah, I'll go ahead and grab him. Wait here.” Aizawa closed the door halfway and walked towards the room that him and Hizashi had given to Dazai. 

          Dazai was laying on his stomach, on the floor of his room playing on a pre-quirk gaming console. The kid looked up when Aizawa entered. 

          “Kirishima and Bakugou are here, don't leave the house like a mess.” Aizawa's voice was deadpan as always. 

          Aizawa got a ‘yeah, whatever’ in response, good enough. 

          He sat on the couch to finish grading some papers, and to make sure Dazai didn't just throw on a pair of sweatpants—it's supposed to be really hot today. 

          Dazai walked out 5 minutes later, wearing a white blouse with cartoon strawberries all over it, and wore black compression sleeves underneath it to cover up his scars along with a strawberry Shortcake themed choker over the scars on his neck. He had a pair of jeans shorts with pink ribbons laced up on the sides along with ruffled ankle socks under his strawberry painted Nike's. 

Why all the strawberries? 

          Osamu simply grabbed the bear shaped water bottle that Hizashi had bought the kid, filled it with water and walked out the door—god kids were weird. 

— — —

          Aizawa changed his mind– kids can, in fact, be hilarious. Dazai had left at noon, and came back at 8, just 5 minutes before Aizawa left for his patrol– covered in sweat. Apparently Kirishima and Bakugou took him to the gym, and the kid hated every second of it. 

          “Well, I told them if they were gonna make my life a living hell for 7 hours, they better be getting me some good fuckin food afterwards!” Dazai had ended up sprawled out all over the couch, “Surprisingly, Bakugou actually offered to buy me a shit ton of sweets at this nice bakery nearby though, so it wasn't all bad and I now know where I'm gonna force Yamada to go for sweets.”

          “Glad you had fun kid.” Aizawa offered as he walked out the door. 

          He could see in the corner of his eye that the kid had a small smile on his face though. And if Dazai started leaving the house in gym wear from noon till 8 once a week and coming home exhausted, then he wasn't gonna say anything. 

          There was something that Aizawa desperately wanted to stop though, and it had to do with his boss. 

          Nedzu wanted weekly classes with Dazai, normally he wouldn't have a problem since keeping up with nedzu was literally impossible but, somehow his the kid was going just as fast, if not faster than Nedzu. 

          Aizawa knew the reason behind the lessons weren't just because he was from Yokohama or the Port Mafia, if it was then Nakahara would be getting them too and according to Nemuri, he wasn't. 

No matter what Yamada says, no he isn't getting smug that his the kid was smart enough in Nedzu's eyes to get special attention and not Nakahara

          “Nedzu.”

          Nedzu responds quickly, “Yes? What is it, Shouta?”

          “No world Domination until he graduates. Got it.”

          Nedzu gave him a thin lipped smile that clearly said– I'm the boss here but still responded with, “Oh clearly!”

Like he's ever going to trust that rat–or whatever Nedzu tries to trick people into thinking he is. 

          It was 7 in the morning when Yamada suddenly woke up Osamu, Shinso and Shouta, far too early for either of them. 

Shouta thought belatedly, when did Hizashi start calling Dazai, Osamu? 

          When Shouta walked into the kitchen, in a black T-shirt and grey sweat pants, he found Osamu(?) at the table in a white short-sleeved, lace, ruffled blouse, with baby pink lace gloves covering up his scared arms along with Jean decorated with flowery lace on the seams of the pants, and a pink choker with ruffles on it. Shinso was also awake- well, half awake, and dressed in dark Jean, a baggy, grey T-shirt thrown over a black-and-white stripped turtleneck. 

The kid may just be experimenting with lighter colors, now that he can. The kid is Osamu and Shinso has been upgraded to brat. 

          “Shouta! What are you wearing!?” Hizashi had gasped when he saw Shouta's clothes, “Today's a family day so, we all need to be presentable!”

          “You mean I have to leave the house?” Shouts asked through his morning exhaustion. 

          “Yes! Y'know, despite having near identical personalities, you dress completely differently?” Hizashi sighed as he dragged his husband back to their bedroom to change into at least a pair of jeans. 

          After they came back, Hizashi served his full course breakfast although Osamu mainly focused on the Rolled Omelets. 

          Hizashi explained that they were going to incorporate at least one family day into one month and since they only have a week until the training camp, today was that day. He had simply planned for them to go shopping today, and each day they would rotate on who would get to choose what they did that day. 

          It was a strange experience for Osamu, Hizashi reminded him of some of the adults from biker gangs back in Yokohama with all the leather. The stores were strange too, Yokohama resembles more of the Pre-quirk era Japan rather than modern day Japan, so Osamu wasn't used to it. 

          Hizashi took them to a salon, mainly to get Shouta's hair trimmed but the adults let Osamu get blonde highlights as well. Shinso suggested another store, they also bought Osamu some more recent game systems and games to go along with them(Osamu suspected it was so Shinso wouldn't have to share his own), and since Osamu friends already drug him to the store to buy some summer clothes then that only left them to buy some winter ones. Shouta recommended that they buy some posters for Osamu's room. Looks like Shouta only likes shopping when it's not for him. Shinso, like the ‘discreet’ person he is, says they should buy Osamu a binder that actually fits. Real subtle Shinso. 

Osamu really liked the feeling of the two adults acting like his parents and maybe the younger brother thing(Kyuusako was a younger sister, so she didn't count), it was comforting; he could get used to this. 

Chapter Text

          Class 1-A was finally all on the bus heading to the training camp. Dazai had decided to play it safe and sit next to Aizawa, of course, Mina and Jiro were in the seats across the Aisle from them, and Bakugo sat with Kirishima behind them. Aizawa immediately went to sleep in his window seat, while Osamu had a nice conversation with Kirishima, Mina, and Jiro, while Bakugou chimed in every once in a while. Of course, Kaminari ast with Shinsou and while Shinsou - like Aizawa - opted to sleep, Kaminari joined in on the conversation along with Midoriya and Shoto(Who tried to socialize as best as he could).

          Osamu could hear some of the other students whispering about him, but he did his best to ignore them. For the most part, it was a peaceful but loud bus ride until they arrived at a Rest Stop near the Camp. 

          Osamu nearly laughed out loud when the majority of the class headed toward the cliff. Osamu motioned for Bakugou and the rest of their group to stay near the back; they didn’t understand, but still listened to him.

          Osamu knew exactly what the ‘Wild Wild Pussycats’ were planning. With his intelligence, it wasn't hard to figure it out, but he wasn't going to ruin their fun. The other students all yelled in surprise once the ground below them gave out; however, since Osamu and the rest of his close friends waited near the back, they were able to easily land on their feet. 

          It was easy enough for Osamu to move around in the woods, after all, he was wearing a black, open shoulder turtleneck underneath a loose, white tank top with black sweatpants and strawberry converse; overall, a very cute outfit– feminine almost. The purpose of choosing that outfit was to cover up all of his scars- mostly, it was also because it was cute.

          Things were about to look perilous when dirt monsters started attacking them. Osamu started speaking, “Hey, can someone carry me on their back for this?”

         Everyone looked at him in confusion and incredulity. “I wanna try something that will most likely help if it works, I just won’t be able to focus on that and walk at the same time.”

         Once Kirishima had secured Osamu on his back, they could see blue rings of Kanji that read ‘No Longer Human’ surround Osamu, as his body began to glow the same shade of blue before it began to extend into a light blue, transparent dome around the students, nullifying any dirt monster that touched it.

          So, Osamu spent the majority of their trek through the woods on Kirishima's back because Osamu had extended his ability beyond the area covering his body; it had created a field of nullification around the students; he couldn't keep the field up and walk at the same time, so Kirishima had agreed to carry him. Chuuya and a couple of other students, like Iida and Sato, ran ahead of the field to clear a path, but it was more so to avoid Dazai. The class managed to get to the camp by 11:49, surprising both Aizawa and the Pussycats, but the class got a free lunch and dinner while class B wasn’t even put through the Forest test.

         Class 1-B joined Class 1-A for dinner, and Class B noticed how Class A had split one of the tables in half. On one end were Osamu Dazai, Katsuki Bakugou, Eijiro Kirishima, Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, Hitoshi Shinsou, Mina Ashido, Denki Kaminari, and Kyoka Jiro; on the other end of the table were Yuga Aoyama, Tenya Iida, Mashirao Ojiro, Koji Koda, Rikido Sato, Mezo Shoji, Hanta Sero, Fumikage Tokoyami, Toru Hagakure, and Momo Yaoyorozu. Ochaco Uraraka and Tsuyu Asui sat alone at Class B’s table to avoid any drama with their class.

         As 1-B sat down at their table, “We should probably avoid antagonizing 1-A for some time, we don’t really know how they’re dealing with everything right now.” Kendo began, “But from what I can tell, they’re picking sides.”Surprisingly, Monoma was the most vocal about his agreement.

         "Well, we don’t know anything about the situation, right? They're all just rumors.” Monoma then got confused at 1-B’s reactions, “What? I finally start thinking reasonably, and you’re all suspicious!?”

         It wasn’t much of a surprise. Monoma began to admire Dazai’s ability to keep up with the rest of his class despite his Passive ability after the Sports Festival, not that anybody knew it was an ability; so, it’s pretty obvious that he’s already on Dazai’s side. 1-B could only imagine the tension for class 1-A. They’re probably gonna split the room they’ll be sleeping in, in half as well.

          By the time that Class 1-B woke up the next day, Class 1-A had already begun training for the day. Todoroki was working on the speed in which his switched between fire and Ice, Bakugou working on the size of his explosions, Ochaco on how many objects she can decrease gravity on, Tsuyu on how long she can keep up her camouflage, Sero was working on how much take he can produce, Yoayorozu trying to expande how many items she can create at once and even Osamu - although he was much farther away - was working on being able to hold a field of nullification.

         So, following Class 1-A’s lead, Class B began to train relentlessly with their quirks until their lunch break. As Kendo grabbed her Bento box, which her and the rest of her classmates had made that morning after breakfast, Monoma looked over at her and tilted his head in the direction of Osamu-Kun and the rest of his circle of friends, obviously motioning for her to join him to sit with them.

        “Hey Dazai-San!” Monama had started as he sat directly next to him, “Uhm? Whatcha doin?”

         Monoma looked at Osamu’s hands, where his fingers on one hand were connected to the mirrored ones on the other by a string seemingly made of light, while his hands were surrounded by Kanji of the same color from before, but this time they said “Pandora’s Box”. Osamu seemed to have already finished his lunch, which looked like it was made up of apple slices, Teriyaki chicken, Rice and Nori, and broccoli; although Shinsou was stealing his broccoli.

         Dazai looked up at Monoma for a second, “This? It’s just my secondary power; people in my family are usually born with two.”

         “Really!? What does it let you do?” Kendo seemed interested now, after all, the only other person they knew who had two powers was Todoroki, and he wasn’t all that interesting.

         “Oh, uhh- it just lets me look at and mess around with the threads of reality a bit.” Osamu looked skeptical that she was actually interested, “It’s nothing too interesting.”

         “Oh, well then. . .” Kendo actually started to look even more interested now, “What’re you doing with those threads then?”

         Everyone in the group looked towards Dazai, curious about what he was doing, “Giving Iida the hiccups and making him nauseous.”

         Everyone burst out into laughter, Iida had been incessantly cruel, doing things like giving Dazai the cold shoulder(honestly kind of expected), cold glares(He’s not even scary) and continuing to spread rumors he’s heard about Dazai behind his back(if your gonna talk shit, do it to the person face, coward), so Iida, definitely deserved it.

      “Osamu, if I may? Is your quirk actually an ability?”

        “Oh.” Osamu’s voice was still very monotone, “You’re quite bright. Yes, it is. Chuuya’s is as well.”

         Denki can positively say that the training camp isn’t at all what he expected, the training is absolute hell, but everything else is amazing; he doesn’t even mind class B, as long as you're friends with Osamu-Kun(Osamu told him that he can call Osamu that!) then Class B are absolute angels, Monoma is actually pretty cool as well - they’re into the same video games as well.

         The week of the training camp goes really fast, a lot faster than anyone expected; the only weird part is that Osamu-Kun avoided the hot springs. Denki assumes it because he probably got a lot of scars in the mafia, he’d probably be self-conscious if he were Osamu-kun, so he just won’t mention it. Nevertheless, it has reached their last night at camp, and The Wild Wild Pussycats had gathered both classes near the front of the forest.

        “Alright, Students!” Ragdoll begins, “Hope you’re all ready for the totally awesome Test of Courage!”

         Denki, Sato, Mina, and Sero all shouted in excitement, but Aizawa used his scarf to capture them all and stated, “Those who failed their exam will be using this time for remedial lessons,” and had them all follow him to another building with Monoma in tow because he had also failed.

         “All right, so here’s how this is gonna work!” Mandalay explained, “One class will be sent into the forest ahead and will need to be ready to scare the other class. The second class will enter the forest in pairs and will be scared by the first class!”

         “Class B will be doing the scaring first.” Pixie-Bob announced, “Class A, form a line and pick a number; the person who has the same number as you will be your partner.”

         Osamu ends up drawing an 8 when Ojiro hesitantly approaches him, “Hey... You got the other 8, right?”

         Osamu’s smile tightened, “Yep.” They both would literally rather be anywhere but in this moment. Osamu was well aware that Ojiro was part of the half of the class who had classified him as a monster and Chuuya as a saint. Ochaco was paired with Tsuyu, Yaoyorozu was with Aoyama, Iida was with Koji, Todoroki with Katsuki, Midoriya with Hagakure, Shinsou and Jiro, and Tokoyami was paired with Shoji.

         Osamu wonders if someone would be willing to trade with him.

Chapter Text

               Dazai could cut the tension between him and Ojiro with a Katana; they had entered directly after Shoji and Tokoyami. Dazai was pretty sure that Shoji also thought of him as a villain, but Tokoyami didn’t seem to care much.

                Dazai stopped walking mid-step, and Ojiro had predictably looked confused. He looked back at Dazai, not in the face because that would require him to not be a coward, “Why’d you stop?”

                “Well, for one, Tokage and Tsunotori are hiding in the bushes up there.” Dazai started, causing the two girls to emerge from hiding, as it was useless to stay hidden. “And two, there's something in the forest burning.”

                At the mention of something burning, the three others flinched. That could be dangerous. “And three, a villain is about to attack, Bakugou and Todoroki, and Tokoyami will soon lose control of Dark Shadow, so we should go help them.”

                Ojiro looks skeptical, but soon goes along with it when he hears the two Class 1-B girls respond, “Well then, let's go!” Tsunotori enthusiastically says, while Tokage nods in agreement.

                Ojiro doesn’t know how everything happened in such a quick succession of time. First of all, Dazai was somehow right about everything; The four of them helped Shoji lead Dark Shadow towards Moonfish, the dangerous(supposedly imprisoned) Villain that was attacking Bakugou and Todoroki. Somewhere along the way, Midoriya had joined them, although he was extremely injured; Ojiro did admit to himself that Dazai’s plan was extremely smart. He had told them that all they needed to do was lead the rampaging Dark Shadow to Moonfish, and he’d easily destroy the villain's quirk, then proceed to instruct Todoroki and Bakugou to make a lot of light using their quirks. Ojiro didn’t expect Bakugou to listen, but for some reason, he did, and without any complaints.

                Now Dazai was telling them that they simply had to make it to the building where they were holding the remedial lessons to protect the people on the priority kill and capture lists. For some reason, Bakugou, Chuuya, and Dazai were all targets for capture.

                Ojiro wasn’t sure what happened. According to the doctors, he had blacked out due to intense amounts of adrenaline and fear. And now, because of him(although his classmates would argue with him), not only was Bakugou Kidnapped but Dazai as well. He never thought his thoughts would ever be taken over by either Bakugou or Dazai. Bakugou was constantly angry and had what, in Ojiro’s opinion, was a superiority complex, and Dazai? Well, he was Dazai. At first, he was ridiculously unserious and silly, making jokes about everything; then, when the truth came out, he was unnervingly calm and quiet, like a completely different person. But, Bakugou and the rest of his friends took it in stride, like it wasn’t revealed that he was a villain who dragged Chuuya into villainy as well- except, he wasn’t. Not really, anyways.

               Dazai was the same age as them; if any of them were born as the heir to a powerful criminal organization, would they do anything different? Ojiro was starting to think that they were acting more like villains than Dazai had been.

                Kouyou was. . . Conflicted.

                It’s been a long time since she was so indecisive about something, especially something like deciding whether or not to betray the very organization that she swore loyalty to.

                A month ago, she could have leaped in joy. The two boys she cared about more than anything, Chuuya Nakahara, the boy who practically became her younger brother, and Osamu Dazai, the grandson of the late boss whom she watched and even helped grow up, had both managed to successfully free themselves from the Port Mafia. She was so happy, so very, very happy.

                But then, Mori came back with little Osamu in tow; Osamu was unconscious, but he was still back in that horrible man's grasp. She had made eye contact with the little lad's older brother, Akihiko, and for once, Akihiko looked terrified; he was a nearly unmatched assassin, but he was truly scared for his brother. The 19-year-old grunt, Oda Sakunosuke, who had become close friends with Osamu, had also approached both of them, asking if Osamu was alright.

                And Kouyou. She didn’t know; she was always the first one who was aware of everything that occurred in the Port Mafia directly after Mori and Osamu, she was the 3rd-in-Command after all. However, Mori was the only one with full information on the current situation.

                Somehow, Kouyou had gotten here. In Verlaine’s secluded office, all unknowing grunts far away, locked in the office were Kouyou Ozaki, Paul Verlaine, Akihiko Tsushima, and Oda Sakunosuke. All of them are planning on breaking Osamu out of wherever Ougai was keeping him and running off to the heroes. Everyone in Yokohama grew up with a distaste for heroes, but they were the only ones capable of protecting Osamu and possibly them as well.

                At the beginning of this conversation, Kouyou was asking herself if she was willing to betray the very organization that picked her up off the streets, clothed and raised her. However, now, she was ready. She had helped raise Osamu and helped train him in etiquette, Diplomacy, and Strategy along with her now deceased mentor; she had to continue protecting that unbelievably kind child.

               In the dimly lit room of the Port Mafia's headquarters, Dazai lay trembling on a plush bed that felt like a prison. The stench of blood and fear lingered in the air, a grim reminder of his recent incarceration in the kennels. His body was a canvas of open wounds, a testament to the rabid dogs that had been his companions for what felt like an eternity. The L.O.V. had handed him over without a second thought, their cold eyes reflecting the harsh reality of his fate.

               Mori's heavy footsteps echoed through the hallway, growing louder with each passing second. Dazai braced himself, his heart racing, knowing what was to come. The door swung open, and Mori entered, a sneer twisting his lips as he took in the pitiful sight before him. Very few people had ever seen Dazai so vulnerable, so broken, and it only fueled his sadistic desire to dominate. He approached the bed, his gaze raking over Dazai's bruised form, lingering on the fresh wounds that hadn't yet scabbed over

               "Osamu. You always did look best in those cute little red dresses." Mori sneered, tossing a set of clean clothes onto the bed. Dazai's eyes remained on the floor, his body trembling with a mix of anger, fear, and pain. The memory of the rabid dogs in the kennels was still fresh in his mind, their teeth tearing at his flesh and the panic that had consumed him as he desperately tried to escape.

               But it was the moments before that haunted him the most - the feel of Mori's rough hands, the smell of his cologne, the sickening sound of his laughter. It was a dance they had performed many times before, but this time, the music had stopped, and Dazai was left with nothing but the echoes of his own screams. He had hoped that coming to UA would mean leaving that life behind, but it seemed like the past had a way of catching up with him, no matter how much he tried to outrun it.

               Dazai was a genius, a prodigy; that's what everyone around him said for as long as he could remember. He had his Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory to back him up, the down side, he remembered everything; mainly when he didn’t want to. He remembered every single detail of the horrific days in the kennels, every scar the rabid dogs left on him, and every second of Mori's unwelcome touches. The way Mori's eyes had gleamed with a sadistic delight, the feel of his large, calloused hands roving over his body, the sting of sweat-slicked skin slapping against his own, and the violating intrusion that had left him feeling dirty and hollow, along with the sick feeling of disphoria.

               Those memories played on a loop in his head, like a nightmarish film that he couldn't stop watching. The smell of Mori's cologne clung to him, a haunting scent that filled his nostrils and brought back the nauseating fear and pain of those moments. He could feel the cold metal of the handcuffs bite into his skin, the rough fabric of the dress they had forced him to wear, and the sticky warmth of his own blood soaking into the fabric. Every breath was a struggle, as if the very air was tainted by the memories he longed to escape.

               Dazai couldn't remember; that would only happen when he began to disassociate. The concept of time had lost all meaning in the confines of this room, where moments stretched into hours and hours into days. The only indication of Mori's departure was the sudden absence of his heavy, oppressive presence. The door had clicked shut, leaving behind a silence that was almost deafening in its starkness. It was a respite Dazai hadn't realized he needed until it was given to him, a brief reprieve from the torment that had become his new reality.

               He lay on the floor, his body curled into a tight ball, his knees tucked into his chest as if trying to protect his soul from the world. His breathing was shallow and quick, hiccups punctuating the air like a stuttering heartbeat. Tears streamed down his face, though he wasn't quite aware of them, his mind too preoccupied with the horrors of his recent past to pay heed to the physical manifestations of his pain. The scent of fear and sweat clung to him, a testament to his ongoing battle with the memories that threatened to consume him.

               Kouyou had a saying "Flowers that bloom in darkness, will never bloom in the light."

               Dazai's voice was a hoarse whisper, his vocal cords strained from the days of screaming for release. "Please," he croaked, the word barely audible, "help me." He wasn't sure if it was directed at anyone in particular or if it was just a desperate plea to the universe. His eyes searched the room, finding no solace in the cold, unfeeling walls that had become his prison. The shadows danced with his fear, morphing into the twisted faces of his attackers, taunting him with their silent presence. For once, Dazai hoped that Kouyou was wrong.

               "Anyone.”

               Kouyou could have burst into tears.

               Mori had informed her of where Osamu was and ordered her to ‘clean him up’ as horrific as his wording was, she was infinitely glad to know where Osamu was, but the sight was even more awful than she had anticipated.

               Osamu’s body was covered in even more wounds from those horrible, rabid mutts from the kennels, and the little lad even had bruises marring his skin and scars on his wrist and neck all in very clear handprints, even near his hips and thighs. There were obvious oval-shaped bruises on his jaw, which looked like they were from Mori using his hand to cover Osamu’s mouth; the bruises made it obvious what Mori had done, but Kouyou couldn’t even say it in her head. Suddenly, Osamu looked up at her with such an agonizing look in his eyes,

               “Ane-san?” Osamu whispered in such a heartbreakingly broken voice, “I’m sorry, you were right. Flowers of Darkness, really can’t bloom in the light.”

               “No. no, no, no.” Kouyou quickly rushed to Osamu’s side and began wrapping him up in a towel before cradling his face, “Osamu. You are one flower of Darkness that I will do absolutely anything to make sure blooms in the light. Okay?”

               Osamu looked both terrified and hopeful, but when he didn’t respond, Kouyou repeated herself, sounding nearly desperate, “Okay!?”

               Osamu nodded and let out a barely decipherable ‘Okay’.

               That would have to work, if only just for the shortest amount of time, until the time in which she and the others could save him.