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It wasn’t so often something major happened in the city. Of course, there was more than enough for the ADA to have to help out on, but usually even their bigger jobs weren’t too hard to handle unless it involved other organizations.
When Dazai and Kunikida had been tasked with going to help out with a situation the police had, they hadn’t been given many details. Not as many as they should’ve for what they ended up waking into.
“I’m sorry, did you just say something about an explosive?” Dazai was staring at a man whose conversation he might not have been supposed to have overheard. They’d just gotten there, they hadn’t talked to anyone yet, but the swarm of various officers of different rankings and departments was red flag number one.
Red flag number two was that people were trying to be dodgy with their questions, being vague with their answers and hush hush like they hadn’t literally been called out here at the request of the police.
“Okay, let me get this straight. When you requested us, you thought it was something with a hostage, spouse gone psycho. And you had reason to believe it was an ability user, so you asked for us just in case. And now, you’re saying that it’s not a domestic issue, that it’s a multiple hostage situation with a possibility this whole building can explode, after you sent my partner in there, and you can’t contact any of the guys you sent in there with him?” Dazai was pissed. How much do you have to fuck up to get to this stage?
Dazai should’ve been the one to go in there. He should’ve fought Kunikida more when he volunteered, self-sacrificial idiot and he calls Dazai the reckless one. He wasn’t good at waiting. He was itching to do something, anything, and as the seconds ticked by with no one being able to figure out what was going on, Dazai’s nerves were shot.
Suddenly something happened. Someone radioed back, one of the agents that was sent into the building. Apparently, they’d found the bomb, it was on a timer, and they didn’t know if they could stop it. They also found the hostages and managed to subdue the person responsible for this mess, saying they were sending them out. He heard Kunikida was among them still and let out a slightly relieved breath. His relief wouldn’t last long.
“What the hell do you mean you lost him?! It’s your job to get everyone out, how do you lose a whole person!” Dazai shouted, his panic coming back full swing. “Go back in and find him then!” If it hadn’t been for multiple factors, he could’ve killed someone right now. They were telling him no one was allowed back inside; the bomb was set to explode any minute and they couldn’t stop it. It was too unsafe to risk someone going back inside.
That was bullshit. There was someone still inside already! Did that just mean nothing? Dazai couldn’t go through this again. He couldn’t help the flashbacks, Oda dying, him being helpless to do anything while someone he loved died. He couldn’t do this again. “Fine, if you wont then I will!” he went to bolt but people were holding him back. He didn’t care what he had to do at this point, he wasn’t letting his partner die because some people were too scared to do anything. He wasn’t going to let his partner die before he even got a chance to tell him how much he meant to him.
“Let go of me!” Everything turned to a blur. Dazai kept struggling and thrashing, trying to get the people off of him to let go. When he succeeded, he didn’t think twice and just took off. He was only halfway there when the windows exploded with fire and the force of the blast was enough to knock him backwards.
He might have blacked out for a second. He was laying on the ground, the smell of smoke and dust making him cough a bit as he got up onto his knees. He felt numb.
Tinnitus. Ringing in the ears. He might actually be bleeding from one ear, but he wouldn’t notice. Any sound had faced and went unnoticed by him. His blood had run cold as he stared in horror, tingling numbness crashing over his body.
No. No-no-no-no-no. This couldn’t happen. It just couldn’t. He was dreaming. He’d wake up in a second from a nightmare, have a drink to calm down, go into work a few hours later and see Kunikida, complain to him about work and bother him and everything would be normal.
He didn’t even realize he’d started crying.
He couldn’t breathe. It should've been him. He was oblivious to the chaos around him, the chaos inside him being too much to think about anything else. He hadn’t stopped staring at the building. It hadn’t collapsed but it was clearly unstable, not to mention on fire which people were working to deal with before more buildings were damaged.
Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Movement. It was probably just a fire fighter or officer of some kind bit it drew his attention for a second, absentmindedly glancing in the direction. When he did, he was convinced he must have been closer to the blast and died himself.
Coming from around the side of the building was Kunikida. He had a kid with him who ran to his parents the second he was out down. He was distantly aware of the sound of the parents reacting and that was the only thing that told him he wasn’t just imagining things.
He didn’t leave Kunikida much time between putting the kid down and him bolting and throwing himself at his partner, almost knocking them both down as he clung onto the other around the abdomen, holding on for dear life because Jesus Christ he thought he just watched him die.
He didn’t even give the other a chance to say anything either before he started off on him. “What the hell Kunikida!? You can’t do that! You don’t get to lecture me on trying to kill myself and then go off in a building with a bomb in it without anyone knowing what the hell you’re doing or where you went! You don’t get to make me think you died!” It wasn’t often Dazai let his emotions get the better of him. This was special circumstances. He’d let go into his hit his hands against Kunikida’s chest.
Kunikida said his name, but he shook his head to cut the other off. “Don’t. Shut up. Just-“ Dazai was frustrated and overwhelmed and so emotionally overloaded he didn’t have his usual sense of mind that would stop him from doing something like this. He grabbed Kunikida’s face and kissed him, not giving a single fuck about anyone else around them, just the fact he thought his partner died but he didn’t, he was alive, alive and here and all of a sudden Dazai knew what it meant for life to feel too short.
He kept kissing Kunikida until he couldn’t breathe. He could feel the other had kept his arms around him and was holding him tight again. When the kiss broke Dazai didn’t move away far, breathing heavy but keeping his eyes shut. “You’re not allowed to die. You’re only allowed to if I’m right there with you.”
They’d have to talk about this more. They hadn’t had this conversation yet and this was one hell of a way to start it but goddamn if Dazai was going to go any longer without it. He’d deal with the consequences later. He wanted them to be alone but as he slowly started to calm back down, he was coming out his shock and more into the full reality.
Kunikida wasn’t untouched he was realizing, nothing too bad but he looked banged up. Dazai was definitely suffering being too close to the blast, his ear was apparently bleeding, one he’d had some hearing issues in before, but it was worse now. He could deal with it though. He refused to leave Kunikida’s side when they went to get checked out by medics. He’d taken Kunikida’s hand in a grip no one could break if they tried.
He wasn’t even too concerned with what he was being told to go get his ears checked out by a doctor to gauge the damage, he’d just get Yosano to look later. He just cared that the person he was in love with was alive and not too badly hurt. That they’d both be fine.
If this was what Kunikida went through whenever Dazai almost succeeded his attempts, he had a new guilt. He’d have to make sure he made up for that sometime they had time to themselves.