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Acting wasn't Chuuya's strong suit. While he had been assigned several undercover missions over the years, they had been short: quick galas, or gang infiltrations. He wasn't suited for long term work - anyone could tell you that. Dazai had certainly put it on every mission report for six months. It had been one of the few things that they could agree on when it came down to it.
So how was he here?
As he followed Fyodor mindlessly through the halls of Meursault, dragging the dead bodies of guards and depositing them as he saw fit, he cursed Mori six ways to Sunday in his head. The fake teeth were annoying, and with every snarl, they kept cutting into the side of his lip. He controlled the winces. He at least had enough skill to do that.
"Stay still, Chuuya, or the glue won't set," Mori murmured, inspecting his work. Chuuya stood, mouth open, trying not to bite at Mori - he didn't need to bite his Boss, for one thing, but if he ever heard about it, there would be no living it down. "There."
Chuuya ran a tongue along the fake teeth - they were well made, clearly not bone from feeling, but in the mirror he couldn't tell the difference. They had been lucky that the vampiric teeth from Bram seemed permanent and not like a 1990s vampire movie where they could retract into the gumline.
"Remember," Mori said, as he handed Chuuya the contact case to allow the other to put them in. "Dazai will not know, and Fyodor is too smart for you to give any indication to Dazai until the final moment."
"Yeshbosh," Chuuya's voice whistled past the new teeth and he frowned, wincing as he forgot to curl his bottom lip around them.
"Practice speaking with them, that should get rid of the lisp and the whistle," Mori advised. "And control your facial features. That rat will be able to tell."
Chuuya nodded. These would getting used to.
"Do try your best not to kill him until you've reunited with Dazai," Mori told him in parting, as he was shoved figuratively out of the Boss's office. "The fore-runners of this operation are the Armed Detective Agency and they have requested…" He sighed and shook his head. "It's on them if this plan fails, Chuuya."
The long plane ride to Meursault was spent with him reciting tongue twisters until his voice sounded natural - not that he would be doing much talking, but even his growls and snarls has sounded off until he got used to new appendages.
He was supposed to be mindless.
Brainless.
A loyal follower.
A monster.
Fyodor was talking in front of him, and Chuuya wished he could just kill the man right here. However, Mori had impressed upon him half of a plan.
Was it half a plan or some cocky hope?
Had Dazai been able to figure out he was here? Or did his former partner think him just another victim of the vampirism - and wasn't that a laugh? - that was running rampant through Yokohama? Mori had said that Dazai had no notion, but it was Dazai, and as much as it pained him to admit it, Dazai had always been able to see Chuuya - even when the redhead hadn't wanted him too. They had started their partnership with a plan that hadn't needed words. Chuuya was relying on that moment, that feeling of partner.
"It's sad, isn't, Chuuya dear?" Fyodor was saying.
Chuuya's mind snapped back when he heard Fyodor addressing him, and he had to make sure not to react. He had seen what the other vampires were like - mindless ghouls hunting for blood, following orders, nameless.
"Where'd you get the name anyway?" Dazai asked one drunken night when they were seventeen. "Nakahara Chuuya. What made you go with that one?"
Chuuya had raised an eyebrow and retorted, "What made you go with Dazai Osamu?"
There was a delighted glint in the brunette's dark honey eyes and he threw his head back in a laugh. "Touche, chibi."
He swayed a bit, trying to mimic what he had seen Akutagawa doing in the brief moments he had been able to watch the younger man. Arms down, head bent, waiting for orders, go for the attack.
Shift left, shift right. Something between a zombie's shamble and a cat at hunt.
Fyodor reached up and patted Chuuya's cheek. He had to force himself not to react at that. He wasn't someone that enjoyed anyone touching him, let along this psychopathic Dazai clone. Fyodor's hand was stroking his hair back from his head and Chuuya let out a hiss, hoping that he could play it off as mindless vampire hiss and not get the fuck off me, you creep hiss.
"It is a pity that he couldn't save you," Fyodor was continuing. Chuuya fought the urge to roll his eyes - monologuing, really? "When I heard that you were one of mine, I couldn't not surprise our dear friend with it. You are such a stunning creature. I don't think he has the capability to appreciate you." He chuckled, and Chuuya was glad that the contacts covered even the whites of his eyes so that Fyodor couldn't see him look away. "I will, though."
And then he let go of Chuuya's cheek. Everything within him crawled with disgust. Chuuya had to physically fight the urge to not smear the man's touch off his skin. Dazai better have a plan - he might not know Chuuya was here, but when did Dazai not have a plan.
If he had to endure more of this, Chuuya was going to kill Fyodor himself. Plans, Dazai, and Mori be damned.
He followed the other down the hallway, making sure to occasionally step heavily so the floor cracked. This was partially because he had seen other vampiric Ability users lose the slightest control under the effects - whether they were internally fighting with themselves, or if vampires were so mindless they couldn't grasp extra powers, Chuuya had no idea. That was part of the reason. The real reason was that shitty mackerel, somewhere in the building, would be able to hear him.
It was the only warning he could give.
An hour later, after the stupid contest started, after everything - nearly drowning, having to hear Dazai say… having to not react.
It was a ploy - it had to be.
Or it could be the truth, his mind whispered against him as he followed Fyodor down a corridor. He was at the end of his line… so Dazai hadn't known. Or he had, and it didn't matter.
Chuuya was a monster, no matter what.
It didn't matter, he had a job to do. He had to focus. He could… confront or ignore Dazai later.
"Chuuya," Fyodor snapped his attention back to him. Chuuya gave a snarl in response, not sure what else to do. "I've a lovely idea."
Of course you do.
"I need you to find Dazai," the Russian instructed. Chuuya felt something twinge in his chest. At this point, he didn't want to deal with Dazai, would be fine with avoiding the other for the next four years, if possible. "And put him down." The other man laughed, turning his attention to Chuuya. "Wouldn't it be wonderful for him to die by the one who loves him the most?" The gun being pushed into his hand was ice cold.
It took everything Kouyou and Mori had taught him over the years for Chuuya to not freeze at those words. He only hoped that Dazai was no longer anywhere near the communications console.
He shambled off instead, Fyodor's laughter ringing in his ears.
He kept up the act to the best of his ability as he made his way through the complex. He had no idea who could see what, and figured it safer if he still acted the mindless follower.
He might just shoot Dazai for real, if only to escape the embarrassment. He could only hope the other one hadn't heard what Fyodor had said. He followed the blood trail, making sure to keep his face in an angry mask.
It was weird, standing in front of Dazai, and realizing that the other didn't recognize him at all. Couldn't he see?
"I've imagined this situation so many times, though when I pictured it, our positions were always reversed. What's wrong? Come on, Chuuya. What are you waiting for? Let's see one of your flimsy punches."
Chuuya could have laughed - such a simple command, but one that might allow him to stop this farce and then…
"That's enough," Fyodor's voice rang out through the PA system. "It's a provocation. He's trying to release you from your vampiric state by having you touch him." Ah, damn, the stupid rat realized it. "Take him out from a distance. "
Chuuya internally sighed, pulling out a gun. He saw the microscopic widening of Dazai's eyes as he shot the other one in the shoulder - it was a warning, a test, a sign. It was all he could give the brunette and yet…
"Dammit. Fuck that really hurt. Where do you think you're aiming that gun? You really suck at this!"
Chuuya almost threw the gun at him in retaliation. Could he seriously be stupid? Surely he knew by now since Chuuya had manipulated the elevator, that Chuuya was here, but he still insisted on this charade.
Ah well, Chuuya thought. Dazai better not bitch about this later. And he levied the gun to aim directly at Dazai's temple.
"Seems he learned from his mistake and won't miss now."
"This is just the worst. I'm in pain and I'm gonna lose to Fyodor. Plus, to top it off, Chuuya is about to kill me." Chuuya couldn't help his eye twitching at this, but he hoped the brim of his hat covered it from the cameras.
"You appear to me to have been quite utterly defeated."
"Well you never know, I might say something so absolutely profound and moving , in an existential way and then Chuuya might suddenly come back to his sense by the power of friendship."
"Give it a try then, Don't let me stop you."
"Come on Chuuya, it's time to wake up now. Our story is not going to come to an end today in this damn place. We are destined to-"
And Chuuya shot, feeling vindicated in the other's stupid words.
"Chuuya!" Dazai's singsong voice was behind him and Chuuya sighed, his shoulders slumping as he realized this was a conversation that would happen. They had just exited the helicopter in Yokohama, on the roof of a hospital in neutral territory. Chuuya had slept for most of the ride - mostly to avoid this exact conversation - while Dazai had kept leaning too far outside the window, to the chagrin and panic of the pilots that had come to pick them up.
"Go away," Chuuya snapped, his voice whistling through his vampire teeth. He still hadn't gotten them off. He'd break his own teeth rather than wear these for very long. Damn Mori and his glue.
"But Chuuya," Dazai's voice was light, and happy, and it was utterly suspicious. "What about what Fyodor said? About how you love me."
Chuuya froze, his breath leaving him the same moment he felt a flush crawl up his neck.
So this asshole had heard.
Great.
Just. Great.
"It doesn't matter," the redhead said stiffly, taking in a steading breath as he began to walk away.
Dazai fell into step beside him. Of course he did. Since when had Dazai cared about pesky things like boundaries?
"Doesn't matter?" Dazai's voice was still light, as though they were talking about the weather. "Chuuya-"
The redhead rounded on him. "It doeshent matter," he growled, his anger causing him to lisp around the fangs again.
Dazai's shoulders slumped a little. "And if I wanted it to matter?" he whispered, the words almost lost on the breeze.
Chuuya's face darkened. He ran his tongue down the edge of the fake fang again, feeling the tiniest of pricks as the edge dug into the muscle. "If you wanted it to," he said carefully, making sure to round his lips so he didn't lisp. "Then how about you start with an explanation."
Dazai's brow furrowed, and he hummed as he continued walking next to Chuuya through the hospital, trying to think at one the other could have meant. It dawned on him suddenly.
"Chuuya, that was just-" he protested immediately. "That was for Fyodor, not for you."
Chuuya gave him a look out of the corner of his eye, one that clearly didn't believe him.
Dazai let out an annoyed huff. "Chuuya, that was for him," Dazai insisted, waving his hand in the air as though to point out exact who he was talking about. "You were there - you were there and I saw you. You have a tell."
Chuuya stopped in the stairwell, causing Dazai to nearly trip. Chuuya had half a mind to push the younger man out of spite, but managed at the last second to hold it it.
"I have a tell?" he repeated, looking at his shoes.
Dazai's smile was blinding. "Everyone has a tell," Dazai explained, and Chuuya could tell he was making an effort not to sound condescending. "Even Ranpo, though don't tell him I said that. He'd change it and then I'd have to go through the process of learning it all over again, and that's not fun. He's too good at it."
Chuuya waited, his frown deepening. He loved this sorry asshole in front of him, but that didn't mean he wasn't an annoying dipshit as well.
"When you heard my voice in the chamber with the water, the hallway that-" Dazai continued, and he stopped mid-sentence, noticing pain in Chuuya's eyes. He switched tactics. "You immediately looked towards the security room. A mindless vampire couldn't do that."
Chuuya blinked owlishly at him. "That was your proof? I looked somewhere."
Dazai laughed, swinging his arm around Chuuya's shoulders as they continued their descent through the stairwell. "Well, it wasn't the only proof, but it was good enough for me." He paused, a finger on his chin. "Chuuya wouldn't be stupid enough to get turned into a vampire. And-"
Chuuya felt something within him bloom and break in equal measures. He was almost afraid to ask, almost afraid of where this conversation would lead.
Dazai's smile didn't hold a bit of his normal cunning nature when he pressed his body close against Chuuya's and whispered, "And Chuuya always finds me, right?" His breath was warm against Chuuya's cheek and the redhead felt himself flush. There was a weight to those words that settled on Chuuya's shoulders like a comforting blanket.
It was broken a second later when Dazai said, cheerfully, "And that's why you're the best sheepdog!"
Chuuya pushed him down the stairs after all.
"I'm not your fucking dog, shitty Dazai!" he yelled, his voice rebounding off the stairs, echoing.
Dazai lay crumpled at the bottom - which he was clearly faking. He'd only fallen seven stairs. Chuuya stepped over him and continued on.
Fine, so Dazai had known it was him. That didn't mean that he needed to deal with him. Especially not with his feelings having been revealed by Fyodor of all people.
He'd drop another helicopter on that rat when he got the chance.
"Mean," Dazai complained from the heap he was on the floor.
Chuuya raised an eyebrow at him, not even deigning to answer.
Dazai scrambled to his feet, draping himself over Chuuya again. He gave the redhead a wicked grin before kissing his cheek. "It matters," he explained.
Chuuya froze, still as a statue, one leg in the air as he had been mid-step.
"What?" he asked.
Dazai shook his head. "You always find me, slug."
Chuuya was facing Dazai, and he wasn't sure when the other had gotten in front of him. Though he hated that Dazai was standing on the step below him and Chuuya was still a few inches shorter.
The brunette leaned in again, kissing Chuuya. The redhead's eyes widened in disbelief.
Dazai drew back, his honey-amber eyes so close to Chuuya's, boring into him with a question that wasn't being voiced.
Chuuya grabbed Dazai's shirt, bundled in his fist, and pulled him closer. "If this is a joke," Chuuya growled. "I will end you. In the most painful way I can think of."
Dazai laughed. "Ah, Chuuya says the sweetest things."
Chuuya lunged in and kissed him again. It was awkward with the teeth and it took him a second before he realized he tasted just a tinge of copper on his tongue.
Dazai was chuckling as they stood in the same space, sharing the same breath, his lip bleeding. "Noted: my dog bites," Dazai grinned at him.
Chuuya pushed him down the stairs for a second time with a roll of his eyes.
He was getting rid of these teeth as soon as he could.