Chapter Text
The first time was literally that: the first time he’d ever witnessed an interaction between the mafia boss and his protege. Back when they were fifteen and he’d quite literally made a deal with the devil after agreeing to Mori’s proposition. Pfft. Proposition . More like blackmail. He didn’t know much about the brat who he’d met in Suribachi, but the first impression was enough; seeing him standing dutifully next to the greasy-looking leader’s side made him want to pummel the bastard all over again. It was what’s-his-face fault (...Dazai, was it?), anyway, that he was stuck in this chair in the first place. Needless to say, he wasn’t in any frame of mind to feel bad for the bandaged brunet, at all.
Using the Sheep was a low move, but as a street kid with no backup plan or power of his own, what choice did he have? Yeah, he was a gang leader-- didn’t mean he wasn’t flying half this shit by the seat of his pants. That being said, he wasn’t a fucking idiot: once he was “released” and Mori ordered him to wait outside the door, he’d nodded his head and marched along, but not without pressing his ear up against it ten seconds later.
Chuuya was listening only as a safety precaution. He had to be sure that the kids were really in danger, and that he wasn’t doing this for nothing; fuck if the mafia thought they could put one over on him that easily. He knew he was being manipulated, but that didn’t mean he was just going to blindly say “yes” and take it. So when he heard muffled voices and hushed tones, he really thought the idiots had done just that; had actually thought they’d fooled him and were now gloating over their victory. Joke’s on them, he thought. And then, errrrhhhh: w hat must have been a creaking chair snapped his focus back to the conversation. Mori, probably, in the process of standing up.
“You did well today.”
There was no response.
“I thought we already went over…” Chuuya listened closer, anticipating this sentence to be the great reveal. “... respect to your elders.”
Eh, no.
The voice speaking now, he guessed, belonged to that annoying Dazai kid. “... going to replace me.”
Shushing, cooing.
“...could never replace you.”
The hell was this, a love confession? He was pretty sure it was only the boss and Dazai in there… but um, okay. Gross. Then again, it was the fucking mafia. Maybe that was just how things worked. Wasn’t it like, “family is everything” or some shit in organized crime? He shrugged, cupping his ear again and leaning against the wood frame.
“... value me for my intelligence.” Dazai, it sounded like.
A laugh. “Not just that.”
A thud sounded from the other side-- he couldn’t tell what it was from or if it was a person or an object. It was loud enough, at least, to be heard from outside without needing to have the side of your head pressed to the wall. He was even worried for a second, that someone might run up the stairs and check that nobody had been murdered, because hell if he knew: that was probably a daily occurrence around here.
He stood like that for another three minutes or so, but he didn’t hear Dazai’s voice again. He heard Mori’s, a couple times. Something that sounded like praise, and something that sounded like criticism. All of it was laced with a sort of lilting derisiveness. And a lot of wet noises.
Wait. Were they seriously making out in there? What the fuck?
Well, that settled things. He was doing his job and leaving. The mafia was even more batshit-crazy than the Sheep, and he certainly didn’t plan on sticking around if all the kids around here were kissing and making love with the old guys.
And fuck Dazai.
They were, what, like the same age, weren’t they? Didn’t the bastard have standards ?
Pfft . He almost laughed out loud, before remembering he was supposed to be waiting patiently, unsuspiciously, outside the door and not listening to a confidential conversation. Because, yeah, no, he didn’t-- Chuuya could’ve told himself that after the very first conversation in Suribachi City.
Hmph, he thought. It didn’t help knowing he’d be working with the idiot for the foreseeable future, but on the bright side... If Dazai swung that way and he was already fooling around with Mori, then he could at least count on the fact that he wouldn’t try anything with him. Thank fuck.