3"Oi, Akutagawa, have you seen Dazai?" Chuya flagged Akutagawa down from across the hallway with a wave of his hand.
"No, not since yesterday." 15-year-old Akutagawa frowned, crossing his arms. "Where is he supposed to be?"
"Well, right now he's supposed to be..." Chuya pulled out his phone and glanced at a schedule he had written down, "Taking care of administrative work. That slacker has put it off for days already."
Before Akutagawa could respond, a lower ranking member came up, with a nervous expression on his face. "Nakahara-san? We...we found him."
Chuya nodded in response, and commanded, "Show me."
"Dazai-san, get away from there." Akutagawa took a step forward, keeping an eye on his superior.
"Ah, Akutagawa-Kun. I didn't think you would come." Dazai turned to his subordinate, no emotion showing on his face.
The two were on the roof of the main Mafia building, Dazai currently standing very close to the edge.
"Dazai-san, get away from there." Akutagawa repeated monotonously, taking another step.
"Why should I?" Dazai's tone was light, but his eyes were challenging, almost daring Akutagawa to make him listen.
"Because as my superior, you have a duty to stay alive and make sure I'm trained." Akutagawa responded, taking the unspoken dare.
"Oh please," Dazai laughed, taking a backwards step closer to the edge, "I have no such obligation. Anyone else can easily take that over."
"Then you have a duty to the boss as an executive of the Port Mafia." The younger teen slowly moved forward once again, wary about how close Dazai was getting to the edge.
"Spots can be filled." Dazai waved his hand dismissively, taking a glance over his shoulder. There wasn't much distance left.
"No, not yours." Akutagawa shifted uneasily on his feet, watching for any sign that Dazai could be preparing to take a final step back.
A breeze began to blow, and Dazai closed his eyes. "Ah, don't you feel that, Akutagawa-kun? this is what I long for." With that, Dazai leaned backwards, an oddly melancholy expression crossing his face.
"Dazai-san!" Akutagawa lurched forward desperately, reaching out towards the brunette executive.
Then, in an instant, there was a flash of red, and a high-pitched scream. Dazai opened his eyes in shock, only to be slammed into, forced roughly onto the ground in a tumbling mess of arms and legs.
"Oi! Don't you ever make me do something that dangerous again, Dazai!" From amidst the two-man pileup, the scowling face of Nakahara Chuya could be seen, as he pushed away forcefully from his partner.
"Chuya..." Dazai sighed, putting a hand against the side of his head, which was throbbing painfully from where it had struck the ground.
"Save it." Chuya pulled on Dazai's shoulder, forcing him to sit upright. "If you don't get down to your office right now, I will personally drag you down there, tie you to your chair, and make you do your work!"
"But Chuya..."
"No buts! And you are never, and I do mean never, pulling a stunt like this again!"
Dazai grinned, a sly, conniving sort of grin. "And if I say no?"
"Then I will make sure you are shadowed so you won't have the chance to even try!" Chuya huffed in frustration, crossing his arms over his small frame.
"Oh come now, Chuya, that's a bit much!"
Akutagawa watched the two fight, until finally Chuya threw his hands in the air and yelled, "Ah, do whatever you want! See if I care, ya dumb macarel!" He stomped away, muttering under his breath.
"Such a spoilsport, Chuya!" Dazai called after Chuya's retreating form.
"Dazai-san, please, stop doing this."Akutagawa frowned, while his mentor sprang to his feet as if he had not just been knocked over harshly.
"Nope! Not until I'm-"
"I know, I know." Akutagawa cut off Dazai's sentence, "You dont have to say it."
"Good. I hate repeating things needlessly." Dazai's former facade of cheerfulness faded, and there was a dark glint in his eyes.
"Yet you say it nearly every day." Akutagawa pointed out, ignoring the shift in his superior's demeanor.
"Well, yes, but that is because I want to!" Just like that, Dazai was once again his bright, sociable persona. "There is a differnce you know."
"I know." Akutagawa spoke bluntly, turning to go down the stairway into the building. Thinking better of it, he glanced over his shoulder, and to his dismay, Dazai was already staring longingly towards the edge.
"Don't even think about it..."
