Chapter Text
Chuuya remembered when they were 15 years old. Sometimes Dazai would seek him out when he had lessons with the tutors hired by Kouyou. The brunette would yap about how Chuuya was now his dog and made up the stupidest excuse for Chuuya to follow him. Chuuya would always scream at him to go away, but he gave in every time, letting Dazai lead him away to all kinds of mischievous adventures.
“This is stupid,” Chuuya said as he followed Dazai to a rocky beach.
Dazai closed his favorite ‘Complete Suicide Manual’ and said, “But you were the one who didn’t want to have another game match. Therefore, we can only settle this bet in a different way.”
“Fuck you! You were the one who cheated!” Chuuya pointed his index finger at him.
“So many accusations yet so little evidence.” Dazai jumped over a big rock.
“I caught you red-handed?!”
“Sure, you were~ Here is the new game, whoever finds the most beautiful seashell would be the leader in the next mission, and the loser would follow their plan.”
“How do you know that we’re going to have a mission together? I even dare to say that you must already have some shitty plans to embarrass me.”
Dazai faked a gasp, “I would never… It’s just that we need someone tiny enough to fit the princess dress to lure the serial kidnapper out.”
“You bastard! I’m still growing!" Chuuya tried to kick him, but the brunette dodged.
Both teenagers chased around in circles for a good half an hour before starting the game. Chuuya went through like tons of sand and rocks while Dazai strolled carefreely and stood in tall places, telling Chuuya which positions were good for suicide.
“Aha! I found the one! Mackerel, are you done yet?” Chuuya proudly held his seashell. A beautiful abalone shell, an ear-like shape shell with a normal, ugly brown shell on the outside and an inner shell that looks like a rainbow gemstone. The inner shell was covered in a pearl layer, which changed color depending on the light angle.
“Took you long enough.” Dazai walked to him.
“And you didn’t even try. All you did was sit around and be a nuisance.” Chuuya pointed out, “But that means, I’ll win this round easily.”
“Don’t be overconfident, Chibi. Here is mine.” Dazai held out a seashell. It was a shell with the shape of a fan; its color was stunning with blue, purple, and orange. In fact, the shell was painted in a way to mimic the perfect sunset image.
It was a gorgeous shell, but…
“It’s fake,” Chuuya said as he touched the smooth texture of the glass object. “Are you messing with me?” He gazed at the brunette.
“Nope, I’ve never said that the seashell has to be natural,” Dazai smirked and showed his punchable face.
“Fuck you! Mine is still better anyway.”
“Is it? I mean, it looks nice from a certain angle, but half of it is still ugly.” Dazai flipped the redhead’s seashell to its brown side.
“So what? It’s still a beautiful shell and a more durable one, too. Unlike your glass fake ass shell.”
“My glass shell is flawless from both sides, and it comes in any color or shape that I want. Therefore, it’s better.”
Chuuya rolled his eyes, annoyingly, and grabbed the shell out of Dazai’s hand. He then threw it straight into the faraway shore using his ability. A small shattering sound was drowned under the sound of the ocean waves.
“... You owe me now. That thing cost 1000 yen in the souvenir shop.”
“Your beauty standard comes from a Chinese factory and is sold in a tourist trap store. You here argue with me about what is beautiful or not.” Chuuya folded his arms. “This whole contest is stupid from the beginning, you know that, don't you?”
“Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. So yeah, there is no point in comparing which one is better.” Dazai said and pulled out another fake shell from his pocket. This one had a different color pattern that was similar to the blue ocean wave. He handed it over to Chuuya and took the other’s shell for himself.
“I give you my beautiful shell in exchange for your ugly, smelly one. Ain’t I a wonderful owner?”
Chuuya wanted to yell that he didn’t want anything of his, but decided to pocket the glass shell. *Tck* “I still think mine is way better.”
“Uh huh.” Dazai sat down on a big rock and watched the sea.
“What is the point of the contest anyway?” Chuuya also sat down next to him.
“... Nothing, but it’s better than sitting and tolerating a bald guy that disrespects you.”
Chuuya blinked, one of his current tutors was a nasty guy with a fragile ego and liked to make nasty comments on his educational background. He didn’t want to report him to Kouyou because that would make it seem that he couldn’t deal with such a small problem himself. Until now, thanks to Dazai’s attempts to drag him out, Chuuya didn’t really have to spend time with the guy that much.
“I can deal with him myself.” Chuuya looked away from the brunette.
“But why would I let my dog deal with those worms by himself? What would it say about me as the owner?”
“Hah! Who’s your dog? Bastard!”
Dazai laughed at his reactions, a rare and small smile unlike his usual ones. The colors of the setting sun lit on the boy’s soft brown eyes and his chocolate hair. Chuuya’s heart suddenly skipped a beat and he quickly turned his head.
“Want to go and terrorize that tutor so that he would quit himself?” Dazai asked and didn't pay attention to Chuuya’s attitude.
“... Sure.”
Their relationship wasn’t the best, and the mafia situation wasn’t exactly ideal. But Chuuya managed to find a bit of comfort in this strange boy.
…
Then things started to change.
…
So abruptly
…
It was as if someone flipped a switch of the world.
…
Something changed in Dazai’s behavior after his 16th birthday. Chuuya couldn’t really describe it but the guy started saying strange things out of nowhere.
“Nee Chuuya! Which one should I choose? A tiger or a rabid dog?”
“Chibi~ Can you win against an American and a Russian? No wait, I'll phrase it better… Can you win against capitalism and communism?”
“... You would understand, right? Chuuya?”
“Understand what?” The redhead asked.
Dazai didn’t answer, he never did.
At first, Chuuya brushed it off. That guy was always saying weird stuff, and the redhead himself hadn’t had a great year with everything that had happened with the Flags and Verlaine.
Then one day, Dazai locked himself in his rusty container for a week straight, so Chuuya had to go and check on him.
“Oi Mackerel! Are you still alive?” Chuuya kicked out a trash bag at the entrance. There were papers scattered on the floor and messy handwriting on the walls. The writing was written in code that probably included 20 different alphabets and it covered the entire walls and floor. The inside of the container could only be compared with the room of a patient in a mental asylum.
“Chuuya… It hurts.” A voice came from the lump of blanket on the bed.
“What? Did you hurt yourself again?” Chuuya moved toward the blanket cocoon and dragged Dazai out.
“My head... It’s too much.”
“What is too much?” Chuuya asked as he checked Dazai’s wrist and neck. There was no blood on his bandage, so he moved on to the head. No visual injury either.
The redhead asked, “Are you sick, mackerel? Or did you drink some weird med again?”
Dazai didn’t answer but instead pulled Chuuya down to lie next to him. “It hurts so bad, Chibi… I don’t want to go through that feeling.” The brunette muttered incoherent phrases.
“... Dazai, if you don’t tell me, I don’t know how to help you.” Chuuya sighed.
“That feeling… was worse than death. So much pain. I hate it.”
Chuuya waited for him to continue. Dazai seemed to be in some dream state as he was remembering something horrible.
“That feeling of losing someone…”
“Did something happen?”
“No… not yet, maybe never.”
The red-haired started to get frustrated, he wasn’t a patient person and hadn’t been taught what to do in this situation. Chuuya knew that Dazai had never shown even a wrinkle when his subordinates died but here he whined because of some hallucination, some dream. How ridiculous!
Chuuya pushed himself up and stood up, but the look on Dazai’s face stopped him from storming out. Broken, overwhelmed, and an unknown fear painted on his face. The red-haired sighed again and adjusted Dazai into a more comfortable position.
“Take a nap, mackerel. You look like shit.” Dazai looked like he hadn’t slept or showered for days. He probably didn’t.
After the brunette closed his eyes, Chuuya stood up and started to clean up the room. After separating the trash and the stuff that looked important, Chuuya went out to get some food that was not canned crab.
“Dazai, I bought seafood porridge,” Chuuya said when he got back.
The floor was messy once again. Dazai had woken up and was desperately scribbling something in a notebook. All the papers Chuuya had gathered once again ended up on the floor, and he was about to yell at him to go back to bed.
“Chuuya, get me an empty barrel.” Dazai suddenly ordered.
That wouldn’t be a hard thing to do, Dazai’s container was surrounded by abandoned shipping merchandise. Still skeptical, Chuuya followed the order and brought an old rusty barrel to the entrance of the container.
Dazai didn’t explain anything and proceeded to put all the paper he had written into the barrel before turning on his lighter and throwing it in. The fire quickly consumed all the paper. Chuuya thought that was it, but Dazai pulled out the book with a red cover and threw it in, too.
“Huh?! Isn’t that your shitty suicide manual that you always read? Why did you throw it in?!” Chuuya nearly shouted.
“I don’t need it anymore,” Dazai responded coldly with no emotion. The fire reflected in his eyes couldn’t outshine the void, the emptiness.
Chuuya stared at him in confusion and didn't know what to say. So he didn’t.
Maybe he should have.
Many years later, Chuuya still wondered if that was the day that the boy he loved died.
And emerged from his corpse was a stranger, an inhuman machine.
Or maybe that the boy had never existed in the first place.
-
In the highest room in Yokohama, Chuuya stood by Dazai’s side. For nearly four years, the Gravity Manipulator played as an overqualified bodyguard, and Chuuya hated every minute of it.
“My decision is final. Don’t overstep again, Chuuya.” His ‘Boss’ spoke with a monotone voice.
The redhead gritted his teeth. Anger boiled in his veins.
“FINE! HAVE IT YOUR WAY!!” He shouted, stormed out of the office with his back turned to the Boss.
How many times had their conversation ended this way? Since the day that Dazai put on the bloody scarf, their relationship had become worse and worse. The brunette controlled everything to an obsessive degree and used everyone like chess pieces to achieve an unknown purpose that hid from even his most loyal executive.
Chuuya hated it, and moreover, he hated that bastard.
“Chuuya, are you having another fight with the boss?” A soft voice called him. Kouyou was standing in the lobby of the building. The interaction between the Boss and the strongest executive was well-known among the other employees and mafioso members, who right now were actively avoiding the angry ability user. At this point, Kouyou was the only one who dared to approach, well, her and a certain blonde French.
“How about joining for a cup of tea? To cool you down.” His old mentor suggested.
Chuuya was about to refuse, but then thought that he hadn’t had a tea session with Kouyou for years because he always rushed back to stay by Dazai’s side.
“... Yeah, I’d love to.” The shorter ginger sighed.
Kouyou’s eyes widened a bit; hadn’t thought that he would agree. She then smiled at him and led him to her office. The room was decorated in traditional Japanese style; instead of a leather couch, there was a low table and floor cushions.
“How have you been?” Kouyou asked as she arranged her ceremony teapot.
“It’s not like you couldn’t guess, ane-san.” Chuuya didn’t mean to be rude, but he couldn’t help it. He hadn’t bothered to hide his distaste with Dazai since the beginning. And judging by the fact that he spent almost every day next to him, there weren’t many things that he could be mad at.
“... It would always come down to him, huh?” Kouyou poured him a cup of hot tea.
“You kids used to be so close.” She sighed as if she remembered a distant time.
“We’re never close.” Chuuya snarked, "And if we did, that bastard had gone and turned himself into an insufferable bitch that nobody could stand.”
Kouyou blew her tea, “Is that what happened? He changed?”
Chuuya stared at his cup of tea, a stream coming out and blocking a bit of his vision. He thought to himself, had Dazai changed? Of course. Changing was a part of human nature, but when it came to Dazai, it had happened in the most unnatural way. Liked flipping a switch; gone was his weird, suicide obsessed partner who liked to bicker with him, and only the Black Wraith remained.
“I really hate it,” Chuuya mumbled.
“If it makes you feel better, I think you have changed, too, Chuuya.”
Yeah, Chuuya himself had changed into a more angry, bitter version of himself. He snapped at the smallest things, became more reckless, and no longer cared much about his subordinates. Nowadays, he kept asking himself, was it still worth it to stay in the Port Mafia. The way Dazai distanced himself from him drove Chuuya crazy, and in return, the redhead also pushed the other and everyone else away.
“Maybe this is how things should happen,” Chuuya said. His head lowered as he accepted this hellish lifestyle. “He and I are gonna be in this circle of hate and tolerance until one of us gets killed.”
“Oh sweetie, it doesn’t have to be.” Kouyou said with a hint of sadness, “Maybe you weren't the same person back then, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t learn to accept the new versions.”
“What to like about this version of him?”
“I don’t know, you tell me. You wouldn’t stay if you actually hated him.”
‘I stay because I’m a fool. I stay for the memory of someone who no longer exists.’ Chuuya wanted to answer like that but then he remembered the image of Dazai standing alone in the dark room. The brunette looked small and fragile despite being the most fearsome person in Yokohama.
“... I just don’t want to leave him alone.”
Kouyou smiled sadly at him.
“Thanks for the tea, ane-san… and the conversation. But I have to go back to Dazai before another assassination attempt happens.”
“It’s alright. But I wish we could have had this talk before it was too late.”
“What do you mean? We’re talking right now.” Chuuya frowned.
“Oh Chuuya…” Kouyou looked at him with pity.
“This conversation has never happened.” She said, and the world started to distort.
“What?” Chuuya felt himself sinking to the ground. The gravity that he could always control slipped off his fingers,and he fell into darkness.
…
Chuuya dropped down on their bed. The red light disappeared from their body, they must have accidentally activated their Quirk while sleeping.
“Ane-san?!!” Chuuya yelled as they awoke from the dream. Cold sweat covered their back, and their body was still shaking slightly.
It took them a couple of minutes to realize that the whole thing was just a dream. A blending of old memories and imagination. The impression of the dream had started to fade, but Chuuya knew that the conversation with Kouyou had never happened. In the years after Dazai had become the Boss, Chuuya rarely had time to speak with his pseudo-sister because he had basically stuck himself to Dazai’s side.
The redhead wiped their face with both hands, hoping this movement would wake up their brain. The warm body that was next to them the previous night was long gone. On the nightstand, there was a carton of milk and a sandwich from a convenience store. Underneath them was a note. Chuuya lifted the breakfast and read what was written on the paper.
My mom caught some wind about the hostage situation =(( Dad’s suck at lying!! She called and told me to go home immediately and that she wanted to keep an eye on me for at least one day.
Poor Chu-chu will have to spend your Sunday without your beloved master. But I would make up for you later. How about a new collar with pink ruffles ( ˶˘ ³˘)♥︎ Ah~ it will go so well with a maid outfit. It’s a joke, please don’t try to kill me next time we meet.
Ps: I got you a sandwich and some milk. Chibi needs every help so they don't end up like a mushroom in this life.
Chuuya crumpled up the paper with one hand and held it on the floor. The sweat sticking on their face felt disgusting. They walked to the bathroom while peeling off the pajamas and threw them on the floor. It would be a pain to pick up later, but who cared?
The showerhead was turned on, and Chuuya felt the cold water wash away the ache in their souls. The memory of the old lifetime slowly faded in their mind like a dream. The people, the responsibility that they left behind, lingered in the mind like smoke from cigarettes.
Chuuya shook their head from the bittersweet memories and walked out of the shower. They stopped at the sink to wash their face. Water dripped down pale skin, and Chuuya observed the image in the mirror. The difference wasn’t noticeable before they hit puberty, and even back when Chuuya had a male body, they also had feminine features, so they hadn’t noticed the changes. Now Chuuya’s face was becoming a bit less angled, and the shape of their figure had more curves and was softer. It wasn’t a bad thing, Chuuya didn’t see themselves to care about the form of their body as long as they could wear whatever they wanted, could fight, and could be with whoever they wanted.
However, sometimes they wondered if they had changed so much, then what about the old ‘Chuuya’. Should ‘he’ be buried, should they move on from the old self, what about his love for that person?
“Maybe you weren't the same person back then but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t learn to accept the new versions.”
Nakahara Chuuya had changed, and Dazai Osamu had changed. And they both would continue to change every day since the moment they stepped into this world.
Yet that love stayed.
Chuuya wanted to pity themselves; anyone who met Dazai more than once would run away if they knew what was best for them. However, Chuuya was an idiot even after 7 years in old life and another 7 years plus counting in this new life.
The ginger walked out of the bathroom and opened the drawer containing Dazai’s clothes. They pulled out an old blue sweater and put it on. The soft fabric and the certain smell of detergent embraced their skin as they went back to bed.
“Today is Sunday anyway,” Chuuya mumbled as their head hit the pillow, giving themselves an excuse to be lazy. Too lazy to question these emotions, too tired to grieve the old ghosts.
Sunday 09:45 am
Me: Oh Slug!!
Have you eaten breakfast yet? I promise that I didn’t put anything weird
Maybe… Just kidding~
Eat your meal on time, don’t skip, it will hurt your stomach.
Dazai was staring at his phone like it had offended him. An intern, who worked directly under his mom in the news station, noticed this and asked him.
“Is something wrong, kid? Do you need me to call Higashi-san?”
“My dog is still not texting me, such a lazy little thing.”
“Your dog… texts?”
“I mean they ain’t the smartest thing but they should at least know to inform their master.” Dazai complained and showed the intern a photo of Chuuya devouring a hamburger. In the photo, the redhead’s cheeks puffed up like a hamster, cute and a bit messy.
“I don’t think you should call your girlfriend that.”
“Huh huh???? Who would want to date a Chibi?!” Dazai flustered.
The intern looked at the number of the photo, 252 out of 2,331. On the corner was the album’s name: My Puppy❤️ #13.
“... Right,” The intern then got back to work.
Tired of waiting, Dazai grabbed an old printed newspaper and read to kill time until his mom released him from this unreasonable grounding. Most of the articles revolved around Pro Heroes, as it was the easiest to sell. He flipped through those and was reading some advertisement about a pyramid scheme when Masa told both him and the intern to go with her.
“Come on! We got a front page to write. Osamu, you’re going too.” Rushing down the building, Masa opened the taxi’s door and told them to hurry up. The intern was struggling not to drop his camera while running, and Dazai skipped carefreely after his mom.
“The head chief received a messenger yesterday from an American Hero Agency. They paid a large sum of money for us to write about him and had him on the front page.” Masa explained from the front seat of the taxi, while Dazai and the intern occupied the back.
“The Hero is going to have his Japanese debut in Naruhata today. There is also a video crew ,but they will arrive later.” She continued while arranging the items in her bag. “Osamu, can you arrange the note for me while I’m putting on the mic and body camera?”
Dazai received the bag and asked, “Why Naruhata, Mom? Isn’t it that people usually go for better-paying districts?”
“Usually yes. But this guy’s situation is kinda special. I don’t think he needs the money, more of… good publicity.”
The brunette boy raised his brow and read one of the notes. There was a printed Google result page of the Hero and the list of news related to him.
Found 12,213 results about Captain Celebrity
Captain Celebrity and Alex.S supermodel, were photographed in front of a hotel.
His thirteen scandals involving women. All in the span of six months.
Captain “Catastrophe” Celebrity is being sued by his wife.
His estranged wife, who is seeking reparations for infidelity, refused to grant an interview. But our trusted source believed that she is preparing for a divorce.
Captain Celebrity saved an entire cruise ship in New York Harbor.
The cruise ship has over 5.000 passengers. This achievement brought him up to the top 10 in Hero Ranking.
A woman said Captain Celebrity groped her when he rescued her.
The woman named is —, she has filed a lawsuit against the Top Hero.
“The Soaring Stallion” of New York City - Captain Celebrity, where is he?
After a year filled with scandals and lawsuits, it seems that the former Top Hero has decided to lay low. However, there has been no activity from him since early April, which made the public wonder what his next move would be.
Dazai whistled, “What a record. So this guy decided to come to another country to escape the paparazzi and hoped that things would die down back home when he got back. Additionally, Naruhata is the perfect place to gain good publicity. Without any Hero Agency, there will be barely any competition in popularity in the area.”
His mom pushed up her glasses and nodded proudly, “You understand it well, son. I know that our usual political discussions will come in handy. But we wouldn’t dig into the scandals or his past behaviors; the job today is to write about the debut and how it would improve the relationship between the two countries. Therefore, we need to paint this Captain Celerity in a good light.”
“Lying for the greater good, of course it is,” Dazai muttered as he finished arranging the notes.
They arrived at a famous walking street in Naruhata. The plan was to meet the Hero and have an interview with him while he was on patrol, but Masa received a phone call right after they were dropped off by the taxi.
The female journalist clicked her tongue and told them, “The video crew is having some trouble, so I have to check on them. Osamu, stay here with… um.”
“My name i-” The intern’s words got cut off by a ping.
Masa checked her phone again and became more annoyed, “Sure, whatever, just watch my son until I get back. Got it.” The woman then ran off in another direction, leaving the intern alone with Dazai.
“Guess it's just you and me, kid.” The intern adjusted the camera strap on his neck for one second and turned to the teenager standing next to him.
Nothing.
The boy was gone.
“...” The intern blinked a couple of times, praying that the next time he opened his eyes, the boy would stand there. This method obviously didn’t work, so it was time to move on to the next step.
Panic.
The intern felt that his life force slowly dripped out of him as he ran around the crowd trying to find his boss’s kid.
Even from a distance, Dazai could see somebody with a flying Quirk floating at a corner of the street. The guy wore a tight blue suit and had blond hair, matching perfectly with the description of an American Hero. Dazai wanted to say that he felt bad for leaving the intern alone but it would be a lie.
Dazai swung a name tag and approached the man.
Captain Celebrity had stopped a motorbike that was running recklessly and was currently chatting with someone on the pavement, a very familiar person wearing an All Might hoodie.
Holding a motorbike and the illegal racer, the Hero told the Crawler.
“Trying to stop a speeder? Ha ha ha, quite a brave boy, aren’t you? But you ought to let the Pros handle the dangerous stuff!” The Hero flashed his arrogant smile.
“Ah. Right, sorry, and thank you… Who are you, though?” The Crawler smiled awkwardly and asked him.
“Eh? What? You don’t know who I am? Inconceivable!” Captain Celebrity dropped the motorbike and the rider carelessly on the side before making a dramatic pose.
“I’m the United States’ Top-Ranked Hero. Captain Celebrity!” The Hero then took out a marker and signed on Koichi’s All Might hoodie without his permission.
“Here’s my autograph. Feel free to brag about it on social media!”
Koichi couldn’t stop him in time, “Hey! This is my exclusive All Might hoodie.”
“Oh, give it a rest. My signature is far more valuable. And really? All Might? He’s got no style. The way I see it, he’s nothing more than muscle brained oaf.”
“Is this a pot and kettle situation?” A dark-haired boy asked as he walked to them. Making eye contact with the Crawler, Dazai made a zipping-the-mouth motion to signal Koichi not to expose him. The young Vigilante didn’t understand but he knew better than to question the kid's weird tactics.
“Ah, are you here for an autograph too, boy? Let’s hurry up, I have more important stuff to do.” The Hero didn’t understand the mocking and was busy checking his smile in a nearby window.
“Actually, I’m from the news station.” Dazai smiled and held the name tag that he had stolen from the intern.
“News station? I always have time for the news, but there is only one of you? And you seem quite young too.” The Hero observed him.
“I’m just an intern, Mr. Captain. In Japan, it’s normal to start at this age. The rest of the crew is still preparing, so they asked me to ask you a few things first.” Dazai smiled sweetly at the Hero.
The reason he approached the Hero, besides curiosity, was that he needed to know if this Hero would become an obstacle to the Trigger investigation. In this race of tracking down the dealers, the local law enforcement and Pro Heroes presented as a problem to him with the fact that they could start to go after the Vigilante activities at any time. Until now, they were still too passive and didn’t have enough people to care about the Vigilantes, but that could change if there was another local Hero in their force. Dazai had to make sure whether this man would become a threat to the investigation and get rid of him first in that case.
“Go ahead, kid. If you want to document, make sure to capture my good angle.”
Dazai faked using his phone to record, “Alright, the first question, how will you cooperate with the local police force to stop the Villains? And will your agency participate in criminal cases’ investigations in Japan?”
“Well, we will have to inform the local government first to stop the Villains, but investigate? Why would I do something like that? Those are the jobs for the background characters. My job is to fight in the spotlight, why would I spend time doing something that my awesomeness can’t be recorded?”
So this guy was a narcissist who only cared about his fame. Should have guessed it from the name, but that meant that this idiot would not get in their way. The police wouldn’t ask a foreigner to participate in a local case unless the Hero actively asked to join.
After a couple of fake questions, Dazai let the guy go and pointed him to the meeting spot of the interview, where the camera crew was waiting.
“I can’t stand that guy,” Koichi said to him after the Hero flew away.
Dazai had to agree. This guy was a combination of everything that he hated about the Hero System. “But you like All Might, aren’t those two the same?” The brunette couldn’t help but point out.
“What? All Might is nothing like him! He is humble, kind, and always puts people’s lives first.” Koichi defended his idol.
“Is he actually that much different?” Dazai said and gazed over a billboard advertising a snack featuring All Might’s image on the package. Everywhere, you could easily find products advertised by the Pro Heroes; you couldn’t help but wonder what their actual jobs were.
“Um… well, All Might helped reduce the Japanese crime rate to below 6%.”
“Sure, that’s an impressive achievement. But it is only the flashy surface crimes; we never actually knew what is happening in the underground. Also, until like 40 years ago, the numbers of normal people and Quirk Users were around 50/50, and the intensity was at its peak. The violence between both groups only slowly dropped over the years because it was obvious that Quirkless was going to be outnumbered soon, so they had no choice but to give up on those ‘pure human’ campaigns.”
Koichi responded with a dumbfounded face as he tried to process the information. Many things that Dazai just said weren't really taught in school. There were a few chapters about the Dark Age after Quirks was introduced to society and the world fell into chaos, but much information wasn’t explained properly.
The school’s history didn’t teach that when Quirks were rare, normal humans feared these new powers to the point that they committed so many horrible crimes. The gruesome past, filled with genocide, was covered up to avoid the future generation from turning it into an excuse for hate. Not like that would work much because humans always find a reason to hate others who are different from them.
Dazai sighed, “Forget it. Don’t think too much, you look stupid. Let’s go back to the All Might topic.”
“I just don’t think that Heroes should be treated like some sort of celebrity. That makes the definition of heroism become a cheap thing.” Dazai explained his reason.
Koichi thought for a bit before answering, “Even so, I’m still grateful to know about All Might’s good deeds. He inspired me a lot throughout the years, and he is the reason that I became the Crawler to help people.”
“You said that Heroism became a cheap thing, but it is because it is cheap that so many average people like me can afford to dream about it,” Koichi said with a smile. This simple guy probably didn’t think much when saying that, but Dazai still looked back at him a couple of times to make sure that it was Koichi who said such a deep thing.
“You surprise me sometimes,” Dazai commented.
“Eh? It’s a good thing or…”
“We will have to wait and see,” the young teen answered cryptically.
*THUD, THUD* The ground started shaking, and there was a loud noise of heavy objects falling repeatedly. Soon screams echoed from the main crowded walking street.
“What the..!!” Koichi almost froze on the spot when he landed his eyes on the giant monster.
There was a giant 15-meter-tall monster that looked like a fake copy of Godzilla marching through the busy street. Its mouth was open as it couldn’t control its drooling, a purple black tongue sticking out.
“Gigantic transformation Quirk, maybe?” Dazai said, “Chuuya would love to hit something that big without holding back, but in such a narrow space isn’t ideal.”
The boy glanced over Koichi, “We should flee. You can’t go against something this big.”
However, Koichi had already pulled up his mask and hood. “You go ahead. I will help to evacuate the civilians.” Then he slid away into the chaotic crowd.
Dazai was going to offer to use his Nullification, but then there was another easy option without showing his power in public.
“Yo, Mr. Captain! Shouldn’t you do something?” Dazai shouted at the man who returned to check on the street.
“Hmph. Sorry, but can we put a pin in that for now?” The American Hero said. “I just came back from the media team; they haven’t set up yet, and my staff is still preparing.”
“Besides, the police haven’t put in a formal request yet, so I’m not obligated to start working.” The Hero said while floating without any worry as the screams continued.
“Is that so?” Dazai’s face darkened. He raised his phone and pressed the video button, “Hello, everyone! Welcome to my live stream, I’m here with an American Hero today! Yes, straight from the States, Captain Celebrity!! Say hi, Mr. Captain! Eh? A person comments asking why he doesn’t do anything when a Villain is right there-”
The blonde Hero panickingly grabbed his phone and yelled into the mic, “HA HA HA! I-um I’m about to jump in and save the day, of course! C.C is on the job!!”
With that, the Hero flew away to deal with the Instant Villain. Dazai thought that he wouldn’t need to deal with this phony anymore for at least today but life was full of surprises.
“... Is that a truck with a DJ's stage?” Dazai frowned because the truck was heading to the Villain's attack. It stopped at a safe distance, though.
The music turned on, and those were the most stupid lyrics that he had ever listened to.
“C.C! He’s so cool!
C.C! He’s so cute!
C.C! He’s so complete!
C.C! C.C!
He’s Captain Celebrity!”
The music sounded like it was written by an elementary schooler and was sung with a thick Japanese accent. This was what the Hero was preparing for his debut? It was so bad that it was funny, but mainly it was pure cringe.
Dazai shook the horrible song out of his head when he got back to his mom. Luckily, the intern was too terrified to report that he had lost her son, so Dazai just needed to pretend that he had been staying with the guy the whole time. The poor guy was almost faint when he saw him.
Not far away from the attack, there was a temporary rescue station made by the support team of the American Hero. The team was handing out blankets, water, and checking injuries for the rescue victims. Despite having an irresponsible boss, the C.C staff was actually doing a pretty good job.
Captain Celebrity was carrying the last victim and landed in front of Dazai, “Hey, boy! I believe that this is your friend.” The Hero dropped Koichi, who looked quite rough, to the ground. After that, he dashed toward the media group that was waiting for him.
“I thought you only helped evacuate people? Did a building collapse on you?” Dazai asked as he handed out a blanket and a water bottle for the Vigilante.
“Close… I thought someone was trapped inside a building, but it turned out it was this little guy.” The Crawler pulled out a puppy under his hoodie. “I wouldn’t even manage to get out in time if it wasn’t for that Captain Celebrity.”
Dazai patted the puppy’s head, “Don’t beat yourself up. I know someone would appreciate this action of yours. They always want to rescue and adopt a puppy.”
“Masahiko!” A young girl, around 6 years old, ran up to them. The puppy jumped out of Koichi's holding and into the embrace of the girl.
“Thank you so much! Cruller man!” She waved happily at them as she returned to her mother.
A shadow looming toward them as Mr. Captain flew over to flash his punchable face, “Naturally, protecting pets is beneath the Hero’s pay rate. So saving that puppy gets to be your accomplishment. Not bad, you did it, boy!”
“Oh… Thanks.” Koichi scratched his head.
“By the way, I’ve got one little request for you. All that running around my feet, looking utterly uncool in that hoodie of yours? Cut it out. That ugly hoodie is gonna ruin the cool factor when it is shown on TV. You see, on-site broadcasts are a big part of my overall image. And~ with that, I’m out!” The Hero adjusted the sunglasses on his face and flew away.
“... Yup, I definitely can’t stand this guy,” Koichi said.
“You and I both.” Dazai tried to remember if he had ever met such an insufferable, ignorant idiot. Ace was close, but that guy was so afraid of him that he knew better than yapping in front of the boss.
*Ting* A message arrived. But it wasn’t Dazai’s phone.
The brunette pulled out the burner phone that Knuckle Duster had given them. There was a message from an unknown number.
+8X 800X XXXX: Two days, 23:30, address: OO street, South Naruhata.
Dazai smiled so widely that it creeped Koichi out.
“You received something funny?” He asked.
“Just an invitation for a party. There is going to be a fun challenge for Chuuya and me.” Dazai answered. The brunette stared into the distance, where the Godzilla Instant Villain was carrying away. A tiny bee landed on the rough surface and stabbed the needle into the thick skin.