A/N; It's important to know that this happened early in their partnership when Chuuya still wore his hair in a bun <3

Destruction lay heavy in the atmosphere as the rubble of what was once a large scale factory building settled to a pile of decimation.

Smoke lingered in the night sky, veiling the dull light of the stars and the full moon.

It was quiet, a stark comparison to the unhinged laughing and booming explosions that had once broken the peacefulness.

Dazai had expected such an outcome, he always did, but there was still a strange variable in their mission, one that Dazai couldn't quite solve at the moment with how disoriented he felt.

One of Chuuya's gravitations had come a bit too close for comfort, knocking Dazai off his feet and successfully earning him a concussion.

Dazai would make sure to give the redhead a hard time about it later, for now he moved each of his fingers and toes, regaining the feeling back into his limbs.

The annoying pins and needles sensation overcame him as he recalled the events.

After he had tackled Chuuya, nullifying his ability, everything went black.

Dazai coughed the debris from his lungs, swallowing down the bile that crawled up his throat when he forced his body to roll over and off of Chuuya.

He didn't want to get infected with sheepdog germs.

And if Dazai thought that he felt bad, then Chuuya looked like hell.

Crimson stained his ripped clothes and mingled with the red of his hair, dripping from his eyes, nose, and the corner of his chapped lips. From the rips in his clothing Dazai could already see the blooming bruises forming on his battered body.

Dazai nudged him slightly, scoffing when he got no response other than Chuuya's head falling to the side. He hesitated for a moment before pressing his fingers against Chuuya's pulse point.

It was faint, but present.

Stupid persistant dog.

Dazai watched as the remaining crimson tendrils of corruption subsided as he reached in his pocket for his burner phone. Chuuya needed medical evacuation and Dazai needed a day off.

Unfortunately, Dazai was met with the cracked phone, it uselessly fell to the rubble. Dazai sighed heavily, pressing the communication device on his ear that he rarely ever used unless he was spying on the other squads movements.

Strangely, he only received static.

Their signal was being blocked.

They were alone.

Dazai didn't hold back the whine in complaint as he looked around the completely uninhabited area. The factory had been in the woods area just outside of Yokohama, there would be no help out here unless they waited for a search party to come find them, and that wouldn't be until the morning.

It was too far to walk and Dazai's limbs felt like pudding, so waiting would be the best option. If Chuuya's condition remained stable, that is.

Before Dazai could further investigate his options, his ears caught the small sounds of the rubble shifting. His head spun as he narrowed his eyes, scanning the area to see three lumbering forms, silently approaching.

It looks like they had company.

"Idiot," Dazai hissed, tapping Chuuya's cheek.

No response.

Wonderful.

Dazai sighed, exasperated as he shed his overcoat and draped it over Chuuya's body in attempts to shield him.

The three forms grew closer, and that was when the puzzle pieces clicked in Dazai's hazy mind. He now knew why the mission seemed so off to begin with.

Whoever had planned this knew of Chuuya's destructive ability and knew the outcome of their missions and when they were the most weak.

It was a setup from the start. Someone had fed them false information in order to set up an ambush. If Dazai recalled correctly then it was a nearby lab that had given them information on this 'drug ring' with illegal concoctions being sold.

The only reason the Port Mafia had taken action was because it was in their territory, but now Dazai realized that this was a way for the lab to ambush them.

Before his mind could conjure up possibilities on just why, the three men grew dangerously close, seemingly spotting them.

Dazai staggered to his feet immediately reaching for his gun, he took a step forward but his legs immediately gave out from under him, black dots swam in his vision. Dazai never liked pain, that was why he made Chuuya deal with all of the dirty work, though now it looked like neither of them was going to get out unscathed.

If only he didn't have his concussion. Perhaps he would have been able to escape himself, but that was impossible if he couldn't even stand up.

The shadows approached, three men that looked about three times Dazai's size all in matching suits. Dazai fired off a warning shot near their feet, though it didn't phase them. It looks like he would just need to shoot them dead on the spot, what a shame.

Without hesitation Dazai fired off another shot that should have hit the middle man directly in the forehead, but instead it bounced right off, ricocheting off of his body and leaving a hole in the gravel next to Dazai.

An ability user?

Perhaps Dazai could occupy their attention until he could touch one of them.

Dazai's mouth felt as if it was stuffed with cotton as he moved his leadened tongue to attempt to form words.

Apparently his concussion had taken the function to speak clearly away from him. Dazai winced at the less than ideal situation as his vision swam, the feeling of vertigo returning, slamming against his body at full force this time.

Before he could recover from the sudden bout of weakness a dark chuckle came from the man standing in front of Dazai before a fist collided with the brunettes face.

Once again, everything went black.

——

The handcuffs digging into Dazai's wrist was the first thing he felt, but the fact that his hands weren't behind his back proved that the men who had taken him were overconfident.

A note that Dazai kept in mind.

His headache pulsed as he cracked open his eyes, the gray area blurred together. Once the lines sharpened he could deduce that he was in a cage of sorts.

The next thing he noticed was Chuuya's crumpled form next to him, unmoving. If he were conscious then he would no doubt be caught in a fit of rage and panic being locked in a cage like this one.

Dazai strained his ears for the distant sound of chatter. The room they were in was not uninhabited because he could faintly hear the low murmur of voices having a discussion. The bars of the cage covered most of Dazai's vision, though light shone through the cracks of the thick bars.

Dazai supposed that there was no way he could pick the lock to the cage with those men outside. He felt for his gun only to come up empty.

They had taken it from him.

Dazai shifted slightly to turn Chuuya's body over and pat him down, the strap around his thigh where his knife was usually kept was empty.

It seemed that the only way to truly get out of the situation was to wait for these men to get them out of the cage so he could check the surroundings and see what they were working with.

Dazai wasn't panicked, in fact, it had been a while since someone had actually managed to get their hands on him and Chuuya. Worthy adversaries, escaping the other kidnappers had been a piece of cake.

So Dazai leaned back against the bars, letting out a huff in annoyance. This was going to put a wrench in his nonexistent sleep schedule.

He didn't know what these men or the lab wanted, though he had a good guess.

And the boss surely wouldn't waste resources to aid them, he never had before.

Suddenly the voices grow closer and Dazai quickly scanned himself for any injuries. Other than the concussion he appeared as fine as a kidnapped person could be.

Well, better condition than Chuuya currently was.

"Grab them," one of the voices, an annoyingly deep baritone, sounded.

Dazai was careful not to make any visible facial expressions as the cages door was ripped open, light pouring into Dazai's vision.

And as he took a moment to peek past the trunk-like legs of the men in front of him, he could see that they were in fact in a lab.

Then one of them bent over and peered into the cage meant for relatively small animals, a crooked grin on his face.

So they were the type to take pleasure in their job? Those were the type in the profession that weren't treated as seriously, also meaning that they were more brutal with their tactics to prove a point...

"We got one awake, the scrawny one."

Dazai would protest that Chuuya was the scrawny one with his insultingly short height, but he didn't exactly get the chance to argue when a beefy hand reached into the prison and grabbed Dazai by the collar, forcefully wrenching him from his place.

Dazai didn't put up much of a fight as they dragged him out, masking the pain when his head hit the top of the cage on his way out.

The man dangled Dazai in the air in front of him, eyes scrutinizing him as Dazai just stared right back at him, unimpressed.

Dazai was ready to run his mouth, many insults on the tip of his tongue, but he never got to execute them because the other man interjected.

"Is this the one we're supposed to keep?"

Well that proved that they weren't the minds behind the operation, but Dazai figured as much.

"No," the other one shook his head, "it's the red headed kid."

Ah, so Chuuya was being targeted here. Something uneasy coiled in Dazai's gut, but he chalked that up to the concussion.

"...so what do we do with this one?" The one holding Dazai up asked.

The other two shared a momentary glance to contemplate before shrugging. "It'd be best to keep him alive, he may be a way to get the kid calm."

Dazai could now conclude that they were after Arahabaki's destructive power, and they wanted to keep Dazai to keep Chuuya in line.

And Dazai wouldn't keep him in line.

Though the sight of Chuuya's limbs being yanked like a marionette doll, the blood leaking from his skin as he laughed maniacally...

Dazai also would sit through that either.

The punch that landed on Dazai's face was more swift then it was powerful, sending him to the sterile floor.

His hands were cuffed in front of him as he rolled back over to look at the man sneering down on him.

The air had been knocked from his lungs, yet Dazai didn't make any noises or seemed phased.

Something these men were not used to.

The man's sneer grew, but it morphed to a satisfied smirk when he spat on the bandaged portion of Dazai's face.

"Bandaged freak."

Finally, Dazai allowed himself to grin in a smug manner. "My my don't make me blush~"

Another kick to his ribs.

Dazai spit out blood onto the white floors, dirtying it in a very satisfying way.

He would need to wait for the time to take action, but now he would take the blows with grace like it was a much deserved punishment.

After a while the man pulled back, a disgusted look on his face "he ain't gonna give us anything. No fun."

Well yes, Dazai didn't exactly plan to give his captors the satisfaction of seeing him in pain.

Though he would rather receive another gut punch then when one of the men knelt down in front of the cage (which was smaller than Dazai had thought it would be) and reached in to grab the back of Chuuya's collar and lift him like some kind of baby animal.

Dazai would make fun of him later.

Chuuya's head lolled to the side as blood dripped from his fingertips and onto the floor, creating a rhythmic splattering noise as the men studied him.

"This one looks pretty beat up," the man who had previously been beating the shit out of Dazai said.

How observant.

"That doesn't matter, the boss just said to keep an eye on him, never said he couldn't be roughened up."

Ah, so their boss was not in the facility. If Dazai had to make a guess about who it was, then it would probably be the very man they 'interviewed' who gave them the fake information.

"He looks awfully young," the other man chimed in, and Dazai instinctively stiffened when he bought a hand up to cup Chuuya's face, tilting it upwards to view.

And that's when Dazai spotted it.

The small yet subtle twitch In Chuuya's pointer finger.

Oh so it seemed that Chuuya wasn't completely incompetent  after all.

Dazai tapped a rhythm into the metallic floor, his nails made it loud enough to where if someone was straining their ears they would hear it.

'Play dead.'

Chuuya didn't react, remaining pliant even when the man brought a finger up to tug at the rubber band that held his hair in a bun, making his fiery locks fall past the nape of his neck.

Large fingers tangled with his hair, toying with it and then pulling it to keep his head up.

"And pretty," darkness swirled in the man's tone.

In Dazai's line of work creeps weren't uncommon, and no doubt Chuuya had to deal with scum like them when he was on the streets, though it would always make the pit of Dazai's stomach twist.

He didn't know much about attraction but there would always be something disgusting about adults preying on children, just as the boss did.

Dazai grew carefully impartial to it but didn't hide the ill intent in his gaze as the man watched the blood trail down Chuuya's face.

Disgusting.

But also the perfect opening.

None of the gazes were focused on Dazai, so he twisted, letting the cuffs around his wrist fall to the floor.

He didn't allow the other men to even react when he twirled the dagger around between his fingers before throwing it.

The projectile pierced through the air, slicing right through its intended target.

Chuuya's body fell to the floor, red locks of hair pooling to the floor.

The man, who had been holding him by the air, grunted in surprise as he stared at his fist of hair.

Then Chuuya sprung to life on the floor, swiftly sweeping the man's feet from under him and elbowing him directly in the face.

The satisfying cracking of bone filled the room.

It wasn't that hard of a task to take the other two, Chuuya had frantically searched the man's body for a gun then slid it over to Dazai.

Normally Dazai would complain about the extra work of having to take them down, but the skill user had been eliminated from the equation so sending a bullet to their skulls wasn't a perilous task.

The echoing of gunshot ricocheted off of the bland walls, possibly giving away their location.

Dazai tossed the gun and got to his feet, pain momentarily flared through his battered body but he didn't let it become a hindrance.

"Come along dog, do us a favor and decimate this place so we can leave no evidence."

Chuuya made a strangled noise from his place on the floor, tremors wracking through his body.

Dazai was surprised that he had even managed to wake up from his comatose state after corruption, though it seemed that the effects were still gripping him.

Dazai sighed exasperated, leaning down to roughly (tenderly) haul Chuuya up to his unsteady feet and fling his arm around his shoulder.

His nullification activated, making Chuuya's tense body relax.

"Don't make me do all of the work here," Dazai grumbled, hefting Chuuya up to get them out of the maze-like laboratory.

They abandoned Chuuya's locks on the floor.

(They would later be reduced to ash when the building was burnt to the ground in a fiery demise.)

——-

Chuuya hissed when the wet rag came in contact with his bruised body, wiping the blood away.

Dazai didn't apologize, continuing to dab at the skin on his face.

Chuuya didn't recall much of what occurred other than the disgusting touch of those foreign hands.

Dazai had explained the situation in a hushed voice once he had managed to lug Chuuya's mostly limp body to a nearby safe house.

Chuuya himself was surprised he had even managed to hold onto consciousness for so long, though he slipped in and out of it, eyes remaining half lidded.

It wasn't a completely uncommon thing for Dazai to wipe the grime from his body, as uncomfortable as it may have been it also felt nice.

Chuuya's hazed mind got to focus on the warm water on the rag instead of the sharp pulsing pain throughout his whole body.

"They took us to a lab, you know," Dazai murmured absentmindedly as he not so gently dabbed at the stubborn flaking patches of blood on Chuuya's shoulder, discarding the tattered remains of Chuuya's shirt on to floor.

Chuuya tried to get his vocal cords to work, but all he did was hum in response.

Then there was a tug at his hair, harsh but not as painful as the men's previous hold on him.

"Your pesky hair is out of the way now. You're welcome, by the way."

And well, he had a point. He never had an attachment to his hair, it had just been a part of him that was strange to part with, but he would live.

If it got out of the way of his missions then perhaps he could be of better use to the port mafia anyways.

Chuuya's body ached but he still managed to lift his arm to run his fingers through his hair. He didn't have a mirror but he could tell that the strands were uneven, and just the thought of it sent a shiver down his spine.

He always made it a point to keep his hair as well groomed as he could, just as he kept his admittedly fancy apartment as clean as possible.

A strange mechanism to... cope... that he had picked up after living on the streets where everything was dirty.

"Dazai," he rasped, bringing his hand back down "y..you were the one wh...who has to Finnish the job."

Dazai raised an eyebrow "you want me to cut your hair evenly?"

Chuuya didn't have the energy to nod.

And strange enough, Dazai didn't taunt him.

After Chuuya used corruption the two of them had always been zoned off into their own little bubble. It was the one time that they didn't question each other and they just... trusted.

Something that Dazai had never done with anyone else.

And Chuuya knew that Dazai was decent enough at cutting hair. No way he trusted anyone else but himself to allow scissors near his face, as far as Chuuya knew he cut his own hair.

"Fine," Dazai relented, wordlessly wrapping the bandages around Chuuya's torso, wounding them tight just to be a jerk about it.

It wasn't hard to find scissors in the medical supply kit. Dazai sat Chuuya up and made him face the back of the couch so he could reach the uneven ends without any trouble.

And strangely enough Chuuya didn't feel himself tense up under the sounds of the snipping, instead his body went lax.

The lighting of the safe house was dim, allowing Chuuya to fight off the corruption induced headache as his eyes fluttered shut.

"Did the Chibi fall asleep?" Dazai asked when Chuuya fell forward on the back of the couch. He finished off the haircut fairly easily before easing him back down onto the couch.

Dazai wasn't one to care for appearances, and Chuuya didn't either. But seeing Chuuya with the new look when it had remained the same for so long... he couldn't help but study him.

Just in case he needed the mental image for future reference and nothing else.

Absolutely nothing else at all.