It was a rather uneventful day for Dazai, lazing around as per usual, occasionally writing a sentence of two on the piles of paperwork the boss had assigned him.

Dazai enjoyed striking fear into people's hearts but being an executive with a massive amount of paperwork outweighed that joy.

Well, he could always just dump it on the chibi, though he hadn't seen his annoying face around in a while...

Though, speak of the devil and he shall appear, Dazai's personal phone vibrated in his pocket. Dazai, willing to do anything in his power to avoid work, quickly thumbed the answer button without looking at the contact, pulling the phone to his ear.

"Yes~"

Instead of an order from the boss or a request from one of his subordinates or the other executives, there was just ragged breathing over the end of the line. Dazai raised an eyebrow, pulling his phone away to eye the contact.

'Slug'

...Chuuya would never willingly call him unless it was an emergency, especially if he had been sent out on a mission just a few hours ago...

The dog never called on missions unless it was to pass orders along or to give vital information.

He claimed that the phone was distracting but Dazai knew that Chuuya was just confused by the technology. It wasn't like he got the chance to grow accustomed to a phone when he was in the lab or on the streets.

He was just too embarrassed to admit that he didn't know how to work it.

So for the sheepdog to call him was... an interesting situation.

Dazai waited a few more moments, ears picking up on the uneven breathing, the redhead spoke, "...S-shitty Daz'" His voice sounded like gravel under a truck's tire, and if the situation was given no context then Dazai would have guessed that Chuuya was drunk.

But he was so obviously hurt.

"Chuuya," he said, voice carefully even "What's the situation?"

Chuuya's voice sounded far away, as of he had dropped his phone. "S-shot...M' p-pois..." He slurred, and after another drawn-out silence, Dazai concluded that he wouldn't be getting any more information from Chuuya.

"I'm on my way, sit tight, and don't die," Dazai ordered, hanging up the phone so he could rise from his chair and step over the paperwork to track Chuuya on his phone.

He had sewn trackers into his outfits in case he wanted to be nosey and spy on the chibi, but they could become useful in a situation such as this one.

As Dazai pulled up the location on his phone and swiftly stole one of the Mafia's vehicles he let his mind stray.

How could Chuuya have gotten injured?

Through the years they spent going on missions together Chuuya had only been injured by his own ability.

Who could have gotten the drop on him?

Dazai's mind raced as he pulled up to where Chuuya's general location was, where his mission had been.

Dazai never liked the ports, though he did suppose that he worked for the 'Port Mafia' so he had to get accustomed to it.

The pale light of the moon reflected over the choppy water as he drew closer and closer to Chuuya's pinpoint. He had to abandon the car in the parking lot, it would only get in the way to have to navigate it through the maze of the cargo containers.

Every instinct in Dazai's body was telling him to draw his gun or turn away, anything could be lurking in the shadows, but he trained himself not to be swayed by the environment.

Then finally, over the sound of the waves crashing against the concrete, Dazai could hear muffled whimpers.

Dazai had never heard Chuuya make such a pitiful noise before, so he unconsciously picked up the pace as he pocketed his phone, feet taking him to the source of the noise.

And when he finally turned the corner to see Chuuya on the floor, leaning against a cargo container. His phone rested in his limp hand, his head fell to his chest.

Dazai's heart leaped to his throat as he knelt down in front of Chuuya, studying him.

Blood soaked the right shoulder of his jacket, staining it crimson. His chest rose and fell in an unsteady rhythm, but at least he was alive.

Not wanting to disturb his shoulder injury, Dazai grabbed Chuuya's hair to lift his head and tap his cheek until he groaned, cracking open hazy blue eyes.

He didn't look aware.

Then Chuuya's words over the phone clicked into place. He had obviously been shot but also poisoned.

Poison was never good in port mafia territory, in fact, most of it was lethal.

Dazai was left to wonder yet again how this had happened to one of the most powerful weapons in the Port Mafia.

"Chuuya," Dazai spoke slowly, "can you tell me what happened?"

Chuuya's eyes fluttered, blood and drool mingled on his lips as he tried to move them to explain, but all that came out was a grunt.

He wouldn't be getting any information anytime soon, perhaps never if Chuuya didn't survive this.

Dazai had trained under the boss and knew the medical protocol for what to do. The bullet wound was bleeding sluggishly and could wait to be treated, first priority was ridding the poison from his system.

Dazai didn't know if the poison had been injected through his veins or if Chuuya was forced to swallow it. Typically if it was a drug that one had to swallow then it was more lethal, and judging by Chuuya's condition, he had swallowed something.

"Chuuya," Dazai tapped his cheek again when the redhead started drifting off again. "You're not going to like this and neither am i. Don't try to punch me or anything." It wasn't like Chuuya would even stand up much less throw a punch, his whole body was limp and trembling.

Dazai, careful not to jostle his shoulder, leaned Chuuya against him and grabbed his jaw.

Chuuya made a confused noise but Dazai ignored it, "Don't bite me," he murmured, "I'm helping you."

Chuuya's jaw slackened, he seemed to understand what Dazai was doing.

"Good," Dazai encouraged, hooking his fingers under Chuuya's teeth momentarily before continuing to slide his hand in Chuuya's mouth, twisting his wrist slightly to feel along the roof of Chuuya's mouth with gloved fingers.

When he finally found the soft area he held his middle and ring finger against it, pressing down until Chuuya gagged. Dazai quickly removed his hand and held Chuuya to the side as he vomited all over the concrete of the port.

Dazai held his matted hair back as he heaved violently, body shaking with exhaustion. After he was done, Dazai shifted him back to their previous position, Chuuya leaning against him. Dazai had never seen him this bad before.

But he hid the feelings festering in his gut with a snarky comment "Just like a dog, getting slobber all over my glove." He reached in his pocket for a handkerchief, wiping the drool from Chuuya's chin.

"Do you think it's out of your system now?" Dazai asked, and Chuuya nodded blearily.

Ah, so they had made him eat something.

"Okay, I assume you can make it back to headquarters now so I'll leave you he-"

Chuuya's nose scrunched up in concentration "Do-don' be a... a jerk."

Oh, there was his fighting spirit. Even with his ashen skin and almost dead look he seemed to be in there somewhere. "Fine," Dazai sighed "I suppose the dog is weak without its owner."

Chuuya didn't refute the comment but made a noise between a groan and a whimper when Dazai pulled him to his feet, wrapping the arm that hadn't been shot around his shoulder.

It took a while for them to get to the car, Dazai practically dragging a tumbling Chuuya behind him.

If it were day then they would have easily been stopped, but the port mafia worked under the veil of the shadows with good reason.

"Where are your men?" Dazai asked when he slid into the driver's seat, Chuuya was sat in the passenger seat, fumbling with the buckle for dear life because he knew that Dazai sucked at driving.

"G...gone." He grumbled, clouded eyes staring off in the distance as Dazai drove recklessly through Yokohama.

Well, that was reassuring.

"Tell me what happened," Dazai repeated, now that Chuuya seemed to be more aware, maybe he would get more answers out of him.

"'S hazy..." Chuuya started, voice as shaky as his fingers. "An... an ambush."

Those were all the pieces Dazai needed to put the unclear story together. "Ah I see, so you and your men were sent out to intercept smuggled mafia shipments, and someone reported it. Though the information was false information, a trick to lure you there."

"I...Guess." Chuuya shrugged his one shoulder, forehead pressed up against the cool surface of the window. Dazai reached out to turn on the air conditioning.

"And they got ahold of you after capturing your men, and you didn't want their lives to be taken from them because you value their lives over yours." Dazai's eyes flashed to him "you certainly are a strange mafia member." He mused, and Chuuya grit his teeth.

"C-cut it out."

Dazai, for once, shut his mouth until they arrived at Chuuya's apartment. Dazai knew that realistically none of the occupants should be out at one in the morning, but just as a precaution, he lugged Chuuya into a piggyback position, throwing his coat over him.

"Wha-what're you d..doing?"

Dazai rolled his eyes "Sush, act drunk or something."

Chuuya wordlessly pressed his head against Dazai's shoulder, breath fanning out over his neck. Either he understood the plan or just passed out on Dazai.

"Sir, are you okay?" One of the workers asked from behind the reception area.

Dazai waved him off "Yes yes, we're perfectly fine. This idiot had a bit too much to drink at the bar."

The worker smiled sympathetically "Ah, let me help you to the apartment, I can open the door for you."

Dazai didn't reject the offer, leading the way to Chuuya's apartment on the very top floor. "It's this one," He nodded his head to the door.

The worker helpfully opened the door, though his stay lasted a little longer than Dazai would have liked. Dazai set Chuuya down on his bed, and when the worker finally left Chuuya opened his eyes.

"'S he gone?"

"Yes, thankfully. I was getting ready to shoot him."

Chuuya frowned "He was... he was tryin' to be... nice."

"Yes yes, whatever. Stay still, I have to dig the bullet out of your shoulder." Dazai grumbled.

This wasn't anything new for them. Though Dazai had never had to treat a bullet wound on Chuuya before, the situation was always reversed. There was a first for everything, Dazai supposed.

And Dazai wouldn't send Chuuya to the port mafia medical facility to be taken care of there. They both had a truce, if one of them was injured on a mission and it wasn't critical then there would be no hospitals involved, especially not the underground ones.

They both shared hate for medical facilities, Chuuya had bad experiences with them from his time in the lab and insisted on not reliving those memories. Dazai himself didn't like being vulnerable, recovering in the hospital under painkillers was when someone could most likely take advantage of another.

Dazai retrieved the medical kit Chuuya kept under his bed, grabbing a cloth and pressing it against Chuuya's lips. "You're going to want to bite down on this," Dazai instructed, something akin to uncertainty flashed in Chuuya's azure eyes but he complied, taking the cloth between his teeth.

Dazai didn't have a chair to sit on, so he resorted to straddling Chuuya's stomach, at least he could hold him down this way if he bucked. Though his body was weak at the moment so that was unlikely.

Dazai ripped Chuuya's shirt away from the injury, studying it carefully. "It didn't go all the way through, I have to dig it out."

Chuuya spat the rag out "J-just do..do it already," he hissed from between clenched teeth.

"Quiet," Dazai stuffed the rag back into Chuuya's mouth, "let me do my work."

Chuuya rolled his eyes, and when Dazai grabbed the tweezers to suddenly dig into his shoulder, his head flew back, muscles in his neck tensing as he yelped against the cloth.

Dazai ignored the noises he made and continued to prod until the tweezers scraped against something metal. Bingo, Dazai dragged it out of his shoulder with a smirk, though it quickly fell when he realized that it was only half of the bullet.

The other fragment was still in his shoulder.

Dazai sighed, "One more time Chibi, hold your breath."

Dazai got the job done as quickly as possible, tapping on Chuuya's cheek occasionally to make sure he hadn't passed out. He had lost a lot of blood, but not enough to kill him, though he would need a few days of bed rest.

"Alright, I got the bullet out," though no relief came to Chuuya because without warning Dazai sprayed antiseptic on the wound. Dazai's eyes darted across the room "Ah... let me borrow this," he pried the cloth from between Chuuya's teeth and rubbed the flakes of dried blood from his shoulder.
Chuuya cried out when Dazai swiped at the injury with the cloth, "F...fucking unsanitary."

Dazai raised an eyebrow as he set the cloth down, reaching for the bandages "Ah, the only thing on that cloth was your slobber, are you suggesting that you have rabies?"

Chuuya hissed, turning his head away to hide his pained expression as Dazai finished wrapping it.

"I can stitch it if you want," Dazau offered "but there's no point. It'll be healed over by the morning with that freakish Arahabaki power." He concluded, sliding off of Chuuya to pack up the medical kit. (And snatching a roll of bandages before, sneaking them into his pocket.)

"I'll tell the boss about your first failed mission, but you better show up to our joint one together tomorrow. If you make me do all of the work ill-" Dazai cut himself off when he looked back to point a finger at Chuuya, only to look at Chuuya's relaxed face.

He had fallen asleep.

Dazai sighed exasperatedly as he put his hand down, "I'll make you pay for this later."

He grumbled more complaints as he pulled the blanket up to Chuuya's neck and brushed a stray strand of hair away from his bloodied face.

Dazai didn't care, he wasn't worried at all.

"Sleep well, slug," he whispered before slipping off to find the gang who had kidnapped Chuuya's subordinates.

The gang was planning to use them as hostages, but they had no value in the boss's eyes and would surely be killed off. If Chuuya hadn't gotten away then it would be a different situation, but Dazai would get back Chuuya's men before they had the sweet chance to face the embrace of death.

Because Chuuya would surely whine to him and be all depressed, and Dazai could not let his dog be unhappy.