It’s an ungodly hour when Chuuya is roused by a horrible, terrible sound. It rings through her room and right into her ears. With a groan she throws her arm out, feeling around to find her phone. Once she has it she drags it up to her face against the pillow. Lit up on the screen: Mackerel.
Pass.
She doesn’t get a second to close her eyes before it’s ringing again.
“For fuck’s sake.” She picks up. “What is it?”
“Let me in.”
“What? No. I’m tired and I don’t have time to deal with you. …Aren’t you meant to be dealing with a mission right now? With Akutagawa?” Akutagawa is a good kid, bless her heart, but Chuuya really is not in the mood.
A knock on the door, followed by… nothing.
She’s still on the line. Chuuya can hear her breathing.
Well, it’s her money she’s wasting by calling her.
Chuuya’s almost asleep when Dazai says, in a small voice. “Please.”
She doesn’t like how that tone twists something in her. “...Just wait. You woke me up.”
“Dreaming about me? I’m so flattered.”
“You wish.” Chuuya forces her body to cooperate and manages to make her way to the front door. Upon opening she finds Dazai, looking down at the ground with her- two eyes. Alright.
“Oi, Dazai, I have to hang up. There’s some freak hanging around outside my house.” She can hear her own voice echoing through the phone. Isn’t it uncomfortable for Dazai to hold it that close to her ear?
The brunette blinks, looks up, then smiles. “I’m home.”
Chuuya hopes it’s dark enough for her not to notice the flush on her cheeks. She hangs up. “Just get in.”
Dazai slips her phone into her pocket and herself through the doorway. She doesn’t bother to unlace her shoes, preferring to risk scuffing the back of them by pulling them off by the heel. “What’s for dinner, dear?”
She rolls her eyes as she locks the door back up. “Can’t you just pick the lock? You’ve done it so many times, I guessed that was just how you thought people entered homes.”
“Didn’t want to.” Dazai steps into the hallway.
Something’s wrong. Okay, something’s always wrong when Dazai is concerned, but something is especially wrong right now. Her, Chuuya doesn’t know, ‘energy’ or whatever isn’t right. She stops Dazai by walking up and standing at her side. “What’s-”
The air is almost knocked out of her by the force of Dazai almost falling onto her. She scrambles her hands out, wrapping them around her. “Dazai!” It seems to do something because Dazai’s feet jump to life, trying to balance her back up. The two wobble in place for a moment, neither of them sure of who’s going to go down first, until they manage to thankfully balance it out.
Chuuya sighs. “Seriously…”
“Mmm…” Dazai hums and takes a deep breath where her head rests. Right in the crook of Chuuya’s neck, where Dazai says she smells the nicest.
Oh.
“Your heat already? The last one was, what, two weeks ago?” Granted they caught it pretty early, and apparently doing that too much makes heats want to line up closer together (helpful), but still, it’s a surprise.
Dazai’s tongue licks over her jugular. Chuuya gasps instinctively, her grip on Dazai’s arms tightening. Yes, she’s done this with Dazai before, yes a few times when she hasn’t even been on her heat, but for the love of God it’s around three in the morning and she’s still waking up. She’s not an alpha, she doesn’t feel invigorated by Dazai’s heat scent- which she can only assume exists, having no ability to smell it herself. Not like any of that bothers Dazai one bit, given how easily she’s making Chuuya squirm by sucking on her skin. She’s not even touching her anywhere else- her arms are planted on the wall behind Chuuya.
“C- come on, bed. Bed, now.” She manages to push Dazai’s head back but not without a wet pop as her lips are pulled off of her skin. “You wanna lie somewhere comfortable, right? Try to get a nest together?”
The two women manage to make it to Chuuya’s bedroom. Truthfully she doesn’t know what Dazai’s actually going to do. The only time she’s nested is when she’s in her apartment and, as depressingly basic as her nests there are, they’re hers. Filled with her things, you know, things she’s chosen. At Chuuya’s house everything is Chuuya’s. She hopes she isn’t going to have to make any late-night trips back to that box Dazai calls her home tonight.
Thankfully Dazai falls onto her bed without much prompting needed and proceeds to make herself at home immediately. Within a minute Chuuya’s blankets and pillows have been smelled, sorted and either kept or discarded according to Dazai’s desires. As Chuuya fusses around the bed, picking up a few blankets to fold up, Dazai speaks up. “Why d’you have so much on your bed? There’s only one of you.”
“I like it this way.” Having a lot of weight over her feels nice. She usually doesn’t have any uninvited guests throwing her things around and making a huge mess, either. The folded blankets are put away on a side table. “Comfortable?”
From somewhere within the huddle, Dazai hums an affirmative. Then there’s some shifting, rustling, unbuttoning, and… nice, she’s throwing her clothes out onto the floor.
Chuuya touches her neck. Right. It’s late into it, so she’ll need to have sex. It’s not like Chuuya doesn’t enjoy it but she doesn’t think she has the energy for it right now. As messy as it is, her bed is still looking incredibly tempting, even with a Dazai at the center of it.
…Okay, a little bit because of the Dazai at the center of it. She’s a big girl, she can admit it to herself. It’s not like she thinks a person could go through as much as she has with Dazai and expect them to not become used to them, in some form. She still pisses her off like the world depends on it, but…
“Chuu~ya.” Dazai’s head pops out, her hair fluffed and a little frazzled. “Come back to be~d.”
She can’t help but smile. That’s more like it. Chuuya crawls up onto the bed, which feels incredibly spacious now that everything’s curled up in the middle of it. “I have to warn you, don’t expect anything crazy.” She sits with her legs crossed in front of Dazai. When she brushes some of her hair out of her face Dazai’s eyes close and her head chases her touch. “I’m really tired, okay? No whining or I’ll leave you with the box.”
‘The box’ being the collection of sex toys and other things up that alley, which hides safely underneath Chuuya’s bed. It’s hardly a threat given how much fun they’ve had in the past, but it’s something Dazai likes to use alongside Chuuya when she’s in heat.
“Well… I could be on top tonight.”
Chuuya blinks. “You can do that?”
Dazai actually laughs. “Yes?”
“I thought omegas needed to be, you know, in order to…” She’s not sure what the word is for omega stuff. Feel… full? Satisfied? Dazai seems to catch her drift, though.
She cocks her head into the plush of the blanket around her. “It’s not just there for show, you know.”
Dazai can definitely see the blush on her cheeks now. “Okay, okay, let’s do that. Do I just lie down?”
“C’mere.” Dazai opens the red bedovers around her, casting her pale skin in a pinkish hue. Chuuya can tell the bandages she’s wearing need to be changed soon- they’re tough, dirty. That must be why she’s taken off the one usually over her eye. If she doesn’t need it, why wear it? If she can, Chuuya should try to get her to redress them.
The redhead crawls into the warmth. Dazai wraps her arms and covers around her, enveloping her. Her long, thick hair falls over Chuuya’s shoulders and lightly tickles the skin on her chest and neck. The taller girl sits up on her knees and leans forward, slowly pushing Chuuya back onto the bed. Chuuya lets her move her, using her hands to support herself as she goes down. Once lying she finds herself surrounded by Dazai, her hair curtaining the outside world away from them.
Dazai leans towards her and presses their lips together. She expects urgency, desperation, a need to satiate something before it spirals out of control. The heat, no matter how Dazai tries to hide it, is a bad time for her, and she wants to get it over with as soon as possible. But Chuuya doesn’t taste that on her lips tonight. She’s slow but not in the way she usually is when they find each other in the night. There’s no thought in it, no end goal. Is she even thinking?
“Are you okay?” She pulls back. “I mean, you’re all different.”
“Heats are different.” Dazai states. She pecks a kiss on Chuuya’s lips and travels down her body, her hair dragging across Chuuya’s skin.
Chuuya lifts her legs for her and she settles between Chuuya’s thighs, pressing her nose against Chuuya’s pajama shorts. Fingers curl under the band, nails brushing against skin, and pull them off. Dazai smiles at the sight of Chuuya’s pussy laid out for her. “Your hair’s all grown out.”
Irritation from embarrassment bubbles up inside her. “You didn’t give me a lot of warning.” Yeah, she likes to keep it trimmed, but it’s not the most important thing in her life, is it?
“No.” Dazai’s eyes stay locked on the bundle of red. “I like it.”
It’s relaxing, feeling Dazai’s fingers dust over her folds. Maybe that’s the tiredness talking, but to be fair she is lying in bed. It just so happens that the only difference between now and a few minutes ago is Dazai wetting her fingers in her mouth to slick her pussy. She touches her like the first time, exploring her, seeing what makes her legs twitch (pressing the spaces around her clit but just missing the clit itself) or her breath catch in her throat (tracing long, looping lines within and over her inner labia). By the time she lowers her face Chuuya’s wrapped her legs around her waist, trying with all her sleepy might to pull her in closer.
Her hips rise to meet Dazai’s tongue as it licks, wide and flat, over her. Chuuya’s mouth lies open long after her moan escapes her, like she’s singing a silent song. Her hands find themselves in Dazai’s hair as she roams her tongue over her softest skin. They don’t pull, or tug, they simply hold her head, solid and grounding. Grounding for who, neither of them could say for sure. But when Chuuya brushes her nails against Dazai’s scalp the vibrations from the other’s moan go straight to Chuuya’s core.
Those fingers return to slip inside of Chuuya, easily taking two thanks to the gentle warmup. Dazai doesn’t even do much with them, much more concerned with making Chuuya pant by sucking her clit in between teasing licks of her tongue-tip. By the time Dazai pulls away, trails of cum connecting her mouth to Chuuya’s pussy, two fingers have somehow become three.
Chuuya tries to think of something to say to her but nothing comes out, just an “oh”. Then Dazai gets that terrible, evil look on her face and Chuuya can’t even prepare herself before she starts fucking her with her fingers. The shorter woman’s back arches and her head digs back into the mattress, lifting her chest up as the feeling shoots through her body, electrifying her nerves. It's different than before, when Dazai would play around with her before the end. This is-
“F- fuck, Dazaiii- uh, mmmn! That’s- I’m, fuck I’ll cum, Dazai! You’ll-” She breaks off into another, long moan that bounces off of the walls.
“And I thought you were too tired tonight.” Dazai toys with her. “Seems to me you’re full-” She sinks her fingers in deep, up to the base knuckles, and curls and oh god, Chuuya can’t take it. “Of energy.”
“Dazaiii…” Chuuya whines. “You need to- you said-”
“You want me, Chuuya-chan? You want me to cum inside you?”
She doesn’t need Dazai to tell her how her pussy tightens at the thought. “Ohh fuck… wha- what omega says that?”
Dazai says nothing for a second before chuckling. Caught her off guard. “...I want you too, you know. I need to feel you around me. You’re so warm, Chuuya, I love it when you’re inside me. I want to be inside you, too. I want to feel what you feel when you’re fucking me. I want your scent from the inside on me.” Chuuya can feel the heat of her breath against her face. “Chuuya…”
“Yes.” Chuuya nods and she swears she sees something in Dazai’s eyes, just for a moment before she looks away again. “Just- pull out, okay?”
“Omegas can’t get people pregnant.” Dazai kisses her forehead.
Something about that wakes her up a little. “Really?”
“Have you ever heard of an omega fathering a kid?”
…No, she hasn’t. “So it really is just for show.” She smirks.
Dazai leans in with a smirk of her own. “I’ll give you a show.”
As they kiss, Dazai aligns herself. And then, slowly, moves inside her. There’s resistance at first, just a little, but Chuuya melts into Dazai’s hands when she rubs her temples and everything just makes sense from there. Hearing Dazai’s breath shudder next to her ear feels right, rubbing her hands down Dazai’s back feels right, feeling her inside her feels right. When she breathes, she breathes Dazai.
It’s all a blur of touch and heat. Dazai’s arms wrap around her, crossing over her back and pulling her in closer, closer. She chants her name as if it’ll save her life: “Chuuya, Chuuya, Chuuya!”
She wants to respond in kind, to say her name until it becomes another noise as instinctive as yawning when tired or humming when thinking. All she can manage is a string of what might be words that got all mixed up in her heart during the journey from her brain to her mouth. Dazai must understand it somehow because she moans and kisses her, her thrusts growing lazy as she gently focuses on Chuuya’s mouth.
“You’re good.” Chuuya makes out between the sounds of mouths meeting. “Always good, Chuuya. I want to keep you. I want- good. Mine. And be mine. I love your scent, you have one. It’s mine, only for me. I can find blood and wine and me- Chuuya!”
Her words wrap around Chuuya like her body, hands buried so deep in Chuuya’s skin that she’d mistake the dried blood on her fingernails for her own. Dazai thrusts inside her, hard, once, twice- and stops with a gasp, throwing her head back. Chuuya’s eyes widen, fuck, it’s in her, Dazai is inside her. And Dazai moans and Chuuya tightens around her from her own orgasm, milking whatever’s left.
All they can do is lie there. Dazai’s body gives in and lies on top of Chuuya and she tries to not totally crush her underneath. She pulls out when they turn onto their side and Chuuya’s body jumps.
“You ok?” Dazai mumbles.
“Yeah, yeah. It was just weird.” Because it was, really weird, to feel it just come out like that. She doesn’t get time to dwell on it before Dazai pulls her head into her chest, holding her close. The weariness wants to take hold…
But she can’t sleep if she’s this sweaty. With great, great effort, she frees herself from Dazai’s hold and pushes herself up.
“No, no.” Dazai grabs her arm. “Where are you going?”
“Shower.” Chuuya huffs. “You too. After we’re done I’m going to-” Dazai whines a ‘noooo’. “Yes, I’m going to sleep. If we keep up like this you’ll end up fucking me while I’m out.” Which isn’t the worst idea but she can’t imagine she’ll actually get some rest out of it. “Come on.”
With much encouragement, Dazai comes off the bed. The two of them wobble a bit when they stand but gain their bearings, and Chuuya takes her to the bathroom with her hand in hers.
When she was with Chuuya, even if the heat was just an act... Dazai has always felt something different with women. Despite what people say about them, she's always found that the paid women she takes to bed to be shockingly lacking in avarice. She desires something and they do it, without asking for more. Even though she's never found 'understanding' in another person- all of them so alien and unfamiliar- it was always in their arms she had found a strange kinship and, she thinks, they saw the same in her. In some of their eyes, maybe, there was more than just Dazai's reflection, which has always unnerved her.
But then she would come to Chuuya. And Chuuya is cruel. Her eyes are stark- completely, unpleasantly, immovably naked in their perception. When Dazai looks she sees herself and everything she's done. Everything she's going to do. Will she hate her for it? No, Chuuya knows. As much as Dazai prides herself on being the brains of the two, Chuuya is more than capable of taking things into her own hands. She can anticipate, prepare, plan, act.
Dazai is a liar. Everyone knows it. Chuuya, so like her in so many ways, surely knows it. She trusts Chuuya to distrust her.
She couldn't stand to look at her, or be looked at. Another reminder of how those merciless eyes are always searching Dazai for... when Chuuya looks at her, is she searching for the truth or for lies? What else is there?
Dazai lets Chuuya lead her to the shower even though it feels like she’s already wading through water. She doesn’t get it. How is Odasaku dead and she’s here, barely a day later, standing in a shower with Chuuya as the rising sun paints them gold? Akutagawa is probably losing hair over the stress of her dear, damned mentor going AWOL. But it feels like she should be holding Chuuya’s body, the water dripping off of her as blood, the hands on her…
Instead Chuuya spits a long strand of hair out of her mouth with a strong ‘ftoo’ sound. She brushes it back into place with the rest of her hair, like she usually does, and runs her fingers through her hair to wet it evenly. It feels like she’s doing it forever even though Dazai knows it should only be a few seconds. It’s so effortless, so nothing, but she can’t tear her eyes away.
“What are you staring at, freak?” Chuuya mumbles with a smirk. “Never seen a naked woman before?”
A naked woman. She’s more and less than that. She's the most of it she could ever be. She’s the only living thing Dazai knows and she's barely alive.
Dazai pulls the strand of hair back into Chuuya’s face.
“Oi.” She warns. “I’ll kick you out if you’re just gonna annoy me.” As she moves her hand up to push it back, their hands bump together, just as Dazai anticipated. Her hand wraps over the back of Chuuya’s. Chuuya sighs, smiles, and brings her knuckles to her mouth for a kiss.
The water falls on them, the only movement in the shower aside from their hearts beating inside them. Until Dazai moves her hand up, holding the ball of her palm up to Chuuya. She kisses her. Higher, where her blue veins appear. Another kiss. Dazai shows her the pale, marked skin usually hidden underneath band- a kiss.
She kisses her. How couldn’t she, when Chuuya kisses back so deeply? The closest thing to meaning is hidden on her lips, Dazai’s sure. If only she had the time to search for it.
Chuuya pulls back with a yawn. She takes the body wash bottle and squeezes the pink stuff onto her hand, rubbing it into a soft froth after she places the tall bottle back. Even though she’s watching her every move Dazai inhales in surprise when she spreads it over her chest, using her hands to rub it in. Around her shoulders, down her arms, between her fingers, and then back up to underneath her chest and stomach. It’s strange. Dazai doesn’t feel aroused but she still feels good. A weird good. The fluffy suds slip down her skin, catching all the dirt and decay from the day, washing away under Chuuya’s hands.
She says something under her breath, she thinks. It makes Chuuya pause. Then her hands are wrapping around Dazai, pulling her in close. It makes Dazai step forward into the water and it falls on her head, dampening any remnant of thought.
When she wakes up she’s dry, bandaged and wearier than ever. She feels soft breathing against her cheek and a hand in holding her own.
Her heart starts to hammer in her chest. She dresses as quietly and quickly as she can, which seems so much more difficult for some reason. The buttons fumble, the zipper of her pants claws through the quiet, her shoes slam against the floor. Even her breathing is too loud- she sounds like someone gasping for their last breath.
She finds the old bandages in the trash, stinking of sweat and dead skin, and shoves them in her pockets. There’s nothing else, is there? Her eyes shoot around. No, nothing.
All she can do is hope that she closes the door quietly enough behind her before she disappears into the new day.
It’s rare for Chuuya to offer tea. She’s not got the tongue for it, Kouyou would say, especially for the bitter mixture that Kouyou likes. Never one to refuse, she lets Chuuya pour. It makes her happy to see her using the tea set she gifted her all those years ago. Though she hasn’t exactly grown into a lady like herself, she has her qualities that shine through. Besides, there’s still time. She’s only young.
But. It is strange for her to offer tea. Kouyou is better accustomed to the sight of a fine wine on her lacquer table. It’s politeness, first of all. And secondly, it’s Chuuya.
Kouyou does not recall previous cases of desertion leading to members abstaining from alcohol, nor does anyone else.
“Thank you for the tea.” Kouyou accepts. And she means that; it’s been brewed well. She would expect as much considering Chuuya is the inviter. Chuuya nods humbly beside her on the leather couch. “I heard your recent mission went even better than expected. Why not bring out something a little more celebratory?”
Chuuya shakes her head. “No thank you, ane-san. I’m alright.”
Kouyou places her cup back onto the table. Good, she hates trying the indirect method. “Chuuya-kun, if you don’t return to your normal self then people are going to notice. Do you think people don’t notice when you choose to hide away in your room instead of going out for drinks? It might not seem like much to you but it is to everyone else. Don’t bring more suspicion upon yourself than you need-”
“I’m pregnant.”
“No.” Jumps into Kouyou’s mind. She’s not ignorant, she’s heard of foolish murmurings in the lowest ranks, and she’s left them be for Chuuya to deal with. Such an idea is impossible- well. That’s what she’d thought.
She glances over at Chuuya. Chuuya is looking at the floor.
“...And the father?” She hopes it’s a man, some stupid, small nobody that can be dealt with. That silly, stupid hope, as if Chuuya would ever consider such a thing with a stranger. But the only other option is-
When Chuuya looks over at Kouyou, her blue eye peeking out between strands of ragged hair, she looks smaller than ever.
A wave washes over Kouyou, slowly sending her back onto the couch. She sighs, long and hard. “Ohhh… god.” Of course. Even after everything she’s tried to teach her… no matter how wise a woman grows, her heart will remain young and foolish. “You silly girl.”
“I know.” It takes Kouyou a moment to realize that the strange sound in Chuuya’s voice is a wobble. She’s going to cry.
“Don’t do that, what has it ever solved?” Kouyou reasons with her, as if it will quell the rising jitters she feels in her own body. This is really happening, truly. What a mess that idiot has left behind.
And the worst part is that Kouyou knows she’s thought this out, she knows that her actions could lead to this. As immature as she could pretend to be the Demon Prodigy is- was one of the greatest minds in the mafia. And she did it anyway. To Chuuya. Of all the people caught in this slurry of shadows and blood, it had to be her that she dug her nails into and tore apart as she turned her back on them all.
Just look at her. Practically shaking from the effort of keeping herself together. What a mess.
That box of tissues, she quickly realizes, was placed on the table as an act of foresight by the Chuuya of the past. Kouyou dutifully feeds her at least three, for the sake of not having to look at snot and tears on the younger woman’s face, before she puts her foot down.
“Pull yourself together.” She straightens herself up over her subordinate. “Imagine what your men would think if they saw you like this.”
The fluff of orange hair nods in agreement. “I know, I know. I… Kouyou-san, I don’t know what to do.”
“You’re not keeping it.” As sharp as Golden Demon’s sword. It’s necessary. Kouyou can’t allow any make-believe daydreams of a false, bright life take root in Chuuya’s mind. “What would you think of a woman carrying the child of a deserter, Chuuya-kun? What of your subordinates, your peers? What of the Boss? It won’t be tolerated. If you can’t deal with it then somebody else will.”
Chuuya says nothing. At least Kouyou doesn’t hear any more stifled sobs. Carefully, she reaches out her hand to her subordinate and gently rests it on her back. “There, there. Ane-san will help you. It’s only a few months, isn’t it? For once in your life, you won’t be committing a crime.”
She chuckles at that, just a little. Wiping “Is it that easy?”
Finding someone to do it shouldn’t be hard. They’re the Port Mafia, for god’s sake, they can find people willing to do decapitation videos. But something like this… it may be better to ‘outsource’, so to say. A different name, different place, legitimate doctor. Even then there are stipulations. They’ll want consent from the ‘father’ to go ahead with it, for one. Ugh.
“Of course.” Kouyou smiles and pats her back. “Now, freshen up before we leave, go on.”
“Leave?” Chuuya’s face flickers. “Now?”
“Yes. We need to see the Boss.”
Chuuya breathes in, sniffs, and nods. “Okay.”
Kouyou asks her to bring her the test after she's done. The younger woman exits and, without making eye contact, and holds out two. Kouyou doesn't show how proud she is for her good thinking. Instead Golden Demon manifests, takes the tests from the confused executive, and eviscerates them in a flurry of cracks and slashes.
"Get that cleaned." Kouyou says. "Put it in a plastic bag, or a container. We need to make sure it's totally disposed of."
Chuuya stares down at the scattered remains on the floor. Her arm lifts subconsciously over the slight bump under her-
"Now." Is the order.
The arm freezes. "Yes." And she half-walks, half-runs to find something to sweep it into.
Kouyou's eyes feel heavy as she watches her mentee look around. Three months... there's no way Chuuya has been the only one to notice. And the way she moved just a moment ago, almost protective? She closes her eyes.
It seems she'll have to ask Mori to scare her. Just a little bit.
“Oh Chuuya, dear Chuuya.” The hands run over her shoulders slowly.
“I-“ Her very stomach feels like it’s shaking. “Please forgive me, Boss.”
Mori’s shush is more snakelike than soft, slithering through the dimness of her office and around Chuuya’s being. “Oh dear, there’s no need to be so afraid. You and Kouyou-kun have done the right thing, coming straight to me. How can I be upset at good behavior?” Her chuckle bounces off the empty walls. Chuuya thinks she can hear the sound of crayon on paper somewhere. “Who doesn’t make mistakes at your age? You’re young. I know you forget it sometimes, but it’s true. My dear, little Chuuya.”
Chuuya tries to suppress the shiver that crawls down her back. Mori’s thumb has traveled to her neck now, pressing down on one of her spine bones. Mori would know the name.
How does she respond to this? The boss has never spoken to her like this before- never needed to. Even after Dazai left, when Mori held her under burning lamps for hours on end, questioning, demanding ”Do you know, Chuuya?”, she never used words like this. Never touched her like this.
In the back of her mind, she wonders. “Is this how she spoke to Dazai when nobody was watching?”
At her silence, Mori continues. “However did a bright, intelligent young thing like you end up in this situation, I wonder?”
Chuuya inhales shakily. It’s not a question, it’s a blade. She tries her best to steady her words. “She told me that-” Does Mori know? Surely she does, she raised Dazai, didn’t she? “Omegas can’t get others pregnant.”
Mori sighs, not unlike the way Kouyou did when she came clean. She feels so small. “And you believed her.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” She wants to say- but absolutely, definitely will not. That she would- could trust Dazai. What a stupid thought. A stupid thought from a stupid girl. So instead, she says: “I did.”
“I could see her doing so many things-” Mori wonders. “But never something like this. What did I do wrong? Oh well.”
Chuuya feels a pat on her shoulder.
“That’s enough about her for now.”
For now. Chuuya feels like she’s going to be sick.
“What about Chuuya? What are we going to do with you? Ahah, you’d make a lovely mother, I’m sure.”
Chuuya can’t help but tense up. What? But Kouyou said…
“I can see it now. You, your dear little one cradled in your arms. After all, you’re so caring towards those weaker that yourself, you can’t help it. Like those little puppies you feed on your days off. Yes, I know about them. There’s no need to be so embarrassed. We women have tender hearts, it’s in our nature. You especially, Nakahara Chuuya. I have no doubt that that heart of yours would lend itself to motherhood.”
Her brow feels wet and cold. She can see it but she doesn’t want to, she doesn’t. She can’t. “Boss-”
“Of course!” Mori’s hands slam down on Chuuya’s shoulders, pushing her into the chair. “You can’t perform your role while pregnant, nor after you’ve given birth. Don’t worry, I’ll have it all sorted for you. Dear Chuuya won’t have to lift a single finger.” She feels herself being pushed forward by the older women as she leans in close. Her hair slips over the bare skin of her neck. “Motherhood is a wonderful thing. Raising a human being, perfecting them… I’ll bet Dazai’s child would be even cuter than her.”
Chuuya doesn’t realize she’s shaking her head until Mori puts her hand over her hat to stop her. “N- no.”
“Hoh? No?”
She’s said it now. “I can’t do that, boss. I- I can’t give up my position in the family. After everything the Port Mafia has done for me, I can’t just step down because of one little thing like this. I already have a plan to deal with it.”
“Wonderful!” Mori ruffles her hair through her hat. “There’s that smart Chuuya-kun everyone knows! What are you going to do?”
She’s a doctor, so Chuuya can just say it, can’t she? “I’m going to have an abortion. Adoption would mean carrying it to term, not to mention the trouble it would cause. Bringing a child like that into the world…”
Mori hums. “That’s a good idea. I take it Kouyou-kun is going to help you? What a good mentor. Ah, but I must ask, does anybody else know about this little inconvenience?”
“I haven’t told anyone. I only found out an hour ago.”
“No, no.” Mori wags her finger in Chuuya’s line of sight. “I didn’t ask if you’ve told anyone, I asked if anyone else knows. Do listen.”
She did say that. “Yes… Yagi-kun asked me about my weight today. She didn’t mention pregnancy, but…”
“Mhm. And?” Mori prompts.
Chuuya breathes in. This is for the best. “I overheard Sata Ineko and Miyamoto Yuriko gossiping. They think I’m pregnant.”
Mori tuts. “Sata-kun’s Crimson ability is so useful, too…"
Finally, her hands leave Chuuya’s body. Chuuya allows herself to exhale.
“You can go. Kouyou-kun is waiting outside for you. I hope to see you back soon, Chuuya-kun.” Mori dismisses her with a wave of her gloved hand as she walks towards her desk.
“Yes, boss.” She rises like she’s learning how to walk and has to steady herself with the arms of the chair.
As she closes the door behind her she hears a young voice complaining about a lack of promised playmates. “Kouyou-san?”
“I’m here.” The older woman glances through the door with an unreadable expression. “I take it all is well?”
“Yes.” Chuuya starts walking away even though she should really wait for Kouyou to go first. There’s a nervous itch in her feet, an instinct. Run. “Can we do it now?”
She hears Kouyou’s boots following. “Yes.”
Outside the car is waiting. Even the moon doesn't shine on them as they travel away, to a place that soon won't exist.