Chapter Text
‘Stupid doctor.’
‘You can’t even peacefully bleed out these days.’
…
“Ohh Shuji dear! I have a job especially for you! I guess you’ll have to hang around the world of the living a little longer~”
Dr.Mori spoke to what certainly must have been a doll. A doll made of meat. It was dressed in a suit, if it could still be called that after being turned into a chew toy for dogs and painted with blood. Maybe it could be a fashion trend.
“Oh aren’t you just adorable! It’s truly is a blessing to be the one to patch you up, when you bless me with such a beautiful sight~”
Beautiful?
Well they say that beauty is subjective afterall, maybe someone can consider a cage filled with dogs that heave their last breaths, beautiful.
However this image would be called disturbing by the majority of people. Behind the bars the floor is turned into a pool of blood with tiny pieces of meat swimming on the surface. The dogs lay there pathetically, blood slowly seeping out of them, their heaving breaths are the only proof death has not come to collect them yet. Some must’ve been turned into a meal as you can see their ribcage quite clearly with their guts spread around them like a demonic halo. Others were more fortunate or maybe less depending on how you consider that, still in one piece with tiny holes decorating their body, covered in chains that took their last breath . The thing that stood out the most was that doll. What is a doll doing in a kennel? One might be surprised, yet the truly odd thing was how right the doll fit within this bloody arrangement. Its eye made you think of a black hole, so lifeless was it that you had to give away your own vitality to be able to witness it.
…
The doctor’s expression had that sickening look filled with emotion that the doll learned to dread. Possessiveness. That seemed like a fitting word. The sack of meat did not make a move as the doctor went on a tangent about how the doll is not yet free to die. ‘Wouldn't it be easier to keep me alive if you stopped making me bleed so much?’ The doll wanted to ask, yet dolls don’t have a voice so it stayed silent during the entire procedure. The doctor began to sew it back together with a precise needle, wash it and fill it with necessary fluids till you could look at it and think about something resembling a human.
„Now shuji, don’t be so disappointed about not being able to completely bleed out~ I have a job for you remember ? and when you finish it I have a most special surprise just for you~”
That was what made Shuji finally speak.
„I hate your surprises.”
„Ahh~ Shujii how you wound me~ I promise this one you’ll definitely like and shouldn’t you pay me back for getting you out of there and patching you up?”
„Why bother with guilt tripping? I’ll do the job anyway, it’s not like there’s another point to me anyway. So..?”
“Ah yes! Won’t you be a dear and look into the magical community for me?”
The look on Shuji's face conveyed how idiotic that question was.
„Oh my mistake! Let me rephrase a bit for you~ Be a dear and find what you can about the wizard community I expect suitable results it would be a shame if I had to patch you up again I do have quite a lot of work as is~”
Shuji felt a shiver run through the body at the unfortunate memory. It’s no good being distracted on a job. The invisible Mori reminded. With that in mind Shuji continued the mission of first checking the Port Mafia’s files, the confidential ones were kept only on paper as once something is saved digitally it will not be possible to truly get rid of.
‘If Mori just stumbled upon this wizard community that would have to be the place, slimy doctors have their slimy ways to get into places they shouldn’t. Well I guess stealing a clearance card is not exactly not slimy too’
Port Mafia’s files were one of the biggest secrets, the truly important ones anyway, trash was kept in the headquarters and those are useless in this case anyway. So “breaking” into the secret base it is. The most efficient way is through the sewers. ‘Hah isn’t that a perfect entrance for a rat?’ There you had to also get through the first barrier that stopped anyone that didn’t know about the special archive to never stumble upon the place by mistake or because you were looking for it. The Port Mafia truly has curious individuals, what would the name of such an ability even be? Shuji didn’t have the answer to that as it was time to climb the ladder which was incredibly slippery and required his whole attention to not fall off. ‚Ugh at this point they should just give me official clearance with the amount of times I have to sneak in here.’ Shuji had such a thought without considering how much less fun that would be. The stories of a ghost wandering the terrain of PM are a great toll to spread fear among the misbehaving citizens.
„There’s no appointment for you here today or have I not been informed?”
As Shuji crawled out of the sewers an office came into view. A refined lady sat by the desk, her aura screamed of danger even when the demon dressed in a golden kimono started to disappear as soon as its blade made contact with Shuji’s neck.
„Ah why hello Miss Ozaki, how lovely to see you here. My job isn’t here today. I'm just passing by on my way to find a pretty bridge to jump off of.”
Shuji started to form his face in a way that was meant to resemble a smile, a charming, innocent smile. The muscles ached from forming such an unnatural expression. Whatever it is they managed to create would be nightmare fuel for any respectable smile.
“Be quick and make sure to not make me see you after.”
To think her eyes once held pity upon looking at this sad existence. ‘She knows what I am.’
The face she was looking at stretched even more at that.
“Oh of course I wouldn’t expose you to my presence any longer than is necessary."
With that Shuji proceeded to quickly leave the building heading for the inconspicuous shed located nearby. Looking at it, the fact that it still stood was a miracle. The important part is underneath anyhow. Protected by a shield that only let in those that were previously verified by its creator. Another most curious ability, well it’s not like Shuji needs to worry about any kind of ability and with that out of the way the only thing you need is a clearance card.
“Salve, Signorina Barbara ( hello miss barbara)”
That smile imitation found itself back on Shuji’s face.
"Bentornato Shuji, che guaio stai combinando questa volta?( welcome back shuji, what mischief are you up to this time?”
Miss Barbara seemed completely oblivious to that deformed expression or maybe just unbordered by it as she sent back a smile of her own. It was that especially Miss Barbara smile, one that said that she knows your secrets, but no one else will ever hear them. Somehow that felt safe enough to let Shuji’s face change into something almost smile-like as well.
“ah sai com’e, basta lavorare. (Ah you know how it is, just work.)”
Miss Barbara was quite a peculiar lady, well it would be hard not to be a bit weird when you’re stuck in a secret archive with no connection to the outside world. She has to like anyone who comes in here.
The best place to start would be any out of country investments or correspondents, as there is just no chance a whole wizard community is hiding anywhere in Japan without the Port Mafia’s supervision.
That was quite a bit more paperwork to go through than Shuji expected. That’s why you never have expectations. After… Well it’s hard to say how long it was, let’s just say a really long time, Shuji finally managed to find some scrape PM’s involvement with the wizard community. Some kind of suspicious package filled with unidentified items that was purchased from Britain by the Mafia and then redirected to Australia. The only thing describing the package was wizard craftsmanship. ‘Australia huh? So it should be something highly illegal… Let’s see what was going on there in 1981’. Of course the news would not spread all the way to Japan, but that is exactly why Australia is not bothered by anyone about the lack of ethics. A device that can connect you to the database spread in another country that is one of PM’s treasure’s. ‘Let’s see what lies the civilians were fed’.
ARE WE REALLY SAFE ON OUR STREETS NOW!? Many concerned citizens want to ask as the government reassures that the gang war is kept under control, yet there are a lot of MURDERED INNOCENT BYSTANDERS that prove the government is failing at its job! Did they really manage to arrest those responsible or is our country run by the underworld now letting their disputes affect us ALL!!??
This was one of the headlines of the panicked news in 1981. ‘A gang war? And the end was near 1981 the same as this mysterious wizard package. Either someone decided to finally make a first investment through the PM and the gang war was truly what normal civilians were led to believe or the wizard community was involved and the loser got rid of the evidence. But why would the Port Mafia get involved in this? Were they waiting for the easy scraps?’ The rest of the news was written in a similar fashion around 1975 the citizens were advised to be cautious because of some serial killer, yet later things got so bad that it was explained as an underworld dispute that the government is taking care of. The suspicious thing was that there were never any specifics about how the victims died, only in a few circumstances, the name of the killer was also often censored. ‘Is the British government covering for the wizard community? Or maybe they have a deal with them. Wouldn’t that just be similar to the situation in Yokohama? Except that ability organizations are the ones that run this city and probably Japan as a whole and the citizens are mostly somewhat aware.’ That was certainly not a lot of information whoever was responsible for collecting even this much must've got rid of the rest. Could it be a traitor? Or did the boss decide that the wizard community should be ignored or at least the British one. Then why is Mori suddenly interested in that? Shuji’s mind began to wonder however knowing too much is the exact reason some people are not allowed to have a life. ‘Maybe if I knew all that it would be enough to let me end mine’ ohh shuji you know how valuable you are~ we’d just have to take away all of your autonomy~. Shuji’s expression stayed the same as if emotion was not something that such a being was allowed.
“(Oh you’re still here? It’s been over 8 hours. Come with me, at least drink something.)Oh, sei ancora qui? Sono passate più di 8 ore. Vieni con me, almeno bevi qualcosa.”
Miss Barbara made it a habit to make Shuji eat something whenever here. ‘Whatever it is you are, your body clearly needs nutrients to function and I happen to enjoy your company’ she’d say. Truly a peculiar lady as she also never seemed to complain about being kept a prisoner here. One time over a glass of scotch and a cigarette she confessed to Shuji that this life quite suited her, no need to do much of anything besides reading novels and ensuring no one will get in. ‘Who would want to deal with society?’ That question sometimes haunted Shuji whenever life started feeling annoying.
After the “meal” Shuji decided to snoop around a little bit, however there wasn’t much else to find about this wizard society aside from a few newer documents about funding for research into magic in Australia, but no proof whatsoever about it having anything to do with this wizard community.
‘So Mori is being a slimy bastard again.’
‘Life is just too annoying’
“Oh Shuji, you must enjoy my company so much~ since it haven’t even been a week and here you are back in my care again”
These were the first words Shuji heard upon opening the eyes, observing with a face that held no expression, aside from something akin to disappointment.
“It’s so unlike you to quit like that during the mission. Was my job too hard for my Shuji~”
“Well it is proving to be difficult when the information is not held digitally and the only proof on paper seems to have been relocated.”
There was no anger in the accusation. Shuji is not something that deserves real emotions.
‘Ah that is fortunate then~”
Mori’s expression turned unsettlingly pleased.
“You remembered my most special surprise?”
Shuji did not bother to answer as observing the body’s weird reaction was way more interesting right now. ‘Can guts just turn themselves into a knot?’ That was something that would require further research.
“You are a wizard!”
Mori announced cheerfully.
“Or more accurately Dazai Osamu is and he’ll need to attend Hogwarts in order to learn how to wield that magic. In the near future someone will come to inform Dazai and his guardian about such a development.”
Shuji stared.
“Aren’t I so generous? You’ll get to truly complete your job as Dazai Osamu, a Hogwart's student, who is a wizard yet before led the life of an ordinary orphan, adopted by a doctor named Rintaro Gen’emon.”
Dazai Osamu, who led a human life and is a wizard, was a sentence that clang to the body as if it wanted to replace its skin.
‘What even is a wizard.’