I Bet Chuuya Was Terrified Of Dentists When He First Joined The Mafia.

Been a bit busy recently, but for those who want it, here's part two of the concept I had mentioned about the sskk interview. | Part One. It also ended up around 1.8k, so it's under the cut. Enjoy! Perhaps I'll do a part three if anyone wants it.

The next few days were much of the same for Atsushi. He'd come to work, be dragged off by Kunikida who would hand him a paper with all the questions they were going to ask and made him memorize each answer. Then eventually Dazai would arrive (a few hours late, as usual), and after sitting through Kunikida's lecture on tardiness and the importance of punctuality, and after Dazai would make a few comments that would only infuriate the detective more, his mentor would work on having him not sound like a cold machine when he spoke. Because apparently, he did not do well with memorization.

The training wouldn't have been so bad, really, if not for the fact that Kunikida and Dazai seemed to disagree about everything. Kunikida wanted him to appear formal as a true representative of the Agency, while Dazai thought he'd appeal to the audience more if he came across as some sort of Idol—relaxed manner, permanent smile, the works. Unfortunately, Atsushi was too nervous to truly do either, and every time he tried to implement one of his superior's advice and whenever he thought he might actually be starting to do a good job, the other would completely admonish him and tell him to the opposite.

And if Atsushi had to endure this for one more day, he may not have enough sanity left to even do the interview in the first place.

But somehow, by some miracle, he was actually improving. He had managed to find some sort of middle ground between the two philosophies—professional, but friendly enough to appear easygoing and relatable as he calmly told the interviewer (Kyouka, who had been roped into this) about his experience on the Moby Dick and defeating the American before the city was destroyed (the amended version that was arranged and agreed upon with the Port Mafia)

Of course, he couldn't help but feel he might lose all his progress when in front of an actual camera, but one problem at a time.

And speaking of problems...

It was time for his practices with Akutagawa.

With luck, the mafioso would kill him, and he could get out of doing the interview.

"C'mon, it'll be fine," Dazai assured him with a lazy grin. The two were on their way to the practice, which unfortunately had to be in Mafia territory. Atsushi protested against this, numerous times in fact, but it was beginning to dawn on him that no one actually had any consideration for what he wanted in this instance. Dazai had explained that their premises would be much more accommodating to the task, and there wasn't much else to say on the matter. Even Kunikida had voiced a mild objection, but being as there was some tentative form of truce, and that the organizations were attempting to work together for their mutual benefits, there wasn't any choice.

When they arrived at the agreed upon tower—the southern one, if Atsushi was correct, they were greeted by two grunts who escorted them to the fifteenth floor, where there was apparently an open space available for this. Dazai even chatted with one of them on the way up, casually asking about his wife and kids, and the man, for the most part, just seemed confused but answered honestly.

For some reason, it hadn't occurred to him that there would be someone else helping Akutagawa until they were led into a large, open area with a small stage setup, and aside from Akutagawa standing off to the side, there was a short mafioso with a black hat sitting cross-legged on a folding chair, his face scowling in irritation the moment he spotted Dazai. For what it's worth, the brunet's face twisted in revulsion when he spotted the man as well.

"Really?!" The ginger practically spat, standing up so quickly the chair knocked into the ground. "Of everyone who it could be, it had to be you?! Couldn't they get a literal trash can to do the job instead?! Not much of a difference, but at least one knows how to shut up."

Atsushi blinked at the harsh words aimed at his mentor. Dazai, however, merely upturned his nose like some kind of critic whose opinion was actually warranted.

"And they should have hired a hatrack to do yours—at least it has more uses than you. And how exactly do you expect to make Akutagawa camera ready when the only thing you would accomplish by appearing in public is to go from the Wanted list to Unwanted."

"Dazai..." Atsushi tried, ever the peacemaker.

"And all you're accomplishing is contaminating your student with your filth," Chuuya retorted. "You'll make the whole country reek of Mackerel."

"I take it back. Perhaps they should have gone with a dog—at least they're more loveable than you."

Chuuya scrunched up his nose. "You hate dogs."

"Exactly."

There was a pause before the executive's eyes widened, and he suddenly glowed red. "You bastard! I oughta punch you right in the—"

"Uh uh uh." Suddenly, Atsushi found himself being yanked in front of Dazai, to be used as a human shield. "You wouldn't want to mess up our one of our stars' faces, would you?" taunted his mentor with a maliciously sweet grin.

"I think you could," commented Akutagawa.

"Nobody asked you!" Atsushi snapped back.

Chuuya glanced between student and mentor and sighed exaggeratingly, dragging a gloved hand across his face. "Whatever, we've wasted enough time."

Since Atsushi apparently came across as very yankable, Chuuya suddenly reached out and grabbed Atsushi's arm, dragging him away from Dazai and towards Akutagawa.

"Uhm, Chuuya?" Atsushi began timidly. He tried to tug his arm out of the mafioso's grasp. It didn't work.

"Shut up," spat the executive, and Atsushi decided to do that. Not because he was scared of Chuuya who could crush him in an instant, but because it seemed like a very smart idea. Because Chuuya could crush him in an instant.

Akutagawa's eyes widened suddenly as his superior approached him, grabbed him with his free arm, and commenced dragging the two of them over to the stage while the Future Stars­™ stumbled along behind him. Atsushi caught Akutagawa's gaze. The latter rolled his eyes at him. The former stuck out his tongue in retaliation.

Chuuya marched onto the stage with them in tow, shoved Akutagawa into a chair that had been set up on the left, and then Atsushi into the other one a few feet to the right.

"Alright," he said, crossing his arms and staring down at the two of them like one might stare at five year olds who have been misbehaving. "We're starting. Now. I don't wanna hear any fighting between you two, got it?"

"Understood sir, sir, yes sir," Atsushi stammered under the piercing gaze. Akutagawa, who was likely more used to this treatment from the ginger, merely nodded, although he didn't appear all too happy about it.

"He's right, boys, you have to play nice." Dazai strolled onto the stage leisurely with his hands behind his back and and a grin. "Think we can keep the bickering to a minimum?"

"You guys are fighting more than we are," Atsushi pointed out dryly. Akutagawa made a sound akin to a stifled snort. Chuuya's eye twitched. Dazai's lips twitched. Neither man made any effort to deny it.

"Let's just try to get through this, can we do that?" Chuuya asked. He sounded really tired.

"Fine by me," Atsushi replied.

Akutagawa nodded. "There should be no problems as long as the Weretiger doesn't mess this up."

"Excuse me?" Atsushi exclaimed, turning to the man. "You think I'm going to mess this up?! Who came to kill who, remind me—"

"Yes, and I almost didn't have to, because you were ten seconds away from becoming a cripple. If I hadn't been there, you would have allowed the whole city to go up in flames."

"Well, you—"

"Enough!" Chuuya flicked Atsushi between the eyes, hard enough for his entire chair to fall backwards and send the boy sprawling to the floor. He then walked over to Akutagawa, who merely sighed in resignation as he too was sent to the floor.

"Next time either of you say anything that isn't rehearsed, I'm gonna kick each of your butts so hard, you're gonna do the interview and the rest of your lives standing, you got that?!" Chuuya growled as he glared down at the black and white heaps on the floor. Akutagawa had managed to land somewhat gracefully while said butt of Atsushi was sticking up in the air. At the threat, he quickly reigned it in and sat up rigidly.

"I didn't hear a response," said Chuuya, glowing red.

"Yes!"

"Understood." Accompanied by two coughs.

"Now now, Chuuya," Dazai laughed. He placed a hand on the ginger's shoulder, dispelling the red glow that surrounded him. "You shouldn't be so stressed all the time; at this rate, you really will get a bald patch before you're twenty-five."

Chuuya scowled and wheeled on the man. "Yeah, well at least someone's putting in any effort into this interview. They're your students that you grabbed off the streets, why don't you act like a responsible teacher for once?!"

"But that's no funnn," Dazai whined. "It's way more entertaining to watch this instead."

"Wait, how'd you know Dazai found me on the streets?" Atsushi asked.

Chuuya made a face. "Lucky guess."

"I pulled you from the streets, remember?" Dazai draped his arm over Chuuya and brought him close with a light grin. "I remember, you reeked the first time I met you—"

Dazai was on in his back in the space of a single blink. The stage beneath him was slightly cracked. Chuuya's fists were clenched.

"I'll have you know that I was perfectly clean, thank you very much!" he stated loudly, "unlike a certain slimy fish I could mention whose hair was a rats' nest and whose personal hygiene rivalled that of a monkey's."

Dazai looked up at him from the floor with a twinkle in his eye. "It's funny you say that when, last I checked, you were the one hanging around farm animals—"

Chuuya pounced on him before Dazai could even finish, slapping him and shouting while Dazai merely cackled wrestled back surprisingly well, throwing in a jab or two to keep it going. Chuuya eventually got the upper hand though, and he managed to strangle Dazai hard enough for the man to pass out, all while maintaining a blissful expression.

Two pairs of eyes followed the executive as he calmly rose from the ground and brushed off his vest like nothing happened. "Now that one nuisance has been taken care of, let's get on with it."

Atsushi glanced over at Akutagawa, who didn't seem perturbed in the least. Atsushi sighed.

And so, practice began.

War is bad. And we all know this. But I think that no matter what side of a war you're on, we can all agree on one thing.

All wars would cease to exist if both sides were sat down and given a bowl of hot soup.

beast dazai is considered a tragic character for all the obvious reasons: carried the weight of the memories of his other selves and using that knowledge to save oda from his fate even if it meant dying/killing himself in the end. This sympathetic narrative allows you to ignore the utter selfishness and immaturity of beast dazai and how he runs away from grief and pain, and I mean this in the best way possible.

The real tragedy of beast is that unlike all the other dazais, beast dazai never got the chance to meet and know oda, thence allowing him a new perspective to grow. In The day I picked up Dazai , dazai shows personal growth by the end of the novel, hence why he respects oda a lot. He is treated as a human being who still doesn't know much, and that brings comfort to someone deemed a demon prodigy. In side b of the same novel, beast dazai makes an effort to not know or bond with oda; yes this is because he wanted to ensure his survival by steering him away from the port mafia, but that event is what fundamentally changed dazai- gave him a better understanding of his own humanity.

Despite having all that knowledge of his other selves, of how each universe's timeline will play out, beast dazai didn't seem to grasp that it is grief that allowed the other dazai to grow and be a better person. He didn't understand that in the end, it is the time he (the other dazai) spent with oda that made living worthwhile, not his life. His state of living, the state of perfection in beast dazai's eyes, will still cause him more suffering than the act of losing a good friend.

Because if he had only wanted him to live, then he wouldn't have been so shocked when oda refused to indulge in a friendly conversation, not when he clearly went out of his way to antagonize himself in oda's eyes in tdipud. It's because the realization hit him: he wanted his time with oda to not be cut short.

Having memories of another oda is clearly not enough, he needed his own intimate friendship with his own oda. But with this elaborate plan and his reaction to being rejected, it's clear that beast dazai was trying to avoid pain. He could not accept the grief and pain of loss that he's seen and felt in his other selves, ignoring what came after: growth and satisfaction of ever having oda in their lives at all.

Pain is inherently human and by ignoring and rejecting it, beast dazai rejects his own humanity. Or runs away from it, because it catches up to him regardless. He still ignores it throughout the rest of the story, especially in other characters.

Beast dazai, as we all know, eventually takes his own life. While there is a reason as to why he did it, but it was still part of his plan from the beginning. Meaning, he knew this near fruitless pursuit would still have him unable to handle grief. It's an inherently selfish goal with an inherently selfish way out under the guise of "leaving the rest in atsushi and akutagawa's hands"

(Note: I do not mean in any way that suicide is selfish, but rather the narrative and character of dazai in beast alludes to this. Both concepts can co-exist in a fictional setting)

Despite seemingly helping other characters, beast dazai also trampled on both akutagawa and atsushi's self worth. This made them easier to manipulate for his grand plan, but ignores the damage he's done to them and other characters after his death.

For akutagawa it is the loss of his sister and convincing him of his monstrosity due to Dazai's meddling. For atsushi, someone he conditioned into severe fear and dependency on him, was left alone watching the person he cared so much for fall from the building. And yes, he left him in mori's care afterwards, but dazai should know more than anyone the damage the death of a loved one has, unless it doesn't apply to him.

In the epilogue, mori openly mourns dazai's death along with atsushi. Due to being free of his rigid responsibility as the pm boss, he had the liberty of finally being the caretaker he's always wanted to be but at the cost of the person he considered his son (in comparing dazai to atsushi, who he then calls his son + all the other stances where mori treated dazai like a son etc)

The thing that beast dazai, or dazai in general, tends to not fully understand or accept, is that he is also loved, and his death will cause others pain as well. I am by no means saying he should've thought of others before dying, but it is the lives of others that dazai from the main manga also cherishes after oda's death. Beast dazai made it his entire life goal to essentially protect oda, realize its not the only thing he's wanted from him and gave his raison d'etre a flimsy excuse of meaning in life. It's inherently selfish.

Selfishness is a common theme in bsd, and beast dazai fits right in. Atsushi's selfish desire to save people to give himself a justification to be alive, Sigma's inherently selfish nature of self preservation and identity and so on.

I've probably ranted for much longer than anticipated, but the point is: beast dazai's purpose is a selfish desire to escape pain and loss when it's crucial to the human experience. Dazai in the main manga seems to grasp this much better than beast dazai, it's something the latter is "missing", refusing to grow out of his selfishness and it makes his character more of a cautionary tale.

lol I was rereading Untold Origins, and the whole thing about Ranpo believing he's an ability user is actually so funny, cause the whole time in the present it's sort of made out to be this mystery why he thinks that, what's the deal with the glasses, why did the President, a man who is really calm and wise in our timeline, tell him he was an ability user, there must be some sort of deep explanation for this.

And then Untold Origins is just Fukuzawa have five mental breakdowns, just barely containing himself from tossing Ranpo into the ocean multiple times, and he was literally making schtuff up as he went along. He told Ranpo his "ability" could only be activated through some object, but didn't get far enough as to what it would be. Told him they were more or less "magic" when he got them for cheap from some store, literally knocked him out and went "behold, you are in a new world. Everyone else is stupid. They're babies. You and you alone are smart" and immediately gave this fourteen year old boy a god complex, and every moment afterwards he's just sitting there like "kill me, please someone kill me." Was about to tell him the truth but then Ranpo started blabbering about it to everyone and Fukuzawa was like "ok, I guess I'm taking this secret to my grave now." He's so underratedly funny.

"Atsushi is a cinnamon roll ray of sunshine."

WRONG.

Atsushi is a little sass who would do anything he needs to in order to survive. He saved dazai (when he intended to rob him )and then was upset he wouldn't thank him.

He shoved over the trash can in the second episode and basically told dazai to khs.

He had knowledge of the future, a future where four million people were going to die, and deliberately used that knowledge just to mess with Dazai because he could.

He will call you out on your flaws and judge you for them. Sure he's nice and a people pleaser a lot of the time, but inside, he's a little judgy sass and we love him all the more for it.

Hey students, here’s a pro tip: do not write an email to your prof while you’re seriously sick.

Signed, a person who somehow came up with “dear hello, I am sick and not sure if I’ll be alive to come tomorrow and I’m sorry, best slutantions, [name]”.

Love resurfacing to ask a stupid, inconsequential question but

I'm starting to think that Atsushi's real character arc is him slowly becoming more and more ok with murder.

YES. It feels like so many people entirely miss the point of Dead Apple, saying "it's not that important but Dazai and Chuuya." Like, the entire point of the movie is the fact that the whole time, Atsushi doesn't want to kill anyone. He doesn't understand why they'd have to resolve to killing, and more importantly, his power wouldn't come back to him because he hasn't truly accepted it. And then, he learns that he did kill, as a matter of fact. He killed because of the power of the tiger. He killed because he wanted to survive, something which has always been a main point of Atsushi's character. And only after that does he become ok with his power and what it did for him, and only after that is he ok with killing Shibusawa. But noooooo, the entire movie is just about that one scene.

Half the fandom overlooking Atsushis lore for that one skk scene

(Atsushi lore repost because I know how to tag now)

I find it kind of ironic that the fandom mischaracterizes Dazai in the same ways that he tends to get viewed in the series itself. For some reason, he's either just an eccentric man with a penchant for suicide, nothing more than a silly little detective who happens to also be a murderer, who cares about his friends and is always considerate towards them. or he's a demon, an awful human being with hardly any redeemable qualities and does everything for some ulterior motive, uses everyone as a pawn and cares for no one (except maybe Oda), and will never ever change. I just feel like these extremes are literally how he's viewed by different characters in the series, and I find it interesting how often I see people take one side or the other, and one of the saddest parts about his character in the series itself is that so many people don't truly understand him, and I see it so much in the fandom itself.