Chapter Text
The salty sea-air stings in Dazai’s nose as he strolled through the port. He had no reason to hurry, no matter how urgent Mori made the meeting out to be. Dazai didn’t care, and gladly would make it everyone’s problem.
Briefly, he considered ignoring the countless ‘no swimming’ signs and take a dive, but another whiff of the air made him lose the will to do so. The saltwater would only burn on his wrists and thighs, and it would be a painful few minutes until eternal sleep, which wouldn’t be worth it. Maybe a boat could hit him, and he’d die much quicker, but Dazai doubts he’s that lucky.
He spots a fisher-boat docking in. Two burly men start to unload their catch into a truck, and before Dazai could get excited about the beautiful sounds his bones would make if he threw himself in front of the vehicle, it was gone. How disappointing.
It was at that moment he noticed he had stopped walking to stare. Dazai sighed and continued his way to the headquarters.
He arrived about 20 minutes later. None of the unimportant subordinates looked his way as he entered the elevator, keeping their eyes either on the floor or anywhere else that’s not Dazai. He supposes it’s an appropriate reaction to him.
Dazai entered the elevator and pressed the button to the top floor. From the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar ginger midget make his way towards him, so he pressed the ‘close door’ button a few times. Right before his dog could enter the elevator, the doors shut, and even through the thick steel, Dazai could hear cursing, followed by what he assumes to be either a hit or a kick to the doors. As the elevator finally moved, Dazai allowed himself to chuckle.
Once the elevator door opened, Dazai heard the guards stationed at Mori’s door point their guns at him and load, ready to shoot. Upon realizing he wasn’t an intruder, the guns were lowered. Dazai entered the office without knocking and ignored Mori entirely until he stood in front of the desk.
Silence, as Mori looked at him, trying to decipher the fractions of expression Dazai was giving him. It would be amusing if Dazai wasn’t extremely annoyed by how he always seemed to use it against him, though.
Finally, Mori said something. Of course, Dazai didn’t bother listening, instead wondering if the guards would kill him if he tried attacking, or if they would just drag him to the dungeon for torture and later disposal. An interesting question, truly, but the thought of Chuuya possibly being allowed to torture him, made him not want to get the answer. Dazai tunes back in when he finally heard something that actually mattered.
“Because of that, you will be sent to the outside world to eliminate that little group. It has potential to become a dangerous foe, so I expect you to put a stop to it as quickly as possible. You leave in a week.” Mori slid a folder across the desk toward Dazai. “Details are in here. I expect proof of life every two days and a report every Sunday. Fall behind and I will assign someone to keep eyes on you at all times. Dismissed.”
Dazai grabbed the folder and quickly scanned its contents. The mission seems easy enough in theory. However, in reality, it just seemed like way too much work. Death seemed very attractive at the moment. After grabbing his shitty laptop from his office, he took a detour to the library. The WIFI is good and, because he looks like a student, he is able to get free coffee there.
Cup in hand, Dazai sits down in some corner, shielding his laptop’s screen from prying eyes. He placed a few textbooks of a randomly selected topic onto the table around his laptop, and voilà, he seemed like a non-suspicious, normal student to any other library-goer.
He sips on the coffee, and grimaces at the burning feeling that travels down his stomach. Then, he flips open the folder again and turns on his laptop.
The documents only had basic information and a minimal amount of details. How annoying. After a few minutes of wallowing in self-pity, Dazai took another sip of his hot coffee and looked at the documents again.
Mission Number:
36A491c2.
Assigned to:
DAZAI “Demon Prodigy” [REDACTED].
Mission Location:
Outside World. Japan, Musutafu.
Outside World. Japan, Musutafu: UA-Highschool.
Mission Duration:
Until enemy organization “League of Villains” is completely eradicated. No surviving members.
Mission Details:
No Pseudonym. Move into provided flat on the 21st. Application to UA-Highschool class 1A. Score 100% on the written entrance-exam and any other schoolwork, but do not reveal your whole intellect. Entrance exam is on the 26th. Locate and eliminate enemy organization. Be a convincing student. Dispose of anyone who suspects anything.
Additional Info:
Proof of life every two days. Reports every Sunday. If any of those do not arrive at [REDACTED] at a time of 23:59 latest, a supervisor will be assigned.
DO NOT SHARE CONTENTS | BURN DOCUMENT AFTER READING | COPY 1/1 - NO DUPLICATES
After reading over what little information was on the paper a few more times and memorizing all of it, Dazai got out a lighter and burned the paper. He knows the smoke detector is by the entrance, so a little fire wouldn’t set it off. He held onto the slowly disappearing paper until the tiny flames licked at his fingers, making him drop it. The flame went out and Dazai brushed the ashes off his coat and onto the floor.
With that out of the way, Dazai began researching digitally. Surprisingly, a lot of information was public, down to a hero’s face, alias, ‘quirk’, address of their agency, and sometimes their secondary workplace. No wonder heroes are so bad at what they do, any villain could easily access all of this. The database of the supposedly prestigious hero-school, UA, was slightly better in terms of security, but the lack of a second, stronger firewall and IP tracking of anyone who breached the first one made that a child’s play as well. He didn’t need to put in at least a fraction of effort, and it was quite honestly under-stimulating to him. Dazai hoped the school itself would be a bit more challenging, but he doubts that.
After a few minutes of snooping through files, he knew the basics about each staff member, mentally noting down anyone that might become a problem. He’d have to be extra careful with the principal, Nedzu, in particular, if it ever comes to an interaction with him. His quirk, High Specs, will definitely be annoying to deal with. Dazai hates to think about it, but until proven otherwise, he’ll have to assume the principal’s intellect beats his own.
Briefly, he wonders how a chess game with Nedzu might go, but he stops entertaining the idea. Chess can reveal a lot about someone, and if that creature really is smarter than him, Dazai could unknowingly spill delicate information.
After another ten minutes or so, Dazai had finished reading what the entrance exam would entail. The written exam will be a few pages long, with an array of questions about different subjects, the boring stuff. He knows he won’t have any problems with writing it. The physical exam, however, could prove to be a bit more difficult. He’ll have to destroy robots, and since his ability isn’t exactly suited against machines, Dazai will have to be creative. He had no doubts that there will be another way to get points as well, and it felt good to see his theory be validated a few sentences later. From the looks of it, the entrance exam will be easy.
He’s not even annoyed that it’s in one week from today.
Dazai shut his laptop and gulped down the rest of his coffee. He was done for today. Despite the caffeine and lackluster stimulation— if you could even call it stimulation— he felt beyond exhausted. Dazai is sure he’s gonna pass out in some alleyway and get freed of his valuables as soon as he set foot outside the library. He sighed and got out his phone.
“Ah, Daz-”
“If there isn’t a car to pick me up at my location in the next five minutes, I will plant a bomb somewhere in your office.” With that, he hung up, leaving Mori to either comply or take the risk and assume Dazai is joking.
Ten minutes later, Dazai was back in his shipping container, staring at the ceiling. The air was stuffy and unnaturally damp for the inside of a metal box, and Dazai wondered if he could cultivate some mold to grow on the floor, walls, or ceiling. The bare mattress was uncomfortable and when Dazai turned to lay on his side, he could smell the alcohol he spilled on it a few days ago.
Dazai closed his eyes and waited for sleep to consume him.