The introduction...
The club music was loud and the people were even louder. By 1 am almost everyone was drunk, high, or both, except for one man in the corner. He was sitting at the edge of the bar, blending in just enough that no one noticed him despite his long trench coat being a sharp contrast to the normal club-goers. Dazai Osamu had somehow found himself in LA, at a bar, watching for some american girl. Suddenly, the lights went out, and cheers erupted from the crowd. A spotlight suddenly flickered on and Dazai sat up straighter, looking towards the center of the bar. A man was sitting at a grand piano, a whiskey glass sitting next to him as he began to play. The whole bar was in a trance, listening to the music and cheering the man on as he harshly pounded on the piano keys. Dazai was just as entranced as the rest of the patrons, until Chuya appeared, shouting over the music “Look what I got us!”
Dazai looked back, rolling his eyes as Chuya handed him a bottle of beer. He quietly asked “Who gave you beer for free?”
Chuya nodded over to a group of girls sitting at a table close to the balcony, chuckling “They left it when they went to dance, they’re not gonna miss it anyways, they’re too drunk to notice” Dazai gave him a suspicious glance and took a careful sip, hoping Chuya was right. “Hey creepy, has your lurking spotted her yet?”
“No, are you sure this club is on the list?”
“Yes, I’m sure Dazai. Why does Mori even want us on this?”
“He wants us out of Yokohama for a business deal. That, and an ability user outside of Yokohama is enough of a reason to send somebody.”
“Well duh, we just don’t seem like the normal choice, why would a random american be worth our ‘expertise’.” Dazai sighed in agreement as the song ended, and the man stood up off the piano bench, walking into the crowd with people trailing behind him.
Dazai began staring again, asking Chuya “Who is that?”
Chuya looked over Dazais shoulder, saying “Oh, I think that’s the owner of the club, he has some weird name. Daten-something, I think it was in the file.”
Dazai nodded absently and watched as the man smiled and joked with the people flocking around him. That was until the man looked up, seeing Dazai, and locked eyes. Dazai looked away, cursing under his breath “Fuck.”
Chuya looked down, asking “What- Oh fucking hell.” As the owner began walking towards them. The man began brushing off the people flocking to him, walking to the other end of the bar to stand behind Dazai, who did not dare to turn around. Chuya stared directly at Dazai, avoiding eye contact with the tall man behind them.
The man’s voice immediately broke the tension, saying “Well hello, you’re new around here.” Dazai glanced at Chuya, both of them thinking “There’s no way he knows everyone", before Dazai slowly turned around in the chair and Chuya stood up straighter, scooting slightly closer to Dazai. The owner turned to the crowd gathering around them, calling out “You were all amazing, so our wonderful dj will be taking song requests for the next five minutes!” The crowd absently cheered and flooded to the opposite end of the room, shouting out songs at the slightly overwhelmed dj. The owner turned back and looked to the bartender, calling “Maze, three whiskeys!” Dazai gave a nervous look to Chuya, who returned the look with even more worry. The bartender placed the glasses down and the owner reached right between the boys, breaking their stare and forcing them apart.
Dazai was the first to reach for a glass, pulling it close to him and looking up at the owner as he waited for the man to speak. Chuya reached but didn’t pick up, unsure if he was really allowed to drink it or if the stranger was testing them. The owner put out his hand for Dazai, confidently saying “Lucifer Morningstar, it’s nice to meet you,”
Dazai shook the man’s hand as Chuya stayed frozen, softly saying “Dazai Osamu”
Lucifer turned to Chuya, asking “And you are?”
Chuya snapped out of it, nervously saying “Uh, Chuya Nakahara, nice to meet you.”
Lucifer laughed, clinking glasses with Dazai, calling “Cheers, kids!”
Dazai and Chuya glanced at each other, coming to a silent realization that they were not going to get thrown out for drinking underage, and Chuya scrambled for his glass. They both looked back at Lucifer and Dazai quietly said “Kenpai, sir.” Before both he and Chuya finished off their glasses in one gulp.
Lucifer gave them a slightly confused look, as the two “men” were obviously teenagers, but drank like sailors. He leaned down slightly, looking between them as he hushed “I know you two are underage, but humor me one question and you can stay.” Chuya immediately pulled away and pressed his back against the bar, watching for an opening to pull Dazai away. Dazai stared back at the man, waiting. Lucifer smiled lightly and looked between the boys, asking “What is it you desire…”
Both boys remained quiet for a long time until Chuya suddenly loosened up, dreamily saying “A cute puppy,” Dazai immediately burst into laughter and Lucifer gave him a concerned look, glancing up at Maze who was also freaking out internally. Lucifer looked back down at Dazai and then glanced at Chuya, who was blushing and responding to Dazai “Shut up, asshole, leave me alone!”
Lucifer roughly grabbed the boy’s shoulders, saying in a low tone “You two need to go upstairs, now, Maze will escort you.” Maze shot him a nasty look as Dazai calmy shrugged and Chuya glanced at Dazai nervously.
