It was a regular Friday for the hell’s hounds. There was no big plan to cause chaos so the daily meeting was mostly Dazai rambling and the rest of the gang talking amongst themselves or doing their homework Blaise was not one of them. He may have looked distracted but he was hearing and processing every word that Dazai said. Dazai however didn’t know this and was talking about anything that came to his mind, no filter. Somehow he got on the topic of Mori, Blaise had always wanted to know why Dazai would refer to the man as ‘slimey’ and other petty insults. Blaise’s thoughts had made him zone out and he missed a bit of the sentence but he made sure to latch on to the rest of his words
“Yeah, god, I hate when Mori makes me come with him for bonding time. It always makes me feel disgusting after but he says that he does it ‘cause he loves me, so I don't know. He usually calls for bonding time when he’s angry, that always hurts and I sometimes can't walk right after. I used to end up crying after but I've gotten used to it by now. I still hate it but he always says he loves me after so I can't really complain. Sometimes he wants to have bonding time after I've done something good as well, he calls it my prize. When he’s happy it doesn’t hurt as much but it still makes me feel dirty for some reason. I always feel dirty now, I can always feel his hands, even when he’s a continent away, isn't that funny? I don't know why I feel dirty after, Mori wouldn’t hurt me if I didn't deserve it right? I must just be weird.”
Blaise had alway felt that Dazai wasn’t safe at home but this just confirmed it. Best case scenario he was being abused. That was far from good but it was much better than the other thing that popped into Blaise’s head.
Was Dazai’s dad raping him?
No, it couldn’t be But it would make sense
The way Dazai craves touch but is afraid of it
The way Dazai scrubs his skin raw whenever he gets the chance.
The way he would always say he felt dirty
The way he would grimace when anyone told him ‘I love you’
Now that he was looking at it, there were a lot of signs that had been overlooked. This was the last piece of the puzzle that tied together so much about why Dazai was the way he was Blaise let his thoughts spiral like this until the end of the meeting, when there was only a few minutes left until curfew, once the rest of the hell’s hounds had left Blaise approached Dazai
“Blaise? What are you still doing here?” Dazai asked, scared of the concerned look on his best-friend’s face. “If you are just waiting to escort me back to the dorms, I'm sleeping in here tonight.”
“Uh, no. I wanted to talk to you.” Blaise began. Dazai nodded, to show he was paying attention, and began to clean up the gang room. “Um, today during the meeting, you were talking, you probably thought no one was listening, but i was. The part I wanted to talk to you about was when you started talking about Mori and his “bonding time”’ Blaise put that last bit in heavy air quotes. Dazai dropped the books he was holding onto the table and looked up at Blaise, terrified. “And I just want you to know that what Mori is doing to you isn’t normal. I-” Blaise went to continue but was quickly cut off by Dazai
“What do you mean? Mori says he loves me so he must mean it. Even if it hurts. He’s doing this because he loves me. He wouldn’t hurt me on purpose” He said, frantic and confused.
“Dazai…What that man does to you is not love. It is abuse.”
“No, no no no no no no. No! It’s not abuse. Mori is annoying at most, not abusive. Right? He’s not abusive, right? Blaise, please tell me you’re joking. No. You’re joking, you have to be. You people at Hogwarts are so soft.” Dazai said, backing himself into a corner. He reminded Blaise of a feral prey animal who had been caught.
“Dazai, it’s not just Hogwarts. Anyone, anywhere, would say that what Mori is doing is abuse. It is not love.” Blaise slowly reached out to Dazai. When Dazai didn’t flinch away from the touch, Blaise slowly pulled the smaller one into a hug. “This is love. I love you Dazai.”
Dazai started crying. This wasn’t what he had been taught love was but he hoped that Blaise wasn’t lying. This kind of love felt nice. It was like lying in an open field, being warmed by the sun. Not like Mori’s love. Mori’s love felt like falling onto the cold stone floor of a dingy basement.
Blaise pulled Dazai closer and began whispering reassurances into his ear. Blaise pulled the two of them onto the couch and let Dazai sob into his shoulder. The two of them stayed like this for an hour or two before Blaise felt Dazai go limp and begin snoring softly. Blaise laid Dazai down on the couch and tried to untangle himself, the only response being a small whine that came from the smaller. Blaise let himself be pulled back into the pile of cloth and pillow. Blaise laid down on the couch, right next to Dazai, and wrapped him in a hug. He ran his fingers through Dazai’s hair, undoing any knots, and let himself drift off to sleep.
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When Dazai woke up he saw that Blaise was sitting at the desk of the gang’s room, reading a transfiguration textbook. Blaise looked up and noticed the fact that Dazai had sat up and was waking up, then bookmarked his page and set the book down. “Oh, you woke up! To get right to the point, I am going to tell Snape about what you said. I’m sorry if you don't want me to but I need to make sure you’re safe. What I want to know is if you want to be there. You could explain it yourself, you could sit there and say nothing, or you could not be there at all. It’s up to you.” Blaise asked, trying to make Dazai feel as safe as possible with his current situation
“I’ll go with you. I can’t promise I'll talk very much but I'll correct you if you say anything that’s incorrect. I don’t know what I'll do without Mori, I can't imagine a life without having known him. I still want to protect him. A part of me, the worst goddamn part of me, still believes that what he did was love, I miss him.” Dazai said, refusing to meet Blaise’s eyes
“Dazai, even though he hurt you, it’s normal that you would miss him. You grew up with this man, you grew up learning that what he did was love. No one should blame you for the fact that you are traumatized and saw what that man did as love” Blaise responded.
He then stood and walked over to and sat next to Dazai, placing a hand onto his back. “Whenever you are ready we can begin walking over to Professor Snape’s office.”
“We can start heading that way. Just, take the longest route possible. Please.” Dazai said “I need a bit to collect myself.”
“I understand, if you don't want to go you don't have to. I wouldn’t blame you” Blaise commented
“No. I do. I still don't believe I was abused, but I trust you. If it turns out I was abused, I want justice.” Dazai finalized and began walking toward the door. “Well, lead the way” He said holding the door open for Blaise
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“... I was afraid of something like this. I will inform the headmaster of this situation and if he refuses to do anything I will take this into my own hands.” Snape said “I am truly sorry that you had to go through that Mr. Dazai. Do you have any other family that could take you into their custody?” He waited until Dazai responded by shaking his head before continuing “Hm, well either Madam Pomfrey and I would be willing to adopt you if you are sure you have no one else.”
Dazai chuckled, “Heh, that would be nice. I don't know which one of you I would choose to live with though.”
“Hm, We could try and get shared custody, would you like that?” Snape noted
“Yeah, I would like that.”
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It was noon, other than to talk to Snape, neither Blaise or Dazai had left the gang room. The two of them were sitting in comfortable silence, both reading their own books. Dazai was the one to break the silence. “Blaise, last night… You said you loved me. What did you mean by that?” He asked
“I meant what I said. I love you. I love you as a friend, but also as more than a friend. I know you don’t know what romantic love is, but if you are ok with it, I would like to show you. So, Dazai, would you be my boyfriend? If you don’t, I understand, I would still like to be your friend.” Blaise stated
“Yes. I'll be your boyfriend. I can’t promise I’ll be good at the whole ‘Romance’ thing, but I'll try for you.” Dazai muttered out “I love you Blaise. Uhm, if you want, you can call me Osamu.” Dazai stuttered Blaise didn’t know much about Japanese culture but he knew that calling someone by their given name was a privilege given to only those who are close to the person. He was glad that Dazai- Osamu, had trusted him enough for that.
“I love you too Osamu”
(Three weeks later)
“Mr. Dazai, I need to see you in my office.” Snape said during breakfast that morning “It’s important.”
“Uh, ok” Dazai stood from his spot at the Gryffindor table, looking across the table at Blaise, who seemed just as confused. He began following Snape till they arrived at his office like said. Snape motioned for Dazai to sit in the seat across from him before speaking
“Dazai, Mori Ougai has been arrested. Were you aware of his position as the boss of the mafia? Either way, would you like to testify against him in court?”
“Yes. I was aware of his Mafia affiliations, and yes I would like to testify against him. When is his court date?”
“His court day is next week, I have talked to the Headmaster and you have been allowed to go if wanted, and you are allowed to take one of your friends as emotional support.”
“I would like to take Blaise please.”
“Of course. I will inform the head master, i’m leaving it up to you to inform Mr. Zabini. You have been excused from school until the trial. I would suggest you get some notes and talking points ready.” And with that Dazai nodded and left. He wandered the halls and made a mental list of all of Mori’s crimes of the top of his head
- Terrorism
- Murder
- Abuse (Child abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, animal abuse)
- Pedophillia
- Rape
- Kidnapping
- Racketeering
- Organized crime
- Conspiracy
- Blackmail
- Abuse of power
- Mafia Affiliation
- Attempted murder
- Suicide Baiting
He pulled a notebook out of the messenger bag hanging at his side and began writing all of this down along with some examples of each crime he had listed. Once he felt satisfied with what he had written he tried to write himself a script for what he would say during the trial, how he would answer questions during the cross examination, etc. Mori, in theory, could get a death sentence, but knowing the Japanese legal system it was unlikely. The court system in Japan usually saves the death sentence for repeat offenders. He had a hand in the Japanese government, it was unlikely he would get more than 30 years. How did he even get arrested? The police in Yokohama fear him, they wouldn’t touch him. How did he end up getting arrested? He needed to know the answer. He turned around and walked back to Snape’s office, stuffing the paper into his bag. He knocked on Snape’s door but didn’t wait for an answer before bursting in and expressing his concerns about the police and legal system in Yokohama
“Ah, yes. At first we tried to have him arrested by the police in Yokohama, but, as you predicted, they did nothing. So we brought our concerns to the Japanese government, not just the Yokohama government. Because of Mori’s influence on the Japanese people we have worked with the government to have the trial here in London instead.” Snape said, grading papers from last week’s quiz “Are you sure you want to testify? I understand if it would be too stressful for you. There are other people testifying, it’s not necessary for you to be there.” Snape said, finally looking up from the tests to try and gauge his student’s reaction.
“No, no I do want to testify, I just was concerned about that one thing. Buh-bye then!” Dazai responded, returning to his playful, bubbly persona before skipping out the room Now that the trial was going to be in England things would be a bit more fair. No one there would know him and the legal system here was a bit more strict and unforgiving, it was more likely that Mori would get a longer sentence now.
Day of the trial
Blaise was sitting in back of the courtroom, in between Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey. There was an empty seat separating him from Snape where Dazai was supposed to be sitting. He had just stood to walk to the stand and give his testimony. As he was walking past the defendants table he made a point to turn his face away and close his eyes. He stood at the stand and began speaking. Many things that got brought up were things that Dazai had already told Blaise about, but some were new. He gave his entire testimony with a straight face. When it came time for the cross examination, Dazai kept his story straight and answered any questions that Mori’s lawyer would ask as precisely and succinctly as possible.
When Dazai was done with his testimony he sat back down next to Blaise and grabbed his hand. Mori was glaring daggers at Dazai and smirking, mouthing something in Japanese that Blaise couldn’t understand. Dazai averted his eyes and looked back over at Blaise. The Jury was being escorted out of the room to decide their verdict. Once the jury sat back down and announced their verdict, the Judge thought for a bit before saying Mori’s sentencing.
“Ougai Mori has been given a life sentence with no chance of parole.”