Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sleep usually comes later than tonight. Usually 5 AM, around a few minutes before my parents wake up. Today was a rare time that I actually felt sleepy upon retiring to my bed. I didn't even go on Tumblr before my eyes started hurting!

I had slipped into sleep at an indeterminate time, probably before 12 at the least, and I didn't even wake up until what seemed early in the morning. Nothing looked off at all until I took in my surroundings.

A space full of other children, which was rocking back and forth.

My first thought is naturally that my fears of the dark where valid all along and I've been kidnapped. My second thought is that there's no way I slept past being carried out of my bed. The last thought of normalcy I have is that there is no way I'm on a ship because I would definitely have woken to an air horn when it went off.

My next thought is that normal humans do not have orange or yellow or pink or purple eyes, and the children around me has those eyes.

"Uh..." My voice sounded weird. Okay...this has to be some freak dream that I remember in weird detail. "Wher-" one of the other kids clamp a hand over my mouth. Okay, point taken, brain. This is definitely a nightmare. Why is it always the nightmares that have me remembering them?

But the longer I was there, everything felt realer. My surroundings didn't change even a bit, I could move and look around and nothing warped.

So it's real. 

I somehow am inside an enclosed space full of children much younger and older than me, on a ship, with unnatural eye colors, and somehow did not get woken up in the events that took place before I got to this point.

I pride myself on having very low emotional responses to things, but right now I am so terrified I can't move.

Some of, if not all of, these children have families. I have a family. And we're on a ship. I'm afraid of being stuck in the air and the sea, it's why I hate airplanes.

What if we fucking sink?! No, scratch that, what if we get to where we need to be and are beat and raped or killed and have our organs sold?! All four???

My muscles hurt from the anxiety. I have to be the youngest out of the teens, at the very least. The oldest looks 17 at the most, the youngest is the age of my surrogate cousin, which is barely toddler aged. This is bad this is so bad!

One of the younger ones closest to me, half my age, shifted closer and put their teddy next to me. Whee they managed to hold onto it while they were being kidnapped I have no clue but I take it and hold it tightly.

No one speaks, but we're all scared. All of us have audible heartbeats, even the smaller ones don't make noise. I don't know how they managed to learn to not speak. I'm not sure I want to find out.

I don't even know how much time passed, I just know that by the time we seemed to have spent at least what must be a night in that crapped cage place, we are docked. No one has been fed, and as far as I can see, every single one of us 20 something children are severely malnourished. I'm used to this from having little to no concept of hunger, but the small children are definitely scaring me like this.

The girl who gave me the bear, who whispered that her name was Cassidy before a boy covered her mouth, did not let me give her the bear back. I didn't know why, but I clung to it. I'd checked that my bracelets and necklaces where on me, and thankfully my orange and black bracelet had been, but nothing else was. I didn't understand.

The thing that brought me out of terror, or maybe plunged me further into it, was the sound of men shouting in...English? No. No, it was not English, but I understood it like English. That hardly made sense. It could be Dutch, the languages are similar in written form. But that hardly meant anything.

Regardless the shouting men terrified everyone, especially when we felt our space being hosted by machines. Now that that has happened, I realized we were in a cargo container. Everyone who could still have energy to scream screamed. I was one of those who didn't have the energy, so I neglected to do so and instead hugged the bear to my person. 

No one was heard over the machine. We were placed down on a dock likely.

Now with the noises around, the screamers started actually speaking.

Questions. Terrified siblings talking to eachother. Items exchanged. Cassidy was quiet beside me, probably following mine and a few others' examples. She even slid a hand in mine. I let her have it.

The door to the container opened roughly, like it had been retched off its hinges by something. In stepped men in black, holding guns. I couldn't even gather ethnicity from the faces because they were masked.

A voice spoke. It was harsh. I don't understand what was happening, but I got the feeling we had better listen, if the men weren't enough motivation.

"All of you, up!" 

We obeyed. I stood shaky, making an effort not to fall. I hadn't stood in so long my eyes were clouding over with static, which was probably the case for others.

Shots rang out, everyone froze. I felt something fall out of my hand, and I felt something land on me. I did not look at what I was sure was the dead body of a young child next to me.

The consequences of not following an order was getting shot in sight. There's no way I'm making it out of this place without being injured.

"Children ages 10 to 17, follow me. The rest of you stay behind, you're of no use for us until the buyers get here." I immediately went along with the rest of the age group the voice had told to follow.

I didn't recognize anything. It looked...weirdly Asian. I can't be in Asia though. Probably. I don't even know how long I was in that container.

I managed to keep up with the back of the group. Thank God no one was running, I'd be shot dead already. 

The voice we were following stopped. We were in an alleyway. Something itched in the base of my skull. It whispered at me to run. Every inch of me wanted to run.

I probably would comply if I had the faith in myself to evade these people and their guns.

We followed the person into a room and were spread out. I finally got a look at the person who brought us here. Blue hair, black eyes. Hunched over.

Unnatural all over. This entire thing is crazy.

I couldn't even get a glimpse of the room. So many people where there.

Before the man could speak, the sound of a door banging open was heard. No. It didn't bang open. It was destroyed.

In stepped a familiar group of three.

Oh. Oh you're fucking shitting me right now.

The man who had blown the door off did not get to speak before bullets ran down. The teen next to him stopped the bullets.

Okay. Okay that's the Black fucking Lizard. What the fuck.

Chaos quickly struck. The thing telling me to run was heeded. I ran out the way I came in, even though I had no sense of direction or anything else. I just ran.

Of course, the running did not last long. Things weren't flat here like in the state I live in. 

I'm in BSD. Some-fucking-how I am in Bungou Stray Dogs. That made no sense. Science was not made to open fucking portals. So there's no fucking way this happened.

But everything feels real still. This is so insane. I still can't breathe right and I'm still holding the stuffed bear somehow.

I don't get that far into thinking before I hear running behind me. I hardly get to react before I'm pushed to the ground.

"Sorry about that, kid," A familiar voice. No...not a familiar voice? "Can't have someone escaping."

I struggle, I really try, but something horribly sharp stabs my neck and I am knocked unconscious.

Chapter Text

My head hurt. I figured it must be from laying curled up like I usually do, but then I remembered that I was not in my world.

The surface I was laying in was stiff, like a hospital bed. Okay. So that meant I was probably in an infirmary.

Maybe the Agency? But the person who stabbed me in the neck with a needle didn't sound or act like any of the main cast. So hell if I knew where I was.

I relaxed my muscles at the sound of footsteps. A door opened soon after. It wasn't the door to the room I was in, based on distance. Why I knew that, I don't know. I didn't even realize you could hear past two doors and likely multiple walls. Is that some sort of anime logic?

There was the sound of humming. It sounded a lot like some sort of song I should know. Unfortunately before I remembered the song, the door to the room opened and the footsteps got louder before they stopped. The humming came to a pause in the seconds it would take someone to study the room.

"I don't think sleeping people are typically that tense, dear."

Okay. The voice was speaking English, and not the language from earlier that had sounded English to my ears. And it was female. There wasn't any female doctors in BSD who spoke English cannonically. This whole situation was so odd.

I opened an eye, and found myself staring at a woman with curly red hair thrown into a braid. Her eyes were black.

Oh.

Oh that was one of my OCs. I'm officially in a purgatory.

"Who...Who are you? Where am I?" My voice sounded weird. Then again I haven't spoken in a long time. A day at the very least. Who knew how long I'd been knocked out, considering that needle probably stabbed directly into a vessel with the way I passed out so immediately.

The doctor smiled, eyes crinkling. There wasn't any sort of warmth in them, just like I'd designed them to be. 

"You can call me Doctor Plath. Or Plath-sensei, whichever one works." She said lightly, tapping at the little badge on her pocket. "As for where you are, well...I'm afraid I can't say until you're brought in for questioning!"

I nodded like I was trying to remember that, sitting up quietly.

She asked me multiple questions, standard things you would be asked in a doctor office. My name was last on the question list for whatever reason.

"My name is-" Wait. What name am I going to chose? I'm guessing I got isekaied as myself, but I haven't looked in a mirror yet so I can't even make a correct assumption. I didn't even know if I'd been Isekaied into one of my OCs bodies. "Actually hold on, can I go to the bathroom?"

Thankfully I was let to the bathroom. I closed the door and looked in the mirror.

Light brown, wavy hair that just swepped my shoulders, bangs that hung and obscured my eyes if I didn't push them away. When I did do that, it revealed my eyes were light yellow. My features placed me at around 15, possibly 16.

Oh, so I had indeed been put into an OC's body. Okay, so I knew my name wasn't even made yet, because this was a relatively new OC that I had literally been drawing on my phone the day before I got out in here.

Meaning I can just use a name I want. I breathed a sigh of relief. Great, I won't fuck that up if they find any files on me. My body. This body? Whatever.

The most important thing was to find out the timeline. Typically all those fanfictions ran with the first episode, I know my first one did at least. But seeing as I wasn't by Atsushi's side or even in his place, I'd have to assume I don't have an accurate timeline yet.

If Plath was a doctor for the Mafia, and she certainly seemed like she was considering the infrastructure was similar to the office I had designed, then that narrows it to shortly before Dazai defects to the main timeline. That's roughly 4 years, meaning I have a...fuck that I'm not doing math. There's a relative chance that if I meet another OC I'll be able to narrow it down some more.

I walked out of the bathroom after turning the water on and washing my hands. Just in case. I can't afford to be suspicious yet.

"Alright, are you comfortable with answering the last questions?" The black eyed woman asked, smiling at me as I sat back into the bed.

"Yeah." Okay. Here goes, just say a name I want to pick. "Uh, my name's Koriyama Fuyuko." There, that's the name of my OC from a different fandom. It would work for now. I think.

"Alright, Koriyama-chan," a scribbling of pen as she wrote my name. "And do you know what an Ability is?"

I did. But I might need to hide that until I figure out if I have an Ability or not. My body did, or at least the OC did. I might not have that if my mind replaced theirs.

"No, what is it?" Okay, safe route. Good.

"Well, an Ability, or Skill depending on the country, is basically a special tool. It's like an energy. Power." She said, and I felt my skin tingle in anxiety at the feeling of something tugging at my brain. I made her Ability dangerous for a reason, for her survival. And for more world building. If she used it on me I'd surely be unable to fight against it. It might not work on me, because this OC wasn't abusive. Their backstory was non-existent. That was probably why whatever got me into this universe chose this body. But still...

"So like...comics?" I asked, hearing her laugh and the tension leave the air. Safe.

"I suppose, yes."

Before the questions could continue, a knock sounded on the door. The tension returned, but it was different. More...darker. 

The door was opened, and in stepped a familiar OC.

Taeko.

Great, she was wearing her usual clothes, which put the timeline either a year before or during the main events.

"Lady Ozaki-sama and the Boss requested I bring the survivor to them for the typical business, Plath-sensei." The 17 year old said blankly, sharp eyes trained on the older.

Typical business. That meant a lot of things.

"Of course! I just finished the questions anyways." 

I acted nervous, mostly because I was. Of course, the nerves were also mild excitement, even though I was definitely fearful. 

Even with the new body, I still had my own muscle memory mixed in with it's own. If the business was getting me to join the Mafia, that meant I'd have to bury myself to deal with the terror and horror. If the business was letting me leave, which is highly unlikely considering I created this universe and also influenced the personalities to my own interpretation, that made me watched and tested.

Taeko waved her hand in my face. "Up. This is an urgency, girl. I will carry you myself if you delay me."

I quickly stood and walked with her. She'd use an elevator, like any sane person. The building was huge after all.

"My name is Arishima Taeko," she said, as we entered the means of transportation. "You may call me whatever you prefer, although the go to for people around here are either Lady or my title of Sub-Executive. Do you understand?"

I nodded, thinking. She gained the title of Lady after she was promoted, which wasn't long before main. Meaning the timeline was narrowed down to at least a few months before Atsushi finds Dazai drowning. 5? Maybe 6? 4, even?

I thought about this all the way to the double doors that marked our arrival to our destination. It then occured to me that two of my favorites are behind the doors. I should try not to freak out. Or maybe just freak out in my head? No, they'd probably notice...sigh.

Taeko knocked on the door, hand going to her katana. The warning was clear. A wonderfully familiar voice said to enter, so she pulled open the door and walked in, me trailing after. I felt a cold thing wrap around my wrist, and glanced down. Ah, a shadow bracelet. It was another warning to remain civil or my head would be chopped off.

I looked back up and immediately reminded myself to not smile at the pleasing sight. It would not be smart to smile at the boss of the Port Mafia while I'm actively being assessed for suspicion.

But his hair looked so soft- no. Nope. I'm strong. I'm strong. I'm strong. I will not fangirl.

This got worse when I noticed movement in my peripheral and glanced to the side. Noooooo Elise is adorable my life is so unfair!!!

As I actively withered inside, my attention was drawn back to the desk at the feeling of the bracelet tightening around my wrist.

"It came to my attention, a few days ago, that a cargo ship full of children and teens was being brought onto Japan's waters," and I'm officially fucking dead he's so pretty what the fuck. "You were one of the children on that ship, correct?"

I nodded, partially because I did not trust myself to open my mouth without squealing, and also because he was surprisingly intimidating enough that I didn't feel safe speaking. Then again that usually happens when I'm in front of an adult that's behaving seriously.

"Do you remember the people who took you?"

Fuck that required more than a nod or a shake. I took a breath. "No- Ahem, no, sir. I think I got drugged, though, because I woke up only a few days before the cargo was transported to its destination." I said, trying to be loud enough to be heard.

"Hm..." Kouyou hummed, which brought my attention from Mori to her. She stood to his left, as did Taeko, although Taeko stood considerably closer as I usually had her.

"If you don't mind me asking," Mori nodded when she started, so she turned her gaze to me. "You have no memory before waking up?"

It was considerably easier to speak now that I had already opened my mouth. The bracelet tightened again, making my fingers twitch. 

"I remember falling asleep in my bed and waking up surrounded by kids." I confirmed. It wasn't a lie, it just omitted the knowledge of being in a different world. It was highly possible to be kidnapped while sleeping. 

"But so late into the transportation...they must have drugged her quite heavily, right, Mori-sensei?" Taeko questioned, having spoken for the first time being in the room.

"Yes. It's unusual that she's even alive right now, to be so drugged. It implies they didn't care if any of the people being trafficked lived or not."

"Perhaps they wished to kill them and sell the organs?"

It seems they were having a conversation amongst the three of them, so I tuned it out and looked out the window. The sun was setting. I still had no idea what day it was, but at least I had a general sense of the timeline. My mind went to Atsushi. He must be being abused right now. Kyouka was employed with the Mafia right now, but her kill count was a mystery to me. It was in between 16 and 32, at the least. The Agency could be taking a case right now. 

I felt my clothes get tugged on, so I looked down. Elise was showing me a drawing.

A stick figure with brown hair, clearly intended to be me, was surrounded by red. It wasn't drawn to come from me, so that eased the anxiety off of being potentially killed in this universe. But it confused me. There was just red lines all around me, like circles. What was she trying to show me?

Unfortunately, the tightening of the shadows got me from my thoughts, and I looked up. The three where finished conversing. Elise huffed and wandered over to the three.

"We wanted to give you a choice, girl." Kouyou started, smiling at me. "We can use our resources to get you to your country safely, or you can work with us."

"If you chose to return, which I understand, you would have to keep contact with Plath-sensei for your safety and also in case you try and dig any deeper than what you've seen in this building. I'm sure you've met her?" Mori picked up were Kouyou left off, not even letting me think. "On the matter of you staying and working for us, I will assign one of my Executives or Sub-Executives to mentor you. You will have all the necessities you wish, and anything you want within reason."

Leave or stay? Staying had appeal, but if I left I could witness more of the world of BSD.

The moment I thought over leaving, the base of my neck felt like it got stabbed, and the back of my mind screamed at me. It wasn't a subconscious, it felt more like it was another person screaming at me.

Was this a shared body situation? Was the OC I inhabited simply pushed to the very fringe of my head? That was the only thing that made sense.

It got hard to breath for a second.

"I'll stay." I blurted, and the pressures released. I tried my best to not let my relief show.

The two adults seemed to lighten up instantly, and the tension of three Abilities ready to commit a crime seemed to disappear as well. The air seemed less heavy, the room brighter. I could breath.

Taeko kept her face neutral, although pinched at one of her sleeves. I felt the bracelet release and blood flow to my hand.

Mori and Kouyou had me wait outside for a little, to converse on whom to give me to for training.

I took this time to examine my clothes, see if the body I was stuck in had anything on them to play with out of boredom. The pockets of the dark blue jacket had none, although it had really pretty flower details on it. Lobelias if I wasn't mistaken. Unfortunately since the pants had no pockets that meant there wasn't anything to do.

"You're new." I tensed minutely at the new voice, turning my head to the corner.

There stood a young boy holding a doll who looked exactly like him with button eyes, like in Coraline. Oh no, an OC from my drafts. It seemed like they were running around everywhere. Then again that's on me for inserting so many.

"I am." I said, watching Yoshiro approach me.

If I remembered from the lore I half-made, he was a bargaining chip under Kouyou as a debt from his mother, who was a courtesan. If he was alive, that meant I was 2 months before the events of the main timeline, because he was executed around that time for giving information to a government person.

"What's your name?" He asked, pretending to be his doll by grabbing its threaded locks of white hair and mimming.

"Koriyama Fuyuko," I said, smiling. "Yours?"

"My name's Yoshiro Jun, this is my little me!" The boy said as himself, green eyes sparkling in amusement.

Before I could talk more, one of the men in suits approached and tapped me on the shoulder. 

"You're wanted back in to office, kiddo." The man said, ignoring or not noticing the way I bristled a bit at both the tap and the name he called me. Must be muscle memory from the body.

I got up and reentered the office, stopping at roughly where I'd stood earlier.

This time was easier to breath. I was informed of being placed under Kouyou, which came as no surprise. Flowers on my jacket, that was symbolism for the choice. I said there were no complaints, and so I was taken from to office by Kouyou.

Welcome to the Port Mafia, I guess...