the beauty of water: deep end | o. dazai ✔

chapter eight.

Chuuya looked between the two, letting out a groan as he continued walking down the stairs. "You guys can do whatever once we're out of here. Just try not to make goo-goo eyes right in front of me."

(Y/n) felt her cheeks heat up as Dazai winked, turning away and walking in front of Chuuya. She gripped the end of her jacket, letting out a breath through her nose before following the two.

Yeah. We can talk about it after we're done.

She lit up an oil lantern as they reached the bottom of the stairs, stepping over a couple large branches as they reached the bottom. There, in the middle of the room and strapped up with thick branches to a tree, was Q.

In a nearby chair, sat the doll that had started all of the madness. It was almost like it was watching their every move and listening to their conversation with sadistic glee.

"There Q is," Dazai stated as they stood in front of them. "The sleeping beauty awaiting their savior."

"Sleeping beauty, huh?"

More like Maleficent if you ask me, she thought as she leaned against the railing, watching as Dazai asked for Chuuya's knife.

He then said after Chuuya replied with a "huh?!", "Oh, wait, I swiped it off of you earlier, just in case." He held pulled out the knife from wherever he was hiding it within his sling or coat.

"You..." Chuuya growled, (Y/n) holding back a snicker at the small interaction.

Dazai stepped up to the unconscious Q, holding the knife to their neck and hovering. He asked without turning away, "Aren't you going to stop me?"

"The boss ordered me to take them back alive, but seeing that kid's face, I have flashbacks of the body bags my people came home in, thanks to their curse," Chuuya responded in a solemn tone, one that (Y/n) hadn't heard for a very long time. "Kill them."

The way Chuuya said that, (Y/n) thought as she looked between the two men, it's haunting. She refrained from shivering as chills ran up her spine due to those two simple words.

"I see." Dazai held up the knife, twisting it in his hand. "Alright, then, I will."

She held her breath as she watched him plunge the knife towards Q, letting out a quiet sigh as Dazai stabbed the branch right next to their head.

Chuuya let out a low growl. "You softy."

Dazai began to chip away at the branches holding Q up, Chuuya continuing as pieces of wood fell to the ground, "Your hypocrisy makes me retch."

"As long as Q is alive, you still need my ability as a safety measure. The Port Mafia won't be able to kill me," Dazai replied as he kept working on the wood. "But that doesn't exactly extend to (Y/n) – does it?"

Wait... what?

Chuuya clicked his tongue, his shoulders hunching at the morbid fact. Dazai continued, "Her ability can't exactly counter the mind, so with her here, she's a liability to get killed by the Port Mafia, Q's ability, or the Guild. But she won't be killed by the Port Mafia – not when you're around."

She looked from Dazai to the redhead mafioso, watching from behind as his minor physical reactions gave her a slight idea as to what Dazai was referring to.

"Like it or not, you're not going to kill her and neither will the Port Mafia." He paused for a moment, turning back towards them as he hovered the blade over a thinned branch. "Would I be wrong in assuming that you bare no ill-will towards her – even go as far to say that despite everything that has happened, you still care for her?"