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

chapter fifteen.

(Y/n) swam around in the dark water, the cold not bothering her as much as she thought it would. The light of the small flashlight guided her through the murky liquid, avoiding litter and whatever else was swimming around with her in there.

The static in her earpiece soon faded away as she heard, "Hello? Is this thing on? Can you hear me, (Y/n)?"

She stopped for a moment, floating in there as her fingers hovered over the piece. She thought, How am I supposed to be able to respond? I can't pull out the breathing device to respond or I'll drown, and I can't speak with this thing in either...

"Kidding!" Dazai exclaimed, causing her to roll her eyes as she continued to swim through the water. "From the breathing device's tracking signal, you're not too far away from the site. Just keep going north for a couple more meters and you'll be in position."

(Y/n) did as he instructed, continuing to swim north as she navigated through the water. She stopped as she heard static over the earpiece again, "Right there. Standby for further instructions – or I guess, swim by."

She rolled her eyes again. God how I wish I could respond right now. Dazai is just getting away with all these terrible jokes and comments – it's frustrating to hear.

"I bet you're frustrated that you can't respond. It's a shame I can't hear that beautiful voice of yours right now, (Y/n)."

Creepy yet sweet...

"Standby – I'm getting confirmation that Atsushi has made it onto the airship. Please wait further instruction, my dear. Over and out."

With that, (Y/n) was left in total silence.

She floated in the water, occasionally rotating around as she held the flashlight up to see what was around her. There was mostly seaweed, litter, and the occasional fish swimming around, but nothing that was a huge cause for worry.

That was until she felt something behind her. There was a slight tingle in the back of her head, causing her to spin around in the water instantly. Her hair floated around behind her, coming out of the updo she had put it in before jumping into the water.

She looked around, holding the flashlight up to try and see what was causing her worry. She froze (as much as she could), attempting to listen for whatever was in front of her.

She narrowed her eyes, focusing on a thicker patch of seaweed. A small fish then popped out, swimming around without a care in the world. She let out a sigh, a few air bubbles forming and floating to the surface.

But her relief was short-lived as a much larger fish popped out from the seaweed, devouring the smaller fish in a single gulp and whisking past her – barely missing her face as she dodged the aquatic creature in a simple move.

(Y/n) floated for a bit, air bubbles floating to the surface in huge chunks as she panted. Her shoulders heaved up and down, prompting her to attempt to calm down after the sudden scare.

Jeez, I forgot how truly terrifying the ocean can be – even if it's just a small portion of it, she thought as her shoulders slowed, allowing her to breath a bit more freely and slowly. I wonder what would've happened if I got slapped in the face by a fish. I'd never hear the end of it from Dazai—

Her thought was cut off when something slammed into the back of her head, causing her to spit out the device and drop her flashlight in the process. She darted her head towards the seaweed covered floor, watching as a second large fish swam past her and after the first.

She quickly reached down, attempting to grab her flashlight before it fell into the forest of seaweed. She managed to grab it just as it began to sink into the underwater greenery. But as she attempted to swim back up to the surface, she looked back to find that her ankle had been tangled up in the seaweed in the process.