Not Just A One Time Thing

Chapter Ⅴ.

It's been around a week since the stabbing incident. With Dazai out of the infirmary and his injury getting better, he was allowed to continue with the investigation.

The two boys were in the private investigation room, pinpointing out the evidence to the different suspects.

"Look at the pin closer." Dazai said as he put it up closer to Chuuya's eyes.

"It's a bit transparent, no wonder why it was hard to see the symbol on it."

"Exactly, the suspect was clever enough to make their pin transparent. Also the two pins are similar to each other which makes me believe the people who attacked us are from the same side."

Chuuya was honestly very impressed with Dazai's observation skills, he really underestimated the guy. Despite being notoriously known for being a bit lazy when it came to tasks, he was also acknowledged as an intelligent individual. The redhead thought it was a pretty impressive skill coming from a delinquent like him.

The two were observing the two pins they were able to grab from the two attack incidents, debating whether or not the information they researched on was accurate.

*knock knock*

The door slowly opened, revealing a dark haired boy wearing a long wrinkled jacket.

"Excuse my intrusion." the raven haired boy said as he bowed to his seniors.

"It's fine Akutagawa kun, what do you need?" 

The boy put a small white paper in front of the two men, swiftly sliding it on the table.

"It's from the tracker team, they were able to find the location of the culprit."

The redhead reached for the paper and examined it intently, trying his best to remember the location in his brain. The brunette on the other hand was gathering stuff needed to go through with the investigation.

"Thank you Akutagawa kun, you may leave now." Dazai said as he waved goodbye to the raven.

The boy took a small respectful bow before leaving the investigation room. The two were now getting ready to leave the building and go find the hideout.

The two boys leave the building and Dazai calls a cab to drop them off at the closest place near the location.

Dazai led the way as Chuuya followed behind him. The walk to the location was a bit more silent than usual, normally they would have small chat but they didn't utter a word.

Chuuya then decided to break the ice and start a conversation with his partner.

"Hey, how is your injury doing by the way?"

Dazai looked back to respond to his partner's supposedly concerned question.

"It's doing better, it still hurts a little but it's fine."

"Why do you ask?"

Chuuya only looked away, not knowing what to respond with.

"I just wanted to ask geez!"

Dazai laughed at the irritated redhead, it was always a highlight of his day whenever he got the chance to annoy the redhead.

"I also had something to ask you as well..." the brunette said as he nervously clutched his necktie.

"Why did you save me back there?"

The redhead couldn't think of an answer. He looked up at the sky hopefully expecting an answer from up above.

He really wanted to say that he saved him because he cared but he obviously knew that was a stupid decision. Chuuya couldn't build up the courage to answer his partner's question so he just stayed silent.

The silence was loud between the two. Though the honking of cars and barking of dogs was clearly heard, they couldn't hear or feel the atmosphere surrounding them.

"You know you should have just left me there, it would've been better honestly" Dazai said with a blank smile on his face.

Chuuya was taken aback, hearing the tone of Dazai's voice as he said that answer. It was so straight forward, he sounded as if he didn't hesitate to say what he wanted to say.

The redhead was very much aware of Dazai's "being dead daydream's". He was honestly very uncomfortable with it, but he somehow grew used to it being around the suicidal maniac all the time. Sometimes he would catch the brunette trying to hang himself in the office or trying to drown himself in the nearby river.

But he didn't like the answer that came out of the brunette's mouth, something was off about it.

It sounded as if he's officially given up on life.

The boy felt his anger build up after hearing his partner's answer, he wanted to slap him in the face and tell him that he should be grateful he's still alive.

At least, let him know that Chuuya was grateful for his life.

The redhead could only give off a heavy sigh and scratch the back of his head as a response.

"You really just wanna die huh? Well too bad bozo, we got work to do." Chuuya said as he intentionally bumped the brunette's shoulder.

Dazai only gave a small smile as he followed the redhead from behind.

"Do you know where we're headed?"

"Yes I know!"

"Alright just making sure."

The two continued walking along the pathway, trying their best to forget the conversation they had earlier.

Dazai couldn't help but be honest with Chuuya, well half honest at least. He appreciated his life, but he couldn't help but feel empty inside.

He wanted to get rid of all the burdens and regrets he's been carrying. He wanted to erase himself from this cruel and horrible world.

But when he met Chuuya, somehow all his worries went away. It was like the world became more colorful and clear when the redhead crashed into his life. Something in his heart knew he had to protect him, he had to protect him from the world.

"If only I could really tell him, if only I had the guts." he thought as he looked at the redhead in front of him.

Meanwhile, Chuuya was sulking about Dazai. He really wanted to know why he is the way he is, why he acts like this all the time. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, he wanted to learn more about the brunette, he wanted to be a part of his life.

The redhead also wanted to protect Dazai from the world, he wanted to shield him from any sort of harm that was coming for him.

The two just wanted to know why they wanted to give up the world to protect someone they weren't supposed to care about.

Now, they could only think about it to themselves, hoping that someday they could tell each other how they feel.