Parted Entanglement { ⑤ }

Chapter 9

''Dazai, are you okay ?'' ''Hm ? I'm fine ,'' Chuuya stared at Dazai, he didn't look fine. ''Have you been sleeping these days ?'' Dazai shook his head hesitantly. Chuuya went and sat on the bed with his legs crossed. ''Come here ,'' He gestured for Dazai to lie on his lap, and so the brunet did, he lied down with his eyes closed. Chuuya rubbed circles on the sides of his forehead. ''Better ?'' Dazai slightly nodded. ''Do I always lose sleep like this ?''

Chuuya nodded. ''Yeah, your sleep pattern has been irregular ever since I've known you. There's something that's the same about you, you know ? You never tell me when you feel unwell. You do this all the time, you'd never tell me when you have headaches ,'' Then he realized that Dazai has fallen asleep, Chuuya smiled softly as he looked at the brunet fast asleep on his lap. ''And then you'd fall asleep just like this ,'' He said softly.

*

Chuuya brought Dazai to the restaurant they always went for crab. ''Mm this is delicious !'' ''Crabs are your favourite ,'' Chuuya chuckled. ''I want some too !'' Haruka looked expectantly at Chuuya. ''Okay okay I'll do it for you, wait ,'' ''Yayyy~''

They went for a walk along the streets. ''I feel like we do this often, juz walking around like this ,'' Chuuya nodded. ''We've been doing this since we were sixteen. Walking alongside you, away from all the complication and negativity of the mafia, just us, no one else, I liked that feeling ,'' Dazai stared at Chuuya for a second. ''How did I go from a mafia underboss to a detective ?'' Chuuya didn't look at him, he stared at the front. ''You've worked hard to be the man you are ,'' Dazai didn't understand what he meant, he just kept quiet and went on walking.

It was a cold, windy evening. Stong wind blew past them, making them shiver a little. Chuuya's hands were shaking, Dazai saw that. He took his hands in his and started breathing into them, then he gently rubbed his hands against Chuuya's, giving them warmth under the cold air. Chuuya looked at him with his cheeks pink. ''Is it better ?'' Chuuya nodded before they resumed walking again. The ginger head stared at Dazai's hand as he walked. He then reached out slowly and quietly to hold it. His eyes kept glancing at Dazai to see how he would respond. To his surprise, Dazai held him back. ''Chuuya, if I never remember, will you stop loving me ?''

Chuuya looked up at him, he remained silent. Dazai smiled, but his eyes were filled with sorrow. ''After hearing everything all of you have said, I know I'm a different person from who I was. If I never remember, I'll be a different person to you guys, I'll never be the Dazai you all once knew ,'' He halted his pace. ''And I'll never go back to being the one you loved ,'' He stated the truth, it was the old Dazai that Chuuya fell for, and that Dazai and the one standing in front of him were two people wearing the same face. He said it in a tactful way, he said the phrase ''it's okay if you don't wanna spend time with me anymore''.

Chuuya was still silent, because he didn't know what to say. Dazai stared at where they held hands. ''I think that... the old me must've been happy, he had friends he trusted, a husband who loved him, and two nice kids ,'' ''Why'd you use the word 'him' ? You are Dazai ,'' Chuuya frowned, like he was pushing himself to process everything within seconds. ''You look unhappy, I don't wanna see that. You're right, the one I fell for was a different person, but who's to say that I won't like you ?'' Dazai was taken aback by his words. Chuuya turned and gestured to the kids. ''You haven't even asked them if they like you. Why'd you conclude so quickly that everyone will leave you for being a different person ?''

Both Haku and Haruka pouted as they nodded frantically. ''See ? Stop your negative thinking, you need to be more confident of yourself ,'' He lifted his hand with Dazai's still in it. ''Like it or not, you're stuck with me ,'' Before walking, Chuuya stuck out his tongue at Dazai like a kid. Looking at Chuuya, Dazai felt comfort. Before this, he felt lost and exhausted because he felt uneasy and stressed, because something always felt missing, and that something was himself, who he once was. What Chuuya said really helped him feel better, he was worried and feeling down because he thought that everyone's just going to leave him eventually when they get tired of holding up hopes that he'd retrieve his memories and go back to how everything was supposed to be.

They continued walking along the streets. Lights shone onto the pavement from inside the shop lots, some white, and some in yellow. Then Dazai suddenly felt something off, he immediately pulled Chuuya towards him. The next second, the place where Chuuya would be at if he had continued walking exploded with a loud noise. It seemed that Dazai still had his instincts when it came to sensing danger. The area of explosion wasn't large, but the temperature of it was way higher than usual. The flame was purple instead of the usual yellow, coating the concave on the floor.

''You okay ?'' Chuuya nodded. If it wasn't Dazai that had pulled him away, he would be dead already. A glowing sphere approached with great speed. Chuuya promptly lifted a huge piece of the ground to shield them. Right when the glowing sphere hit the concrete, it burned out a part of it like an instant corrosion. ''Chuuya, there ,'' Dazai pointed at the top of a three-floor building across the street. Chuuya turned to look, there was a man smirking at them. He was young, like the two that assaulted them before. ''Tsk, the explosion before was also an ability ,''

Another sphere aimed for them, Chuuya threw rocks at the enemy as soon as he protected Dazai and the kids from the attack, but the young man destroyed the rocks easily. The enemy's ability was strong, Chuuya couldn't just go near him and fight, Dazai couldn't approach him and nullify the ability too, because no one could be sure that the explosions were pure ability, if any part of them weren't, Dazai would die. ''I'll have to use Corruption ,'' In the Corruption state, Chuuya would be able to use gravitational spheres which suck in everything in the hit area, whereas the enemy's explosive spheres explode and destroy things in the hit area, those two were opposite forces.

''Dazai, get away from here ,'' He urged Dazai to get to safety along with the kids. ''O acquaintances, grantors of dark disgrace, do not wake me again ,'' Wind started scraping the ground around him. Blood red patterns twisted around his arms, up to his cheeks. A surge of power filled every bit of his muscles as Arahabaki emerged from the depth of his consciousness, suppressing his own. Spheres in a mixture of red and black formed at his palms, then he bolted towards the enemy. Not panicking, the young man faced Chuuya's attack with his glowing spheres. Spheres of different colors collided, they caused a wave of power surge damaging the surface of the buildings surrounding them.

Dazai watched them from not too far away. Chuuya fought with the enemy, who was as quick as him. After several attacks and defenses, Chuuya lifted a pole and hit him, sending him crashing into a shop across the street. Everyone nearby were screaming and running to safety. Amongst the broken glass and fallen items, the enemy got up and threw spheres at Chuuya, burning away the pole he threw at him. But then he got no sight of Chuuya, the pole was just a distraction. He looked around, spheres forming in his hands to defend himself from any sudden strikes.

Then he heard a noise from the left side, a figure passed through the dark hallway where the lights weren't functioning anymore. He stared at that direction, prepared to strike back whenever Chuuya would charge at him. All of a sudden, a skull crushing force hit him with great speed from his right, breaking his ribs and forcing the air in his lungs out. It was Chuuya. The young man coughed blood as he used up all his strength to stand up but to no avail, as he eventually fell limply onto the floor. At this point, blood was already rolling down Chuuya's cheeks from his eyes, his body couldn't hold much longer.

Fortunately, Dazai was there. He paced towards the ginger head and quickly held his wrist. The figure that passed through the hallway, it was Dazai who played the role as a distraction. Chuuya's consciousness came back in control, his hazed iris returned to its usual color, ocean blue. He fell into Dazai's arms and started losing consciousness. Before everything blacked out, he felt Dazai caress his head. ''The enemy's down. Take some rest, Slug ,'' His voice was soft and gentle. ''... Dazai...''