ᴡᴇᴀᴋᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴠᴇɴɢᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ | ᴅᴀᴢᴀɪ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ✔️

Ⅷ: Harsh Reality

He made sure you got to your apartment room safely. You unlocked the door, and the smell of the flower bouquet reached you; way better than the smell of the booze that covered the hallways.

"This is it, then," you said with a smile, looking back at Dazai. He had something to say, but he hesitated. "Thank you for today," you thanked him, catching him off guard. "You're welcome, Yn. I'm glad you had fun," he said with a smile.

You slowly closed the door. "Uh, Yn?" Dazai called before you fully closed the door, so you opened it again.

He took a deep breath and leaned in close. "...don't ever hesitate about being yourself, I will love you for that," he confessed, his loving eyes admiring every bit of your unreadable face.

"Goodnight," he said, walking away. "Text me when you get home safely," you called. He raised a thumbs up as he went down the stairs.

You closed the door and locked it behind you. you later got yourself in comfortable clothes and laid on the bed. You unlocked your phone only to be reminded back to your reality.

new messages (2) 'Kenta'

"You called! I thought you'd be asleep already," he said. "You mentioned that you found something?" you recalled his messages. "It's really not good," he warned without hesitation. You took a deep breath and said: "lay it out, Kenta-kun,"

"I have found a huge number of case files at different police stations across Yokohama where he was the one who solved them all," he continued.

"What's the problem with that?" you wondered. "The thing is that these were cases that none of the police or the detectives were able to solve," he said slowly. Your silence was a sign for him to finally confess.

"Edogawa Ranpo is a skill-user," he stated.

"Ultra-deduction, this is what was written in the case files. most of the explanation regarding how long he took to solve them is ... frightening," Kenta was able to feel your fear through the phone.

"It's over," you mumbled as you visualized your freedom slipping out of grasp all over again. "When did Dazai mention you'll meet him?" Kenta asked. "Next week, not sure which day," you responded.

There was silence, Kenta took a deep breath and finally said: "I'll look more into those files, I might find something useful. If not, don't worry, we will think of a solution together,"

"You can't work for this long!" You could tell he was tired but telling him to sleep it off was not going to work either. "This has to do with your safety, I'll get some sleep when it's all over," he assured you.

Ultra-deduction you thought. "Kenta, Ranpo would be able to see right through me," you mumbled, making the worst-case scenarios in your mind. "we'll think of something, Yn," his voice was stern; he couldn't imagine seeing you die like all his other loved ones.

"Hopefully I'll have answers tomorrow morning. I'll call you as soon as I find something useful," he said. The clicking of the keyboard was faint in the background; he's already looking into it.

You were silent, but Kenta knew you too well. "Don't feel guilty about me not getting any sleep, I'm used to it," he assured you. "Just ... don't get caught, please," you warned him.

"okay"

With that, the call ended.

You had a morning shift, and you couldn't afford looking all tired the next day, so you set your alarm and closed the phone, only for it to buzz again.

It was a message from Dazai. He took a picture of the view outside his window, his faint reflection on the window visible; he was smiling. He then sent a message that said "I'm home, Yn-san. goodnight!"

That lump in your throat grew again. For some time, you lived in this false reality where your life was normal. looking back at it made you pity your situation.

Am I this desperate? the thought roamed in your mind for a while. You sent a 'goodnight' message and placed the phone back on the bedside table.

。。。

Deep in the night, Kenta hardly kept his gaze at the computer screen.

Blinking away the dryness of his eyeballs alone felt like a waste of time. The case files hardly had any description on how it was solved. Some of them even had something like 'The detective solved the case in a minute, left after laying evidence and proof'.

Kenta's eyebrows didn't stop furrowing; all the paths were a dead end. If he was planning to find an answer, he had to risk himself along with the Jackals' name. He could be as stealthy as he could, but he had to do it.

After all, you were all he's got left.

。。。

"Your drink, sir," You called to the customer playing with the puppy. He looked up at you after letting the puppy rest in his lap. "Could you bring some biscuits too?" he ordered before you left. "Sure, Nakahara-san," you nodded and walked back to the display.

Nakahara was a regular at your shop and all the staff knew him well. He made time to come each week and play with the puppies.

You placed the biscuits for the puppies to eat. They soon all ran, and you placed one biscuit for each puppy, leaving the guy to drink his coffee in a bit of peace.

You were about to stand up when you saw him pulling out his wallet. "Nakahara-san, the manager told me your order today is on the house," you interrupted. He raised his eyebrows, and his lips formed a smile. "Tell your manager that I'm more than happy to be here," he said. You nodded with a wide smile.

You walked back to your place behind the cashier and pulled out your phone.

no messages yet, you sighed. You wondered if you should text Kenta or just wait until he does. It was already ten in the morning, so there was a high probability that he was asleep.

The jingling bells of the entrance door pulled you out of your indecisive thoughts. "Good morning! welcome to-" your welcome speech was stopped as you finally saw who the customer was.

"Osamu-san?"