ᴡᴇᴀᴋᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴠᴇɴɢᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ | ᴅᴀᴢᴀɪ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ✔️

XV: Third Party

You let your legs lead you where they would as you didn't know what to do next. Missed calls from Hina filled your recent. You never bothered to call back since you had nothing to report...

Or was it because you didn't know where to start?

The sun started to set when you finally reached your destination; the bridge by the river.
You stood by the edge, looking at the running water. The sounds of the kids chasing each other in the playground near the bridge echoed.

You glanced at them. They were carefree, happy. They had nothing to worry about. You wondered if only you were one of those children, then life didn't have to be like that.

You looked back at the water only to see ripples of your own reflection.
Deserve to live? You remembered Dazai's last words. You didn't care anymore if you lived or died. You had no one to miss you on this earth.

Those words were familiar to you. It wasn't the first time you heard them.

Unconsciously, you pulled your phone out of your pocket and dialed a number that you memorized by heart. It started ringing, one ring after another. Thirty seconds passed, and the voicemail played...

"Hello there! This is Kenta. Unfortunately, I am not available at the moment. It would probably mean that I am hacking through the government system in my dark secret underground lair right now. haha..."

Tears blurred your vision; listening to his lively voice felt unreal, wrong, like he never left this world in the first place. "If it is something important, please, leave a message after the tone. I will reply as soon as possible, okay? Have a great day!" The 'beep' then played, and you opened your mouth to say what you had.

Nothing came out. Your throat felt strangled, and your tears fell in the river as you cried silently. You had no one to turn to anymore. You didn't know what to do next. you mindlessly went through your chats with Kenta, watching the videos sent between you two throughout.

plan b, you needed a plan b, but with Dazai declaring he no longer wants to be with you was distracting you from holding your thoughts together.

As you expected, your mind was only filled with worst-case scenarios that you distract yourself from for a long time. They were slowly coming back as you finally had no one to tell you otherwise.

you're all alone, and you would soon die, like your family, in the hands of the Serpent gaze.
。。。

Dazai silently wrote down the report for a case he cracked while his mind floated off somewhere else, and Atsushi sensed it.

"Dazai haven't bothered you all day at work today," Atsushi murmured so that only Kunikida could hear him. "I noticed. But this is an opportunity to finish my work without having to stay longer here," Kunikida replied, typing another report into his laptop.
Atsushi's shoulders relaxed, feeling helpless regarding his senpai. Kunikida sighed, noticing Atsushi's furrowed eyebrows.

"Listen, kid. I have been working with Dazai for so long that I know he has conflicts with himself he doesn't admit. Dazai is the kind of guy to keep it to himself unless it was serious, so don't worry about him," Kunikida paused, sipping coffee.
"I'm sure he'd ask for help when he needs it," he continued.

Atsushi sighed and continued finishing his work. Although Kunikida told Atsushi that space would be the solution, for the first time, he doubted his own words, and wanted to know what Dazai was dealing with.