ᴡᴇᴀᴋᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴠᴇɴɢᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ | ᴅᴀᴢᴀɪ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ✔️

XXI: Failure

The police came later. The crime scene was locked, a few different pieces of evidence were marked, and detectives came the morning after, including the Armed Detective Agency.

You were ordered to be locked in jail, waiting for the investigation to finish and trials to begin.

As Dazai stood in your room again at 7am, this time he was with his partner, Kunikida, ready to investigate. "I know you wanted Ranpo to arrive, but I couldn't for the love of god convince him," Kunikida explained. Dazai's shoulders slumped lightly. "He did say you would be able to solve the riddle. If ... that's something you wanted to hear," Kunikida added, feeling it was a necessary detail to mention.

Dazai took a few steps and went from under the tapes inside your apartment room.

There were at least five people from the police department investigating the scene; one was placing numbers, the other one finessed the white lines of each evidence, one took pictures and the other two were searching in your personal stuff looking for more leads.

Kunikida was not sure why Dazai wanted to get Ranpo to solve it. because, to him, it is pretty obvious: you killed the man, and made it look like it was him. Of course, what kept you in jail for now was waiting to be questioned about what really happened, and for the fingerprints on the gun to come up with a result of the identity.

Kunikida was more concerned about how Dazai was feeling. Usually, it did not affect him when women who dated him were liars. This time, Dazai's tired face gave away, without a second thought, that Dazai did not sleep at all.

Whether he liked it or not, Dazai was part of the crime scene, and a very close person to you. Kunikida had to figure out Dazai's side of the story.

They were both looking out the window of your room. It was the perfect moment to ask Dazai.

"Dazai, what do you make of this riddle?"

Dazai didn't say anything at first, not even a glance. Kunikida thought Dazai didn't even hear him, but before he could ask again, Dazai took in a long breath, letting it out when looking back at his partner.

"I have my possibilities, but to you, I am considered part of all this, hmm?" Kunikida anticipated that coming from Dazai, that's why he prepared his next questions and chose not to answer his.

"According to her phone, there were ten missed calls from you," Dazai chuckled. Kunikida ignored him, adding, "They were all dated right before and after midnight. Would you help make sense of it?"

"You think I had something to do with it? Because if so, then I wouldn't even be here," Dazai mumbled, avoiding suspicions from the other cops at the scene. Kunikida sighed, resorting to the question he thinks has more hope. "What was the look on her face like when you first entered the room?"

Kunikida sensed a shift in his emotions, because when he asked him questions he was trying to avoid them, this time it was different.

It was the right question to ask. Kunikida was able to tell it was the question that floated around in Dazai's mind. There was a second of hesitation in his eyes, or was he thinking about wording it out? Kunikida couldn't tell.

"There were minor arguments that I wanted to come and fix, but there was the scene in front of me. And to answer your question, she was scared, there was pure survival fear that lit in her eyes when she saw me," his tone was neutral, and it was nothing to fool Kunikida. However, thinking twice about what Dazai confessed, he came to a frightening question.

"Dazai, was she afraid of the man, or afraid of you?"

Dazai stayed silent, as if he held on to a new thread. "Detectives," a cop called on both of the agency detectives. When they had his attention, he said, "the results of the fingerprints. They're completed,"
。。。

You sat at the steel seat behind the bars. Did I ruin it all? Did I truly fail the mission? You couldn't stop thinking about all the other ways that you could have done it right, and without your phone, you cannot reach out for assistance from the Jackals.

You thought of the look on Dazai's face when he first saw you. You thought of it more than you should that you created all the hundred reasons behind that troubled expression he had made.

"See you tomorrow," he had said without locking gaze with you. Disappointment, that was it. That's how he looked at you.

Was he expecting anything from you? He said it was over, and yet, he was there at midnight.

"Yamada-san?"

You looked up, the keys were jiggling, and the creak of the door echoed. The door was open. It was time to meet the detectives. You weren't ready, especially when it was announced that the Armed Detective Agency were going to be the one questioning you. If it was Ranpo, then it sure was over for you.

"You have an incoming call from your mom," the cop informed as soon as you exited the cell.

My mother? It coming out of the cop's lips sent goosebumps in the back of your spine.

"But she..." you stopped yourself. It was natural at this point for it to be your answer to that question. The cop seemed to wait for you to complete that answer. "But she might be.. super angry I don't want to talk to her," you pretended to use the answer that a typical stubborn person would say in that situation. He looked the other way and started walking. "Mad or not, this is policy and you really have no right to say anything right now." He bought it.

You knew there was something off about it. That the jackals had to do something with it.

"From here," you followed where he gestured. There was a huge glass separating the visitors and those who were like you. Section three was empty, so the cop guided you there. "Your visitor will be here soon," he said before he left. You picked up the phone waiting for your 'mother' to come.

You weren't so surprised to see those familiar ginger locks of hair resting on her shoulder, so you looked down at her shoes. You waited for her to pick up the phone.

You waited for her to tell you she no longer needed you.

Author's Note: Hey everyone!! I am finally back from my break! I am so excited to come back to upload because things will be getting very exciting from this point of the story. Updates are now going to be every Saturday just like today. Have a good day!