twisted devotion || Yandere!DAZAI/READER

[11] The Third Corpse

When you clock into work the next morning, you're met with a gift sitting by your desk.

A leather covered moleskin notebook with no particular pattern, shining under the harsh lights of the Agency, with a piece of paper taped to the front. You rip it off and examine it more closely.

A gift from me to you, use it wisely! - Dazai.

He must have gotten it last night and set it on your desk in the afterhours of the Agency schedule, for there was a thin layer of dust sitting on top of the notebook. You feel dismayed yet again that he was spoiling you with his money, your daily to-do list yet again foiled by this eccentric young man.

Nonetheless, you feel a smile curving your lips when you flip through it and find that the paper was unspeakably smooth and unused.

You sit down and roll your sleeves up, picking a pen out from the pen holder and opening the first page of the notebook. What do you write?

Corpses:

1. Had no head.
2. Had no organs and no DNA found

You skip a few pages forwards and start writing again:

Went to lunch and a cafe with Dazai. Found corpse number 2. X/XX/XXXX

Went to the museum of art with Dazai. X/XX/XXXX

You unclick the pen and put it back into the penholder, feeling pleased with yourself. You clap the notebook shut just as Kunikida might have done and slide it into your bag, where it fits snugly against your folded jacket. You boot up your computer to see if any emails came along your way when you see Yosano in your peripherals.

"Oh hello, (last name)," She says, heading your way. She is still wearing a white lab coat and her hair is immaculately styled, with not a single strand of hair out of place. The golden butterfly clip gleams like Midas' touch.

"Good morning, Yosano." You smile at her.

"You seem cheery today, what's up?" She sits by the table next to yours and you feel a hot flush form in your neck. Was it that obvious?

"I got a gift from Dazai." You pull the notebook out and brandish it in front of her proudly. She reaches for it.

"May I?"

You nod, and she takes it from you. She lets a pleased hum once her fingers rake down the smooth surface of the paper, evidently impressed by it just like you were, "Nice notebook; must have cost quite a bit."

"How do you know?"

"It's a moleskin. They cost a fortune," She hands the notebook back to you, "He must have taken a liking towards you if he's buying gifts for you."

You could hear blood rushing into your ears when she says that; there's a sense of proprietary, a huskiness: handfuls of possessiveness as if she's already sensed you belong to someone else. A careful tip-toeing around the boundaries, the invisible parameters Dazai's put up, as if you're a living crime scene.

"Is...Dazai in love with me?" You ask, very gingerly, as though the question itself was heresy. Yosano quirks an eyebrow and hops off the table.

"The question can be asked another way," She says, "Do you make his life more bearable? The answer is yes."

"Bearable?" You tilt your head.

She sighs, "Dazai's suicidal, everyone knows that. Whatever drives him to do such a thing, most of us don't know," Her eyes flutter shut, "What would cause you to kill yourself?"

"Kill myself?" You ask wonderingly; you've never thought of such a thing, "I don't know. I don't think I will."

"What if you had cancer?" Yosano says, "A cancer of a mental kind, the ones you can't get away from. Something that'll constantly chase you down like karma. What if you knew one day you'll get what you deserve?"