The Interloper

Chapter III: Happy Ending

Morning dawned. The room was as quiet as it could be. In the quiet, you could hear the distant sounds of cars. The air still had a subtle smell of bodily fluids in it. 

Stratoula groggily woke up in a pleasant mood and slightly flinched in reaction to her bruised lower cheeks touching the bed when she moved. 

The two of them spent the night cuddled tightly together in a loving embrace. Yet Dazai was not near her when she woke up. 

She slowly got up so that her back was touching the edge of the bed, taking care to avoid scraping the bed with her butt as much as possible.

A faint tune became audible in the distance. Dazai's singing. The lyrics were not coherent at first, but slowly became more apparent as he was getting closer, yet still out of sight. 

"🎶Whoa, whoa. You can't commit a double suicide alone. With two you can. Double suicide,  double suicide.🎶"

He entered the room holding a disk with a cup of tea and a plate with omelet. 

"Surprisingly nice, for a sadist who sings about suicide." She said with a pleasant, yet smug look on her face. 

"Surprisingly big smile, for a masochist who is currently not getting slapped." He remarked with his face tilted sideways and a smile so wide you'd think would reach his ears. Yet, strangely, at the same time, you could clearly tell it was a pretentious, sarcastic smile. "Emphasis on currently." 

They spent some more time together, cuddling and making silly jokes, as Stratoula nibbled on her breakfast in bed. 

Dazai's phone rang. "Moshiii moshhhh." He said with a cheerful tone, as he often did. Stratoula thought she recognized the voice of the caller which was barely audible at that distance, but couldn't precisely pinpoint who it was. 

The caller was audibly upset. She, however, was unsure whether it the caller was indeed frustrated or playing around, or a mixture of both. 

He glanced over at her with a wry smile on his face that was tilted sideways, and gestured at her to stay silent by gently placing his finger on her mouth. 

"Yeees yes, sure, I won't be late agaiiin." Dazai said and promptly hanged up after the caller seemingly hurled a few more insults at him. 

"Apologies, Sawako-chan. I'd love to spend a little bit more time with you. But duty calls." He said and bowed down to grab her hand as he often did when he wanted to play around with a woman.

"Off to hunt some kind of monster?" She said with a cheeky smile. "Hopefully not today." He answered with a somewhat serious look on his face, gave her a kiss on the head, and left. 

Stratoula spent the next few hours by herself, checking out some of Dazai's books, the apartment, watching anime, as she often did, and occasionally touching herself while thinking about the spicy last night, as well as what might, or who may come during the upcoming night.

Dazai came home a couple of hours after noon. Stratoula went to the door to offer a warm welcome, but there was something off about him that she couldn't exactly put her finger on.

"How about a little trip, Sawako-chan?" He said after spacing out for a moment with a blank expression, which turned into a bittersweet smile. 

Stratoula was usually the silent type that prefers either being alone, or avoiding chatter when in company. But under these circumstances, even she wanted to talk and figure out why the sudden change of character.

Something was off, but she dared not question why, for she knew if he wanted to give a straightforward statement, he would have done so already. 

And so they drove away in a somewhat awkward silence, facing into the sunset, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

It wasn't too long before they arrived at a lonesome cliff next to the sea, where the only thing you could hear was the sound of the waves that gently embraced the rocks, and the only thing you could see was the sea, far as the eye could see. 

Dusk had almost arrived. The edge of the horizon was dimly lit by the settling sun, and the clouds bathed in its crimson glory

Dazai stared at the distance with an empty look on his face. None shared a word for an awkward amount of time. 

"I am going to die here, aren't I?" Said Stratoula with a neutral expression as she took a deep breath and smelled the stagnant air, filled with the aroma of the heartless sea. 

He remained in the same stance, not saying anything, not doing anything. In return, Stratoula also remained unmoving and stared at the sea. 

There was no anxiety nor fear. This moment had to come eventually, and she knew it from the first moment she heard what it is that he was seeking. 

She knew she had no place in this world, and she barely wanted anything to do with the stupidity of her original one. Death would be more than a gift, rather than a punishment. 

Dazai suddenly drew a pistol in a swift movement, nearly faster than the eye can see, and pointed it to Stratoula's face from just about a meter away. 

The seconds went by, as did the wind over their shoulder, the water over the rocks, and the sun over the horizon, yet the trigger was yet to be pulled.

Then on the side of their peripheral vision, they could tell someone was standing there, watching them in silence, his long, red hair waving against the gentle air that brushed between them. 

Dazai carefully observed him from the corner of his eye, without showing any reaction. And thus the three of them stood motionless for a bit more time, as if waiting for something to happen. 

"Dazai, teme." Said the redhead, finally breaking the silence. "I knew you were a fool for women. But to think you would allow an interloper to stay. You know she shouldn't be in this world. Judging by her aura she shouldn't even be alive." 

It was at this moment when Stratoula realized. She met this redhead when she first arrived. She was now certain that the unusual activity they were looking for was in fact her revival into this world. 

Dazai lowered his gun. "Chuuya-kun." He said with an unusually serious expression and tone. "I thought we were meant to save people. Yet there you are, telling me I should be killing a fine young maiden." 

"We are saving people, you bastard. Don't act as if this is an easy decision for me. What do you really know about her power? She could go berserk tomorrow, turn into a monster, kill lots of people. Would you wanna take that risk? Would you?" He almost growled at Dazai then referred to Stratoula with a calmer tone.

She stood in silence for a few moments, processing everything and trying to come up with the proper decision. The concept of isekai was very familiar to her. But this was not an anime. She realized that in this world, Chuuya's concerns were valid. 

"Take your pick. Do you wanna live in your reborn husk, taking the risk of turning into a monster every single day, with someone watching over your shoulder at all times, and the risk of 3rd parties coming after you for hunting or recruiting? Or shall we end this, right here and now, and get you back into the grave where you belong?" Chuuya said with furrowed eyebrows.

Despite putting on a tough front, both parties could tell with ease that these words did not come out lightly. 

Stratoula processed the information a while longer, but you could tell from her expression, she wasn't coming to a conclusive decision any time soon. 

Dazai approached her with the weapon held down and got so close his mouth was practically next to her ear. 

The few moments that he stood there felt like ages. It seemed as if the sound of silence grew louder, and the descending darkness after dusk became brighter. 

Stratoula's blood started rushing into her head, the world grew into a halt, and only then did Dazai whisper, "Wanna commit double suicide?"

Fin