Dazai x OC ~ Sayonara (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Chapter 2

The leaden sky was still brimming with dark clouds, but the rain had stopped a few hours earlier, fortunately. It was cold outside, so Dazai made sure his jacket was well draped over the small figure of his comrade, who was currently resting on his back.

After a few dances, Nora had simply dozed off on the counter, snoring softly, finally losing the battle against the four glasses of whiskey she had ingested that night.

Compared to other times, however, Nora had been relatively reasonable, Dazai had to admit. If Oda had not been there to stop her, the young woman would most certainly have emptied the whole bottle by herself. And would have started another one in the process.

He was not stupid. Just by looking at the dark circles, the drawn features, and the slump of her shoulders, Dazai could tell that his colleague had not slept properly for several days. He knew the unhealthy habits of the young woman since they met; she tended to remain on her place of work during days, sleeping in her office, without returning home for the week.

'If I'm going to be all alone and bored, I'd much rather be in a place where I feel more or less at home.'

It was what Nora used to answer him when he made her the remark. The apartment of the blonde was not her favorite place, far from it. Dull and lifeless, where her darkest thoughts always ended up resurfacing as soon as her mind started to think a little too much of itself.

So, to avoid this, she worked relentlessly over and over again. And when that was not enough, she would open a bottle and forget for a few hours. She would forget the horrors she suffered with each passing day, which no one else would have the courage to endure, Dazai first.

As a member of the Mafia, he had had to face atrocious scenes time and time again. But what Nora was going through all day long was on a different level. Even for him, living the way his comrade did was impossible.

No wonder she often gave in to the urge to drown her distress in alcohol.

Dazai, a melancholic smile on his lips and a feeling of sadness in his eyes, reaffirmed the grip he had on his sleeping colleague slumped on his back. His long black jacket, which was on the shoulders of the young woman, clattering because of the wind which infiltrated in each interstice of their frigid beings.

He was beginning to feel cold, too.

Fortunately, after a few minutes of walking, the apartment complex that he wanted so much to see was finally in front of him. A small cream-colored building of six floors, with an apartment on each landing. The one Nora lived in was on the top floor, and Dazai sighed with relief when he saw that the elevator had finally been fixed.

For the brief moment that passed as the numbers scrolled by, he could see in the reflection of the mirror in the elevator the sleeping face of his colleague, whose slightly red cheek rested on one of his shoulders.

She seemed more peaceful than ever, as was rarely the case.

Finally arrived at the sixth and last floor, Dazai exited the elevator, taking care not to hit anything in the process, and rummaged in his pockets as he walked to the one and only door that was on the landing covered with soft white carpet.

He unlocked the apartment, and entered it, closing behind him. He did not need to activate the light of the hall, because this one was already lit when he arrived. Nora was undoubtedly to have forgotten it the last time that she had passed in her apartment, which was not new.

He got rid of his soaked shoes as best he could, taking care not to drop his load. The handbag with the water-soaked files, which he had passed on his arm in order not to make it fall on the way, joined his shoes on the ground, and Dazai ventured finally a little further into the apartment.

As always, the white walls and the austere atmosphere that escaped from the different rooms welcomed him in all their splendid weariness. In this apartment with a modern and pure style, entirely white and immaculate, as if no one lived in it, just the bare necessities. No decoration, no personal objects.

With the consequent salary that Nora received, the young woman could certainly have bought an apartment much larger than this one, much better placed, much better decorated and especially much welcoming.

Or even the whole building. And it was the same for her car, which she had probably left in her garage for several weeks now.

But, as if it did not interest her, Nora had set her sights on a small dwelling of only a few rooms, with some rare furniture here and there. Dazai was used to seeing the place where his colleague lived, but he was always struck by the lack of personality that emerged from it.

While he was wondering what he was going to do next, Nora precisely chose this moment to wake up, which drew a sigh of relief from him. With her eyes half-closed, the young woman swayed slightly as her feet touched the ground, whether from fatigue, alcohol, or her heels.

Dazai made her sit on one of the only two chairs available, took off her shoes and suggested her to take a shower before going to bed, especially when he saw her blond locks going in all directions and her white shirt sticking to her skin.

She complied by growling, while he was busy hanging out their different clothes so that they would dry during the night already well underway. According to his watch (and not according to the non-existent clock of this apartment), it was past two o'clock in the morning.

Through the half-open bathroom door, he heard the water stop running a few minutes ago, replaced by the rustling of clothes. Nora finally came out, all clean and in her pajamas, and went to her room, dragging her feet.

It was Dazai's turn to take his shower, sighing with contentment at the warmth of the water that passed over his body devoid of bandages, which he had removed a few moments earlier and which lay somewhere on the tiled floor of the bathroom. At the moment he was far too exhausted to organize them properly, so he would see tomorrow.

The light in the hallway was finally turned off, after all those days on, and Dazai made his way in the dark to Nora's room, which was also plunged into darkness. The curtains were drawn as usual, but that did not entirely stop the moonlight. The young woman rested peacefully in her covers pulled up to her face.

He let a smile escape him by seeing the serene expression that his colleague had with the light of the moon, and did not waste any more time slipping himself in the cold sheets which warmed quickly with his contact.

Then, while sighing with contentment, he benefited from the silence and the calm of the moment, after the harassing day that he had spent, and which sadly resembled all the others. The only exception was that, this time, he was not alone.

He turned his face in the direction of the young woman at his side, and was not really surprised when he came across two bluish pupils, who were looking at him lazily. He felt the corner of his lips pull up slightly, and Nora imitated him as she closed her heavy-lidded eyes, leaning a little more into the warmth of her pillow and blankets.

He finally felt a hand grope just beside his chest, and he let a small laugh escape him. Knowing full well what that hand was waiting for, he grabbed it with his own, covering Nora's small fingers with his much larger ones.

Thus, their two hands gently entwined, they finally allowed sleep to come to them.

Soothing a little their hearts and bodies, flayed for far too long.