Part of Your World {A Bungo Stray Dogs fanfic}

~Filler~

Dazai takes me back to his apartment that evening because I refuse to go back to mine. I just can bring myself to walk back through that door... to see the wreckage I know is waiting for me. More than anything, I don't want to be reminded that my one and only girl friend was stolen from me just three days ago. I'm not sure I'd survive reliving the disaster that followed that heart wrenching event.

So Dazai quietly agrees to let me go back to his place. We have to get ready for the President's welcome home celebration that's tonight. I have to admit I am actually a little excited for that. I mean COME ON, he's having it on his personal yacht. How cool is that?? Dazai even took me to buy a new dress for the occasion. Creed flops down in the middle of Dazai's kitchen, soaking up the coolness of the tiled floor, while I go into the bathroom to change. I'm getting undressed when something in the mirror catches my eye. Taking a closer look at my reflection I realize something is different. There's a new name engraved on my dog tags... I immediately bring the metal plate up to my eyes, and what I see makes my heart break in two. There in the stainless steal plate lies the letters 'L U C K Y.' That can only mean one thing: when Nekori died, Lucky's ownership passed into me. Tears being in to swell in my eyes, but there's no time to cry now because I just remembered Lucky is still at the shelter! The poor thing has been there all alone for days! I shove my dress on, not caring that there's still a tag on it or that my hair isn't done, and rush out the door. My heavy footsteps wake Creed as I pass. Before I know it, he's caught up to me and is right at my heels. I don't even think to tell Dazai where I'm going.

"Kagami?? What's wrong??" Dazai calls out as I run down the hall away from his apartment door.

"Don't worry! I'll be right back!" I yell over my shoulder.

When I finally reach the clinic, I bust through the front doors with no regard for the tenants inside. All their gazes land on me in my disheveled state, bewildered looks in their eyes. "The black cat," I say breathlessly, "His name is Lucky. Where is he?"

The receptionist smiles calmly at me saying, "Relax, he's right back here." She then leads me down the familiar hallways to the room where all cats are kept. As soon as I walk through the door, my eyes meet his. One eye is blue and the other is green; just like Nekori's. I jog over to his cage and, unlocking it, wrap Lucky in an inescapable hug. Normally he would hiss and try to squirm out, but not this time. For the first time ever, Lucky excepts the hug with open arms. He nuzzles his furry face into the crook of my neck, and I feel a small vibration begin to erupt from his chest. I stay like that for a long time, lost in Lucky's soothing purr.

I squeeze my eyes shut whispering, "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry..." As if in response, the black cat picks his head up and rubs his nose against mine. I give him a small smile, doing my best to fight back the oncoming tears.

On the way back to Dazai's apartment, Lucky crawls up to lay across my shoulders. His head rests on the left and his tail dangles over the right. He stays like that the whole way home, finally feeling safe. Creed trots happily beside us, his tongue hanging from his mouth and his tail wagging behind him. He is so excited to have his friend back. I'm glad to have him back too. Once we finally get back to Dazai's, I can finally finish getting ready. I even give Creed and Lucky the cutest little bow ties for the special occasion.

"Aren't you two just the most handsome ever??" I say as I attach the bows to their chest fur. They both perk up and bark/meow in agreement. I turn to Dazai to show him their fancy outfits, but the look on his face just makes me laugh instead. He's got his bottom lip all puckered out and arms tightly across his chest.

"I'm handsome too..." he pouts under his breath. I can't help but giggle at his childish behavior. But as soon as I give him a kiss on the cheek, he perks right up again and we head out.

—————————Time Skip—————————-

Dazai and I stand alone on the deck of Fukuzawa's  yacht. I've got Lucky draped across my shoulders and Creed sits at my feet. The sun sets wistfully in the background, causing an eruption of vibrant colors to spread out before our eyes. The orange glow of the sky and the sweet carbonation of champagne on my tongue give my cheeks a warm feeling. This might be the first time I've felt any sort of peace since- actually, I can't even remember the last time I felt this good. The president returned to us in one piece, completely virus free. He welcomed everyone back with open arms, well mostly. He did say he would punish those of us who went against his explicit orders not to fight  the Port Mafia, but that's to be expected. Even Ranpo didn't argue about receiving consequences for his actions.

After a little while of admiring the sky, Atsushi comes to talk to us. He silently makes his way beside us at the railing. What he says next, makes the evening even better. "I made a deal with Akutagawa today," he says.

"Oh yeah?" Dazai answers.

"Yeah. I told him I would fight him, bun only under one condition. He can't kill anyone for the next six months," Atsushi explains, looking out at the sparkling water beyond. He's so calm and content about it, meanwhile I almost drop my glass of champagne into the ocean when I realize what he just said. On the other hand, Dazai just laughs and clinks his glass against Atsushi's.

"What are we toasting to?' I ask.

"We are raising our glasses to us, the Stray Dogs," Dazai explains with a grin. I can't argue with that one, so I raise my glass too. Together we toast to the stray dogs, and our night comes to an end. As the night sets in, I look up to the moon and the stars, praying that this is the last we'll see of Fyodor.