Walking In Your Fleeting World || Dazai Osamu

Chapter-42: I'll say goodbye

Reunion

-Riki's POV-

Thus, the curtain closes on my summer vacation.

A strange forty days, I gotta say. One moment, Dazai was my tyrant boss, criticizing even the way I breathe; the next, my lazy colleague, sneakily trying to dump all his work on me. Other times he was my best friend, someone I could take over the world with. And there were times when he was...

I don't know. It's too dangerous to put a label on it now.

My routine falls back into place: Wake up, school, return, nap, homework, sleep. Odasaku always eats breakfast with me, and Ryu joins me for dinner (if he's not too busy). On weekends I hang out at their places if they're home, if they're not, I just do whatever I feel like. Once a week, Ango calls, making sure everything is alright and nobody at the school found out I'm an alien with three abilities and the knowledge of the future.

As you may have noticed, Dazai wasn't mentioned in my daily routine. It's because, well, he's not a part of it. It's been over three weeks since that magical night at Yamashita Park — twenty-four days to be exact — and I haven't caught a glimpse of that bandaged bastard. Ryu said he got busy with work again, and I stopped my inquiries about him right there to avoid looking desperate. It's not new, I'm quite used to not hearing from him for weeks, but it still hurts. Missing him is the worst feeling on earth. Like, he exists, he's in the city I am in, If I run around every lane I'll locate him within seconds, but I shouldn't. If he wanted to meet me, if he had the time to meet me, he'd have already done so. I should wait, as I have always done.

So I've started looking for fun projects to keep me busy. And it didn't take long before I found something truly challenging. And it is, get this, to figure out how the hell I'm going to tackle Mimic.

Fun, right? Well, not really. If I fail, I along with my ultra vengeful older brother will die. But hey, I've got the rest of my life to find a way out of the Dark Era, so I'm not sweating it too much. And I know exactly where to start from my previous 'Midnight' experience — gathering as much information as possible on Mimic.

Easier said than done, yes, I know. There isn't any source with accurate information on Mimic, that whole thing is a political mess. All I know about them is that: Agatha Cristie wants to kill them, they're European, they were given false orders in a previous war and were framed as war criminals, their leader's name is Andre Gide and he has Odasaku's ability, they want to die like warriors, there's about 100 or less of them... and that's about it.

I need to know their accurate number, who they are and if they have any other abilities, what sort of manipulation could get them to cave, which path they will take to enter Yokohama, where they will set up their HQ, what are their attacking patterns and styles, what kind of strategies they are willing to use... heck anything, even if it's their sleep schedule, I need to know. I might have the upper hand if I know my info beforehand.

Now that I have something to do, I kinda don't feel like doing anything about it. Even thinking about Mimic feels so tedious, I'd rather climb a mountain. I know I shouldn't be like this, but I can't help it. With great responsibility comes great procrastination.

It's Saturday today, and neither Odasaku nor Ryu is at home for me to visit. So I'm lying on my stomach in bed, reading my favorite slice-of-life fantasy manga for the third time. The clock on the wall behind me ticks away, letting me know the time is passing even though I'd rather stay ignorant. It's around two in the afternoon, and the sun is directly overhead. But now, as it starts to head towards the west, the room is getting darker.

I can't focus on the manga anymore. The sunlight was helping, but now it's too dim to read. I'd turn on the light, but the switch is too far away. I shut the book and press my face on my pastel green bedsheet, trying to ignore the ticking clock. But the attention-seeking bitch just gets louder, mixing with the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears.