Found (Bungo Stray Dogs)

Chapter 18

Chuuya felt as if Jane had stabbed him through his heart. "No, Jane! I love you. I told you that. How could I let you go?"

"You have to. I'm going to marry someone else and it's going to be bad if we like each other."

Chuuya stood up and paced around the swing. Jane looked off into the garden, telling herself that everything was fine and that she'd be happy with the situation.

He sat back on the swing. "Could you tell me everything that happened with Dazai? Maybe I can explain some of his quirks so you feel less confused or something."

"Alright," Jane said but was silent for a while. Chuuya waited patiently.

"I came to Yokohama to confess my love to Kunikida. He rejected me, but Dazai convinced me to try again. I helped around at the Agency until it was time to go. We went to my aunt's place to get my stuff, but she wasn't home. Then he dragged me shopping. When we were at their dorms, he made me look uncomfortable with him so that Kunikida would take me in. And he did. That's what you did. How did you capture me?"

"I wasn't there, so I don't know. But I was told to wait in your room since they expected you to wake up."

"Were you really hiding behind the curtain the whole time?"

"No, of course not," he insisted, as if a bit offended. "I only hid there when I noticed you were about to wake up."

"What did you do until then?"

"I admired your beauty."

Jane felt embarrassed once again, but a little bit less this time. "Did you think that I was the most beautiful ...flower then as well?"

"I must admit I just thought you were pretty. I didn't compare you to a flower back then."

Jane suddenly stood and walked away, hands in fists. Chuuya, whom she liked, kept telling her that she was beautiful. She couldn't bear it. She couldn't be with him. Why was he still flirting with her?

"Hey, Jane! Why are you mad?" Chuuya yelled after her, and after a few moments of hesitation, followed Jane deeper into the garden.

Jane knew she had nowhere to go, so she turned around and waited for Chuuya to catch up.

"What's wrong?" he asked. When Jane didn't answer, he crouched down and picked a rose from a flower bed. Well, he actually took out his knife and cut the stem, also removing any thorns. He offered the flower to Jane, but when she just stared at it, he put it into her hair instead.

He had naturally moved in closer to embellish the beautiful flower with another, far less inferior flower and was now reluctant to leave her space.

He once again put his arms around her waist and her hands quickly moved to rest on his chest, just like at the sea a few days ago. They looked into each other's eyes longingly, but neither dared to move. Jane closed her eyes. Chuuya noticed and started itching closer. Jane could feel his moving chest pushing her hands closer, so she moved them to the side to wrap around him. Chuuya's hands slid up on her back.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear, holding her in his embrace.

She sighed, a bit disappointed at the tease but not in Chuuya's decision. "Sorry for what?"

"A lot of things. Please continue. You haven't finished your story."

"Right." They found another random bench to sit on. "Kunikida came to pick me up from the Mafia. I learned that they had voted on whether to save me or not. Dazai had wanted to save me, but Kunikida had been against it. That really hurt. I fell asleep on the sofa and when I woke up, Dazai's hand was cupping my cheek."

"That Dazai!!" Chuuya was irritated again. "He really has a way with women. Funnily enough, the only threat that works on him is that I leak his address to all the women he has disappointed."

"So he's had many relationships."

"He's quite a womanizer. I've seen him in action myself. And I don't blame the girls for falling for him. He seems to just know what to say."

"Well, that somehow makes me feel better. Thank you, Chuuya." She smiled.

Now it was his time to be embarrassed. "Well, I promised I'd shed some light, didn't I?"

Jane quickly continued, in a lighter mood this time. "Then we went to his dorm, which I cleaned because it was a bit messy. Then we cooked together, and I told him about what happened at the Mafia. And then I stayed over at his place for the night."

"Huh?" This was news to Chuuya. "He didn't do anything, did he? I'll beat him up if he did."

"He asked me why I wasn't taking my future seriously. It was really difficult to hear that. It was as if he was accusing me of my situation. I had decided to come up with a solution myself, but I couldn't think of anything good. And then the next morning, he asked me to be her girlfriend. I said no, of course," she revealed with a smile.

"And how did he react?" Chuuya asked, half-expectant.

"He told me to get out."

"Wow! Okay." It was clear that wasn't the response Chuuya was expecting. "That's weird."

"But then I was thinking that since I wasn't in as much danger as the Mafia wanted to make me believe... maybe Dazai also realized that. Well, anyway, I was just sitting outside when Mori came to tell me that you let my aunt go and that I'd be marrying."

"What were you thinking back then?"

Jane laughed out of embarrassment. "That maybe I could marry Dazai first. That didn't seem like such a bad idea at that time."

"That idiot."

"Anyway, I went to the Agency to talk with him after our fight, but he wasn't there, so I called him. He told me not to go to him, but since I heard my dad, too, I confirmed their locations and went. You called it stupid, I believe."

"Did I? No, I said that you were being hypocritical!"

"Well, maybe," she had to admit. She looked at Chuuya. "And you know the rest."

"But you don't," he said.