Walking In Your Fleeting World || Dazai Osamu

Chapter-45: This fleeting world.

His woman

-Riki's POV-

Just as Dazai requests me to do, I don't leave the room.

Frankly, it doesn't make sense. How can it be that he can't sleep well unless I'm around? Doesn't that mean he can't sleep well ever? Well... that is probably correct... But either way, what a load of bullshit. He's clearly trying to flatter me. God, he's such a flirt!

I stare at his unmoving body all tucked in under the thin blanket, his tall figure delicately highlighted as the manga over his face shields the light from his eyes, making the scene a thousand times more enticing. I look at the light and think for a while, wondering if I should turn it off. I can turn it off and stay in the room, but that isn't a good decision. If the uncle walks in and sees me and Dazai together in a dark room, he'll get the wrong idea.

I look over to the room: his trench coat and inner coat are scattered on the floor near the Kotatsu. I twist my face at the sight. When I was his guard I often treated him roughly to get him out of bullets' way, and he'd always, and by always I mean always, give me an earful about dirtying his precious coat. So why did he suddenly throw it on the floor? Does he trust my cleaning skills that much?

I pick up his coats, dusting them properly. As I start folding them, a fun idea strikes my brain. I tip-toe toward Dazai and poke his head twice; he doesn't make a sound or move, telling me he's asleep.

I smirk.

I have always wanted to cosplay Dazai. Like, always! When I was dressing up as Fyodor, the thoughts of dressing up as Dazai was fighting me constantly. I was so torn, cause Fyodor's outfit cost too much, while Dazai's outfit was almost in my hands. I already had a suit, all I needed was a wig, some bandages, and a trench coat. But I didn't do that cause messing with Dazai's reputation requires guts I didn't have back then... nor do I have now. So I had to choose Fyodor as a safer exit.

But now, there's no stopping me.

I slowly put on the inner coat, buttoning it up. It smells just like him; like he's hugging me tenderly... so embarrassing! The coat is a little tight near the chest, and the sleeves are way too long for my liking. We're almost the same height, so how is it that his sleeves are longer? What does he need all those tall limbs for? Bitterly, I drape the coat around my shoulders and then begin walking. It doesn't fall off, surprisingly. But I can't tell what would happen if I started running, it might fall off.

After I'm done having fun, I take them off, fold them, and place them above Dazai's head. He's still asleep, thank God.

I then tidy up the room, putting the books and albums back in their place, vacuuming the floor, and fixing whatever mess we created. Then I sit on the chair across from Dazai, picking up the novel I was reading—intending to finish it.

*

"Riki-chan."

A soft call wakes me. I open my eyes to see Dazai all dressed up, his trench coat hanging from his forearm; ready to leave. I shoot a glance at the clock, it's almost sundown. I remember getting sleepy an hour ago, so I moved to a sofa to rest...

"Are you leaving?" I ask him, straightening my back. "Wait till I make you some coffee—"

I close my eyes momentarily as he reaches out, patting my head. "Thank you for the offer, but I'll have to report to HQ now. Maybe next time?"

"...Alright..." I whisper, kind of embarrassed; I should've stayed awake, how inhospitable of me!

I get up from the sofa to see him off, "Won't you wear the coat? It's super cold outside!"