Call Out My Name • Dazai Osamu ✔

｢23/31｣

23. "If I could have one wish granted..."

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I do not remember how long I had been lying on the floor of the cell, when I regain consciousness.

But when I find Akutagawa leaning against the wall in front of me, I begin to shriek.

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?" He asks in a puffy voice, raising an eyebrow when I sit up and move back. He picks up a box from his right and comes closer to me.

This cannot be good. He's gonna kill me because I screwed him the other day. I am so dead.

But when he opens the box and takes out a roll of bandage, it is my turn to raise an eyebrow instead.

"What are you doing?" I ask, and he stares at me as if I am insane.

"I'm trying to give you first aid." He replies.

I tilt my head to one side, unsure if I heard him right.

Akutagawa? Give me first aid?

No way.

"I don't know what you're planning on doing," I begin, when he extends his hand towards my wrist. "But I don't want you to-"

"Just shut up." He interrupts, using Rashomon to hold my wrists idle.

"Hey, stop tha-"

Ignoring my continuous whining, he wipes off the blood that had dried off on my waist. He picks a bottle from the box he had, and dampens another blob of tissue before he presses it against my cuts.

"Ow."

"You're quite brave, I must admit." His expression softens a little, and he unrolls the bandage from its cover. I feel Rashomon's grasp loosen, and I can tell that he isn't going to do any harm so I turn around. Akutagawa rolls the bandage around my waist, tying it up to the side with a tight knot. I give him a grateful smile, and he diverts his gaze back to the box.

"Thanks."

"You don't need to thank me. It was my bad."

Akutagawa is... apologizing?

He then leans against the wall beside me, and puts the box away. It is then that I realzie that I have never, ever seen this man smile before. I wait for him to make any motions or speak, but when he doesn't, I look up to him.

"Hey, Chuuya is your senior?"

Akutagawa gives a slight nod, while he wipes some dust off from his trench coat.

"What kind of an ability does he have? Wait. Where's Kenji?" I ask, and he does not reply. Instead, he stands up and walks towards the entrance.

"I have no idea." His voice is low when he opens the door and closes it.

"I'll see you later, Kira." He says, locking the door right before I run up to the bars.

"Wait, where are you going?" I call out, and he stops in his tracks.

"We've been attacked by the Guild." He calls back, and then moves his head to glance at me. "I'll come back to check on you again later."

The Guild? What is the Guild?

And more importantly... Why did Akutagawa come here anyway?

Surely he didn't come here for the sole reason to give me first aid... Right?

I lean against the bars, trying my hardest to contemplate the events just now.

There's a place that would be bold enough to attack the Port Mafia?

"Alrighty Naomi, I'm a hundred and one percent sure Kira is here." A familiar voice rings through the hallway.

Wait a minute...

Ranpo appears in front of the cell, with a tired looking Naomi behind him.

"Kira! Are you okay?" Naomi cries out, grabbing my wrist from the slits of the bars.

"You guys, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean, what are we doing here? We're here to save you, of course!" Naomi places her hands on her hips, and Ranpo puts his glasses back into his pocket.

"Are you doing well, Kira?" Ranpo wants to know.

"Do I look like I'm doing well?" I ask back.

"Dumb question there, I should say... Ah, there she is." Ranpo's eyes dart to the left, and I hear the clanking of heels until Akiko and Kenji comes up to view.

"You guys!"

"I'm sorry Kira-chan! I acted on impulse and look at what they did to you!"

"Are you okay?" I ask the 14 year old, and he nods.

"Yosano-san treated me." He smiles and puts his hands on the bars.

"Now if all of you please excuse me..."

Akiko, Naomi, and Ranpo take three steps back, and I tilt my head. What is this kid going to do? I wonder, taking two steps back for good measure.

With a swift motion, Kenji pulls the bars away, forming two huge dents in the metal. There now is enough space for me to go outside.

The blond boy holds a hand out and gives me a warm smile. I grab his hand and slip out of the cell with ease.

"Weclome back, Kira-chan." He greets, and Akiko, Ranpo and Naomi are smiling up at me.

"Now let's get back before Dazai really commits suicide because he misses you." Ranpo gives me a smirk, tugging Akiko's skirt and walking ahead. Naomi takes a glance at the bandage over my waist before she walks ahead too.

Thoughts of Dazai make me feel warm inside, and I give a nod before I follow everyone.

"How long have I been out?" I ask.

"Three days."

"Okay you little nuggets. I don't think I need to remind you, but I will anyway. This is the Port Mafia. You get caught, you're dead. So we aren't gonna fight with anyone here, we're just going to scram if anyone, ANYONE appears. Got that?" Akiko instructs, and we nod in agreement.

No sooner did we break into a run, when a loud bang goes off, and a huge fire erupts from in front of us.

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a/n: ayyyy it's been a while my smols, how you guys doing? :3

special thanks to HideIsJustAsleep for suggesting the song for the chapter names! It's mamoru miyano's song, 'How Close You Are', and I thought it was perfect because of the amazing lyrics + DADDYZAI'S VOICE ACTOR SO DUH. X3Thank you so much for 9.5k + reads omg ily guys so so much!