ephemeral |o. dazai|

IV

Once they got back to the agency, [Name] followed Yosano, as she quickly explained the plan. Dazai hummed lightly, heading over to the sofa, grabbing a book from his desk as he lied down, flipping to his page and reading. "Dazai." A low, menacing growl came from Kunikida as he stalked towards him dangerously. Ah, he's mad, isn't he? This should be fun.

"Oh, hello Kunikida," Dazai greeted in an almost sing-song voice, pretending to be oblivious to his partner's tone, "you don't look too well. You do know frowning like that will give your wrinkles—" Kunikida grabbed his collar, sharply pulling him up from the sofa.

"What is the point of you even being here if all you ever do is slack off, flirt with any woman you see, and find ways to inconvenience everyone, you troglodyte." Dazai feigned offence.

"My, my Kunikida, 'troglodyte'? I'm hurt! That said, I'm surprised someone like you knows a word like that—!" As the words left his mouth, Kunikida has picked him up and thrown him to the ground. Damn, he forgot how strong he was.

"Anyway, I'm heading out for a meeting with the judge. Don't call me unless it's an absolute emergency." His eyes glowered a Dazai for a bit before he began making his way to the door.

The brunet sat up, rubbing his head. There's definitely going to be a bump there now. With an inaudible sigh, his eyes scanned the room. There was nothing interesting. Ranpo sat at his desk, sucking a lollipop and reading a manga and Kenji was watering his desk plant. It's best not to talk about the Tanizaki siblings...

He sat back on the sofa, his head leaning back on the back rest, looking up at the ceiling. There was that feeling again. The feeling that came when there was nothing happening to distract him. That emptiness that filled him with unspoken despair. At this point in his life, Dazai was used to it, it didn't make it hurt any less, but he was expecting it. The feelings that would arise out of the darkness and taunt him, mock him, when he was alone—

"Oi, Dazai!" Ranpo's voice cut through the air, startling the ex-mafia out of his thoughts. He looked up, his chocolate eyes meeting a pouting Ranpo. "I'm out of sweets, go buy some for me!" He held out some notes for Dazai, who stood lethargically, taking them.

"I'm too tired, though!" He whined.

"Too bad. I want those popping candies!" He declared as the brunet left the building.

Of course, Dazai wasn't actually going to get the sweets. No, he just needed a reason to get out and preoccupy his mind for a bit. He sat on the railings, looking down at the crashing waves below him. Ah, do you think if he jumped, he'd die? No, no, the waves were too chaotic for that to be the case, he would need more surface tension. But, Dazai thought, it would probably be better if he left, after all, a monster like him has no place to be around humans—

"Excuse me?" A voice called, making him turn his head to see a man standing next to him, azure eyes watching him with dangerous interest. "Are you Dazai Osamu?" Dazai clambered over to the pavement of the bridge, looking the stranger up and down. He was fairly tall, with a slim build and messy, straight black hair. He wore a plain white button up shirt with black trousers. A smile was plastered on his face, and there was nothing out of the ordinary for him but something about him seemed off.

"Yes, I am," Dazai responded, smiling at him. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" The stranger put his hands in his black coat pocket.

"Oh, [Name] told me about you! She said you used to be her boss back in the mafia. She seemed to have some great admiration for you." Dazai couldn't quite pinpoint it, but there was something strange about the way he talked. He was quite nonchalant, but there was some sharp, threatening undertone, mixed with excitement. What's more is that Dazai knew for a fact [Name] never talked about her mafia history, never mind give names away like that.

"Oh, you're an acquaintance of [Name]'s?" Dazai pressed, suddenly interested.

"No, not an acquaintance as such, more like a lover," the stranger corrected in a sheepish tone, with one of his gloved hands scratching the back of his head. Dazai raised his brows in surprise.

"Really? She told me she wasn't seeing anyone at the moment." There was a very small, but and oddly uncomfortable silence that was quickly drowned out by the stranger's laugh.

"Yeah, she does that a lot. She gets really shy about it, it's really cute," he gushed, his blue eyes glazing over in thought, staring at the cloudy sky before they snapped back at him. "Anyway, I should get going. It was nice talking to you!" He began jogging away, offering a small wave to Dazai before disappearing in the fog. He couldn't help but frown at the retreating figure. There was something terribly wrong with him, but it was so well concealed that Dazai didn't know what it was. He just seemed dangerous.

He shrugged, making his way back to the agency. He's probably never going to see him again, so there was no point worrying about it. Opening the door, he trudged in from the cold outside, noting that [Name] and Yosano were reading some letters. "Dazai where are my sweets?" Ranpo asked, and said male gave an insincere  apology and excuse, something about getting sidetracked or whatnot.

"Speaking of," He turned towards the two women, "[Name], I ran into someone who knew you." [Name] let out a disinterested hum, circling something on a document. "I thought you said you don't have a boyfriend?" Her [eye colour] eyes flickered up to meet his brown pools, confusion contorting her face.

"I don't?" She lowered the paper in her hands a bit. "Why, who said I did?"

"Don't know, he didn't give me a name," Dazai responded with a shrug. Something glazed over [Name]'s features before she shrugged, flipping her hair dramatically.

"Must be one of the many admirers of mine," she said with a joking tone, a light smile on her lips before she looked back at the paper in her hands. Dazai blinked curiously.

"Who would be an admirer for you?" He inquired, making [Name] gasp dramatically.

"I'm hurt!"

☁︎
why am I doing this.