philophobia | soukoku

honeysuckle

dazai was finishing preparing to "celebrate" for chuuya finding his own independence. 

it was mori's idea.

 "that should do it." he said as he put finishing touches in place. "i can't wait." he wouldn't show it on the outside, but he could feel a buzz of excitement inside him. "imagine how happy that brat's going to be when he finds out he's getting such a grand party in honor of his new-found freedom." he took a seat at the end of the table.

dazai would never ever admit it, but he was kinda excited about chuuya finding his own independence. he deserved it, despite being a bratty bitch. the prettiness cancels it out. 

dazai, stop having such gay thoughts over a boy you met only yesterday. 

he wasn't even gay.

"dazai-kun." 

a voice interrupted dazai's thoughts. he looked up to see randou standing across him. "you said you found out who's behind arahabaki." he said. "is that true? or did you lie to torment chuuya-kun?" 

"both, of course." dazai replied, the slightest smirk resting on his face at the thought of tormenting chuuya. "i said what i did in front of him so he'd take on the bet, but it's also true that i know who's behind it." 

randou raise his head. "oh? who is it?"

"you, randou-san."

randou only blinked in response.

"you impersonated the former boss and spread rumors about arahabaki." dazai explained. he looked up at randou. "do you have anything to say?"

"what's your reasoning?"

dazai lowered his head again. "you've made a mistake." he informed. "a very basic mistake."

"and what mistake is that?" randou asked. 

dazai slowly raised his head to meet randou with a piercing stare. "the sea." he answered. 

randou's eyes widened.

"you said this: when you saw arahabaki and the black flames...'just the sea, in the distance, basking gently in the moonlight. that alone is vivid in my memory'." dazai quoted. 

"i did say that. because that's what i saw." randou responded. "what about it?"

"are you sure you want me to spoil it for you?" 

"tell me."

"it happened close to the center of suribachi city, and suribachi city is a hemispherical basin valley that was carved out by the explosion." dazai explained. he had randou cornered. there was no excuse for this mishap. 

randou grinned widely, standing up. "i see!" he exclaimed, walking towards the fifteen year old.

"exactly." dazai went on. "there's no way you would have seen the sea. if you were inside a giant depression, roughly two kilometers wide, the sea would never be within sight, no matter how tall you stood. why, then, did you say you saw the sea?" he asked. "you described arahabaki with persuasiveness that was almost truthful. so how? it's because you did indeed see the sea. that's why you made that mistake."

randou didn't answer. dazai wasn't referring to the recent explosion, but to the one that happened eight years ago. 

"you could have only seen the sea from suribachi city before it was made." dazai explained his reasoning furthermore. "before the giant explosion eight years ago, at the end of the conflict." 

silence.

"you had a bet, with chuuya-kun, didn't you?" randou asked. "have you won that bet, then? you've beat him to the man behind it all."