the beauty of water | o. dazai ✔

chapter five.

(Y/n) got into the back seat with Dazai while Kunikida sat in the passenger seat next to the driver. She crossed her legs as she pulled the door closed, hearing the driver greet Kunikida with an earful. Eventually, he was cut off by Kunikida telling him, "Please, could you shut up and just drive?"

Wow, Kunikida. I know that guy didn't seem like he would ever stop talking but damn... That was blunter than it should've been...

"The best taxi drivers are the ones who don't talk," Kunikida added in a snippy tone. "Has nobody told you that before?"

"Never. In fact, the passengers never really tell me anything at all when I'm driving," the taxi driver replied with what looked like a fake smile, "since I'm talking the whole time."

Well that makes a lot more sense. (Y/n) leaned against the window, looking out on the dark road as they drove along. Nobody tells him anything cause he doesn't take a moment to shut up.

"Dazai, you know the missing-persons case I mentioned earlier?" Kunikida broke the moment of silence, drawing both Dazai and (Y/n)'s attention.

"You mean the one Rokuzo's looking into?"

"Precisely. Eleven people are missing so far." Kunikida gestured to the driver sitting next to him. "And this driver saw two of them right before they disappeared."

"All I did was drive them from the port to their hotel, though. One was a woman on vacation, while the other was a man in Yokohama on business," the driver informs them, not looking away from the road.

(Y/n) reached into one of her raincoat pockets, pulling out a few photos. She leaned forward in her seat, grabbing Kunikida's seat with her left hand while holding the photos in her right. "Are you sure these are the two people you saw?"

The driver quickly looks over the two photos, nodding. "Yes, that's them all right. They were wearing those same clothes. I drove them to this hotel, too."

(Y/n) pulled the photos back, putting them in her pocket as she sat back in her seat. Dazai turned towards her. "Great. So, (Y/n), can you finally fill me in on this case?"

"Yeah," (Y/n) nodded. She then proceeded to inform him of the entire case, talking about how the two people she had shown had gone to Yokohama, checked into their hotels, and seemingly vanished into thin air. There hadn't been any ransoms or notifications relating to the abductions, the police backed into a corner since there aren't many good places for the victims to even be kidnapped without witnesses.

"The objective's pretty clear if you ask me," Dazai told her after she finished. He then simply states, "Trade."

(Y/n) blinked a couple times. Kunikida turned back in his seat, sharing a look with (Y/n) and staring at Dazai as well. "What?"

"I'm saying..." Dazai then proceeded to explain how the victims were being kidnapped and sold to the black market for trade. Their organs and body parts being sold to multiple people for high prices.

"I've heard stories about the black market before," Kunikida started after Dazai finished explaining, "but how do you know so much about them."

"Oh, y'know, I just heard people talking about it at this dingy pub outside of town once," Dazai answered in a slightly absentminded tone.

That seems like a convenient answer. How does Dazai know this much about the black market and their sales on bodies and organs? I don't think people would be openly talking about it at a pub—despite possibly being drunk out of their minds. (Y/n) wasn't satisfied with his answer and it was clear Kunikida wasn't either.