𝘥𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘪'𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 | bsd

ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ.

"No, not at all."

"OSAMU DAZAI, IF YOU DON'T ACKNOWLEDGE ME - I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS.." Akari paused for effect. "BEFORE YOU GET A DOUBLE SUICIDE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!"

At this, Dazai's eyes widened in a chibi-like manner. "You wouldn't!" 

"I WILL! SO FOLLOW ME," yelled Akari. "Leave behind the twerp beside you, we need to talk."

"Fine, fine," muttered Dazai in a comically resigned tone. "Atsushi, stay. I'm going to talk with my little sister," he directed.

Now, it was Atsushi's time to be surprised. "Dazai-san.. you have a little sister?!!!"

"Meh! I'd prefer the sentence annoying, younger, less glamorous version of me, but yes." Dazai said, shrugging, before heading off. 

"Hey.. I thought you said you didn't know her," accused Atsushi after his retreating back.

"I lied!" called back Dazai cheerily.

Sitting down to wait and propping his legs out, Atsushi said to himself, "If it weren't for the free tea on rice, I would have left long ago." 

From the same rooftop where Akari had been standing, two figures peered down at the lone weretiger. The main threat, Dazai, had been taken care of. 

Grudgingly impressed, Chuya said with a disbelieving eyebrow raise, "The idiot's plan actually worked."

"Now it's my chance to impress Dazai-san with my battle prowress!" laughed Akutagawa maniacally.

Chuya tilted his head questioningly. "Why do you care about that waste of bandages' approval so much?" When no response came, he turned his head to Akutagawa. His eyes were met with empty air. Where did Akutagawa go?..

"Rashomon!" yelled a very recognizable voice from below. Chuya looked down to see Akutagawa in the alley, having jumped down. His cloak billowed around his ankles, and he aimed a ferocious glare at Atsushi as his ability activated. "I will receive approval!"

Growling, Chuya asked, "Does Akutagawa have any sense of what communication is?" He adjusted his hat before going down to join Akutagawa, shoes landing on the ground with a thump.

❦❦❦

Akari may have lied. Meeting with her brother wasn't just for the plan. It was for herself too. 

As she led Dazai to a street corner, she crossed her arms and stared at him. Though a whirlwind of emotions was swirling through her mind, but she hid these under the mask of a grin.

"I see you haven't managed a double suicide yet. At this rate, I'll be the first to succeed," she said, breaking the silence.

"I'm just finding ways to do it, sis. So far drowning hasn't worked.."  Dazai.

"Say, have you tried those Fregita Mushrooms in the Suicide Handbook?"

"Yeah, turns out they're a scam. After I burned them in the Agency, Kunikida kicked me out for a day," he said, frowning. "Inhaling the fumes only made people go into a homicidal rage for an hour.."

"Wow, unreasonable!" protested Akari, settling into the rhythm of their banter. 

"That's what I told him. He then kicked me out for another day." 

"Heh. I've always wanted to do that."

Then a pause, as Akari composed in her head what she wanted to say. She then looked straight into Dazai's eyes. "Nii-san, why'd you leave?

Turning away from her searching glance, his face became shadowed. It was an expression so rarely seen on Dazai's face. Was it- sadness? He said a single word. "Oda."

Akari understood immediately. She had never been close to the red-haired man, though she had asked him to strangle her a few times. Dazai, on the other hand, was always meeting up with him at the bar, Lupin. She hadn't known they had been so close, but she realized Oda's death must have changed something in him.

Usually, Akari didn't give many hugs. But with a depressed brother on your hands.. she came closer to him and enveloped him in her arms.

He hugged her back, then a knowing smile suddenly made its way onto his face. "This was a distraction, wasn't it?"

She winked, then ran away. "You know me so well, brother!"