"Who is it?" Dazai asked, tiredness laced throughout his tone as he turned underneath the covers. "Who calls this early in the morning?"
"It's Kunikida."
"That makes sense."
(Y/n) rolled her eyes, grabbing her shirt from the previous day and pulling it over her head as she sat up. She ran a hand through her ruffled hair, letting out a yawn before answering the call, "This is (Y/n). What's up, Kunikida?"
"Where are you, (Y/n)? Is nearly ten, you should be here by now."
"Sorry I got caught up resting after getting shot yesterday," she retorted, scratching her face as she spoke. "But no, go ahead and keep scolding me. I totally deserve it."
Kunikida was silent on his end for a moment. He finally said, "Sorry, I should have taken that into account. But that doesn't mean Dazai should be late too!"
She looked over to Dazai, who was still half-asleep. The covers were slightly lowered, revealing his somewhat bare chest (there were bandages covering large portions of the area).
"Okay, that's a fair point. Is there anything else, or do you want to scold me for taking too long to heal?"
"No, not that. My main reason for calling you is that there's a guy here asking to see you." (Y/n) tensed up, Kunikida seeming to notice her reaction despite not even being in the same building as her. "Don't worry, we patted him down and got an ID. Besides, you introduced him to me not too long ago."
She relaxed as she tried to remember who he was talking about. She slapped her hand against her forehead, the sound causing Dazai to turn back towards her with half-open eyes. "Oh, you mean Hibiki. What's he doing here? Wait..." She froze up, causing Dazai to notice her suddenly tense stance. "Is...?"
"No, Asagiri is not here. It's just Hibiki," Kunikida stated, causing her to let out a slight sigh. "Try to get here as soon as you can, he says it's pretty important."
"Alright, thanks for letting me know. I'll be there within the next half hour." (Y/n) ended the call, dropping her phone onto the small pile of clothes that had been created next to her.
Great... Hibiki is probably here to talk to me about trying to reconnect with Hinami, she thought, rubbing her face and drawing her fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose. I'm all for trying to have a real conversation to set things straight, but I really don't think I'm ready for that right now. I really don't want to get yelled at like that again...
She relaxed a bit when she felt a warm, calloused hand rub her back, going under her shirt to press against her bare skin. She turned towards Dazai, who was now more awake.
"Sorry, did I wake you?"
"Yes," he simply answered, a small smile creeping across his lips. "I was in the middle of a wonderful dream – it was so similar to last night that I thought I was having déjà vu." He crept his fingers up her spine, gently pressing against her skin.
"That really does sound like a good dream." She tried to hold back her expression as she felt tingles run up her spine in response, her shoulders relaxing as she pulled her hand away from her face.
"Too bad Kunikida had to ruin it." He clicked his tongue. "He must have a sixth sense – he has to ruin anything remotely fun."
"Yeah..." She stared down at her hands as they rested in her lap, her smile fading away. "He must."
Dazai noticed her expression and sat up, the blankets falling down to reveal his half-bandaged torso. His fingers danced along her skin, landing at her side as he pulled her closer to him.
"What's wrong? What did Kunikida have to call so early for?"
"Hinami's older brother, Hibiki, came to the agency looking for me." Dazai's expression grew apprehensive, his grip on her tightening slightly. "Don't worry, Kunikida's met him and they double checked to make sure it was safe and that it was really him."
"I didn't know Hinami had a brother. I always figured she was more of an only child."
"So did I, until I actually met him. He's a real sweet guy and I'm still surprised of how little she talks about him." (Y/n) leaned back into him, resting her head against his chest as her hand reached up to meet his. "She's always been more of the loner type, up until we became roommates and she hired me at the Ripped Page."
"If you two were so close, up until your fight, why did you tense up when she came up in your phone conversation? Are you still upset about the fight?"
"You could hear the conversation?"
"You have your volume turned up pretty loud and I have very good hearing. But you didn't answer my question... Are you still upset about the fight, (Y/n)?"
"Of course I am, but that's not why I tensed up..." (Y/n) shook her head, letting out a heavy sigh as she turned back to him. With a heavy heart, she told him about the ripped letters – how she found them in a plastic convenience store bad shredded to pieces.
She could feel her chest tighten as she spoke, her head craned to face him as much as she could. She could hear her voice crack as she spoke, watching as his relaxed expression fell to disappointment and sadness.
"Oh," he said after she finished relaying him the story. "That is quite upsetting. I can't believe Hinami would do such a thing."
"Anger can make you do some crazy things. Haven't you ever done something terrible because you were angry or just upset?" She knew the answer to that question the second her eyes met his, a reminder of his dark past. "Okay, I guess it's incredibly bad when you say you can't believe Hinami did that."
"Indeed."
The two soon got up and began to get dressed. (Y/n) managed to put on enough to clothes to go back to her place and grab a quick outfit for the day, scampering back to Dazai's to fully get ready.
Once the two began to put on their outfits for the day, Dazai said, "This may be a bit more important now, but you never really talk about your own family. Where are your parents? Their location may be important for some future events..."
(Y/n) looked down at the makeshift ring as he spoke. She grabbed her shorts, beginning to pull them on as she answered, "Still the same answer as in the letters – I still haven't found their new numbers or address. After I joined the agency, it's almost as if they just disappeared off the face of the earth."
"Do you want to try and use some agency resources to find them? They may not come to our wedding, but it never hurts to at least ask."
She thought about the question for a moment, eventually shaking her head as she said, "If they want to be a part of my life again, they know my number. Unlike theirs, mine still hasn't changed."
He nodded, buttoning up his shirt and partially tucking it into his pants. He walked over as he rolled up his sleeves, wrapping his arms around her as soon as she pulled her shirt down.
He pressed a long kiss to the back of her neck, prompting her to gently grip his forearms. "Whatever you want, (Y/n). Whatever you want."
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