the beauty of water: resurfaced | o. dazai ✔

chapter twenty-nine.

(Y/n) pulled herself to her feet and made her way towards the stairs. That was going to have to do for now. She had no time to waste.

(Y/n) finally made it to the top of the building.

She looked around, noticing the various stacks of metal beams and other construction equipment. There were so many hiding places – and it was so easy to fall. There were no rails on what would become the walls of the building, just open space that would lead to plummeting back down to the sand-covered ground.

She'd lost Aimi again, despite having less spots to hide in. This time she wasn't going to just search. She wasn't going to wait to look – she was just going to draw her out again.

She didn't care anymore about niceties. She was way past simple appeals – she knew that she needed Aimi to see Zack for who he really is. For who he really was.

"Why?" (Y/n) called out. "Why would you do this for him? He's cruel, manipulative, and murderous. Can't you see he's using you?"

She stopped as soon as the words came out of her mouth. There was one thing she hadn't quite considered: "Is Zack all you have left?"

There was a beat of silence. The only sound that passed through to cut the growing tension was a burst of cool wind, causing (Y/n) to shiver slightly.

The slightest vibration occurred at her feet, causing her to spin around at the source. Aimi stepped out from behind a pile of metal beams, wringing her hands as she stared at the ground.

This was no longer the bloodthirsty person who'd organized a gang of children to commit crime. This was no longer the sister of killer and dirty cop. This was no longer the person who'd murdered her.

"I know how Zack is," Aimi finally said. "I'm not stupid and I'm definitely not blind."

(Y/n) softened her stance in response. "Then why are you helping him?"

Aimi opened her mouth, searching for the words. She let out a sigh, looking down as she finally answered, "I told you already. He's family. He's my brother. I'd do anything for him."

"But you don't have to." (Y/n) took a step towards Aimi, cautious and slow. "Just because you share DNA doesn't mean that you're family. It's the bonds that are made between people that draw them together that makes a family."

Aimi began to close the gap between her and (Y/n). "Do you really mean that?"

(Y/n) nodded, finally closing the gap between her and Aimi. "Yes. A murderous, manipulative psycho does not equal a brother." She held her hand out to Aimi, silently offering another chance.

Aimi looked up, going from her hand back up to (Y/n). With the slightest smile, she gently took (Y/n)'s hand. She gripped it, soon tightening enough to crack her bones.

(Y/n) tried to pull her hand away, letting out a grunt as pain flooded her hand. She looked to Aimi, watching as if in slow motion as she took out a dagger.

"But we really are family," Aimi said, plunging the dagger into (Y/n)'s side and caused her to let out a surprised gasp, "because I'm a murderous, manipulative psycho too."

Aimi pushed against (Y/n), throwing her back against the ground as a loud thud came from her body weight slamming against the metal. She slid a bit, stopping just before she reached the edge of the building.

Trying to recover from the sudden wound, she let out a sharp breaths. She knew she couldn't pull out the dagger, but she couldn't just leave it in there either.

God it hurt. It hurt so badly.

(Y/n) watched as Aimi's dark eyes turned to a haunting shade of light blue – the same shade that surrounded Zack's ghostly figure. She raised her hands into the air, (Y/n)'s blood dripping from her fingers.

She felt the ground shake, causing her side to ache even further from the vibrations. As soon as it stopped, she heard a bloodcurdling scream from down below.

She pulled herself towards the edge, peering down as she watched more ghosts rise from the ground. They surrounded the area, going after anything that wasn't lit by the blue aura.

She turned back to Aimi, horror painted over her face as she asked, "What have you done?"

Aimi didn't even bother to look at (Y/n) as she replied, "What I was meant to do."

(Y/n) looked back down to the ground, watching as Kunikida and Dazai further struggled against Zack. Their fight alone was hard to watch – it was made even harder when more ghosts began to join the battle.

Kunikida was thrown around like a ragdoll, getting hit and socked everywhere he turned. He couldn't get a single punch in as the attack just kept going.

Her heart sank as she watched Dazai try to grab Zack, attempting to neutralize the special ability used on him. Zack phased through Dazai, causing Dazai to practically throw himself against the side of the toppled-over crane.

He tried keeping himself upright, though he struggled. Even from a distance, (Y/n) could see the color further draining from his face. He struggled to stand, even to just keep moving. He gripped the crane, about to collapse. His body unable to keep going even in this desperate moment.

"Why are you doing this?" (Y/n) questioned, not bothering to turn away from Dazai.

"Yokohama took everything I cared about away from me," Aimi screamed, her voice cracking as if she were about to cry. "So now I'm using everyone whose lives were taken from them to take it down."

(Y/n) could feel Aimi's hatred thicken the air. She saw as more ghosts appeared throughout the city, attacking and destroying everything in sight. It was a complete endgame, and (Y/n) wasn't sure how to stop it.

She turned back down to the dagger wound, checking her body to see if she still had any water dripping off of her – only to find she was bone dry. She turned back down to the river, reaching her hand towards it. She soon stopped as she realized she was too weak to even consider using her special ability.

Aimi had done it – she'd taken the upper hand and was enacting whatever plan she'd concocted all this time.

(Y/n) turned back down to Dazai, watching as he slid against the crane. He clutched his jacket, watching as Kunikida was thrown against the ground. His body went limp for a moment, only for him to already start trying to get up.

She turned back to Aimi. Her eyebrows furrowed, anger building up inside of her. She could no longer feel the pain of the stab wound – fury boiling inside of her.

"I'm not taking this anymore."