N. Chuuya X Fem! Reader: The Territory of Gravity

15.7 - Dazai, Chuuya, Aged Fifteen

Randou, who had been kicked by Chuuya and rolled on the ground, opened his mouth with a groan.

"Then you... thought I was the culprit because there's no such thing as a god?" Randou sputtered.

"Haha, you're wrong. It's the opposite. There actually is a god." Chuuya affirmed. "I know it. And there's no way you would have witnessed him in Suribachigai."

When he heard that line, Randou's presence changed.

His shivering from the cold stopped.

"Were you aware...that Arahabaki really existed?" Randou said as if he was being squeezed.

"Oh... You saw it, then? Eight years ago. If you didn't, you wouldn't have been able to give such an accurate testimony on what he looks like," Chuuya shrugged.

"Oh, I saw him..." Randou said, standing up. "But I didn't just see him. He gave me an explosion up close. It was a complete surprise attack... I was seriously injured and about to die, walking between the boundary of life and death. I lost my memories due to the shock and flames, wandering through the city of Yokohama. I caught the previous boss's eyes, stayed overnight in his organization, then joined the mafia..."

Randou looked at Chuuya with a heated gaze.

"Chuuya-kun, you must know―Where is Arahabaki right now?"

Chuuya didn't answer, just looked at Randou through a sharp gaze.

"Tell me."

"That's what I'm curious about, Randou-san." Dazai laughed slightly as he looked at Randou. "After all, you made this big deal about him just to know. Only the person who knows the truth of Arahabaki can see through his lie. The reason Arahabaki was portrayed accurately was because you used yourself as a huge bait to catch the person who knew the truth, right?"

Chuuya looked between the two for a while, and eventually shook his head.

"Geez... Why do you even want to meet that guy?" Chuuya said. "He has no mind or personality, he just exists. What will you do when you meet him? Pay your respects? He's a powerful deity, a simple lump of power. The same as a typhoon or earthquake. It's not much different from paying respects to fuel at a power plant."

"Personality is not a problem. A mind and thinking are not a problem." Randou said in a solemn tone. "A great destruction. The burning earth, the dyed sky, the quivering atmosphere, a grotesque being. To reach that understanding, the state of nirvana. That power is enough for me. Tell me, Chuuya-kun. Existence beyond human knowledge―Where is the being that burned me?"

Chuuya didn't answer immediately. He turned his palm over, then turned it back around, gaining himself some troubled time. 

"If it were possible for a God to reside on this planet, he would need a vessel," you mumbled, absent mindedly plucking a rose from nearby decoration.

Both Dazai and Randou turned to you, curious, waiting for you to continue.

"Of course, the vessel isn't Randou-San, since he himself was surprised when the thing we know as Arahabaki actually existed," you continued. "But the only other person who has been hunting Arahabaki and is able to give a proper account of what he looks like, is you, Chuuya-kun. Your obsession started before we knew about him. You are the only one to believe in him. And you claim to have proof of his existence. Not even someone as religious as the Pope would go that far."

"That's a bit far fetched, don't you think?" Randou stammered.

"Y/N is rarely wrong with her predictions, it's why she's Consigliere and you're not," Dazai smirked. "Well, Chibiko-kun?"

Chuuya pursed his lips, clearly thinking his next words over. However, before long, he realised a sigh that sounded as if he'd given up.

"Ok. I'll tell you what I know." Chuuya's eyes were clear. They were so clear that they could take in everything that they saw. "Arahabaki―"