Chapter Text
2 YEARS AGO
The Ōoka River was a nice alternative to most sakura viewing locations, less crowded than other areas. The promenade lined with sakura blossoms in full bloom, trees a soft pink that reflected off the riverbank which was speckled with matching fallen flowers. River cruises would drift by with visitors admiring cherry trees, cameras aiming for the prettiest shot with the helmsman guiding the boat under the arching branches.
During this peak time of the spring season, you found the habit to stand by the railing to view the blossoms over the years. It was convenient that the Commission office was stationed so close to the river.
As of now you were only stepping out after finishing your load of paperwork from early dawn, having grown used to your dim lit office for hours. Normally you'd come out late where the Sakura Festival would be the most alive with lanterns strung in the trees and vendors lined up in colourful rows. Today you were treating yourself early with sunlight before the more busier work hours.
You flick a blossom that fell on the railing, watching it fall and land on the water's surface, barely making a ripple.
Thirty-two years of living, twenty years working, nine years on a foundation of an organization, it took a long time. What would the old man say to you now?
Natsume Soseki, your old mentor along with those two others. An enigma until retirement. Even from your first meeting to the present he still pops out of nowhere just to inconvenience you. You’ve learned just to let him exist in his own space when he comes around rather than being bothered by an old man perched by your windowsill.
He’s lively as ever after entrusting Yokohama to his disciples, spending his days being coddled and fussed over by unknowing passerby. He’d say getting pet was good for the back.
It was well deserved and you were to make sure that his work was well looked after. After his own years of service in protecting the city you could only hope to do the same. To its citizens and the place they reside in, making sure those tasked to guard it don't crack at the seams. If they were to tear each other out of pity conflict under your watch then you wouldn't know what to do with yourself.
It was almost the end of your self-given break. You pushed off the bar meaning to turn away until you spotted something upstream. The river’s flow remains uninterrupted except for a person struggling in its grasp.
You squint your eyes further, seeing the legs of someone sticking out from the water. Had someone fallen into the river? The current is quite fast today and recent rainfall has made it deeper than usual.
Spinning your head around no one seemed to have noticed or paid mind to the drowning victim. The job has fallen unto you.
Jumping over the fence you dive into the river.
Hauling the man's body up the stairs, you plop him onto the ground. Your clothes felt heavy, clinging to your skin and dripping a puddle where you crouched.
Leaning down you checked if he was still breathing, to determine if he was in serious need of first aid. That was until you heard him sputtering and coughing up the water from his lungs.
"Has—“ He abruptly muttered in a daze. “Has an angel cruelly saved me from death's grasp?"
You look down at him, seeing he was staring up at the sky. "Sir, please don't stare directly at the sun."
He blinks hard, slowly rolling onto his side before sitting up, his own clothes soaking wet and brown bangs stuck to his forehead. His expression is one you can't read, looking back at the river with something akin to longing.
"Sir?"
"You interrupted a perfectly good death." He says as if it was a small inconvenience.
It was a response you never thought to hear from this situation. "Excuse me?"
"I finally thought I saw the light!" He put on a melodramatic tone. "Water was already swiftly filling my lungs and I felt my body grow lighter! And then..." His head snaps to face you, slowly taking your hand. "Could it be you would like to join me on another try? Dear, charming stranger?"
Has he gained brain damage from his attempt? You didn't want to brush him off, but he didn't seem like the type to be the open type. Searching his half-lidded gaze you could see—well—something carefully crafted. A need for a key for whatever is going on through his head.
You won't pretend you understood this man you just met. It was more of an understanding of people like him.
You don't take your eyes off him, a go-lucky suicidal man… How else were you supposed deal with this? An afternoon joke anticipated to become a long-running gag?
"Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury is quite serious.” You stated bluntly. “After your brain is deprived of oxygen you could suffer from neurological damage and memory issues."
He blinks. "Oh, don't worry. If I were to die it wouldn't be from that—"
"Your lungs could also suffer from irritation and inflammation, that water wasn't exactly clean. There's also the risk of pulmonary edema which may lead to infection. It's intensely distressing and you'd feel like you'd be suffocating and drowning all over again. Very unpleasant."
"I feel terrific right now though—"
"As a good citizen I strongly believe you should get a check up. I don't know what I do with myself if I left you with pneumonia or in a coma."
"Seriously! I feel alright as ever!" He chuckles. "You can check me if you want?"
"Unfortunately I am not a medically trained professional so I'd feel at ease if you were taken to a clinic. I wouldn't want to assume the worst if I left."
Faced with your unwavering resolve and good will he sighs. There's no arguing with people like you. "Well, fine then. Oh stubborn one, what if you accompanied me all day until you were satisfied that I'm not going to drop from all that you mentioned."
You'll get bored, he thought to himself. At the very least put off by him. He had nothing going on for him these days. At least not yet.
It was the right thing to do, avoiding worrying you after getting you involved. Letting the stranger who saved his life feel something a little longer, it would ease his conscience just for a moment before doing it all again.
You took out your phone, texting one of your clerks to clear your schedule and for no contact unless someone was dying (the notifications immediately blasting with texts which you silent). "Better than trailing after you secretly, I'm satisfied with your offer. Mister?"
"Dazai Osamu." He smiled. "And you are?"
"[Name]."
Dazai walked around aimlessly with you following right beside him, seemingly having no destination in mind. You both were still damp, but you wrung out your clothes to the best of your ability with the wind having done most of the work.
You swore you had heard his name before. Though you doubted you had met him before, he was just too much of a peculiar character to forget. Maybe he just had a shared name with an old client or a similar sounding one.
”Have you eaten, Dazai? It’s already late afternoon.”
He looks to his imaginary wristwatch. “Hm, it is quite late for lunch. I’m assuming you haven’t eaten as well if you’re asking.”
“It’s better late than never.” You look around the street to see if anywhere looks appetizing. “There’s a seafood place a few blocks down here I think. Heard they get everything locally and they have a wide selection that isn’t just seafood.”
”Hm, sure! If you’re paying of course, dear [Name].”
You nod. “I can cover it without a problem.”
The seafood restaurant was small, down the street away from sight of the busier main roads. Despite being hidden from the standard passerby, it was filled with a lively atmosphere with tables filled with customers chattering and the warm aroma of a variety of dishes.
”Oh, I didn’t expect such a fair beauty to grace my presence on a bright spring day.” Dazai had immediately taken the waitress’s hand once you had sat down. “It must be fate, I can only hope that you accept—“
“Sorry, are you asking me out?”
He used both hands to clasp her’s, staring at her with an earnest gaze. “Would you like to partake in a double suicide?”
”Ah.” She somehow kept a polite, customer service smile. “Sorry, sir. I’m taken, but I'll be happy to take your orders!”
Dazai slumped down into his chair as you ordered. Melancholic, he mumbled his own, crab legs, crab cakes, crab rice, crab tempura, crab everything, and sake. It was a lot of crab.
The restaurant had a homely atmosphere, wooden floors and walls with wide windows creating an open space. Light pink lanterns decorated the ceiling, most likely put up solely for the cherry blossom season. On the walls were traditional paintings of various landscapes in black frames. Above Dazai was an ink wash painting depicting a man fishing on a bridge over a river, the terrain a plain almost void of any other life.
It felt ironic. You felt the man before you was living a life of irony, to want to die while standing before you. A contradiction created by the universe or was it from somewhere else? He was strange, with people like him you can't even pretend to understand them, far too hidden from view.
“So, what do you do for work?” He asks as you wait for your food, snapping you out of thought. It was as if he knew you would ask a question.
“I work at a law firm." You answer curtly. "I’m an accountant.”
“Oh? You carry your ledgers and papers around with you everywhere in that briefcase?” He gestures to the metal case on the floor beside you. “Looks bulletproof. Like the ones a government agent would use or something like that.”
”Well, those kinds of papers are often confidential, clients are usually stingy with secrecy. I also sometimes have meetings with them outside of the office so it helps to have them with me. Peace of mind and the bulletproof casing is just a plus!”
”It’s actually bulletproof?”
”This was actually a gift from one of my coworkers, she has a strange habit of gifting unconventional things.” The memory was endearing. "We have another coworker where when she had given a 20,000 lumen flashlight as a new hire gift. If I remember correctly it was comparable to those lights they use in construction sites at night, it suited the newbie cause she was quite jumpy in the dark."
It also practically flash banged the whole office when she first used it.
"You seem to have an eccentric workplace. No boring days I bet."
"Never one in my whole career. You know," you shrug. "Not entirely a good or bad thing, but better than being locked in a cubicle for me. What about you, what do you have going on for work?"
Dazai shrugs back in response. "Y'know, nothing. Though I do plan on working at that Armed Detective Agency, that is if my interview goes well!" He observes a shift in your expression with a smile. "Do you know them?"
"Who doesn't know the Armed Detective Agency? They're among the most notable organizations in Yokohama among a few others."
"I know that well. If it wasn't for a recommendation then I don't think they'd even glance at my resume." It was almost half empty.
~
You left the restaurant after Dazai cleaned all of his plates and emptied his three glasses of sake (which would have been more without your insistence). The bill was nothing to laugh at.
"Do you plan on going sakura viewing this year?" You ask him as you walk down the promenade.
"Not in the traditional sense. With the picnic blankets in the park with all the food and crowds.”
You tilt your head. ”How so?”
He looks up, the blooming cherry blossom trees swaying in the wind. “We’re looking at them right now aren’t we?”
“Oh, you mean the literal sense.”
”I mean, how romantic is the thought of being hung from a branch of a pretty pink sakura tree? You can die with a beautiful flowery background!” He rambles on with glee. “Did you also know that cherry blossoms are actually poisonous? Animals that drink from water sources near them are killed by the glucocyanide content from the falling blossoms which contaminates the water.”
”I suppose people do associate death with sakura trees.” You add to the subject.
Dazai perks up at your comment. “Is this a common comparison.”
”Well, there’s this short story about a person believing the vitality of cherry blossoms were due to dead bodies being buried under the trees. The profound beauty made them feel a sense of unease and emptiness, believing that only the idea of corpses feeding the sakura trees could allow them to comprehend its splendour.” You dust off a few petals that fell onto your shoulder.
”It could’ve been the idea of dualism, beauty cannot exist without morbid despair. Or it could be just the ramblings of a crazed individual finding something in grim speculation. Who’s to say with literature.”
The bandaged man watched you from the corner of his eye, appraising you by your words.
“I suppose that’s the main thing people reference, but it might be what you said too. Maybe you'd get along with the speaker.”
”Hm, perhaps.” He nods, something calculating in his gaze as he speaks. “Do you find life interesting?”
“It’s been good enough for me.”
“You sure? Don’t want to take up my offer for a double suicide?”
In response you laugh, shaking your head. “No, not yet at least.”
Dazai Osamu is a peculiar man. You’d leave it at that for that’s what he would want you to do.
A walking curiosity for those who take cases with the patience of a saint, stubbornness of a mule, and the mind of a counsellor with nothing better to do.
What was more intriguing was how many times your paths have crossed since you met in the Ōoka River.
You had left him as the sun started to set into the sea. Saying he was busy and went off into a dark alley to who knows where, hopefully somewhere with a roof.
He had no intention of disgracing your hospitality so he laid on a bench staring at the sky, peacefully living, only until the next day of course.
A week later you were walking down your usual route to the office near the docks when you watched a large amount of leaves fall off a tree from rustling. Slowly, you continued walking until you were right underneath it. It was probably some large squirrel that got into one too many bags peanuts.
Before you could take another step, something snaps and comes tumbling down. Right before you a familiar man hangs by his feet, face inches away from you.
“Oh! Dear [Name]!” He waves with his arm flopping as he’s upside down. “I never expected to see you so soon!”
“Dazai!?” You exclaim, dropping your briefcase to try and reaching for the knot tied around his ankle.
His hair was tousled with leaves and branches tangled in it. If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought he was stuck in a bush and crawled around in it.
”I read a new suicide method that’s basically a reversal hanging. I thought all the pressure would crush me, but I didn’t expect it to take so long…”
As you undo the knot, he yelps and lands flat onto your back.
“You’re welcome…” You mutter through your teeth, the impact crushing your already sore office desk body.
”So,” he chirped, “Whatcha’ doin’ all the way out here near the pier so early in the afternoon.”
You groan as he finally shuffles off your back, rubbing your shoulders. “I have a job.”
~
A day later you find yourself leaving the Yokohama police station after requesting a few documents for a client. A wife suspecting her police officer husband is using his resources to cover up his cheating scandal.
"I'll get his file for you right away." The accountant dipped her head as she ran off to the archive, pocketing the cheque you had subtly handed to her.
Outside the station, the streets are bustling with the morning rush. Couples loudly chattering, children on their way to school, dogs barking loudly at passersby whom they smell fear from.
Rounding the corner you find an officer with his police dog on leash, a large Labrador barking at a quivering civilian. It looked like it was smiling as it wagged its tail, the friendliest dog you’ve seen, making you wonder how anyone could be put off by it.
You planned to walk past, maybe wave a little at the dog, until you found the man’s coat to be a little too familiar. Seeing his face you stop in your tracks.
When your eyes meet he immediately jumps behind you, peeking past you to look at the dog.
”Dazai?” You couldn’t believe you unexpectedly met again, as well as seeing him looking quite detested at the dog.
”That thing is a monster.” He shivers, peeking over your shoulder. “Slobbering all over me and my coat.”
The dog’s handler continues to attempt to calm down the Labrador, looking apologetic. “I’m really sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” He bows his head as he wrangles the leash away from you two. “He usually gets like this when we feed him. No treats on me though.”
In the end the officer decides to bring his dog back into the station.
As it is pulled away you watch Dazai grab something out of his pocket, eating it as the dog watches which makes it start barking loudly again.
You look at him in disbelief. "Is— Did you just eat dog food?"
"It looked at me funny." He answered as if it was obvious.
~
"It looks like I have myself a stalker!"
You stare at him.
"We must stop meeting like this."
It was late at night, having just gotten off work and picking up a few crates of alcohol for an upcoming company retreat. The bar was recommended by one of your clerks, not too mainstream, but had good service and taste in drinks.
Seeing Dazai again wasn’t a surprise anymore, having become a common sight when you were rarely off.
He holds a half empty bottle, some alcohol brand that wasn’t too cheap yet not too expensive to be seen as high-end, his grip loose around the bottle’s neck. He’s slumped with his head resting on the counter as he looked up at you, a blissed expression and red face from a long night of drinking.
“You come here often, Dazai?” You ask, sitting down beside him, the stool scrapping against the floor echoing in the dim, empty room.
He hums, his head still stuck on the counter. “You could say I keep this place running. Would you happen to already know me as a regular patron here? Since you’ve been following me all this time.”
”Unfortunately, it’s been pure coincidence. I’m just here to pick up an order for some drinks for the company I work at.” You gesture to the crates the bartender at given earlier on the counter, full of a brand of sake with a price that makes him quirk an eyebrow. “We’ll go sakura viewing for a retreat this week.”
He sighs dreamily. “Ahh, drinking in a picnic under the cherry blossoms on a bright spring day. That sounds lovely doesn’t it?”
”It’s this Friday, if you’d like to come.”
For moment he sits back up, taking another sip from the alcohol.
“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly intrude on your business get together!” He waves you off with a slight tilt of his head, politely turning you down. “I have plans that day with death, I’m quite booked.”
You straighten your posture, curiosity subtly brimming. "Is there something different this week that makes you so busy?"
He pouts in reply. "I'll have you know I have a very active life, a work life at that!"
"You—" You dig into your mind back to a prior conversation. "Did you really get hired by that detective agency??"
He nods with a closed-eyed smile. "Mhm!"
The confirmation is a bit of a surprise considering Dazai's character. He must have a wider skill set than you assumed.
"Congrats on getting the job." You say, tone lighthearted. "I have heard it isn't all that easy getting hired there, you must be real talented."
He leans back, his head lolling with his movement with a dismissive smirk. "I guess it's a bit difficult for newbies, but I agree they do got an eye for talent if they kept me around."
"Hm, I'd say." You hide a restrained grin behind the back of your hand, the corners of your eyes crinkling. "Well I suppose the only shame is that our coincidental meetings may decrease, since we're both now busy people."
"A true shame..." Dazai dips his head in feigned sorrow, taking another drink of his bottle, drinking until it's empty. He sighs, sticking his eye inside to find not a drop left.
"You know heavy drinking can lead to liver damage, heart disease, brain damage, and bone loss. It can disrupt the body from building strong bone tissue, you'd be more prone to fractures."
He laughs lowly at your comment. "There you go with that again. Unfortunately, broken bones can't deter me from a good drink."
"I know. But it's always good to discourage bad habits."
He lowers his bottle, becoming increasingly aware of your lingering eyes.
You break eye contact, the bartender having come out of the storage room with the rest of your order. Handing him a cheque, you decide to order a drink for yourself and let him keep the change.
As you tap your glass his eyes survey your body. You had the ability to see through him, couldn't you?
Well he could read you just as well, you weren't special. The way you’ve stuck around him, evidently aware that he’s been trying to deter you in his own way, seeing the man he’s been pretending to be.
At least you could only see his farce, you haven't dug much deeper, though he figured you were able to. You must be hiding something more for him to come to this conclusion.
You have to be hiding. Had you figured that he knew that as well? The slow deliberate tilt of your head with a glint in your eye as you went on about some story about your coworker. He pursed his lips, surely you did.
He rested his head in his hand as he listened intently as you went on, his fingers loosely intertwined in his brown tousled hair.
Was it the hazy lighting of the bar or the way you were so eager to involve him in your life that you caught him off guard? Perhaps you didn’t have a clue of anything. Maybe you were just a bit similar.
Could it be you were just a bit older. Might it be cause he was drunk?
He was drunk. Extremely.
Maybe having a busy life would do good for him.
“You both picked a nice spot.” You say as you walk up to the picnic set up.
The woman before you immediately takes the crates of alcohol you hold and puts them beside her with all the food (which was all hoarded at her arms-length). Cracking open a bottle, she pats the spot next to her on the plaid picnic blanket.
“Well I had to when you mentioned you’d be buying drinks for us." She gives cheeky grin. "Everything tastes better with friends and a good view!”
Just beside her, Koji’s face sours as Zuki laughs loudly and chugs down her drink, the liquid dribbling down her chin.
“Must you be so quick to get drunk?” She mumbles, voice tightened, trying to remain relaxed in the presence of the cherry blossoms. “Don’t you know—“
”Yeah, yeah, renewal, plum cherry trees whatever, you said it all before. I’m viewing them while drinking.” She sticks her tongue out at Koji, to which the teen jerks back from the smell.
”Eugh! Have you ever heard of personal space, Zuki!” She shudders as she rubs her nose. “This is why you came along early! So that you could get first dibs on all the drinks [Name] brought!”
”Aw, you caught me.” She puts her hands up in feigned surrender, not a hint of remorse found in her tone as another bottle is promptly taken from the crate.
"I don't see why you're so worked up." The toxicologist scoffs. "Don't people normally drink when sakura viewing."
"Well it isn't the whole point is it?!" Koji exclaims sharply, arms crossed tightly as if she was keeping herself from going off. "Hanami is meant to welcome spring, honouring the cherry blossoms' spirits and divine the year's rice harvest." She gazes off to the trees blooming above you. "I think we'll be having an abundant harvest this year if all the trees are in bloom like this."
Zuki blinks with the sake bottle pressed to her lips, having been half listening as she laid on her back. "Oh, like how the old people do it?"
That was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Koji’s eyebrows twitch. “Ability—Crying a Pond!”
”HAAAHHHH??” Zuki quickly sits up in a panic. “Wait, Koji, it was my bad—sorry I didn’t mean to—“
A lemon then flies over the trees and into her hands. She yelps, tossing the lemon upwards high in the air.
It explodes before it even begins to fall back down.
The absurdity of what just happened makes you all fall into silence.
Slowly you take a seat beside Zuki.
“Let’s just all be quiet until everyone else shows up,” You say with a steady voice that makes the two stiffen. “Alright?”
Somewhere else near the park you all meet in, a man in a lab coat and a bowl cut is searching his pockets.
”One, two, three… Hm, I swore I had more lemons the last time I checked.” He scratches his head as he recounts once more. “Four with me and one I buried that tree, but I only have three.”
He taps his chin in pensive thought. It was a trial run for a new formula in his bombs, seeing if he was able to cleanly uproot a tree from an explosion’s force.
In the end he shrugs, he’ll see the results of his experiment in the news eventually.
As long as some dog doesn’t dig it up, that’s preposterous. It’d be statistically almost impossible, equally so if said dog were to bring it to its owner and play fetch with it.
Laughing at the thought, he waves it off and heads back to his work’s hq. The mere notion is only possible from mere coincidence.
(think of this segment as a wan chapter) (i was feelin' a little silly when writing this) (sorry)
MINI INSIGHT!! koji's ability
Crying a Pond : Swaps the user's horrific luck with another. Koji is able to keep her misfortune at bay due to the numerous talismans she wears on her body.