Chapter Text
Oda’s POV
Our muzzles were aimed at each other’s hearts.
He pulled the trigger and the bullet slid out of the gun.
“ODA SAKUNOSUKE, DUCK!!”
That familiar voice.. Was it Dazai?
Something that wasn’t in my field of vision shoved me out of the bullet’s way.
“So the singularity has finally occurred, just as planned”, said Dazai, who shot a smug grin towards me, who was currently lying flat on the floor from the lone impact of that push.
Gide scrunched his nose in annoyance.
“Get out of my way, Mafia Executive.”
No sooner had those words left Gide’s lips, he fired two shots at Dazai.
Dazai only cocked his head to the right, as if he was mocking Andre Gide.
“You are so easy to predict. Singularity,” he said, “a phenomenon that occurs when two abilities similar to each other cancel each other out and make it appear almost staticky and overall unclear as to what would happen next, am i correct? I predict I am, so that means your ability is useless now, isn’t it, Andre?”
I was at an extreme loss of words, so this is the Mafia’s Demon Prodigy in his full glory, huh?
He turned around, “I’m sorry for pushing you away like that Odasaku, are you okay?”
Dazai reached out and offered me his hand. This brought back memories. When I was cornered by Mimic’s soldiers in the alleyway, he had jumped to my rescue similarly.
It was nostalgic and stirred something deep in my heart, though I couldn’t really put a finger on that emotion. Was it remorse? Longing? If so, then longing for what?
Why does Dazai come to rescue me every time? I’m just a petty grunt of the Mafia.. How is he benefitting from it all? What is he thinking exactly?
“Odasaku?”
His voice shook the cobwebs of confusion from my mind.
“Hang in there for a while, let me finish this for you.”
Then he smiled at me the same way he used to, when we were together in bar Lupin.
“Gide..” He looked at him as if he was pitying him.
“No one knows better than me how it feels to think that you don’t belong in this world, no one knows better than me how it feels to think that your life is worthless. Therefore I will respect your wishes and grant you freedom. Freedom from this rotten dream of a world.”
He walked over to Gide casually, who was now left dumbfounded at Dazai’s words. Dazai tapped his shoulder gently, and blue circles surrounded them.
“Odasaku..” He spoke in a tone that I’m sure all three of us knew what it meant.
I got up and rubbed the dust off my knees, cocked my gun, aimed at Gide and shot.
The bullet punched its way through his forehead, causing a gaping hole in its wake that quickly filled with blood and gushed out. Gide fell to the ground, a pool of blood formed around him and soaked into his clothes. He smiled at me peacefully while he choked on his own blood.
*The wide windows of the manor flapped open. The wind screamed in my ears. In the trancelike state that came from slow, repetitive exertion, I gazed at the view outside the window. I looked up. The sky was wide and deep. It was bright. It was beautiful.
“Is this it?” I asked myself.
I didn’t expect to receive an answer but inside my mind a tiny voice replied, “And so what if it is?”
I have killed a person now, a person who kills, can’t write novels about human lives.
The strong wind blew away Dazai’s coat.
“Say, Odasaku. How do you feel about leaving the mafia?” asked Dazai, who still had that serene smile on his lips.
“My orphans are dead, do I really have anything to continue living for?”
Dazai’s expression contorted like that of a puppy who was kicked in the stomach.
“Don’t.. Don’t you think that there are many other orphans that require saving?” Dazai smiled sadly as he said so.
“Maybe you’re right. I get it now.”
Dazai raised his fist as if he was raising a toast.
“To the stray dogs!”
I followed, “To the stray dogs..”