Work Text:
There was hardly anyone in the train station. There weren't any announcements made, but a rickety old ticket booth had the tickets issued along with the train schedules mentioned on an old LCD screen that was flickering from disrepair.
There seemed to be dust in the air and Dazai rubbed his eyes as they got irritated from some getting into it. It felt like a similar sensation from getting up for a particularly tiring morning to get to work. His mind felt muddled, which only added onto to that.
This station looked like the ones you'd find in some unknown countryside, left uncared for from being no-one's destination. And yet people still lived there, maybe as a last resort. Maybe they were forcibly deployed here for a company expansion. Maybe it was the end of someone's journey.
The wooden benches looked dusty, but the patterns they left looked like the ones in decrepit shrine boxes- ones that had hardly any offerings, and whose bells wouldn't chime from rust.
"Why am I here? Did Kunikida-kun try to send me on an errand? That's so mean~
He used my poor and unsuspecting drunk self! What happened to his ideals?! Do they condone using my unsuspecting and completely vulnerable state to put me completely under his bidding?!"
His voice echoed into the tunnels that stretched into the darkness. He didn't have a flashlight on him, and his mobile was completely out of charge, leaving any guesses into what lay beyond a mystery… until a train came by to carry him to his destination.
Maybe the grogginess was a better alternative from piercing headaches that would have cried for his attention throughout the day. It was so quiet that his ears focused on the ticking of the clock that kept oscillating back to the same spot. It made figuring out the exact time harder than it should have been.
"Did he even give me a ticket? Did I buy one from my wallet? Without putting it down as a work expense?!"
Did he just get off the wrong stop by accident? But getting a ticket here… Where even was the ticket dispenser? What was he actually supposed to be doing?
Just as he decided to ignore everything and go back to sleep, his favorite novel slipped out of his jacket and opened into a page with a rather gruesome description of the aftermath of hanging to death. The ticket slipped to the floor, having had enough of being a part time bookmark- off to searching for much greater things to do. Maybe, acting as a guide to a lost soul.
"Looks like Dazai-kun had wanted to play a guessing game with me. What kind of mysterious adventure was that Dazai-kun going on?"
The ticket's destination was blurred out, possibly from his drool. Maybe it was spilled drinks. Either way, if he gave Kunikida this ticket as a receipt for his errand, would his face turn green with disgust as he tried to figure out the true nature of the mysterious liquid?
As he picked up the ticket, the light at the end of the tunnel came quite literally. The train came to a stop, opening its door in invitation as he stepped into the place, aiming to go wherever it would lead him to.
It was probably a route people rarely came to or through, as even the carriage was empty. Dazai only took it as an excuse to take the whole place for himself, using the ample space to lounge his feet. He stared at the many hand-rests that bore a striking similarity to the image left behind in his book. It looked like a beautified Aokigahara. Something people would reach out for a brief rest, a little respite to steady themselves from the constant changes and jerks of the journey.
Maybe it was because of the situation, that he felt like he was missing the constant excitement and sounds that filled the detective agency. Right now, all he had for company was the book whose lines repeated in his mind from his past, all the way to the present. But even if he read it now, it plunged him back to the past, to the version of him who got pinned to a wall by a young Chuuya.
-Back at a time filled with chaos, both from the Mafia's bloodshed and bloodbaths to his mind that grew increasingly unhinged.
And maybe it was the lingering effect of the drink he had last night, but a very familiar figure stood in front of him, looking slightly unimpressed at his posture.
"Dazai. Move over. I can't sit with you taking up the whole bench."
"It's been a while, Odasaku. I think the last time we talked was near the beachside. Did you like the drinks? I think it's the most generous you've seen me be."
Poured the whole bottle on his gravestone.
The man seemed as tall as he had been in his memories. And maybe he was feeling sentimental from this, seeing how his vision blurred a little more. It was strange, how it was probably this sentiment that Chuuya could share. It was only a matter of the number of gravestones they were staring at- the number of ghosts they let haunt themselves.
"Did you steal the ticket off someone again? You usually try to mooch off me that I wonder why you even bother doing that."
"That's so mean! I got this legitimately… I'm on official duty… probably.
I got this ticket with my own wallet!… most likely."
"Uh huh. Where to?"
"Dunno.
Ok! Let's leave that topic aside for one little moment! Where are you heading, Odasaku?"
"Wait, what do you mean 'I don't know'"
"Look, the ticket details are all washed off."
"Dazai, I think that ticket is invalid then. You might have to get off the next stop."
"That's no fair! I paid for the ticket with my hard earned money-"
"You're not even sure about that."
"I decided. I'm going to stop at your destination and tag along!"
"No can do. I'm going to visit those kids now. You know how dangerous it's getting lately. I'd rather make a quiet entrance and exit."
"If the destination is rubbed off, then I can put it down as whatever I want to. So I won't cause you any trouble."
"I wish it worked that way."
Where would he go to meet them, anyway? After that incident, there wasn't even a body to recover and mourn for. There would be no ceremony, and no graves to honor a traitor's loved ones.
"I think, it's going to work out fine." After all, they had been walking similar routes. Dazai also became the traitor of the Port Mafia. Here he also was, trying to find a way to live in the light.
But as if it was mocking him, the train shook violently from some turbulence and came to an abrupt stop. From the speakers came the message of the conductor.
"Dear customers, please stay seated and remain calm. Due to an unexpected collision, there is a delay to the destination. We are currently looking into the issue and are working on resuming the operations as fast as we can."
The cabin was shrouded in darkness. Looks like the damage of the collision was quite extensive. The power to the train might have gotten cut off. This train looked too old for any emergency supplies.
"Are you alright, Odasaku? That was a rough hit."
But it was back to silence. Maybe he was finally wide awake from the harsh wake-up call. There were rustling in the vicinity and Dazai tensed up, getting prepared for an ambush. It certainly wasn't as violent as it was back in his Port Mafia days, but the ADA still had to carry weapons on a regular basis for a reason.
Then came the rapping at the windows, but never with enough force to break it.
The detective started moving towards the engine room to try and ascertain the situation. With his identity, he could aid as well as gain access to information far more easily.
When he opened the door, the man who looked like he was the captain looked back at him with nary a surprise, before he barked orders at him.
"You came to help? Great! There are a lot of bodies in front of the train. If we don't clear them, they'll get stuck in the train and ruin the engine. It's a bloody mess out there. What on earth is going on!"
Then as if he was trying to get ready for the second wave, the man headed back outside to filch a new set of clothes to shield himself from the corpse residue.
What he ended up finding was a white lab coat which he wore in a huff, before tossing Dazai a black trench coat- perhaps out of consideration. Blood red was harder to get onto black after all. The stains weren't visible. It followed with a shovel used to push coal into the furnace.
Dazai paused in silent contemplation before the man's impatient voice rang out.
"Could you come here and help out already?!"
Wearing these clothes felt like he hadn't moved on. Like he hadn't made a single step in progress. Like as if, his promise were just vibrations lost into the air. The pile blocking the train from moving forward seemed to stretch into the mountains.
His breath felt stiffing, when he found himself trapped in the tunnel the train had to follow through. The weight of the body parts that twisted itself lovingly around the wheels was far too heavy to ignore, and maybe he shouldn't have opted for slacking off with desk work so often. And he had always been the brain of operations.
He moved the obstacles to the side as they got lost in the darkness, to be disposed off from a trained professional as he opened their way to the future. In that darkness, they lay forgotten from history- nameless and without identity. Where would this even get reported?
Maybe they were dumped here because hardly anyone passed through. The bodies were rotting in stages deep into rigor mortis, with bones sticking through. Dazai's pupils expanded to their full extent to let him see exactly what he was dealing with.
Seeing the bits that got stuck made him think about the only way the dead could hitch a ride with the living, maybe because they might have been just as desperate to continue their journey. If they became a part of the train, there was no stop they had to get off at. There were no farewells, only greetings.
As he moved them to the side, the grudges that they held for this injustice, where this was their burial ground, where this was someone's idea of paying respects to the dead as they faded from his vision and into obscurity- he wondered if this was injustice, or was it suicide. Because, he saw Aokigahara in the train and there were more ropes to hang on and branches that were sturdy enough to let them go.
Then he stared at their faces and saw familiar faces. They looked extremely similar to the ones that died in the time he was called the demon prodigy. And maybe they looked similar to them because, he looked strikingly similar to the one who still was Mori's successor.
The train master looked at him after making a last ditch attempt at resuscitating the engine.
"Sorry lad, I think this train is completely out of commision.
Luckily, it's not a long way to the next station."
"I'm not leaving. There… there should be something we can do." the brunette refused, looking at what seemed to be Odasaku's silhouette in the window.
"...Where are my manners. Things were pretty hectic, so I had to ask a passenger to help me out here.
I thought it was going to be a pointless journey, since there was only one passenger, but looking at it now, it might be a good thing.
Thanks for all your help, young man. I'm so sorry you had to see this mess. I understand that it must be too alarming to simply leave things like this… But this old man might have gotten desensitized after seeing passengers jump to their death at the platforms.
...I'll take care of things here.
I think there's a card that the station can sign off for your company to explain the… circumstances.
...Why did it come to this?"
Maybe it was the end of this train's journey, but it wasn't the end of Dazai's travels.
He could have left the train. He had been trying to leave the train for sometime, but maybe… like Odasaku mentioned, it didn't work like that with invalid tickets.
If he still persisted on leaving, the train simply wouldn't let him reach that destination.
"I… got a friend in the train. Let me just tell them to come with me."
"Young man, I've already told you this, but there is really no one left in that train. There was only one passenger."
"Yes, there's only one passenger. But sir, I'm the one who wasn't actually supposed to board into the train.
Look, the ticket's invalid, isn't it?"
"...I won't bother with fines for illegal boarding today, given the circumstances."
Then the conversation came to an abrupt stop, as the ceiling collapsed from the trigger of an explosion. It was possibly the remaining part of this work to erase evidence.
"Listen! You have to go out immediately. I'll follow you immediately after a final check. Who knows when the remaining part of this tunnel will collapse!"
"But, my friend-!"
"I'm afraid, it's another one to the body count. Please! Leave now!"
With those words, Dazai woke back up into reality, panting while sweating profusely. Powdered substance scattered around his immediate viscinity, as his latest attempt at overdose failed. It would have been a good counter to vomiting the pills swallowed, but it still failed with similar results.
It wasn't time yet. Dazai sighed morosely as his broken clock still kept striking at the same location, never stopping, but not moving forward either.
It was a brand new day to live in the sunlight