Chapter Text
Alice’s P.O.V.
“Ou-sama?” I looked up with curiosity in my eyes directed to a man taller than me. His hair was pitch-black and straightened. A white coat served as his doctor’s attire and underneath, he wore a grey dress shirt and pants.
“Hm?” Despite answering me, he made no move to face me and continued walking ahead. I fought to keep up with his pace. Jeez, and he always scolds me whenever I don’t look people in the eyes while talking to them.
Of course, I didn’t have the stomach to say that out loud.
“It’s- uhm, why are we…” I kept cutting myself off, trying to find the best way to tell him what I meant without angering him. “Th-The boss is in horrible condition. We should, I mean.. shouldn’t we inform someone before paying him a visit?” I lightly suggested, hoping he’ll take my idea as his own.
Incoming… A total of 148 options - Narrowing down to 5 options.
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The familiar indication of my ability activating alerted me to the incoming danger and prompted me to dodge. I would have done so, but when a gadget is being thrown your way, you should catch it instead of letting it fall to the ground..
Unless it’s a grenade.
I held out my hands in a desperate attempt to catch the phone Ou-sama tossed at me, fumbling a few times before I finally got it. A shaky sigh of relief escaped my lips. Clutching the phone with hands that were trembling just a tiny bit, I observed him. The man was known as Ougai Mori .
He still didn’t tell me what he was planning to do with an impromptu visit to the boss. Although I was curious, I knew that his giving me the phone was a sign for me to shut up, and so I did just that. The phone was unlocked quickly by my fingers, having memorized his password. A soft click was heard, indicating my successful opening of the gadget and that made him stop walking. Confused, I stopped as well.
He turned to me very slowly with a serious look.
“Please don’t change the language settings of my phone again.”
I started sputtering unintelligible words in an attempt to justify myself. “Thats-! I-I was a kid!”
“You still are.”
“I was six. I said I won’t do it again!” I whisper-shouted.
He waved off my embarrassment and resumed walking. While it took me a few seconds to recover, I was back following his heel once more. A mirror was not needed to know that my cheeks were probably red. Though he successfully changed the subject, I was still nosy about the reason for us passing by. I doubt he would pass by for simple pleasantries. He must want something.
While striding forward, I continued to tamper with his phone, noting anything out of place. Sheesh, he should get better security. I can hack his bank account like this. Not that I don't already know his pin for that.
A few more minutes passed and I got bored. Little noises and music started playing from Ou-sama's phone, courtesy of the game I started playing. I made sure to keep the noise to a minimum, something tells me that this meeting won't result in anything good.
When we finally arrived in front of double doors, I closed the phone, bracing myself for what was about to come. He opened both doors softly and the scene that greeted us was not a pleasant one. The boss had been sick for quite some time now. There he laid, bedridden. It was a sorry sight, the boss of the cruel port mafia in a state like this. Ou-sama approached the bed and stood at its side, looming over the boss. Naturally, I stayed by his side.
"Kill them all." It must be terribly hard for him to speak in such a condition. Despite the obvious portrayal of weakness, Ou-sama's eyes held no pity in them. Even I can't discern the emotions it held as of the moment, if there were any.
"I don't think that's a wise decision, boss." I do agree with Ou-sama, however, I can't help but cower a bit from his tone. It was so empty. It was then that I knew that he didn't care for the suffering of his superior.
"Sensei, kill them all. Kill them all. Anyone who opposes the port mafia, the special operations division, the military police. Show them that the port mafia should not be trifled with." He kept on repeating things among the same lines. His voice was raspy and each time he spoke, it made my throat feel itchy. "Kill them. Kill them."
I tore my eyes away from the boss and faced Ou-sama. He donned a smile. A smile that would have been convincing if it reached his eyes.
"Of course, boss." Even though Ou-sama gave the boss reassurance, he kept on muttering the same things like a broken record.
Ou-sama took out a scalpel.
I immediately looked away. The familiar sound of tearing flesh and blood spurting echoed throughout the room and my breath hitched. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. He killed the boss. Only now realizing that I was hyperventilating, I tried to force myself to calm down. Ou-sama would be disappointed in me if I was this weak. I took long breaths, though some were interrupted by short ones since I haven't quite calmed down yet.
My train of thought was interrupted by him speaking again. "The boss has passed because of sickness. In his dying breath, he appointed me as the next boss of the port mafia." He glanced at me sideways, a crazed look in his eyes and a manic grin, before turning around to face the exit. "You two are my witnesses for that, yes?" At first glance, it was a question, but an underlying tone suggested that if we were to refuse, we wouldn't like what would happen next.
Wait. 'You two'? 'We'?
With the sudden realization, my eyes were quick to spot the new person present in the room.
A boy with messy dark brown hair, clad in dark-colored clothes as well, was located by me. He had bandages all over his arms and some even around the lower part of his neck, more bandages were situated on his face, covering one of his eyes. His eyes.
They were like Ou-sama's. No, they're much worse. Staring into them felt like gazing at a bottomless pit. It was empty and mysterious. But the worst part is..
Because his eyes are a bottomless pit, I needed to make sure to never fall victim to them.
—
Ever since then, the boy named Dazai Osamu has been with us. With both of us 'witnessing' the last moments of the previous boss, Ou-sama became the next one.
A lot of things have changed. It's been 3 months since then. Before, I'd help out with port mafia affairs but the one who'd receive recognition was Ou-sama since I was not a part of the mafia. One of the first things Ou-sama did was have me become an official member. For whatever reason, after that, more and more people started coming to me for help instead of him. It'd make sense though, seeing as Ou-sama is busy.
Besides, what could someone like me do? I'm not anyone special when it comes to tactics and physical prowess. If this stuff like gathering information and doing reports is all I have to offer for the organization, then I won't turn it down.
With that in mind, yet another person approached me at my desk while I was typing away. Ou-sama gave me my own workstation and even a personal computer. I should thank him more.
The person was one who I recognized to be Yuriko Makase, of course, a port mafia member. If I remember correctly, she is a low-ranking member and was tasked to deal with a series of disturbances in one of the port mafia's territories. She was assigned to lead a small team for that mission and a few days ago, she went to me for a bit more information about their objective. If I were to guess, she's for something related to the mission's report.
"Arisu-san, we finished scouting the area. There were a bunch of delinquents running about. They were causing trouble for the Mafiosi stationed there." I almost raised an eyebrow but deemed it too rude and nodded instead. "Here's notes on that, please make a report for it. Thanks." I couldn't even refuse as she was already walking away before I could utter a word. Not that I would've refused, something as simple as a report isn't anything worth starting a fight for. Besides, I doubt it'd take long.
I glanced at the notes she gave me and sweatdropped. These notes look like a toddler wrote them.
I was about to start working on it when a tiny ringtone came from one of my pockets. Earning myself some stares from the noise, I quickly tried to turn it off before apologizing to the people around me. My phone was opened so that I could check what the alarm was for. It's time for lunch .
Though I couldn't eat at the moment. Aside from completing the report, I had a lot of other tasks that piled up. I should finish them now so I won't have to worry about them another day.
So I started to work on it. Skillful hands started typing on the keyboard. It took quite a while to be able to decipher the notes but I managed in the end. The report wasn't too long since there wasn't much to report on anyway. It took less than 2 pages and I printed them out before setting them neatly aside.
See? That didn't take too long. Only about.. 30 minutes. Lunch ends in another 30 minutes as well, and I still had a lot more to do.
I'll just buy a dorayaki real quick. The chair was pushed backward when I stood up and speed-walked to the elevator. We were on the 4th floor of the building and I was about to close the elevator after taking a good look around to see if anyone wanted to get in.
“AAAAAAA wait wait hold the elevator please!”
My ears perked up. Did I miss anyone?
I pressed the hold button regardless of not knowing the source of the voice. There at the other side of the room was Dazai-san. It seems he was the one who shouted for me to wait for him but.. as I said, he was on the other side of the room . It was awkward having to wait for him to get here, but I couldn’t just close the doors on him, that’d be rude. So there I stood rigid, waiting for him to get himself here. I’m thankful that he wasn’t taking his sweet time as well. He went through the trouble of trying to hurry up. When he finally got here, I mentally sighed in relief.
The elevator doors closed and I clicked the button for the ground floor. We were on the opposite sides of the elevator, not too close, not too far. I liked it that way as well. If I’m being honest, I’m scared of him just as much as I am scared of Ou-sama. If you were to ask me whether or not I’d talk to him or not, the answer would be the latter.
But I forgot to ask him what floor he was getting off.
And he seemed to not push any of the buttons..?
Should I ask him? What if he’s getting off on the same floor as I am?
I mentally braced myself, inhaling sharply. “Uhm, Dazai-san…?” He tore his attention away from the elevator door and slowly turned his head toward me, eyes roundish opposite to it usually being half-lidded. He hummed a small acknowledgment but I was interrupted by a ding that echoed inside the small space we occupied.
It seemed that the ground floor was his stop too because he got out before I could continue to ask him. I sighed to myself while exiting as well. At least I didn’t have to ask. Dazai-san walked ahead of me and since I was eager not to get noticed by him a second time, I walked a few feet away for good measures. I almost shouted thanks to the deities when he changed his route and ended up on a different path than mine. Sheesh, everyone I meet is so scary.
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WHAT-
I jumped forwards in order to avoid the arms closing in from behind me.
Of course, since I was surprised, my foot tripped on nothing and I fell forward as well. I bit of air was knocked out of my lungs as well as some of my dignity. I whispered an ‘ow’ under my breath and stood up abruptly, patting the dirt off my clothes.
Though I didn’t forget whoever was responsible for my ability activating.
Cautiously, I turned around, ready to run if ever the perpetrator was dangerous.
Who I saw made me confused. “Dazai-san? What-” Oh no, bad bad bad bad bad.
“Interesting.” Those rounded eyes I saw earlier were no longer there, instead, it was narrowed, seeming cunning. Oh my gosh, do not be scared. Do not be scared. He lowered his arms which I think were the reason my ability turned on. He placed a hand on his chin seemingly thinking and took a step towards me, to which I responded by taking a step backward. “You know, I’ve been watching you and Mori-san. He seems to never send you out for fieldwork, which makes sense seeing your cowardice-” I winced. Those are… some really harsh words. “But you’ve got awfully good reflexes, yeah? Is that your ability?” He kept prodding. This dude just deduced all of that?
Though I couldn’t avoid answering, not wanting to be rude. “Y-yeah.”
…
..
What the heck?! Save me the embarrassment and say something, I beg you! I already felt my stomach churn, that was not a good sign. I was ready to make a run for it to save my dignity when he suddenly laughed.
Like, full-on laughed.
Dazai-san is weird.
His back was hunched, both bandaged arms wrapped around his stomach, and his eyes closed. Were that tears? Was he crying?! “Ahaha- you’re really not fit for the mafia, you know that, right?” He chuckled. While he was happy, I couldn’t help but feel bad. Of course, I know that. “I wonder why you joined anyways.” He said while wiping both his eyes clean from tears. “So, where are you headed? Better make it quick too, lunch ends in about…” He lifted his wrist and took a look at- nothing?? “.. 25 minutes.”
“I’m go- I was going to get a dorayaki.. I need to get back to my desk quickly.” I rushed my words that matched my walking speed. Despite that, he kept up beside me. I also need to get away from you quickly.
“A simple dorayaki for lunch? Have you had breakfast?” Why was he showing so much interest?
“..No.”
“Are you perhaps suicidal?” That question made me choke on air. When I got my bearings together, I gave him a look that screamed ‘are-you-serious?’. “If so, I wouldn’t really recommend the ‘starving to death’ method, it can be really agonizing.”
I looked ahead in favor of not looking at him, hoping that’d lessen the confusion I was feeling. “I’m… not really planning on it?” Damn it, now even I sounded unsure.
He shrugged and we continued to walk quietly. Thank you.
A small shop was seen on another side of the road that we entered after crossing the street. The atmosphere inside was cozy. I wouldn’t mind working here but port mafia information isn’t something I should be sorting out in public. Even the color palette of the whole place was pleasing to the eyes. A small smile presented itself on my face. Standing to the side in order to not be in anyone’s way, I craned my neck up to survey the menu. My mood brightened when I saw that there were a few fillings to pick from. There were Chocolate Ganache, Red Bean, and Custard. An amazing variety because I loved them all! There stood one problem though. I only brought enough money for one.. I didn’t think there’d be a lot of fillings that I’d like. Jeez.
“Oi, what are you standing there for? You look really stupid.” I blinked. I looked away from the menu and back at Dazai-san who was now sitting on one of the chairs.
“I’m not going to stay. I mean, it’s just one dorayaki, th-there’s no time. Of course, I’m not saying you’re not allowed to stay here..!” I hurriedly added, worried that he’d take it the wrong way.
“Just take a seat. Watching you gives me more secondhand embarrassment than it should.” He waved his hand to the empty seat in front of him with a sigh. He’s awfully honest, isn’t he?
Even though I should have refused, I didn’t. “..Okay.” My voice was barely above a whisper, already resigned to just going along with whatever Dazai-san wanted (the furrow of my eyebrows and slight frown makes it clear, however, that I was not okay with this). The sooner this is done and I get back to my desk, the better. A person my height had a hard time getting onto the seat, but I managed. A kind lady then handed us a menu in a maid outfit. I blinked. Hmm, I wasn’t aware this was a maid cafe. I didn’t have any qualms with it anyway.
It seems neither did Dazai-san.
Since I already knew what I was going to be getting, I mustered up the courage to fake cough lightly. “What would you be getting, Dazai-san?” My voice was a little louder and more confident this time around since it was a practiced reply I always asked Ou-sama when the situation called for it. To my surprise, he only skimmed once through the menu before saying his response.
“I’ll try their omurice.” He sounded really disinterested, but that was okay. Great! Now all I needed to do was tell one of the staff our order.
Tell someone…
Oh dear, no one is near our table.
I peered around the room a second time, hoping that anything good would come out of it.
No such luck.
I was going to have to raise my voice. What if nobody hears me though? That’d be embarrassing. That thought alone was enough to get me spiraling down an internal dilemma. I can just wait until someone comes near us. But wouldn’t that take too long? I’m short on time already as it is.. I can ask Ou-sama to do it for me!
I stopped as soon as that thought entered my mind. I’m not with Ou-sama, I’m with Dazai-san . The fact that I immediately came to the conclusion of asking for help from Ou-sama was probably not good. I’ve come to depend on him much too often.
Yet the problem still stands, he was not here to help me.
I slowly turned my head to the only person who could help me. I just hoped he would.
Imagine my surprise to find him slightly smiling at me (or was he smirking?), eyes glinting a bit. Once again, he reminded me of Ou-sama. Both cunning, calculative- wait, what am I saying? I shouldn’t judge Dazai-san like that, and Ou-sama would be really sad if he knew about the words I used to describe him.
“Is something the matter, Arisu-chan?” How do I put this into words? ‘ Oh, I’m too anxious to beckon someone to come over to our table so that we can finally have our order taken. Could you do it for me?’ That’d get him to think of me as a coward for sure. Not that he already doesn’t. “Why aren’t you saying anything? At this rate, we’ll be here ‘til the sun sets.” It’s not like I haven’t taken that into account already.
I have a feeling he knows what I’m thinking. He knows and he’s surely making fun of me for it. Get mad. Snap at him. Show him you aren’t someone people can just step on.
But I couldn’t do it.
Because that’s exactly what I am.
A person people step on.
That is why he’ll never think of me as his own daughter.
"I'll tell you what, I'll order for both of us if you don't mind indulging me with a few answers." The small twitch of his lips was still there. At that moment, I knew that I was going to be making a deal with the devil. For a dumb reason too. "Do I have your agreement?"
I jumped a bit, forgetting that I haven't said anything for the past few minutes. "Ah! Y-yes, of course. Thank you. I am indebted to you, Dazai-san." I bowed my head a little.
What could he possibly want from me though? Information about the port mafia? That would make sense considering I deal with those kinds of things. Oh no, Ou-sama would be incredibly mad at me if I were to give him classified information.
"The first question is-"
What should I do?!
"-what's a ten year old chibi like you doing in the port mafia?"
…
..
EHHH?!
"P-pardon? Is that really it?" My eyes were wide with a hint of disbelief. I wasn't entirely sure how to reply to that.
"Yes, yes. I want to know. Everybody has their reasons, right? I'd like to hear yours." He rested his chin on one of his hands, giving me a close-eyed smile. Please do not smile at me if you don't actually mean it. I've seen that way too many times.
Why am I in the port mafia? Oh right.
"I’m allowed to be in the mafia.” I pouted slightly. “And you’re right, I joined the mafia because I-I wanted to prove myself." Dazai-san looked surprised but disappointed at the same time. I'm assuming he wasn't expecting that sort of answer.
To prove myself..
Look where that got me, huh?
I shook my head. I was abandoned once, it won't happen again. I'll make myself useful enough not to be discarded.
"Ah! I have another question. You call Mori-san 'Ou-sama'. A king? Why is that?" Hmm, Dazai-san was really good at keeping me from my own thoughts.
"I owe him many thanks. I mean- he's done so much for me! Y-you know I'm not really sure I'd be here if it wasn't for Ou-sama." I'd be alone.
"I'm not sure whether to pity you or be impressed. Of course, I'm doing none of the above." He replied with a deadpan stare. I'm not sure if you even have what it takes to muster up any real emotions. I slapped myself mentally for that rude comment. "Wow, this is the most I've heard you talk." He's definitely making fun of me in his mind.
“It’s not like we had a serious- uhm, one on one conversation before.” It was true. “We have never introduced ourselves.. properly , so to speak.”
“Not that it matters, we know each other’s names just fine, no?” How could we not? I assume Ou-sama would talk to him about me since he does talk with me about Dazai-san. “Speaking of Mori-san, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why he had both of us as his witnesses for the old boss's death.” A seed of wariness planted itself at the back of my mind. Where is he going with this? “Someone who follows him like a dog and someone who wants to die. He’s pretty much secured that no one would tattle on him!” He gave me a distorted wide smile and I swear I saw his irises shrink a bit, making him look like a total nutjob.
“How did you even get there in the first place, when the previous boss died, i-if you don’t mind me asking, that is?”
He hummed and closed his eyes, pretending to think. “But it’s much more fun not to reveal it! How do you think I got there?” Pointing at me using a slight nod of his head, he waited.
It was silent for a few moments. How did he get there? I’ve never seen him prior to that in my whole life. Did Ou-sama know about him? Of course, otherwise how else would he have known Dazai-san had suicidal tendencies? It’s possible they knew each other beforehand, though it could also be argued that Ou-sama took interest in Dazai-san without enlightening Dazai-san himself. Ou-sama is good at setting up a scene that’d work out in his favor..
I stopped myself short when I realized it could be either, or even none of what I deduced.
“I’m sorry to disappoint. I’m not- I don’t have anything? I mean, I’m not sure about what I thought up. I don’t have much to go from.” I looked away, a bit ashamed that I haven’t met others’ expectations. It seems I must add Dazai-san to the list of people I have displeased.
“I’d still like to hear it. I’ll be the judge if it’s accurate, alright?” I almost glowed. If he wants to know, then that must mean that he doesn’t think of my opinion lowly, right?
And so I voiced my thoughts. I tried to take subtle glances at him in between sentences to see if I was correct or not while fiddling with my fingers underneath the table. His body language is so… weird. It’s hard to read him. Perhaps it’s because he noticed me looking at him that he started being mindful of his own body language?
In the end, he gave no reactions for a few seconds. It almost scared me to death. Seeing his blank face could only mean that I was very far off. That was until he spoke.
“That’s an enthralling outlook.”
“Is it accurate?” I asked with creased brows.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” A small offended gasp left my lips and my eyes widened. Before I could complain, he continued. “Miss! We’d like to order now.” With his call, a server in yet another maid outfit approached us.
“What would the two of you like?” She asked, giving us a polite smile.
“I’ll be taking the omurice. She’ll be having..” Ah, that was addressed to me.
“I-I’ll take one of the- red bean-filled dorayaki?”
“Alright, please give us a few minutes to prepare your order, masters!” Her choice of words made me die a little bit on the inside.
On the bright side, we finally got to order. This is taking longer than I originally anticipated.
“Ne, Arisu-chan. I’m a bit curious. You said you joined the port mafia to prove yourself right?” Ack! We really shouldn’t be talking about these things out in the open. “Is that really all you want in life?”
“That’s a rather personal question.” I chuckled nervously.
“Is it really worth risking your life for? You know death comes near to those in an organization like this one. And to prove you’re something you’re not? As I thought, children like you are pretty dumb.” I flinched at his scathing tone. “This is why you live?”
“I- I…”
He was right?
Ņ̸̜͈̰͕̓̿̆̒͘ǫ̵͉̲̓͂͠ͅ ̷̯͖͌̓̃͗́̿̈́̒̓ͅĥ̷̨̦̑é̴̱̙̾̆̉̈͝'̴̡̗̬̯̲̦̬̓s̵̬̮̳̖͇̘̯͔̲̎̈̾́́̐͜ ̴̢̲̳̮̲̊̀͒͑̈͐͂͂W̷̨̡̘̥̥͍͙̱̻̯͒̂Ȓ̶̖͈͉̮̮̃͌̋͘͝O̸͍̗̬̽̐́̈́͋́̕ͅN̸̛̹̺͍̱̻̺̤̞͊͜G̵̖̳̣̞̩̯̣̘̠̓̅͗̓.̷̞̣̈́͐̏͠
P̸̧̺̦̲̻͔̗͑̆̌͋̃̆̎̚̕ͅr̵͍͓͋̈́̂͝o̸̢̪̳̬͖̼̫̞̔̿͑́̐͜v̵̲͚͔̮̠̬̀̇̾͐͆͑e̶̳͎̺͉̱̟͗̅͐̍̈͛ ̶̺͔͙̠̱̹̲͊̚i̶̝̤͇̰͕̭̩̳͙͑̈́̾͛͘t̵̨́̿̌̐̉̈́̄͆͜ ̵̢̀̈̇̂̈́̀͒̌̚͝ț̵̀͊̄͆̄̂͝͝ǒ̵͔̱̞͚̟̖̼͖̞̇́ ̷̰̖̬̅̌̀̿̀͐̋͐̔h̶̡̨̝̱͈̖̜͍̠͔̉̎̾̈̅̐͛̈́̚ỉ̵̗͎̣̘͓̜̼͍͓̟͌m̵̨͕̪̻͍͚̮͗̅̎̈̆̈́̃̑̑.̷̰̩̹̊
Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Your mind is your happy place. It’s a happy.. place.
Is it really?
Show him you aren’t as pathetic as he thinks.
“Y-yes, it’s what I live for.” That was all I managed to say at first, but I gave myself a bit more confidence and continued. “It’s selfish, dangerous, and outright idiotic of me, I know but..” My voice started to quiver. “..For as long as I’m alive, I won’t give it up.”
“You say that so surely. We’ll see in a few years.” His face scrunched up a bit as if he ate something sour, no doubt disagreeing with what I said. I wonder what he would consider a good answer then.
“What about you then, Dazai-san?”
“Hm?”
“What do you live for?”
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. His answer made me feel bad for asking.
“Well if you really want to know, I currently have nothing to live for.” A promptly stopped breathing and it seemed like everything else was frozen, waiting for me to say anything in reply to him.
I̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶I̶ ̶̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶s̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶,̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶u̶i̶c̶i̶d̶a̶l̶ ̶a̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶.̶
It stayed like that for a while, both of us unmoving and silent. The closer I inspected his face, the more I was bothered by his emotionless facade. Can I even call it a facade? It’s what he looks like when he doesn’t need to act. This was Dazai-san. A person who was on a whole other level than anyone else I knew. Maybe if he had a reason to live, more people would be scared of him.
That or if he joins the mafia and- I don’t know, becomes an executive?
Moving on, he’s someone who caught the interest of Ou-sama and I doubt it was for no cause.
My thinking was interrupted by one of the servers coming back with our food.
“Thank you.” Both Dazai-san and I said together.
“Please enjoy, masters!” I haven’t been enjoying for the past few minutes.
Before I could even say ‘itadakimasu’, my companion stood up.
“I’ll be going now, Arisu-chan. This talk wasn’t exactly.. fun , but it was certainly interesting.”
He didn’t even wait for my reply and turned around to head for the exit.
“Oh! And you can have my omurice!”
Once again, Dazai-san is a very strange man.
I wonder if this is the only reason why he followed me here.
My hands were brought together. “Itadakimasu.”
I was about to dig in but it seems fate had other plans because my phone started ringing. I answered it with haste to not bother anybody in the vicinity.
“Hello..? This is Alice speaking.”
“Arisu-kun! Say, where are you right now?” My heart dropped to my stomach.
“O-ou-sama.” I took a quick glance at the time. Oh no. “I’m currently outside eating. Is s-something the matter?” I was silently praying that he’d say no, there isn’t anything wrong.
“Eating? You’re needed at the office though..” his voice trailed off. “Kindly hurry up, if you could.”
“Yes, Ou-sama! I’m so sorry!”