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The last thing Elise had wanted to be doing at 3am was calling her brother, who had made it more than clear that he wanted out of their little family, because she was scared, of all things.
But here she was, swinging her legs back and forth as she waited for him to pick up, praying that he would pick up. Dazai never missed a call, not from her, not from Mori. She supposed it was some sort of trauma response. He was afraid of ignoring their father. Elise didn't have her own phone, just Mori's and the home phone. They were all the same.
After what felt like hours, the ringing finally stopped, the sound of her brothers stupid wheezing splitting the silence like an alarm. She thought his lung stuff had gotten better. She wished he would stop smoking so much.
"Mori?"
Elise cringed, looking down at her floor. Distantly, She realized she needed to clean before Mori got mad. Her stuff was all over the room.
"He's downstairs."
Dazai's stupid wheezing seemed to go away after a moment, what had he been doing? Not sleeping, that’s for sure. One thing she knew had never changed about her brother was his terrible sleeping habits.
"Were you having sex?"
"Elise!"
"Whattt? It's a genuine question! You're all wheezing and crap at 3am!"
"Don't say crap, Elise."
She groaned, rolling her eyes at the remark. "Sheesh, you aren't my dad, Osamu."
"Elise-,"
She swallowed as he went silent on the other end, inhaling sharply. She hadn't meant to make him upset.
"I'm sorry- Is it not a good day? I can- I don't have to call you that."
"No, No, it's fine, El. You don't need to worry about something like that, you're my sister. You can call me by my name."
She nodded after a moment before remembering he couldn't see her, humming in affirmation. Distantly, the door opened and closed down the hall. She sucked in a breath, eyeing her door. She wasn't meant to have the phone at this time. Or be awake at this time to begin with.
"Elise, why are you calling? Are you safe?"
"I didn't know what else to do."
Elise didn't intent for her voice to get so quiet, but somewhere along the way, she found herself unable to keep the words at a level volume. She wished he didn't live so far away now. She wished he never left without her. She wished he stopped to ask if she wanted to go with him, if she felt safe being left alone with their father. She wished he had cared enough to stop and think about her for once. She wished it had been that simple.
"Elise? Elise, hun, what's going on?"
"I didn't know what else to do."
She repeated, wiping the wetness out of her eyes. She wasn't going to cry. She was fine, she was okay. Crying now of all times would be stupid.
"Elise, do you need me to come get you?"
"Please."
She hated the way her voice cracked, hated the way the pressure in her eyes came back, hated the way it made her feel so small. She hated feeling small, hated felling stupid, hated feeling pathetic. She hated it.
"Okay, okay- just-, please stay safe for me, hun. I'll be there as soon as I can, alright? Stay in your room, or go to Hirotsu's if you need, okay?"
"Okay- Okay, thank you-."
Elise wiped tears from her eyes, sniffling. "I can do that- I um- I can't bring the phone-, Mori'll know I took it- but um- I'll be at Hirotsu's- when you- when you get here."
"Okay, that’s alright, Hun. Please just stay safe, for me?"
She nodded, letting out a shaky laugh. "Sending your poor little sister out at 3am in the pitch black? How safe."
"Not funny, kid. Just get your butt over to Hirotsu's."
"Alright, alright, sheesh, I'm going."
She paused, sliding off of her bed and slipping on her shoes. "Daz?"
"Hm?"
"Love you."
"Love you too, punk."