Chapter Text
"Woo," Dazai cheers half-heartedly, shaking out the match after lighting the single candle. "Happy anniversary to me~"
It's probably a fire hazard, he thinks, while he watches the candle burn for a moment, staring as the wax melts and drips down into the pink icing of the cupcake. He could have put his little celebration dessert anywhere but the safe house bed, the flame reflecting off of what he assumes are very flammable sheets, but he doesn't really care. The entire building could burn down and take him with it, and he wouldn't even move an inch.
He almost wishes that the candle would topple over, wishes that it would set the entire bed and the clothes he's wearing aflame. His hand aches to reach out and push the cupcake over himself, and he moves his hand towards it, stopping himself just before he touches it.
It's been one year since Dazai has left the mafia. One year since he went into hiding.
One year and two weeks since Oda had died.
(He had "celebrated" that anniversary in a much different way to what he's doing now. Instead of staring at a burning candle, he stared at a burning abandoned building.)
Dazai startles just slightly when he realizes that the candle is just a little stump now, over half of it burned away and completely covering the icing. He leans forward, hesitates for only a second, and blows out the flame.
He rests his head on his hand as the wax hardens, reaching forward and grabbing the cupcake when it does, taking off the paper wrapper and biting into it, wax and all.
"Yay," he mumbles without enthusiasm, crumbs flying out of his mouth, and can't help but wish things were just a little bit different.
Suddenly, two bullets burst through the one tiny window, shattering the glass and flying just an inch over his head before burying themselves in the wall behind him.
All he does is sigh, throwing his cupcake off to the side and ducking behind the dresser in anticipation just before more shots are fired through the wall.
He guesses that it's fair enough. After all, shouldn't anniversaries be celebrated by everyone that's involved?
It's easy enough for him to escape out of the trapdoor in the floorboards under the bed, and- damnit, Oda- he's sure to double check that all of the mafia members are out of the house before he burns it down with his last match.
Dazai watches as the house burns, perched safely on a rooftop far enough away that only some of the smoke just barely reaches him.
He sighs when it's all over, jumps down, and curses the way the fall does not break his neck.