[Day 2, daytime: Dazai, Ichigo]

[purrtagonist]

[well that was an adventure]

[presumably while Dazai sleeps off his delirium, Akira and Ichigo hang around his room to keep an eye on him. I mean, Akira's certainly not going anywhere anytime soon when Dazai is in such bad shape, so. . .]

. . . I'm a little impressed you knew what to do.

[THAT'S DIRECTED AT ICHIGO]

Comments

[suppressthedark]

[Ichigo's just been monitoring Dazai for a bit, making sure that he's in the right state of sleepiness (can't let them fully sleep, but just enough where you can still wake them up, that was what his dad said, right?), so he starts a little when Akira talks to him.]

Ah-? Oh, uh....well, I was going off what I remembered. My old man runs an emergency clinic out of our house, so...I've grown up listening to him handle situations like this.

[cw_suicide]

[at just the level of sleepiness to pull blankets around himself because SOMEONE TOOK HIS BANDAGES AWAY 8(]

[purrtagonist]

[BANDAGES DON'T MAKE GOOD BLANKETS, ANYWAY]

That's good. [lets out a small breath] I don't really know what would've happened if you hadn't been there.

[suppressthedark]

[He'll help poor Dazai out by making sure the blankets are covering him enough so that he can do that. God bless you dazai. When that valium wears off, you're not going to be happy.]

I found him on the floor of the kitchen before I got him to his room - it was just starting then, unless he'd been fighting down the nausea and trembling since yesterday.

[If so, goddamn Dazai. For his part, Ichigo just shrugs at the comment.]

Someone else probably would have found him, though. Or he would have been lying there until night came, and...

[Well.

That's an unpleasant thought.]

[cw_suicide]

[yes, that helps and yes, probably will be the least happy but also??? this is the??? least internal screaming his brain has been in like... years??? probably. it almost makes up for the lack of alcohol. ALMOST.

but also awake enough to mutter a bit sluggishly when Ichigo trails off:]

Still buncha dirty qtips...

[purrtagonist]

[. . . yeeeeeeah that's not a good sign. Akira's about to say something else when Dazai interjects, and he winds up letting out a soft, amused snort in the end]

I'm not exactly sure what dirty qtips have to do with anything, Dazai-san.

[suppressthedark]

Huh, looks like he still remembers the first aid kit he was lying on.

[Yes. It was FULL OF Q-TIPS. It was awful and it might still be in the kitchen, actually.

After a second, he looks towards the book still on the nightstand - the one with the burnt cover - and he picks it up, flipping through it again.]

...Still can't believe the protagonist in this is called 'Nasty Crimeboy.'

[cw_suicide]

[... peeks eyes open to squint at Ichigo.

then patting at the bed because he wants his book but like hell he's sticking out his bare arm to get it himself.]

[purrtagonist]

[. . . . . . . . . . . . . NASTY CRIMEBOY]

[there's a few moments of silence, gaze flickering from Dazai to Ichigo and back again. and when he speaks? it's in a bit of a grumble]

That's-- seriously the main character's name?

[suppressthedark]

[Dazai, use your words. He doesn't know why you're patting the bed?? He just. Pats back.

As for Akira, Ichigo just. Blinks. Is there an issue with this character and his weird name?]

What? I just thought it was a joke, or something. I haven't really gone through this yet - I only had enough time to skim it.

[cw_suicide]

[... that is somehow really adorable????

kind of stares at Ichigo's pats with some kind of fuzzy surprise before patting the bed again.]

Book.

[because it was safe on the bed but then a lot of things happened, so... lost track of it.]

[purrtagonist]

. . .

[he lifts a hand, fingers sliding underneath his glasses, to pinch the bridge of his nose. he'd grab Dazai's book for him, but. he doesn't know where it is so that's unfortunately going to have to be something Ichigo does]

If it's a joke, it's a stupid one.

[he says bluntly. and, after only a moment of hesitation. . .]

That book-- [jerks a thumb towards the one in Ichigo's hand] -- is why I came to see Dazai-san in the first place.

[suppressthedark]

...Look under your pillow.

[He's pretty sure it's still on the bed??? somewhere??? Give him a second Dazai, he needs to talk to Akira about this other book he's still flipping through.]

Ah? Really? Why would you -

[Pauses.

Thinks it over.






Hands over the book to Akira.]

Sorry.

[cw_suicide]

[AH, NO?

actually darting hand out to grab Ichigo's wrist before he can hand it over completely. it's uncomfortable. it'd be even more uncomfortable if he weren't drugged up, since there's marks all up and down his arm, but also.]

Akechi-kun was gonna spare it. But set it on fire when I caught him.

[which is why he took it. and why he's not gonna allow someone to destroy it because it means someone's trying to hide something incriminating.

which he can't really. word. words are hard. look, he's doing his best. and Akira had better explain why the hell that kid tried that.]

[purrtagonist]

[a look of relief flashes on Akira's expression as Ichigo starts to hand the book over. but then Dazai stops him, and that expression vanishes in an instant]

[. . .]

[a small sigh. Akira leans back, folds his arms, taps his foot against the ground and affixes the older man with a steady, even gaze]

Why don't you just ask me what it is you want to know? Then you don't need a book.

[better to hear it all from Akira himself, rather than a neutral, dispassionate source that can't explain the complexities of everything that happened back home]

[suppressthedark]

[WHOA OKAY

He definitely didn't expect to be grabbed, but he stops all the same.]

...Should I leave, then?

[Because, you see, Ichigo knows about not intruding into someone's heart. At least, not until they're ready to tell you themselves, and his comment was aimed at Dazai.]

[cw_suicide]

[hush a moment, Ichigo-kun, there's only so much he can process right now.

first and foremost, a blunt question for Akira-kun:]

Are you taking responsibility for him?

[purrtagonist]

[to Ichigo:]

No. You can stay.

[he's already skimmed the book. he's already a part of this. and then, to Dazai:]

And, yeah. I am. I'm also telling you I know what's contained in that book-- about him, about me-- and I'm willing to tell you all of it.

But only if we can make a deal, first.

[ah. the caveat. words from a kid who is far too used to negotiating, far too used to getting what he wants through bartering]

[suppressthedark]

[Ichigo will remain silent for a bit, because he'll let Akira make his deal. It's the least he can do, after all.]

[cw_suicide]

[those words do little to get any kind of change from Dazai's expression. making deals is his forte.

including analyzing where the possibility of traps are.

... though being ill and drugged definitely has him at a disadvantage]

Your conditions?

[purrtagonist]

[they're Akira's forte, too. Trickster that he may be, however? his deals don't usually contain traps or misdirection. not unless he's trying to get out of one himself, first]

. . . everything that I say in this room today stays between the three of us, and only the three of us.

Nothing I'm going to tell you is relevant to the game we're playing, and none of it will put anyone else here at risk.

[suppressthedark]

Of course.

[He says it with no hesitation at all - after all, whatever it is, it's Akira's choice to share it with them.

The least he can do is keep it quiet.]

[cw_suicide]

[the bleary stare of someone who expects another item]

... is that all?

[he's almost? disappointed? meh.]

[purrtagonist]

[sorry Dazai, he doesn't want that much!!]

[he also gives Ichigo a grateful nod, the flicker of a smile appearing on his lips. then? bac to Dazai]

I'd like to keep the book too, if you'd let me. But that's negotiable, while the rest isn't.

[suppressthedark]

I'd be fine with handing back over, but it's really up to Dazai.

[He did get stopped when he tried to hand it back, after all.]