the beauty of water: deep end | o. dazai ✔

chapter twenty.

(Y/n) stared at Dazai for a moment, processing what he had told her. "Fujinuma... died?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "He died two years ago at the hands of the Port Mafia."

She ran a hand through her slightly messed up hair. Memories of what he had done to her, before and after she joined the agency, flooded her mind. It was overwhelming to say the least.

"You... You never told me he died... I asked you what happened and you didn't tell me..." She turned her legs, leaning a bit as she began to fall over. Dazai quickly wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to his chest as he kept her upright. "Fujinuma was killed...?"

He paused. "Yes."

"I know I didn't want to know then. But," she looked up to him, "I think I want to know now. Especially if it means his ghost is sending me threatening letters."

"Are you sure? It's not exactly a story for the weak-hearted."

"Osamu, I have been kidnapped and tortured multiple times." Her voice threatened to crack and break. "I think I can handle hearing about how that awful, awful man died."

He was hesitant, and for good reason. She had truly been through so much in a matter of three years. She had been through more than most people did in an entire lifetime. It was a miracle she hadn't fully cracked under the pressure wrought upon her.

"Alright, if you're sure," he said. He readjusted his position, holding her closer to his chest as he prepared to tell her. "I had gone after Fujinuma not too long after you had been taken. It led me to an abandoned building, the one he had taken you to after your abduction. I found him in a hidden basement covered in blood with multiple broken bones and other injuries—"

"Those were dealt to him by Chuuya," she stated, gripping his sleeve. "I remember he kicked Fujinuma into a wall before he could kill me. Then I passed out from the pain."

Dazai maintained his expression, holding back the anger he felt at Fujinuma for hurting her so much – both physically and mentally.

"Yes, that is what happened," he confirmed before continuing. "Fujinuma was in a lot of pain, which made it easier for me to get the information I needed to find you after Chuuya rescued you." He could feel her grip on his sleeve tighten.

"After I got what I needed, other members of the Port Mafia arrived at the building. I left him in the dark and went upstairs to hide. I didn't see much, but I could hear as they broke his jaw and shot him three times. It was unnecessary, but the Port Mafia's way to finish him off.

"I know he's dead because I went back to check. Because if he, in some way, managed to survive, I would do it myself."

There was silence after he had finished. Dazai was unsure of how she felt after hearing that. One emotion he was sure she was not feeling was sadness. There was no way she could've been sad for the death of that man.

A dirty cop who exploited and killed whoever he needed to for money. A man who died after hurting a young woman who was only out there to help and do the right thing. There was no way to truly know how many lives he ruined or took up until his painful demise.

Fujinuma was no longer a man.

He was a monster.

"(Y/n), are you alright?" he asked, looking down to try and see her expression. "I know that was a lot, but I need to know that you are okay."

"Yeah..." she managed to answer. "I'm okay. I think that's what I needed to hear."

She sat up, her face almost totally emotionless. It was a state he rarely saw her in, if ever. It almost frightened him.