She let out a soft groan as her eyes slowly opened. Blinding fluorescent lights hit her eyes, causing her to shut them again. After a couple second pause, she tried again, squinting as she looked around the room.
She was no longer in the apartment she and Dazai shared, but Yosano's office at the Armed Detective Agency. Her vision focused as the fog in her mind cleared. She looked down at the side of her bed, her eyes falling to the hand resting on top of hers.
She knew exactly who it was, with his black shirt and beige vest and slacks. His glasses rested on top of his head as he looked down at his green notebook, reading through the pages. It was if he were relaxing with her at home, holding her hand as their read their respective books.
"Kunikida?" she hoarsely called out. "What are you doing?"
Kunikida looked over to her, his ponytail flicking behind him. He closed his notebook as soon as he saw that she was awake, placing it down as he used his now-free hand to pull down his glasses.
"You're awake, (Y/n)," he stated, fully turning towards her on the stool. "Dr. Yosano was right – you're alright."
(Y/n) didn't say anything in response, simply staring at him before her eyes fell to their hands. Kunikida followed her stare, quickly yet gently pulling his hand away from hers.
"My apologies, that was inappropriate for me to do."
"It's... It's okay. I'm just a bit disoriented so it was a bit of a surprise." She pulled herself into an upright position, leaning against the back of the bed and the wall it was pressed against. "What time is it?"
"It's about three in the morning," Kunikida stated, not even glancing at his watch. He didn't even look away from her as he said it – as if he'd been counting every second of her unconsciousness.
It took (Y/n) a minute to process the time, the fog in her thoughts clearing away as if she took a hairdryer to a steam-covered mirror. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't know all of this would happen—"
"Accidents happen, (Y/n)." Kunikida cut her off. "That idiot Dazai didn't give us many details as to what happened. I can only assume as much since he was not wearing much when he ran over to get Dr. Yosano. He managed to wake me up in all the chaos."
The mental image appeared in her mind. She'd never really seen Dazai truly panicked before, only the aftermath of devastation. It was difficult to picture Dazai in such a disastrous state. Especially since she was the only one of the group to have seen him not in his usual attire. She didn't just mean when they were intimate either...
"What did he say?" she asked. "I know you said he didn't say much, but what did he tell you."
"Just that you slammed the front door, which woke him up, and then passed out," he replied. "He's outside talking to Dr. Yosano right now before she sends him off to get properly dressed. I've never seen him in so much distress before – it's so unlike him."
"Yeah... Me either."
(Y/n) stared down at her hand, turning it over as she faced her palm towards the ceiling. She couldn't help but think back to those moments before Dazai joined the Armed Detective Agency. Before she met the eventual love of her life – the one who would change her forever.
She looked over to her other hand where her bandage ring was still tied nicely on her ring finger. On one side she had Dazai, who she would marry. On the other she had Kunikida, who previously wanted to marry her.
So many questions popped up throughout her thoughts. Ones she wasn't sure if they'd ever get answered.
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