Generations of Rain || Dazai Osamu/Reader

20. matchbox.

A/N: Tw drug OD mentions

Your blood freezes over. Your fingers, shaking and clammy, tighten their grip on the phone. Dazai notices the wide-eyed stare you're giving to empty space so he pulls over and stops the car.

"What is it, (first name)?" He asks, and you put a finger over your lips to hush him.

"What do you mean?"

"They're an old gang organisation that got trampled by someone in the past, and you're involved because you were once affiliated with that someone."

You nibble at your lip. "Who is this someone?"

"Some man named Odasaku."

Your hearing fades into static and you nearly drop the phone. Finally, karma has caught up to you. Now that Odasaku was reduced to a corpse, his sins of being an assassin were passed onto you, as though it was hereditary. There was no escape from this. Until you died.

"Hello? (last name), are you there?" Kunikida asks, his voice stern but laced with professional concern. You clear your throat and shake your head.

"Yeah, just had to take a second."

"Do you know this Odasaku man?" Kunikida asks, and you take a moment to answer.

"He was my husband."

A pregnant pause.

"I see," Kunikida says. "Please do not worry. The Agency will do everything to protect you. Could you please hand the phone over to Dazai?"

You give the phone to the brunette who almost snatches it from your hands.

"They're after (First name)? Some organisation...okay," Dazai murmurs into the phone. Your hands are shaking on your lap. Your head spins with the possibilities: kidnap, torture, rape, assault, annihilation. The End. You swallow the growing lump in your throat and turn to Dazai when he presses end call.

"What did Kunikida say?"

Dazai's gaze is solemn. "To stay in the dorms and not to go outside without one of the Agency members. If I'm busy, then ask Atsushi to accompany you. Look out for strangers near you. Carry a weapon."

"I have a switchblade Odasaku gave me years back," You say.

"Good, put that in your pocket at all times."

The car ride home is silent, filled with an uncomfortable stiffness that makes you hold your breath as if breathing would breach this silence. You intensely stare out the window, focusing on the whir of green and amber, thoughts colliding and smashing around in your head.

Odasaku's reputation as an assassin had come back. And it was up to you now to end it again. You don't even realise Dazai stopped the car and put a hand on your knee, massaging it gently. Your head turns to him.

"Hey, don't worry about it," His voice is soothing like honey. "We'll protect you. Okay?"

"I can't help but think I'm burdening you guys with this," You say, nervously. Dazai shakes his head.

"It's our job to handle things like this," He says, then adds a wink to his words. "Don't worry about that pretty head of yours."

You roll your eyes. The air is finally breathable again and your shoulders drop. You crawl out of the car and slam the door, walking towards the dorms with the key in your pocket. The sky takes on a navy blue, a rich colour filled with royalty, a colour that was only seen in paintings of Arctic ice. ¾ of the moon peers through the clouds. You've recovered from that incident of being a hostage long ago, because it all happened too quickly and you didn't even process what was going on during that time, adrenaline kicking in to erase your memories. Zap! And they were gone.