One Of Us

This Is Why People Should Listen To Me More Often

Osamu Dazai

Okay fine, maybe I'm not always right, and maybe today was just a special occasion, but I had been counting down the moments until Rei went out of contact with us. The only sound over the comm in my ear was Ranpo calling her name... and static.

I'm about halfway back to the surveillance van when our contact is broken, and I turn on my heel and start sprinting back towards the train station. I hear bullets echoing inside and immediately pull out my gun and unlock the safety.

Grasping it tightly, I slip in through the partially-open double doors, my footsteps silent, and all other sounds muffled by the sounds of gunshots. All I see is Rei taking cover behind a pillar, gun in one of her hands, mask snug on her face. Her gaze is hard and focused. So much so that she doesn't seem to notice me.

I set my jaw and run behind a pillar nearby her. I don't dare speak, for fear that I might distract her. I can't see who's shooting at her, but I can't ignore the chill that crawls down my spine like tiny metal spiders with needles for legs. Something's off. I can feel it.

We have to leave, I realize. We have to leave... like, now.

"Rei, we have to get out of here!" I shout, and in that moment, I realize I've just shattered her focus. Three light beams from the ceiling come crashing down, sending sparks flying everywhere and leaving us in complete darkness. The gunfire stops and I rush across the room to her.

She reels when I touch her, "Get away from me." She hisses, "Dazai, I was so close and you just had to play knight in shining armor!?"

I flinch. I can practically feel her anger. It sends electric chills through me. I reach for her hand, "I'm sorry, I-"

"No!" She shouts, "You're not sorry. Because you don't think I'm capable of doing things for myself." She yanks her hand away, "I'm not going to tell you this again. Get away from me." I take a step away from her. "Go. I'll finish this myself." She turns and steps right into darkness, walking until I can no longer see her, her footsteps fading as she moves farther and farther away, fracturing pieces of my heart the farther she gets.

That hum of electricity that always seems to follow never leaves this area, though. But I can't shake this feeling that I've just lost her in more ways than one.

But then... why do I still feel numb? Why does it feel like that wasn't... real? Why do I still feel her here?

The light beams on the ground flicker and shoot sparks across the floor in a pattern. Three quick shots. Three slow ones... and then three quick ones again.

I freeze.

S.

O.

S.

And again.

S.

O.

S.

I turn to look over my shoulder, gripping my gun tightly with a gloved hand. Something is really off. The lights shoot sparks onto the floor again, in the same pattern. So I'm either going insane, or I'm a genius.

"Rei?" My voice is hesitant. Quiet, even.

Sparks fly in a different pattern: Flash, flash, flash, flash, pause, flash, pause, flash... Flash, pause, flash.

Here.

My eyes widen in the darkness. She's here. Speaking to me in Morse Code. I clear my throat. The lights flash again in a different pattern: Flash...Flash, flash, pause, flash, pause, flash, flash, pause, flash...