That Night

Chapter Twenty-Nine

All these people are human because they've felt pain, yet they still go on. They carry everything with them so easily, yet I can barely leave the house without breaking at an accidental touch or a glimpse of someone reminding me of one of my demons. It's pretty pathetic if you ask me.

I take a breath to bring myself back to reality, something I've been practicing for the past couple of weeks to bring myself out of my panic attacks. After taking a few deep breaths, I looked around the room, gaining my bearings before walking around the house, looking for nothing and no one, just moving. My eyes trace over the pictures on the walls, the many pictures of Chuuya, Dazai, Gin, Kunikida, Ryu, and me covering them. I find my favorite picture and stare at it with a soothed, calm expression.

The pride parade is one of my favorite memories since I met Ryu. Gin and her girlfriend are in the background laughing with Chuuya while Dazai makes a funny face to photo bomb Ryu and I.

I smile a little and move through the house before finding myself staring at the keys on the hook. I reach for them, then hesitate. I want to do this, yet I can't do it alone. Ryu wouldn't appreciate it, and I don't think Chuuya or Kunikida would be easy to persuade. I settle on Dazai, sending him a quick text explaining what I want to do, sighing when he says he'll be here in a minute.

I pull on my shoes, grab the keys, lock the front door, and wait outside for Dazai to show up. In less than 10 minutes, he pulls up with a wide smile.

"Ready?" He asks in his usual tone.

"Yeah, thanks." I nod, buckling my seatbelt.

He starts driving while blasting his music, making me laugh when he dances around, singing loudly and out of tune, which only adds to the comedic sight.

We pull into the parking lot of the building, and I take a deep breath as he shuts off the car and looks at me. "You sure about this? I'm not sure you can handle it." He says in his usual condescending tone, but his undertone of sincerity has me nodding. "Alright." He climbs out of the car, still acting silly as he strides up to the doors, barely waiting for me to get out of the car and follow him.

We go inside and get through the security guards who take our phones and other personal belongings before leading us back through the halls, Dazai right behind me.

The blank halls, wall lights, many doors, and visitor windows show just how much precaution is being taken to keep visitors safe. We're led into a white room with a bulletproof glass window in the middle, separating Dazai and I from the two men on the other side. I sit in the chair and stare into the dark eyes of the male in front of me as the other guy complains in the back.

"I've got to say, I'm surprised you're the one that'd visit after what happened." His thick accent fills the room.

I nod, agreeing silently as the other guy approaches and leans against the first. "Stupid or not, I need closure." I say, not feeling the need to skirt around the truth.

"You want to know why we helped you." The dark-haired male states with a small smirk as his friend perks up and responds without hesitation.

"That's easy. Viktor is a two-faced bastard who deserves to rot in hell for stealing the innocence and childhood from Gin and traumatizing an already traumatized person. I'm Nikolai, by the way. This emo wannabe is Fyodor." With his words, I hear Dazai stifle a laugh in the background.

I nod, still not fully understanding why they did it.

"Darn, tough crowd." Nikolai states before standing up straight to the obvious disproval of Fyodor. "I shall explain everything to you now."

I glance back at Dazai before turning back to Nikolai and Fyodor.

"Fyodor here is Viktor's younger brother by 7 years. I've been his friend since we were kids and have known the Akutagawa kids since they were five and seven. We're three years older than Ryunosuke." Nikolai explains quickly.

Fyodor sighs. "That's not what he wants to know, Nikolai."

"I know, I just figured he'd want some background." Nikolai defends himself.

Fyodor rolls his eyes. "We owe it to your little lover. That's it."

I furrow my eyebrows. "You owe it to him?"

"Yes. A favor, an unpaid debt if you will." He eyes me as though memorizing my every thought.

"What for?" I question.

"You ask too many questions, kid." Fyodor deadpans.

"Just answer the question, Dostoevsky." Dazai snaps from behind me.

Fyodor glares back at Dazai before Nikolai uses his hand to cover Fyodor's eyes. "Alright, chill out. There is a child present." He says. "Anyway, we owe it to Ryunosuke because we stood by and let everything happen. We knew what Viktor was doing to Gin the whole time but kept quiet." He explains.

Fyodor shoves Nikolai's hand away and looks at me with a piercing gaze. "We simply got Gin out of there because we know her. I wasn't going to help you." He states with a blank stare.

"So why did you?" I try to line everything up in my mind.

"Simple, because I wanted to!" Nikolai exclaims, obviously excited about his accomplishment. I look at the white-haired boy with an amused expression, growing to like him a little. "We talked to Ryunosuke beforehand, and Fyodor here wasn't even going to fulfill his promise and save you. He was going to leave you and only help Gin."

"Of course he was, because he's a selfish rat." Dazai speaks up with a low, calm tone.

"Yeah, he is, but he's a good guy underneath all that." Nikolai responds happily, too happily considering he's in prison. "Is that all?"

"Yes. Come on, Atsushi, we're leaving." Dazai speaks with a tone of finality.

I look at the two behind the glass for a moment more before getting up and following Dazai out of the room. Once we're out of the prison and back in the car, I glance over at Dazai.

"Why are those two in prison anyway? They didn't do anything. Did they?" I ask.

Dazai pulls out of the parking lot and looks as though he's going to avoid answering the question like he normally does. "They've done a lot." He speaks curtly before going silent for a moment. Then his eyes light up. "We're getting ice cream."

I look at him in slight disbelief before shaking my head, taking the switch as Dazai simpy being Dazai. "Yeah, fine." I laugh a little, knowing I'll ask Chuuya later.

As we drive, Dazai complains about anything and everything like he always does before turning up the radio and blasting the song that came on while belting the lyrics at the top of his lungs mid rant, making me laugh and shake my head.

I think back to what Fyodor and Nikolai said. Despite the small amount of information I was given, it helped clear up a few things. Mainly the answer to my main question: Why did they really help us?

_____________________________________________

I'M ALIVE!

Anyway, I know, it's been forever, and this chapter probably isn't what you guys were expecting, but hopefully, it makes sense. A little bit, at least. Thanks again for reading and being patient with me.... maybe... but there's only one more chapter, and it's done!!

Also, quick question: Would you guys like a chapter solely of their first night together?