"Hey, Gin-chan."
Dazai set a bouquet of flowers on the head of her grave, and sat down next to the stone.
It was sunny and a gentle breeze blew through the graveyard, slightly rustling the trees and grass.
It was a work day, and he should really have headed back to the agency, but he wanted to come when it was mostly unoccupied. He wasn't sure he could do this with anyone watching.
"So, it turns out that Tachihara guy was a traitor, huh?" He let out a bitter laugh. "Reminds me of an old friend of mine. Well, maybe friend isn't the right word."
"Well, I suppose you're wondering why I'm here. We never finished our conversation."
A girl with long dark hair and piercing grey eyes marched up to Dazai, anger seeming to radiate from her. She wore an expensive looking dress, and though she held herself with a sort of grace, it was the sort of grace cultivated in one that had had not much other than themself for much of their life, there was an awkward defensiveness there too cultivated in much the same way, and she seemed not yet accustomed to such attire.
"How could you?" She yelled, seeming to be trying to contain her obvious rage.
"What do you mean?" He asked calmly, raising a brow.
"You know!"
"If you're talking about your brother, I don't think he'd appreciate you getting so defensive about something so small."
"Small?" She exclaimed, letting out a huff of derisive laughter. " You shot him!"
"It was just in the foot, and besides he's fine now, isn't he?" He said, refusing to acknowledge her anger's validity. "He failed, so he was punished. I think he's learned his lesson. As dense as Akutagawa-kun is, I'm sure he does have a brain somewhere in there."
"You shot my brother ," she repeated.
They held eye contact for a moment, before Dazai looked away and sighed. "Well, I don't know what you want me to do now."
"You promised him somewhere to belong, a reason to live. He adores you. Why do you have to be so cruel to him?" Tears of frustration were starting to form in her eyes.
"I promised him a reason to live, not love. If he's to survive this mafia, he needs to toughen up. He knows this, I warned him it wouldn't be easy when I offered him the job. You're from the streets, you shouldn't expect any different."
"But… I…" She turned away from Dazai's cold gaze. "I just thought that maybe… maybe this would be better. That this would be our chance at a better life. But… but, all my brother does is push himself to gain your approval. He's trying so hard, getting himself injured, not eating, spending hours training, all to impress you. He has no time for me, and when he does, I'm off training. And his health isn't great. I thought he'd be doing better now that we have a roof over our heads, but because of you he doesn't have a chance to heal. And… and… he's the only person I have, I can't lose him!"
Tears were falling down her cheeks as she tried to wipe them away.
"Well, he knew what he was getting into when he agreed to join me. And I feel like I'm being far more lenient with him than I have to be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be. If you're still upset, we can continue this discussion later. But I personally find it pointless."
"But.."
He cut her off with a gesture.
He walked away, and she stared after him, not daring to follow.
"I'd like to apologize," He said. "I know I ruined your brother's life, and by proxy, your's. But to be fair, I did give him a reason to live."
"I know, I know, that's a cold way of of thinking. Odasaku would be disappointed. He told me to save the orphans, and the first thing I did was ditch the two of you. I'm sorry for that."
"And if I wasn't so stubborn, I'd apologize to Akutagawa-kun too. But I need him to listen to me, and the best way to maintain that is for him to continue to seek my approval. Harsh, but necessary."
"I know he's not going to take this well, but I think he can get past it. He'll be angry and try to seek vengeance, but he'll get through it. He has people who can help him though this. I don't know Higuchi very well, but she seems to care about him. And Chuuya is a far kinder boss than I ever was."
"He also seems to be doing better with Atsushi-kun. Once those two get past their aggression toward each other, I think they'll find that they have a lot in common. They could even become friends given time. I think they'd balance each other well."
He let out a sigh and closed his eyes. "You know, I was proud when I heard that you'd been promoted to a commander of the Black Lizard. I'm also proud of your brother, even for some of the less legal things he's done. He's become strong enough to survive the mafia."
"Well, I have someone else I have to visit, so I suppose this is goodbye Gin-chan. Rest well." He stood up and gave the grave one last rueful look before walking away.