Returning to the office after the hospital visit, the ADA returned to work. They were all a bit puzzled. Dazai seemed down, and they all knew that he was hiding something. But, also knowing Dazai, they would never get to the bottom of it unless he wanted them to. It wasn't like he wasn't already hiding almost every detail of his life, and had been able to keep his past in the Port Mafia secret for many years. Only that, was proof enough. All though, Kunikida couldn't help but feel that something was different this time. Dazai wasn't as good an actor as he thought he was.
He was determined to get to the bottom of it, and with that in mind, he left his desk to visit Fukuzawa at his office. He knocked three times and opened the door as a voice told him to come in.
«President,» Kunikida greeted. «May I have a minute of your time?»
«Of course, Kunikida. What's on your mind?» He already knew.
«It's Dazai, sir.»
Fukuzawa nodded confirmingly.
«I think something is seriously wrong, and I have a bad feeling about it,» Kunikida explained to the older man.
«I agree. Unfortunately, we all know Dazai. He won't reveal anything he doesn't want to.»
«I am completely aware of that. There's just something different this time, I can feel it.»
Fukuzawa went silent. He felt it too. There were a couple of things he knew about Dazai that worried him greatly, not known to the rest of the group. He sighed.
«I will have a word with him in private,» he finally decided.
«I appreciate that sir, and may I be as bold to add- the sooner the better.»
At the hospital, Dazai had just been forced to take pain killers. He hated being medicated. He hated the way it made him feel- sleepy, dizzy, honest. He was getting them intravenously now, as he had been caught hiding the pills under his tongue. Even though he had explained that he hadn't tried to kill himself this time, he was still on suicide watch. They had assumed that he was hiding it for later to make himself overdose on them.
This was all so annoying. He slumped to back in the bed, wincing as he realized that the movement wasn't doing his back pain any services.
He was determined to get out of the hospital as fast as he possibly could. He had a lot of things to deal with right now, and being cooped up in a hospital bed, constantly under observation, wouldn't allow him to do what needed to be done. So, he decided to do what he did best.
«Yo, double-chin!» he spoke loudly at his guard, honestly not remembering his name. 'That's what they get for drugging me', he reasoned in his mind.
«What, noodles?» he snarled back.
Dazai's nose twitched at the snap-back.
«Careful with the mean nicknames meatball. You might make me wanna kill myself,» he deadpanned.
The large man snorted, folding his arms in dissatisfaction.
«Did you know that flamingos can only eat with their heads upside down?» Dazai asked, tilting his head.
His guard raised his eyebrows. «Are you okay?» he asked.
«Also, Greece's national anthem has 158 verses.»
«You're high... I'm gonna ask them to cut down on the morphine...»
«...and I know all of them. Wanna hear?»
«God no...»
«I do know thee by the direful...» he started singing.
«Don't you dare...»
«cutting edge of thy keen swooord...»
Fukuzawa stood behind the door of Dazai's hospital room. Loud wimping was heard, and someone was clearly in a great amount of pain. If Dazai was reacting this way to his injuries, it must be even more serious than he had thought.
Hesitantly he opened the door.
«Someone wondering might query; Art thou sister to His ireee!»
«D-Dazai?» Fukuzawa stood dumbfounded.
«No! Noooo! Make it stop! It's like a drowning cat, I can't take anymore!» A bald man with a big gut was kneeling on the floor, clutching his hands to his ears.
«I still have 57 verses left!» Dazai complained with a frown and took a deep breath before he was about to continue.
«I think that's quite enough!» Fukuzawa stated firmly. «We're okay. You can take a break,» he added, referring to the suffering man on the floor.
«T-thank you!» he exclaimed and scrambled to get out of the door as fast as he could.
Fukuzawa concentrated his attention back to Dazai, who was smiling and twinging his fingers innocently.
«You are staying here for as long as the doctors tell you to,» Fukuzawa said unyieldingly. Dazai looked unfaced, crossing his arm and pointing his nose in the air.
«I know. I'm just entertaining myself to make my stay a little shorter... and a little bit longer for everyone else,» he added. Fukuzawa had to smile at the childish antics of the injured man and made his way to sit by his bed.
«You know, everyone is worried about you.»
Dazai looked conflicted by that statement. «There's no need to.»
Fukuzawa scoffed. «You are severely injured, after all. Kunikida says that you're acting strangely.»
«I'm always acting strangely.»
Fukuzawa couldn't argue with that. «You know what I mean,» he said sternly. «You seem more off than usual. Is there something bothering you?»
«I'm booooored.» Dazai shrugged, acting oblivious to his elder's words of concern.
«Don't play stupid, Dazai. You know more than you're letting on. All we want is to find whoever did this to you.»
«I told you that I don't remember.»
«I think you do.»
It was Dazai's turn to scoff. He was considering how much he could actually tell his boss without seeming suspicious. This wasn't a job for the agency. This was personal.
«Just... don't worry about it, okay?»
«It's not okay.»
«Well, it has to be, 'cause I'm not talking.»
I mean NO offence to the Greek national anthem. I just needed a song or a poem with many verses, and that was the first I could think of! Nothing but love!
