Series: Inuyasha/Bungo Stray Dogs
Pairing: Kagome/Dazai
Prompt: Halloween night always brings out the crazies.


Dazai took a deep breath, smiling against the chilly wind brushing his face and ignoring the looks of the people walking on the bridge behind him. Standing balanced on the railing, he looked out at the perfect scene before him; Halloween night, full moon in the sky above him and a frigid river a good and dangerous distance below him.

He couldn't have planned better circumstances. A beautiful way to die.


Jogging home and sidestepping the many kids that were still crowded on the sidewalks, Kagome held tight to the small convenience store bag in her hand. How had Halloween slipped up on her? She hadn't realized that it was already the end of October until hopeful children were knocking on her door for candy. She'd felt so bad at their disappointed little faces that she swore she'd have some candy if they came back a little later.

And thus started her mad dash to the closest convenience story to scavenge for whatever candy she could find left on the shelves.

She turned off of the main street to cross the bridge that led to her neighborhood when she saw a small gathering of people blocking the sidewalk. Excusing herself as she tried to politely make her way through the crowd, Kagome picked up whispering here and there.

"What is he doing?"

"The guy is obviously crazy, don't get too close."

"Shouldn't we call someone? Does anyone have a phone?"

"Keep the kids back."

Finally breaking through to see what everyone was so focused on, Kagome was shocked to see a man precariously balanced on the bridge railing. But as soon as she saw him start to tip forward, her body reacted without thought.

Her bag of candy forgotten, she allowed it to fall to the ground as she ran forward as fast as she could. The man's feet had already slipped from the rail, but Kagome was just barely able to grab hold of his hand. Unfortunately, he was a good deal bigger than she was and the momentum of his fall pulled her over the railing with him.

Dazai looked up in shock as a small woman grabbed his hand and went off the bridge with him. She was able to keep a grip on the bridge for a few seconds, but once the weight of both of their bodies hit her, there was a loud pop and her hand slipped from the bridge as she cried out.

Yes, he ideally would have liked to commit suicide with a beautiful woman, but not like this. He hadn't meant to pull anyone else into this with him, figuratively or literally. So, making a quick decision, Dazai pulled the woman close to his chest and braced for impact with the water, ready to take the brunt of it.

The cold aside, hitting the water hurt like hell and knocked some of the air from him. He was sure he would have some impressive bruises on his back later. But for the moment, he focused on trying to get back to the surface with the woman in his arms. It was difficult to swim with his clothes on, but he managed and was relieved to hear the woman gasp for breath when he did.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he tried to keep them afloat. "Can you swim?"

Kagome tried to move so that she could tread water on her own but gasped when pain shot down her arm. "M-m-my arm," she stuttered as she shook her head, the cold of the water starting to seep into her.

Looking for which bank was the closest, Dazai carefully wrapped an arm around Kagome and pulled her to safety. It was only once they were safely on dry land again that he heard people shouting from the bridge, one very familiar voice in particular.

Dazai was trying to look the woman over as his partner approached them. He ignored his scolding when he discovered that his would-be savior's shoulder was dislocated. "Kunikida-kun," Dazai said gentle but serious for the woman's sake. "It's cold tonight. Do you have a coat? She needs to warm up."

Kunikida took a moment to look over the situation before tossing Dazai his coat with a look that promised they would talk about this later.

"What's your name miss?" Dazai asked with a polite smile as he draped the dry coat around the woman's shoulders.

"K-Kagome Higurashi," Kagome answered as a shiver ran through her. "A-are you o-okay?"

Dazai stared, a little stunned, at the woman on the ground in front of him. She was soaked and freezing and injured, but she wanted to know if he was okay. "I'm fine," he assured her with a gentle pat on the shoulder, and he could feel his priorities start to shift a little.

He'd always wanted to commit suicide with a beautiful woman, but somehow he felt that allowing this one to die would be a crime.