Atsushi awoke to the smell of morning dew.

Before him, an emerald field stretched on into oblivion, speckled with wildflowers and the carrying gentle buzzing sound of bees. Above him hung an orange tree, the sweetness of its citrus fruits filling the air with their sweet aroma. The sky was pitch black up above with a white sun shining right out of the darkness. All around him, the world was lit up in ethereal gray lighting that somehow seemed to promise serenity and tranquility. Both were things that Atsushi had not felt in a very long time.

He knew he was dead. The lack of pain that should've been dragging down his body had he survived the blast told him as much, alongside the transcendental world in which he now found himself.

As much as a part of him still wished that he had had more time, he had managed to save Dazai and Chuuya, and he had even weakened Dostoevsky in the wake of his death. Besides, he hadn't even felt any pain at the moment of the explosion.

It hadn't been the worst way to die.

Regardless, it wasn't like there was anything that he could do to change things.

The fluttering of a captivating pearl butterfly broke Atsushi out of his thoughts, as he glanced over to admire it. There was just something about the creature that made it seem divine in the midst of all else.

It seemed to beckon to him as if it were telling him: "follow me."

It was a request that something within him knew that he had to obey.

So he did.

He ran through the grassy landscape, in pursuit of the beautiful creature which fluttered before him. His strides grew longer and his pace faster as he realized that his body didn't grow tired with the movement, but rather felt full of endless energy and stamina.

It was thrilling.

Eventually, the butterfly brought him away from the field and into a breathtaking forest. Sunlight glinted through the trees, birds sang songs of perfect pitch and rhythm, and the ground beneath his feet was carefully paved in tangent with where the butterfly was leading him.

Atsushi probably ran for hours, but in this domain, time was insignificant. For here, such a thing simply did not exist in concept.

Eventually, the butterfly led him to a clearing in the middle of the forest before disappearing entirely in a metaphysical burst of ethereal white light.

A sparkling stream danced under the sunlight and delicately crafted train tracks stretched out before him. Next to the train tracks was a bench where someone ever so familiar was sitting and staring into the distance. It was almost as if they were waiting for someone.

Atsushi felt his heart clench in his chest, as he took a nervous step forward. The beginning of tears were sparkling in his eyes from both the grief of the past and the relief that they were once again reunited.

"Ryuunosuke."

Atsushi had never seen someone move so fast.

At the sound of his name, Ryuunosuke practically jumped out of his seat and sprinted over to Atsushi, wrapping him up in a tight hug, as if Atsushi could disappear at any moment. Without even thinking, Atsushi wrapped his arms around Ryuunosuke just as well.

But then, almost as quickly as Ryuunosuke had grabbed him, he was shoving him back, a look of fear in his eyes.

"Wait. Why are you here already? Atsushi… you shouldn't be here. I mean it hasn't been very long, has it? It couldn't have been. Atsushi, what happened?"

Instead of answering the question, Atsushi just shook his head, before recapturing Ryuunosuke in a hug that he reluctantly returned.

"It doesn't matter, alright? It's… it's okay."

Ryuunosuke didn't seem to particularly like that answer but he let it go, relaxing in Atsushi's arms.

"Okay."

They held each other for a long while, just enjoying the others' embrace in a place where they had an infinite amount of time to do whatever they wanted with no troubles to worry about. Then, after a while, they finally pulled away from one another to go sit down on the bench where Atsushi had found Ryuunosuke.

As they sat down, Atsushi leaned his head against Ryuunosuke's shoulder, who had wrapped an arm around his waist.

"I love you, you know that right? I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to say it back." Atsushi's hands fumbled nervously in his lap, his eyes downcast.

Ryuunosuke's grip tightened.

"I know and I love you too. I've been waiting here for you. I just... I didn't want to go without you."

Ryuunosuke's voice was softer than it ever had been when he'd been alive and it was nice to see him finally being able to take a break from all the stressors and hardships that their lives had presented. As for the part about them going somewhere, the destination was left open-ended. However, some otherworldly sense reassured Atsushi that wherever it was would be a place where they would finally get to have some much-needed and well-deserved rest.

A comfortable silence fell between the two.

Until finally another thought crossed Atsushi's mind.

"I almost forgot... Ryuunosuke, about Fukuchi… I'm so sorry. I tried to kill him but everything just got so complicated and then Dostoevsky-"

Ryuunosuke cut Atsushi off with a kiss, whose eyes widened with surprise before they closed and he leaned into it. Just enjoying the moment, instead of focusing on a past that could never be changed.

After finally breaking off the kiss and pulling away from one another, Ryuunosuke's lips settled against Atsushi's ear who had laid his head against his shoulder once more.

"It's alright, killing never was a good look on you anyways."

And that extra reassurance was all that he needed.

He had done a good job with the circumstances that he had been given.

He had lived a good life.

So, Atsushi let go of all of his woes and misgivings. Finally forgiving himself for all that he had not accomplished because at least he had tried his best. One person could only ever do so much.

The whistle of a train sounded in the distance, drawing closer and closer, as smoke billowed through the air following its path. Besides him, Ryuunosuke stood, before holding out a hand out for Atsushi to join him. Together, hand in hand, the two walked up to the railroad, as the train drew to a halt.

It was coated in a pristine white, the windows reflecting the landscape that surrounded it. Before them, stood a door that opened without prompting to reveal a hidden paradise within. It was a place so beautifully flawless that no human mind could ever conjure it up without having seen it firsthand.

Together, the two walked inside, hand in hand, without glancing back once.

The doors closed and the train disappeared into the distance. Only the sound of its empyrean whistle, which still echoed throughout the woods, gave way to the fact that it was ever even there.

Chuuya awoke to his body feeling as though it were on fire. Beneath him, lay Dazai who he quickly rolled off of with a groan of pain. The area around him was coated in smoke and it took him a moment to remember just exactly what had happened. However, when he did his whole body stiffened.

Terrified that Dazai might be dead, Chuuya forced himself to sit up despite the pain, before grabbing his wrist and searching for a pulse. He almost collapsed in relief when he found it. It wasn't as strong as it should be, but it wasn't weak either.

But then the fear came back when he realized that Atsushi was almost certainly dead.

How was Dazai going to react?

Unfortunately, it didn't take very long for him to discover the answer.

After about another minute Chuuya noticed Dazai's fingers beginning to twitch, a telltale sign that he was starting to wake up.

At first, when Dazai's eyes opened he looked about as confused as Chuuya had felt upon waking up. However, that expression didn't last very long, as it quickly morphed into one of sheer horror.

Chuuya watched as Dazai jumped to his feet, ignoring the unimaginable pain that he had to be in just like Chuuya was himself.

And then Dazai was sprinting towards the demolished building screaming Atsushi's name with raw pain torn into every syllable. It didn't take long for him to disappear into the smoke and ruins, heightening Chuuya's anxiety, as he finally forced himself to his feet with another groan of pain.

"Dazai!" Chuuya yelled, his voice grating against his raw throat, as he began to run after him, despite the jolts of pain that doing so sent throughout his whole body.

It took him a few minutes to find Dazai, raising Chuuya's heart rate with every passing moment as time ticked by. This wasn't a time when Dazai could be trusted to be left alone. He needed to find him now.

And then he did.

Chuuya slowed his pace, as he found Dazai collapsed on the ground holding a small piece of fabric, that looked like it had come from a belt, tightly in his grip.

Belatedly, Chuuya realized with horror that it had probably come from the belt that Atsushi had once sported.

Sobs wracked Dazai's frame and Chuuya didn't think that he'd ever seen him so distraught before in his entire life.

"It's all my fault. It's all my fault," Dazai was sobbing to himself over and over, trembling all the while.

Approaching Dazai slowly and with care, Chuuya settled down next to him, before wrapping his arms around Dazai's waist and pulling him towards his body.

At first, Dazai stiffened, before realizing who it was and relaxing into Chuuya's grip, his head burrowing into Chuuya's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Chuuya said, remorse shining in his eyes, "I'm so fucking sorry."

Dazai's grip tightened around him, as he pressed himself closer to Chuuya's body as if that would somehow allow him to disappear from the dark reality that was now facing him.

"Why does everyone I love always die?"

Chuuya didn't have an answer for that. No one did, so he just threaded a hand through Dazai's hair and held him close, because that was all that he could do.

"It's going to be okay."

Apparently, that wasn't the right thing to say, as at those words Dazai was suddenly pulling away, the sobs quieting and replaced by a vacant expression.

"Yeah, it will be." Dazai's voice was different. He sounded as though he were on some other plane of existence and red flags began firing off in Chuuya's mind.

The next few moments seemed almost as if they were in slow motion, panic and desperation being the only things that were controlling Chuuya's body.

Dazai reached into his holster and pulled out his gun. He placed it at his temple without a single ounce of hesitation.

Chuuya rushed forward, tackling Dazai to the ground. He grabbed the gun, tearing it from Dazai's grasp just as he pulled the trigger.

The bullet narrowly missed Dazai's head as it whizzed through the air and slammed into some more ruins in the distance.

If Chuuya had been any slower, Atsushi wouldn't have been the only one who had died there.

"No! Just let me die, please fuck! I don't want to be here anymore. I can't do this! Please, Chuuya. Please. I hate this world. I hate myself! All I ever do is lose over and over in this never-ending goddamn fucking cycle and it hurts. It hurts so goddamn much and it's all my own fault because every goddamn problem and every goddamn loss that I've ever had always starts with me. I'm a curse, Chuuya! I'm a fucking curse! All the people I love and all of the people who are important to me are destined to die, because I'm a terrible person, Chuuya. My death would be a favor to the world. So please, I'm fucking begging you! Let me take their place instead. Give me the gun, Chuuya! Please! Goddamn it Chuuya, give me the fucking gun!" Dazai was sobbing again, a lifetime of pain shining in his eyes.

Tears fell from Chuuya's eyes and his hands shook, as he frantically emptied the chamber of the gun, before tossing it into the distance. He then had to practically restrain Dazai, in order to stop him from running after it until he finally gave up, falling limp in Chuuya's arms.

"You can't leave me here," Chuuya begged, "Please, Dazai, you're all I have left. I can't lose you. Please."

Dazai was shaking, his eyes desperately searching for another way out. However, as Chuuya tightened his grip, Dazai's mind finally left his self-sabotaging thoughts, and instead, he just found himself lost in his grief, as Chuuya desperately tried to console him to no avail.

But then, as the sound of sirens burst cut through the smokey air, Chuuya knew that they had to go. As much as Dazai might not be ready.

Yet, when Chuuya tried to stand his legs betrayed him, giving out and forcing him to sink back to the ground. Dazai wasn't doing much better.

Lost in desperate thoughts of how they would get out of this, Chuuya almost didn't notice the man clad all brown emerging from the shadows.

"A5158, Dazai," the man greeted, and before Chuuya could even process what was happening he felt the pang of a dart stab into his neck, only allowed since Dazai currently resides in his arms, effectively nullifying his ability. As Chuuya felt himself falling backward, his eyes slipping shut, he noticed that Dazai too had been struck.

He didn't know how much longer he could do this.

Everything faded to black.