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[blackbeastcoat]

This is Akutagawa. If you need me for whatever reason, leave a message. I'll get back to it when I have the time.

Comments

[chichichi]

[ A hush falls over the room. It lasts all of a moment. ]

Make a contract with me.

[blackbeastcoat]

[ That definitely took him by surprise, blinking a couple times as he registered what it was she'd said to him. ]

A what...?

[ With everything he'd seen here, a lot of things were much more plausible but then he had to wonder why she'd suggest such a thing. A contract to him was something for work, an agreement between two parties for something. ]

What purpose would it serve?

[chichichi]

That depends on the specifics of the contract. What it is you want, Akutagawa?

[blackbeastcoat]

[ He just blinked a bit, opening his mouth as if to answer but stopping short once he realized he didn't have an answer as much as he first thought. ]

...I don't have an answer to that.

[ Akutagawa exhaled a small sigh, closing his eyes. ]

If it had been at home... I would have requested for more strength and power as to have Dazai-san acknowledge me. [ A scoff followed that. ] He did that when he was here, and then I realized that it's alright to feel and fell in love. So I don't know what I want right now.

[chichichi]

It sounded to me like you want to live.

[ She says it simply, easily. ]

[blackbeastcoat]

Don't be ridiculous. I...

[ He was ready to say it. How he really hadn't a problem with dying before, when he'd been back home. Then he stopped to think about it. Here in Nippon, people loved and cared for him and would be legitimately sad if he actually died.

Why did that thought hurt him as much as it had just then? ]

I shouldn't want to. It's... selfish.

[chichichi]

[ She squeezes his hand. ]

It isn't selfish to want to live your life, Akutagawa-san, and I know a thing or two about being selfish.

[blackbeastcoat]

I used to have just... one reason for living, pushing myself to do my best. Be the strongest.

[ His gaze fell to where she held his hand, mind swimming with images and knowledge that his purpose had shifted somewhere along the road. It no longer was about impressing Dazai anymore, and he knew that. ]

My life had little meaning prior to my arrival, but after spending time here? It isn't a place in which I wish to die. Not here.

[chichichi]

Then you have your answer, don't you?

[ She'll say it again. ]

Make a contract with me for your life.

[blackbeastcoat]

[ Months ago? He never would so much as entertained the mere idea of engaging in anything such as this, so it was intriguing to see how his thoughts had vastly shifted all this time. ]

Very well.

[ Akutagawa straightened up properly and there was a definitive light to his eyes now. ]

Tell me what it is I have to do in order to forge one with you.