"I'm sorry he WHat now?" Mizuki raises a brow.

"The president was found passed out in a street alley."

"First of all," Mizuki grabs her jacket from the chair and strides to the room. "That should be impossible considering he's blessed, unless they got it to him through the air or mouth."

Mizuki opens the door to the room. "Second of all, wHAT WERE YOU DOING OUT AT THE ASS CRACK OF DAWN?! I TOOK YOU HOME YESTERDAY!"

"I... cat," Fukuzawa turns to look to the side.

Mizuki pauses. "I can't argue with that one. I would've done the same."

Flipping open the phone, she checks to see which mafia boss got hurt in this life.

"Dazai?"

"I am DYING! MI-CHAN, YOU DID THIS ON PURPOSE, HUH?!" He shrieks in a coughing rage. "I HATE YOU!"

"You're being overdramatic."

"Sweet An..." Mizuki takes a deep breath. "Don'tkillhimdon'tkillhimdon'tkillhimdon't-"

"Chuuya's on his way."

"I hope you die," Mizuki throws a hand over her eyes, and sighs loudly. "What about Mori?"

"I lied," Dazai grins. "I tried ingesting poison and ended up here. Mori's the one who's sick."

"I'm about to stab you so fuCKING hard," Mizuki's grip on her phone tightens. "You know, I think it's a lovely time to beat your ass up right now. I will be right-"

"OPEN UP, ARMED DETECTIVE AGENCY!"

Mizuki crushes the phone in her hand.

"Dazai you piece of shit," Mizuki hisses. "I'll be back, Yu-chan!"

Mizuki opens the window across the room, and pulls out a megaphone. "NAKAHARA CHUUYA, YOU HAVE FOUR SECONDS BEFORE I ERADICATE YOU FROM THIS PLANET. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME."

"WHAT GIVES."

"YOU CAN ASK THAT WHEN I'M ACTIVATING CRIME AND PUNISHMENT."

Mizuki hears a quiet "shit" from the male. 

"THEN LET THE TWO BOSSES MEET." 

"SUCK MY DICK-"

"YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE ONE-"

"DON'T MAKE ME PULL OUT THE STRAP-"

"That's enough," Fukuzawa coughs as he walks out the room, and he places a hand on Mizuki's shoulder. "Did you forget? I'm invincible."

"Sorry," Mizuki grumbles. "I'm pissed that they still got you."

"Take me to Mori," Fukuzawa grumbles. "Come with."

Mizuki hooks her arm under his back and the other under his knees. "Let's go."

Chuuya stares incredulously at the two. "This makes me glad to be single."

Mizuki glares daggers at the male.

"Curse her hearing," Chuuya grumbles, and he sits in the front seat. "Has anyone ever told you you're disgusting?"

"Chuuya," Mizuki bats her lashes innocently. "You weren't complaining when you were on the receiving end."

Mizuki presses a hand to Fukuzawa's forehead, and he falls asleep. "What did Dazai want?"

"He just wants you to kill Fyodor." Chuuya stares ahead. "That's all."

"Mori got stabbed again, right?" Mizuki hums. 

"Yeah," He turns to look at Mizuki. "Why'd you choose him?"

"He was the only one old enough for me to marry," Mizuki jokes. 

"No way."

"That's a joke," Mizuki hums. "I fell in love with him before Oda, but I had assumed he married his childhood friend."

"Him... first? Why didn't you marry him after Odasaku died?"

"Heartbreak," Mizuki closes her eyes. "It took me a couple hundred years to heal for each death. I didn't have much time since so many of you died a couple years after Oda."

"Love is hard, huh," Chuuya sighs. "What was the plan?"

"I'm the one killing Fyodor," Mizuki hums. "I'll need my unit to act with me when we invade."

"You're invading?"

"Mm," Mizuki closes her eyes. "I need to bless you all before we go. There's still a bit of time before we move."

Chuuya glances at the building.

"Yukichi, if I catch you and Mori throwing arms at each other, I will not hesitate to cut you both dead," Mizuki lifts her husband again, and she follows Chuuya inside. The guards make way, and she glances at them. "New team?"

"A lot of them died while Akutagawa was trying to find Gin," Chuuya mentions nonchalantly. "We replaced them immediately."

"Must be nice, working for such a nice corporation."

"Here we are." Chuuya knocks on the door. "Mori-san, Tantalization is here with Fukuzawa."

"Let them in."

Mizuki walks past the tall doors, and she glances around.

"Take a seat," Mori smiles. 

Mizuki sets Fukuzawa down, and she skips off to meet up with her branch.

"Same room! Dazai turned that into his room."

"I hope it doesn't smell like crab and sake," Mizuki grumbles. To her surprise, the room is well maintained, other than the twelve bottles of sake on the kitchen counter.

"Dazai?" Mizuki's heels click against the floor. 

The male sits in the middle of the room, eyes void of life.

"Dazai," Mizuki kicks her heels off as she walks over to him, and she pulls him into her arms. "What happened?"

He leans into her touch, and she wraps an arm around his head, the other around his torso. She presses his head to her chest. Dazai stares voidly at the floor, and Mizuki hums, letting the vibrations from her chest pull him back gently. The light in his eyes doesn't return, but his hands start to move. A hand grabs her shoulder, and he anchors himself.

"Tell me, Mi-chan." Dazai's voice is hollow. "What keeps you alive?"

"The sun, and the moon that died for it to come." Mizuki stares off at the wall, eyes gentle with melancholy. "What does it mean to live, if you have nothing to die for?"

"What is the point in the act of living?"

Mizuki runs her hand through his hair. "What is the act of dying? Does it mean to take one's life? To stop breathing?"

"Why can't we just die together?"

"I have someone to live for," Mizuki hums gently. "What did people do when there was no light? They created their own."

"What do I create, if there's nothing for me to use?" He closes his eyes.

Mizuki hums. "You steal."

Dazai's eyes open. "Steal?"

"If this human race is no better than what we call demons, then what's the harm in acting like one?" Mizuki smiles. "You steal someone else's reason to live."

"Is that how you lived?"

Mizuki shakes her head. "Love is a strange phenomenon. It keeps you alive for longer than you think."

"I thought you never died because you couldn't," Dazai looks up at her.

"Yes," Mizuki agrees. "But at some point, I stopped thinking about what comes after death, and started thinking about what can I do while I'm stuck living."

"Do you not crave death?"

"I do," Mizuki chuckles. "But... what comes after death? I fear it just as much as I crave it."

"Let's commit suicide together."

Mizuki laughs. "After I kill the Decay of Angels and my husband passes."

"That's too long," Dazai grumbles.

"Is it?" Mizuki lets go of the back of his head, and beams at him. "Live for me, and I'll die for you."

"That's too hard, Mi-chan," Dazai whines.

"You sure got bored of me fast this time," Mizuki stands up and pulls the male with her.

"You have no reason to live."

"I have no reason to die either," Mizuki hums. "I came to talk with you. I'm sure you already have the basic idea, though."

"Yes." Dazai hums. "If you fail in killing the devil, can I kill him?"

"Of course," Mizuki smiles. "I wanted to thank you for taking care of this place."

"It resembles the Bar Lupin." Dazai closes his eyes, and he opens them before walking to the counter. "So? What will I be drinking?"

"I'd give you something over the rocks, but I think right now, you need something to bring you back to life." Mizuki pulls out a couple liquors. "Maybe you should've joined the ADA with Oda."

"We can't exist together," Dazai closes his eyes. "You know that."

"Yes," Mizuki hums. "in the other world, you had killed yourself so Oda could live. It surprised me, when the ending of the book had written itself. I didn't have the heart to keep writing."

She slides him a drink.

"Drink up."

"Will this kill me?"

"No," Mizuki hums. "But I'm sure the fizz will make you feel human for a moment."

"Mi-cha-n," Dazai gasps at the sensation of the sparkling water on his tongue. "Are you human?"

Mizuki thinks. "I'm not sure. My ability is a demon, after all."

"Of greed." Dazai smiles. "It would make sense for you to want to live."

"I crave what I can not have," Mizuki presses her cup to her lips. "Ah, that hit the spot. I don't care if I die when the human race does, I'm stuck living until I can die."

"Why did you steal the ability of Gilgamesh?"

A silence falls over the two.

"Mammon ate it himself. I didn't know how to return it." Mizuki hums. "I was born when humanity was. I've questioned if I was human many times, but in the end, I'm just as human as everyone else."

"How so?"

"I mourn when others do," Mizuki takes another sip. "I cry just as much as everyone else. I kill while feeling guilt eating me away. I'm just as human as the rest of the world."

Dazai hums, finishing his drink. "I'll call in the rest of the team."

"Please do." Mizuki pulls out a couple more cups.

The room is the brightest in the base. Though only half of the lights were on, the room felt nostalgic almost. Like a room you had never entered; yet had visited so many times. A dream you had once, a person you had once shared a drink with. The ambiance warmed the soul, a scintilla of serendipity.

She shakes the cup, listening to the ice clink in the shaker.

"Mizuki-sensei, we're here!" 

A group of voices dance through the air, accompanied by the arguing between Dazai and Chuuya. Mizuki closes her eyes, a smile waltzing over her lips.

"Welcome back."

Date: XX - XX - XXXX

Sometimes warmth is found during times of crisis.