There stood the shorter man from before, trying to act like he was here to buy something when in reality he only came back because of Eliza. 

Rue came down from the last step of the staircase, going over to Eliza to help hide her pet rats that were just chilling in the shop. "I'll take care of them." She whispered, as she began to secretly pick the little rodents up. 

Eliza did a little nod, then stared Chuuya down, waiting for him to buy something. She wondered if he going to just stand there forever.

"So, Ma'am--" He finally started to speak, before there was a loud noise. 

It was Dazai coming through the door and yelling Rue's name. "Rue-chaaaaa--" He stopped, then locked eyes with Chuuya. "Hey!! What are you doing here, Chibi?!!" He seemed irritated. 

"Dazai." Chuuya grumbled, looking furious. "Why are you here?" 

Suzu took one look at the chaos about to unfold, and turned back around to walk up the stairs. "Nope." She said, right before disappearing into the apartment. 

"You better not be here to take my girlfriend from me." Dazai stepped closer.

Chuuya looked surprised. "Girlfriend? How do you have a girlfriend?" Then, he looked nervous. Was Eliza his girlfriend? "Where is she, huh? I don't see her." 

"Rue-chan!" Dazai called, smiling at her once he looked away from Chuuya. 

The woman came over to Dazai, making herself known. "Hello..." She greeted shyly, blushing. 

Chuuya couldn't have looked more shocked. "She's pregnant?! I'm surprised you haven't left her." 

Rue began to look nervous, watching the two men throw insults at one another. 

"Well, you don't have a girlfriend. Probably never will, because they wont even see you since you're so short." Dazai remarked. "I'll have you know Rue-chan loves me very much." 

"SHORT?!!! I AM NOT, MACKEREL!!" Chuuya yelled loudly. 

Then they screamed at one another, and you couldn't even make out what they were saying if you tried. 

Eliza came forth, pushing the men apart. "Dazai, be nice to Chuuya." She whacked him on the head. 

"Ow!" He glared at Eliza, obviously very upset. "You're just like Chuuya! You look the same too, except you're tall. Chuuya, isn't it crazy this woman here is taller than you?" Dazai continued to rub the other guy's height in his face. 

"Shut up!!! ****it!!" Chuuya's face turned red. 

Eliza slapped Dazai in the face multiple times. "Stop. You cause enough trouble around here." 

Dazai reluctantly turned away, not interested in being slapped again. He looked to Rue, smiling. For a second, his eyes weren't so empty. 

Rue gazed up at Dazai gently. She always felt as though he was injured, because he was. He was hurt inside, almost beyond repair. "Are you alright?" She asked quietly. 

"Yes." He replied, staring back at her. His face didn't show any hint of emotion anymore, it was almost like he saw his mistake and corrected himself. 

Chuuya was still angry. "Dazai, just leave. Nobody wants to watch you romantically stare at your girlfriend, or whatever." 

Dazai whipped his head around. "Oh? Feeling single? How about you leave, you're not even buying anything." He was frowning now. 

Eliza joined the conversation once more. "No. Dazai, you leave. Get out of my shop." She picked up her broom leaning on the wall, trying to shoo him away like he was an animal. 

Rue grabbed the broom in Eliza's hands. "Don't be mean to him that way, he didn't do anything." She defended Dazai, her expression shifting to one of worry. 

Eliza scoffed. "He didn't do anything? He got you pregnant, he's not nice to you, he always stresses you out. He did lots of things wrong." 

Chuuya watched Eliza with a look of awe on his face, enjoying this to some extent. 

Rue couldn't find anything to deny those facts. "Well... well-- please don't kick him out." 

"Fine." Eliza sighed. "Take him upstairs with you, but if he causes you any sort of trouble call me." She didn't like Dazai in her house, but it was just too bad. 

Rue departed, walking up the stairs holding Dazai's hand. "How do you know that Chuuya?" She asked curiously. 

"Used to work with him." Dazai answered. It was a pretty vague reply, but that was probably for the best. 

Rue tilted her head at that, and brought him to her bedroom. "Ah." She sat on the bed, patting the spot next to her. "You may take a seat beside me." 

Dazai sat without a word. All he did now was stare off into space in silence. 

Rue felt the silence was too loud, but didn't know what to say. The way he just... didn't do anything was disturbing. "Did you want to stay the night...? It is getting late." She said out of nowhere, the sound of her voice piercing through the quiet of the room. 

"Yes." The reason he was so silent, was because the short moment of strong emotions he felt earlier, when it showed in his eyes. The man didn't want to talk, because he was afraid he would start to care about her more, but he couldn't find it in him to leave. He wanted to stay, he felt lonely at his place. Nobody would come around, and he knew it in his heart Rue would almost always be willing to be around him. 

Rue didn't know what to do, she really didn't. "I... I've been trying to go to sleep earlier. I don't know if you're tired, but you can go to sleep with me if you'd like." She encouraged. 

"Alright." Dazai's voice was monotone, it seemed he didn't care to make jokes right now. He took off his shoes, putting his feet up on the bed. He also removed his coat, and set it to the side. Out of the pocket on it, he took out a small red book. 

Rue observed, then took off her own shoes and lay down next to him. She saw the name of the book-- A Guide to Suicide?! Why... "Why are you reading that?" She questioned. 

"It's a good book." He said, proceeding to read that godforsaken book. 

Meanwhile, Eliza and Chuuya were downstairs talking about dogs for whatever reason. Weirdos. They seemed to be getting along well, you could hear them laughing from up in the apartment. 

Rue found the background noise to be comforting, and closed her eyes to sleep. But she opened them when Dazai turned her lamp off. "Why have you turned my lamp off?" 

"I can only sleep in complete darkness." He explained, shifting his position on the bed. 

Rue could understand that, sure. There wouldn't need to be any argument on having the light on, since he was there. Rue could only sleep in darkness if other people were up and making background noise (like Chuuya and Eliza were doing) or if someone was next to her. "Mm." She hesitantly wrapped her arms around Dazai for comfort. "Is it alright if I ask you something?" 

Dazai didn't reply for a moment. "Go ahead." 

"Let's always be together...?" She blurted out in a whisper. "Promise?" She was already crying, like the dramatic lady she was. 

Dazai seemed a big taken aback. Why would anyone want to be with him forever? "Let's... always." He didn't know why he accepted that offer, he could have just said nothing. 

Rue smiled weakly, sniffling. "Thank you... I love you..." She said the last part under her breath, so that Dazai might not hear. She was determined to save him, she really wanted to save him from himself.