It was Dazai, laying on the floor drunk. "Rue-chan...! Surprising seeing you here." He smiled goofily, slurring his words. He had flowers in his left hand, obviously from Eliza's little garden outside her shop. 

"What in the world did you do?!" Eliza knelt down, whacking Dazai on the head. "Those are my flowers, you disgusting drunk man. No, you're no man." She glared at him. 

Rue began fussing over him, flailing her hands around the way she did. "Oh, Osamu!" She cried, trying to help him up. 

Eliza gently pried her hands off him, pulling him inside aggressively herself. 

Suzu watched from a distance, seeming appalled at this situation. 

"I got these flowers for you, Rue-chan." He held them out, trying hard to stand up right. They were crumpled up. 

Rue gently took them, amused by him despite everything. "That's... sweet." It was like she had tunnel vision, only focusing on that horrible man named Dazai.

"He's most likely destroyed my garden, and those flowers are ruined!" Eliza tried to give Rue reason, her hands on her hips. 

Rue, continued to hold the flowers close to her. "It's the thought that counts." She defended fondly, smiling.

Eliza scoffed. "As if he has any thoughts in that head of his!" 

"Be kind to him. Are you alright, Osamu?" Rue asked gently, tilting her head while fixing his hair.

Dazai looked her right in the eyes, a nearly unhinged expression on his face. "Oh. I see many things everywhere. There's an orange with a face on your head, and he's dancing, Yes, he has a girlfriend in Mexico that he needs to eat sushi with." 

Rue was greatly disturbed, raising her eyebrows. "I don't think he's just drunk... did you take anything?" She asked, concern audible in her voice. 

"Mushrooms!!" He yelled, laughing. 

Rue started to panic, rushing him over to her room. She couldn't let him lay on the sofa, because Suzu was sitting on it now. "No, no, no, no. You're very sick!!!" She yelped. 

"Eh?! EH?! No! I'm fine, I'm having a happy time with the rabbits under the sea." He insisted, grinning. 

Rue quickly took off his coat full of dirt, as well as his shoes, laying him down on her bed. "You will stay here. Don't get up." She ordered, sitting down next to him. 

Eliza and Suzu didn't seem interested in intervening, not wanting to be involved with this insanity. 

Dazai began blabbing about some nonsense. "Ah, Odasaku!! I won't. No! No! No!" He kicked around, whining like a child.

"Who in the world is Odasaku?" Rue blurted out, her expression becoming even more concerned. Was he imagining people?

Dazai stopped, appearing to be sorrowful all of a sudden. "Odasaku...?" He stared at Rue, his eyes empty. 

"Did you make him up?" Rue asked, moving closer. 

Dazai was recalling his dear friend's death. "No. He's real. He's gone. He told me to leave the mafia... to be on the side of good instead of evil." 

Rue was very afraid now. "You used to be in the mafia?!" She screeched, her face going pale. 

"When I was fourteen, Mori picked me up." He said mindlessly, his eyes staring off into space. He was only admitting it because of the things in his system, affecting his thought process. "I want to die."

Rue started crying, putting her face into her hands. Her boyfriend was a criminal?! "You-- don't die." Either way, she wanted to save him. She still loved him. "...I wanted to die once, too." She said, sniffling. 

Dazai made a shocked face at that. His reactions were even more dramatic because of the alcohol and poisonous mushrooms. "You? How could a good woman like you want to die? Why?" He couldn't believe it, because Rue was always advocating for life, like one of the people who painted a perfect picture of themselves for others, too look like they'd never went through any hardship or done any wrong ever.

Rue made eye contact with him, so that maybe her words may get through to this hopeless man. "When I was in highschool, I was bullied. Those girls made me believe I'd be doing a good thing by dying, that I would be helping something... so I tried to drown myself." She said, her voice breaking. "Perhaps I understand an ounce of what you feel, but everyone has a different experience. I... want to save lives."

Dazai was... somewhat touched by her words. "Mm." He went. "I see colors." He was still acting weird, but he was certainly calmer.

Rue saw this, and decided she would take this chance. "Close your eyes, go to sleep." She suggested, pulling the blanket over him. 

Dazai reluctantly let her do this, closing his eyes. 

Rue sat crying to herself as he slept, thinking over everything. "I hate you a lot, I really do. But your smile is so empty, how can I change that? You're so ugly..." She thought out loud, gazing at Dazai's sleeping face. "I don't think your illness is one that can be cured, actually, I don't even believe God could save you. I know that's bad." Her face scrunched up, becoming more distressed as each second passed.

He was even more unsettling to Rue now that she knew he most likely had killed many, being high on mushrooms and drunk didn't help his case either. Rue's father would flip out if he knew this was happening, and if he knew basically anything about Dazai.

 Now what would she do?! No, that despicable man had to go, she knew... but she couldn't even bear the thought of tearing herself away from him now. "Those children are doomed, they were doomed from the start." Rue thought, tensing up even more. She stood up, beginning to feel dizzy as the reality of the situation sunk in deeper. She managed to stumble out of the room, over to Eliza and Suzu.

"Well?" Eliza asked, curious of what had happened and still irritated by Dazai's presence in the home. 

Rue put her hands on her head. "He's a criminal." She felt dizzy, the whole world darkening around her as her ears started ringing. "I'm going to faint." 

Suzu and Eliza rushed over to her, their facial expressions changing to ones of worry. "Stay still!" They exclaimed at the same time, grabbing her by the arms, and leading her to the couch. 

Rue would faint out of stress at times, and when she did she'd start trying to walk, confused by what was happening. She would have no control of her body for a moment, and it was all very scary for her. 

"You are pregnant, you should calm down." Eliza said gently, rubbing Rue's back. 

Once she was fully back, she stood up to get some food. She'd been wanting to do this since coming back from her father's house. She shoveled leftover noodles in her mouth, crying. 

Suzu sighed. Seeing her sister do this made her feel sad, because she didn't want her to hurt. At the same time, she was starving and also desperately wanted to eat. But no, she couldn't. 

Eliza got up from the couch, following Rue. "You shouldn't do that. It's not good for you." 

Over time, the way she ate became less and less for her figure. More of... a way to cope with shame and anxiety. Rue didn't want to be bigger anymore, she wanted to have the perfect body. What that was, even she didn't know. Perhaps it was whatever others wanted. "Mmm mm mmmmmm." 

Eliza looked disappointed in her. "Swallow your food." 

"But it tastes good." That's what Rue was trying to say. 

"You should go to sleep." Eliza said firmly, almost like she was telling her to instead of suggesting it.

Rue nodded. "Maybe I should-- sleep it off." She put away the leftovers, walking towards her bedroom where Dazai was.

"No. I don't want you to be near him." Eliza gently took Rue's hand. "You can sleep with me or Suzu." 

Rue turned to face them. "Then we can all go to your room, I don't want one of us to be alone." 

The three girls all went to Eliza's room, changed into their pajamas, and lay down to sleep. Rue was knocked out almost instantly, exhausted from all the turmoil in her mind that day.

In her dreams, she relived the moment she nearly died. Mary's face staring at her from above the water, the way everything was dark. It hurt to keep her eyes open, her lungs hurt, her whole body hurt. Her heart hurt too, most of all... from emotional pain as well as from the fact she was inhaling water. There was a tense feeling, as well as a peaceful one. Only the present existed, soon there would be no future to worry about. Or so she was convinced in that moment...