"I'm sorry, Chuuya." He breathes out, voice even as much for Chuuya's benefit as for his own.
In contrast to his partner, Dazai hasn't run through the whole building; he's merely had the honour of being the devil on his shoulder, leading him through this labyrinth of traps and enemies, and if he's wrong, oh god, if he's wrong-
"So this is it, huh?" The resignation in Chuuya's voice stings; he's not angry, not disappointed; just calm, like he always expected Dazai to lead him to his doom eventually.
"The tower is crawling with rats." Dazai hurries down the street, down down down to meet Chuuya, to witness with his own eyes. If he's wrong, he must not ever forget what happens next. "There's no easy way out."
"I gathered." There is only so much time that can be bought with smoke bombs and decoys; eventually, the enemy will realise by process of elimination that Chuuya must have made the suicidal choice of going up to the roof.
"Without a parachute, this is the end of the line." Chuuya's silhouette appears against the sky, staring straight down at him, crushing him with gravity.
Or maybe he's only imagining it. Like everything else.
"A parachute wouldn't help, the wind would slam you into the building, if you could even find enough space to open it-" Dazai rambles, can't help his stupid know-it-all tendencies even in the face of his partner's death.
He's rewarded with Chuuya's snort for his trouble. "Great. Thanks for nothing, asshole."
"You don't need it, you've never needed it." Dazai's voice is quiet, fast; he's not sure whether Chuuya can hear, nor whether he wants him to.
If he's wrong, Chuuya will be nothing but a smear on the pavement. He has to believe he's not completely lost it, or he'll have his partner's life on his conscience.
Not that it would stain his soul for long. If he's wrong, Dazai will take the necessary steps to no longer be a danger to everyone around him.
"Chuuya." He takes a deep breath, shoving the anxiety down where plenty of it is already lying in wait, boiling beneath the surface. He projects a confidence he doesn't have, smiles like it's a laughing matter. "I want you to jump."
"Of course you would, you bastard." Chuuya laughs, too loudly - he must not be worried about enemies anymore, which means that they've closed in on him.
The silhouette above steps onto the precipice, hair fluttering in the wind. The crimson flag Dazai has pledged himself to.
"I need you to trust me. You're not going to die." Dazai's plans have never failed them. Chuuya might not be able to remember them correctly, but Dazai, Dazai remembers too much, too vividly, things no one else can recall-
"Well, if you phrase it like that, I don't really have a choice, do I?" Chuuya bows to his audience, and uses the motion to bend in half, diving off the roof. A streak of red and gold and black, a shooting star descending to earth.
And Dazai prays that Chuuya's body remembers, even when his mind cannot.
