𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 ￤O. Dazai

𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 | 𝟏𝟒

An eerie smirk etched itself on Kazu's face. She has dreamt of ripping those same lips off his face with her bare hands.

In a split tick of (Y/N)'s wrist watch, Kazu appeared behind her, holding his blade close to her neck.

"You're holding back," Kazu whispered in her ear.

A shiver ran down her spine, but it wasn't the good type. It was mere disgust.

A circle of flames enveloped them. She watched as Kazu promptly closed his eyes at the bright light emitting from the flames.

When he opened his eyes, his pupils constricted.

She disappeared.

Her laugh echoed through the entire forest. The smoke from the fire enveloped the skies, tainting it a deep shade of gray.

"Hide and seek?" Kazu laughed. "Love, you're not playing fair."

"I never agreed to do so," her voice had a hint of mischief as if she was enjoying the feel of toying with him.

Kazu chuckled, tightening his grip on his own katana. He looked around, eyeing every spark of the flames around him. After a while, (Y/n)'s figure appeared within the flames.

Kazu pointed his blade at her, only for her to disappear and reappear in a totally different location. It went on like that for a few minutes until Kazu had enough.

He closed his eyes, the red glow around his body becoming more vibrant. "Soul's whisper," he said under his breath.

Then he opened his eyes, seeing everything in a shade of green and red, differentiating everything based on the energy it gave off. What he didn't expect was to find everything in a deep shade of red-orange.

"What the..."

It was as if she was one with the flames.. Or if the flames were one with her. The difference, he couldn't tell.

He clicked his tongue.

"You have a daughter, right Kazu?" her voice came out as light and weight-less.

But only a fool would fall into it. Unfortunately for him, he was just as much of a fool as he feared he'd be.

"I-"

"-she must be worried why her father didn't read her a bedtime story."

"What?"

"You have five seconds to reconsider your actions," she said, finally reappearing before him. "It would be a pity for a child to grow up fatherless."

It fucks them up, trust me.

Kazu's vision returned to normal as he looked at her. "What are you trying to say?"

"Five."

"Hey-"

"Four."

"That's n-"

"Three."

He sighed and positioned his blade towards her. That alone was his answer. She clicked her tongue.

"Two."

He didn't move.

"One."

He still didn't move.

As if the flames weren't strong enough before, they skyrocketed.

"What a shame," she sighed. She held her hand out and a streak of blue flames appeared on it, creating a katana.

Kazu lunged towards her and she used her blade to block his attack. The mere pressure and speed of the attack made the ground beneath them to split apart.

Kazu smirked, "You think I care about some damn child?"

That tightened something inside (Y/n)'s chest. She could already imagine herself decapitating his head.

He pushed forward, causing her to jump backward. She narrowed his eyes at him, "You don't care about your own child?"

"I don't even know if she's mine," he said as he ran towards her, swinging his sword. She dodged it easily.

"That's not an excuse," she said and swung her katana at him. He stopped it with his blade and jumped back.

The fight went on like that. Swing. Jump back. Run. Swing. Jump back again. Run.

In a short bit, in the worst time possible, her chest felt heavy. Not because of the loss of breath, but heavy with the sharp pain. She jumped back, grabbing the cloth over her chest. Her eyes flickered from red to her (e/c), then to red again.

Kazu raised a brow, but he wasn't stupid enough to miss this opportunity. He dashed towards her. A wave of flames stopped him. She breathed in and tightened her grip on her shirt.

"Keogari," she hissed.

When the demon didn't respond, she knew right there and then that her control was slipping away. She couldn't stop. Even if she wanted to. This power isn't hers. And the one being who claimed ownership of it was now being consumed by its own magic.

She cursed under her breath as she continuously blocked Kazu with flames everytime he tried to find an opening.

The flames grew stronger, attempting to reach the skies at how high it was going. They got hotter and brighter. If this goes on, she'll burn the entire forest. And she wouldn't be able to stop herself.

Air knocked itself out of her lungs, making her knees crumble and meet the ground. Her fingers dug deep into the ground, dirt getting in between her skin and nails.

Droplets of sweat fell on the ground beneath her. She opened her eyes, her breath hitching a little when she saw Kazu's shadow towering over her.

Bad timing.

Fire was building up inside of her, oozing out in streams of smoke. It was like she was overheating. She could feel her control slipping completely off. There was too much.

Too much for her to control.

"You look pathetic," Kazu said.

And for once, she agreed with him. Maybe she did look pathetic. Maybe she was pathetic from the start, thinking she could control the demon inside of her when she couldn't even control herself.

Maybe that was why she asked Dazai to stay in stand by.

She shut her eyes, feeling the world around disappear into flames. Heat pricked her skin, seeping through her clothes.

Dazai, who was still hiding behind the bush, had to squint and shade his eyes with his hand. His eyes widened when the flames got stronger, as if it wasn't already strong enough to burn a human in mere seconds.

Finally realizing why (Y/N) called him to assist, he quickly got off the ground and ran through the flames, caring less if it burned his clothes.

—------ —----- —----- —-----

His clothes had blots of black and his face, too. He panted, exiting the woods that were now burned in a circle.

He looked at the woman he was carrying, "You're lucky you're pretty."

Atsushi immediately ran towards them, pulling out his phone to call Yosano.