Work Text:
The delve was… successful.
Successful with a price.
Four authors had gone in, but only two had come out; both severely injured. Run, Melos had been purified, but only Dazai and Kusano had returned.
Nagai and Sakaguchi had been lost.
Dazai and Kusano returned injured, purple smoke floating around their bodies. Dazai had taken two steps into OdaSaku’s arms and immediately started spasming like a fish out of water. It wasn't until Saito made it into the library ten seconds later that Dazai was set on the ground to let the seizure run its course.
Dazai would not regain consciousness for the next three days.
Kusano had disappeared following his discharge from the infirmary. Although the authors looked for him, Kusano would never show his face.
In the end, Dan was enlisted to go look for the poet. Dan was closest to the short white haired guy. The final member of the buraiha manages to find Kusano hidden in one of the storage rooms, sitting behind a wall of boxes.
“Shinpei.”
Kusano flinches back and shakes his head. “Please leave.”
“Everyone has been so worried for you. Please come back to the library.”
Kusano shakes his head again, his breathing starting to pick up. “It’s my fault that Ango and Nagai fell. I wasn't strong enough, and they had to cover for me because I was just a little weakling-”
“Kusano-”
“-who doesn't know what he’s doing. Even Gyawazu thinks I'm weak!”
Speaking of the puppet, the green frog is nowhere to be seen. “Kusano, where is Gyawazu?”
“He’s gone too! He died!” Kusano holds up his trembling left hand. “Taints nabbed him and he was gone. Gone! It’s my fault he’s gone!”
Dan sits down next to Kusano. “Shinpei, you are not weak. Sometimes, things like this happen.”
“I killed Ango.”
“You did not stab him, Shinpei.” Dan places a hand on Kusano’s shoulder. “It is not your fault.”
Kusano looks at him and then his whole body starts trembling. “...Is Dazai okay?”
“Yes. Dazai made a full recovery.”
“And you aren't mad at me for killing your friend?”
“Getting my friend killed is different from killing my friend, Shinpei. And no, I’m not mad.”
That breaks Kusano, and he starts sobbing into Dan’s arm. Dan gently ruffles the poet’s hair. Sakaguchi and Nagai could be found again, lost within their own tainted books. But for now, Dan has another mission.
Go find Gyawazu for Shinpei.