Kitty stared at the blank ceiling, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts as she tied the laces of her worn-out sneakers. Her plain white t-shirt and pants felt unfamiliar against her skin, far removed from Mori's extravagant preferences—no silks, no jewels, nothing that screamed her association with him. This outfit was a shield, meant to let her blend in, not stand out.
She grabbed her beige jacket, its simplicity comforting in a way she hadn't felt in years, and folded a crumpled piece of paper in her hand. Dazai's location. The name alone made her chest tighten, though whether it was from fear or anticipation, she couldn't tell.
She had bribed some of Mori's lower ranks for the information, trading a stock of petty cash she'd painstakingly gathered. Money could buy almost anything, after all. Even treachery.
Her eyes flicked to the pile of cash hidden beneath loose floorboards. She crouched, running her fingers over the bills she had painstakingly saved. With a resigned sigh, she divided the money into two parts. Half was slipped into her bag—her offering to Dazai, a gamble that might either save her or seal her fate. The other half she left untouched. Insurance. If things went wrong, she'd need it to escape.
"This should be enough," she murmured, closing the bag. She let her fingers linger over the remaining stash, as if touching it one last time would guarantee her survival.
Kitty inhaled deeply, her heart pounding louder with every step she took away from Mori's room. The weight of the bag on her shoulder felt like a tether and a lifeline all at once. The air outside the mansion hit her differently, sharp and brimming with a freedom she wasn't sure she knew how to handle.
Her heart pounded faster as if she could sense the dangers of going to be thrown to her another predator.
Osamu Dazai.
*****
Kitty looked at the crinkled note once again, she had arrived outside the address of his territory.
The shipping container.
She arrived at the doorstep of his hideout or home or whatever he'd called it...
She folded the note making a ball on her fist and kept it on her pocket. She entered the shipping container and knocked the door brutally.
Dazai was reluctant to open the door at first but he rose up, his movements both sluggish and wobbly like an earthworm trying to move from one place to the other.
He flung open the door and there he'd found out Kitty in her unusual plain attire.
"Kitty?," he was surprised, "you look normal."
"Ah... Do I?," she said, "won't you let your guest enter into your little empire?"
"I never let a woman enter my cell but if you insist then who's stopping you?," Dazai stepped aside, "Come inside."
"You do know why I am here.," Kitty said.
"Quite... or maybe I am sure."
Kitty looked at his solace which lingered a smell of alcohol and alcohol. She looked at one corner of the container to find a stack of empty liquors resting on one another and a pile of books and a series of opened crab cans.
"I was just sleeping on the floor. You know.," he said, "Can't you let a poor man rest?"
"Out of everything, you picked a shipping container?"
"Yes, I did.," he shrugged his shoulders and replied non-chalantly, "Simple and functional."
Kitty dragged the chair and sat, her eyes scanning the cramped room. The table and chair were the only furniture. Others might call it poverty, but she knew better.
A man like Dazai Osamu could have all the luxury in the world.
He placed his hands against the wall, smirking. "Call it poverty if you like. I call it the art of minimalism."
Dazai looked down at kitty where she'd sat obediently like a cat and he sat down on the ground and spoke, "What do you want, Kitty. I already know it but I want confirmation from your mouth."
Kitty crossed her legs and said, "Yes, I want help from you."
"Help what kind of?," Dazai asked, "help you to escape?" He scoffed.
"Why would I help you?," he asked, "or rather, why should I?"
Kitty took out a stack of money bills from her bag and bend her knees sitting across him on the ground, "Will this be enough?"
"You are talking to an executive of port mafia.," he said, "I earn half of it in one missions."
Kitty felt desperate in her current situation and Dazai's eyes fixated on her pink amethyst ring, she looked down on the ring for a second and then her gaze shifted to the face. She adjusted her ring and took it off, placing it on top of the note.
"I don't know its worth, but Mori gave it to me. That should say enough."
"Given by Mori, collected from Mori. I don't want them.," Dazai said, "Tell me what you have to offer."
"Nothing."
"Nothing?," Dazai said, "then you can leave."