A spring without you | soukoku

Winter

The soft "thank you" spoken in the midst of the quiet autumn night as the last time Dazai heard Chuuya's voice. As the days grew shorter and colder, Chuuya's voice became weaker and weaker till it finally disappeared altogether.

Dazai spent most of his days in silence, performing his daily tasks without the other's company. Chuuya's body eventually grew to reject food all together which only added to his rapid weight loss. The detective often ate alone in the living room while searching for news about Chuuya's illness in hopes that a cure had been discovered. Nothing new ever appeared. He knew it was futile to keep hoping, to keep longing for a miracle, and yet, Dazai couldn't bring himself to give up completely. Not when it came to Chuuya.

Dazai made his way towards the curled-up figure on the couch. Having lost his ability to walk in addition to his speech, Chuuya's sole method of communication lay within gentle touches and soft gazes leaving it up to Dazai to interpret his thoughts. Luckily, all those years spent together proved not in vain as Dazai managed to understand Chuuya's thoughts as clearly as if they were his own.

He picked up a beautifully embroidered quilt that had been tossed over to the side and wrapped the soft fabric around Chuuya's body.

"You know better than to not use the quilt ane-san made for you," Dazai gently teased as Chuuya's tired eyes glared at him with as much bite he could put into them.

The quilt depicted two birds the same shade as Chuuya's eyes perched upon a branch while snow gently fell around them. The scene was a simple one, but with Kouyou's elegant technique, the longer Dazai stared, the more it seemed as if the birds were about to take flight any minute.

Chuuya kept his eyes closed, ignoring Dazai as the brunet drew the quilt higher up onto Chuuya's form, covering his mouth in the process.

"Weren't you cold anyway Chuuya?"

Dazai was no stranger to the silence that greeted his question, and yet, he couldn't help but feel a slight tug in the bottom of his heart. As much as he would never admit it, he missed the sound of Chuuya's voice, whether it was spouting insults nonstop or just simply calling his name.

The executive wearily opened his eyes and blinked his thanks before burying his face back into the soft covers. The dark bags under Chuuya's eyes, sunken in cheekbones, and pale face only served as painful reminders of the redhead's exhaustion.

Dazai gently pulled the quilt over himself as he settled besides Chuuya. He received another look, but the softness in Chuuya's normally piercing eyes betrayed his inner thoughts. The brunet smiled as he drew closer to the other, feeling the weight of the quilt covering them both.

The two sat in silence with only the snow gently falling outside as company.

Ever slowly, Chuuya leaned his body against Dazai's shoulder, a gesture he often did during his sleepless nights when Dazai was still a part of the Port Mafia. In response, the brunet reached over and gently held Chuuya's hand. He felt the redhead's fingers twitch at the unexpected contact and couldn't help but sadly smile at the action. Even if Chuuya was unable to walk, he still reached to Dazai's touch.

At this point, it was the little things that mattered the most.

Being in such close proximity to the exhausted executive, Dazai could make out the gentle rise and fall of Chuuya's chest moving in time with each breath. He squeezed Chuuya's hand ever so slightly. Chuuya was always the warmer of the two and the brunet often used Chuuya has a personal heater given the other's short stature made it perfect to cuddle him under his chin when sleeping. But now, Chuuya felt too cool to the touch, and Dazai found himself pulling the executive even closer in attempts to share his body heat.