the beauty of water: resurfaced | o. dazai ✔

chapter twenty-six.

(Y/n)'s breath was labored. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move. It hurt to even look up as Zack brought down the bat onto her stomach for what felt like to hundredth time. She knew it was coming, yet the pain was just as intense as the start.

Everything hurt.

Zack looked over to Aimi once he was finished. Blood dripped off of the bat and off of a couple other weapons he'd brought. Though he'd been torturing (Y/n) for the entire day, he'd favored the bat in his constant assault. For the most part, Aimi watched. She'd occasionally hand Zack another weapon, but that was only when he needed the bat to be cleaned off.

(Y/n) tried to open her eyes, shutting them tight as droplets of blood blurred and reddened her vision. She knew her head was in throbbing pain, so that must have been where the blood was coming from. It had to be.

Zack handed Aimi the bat, prompting her to wipe it off for a final time. He knelt down in front of (Y/n) gripping her face. He pulled her upright off the floor, causing her to moan in pain.

"I think you've had enough for today, don't you think?" he asked, squeezing against her cheeks harshly. She could feel her jaw creaking against his tightening grip.

She didn't answer at first. She finally forced her eyes open, staring into Zack's smirking, vile face.

"Don't you?" he asked once again.

(Y/n) didn't say anything. With the last bit of strength she had left, she spit in his face. Blood splattered against his nose, causing him to wince in disgust. With an enraged grunt, he threw her back against the ground.

She bounced against the hay-covered cement, letting out a groan as every ache and pain in her body released themselves all over again. She rolled onto her back, staring up at the half-broken ceiling. She started at the sky, watching as the blue subtly started turning to a beautiful shade of red and orange.

"You deal with her, I'll start getting things ready for the finale," Zack commanded.

Aimi walked over to (Y/n), grabbing her bloodied hair. She yanked (Y/n) upright, tying a cloth around her face. (Y/n) bit down against it, letting out a pained groan as Aimi tightened her grip against her hair.

"Stop that," Aimi hissed. "You're making this harder than it needs to be."

Once Aimi tied the last knot, she let (Y/n)'s hair go. Her head smacked against the ground with a thud, causing her vision to blur. She watched as Zack laid out the weapons, coating them in a liquid she could only assume was gasoline. She could smell its overwhelming stench, burning her nostrils.

Aimi and Zack's voices were at a distance now, their blurred torsos stalking towards the exit. (Y/n) tried sitting up, struggling against the chains. They felt heavier than ever.

The door opened slightly, they went out, and it slammed shut. As soon as the doors closed and their clank echoed throughout the warehouse, flames began to cake over the doors. She could feel their overwhelming heat even from a great distance.

(Y/n) slowly let herself lay back down, her cheek pressed against the hay. It was scratchy, but it was better than laying against bare concrete. It was only a matter of time before the heat reached her, ultimately ending her life.

They were right. It is almost poetic. Fire ultimately killing a water-manipulator.

Maybe this was what Ryuji was talking about, she thought. Maybe this was the end. I know he said that it probably didn't mean death. But it did. It does.

Her mind went past her last conversation with Ryuji, past her last few encounters with the Agency, past the two years she was away from the Agency, back to when she first met Dazai. That was a crazy time. It was ultimately life-changing, regardless of whether she really accepted it or not.