Cherry Red Water

3. Cold Voices

The rain dripped off of the roof into puddles on the dirty ground, birds chirped in the trees as a pleasant, cold breeze rustled the leaves.
Chuuya blinked as the light shone in through the old curtains, riddled with holes from moths. It stung at his eyes as the light blinded him for a moment.
Blankets clung to him as he slowly began looking around, the sky was a desaturated blue, with only a few clouds in it.
Chuuya felt another person against him, once again, he remembered where he was and, again, he had naturally shifted closer to Dazai in his sleep.
Quickly, he pushed the other boy back and looked up at him, he was still asleep, he looked peaceful, calm; like he could sleep forever.
Chuuya sat up and checked his phone, he had two missed calls from his dad, that was all. He didn't do anything else. It was a school day, they should have already gone but Chuuya wasn't bothered about it, he had never liked school nor cared about it.
He knew he didn't have the same future as everyone else.
Dazai grumbled next to him, reaching out to try and grab Chuuya back into his arms, "Oi, Dazai, get the fuck up." Chuuya leaned over and began shaking Dazai,
"W-what?" He muttered as his eye opened, the other was still hidden by bandages, "Chuuya, why'd you wake me up?"
"Cause it's the middle of the day, we should have been at school but instead I'm stuck here with you."
"Do you want to go back like this?" Dazai asked as he sat up,
"Of course not! I don't wanna go anyway. I'm just tryna point out that we have slept for most of the day, won't your parents be worried?" Chuuya sighed,
"I texted them that I was going to my soulmate's house." Dazai stated.
Chuuya felt his blood run cold, after all that mess, Dazai had just told them? "So they know-"
"They know I have a soulmate, not who or what gender." Dazai explained, looking directly at Chuuya, making him slightly uncomfortable.
"Wouldn't I have to meet 'em, then?" Chuuya growled,
Dazai put his hand closer to his face, he sat there for a moment, lost in thought, "If you were a girl it would be fine, you already have slightly long hair."
Chuuya's face turned pale at that, "The hell are ya gonna do to me, punk?" He spat, pulling Dazai closer to him by his collar, "There ain't no way I'm gonna wear a fucking dress!"
"Thought so, that means we're…fucked, though. They want to see you soon." Dazai placed his hand on his forehead, like it wasn't what he wanted,
"You shouldn't have said shit!" Chuuya complained, he was leaning over Dazai as he spoke, staring at him.
"They wanted to know where I was, sorry that my parents care." Dazai smiled wider, it was so obviously fake, a sickly sweet smile meant to piss Chuuya off.
It worked.
"At least I don't look like I slit my wrists every night!" He slapped Dazai across the face, "I bet if I removed those bandages I'd be proven right." He whispered in Dazai's ear.

He was never that type of person. If someone was going through something, that was okay, he would be there. Never in his life did he expect those words to come out of his mouth. He would never actually hate someone for something like that, he had his own problems which made him a troubled kid, he was aware of those types of issues and feelings.
And he always knew he would regret saying it, if he ever did.
He did. He never wanted to say it in the first place.
Dazai's eyes went even darker, even emptier, sad. He didn't even look conscious, it was like his body was empty.

༶•┈┈⛧┈♛┈⛧┈┈•༶

Dazai was joking, that was meant to be fine. Chuuya had a bad home life, he went through it. A joke like that, it was nothing, a small, harmless joke, meant to make him laugh. That's what made all Dazai's friends laugh. Jokes about people being sad, jokes about suicide, abuse, things that those children probably went through without realising.
Chuuya wasn't laughing, he was angry. He was angry and because of that said something to Dazai, something bad. Normally, it would be played off as a joke but Chuuya was the only colour in Dazai's life. That didn't matter. Chuuya didn't see Dazai the same way, that's why he had said it.
He slit his wrists?
It was something he had heard many times from his friends: some child would be walking down the hallway, passing the group, and then they would all suddenly yell at the child to give them a wrist reveal. They asked if they cut themselves, told them to go die, to do it again. Dazai wondered what was funny, he could barely manage a fake laugh in those moments. He just went quiet. They all thought it was funny, cutting was funny. On the way home, they would joke about it, say they would go do it, one person dared Dazai to and Dazai said he would; he wanted them to think he was funny.
It was normal for him anyway.
So, he did it. Only a little and he made sure it was on a fresh piece of skin, one that hadn't been tainted. He showed it to them, they all laughed, he laughed. It was funny, he was funny, they liked him. It was funny, wasn't it?