No Longer Human | Arlecchino

Chapter 4: Yet Again

Ren sat quietly in the corner of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, the dim candlelight casting long shadows across the room. He had been coming here often, mostly for work, dropping off bounties for Hu Tao to handle. Each visit, however, the two of them exchanged more words. Over time, the morbid and lively nature of the funeral director began to break down Ren's icy walls.


Hu Tao hummed softly, playing with a bunch of papers on her desk while usually wearing a playful smile on her lips. "So, Ren," she said, looking at him, "still brooding, I see. You know, the dead aren't all that scary if you're afraid of life instead."

Ren barely looked up. "Life has its own way of terrifying you. The dead, at least, don't ask anything of you.

Her smile gentled. "True, but they also don't leave you with anything, either. No joy, no sorrow. Isn't that just... empty?"

"Isn't that the point?" Ren said, his voice colder than he meant to make it. "It's better that way. No attachments, no pain."

Hu Tao laughed lightly, though there was no mocking in her tone. "Attachments? That's a funny thing to say for someone who keeps coming back here."

Ren finally looked at her, for the first time that day, and said, "I come for the work, nothing else.

"Sure, sure," Hu Tao said, eyes sparkling. "But there's something about you. You could've gone anywhere else, done anything else, yet here you are. Over and over again." She tapped her chin in thought. "You might not admit it, but I think you're sticking around because you don't want to be as alone as you say."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them. Ren frowned, ignoring the knot in his chest. "You don't know me."

"Perhaps not," she said, bumping her bottom against the desk in a carefree pose, "but I know that someone's got a story. Even the toughest folks need someone every now and then to talk to. Otherwise, you're going to explode like one of Klee's bombs.

The corners of Ren's mouth twitched involuntarily at the mention of Klee. "I'm not going to explode," Ren muttered, though there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"There it is!" Hu Tao grinned, pointing at him. "A tiny crack in the ice! See? I knew you weren't completely hopeless.

Ren sighed and shook his head. "Insistent, I'll give you that."

"Of course! Expected of me, the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor! Part of the job description is persistent. You know, life isn't all about survival, there's more to-.

Ren felt something inside him stir, something he hadn't let himself feel in a long time. "You really think someone like me has more than just survival left?" he asked. The softening in Hu Tao's eyes told volumes. "I think anyone does, even you. You've been through a lot, haven't you?"

He didn't answer straight away. His mind whirred back to the experiments, the years of pain, the death of so many friends he made. He clenched his fists, feeling the bandages around his hands, sticky and rough. "I don't know what's left for me."

"Well," Hu Tao said with soft, but serious, lightness, "you might start with letting in someone...just a little. You don't have to carry it all by yourself.

Ren's eyes dropped to the floor. For a moment, he could feel the weight of his loneliness, the walls he'd built to protect himself from pain. But there was something in Hu Tao's voice, something real. It felt... safe.

"I'll think about it," he said at last, his tone no louder than a murmur.


Hu Tao smiled warmly. "That's a start."

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