Papercut | Akutagawa Ryūnosuke; AR [✔]

01 → Contract

"Oh dear goodness Mitsuya, you're a mess again entering my clinic."

I have been a mess since I was born. What's new?

Kidding aside, I am here again at the clinic filled with wounds and bruises. It is nothing new for me, for I always get these injuries almost everyday since the day that I got in to this school. This was either a punishment or a reward, or both. Either way works, but I would rather see it as a gift because I hate filling my head with too much negative thoughts.

My name is Mitsuya Ira, with my first name being pronounced as 'ai-ra' and not 'e-ra', for some reasons. I am a student here at the Yokohama Nouryoko Gakkou under rehabilitation of this suicidal teacher named Dazai Osamu, and being used as a support for an 'uncontrollable' student like me.

"You should really end that contract with Dazai," Yosano - the doctor of the school - said to me, as she gets ready to "heal" me. "These injuries you always get aren't mild. You might die from them one day."

"I don't mind getting hurt for the people I care for." I gave a convincing smile, pretending that I wasn't even hurt in the first place.

"Most martyrs died, Mitsuya. Keep that in mind."

The contract, at first it seemed difficult, but then I realized that I have nowhere to complain. I just want to finish being rehabilitated, and therefore I won't be this hurt anymore. One day, I will be a free woman with the ability to carry on with life without my gift getting in the way...

...or worse, the possibility that my gift would hurt other people.

As Yosano starts doing her thing, I simply closed my eyes and let her do whatever. At this point, I already got used to the stuff she does that the others find horrifying. Yes, true, it is horrifying for me. But for the four consecutive years that I've been here in this school, going to her clinic for almost 365 days a year isn't something new anymore.

I am basically immune from it.

Spring has already started, which means that the end of the school year draws near. If I do good this year, the contract will be over, and I could be free from this pain. It's not like I mind, but I aspire to be like Dazai, or sometimes Kunikida. I was just as suicidal as Dazai four years ago, but the contract had made me see the other side of life.

Four years ago...

I woke up lying on a comfortable bed, not entirely sure what had happened before this scenario. All I could recall was the complete destruction of my beloved home, my whole family dying in front of me not knowing who or what caused the tragedy.

As I was about to get up to a sitting position, a man in a coat came in the door and asked, "Are you alright now?"

Wait, I feel like I've seen this person before.

"Yes, I am okay now," I lied, but I smiled it away. "I think I am okay if I think that I am fine."

The man laughed all of a sudden, but it wasn't the sarcastic kind of laugh. It was more of the dorky laugh filled with impression. Weird, I met him as a serious person and now he's acting like a complete cutie.

"Oh~? I like your optimism!" He cheerfully said, standing next to me with a gleaming expression. "But at the mansion you we all like 'Oh leave me alone, I am useless.'"

"R-really? Oh gosh, I am so sorry, sir," I apologized to him, assuming that I may have said something rude to him during my mental breakdown. "But, what happened?"