The Monster Under The Bed

Part 2

“Do you really need to hold my hand?”

Usually, if anyone was to encounter Dazai Osamu, they would most certainly meet him at a bar, sipping on a glass of sake or any other sort of alcoholic drink, all the while wearing his typical carefree grin and using his beauty and seductive charm to attract some pretty woman in hopes of taking her home for a special night. On a different occasion, one could also meet the mysterious bandaged man while trying out some new suicide methods like drowning himself in the next river. That was Dazai Osamu.

On this particular day, however, things were a little different than usual.

“Of course!” The girl chimed happily, hopping up and down next to the brunette who forced out a smile despite the pain that originated from her firm grip. She was clutching tightly onto his hand like a woman would do during the birth of her child. Without realizing it himself, he turned to look left and right to see whether anybody was watching them. It wasn’t because he didn’t really know how to deal with the thought that people could think of him as a real father. That was at least what he was telling himself.

“Dad, what’s your favorite animal?”

“What?”

Dazai didn’t know if he heard her right. Why would she want to know about that right now? Hikari simply chuckled as she noticed his confused gaze. “Come on, tell me, tell me!”

A thousand thoughts rushed through his mind while pondering about the answer. He actually never really cared about animals in the first place, let alone liking a certain kind of animal. The only thing he knew was that he definitely hated dogs. He side-eyed the blue haired girl who still stared expectantly at him, trying to figure out what kind of animal she herself could like. Normally, he would have no problem figuring out any person at any given moment, but when it came to children, things got a little difficult. As easy as it was manipulating children, they were still way more unpredictable than most adults.

Come on, Osamu, just shove that stupid calculating mindset away for one second and just say one freaking animal! But which one? Cats? No, they were just as bad as dogs, if not even worse. Maybe something as exotic as a leopard? No, maybe she would get scared. A marine creature? Dolphins? They are interesting, being mammals though living in the sea—

“I'm waitiiiiiiing,” the girl’s patience eventually snapped, causing him to slightly jolt in place.

“Ducks,” he finally blurted out. Immediately, he had to resist the urge to slap himself on the forehead. Ducks? Really?

However, upon hearing his answer, Hikari’s eyes lighted up, sparkling with glee as she kept looking at Dazai. Then, she suddenly started laughing — a sound the brunette would later come to love more than anything else.

“Ahahaha, ducks? Really? It's true, they’re suuuuper cute.”

She shot him a sweet smile, causing Dazai to feel something strange within himself once again. Still, he managed to bring his mask back onto his face, returning the smile with seeming ease while proclaiming in his usual overdramatic way, “You should never assume to know a person, Hikari-chan. There will always be something new to find out!”

Contemplating his sentence, Hikari's smile widened as she opened her mouth once more.

“Then, what’s your favorite color? Oh no, wait, what’s your favorite food?? My favorite is Natto! But, all the other kids in the orphanage don't like it, that’s why Yoshimoto-san sometimes made it just for me. Do you like Natto?”