A Touch of Sorrow [Dazai x OC x Chuuya]

Unus

"Up already?"

Those black orbs opened to dim lights from across the room, and to a soothing voice of a man. But beside him, she could feel the presence of another person. Her ears caught sounds of breathing, close to her right. Rei averted her eyes from the stained ceiling to her right side.

"He's still quite tired, let him be."

To find the redhead boy sleeping, the first thing she noticed was his gloved hands, they tightened into fists in a defense form, looking most uncomfortable for a nap. Those eyes wandered to the left after the curiosity got the best of her. Sitting across the room was a doctor, lab coat hanged on the side of the chair.

"How are you feeling?"

"Painful..." It took more effort than she thought to push the word out of her throat.

"Oh, I was afraid you couldn't talk. Your larynx is damaged quite badly."

Rei kept her gaze closely on the man, she had too many questions in her mind with too few answers. And the one standing before her seemed to know some of those answers. But her throat hurt too much to say anything. The poor girl flinched as she swallowed.

"Multiple bone fractures, damaged organs, almost all of your body is bruised. The only things still able to function well are your hands."

With each injuries, the man ticked a box on the clipboard. He lowered his gaze to meet hers and smiled. She had never once saw a smile so strangely eerie yet so soft as well.

"Can you write your name here? Your age as well if possible." He gave her the stationeries.

Hattori Rei - 18 years old.

"Rei-chan, I am Mori Ougai."

She nodded in place of greetings.

"What do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you."

Rei didn't even think twice, she wrote down immediately.

"Onigiri? Just onigiri?" The doctor furrowed his brows. The food didn't appear to be very nutritious for a patient. But then, he did ask for what she wanted to eat.

"Alright then, Rei-chan. I'll return with your onigiri later." The man turned around, his shadow lingered. Yet, it didn't disappear.

"Before that..."

Dark eyes shot wide-opened, twitching due to sudden concentration. Her hand was shaking, the bandages were creasing and loosening under the pressure. The man punched her and she was lucky enough to intercept it in time. Yet, she felt better at that very moment, every cell in her body informed her of the surge of energy flushing through her course. Through those widened eyes, she saw the corner of his lips turned upwards, forming a smirk.

"You punched me..."

"And thanks to that, you can talk normally now."

He was right, her throat didn't hurt anymore, each gulp went down smoothly without an ache. For a minute she felt scared of her own self instead of the man who just punched her.

"You can eat your onigiri better with a healed voice box, Rei-chan."

This time he walked away.

"Wait! Mori-san!" She dove forward, grabbing his arm.

"Enough, Rei-chan. I will answer every single question of yours, but later. After you have your onigiri."

Mori removed her grasp and gently lay her back on the bed. He could feel her slight tremor on the tips of his fingers where he touched. Even then, her body was producing new cells, fiber, each muscle tear was healing despite little energy she had. It wasn't exactly a good thing.