A Touch of Sorrow [Dazai x OC x Chuuya]

Decem

Hm, dim lights again.

She had woken up to the dim lights in this underground clinic for too many times to keep counts. As a reflex, she looked over to the left in hope of finding a familiar figure, but what found was a closed curtain. Rei pulled the drape aside to reveal an empty bed, mostly to her surprise.

As she was frowning at the vacant bed, her ears caught sounds of footsteps. Coming right after were greetings.

"Rei-chan, how are you?"

She looked to the other side to match a pair of vibrant amethyst orbs. She didn't reply but went to check on herself. Her entire body was wrapped in bandages, left arm was in a cast, but they didn't hurt much. Either that or she had gone numb.

"Such a nostalgic scene huh, Rei-chan. You on a bed, body wrapped in white bandages."

"But there's no onigiri today."

Mori looked at her in surprise, then those eyes softened to return the girl a gentle look.

"I'll buy it for you then." Said the doctor as he stood up from his seat.

"Promise me, no more than 20 minutes."

The exact words she told him on their first meeting, but this time was with a different gaze. She was begging for him on the first day, this time she only stared at him blankly.

"I promise."

Mori placed the papers down on the night stand next to her bed and exited the room. The moment he left her sight, Rei reached for the papers immediately.

Muscle tears and bruises.

Damaged spleen, lungs and liver.

Broken left arm.

Broken false ribs 8 and 9: healed.

Damaged T4 and T5 vertebrae: healed.

"How are they healed already?..." She was astonished by her own self.

"You seem to have grown stronger Rei. Your healing is faster now."

She wasn't surprised by the voice, but rather by him sitting on her bed right then without her knowing. Dazai looked over at the paper, then pulled back to his usual position with a smile on his lips.

"You've made use of you ability even while unconscious."

He glanced at her entire body, she looked just like him now, patched up everywhere.

"Well, I have a good mentor." She gave him an eye smile, one that managed to stir a sudden feeling of guilt inside him.

"Can't take all the credits now, can I?" Dazai rubbed her head while saying.

"You did great on the mission."

Rei didn't quite believe her eyes, they showed her an image of Dazai Osamu with a wave of pain barely concealed on his expression. No, it wasn't pain, it was guilt.

"But I killed the leader..." Rei shifted her gaze to her fists, she still remembered distinctively how the energy rushed through the palms and how they transferred to the other one's face. That sound of a cracked skull still rang in her mind.

"You were ordered to eliminate the boss of the rival organization-"

"But I shouldn't have done that. Not after what we've heard of him saying."

So she did notice, and she was concerned about it even though she had not a reason to. Or it was the opposite and that she had many reasons to be very concerned about it.