No Longer Human

Two

     
To his great disappointment, he woke up. He knew nearly immediately that it wasn't one of the villagers who had found him, but also that he was no longer where he had been or, probably, even in the forest anymore.  The room was far more modern than the ones in the former place, and the very existence of the bed, walls, and roof were a dead give away for the other.

The bed was mat-like, in that it was placed directly on the floor on a slightly lifted section in the floor, the room windowless with perfectly smooth walls that appeared almost as if made from stone. A detailed picture hung from one of the walls, framed in a light colored wood, showing what seemed to be the sea with the shoreline in the far distance, but with trees growing from the water in the foreground. Besides a small chest of drawers in a slightly darker wood and a curtain that he presumed blocked the exit, the room was otherwise empty despite having room for more.

The style was nothing like any of the houses in the village, but he knew of no practical method that could either get the walls to look so real or be that smooth. He sighed, pulling the thick blanket off of him, pushing himself up, ignoring the protest from the dull ache in his head as he stumbled to the curtain. He'd no sooner opened it, to see what appeared to be a large common room, than the lone occupant's head whipped around to face him.

Wide eyes in a shade he couldn't quite distinguish from the distance met his rapidly blinking, "O-oh! You're up!" Their hair was a pale white, a single black stripe running through an uneven lock that flopped into his face. He wore what oddly reminded Dazai of a paper boy outfit, white button up shirt, short black pants with suspenders, and boots, the belt sticking out as if it was a tail.

Dazai stared back, for once unsure what to do, before instinct kicked in and he responded cheerily with a grin, "It would seem that way, yes, I don't suppose you know where I am?" He drew out the last word of the question as if he wasn't disoriented at all.  In truth, he wasn't, a little off put sure but this wasn't the first time he'd woken up in a strange place even when it wasn't after his latest suicide.

"Oh! That's right- you must be so disoriented- are you?- I'm sorry!- I don't mean to pry- I'm not- I didn't- the berries you were eating- you see- I don't- they were poisonous- and what I'm trying to s- Sorry! I'm do- I mean- Ah! You're at my house- I mean I took you here to try and get you help- because what you were eating- what you ate- was poisonous- are you okay?- I'm- I mean- they- you shouldn't be up already, M- er-" the boy apparently was ridiculously easy to fluster as he quickly stammered out words, half of which Dazai barely understood, none of which answered his question.

Finally, after some fretting and essentially pushing him back into the room, guiding him to the bed and forcing him to sit down they seemed to realize this too, "Oh, I'm sorry! I haven't answered you're question well, have I?"

"No, did you decide to kidnap me~? Because I'm afraid there's no one to pay the ransom~." He sung the words carelessly despite the curiosity that was beginning to claw at him, the tiniest bit of excitement at the potential mystery this place might hold for him.

Immediately their eyes watered even as they widened with horror, surprisingly however, they focused entirely on the wrong part of the comment, and instead of the expected rush of denials and increase in general non-comprehension, he was practically attacked as, with more strength than any person as scrawny as the other was should reasonably have, he was pulled forward. Arms wrapped around him and he was held tightly against the other in what he assumed was meant to be a hug. "Oh, no! That's so sad! But it'll be okay, promise. I'm sure you have plenty of people who care about you, you just don't notice." Dazai wanted to laugh. Sure, he had people who cared, cared about the money he could make them. Otherwise they'd much rather he drop dead.