A Touch of Sorrow [Dazai x OC x Chuuya]

Triginta Sex

Somewhere down there, in one of those cells resided a man who was screaming his lungs out. His chest tightened as excruciating pain slowly claimed each and every inch of his body. It bit into his bones, chewing on his muscles, making it harder to move and breathe. He felt exhausted, to the point where he couldn't perceive reality, but he couldn't pass out to the lingering pain even though it should've put him to rest long ago.

As weariness from being yanked between reality and fantasy had eventually burnt out his strength, Shou lay still on his bed finally, letting the weakened mind took charge. In a semi-conscious state, the world through those obsidian orbs seemed ethereal. It was beautiful but then it was horrible.

The beautiful part was when he saw her there, the terrible part was when he saw the man there.

Shou relived those memories once again.

The figure of the man looming over a beaten child was hard to ignore. He would know, since he was that beaten child, daring not to look at the man in front of him.

"I didn't pay your tuition to have you second-placed, I didn't pay all of that money to have you coming back to me as a failure."

Instead of fear, what he felt was far more unpleasant. It was an incredibly familiar feeling, a feeling which was known as envy, it resided in the mind and thoughts of that child. The kid despised all those that were "superior" to him, but he couldn't do anything to them, he was a mere child. With such negative mindset forming so early in his years, plus without any proper education, his thoughts and opinions wavered in the negativity of his reality.

The scene changed, enveloping the male in a soft sensation, sweetness clouded his mind once the image of that woman appeared in front of his eyes, fair skin illuminated under the bright sunlight. She reached out to him but instead of smiling, she was crying.

"Why are you crying, Yua...?"

"Shou..."

It was the memory when she cried for him for the first time, and she was the first person to ever cry for him. He thought he might have been selfish, because he was happy to see her cry. He thought that at least there was a person out there still caring for him enough to weep for his being. 

Shou immediately flipped over on the crinkled white sheets, body twisted in violent pain. It stripped of him the beautiful scene that was playing in front of his eyes just then. The man was pulled into another memory, this one in particular didn't feel at all like a fever dream, it felt like the exact reality in its entirety.

He stared into the emerald orbs filled with excruciating pain, he stared at the beautiful face twisted in agony. Yua, his Yua, refused to be with him. And her sorrowful eyes were everything he saw before the house caught on fire.

"Mom your cheek..."

"What did he do?... Mom what did he do to you?"

"Rei go back, it's okay!"

"No... mom it's not okay!"

"Rei?... what are you doing?"

Tears fell from the lashes of the weakened man, soaking the sight.

"Rei! Put out the fire!"

Fire climbed high on the pillars, wrecking the roof faster than they could react. Soon enough, pieces of cracked concrete fell from the ceiling. Shou ran towards the two trying to put out the fire, but he only took the hand of one, leaving the other still trying. The lighter fell from that small palm, hitting the ground already charred. Smoke and fire sucked out the air in their lungs, burning them, taking away their precious life.