A Touch of Sorrow [Dazai x OC x Chuuya]

Triginta Octo

A/N: strange sounds for the strange people in this chapter :)) loop the video tho it's quite short lol.

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It was cold, and it was suffocating. Many believed the air down there was poisonous as the longer you stayed the sicker you'd be. The living conditions were terrible, and those who managed to survive sure weren't the same as they used to. 

For a 13-year-old kid whose life just turned to another bad page, however, the place didn't bother her as much as it should've. She was quick to adapt to the living space since life at home wasn't all that better than at the slum. Though there were certain things that she ought to avoid, since a new face was an easy target to pick on.

Things such as where she shouldn't take her food from, and who she shouldn't fight for that piece of bread. Such as who to befriend and who not to. Such as where to never be seen at, or who to never be seen with. 

She had learnt some harsh lessons about those threats. A few near-death beatings for a bite of food, a few times nearly got raped for wandering in the wrong areas. A few times got tricked of her possessions for befriending the wrong people, even though it wasn't much that she actually possessed. 

And the last lesson which was also the most important lesson, don't be curious. When you see suspicious men around a loading truck, don't approach, don't get curious about their deeds, turn to the opposite direction and run as far as you can.

It's the only lesson that you won't have the luxury of failing.

The night was incredibly dark that day, the moon was nowhere to be seen in the area. The only source of light was from that truck. Dark fragments in the area where those men stood disrupted the flow of light, but by those shadows she could see better what they were doing. Beside the tall men loading up boxes, there were also smaller people, children she thought. Though she couldn't make out their faces as they were pushed on another truck. 

Watching from afar was difficult, but she never thought she would have the chance to see the doings of those people up close, let alone be a part of it.

A shot of pain immobilized her body, the back of her head went numb. Those men she was watching, in the end, was watching her instead. And they took their chance, knocking the poor child out before taking her to the loading truck. Barely conscious, she let whoever holding onto her proceed with their action. That flash of light blurred in front of her half-lidded eyes, then parted as a tall man approached, his shadow enveloped her tiny frame.

"I told you to find me someone decent."

"This one is the closest to the definition sir."

She was put back down on the ground, but fell forward since she didn't have much strength to stand. Rough hands caught her body, lifting up her face in a violent manner. Brown eyes sparkled in the bright light, and they moved from her face down to her body, judging the little girl.

"Too young." He spoke with a click of his tongue.

"Yes, but that would make her even more valuable, she's still untouched. The upcoming auction promises many potential buyers sir. This one will make up a high betting."

She could make out the line of a smirk on that man's face, his brown eyes sparkled again, reflecting of the bright lights.

"Very well, get her prepared for the auction."

Not until she was stripped of clothes and washed up in a rough way, not until she was put in an absurd dress with a number tag, not until she was standing on a platform with light shining on her face, not until she saw people after people raising a numbered wooden plate, not until she was given to a man in a masquerade mask and was brought back to his place did she know, she was a victim of human trafficking, and was sold to a rich foreign man.