the beauty of water | o. dazai ✔

chapter twenty-one.

Warning: There are depictions of violence later in this chapter. Read with caution.

Chuuya looked at (Y/n), staying in his kneeled position as he heard her question: "What happened to Fujinuma?"

He didn't seem to have an answer to that question either, opening his mouth to answer but closing it once again—reminding her of a goldfish looking for food. He cleared his throat, standing back up as he readjusted his gloves.

"He's been taken care of," he told her, not sharing anymore details on the situation. "You won't have to worry about him ever again, (Y/n)."

(Y/n) stared up at him, looking back down at the glass still in her lap as she simply nodded—accepting the answer he had given her. She traced her fingers along the rim of the glass, a slight humming sound coming from it as her fingers were slightly damp.

Chuuya let out a sigh, walking over and sitting on the edge of the couch as she moved her legs out of the way for him. He told her once more, "If he were to ever try and come at you again, he'd have a lot more problems than just having to go through me."

"Like coming back from the dead?" (Y/n) looked up from the glass, meeting his eyes. "I know what 'being taken care of' means, Chuuya. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were!" he raised his voice slightly, letting out a breath as he said in a low tone, "I never said you were stupid, (Y/n)."

"I didn't say you called me stupid," she retorted with a slight chuckle, immediately cringing as she felt a pain in her side, stinging and banging like someone was taking a pic-axe and was trying to chip away at her abdomen from the inside.

She dropped the empty glass, it rolling off of her lap and onto the floor. It clanked against the rug that lied under the carpet, rolling a bit as Chuuya turned from it back to her. (Y/n)'s face twisted in pain, bringing her bruised and cut-up hands to her side, gripping it as if a wound had opened up and letting go would've killed her.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, reaching out to her as he grew concerned with her sudden reaction.

It hurts. It hurts so much. (Y/n) couldn't answer, her lips pressed together as she was afraid she would let out a cry if she dared open her mouth. I feel so cold and dry... I need water. I need water right now.

"(Y/n)? (Y/n)?!" Chuuya grew desperate, standing up and jumping in front of her. He held his hands out, hesitant to touch her in this fragile state. "What's wrong? What do you need?"

"Water..." she managed to mumble, biting her tongue as she held back tears.

"Do you want another glass?" he asked, reaching down to pick up the one she had dropped only moments earlier.

She shook her head, gesturing with a nod towards the door as she kept her hands pressed on the searing pain in her side. "Please take me to the water—"

(Y/n) bit her tongue, threatening to draw blood or straight up bite it off as she held back her pained screams and cries. Chuuya knew what she wanted after hearing her plea, pulling off the blanket and throwing it somewhere else in the room. He picked her up, holding her bridal style as he made his way to the nearby bathroom.

He kicked the door open, it was already partially opened but he didn't want to risk bumping (Y/n) against it for fear of hurting her any more or causing even the slightest bit of more pain. He placed her in the shower that was in there, laying her against the wall as he turned on the water, letting the coolness wash down on her as he got slightly damp as well.

Circular figures began to form on her bare skin, a light blue glow appearing under her shirt sleeves as the water washed down her body. (Y/n) let go of her side, her hands resting on her lap as her once-erratic breathing slowed, her muscles relaxing.