No Longer Human

Six

They had passed one shack-like building upon entering the swamp area, but now the began to pass more, each one built on stilts to keep it above the muck except for the few that floated on top it. Chimes made from bones, shells, and wood hung from several of the houses alongside potted plants, and an assortment of decor, but most houses were plain for all they lacked uniformity in the size and shape of them.

       Occasionally he would catch sight of faces with varying degrees of humanity peeking out at them, but nobody else approached and seemed quite used to Ranpo's presence until they came to a halt at the base of a winding, rickety staircase in front of a singular large, willow tree, wood beams winding around it forming a house that the tree grew over and around it. Standing on the other side of the bridge-like stairs was a tall, thin man wearing a white lab coat with just over ear-length dark hair.

"Now what's brought Fukuzawa's favorite pet all the way over to my domain- and oh look! You've brought a friend."

"Wrong!" Ranpo grinned smugly, one hand raised, "Atsushi found him. This is Mori, the necromancer, he controls the swamp territory, we're passing by to visit Poe."

      A single eyebrow was raised, "Are you so sure that's a great idea considering the tensions going on there. Considering your situation and all, you understand my concern." The words themselves were caring, but his way of speaking painted them more as though he was looking down, Dazai could tell real concern was behind them too though.

       "No." Sharp eyes stared up from between his long bangs, filled with uncanny knowing. It wasn't a challenge or petulant refusal, it was merely a statement. The world seemed to hold still.

      "Aw," a bright head of yellow hair in equally as bright red and white cloth, peeked out from behind Mori snapping the world back into motion, "If he dies, then you can summon him to play with me! That would be fine, right?" The small girl locked her hands behind her back as she peered at the two of them, smiling brightly despite her dark words, "Hm, maybe the big one too, I don't know how fun he'd be."

       "Of course I could Angel! But I don't know how happy Fukuzawa would be about me keeping his little pet around like that- he might think it was me that offed it."

        "Why not?" The small girl pouted, "Don't you like me? So mean!"

        Dazai barely had a few moments to watch the ongoing extortion as the summoned spirit made an utter pushover at what apparently was supposed to be one of the territory rulers and then Ranpo was making a face as he dragged him off calling over his shoulder, "He'll be passing through sometimes then!"

        His eyes continued to drink in the scenes, for all he had predicted that his hosts weren't completely human, this was all a bit overwhelming even for him.  He could see stubs of horns peaking from some of the silent watcher's heads. Others lacked shadows or floated a scant few centimeters above the floor.

Slowly the houses were less and less frequent before finally stopping as it became less swampy and more watered down. The trees also changed after a break where there were no living trees growing, massive trunks then towered over them, dwarfing everything else in comparison.

     Oddly enough his first thought was that there was no way he could have missed seeing these from however far he was away from the village when he was looking. The whole forest looked as if it was filled with short, but ultimately too scraggly and weak trees and dense undergrowth as if that made up for the former shortcoming. Dazai would know better than anybody with the amount of time he had spent looking for a tree to hang himself from. Once more the only solution he could think of was the paranormal with these trees that seemed to dwarf redwoods that he had seen. 

     The greatest of the redwoods, Hyperion, was not just thinner, but seemingly shorter too than these most of these mammoths that had come up from seemingly  nowhere after a sharp turn around one medium sized house. The Alpine Ash might as well have been a stunted fruit tree. The trees about the Jari river stood no chance against these that towered up and out of sight from abruptly watery depths. (He would know how high they were considering he had done some research when visiting the areas each of these three sites were located about to see if there was an ideal time to hang himself from it).

      Dazai stared needing a moment to comprehend it, for one, there seemed no visible end to the sudden depth of water he found himself balanced precariously above, which couldn't be they weren't anywhere near where a body this deep should be. It had cleared up as they went although it was far from crystal, but even sticking a fallen twig in- although said twig was about his own height- didn't seem to scrap the bottom. As if the Earth just fell right out from beneath this spot. For another, he hadn't noticed the trees at all. The trees that seemed to stretch straight on up into the atmosphere.

       "Well? Come on, you're not going to stand there all day, are you? Because I need somebody with me in case I get lost and have to find my way back."

       Dazai startled back to the present, "Aww, is that the only reason you keep me around? So cruel~ especially because I have no idea where you've taken us either."

"Well what good are you then, you were supposed to help me get back."

     Despite the words, the other didn't seem at all bothered by it so Dazai shrugged and went back to contemplating the debatable possibility of the trees and their existence as they crossed the floating raft-style pier that floated out along the path as they moved further and further from shore. Far enough in fact, that nobody would find him if he jumped off and drowned, if only the surprisingly brillant person wasn't around then he could finally have his perfect suicide. Dazai sighed and continued to follow along, not sure what else to do.

(An: I think an important thing to note about Dazai's suicide attempts is that they never succeed. Dazai's goal of a perfect suicide means nobody is bothered by it and I think that's important because he never succeeds. 

Think about it, it's his only plan that doesn't pan out in the end. He always is going to have people who care for his passing. So uh, that's my awkward attempt at saying there's people there for you, if you need help, you just need to reach out. )