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Mori ran along the banks, his doctor’s coat flapping behind him. He cared not of the rain wetting his hair, or how with each puddle, he has to stabilize himself from slipping and having to endure the soaking socks on his skin, for his attention lay some fifty meters ahead.
There, in the cold of the river, a small hand bobbed up and down. The doctor is running impossibly faster as he watch the hand fall limp, the tip of those fingers disappear beneath the surface. He took a deep breath, tossing his briefcase aside.
Then, Mori dived.
The moment his skin met water, Mori nearly gasped out his air from the sudden freezing temperature. A harsh reminder that it’s currently the middle of winter. But he quickly collected himself, hand grasping around, searching, until finally, it found a bandaged wrist. He grabbed it in a tight hold and pulled, wrapping his arms around a small, skinny frame. Oh-! a child-
Mori tugged the both of them to shore, lay the figure down on the ground and frantically placed two fingers on the boy’s neck. No pulse. Breathing heavily, he tugged at the pale chin, making bluish, chapped lips fall open then summoned Elise. The doctor turned around reach for his briefcase when a flash of bright, blue light made him snap his head back. A fading Elise looked at him, eyes wide. “Rin…taro…”. Vita Sexualis dispelled into thin air.
An ability…? Mori moved his gaze to stare at the young brunette, mouth still gaping wide in shock. What’s more… it’s a nullifier. The previous anxiousness seemed to dissipate from the man as magenta pupils dilate and his thin mouth slowly stretches into a disgusting smile. That’s incredibly rare, that’s useful…
Right then, a vivid image appeared in Mori’s mind. It is of a little girl with short, dark hair, decorated by a butterfly accessory. Reflecting the vision, Mori lifted his hand and placed his palm atop the child’s head. He patted. There was a moment of silence. Then the damp hair immediately reminded him of the emergency at hand causing Mori to curse under his breath and quickly placed a hand over the other on the boy’s chest and pumped.
He checked the boy’s pulse tentatively with his eyes, and noticed a label sewn on the back of his collar. ‘Tsushima Shuuji’, it read. Shuuji, huh. Maybe, it could be different this time. Mori could bring the teen to the hospital where he’ll get treatment Mori can’t provide. His guardians will be informed and that’d be the last he would see of the boy. This time, Mori doesn’t have to be the one who robs a child of the light.
His motion halts at the sound of shuddering breath and he stares intently at the boy’s face as he regains consciousness.
Turns out Mori was thinking too much,
For the eyes that met his own were black as coal.
Taking in the bandages, the nonchalant posture, that look, an epiphany came to him, one that leaves Mori with sentimental melancholy, a desolate feeling all doctors experience when they understand that the person before them is not their patient to save.
“Where are your parents?”. What a stupid question.
“Dunno.” Came the flat reply. ‘Not that I care’ went unspoken.
“What’s your name?”. The doctor would say he asked simply for the purpose of checking the boy’s awareness, nothing more.
The boy blinked blankly up at Mori, then said, “Dazai, Dazai Osamu.”
Ah, very well.
“Dazai kun,”, Mori helped the boy up, he stumbled slightly but managed to stand. Mori took out a dark coat from his briefcase and draped it over Dazai’s shoulders, it went all the way down to his ankles, shielding his small body from the rain. “My name is Mori Ougai, a doctor.” He swiftly tugged off the name tag, letting it fall to the ground. “You can come with me.”
The two walked off in the rain, side by side, Dazai hunching a little into himself and Mori with a hand on Dazai’s back.
The light will burn your skin, so I will carve you a place in the darkness. Dazai Osamu, for now, you are my son.