Spain Without The S!

Chapter 7: True Love's... Kiss?

  Dazai came in bright and early the next morning, the sun had hardly come up at all.
  Kouyo chuckled, "you're early."
  Dazai smiled, "it's hard to sleep, knowing you aren't."
  Kouyo smiled as well, "you know I'll be just fine." She stood, "I saw your gift," she lifted the notebook off the nightstand and shook it for emphasis.
  Dazai's light brown eyes landed on the notebook as his lips curled into a sly grin, "I knew you would. So? What did you think? Wouldn't have taken Chuuya as the feely type of guy."
  Kouyo smiled, knowing full well that Dazai knew exactly who Chuuya was, "uh-huh. Do you normally steal people's personal things?"
  Dazai smirked, "that's for me to know."
  Kouyo rolled her eyes, "how much of it did you read?"
  "What about you?" He returned the question.
  Kouyo shook her head with a quiet laugh, "touché."
  Dazai approached the bed, "anything?"
  She shook her head, "nothing besides the occasional shuddering or twitching.
  Dazai's expression disappeared, "I see... I guess hoping for a change isn't going to do anything..."
  Kouyo smiled a little, glad that Dazai openly admitted to caring. "Oh," she remembered her conversation from last night, "I'll be right back." She tucked the notebook away in the nightstand drawer before walking out.
  She searched around until she ran into the little girl. "Elise," Kouyo approached her, "I have something to tell you."
  Elise beamed up at her, "did you find Prince Charming?!"
  Kouyo chuckled, "you're such a clever little girl."
  Elise giggled, "tell me! Tell me!"
  Kouyo patted her head, "I will, but I'll need your help..."
  "Of course! Of course!"
  Elise was elated at the thought of saving Chuuya from his elongated nap.
  Kouyo lead Elise into a secluded room.
  "What do you need my help with?" Elise asked excitedly.
  Kouyo smiled, "we already know who Prince Charming is... but we need to convince him to save our princess."
  "Ohhh!" Elise's smile grew, "I can do that! So, who is it?!"
  "Like you had suspected, it's Dazai." Kouyo said, "we think that his ability might help Chuuya wake up."
  Elise gasped, "really?! I was right?!"
  Kouyo nodded, "but we need to get him to save Chuuya, he might not be too willing..."
  "I can do it! Leave it to me!" Elsie said as she stood up tall and puffed out her chest with pride.
  Kouyo was glad to see Elise so lively, "then let's get right to it."
  Elise nodded, "yes!" She ran out the door, not even waiting for Kouyo.
  Kouyo took her time as she made her way back, not wanting to seem suspicious about it.

——

  "Dazai!" Elsie yelled as she threw open the doors.
  "Shh," Dazai said with a mischievous smile, "Chuuya's sleeping, you know."
  Elsie walked right up to him, "guess what?!"
  "What?!" His response was just as enthusiastic as her question.
  "You're Prince Charming!" She exclaimed, bouncing up and down in excitement.
  "YAY-" He froze, "... huh?"
  She giggled, "you can save Chuuya!"
  "What?" Dazai asked, "I don't think I follow... I'm not exactly magic... or royalty..."
  Elise giggled, "being royalty isn't important. It's true love, after all. Not true princelyhood."
  "I don't think that's a word..."
  "Shhh-shh-shhhhhh!" She shushed him, "I'm talking."
  Dazai rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
  "So kiss him," she gestured to Chuuya.
  "Uhm, no." He said with a slightly panicked laugh. "If he were to ever find out, he would seriously kill me. And make it incredibly painful," he added seeing the skeptical look on her face.
  Elise sighed and kneaded her forehead, looking like an adult for a moment, "I promise I won't tell, okay?"
  "No offense, but I know you won't keep it to yourself."
  "None taken," she said, "because I would tell."
  "Rude!" Dazai gasped in offended.
  "Come on! What's the worst that could happen!?"
  "Who knows? What if it doesn't work? Or maybe it makes it worse?" Dazai folded his arms with a sigh.
  "Just kiss him already!" Elise reached out for Dazai's arm.
  "It might not have to be a kiss..." Kouyo's soft and liquid-like voice said as she entered the room. Closing the door, she continued, "just a touch might do it."
  Dazai waited for her to elaborate.
  "Your skill," Kouyo offered no other explanation.
  Dazai looked back at Chuuya's body. Countless doubtful thoughts circled his consciousness. He shook his head, "this is-"
  "Do it." Elise said forcefully, "or I will personally make sure you die a very painful death."
  Despite her size, that threat both sounded and felt very real.
  Dazai slowly walked to the edge of the bed and stared down at Chuuya for a while.
  Getting impatient, Elsie opened her mouth, but Kouyo covered her and shook her head.
  The two girls watched Dazai as he stood motionlessly for at least a minute.
  Then, he extended a slightly shaky hand out towards Chuuya. Nervously, Dazai hovered his hand over Chuuya's, so close but not quite touching.
  Dazai took a steadying breath before resting his hand over Chuuya's, finally making contact.
  Nothing happened.
  Dazai stepped back slowly and put his hands in his coat pockets. "Like I had suspected... nothing ha-" his eyes suddenly went wide, staring at Chuuya.
  Elise rushed over to Chuuya's side. The executive's eyes were wide open, but they were completely white.
  Dazai took another step back, mouthing the words his throat wouldn't speak.
  "What did I do?"
  Kouyo moved past Dazai and looked down at Chuuya, trying to hold her composure so Elise wouldn't get scared.
  Chuuya's eyes seemed to be looking around. He turned his head to the side as if looking for something. He blinked just like anyone would but his eyes never seemed to fix on anything.
  Dazai was continuing to back away, holding his hands against his chest tightly.
  Kouyo carefully placed her hand on Chuuya's shoulder. He didn't react. She waited a moment but nothing changed.
  He blinked again. She squeezed him a little bit, but to no avail.
  Then, the door opened. Mori yawned as he stepped in, "good-" he froze, feeling the stress in the room. His eyes finally fell on Chuuya. "He's awake?..." he asked breathlessly.
  Kouyo paused, she didn't know what to say. "It seems so but... I don't know..."
  Mori walked over and surveyed Chuuya for a long moment.
  Kouyo gently took Elise's hand and pulled her away from the bed. "Come on, let's let Mori-dono do his work..."
  Elise's eyes filled and she whispered almost silently, "what's going to happen?"
  "I don't know, Elise..." Kouyo whispered as she took the small girl out of the room, "I don't know..."
  Dazai was left staring transfixed at the edge of the bed. He couldn't lift his eyes to look at Chuuya. He was shaking from the overwhelming guilt he felt. The one phrase constantly circling around his mind was eating away at him.
  "What if I killed him?..."
  Mori was silently using his medical tools to check Chuuya, trying to figure out what was going on.
  "Looks like Elise's theory half-worked," Mori chuckled.
  "How could you laugh at a time like this?..." Dazai's sentence barely came out as a whisper.
  Mori turned to him with a smile, "I find staying positive in these situation pays off quite well."
  Dazai dropped his eyes to the floor.
  "You know, Dazai... he doesn't seem very self-aware..." Mori started as he removed the breathing mask from Chuuya. "I wonder..."
  Dazai shook his head, he didn't want to go anywhere near that.
  Mori went about listening to Chuuya's heartbeat for a minute to find it perfectly in tune with the machine. He hadn't moved again since Kouyo and Elise left, only blinking occasionally.
  "Dazai, I would like to test something..."
  Dazai shook his head, "no. I'm not-"
  Mori's sighed over exaggeratedly, drowning out Dazai, "you're so difficult sometimes!" Mori took Chuuya's hand and held it tightly.
  At first, Chuuya didn't seem to feel anything. But after a moment his head turned in Mori's direction and his milky white eyes seemed to be searching for something. And ever so slightly, Chuuya's fingers curled around Mori's. It was more of a twitch than a movement but it was enough.
  "Ha-ha!" Mori exclaimed, "so you're slowly coming back to us, are you?! Don't go scaring the girls like that again," Mori patted Chuuya on the head gently, "you just keep fighting, okay?"
  Mori wore a genuine smile as he turned to Dazai, "I recommend for now to maintain physical contact with him. You know, ground him to reality." Mori turned towards the door, "I'm going to go tell the girls."