||Lungs of roses|| Hanihaki Au | Shin Soukoku | Bungou Stray Dogs

The Infirmary (2)

 They managed to get the mafioso to a bed in the infirmary. They laid him down gently.

"Atsushi, can you get some wipes from that cabinet?" The doctor pointed at a cabinet. Atsushi followed orders and handed Yosano two wipes. She wiped off the blood from his mouth, chin, and tried her best to clean the cravat that was stained with blood before deciding to just take it off and wash it.

"Do you know what happened?" Atsushi uttered.

"He threw up blood, that's all I know. Loss of blood most likely was the cause of him passing out." She looked at the pathetic man on the bed before speaking again, "I noticed that he coughs a lot... Both frequent coughing and the blood are symptoms of Tuberculosis and Hanahaki, most likely Tuberculosis. Dazai could have caused Hanahaki in him too..." She quieted her tone at the end of her sentence. She directed her gaze back at Atsushi. "Go back to work, I'll inform you when he wakes up." She shooed the boy away.

"O-okay" Atsushi simply walked away. The scene was unusual and scary. Akutagawa had been strong and stubborn, seeing him so weak and unconscious was weird.

He sat back down at his desk and continued his work.

"Hey kid, What happened with the Mafia boy?" Atsushi jumped a bit at Kunikida's question.

"I-I'm not sure... I just know that he threw up blood and passed out" He left out the part about him being severely underweight.

"So, someone else has to go on the mission?" Kunikida crossed his arms.

"Probably"

Atsushi turned back to his word but didn't write a single thing down. He worried about Akutagawa and had many questions:

Is this going to kill him?

Does the Mafia know?

How long was this going on?

He knew if he asked Akutagawa, he wouldn't get answers. He had one main question that he wanted an answer to.

'Did Dazai know?'

As if on cue, Dazai slammed open the door.

"Hey-o!" He shouted, "How's everyone?" He strutted into the office.

"Not good. The mission has been postponed"

"Huh? Why?" Dazai stopped his act.

"Akutagawa is in the infirmary and I believe Atsushi is too worried about him to concentrate." Kunikida gestured to Atsushi at his desk, he was basically staring off into nothingness.

Dazai's eyes widened, "Why is he in the infirmary?"

"Atsushi said that he coughed up blood and passed out" Dazai's eyes widened more. He took a breath in. He leaned his head to the side so he could see Atsushi from behind Kunikida.

"Atsushi?" The boy in question slowly lifted his head.

"Yes?"

"Come with me to see Akutagawa" Dazai held his hand out to Atsushi. Atsushi nodded and stood up on his own, not needing Dazai's hand for assistance.

Atsushi walked behind Dazai.

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Atsushi stood behind Dazai. As Dazai grabbed the doorknob to the infirmary, Yosano opened the door.

"Oh! I was about to get you! He's awake. He isn't talking, though." She welcomed them in. Atsushi slowly walked over to the closed curtain, where he knew Akutagawa was. He slowly moved the curtain out of the way.

"Akutagawa?" Atsushi questioned. Akutagawa was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his throbbing head. He did not speak like Yosano warned. "Dazai is here." Atsushi watched as Akutagawa put his hand down and straightened his posture, most likely an attempt to disguise his weakness. Dazai opened the curtain a bit more.

"It's gotten this bad, huh?"

'He knows?'

Akutagawa nodded in response to Dazai.

"Chuuya's still taking care of you?" Again, he nodded. His face was hidden. Atsushi carefully sat next to Akutagawa, the man flinched at the movement.

"Can you look at us?" Atsushi tried to move Akutagawa's hair out of his face before Akutagawa grabbed Atsushi's wrist. The older one stood up slowly before speaking.

"We have a mission to complete." He spoke with a raspy voice. He once again covered his face. He started to walk away to the office, "Are you coming, Jinko?" He asked Atsushi, who was making eye contact with Dazai, trying to communicate without words. This time the mafioso only covered his mouth so Atsushi could see his narrowed eyes. A bit frightened, the boy stood up and followed.

"Yes! I'm coming!"

(A/N Sorry for the shorter chapter, I have several other stories I've been working on TnT. F–k ADHD)