Bandages and Salt (PJO X BSD AU)

Chapter fifty-three

A/N: This chapter is a rewrite of The Day I Picked Up Dazai in Dazai's POV

Dazai POV

When I woke up there was a distinct lack of pressure on my throat, but my body still felt like it was being bound. My hands were cuffed in front of me as I was sitting on a chair with my back exposed to the rest of the.

Torture it is then.

I kept my eyes closed and listened to the sounds in the room, hearing two distinct footsteps and breathing patterns in the small, most likely stone, room with me as the pair paced and waited for me to stir on my own. Their steps were heavy, laden with either muscle or fat as they moved. Neither seemed to put much mind into concealing their presence in the room, that was all of the confirmation that I needed to know that they had almost no idea who I was.

How strange.

After going almost three years now with everyone knowing exactly who I was and who I belonged to on sight, it was off now not to be recognized for one thing or another. But I knew as sure as I breathed that if they'd known who I was, I would have been shot dead while I still slept.

Pity.

Finding no point in continuing the farce, I opened my eye and properly took in the room, lifting my head to do so. There was a grunt of surprise from behind me as one of the pair in the room finally noticed that I was awake.

"Have a nice rest there, Cinderella?" One of the cops asked as the pair stalked closer to where I was cuffed to the chair. There was a haughty sound to the man's voice as he spoke, reeking of a superiority that only cops have ever been able to believe that they held. There was a sharp crack in the air as pain laced my back, a hit good enough to bruise and would have drawn blood had the bandages not been there.

"Sleeping Beauty," I whispered, not loud enough to truly be heard by either of the men unless they got closer to me.

And closer they did.

One of the cops moved closer behind me as the other came into my field of view and grabbed harshly at my hair with enough force to make my scalp sing murder as he jerked my head back.

"What did you say, brat?" The burly man asked, his fingers digging deeper into my scalp, twisting.

I smirked at the older man, watching with pleasure as the former cop's eyes filled with surprise at my lack of reaction to what would bring most teens to the brink of tears. "It's Sleeping Beauty, you dipshit," I cursed.

The older man's eyes flashed with violence as the cop brought my head down, bashing it against the back of the chair with enough force to make stars dance across my vision, but I only laughed. My laughter filled the air with the same sweetness as children running from a bully at the park, something that haunts you for years to come. Pain striked across my back once more, but the laughter didn't stop.

"What the hell are you, kid?" The cop behind me growled, speaking for the first time since I'd woken up. His voice had a similar gruffness to it as the other man, like they were people used to working around smoke.

Demolition workers, maybe? Or just heavy smokers.

I tipped my head back until I laid eyes on the former officer behind me, falsely brown eyes meeting one's almost as dark. My smile deepend as I recognized that he noticed the light of light in my gaze as well. "The Demon Prodigy."

A thick heaviness settled over the room as the man at my back scurried away from the chair. His partner looked confused at the former cop's reaction, as the man shot me a dirty look before following the other out of my line of sight.