Immortal By Design ;; Bungou Stray Dogs

Immortal By Design ;; 001

⇢ Death smells.

Death has a particular scent, one that most can recognize even without having smelt it before. A dead human body can release around 30 different chemical compounds, all of these--plus the gases--emit distinct odors.

The smell of death was all around you. You had woken up in an unfamiliar place (a hospital), and you could briefly remember what happened.

(The yells then the screams of help, the crash and then nothing.

You woke up a few seconds later, pain flaring in your abdomen.)

The door opened and you turned to look. It was a woman.

She had shoulder length black hair and magenta eyes. She had a clipboard that she was looking over.

It was as if she could feel your eyes watching her because as soon as she stepped in the threshold, she looked up. She instantly spotted you, walking up and checking to see if you were okay.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Her voice was nice, you thought.

(Better than the screaming that echoed throughout your head, the pounding pain blaring like a distress call, a siren meant only to disturb the quiet surroundings and disrupt the quiet peace of life.)

You shook your head. Nothing hurts, at least not anymore. You could briefly feel the pain of something stabbing through your chest, but you shook it off. It was only phantom pain.

"That's good." She nodded, jotting down something on her clipboard. "What's your name?"

"[N]."

"I'm Yosano Akiko." A pause. "[N], I have some news. There's good news, and then bad news.

"Which do you want to hear first?"

"Bad," you mumbled. Your siblings had always told you that it'd be better to hear the bad news first, to get it out of the way, or to have more time to process it. You couldn't remember the exact reason they told you.

"Alright... Your mother is dead," she said bluntly, and softly, as if the words would break you. As if the world would come crumbling down because of this despairing news.

You were sad. Of course, that was your mother. But you didn't really care.

She wasn't the best. She tried, yes, but you didn't grow any emotional attachment to her. Mother was a title, not a fond name. She was doing her job, that was it.

"And the good news?" She blinked when you said that, taken aback by your bluntness and unfazed demeanor.

"Well...you're still alive." She paused for a second. "Do you know what abilities are?"

You shook your head.

"An ability is a supernatural power that someone can possess. It's rare, but..." Yosano trailed off. "I think, you might have one."

"...me? Have an ability?" The notion was a little outlandish. Strange.

(You having an ability made sense.

It made everything make sense. Why you were always so shunned, why they raised their hands to you.

You weren't human. You were a monster. A leech, taking and taking like the greedy person you are.)

"That's right."

[ @anxiousdetective ]