31 Days Of Dazai

unconscious

"Dazai-kun?" Kouyou's voice wavered slightly as she addressed the boy. The teenage girl was wearing an outfit abnormal to her usual dress code, long suit pants and a heavy sweater, atop the sweater a parka, scarf and toque, a backpack with only cash and an extra set of clothing for them both. They didn't pack heavy for multiple reasons, but the main reason was the fact that a heavy bag would drag them down as they fled.

The howling blizzard that had engulfed Yokohama hadn't helped either.

"Y-Yes Ane-s-san...?" Dazai's voice was muffled by the scarf Kouyou had wound around his neck, the boy tucking his face in as far as possible to protect his chin and cheeks from the whipping winds, the kicked up snow scratching his face.

Dazai hadn't had a proper set of winter clothes, so she had used extras of her own, clothes she'd outgrown but still fit the fourteen year old. The boy was on the smaller side, and she knew he didn't eat correctly, and it wasn't something Mori had truly inforced in the boy, leaving him tragically underweight. Her old clothes fit him easily due to this fact, and when she had proposed this idea, he hadn't objected to the idea at all, simply taking the clothes and putting them on.

"You don't look well." She observed, watching his entire body quiver from the cold, and distantly she could hear the muffled chatter of his teeth. She leaned forward to glance up the side of the bridge they had briefly taken refuge under, a break well deserved as they'd already been trudging through snow for hours, all to get to one place.

To take asylum.

"H-hah... I'm just a little cold... do-nothing big." He murmured hands moving to cup beneath the scarf, the sound of him pushing out a heavy but shaky breath in an attempt to warm his no doubt bitterly cold hands.

With so little meat on his bones, he was no doubt facing the brunt of cold.

"We can't stay in one place much longer, the Armed Detective Agency is close, the sooner we get there, the closer we are to being able to get help of some sort." Kouyou didn't believe her own words, and she doubted Dazai did either, being the genius he is, but nonetheless she put the uncharacteristically hopeful words out there. Perhaps they influence the outcome? Maybe if she said the words now, the Gods would answer her prayers and the Agency wouldn't turn them away due to their Mafia status, that this group of people would allow her and Dazai to enter their fold, if even for just a brief time to regain the bearings and find somewhere safe and solid to hide.

She didn't give her hopes up, of course, because she and Dazai were fundamentally completely different from these Agency folk, raised within the light with care and love, told to protect rather than kill, to follow and lead rather than be subservient or dominant.

But, somewhere in her, for Dazai's sake, she allowed hope, as weak as it may be, spark within her chest. He could be good, he could do good and surpass his demonic moniker, she may not be capable of such a thing, but if she could lead Dazai down a path to the light, she thinks that may be worth it. Absolve her sins that she committed within the cloak of night, saving a child with such possibility laying deep within him.

"Don't lie to me, boy, you look about ready to keel over any moment." She scowled at the brunette, thought usually sharp gaze was unusually light, tinged with a justified concern. His skin was even more papery white than usual, and the bag beneath his eye took on a blue hue in the cold, deepening significantly. Even after having taken refuge under the bridge, Dazai still continued to shake like a newborn fawn, unsteady and looking as though the next move would send him sprawling face first into the snow.

"I'm... I'm just a bit light headed is all, it's too cold and its messing me up..." Dazai whispered into the scarf, tucking his hands within his armpits in an attempt to generate more warmth within the digits.

"I see... let's hurry then, when we arrive we'll get you warmed up." She watched Dazai nod in hesitant agreement, mere seconds from turning around to begin forward once more when the boy took a step. An odd look crossed his face and his eye was suddenly fluttering closed and he was pitching forward.

She was once again thankful for her quick reflexes, as she managed to catch the boy before he hit the ground  bundling the now completely limp boy against her chest, slowly sinking to the ground to check him.

"Dazai-kun? Dazai? Osamu!" Her voice took on a tone of panic, the boy completely unresponsive, quickly placing her hand beneath his nose, still feeling his shallow, weak breath against her skin, relieved he was still for the moment alive.

(Suddenly, Dazai wasn't Dazai, but her previous lover, and the similarities in the moment were too plentiful, attempting to flee the Mafia, the utter helplessness in the moment as she had no way to help the young boy.)

She couldnt adequately warm him out here, and she knew at this point he could very well perish out here in the bitter cold if not brought the proper medical attention.

Affixing an expression of stern determination, she pulled the boy onto her back and stood, his weight, though minimal, was enough to slow her, but she knew they were incredibly close, maybe a block or two from the groups office, and if she could carry him there in time, she could seek medical help from them.

Exiting the safety the bridge had provided, heavy snow filled wind punched the breath from her chest, but she pressed on, the streets a barren, others all likely at home, having taken sick time or given a snow day, leaving she and Dazai out in the open, no one around.

Occassionally, a car would pass, and she was hypervigilant, knowing anyone of them could be Port Mafia coming to drag them back.

It was all the more reason to push forward with all her might.

Turning down a street, she could spot a café, titled Uzemaki, and she knew that they were there, that mere meters ahead was salvation, and that the chilling body that weighed her downs breaths were further slowing.

No doubt soaked to the bone, Kouyou managed to trudge through fourteen centimeters of fresh snow up to the café door, spying waitresses within, but having no free hands, she awkwardly balanced and roughly kicked the bottom of the door a few times.

Her throat was sore and her breaths coming out in harsh pants, body strained from the heavy leg work and stepping through snow like that.

A woman in a maid's outfit opened the door, a look of concern forming on her face seeing the young woman and the boys state, the feel of the heat hitting her in the face like a wall, and she managed to stumble in, dragging snow in with her, she fell to her knees, still managing to stay upright and gripping Dazai, the woman fell to her side, and an older gentleman came to her aid as well.

"What is going on, young miss? Are you two alright?" The man asked worriedly, voice aged yet kindly. The maid passed a concerned look to the man when Kouyou didn't answer immediately, still trying to find her breath.

"We... we need help from the Armed Detective Agency. We were trying to come today, but Dazai-kun collapsed outside... he needs help." She croaked out, attempting to stand once more on shaky, burning legs, but ultimately failed. The man quickly told the maid to head upstairs, hopefully to gather an Agency member to tend to them, but Kouyou felt herself begin to slip.

Her vision swam, the managers voice sounding far away and tinnie, blinking not clearing the way her sight smudged, she realized she was about to succumb to unconsciousness well.

The last thing she managed to blurt out before she slumped forward, was a stern "Don't let them separate us," before her eyes rolled upwards and she fell.

Her and Dazais fates were no longer in their own hands.

They'd have to have trust in the Agency to live up to their name.