Promise Me (Dazai x OC)

Radiant

"Let's go," Dazai pulled his phone from his pockets and began typing away on the touch screen before holding it to his ear.

"What are you doing?" I stopped just outside the door to the ADA, turning to look at him. My mind was getting foggy, almost as if a dark blanket was casted over my head. Sounds were quieter, my skin was painfully sensitive to any stimulation, and my vision was blurred.

"Calling a taxi, since you tend to insult my driving," he muttered before speaking to someone on the other line.

I took the moment of pause to rest, settling down on the hard cement of the sidewalk. The sun was still high in the sky, bearing down on me heavily, and I felt like I was going to overheat. I tugged on my hoodie and pulled it up over my shoulders.

I dropped it to the side, not caring about having to clean it later. My chest was burning, and the brain fog wasn't lifting.

"Kiriko?" I could hear Dazai calling my name, but I couldn't hear any of the other words that followed. His lips were moving but no words followed. It was as if I were watching a movie on mute. Too bad there weren't any subtitles in real life.

Dazai pinched his lips tightly together, offering his hand out to me when the taxi arrived. I gladly accepted and let him lead me into the backseat.

The silence was bothersome. Watching him say something to the driver, and then try and speak to me again. I was trapped in some sort of daze - one that didn't make sense.

I grew to hate the muteness of the world by the time we arrived at the hospital. Naturally, Dazai had taken charge - instructing everyone on what to do, what I needed, what was happening, etc.

When I was led to a hospital bed, I was relieved. My vision was starting to go too, and I wasn't sure I could handle being the next Helen Keller. I could feel my surroundings shift, and different types of air currents as people passed by. The only sensation that never once changed since we arrived was Dazai's hand in mine.

I focused on the feeling of his hand. It was the only thing that kept me grounded. The corse texture of his bandages. The way he let his hand relax to allow me to explore it with my fingers. The way his thumb occasionally stroked my palm in comforting circles. This ensued, even through the painful pokes and pricks from needles. Even with random wires and equipment getting hooked up to my body. Just like the night at Fukuzawa's, he allowed me to hold his poor hand prisoner in my grasp.

"Kiriko," I recognized the voice.

My vision returned, but my hearing didn't. The only thing I could hear was Odasaku as he stood next to my bed with arms crossed.

"Aha... nice to see you again," I muttered anxiously.

Dazai was conversing with a nurse. Whatever was happening, it seemed like we were part of two separate worlds that were overlapping. He was in the real world, and I was.. well.. here.

Odasaku sighed heavily. He kept his gaze on Dazai and the nurse as he spoke. "I literally just sent you away from this place. Why are you back?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeahhhh about that," I mumbled.

His eyes darted to me, silently scolding me. He didn't have to say anything for me to know that I was in trouble.

"How much do you see in this.. uh.. world?" I raised a brow. If I was going to answer him, I needed to know what details to give.

He visibly winced. "Everything"

"So you know exactly why I'm here then," I said.

The nurse left, leaving Dazai alone with me. I wondered what I looked like to him. Was I talking to a ghost? Was I sleeping? Was I staring off into space? What was my body doing while I'm here, in the inbetween?