Chapter Text
April 29 2011, Friday
Chuuya was sat next to his mother's bed just like he always did for past a few months. Her ginger hair was scattered on the pillow. Her arms were on her chest loosely. Her eyes were closed. This alarmed Chuuya that something was wrong. He felt like his heart was beating in his mouth as he held his mother's hand.
It was cold...
Extremely cold...
She was too cold to be alive...
'No!' Chuuya let out a silent internal scream. 'Not now! Not yet!'
As the reality start to sink into his heart, Chuuya let out a sob. The sob was so strong that it was shaking his body violently. He burried his face into his mother's once warm chest as he was sobbing.
His mother died on Chuuya's birthday...
After that day, Chuuya never celebrated his birthday ever again...
March 22 2021, Monday
Chuuya's problem was falling asleep longer than usual or waking up frequently in the middle of the night.
Until that day, Chuuya was extremely healthy...
He hadn't even visited a doctor even once.
Chuuya's heart was beating really fast as if it was going to burst out of her chest as he was reading the diagnosis papers.
Fatal familial insomnia.
Chuuya knew his family had a curse.
He knew he was a walking time bomb.
He knew one day he would never be able to sleep again and it would rapidly kill him. He just didn't expect that it would happen that early...
He already had lost many of his family members tragically...
His grandmother had died when she was 60...
His aunt had died when she was 36...
His mother had died when she was 34...
His older sister had died when she was 20...
Chuuya was only 21 years old... Just a year older than when his older sister was cursed by the family curse.
It started with an insomnia which just got worse and worse over time. Even at the times he slept, his dreams were vivid, lucid dreams.
He didn't have them yet, but he was going to have panic attacks and paranoia. Then his mood changes would be worse and worse and anxiety and depression was going to set in. His insomnia would even get worse and worse until he won't sleep anymore.
He would have hallucinations, dementia... His ability to walk would get worse and worse until he would completely lost it... Speaking would be harder and harder as the time passed... His voice would be weaker and weaker until he would completely lost the ability to speak as well...
As he was walking, he wrapped the scarf around his neck tighter. March was not warm enough yet for long walks outside.
The sun was setting, painting the sky to pink and orange. The slight wind made him shiver slightly. He was looking down at his feet.
The reality was slowly sinking into his heart. The fear of dying was growing more and more with every passing second.
He was going to die...
He was going to die...
He was going to die...
Tears began streaming down his cheeks out of his control as this thought was repeating over and over again in his mind. The beginning of his favorite season, spring, was also the beginning of the family curse he inherited.
As he was lost in his thoughts, he bumped to someone. He cursed under his breath and looked up to see Osamu Dazai. His former partner and now his enemy... The traitor... Chuuya hated betrayal the most.
Unlike Chuuya Dazai had a big smile on his face. "Hello to you too Chuuya." He said sarcastically.
Chuuya didn't say 'No hello from me, Dazai' sarcastically just like he normally would do or he didn't roll his eyes at Dazai. Chuuya just wanted to walk away from Dazai. Despite the anger which increased more and more for 3 years, he was too tired to fight with Dazai.
This should have warned Dazai that something was wrong and it did. "Are you ignoring me Chuuya?" The cheerful tone in his voice vanished when he saw Chuuya's face. He had dark circles under his eyes. They were vague, but they were there. It was as if Chuuya hadn't sleep properly for days. "Chuuya are you okay?" He asked with a deep concern and care for his partner and the person who he knew for 6 years.
Chuuya hated the worried expression on Dazai's face. He didn't want his enemy worry about him. "This is none of your business." He snapped. He yanked his arm away from Dazai roughly and walked away without saying anything else. He didn't look behind, but he didn't have to look to know that Dazai's eyes were still on him.
Just like Dazai knew everything about Chuuya, Chuuya knew everything about Dazai.
It started raining that night. Chuuya watched the city as the lights of the apartments in his sight were turned off one by one as the hours passed. When the last light was turned off Chuuya was left alone. Chuuya closed his eyes. Despite the screams of his body of needing sleep, Chuuya's brain refused to sleep.
The sound of rain was calming, but it didn't help him to sleep.
If he couldn't sleep, then he would do something useful. He opened his laptop and opened the word file. He hadn't finished his newest story, which seemed to be his last story, yet. Would he even have enough time to finish it?
As the dark clouds dissipiated, the crescent moon appeared. The pale crescent moon shone like a silvery claw in the night sky, glistening the rain droplets on the window. The occasional barking of faraway dogs broke the silence of the night.
The phase of denial was over, the phase of grief had begun as the sun was slowly rising on the sky and the city was slowly waking up. The rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky. Golden fingers of the sunlight lit up the scene.