芥川 龍之介 | @feralspent
the slums of yokohama were a breeding grounds for violence, a cesspool of crime, and a home to suffering that could only be understood by those who had once lived there. everyone turned a blind eye to the crimes that occurred there, the military police, the government, even the agency rarely had reason to go there. but it was also filled to the brim with bodies, hungry mouths in search of food, soot-filled faces of children abandoned by their families, orphans who lost everything as a result of conflicts in the underworld. no one mourned those who died, they received no funeral. their bodies were burned and life moved on. it was the way things were and it was something that had never much affected dazai.
he thought it might have affected the man before him, had he had a different life, had someone gentle saved him from himself. then again, there were some that could not be saved. he thought perhaps that were true for the demon standing across from him now, his dark overcoat prepared to pierce through a group of children, huddled together and begging for mercy.
❛ we really can’t keep meeting like this. ❜ dazai spoke, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder, motioning to the children with his head that they should run while they had the opportunity. ❛ you shouldn’t be here, akutagawa. ❜ he frowns, ❛ what brings you to the slums anyways ? don’t tell me you’re so simple minded you’re satisfied by killing those who can’t even protect themselves. ❜
‘ 34﹕ akutagawa is found by dazai somewhere he shouldn’t be . ’ + accepting