Chapter Text
Nakahara Chuuya was an outgoing guy. Sure, most people were intimidated by him since his status is popular and they often mistook his calm, bored face as a resting bitch one, but he was still kind and was open to talk to anyone that wasn’t a tattle tale.
When someone catches his eye, he’ll do anything to try and approach them. He’ll think of a thousand conversation starters and fun facts to tell someone he thinks is interesting. Of course, he’s found countless people interesting, but there was one person who was the most amusing.
Osamu Dazai. The silent jet black haired boy who was a new student with a bandage on his face that sat at the back of the classroom and always had qa book in his hand. Chuuya would try and take a look at the title of the book, but it would always be covered by a piece of colored paper that was plastered on the front.
The boy never spoke in class or made friends either. Sometimes he’d have to recite during literature class, but his voice would be so quiet Chuuya’s ears would hurt from being too strained.
If he was being honest, he couldn’t exactly pinpoint why he felt interested in the quiet new student. It was as if he was being pulled to him with a rope– he wanted to know everything about him. He wanted to know why he was always expressionless, why he wasn’t interested in making friends and why he didn’t seem to give a single fuck about the world.
“Hey, Nakahara!” A voice called out from the corner of the classroom, distracting Chuuya from his thoughts. “Over here!”
“What is it, Shirase?!” Chuuya answered, standing up from his seat and walking over to him. He appeared to be with the rest of their group of friends.
“We’re gonna go hang out later tonight, wanna come? We’re gonna go check out this new arcade everyone’s talking about.” The silver haired boy smiled as he put an arm around his friend.
Chuuya sighed. “Can’t, my older sister wants me to stay home tonight and do stupid laundry.”
“You’re half sister Kouyou, right? How is she?” Akira asked. She was the only girl in their friend group, and as much as Chuuya enjoyed her company, she was a real pain in the ass.
“She’s cool.” Chuuya shrugged, his eyes wandering around the room until his gaze landed on the back of a boy who was reading a book.
“That sucks, it’s always better when you’re around!” Shirase frowned. “You can just escape, right?”
“What if you guys invite someone else?” Chuuya questioned, his eyes still on the new student.
Shirase furrowed his eyebrows before following Chuuya’s gaze and glancing at Dazai. “What are you talking about? Are you telling me you want us to befriend him?”
“He’s weird.” Akira leaned closer to them, keeping her voice hush. “He doesn’t talk to anyone, and the only thing this entire class knows about him is his name. We don’t even know why he transferred here!”
“Then wouldn’t it be fun to find out all those things?” Chuuya prompted. “Come on, talking to him wouldn’t even hurt a fly.”.
Shirase chuckled as he ruffled Chuuya’s hair. “You’re really something else, Nakahara. Anyway, if you really can’t come tonight, we can always hang out again in the weekends. You okay with that, right?”
“Yeah,” Chuuya watched as Dazai flipped a page of his book. “Whatever.”
—
Chuuya’s life continued like normal after that day. Him talking to a bunch of people, and him being talked about by a bunch of people. The week flew by, and it was finally Friday. Most of the time, his classmates would host a party and the entire class would come, but Chuuya just wasn’t in the mood for a party that Friday. All he wanted to do was go home, get on his bed, and play video games until he gets tired.
It happens a lot, his random mood swings. There were days where he wanted to hang out with all his friends and then there were days where simple human interaction annoyed him like hell. It didn’t matter though, because in the end he’d be happy with whatever he decided.
Chuuya rejected the party invite, which caused all his friends to whine about it, but there was nothing that was gonna change his mind about wanting to go straight home and play video games.
It seemed his night was set when he headed straight home, changed his clothes and laid on his bed with his PSP just within arm’s reach at his night stand. As he grabbed it though, his door suddenly swung open, revealing a woman in her mid 20s with her hair in a bun.
“Hey, Chuuya!” Kouyou smiled. “Say, mind doing me a favor?”
—
“God, kill me now!” Chuuya whispered to the night sky as he continued walking down the alley.
To his dismay, Kouyou herself seemed to be hosting a get together with her own friends at the house but they were low on soft drinks and Kouyou, being the bossy sister she was, ordered her younger half brother to go buy soft drinks at the nearby by convenience store.
Chuuya tried to throw a fit, but Kouyou just wouldn’t budge whatsoever and even pulled the ‘I’m older, I have more authority here!’ card, which Chuuya can’t do anything about. He couldn’t complain about it to his parents either since they were out of town for the month.
As Chuuya opened the doors to the convenience store, he was instantly greeted by the cold breeze of the establishment. Summer was nearing, which meant nights were becoming warmer than usual, so the air conditioning of the store to him was basically heaven.
The lone cashier behind the counter greeted him a good evening, and Chuuya just gave them a quick smile before sprinting over to the end of the store, where all the freezers were. He quickly rummaged through his pockets to find the cash Kouyou gave him, and he discovered that, he could grab four big bottles of soda and buy himself an ice cream cone with all of it.
With no hesitation, Chuuya made his way for the ice cream freezer, his priorities clear in his head. Surprisingly, there was someone else at the ice cream freezer who seemed to be picking a flavor. A boy about a few inches taller than him who wore a long black coat had both his hands in the freezer, and Chuuya can tell that he was rummaging through all them to get an exact flavor.
“Which one are you trying to find?” Chuuya asked as he stood beside him.
The boy looked up, and Chuuya stared at his somewhat soulless, empty hazel eyes for a couple of seconds before his mind put the pieces together.
“Wait a minute, you’re Osamu Dazai!” Chuuya exclaimed. “I didn’t know you lived in this area. Oh wait sorry, I’m Nakahara Chuuya, a classmate of yours.”
“I know who you are, you don’t need to introduce yourself.” The black haired boy deadpanned. “You’re that noisy and cocky guy who sits at the front of the class and smells like cigarettes.”
Chuuya felt like he was just shot at by a sniper right through his heart. “W-what?! Who told you all that? Don’t listen to rumors!”
“They aren’t rumors, as if I even have the time to listen to any.” Dazai finally grabbed an ice cream cup from the freezer and closed to shut. “Those were all my own thoughts, and I’d like to think that I was right with all of them.”
“Well then for your information,” Chuuya scoffed. “I’m not noisy and cocky, I just have a loud voice and I tend to be confident. I also have absolutely no idea how I can smell like cigarettes, because I don’t even smoke! My friends do, but I don’t!”
“Whatever you say, shrimp.” Dazai yawned, walking away. “See you on Monday at school!”
“What the– Who the hell are you calling a shrimp?!” Chuuya raised his voice, but Dazai was already at the cashier, paying for his ice scream.
Chuuya could feel his blood boil. He’s been curious about Dazai for two whole months ever since he appeared at his school, and hoped that a friendship could blossom someday, but that hope was all gone now that the taller boy’s true colors have been shown. Their conversation didn’t even last a whole minute, but he knew that Dazai was a waste of time and he was probably one of the worst fifteen year olds on the planet.
The situation reminded him of when he was a kid and thought mackerel fish would taste amazing, but instead it became his least favorite food and would probably never eat it ever again in his lifetime.
“He’s just a shitty, judgemental brat!” Chuuya thought out loud as he got himself a cookies and cream flavored ice cream cone from the freezer. “Why was I so interested in him?”
The orange haired boy stomped his way over to the freezer that contained all the soft drinks and grabbed four different brands before heading over to the counter.
As the cashier swiped all the items on the barcode scanner, he noticed a figure at the corner of his eye. It was Dazai, sitting on a long table that faced the outside window of the store. He seemed to be eating his ice cream while reading that book he always carried around in class, but Chuuya couldn’t care less about him at the moment.
“Sir, that’ll be—“
Before the cashier could finish their sentence, lightning flashed from outside, and roaring thunder followed shortly after. Before he knew it, rain started pouring from the sky.
You have got to be shitting me. Chuuya thought to himself as he took a deep breath and faced the cashier. “Uh sorry, how much was it?”
“¥500.” The cashier responded, and Chuuya gave them the money as the rain poured much harder, the sound of the millions of raindrops hitting the pavement starting to make him anxious.
Chuuya cleared his throat. “You guys sell umbrellas, right?”
They shook their head. “Sorry kid, but we’re all out of them.”
“Oh, that’s okay!” Chuuya grinned, even though he wanted to smack his head onto the counter repeatedly until he lost consciousness.
Once he got his change, he walked over to the glass door of the store and the sound of the rain just made his head ache. If he went outside and ran home with nothing but his hoodie on, he’ll definitely catch a cold and Kouyou would kill him for coming inside soaked from head to toe, then she’d scold him for not bringing an umbrella. The most logical thing that he could do was just wait until the rain stopped and then head home.
Chuuya sighed, taking a seat at the end of the long table, the same one Dazai was sitting at, except he was at the opposite end. They were at least ten feet away from each other, which Chuuya was content with. He pulled out his ice cream from his plastic bag, unwrapped it, and started licking it.
The ice cream didn’t really fit the weather anymore, which disappointed Chuuya a little bit, but he didn’t care. He started thinking about the chances of him finding poison in this store and then putting it in Dazai’s ice cream when he’s not looking.
He stole a quick glance from the other boy, and he was still reading his book while biting his ice cream.
Wait, biting?
You shitty mackerel, who the hell even bites their ice cream? Chuuya thought, looking at him in disgust.
Suddenly, Dazai looked up from his book and glared at him. “Did you just call me a shitty mackerel?”
Chuuya pursed his lips and could feel his cheeks turning red as it came into realization that he was thinking out loud. “Y-yeah I did, and what about it? No human in this world would think to bite their ice cream!”
“I eat my ice cream however I want, you lame slug.” Dazai stuck his tongue out.
“Slug, what kind of nickname is that?!”
“Slugs are disgusting and gross.” Dazai explained, closing his book. “You are definitely disgusting and gross.”
“We’ve only gotten to know each other like five minutes ago and you’re already thinking you know me so well.” Chuuya rolled his eyes. “How pathetic!”
“Me? Pathetic? You’re the one who’s always begging for attention in school!” Dazai retorted. “Being the ‘king’ of the school, talking to everyone as if they’re all your best friends, it sickens me that I have you as a classmate!”
“You’re the one who’s silent and weird everyday!” Chuuya knew that they were both screaming at each other at this point, but it didn’t matter. “You never talk to anyone and all you do is read that stupid book with no title!”
“It does have a title, I just don’t think it’s anyone else’s business to know what I’m reading!” Dazai held up his book, showing its front that was covered with red colored paper.
“You’re weird!”
“You’re stupid!”
“You’re annoying!”
“You’re dumb!”
“You’re a pain in the ass!”
“You’re a tiny shrimp!”
“I’m not, I’m only fifteen! Also you aren’t that much taller than me!”
“Whatever, go drink some milk!” Dazai pointed to the dairy section. “Oh sorry, can you even see where I’m pointing to? You must be so short that you can’t see!”
Chuuya stood up from his chair, calmly walked over Dazai and then grabbed him by his collar. “You’ve crossed the line there, pal.”
“You’re a little bitch!” Dazai sneered, and it takes all of Chuuya’s willpower not to punch him in the face.
“Why are you being so mean in the first place?” Chuuya asked, pulling him even closer that their noses are already touching. “You started all this shit when i was just trying to make small talk like what normal classmates do.”
“It’s because people like you annoy the hell out of me!” Dazai shouted, causing Chuuya to flinch. “You’ve been at that school since you were a freshman, so everyone knows who you are and you’re popular. Everyone thinks you’re awesome when I know for a damn fact you’re just as shitty and plain as everyone else!”
Chuuya loosened his grip on his collar. “What?”
Dazai pulled away from him and stepped back. “You call this town your home because you’ve been here since you were born. This was the only place you’ve ever stayed in, and you’ve grown to love it here. But I can’t do that, I can never do that.”
He said his last sentence so quietly that Chuuya barely caught it. “Why can’t you do it? There’s a lot of things to love about this city.”
“You don’t understand, I can’t stay here.” Dazai, bit his lower lip. “I can’t stay anywhere permanently thanks to my guardian. I can’t learn to love this city and call it my home because I’ll be gone from here before I know it.”
Chuuya thought he should say something comforting, but no words were coming to his mind. Instead, he just sat down again on the table, and Dazai sat right next to him.
“I’ve moved over five times this year so far and I am so sick of it.” Dazai hissed. “All I want is to stay in a city and be with people that I can consider my friends.”
“When was the longest time you’ve stayed in a city?” Chuuya questioned.
“Six months,” Dazai sighed, fidgeting with his book. “The shortest time is, what, two weeks I think?”
“Two weeks?!” Chuuya’s mouth gaped open. “That’s impossible, what on earth could your guardian be doing that makes you move cities so much so fast?”
“Oh easy,” Dazai blinked. “He’s in a criminal organization, so a lot of people are after him. They always find out where he lives and to avoid any further assassination attempts, we’re always on the run.”
Chuuya almost fell out of his chair at the words ‘criminal organization’ and then he definitely fell out of his chair at the words ‘assassination attempts’ What kind of person would say that kind of information so nonchalantly? More importantly, what kind of person would have a criminal organization member as a guardian?
“Well,” Chuuya cleared his throat. “That’s uh, not nice.”
“It sure isn’t.” Dazai opened his book, growing uninterested in the conversation. “But the good thing is that he lets me do whatever I want, so I can be away from our house for days and he wouldn’t care.”
“Really? My parents and sister would kill me in a heartbeat if I’m not home by my curfew time.” Chuuya tapped his fingers on the table. “I think my sister’s about to kill me tonight since I’m taking such a long time here.”
“Those soft drinks are for her, then?” Dazai pointed at the plastic bag that Chuuya left on the other end.
Chuuya nodded. “She’s hanging out with her friends tonight, and she forced me to go get them.”
“Why aren’t you hanging out with all your friends tonight?” Dazai asked. “Isn’t that Nako girl having a party right now? You should be there since you’re mister popular.”
“Never call me that again.” Chuuya said through gritted teeth. “But anyway, I’m not in the mood tonight to head over to a house party. It’s fun but lately it’s been really exhausting, having to go all the way to the place, then doing stupid shit, and then heading back home, most likely drunk.”
“You seem like the type of person to do a lot of stupid shit.” Dazai took a bite of his ice cream that has been sitting idle for the past few minutes.
Chuuya wanted to put Dazai in headlock, but he just exhaled and tried to keep the conversation as calm as possible. “What about you? No plans tonight?”
Dazai shook his head. “I just wanted to get some ice cream and then probably wander around the city, but that’s changed thanks to the weather and your dumb presence.”
“I’m not that thrilled of your presence too, you know.” Chuuya huffed, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets. “Once the rain lets up, I’m running straight home.”
“That sounds nice.” Dazai scooped up some ice cream in his small plastic spoon and took another bite. Chuuya stared at him, trying to organize all his thoughts. In the twenty minutes they’ve been together, they’ve turned into mortal enemies and he’s learned that Dazai’s guardian is part of a criminal organization.
Then, it suddenly all made sense.
Dazai never gave an effort to make friends or socialize in school because he thought it was pointless since he’ll move away eventually, and that also explains why he hates Chuuya so much and why his eyes are lifeless. He just wants to stay somewhere permanently for once, and he wants to stay somewhere that makes him feel like he’s at home with people that care about him.
As much as Chuuya doesn’t like his arrogant, know-it-all attitude, he felt bad for him.
Suddenly, Chuuya’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He turned it on to see who texted him and he immediately heaved a sigh when he saw the sender’s name.
Kouyou
WHERE ARE YOU?! DID YOU FORGET AN UMBRELLA?? ISTG CHUUYA
The orange haired boy turned his cell phone off and stuffed it back in his pocket. All he wanted to do that night was play video games, why did it have to turn out like this?
“You have no real plans tonight, correct?” Chuuya asked again.
Dazai gave him a look. “Yeah, none at all.”
“Okay then when rain lets up,” Chuuya paused for a moment. “Do you wanna like, go explore the city with me or whatever? My sister just texted me and I’m pretty sure if I go home tonight, I wouldn’t live to see tomorrow, so I got nothing significant to do. It’s just an offer though you don’t have to-“
“Sure.” Dazai cut him off.
“HEY, DON’T INTERRUPT ME WHEN– oh wait really?”
“Yeah, it’d be nice to go around this city with someone who’s been here their whole life.” Dazai said monotonously, so Chuuya couldn’t figure out if he was serious or not. “I’m bored too, and I think hanging out with a loser like you might be entertaining.”
“Hey, you’re the loser here you shitty mackerel!” Chuuya exclaimed, instantly regretting his offer. How is it possible that just a few moments ago he wanted to spent the rest of the night with him, but now he wants to slit his throat?
Dazai smiled, for the first time that night. “This is gonna be a long night.”
“Yeah, no shit.” Chuuya looked the other way, avoiding his gaze.
He wouldn’t call it pretty, but Dazai had an amusing smile.
—
Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for the rain to stop. Chuuya threw at least fifty one insults at Dazai before it stopped, so it must’ve been just ten minutes after.
Chuuya knew the city by heart, so they had no trouble looking around places. They first tried going to the local arcade, but it was closed due to construction, so they went to the neighborhood park and hung out by the swingsets. There was no one there thanks to the weather, and it was rather peaceful until Dazai pushed him off the swing set, causing Chuuya’s clothes to be covered in mud and for him to go feral.
After that mess, they headed to the shopping district. The place wasn’t packed either, but all the shops were still open. They looked at various stores and shops, but eventually they’d get kicked out for raising their voices too much. On the other hand, Chuuya had a thing for fashion, so he tried on as much clothes as possible whenever they were at a clothing shop.
“You look stupid.” Dazai said when Chuuya came out of the dressing room with a black top hat on that had a maroon fabric circling it.
“You’re lying,” Chuuya looked at himself in the mirror. Along with his hat, he had an emerald green jacket on, a black choker on his neck and black gloves. “You know I look handsome, you’re just too afraid to admit it.”
Dazai stood up from his seat and walked closer to Chuuya. When he finally stopped his tracks, they were so close to each other that he could feel his breathing. But as if personal space wasn’t a thing, Dazai leaned even closer.
“What are you doing…?” Chuuya asked, ready to take a step back.
Dazai paused for a moment before finally speaking up. “Ok so up close, you aren’t that bad.”
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“God you really are stupid, aren’t you?” Dazai chuckled. “I’m complimenting you, and it’s gonna be the last time I do so.”
Chuuya just gave him a dirty look.
“I’m serious, you’re actually really pretty.” Dazai’s gaze met Chuuya’s, and then immediately took a few steps back and strolled back to his chair.
Chuuya waited. He waited for a insult to hit him. He was ready for Dazai to stop in his tracks, turn back to him and yell out “SIKE!”, but it never happened.
“F-fuck you!” Chuuya screeched as he marched back into his dressing room, his cheeks started to turn a bright shade of red.
Chuuya talked to enough people at school to know when someone was joking or not. Sure, it would be by the tone of their voice or the expression in their face, but another good tell is when you look them in the eye.
When Dazai said he looked pretty while staring at him, his hazel brown eyes were soulless as usual, but there was something different. It had a sort of unique sparkle to it, as if Dazai’s eyes held a galaxy.
Then again, it could just be the lighting of the store.
Chuuya decided not to dwell much into it and reminded himself to slap Dazai once he got out of the dressing room again.
Once Chuuya tried on at least eight more outfits, he decided wore his old clothes again and settled to just buy himself the top hat. “I’ve always wanted to buy a hat, okay? I think it’s awesome so shut up.” He explained when Dazai was giving him the stink eye the moment he handed over the cash to the counter.
“Okay, so where do we go now?” Dazai asked, kicking a stray pebble onto the road. The two of them left the shopping district already even though they had no further plans of where to go to next.
“Uh,” Chuuya gazed at the night sky, trying to come up with an answer. The shopping district and park were the only fun places to be for him, while his other favorite places were...bland. They consisted of rundown restaurants with no good food and abandoned lots, and they were considered his favorite because of all the fun memories that happened there with his friends.
“You can’t think of any other place now, can you?” Dazai sighed, a smile crawling up on his face. “Let me guess, all the other places you want to you to are only significant to you because of things that happened in the past, and it’s actually all boring?”
“What?! No! Stop talking as if you know me so well!” Chuuya snapped. “That’s not what it is!”
“Okay,” Dazai crossed his arms. “Then tell me where we’re gonna go next. If you can’t think of a place within thirty seconds, I’m going home.”
A thousand thoughts rushed in Chuuya’s head. Of course, he could just say nothing and the two of them can head home already, and on Monday act like complete strangers again, but his gut was opposing to that idea. He wanted to hang out with Dazai more as much as he pissed him off and he had a feeling that, somehow, the night was only just starting.
Chuuya smirked at his companion. “Okay, I know a place we can go to. It’s kinda risky to get in, but I know we’ll figure a way to do so.”
“Is it some club or bar?” Dazai raised an eyebrow. “An illegal establishment or something?”
“Not really.” Chuuya started walking down the sidewalk. “But I’ll assure you, it’s gonna be great.”
“Alright then,” Dazai walked alongside him. “Surprise me.”
—
“Yep, you surprised me.” Dazai said as he crossed his arms and gazed at what was in front of them.
They were standing in front of two big, decorated silver gates that had a sign that said PALMVIEW ACRES right next to it. In between the two big gates was a guardhouse that had two guards inside doing duty. Surrounding the place were high walls that had barb wires on top of them.
The decorated silver gates had an intricate design on them that left a few holes as to see what was inside, and it wasn’t much, but at the same time it was probably the coolest thing Chuuya ever saw. Mansions and penthouses were lined up altogether, with their huge front lawns out in the open for everyone to see. Most of them had humongous fountains up front while others had playgrounds or ponds. Palmview Acres was where the richest of the rich in the city lived, and it’s anyone’s dream to get inside and live there.
To everyone else’s dismay, it’s extremely difficult to get inside the gated community thanks to its tight security. You’d have to present an ID that showed you lived there, or if you were visiting someone, the guard would have to confirm it by calling that person first. Sneaking in would be rough since the entrance and the guardhouse had CCTVs surrounding it all over, so if you weren’t rich or powerful, you didn’t even deserve to be within fifteen feet of the entrance.
Chuuya and Dazai were at least twenty feet away from the entrance, hiding behind the bark of a huge tree.
“So did you just want me to look at mansions and feel poor?” Dazai’s eyes shot daggers at Chuuya.
“No,” Chuuya took a glimpse at the guardhouse. “We’re gonna feel rich.”
“What?”
Unexpectedly, Chuuya grabbed Dazai’s wrist as he put his index fingers on his lips. Once Dazai got the message and nodded, Chuuya led him over to the side, and they were faced with Palmview Acres’ high security assured wall that was painted silver to match the entrance gate.
“You afraid of heights?” Chuuya whispered.
“No?” Dazai furrowed his eyebrows. “What are we doing exactly?”
“Just follow me.” Chuuya winked, letting go of his companion’s wrist and trudged over to a nearby tree. Dazai watched as his classmate gripped onto the wood, and started climbing up the tree.
Dazai sighed, but quickly followed suite. The two climbed as stealthily as possible, trying their best not to make any loud sounds. Once Chuuya climbed high enough, he got himself onto a sturdy branch and squatted.
“You okay?” Chuuya asked as he could feel Dazai put his foot onto the branch he was on.
Dazai grunted as he put his other foot onto the branch. “Well let’s just say I’ve been– shit!”
He lost his balance, and Chuuya’s eyes widened. Without thinking, he quickly grabbed Dazai’s hand and held onto it firmly once Dazai regained his posture.
“You should’ve let me fall.” Dazai frowned as squatted on the branch. “Since we’re this high up, I could’ve easily died.”
“Huh?! I just saved your life, you idiot!” Chuuya fumed. “God, you’re really weird.”
“Oh you say that, yet you’re still holding my hand?” Dazai smirked as Chuuya swiftly detached their hands.
“Let’s just do this quickly before this branch breaks and we both fall on our asses.” Chuuya cleared his throat,his face turning into a bright shade of red. Thankfully since Dazai was behind him, he couldn’t see it.
“So what are gonna do then, slug?” Dazai peered over his shoulder.
Chuuya pointed to the barb wire in front of them. “Right behind that barb wire is a flat roof of some penthouse. From the roof, there’s a fire escape that could easily get us back to lower ground. All we gotta do is jump high enough to avoid the wire and safely land on the roof.”
“Ah.” Dazai stared at the back of Chuuya’s head. “How many times have you done this before and how many times have you succeeded?”
“I’ve done it three times, and I’ve succeeded three times.” Chuuya said matter-of-factly. “Now stop doubting my capabilities already.”
Dazai rolled his eyes as Chuuya took a deep breath. As he exhaled he stood up on the branch, which made it shake and a distinct crack could be heard.
“You better hurry up if you don’t want us to die.” Dazai teased, and Chuuya just glared at him for a brief second before taking a few steps back and running over to the end of the branch.
Once he was at the tip of the shaking branch, he jumped. He jumped tall, probably just three feet above the barb fence, and then safely landed onto the flat roof on the other side of the wall. It was an amazing sight to see, even for Dazai, whose mouth was suddenly agape.
“Hurry up and stop looking at me like that!” Chuuya snapped his fingers, which quickly got the raven haired boy back to reality.
Copying Chuuya’s technique, Dazai slowly got up to his feet and took two steps back. The branch wobbled, which made Chuuya’s anxiety go off the roofs, but within five seconds, Dazai ran and leaped as high as he could manage. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side, and his jump wasn’t that high.
“Dazai!” Chuuya exclaimed, ready to run over to the edge of the roof, but instead he stayed in place and watched as Dazai barely misses the wire by a few inches and sloppily lands on the roof.
“What is it, shrimp? I’m exhausted from that.” Dazai breathed as he lied down on the roof, spreading his legs and arms like he was making an angel on snow.
Chuuya walked over to him and sat down beside him. “Well, at least we’re still alive. Anyway, let’s rest here for a minute before heading back down.”
“You must love it to be on a rooftop.” Dazai put his arms below his head to act as support. “Probably makes you finally feel tall.”
“Shut up! I’m fifteen and still growing!” Chuuya punched Dazai’s arm, which causes the boy in the black coat to wince.
“Oh also, you haven’t told me yet about what we’re doing here.” Dazai reminded him.
“Oh yeah. Well, see all these houses that rich people live in?” Chuuya viewed their surroundings from up above. He could see all the mansions and penthouses next to each other. Some had all their lights on, some had a few lights on, while others had none on at all.
“Yeah, makes me wanna rob them.” Dazai glanced at the mansion across from them that had a swimming pool in its front lawn.
“There’s a high chance that the places with no lights on, are completely vacant.” Chuuya informed. “Rich people are always either on vacation or on a business trip, so it’s common for them to just leave their houses and most of their belongings behind since they can always buy new ones.”
Dazai’s brain put the pieces together. “Chuuya, are you telling me…?”
“That’s right,” Chuuya made a sinister grin. “We’re gonna live in someone else’s mansion.”
—
The duo have been walking for a few minutes now, gawking at the different houses that cost billions and billions of yen. At times, they’d stop walking and pause to take a picture of the ones they liked the most.
Dazai’s favorite was a penthouse that was all black, and you almost couldn’t even tell it was there since it was night time. Chuuya’s favorite was one he already knew of, a mansion that was painted cream colored and had beautiful flowers and vines in its front yard and on most of its windows.
It was quite late in the night, so it was normal that no one was outside walking around like them. There were no guards patrolling either, and Chuuya explained that they guards patrolled once every two hours, so they were safe for another hour or so. It was as if the two of them had that neighborhood all to themselves.
After wandering around, they finally stopped in front of a modern penthouse. It had a fountain in its front lawn, along with stone steps that led the way to the huge front door. All the lights inside and outside were off, and there didn’t seem to be sign of any living thing at the lot.
“What if they’re just sleeping and they like to conserve electricity?” Dazai suggested as they both hopped on the stone steps.
“Nah,” Chuuya said. “Something in my gut says this place is the one we should crash in.”
“That stupid gut of yours is gonna get you killed one day~” Dazai sang, and Chuuya immediately raised his leg to kick him, but he dodged perfectly.
“God, I hate you.” Chuuya groaned. “I hope you know that this will be the last time we’re ever gonna hang out.”
“Weren’t you the one to suggest that we hang out tonight?” Dazai snickered. “But whatever, I’m happy about that. I’d rather fall of a building than spend another night with you.”
“I’m only doing this so you can experience all the good things in my city before you move again.” Chuuya stopped as they both reached the porch. “So really, I’m doing this because I love this city, and I want you to love it as much too.”
“This city is lovable, but you?” Dazai gagged, causing Chuuya to glare at him.
“Anyways, lets get inside our new house.” Chuuya turned the knob of the door, but it was locked.
“Nakahara Chuuya, I didn’t expect you to be this dumb.” Dazai laughed, holding his stomach. “Of course it would be locked!”
“Oh please,” Chuuya smirked. He observed around and noticed the brown WELCOME mat below his feet. Bending down, he pulls it up and reveals a shiny key hiding right below it. “As you can see, rich people are dumber.”
Dazai watched as the orange haired boy put the key inside the lock and twisted it with no struggle. “What the…?”
“Spare keys under the welcome mat,” Chuuya removed the key and pushed the door open. “An old trick that rich people haven’t noticed is stupid.”
The two of them stepped inside in he pitch black, and Chuuya let his hands wander around the walls to find the light switches. Once he did and turned it all on, both he and Dazai gasped in astonishment.
The hallway they were in was lit up by a chandelier on top of their heads. On the walls were various paintings of landscapes and places. The floors were carpeted with red velvet fabric, and Chuuya could feel that the hallway alone can pay for his college tuition fee.
They slowly walked down the hallway, and were led to the pitch black, presumably living room. This time, Dazai is the one that finds the light switch and flicks it on, and Chuuya had to hold onto the walls so he would fall down.
In front of them was a high ceiling living room that was lit by an even bigger chandelier. It had a big screen TV, couches and sofas that looked comfy as heaven, and even more exquisite paintings on the walls that matched the mood of the room. Across from them was a glass sliding door that led outside to the backyard. Beside the living room was an even bigger kitchen that had polished counters, a high tech oven and those smart refrigerators that you could use the internet on.
Dazai gulped. “Chuuya.”
“Dazai.” Chuuya stared.
“I raid the kitchen, you go for the living room?” Dazai mischievously grinned.
“I got no problem with that!” Chuuya smirked before running over to one of the couches and jumping on them while Dazai ran to the kitchen and immediately opened the fridge.
And at that moment, when Chuuya realized all the video game consoles that were on the coffee table at Dazai’s little shriek of “ICE CREAM!” coming from the kitchen, he knew that that night was going to go down in history.
—
“Hey Chuuya,” Dazai spoke up. “When, How and why did you start doing this?”
“Start what?” Chuuya shoved a spoonful of bubblegum ice cream in his mouth.
“Breaking into rich people's’ homes and using all their stuff. Like, how’d you think of it?” Dazai asked, popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth.
An hour has passed since they’ve broke in, and surprisingly they’ve sat in silence for the most of it. Dazai found a motherload of ice cream and snacks in the kitchen and dumped all of it on the couch while Chuuya found a collection of video games and full DVD set of The Office. They’ve decided to settle with binge-watching The Office, so they propped themselves up in the separate ends of the long sofa with a mountain of snacks between them. And watched the episodes in peace.
“Oh, well it’s a funny story.” Chuuya started scooping for more ice cream in the tub he was holding. “A few months ago, I got into a fight with my parents one night, so I ran away from home and simply wandered around. I ended up in Palmview Acres and I knew about its right security guards and stuff, so I guess I was just bored and challenged myself to get inside without being caught. I did it successfully, and then I walked around, got bored, saw a house with no lights on and simply went inside.”
“You just? Went inside?” Dazai looked like he had question marks floating around him.
“Yeah, the owner of the house surprisingly never locked the door.” Chuuya chucked. “Anyway, I played video games in that house until I got tired and and went back to my own house. The second time it happened, I got into a fight with my friends and I had to cool down, so I went here.”
Dazai grabbed a chocolate bar from the mound of snacks beside him. “You fought with your friends?”
“I fight with them a lot.” Chuuya shrugged, getting the remaining pieces of ice cream left in his tub. “They always say I’m their ‘leader’ or whatever, but then they’ll decide my decisions for me and pressure me to do things I don’t wanna do. It’s annoying.”
“That’s not right.” Dazai chewed on his choco bar. “You’re your own person, aren’t you? You should tell them that.”
“I know, but they don’t trust me, I guess.” Chuuya bit his lower lip. “They always control me and tell me who to talk to and what I should do, like smoke or some shit.”
“Well, they’re probably cursed then.” Dazai turned to face him. “Because I trust you, and I respect your decisions, no matter how stupid they seem to be.”
“Y-you trust me?!” Chuuya exclaimed, dropping his spoon in the empty container. He could’ve sworn his ears were playing tricks on him.
“I’d be pretty fucking stupid if I went around the city for the first time with a classmate I didn’t trust, Chuuya.” Dazai rolled his eyes.
“Well what if I did think that you were pretty fucking stupid, Dazai.” Chuuya huffed, but then his voice softened. “But that’s good to know, because I trust you too.”
Chuuya grinned, although he said the last part almost so quietly as if it was a whisper and thought Dazai didn’t hear it, but a small smile crept on the ebony haired boy’s face, and he knew he heard it.
It’s unrealistic to gain someone’s trust in such a short amount of time, but with Dazai, it was as if Chuuya was born to just put his faith into him.
The two of them sat there, smiling to themselves for the next couple of seconds or so until Chuuya spoke up again. “Oh, and third time I did it just happened out of pure boredom, and I loved every second of it.”
“So, your friends never tagged along to doing this kind of thing?” Dazai questioned.
Chuuya shook his head. “They wouldn’t like something like this. They’d probably steal everything this house has, but for me, I’m fine with just using all of it. No need to take them.”
“You have better morals than your friends.” Dazai turned his head back onto the TV screen. “That’s nice. Your parents must’ve raised you well.”
“Sure they did, but they aren’t perfect. They’re overprotective all the time, and then recently they’ve always been on business trips, so I haven’t seen them for almost a month now.” Chuuya sighed. “Kouyou becomes bitchier everyday too, it’s not helping.”
“Kouyou? Your older sister right?”
“Half sister. When you meet her, that’s when you’ll truly enter hell.” Chuuya tossed the empty tub of ice cream on the floor and grabbed a new one from the pile.
Dazai scoffed. “Please, that’s got nothing on my guardian. He’s the epitome of arrogant and bossy.”
“Well, duh.” Chuuya stifled a laugh. “My sister really has nothing up against your criminal leader guardian.”
“Oh yeah, guess you’re right.” A small smile crept on Dazai’s face.
“So, do you have any idea of when you’ll move again?” Chuuya asked. He suddenly remembered the main reason why he hung out with Dazai, which was to make him feel better about the whole moving problem.
“I don’t know.” Dazai fumbled around the snack pile. “It could either be next week or in two months. I can never know with my guardian, but what I know is that when it does happen, it happens immediately.”
“Well, I hope you know that when you leave, I’ll throw myself the biggest party anyone could imagine.” Chuuya snickered.
“Glad to know that I’d do the same too the minute I find out you’ve died.” Dazai stood up from the sofa and started walking towards the kitchen.
“Oh please, I’d be crying tears of joy while dancing when I hear that you’re minutes away from death.” Chuuya countered with a joking tone. It was comforting to know that the hatred they shared was absolutely mutual.
“Bold of you to assume that I wouldn’t be doing the same!” Dazai shouted from the kitchen.
Chuuya nervously laughed, considering how serious Dazai sounded while saying that sentence. Throughout the night, Dazai had hinted on committing suicide more than enough times, and it’s clear that he didn’t fear at all. Unexpectedly, it was concerning him more than it should’ve.
Chuuya heard the refrigerator slamming shut, and it was followed by Dazai yelling. “Dammit, there’s no more chocolates! This sucks, I need better snacks!”
“I’m a whole snack right here, Dazai!” Chuuya shouted back and smiled to himself.
Dazai scoffed, and then proceeded to walk back to the sofa. Chuuya expected him to sit back down, but instead, he pushed the mound of snacks farther away from Chuuya and all the way to where Dazai was seated in the first place, at the very opposite side of the sofa.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing?! That’s my food!” Chuuya complained with a mouthful of ice cream.
“Ugh, just keep quiet for a second.” Dazai said, sitting down on the sofa and closing his eyes. He was closer to Chuuya now, but there was still a huge space thanks to how big the sofa was, so he didn’t mind it.
Chuuya brought his attention back to the TV and grinned at a joke that was made before he felt a shift on the sofa and a sudden weight on his thighs.
Dazai Osamu was lying down on his lap. His head was propped up on Chuuya’s thighs, and he had a good view of him with his eyes closed shut.
“Hey, Dazai!” Chuuya hissed, debating or not whether he should slap him. “What the actual fuck are you doing?!”
“I’m just resting.” Dazai replied, his eyes still closed. “All the pillows in this living room are either too hard or too soft.”
Although Dazai made a great point, Chuuya was still agitated and looked down on his face. “I am NOT something you could just lie down on whenever you like! Get off me before I push you off, you mackerel!”
Dazai fluttered his eyes open, startling Chuuya for a moment. Of course his eyes were still the same, empty and mysterious. Yet up close, it was stunning to look at. Dazai’s whole face was stunning to look at.
“I’d like to see you try, you slug.” Dazai smirked.
Chuuya continued staring at him. His black hair contrasted with his pale skin, and so did his black coat and white shirt. Dazai’s hair looked so soft and fluffy too, and Chuuya was extremely tempted to run his fingers over them. Not to mention his-
Chuuya’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Dazai grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down. It was done so hastily that their lips would crashed together if Chuuya hadn’t held onto the sofa’s armrest.
“Hey, I was talking to you!” Dazai furrowed his eyebrows. “Why are you staring at me like that, anyway? Do I have something on my face?”
“N-no.” Chuuya’s cheeks started growing hot again and his brain was short circuiting with how close their faces were. “Y-you’re just uh, nice to look at?”
Dazai’s eyes widened, and it was visible that his ears were starting to look red too. He immediately let go of Chuuya’s collar, and then turned his body around so that he was facing the TV instead.
Chuuya expected the air of the room to become awkward after that, but with every millisecond of silence that passed between them, it was all but awkward or tense. Instead, it felt calm.
Perhaps, it was also comforting to know that they shared an absolutely mutual emotion other than hatred.
“Hey Dazai,” Chuuya cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck.
Dazai’s eyes stayed fixated on the TV screen. “What?”
“I was just thinking how-“
“Oh my god, seriously, shut up.”
Chuuya clenched his fists. “At least listen to-“
Dazai quickly sat upright on the sofa as he took the remote control from the coffee table in front of them and turned the TV off. That’s when Chuuya could finally hear it clearly: the police sirens.
“Shit! How did they know we were here?!” Chuuya whisper-screamed, hurriedly grabbing handfuls of snacks and dumping them onto his pockets.
“I don’t know!” Dazai’s eyes started shaking as he pointed to the glass sliding door. “Come on, let's head out through the back!”
The two of them quietly got of the couch and tip-toed over to the sliding door. As Dazai softly opened it, loud knocks started coming from the front door. “Police! Open up!”
Dazai and Chuuya stared at each other in panic for a split second before running outside to the backyard. It was dark outside, but Chuuya could make out a fence in the distance. All they had to do was jump up that fence, and then run away while avoiding the cops until they reach that penthouse where they came from.
As Chuuya took another step forward, he heard footsteps on the grass coming towards them. In a matter of seconds, they were surrounded by four or more policemen with flashlights.
“Freeze!” One of them shouted, and Chuuya took a few steps back, only to bump into Dazai’s back.
“Now what do we do?” Dazai whispered.
“Easy,” Chuuya gulped as he put both his arms up. “We give in.”
—
Chuuya was a relatively patient person. It was one of the things he liked about himself, like if he was asked to wait for hours on end, he’d most likely do it calmly. His family admired about for it too, and usually left all the waiting for him to do (waiting in line in the grocery, calling government offices, etc.)
But in that small holding cell, a whole second felt like an eternity for him, and it was slowly killing him.
The wall clock that was ticking ever so lousy above them read 1:47 am, which meant that they’ve been in that cell for almost twenty whole minutes now.
According to the police reports, the neighbors next door were friends with the owner of the penthouse they crashed in, and they were aware that the owner wouldn’t be in town until the end of the year, so they called the police in suspicion of a robbery.
Dazai was extremely opposed to being arrested, and in the police car he even got himself out of his handcuffs, but the cop that was seated between them immediately put it back on. After that, the two of them would try talking to each other with terrible made-up sign language, but of course that didn’t go well.
With them in that holding cell were a few drunkards and prostitutes, all passed out or sleeping with their backs against the wall or just flat out on the floor. It reeked of marijuana and beer in there, so Chuuya would find himself holding his breath for a long time. When they arrived at the cell though, there was a prostitute who
Dazai was sitting right beside him, quiet as ever. He was staring blankly against the metal bars in front of them, and Chuuya was starting to get worried. He hadn’t spoken a word since they’ve arrived at the police station, and he couldn’t tell what he was feeling thanks to the boy’s poker face. He was either sad, angry, happy or all of the above.
Chuuya opened his mouth to say something, yet suddenly a stocky police officer came with a set of keys on his hand, and came in the holding cell.
“Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya, it’s time to use your one phone call. Use it wisely.” He said, looking at the two teenagers as if they’d just eaten his first born child.
Chuuya thought it over about calling Kouyou. Sure, he’d probably get his ass beaten, then his parents would find out, then he’d be grounded all the way until he graduated college and he’d also be in debt with Kouyou for his entire life, but he’d take it. He’d take anything to get out of that hellhole of a cell.
“I’ll call.” Dazai stood up, making Chuuya flinch.
“What? Are you sure? Who would you call?” Chuuya was puzzled. “Would that person bail us out with no problem?”
“I’m gonna go call my guardian.” He answered tonelessly. “Don’t worry, he’d be happy to bail us out.”
Chuuya had so much more to say, but the police officer had already put his hand on Dazai’s shoulder and was escorting him out of the cell. Alone with his thoughts, he started reminiscing of what happened the whole night, and it sounded like a fever dream. To think that he planned his night out as staying in his room and playing video games until the crack of dawn, but then he’s in a police station, and has to get bailed out with the fine of ¥100,000.
He took a glimpse of Dazai, who was outside, using the telephone and talking to someone with two police officers right behind him. How was he so calm in this situation? It was as if being arrested for trespassing was an everyday routine for him. There was also a chance that Dazai was furious at him for getting them arrested, which could explain why he wasn’t talking to him anymore, but Chuuya shook the thought away, because overthinking it could lead him to actual insanity.
“I’m back.” Dazai announced softly as he stepped inside the holding cell again and the police officer locked the gate behind him.
“So uh, are you sure your guardian is cool with bailing us out and paying the fine?” Chuuya spoke as the other boy sat next to him. “I promise you that I’ll pay my half of the fine.”
“Sixth time.” Dazai sighed. “This is the sixth time.”
“Huh? What’s the sixth time?” Chuuya’s eyebrows were knit together.
“This is the sixth time I’ve been arrested, and the sixth time Mori-san has to bail me out.” Dazai faced Chuuya. “Isn’t that just perfect? Now I have to help him work!”
“Yeah, you’re making no sense right now.” Chuuya blinked and took a deep breath. “You’ve been arrested five times before?! Also who’s Mori-san?”
“I’ve been arrested for various reasons before, and Mori-san’s my guardian.” Dazai explained, crossing his legs. “He’s okay with me breaking the law, because he’s always breaking the law himself, and I’m pretty sure he’s even proud of me, but he doesn’t like paying the fine, so there’s a catch. Whenever I get arrested, I have to go with him to work.”
“Work? But isn’t he…?”
“Exactly. I have to go with him to rob places, do dangerous missions and sometimes torture people.” Dazai yawned. “It’s all so stupid! He wants me to take his criminal group someday too. It’s the one thing I absolutely hate in this world, other than you of course.”
“Dangerous missions?” Chuuya glanced at the bandage on his face.
“Oh no don’t get mistaken,” Dazai pointed to his injury. “I got this from falling down the stairs.”
It was silent between them for a few moments, with only the sound of the ticking clock being heard; until Chuuya bursted out laughing. Dazai was perplexed at first, but then he started cracking up too. The holding cell was suddenly filled up by the sounds of their loud laughter, and Chuuya was scared the cops from outside would scold them, but at the same time he couldn’t care about anything else at that moment.
“You’re really something else, mackerel.” Chuuya said once their laughter had died down and softly punched Dazai’s shoulder. “But this Mori-san guy has got it all wrong. You’re still a teenager, and you get to decide for yourself what you want to be in the future. You’re a lot of things, but I don’t think a criminal group leader is not one of them.”
“I don’t even think I’ll have a future!” Dazai laughed. “Who knows when I can get an amazing opportunity to kill myself, you know? I might find the perfect poison that can kill me tomorrow or I can successfully get a fake doctor’s prescription for sleeping pills and-“
The next array of events that had happened seemed like a blur. The next thing Chuuya knew, his fist was flying towards Dazai’s face before he could continue his sentence. With the impact of the punch, Dazai fell off the bench and onto the cold cement floor, hard, with a throbbing cheek. He made a distinct thud when his body hit the ground, but unexpectedly none of the officers had noticed them.
“Stop talking like that.” Chuuya growled, standing up with his balled fists. “STOP TALKING AS IF YOU’RE LIFE IS MEANINGLESS!”
Dazai kept his head down and stayed quiet, which was sign for Chuuya to continue talking.
“This entire night I’ve spent with you, you’ve hinted so many times that you were gonna kill yourself.” Chuuya’s eyes were filled with rage. “Why?! Why do you look down on your life so much? There’s many things to love about love. Why can’t you start hoping instead of sulking around like a stupid whiny baby! You never put effort into trying, and maybe that’s why the universe never makes you stay in one place until you learn your lesson!”
You’ve been arrogant and a big pain in the ass to me this past night.” Chuuya continued on, seeing that the other hadn’t moved an inch. “But that doesn’t make me think that you don’t have the right to live!”
Finally, Dazai slowly lifted his head up to reveal a bleeding lip, which makes Chuuya’s eyes widen. He moved his hair out of his face so he see, and for the first time that night, there was emotion in his eyes. Yet that emotion, was pure anger.
“You’ve only known me for the past seven hours, SO STOP THINKING THAT YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT ME!” Dazai shouted as he stood up. “You don’t know what I’ve been through! You don’t know what it’s like to never meet your parents, you don’t know what it’s like to leave all your friends, you don’t know what it’s like to live without a home, and you certainly don’t know what it’s like to have nothing to look forward to in life anymore!”
“Okay, so what if I don’t?!” Chuuya cried out. “Fine, I don’t know what it’s like to live like you, and that’s because that’s how life works! We’re all our own individual persons that have to find out how to live our lives, and we all have our own personal struggles and battles! Even the most successful and perfect person goes through hell behind the scenes, but the thing with them is that they hope. They hope and work hard to continue striving in life!”
“Do you even have the slightest clue how HARD it is to even try hoping?!” Water started brimming Dazai’s eyes, causing Chuuya to soften. “D-do you have any idea how hard it is to raise your hopes up, and then for it to fall down again?! It’s not easy! It’s not easy to feel any worth in living when no one is there to tell you that you’re worth it!”
And with that, the tears starting rolling down Dazai’s face. He was wiping them away and tried to go on further with his rant, but the tears wouldn’t stop coming. Chuuya could tell that this was probably the first time in Dazai’s life that he opened up his emotions to someone, and that by itself should’ve been such a difficult thing to do. So, he did the only thing he could think of.
He stepped closer to Dazai, then he opened his arms wide and embrace him. Dazai’s body stiffened, and Chuuya was sure that he was about to get punched in the stomach, but the jet black haired boy just continued crying.
“You are your own person, so you deserve to choose whatever you believe in, to have friends, to act your age, and you especially deserve to find happiness. Someday, I know you’ll find a place to call home. Osamu, you’re worth it.” Chuuya said into his ear and hugged him tighter, which unexpectedly made Dazai finally soften.
The sound jangling keys interrupts the moment, and when it finally registers in their minds that someone was coming in the holding cell, they immediately pull away from each other and look the other way. Chuuya nervously ran his fingers through his hair and pretended to be interested at the graffiti in the walls while Dazai wipes up the rest of his tears and acted as if he was just staring blankly at the metal bars again.
“Alright kiddos,” The same strict stocky-looking cop walked inside with his hands on his belt. “You’re free to go since your bail has been paid, and that someone is here to pick y’all up.”
Behind the cop was a raven haired middle aged man with a stub on his chin, wearing what seemed to be a doctor’s coat. He had a sly grin on his face, which honestly made Chuuya want to run away from him as far as possible.
“Thanks, Mori-san.” Dazai said tonelessly, and then pointed to the shorter one in the room. “By the way, this is Nakahara Chuuya, the one I told you about.”
“Ah, greetings.” Mori smiled Chuuya. “So you’ve caused trouble with Dazai-kun here?”
“Y-Yeah, s-sorry about that.” Chuuya stammered like an idiot. “I didn’t mean to! But thank you so much for bailing me out too, I p-promise to pay you back more than half of the bail in the future.”
“Oh, you’re a funny boy, aren’t you?” Mori walked towards him and ruffled up his hair. “There’s no need to pay me back! Count it as my thanks for staying with Dazai-kun tonight.”
“B-but-“
“No buts.” Mori held his hand up in Chuuya’s face, and then he turned towards Dazai. “Meanwhile with you, tomorrow you’re coming with me to work and-“
“I know, I know!” Dazai groaned, furrowing his eyebrows.
Chuuya shot him a quick smile, and Dazai’s face immediately softened again and grinned back.
“Alright!” The cop’s voice boomed the holding cell. “Enough chit chat, I’m escorting all of you outside.”
When Chuuya was finally outside the holding cell, he felt as if the world was taken off his shoulders, then when he got to step outside the precinct and into the breezy, cold night, he felt as if the rest of the universe was taken off his shoulders.
“That was the worst time of my life.” Chuuya sighed, immediately slumping his posture.
“I’ve been in worse holding cells.” Dazai shrugged. “But I get it, it’s overwhelming when it’s the first time to be arrested.”
“Alright boys, the two of you shouldn’t cause anymore trouble.” Mori put his hands on their shoulders. “I suggest for the both of you to go home already.”
“Mori-san, you’re not coming home yet?” Dazai asked. “Oh also, how did you get to the precinct so fast?”
“I’m handling business just a few blocks away actually, and I should really get back to it soon.” Mori-san grinned, and Chuuya pursed his lips as his mind cane up with a thousand different options of what that ‘business’ could be.
Dazai crosses his arms, which made Mori chuckle. “Don’t worry Dazai, I’ll be back by the morning. Go rest already, I’m sure you’ve had a rough day at school.”
So much things had happened, Chuuya completely forgot that it was still Friday night– well at that exact time, it was technically already Saturday morning– and that he was supposed to be at home.
“Well, I’m off to work!” Mori waved them goodbye as he started walking away. “Goodnight, boys!”
“So, that’s Mori-san, huh?” Chuuya said as they watched him walk further and further away.
Dazai nodded. “He’s...a whole mess.”
—
It was quiet and less windy this time around as the duo walked through the city. They silently admired all the neon lights coming from bars and stores, along with the starry night sky and crescent moon that was right above them.
They’ve decided to follow Mori-san’s advice: to call it a night and head home. To their surprise, they only lived ten minutes away from each other. With the path they were taking, they would pass by Chuuya’s apartment complex first, and then Dazai’s bungalow house numbered 24 that was down the road.
They didn’t walk in complete silence, thought. They’d crack a joke here and there, or drop an insult, or they’d try and make figures with the stars in the sky. (“That looks like shoe.” “Really? It looks like an ass to me.”)
Then, they were suddenly in front of a well lit, small, apartment complex. The night was over for them, and Chuuya was feeling a million different emotions that he couldn’t possibly describe.
“We’re here.” Dazai announced, staring at the building. “Where do you live?”
“At the third floor.” Chuuya replied. Apartment 3-E.”
“Then, I guess that means goodnight.” Dazai faced him, and Chuuya could clearly see his swollen lip.
“Oh right,” Chuuya scratched the back of his head “I’m really sorry about punching you. I didn’t mean it to be painful, but I guess I lost control.”
“It’s fine. You knocked some sense into me anyway.” Dazai snickered, which made Chuuya smile.
“Did you get to learn to love this city?” Chuuya asked. “Like, before getting arrested.”
Dazai slowly nodded. “Yeah, I enjoyed insulting you while going to the park, the shopping district, and that rich man’s house. But the city isn’t the only thing I started loving.”
“Oh?” Chuuya’s ears perked up. “What do you mean?”
Dazai pulled out something from the inside pocket of his coat, and it was the book. The book that he had been so secretive about with its title covered and all. He paused for a moment and stared at it for a while before holding it out to Chuuya. “Here, go have it, and then throw it for me.”
“Huh?! What am I, a garbage man to you? Do it yourself!” Chuuya exclaimed, but Dazai shoved the book into his chest, hard.
“Stop being a wuss and just do it for me before I change my mind.” Dazai sighed.
Chuuya glared at him, then he examined the book. The colored paper that was covering the title was coming off a bit, and to finally put Chuuya’s mind at ease., he ripped off the paper and read the title.
“Wait a minute,” Chuuya gasped. “This…”
At first, he had to process all the letters together, and when it finally clicked in his brain, he froze.
Complete Guide to Suicide
“So,” Chuuya breathed in awe. “You finally want to live?”
“I’ve figured it’s worth trying...” Dazai shrugged. “So uh, thanks for talking some sense into me, slug.”
Chuuya stifled a laugh. “No problem, shitty mackerel.”
The two of them stared at each other for a while, but then Dazai looked away. “Your sister is probably looking for you, you should go now.”
“Y-Yeah, I should.” Chuuya cleared his throat. “I’ll see you on Monday?”
“Yup.” Dazai gave him a thumbs up before waving goodbye.
Chuuya watched as Dazai turned around and started walking away. He looked to the book, and then shifted his gaze at Dazai’s back, then at the book, then at Dazai, the book, then Dazai again–
And he realized, that his night wasn’t complete yet.
Dropping the book, he started running after the charcoal haired boy. “Dazai, wait!”
As he turned around in surprise, Chuuya grabbed him by the shoulder, tiptoed and then pressed his lips against his. Dazai’s lips were soft and delicate, and it nothing like Chuuya had ever experienced before.
Chuuya pulled away seconds after, and Dazai was frozen.
“O-oh my god I-I’m sorry I was just- you know when you like, can’t think straight and–“
He was interrupted as Dazai cupped his face, and then proceeded to kiss him. It was honestly much better and hotter than the first one, but it didn’t matter. Chuuya’s arms found their way to Dazai’s neck as Dazai’s found his arms behind Chuuya’s back.
Dazai pulled away for a moment. “Strawberries and cigarettes.”
“What?”
Dazai delicately placed his fingers on Chuuya’s chin. “You taste like strawberries, and smell like cigarettes.”
Chuuya made a face.“Hah?! I still don’t understand how you smell cigarettes, I don’t smoke-“
Dazai groaned at the shorter boy’s babbling and just kissed him again, and of course it made him successfully shut up for good.
Unexpectedly, a loud crash came from behind them, causing the two of them to detach themselves again. As they both turned around, their eyes were met with glowing silver ones which Chuuya could figure out. It was a cat, and that cat just kicked down a trash can.
The two boys sighed in relief at the same time before they looked at each other again.
“I hate you.” Dazai breathed.
“I hate you even more.” Chuuya scoffed.
The two of turned around, and Chuuya started walking back towards his apartment complex. He went ahead and picked up the book he dropped, examined it, and then held it tight to his chest.
He was exhilarated for many reasons, but his main one was that he had noticed that Dazai’s eyes showed another emotion, one that Chuuya had been waiting for the entire night.
Happiness.
—
Chuuya was grounded for three whole weeks.
When he got home Friday night, Kouyou, who was waiting for him in the living room, scolded him for an hour straight, telling him how insane he made her from not coming back with the soft drinks, to not replying to her messages or returning her calls, to coming home way past his curfew.
“Can you even explain yourself?!” Kouyou shrieked.
“I met a classmate of mine in the convenience store, then it started raining and we started talking.” Chuuya’s voice was quiet, and a small smile appeared on his face. “Then we decided to roam around the city for a while.”
“You’re insane,” Kouyou pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re absolutely fucking insane.”
He then spent the rest of the weekend cleaning the house and becoming Kouyou’s servant. It was a pain in the ass, but he was still happy, because he had something to look forward to on Monday.
Time passed by slowly, but before he knew it, Chuuya was back in his uniform, walking along the corridors of the school building on his way to his classroom. As usual, people greet him, stare at him, and whisper when he passes by. Usually it would annoy him, but nothing was going to ruin his mood that day.
As much as he was happy, his head was also spinning. He and Dazai never really agreed on their statuses like, he was one hundred percent sure that they never even officially called each other friends that night whatsoever. More importantly, Dazai was seen with his book on a daily basis, and now that it’s gone, will he give some effort into making friends?
Chuuya swung the classroom door open, seeing all the familiar faces again. His young math teacher was already in the class, and right when he stepped inside, the school bell rang, meaning that class was officially starting.
“You missed out on Nako’s party last Friday, bro!” Shirase spoke up as Chuuya passed by him.
Chuuya just nodded as a response and then headed to his seat at the front. Before sitting down, he examined the room, looking for a specific person, but he wasn’t anywhere. He turned to look at the back of the classroom, only to see a vacant seat.
“Nakahara, is there a problem? Why are you standing up? I have a class to teach.” His teacher started tapping her foot impatiently.
“S-sorry.” Chuuya stuttered, sinking into his chair.
“Alright before I start with the lesson I have an announcement to make,” She cleared her throat and pushed her hair back. “Because of some circumstances, your classmate Dazai Osamu had transferred schools, and won’t be with us anymore. He sends us his regards though.”
“What? That weird kid at the back?”
“Oh, the one that has that book?”
“He never talked to anyone, so I’m pretty sure he didn’t have any friends.”
“Hold on, I don’t remember anything about him.”
Although all this chatter was going on in the room, it all seemed like static noise to the orange haired boy, with the only thing that was clear was a sentence he could recall from Dazai.
“It could either be next week or in two months. I can never know with my guardian, but what I know is that when it does happen, it happens immediately.”
Shit.
“Sensei!” Chuuya hastily stood up and raised his hand, resulting to his chair falling down and the whole class going quiet.
“What is it?” His teacher glared at him suspiciously.
“May I please go to the bathroom?” Chuuya asked, or well, rather demanded.
Once the teacher nodded in approval, he dashed out of the classroom, ran down the hallways and practically tripped over going down the stairs.
He wasn’t going to bathroom, of course not, he was going to skip class.
He hadn’t done it in a while, but it didn’t matter. To him, this was an emergency. He sprinted out the school gates, gaining the attention of a security guard.
“Kid, where are you going?!” The guard shouted.
Chuuya didn’t dare stop running. “Home!”
From the school, his own apartment would be a fifteen minute walk, so to Dazai’s house it would be a twenty five minute walk, or a ten minute run if Chuuya kept up with his speed.
He kept running and running as if his life depended on it, and he was no athlete, so he was sure he would pass out in any second, but there was this strange adrenaline pumping into him, and he just couldn’t stop.
After bumping into no more than eleven people and almost causing a vehicle collision, Chuuya had arrived to his destination: a small bungalow house with a green rooftop, just as Dazai had described it from two nights ago. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, because not only did he run for ten minutes straight, he also ran in hot weather while wearing his school uniform, which seemed like an invitation to hell.
Once he calmed down a little, he walked up to the porch. On its front door, it read the numbers 24, so Chuuya was sure he had the right house.
And so, he starting banging and kicking on the door while also pressing the doorbell over and over again as if he was a kid on Halloween doing trick or treat.
“OSAMU, GET OUT HERE!” Chuuya shouted at the top of his lungs while practicing beating the shit of the front door. “OSAMU!”
With no response after a couple of minutes, Chuuya gave up. It was no use, because it was certain that there was no one home.
Maybe Dazai and Mori had some work to do together? Or they went to visit someone? Chuuya hoped that it could be the case, even though his gut was telling him otherwise.
In defeat, he sat down on the front steps of the house and buried his head in his hands. Why did it become this? How did it become to this? His vision started getting blurry, and that’s when he realized that he was crying.
He wiped his tears away with his sleeve, and then pulled out a book from his inner pocket. The book Dazai instructed him to throw away, but for some reason he just couldn’t. It was as if he had an attachment to the book, even though he was certain he’d never read the contents of it.
Chuuya opened the first page out of curiosity, and to his surprise, saw that the title of the book was scribbled off, and something was written right below it in pental pen.
Thank you for showing me what home meant, Chuuya