Tainted Blues

Osamu Dazai

Chuuya looked absolutely dumbfounded. It was quite a sight!

"Of course!" I reasoned "I can't let a poor chibi like you to fend for himself in this world illiterate!"

His bewilderment morphed into slight irritation, but I kept on. This was amusing.

"I'm not so cruel as to leave you alone and defenseless like a stray dog"

"Why you-"

"No, not to worry!" I continued "After all, who better than I to teach such a poor pathetic little dog"

"I'm just gonna have Kouyou teach me" he deadpanned before standing and walking toward the arcade entrance.

"Chuuyaaa!"

"No!" he argued "You're being a dick!"

"I didn't mean anything by it" I countered, taking his hands in mine "I just like seeing Chuuya get irritated"

"Huh?" he asked, quite confused "Why?"

I smiled, closing my eyes and tilting my head to seem more innocent.

"Because Chuuya's so cute when his face gets all scrunchy!"

And with that I ran out of the arcade, a very angry Chuuya trailing after me. I don't care though. Chuuya isn't sad anymore.

Chuuya finally caught up with me after only a minute. For such a tiny boy, he sure is quite fast. After a string of insults and very unsavory words, we arrived at Kouyou's house.

"You're coming inside?!" He asked when I followed him through the front door.

"Of course" I replied "I need to teach you to read and there is no better time than now to start"

"Chuuya, dear" a warm, motherly voice called from the kitchen "are you home?"

"Yeah" Chuuya replied "I'm home! And I brought..."

He paused, staring at me for a few seconds and racking his brain for the correct term to describe our current relationship.

"...a friend?"

Kouyou walked out from the kitchen and into the livingroom where Chuuya and I were still standing.

"Oh!" she exclaimed upon noticing me "Osamu, how nice to see you here"

"You too" I responded "How is Kyouka doing?"

"Well and happy as ever"

I nodded in response, and she turned her attention to Chuuya.

"How was it?" she asked, no doubt referring to his first day at school.

"Overwhelming at first" he answered "but I met a few people and even reunited with an old friend"

"That's good to here" she said with a smile.

"Well!" Kouyou said, clapping her hands together "Dinner will be done in a little less than an hour, and I'm sure the two of you have homework to do"

She placed a gentle hand on the top of Chuuya's head "Why don't you take Osamu up to your room and the two of you can knock out any work you have before then"

Chuuya nodded and ushered me to follow him up the set of wooden stairs and into his bedroom. It was quite homey. The furniture and bedding went together nicely, and everything was neat and organized. But the nicest part of it was that you could tell that Chuuya lived in it.

His shelves were filled with books and graphic novels, his walls were decorated with posters and his ceiling was littered with glow in the dark stars. His bedside table, however, stood out the most. Only two objects, a doll and a framed picture. An even smaller Chuuya was hugging a young Atsushi in front of a convention of sorts.