Expectations // Soukoku

1 // The way it goes

He walked back to his bedroom, through his small messy apartment, he didn't have time to clean it, not that it mattered to him anyway, he could live with the mess.

His bedroom was rather boring, school and other books were scattered on the wooden floor, along with pencils, erasers and a few papers.

The walls had no posters, paintings, or anything.

After putting on some decent clothing, he sat down on the floor, in a small space where there were no books, he didn't care if he sat on a paper, they weren't as important.

He grabbed a book and a pencil.

Doing some extra tasks could gain him bonus points, so that's what he did.

He was utterly bored.

He wished he could lay down.

He wished he could cry and let it out.

He wished he didn't have to work and study all the time.

He wished he could stop.

But he couldn't. And that's just the way it goes.

He did tasks until it was time. Time to leave for school.

Dazai grabbed his bag and walk out of his apartment, to the school.

While he waited for the bell to ring so he could go to class, he eyed the people around him. Some were talking with friends, some were on their phones, some were reading, etc. He just stood there, watching them, as he tried to keep the fake smile on his face as usual.

His eyes landed on a small group of people that were yelling, supposedly, they were arguing. His theory was confirmed when one of them angrily started walking away, his arms crossed over his chest.

The male was rather short from what he could see, he had ginger hair and blue eyes. He supposed was alright looking.

Not that he liked other men. He couldn't like other men. They wouldn't let him be with another man. He had to get married to a successful and beautiful woman, that's what they had planned for him, that's what they expected from him.

The ginger stopped on his tracks, looking around. He probably was unsure of where to go. As his head turned to Dazai's direction, he could get a bit better look at his dace, since he wasn't standing too far. He had to admit, even if the boy's head turned to another direction almost as soon as it had turned to his, from what he could see, he really was alright looking.

He shook his head. No, what was he even thinking about?

Soon, a sudden realisation hit him, it probably looked like he was staring. It wasn't like that at all, right? He just had to look away before he was caught, or the shortie could get the wrong idea. And so, he turned his head away, his heart beating fast, just hoping that it would be confirmed that he wasn't caught.

He heard steps, someone was nearing him.

"Hey, you!" He heard a voice say before him. Since he didn't talk to other people unless needed to, he only got to know who it was once he turned his head. It was the short guy who had been a part of the argument.

"Mind your own business. And stop looking at me like a creep! Who even are you anyway- actually, I don't care." Said the ginger in an annoyed tone.

Dazai didn't know what to say. It took him a moment before he managed to come up with something. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. Silly me gazing off to the distance. Sorry, shortie", was what he managed to say after almost ten seconds of awkward silence. A fake smile was on his face as usual.

"Sure, whatever."

The ginger turned around, hands in his pockets. "And don't call me a shortie, I'm still growing." He was ready to walk away, until: "How long are you without that hat anyway? Are you even allowed to wear it in school?" That was the biggest mistake he could have made.

Before Dazai could even react he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, he had been punched.

The boy grabbed Dazai by his collar and glared at him. "I said, I'm still growing!" He yelled.

Honestly, the punch wasn't a big deal. He hated pain but was used to it by now. He just raised his arms in the air. "Sorry, sorry. It came out ruder than it was supposed to, I apologise." He just wanted to get out of this mess.

His collar was released as the boy ran his hand through his hair.

"Sorry, I overreacted. I'll make it up to you." He let go of Dazai's collar.

"I don't know if I have time-" He tried to say.

"What about the weekend?"

He sighed, so there was no way out then, huh? "Saturday is fine I guess."

The boy nodded, clearly thinking of how he was supposed to make it up. "How about we go to the mall and I'll buy you one thing you want? Don't expect anything expensive though!"

The offer didn't sound too bad at all, maybe the brunet could even get a new book. Maybe even one he could actually read for his own enjoyment, or maybe he should just get one for studying, should he even get a book? "Yeah, sounds okay."

"I'm Nakahara Chuuya, by the way. Just thought it would be rude not to introduce myself." Chuuya offered his hand for Dazai to shake, at least he had some kind of manners.

Shūji (/Shuuji, suit yourself) Tsushima, that was his real name, the name he had been given by his parents at birth, but not the name he wanted to be called by anyone aside from his family. He didn't want to be acknowledged as the son of Gen'emon Tsushima, so used the name Osamu Dazai, he preferred the name anyway. "Dazai Osamu." He grabbed Chuuya's hand, giving it a shake, before immediately letting go.

"I'll give you details on Saturday later. Don't think this means we are friends or something."

"Don't worry, I don't need someone like you as a friend."

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Finished: 17/5/2019