"Stop playing with it!" Dazai whined "You're gonna mess it up!"
"Oh shut up, it feels nice!" I retorted "Besides, if it does come undone, you can just braid it again"
"Hm?" he smirked "Seems to me that Chuuya's looking for an excuse for me to pamper him again"
I threw his uniform shirt at his face, which he caught. He laughed and began neatly folding it to put in his backpack.
He finally finished packing his stuff to go back home. I told him that he could keep the clothes I gave him.
"Hey" he said, catching my attention "If Kouyou's alright with it, of course, would you wanna come over to my house?"
I thought for a second, then shrugged my shoulders indifferently.
"Sure" I replied "why not?"
His eyes lit up for a split second, before returning to their normal state.
"Great" he smiled "best pack a bag in case you're there for too long"
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my small bag. I neatly placed my school uniform in, then added some pyjama clothing as well as a few hygiene products, like toothpaste and deoderant.
After I was all packed, I went downstairs where Kouyou was reading in the livingroom.
"Kouyou?"
She looked up from her book "What is it, dear?"
"Umm" I hesitated "Would-would it be alright if I-umm..."
C'mon, Chuuya! It's a simple question!
'Can I stay over at Dazai's?'
Why is it so hard for me to say?!
"If uhh"
"Would it be okay with you if Chuuya stayed at my place?"
"Oh" Kouyou exclaimed "Of course it's alright"
She turned to me, giving me a gentle smile "Chuuya, dear, you don't need to worry about asking me such things. I promise, so long as it's a reasonable request, my answer will rarely ever be 'no'"
I nodded, thanking Kouyou before going back up the stairs to retrieve my bag. Once inside, I slapped my face to my palm.
"What the hell was that?" I whispered harshly to myself "It was a simple question and you just couldn't get it out of your damn mouth"
"Hey~!"
Dazai came sauntering into my room, a big dopey grin on his face.
"Hi" I grumbled.
"Hm?" he tilted his head to the side "What's the matter, Chuuya?"
"Nothing"
Dazai moved in front of me and stared at me for a few seconds before poking my nose.
"Chuuya sure lies a lot" he said.
"Huh?" I rubbed my nose a bit "No I don't"
"He did it again!" Dazai whined.
"Why are you referring to me in the third person?" I asked confused.
"Why are you lying about how you feel?" he responded.
"You can't answer my question with another question!"
"But Chuuya's sad" he said wrapping his arms around me in a constricting hug "He knows I don't like when he's sad"
"I'm not sad, asshole!" I snapped "Now let go, you're crushing me!"
Dazai finally let go of me, but he kept his hands on my shoulders.
"Can Chuuya tell me what's bothering him?"
"Why are you talking like that?"
He smiled "Because it's annoying Chuuya"
I groaned at his childishness "I'm not sad" I pushed his hands away "Just frustrated, I think"
"You think?"
I shrugged "I've never really been too tapped into my own emotions" I said "so, yeah, 'I think'"
"Why are you frustrated?"
God, he's persistent.
"Maybe the fact that I couldn't ask a simple question two minutes ago?" I said matter of factly "Or did you suddenly forget needing to speak for me?"
Dazai waved his hand dismissively "You're just not used to asking for things, it's no biggie"
"I guess..."
"Gosh" he sighed "You get upset about about such little things"
"I didn't feel little" I grumbled.
"Maybe because your brain is too tiny to properly see what a big problem really is" he placed his finger on his chin "So little problems look like big problems"
"Don't call me stupid"
"I didn't" he defended "I only said that your brain doesn't know how to properly differentiate a big problem with a little problem because all problems look big to it"
"Whatever" I said "Let's get going before I change my mind and kick you to the curb"
"How rude" he pointed "I was only trying to help"
"No need" I said harsher than I meant to "I'm alright-really"
I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out my bedroom door. Dazai rushed after me, and pushed past me on our way down the stairs.
"Hey!"
"You don't know the way to my house!" he called from the bottom of the stairs "Silly Chuuya~!"
"You won't be able to make it to your house when I break your legs in just a minute!" I shout after him "Get back here!"
I chase Dazai down the street, taking occasional turns here and there until he finally stops.
His house is nice.
It's a little smaller than Kouyou's, and it didn't look anything like the ones in the story hooks, but it was nice. The dark, oaky brown, the stone garden in front, the iron gate standing before the large wooden door. It all felt like Dazai lived there.
A tall man sat out front, lazily seated on a wicker backed chair. He stood up with a smile upon seeing Dazai.
"Hey Oda!" Dazai called out "Chuuya's staying over if that's okay"
I jammed my elbow into his side "Ask properly, idiot"
The man-Oda-laughed at this and waved a single, dismissive hand.
"Its alright-I don't mind a bit"
Dazai grabbed me by the wrist and took off toward the front door. I heard a laugh from Oda as Dazai dragged me past him, into the main room of the house.
Dazai stopped and let go of my wrist before throwing his arms open, dramatically gesturing to the house.
"This is my house" he said with a toothy grin.
I couldn't help but let out a sigh "We could have just walked inside"
"Nah" Dazai mocked "that's boring"
"Who's this?"
Dazai and I turned our heads toward a small voice. A girl no older than Kyouka was standing by the stairs-a glass of water in her hands.
Dazai wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me against him "This is Chuuya"
"Chuuya" he gestured toward the girl "this is my little sister, Gin"
I awkwardly waved. She let out a small, quiet laugh and waved back before treading up the stairs.
"Come on" Dazai said, pulling me toward the stairs.
He brought me to the base of the stairs and let go of my arm. I went to take a step, and my feet completely left the ground.
"What the!-Dazai!!!"
Dazai had picked me up princess style and just bolted up the stairs. I obviously did not trust him not to drop me, so my arms were wrapped securely around his neck.
"Put me down, jackass" I pushed myself out of his grip as soon as we reached the top of the stairs.
He dropped his arms and I fell to the ground.
"Why are you like this" I grumbled, standing back up and dusting myself off.
He just shrugged his shoulders "Why not?"
I think my eyes rolled so hard, I nearly saw my own brain. This guy is just ridiculous.
He lead the way to a black door at the end of the hallway. He opened the door with a dramatic flourish to reveal his (and I think akutagawa's) room.
It was nice. Like-really nice.
The whole room had this really cool dark acedamia style-with stained wood bed frames and matching dressers and vanities. It was clear which of the two beds belonged to Dazai. With one being nearly made-not a wrinkled in sight-, and the other looking like it was dropped from three stories high.
I went over to Dazai's bed and sat down, crossing my legs underneath me.
"Your room is nice" I said.
He smiled a little "Thank you" he said "It's actually-"
"Osamu"
Oda peeked out behind the doorframe. He was holding his phone, but his other hand was cupped over the microphone part. He spoke quietly, like he was saying something the other person wasn't supposed to hear.
Dazai immediately stiffened. It was only for a split second, but I saw it.
"It's-"
"I don't want to talk to him" Dazai interupted "Just tell him I'm at someone's house or something"
"Please" he added after a short pause.
Oda nodded and left. I heard a small snippet of the slightly muffled conversation.
"He's staying with a friend...No, I don't...He said he's going to be spending the night..."
Dazai was still staring at the doorframe. His arms were crossed in front of him, but I could see the slight tremor in his hands.
Who is that on the phone?
And why does Dazai seem so scared of them?