Dazai was the first to awake from his unfamiliar peaceful slumber, he yawned quietly, stretching his arms out and then rubbing his eyes tiredly, looking at Chuuya fondly, who was sleeping peacefully sprawled out on the entire bed -Chuuya did that when he slept, he spread himself out as if he was a starfish- it was rather amusing and quite cute.
Dazai then rather reluctantly got out of bed, turning on the heating as he made his way to the bathroom to wash up.
He walked into the, now, warm kitchen, he knew Chuuya would want some wine when he woke up, after all the smaller drank wine every chance he could get (even if he had little alcohol tolerance) Dazai wouldn't be surprised if the angry male drank more wine than water throughout his whole life, let alone a day, so Dazai, as a small thank you for his previous partner's actions the other night, decided to go buy some wine.
Dazai didn't bother to change out of his pyjamas and instead opted to put on his usual brown coat, covering the majority of his sleepwear, he then wrapped Chuuya's scarf around his neck.
He strolled contently towards the store, humming a love song he couldn't remember the name of, not noticing the fact people were staring at him, thinking he was odd for still having his pyjamas on, especially in November on a cold chilly morning.
He was too busy thinking about how he could nag Chuuya when he gets back for being so kind to him, with a slight sly smile on his face, although when he thought about it if it meant that's he'd have to sleep on the couch again his best option would be to keep his mouth shut -though he didn't want to.
Meanwhile Chuuya awoke, in an empty bed, he wasn't surprised, but that didn't stop him from feeling slightly disappointed, hoping for some odd reason that he could have seen Dazai's sleeping face or at least him pretending to sleep. Curiously he got up and went to see if Dazai was in the living room, expecting to see him in the kitchen or sitting on the couch reading his book or listening to music, but he wasn't. Chuuya stood for a second, confused. He blinked and then rubbed his eyes, to make sure he was seeing properly but unsurprisingly Dazai didn't just reappear. Chuuya trudged, to the bathroom with a small and confused pout then shut the door feeling incredibly irritated, then proceeded to shower.
Only minutes after Chuuya got in the shower Dazai then returned, he could hear tranquil humming and the splashing of water on the shower floor, it was Chuuya. Dazai walked back to the kitchen, placing the wine on the counter. He then rummaged through the rest of the bag, pulling two glasses of wine, they had small snowflakes and ice drawn delicately on them in a deep icy blue, which remind the brunette of Chuuya's eyes, so, naturally, without a second thought, he bought them, even though he knew his wallet was going to hate him later on. Dazai carefully opened the bottle, making sure as little sound as possible was made, he poured himself about half a glass ( he usually didn't like wine but he had tested this in-store and it was actually very good).
He then poured some for Chuuya filling the delicate cup about three-quarters full. He then sat himself down on the couch, legs crossed over, his back leaning into the corner of it, the pillow and blanket from last night now sitting at the opposite end folded and stacked neatly. Dazai took his book about suicide placing it promptly into his right hand while using his left to hold his glass of wine, taking occasional sips from it, sometimes also swirling it around, his eyes periodically glancing at the cup as the blue snowflakes and red wine merged, making them appear like a deep purple.
Chuuya walked out of the bathroom again, still dressed in his pyjamas, although he did look much more refreshed than before, he halted, his eyes widening momentarily at the sight of the taller sitting on the couch.
"Where'd you go?" Chuuya asked crossing his arms, his foot tapping lightly on the wood of the floor, Dazai couldn't help but think he looked like a mother scolding her child. Dazai hummed and then pointed towards the counter, not bothering to turn around to look at him.
Chuuya turned his gaze towards the counter, eyes widening again, it was definitely a surprise to see a bottle of wine sitting there ever so beautifully, next to a cup full of it too,
"You're kidding." Chuuya spoke with an exasperated look on his face, skipping towards it as quickly as possible. He then halted abruptly, picking it up and sniffed it, eyeing it suspiciously, no one could blame him though Dazai was, and always had been, sly. However Chuuya was aware of the alteration in the taller man's personality, he had been witness to it as of late, yet it baffled him as to why it was occurring.
"Did you put something dogey in it? Poison? Bleach? Or some sort of drug?" Chuuya questioned with raised eyebrows, Dazai chuckled
"Maybe aphrodisiac." The brunet replied casually as if it was a normal thing to say, although, for Dazai who had been in the Mafia and Chuuya who was still in the Mafia, this wasn't that unusual. That nevertheless didn't stop Chuuya from feeling dumbstruck, blindly believing the brunet, much like he always did. The ginger blinked, confused for a second until he felt his nerves click in again.
"What, your kidding you crazy basta-"
"I was joking, slug. It's perfectly fine." The brunet interrupted now turned around, his expression bore a calm smile, lifting his own cup to show that he was also drinking it.
Chuuya wondered if he should trust that face, Dazai was just as good at lying and manipulation as he was at being the biggest and most annoying idiot on the planet -no, the whole universe. But then again Dazai was no longer the same person he was before. Chuuya sniffed once more then took a small sip, he swished it around his mouth before swallowing it, he knew if Dazai did anything to it, it would start affecting him later but he didn't taste anything weird, it just tasted like his sweet, beautiful, precious, wine. Content with his decision, he shrugged, taking the bottle and the glass with him as he plopped himself on the heated floor next to the radiator, letting himself relax and melt into the radiator's heat. Dazai couldn't help but think the smaller boy mimicked the behaviour of a cat, the thought made him smile faintly.
They sat in silence, Dazai reading and Chuuya watching him in near stupor while sipping on his wine every so often. This continued for a good forty minutes, when all of a sudden Dazai got up, placing his book down and his empty glass of wine on the table. He walked towards Chuuya, sitting down directly in front of him, in the position of a teddy bear, his long legs plopped on either side of Chuuya, who was sitting with the heels of his feet pressed up to his crotch, his knees awkwardly spread out over Dazai's longer ones. His already apparent frown, only got bigger, as they began looking at each other.
"What? Come to wish your good riddance's now that you've successfully poisoned me or something?" Chuuya took another aggressive and angry gulp of his wine, closing both of his eyes, then opening another to peep at Dazai
"No, actually. I'm starving" the younger huffed, yet another thing to baffle Chuuya, Dazai was asking for food. The surprise made him respond a lot harsher than he intended
"Okay?? What am I supposed to do about it? I don't care. Starve." Dazai pouted
"Chuuuuu~ that's meannnnn" Dazai whined, the latter rolled his eyes mumbling a small whatever, his cheeks slightly flushed
"Can we go to this café I really like? I promise it's nice and warm." Dazai asked with a pout, his head tilted, Chuuya's face got impossibly redder, Dazai noticed but decided to believe that it was the alcohol's fault.
Chuuya considered it, he was a little hungry as well and he barely went to eat out, considering Mori seemed to take pleasure in overworking him, that, and despite what he said, he didn't really want Dazai to starve, he had seen Dazai forget to eat in the past, come to think of it, Chuuya had rarely seen Dazai eat in the first place and if he happened to eat it usually wasn't a lot. Now, with his mind made up, he placed his wine glass down with a sigh
"Whatever. fine, let's go."
"Yay!!" Dazai smiled brightly pursing his lips to -jokingly- kiss the smaller. Chuuya pushed him away his face reddening, even more, nose scrunching up in apparent abhor.
"Eww, do not get your fuckboy lips anywhere near me. If you do I'll throw you out the window"
Dazai's expression glowed, similarly to what happened when they first saw each other after four years, making Chuuya click his tongue.
"Oh please do proceed, hat-wrack."
Dazai replied, Chuuya rolled his eyes forgetting that threatening someone with death when their hobby is suicide was ridiculously stupid. He got up and walked towards the bedroom
"On second thought I'll make sure you never find a way to commit suicide with a woman then." Chuuya spoke, turning around with a smirk tugging at the edges of his lips, as he placed his hand on his hip causing his ginger hair to bounce in response to his movement.
Dazai felt his heart combust, a small blush evident on his cheeks 'damn he's attractive', Dazai thought to himself, not really caring that he was staring a bit too much. He eyed Chuuya's body until he knew he was being suspicious and finally he looked away.
"Well I'll try not to grace you with my beautiful lips anytime soon then Dazai replied
"I don't know about later though." He mumbled
"What?"
"Nothing~" the younger replied airily, Chuuya squinted at him then closed the door to get changed.
Around two minutes passed when Dazai suddenly remembered something. He walked towards the bedroom, he cracked it open and then turned around, pushing it open with the back of his foot. If he saw Chuuya naked, he'd probably get punched in the balls, he did want to see the small ginger boy naked but decided the life of his privates mattered more than his libido.
"You know Chuuya,~ you never even thanked me for the wine and the glasses and the heating being on."
Dazai started, Chuuya jumped in surprise, using his jumper to cover his insecurities. His free hands already scrunching up into a fist, ready to punch the taller for being in the same room as him while he was changing, yet Dazai was standing with his back towards him, leaning against the door frame, he relaxed, and sighed, fumbling slightly with his jumper feeling thankful that Dazai was respecting him and his privacy. Chuuya felt guilty, he just couldn't bring himself to say anything nice.
"As if I'd ever thank you. " Dazai gasped dramatically placing his hand on his heart as if he had just been shot
"So mean~." Chuuya rolled his eyes and didn't reply, so Dazai left and waited patiently outside.
Chuuya emerged from the shared bedroom now finally dressed, he wasn't wearing his work attire, but instead comfortable clothing, just a simple white turtleneck and blue jeans. His face was slightly pink as he walked out, knowing that Dazai hadn't seen him dressed normally in a long time, his wardrobe since then had changed too, he wore nice sophisticated clothes that were also comfortable too, though he still liked the shabby sort of style he used to wear on the occasion. Dazai eyed the smaller male, every atom in his body wanted to go and hold him and kiss him and maybe squeeze the life out of him and say how adorable he is, but he couldn't, even if he was dying too.
Dazai too went to go change, meanwhile, Chuuya resumed to where he was before, pouring himself some more wine, only this time though he only filled a quarter of the cup up and the plopped himself in his former seat next to the radiator, patiently waiting for his suicidal partner to get dressed.
The brunet emerged from the bedroom, the older looked up with his usual frown, only for it to turn into a small 'o' shape as he stared up at the male. Dazai wore white skinny jeans, with a red fluffy jumper, the neck on the jumper sat relatively low, so you could see a lot of Dazai's bandages, it almost looked as if he was trying to impersonate a sexy suicidal Santa. Chuuya looked at the Dazai with wide eyes, he could feel his heart beating excitedly in his ribs almost threatening to jump out of his body, 'he looks really good....' Chuuya thought to himself and then cleared his throat as he stood up, scratching the back of his neck.
"let's go, you've wasted enough time" Dazai smiled, masking his curiosity; following the smaller towards the door.
They put their shoes and coats on in silence until Chuuya reached to grab his hat only for it not to be there, he turned angrily towards Dazai already more than aware of where his precious hat was
"Give me my damn hat" Dazai hummed in amusement, lifting his arm so Chuuya couldn't reach it, this was way too much fun.
Chuuya jumped up to try and grab it, but of course, compared to the giant that was Dazai and the below-average height Chuuya was blessed with, he couldn't reach.
"Now what was it that you said eight years ago again? Oh! Right. I'm only fifteen I have time to grow" Dazai spoke with a smirk, he knew Chuuya could just use his ability to grab his hat, Chuuya instead decided to kick Dazai in the shins.
"Just cause I don't have lanky arms and legs doesn't mean I'm short"
Chuuya retaliated
"Last time I checked five foot seven was the average height for Japanese men" Dazai remarked, smugness laced in his voice, it made Chuuya want to hit him so badly. 'I guess some things don't change', Chuuya thought begrudgingly to himself
"Whatever! Make fun of me more, damn low life! Stupid bandage wasting device" Chuya chided, turning on his heel abruptly, as he began to walk out of the hotel. Dazai followed from behind, after closing the door, sprinting to catch up with Chuuya, 'for someone who has short legs he sure is fast' Dazai thought, finally caught up, walking side by side.
"Chuuya look at me" Dazai spoke, his voice coated with a sweet softness as if it was icing on a gingerbread house. Chuuya despite being the stubborn type couldn't help it, he looked at him with no further consideration, though he did want to punch himself internally for succumbing to Dazai's charm
Chuuya was met with a soft smile and a pair of chocolate brown eyes, staring down at him, he huffed again.
"What do you want?" He asked harshly, even though right now he felt unbelievably mushy, so much so it made him want to jump in front of a car.
Dazai said nothing, simply removing his hands from his back and placing, what he considered a very ugly hat onto Chuuya's head, although Chuuya made the hat look incredibly beautiful
"Just an early Christmas present" Dazai replied softly. Both their faces were red as they looked each other in the eyes, the cold air biting at the tips of their noses and the side of their ears and noses, yet despite that the coldness that surrounded them, the atmosphere was a warm, in a matter of seconds they managed to create such an insignificantly beautiful and rare moment between the two of them, one where their feelings seemed to seep out of them, Chuuya smiled brightly up at Dazai his eyes closed his cheeks and the tip of his nose pink
"Thank you."
The two walked in comfortable silence, close to one another, elbows touching pleasantly, faces red and hearts beating fast, the cold air that would have normally affected them, didn't even bother them, it wasn't even noticeable.
They reached the cafe in around ten minutes; the moment they opened the door the smell of cookies and chocolate filled their nostrils. Walking up to the counter, their eyes panned up towards the the menu to see what to buy, what they fancied and how much Dazai would have to empty his wallet for Chuuya -again. The ginger stood by Dazai eyes glued to the menu board until he got distracted by excited giggling from a small boy to his side. Chuuya noticed a woman who was presumably his mother. The cashier handed the boy a small plate full of powered jam doughtnuts, he smiled his youthful features glowing almost as brightly as the various Christmas lights that hung adequately around the cafe.
He let go of his mothers hand, skipping over to a table where his sister sat. The woman thanked the cashier pulling a tray with three hot chocolates, one for her and the other two for her children. They looked delicious, with whipped cream on the top, additionally it was covered in small pink and white fluffy marshmallows and smooth chocolate sauce drizzled all over the top of it. Chuuya had never seen such a delicious looking hot chocolate in his twenty-three years of living.
Chuuya gulped, he wanted that hot chocolate and those doughnuts too, but he knew if he bought them Dazai wouldn't let him live this down, calling him a child for the rest of his life, it didn't help that -admittedly, he was also small. He clicked his tongue, turning around in frustration.
"Buy me whatever you want."
Dazai sighed with a smile and a shake of his head, turning around to order.
Once he ordered he stood by the counter admiring the cafe for a little, waiting for the food to be ready. It didn't take very long and once they were done Dazai thanked the cashier, before going to find Chuuya, unsurprisingly he sat next to the radiator, head leaning on his hand, staring out the window, the white turtle neck he wore made him look really cozy, Dazai never took his eyes off him as he walked towards him.
The detective walked up to the table placing the tray on it, taking his jacket off and placing it on the chair, he took his seat opposite Chuuya ,who finally turned his attention away from the window and towards the tray of food, his eyes widened, puffing his red cheeks out without realising. Dazai had gotten two hot chocolates and some doughnuts too.
"how'd you know?" Chuuya asked, softly, creeping his hand towards the hot choloclate slowly pulling it towards himself, wrapping both his hands around it, his cold nimble fingers absorbing the warmth, his cheeks were dusted with pink as he loooked down at the hot chocolate
"you're easy to read, chibi" Dazai responded, with a shrug. Chuuya huffed even though he looked annoyed, he felt light and slightly sick, a feeling he hated almost as much as he loved. He wasn't really sure what this feeling was, he had never felt it before -or maybe he had but never fully payed any attention to it.
He took a sip of his hot chocolate, deciding it was better if he just forgot about it, deeming it as a problem for later. As he lowered the cup, he had involuntarily gotten cream on his nose, his eyes followed the bridge of his nose downwards, eyeing the dollop of cream, creating a cute expression on his face. Dazai laughed grabbing a tissue, wiping it off his nose, Chuuy's eyes widened before glancing at the taller male, his heart beat increasing alarmingly quickly, he froze for a second, the unknown foreign feeling was beginning to annoy him so he looked way, grabbing a doughnut aggressively
"you're acting different, slug" Chuuya frowned, his vein popping at the nickname,
"Your one to talk, you're a completely different person from a year ago"
Chuuya retaliated, looking carefully at the taller.
"Its kinda fucking weird, you're being nice.....maybe a little too nice. I mean, don't get me wrong, you're still an annoying piece of shit but you're as nice as you are a shit. You used to just be a shit all the time." Chuuya replied. Dazai cocked an eyebrow, taking a donut off the plate.
"So is it bothering you? I can be annoying old suicide obsessed me again, if you want me to."
Chuuya shook his head aggressively,
"NO! I already can't stand you as it is, I don't need fifteen to eighteen year old you again" Dazai chuckled, then turned to look towards the window. To be honest he didn't really regret his younger self, but it certanly didn't bring back any good memories maybe other than drinking at bar Lupin with Odasaku and Ango and obviously meeting and toying around with Chuuya.
The two were now sitting in silence enjoying the pleasant atmosphere of the cafe, Dazai mostly payed attention to the conversations around him, not cause he was nosy, but mostly cause the had nothing better to do (staring at Chuuya was an option, yet he decided once again that, for the sake of his safety, he better not). The two sparked occasional conversations here and there, but it was never obnoxious, sitting in silence for the two of them was seldom seen but actually quite therapeutic.
The younger had his eyes glued to the window, enjoying the view of fluffy soft snow hitting the ground. He felt slightly agitated out of nowhere but didn't think to much of it.
His attention only got snatched when he heard small sniffles, he turned his head towards Chuuya. The male crying and shaking, while wiping his unstoppable tears away, his face wore an expression of shock and extreme sadness, one Dazai had never seen.
Dazai's immediate instinct was to go and hug the smaller, but he knew better than that so he leaned his body forward, tilting his head slightly, his hair falling over his face
"Chibi? You okay? Why are you crying?" Dazai asked, focusing intently on the male
"I- i dont know, I just suddenly started crying, I-I don't even feel sad or scared, it's like my body's doing it on its own, p-plus y-you don't look too good yourself, s-so don't make f-fun of me " Chuuya said in between disoriented sobs, Dazai took a moment to realise that he was shaking too, his eyes where teary, sweat was dripping down the side of his face, his face was covered in dread, sadness, despair and if you looked close enough, disappointment and betrayal. These feelings filled every inch of his body, he tried to move his leg to make it so that it stopped shaking but instead it awkwardly brushed against Chuuya's.
That's when Dazai suddenly noticed that his shaking slowed, even if it was ever so slightly, he blinked a few times in confusion then tested again, brushing his leg against the gingers again, making it seem like an accident, yet again his shaking slowed and by the looks of it so did Chuuya's, although when the brunet looked at him, it seemed it was so minuscule that he didn't notice. Dazai sighed, embarrassed, as he grasped a small understanding of the situation they were in.
He grabbed Chuuya's hand, sliding his fingers into the gingers, clasping onto it tightly, their hand now intertwined, over the top of the table, Dazai only now noticing how delicate and pretty Chuuya's hands were
"w-what are you doing?" Chuuya spoke raising his voice ever so slightly, but Dazai didn't need to answer, Chuuya had already figured it out. His crying began to slow, all the negative emotions he had before had been replaced with the feeling off comfort and safety. His shaking slowly decreased too, his previously tear stained face was now covered in a pretty red.
"what kind of bullshitery is this?" Chuuya whispered, eyeing Dazai suspiciously, but not pulling his hands away
"from the looks of it, it's an ability"
Dazai responded, Chuuya's face was so red, if you had bad vision you migth have mistaken it for his hair.
"so what does this have to with holding hands??" Chuuya repeated, aggravated, Dazai shrugged with a huff
"I don't know the details, but my guess is it probably has something to do with fears....maybe nightmares, something related to them at the very least" Dazai responded looking at Chuuya with that serious face, that reminded him all too much of the brunet's mafia days, he didn't like it especially now that he had been around a light and cheerful Dazai so to lighten the atmosphere he joked around
"The suicidal maniac has a biggest fear!?!what is it huh? mackerel."
Chuuya smirked, but it only seemed to make the atmosphere even more tense
"I don't want to tell you, Chuuya."
The younger replied his face darkening, Dazai's refusal to tell him made the ginger want to know even more, it was hard to believe someone like Dazai had a fear let alone one that would make him shake and cry and sweat.
Dazai had a dark and incredibly sad look on his face, the feeling of wanting to taunt Dazai had dispersed, causing Chuuya to subconsciously tighten his grip onto Dazai's hand, he didn't like how he looked frightened, Dazai never looked frightened.
The anxious squeeze from Chuuya's hand, snapped Dazai out of his dark state of mind, he looked at Chuuya, who wasn't looking in his direction
"Sorry, hat rack," he spoke sincerely giving Chuuya's hands a tight squeeze, he smiled and this time, it was a soft reassuring one, maybe it was just Chuuya's imagination but his cheeks seemed to have a little pink to them. Chuuya analysed the man and the situation, realising that they probably looked an awful lot like a couple, he felt his insides churn with that same foreign feeling again and then realised that his hands where still intertwined with Dazai's, he snatched his hands away, standing up abruptly
"I- I'm going to the bathroom I don't want your germs on me! Stupid waste of bandages!" My Chuuya stomped away, into the bathroom, shutting the door loudly, throwing himself dramatically on the sink.
He looked into the mirror, his face was red, eyes wide and glossy. He splashed water onto his face, thinking he was just warm, but when he looked into the mirror again, his expression was still the same. He huffed, thinking for a moment, then frantically searched for his phone yanking it clumsily out of his pocket, then hesitantly pressed a call to one of his....friends? Well not really, more like a friend of a friend.
"Hello?" A familiar voice spoke on the other end
"Akwutagwa? Why have you got the man-tiger's phone?" Chuuyas asked, whilst looking in the mirror at his reflection
"Jinko's climbing a tree." The stoic man on the other side of the phone replied, Chuuya raised an eyebrow.
"Pfft- why?"
"I don't really know, he just said he wanted to, I feel like I'm taking care of a three year old" Akutagawa sighed although Chuuya could sense a smile behind his voice
"You don't seem to be hating it though" Chuuya remarked? amused, there was a moment of silence
"W-whatever, what do you need Chuuya-san?" Akutagawa spoke clearing his throat,
"I need help with something and I need Atsushi for it"
"Can't I help you with it?"Akutagawa asked with a slight pout, he didn't need Chuuya to dote Atsushi like Dazai did.
"It's about feelings." There was silence for a moment followed by an awkward cough
"Right....OI JINKO YOU'VE GOT A PHONE CALL!" Chuuya heard bits and pieces from Atsushi in the background, like "oh okay", "throw me my phone up" and the most shocking of all " Ryuu", Chuuya blinked in confusion, Ryuu? Since when did Akutagawa let Atsushi call him that?
"Hello?"
"Hey man-tiger it's Chuuya"
"Oh, Chuuya-San what's up?" Atsushi replied, more causally than he was expecting
"I- I need your help with something..." Chuuya mumbled cautiously
"Go on...." The agency member bribed and Chuuya hesitated for a moment,
"Well- uhhh it's about... how do I put it? Feelings?" He heard shuffling and the rustling of trees,
"It's about Dazai-San isn't it?" Atsushi asked, totally not surpised, as he recalled the conversation him and Dazai had the other day.
"H-hey! How'd you know!??" Atsushi began to chuckle
"You're both just as hopeless as each other" Chuuya felt a vein pop, he couldn't help but think that Dazai was rubbing off on the previously respectful tiger, well at least that's how Akutagawa described him recently.
"You're one to talk" Chuuya responded, well aware about Akutagawa and Atsushi's own issues.
"Touchè."
Chuuya huffed leaning over the side of the sink
"You like someone right?" Chuuya asked, he knew who it was, but he decided he wouldn't make the younger man confess to it on the phone with him.
"Uhhh yeah more or less, it's complicated" The silver haired male replied, nervously,
"Then....then what's it like to like some one? what does it feel like?"
Chuuya spoke dangling his head down, completely embarrassed that he was asking something like this, especially to an Agency member.
"Well it depends on the person and their relationship with that person too, some people don't feel anything around the person they like, they just know they feel happy around them. Others feel fluffy when something sweet happens whilst others are a total mess the whole time."
Atsushi spoke, using his pointer finger to do little bobbing motions as he was explaining.
"So- so then what about me? What am I like?" Chuuya felt like an idiot asking that, seeing as he and Atsushi had spoken sparingly to each other with the Dostoevsky incident.
"Well~ I don't know you too well but I know, more or less, what your relationship with Dazai is like, since he's mentioned you a few times. And I know Dazai pretty well, also have to add the fact Dazai said you're a tsundere-"
"bloody bastard." Chuuya interrupted irritatingly, Atsushi let out a small laugh before continuing
"Well since you've known Dazai for a while, you probably feel very comfortable around him, but you do look like the type who gets flustered easily so you're probably one of those people who gets really mushy and happy when the other does something sweet." Chuuya nodded, thinking back to his actions previously, he glanced down at his feet, realising that what Atsushi was saying was entirely accurate.
"I do act like that, especially with how the idiot has been acting lately....So...then...do I like that bastard then?" Chuuya questioned his voice wavering at the end
"Sounds like it." Chuuya felt as if he was going to melt into a puddle. Him? Liking Dazai? The person he was certain he hated his whole life? It was weird but Chuuya didn't feel annoyed by admiring to it, in fact he felt almost as if it felt right to say that, natural even.
"Mmmf fine, I guess...." Chuuya mumbled, thankful for Atsushi's help when he suddenly remembered, the incident that had just happened.
"Oh right! Dazai aside, an ability hit us just a few minutes ago." Chuuya spoke, starting to fix himself up, placing the phone between his shoulder and ear.
"Really!? We've been patrolling the area close to you guys and haven't seen anything." Chuuya ran his hand through his hair, he had heard from Mori that he'd be sending Akutagawa and Atsushi out on a mission together, and that it would be close to him and Dazai.
"Well if anything just be careful"
"We wil-"
"OI JINKO CAN WE GO NOW!??"
"Jesus Akutagawa can you not be so loud?"
"I'll stop being loud when you start getting down from that stupid tree"
"Okay fine!" Chuuya smiled fondly at the two who were obviously head over heels in love with one another.
"Anyway bye Chuuya-San, good luck!"
"Yeah, bye Atsushi, good luck as well"
Once he gave himself a pep talk that he could in fact face Dazai without making a fool of himself, he exhaled and then walked towards the table.
"It really took you ten minutes to wash your hands?" Dazai spoke, raising his eyebrows, questionably
"No I called Atsushi and Akutagawa about the ability and told them to be carful" Dazai looked surprised but nodded
"Good idea"
Despite everything that happened: the ability, the phone call to Atsushi, the way the taller was acting, Chuuya still couldn't help but wonder, what scared Dazai so much that made him wear an expression like that? What terrified him so much that the only thing that could calm him down from what felt like the worst feeling in the entire world, was touching and being close to him?
Chuuya then realised something in that moment. Dazai had understood that it had something to do with biggest fears or nightmares, if Dazai figured that out by touching Chuuya he would be relieved of his fear then didn't that mean Dazai's biggest fear had something to do with Chuuya?
Chuuya had so many questions.