Chapter Text
The overwhelming amount of fans bombarding Chuuya’s notifications was getting out of hand.
It only worsened after the little date they had, especially when one person managed to take a photo of them at the park kissing.
Chuuya wants to slap himself for getting so carried away.
The media has already found out about Chuuya, and Dazai hasn’t even released an official statement.
Or so he thought.
He received another text from Akutagawa, the younger man telling him to check the news about Dazai.
He braced himself for whatever shit he was about to see.
And boy he truly needed a drink after watching that.
Somehow, Dazai was already taking an interview. He was sitting there with the host, legs crossed. He looked nice.
Dazai was wearing a well fitted cream suit, he was dressed as if he were at some special event, (well being interviewed and watched by millions is a special event!)
In the clip Akutagawa sent to Chuuya, the interviewer was laughing with Dazai about something, but then the mood suddenly shifted. Everything turned serious in just a few seconds.
The interviewer turned to face Dazai instead of staring into the camera, her smile growing, “So, the media has been going crazy over you for the last few weeks. There’s even videos circulating around the internet of you locking lips with someone at the park. Dazai Osamu, is this true and are you finally in a serious relationship with someone?”
Dazai looked at the woman for a moment, before bursting into laughter. He held onto his stomach and wiped a tear from his eye. Chuuya wanted nothing more than to punch him. This was no laughing matter!
“Everything you’ve said is true, yes.” The brunet answered truthfully. Except it wasn’t the truth.
They never made things official! Dazai never asked Chuuya to be his boyfriend. What the hell was he going on about?!
The interviewer gasped, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, “Who is this special someone who managed to captivate Dazai Osamu?”
“Well, for his safety, I’ll refrain from revealing his identity. Think of it as a surprise! He’s entering modeling soon anyway… I’m sure you’ll all know by then.”
What.
What the hell does he mean by “entering modeling,” soon?
Chuuya pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration, a vein already popping out of his forehead. He exits out of the video and scrolls through his contacts to call a specific person.
After just two rings, the person on the other end answers, “Helloooooo, Chuuya!”
“Dazai. Cut the shit. Why did you say all of that in the interview? And what do you mean I’m entering modeling?! I’m a goddamn detective!”
“Hmmm, I thought it’d be funny! As for the second thing, I also thought it’s be funny! But I guess I just said that because I thought it’d be fun spending more time with you at my job! I can easily get you working here, and you can even quit any time! Plus it doesn’t take away time from your own job, you can show up whenever and no one would care.”
It’s all so stupid. Chuuya was debating on throwing his phone but then he remembered something crucial.
The whole reason why he’s even spending time with Dazai.
Just so he can find more evidence on him being the Demon Prodigy.
Getting closer to Dazai at his job might give him some more clues…
A smirk finds its way onto Chuuya’s face, and with a chuckle he responds back to Dazai, “Okay. I’ll become a model with you, Shitty Dazai.”
A squeal is heard from the other end of the call, and Dazai is very giddy, “Great! You can start tomorrow! You’ll do just fine, everyone will love you!”
“Whatever you say. Bye, Dazai. Talk to you later.”
He ends the phone call and plops onto his couch, an arm over his face.
It’s his day off, but Chuuya decided that he needed to discuss this whole plan with Kouyou before doing anything else.
He slips on his coat and shoes and he’s out the door, the coffee in his hand the only thing powering him to stay awake.
When he arrives at the detective agency, he makes a beeline for Kouyou’s office. He knocked on the door twice before entering, and inside, beautiful as always, was Kouyou, sitting there with her hands folded over the other staring straight at Chuuya.
He gulped. He already had a bad feeling about this.
“Ane-san! How are you?”
“Doing just fine, Chuuya. Now what did you want to discuss?” Ouch. How blunt and straightforward.
“W-Well, you’ve seen Dazai Osamu’s latest interview, right?”
The woman nodded, her gaze still pointed directly at Chuuya. Seriously, she was making him nervous for no reason!
“Of course. It’s everywhere. I’ve also seen the video of you two at the park. Did you enjoy yourself?” There was a mocking tone in her voice, and Chuuya blushed just thinking about that moment.
He ignored her question, and instead finally brought up the reason he came here in the first place, “So, I’m going to be doing some model work alongside Dazai. At first it sounds like a stupid idea, but I was thinking about how it would give me an opportunity to find more evidence at his workplace. Would it be alright for me to do it? I’m not quitting my job, of course, I’ll still be here but of course for less hours…”
Kouyou rolled her eyes, and smiled at him, “It’s funny seeing you so in love. Go. Do it, catch the Demon Prodigy.”
Chuuya bowed to her, his ears burning at the idea of being in love with Dazai.
How ridiculous!
“Thank you, Ane-san… I’ll be going now.”
Chuuya needs plenty of rest for the exciting day he has ahead of him.
***
It’s the following day and Chuuya has dressed himself as nicely as possible. Dazai helped him with the outfit, and the brunet even drove him to the modeling agency.
He wasn’t even that nervous but Dazai kept whispering reassuring words into his ear, his breath hot against his neck, “You’re going to do great. Just relax, you’ve already got the looks, you just need the attitude! Also you don’t need to worry about signing any contracts and what not, I took care of everything!”
“Yeah, yeah, Dazai…”
Driving to the modeling agency was hectic, and it was even worse when they got there. First off, it was beautiful on the inside, and he could already see other professional models chatting in the lobby or dressed up in their fancy clothes.
Chuuya wasn’t nervous, but that didn’t stop him from constantly tapping his foot, or picking at his nails.
(Okay, maybe he was a little nervous, but can you blame him? He’s never done this before!)
He follows Dazai’s lead the entire time, and they were practically hip-to-hip.
Everyone noticed.
Everyone had their eyes on them, and Chuuya was never a self conscious person, but it did make him feel weird. Eventually Dazai brings them to the elevators where they ascend to the floor where Chuuya assumes all the modeling stuff is done.
When they reach their floor, Chuuya’s mouth is agape as he is met with yet more professional models. There was a whole runway in front of him!
“Come on, Chuuya, this way!” Dazai grabs a hold of his hand and drags him over towards the end of the hallway. They entered through a door and Chuuya was flashed right in the face by a camera. He scowled. How lovely.
“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I was just testing the camera, but I thought I had the flash off!” A kid with white hair and a singular black stripe bows down before him, and Chuuya already felt bad for scowling at him.
“Ah, it’s okay, it was just a mistake…”
Dazai coughed next to him, and smiled at the pair, “Chuuya, meet Atsushi, our best photographer, and Atsushi meet Chuuya! He’s the one I was telling you about,” Dazai winked at the younger boy, and Atsushi gave Chuuya a bright smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, Chuuya-san!”
“Same to you.”
Chuuya takes a look around the room they were in, and notices a lot more people in here than he originally thought. A woman with short, dark hair approaches him, the glint in her eyes makes Chuuya shiver. “Hey there! I’m Yosano. So you’re the one that’s got Dazai head over heels? I can see why, you’re gorgeous! I’m shocked that you haven’t decided to become a model until now!”
Chuuya laughs awkwardly, his eyes darting away from her. That comment about Dazai being head over heels for him made Chuuya flinch in shock, but thankfully no one noticed. “Well, Dazai offered and I thought it’d be fun.”
“Ahahahaha! Yosano! You can’t be saying those things so casually!” Dazai glares at her, but she only shrugs, smirking at him. Dazai shakes his head, “Yosano is our makeup artist, I asked her to be here to help with the shoot. I now regret it.” Chuuya laughs at Dazai’s dismay, the brunet pouting at him.
“Aww, don’t be like that! Come on, Chuuya, sit down over there by the vanity. I’ll make ya look 10x prettier!” Yosano reached into her large bag and took out the makeup.
Chuuya doesn’t often put on makeup, only on special occasions, so feeling the brush against his cheek felt nice.
It didn’t take very long, and Yosano spun him around towards the mirror so he could see himself.
Damn, Yosano is good at her job.
“What do you think? I was going for a simple look.”
Chuuya inspects himself in the mirror. It wasn’t very heavy makeup, but it still looked very beautiful. “I like it a lot, thank you…”
She nodded at him, and he stood up from the chair.
He turns his attention over towards a man wearing glasses, munching on snacks in the corner of the room lying on a bean bag. Chuuya didn’t know modeling rooms had bean bags in them. The man looks up at Chuuya and gives him a creepy smile, “You’re not here only to model with Dazai, right?”
Chuuya raised an eyebrow. What did he mean by that? Does this man know about his plans of getting evidence on the Demon Prodigy? Before he could answer, the brunet pulls him away from the raven haired man, rolling his eyes, “Don’t mind Ranpo. He’s a bit weird, but he is nice once you get to know him. He’s our best promoter, I guess. He comes up with all the best ideas that get the most attention, bringing in more money.”
The redhead nodded along. He was learning so many things. He thought modeling was just taking pictures and looking pretty, but it was so much more than that.
Yosano crosses her arms in the corner, exaggerating a yawn, “Are we going to get started or not? I’m growing old here!”
“Ah right. Chuuya, follow Lucy to the dressing room, you’ll put on the outfit given to you and we’ll meet back here to start taking photos. See you soon!” Dazai points over at a red haired girl with braids. She waves at Chuuya, and gestured for him to walk with her.
They walked down the hall to the dressing rooms and Chuuya was beaming with all the beautiful outfits on display. Lucy took notice of his staring and laughed, “It’s all so amazing, isn’t it? I think you’re really going to enjoy the outfit we have prepared for you…”
Lucy leads him into a changing room, and hands him the outfit. It was a two piece suit, dark but with red accents all over. It also came with gloves, a corset, a nice hat with a chain, and what looked to be a masquerade mask?
Chuuya stared at the pieces of clothing in awe, feeling the soft material, “Yeah, hurry and put it on already! Yell at me if you need help!” Lucy stepped away, closing the door to the dressing room behind her and waited to the side.
He carefully put on the outfit, worried about tearing the cloth. It was very high quality, he didn't want to ruin anything.
Once he was finished adding all the accessories, he took a step back and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked good.
Chuuya exited the dressing room, and smiled when he saw Lucy waiting for him. The girl immediately awed upon seeing him, “Wow, you look really handsome! Come on, let’s go back to the others!”
The walk back to the main room was very short, and Chuuya felt much more confident wearing this outfit.
That confidence vanished.
When they entered the room, Dazai was there, but his entire wardrobe changed. Chuuya’s eyes widened as he examined the other man.
Dazai was wearing the same outfit as him, with a few changes of course. Instead of the red accents, he had blue accents, and instead of the corset, he had a loose jacket hanging over his shoulders. He also didn’t have a hat, but Chuuya already knew about Dazai’s disdain for hats.
“Why are we matching? I thought I was doing a shoot alone…”
Yosano barked out a laugh, elbowing Ranpo to her side, “Dazai didn’t tell you? This is a couples shoot. The Yokohama Modeling Agency is hosting a big party next month, and to promote it, we’re using both you and Dazai for it!”
Chuuya felt his ears burn up. There’s no getting out of this one.
He turned to Dazai, and the man just had an innocent look on his face, as if he were an angel who’s done nothing wrong.
He planned for all this!
“Whatcha standing around for, Chuuya? Let’s start taking pictures eh?” Dazai wraps an arm around him, guiding him towards the area with the cameras and lights set up.
The man that was in charge of the lighting, (who Chuuya found out later was named Tanizaki,) fixed a bright light on them, and Dazai gave a wide smile to the cameras.
It flashed, and Chuuya instinctively closed his eyes. Dazai noticed that and tutted at him, “You mustn’t be afraid of the flashes, Chuuya. Since you’re going to be modeling with me, you need to get used to getting flashed, paparazzi are everywhere! Soon you’ll be tasting fame!”
Chuuya let out an uneasy sigh, and moved closer towards Dazai. It seems that Ranpo is also in charge of the poses, because he began yelling out to them, “Alright, if we’re taking these photos and putting them out for the world to see, you two need to be close, this is a couples shoot after all! I need to see some chemistry! Dazai, hold Chuuya by the waist, and Chuuya you wrap your arms around Dazai’s neck. Your height difference is quite insane, but this pose should work.”
Chuuya rolls his eyes at him, and follows Ranpo’s instructions. He and Dazai were close, their noses almost touching as Chuuya looked up at him.
Dazai’s touch felt scalding hot, and it was taking all of Chuuya’s willpower not to run away at the moment. If it weren’t for the masquerade mask, everyone would be able to see Chuuya’s red face.
Several shots were taken, and Chuuya held his breath while all of it was happening.
Eventually Ranpo calls out to them again, “Alright, this time without the masks! Chuuya put your hand against Dazai’s chest, make it look sexy!”
Chuuya groaned, plucking off his mask and putting it to the side. He placed his gloved hand against Dazai’s chest, his palm flat against him. He leans against the other man, his head on his stomach.
Dazai moved his hand to settle on the curve of Chuuya’s back. It was all so intimate, and Chuuya didn’t know how to feel about that.
He kept a blank, stoic face as he stared into the camera, tilting his head back against Dazai.
“Alright! One last shot! Chuuya, remove your hat and center it to hide both your face and Dazai’s face!”
“Um okay, why though?”
Ranpo chuckled, shaking his head and stared at Chuuya as if he were some stupid little child, “To make it seem like you two are kissing! I mean, the media has already seen that viral video, but there’s a certain kind of appeal to this secrect that fans love!”
Chuuya and Dazai moved their heads so it looked like they were kissing. The camera couldn’t see what was behind the hat, but Chuuya was blushing furiously, while Dazai stood there smiling at him, keeping eye contact the whole entire time.
It was unnerving, the way Dazai refused to look away.
Then the brunet moved even closer, lifting a finger under Chuuya’s chin, drawing him in, “You know, despite all the trouble that viral video got me into, I don’t regret a single thing.” Dazai whispered to him.
“What do you mean?”
“The kiss, of course… I really enjoyed myself, Chuuya. We should do that again sometime,” Dazai’s eyes finally darted away from Chuuya, but instead it landed on the redhead’s lips.
Dazai moved in, and Chuuya followed. It felt so natural.
Their lips connected, and Chuuya forgot all about his nervousness. There was a burning feeling in his lower stomach that he didn’t want to explore the more Dazai shoved his tongue down his throat.
They didn’t realize how long they were taking until a cough was heard in the back. Standing there was Yosano with her arms crossed, eyebrow raised at the pair.
“If you two are going to make out right here, at least do it without a whole crowd watching… There’s a closet at the end of the hall.”
Needless to say, Chuuya burst out of the room, stomping away to the bathroom in embarrassment, Dazai following after.
Who knows what they did in the bathroom together?
Needless to say, the photos were a massive hit, and Chuuya Nakahara instantly became one of the most recognizable people in Yokohama.
It’s a shame Chuuya wasn’t able to find any evidence on the Demon Prodigy, but he still had fun with Dazai, (not that he’ll ever admit it!)