Chapter Text
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𓊆:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅:♡:]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅𓊇
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New day, new “hey!”
At least this kind of sort was normal at the Mori household.
Dazai, dark purples hugging his eyes underneath, cried out as Elise snickered, holding a black rectangle in her hand. The blonde smiled as the brunette let out a frustrated groan, his voice a little hoarse as the sleep-deprived teen had yet to talk much this morning. Her smile widening, Dazai’s maniac little acquaintance held the phone away, her grin taunting.
Mori supposed he understood why the girl had turned to such mischief.
Everyone in the family had been worried about the bandaged one.
Her prank-loving and spoiled nature allowed her to do as she pleased, as she used the earliest founded, most beneficent tactic to ever exist to get the teen to talk; rage-baiting. And hold to behold, it worked. The teen grumbled, increasing Elise’s giggles as Q, little, murderly-sweet, Q, moved his head around, continuously switching between looking at their blonde sister and brunette brother.
Out of the blue, the young, mischievous girl stopped giggling, redirecting her gaze to the hand that held the phone. Only-
The phone wasn’t there.
She stared in shock, before snapping her head in Dazai's direction. Now, it was the older kid’s turn to giggle, as he held his phone triumphfully. The girl blinked, and Mori silently smiled at his kid’s trick.
Very well.
“Wha-” she huffed, a puzzled expression growing on her face, before declaring with a whine “no fair! I wanted to see yesterday’s pictures from your friend’s birthday! You took some, didn’t you?!” The last part came as a gasp, worried Dazai and his group had committed the crime of not picturing the time as a memory. She had stomped her foot, puffing her cheeks and folding her arms over her chest as she spat out, causing little Yameno to giggle.
“I- you could have just asked?!” Dazai counter-attacked, making the room to breathe in relief, or so it seemed to the concerned doctor-slash-guardian. While Elise and Q grew to let the man interfere with their lives, the teen still stubbornly-so didn’t.
The fact that only Elise and Q were his legal (adopted) children, while Dazai Osamu was his watched-patient, certainly didn’t help.
He still needed to talk to the teen regarding some of his… concerns.
‘I’ll do so on Saturday’, he decided. ‘I have my free days during the weekend’.
Amused, he watched as Dazai showed the two siblings the pictures the group took the previous day. He was glad to see his teen doing better, even though his troubles definitely still hovered over him, dragging around like a dark cloud.
“Hey! Why did you skip this one?!” the blonde suddenly yelled, reaching forwards to swipe back. Then, her smile widened, declaring that “this shirt is super-”
“Okay, okay, that’s enough.” Mori made up his mind, chiming him. The bandaged brunette shot him a quick, gratitude-filled look, Elise murmuring something under her breath.
“But Rintaro-”
“Not but, Elise.” He cut her off, a disapproving glare in his eyes. “You three, eat your food, wouldn’t you now?”
“Fiiiine” Elise let out, sticking her face in her plate, hovering over it as she sharply stabbed the omelet with her chopsticks.
The bandaged teen’s glare at the action did not go unnoticed by the trained doctor with careful eyes.
Reluctantly, Dazai followed suit, stabbing his own omelet as well. Unlike Elise, his motion was not powerful, but precisely pointed. Q just jabbed around maniacally at their own omelet.
What terrifying children. Not that the doctor was scared. Personally, if he wanted to stab someone, he'd point the chopsticks to a vulnerable place, like the eye; or he just wanted to cause pain and not much damage, to the veins.
Anyhow…
The four hovered over their meals, striking down in a matter that could give one a scare as they dug in.
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Looking over, Mori smiled, closing his eyes and slightly tilted his head, giving a wave to the two children. Elise and Q waved back, Elise as an ordinary matter and Q eagerly, their hand cutting the air with the quick motion. Elise had a small smile settled on her face, as Q wore a wide grin big enough to give someone a heart attack as they looked… quite crazy. But what’s new?
The father smiled, turning his head back ahead and driving away, careful as he started driving again.
“So, Dazai,” he started, “how are you doing today?”
Said teen was seated in the passenger seat, next to Mori. He glanced out of the window, arm prompted on the bump under the handle as he rested his chin on his palm.
“Fine.”
Mori let out a hum in response, and the car ride settled to a tolerable silence. After a short while, they came to a stop in front of the boy’s school. The young brunette exited the vehicle, not sparing a glance the doctor’s way.
“Dazai, wait.”
The teen refused to speak or even tilt his head in acknowledgement, but he did stop, standing in silence with his back to the doctor. The only evidence for him to have had heard him.
“Please, if you’re feeling unwell, call me. And try your best not to exhaust yourself, okay?”
The boy gave a small node, and the guardian watched the back of his head as he left.
𓊆:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅:♡:]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅𓊇
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𓊆:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅:♡:]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅𓊇
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Dazai stood in front of the big school, brown eyes wordlessly taking in the view. Slowly, his legs started moving, as he pushed through the gates, entering the building and making his way to his class. He flopped down on his chair, debating whether or not he should review his notes for today’s classes. Defeated by dread (was he anxious approaching something he so much hesitated to do? Why?), he instead opted to play on his phone, putting on his earphones as the cheery music came, the call ‘Colorful pallet!’ indicating the game opening.
The boy selected a song, the cover having a kid with a mask on. He played for a while, before a swift yet cheery and clearly impressed whistle came from his side. Glancing at the kid, he took in the sight of the blond he recognized as his home-classmate who came in a short while ago, a redhead alongside with him.
The brunette fainted registered the purple-haired character’s line as the results came in. Instead, he looked at the two kids besides him, seeing the blond opening his mouth to comment something as the bell rang. With slumped shoulders, he sat down, the redhead following suit. Dazai paid him no mind as he tucked away his earphone and phone into his bag. The prompted himself up in his chair, his arms on the table as he looked up at his hometeacher.
As always, the guy started checking attendance, before looking up calmly, sliding the phone where he marked them as absent if they didn’t answer on the desk. His face was as blank as usual, eyes boring into the students as he simply glanced.
“As you all know,” he started, “exams are coming up soon. The staff want to check on your progress, where you stand, if you need extra else, or perhaps,” he looked straight at Dazai before redirecting his gaze, the motion so quick nobody, saved for Dazai himself, noticed. “Move up with your groups, such as switching to a higher math course. To move up, you have to take some extra tests, depending on the number of subjects you choose to try upgrading.”
No. Did Dazai imagine that sharp glare? The teacher gave the class an unimpressed blank stare, but Dazai knew. He noticed how the man had looked at him.
But Dazai did not intend to move up a group. No way. The expectations, the pressure- it was too mu-
“I hope certain someones among you to take those extra tests to rise in levels. I believe you can do this. It will greatly benefit you.”
Okay, now that was targeted. Rude.
A bony hand came up to a sleeve, finger gripping on the cloth silently. The skin stung for a moment, before the fingers slid off, now only holding the fabric and no longer grazing the skin as they tugged.
Nonononono- was the man crazy?
Was Dazai supposed to do the extra tests? Was he expected to?
“Even if it doesn’t go well, just trying is more than enough. Because trying means you made an effort. I believe you all will eventually succeed in finding what’s best for you and what you want. I hope your exams go well. Everyone, you’re free to go. I’ll be here at the end of your school day and at breaks, if any of you want to talk to me personally. You’re free to go.”
And with that, the man exited the room. Chaos erupted, as the teens started bashing about the upcoming exams, the minutes until the end of homeclass not waiting as the students shouted passionately.
The brunette slowly turned his head around, arms raising up from the table as he felt eyes staring at him. Hard.
“Fufu~ wha-” he started, before getting cut off.
Rude. Did this blond have no sense of social care?
“Soooo… Are you ready for exam season?”
“Of course he is.” spoke up a voice in place of Dazai. The redhead side-eyes the blond, before continuing with a “He seems smart. He stares at the teacher pretty intensely, so I think he knows what he’s doing. Plus, in the few classes we share, he takes notes like crazy.”
“Huh?! Doesn’t he usually lay his head down though?!”
“Doesn’t mean he’s not listening.” came the smug answer.
Dazai stared at the two, eyes flickering between the confused blond and the grinning redhead. “What?” the redhead commented as he spotted Dazai’s eyes, “didn’t think I’d notice? I have sharp eyes, you know~”
“You shoot in your free time.” explained the blond, glaring at his friends.
“Shh! And I’m pretty awesome at it, aren’t I?” A wink.
… what? Well, Dazai supposed he heard crazier than that.
His own actions included.
“Anyways, I’m Mark Twain, the one and only! Call me Mark, and I’ll eagerly shoot something for ya.” grinned the redhead, introducing himself.
[New character unlocked!]
╰─ ♡ about MARK:
୨୧┇name: Mark Twain
୨୧┇pronouns: he\him
୨୧┇age: 13
“And the blond right here,” he waved his hand at the kid next to him, the white of Mark’s teeth visible as he smiled widely, “is John Steinbeck.”
“Just call me John.” came a smiling addition.
[New character unlocked!]
╰─ ♡ about MARK:
୨୧┇name: John Steinbeck
୨୧┇pronouns: he\him
୨୧┇age: 14
At the silence following suit, Dazai stopped a sigh from escaping his lips, realising the two expected him to introduce himself.
“Osamu Dazai. Use my surname Dazai, please.” so he did, introducing himself.
“Okay man!” agreed the ginger, a shine in his smile. Upon the eagerness in their eyes, Dazai decided that the best course of action would be to distract the pair from himself.
“Eh.. so, how are you feeling about the upcoming exams?” he asked, gaining the two’s sparkled attention to a different matter.
“Man, no need to be all fancy, jeez. And I definitely dread it.” Mark answered, bringing his hands to the back of his neck.
“What? Scared?” John teased jokingly. “Though, I’m not looking forward to it either.”
The murmured “as if” went ignored as John finished his sentence. Mark just shrugged at his ignored comment.
“Wha-” Mark was rudely (deserved) cut off as the bell rang, signaling the end of homeclass as the minutes finally ran out. Dazai took the opportunity to swiftly slide off his chair, grabbing the bag as he walked (his steps were faster than the boys’ notice), leaving the class. Mark quickly noticed his absence, letting out a “Well, damn” before spinning on his heels and dragging his friend out of the classroom, heading to their lesson.
Dazai did not speed up deliberately. Not at all.
(What a liar.)
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“Dazai?” piqued Atsushi, oh sweet, lovable Atsushi. “Did your hometeacher talk with you about the exam session?” asked the anxious teen, clearly stressed out.
“Hm? Why yes! Did yours?” At the nervous look the teen gave him, Dazai rolled over to his stomach, stretching his arms forward. “Ahh… how troublesome…”
His bento was a few centimeters away, and the brunette teen paid it no mind as he laid on the grass. Atsushi stood near him, giving him an amused yet somehow judging look.
“Anyways, I’m sure you can pass; you’re a smart boy, Atsushi.” The white-haired teen’s face reddened at the observation (compliment), and he nodded in gratitude.
“You’re going to take the tests to rise to the higher-level math and English groups?”
Oh, right. They were divided into groups in those subjects in Dazai’s grade, and he was placed on the lower ones.
“Eh, I don’t think so.”
“Ah?” Atsushi perked up, looking at Dazai with a question in his eyes. “But why’s that?” He tilted his head at the brunette, like a cute little cub tiger. The brunette in question sighed, rolling to his back and staring up at the sky solemnly, arms spread to the sides.
“It’s just…” deciding to screw it all and just be honest, cause GODS did he not care right now, he said “Too much.”
“Too much? How so?” the younger teen asked, coming closer to the lying boy and sitting down next to his head, crossing his legs.
“It’s just… Too many expectations, you know?”
And Atsushi’s worried furrowed brows, the bandaged boy immediately regretted telling him so. WHY on Earth did he choose to be honest? Screw honesty, he should yeet that concept out of a window.
“How so?” asked the teen, not even a hint of judgement in his voice.
“Well… I have to be good all the time and smart and- it’s a lot.” The white-haired boy nodded in understanding.
“Say, why don’t you talk to your hometeacher then?”
Puzzled, Dazai propped himself on one arm, pushing his body up a little. “Huh? Why would I do that?”
Atsushi shrugged, noting that “Well, it's their job to help us as students. And I’m sure your teacher has a lot of insight on you. Maybe they can help?”
Dazai’s hummed in thought. “Hmm… I supposed he could help. I’ll ask next break.”
“Good!” Atsushi exclaimed, a smile on his lips. “I’ll come with you and wait outside your class.” The brunette smiled softly, pushing himself further up into a sitting position. He brought his hand up, and slowly so that Atsushi wouldn’t flinch, brought it to his head. He ruffled the younger boy’s hair, earning a closed-eyes soft smile from Atsushi, who was practically beaming.
“So it’s settled then.”
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[CHAPTER ELEVEN IS COMPLETE]