Work Text:
Akutagawa stood at the edge of the wooden sandbox, watching the silver-haired boy work diligently on his sand castle in the center. Every day at recess, he’d sit down with his bucket and shovel and rebuild his structure from the day before if it had been knocked down. If, by some miracle, parts of it were still standing, he’d make additions and really, the whole process was very impressive for a first grader.
The dark haired boy had never talked with the tiny architect, but one day, in early April, when the ground was covered in cherry blossoms and daffodils, he decided he wanted to help. So he stalked across the playground determinedly in his brand new sandals and plopped himself down in front of the other boy.
“My name’s Akutagawa. What’s your name?”
“Atsushi.” The silver-haired boy replied, never moving his attention away from the piles of sand. Akutagawa wrinkled his nose.
“Like the food?”
Atsushi giggled, pushing his messy hair off of his forehead.
“No, silly. Daddy said I’m named after an author.” He grinned proudly, revealing an empty spot on the top row of his teeth. Akutagawa nodded once - he didn’t want to ask what an author was - before refocusing on his mission.
“Can I help build your castle?”
Atsushi looked purely ecstatic at that, moving quickly to hand Akutagawa his bright blue plastic shovel.
“You can use my tools!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Forty minutes and a few tearful arguments passed, and the castle was a work to behold. It only had three wobbly towers, complete with windows poked into the side with chubby fingers and pink flowers stuck in the top as flags, but the two children were extremely proud of it by the time parent pick-up arrived..
“Daddy, come look what Akuta and I made!” Akutagawa wasn’t fully pleased with the nickname, but he understood that Atsushi couldn’t pronounce the rest of his name properly, so he accepted it. He stood proudly by the castle as his new friend dragged a tall man in a trenchcoat over to the sandbox, glaring slightly when he got too close to the structure.
“Wow, this is really good. Did you guys do this all by yourself?”
Atsushi nodded feverishly and moved to stand next to Akutagawa.
“Akuta’s my new best friend.” He gasped suddenly, as if he had a realization, and ran over to his dad. The man leaned down so the small boy could whisper in his ear, chuckling as the child ran off to the other side of the swingset.
“Akutagawa, are you ready to leave?”
A red-haired man approached him, hands tucked in the pockets of his long black coat.
“Oh, hello. I’m Chuuya Nakahara, Akutagawa’s father.”
Atsushi’s dad stuck his hand out in greeting, grinning at Chuuya.
“Dazai Osamu, Atsushi’s dad. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He winked at the other man, not giving him a chance to respond as Atsushi came bounding back, a brilliant yellow flower clutched tightly in his fist. He stuck it out in Akutagawa’s direction, avoiding his new friend’s gaze and shuffling his feet nervously.
“I got you a daffodil.” He mumbled as Akutagawa took the bent flower from him. “Daddy says mommy was his best friend, and he always gave her pretty things. I think flowers are pretty.”
Akutagawa stared at the flower for moment before turning to look up at his dad.
“Daddy, I wanna get Atsushi something pretty too!”
“Did you have anything in mind?”
He thought for a moment before shaking his head.
“We’ll find something. Do you wanna go home and look now or get ice cream on the way first?”
“Ice cream!” Akutagawa wanted to find something pretty for his new friend, but he figured Atsushi would understand that ice cream wasn’t something you ignored. “Can Atsushi come too?”
Chuuya shrugged, looking over at Dazai.
“I don’t see why not. As long as it’s okay with his dad.”
The dark haired child looked up at Dazai with pleading eyes, batting his eyelashes in the
way he knew usually got him what he wanted.
“Mr. Atsushi’s Dad, can Atsushi pretty please come with us for ice cream?”
“Yeah, that sounds fun. Do you wanna do that, Atsushi?”
“Yeah!”
Akutagawa grabbed Atsushi’s hand and started dragging him across the playground towards the parking lot, babbling on about the multiple different ice cream flavors the two could pick from and how maybe, if they asked nicely, they might even get to put sprinkles on it.
Dazai swung an arm around Chuuya’s shoulders, following behind the children.
“Didn’t expect my first date with such a beautiful man to be with the kids around.”
Chuuya shoved him.