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Third year, first semester: May 13th
The thing about tests of courage is that they're boring.
Or at least that's how Chuuya feels, and yet, he's been roped into going to one. It's not the worst thing in the world - he'll just go in, take a picture of something inside and come back out - but it's a bit of a strange thing to be invited to by Dazai, of all people.
Well, that's how Chuuya felt at first. Once he realized that Dazai was invited by a group of girls, he figures this must be some kind of mixer, instead, and readies himself to be matched up with a girl for the evening. He's not interested in dating anyone at the moment (or at least nobody he'd admit to being interested in) but that doesn't mean he'll be anything other than a gentleman.
He's unsurprised to have his hunch confirmed when there are several guys waiting there as well. Dazai practically bounds over to him, and Chuuya tilts his head, curious at Dazai's energy... He's probably thinking of ways to prank the other groups or something. Dazai grabbing his hand is surprising, but he expects it's to be dragged over to the group; instead, Dazai holds it up like it's a trophy, and says, "I'm going with Chuuya, then~!"
There are several disappointed noises, little "awww"s and "boo"s, but Dazai only hums, "That's why~ we don't want any lovely ladies fighting over either one of us! Right, Chuuya?"
"... Right." He doubts his own popularity is high enough that anyone would fight over going with him, but Dazai's reputation as something of a flirt isn't something he's unaware of. Several girls seem to be crowded around Yosano, too. He has no idea if she's romantically interested in women - none of his business, either - but he can't think of a time he hasn't seen her with a few nearby. She's clearly quite popular with the girls, no matter what her own preferences are. If anyone's going to be fought over, he'd think it's Dazai and Yosano.
To his surprise, two girls do wander over to him specifically to wish him luck; he smiles at them in a friendly manner and assures them, playfully, "Dealing with Dazai will be the worst part of it." They laugh at that, and as they're walking back to the main group to get in pairs, Chuuya belatedly realizes that although his hand is no longer being held up like a trophy, Dazai hasn't let go of him, either.
He doesn't say anything about it, and makes no effort to shake the grip off.
Dazai's the only one he'd maybe be curious about dating anyway, but he can't risk their friendship for it. This much is acceptable between friends, and he's not about to delude himself into thinking it means anything more, but... It's nice.
They're given instructions by a girl in one grade lower than them named Elise; Chuuya doesn't know much about her, has only seen her in passing a few times, but it seems like the sort of thing she'd do from what he's heard about her. It makes him slightly wary... He hopes nobody in costumes jumps out at them or anything. He has the tendency to punch first, ask questions later.
Once they're all given their maps - each pair on a different route through the abandoned hospital - and Elise's phone number in case of emergency, she leads them all to the door. Chuuya can already hear excited and nervous chatter from several people, but remains silent, himself, hand still in Dazai's.
Once Elise chimes "Go~!" everyone's off at varying paces, some groups running to try to get through it faster, some walking hesitantly, each group heading for their own various hallways or stairs. Chuuya and Dazai are supposed to 'start' on the third floor... Which of course means Dazai's whining and teasing starts almost immediately when they reach the stairwell.
"Ohhh~ do you think the stairs will hold our weight~?"
Chuuya rolls his eyes, but does glance down at them in the moonlight from the window. "They're cement. This building hasn't been abandoned that long, Dazai." There's a little wear and tear to them, but nothing that would suggest massive structural damage.
"Boring~"
Chuuya huffs, but puts his foot on the first stair without hesitating. As expected, nothing happens. "Anyway, if you're done being dramatic..."
"I don't know that I am, Chuuya~!"
Rather than bother continuing to attempt a conversation, Chuuya merely pulls Dazai's hand and leads them up the stairs. Admittedly, it's a little creepy in here - mostly just because he can hear small noises when Dazai's not talking, probably animals/insects - but it's nothing he can't handle, and Dazai doesn't seem bothered either.
When they reach the third floor, Chuuya pushes open the door carefully, more to avoid cutting his hand and risking infections than anything else.
"Ne, Chuuya, do you believe in ghosts?"
"Huh? No, why?"
Dazai hums. "No reason~ I just thought it'd make this little trek more fun if we saw some, wouldn't it?"
Chuuya stares back at him for a moment. "... You have a really fucked up definition of 'fun', have I ever told you that?"
"More or less, yeah, you have."
"Do you think there are people in costumes hiding around here?"
Dazai gives a thoughtful hum in response. "Well, Elise-chan's family is pretty rich, so I wouldn't be surprised if she roped some people into doing things like that."
Chuuya sighs. "Great."
Dazai knows exactly why Chuuya's not eager to have anyone jump out at them, and gives a small brush of his thumb over Chuuya's knuckles in silent support. "Do you want to switch sides?"
Dazai is currently on the left, Chuuya's left hand held in Dazai's right. With Chuuya's dominant right hand free... A punch has a higher chance of doing more damage than intended. "Nah, it's alright. I'd probably notice them in time to stop myself anyway."
"Mm, I guess so~ Chuuya's instincts are scarily good, yeah~"
They both know the reasons for that. Chuuya doesn't comment any more, just glances down at the map, then up along the hallway they're in again. As they walk, debris crunches underfoot, and the occasional metallic ringing of a medical tool being kicked or stepped on. Graffiti litters pretty much every surface, often with horror themes like 'get out' or 'you're next' with fake bloody handprints or the like next to it, sometimes just people's personal tags. Idiots. Chuuya is very aware of how illegal trespassing here is... the last thing he wants to do is leave a potentially identifying mark.
Dazai breaks the silence once they've passed through a few rooms with minimal hesitation. "It's kind of peaceful, isn't it?"
Chuuya glances over, but the light is hindered by the curtains over the window, so he can't really make out Dazai's expression. "Speak for yourself. It's not scary, but it's kinda creepy... I keep hearing things moving. Like animals or something. I'd really rather not be bitten by a rat or something if it's all the same to you."
Dazai chuckles. "Fair enough. I'm not sure what they'd be eating here though, it's not like there's food laying around... Anyway." There's a gentle tug on Chuuya's hand, then Dazai's tone is more playful, "Do you think any of the others are fooling around~?"
Chuuya can't help the slight flush to his cheeks, thankful that the relative lack of light probably prevents Dazai from seeing it. "Wh- I doubt it. Most people were too freaked out, right? And I don't think this is really the safest place to get up to much..."
"Oh~? Chuuya's unexpectedly perverted, I just meant kissing~"
The blush darkens. "Then you should have just said 'kissing'!"
Dazai continues as if he wasn't interrupted, "Though, well, there are a lot of beds around..."
"Don't think too many people would be willing to risk getting on any of them right now."
"Would Chuuya?"
"Hell no. They're probably half-eaten by cockroaches or rats or something. I'll pass." Dazai only snickers, so Chuuya continues, "If you want to though, don't let me stop you."
"Ahh, no thanks. Chuuya makes a good point, and I don't feel like having to go to a proper hospital with some weird disease."
Chuuya hums in agreement, then tugs their joined hands and leads Dazai into the next room... Only to immediately yank Dazai's collar to pull him down. Dazai lets out a small, surprised noise, but doesn't resist, ending up needing to be caught by Chuuya as they both sink into a crouch. Dazai opens his mouth to ask, but hears flapping overhead - wings. A bat, probably.
Once it's silent again - or at least they don't hear the wings flapping - Dazai draws back, but only slightly. "Nice ears~"
"Me or the bat?" Chuuya teases, not minding the proximity.
"You," Dazai answers with a grin that Chuuya can see, from this close, even though it's still not that bright in this room either. "But the bat too, I guess~"
Chuuya snickers, but allows his hand to fall from Dazai's shirt collar. "Anyway, let's get going, huh? I'm actually kinda surprised nobody's jumped out at us yet. Minus the bat."
Dazai doesn't move. "Mm, maybe they knew Chuuya would punch them out and thought better of it?"
"I doubt that," he replies, watching Dazai closely, trying to assess why he's not moving. Did Chuuya tug him down too hard? Did he twist an ankle or something on the sudden pull? He doesn't sound pained, but he'd probably shut up if it was serious enough since he likely wouldn't want Chuuya to feel guilty about actually, genuinely hurting him... "... You okay?"
"Hm? I'm perfectly fine~" His hand gives Chuuya's a reassuring squeeze. "I was just reminiscing a little."
"That's not like you."
"No, it's not~ but Chuuya's always played the hero for me!"
"Sometimes even when you don't want me to," Chuuya agrees in his own way, treading carefully onto that topic; Dazai's suicidal feelings are still pretty frequent, but at least his actual attempts aren't that often. Nevertheless, when they are, as promised, Chuuya always makes sure he gets medical attention, heedless of the fact that he doesn't want it.
Dazai's next hum is more noncommittal, "Mm, true." Clearly that conversation is over. "But I was just thinking that makes me the prince, right~?"
Chuuya scoffs at that. "As if you've ever needed to be rescued by me. C'mon, genius, are we finishing this or not?"
Dazai leans in and kisses him on the lips.
It's startling enough that Chuuya doesn't immediately react - in fact, Dazai pulls away too quickly for it to even properly register until that light pressure's already gone. It's only when Dazai's standing, one hand still in Chuuya's, that Chuuya's mind reboots enough to realize that yes, Dazai just kissed him.
What's that supposed to mean?
With anyone else it'd be obvious, but... That's different from their occasional forehead or cheek kisses, from the sometimes concerned or comforting gesture it's only ever been. It's never been on the lips before. Chuuya stands up to take his place at Dazai's side again, but says nothing. Any questions he intends on asking die in his throat as Dazai grins at him like nothing happened at all. "Let's finish up so we can go harass one of the other groups~"
"We're not gonna harass the others, you absolute demon," Chuuya replies, grumbling, wondering whether he should ask about that kiss just now or not. He doesn't want to risk ruining their friendship, and Dazai would probably just tease that it was a kiss from the prince to his hero~ or something equally corny, so... If Dazai's not going to say anything, it's probably better if Chuuya doesn't either. Right? Maybe he's just telling himself that...
Lost to thought, he startles as Dazai pulls them into another room, this one a little more illuminated by the lack of curtain covering the window. There's nothing out of place or anything, it's just a shift in brightness levels that Chuuya wasn't really expecting. He hadn't thought the curtains were that thick. With the newfound light, he risks a glance over to Dazai's face, but Dazai's only humming cheerfully, expression not betraying whatever he might have felt about that kiss. Well, unless he's cheerful because of the kiss, but Chuuya doubts that.
They clear the next few hallways and side rooms with no further incidents, but once they reach the stairs, they start pulling in opposite directions. Chuuya, aiming to go down to the first floor and out the back gardens as directed, raises a brow at Dazai in the darkness. "Where are you going?"
"C'mon, Chuuya~ let's go up to the roof!"
"I already told you, I'm not letting you freak out the other groups..."
Dazai's cheeks puff for a moment, but he shakes his head soon enough. "No, not for that! I just want to see the view."
Chuuya still doesn't quite trust that, but sighs and allows himself to step towards the stairs leading to the higher floor rather than the lower. "Fine, fine, but not for too long. I don't want to worry anyone."
"Okay~ though I don't think they'd be worried for a while yet, since I imagine some of the other groups are, ah, taking their time~"
"Stop saying it like that, I know what you mean!" He almost wants to point out that they could very well have been, too, but that's obviously a bit much to say. It was just a kiss, and not even a firm one at that. It's not a big deal.
... Probably.
Chuuya's quiet after that, ignoring Dazai's snicker, following him up two floors to the roof doorway instead. Unsurprisingly, it's unlocked - or more accurately, the lock seems to have been smashed off at some point - and the door swings open easily. The roof is a wide open space and is in relatively good shape, which makes some sense because it was probably a place patients or doctors could come to get some fresh air. There are poles around that also suggest laundry was likely aired out up here. Chuuya glances over the city below them, letting go of Dazai's hand, finally, to step closer to the fence and look around.
It's quiet, of course; it's quite late now - a glance at his phone tells him it's almost three forty in the morning - and in a rural area like this, he'd be more surprised if it wasn't quiet. More than that, though... It's nice. Chuuya's always liked high places for whatever reason, Dazai often finding him up a tree when they were children (and no, it's not because he's short, thank you very much), and although this certainly isn't the highest place he's been, not by far, the view is still plenty lovely.
Where the stairs and elevator were, there's that landing room where the door they came from is, and when Chuuya glances back over, Dazai's looking curiously at the partial ladder attached to the side of it, just near the top. It's above his head, but not so high he couldn't reach... If he had any muscle to pull himself up with at all. Chuuya walks back over. Dazai looks over at him, excited. "Chuuya, Chuuya, let's go up!"
"Isn't that kinda pointless? It's only a few extra meters higher."
"Ehh~? But Chuuya likes high places, right?"
"Not like that'd make enough of a difference in the view that I'd care. And it's not close enough to the edge of the building to see down further past the fence, either." Not that he's interested in looking at the ground anyway.
Dazai grins, and Chuuya can already tell he's about to say something stupid. "I think Chuuya's just saying that because there's no way he could get up there anyway~"
Despite being very aware of that being obvious bait, Chuuya rolls his eyes and bites anyway. "Like hell I couldn't. You're the one whose damn noodle arms wouldn't lift your weight even though you can reach it."
Dazai pouts at him. "Meeeeeeeeean, Chuuya."
"You insulted me first!"
"I can put my feet on the wall and just climb up, Chuuya! It's not like I have to do a pull-up!"
Chuuya tilts his head in acknowledgement. "Guess so. Then, are you going first, or am I?" Even as he asks, he takes a few steps back, because he gets the feeling...
"I think I should go first so I can pull Chuuya up since he can't get up there anyway~"
... Dazai's going to insult him again, yeah.
Without another word, Chuuya starts sprinting; with perfect timing, he jumps, pushing the toes of his left foot against the wall as if he's stepping on a stair, pushing down, propelling himself upward, catching the bottom rung of the ladder easily with one hand. The other hand flips Dazai off, Chuuya shooting him a smirk. "What was that?"
Dazai whistles lowly. "I stand corrected."
Chuuya grips the bar with his other hand, pushing his feet against the wall more so his knees don't smack into it than out of necessity. He climbs his way up quickly, assessing this patch of roof for any visible damage, but there's nothing notably dangerous. With that, he turns to crouch back over the edge, peering down at Dazai. "You coming?"
"So impatient~" But he lifts both hands to grab the lowest rung and bends his knees to put his feet to the wall. The motion's nowhere near as fluid and quick as Chuuya's was, but Dazai doesn't seem to be struggling, at least, which is better than Chuuya expected. Still, he offers a hand once Dazai is pulling himself up onto the roof, which Dazai takes. This time he lets go once they're both situated, but instead he flops onto his back next to Chuuya. "Thanks~"
"Mm, sure."
For all that Chuuya didn't find it peaceful inside, being here like this is. He decides to take a picture of the sky and the view over the city - both to serve as proof that they made it up here, as well as just to remember the view - and nearly yelps when Dazai's hand suddenly brushes up under his sweater. Chuuya can feel the chill of Dazai's skin even through his shirt. "Ah - your hand is really cold, what the hell?! If you're cold just say something, geez!"
"Chuuya, I'm cold."
"I got that, thanks!" Chuuya pulls away lightly, pulling the hoodie over his head and grumbling, "Fuck, here, take my sweater, idiot... don't know how you're so cold wearing more layers than me, but whatever..."
When he turns to give it to Dazai, he finds their faces much closer than expected. Just as before, Chuuya tenses up, but not in displeasure, just uncertainty. He doesn't say anything, not wanting to ruin the moment, and when Dazai closes the distance between their mouths, softer this time, Chuuya's eyes slip shut. He leans into it and kisses back in a way he couldn't last time - not fully, not desperate or demanding, just... reciprocating, so Dazai knows Chuuya doesn't dislike it.
He hadn't had the chance to prove that last time, after all.
Now that he's got the chance to appreciate this, he can't help noticing that Dazai tastes somewhat sweet; that's not surprising, given his garbage diet of more-sugar-and-cream-than-coffee coffee and instant noodles, plus whatever he can snag of Chuuya's bentos, followed up by truly terrifying amounts of candy, but it's still a pleasant surprise. It's not like this is Chuuya's first kiss, but he treats it almost as carefully as he had his first, head tilting just slightly, lips only parting enough to continue the kissing, tongue remaining firmly behind his own teeth. Not because he doesn't want to kiss Dazai harder, but because he doesn't want to scare Dazai off. Chuuya still doesn't know the intent behind this, after all.
It's pleasant, though. Chuuya relaxes into it, kissing Dazai like they have all the time in the world to do so, while still being almost shy about it; to anyone who saw them bicker in class, it would certainly be a sight to see them this way. Chuuya opens his mouth just a little further, and Dazai's tongue brushes against his bottom lip, clearly going to press further inward, and Chuuya's breathing hitches--
Both of them nearly jump out of their skin when the door suddenly slams open below them, two more people appearing on the roof. Kiss broken and mood sufficiently ruined, Chuuya doesn't even complain when Dazai's startled expression switches instead to one of mischievousness. He flicks his head towards the new pair in a gesturing sort of motion, and Chuuya sighs quietly, knowing he won't be able to stop Dazai from pranking them now.
Thankfully it's nothing too elaborate; they can't move without making enough noise to alert the others to their presence, most likely, so although Dazai and Chuuya both crouch somewhat to try and prevent from being seen immediately, Dazai's simple yell of "boo!" is enough to send one of the other people scrambling and screaming, the other turning immediately to try and see who said it. Chuuya feels bad for Dazai having scared them and lifts his head, shooting the two girls - Higuchi, he thinks, and another he doesn't recognize - an apologetic look. Higuchi whines at them. "Dazai-san, Nakahara-san, you scared me!"
Dazai snickers. "That's the point, isn't it~?"
The other girl looks less tense now that she knows it wasn't anything incorporeal, and gives Higuchi's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I suppose so... Still, I didn't think anyone's routes would overlap."
Chuuya shakes his head; her voice sounds kind of familiar, but he can't place it. "Nah, Dazai just wanted to come up here for fun... and to see if he could scare anyone."
There's another scream from somewhere else suddenly - another vaguely familiar voice, and Chuuya thinks it might actually be Tachihara - but it's over quickly enough. Chuuya snorts. "... Anyway, did you guys have anyone jump out at you or anything? Besides Dazai, I mean?"
Higuchi nods, "Yeah... Why, didn't you?"
"Nope~" Dazai answers, "but we did get attacked by a bat! Ahh, but Chuuya saved me like a knight in shining armour, so it's all fine~"
"A bat?! Like, flying rodent type or wooden baseball hitting type?!"
"Flying rodent," Chuuya supplies with a shrug, "I think it was just as alarmed to see us as we were to see it." He can't help thinking it's weird that nobody jumped out at them, since the other routes are clearly littered with people... Well, whatever. He's not about to complain. "Anyway, we'll get off your route now - the view's nice, if you wanna take a few minutes to calm down." Dazai makes a mild noise of protest, but Chuuya ignores him, pulling gently on his hand to coax him into moving over to the ladder. "You're cold anyway, right? Let's go see Elise and go back, I feel like taking a hot bath after this place, there's dust all over me."
That seems to be enough to convince Dazai to agree, because he hums, thoughtful, then nods before climbing down the ladder and dropping carefully to the ground, moving aside so Chuuya can do the same. While he does, Dazai turns to the girls, "Bye, Higuchi-chan, Gin-chan~ have fun on the rest of your trip~"
Chuuya nearly splutters at hearing that the other girl is Gin, she looks so different from the first - and, until today, only - time he'd met her, clad in clothes that remind him more of her older brother than the sweet dress she'd been wearing when they were introduced. Well, wearing a dress in a place like this probably isn't wise anyway, so he doesn't blame her, it's just a complete one-eighty in terms of style, is all. He waves goodnight to them as well, then heads back inside with Dazai, managing not to be too surprised when Dazai kisses him again the moment they're out of sight from the doorway.
Once the kiss breaks, Dazai huffs a little, "Mm, don't like being interrupted."
Chuuya snickers at him, still unsure of where Dazai is going with this, but... unsure if he's willling to find out, not wanting to risk damaging their friendship, "Well, too bad. I wasn't kidding about wanting a bath, and then I'm going to bed. I assume you're either going to invite yourself over or invite me back to your place?"
"What do you know, Chuuya can make good predict-- ow, okay, okay, I get it! Let me come over to your house, I have no groceries~"
Chuuya clicks his tongue. "Shameless mooch. Fine, whatever." He hadn't really been expecting any other outcome since Dazai latched onto his arm at the beginning of the evening anyway. "Let's go, then."
They make it down the stairs with no further interruptions - not for lack of Dazai's attempting, of course, because he clearly still wants to mess with the other groups, but because Chuuya's got a firm grip on his hand.
Elise smiles when she sees them, and offers them an overly-cheerful, "Congratulations~! You're the first group that finished, but I guess that's not surprising~"
Before Chuuya can ask what that's supposed to mean - and debating whether or not he even wants to, if Elise means that the other groups are potentially fooling around... not that they weren't, really... oh, whatever - Dazai smiles back at her. "Thanks~ Then, you have a car to take us back, right?"
Elise nods; a man comes over from a few steps away, clad entirely in black, and Chuuya watches as he raises a walkie-talkie and calls for a car. It's barely thirty seconds before one is pulling up, and Chuuya smiles, belated, to Elise. "Thanks for hosting and for the ride."
"No problem at all! I'm having fun too, scaring the others and making them scream like that~ I hope you'll come next time, too, Nakahara-san!"
Sadist, indeed. "Yeah, sure. See you around."
Dazai slides into the car first, Chuuya moving to sit next to him in the backseat, rattling off his address to their driver. He has no idea what this guy's relation to Elise is - a bodyguard? A servant? - but he's quiet, and Chuuya finds himself leaning against the window, watching the scenery pass by. It's almost light out now, the sun always rising obnoxiously early in Japan, but it's still dark enough that Chuuya's not worried about the other groups getting caught. Well, unless they make a lot of noise, but whatever. Not Chuuya's problem in that case.
Chuuya blinks when his hand is suddenly gripped, resting on the seat next to himself, but turns his gaze away from the window to look over at Dazai, curious. Naturally, Dazai's facing out his own window, not paying Chuuya any attention even as their hands are linked. With a roll of his eyes, Chuuya squeezes their joined hands briefly.
Dazai squeezes back, but his gaze remains elsewhere.
- - - - -
Once they've both washed up and gotten ready for bed, Chuuya moves to set up a second futon on the floor next to his bed; one his sister bought the moment she learned Dazai was still in the area and that they were rekindling their friendship. They don't spend as much time together now as they did when they were children, but it's still not exactly an insignificant amount, and the purchase has already been more than justified in the half-year since they got acquainted.
However, Dazai ignores it, tossing himself into Chuuya's bed with a content sigh, ignoring Chuuya's grumbled complaints. When they were younger, Chuuya would often give Dazai the more comfortable sleeping option, as he was a guest, but considering how long they've been friends, the novelty of being the 'guest' has worn off. "Oi, get out of my bed."
"Ehh~ but it's so comfy!"
"Exactly, that's why I'm gonna sleep in it."
"You're so mean, Chuuya, after I invited you out and everything!"
Chuuya huffs. "Y'know, whichever girl invited you probably wanted to go with you."
"Well, you see~ I was invited by several girls! And since it was only in pairs, I didn't want to be unfair to anyone~"
No mention of the kisses he'd shared with Chuuya, huh? "Uh-huh. Anyway, get out of my bed."
"Let's just share! It'll be like when we were kids~"
Minus the part where you've kissed me several times tonight, Chuuya wants to say, but doesn't. "Ugh, fine, whatever. It's not worth the whining I'll have to put up with if I toss you out."
"I'm glad you've resigned yourself to your fate, Chuuya~"
Chuuya smacks him gently on the arm in retaliation for that comment, but moves to get under the blankets, taking the extra pillow from the futon on the floor, Dazai moving to lay properly alongside him.
Once they're settled, both laying on their backs, Chuuya clicks his lights off. It's only a few minutes of quiet before he feels Dazai move to roll up onto his side, facing Chuuya. "Ne, Chuuya?"
"What is it?"
"... Tonight was fun."
Normally, that would be kind of a bland statement - the sort of thing that could wait to be said until they weren't both trying to sleep - but Chuuya knows it means more, in this case. Dazai sincerely enjoyed himself. Sure, Chuuya knows that doesn't magically mean his depression is gone or anything, but knowing that he was able to help Dazai have an amusing night... "Yeah, it was."
Dazai squirming closer makes Chuuya turn his head to the side, facing him, and accepts the kiss pressed to his lips as best he can from this angle, not rolling up onto his side. That seems to suit Dazai just fine; even after it breaks, he only closes the distance between them even more, cheek coming to rest on Chuuya's chest, up near his shoulder. "Good night, Chuuya~"
Despite still not knowing what any of this is supposed to mean - and uncertain if Dazai knows either - Chuuya slides that arm out from under Dazai, only to curl it against his back. "Mm... You too."
They lapse into silence at that. Chuuya tilts his head slightly, chin and nose brushing the strands of Dazai's hair. It's... peaceful, having him here, being able to hear his quiet, even breathing in the silence. It really has been a long time since they slept like this, but it still feels pretty familiar, somehow. Even with the confusing, uncertain ground their relationship is on now.
Chuuya sleeps well, that night.
... Right up until Dazai wakes him with a loud "boo!", anyway. Chuuya smoothers him with a pillow until he stops laughing about how 'cute' Chuuya's reaction was.
Some things never change, indeed.