Work Text:
At Bungou Preschool, normal days don’t exist. Today was no exception. As soon as Fukuzawa walked into the slightly messy, colorful room, he knew this day was going to be a long one.
Toys were flying around the room, as Chuuya angrily chucked them at Dazai, who seemed to have stolen Chuuya’s favorite hat to play dress-up with. Fukuzawa sighed. Dazai sure was a pain, especially around Chuuya. In a dark corner, Fukuzawa saw Akutagawa silently compiling a collection of toys, probably to present to Dazai, who he seemed to see as some sort of god.
After retrieving the hat back from Dazai and calming Chuuya down, Fukuzawa sat down behind his desk, feeling somewhat satisfied. That satisfaction was soon disrupted by wild screaming, as Yosano chased Kajii around with scissors. Before Fukuzawa could stop the two, a small child in detective’s clothes launched himself at Fukuzawa, hugging his leg.
“Not now, Ranpo,” Fukuzawa said, shooting a worried glance at Kajii, who had started throwing lemons at Yosano.
Fukuzawa had never understood Kajii’s obsession with lemons. Every day, he would bring a sack of them to school, and the would all mysteriously disappear by the end of the day. It was extremely disconcerting.
“I want food!” Ranpo shouted, still attached to Fukuzawa’s leg.
“It’s not snack time yet, Ranpo. You will have to wait.”
“Awwwwww,” Ranpo pouted, looking dejectedly at the floor.
Fukuzawa wordlessly handed Ranpo a stuffed animal to console him. Ranpo accepted it gladly, hugging the plush raccoon tightly and walking away. Fukuzawa was finally able to settle the dispute between Yosano and Kajii, which had apparently turned into an intense verbal battle on whether lemons or scissors were more deadly.
Fukuzawa thought that maybe he could finally get a break from the chaos, but he was wrong. Akutagawa was still growing his stockpile of toys, and had begun to steal toys from other kids. Atsushi started shouting at him, and the two started fighting, pushing and kicking at each other. Atsushi tried to take his toy back, which was a large plush tiger, and Akutagawa pushed him, hard, causing Atsushi to bump his head against the wall. Atsushi started crying. As Fukuzawa rushed to help him, he sent a furious glare at Akutagawa, who skulked further into the shadows of the room.
Tanizaki tried to cheer Atsushi up by playing hide-and-seek with him, which made him stop crying. Yosano then pulled a roll of medical tape out of her pockets and clumsily wrapped it around Atsushi’s head, which seemed to make him feel better.
Fukuzawa glanced around the room and saw that Ranpo was playing with Poe, a small, shy boy. Poe seemed to light up when Ranpo handed him the raccoon plushie, and he pet it softly. The scene made Fukuzawa smile.
Meanwhile, Chuuya was playing dress-up with Akutagawa. Chuuya wore his favorite hat, which had been recently stolen from Dazai, along with a pair of black gloves, a fancy coat, and a pearl necklace. Akutagawa didn’t really seem to be getting into the game, as the only thing he put on was a long overcoat that went all the way past his feet. Dazai walked over to the two, clearly intending to cause mischief, but before he could do anything, Chuuya threw a tan coat over his shoulders and a blue necklace around his neck. Dazai seemed perplexed by the sudden change in fashion, but he went along with it, piling hats on top of Chuuya’s head. Eventually, Dazai managed to get a hold of Yosano’s medical tape, and started to wrap himself in it like some sort of mummy.
Soon, it was time for lunch. As usual, Ranpo’s meal consisted entirely of junk food and sweets. Fukuzawa made a mental note to have a work with his parents about his unhealthy eating habits. Atsushi was eating tea on rice for the third time in a row that week, which was also concerning. Fukuzawa watched as Akutagawa slowly walked to Atsushi and handed him the tiger toy that he had stolen earlier. Atsushi smiled widely and hugged the stuffed animal. He then offered Akutagawa some tea, who quietly accepted it and sat down next to Atsushi. Nearby, Dazai was stealing bits of Chuuya’s food, who had yet to notice. Naomi and Tanizaki had identical lunches and ate side by side, animatedly talking to Kenji and Yosano.
After lunch was naptime, Fukuzawa’s favorite part of the day. He sat back in his chair and relaxed as he watched the chaotic children under his care peacefully fall asleep. Kenji was out cold, having a tendency to fall right asleep when he was full. Ranpo and Poe has lined up their cots side by side, and were reading a mystery book together instead of sleeping. At one point, Ranpo has placed the raccoon toy on Poe’s head, and it remained there ever since.
Yosano was also fast asleep, scissors gripped tight in her hand, which made Fukuzawa nervous. Tanizaki and Naomi slept nearby, along with Atsushi, who was snoring slightly. Atsushi had apparently given the tiger back to Akutagawa, because Akutagawa was cuddled around it in his cot, peacefully dozing away. Despite their constant bickering, Dazai and Chuuya slept the closest together out of all the children, Dazai having rolled out of his cot and into Chuuya’s, now lying practically on top of Chuuya, who surprisingly didn’t seem to mind.
Fukuzawa let out a sigh of contentment. Though these children could be quite the handful, he did enjoy watching over them, especially in peaceful moments like these.
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Bonus: The class gets into a fight with students from Guild Preschool and chaos ensues