Chapter Text
(Dazai's New Years)
There's always a beginning. Pain, sadness, hope, anger everything you could think about to tie you to the mortal world. Not everyone is happy in their lives, and some just down right can't live through them.
Shuuji looked over the edge, the cold icy water beckoning him closer, but he dare not overstep his boundary. Even in all his pain, there was something keeping him here. His family wasn't well off and he delved deeper into anguish each day he lived. Never knowing just how far over the edge he'll be pushed, and he knew one day he'd go over the edge. He'd end it all and welcome the sweet embrace death would bring.
He walked away, the bags in hand as he returned to his terrible home life. His father almost never there, and his mother ill beyond repair. He found the relief in his life through dangerous means. Etching his skin, dragging the sharp blade over expanse after expanse. The cruel world left him empty and knowing the power he held left him no joy. He was not normal, never was, and never will be. His dynamic coming early, his father seeing this as him being a full adult, and the genius level of intelligence he had left him disconnected to the people around him. This broken world before him was bleak and he could not fight his emptiness forever, he knew that. What could he do to change his disposition on this world? Or was the sweet embrace of death his only option?
Another year went by as the blade he'd used fell into the sink. Another cut deep into his wrist. The marks reminding him of just how awful he really was. To mark up his own body just to find a bit of release, there was no one that could show him the right path. All he could see was the narrow tunnel, and no end in site.
(Chuuya's first New Years)
Chuuya only recalled his time in a body of liquid, and the empty space between everything. There wasn't a memory of where he started or who was his family. Just the knowledge of a being more powerful then him creeping in and out of his consciousness. Once he was free, he could see the world for the first time or the first time in years. The memory never really there.
The cold December streets were marked with bright colors and joyous people. Even the kids of the slums were happy and excited about the upcoming holidays. Something Chuuya didn't understand, even in the excited tales the other's would shout about. What Chuuya could understand was the end of the year. It marked the beginning of something new. To change yourself and create a better you for the future. This, was something he'd grasped onto. He wanted to change and make a better year going forward. A wish that would help carry him forward and leave behind that sick, cold and empty cell he'd lived in for so long.
Chuuya stood on a hill overlooking Yokohama. His blue eyes glistening in the street lights below. The knowing that he would find something so long as he walked down this path before him. He would become stronger and never let anyone tear him away from his goal. He may be alone, but that warm thrum in his chest that housed his ability reminded him that he could do anything.
As a clock ticked forward marking the new year, Shuuji marked his skin and Chuuya made a goal. The paths that cross each other create a moment in which they find the one's destined to pull them from their destructive paths. The years to come create the moment at which they meet.