Chapter Text
When the soft light of a sunny morning hit his eyes, Atsushi groaned. There was absolutely no reason for it to be so bright and happy, he thought, and he tried to shut his head under the pillow. After the all nighter he pulled, just the gentle sunshine was enough to make him grumpy, an all-too-familiar reminder of the intense day of study he had ahead of him. Atsushi wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep five minutes more, at least five minutes more, but it was clear that the universe had other plans. The universe plan manifested himself in the form of Dazai, Atsushi’s roommate, singing loudly while trying to make breakfast in the little kitchen they shared. Atsushi immediately got up, wide eyes filled with terror: it was never a good idea to leave Dazai in the kitchen without adult supervision and a fire extinguisher at hand. Memories of his disastrous attempt to bake a cake for his roommate’s birthday made Atsushi ran out of his little bedroom at lightning speed, just to find Dazai trying to make coffee with the biggest smile on his face, still singing and dancing around the table. “Why are you up so early? And why on Earth are you making coffee?” was all Atsushi managed to ask, watching his tall and lanky roommate with a perplexed look. “Atsushi!” Dazai seemed delighted to see his friends and let out an excited squeal. “I know you stayed up most of the night to study for your project, I thought you could use a little caffeine to help you through the day” was his explanation, his chocolate eyes bright with excitement. “And it’s not that early, actually, it’s 7.30. You’re just a sleepyhead” chuckled Dazai. Atsushi was incredibly touched by his friend’s kindness and was already seating himself at the table, eager to have his unexpected but very welcome coffee, when he heard Dazai mentioning the time. He jolted up, panic written all over his face. “Are you kidding me? 7.30? I have a class at 8 this morning! I’m so late! I’m sorry, I’m really thankful but if I don’t run I’ll never be there on time” he exclaimed, running to the bathroom in a flash of silver hair and blue pajamas. Apparently Dazai was not that upset at the news: after humming his understanding, he got back to his coffee-making process and waved Atsushi goodbye.
Sheer luck and a good amount of running brought Atsushi at his class in time, even if he got there out of breath and completely disheveled. He sat down with a relieved sigh and started taking out his things, when a low rumble coming from his stomach reminded him that he didn’t have breakfast. “That’s just my luck” he muttered, trying to force his demanding belly to just be quiet and leave him be. He could always run to grab something to eat after class at the local coffee shop, he thought, even if he winced at the idea of having to spend money that way. Atsushi was very well aware of the fact that he was a broke student and that the only reason he was able to attend university was because of a scholarship he luckily got the year before. Maybe food could wait, at least until he got back to his room and to his stash of cheap instant noodles. With another sigh, he prepared himself to another day of hunger.
Atsushi was quite used to being hungry. As an orphan kid, he lived in enough foster homes to know everything about how miserable a child’s life could be. At least the life of a child that apparently nobody wanted. Not that he was a difficult kid, it just seemed that no one ever cared about him. Atsushi soon came to consider himself unworthy of any kind of love or attention and even now the feeling of being a burden to the world itself never seemed to quite vanish. Sure, he was in a much better place now: he had met Dazai a year before, and the man had helped him find a way to get back on his feet. The older man was already attending Yokohama University, majoring in Literature, and made all that he could to help Atsushi obtain his scholarship and start his major in Nursing. It was still difficult to believe that someone could be willing to go to such lengths just to help him, but Atsushi was deeply grateful to his friends for all the help he gave him. Dazai could be a bit annoying sometime, to put il mildly, and he frequently would drive Atsushi crazy with his antics, but at the same time he was dedicated and caring and Atsushi couldn’t imagine his life without his friend anymore. That’s why he didn’t get mad when he got home after a long day filled with boring class and no food and he found out that Dazai had broke the coffee maker. At least, he didn’t get as mad as he could have. “That’s why I always tell you to leave that stuff to me” he sighed, hands clutching at his head at the prospect of a life devoided of caffeine. “Atsushiii” whined Dazai. “I swear it was not my fault! And I was only trying to make coffee for you this morning, so you really should be more understanding”. Atsushi sighed again, for the umpteenth time that day. “You know I can’t afford to buy another coffee maker, I am too broke at the moment” he explained to his pouting friend. Dazai seemed to think about it for a moment and then his eyes sparkled in revelation. “I have an amazing idea Atsushi!” he beamed, “you should find a part time job!”. It was a good idea, actually, with the only problem that Atsushi had already tried to look for a job and found nothing that could work with his class schedule and training shifts. He was a nurse student, and if studying for projects and exams wasn’t enough he also had a ton of shifts at the local hospital as part of his training. During that semester in particular he had a lot of night and weekend shifts that made his job hunt even more difficult. Dazai was well aware of his friend’s tight schedule, but he thought he had the perfect proposal for him. “I know you have a lot to do, but you could always join me and work at the library. Our hours are pretty flexible, and even if the pay is not stellar it would help you a lot with your money issues without disrupting your timetable too much. And we’re just looking for a new recruit, giving that one of my coworkers quit the other week”. Atsushi thought about it: it was not a bad plan, a part time job at the university library seemed like a good idea. Plus, Dazai was always talking about how great the other students working with him were and even if Atsushi’s default mode were “shy and socially inadequate” he felt a spark of excitement at the idea of meeting them. Much to his friend’s delight, he agreed to talk to Fukuzawa, one of Dazai’s professors and the one responsible for the part time work project. “I’m sure he will love you! He’ll hire you without doubts!” Dazai beamed, his chocolate eyes still sparkling. Atsushi felt himself smiling at the praise and he found that instead of being nervous, he was quite looking forward to this new job.
Despite the eagerness of the previous night, tension started crawling on Atsushi’s skin while he waited outside of the library the next day. The meeting with Professor Fukuzawa had gone fairly well, considering that Atsushi felt like his stomach was trying to launch itself out of his throat. Lucky for him, Dazai had been there to help ease the anxiety and to basically do most of the talking. Fukuzawa clearly trusted Dazai and saw no problem in taking Atsushi has the new part time worker, even if the boy seemed insecure. The professor arranged for them to meet the other students who worked in the library in the afternoon, so that they could help Atsushi feel more at ease. “They are quite an eccentric bunch, but I think you will like them” were the last words the man said before Atsushi had left his office. Now he was standing in front of the library, Dazai practically vibrating with anticipation behind him. Slowly Atsushi opened the door, just to be greeted with an annoyed shout from the inside. “There you are! You are late! We have been waiting for two whole minutes!” a blonde man yelled. Atsushi winced but he soon realized that the fit was directed at his roommate and if Dazai’s unimpressed look was a sign, it was clear that he had been on the receiving end of the blonde’s shouts more than once. “Kunikida, stop yelling or you’ll end up with a sore throat and I would be really upset if I couldn’t hear your lovely voice anymore” teased the brunette. That seemed to anger the blonde even more, but apparently all the other students were quite used to it because they ignored it and focused on Atsushi instead. A ginger boy with a kind smile was the first one to greet Atsushi, brown eyes filled with enthusiasm. “Hello, my name is Junichiro Tanizaki and I’m a Graphic Design student. Dazai told us about you, we are happy to have you on board!” he said, shooking Atsushi’s hand. He looked honest and nice, and Atsushi immediately liked him. “I’m going to introduce all the other, and then we’ll give you a quick explanation about the work you’ll have to do, okay? The blonde guy you see trying to strangle Dazai is called Kunikida Doppo. He is a Business student, but you can probably figure that out by his behavior. Don’t worry, he seems kinda intense but he is a good guy. And just ignore him when he is pissed with Dazai, those two are always arguing but I can assure you that they are friends” Junichiro explained. Hearing his name called out, Kunikida left Dazai’s neck and came to properly greet Atsushi. “I’m sure you’ll be a good worker, as long as you don’t follow Dazai’s example” he instructed, and to reinforce his point Kunikida tugged lightly at Dazai’s brown locks. The brunette pouted, earning a laugh from his roommate. “Atsushi, I feel so betrayed!” he whined, but he smiled seeing his friend at ease. Junichiro kept with the introduction, pointing Atsushi to a pretty girl with long black hair and mischievous blue eyes. “This one is my little sister Naomi, she is majoring in Sociology and…” he was abruptly interrupted when the girl jumped on his back. “My big brother is so good, giving his big speech to the new guy!” she said, her lips close to Junichiro’s ear. The boy shivered and tried to break free from his sister’s grip, without success. Atsushi felt his cheeks blushing at that display of affection, but lucky for him another girl came in his aid. She looked a bit older than the rest of them, with her serious eyes and her elegant skirt. “Don’t pay too much attention to them, they are always like this”, she was examining Atsushi with a curious look while fixing a butterfly hairpin on her sleek black hair. She extended her hand, clearly satisfied with her quick exam of the new guy, and introduced herself as Akiko Yosano. “I’m a med student” she added, “and the guy next to me is Edogawa Ranpo. His major is Literature, just like Dazai”. The guy in question had a bored expression but his piercing green eyes seemed to capture on every detail nonetheless. Atsushi felt a little unease, but there was no malice in that look and Ranpo gave him a small smile. “That leaves just me!” an excited voice declared. A blonde boy came forward, big eyes filled with joy and a wide smile on his face. He took Atsushi hand with enthusiasm and introduced himself as Kenji Myazawa, Psychology student. “I just joined recently, so I guess we are both new at this whole library stuff!” he laughed. Dazai cut in, putting a reassuring hand on Atsushi’s silver hair: “Well, you met everybody. I think it’s time to give you a proper tour and to answer all your questions, my friend”.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur for Atsushi. He got the tour of the library and Kunikida took upon himself the responsibility to instruct him on his new job. To be honest it didn’t sound too complicated, much to his relief. And his new coworkers were actually really nice. Atsushi thought he was going to like that place. He should thank Dazai, his friend had helped him again. Maybe things weren’t so bad, after all.