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When Chuuya was a little kid he’d always dreamt of fairy tales and little small fairies due to his dad’s obsession with the forest around the manor house.
He’d go around the manor’s windows and peek for the slightest glimpse of wings or tiny shoes. He had even made several homemade houses filled with branches and flowers to make it more homey for the “fairies” before leaving them in the yard.
All the while his other much more dignified father, Arthur Rimbaud, sighed tireldy at his lover and son’s antics.
He had thought that his dad, Paul Verlaine, was the greatest man in the whole world. What kid who fell in love with the concept of woodland magic wouldn’t immediately think the same if their dad showed them a dairy filled with pages of research and documentation of the mythical creatures of the forest surrounding them.
But youthful childhood can only last so long.
And the patience of a devoted man to his husband wore too thin with the endless delusions of a fantasied madman and little mind to the son they were to nurture together.
And so the devoted man took his son and left the husband to stalk the woods he could never escape from.
After that Chuuya grew up and lost his love for the forest and her mythical faniaties that drove his parents apart. Well at least part of his love was still stored away in secret in the dark corners of his mind whenever he passed a flower shop and his gaze lingered more than a fraction of a second.
Still even if Chuuya missed it, Rimbaud would never see nature the same after the separation and after years on their own, Chuuya never saw his father the same again.
He grew a resentment against the man who couldn’t leave a fairytale behind.
Chuuya could only ever see a man who never changed and continued to venture a life without the responsibilities that left a long time ago. Around Chuuya’s teen years the fairytales became bittersweet and the summer visits to his dad in the forest became less frequent until finally he stopped going all together.
But then at age eighteen his father became ill and required a hospital bed. Chuuya spent too many nights staying awake before his father looked at him and Chuuya knew. He knew he wouldn’t get better. He wouldn’t walk out those doors with Chuuya.
And right before his father left him for good did he hand Chuuya two envelopes and whisper to go back to his dad before the monitor died.
So Chuuya cried that day and the day after that.
But even with the festering against his dad, he still packed his suitcase and arranged a trip to the manor.
And while passing ok those trees unaware of the world within them did Chuuya feel a speck of warmth drip inside him. It was a small and almost unnoticeable feeling, but it made Chuuya feel like he was a boy again looking out the window for fairies in the wind.
He sighed.
He won’t admit he missed this, but he did.
Arriving at the manor was an overwhelming feeling all over.
His skin tingles and his heart tightens. He didn’t know if he felt anger bubbling in his chest or dread.
Seeing his old house cat with a missing eye he had named “Baki” when he was a child circled his feet, nuzzling in his familiar scent of him made his heart melt. He had always loved animals, but Baki always has a special place in his heart.
However, seeing his unchanged crazy fairy obsessed father was another feeling of dread all together.
Verlaine acted like nothing had happened just as he had the years when Chuuya still visited him for the summer. He acted like nothing was wrong. Like nothing changed. Which Chuuya supposes nothing did happen but still! This felt wrong and out of place.
How could Verlaine still believe in the nonsense that drove them away in the first place?
But still he promised his resting father he would come. He didn’t assure him he would stay but he would make an effort even if his dad didn’t.
His dad didn’t make it easy though.
Verlaine had cameras all over the damn place and wore a ridiculous helmet while prancing around the forest with bird and bat sounds.
Did he even care that Chuuya was here?
He huffed after being blown off by his dad who ran out in a hurry because of some alert the cameras spotted, quite literally bolting through the door.
That’s it. Chuuya can’t do this. He thought he could, but obviously he was proven wrong. This past week has been nothing but avoidance and ignorance.
So Chuuya grabbed his suitcase and hurriedly wrote a sticky note of his departure and headed out. But it was already so cloudy and windy outside. Baki ran through the open door and into the forest.
Chuuya yelled for him to come back. Baki could get hurt out there. He shook his head dropping the suitcase in the tall grass and ran into the woods to retrieve the almost blind cat.
But the storm approaching only furthered and then something crazy happened.
First let's recall that Chuuya went to his dad’s house in a promise to fulfill the summer stay of his now passed fathers last wish to rekindle the open wounds with his madman of a dad who was obsessed with what Chuuya called “fairies” as a child.
Turns out Chuuya’s assumption that they were fairies was wrong from what he had initially thought. They were just really really small people with no wings who flew on the backs of small birds who apparently fought bugs or something.
Chuuya didn’t grasp the concept too well.
Now, let's take a step back to when Chuuya was trying to catch Baki in the forest right before he was going to leave his dad’s manor house, but then a storm happened and a flicker of light. passed him and the next thing that happened...well lets just say Chuuya couldn’t believe his eyes.
Chuuya doesn’t remember a thing about turning as small as a leaf but what he does remember is turning around and gasping at the sight before him.
It was a beautiful redhead woman in a dress that resembled white petals lying on the grass with a small closed bud clutched in her arms and she also had an arrow imposed through her stomach.
Chuuya had tried to help but the woman all but faintly smiled and told him to protect the tiny bundle that wrapped its vine around his forearms as she passed it to him before laying her hand on her stomach looking to the sky.
Then another redhead, this time a buff tall man, flew to the ground and rushed to the women’s side as she smiled, “ Oda ” she said softly as he cherished her check before her bloody hand covered his and she whispered, “Smile for me” to which the man obeyed and she gave a what sounded like the hint of a laugh “There’s the smile..” the rest went unheard to Chuuya’s ears.
He glanced around noticing the others who mimicked a version of the leaf uniform the man wore but he must have had a higher rank to be wearing white while the rest matched in green.
The woman he will learn later is the late Queen Kouyou, smiles one last time and whispers something Chuuya doesn’t catch before she dies in the man’s arms, bursting into a glowing light carried by the wind and into the deep forest.
Let’s skip to the present where the redhead man, he learned is named Oda, has taken it upon himself to protect him and whatever the little bud was in his arms.
But of course not without stopping to get a certain someone to aid him in this mission.
More like a certain bandaged bastard with wavy brown hair and distant eyes that glowed a crimson shade in the light of the sun. He introduced himself as Dazai, but Chuuya just stuck with a variety of nifty nicknames in return for their initial intro to each other and the bastard called him short! And he’s still insulting Chuuya’s height regardless of the fact that he shrunk down from being a “stomper” as the leaf folk called humans.
Chuuya also called him mackerel with eyes that reminded him of the solemn fish at the fish markets back in the city.
“Hey chibi, how are you so short? Slugs are taller than you. You’re not secretly a slug are you?” Dazai asked, clearly teasing the redhead whose eye twitched in annoyance.
“I think you would know what a slug looks like, idiot. How are you so tall, lanky bastard? Try being something more than a leaf branch!” Chuuya exclaimed, almost hitting Dazai with a twig but instead held the bud close in comfort.
“I don't think i’ve met anyone like you before,” Dazai said, voice void of the earlier joking intention.
Chuuya snorted, “Not even a dandelion?” he asked as a joke not expecting a real response.
“I’ve met one but i don’t think i’ve ever seen a cute slug like you,” Dazai smiled a boxy smile with a clear intention of flattering the slug who in turn flushed red.
Chuuya, himself, wasn’t aware if the heat rose from anger or embarrassment.
“Why you—“ he cut himself off to hit Dazai with a twig who ran away from the crazy slug.
— — —
Later in the forest after having to escape a mouse and several rot bugs it seemed like the trio had finally made it to a peaceful destination of haven where a man with a big coat and knowledge of multiple scrolls finally gave them the answers they peered for.
Along the way Dazai had saved Chuuya who also returned to favor during the days of being together, and less came the insults of irritation and came the insults full of fondness to one another.
Maybe the forest wasn’t as bad as Chuuya had come to think these years.
And maybe he was just caught up with the adventure into a world he was forcibly thrust into but why did it feel so much better than if he was in his own world.
Sure Chuuya had to avoid the many minions of the rot folk but flying on the back of a funky looking bird with his arms around Dazai’s waist somehow made him feel like he was experiencing the fondness of magic and the woodlands love.
And then Dazai sat down with him on a tree stump watching the sun through the trees as a deer passed them to graze at the ground. They talked about they life they’ve been leading and wanting to lead to somewhere else.
And somehow Chuuya felt at ease.
Even when he and Daazai rode across the antlers of a deer through the forest with their arms holding the other in place.
They both thought the same thing.
How peaceful it is to be with someone you come to care for.
It was truly too blissful to be true.
And it was.
All too blissful.
Skipping past a battle with the rot folk with King Mori acting on revenge for killing Princess Yosano, and almost killing off Oda in turn. Skipping all the raging daddy issues that somehow wandered into the forest came the choosing ceremony.
Spicafly, the Queen choosing ceremony where a little girl with black hair and pigtails turns out to be the new queen of the forest. An illuminated figure resembling Kouyou passes the new queen and sees the smile upon Oda’s face before disappearing once again.
That’s when the new queen grants Chuuya a chance to go home, well not that he had a choice with the wind trying harshly to woosh him away. The lights flicker around the palace surrounding Chuuya as the wind tries to carry him away from the place he’s relearned to love and grown attached to these past days.
It’s so hard to let go especially when he’s holding on to the pair of arms of a lanky bastard trying to keep him to stay that he;s become fond of and wishes he didn’t have to leave.
“I don’t want to let you go,” Dazai’s eyes were pleading as Chuuya’s feet were floating off the ground.
“Bastard, who says I'm leaving forever,” Chuuya says almost breathless because it almost feels like Chuuyas weightless as he’s floating higher and higher.
“I don’t want to say goodbye,” Dazai pleads as the grasp on the redhead seems too tight yet Chuuya knows he could slip at any moment.
“Then don’t .” Chuuya said as he pulled Dazai close into a bone crushing hug before kissing Dazai’s lips so desperately that it was almost surprising that they didn’t taste like moss at all but still tasted earthy and soft.
But just like that, the regret seeping into both as they clutched their final moments in each other’s arms unsure of the next time they would see each other.
He let go.
But it was far from goodbye.
If anything it was epic .
—alternate ending—
The next succession choosing was indeed the small redhead mortal who stumbled into a new world full of mystery and magic that now held the crown of the forest on his head.
“Looks like the slug has become a royal slug,” Dazai smirked as he held out his hand to the redhead.
Chuuya wrinkled his nose.
“Just kiss me already stupid bastard before i pull you down here myself,” Chuuya playfully threatened pulling Dazai down to him with the hand he had offered to him.
“Who am i to deny royalty, my adorable small slug,” Dazai spoke before leaning in to kiss the lips of the mortal who climbed into his heart in such a short time.
“I already regret not leaving here, you annoying leaf,” Chuuya groaned ruffling the floof on top of Dazai’s head.
Dazai pouts “But then I would have been sad, slug” he cuddled Chuuya close in his arms nuzzling his red hair sniffing the scent of the forest in it “And i would have been alone without my favorite slug by my side.”
“Then stay miserable you lanky branch,” Chuuya spat like a liar as his actions didn't match the words of sorrow by kissing the side of Dazai’s cheek.
“You know i always wanted to marry into royalty,” Dazai gave him a look filled with life and light in his crimson glowing eyes.
“Who would marry you?” Chuuya would. One day anyway.
“Oh” Dazai gasped dramatically “How mean! I’ve had plenty of offers. How could you say such a thing?”
“Offers from who? The trees?” Chuuya asked, his eyebrows furrowing.
“No! From a small cute slimy red slug.”
“When did i—“ Chuuya was cut off by a proud Dazai.
“The moment you said you wouldn’t leave, obviously,” Dazai plopped his tongue playfully.
“What!” Chuuya shouted.
“Too late! I already said yes!” Dazai nodded as Chuuya sighed.
“ Sneaky bastard, ” Chuuya grumbles but smiles because he never wanted to leave in the first place.
How blissful it really is in the forest with the one you love.