Chapter Text
Port Mafia meetings had always felt like a mockery to Chuuya’s constant fatigue caused by staying up late writing meaningless reports for them. Kouyou had lectured him on the importance of the reports Chuuya deemed worthless, but he couldn’t bring himself to agree as he sat through another tedious meeting. His body itched to remove himself from the confines of his chair and leave the stifling room.
As his foot resumed tapping impatiently against the sleek floor, Kouyou shot him a piercing warning glare while somehow managing to make the action appear graceful. Chuuya sighed languidly. Fidgeting was the only outlet of entertainment for his ghastly jaded mind. Listening to his fellow Port Mafia members ramble on endlessly uninterested him.
Suddenly, a blue pen struck Chuuya in the shin with a skillful aim. His head whipped up at the speed of light, eyes immediately darting to a certain boy who was smirking at Chuuya triumphantly with lax posture. The executive beside Dazai scowled at his childish antics interrupting the monologue he supposedly deemed imperative to listen to, while Dazai clearly shared the notion it was not.
Dazai tapped the table in variations, conveying morse code towards Chuuya who took direct notice. “Let’s leave,” he tapped out. Chuuya rolled his eyes and glanced in Kouyou’s direction to assure himself he wasn’t being observed.
Biting his inner cheek to conceal his giddy smile, Chuuya tapped out a quick response, “How?” Dazai’s face spilt into a mischievous grin rivalling the Cheshire Cat. He perched his chin upon his bony hand, batting his eyelashes endearingly.
“Operation: Rain Beyond the Window,” he tapped out slowly. Chuuya’s expression faltered significantly, but before he could even comprehend the situation, Dazai abruptly stood and planted his hands on the cold surface of the table.
Perplexed and exasperated mummers fell upon the other occupants of the meeting room. Kouyou pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head emphatically, sending a disapproving sneer at Dazai. Chuuya suddenly remembered when she’d insinuated Chuuya was an enabler of Dazai, feeling a pinprick of guilt for ruining something she’d seemed to find intriguing and important.
He couldn’t feel too sorry, however, when he was currently restraining himself from bursting out into a boisterous laughter. Dazai’s eyes shone with youthful mirth and determination as he spoke, “Now, now, you old geezers, settle down.” He emphasized his words with a flippant gesture.
Dazai clapped his hands together cheerfully while the members gaped like a school of fish. “I will now preform a comedic—”
“That is enough!” Kouyou exclaimed, face reddened with rage. Her disheveled appearance was one specially reserved for Dazai’s antics. The two had never been the fondest of one another.
“You, out!” she seethed, jabbing an accusatory finger in Dazai’s direction. The boy pouted like a toddler having a toy ripped from their tiny hands, but obeyed, nonetheless.
“Sorry, everyone. Apparently, someone does not appreciate a good comedy act,” Dazai refuted sarcastically before being personally escorted by Kouyou herself. He whined and writhed under her unrelenting grasp but was eventually thrown out of the elongated doors to the meeting room.
Chuuya observed the interaction with a bated breath, amusement evident in his expectance face. That is, until Kouyou gripped him by the upper arm and hauled him up and towards the entrance where Dazai had recently been discarded.
“Wha—Hey! What’d I do?!” Chuuya cried in confusion.
“You,” Kouyou began as she continued to drag the boy half her size across the floor. “Are going to babysit that pest and make sure he doesn’t get anyone killed. Since you’re so infatuated with him!” Chuuya flushed momentarily at the implication of her knowing words before plopping down onto the hallway floor with an “oof”.
“Ane-san—” Chuuya called out desperately, but the woman had already slammed the large down in his face. He winced at the intensity and vibrations the action produced, slumping down onto the ground and wishing that it would open and swallow him in that very moment.
The silhouette of a lanky boy appeared above Chuuya, blocking his field of vision from the overhead light. Dazai smiled impishly.
“Ready to go dancing, slug?”
The door to the Port Mafia’s rooftop creaked noisily as Chuuya cracked it open enough to inspect the restricted area. Raindrops pounded down on the rough surface with a vigorous melody. The downpour coated the skies in a foggy hue, complementing the gray skies overhead.
“Dazai,” Chuuya started cautiously, “It’s pouring.”
“Exactly!” Dazai exclaimed as he slammed open the heavy door from behind Chuuya’s petite figure. Chuuya didn’t flinch at the sudden intrusion, he simply sighed exasperatedly.
“We can’t go out there. We’d drown,” Chuuya reasoned. Dazai’s eyebrow quirked upwards as tilted his head in challenge.
“What, are you scared?” Chuuya clicked his tongue in annoyance. His competitive nature heavily overshadowed common sense, especially when it came to Dazai. It had been similar with Shirase and the fellow Sheep members, but never as enjoyable and gratifying as with Dazai.
“I’m not scared!” To prove his point, Chuuya took a confident step from under the protective roof of the staircase, immediately being encased by droplets of rain and nearly drenched. Yet, even with his soggy clothes uncomfortably sticking to his skin, Chuuya rooted his feet in place, letting the water embrace him in its freezing confines.
A sudden outburst of boisterous laughter emitting from behind him had Chuuya whipping around instantly, being met with the glorious sight of Dazai genuinely laughing without a hint of insincerity. His heart thumped rapidly in his chest, blood pumping through his veins and causing his frost-bitten cheeks to flush despite the weather.
“Oh my God.” Dazai snickered, “You actually did it!”
This time, Chuuya flushed with evident embarrassment, but his stubborn pride caused him to not show a modicum of shame otherwise. “Shut it, mackerel!” he shouted indignantly. “At least I have the balls to handle a little water.”
An impish smirk crawled its way onto Chuuya’s face as his mind produced a splendid thought. “Actually, why don’t you join me?”
Without giving Dazai any time to react, Chuuya pulled the boy forward and directly into his chest, landing with a thump. This time, it was Chuuya who burst out into unrestrained giggles as he watched Dazai become drenched like a wet dog. Dazai’s face contorted into disgust and disdain, but his shared giddiness wasn’t difficult to discern.
“You look awful!” Chuuya bellowed, gurgling uglily.
“So do you!” cried Dazai ecstatically.
Dazai suddenly shoved himself away from Chuuya’s chest, much to Chuuya’s disappointment. He bent down to where his shoes were being engulfed by a continuous stream of water and scooped the murky liquid into his hands.
As soon as Chuuya comprehended what Dazai was planning, muddy water was being splashed over his already soaked front. He stilled for strained moment; expression incredulous. His eyes flitted back-and-forth between Dazai’s panting figure and the flooding stream of water below them both.
The two met eyes, and in the next moment, they were running around the rooftop splashing each other with filthy rainwater, giggling happily. For a singular moment, the two bathed in the feeling of childhood memories they’d never have the opportunity to live through. For a singular moment, they were two immature teenage boys silently infatuated with one another.
When they were finally finished exuding copious amounts of energy through a refined game of tag, they flopped back against the staircase’s heavy door. They both wheezed in the condensed air caused by the torrential downpour, relishing in the silence for a blissful moment.
“Why the hell did we do that?” Chuuya asked flippantly, laughing at the absurdity, running on pure adrenaline.
“Why the hell do we do anything?” Dazai replied, closing his eyes and pressing the crown of his head against the back of the staircase entrance.
Chuuya smacked the other boy in the arm, causing Dazai to wince and jut out his lip in a pout. “Don’t turn this into another one of your extensional crisis’s,” he reprimanded, turning to the other fully. Dazai leaned forward into Chuuya’s warmth. Despite the freezing weather, Chuuya still managed to be a personal inferno, a heady contrast to Dazai’s own naturally icy temperature.
“Everything can be an existential crisis if you put your mind to it,” Dazai suggested innocently. Chuuya rolled his eyes in fond exasperation, far too familiar with Dazai’s witty remarks and strange behavior.
“You’re ridiculous,” Chuuya huffed. Dazai’s permanent smile stretched into another wide grin as he hummed in affirmation.
Chuuya flinched slightly as a sudden weight was placed on his soaked shoulder, brunet hair scented with the smell of rainwater filling his peripheral. His breathing turned erratic for a spilt second before returning to normal, flustered at the proximity. Dazai appeared the same but concealed his emotions through a thin mask of indifference.
The two sat in comfortable silence, basking in the droplets of rain hammering down onto their drenched figures entwined with one another. Chuuya stuck out his tongue to catch the droplets, earning a giggle from Dazai as he poked Chuuya’s cheek. No words need to be exchanged between the two to convey the feelings held in that belated moment. They simply relished in each other’s presence while breathing in the murky water’s scent.
“Hey,” Dazai abruptly spoke, raising his head from Chuuya’s shoulder, who frowned at the action. “Remember when I asked if you were ready to go dancing?” he asked with a grin crawling its way onto his youthful face. Chuuya stilled, eyes flitting between Dazai who was gazing at him expectantly, and the empty expanse of the rooftop.
He blinked, “I don’t know how to dance.”
Dazai rolled his eyes, extending a hand towards the other boy. “I’ll show you.” Chuuya stared at the hand with hesitation, but eventually relented with a huff.
Grabbing Dazai’s extended hand, Chuuya nearly shivered at the freezing feeling engulfing his own naturally warm hand. Dazai didn’t seem to mind nor take notice at all, however, as he sharply stood and dragged the other boy behind him with newfound determination.
Chuuya giggled endearingly as Dazai stopped in the middle of the rooftop, fumbling with their positions for a moment. He placed Chuuya right hand on his own left shoulder, placing his left hand on Chuuya’s waist. He then intertwined their fingers and unexpectedly extended their collective arms to the side, following the movement with his feet and watching in apparent amusement as Chuuya stumbled over himself.
“Since when the hell did you know how to dance?” Chuuya asked inquisitively as the two walked in a slow circle to let themselves adjust to the invisible tempo. Dazai shrugged nonchalantly, swaying and guiding Chuuya’s movements with confidence.
“Observing people instead of brute forcing your way through things can get you a long way, slug.” Before Chuuya could take offense to that, he was being twirled with the hand previously entwined with his own. A strangled sound clawed its way up his throat, embarrassingly enough. Dazai simply smiled wider, however, and intertwined their fingers once more as if nothing occurred.
“Warn a guy!” Chuuya exclaimed while still reeling. Dazai rolled his eyes but relented.
“I’m going to spin you now,” he explained. This time, their movements were more calculated, more in tune, a perfect example of their partnership and their ability to adapt to one another. Chuuya laughed as he was spun once more, but instead of becoming dizzy and disoriented, he returned the favor, spinning Dazai abruptly and watching the boy fumble.
“Not fair,” Dazai whined. Chuuya rolled his eyes, mirroring Dazai’s earlier actions with mockery.
The two swayed to an imaginary melody created by their own hazy, endorphin-filled brains. Chuuya accidently stepped on Dazai’s foot, while Dazai intentionally stomped on Chuuya’s foot in retaliation, causing him to yelp.
By the end of their fictitious song, the two boys were completely worn out, their movements slowing significantly. Not before a grand finale, of course. Chuuya suddenly dipped Dazai low to the ground, holding the boy up by his lower back with strength alone, his ability nullified by the other. Dazai visibly flustered, causing Chuuya to laugh unrestrained.
As Chuuya pulled Dazai back up to his normal towering height, he suddenly gripped the boy by his arm, causing Dazai’s eyes to widen as Chuuya tapped out a single message in morse code:
“Thank you.”