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For as long as Dazai could remember, he has always known, and thought about a single certain person.
A redhead boy, who has always been shorter than him, but despite that has always had bigger hands between the two of them. Just a little chibi who has always been so bright, has always smiled at him even when the world didn't, and who insisted on being 'best friends' with him the very first day they met.
Chuuya had moved into the house next to his shortly after Dazai had turned five. He remembered being curious enough to peek out of his bedroom window, just to get a look at the new neighbours. He hadn't known what to expect, but the last thing he would've expected was finding a little shortie who he would know for the next unforeseeable number of years of his life.
Soon after they had moved in, the neighbours had sent their two kids to greet Dazai and his family. Chuuya's older sister had been over briefly, just to say hello, before she left. Her brother, however, had stayed long enough for Dazai to offer him cookies. Of course, he had spiked the cookies with an unnecessary amount of salt, completely ruining them.
Chuuya had been very upset at first, and had complained lots, but he'd still stayed around long enough for Dazai to give him proper cookies the next time. Upon receiving such a blessed confectionery, Chuuya had deemed his neighbour fit to be his best friend; even if he wore such tacky bandages.
That was the first memory Dazai had of a person who was very, very special to him.
After that, Chuuya had enrolled in the same school as him and they had ended up being in the same class. In the following ten years, they had continued to apply to, and get into, the same schools as each other. Miraculously, they had even ended up being classmates for most of those years.
Of course, during all this time, Chuuya had never once shut up about how much he hated Dazai and how he was so annoying, and how Chuuya would rather swallow Legos than see 'that shitty mackerel' ever again. Despite that, during their first year of high school, when Dazai had joked and told him that they weren't in the same class, Chuuya had looked like he was about to cry.
Really, his eyes had widened hilariously, and they had been on the verge of watering.
Because Dazai was a kind person, and a wonderful friend, he had taken it upon himself to inform 'his dog' that he wouldn't have to separate from his owner after all; that they were in the same class. As expected, Chuuya had punched him immediately and cursed lots at him, insisting that being in the same class as Dazai didn't sound fun at all.
Dazai had innumerable memories stored in that so-called genius brain of his, and yet he couldn't find a single memory which didn't have Chuuya in it. How utterly ridiculous; but Dazai really couldn't see his life progressing in any other way, without the literal chibi at his side.
More important than the rest, Dazai had a particular memory he was rather fond of. Something that was of heavy importance, even after many years passed. It was something about a certain promise, see. A promise between him and the redhead next-door, which would continue to be of importance for the next fifteen years.
-
It was a lazy day, not unlike most others this year.
Even if Dazai had recently just started high school, and was fifteen now, he didn't really feel any different. His life has always been the same, after all. He lived next to Chuuya, went to school with Chuuya, and spent almost all of his time with Chuuya. The only time he wasn't with his best friend was at night, when it was time to sleep. Even then, Chuuya would come over sometimes on nights he couldn't really sleep.
Presently, Dazai made his way up the stairs and towards Chuuya's bedroom.
School had ended a few hours ago, and he'd seen the short stack just then, but well, he was already bored and needed someone to annoy. And of course, because Chuuya was his dog, shouldn't he always be there to entertain him and free him from his immense boredom? It was just natural, really.
Chuuya was sitting on his bed and playing something on his phone when Dazai finally entered his room, making sure to be extra noisy just for the sake of it. He immediately went over to take a seat on the bed as well, leaning against the other.
He sing-songed, "Chuuya~ Did you miss me?"
Chuuya had had plenty of years to get used to stinky mackerels crawling into his room randomly. As expected, he wasn't surprised at all. He merely snorted, "Who'd miss you, dumbass? Besides, I just saw you three hours ago."
Dazai faked an aggravated frown, "Ah but for a dog like you, isn't three hours away from your owner absolutely unbearable?!"
Putting his phone away indefinitely, the redhead rolled his eyes, "Again, I'm not your fucking dog. Anyway, what do you want? I was busy, you know."
The other hummed, relaxing some more against Chuuya, "Busy with what? Playing that boring game you always play?"
"It's not boring, oi! And yes, exactly so."
Dazai huffed, "Bo~ring. Say Chuuya. Did you know Kouyou-san is married now?"
For a few seconds, Chuuya said nothing. Then, he blinked in disbelief, "Yes, Shitty Dazai. I do know my own sister is married."
"Well I just thought she might have forgotten to tell you."
An exasperated groan, "Dazai. Both of us went to her wedding together."
The brunet gasped, "Eh? Chuuya was there?! Really? I must have missed seeing you because you're so short, Chuuya!"
As expected, Chuuya punched him in the arm, "I'm fucking fifteen. I'm still growing!"
Dazai snickered not-so-subtly, "I bet Chuuya is still going to be this short when he gets married."
A roll of his eyes from the other, "Who the fuck is getting married now."
"Oh that's right! Nobody would want to marry a silly chibi like Chuuya. My bad."
This time, Chuuya pinched him, "Shut up, dumbass. I'm very likeable. You, on the other hand, though. Nobody would want to marry you, you know? Who'd want to marry a bandaged fish?"
Dazai just sighed dramatically, "If I remain unmarried, it must be because I'm just too charming, and that my dashing good-looks scared off everyone."
Chuuya couldn't help but burst out laughing. Really, what dashing good-looks?! There had to be something really wrong with whoever decided that they found such tacky bandaged beanpoles attractive. Chuuya really pitied whoever that shitty Dazai would marry in the future. To get such bad luck, they must have done something truly bad.
For a few seconds, Dazai said nothing. Then he brought up an utterly absurd idea,
"Ne Chuuya. Let's make a pact."
The redhead looked over at him suspiciously, "What sort of pact?"
Hands sweeping wide, Dazai declared in a false manner of grandeur, "A marriage pact. If we're both unmarried by the time we turn thirty, we'll just have to compromise and marry each other."
Chuuya's reaction was immediate, "Marry you?! Why the fuck would I want that!"
"Well, you don't want to be single forever, do you? Given your tacky hats, and your chibi-ness, who'd marry you?"
"I'm plenty likeable, oi! And my hats are not tacky. I'll definitely be married by the time I'm thirty."
With raised eyebrows and a smirk on his face, Dazai questioned, "Is that your very first official prediction, Chibi-kun?"
Chuuya wrinkled his nose, "Don't call me that. But sure! I predict that I'll definitely be married before I turn thirty."
Dazai tilted his head, a very suspicion-inducing smile gracing his face, "Ne Chuuya, I just might have to agree. But still, it's better to have insurance, isn't it? So, shall we have a marriage pact?"
The redhead folded his arms, "Well, considering I'll definitely be married by then, I don't see why not."
Dazai prompted in clarification, "So you'll marry me if we're both unmarried by the time we're thirty?"
Chuuya just waved his hands, "Yes. Fine."
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Dazai whipped out two whole sheets of printed paper. Decorated with inked letters and stapled together securely, the document was presented to Chuuya in a suspiciously official-looking manner.
Dazai beamed at him, "Here, contract papers. Sign them then!"
Because Chuuya knew his shitty friend well enough to know that there was no getting out of this, he was already signing the papers, after giving them a quick scan. Nevertheless, he inquired incredulously, "You actually made a marriage pact contact?! Just how long have you been thinking of such a ridiculous thing, oi-"
His words were cut off at an appropriate end of his sentence, "Don't bark so much, Chuuya! At this rate, you really will be unmarried at thirty, and I'll have to be a good doggie owner and marry you. But well, Chuuya is my dog for life anyway, so it really isn't all that different-"
This time, it was Dazai's turn to get cut off, "Shut up already, damn it. The amount of pure bullshit you spew is ridiculous."
The brunet grinned, "You say that, but you still agreed to marry me."
Chuuya said pointedly, "Only because I'll definitely be married before it's time to make use of that contract."
Putting away the very important document, Dazai just hummed, "Whatever you say, silly chibi."
-
After that, the two of them had decided that discussing about such stupid things wasn't all that important. This was followed by Chuuya powering on his gaming console, and the two of them had spent the next few hours gaming together, one of them constantly screaming about how the other was only winning because he was a cheater.
The day had ended ordinarily enough, but the pact that had been made on that day was very important, of course. After all, Dazai still had the signed contract papers with him. In fact, that document was now finely laminated as an extra precaution.
Chuuya had made a promise to marry him if both of them were still unmarried fifteen years later. And Dazai had always planned to make use of this very official contract in the most appropriate way possible.
But now, at the age of twenty five, ten years after the promise was made and the contract was signed, Dazai found the piece of paper to be no use of him anymore. Rather than that, he now had another piece of paper, one which was a hundred times more important than the old one.
While the contract was always carefully kept away in his safe, a copy of the new important paper was kept perched on top of the mantlepiece, framed in all its legal glory. Of course, it was a marriage certificate. One of the previously empty blanks now graced with his married name, the frame was obviously perfect, and way more important, wasn't it?
Since Dazai had gone ahead and gotten married before he turned thirty, five years in advance at that, he really had no need for that contract he had once made his childhood best friend sign. No, the only person who was the most important to him now was his beloved spouse.
It was natural anyway, wasn't it?
Presently, Dazai was in a hotel room with said spouse of his, the two of them finally on a so-called honeymoon, a couple months after they actually made their marriage official. They had been busy ever since then, but now they finally had a chance to go on a little vacation trip. Fortunately, it was all going well.
Going ahead to flop down on the bed next to his spouse, Dazai whined in that special annoying voice of his, "Chuuya~ I can't believe you actually got married before you turned thirty!"
Next to him, his husband snorted, "Is this about the marriage pact we made when we were younger?"
A dramatic huff, "But of course! You were supposed to marry me if we were both unmarried at thirty. How could you get married before that, Chuuya!"
His partner snickered some more, finally putting away his phone and resting his hand on top of the other's head, "I married you, and now we're both married to each other well before we turned thirty. What the fuck are you complaining about?!"
Dazai insisted, "Shouldn't you have remained unmarried so you could marry me according to the pact!"
Chuuya rolled his eyes fondly, fingers carding through fluffy brown hair, "No, because this was the right time. And why should I wait for some stupid contract to take effect when I can just get a new one to get what I want?"
His partner looked up at him with an excited grin, "So you admit you wanted to marry me?"
"Well. Since I already did marry you, I suppose there's no denying it." Chuuya sighed as if he was deeply disturbed by this concept of not being able to deny such false, ridiculous accusations.
Dazai was quick to bury his face in the pillow, "Unfair. That's unfair, Chuuya."
Because his partner has learnt quite a few tricks from him, in their twenty years of knowing each other, Chuuya questioned innocently, "Hm? What's so unfair, Nakahara-san?"
Dazai wailed immediately, "Chuuya, stop!"
Chuuya couldn't help but burst out laughing. Reaching his head down to kiss the other gently, he grinned, "This is fun. This is revenge for all the infinite times you annoyed me for so long."
His partner insisted vehemently, "I did that out of love!"
A disgustingly fond look to his face, Chuuya grinned as he ruffled the other's hair, "And I do this out of love too, Nakahara-san."
The other Nakahara rolled over onto the bed, declaring mournfully, "I'm done. I can't take this anymore."
The original Nakahara snorted, resting his back against a heap of pillows, "Good. Go to fucking sleep and let me play my game."
"I can't believe you still play such boring games, Chuuya."
"Say what you will. At least my prediction came true."
"That's one. One prediction compared to several successful ones of mine."
Chuuya paused his game just once more, in order to look up at his husband and smile genuinely, "But mine turned out to be the most important, didn't it?"
Dazai threw his arms around his partner immediately, "Aw, Chuuya~"
With a very annoyed sigh, "Get the fuck off me, Shitty Dazai."
"That's no way to talk to your husband, Chuuya!"
Well, followed by this, Dazai's very rude husband proceeded to ignore him to play on his phone. But first, Chuuya did let Dazai sleep on his lap while he did so. Hence, it was all fine.
More importantly, Dazai was very sure that for as long as he could remember things that he would would experience in the future, he would always know, and think about this single certain person.
A redhead boy, who is still shorter than him, but despite that still has bigger hands between the two of them. Just a little chibi who is still the brightest he has ever been, still smiles at him even when the world doesn't, and who insisted on getting married as soon as they could, because 'waiting for a contract to take effect was for fools, and patient people'.
Clearly, Chuuya was not one of those patient people.