Work Text:
Crystaliqueeen's Soukoku Realm Presents:
THE CHIBI AND THE DOGGY
Chuuya's been preparing himself for one of the greatest milestones in his life— adopting a puppy! And when he hears a faint bark amidst the sounds of rainfalls falling from the ground, his heart thumps fast. Will his dream finally come true? Will he finally get to have a puppy of his own? One more thing, it's raining so damn hard... if it's really a puppy then...
His eyes brightened in delight and his heart skipped a beat for a second. It is cute little black dog whose fur resembles the brunette suicidal freak that he hates the most... but it's still a dog!
{Dazai turned into a dog and got taken care of by his dog-lover, ex-partner}.
Chuuya has never been this flustered and happy before. No, wait, wrong. Happiness isn't the best way to describe his feeling as he came out of the theater with a teary-eyes and a smile that wouldn't stop creeping on his lips. His heart feels full and warm after watching the sequel of 'The Boy and the Puppy,' his favorite movie of all times. He can't even believe that he accomplished a week-long mission in just a day yesterday just so that he'll have the time to watch this in the cinema. Of course, this day is his rest day and he's glad he spent it well. Chuuya felt so happy as he walked out while hugging the poster of the movie on his chest. His happiness is beyond comprehension that he didn't even get pissed off with the extreme rain falling off the sky. Not that he minds it, really. He'll just use his ability to avoid getting wet. What matters the most is the fact that he watched such a masterpiece.
What would it feel like to have a really cute puppy? Will it even be alright for him, a mafia executive, to adopt a dog and love it with all his heart? Will he be a good pup-parent or fur-parent, or whatever you call that? With a genuine and dreamy smile on his lips, he walks towards the dark street while still having a lot of thoughts about adopting a puppy. The rain is deafening because of how heavy it is but Chuuya's too preoccupied with his thoughts. He promises himself that if he'll see a puppy without anyone who owns them, he'll take care of it. No one, not even his sister by heart Kouyou, knows that he has tons of puppy-related books inside his house. He's been preparing himself for one of the greatest milestones in his life— adopting a puppy!
And when he hears a faint bark amidst the sounds of rainfalls falling from the ground, a mournful sweet bark from the dark corners of the street where he's walking, Chuuya's eyes widen a little. A small tint of red appears on his cheeks. Will his dream finally come true!? Will he finally get to have a puppy of his own!? One more thing, it's raining so damn hard... if it's really a dog then...
Without any hesitation, Chuuya runs towards the dark corners and his lips parted when he sees a dog laying on the dark ground. His eyes brightened in delight and his heart skipped for a second. It is cute little black dog whose fur resembles the brunette suicidal freak that he hates the most. But the dog... the cute, adorable dog is now damp by the rain and laying down weakly on the ground. Chuuya walked towards the dog with gentle gestures as he softly touched the dog's furs. He uses his ability for the droplets of water to float away from the dog. He also uses gravity to protect the dog from getting wet further. The poor dog is shaking because of the cold and Chuuya's heart tightens while looking at it.
"What are you doing in a place like this, buddy?" Chuuya asked gently. He softly caresses the dog's fur as well, "It's raining cats and dogs, did you fall from the sky, too?"
Chuuya wants to chuckle with his pun but the dog seems to like it as it starts barking in agreement. It makes Chuuya smile sincerely.
"Well, now, I guess it can't be helped..." Chuuya mumbled to himself, secretly smiling as he found an adorable dog while he was in the middle of thinking on adopting one, "You don't mind coming with me, yeah?"
The dog stuck his tongue out as if it's agreeing with him. Chuuya smiles again and without second thoughts, he pulls the dog towards himself and carries it effortlessly. He realizes that it's not that small and not that big as well. Just enough size for a dog to fit comfortably on his arms. The dog leans on his shoulders and Chuuya gently carries it until he arrives in his expensive penthouse. The dog seems dry after him using his ability to get rid of all the water in the dog's skin but Chuuya still gets a warm blanket to wrap around the dog's body.
He also pulls the stocks of dog food from his cabinet (yes, he has them and vitamins, too, just in case a scenario like this happens) and feeds the dog that he found earlier. While the dog is eating calmly, Chuuya can't help but to stare at it. It has shiny and soft black furs. Again, it is the same color as the bandage freak's hair color but Chuuya ignored that fact. He makes himself some tea, eats a quick vegetable sandwich, takes a warm bath, after changing into his cute pajamas with dog prints and shirt before walking and sitting on a sofa beside the dog.
The dog is now finished eating and it stares back at Chuuya while obviously waiting for the man to say something. Chuuya finds it odd but he just sighed and pulled the dog closer to him before letting it lay down on his lap. The warmth and weight of the dog feels perfect on Chuuya's lap. He leans comfortably on the couch as he plays with the soft fur of the dog with his hands. He's really happy that finally, he has a dog now. He's finally a pup-parent! Maybe the sequel of the boy and the puppy is a lucky charm. Who knows?
"Mackerel," Chuuya started, and even he was shocked with what came out of his mouth. He cleared his throat, "You don't mind being called Mackerel, yes, buddy?" He doesn't know why he's talking to the dog but it feels comforting to talk to a living being without hiding anything at all.
The dog barks and Chuuya chuckles as he caresses the back furs of the dog, "Yeah, I know right. Mackerel is a weird name for a dog, but not for a human."
The dog barks again but it stays lying comfortably on his lap. Its ear is forward as if it's paying attention to whatever the redhead has to say. Chuuya snorts a little when he remembers the image of his ex-partner who left him all alone in the Mafia. Why is he suddenly remembering that man? He doesn't even care in whatever the hell he's doing right now. That social misfit bandage wasting trash....
The dog barks again and Chuuya looks down on Mackerel only to see him staring back at him. Chuuya sighed, "What the hell am I thinking? That shitty Dazai resembles you, buddy, it's gross."
The dog rolls his eyes and Chuuya chuckles.
"Come to think of it, he hates dogs. He'll freak out if he finds out that I named a dog after him." Chuuya smirks smugly, "Mackerel's now your name, huh? Great. I have to take you for a walk early tomorrow and I promise I'll go home after my mission so that you won't be alone for too long."
The dog gently blink and cuddles on Chuuya's lap which makes Chuuya's heart warm. If he knows that a dog can complete his life, he should've adopted tons of pups in his entire existence. Mackerel is lying comfortably on his lap with his tail standing without tension. Both his ears and eyes are pointed towards Chuuya and the chibi continues talking, telling the dog about the movie he watched earlier and how his entire day goes. It feels good to talk with such carefree feelings to an animal. It's as if you're free from any judgements and such.
"You don't have any dog tags with you so I'm not sure if you have an owner. I will use my connections to find your owner if you have one," Chuuya mumbles, his heart ache a little with the idea of finding the real owner of Mackerel. He wants to take care of the dog but it will also be painful for his owner to lose him, Chuuya wouldn't want that to happen to himself, so he needs to take responsibility of knowing the dog's background.
If Mackerel has no owner, then he's more than willing to take care of the dog with all his heart.
"Well then, I guess I need to sleep. You can sleep on the couch, Mackerel. Just don't piss, ok?" The dog rolls his eyes like a brat again and it amuses Chuuya since he's never met a dog this bratty before, "Good, buddy, good night."
Chuuya gives the dog some soft headpats before he gently wraps a blanket on Mackerel's body to keep the dog warm. Mackerel is an unbelievably behaved dog tonight as it just lays down on the sofa and closes his eyes. With a light heart, Chuuya walks towards his bedroom, still grateful that he found a dog that he'll be taking care of.
He can't wait to shop for dog stuff tomorrow.
It was a mission supposedly to be an easy one if the only villain involved is an ability user— turns out, he's not... and now, Dazai is cursed to be a dog!
He was confident and the entire raid was well planned. It is about the tipped ability user roaming around Yokohama turning people into animals with his ability. The raid turns out well and upon further investigations, it is proven that the curse would last for a month before the cursed humans turn into their human form once again. It is supposedly a happy ending but then the ability user escapes and Dazai is the one who chases after the ability user, confident that he won't get affected since No Longer Human holds no exemption on its prowess. Dazai chases the ability user into the long dark street that one can mistaken as a slump. The other ADA members are probably chasing after them, too, but Dazai needs to get this thing done because he can't stomach seeing people turn into a dog. It's just... weird.
Unfortunately for him, when he finally trapped the helpless ability user, the man suddenly whispers unknown and incomprehensible words from his mouth. Dazai is aware of different possibilities of what it might be about, and his gut feeling is telling him that something extremely disturbing is about to happen to himself. He knows the risks and he has all the worst case scenarios playing in his brain, but as red lights slowly appear from his body, he knows it will be bothersome. All he can do is whisper a small, "Tsk," inside his mind.
"Not an ability user, huh." Dazai mumbles and before any unnecessary thing starts happening to him, he uses his skills and effortlessly pin and handcuffs the man helplessly. He also put a duct tape on the man's mouth since he can tell that the curses are activated through words.
"Dazai-san!" Atsushi's voice from behind shouted as the young boy ran towards him while obviously chasing his breath. Dazai look at him with a playful smile, "I'm sorry it took us too long before—"
"Atsushi-kun!~ I'll leave this man in your care." Dazai whispered as he felt his body slowly in heat— like it's boiling from within. His gaze looks at his hands which are slowly having furred bristles.
Dazai starts thinking of his situation rationally before sighing in boredom and mild annoyance since he could've turned into a bird or a snake but turns out he won't be turning into such. He wishes to turn into a bird and fly over Kunikida's head to annoy the man tomorrow but the galaxy probably hates him now.
"What are you talking about—" Atsushi's eyes widens and Dazai is sure the weretiger's jaw is about to drop when his skin starts growing furs, "Dazai-san! What's happening to you!?"
Dazai chuckled as he felt himself on the brink of passing out. His inside is so hot that he wants to tear his clothes off and jump into the cold water. He looked around before looking back at Atsushi with a playful grin on his lips.
"I will be gone for a month, Atsushi. Tell the agency to not find my whereabouts, can you?" Dazai asked and Atsushi's eyes are still filled with disbelief as he sees soft silky furs on Dazai's skin, "...And forget what you see tonight. That man is not an ability user so never let him speak or else you might turn into a rat or a cat, not that you mind since you're already a weretiger and—"
Arf.
Dazai rolls his eyes in further annoyance when instead of a word, what comes out of his mouth is a bark. Atsushi, the poor soul who's witnessing all of these things, looks like he's about to pass out anytime soon. He sees how Dazai slowly turns small... little by little... until the man turns into a dog. A black cute dog.
Holy crap—
The dog gives Atsushi a wink before it runs away, leaving the white-haired man in awe, shock, disbelief, and goosebumps.
What just happened!?
When Dazai opens his eyes, he's still laying down on the couch and Chuuya is already outside his room while wearing a white sweater and black pants. His hair is tied into a bun and Dazai just blinks upon realizing how Chuuya is wearing casual clothes that he isn't used to seeing. His blazing orange hair is even tied and it's brightly adding to the brilliance of this morning glory. His ocean blue is mesmerizingly beautiful— erm, normal. Yeah, normal. Chuuya is preparing something near him and when Dazai looks down, he sees an expensive looking dog plate with different dishes, scrambled eggs, cereals, and ground beef with a small portion of rice. There's also water and vitamins beside the plate.
Chuuya is currently kneeling and when he looks up at the dog, his eyes brighten upon finding out how the dog has awakened already.
"Good morning, Mackerel!" A bright cheerful smile plastered on Chuuya's lips, an opposite of his usual smug smirk whenever he talks to Dazai before, "How's the sleep of my best buddy?"
Dazai freezes on the couch as he hears those. Chuuya would never say those words to him if he knew how it is Dazai himself that he's taking care of. Though, Dazai would admit how his mood brightened up a little with Chuuya's sweet 'Good morning, Mackerel'. He can't move though. He knows Chuuya loves dogs but he never expects Chuuya to spoil dogs like this. It's like he's being treated as a king. He freezes even more when the chibi (who's taller than him right now) walks towards him and pat his head gently. Dazai feels his heart skip a beat and his entire body feels chills. What in the name of nightmare is this!?
"Arf arf arf arf! (Don't touch me with your sluggy hands, chibi. Stop patting my head! You're supposed to be my dog!)" Dazai stated those words and those words came out as a mere bark.
Chuuya's eyes softened. Oh no, he'll misinterpret it again.
"Aww, my buddy is being a brat this morning, and I can feel it. You're hungry, aren't you? Come here, I've prepared your breakfast and you better eat them since I'm taking you for a walk before I go to my job." Chuuya is still patting his head and Dazai absolutely hates head pats, especially when it's coming from the chibi.
He absolutely hates headpats but what can he do, right? It's not like he can do anything so he just relaxes comfortably as he lets Chuuya head pat him.
When Chuuya eats his own breakfast, Dazai eats the food Chuuya prepares for him, too. Though he doesn't mind if he's literally eating in a dog bowl since he's a dog right now, he better be in character. One more thing, he was expecting Chuuya to see him last night but he's amused with how Chuuya literally brought him here without hesitations. He predicted it, ok? But it still amuses him. His chibi even named him "Mackerel" which makes Dazai want to sighed again.
Who in their cute, little, chibi mind would name their dog after a fish?
Only this cute, little, chibi slug.
After a while, Chuuya prepared himself to walk Dazai out. It's still around 6:30 am in the morning and there are probably few people in the park near Chuuya's suite. Since Chuuya doesn't have a dog collar, he just kneels down in front of the dog and looks in the dog's eyes with trust and confidence.
"You have to behave, Mackerel. Don't run away from me, ok? Come on, buddy." He patted the dog's head as he started walking out his suit while the dog followed him. Chuuya realizes how the dog seems intelligent enough to probably understand what he just stated.
He can't wait to train Mackerel to bite someone hard once they meet, especially when that someone is a traitorous bandage freak.
When they arrived at the park, there was almost nobody there. The cold wind touches Chuuya's skin and Mackerel starts running around him, enjoying the place. Chuuya chuckles when Mackerel starts jumping playfully and messing around the bermuda grasses. He's being too energetic early in the morning. It is a good decision to prepare a good breakfast for him.
Chuuya also slept well knowing that he's no longer alone in his house. Even his temper seems to cool down a bit when he wakes up and sees the gentle sleeping face of his new buddy. He's really a dog person and he loves having dogs. He's also considering adopting more puppies and dogs in the future.
Mackerel is playing with him too, jumping and wiggling his tail around him like he's teasing Chuuya cutely— not that Chuuya mind. He is smiling and laughing genuinely while having his great day with the dog. It took them 30 minutes in the park before he brought Mackerel back to his suite.
He changes into his usual Port Mafia outfit, and before he leaves Mackerel alone, he kneels down and pat the dog's head gently.
"I will be gone for a while now, buddy. You stay here, ok? Don't try biting off my hats, some of them are limited edition."
"Arf arf! (They're disgusting)." The dog barked.
"Why do I have this feeling that you're teasing my hat?" Chuuya asked with his eyebrows cocked suspiciously cute while looking at his dog.
Mackerel rolls his eyes, ignoring how Chuuya's suspicious sluggy face is near him, "Arf arf arf arf arf! (Hatrack, your hats are too hideous for your chibi height.)"
Chuuya's eyebrows curl even more, "Wow, I can feel my blood boiling a little," He sighed and looked up at the ceiling as if he's thinking of something, "Argh! It is probably that shitty Dazai's fault somewhere! That piece of shit can annoy me even when he's afar, arghhh!"
Dazai wants to laugh at Chuuya's reaction but the chibi just hugs him gently, which makes his system malfunction again for a second.
"I have to protect you from that bandage freak's virus, buddy. Stay here and I'll buy steak for dinner later. Be a good dog, 'kay? I gotta go, bud." Chuuya played with the dog's fur before he went out of his suite and left Mackerel for his job. By the way, the food for Mackerel are also prepared so the dog won’t get hungry when he’s far away.
"What in the name of delicious petrus wine is this?" Chuuya's eyes widened when he saw his penthouse in extreme... mess.
There are messy cereals scattered around the floor. There are blankets on the couch, on the sink (how does that even happen!?), and on the television. The entire house looks like a hurricane just visited it, and amidst those chaos, Mackerel is innocently waiting for him with bright, and slightly teasing eyes while wagging his tail.
"Arf arf arf! (Welcome home, chibi~)." The dog barked and winked, and it made Chuuya freeze on where he was standing.
He's holding bags of groceries and dog stuff, so he put them all on the floor. He just arrived from work and this is what welcomes him. A chaotic house, messy and filled with havoc, and the most important thing is—
"You..." Chuuya's cheeks inflate a little since he's getting mixed emotions..."You... little..." He dangerously walks towards the dog with trembling lips, "You little cutie! I missed you!"
Dazai's eyes widened when Chuuya ran towards him and hugged him tightly while patting his head. His dog-heart starts beating fast again (probably because this chibi is so chibi and its chibi-heart rate is infectious). He didn't expect Chuuya to act like this at all so his eyes widened a little with the gentle movements that Chuuya was giving him.
"What did you do here, buddy? Are you too bored that you ended up playing alone causing the house to get this messy? I'm sorry I wasn't able to play with you," Chuuya whispered and pulled away from the hug before he sat on the messy floor across from the dog, "But I got you stuff to play with so you won't get bored tomorrow when I'm not here."
Dazai barks and wiggles his tail. He intentionally messed up the entire place to make his chibi erupt in anger. He wants to tease the redhead and hear his blunt noisy mouth, but instead, Chuuya is too blinded by his love for dogs that he's literally ignoring the chaos that Dazai causes.
His chibi brain is really something unpredictable sometimes.
"Come on, bud. I bet you're hungry. I bought steaks," Chuuya stands up, puts his hands on his waist before sighing heavily while looking at the mess, "But unfortunately, I don't like cooking in this messy environment. So get up, Mackerel, and we'll clean this place before you eat the steaks."
Dazai groaned in disappointment and pouted. He's getting so lazy right now, but Chuuya can be pretty cruel when he says no steaks in this dirty environment, so he enthusiastically stands up and helps the chibi clean the mess he started.
It's for the steak, obviously, it's not like he wants to help his chibi clean the place because Chuuya seems so tired and all. It's absolutely not that.
It's been two weeks since Dazai turned into a dog and it's not that bad— aside from the fact that he's a dog, the experience isn't that bad at all.
It's like they build a routine where every weekday morning, Chuuya would bring him to the park and play with him there before going to work. Dazai would wait for the chibi for the entire day, of course he would do things that will annoy Chuuya but every time he tries, the chibi is too chibi-hearted that he won't even care at all. He would just go home every night, and give Dazai a warm hug.
Every weekend when Chuuya doesn't have work, they would go to different places; play, have fun, and shop for dog related stuff. The chibi even bought him a blue collar with the name "Mackerel", and he's been biting Chuuya in refusal to wear the collar. But his chibi is too stubborn and he ended up wearing it eventually.
Chuuya would prepare tasty food for him. Chuuya would give him his entire time especially whenever he's not busy from work, and every night after dinner, Chuuya would pull Dazai on the couch as they watch some dog-related series since Chuuya argues that it's much more relatable to him being a dog. Not that Dazai minds. He actually hates it because the chibi is pampering and spoiling him too much.
He hates how Chuuya would let him lay on his lap comfortably as the hatrack would pat his head or caress his fur softly. He hates how after the movie ends, Chuuya would tell him his entire day, his frustrations, his energetic actions in the missions. He hates how Chuuya looks happy and excited being with him. He hates how the chibi would hum him songs while he's still laying on his lap, until Dazai fell asleep. He hates it so damn much because he's a dog and he can't pull the chibi into a hug himself.
He hates it because he'll never experience all of those again after a few weeks when he returns into a human.
Now, it's the weekend and it's Chuuya's day off again. They are in the park far away from the city. Chuuya intended to bring Mackerel here since there are less people in this place. He just found this riverside park on his mission last month, and he's amazed by how beautiful the place is. It's a bit too far so he has to drive for an hour to get there while Mackerel barks to the beat of the music that he's been playing on while they are on the road trip.
He would laugh hard whenever he singsangs on the song from the radio, singing, "Who let the dogs out?" then his playful dog would go, "Woof woof woof woof woof woof!" It's a cute scene and Chuuya ended up recording their entire road trip together.
So back to the park. There is no one except them and there are benches near the magnificent river. The entire place is surrounded by trees and it's so peaceful. Mackerel starts running around Chuuya again, while barking non-stop. His dog is really talkative and Chuuya finds it adorable.
He got the blanket that he bought and spread it on the grassy ground before he sat on it. He also has a basket filled with snacks for him and Mackerel. Sandwiches, dog food, and other tasty meals. It is cloudy at the moment and everything feels perfect.
Chuuya breathed calmly with a smile on his face but his eyes narrowed down when Mackerel suddenly jumped off the river.
This suicidal dog!
Without any hesitation, he stands up and runs towards the river before getting the dog. Mackerel starts barking and rolling his eyes like he's telling Chuuya to jump with him on the river instead. Chuuya snorted a little but he didn't get angry at all. He brought the dripping Mackerel towards their blanket and he got a towel to dry the dog out. He just expects something like this would happen— something like the dog jumping off the river to committ suicide.
He's not sure if it's normal for the dogs to just jump off the river, but Mackerel is quite suicidal. Thankfully, he's there to save his dog.
"You shouldn't jump on the river carelessly, Mackerel." Chuuya stated as he wiped the dog's fur. His face is neutral but worry is visible on his eyes, "You can slowly get into the river to take a bath, but not jump, because it makes me remember that shitty Dazai again. He's really shitty and I can feel my blood boiling again with just the idea of him jumping off the river to die. Like who the hell does that, right!? What if he dies? Tch, he's a pain in the ass, now don't be like him, buddy. You're not a pain in the ass."
"Arf arf arf arf arf! (Now, are you concern about me, chibi~?)"
"Of course, I'm concerned about you!" Chuuya exclaimed and it made the dog freeze like how the hell did the chibi understand him? But it is just a gut feeling on Chuuya's side to be fair, "Who doesn't get concerned if the dog precious to them is on the door of death?"
"Arf arf arf arf! (I know you'll be there to save me, chibikko~)" The dog barked again and Chuuya exhaled heavily.
"Don't jump on the river again, Mackerel. I will always save you but save me too from worry, can you?" Chuuya's shoulders softened as he pats the dog's head, "Anyway, I have a ball here. Let's play!"
The dog barks excitedly and the two of them enjoy the entire day playing and playing. It is until around 4:00 am where it rains hard and the two of them didn't mind it at all. Chuuya and Dazai play in the rain like kids, not minding the world around them. Mackerel would roll on the mud and then jump towards Chuuya to make the latter dirty, too.
Chuuya would just laugh his heart out and the dog also wiggles his tail and cuddles on his arm excitedly. That's how they spend their entire day.
Based on Dazai's calculations, it is the last day of him being a dog, and tomorrow (hopefully) he will turn back into a human. Chuuya went home early, around afternoon, and made some meal for the both of them. The chibi seems to be in a bad mood as he didn't play with Dazai after eating. He just stayed in his room for a few hours. It's probably because of the bad-mission day. In the entire month, it's the first time Chuuya went home and just gave him a small head pat instead of a hug and Dazai knew something was wrong.
He’s definitely not waiting for Chuuya’s hug, too, to clear the confusion.
So instead of bringing chaos and mess to Chuuya's suite, he just sat silently on the couch while waiting for the redhead to get out of his room.
Chuuya was oddly silent as he got to his own house's bar counter around 9:00 pm. He gets a bottle of wine and drinks it silently. Chuuya keeps on drinking and Dazai walks beside him, jumping to sit on the island chair beside the chibi. When he looks at Chuuya's face, he realizes how Chuuya's cheeks are flushing red because of drunkenness. There are small glints of crystalized tears on his eyes, and his lips are forming a small pout while he's drinking. The tip of his cute nose is also flushed red as if he just finished crying earlier.
Chuuya's been drinking for hours while mumbling different stories to his dog about how he and a certain bastard fought bad guys in the past together. The dog is silently sitting on the chair beside him while listening to all his stories. It goes for hours and hours.
Now, it's almost midnight and Chuuya gulps a small amount of his wine with his droppy eyes. He's been talking to his dog for hours about almost everything, mostly about a certain someone. He's been recalling all their adventures and the dog never interrupts him.
Mackerel stayed there, listening.
"...Yeah, and that bastard suddenly leaves." A bitter taste touches Chuuya's mouth as he gets to that part of his story, "After all our adventures, he just left... without even telling me a word... he left...without even telling me a... word."
Dazai blinks. Chuuya is really drunk for repeating those words twice but he felt his chest ache with what the chibi stated. Like what he did for hours, he stayed silent and let Chuuya continue.
"He even bombed my car! Can you believe how fucking shitty is that, Mackerel?" Chuuya lips tremble a little, "You know... I don't really care about that car." Now, Chuuya's voice is delivered in a mere whisper.
Dazai watches as Chuuya gulps another drink and lets his chin rest on his hand.
"...But I was left with tons of questions... and I keep blaming myself since it's... maybe my fault why he left. I know that it’s not my fault entirely since that bastard is a natural piece of shit… but maybe he's not shitty at all, maybe I'm just a shitty person and partner that he ended up getting tired of dealing with." Chuuya mumbles and a sad smile appears on his lips. A droplet of tears is hanging on his eyelashes, "...Damn it."
Chuuya takes another shot. His face is too red because of the alcohol and Dazai is sure that he'll forget what he's saying tomorrow when he wakes up with an extreme hangover.
"Like how he left me... m-maybe you'll leave me alone, too, M-Mackerel... y-you'll leave me alone like what Dazai did." Chuuya's tears fall on his eyes as he bite his lower lip to prevent his sobs.
Dazai didn't know what he should do. He's used to Chuuya's barbaric attitude, but spending his entire month with the chibi as his dog, he met the gentle and kinder attitude of him— he’s aware of it but it’s just refreshing. Now, he's seeing Chuuya's vulnerability. He's seeing Chuuya's tears and it's all because of him. He can feel his heart beating painfully when he hears how Chuuya's been blaming himself for what happened. There's no moment where Dazai doesn't hate himself for leaving Chuuya, too. He doesn't have any regret for leaving the Port Mafia... but it's a different case when it comes to his chibi.
"Fuck, I want to faint." Chuuya whispered and closed his eyes. Due to his drunkenness, he falls.
But instead of falling on the floor, Chuuya's head landed on the hard bare chest of a man. An arm wrapped gently around Chuuya as those arms slowly lifted him up to bring him towards his room.
Dazai checked the clock, it's 12:03 am.
He exhaled calmly and put Chuuya on his bed. He's naked after turning back into a human, and he gets a large shirt from Chuuya's closet to fit him. He wore the largest pants he saw and thankfully, it fits him, too. After using all those clothes, he walks back towards Chuuya and sees the redhead sleeping peacefully.
Dazai's eyes softened as he wrapped a blanket around the man. He sits beside Chuuya and caresses the man's head carefully. Chuuya purred and hiccups with his touch, but he goes back to his chibi snoring which makes Dazai chuckles.
"It's not your fault, chibi." Dazai whispered, "You're a great partner."
Chuuya continuously snores.
A small sincere smile appears on Dazai's lips as he leans down and softly plants a kiss on Chuuya's forehead. The peaceful features of his partner look tranquil and healing. He's more than a masterpiece. Chuuya has sacrificed a lot and he has trusted Dazai with all his heart. But Dazai broke that trust when he left his chibi all alone to walk in the path of light. He can never bring back the time, but he can live in the present and do everything to protect and annoy Chuuya for the rest of their lives.
"You're making me feel weird things inside my heart, Chuuya." Dazai whispered, "I love what you are making me feel like."
Chuuya wakes up and groans from the hangover inside his head. He sighed and he didn't excitedly stand up to walk towards his living room because he knows it's been a month. The "Mackerel" that's always sleeping on his living room's couch will no longer be there.
Of course, he knows.
The first time he sees the dog, he's sure that it is that bandage freak. He's aware of it because he can feel it. No one in this world can make Chuuya's heart beat a little abnormally which is gross to be honest and annoying but manageable. When he investigated the case, he had a hunch that Dazai probably fell victim to the infamous "ability" user that turns people to animals. Though, that person is not an ability user at all, instead, he's a witch that gives curse. That is probably the reason why Dazai was affected by the curse.
He knows but he still takes care of the dog with all his heart.
Probably it's because he wants to have a dog? It's definitely not because he wants to be with Dazai, ew, who wants to be with that bandage man? Maybe... maybe he does, but just a little, it's purely because it's a dog and nothing more! Swear!
Anyway, Chuuya yawns and after 20 minutes of continuous cursing under his breath early in the morning because of his hangover, he sees a glass of water and painkiller medicines on his side table. He's not surprised at all. He just sits down and drinks the medicine, trusting Dazai that it isn't poison at all. After it, he did best and dragged himself to the bathroom to at least lessen the hangover. After changing into his usual comfortable clothes, he went out of his room and blinked when the entire house was clean.
Thankfully, Dazai didn't cause a mess yesterday.
But the cleanliness doesn't surprise him at all. What surprises him is the fact that he can smell the aroma of a perfectly cooked steak with the additional aroma of a wine. Chuuya walked silently towards the kitchen and his eyes widened a little when he saw Dazai cooking there with a meaningful smile on his face.
"You look more less like a slug without your hat on, hatrack~" Dazai teases playfully and Chuuya can immediately feel his entire mood darkened with the mention of his hat in a negative way.
"Shut up, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, good morning to you too, chibikko~" Dazai hums, ignoring Chuuya's annoyed expression. He smiled widely, "Shall my dog eat his breakfast? You're my dog, aren't you? Be glad I'm back, chibi slug~"
"Hah!? You're the one who turned into a dog between the two of us! Who are you calling a dog now, you bastard!?"
Dazai blinks calmly. So Chuuya really knows it's him but the chibi still gives him the best. Ah, how fortunate can he be?
"Ah~ you can spoil me now as a human, chibi, I don't mind~" Dazai teases and chuckles when Chuuya starts kicking the back of his knees but not that hard, "Ow, ow! I thought you loved me!?"
"The fuck!?"
"I love you, too." Dazai winks and it makes Chuuya stop kicking him.
"I hate you!" Chuuya shouted before he jumped towards Dazai and pulled the man's hair playfully. Dazai keep on groaning and chuckling while being tortured playfully by his chibi.
"Yeah, yeah, you hate me. But if I ever turn into a dog, I'm sure you'll take care of me anyway." Dazai started with a genuine smile and Chuuya just sighed in defeat before looking away, face flushing a little upon realizing that Dazai was wearing his big clothes.
"Who said I won't take care of you when you aren't a dog?" Chuuya asked in a mere whisper and it made Dazai stop and freeze.
His mouth parted, and a small hint of red started appearing on the brunette's face. His eyes blinked deliberately when Chuuya gave him a small glance before tugging the collar of his shirt closer, making his eyes widened a little. He can't feel his brain functioning again for a second.
"Chuuya." Dazai whispered, that's all he can whisper for now because he can feel his heart rate beating faster again. What kind of disease did this chibi give him?
"Human or not, I'll fucking take care of you whatever happens, you bandage bastard. Now, shut up. We can still go to the park after breakfast this morning."
Dazai blinks repeatedly. A small smug grin appears on Chuuya's lips when Dazai's face turns red. He wants to tease the brunette, but before he can even add anything, Dazai pulls him closer to hug him tightly and imprison him under the taller man's embrace. Now, it is his turn to malfunction for a second.
Maybe the sequel of The Boy and the Puppy is indeed a lucky charm.
THE END.