Work Text:
Dazai used to celebrate Chūya’s birthdays with him. Chūya would arrive at his apartment to find Dazai with a cake and present. Despite Chūya’s shouting for the younger to get out, he didn’t actually force him out. Dazai would tease Chūya about how he’s “so old!”
The first year he did this was when Chūya turned 16. Dazai got him a choker, and a pair of gloves(he later wears these same gloves from the ages 18-22). Chūya yelled at him for acting like Chūya is his dog again.
The second birthday, and what would be the last one before Dazai leaves, was the year that Chūya turned 17. Dazai gave Chūya a key. To this day, Chūya still doesn’t know what this key is to. The key is to a box that Dazai keeps under his bed, it’s in his will that the box will go to Chūya. The box is filled with a few belongings that he genuinely cherishes.
After Dazai left the mafia, Chūya would feel a little sad when he’d enter his apartment and not find Dazai waiting for him. Though, it wasn’t like nothing was waiting for him. Every year, there would be a gift sitting on his table that was labeled “To: Chibi ♡..From: The Handsomest Man on Earth”
Seeing the gift, Chūya would smile. He was happy to be remembered by him, even if they weren’t speaking. It made him almost feel like he wasn’t completely abandoned.
The first birthday after Dazai left(18th birthday), Chūya received a photo album that was titled “Our Memories”. At first, Chūya wondered what he was supposed to do with an empty photo album. He normally doesn’t take photos. But then he opened it up. It was filled with pictures of Dazai taking selfies with Chūya(whether Chūya knew it or not), and some were just candid photos of Chūya.
Chūya flipped though the photos, and read through the captions Dazai had. Eventually, Chūya began to tear up as he read. All of it made him want to see Dazai, and to be able to fight, joke, and talk with him again. There may have been a lot of photos in the albums, but it didn’t fill the whole thing up.
Chūya took photos out of a box that was stored somewhere in his closet. These pictures were the small amount of photos that he had taken. Ones that Dazai didn’t even know about Chūya having of them, and ones that Chūya didn’t have the heart to throw out after Dazai left. He added them to the album, and put it on his bookshelf.
The next year, Chūya came home to another box waiting to be opened. On the box was a note that said “I know you miss my comments throughout the year ;)”. The box was filled with letters. On the back of the letters were dates that Chūya was supposed to read them.
Each day of that year Chūya read through the corresponding letter. He got a message that told him the stuff that Dazai used to say everyday. “Day 26 after your birthday. Of course, I know Chibi. You’re wearing something tacky again, aren’t you? Who am I kidding? Of course you are! ;)”
On Chūya’s 20th birthday, he received a bottle of wine with a bow wrapped around it. It was Chūya’s favorite. There was a note with this gift: “To: Slug..From: Your favorite person ;)”
Chūya’s 21st birthday gift was not a box. It was a small drawstring bag, a larger bag, and a note. The note told him to open the small bag first, and the large one second. “For the first bag: I know you miss me a bunch; I promise I’m hotter in person. For the second: Fill it like it’s your heart”
The first bag (aka the smaller one) had a small photo of Dazai wearing Kunikida’s glasses. He looked like model, and seeing the photo made Chūya a little flustered. The second bag (aka the larger one) was a large jar that had a narrow neck. Chūya wasn’t sure what to put in it. He assumed it wasn’t supposed to be a liquid of some kind, but couldn’t fit anything solid in it. He ended up not filling it with anything.
The fourth year(the year that Dazai and Chūya would eventually be reunited in), Dazai gifted a Morse code bracelet. Chūya spent weeks without knowing the meaning; Thinking it was just a randomly beaded bracelet.
Only when he met Dazai again that year, did Dazai tell him that it was Morse code. Chūya spent a few minutes that night trying to decipher it. He buried himself under blankets when he found out that he had been wearing this message on his body for weeks without knowing it: “Your Mackerel Loves You”
After Chūya and Dazai were married, Dazai moved into Chūya’s house. He saw the gifts from over the years, and smiled remembering all the thought he put into each of them. Though there was one that was neglected. The jar that was on display was empty.
“Oh, I didn’t know what to put in it, so I just left it alone..” Chūya admitted. Dazai gave a look of triumph.
“Looks like I’m the only one who can fill it. Does that mean I’m the only one who can fill Chūya’s heart?” Dazai wonders aloud. Chūya blushes, and denies it.
The next day, Dazai brought home a small bag of sand, and small bag of tiny rocks. He started with the rocks as he poured it into the jar, then he poured the sand into the jar. When Chūya got home, the first thing Dazai said was about the jar: “Looks like there’s no more room for others’ items!”