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It was late in the afternoon when Dazai and Chuuya had finished the mission they had been assigned and only just arrived back in Yokohama. They had been sharing the ride on Chuuya's motorcycle, for their lack of safety, neither wearing helmets. The sun was already starting to set as a few water droplets began to descend from the dark, cloudy sky, it was quite obvious that it was going to rain soon. And they were quite far away from either of their homes still, they definitely won't make it back without being soaking wet, so they needed a place to stay for the night. They both knew Yokohama quite well and knew there was a motel nearby.
"This is your fault." The shorter of the two huffed, gripping onto the vehicle's handles tight as his eyes wandered to his uncouth partner clinging onto him. That bastard was wearing the usual shit-eating grin. It pissed him off. "If you hadn't stalled for so long by trying to look cool, I wouldn't have needed to swoop you in and save you for that dumb stunt earlier." The aforementioned 'stunt' was another one of Dazai's antics. They originally had planned to simply blow the yacht up and leave, but Dazai of course had to have second thoughts and needed to blabber on what an excellent way of suicide it would be if he simply remained there and blew up. If Chuuya didn't pull Dazai off the ship with him at the last second they might have both been long dead by now.
"Aww~! Come on now, Chuuya! It wasn't so bad." The brunet chuckled. In retaliation the other hit on the brakes for a short second, causing Dazai to yelp and cling onto Chuuya, both in surprise and for the fear of falling off the motorcycle. Luckily the highway was empty aside from them and a few others on the opposite lane.
"Keep your mouth shut, will you? I'm still the one driving this baby." The ginger chuckled as he sped up the vehicle, they were almost there.
Chuuya's grip tightened around the handles of his motorcycle while Dazai sat behind him as the wind blew through his hair and against his face, his black jacket flowing through the wind. Chuuya would of course never admit it, but Dazai looked.. no. He shook that thought away. He was a fool to think like that. He despised going onto missions like these, especially with him, It won't happen again. He shouldn't get his hopes up. Besides, Dazai is.. Dazai. He doesn't care. That's all there is to it. They're just.. acquaintances.
By the second, more and more rain droplets descended from the dark, cloudy sky. It killed the mood and neither bothered to start a conversation. Chuuya squinched his eyes, it was difficult to see from all the rain but he could see the motel in the distance. "We're almost there." And neither said anything else during the duration of the ride.
They drove into the parking lot at the motel, Chuuya parked his motorcycle there as both got off his motorcycle. The older one of the two took the key out, looking towards Dazai who had already made his way to the reception building, much to Chuuya's dismay.
As Chuuya entered the building he could already see Dazai attempting to woo his way into the receptionist's heart and a free room. "Dazai,"
This seemed to grab the others' attention. "Oh! Chuuya. What can I do for you?" And there it was.
That smug familiar smile.
It pissed him off so bad.
He was about to say something, he didn't know what, the words just hung on his tongue when the receptionist chimed in.
"Unfortunately it looks like there is only one room left, the others are already occupied by other patrons." And the two turned to face one another. At that moment Chuuya internally cursed whatever god existed.
"Surely you can't be serious. There's only one room left?" Chuuya, quite annoyed by the idea of having to share a room with Dazai, complained. "Oh come on now, You're making it sound like it's a bad thing!" The latter pouted, clearly dramatizing the situation and making himself seem quite wounded by his words. Chuuya responded by rolling his eyes. "Chuuya!" The brunet squealed, making his way over to Chuuya and laying his chin on the top of the ginger's head. "Hey! Quit that!" Chuuya shoved him off while Dazai chuckled to himself over his successful attempt at teasing the mafioso.
"I'm not sleeping in the same room as you." Chuuya repeated, staring up at his partner who was now giddily spinning the room keys around his finger. "What? Would you rather sleep outside in the rain and catch a cold?" Dazai raised an eyebrow, staring down at Chuuya with amusement. "Maybe I will." He said, even more annoyed than how he was before. "Suit yourself then." And Dazai strutted off, presumably to the room. That's dumb, he doesn't even have the ke.. oh. Chuuya blinked at the key shimmering in Dazai's hands from the reflection of the office-like lights hanging above them. It was a bold fashion statement to be sure, Wonder who thought it would be a good idea to have such an uninviting cold light in your reception area.
"You have the keys." He mused, blankly staring up at Dazai.
Dazai's face returned to his usual smile. "See you tomorrow then, Chuuya!" The latter teased as he waved to the other. "Hey- wait! I wasn't being serious about that!" Chuuya exclaimed with an irritated tone as he caught up to him.
As they made their way up the stairs and continued their usual banter, Chuuya bumped into Dazai who had abruptly stood still. "Ugh- Hey! Watch where you're going." The ginger grumbled, looking to see where he was looking. The noise of keys brought his attention to Dazai's hands who was struggling to get the key inside the keyhole. Chuuya looked up at Dazai who was holding a conflicted expression. "Seriously?"
"My hands are wet, okay?" Dazai exclaimed in his defense, holding the key out to Chuuya. "Gosh, fine." The latter grumbled, taking off his gloves and taking the key. Chuuya unlocked the door and stepped inside, handing the key back to Dazai. "There, Wasn't so difficult, was it?" Dazai rolled his eyes and stepped in front of Chuuya, he then scanned around the room for a few seconds. Fortunately enough there were two separate beds which earned a sigh of relief from the brunet. The madam at the front desk had mentioned that it was a room for two, but he wasn't sure if it would be two separate beds or if it would be a single bed for two people. Other than that, the room looked decent and simple. There were two light gray beds, a nightstand decorated with a dark green lamp separating the two. There was a big window which was covered by pale-ish curtains. There were two closets on the other side and of course a door leading to the bathroom by the entrance.
"Hey, quit standing there and move your ass out of the way, stupid bastard." Chuuya spat out as he pushed himself past Dazai to walk further into the room. He took off his coat and hung it in one of the closets. "Hey, now. No need to be so rough, you could've just asked." Dazai mused, hanging his coat over one of the chairs. "That's gonna get wet, you idiot." The ginger grumbled, staring at the coat that was soaking into the chair from all the rainwater. "So? Not my problem." The brunet shrugged as he took off his shoes. "I'm picking this bed," He noted, pointing to the one closer to the windows. "Suit yourself." The mafioso replied, taking off his shoes as well and taking a seat on the bed which was located closer to the door.
"I'll be in the bathroom if you need me." Dazai stood up and left for the restroom, Chuuya observing him from the bed. He laid back and rested his head on the pillow, mostly waiting for time to pass. After a short while Dazai returned from the bathroom, giving Chuuya a weird look. "You're not seriously going to bed with that hat, right?" Chuuya raised an eyebrow but brushed him off, admittedly, his hat just slipped from his mind. "Jeez, fine, fine." He grumbled as he took his hat off, placing it on the nightstand between the two.
The mafioso then grabbed his phone from his pocket, looking through some things as Dazai peeked over his shoulder. It was silent for a little, you could hear the rain pouring outside, Dazai then spoke up, "Hey Chuuya, what are you doing?" he said with a teasing tone and a smirk on his face. "That's none of your business." Chuuya responded, clearly more irritated. "Come on Chuuya! Tell me! You're my dog, you know, Dog's shouldn't lie to their owners!" Dazai pouted as he kicked his legs in the air. "Quit it will you? God, Can't you ever annoy someone el-" Chuuya was interrupted by the sudden sound of thunder coming from outside which had caused him to physically recoil.
"No way, Don't tell me you're scared of thunder, Chuuya!" Dazai snickered, amused at the sight in front of him. "What?! No, I'm not scared of some stupid thunder." Chuuya replied immediately, he seemed a little on edge. Not long after, more thunder could be heard as Chuuya flinched again, he seemed to be slightly shaking now. "You're not actually scared of thunder, are you?" Dazai's eyes squinted as he observed the look on Chuuya's face, almost unreadable. almost. "That's so out of character for you! What are you? A baby?" He said with a smirk on his face, obviously taunting the other. "Shut up, you annoying bastard! I'm not a stupid baby!" The latters voice was a bit shaky as he whipped his head away from Dazai's direction. "You know~! People with a guilty conscience are generally more easily startled by loud noises," Thunder shook again as the room's light turned off, the building seems to have lost power. "Couldn't you agree with me, Nakahara?" Dazai tilted his head, waiting for a reaction from his partner. Although he didn’t receive one, which was.. slowly starting to bring concern to the mafia executive.
Dazai fell silent, he wasn't even attempting to mock Chuuya anymore. Which he doubts matters as the other seemed to be too focused on something else right now. Soon after thunder was heard yet again, followed by two muffled sobs, tears were streaming down Chuuya's face, he was shaking a little more than before. "You're not actually crying are you?" The brunet mused, both of them knew emotions and fears like these were typically frowned upon in their line of work. Still, Dazai couldn't help but feel a little bad. Is this what human empathy was like?
Another hic from the ginger is what took Dazai out of his train of thought as he focused back on his partner. Dazai knew that if he didn't wanna go to sleep with a crybaby disrupting his very important beauty rest every two minutes he had to comfort Chuuya in some way. He's not like Odasaku. He doesn't know how to comfort people. Still, It'll be worth a shot. He stood up and walked next to Chuuya, sitting down beside him.
He placed his hand on his.. friends shoulder, taking a good look at his face, or what Chuuya attempted to hide with his hands pressed against his own face. The tears streaming down the other's face were obvious, ignoring the fact he was sobbing. Dazai felt a genuine sting in his chest. Did it.. hurt to see the other like this? Was what he was feeling genuine or something make-believe that he convinced himself he's feeling so he feels more humane.
Dazai didn't know himself, but the focus is on comforting Chuuya right now. "You're actually scared of thunder, huh.." He announced, unsure of what to do with this information. He simply gave the other a pitying look. "And what-" A hic interrupted the ginger's words. "What if I am? What's it to you?" A sob broke free from Chuuya's lips as he put more effort into hiding his face.
"I'm sorry." Dazai stated, Chuuya could tell his words were genuine. At least he would like to believe so. Maybe that bastard had some sort of resemblance to empathy. Maybe he was a genuine person under all those "not human" antics he constantly blabbers about. Fuck, What does he care? He's an asshole. Although, He wasn't particularly against the idea of being comforted right now. Sure, He didn't wanna seem weak, but that thunder just reminds him of-
Chuuya was taken out of that thought when he felt Dazai place his hand on his back. "Breathe, breathe, okay?" The worried tone of the brunet made Chuuya realize that he was hyperventilating. Fuck, How did it go again? Remember what Adam taught you,
three..
Chuuya inhaled. His thoughts were racing, it was hard to think straight.
two..
He exhaled. He needed to focus on something else, god, anything!
four..
He inhaled once again, Keeping a tight grip on the bed sheets. He tried focusing on that, the texture of the bedsheets. It was a second-hand motel, so he didn’t expect them to be great. The texture was a little rough and clearly worn down.
five.. rubbing his hands over the prickly bedsheets it managed to be surprisingly distractive.
Repeating the steps for five more times Chuuya managed to calm himself down enough, he took a look at Dazai who was worryingly staring at him. It was annoying, He didn't need to be pitied. Especially not from him of all people. "Fuck." He gasped, holding his head in his palms.
"You alright now?" Dazai whispered, gently patting Chuuya on the back. "I'm.. I'm fine," The other muttered, brushing Dazai's hand off once again. It annoyed Dazai a bit, as he was trying to be nice for once. He won't voice his thoughts though.
Dazai and Chuuya remained seated next to one another for the next few minutes, remaining silent. Neither of them said a word to the other. After a while the silence got sickening, the only thing that was heard was the rain pouring outside. Dazai turned his head to the direction of the window, a flash of light seen from outside.
Before Chuuya could react, Dazai threw his hands over the ginger's ears as thunder struck outside.
Chuuya turned to look at Dazai, slowly pushing away his hands. "You don't need to do that." Chuuya grumbled, earning a scoff from the brunet. "But, Thank you." Chuuya's tone softened, it very well caught Dazai off guard. "Ah, You're welcome." The brunet nodded reassuringly, retracting his hand. "Will you be alright?" Chuuya nodded begrudgingly. He doesn't want to keep up with this conversation, although, It would be nice to have someone to vent everything out to. Could Dazai really be the right person to do that? He wasn't sure. "Yeah, I'll be fine."
Dazai's eyes narrowed. Chuuya has always been terrible at lying.
“Be honest with me.” Dazai held a tight grip on the others shoulder to Chuuya’s annoyance. “Seriously, I’m fine.” His voice cracked, furthering his frustrations. Dazai mused, going back to the one time Sakunosuke comforted him.
Slowly, he wrapped his arms around his ginger haired friend, earning him a glare from the aforementioned. “What do you think you’re doing?” Chuuya raised an eyebrow. “..Giving you a hug?” Dazai awkwardly laughed. Was he even doing this right? It was an awkward hug, that’s for sure.
“I’m too tired for this,” Chuuya muttered, all that crying has left him exhausted. “Oh! I can go the-” Dazai was about to offer to let go when Chuuya abruptly stopped him. “No, It’s fine. You give.. Okay hugs.” He was going to leave it on the pretense of Dazai giving okay hugs for now. It was an obvious lie, He hugs like he’s trying to hug a cactus. But, Chuuya appreciates the effort.
And so the two of them sat there, Dazai leaned against the headboard with Chuuya leaning on him. Everything either of them could’ve said has already been spoken. There was a loud silence in the room but it wasn’t uncomfortable like before. Chuuya was the first one to fall asleep, his head resting on the other’s shoulder.
Dazai felt a little awkward, he hadn’t expected today’s events to turn out like this. Still, he was appreciative of it. He’s never felt more human than when he was comforting Chuuya (or at least trying). It’s not like he’ll ever admit to it, but he’s glad he can consider himself Chuuya’s friend.
.
.
.
In the morning, both of them awoke with each other in the other’s arms, The storm had already well subsided by now. Dazai gently looked down at Chuuya with a smile, the ginger doing the same.”About last night.. Thank you.” Chuuya muttered “No problem.” Dazai hummed, hesitantly letting Chuuya go. Neither of them wanted this moment to end, but alas, work calls.
The way from their room to the motorcycle was one of silence but they were holding each other's hands, almost afraid to let go.
As they both hopped onto the motorcycle and prepared to drive off, Dazai chimed in. “Hey, How about letting me drive?”
“Hah? Hard pass! I’d like to keep my life, thanks!” The ginger laughed, starting the bike.
A Chuckle emitted from behind him. “I’ve had fun today, Thank you.” Dazai spoke fondly, looking down at his partner.
“Yeah, Me too.” Chuuya huffed, revving up the engine as they began to drive off.
“Hey, we should do this again sometime!” Dazai mused, looking down at his driver. “Be caught hanging out with you? Over my dead body.” The shorter mafioso scoffed as they made their way back to the port.