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"Osamu Dazai?"
"Ah, here."
Dazai locked his eyes on the teacher's pen as the grumpy man scribbled something in the attendance sheet, only to sigh quietly and turn his head back towards the window, where he was watching some spider lilies shake with the wind. It's been about a month since the new school year began. As usual, Dazai would have to sit through more agonizing lectures and lessons about the stuff he already knew. It was nothing new. One thing was, though.
Fyodor wasn't here with him, in the same class. No, he wasn't even in the same school.
For some shady reason, their parents had decided to send Fyodor to a private school. Knowing their parents' sick obsession with money and glory, the two twins had already figured the reason out, but could never defy them.
“Dazai, let's exchange books,” Fyodor-kun would whisper in their secret language, and Dazai wouldn't question it. After they exchanged their books, it would usually be a challenge on figuring out the exact thoughts the other had while reading. It was a pleasing activity for both of them.
“No Longer Human…? You weren't actually into this, were you?" Dazai would question with a knowing smirk, instantly receiving one back.
"I would suppose the same goes for you, Dazai-kun. Crime and Punishment contradicts your process of thought. And it seems like you spent quite a bit of time on page 138…”
That would get Dazai chuckling at their mutual understanding. As if the lesson hadn't been going on, they would start their little challenge, filled with theories and deductions.
The brunette went through the forty-five remaining minutes of class before hearing that obnoxious ring. He watched as the class rushed out of the classroom, leaving the grumpy professor infuriated. Dazai knew exactly was he was thinking: “The bell doesn't dismiss you, I do!"
"So cliché," he couldn't help but think.
Dazai's hand reached towards his backpack to pull out the book he had been reading for quite some time. "Notes From the Underground" was the name. Normally, these kinds of books would bore the living heck out of him. However, this one reminded Dazai of Fyodor. He couldn't help but read slowly, taking in every single line and figuring out the philosophy behind them.
He felt vulnerable about being all by himself, where Fyodor was nowhere to be found. He wasn't a guy with many friends, since pretty much everyone found him and his suicide attempts. If he wanted, Dazai could make friends faster than anyone has ever seen, but that wouldn't mean these new friends would be real. At some point, Dazai had given up on that thought.
For the rest of the day, Dazai continued reading his book, not bothering to listen to the lesson or to answer when some lousy teachers were trying to get him to "pay attention" to the things he already knew. Surely, the teachers were pissed, but they couldn't do much due to Dazai's remarkable grades. Sucks to be them, Dazai thought. By the end of the school day, the book was finished and was filled with little notes, doodles and scribbles all over the pages. I can't believe Fyodor is into these… Who'd want to sell an arm and a leg for statements that everyone could figure out, he thought. It was quite expensive, too, being one of the author's limited editions.
The brunette sighed when he raised his head up from the book, looking around to see that everyone had long gone into their dorms. As a groan left Dazai's mouth, he got up, tidied up his desk and bag before beginning to walk out of the classroom towards his own dorm: number 181.
The way towards his dorm wasn't long, but it was starting to feel like hours in each step he was taking. The silence in the halls was deafening, making the brunette's ears ring, while quite literally feeling his heartbeat in his throat; making him feel ill. If Fyodor-kun were here, he'd be making this walk more fun. At least Dazai would have someone he could talk (read: telepathize) with. It wouldn't be much, really, but it would be enough for both of them to clear their heads.
When the trip to the dorm was finally over, Dazai carelessly unlocked the door and shut it behind him. He was feeling like a slug; slow and sloppy. As Dazai threw his backpack to God-knows-where, he planted face-down on his messily tidied bed, groaning into the mattress as he did so. Why was he feeling this way? Was it just because of Fyodor, his twin's absence? It wasn't like they cared about each other that much, right…? So, why was he feeling like this? Dazai could only hope Fyodor was feeling the same way. Not bothering to move or change his clothes, Dazai fell asleep quite fast and didn't wake up for the night.
{(---0---)}
"Dostoevsky… I hope you know what you're doing…"
"Sigma, don't you be such a wuss now! You're gonna get your hair whiter!"
"H-huh?! You're one to talk about white hair, Gogol! Also, I'm not 'being a wuss', I'm just being cautious…"
Fyodor continued walking in front of Sigma and Nikolai as the sound of laughter and the pathetic responses Sigma gave entered his ears. He had no idea why these two lost lambs were following him, but he couldn't be bothered in learning about the things he had no interest in. For some reason, the guy with the braid (he supposed the name was "Nikolai") was so interested in calling him a "rat". He had even gone so far as to gift him a black rat one month before his birthday… (Yes, Fyodor did keep it and even gave it a name: Mikhaylovich.)
Fyodor interrupted the two with a confident tone.
"The school cameras are left unsupervised between 1 p.m. to 1.21 p.m. The security guards go out for lunch, although it is clearly against the rules to leave the station," he quickly explained and fastened his steps, throwing a small gaze behind him to see that the two men had begun walking faster, too. Quite dedicated, he thought to himself.
"I don't really know where you're taking us, Fyodor-kun, but I hope we're getting some lunch," said Nikolai, gleefully skipping along the road. Next to him was Sigma, who was anything but gleeful. His cheeks had gone slightly red from this little exercise.
"Food will be the last thing on our minds if we get caught," he protested, but continued to follow the taller men.
{(---0---)}
The brunette's night was anything but peaceful. Lucid dreaming was fun, yes, but it really didn't help when all he could think about were scary thoughts. In a sense, he had been unconsciously torturing himself while sleeping. When Dazai woke up, he forcefully held himself back from making any noise. The drops of sweat rolling down his cheeks and his soaked back wasn't an exception, however. He looked just as messed up as his dream. A few sharp pants later, Dazai shut his brown eyes close and let out a groan of dissatisfaction and relief. He would definitely have to shower now-- what a pain.
Just as Dazai was about to get out of the bed, a muffled knock on his door interrupted his train of thoughts. After looking towards the brown clock on the wall and taking notes on how late it was, the brunette decided to get up and answer the door. It might have been one of his classmates trying to get him to wake up after missing about half of the day. That was no concern of Dazai, though. The tall brunette reached out for the door handle and slowly opened it with a slight sense of suspicion.
When a raven-haired guy and two people behind him, (one white-haired and braided, the other one being half-white half-purple) Dazai felt his sharp eyes take the shape of surprise. That anemic skin that looked like a vampire's, the school uniform that completely opposed his own, that douchebag smirk and dark purple eyes with some heavy eye bags… There was no mistaking.
It was Fyodor.
His brother--his twin who had been separated from him-- was here.
Dazai's face was expressionless, however, as he had deduced this would happen eventually… Just not this fast. Fyodor must have been desperate, too. Before the two brothers could exchange words, the weird guy with an obnoxious hat and eye patch over his right eye spoke.
"Ooh! So, this is the guy! See, Sigma-kun? I told you Fyodor-kun had that special someone!"
To his dismay, the statement had gotten Fyodor's left eye twitching while maintaining his previous expression. When the meaning became clear to Dazai, he also couldn't help but scrunch his face, looking at the eye-patched boy in disgust. That one was surely an… amusing one, per se. The long and mismatched-haired guy looked at the braided one with a confused expression when he saw the way Dazai's face showed its dislike at the sentence.
"Gogol… I think you should think twice before jumping into conclusions like that," the long-haired guy said, then looked at Dazai apologetically, bowing his head the slightest bit as he did so. The brunette felt a little more at ease at that. He eyed the two people behind Fyodor before locking eyes with his oh-so-loving brother. Before any more chaos could have been caused, the raven-haired man spoke for the first time.
"Dazai, dear, why don't you let us in? I do not believe this is a moral way of greeting your brother, no?" Fyodor's seemingly still had that heavy Russian accent (that Dazai had no idea how he got it from). However, hearing that made Dazai's shoulders relax a little more. He didn't want to admit it, but maybe – just maybe—hearing that accent once again wasn't too bad. The brunette felt at ease as a friendly smile formed on his face. He stepped away from the door to let his brother and friends (?) enter.
"Right! Please excuse the mess, I don't usually have guests here, haha."
The light had reappeared in Dazai's eyes, as if he had just found his reason to live. Dazai slipped into the bathroom to change into a fresh school uniform, while the other three guests entered the room and began removing their shoes. Fyodor and the others' uniforms were white, custom-made, which meant that they were in a private school, whereas this school's uniform was black, which indicated that his school was local. In a sense, they were privileged. Black was such an ordinary color--it was too overused and cliché.
Dazai changed into new clothes and looked at himself in the mirror. Usually, he wouldn't be the type to pay attention to his looks, but damn, did he look like he'd been to hell and back. Quickly, the brunette grabbed a comb and began styling his hair. Before exiting the bathroom, he made sure to tuck the strands of hair on his left behind his ear. He looked a little more classy now, at least.
When the bandaged man got out of the bathroom, he saw that all of his guests had been seated nicely; with Fyodor sitting on Dazai's messy bed, the one with the braid sitting on his studying chair backwards and the other being sat in his old chair that was probably minutes away from collapsing. Seeing the man exit the bathroom, the one with the braid spoke up, quite energetically at that.
"Soooo, brother, huh? How affectionate! I apologize for not introducing myself sooner!" he said, spinning in circles excitedly before taking off his hat and bowing down to the brunette with his eyes closed. "I am Nikolai Gogol. Pleased to meet you, Dazai-kun."
Dazai blinked once, twice before letting out a small giggle. This new guy, Nikolai, surely was something. "Pleased to meet you, too, Nikolai-kun." Dazai then converted his eyes towards the long-haired guy, who was staring at Nikolai in cringe. When he noticed the brunette's stares on him, he slowly lifted his head to meet Dazai's eyes. With a cautious tone, he spoke up.
"Uh… Sigma."
"I see! These two must be your alliances, isn't that right, Fyodor?" Dazai beamed at Fyodor, knowing fully well that Fyodor would object to the idea of having 'alliances'. However, Fyodor stayed silent, his eyes locked on the nightstand. Dazai had left a book there. It was one of Fyodor's favorites. The House of the Dead. Fyodor reached out for the book and slid it towards the middle of the nightstand, his shit-eating grin never leaving his face. Dazai didn't remember that book, though.
"If I'm not mistaken, your school has a café, doesn't it, Dazai-kun? Why don't you take us there? Your treat, of course."
It wasn't usual for Fyodor to want to ever go out. However, by the way Nikolai's face lit up, Dazai could tell that Fyodor wasn't doing this just for himself, but also for these two he had brought along the way. It seemed like the anemic man was trying not to let any of his thoughts slide, but the brunette could easily sense the comfort of doing something nice for once from his brother. So much for an uncaring manipulator, Dazai thought.
--{oo^oo}--
"Mm, this is actually good," Sigma said as he chewed on the cookie that he had dipped in his cup of tea with Nikolai's recommendation. He felt a slight rush of red appear on his cheeks as if agreeing with his statement. Nikolai, being sat right next to Sigma, looked perhaps too happy while watching Sigma eat. He looked proud of himself, accepting Sigma's approval as a compliment.
"I told you! Now dip a forkful of cake into the tea and let your mouth have a celebration of sweetness!"
"Uh… I don't think that's how it works…"
Dazai chuckled at the two's conversation, then looked at Fyodor taking a sip from his cup of tea peacefully. He still couldn't quite believe he was here, in his school. Ditching their private school just for a little visit didn't make sense to Dazai. He knew there must have been some sort of thing Fyodor wanted to talk about. He was sure the raven would eventually talk about that, but he didn't want to wait for too long.
"So, Fyodor-kun… It isn't like you to come all this way over here for a little visit. Don't you think it's time you let the cat out of the bag?"
Fyodor placed the cup on the table, happy that he finally had someone he could have intellectual conversations with. The raven opened his eyes and turned towards Dazai, eyes softening ever-so-slightly. Fyodor raised his left arm, rested it on the table, and spoke up.
"Nothing ever gets past you, Dazai. The truth is, I'm here to invite you over to our school."
Dazai didn't look surprised. If anything, he had planned this would happen, so he was ready. As he squinted his eyes and gave Fyodor a look of understanding, Dazai sighed in relief. He was almost fully sure that this wouldn't work out, but they could always have a student expelled and have Dazai as a replacement…
"You already know my answer. You sly mouse, you."
That night, Dazai got his stuff ready to stay at Fyodor's dorm undercover until a student was expelled. Dazai's classmates and teachers were quite surprised at Dazai's absence, but none of them could figure out where he had gone. The principal had tried reaching out to their family, but the said parents could not be bothered with useless discussions. Needless to say, this is how the Demon Twins were made.