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Another day, another tiring day for Dazai Osamu, 32 years old, a private investigator. It was Golden Week too, he wasn’t even supposed to work during Golden Week but we finally got a lead on this case and his team needed him. Oh, how difficult life is when you’re the best in your field! He expected a fat paycheck after it was over. He didn’t know what came to him in the morning so he chose to go to the office by train instead of his good ol’ Corolla, and now he’s stuck in the infamous Japanese Rush Hour. He was confused as to why the train was still crowded but then he remembered some unlucky people were still forced to work even during golden week and unlike him who rather spend his day off lazying around, most people and tourists actually use golden week to go out. But, luckily for him, he was still able to get a seat and it was near the door too! He probably used all of his luck here but oh well, at least he didn’t have to get squished like a sardine among these tired corporate slaves and tourists.
He knew he might seem like a huge jerk for not giving his seat up for the ladies but sorry ladies, he was exhausted and pissed off today, he’ll be a gentleman later when his mood lightens. During most of the train ride, he closed his eyes pretending to sleep so he wouldn’t need to look at the judgemental eyes toward him even though he still could feel them. It was going great for him before the train stopped at this station and he could clearly hear a little girl’s voice in front of him.
“Papa, it’s so uncomfortable!” he heard the voice whine. Yup, definitely a little girl.
“It’s okay, baby. Just three more stations and we can get out from here. Be a good girl for me and bear it just a little bit more, okay sweetie? We’ll get ice cream after this.” answered a deep yet gentle voice that he assumed belonged to the little girl’s papa.
Dazai started to feel bad now because adults he could ignore but he couldn’t and shouldn’t be selfish toward little girls, right? He finally decided to slowly open his eyes and take a look at the father and daughter duo in front of him. He was greeted by the most adorable baby girl in a pastel yellow t-shirt and short denim overall, wearing a Winnie the Pooh headband. The little girl was also holding a container shaped like a honey pot with a strap draped around her little shoulder. Looks like somebody’s a huge Winnie the Pooh fan. Before he realized it, he accidentally locked eyes with the little girl’s ocean-blue irises. Oops.
“Papa look, he’s awake now,” she said while pointing to Dazai.
“Sweetie, what did Papa tell you about pointing at people? Don’t do it, it’s rude. Now apologize to the mister.” the little girl’s papa said while lowering his daughter’s hand. Dazai moved his gaze a little higher to peek at the father.
Well hello, gorgeous man ; he mentally said to himself. He was thinking about what kind of human would be able to produce such an adorable little human and apparently, this was where she got the looks from. Anyone would immediately know that these two were related because they look the exact same. A wavy warm red hair, sharp ocean blue eyes, and galaxy-like freckles. It’s so cute, he thought, the father is basically carrying around a girl version of himself.
“Mister,” a small voice called out to him, pulling him from his train of thought. When he realized it was the little girl who called him he tried to make his voice come out as kind as possible, “Yes?” he could see the little girl bowed her head from her father’s hold and said, “I’m sorry for being rude.” Dazai smiled at her, “It’s okay, little princess.” he then looked up to meet her father’s eyes. Gosh, this man is obnoxiously stunning. “Actually, would you like to have a seat?” Dazai saw the beautiful man’s eyes widen slightly, “Well if it’s okay with you, We’d like to,”
Dazai then grabbed the pole beside him and gently held the stunner’s wrist as he pulled both to switch their position so now the father and his daughter were sitting while he was standing. “Thank you.” said the hot dad. Anything for you gorgeous, Dazai thought as he nodded.
“Whoa, thanks a lot, kind mister! Do you want some popcorn?” the little girl said while offering him her honey pot-like container. Oh, so it was a popcorn holder. “Well if you insist, thank you, little princess!” he replied as he took a bit of popcorn and ate it. The girl suddenly turned to face her father and he nodded in response. Whoa, was that a father-daughter telepathy? Cool. She turned to face him again, “Hello, my name is Tomomi! I’m four years old!” she told him cheerfully. “Hi Tomomi-chan! Did you just come back from TDL?” he asked her gently. Tomomi nodded happily, “Yes! How did you know, mister?” Dazai chuckled, “I just assumed from Tomomi-chan’s cute Winnie the Pooh-themed outfit~” he answered in a singsong voice. “You can find out from that? Wow! Mister, are you a detective?” Dazai was quite taken aback by her words because it was actually the truth. He’s technically a detective. Investigators, detectives, they are all the same. “Yes, I am!” he answered her a little too excitedly. Dazai heard a soft, almost inaudible chuckle from Tomomi’s father. Great. He already made a fool of himself in front of his crush. Wait what crush oh my gosh Dazai Osamu the man probably had a wife already!
“Mister, do you like Winnie the Pooh too?” Tomomi tried to talk to him again. “I’m not a super fan of him like Tomomi-chan but I remember watching it when I was around your age. I think I’m more of a Toy Story fan,” he replied. He could see Tomomi’s eyes sparkle, “I like Toy Story too! I like the slinky dog because he looks like our dog! What about you, who’s your favorite, Mister?” “Definitely Buzz Lightyear! He’s cool but also awkward, I think it’s very realistic.” Dazai replied seriously.
They keep talking about random stuff, mostly cartoons, without realizing someone was looking at their interaction fondly.
—
Dazai didn’t realize he had chatted with Tomomi for quite a long time before he heard the announcer saying his stop.
“Oh, looks like we’re already at my stop,” Dazai said dejectedly. He might’ve enjoyed talking to the little girl—while stealing glances at her hot father—a little too much.
“Really? This is our stop too.” the father said.
“Oh my gosh, Mister! Are we neighbors?” Tomomi eyed him with an expectant look.
Dazai let out a small laugh, “Maybe we are? But Yokohama is quite big, Tomomi-chan,”
The train slowed down and Tomomi’s father once again secured Tomomi to his protective embrace. Dang, Dazai kind of wanted that too. Unconsciously, Dazai held out his hand to the man in front of him, and before Dazai pulled his hand back to pretend nothing happened, the gorgeous man surprisingly took it so Dazai helped him to stand up.
…isn’t this the perfect height difference for a forehead kiss? Dazai thought when he and Tomomi’s father finally stood side by side. When the train door opened, he swiftly placed himself behind the father and daughter so they wouldn’t get pushed around. After they got out safely, Tomomi's father put her down and fixed her clothes, “Sweetie, you can walk now. Don’t let go of Papa’s hand, okay?” he said while offering his arm to his daughter. Tomomi took her father’s hand with her tiny right hand and looked up at Dazai. Does she need something from me? The little girl then did something unexpected by the two men as she lifted her left hand, signaling Dazai to also hold her hand.
Flustered, her father gently tugged her arm back and quickly said, “Oh no, sweetie, the kind mister needs to go home now.” Tomomi looked at her father and now at Dazai with sad puppy eyes. Yeah, he can’t do this, he’s weak for little children’s sad puppy eyes. Dazai took Tomomi’s outstretched hand and shot a look to her father—he’s looking great as ever my gosh can’t have enough of this stunner’s face Dazai could definitely stare at him all day—and said, “No it’s fine! I can hold her hand to your place if you let me, I don’t have anything to do after this. Ah, do you don’t like showing strangers where you live? Well, my name is Dazai, Dazai Osamu. I’m thirty-two and I work as a private investigator.” damn it, he rambled.
A pair of blue eyes stared at his brown ones before they squinted because the owner laughed. Dazai might’ve made a fool of himself but hey, at least he was able to see this beautiful man’s laugh because of it.
“You’re really cute,” the redhead said amidst his laugh. Dazai could physically see the panic appear on the other’s gorgeous face as he hurriedly looked away, “Uh, I mean—yeah. Yeah sure,”
Wait. is he flustered? Is this a green light? Oh my gosh, I think it is a green light. “Okay then! Now, how should I call Tomomi-chan’s Papa?” Dazai replied a little flirtatiously. He hoped he decipher the signal correctly. The pretty redhead slowly turned his head back to face Dazai. Oh. apparently, Dazai was indeed correct. He could see a little blush tinged the other’s face and Dazai was literally fighting his inner demon to not cup his face and kiss it.
“I’m Nakahara Chuuya but please just call me Chuuya.” he finally said.
Chuuya. What a pretty name suited for the pretty person who owned it. Feeling a little playful, Dazai replied, “Oh~ on the first name basis already?” as he shot Chuuya a teasing smile. Chuuya rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I don’t really like it when people call me by my surname. I don’t know, it sounded so formal! And I'm used to people calling me Chuuya all the time.” he replied
“Aw, so everyone called Chuuya by his first name?” Dazai said, fake-disappointed. Chuuya nodded. “I thought I was special!” once again, Chuuya laughed in reply. Dazai saw that beautiful laugh earlier but he can’t help but get dumbfounded all over again. Was this what the youngster called love at first sight and down bad?
“Mister you’re staring at my papa. Are you in love with him?” Tomomi suddenly chimed in. Oh yeah, she’s still here. Both men instantly turned their heads to look at the little girl and then at each other but quickly looked away in embarrassment.
“Let’s just go home, sweetie.”
—
“THAT’S how you met your eye candy man?” Yosano said after listening to her fellow doctor’s story while drinking her fifth cup of microwaved coffee of the day in the break room.
Nakahara Chuuya, 32 years old, a general surgeon, just let out a small chuckle at his colleague’s comment. “I know right like, what are the chances we met when both of us decided to forgo our cars and took the train instead on the same day?”
Yosano sipped her coffee, “Damn, a commuter line has a matchmaking function too now? Maybe I should start commuting.”
“Ugh don’t! It was literal hell on earth! Even my poor daughter can barely move her arms and legs!” Chuuya cringed while remembering the unpleasant memory.
“But you met a hottie there! I want to meet a hot person too!”
When Chuuya was about to say something back to Yosano, he heard his phone ringing. He took his phone out and looked at the caller ID. It’s a Facetime. “Oooh~ is that your hot boyfriend?~” Yosano asked him teasingly. “Oh shut up you.”
Chuuya answered it and he was immediately greeted by a brown-haired man with gentle brown eyes behind his rounded glasses looking at him. “Hey, Chu–” “Daaaddyyyyyy can I get the honeycomb topping?” a familiar little girl’s voice cut the man before he could speak. Chuuya could see Dazai turning his head to the source of the voice. “Sure, princess. But promise me you’ll finish everything, okay?” “Yaaayyy! Thank you Daddy!” the voice answered.
The redhead let out a small laugh, “Okay, where are you and Mii-chan right now?” now looking back to Chuuya, Dazai answered, “We’re at a Park near the kindergarten~ it’s fine right?”
“Sure, but why did you suddenly Facetime me?”
“Oh, yeah. Wait a sec babe.” Dazai paused the Facetime. Chuuya could hear him talking with someone and it sounded like he bought Tomomi an ice cream and he just finished paying for it.
“Princess come here, didn’t you say you want to show it to Papa?” The Facetime is back on. Chuuya could see Dazai sitting down now and he also heard his daughter’s voice getting closer. “Papaaaa look at Mii-chan!” Dazai pulled Tomomi up to sit on his lap and adjusted his phone so Chuuya could see his daughter. And there she was, grinning brightly with her face decorated in pink paint. “Look, papa! There’s a butterfly on my face!”
“Oh my, how pretty! Is that face paint?” Chuuya asked.
The little girl nodded excitedly, “Yeah it is! The big sister drew it for me!” she then turned her head to look at Dazai behind her, “Daddy, I showed it to Papa! Now can I play at the playground?” she asked him. He then looked at her fondly and nodded, “Yes you can, princess! Just be careful to not play too far away from me, okay?” the little girl nodded. She turned to the screen once again and said, “Bye-bye Papa! I’m going to play now! See you at home!” with that, she blew Chuuya a kiss and disappeared from the screen.
“Make sure you keep an eye on her, Osamu. I swear that girl just magically disappears sometimes.”
“Chuuya! You still don’t trust me enough to look after her? How rude, I’m hurt!” Dazai wiped his nonexistent tears from his eyes as Chuuya rolled his eyes. “By the way, have you bought the groceries for tonight? It’s your turn to make dinner.”
“I will buy it after Mii-chan finishes playing, don’t worry babe. Oh yeah Chuuya, have you eaten lunch yet?”
“Uh-huh. I just finished it and now I’m gossiping about you with Yosano.” as if it was on cue, Yosano appeared on the screen, resting her head on Chuuya’s shoulder. “Sup Dazai!” she said casually while eating a bag of chips. “Oh, hi Yosano-sensei! What did you two doctors talk about? All good things, I Hope?”
“Nothing too scandalous, I promise!” she replied.
“Come on tell– oh shoot, Princess! Don’t run around near the pool, you’ll fall!”
The two doctors could see Dazai was getting a little panicked, “Osamu what happened—” “Talk to you later, dear! Love you!” Dazai hurriedly said before he hung up. Chuuya and Yosano exchanged a glance.
“I swear if something bad happened to my child I’m killing that man!”