Chapter Text
The first instance of Dazai ‘losing time’ was when he was about thirty minutes late to an executive meeting. He’s seventeen, now. Barely by a week, but still seventeen. He should be old enough to keep up with the clocks, according to Mori. Except, he had checked the clock. He was sliding his shoes on at exactly eight twenty. Forty minutes before nine. Thirty minutes before he was supposed to be at the headquarters. He estimated a five minute travel time by taxi, which meant being early. Enough time to mess with Chuuya.
He arrived at nine twenty six.
The next time, Dazai almost missed a whole hangout with Chuuya. They were supposed to see a movie and meet at the mall about an hour before, just so they could fuck around.
Dazai managed to miss the first hour entirely. Chuuya was pissed, obviously. Why wouldn’t he be? Dazai knows he already feels unappreciated, and though he does nothing about it, he still doesn’t make moves as shitty as this.
But it was an accident.
He told Chuuya he fell asleep. Chuuya (reluctantly) let it go. Probably because it's rare for Dazai to get any sleep, much less a random nap in the middle of the day. They made the movie, then went to a cafe to make up for the first missed hour.
Chuuya forgot.
Dazai didn’t.
He doesn’t understand. Like last time, he had left exactly when planned. Is he really spending an hour putting on shoes? Definitely not. Maybe. He intends to investigate it if it happens again.
And it did happen again. It started to become normal. Dazai started to become unreliable. You couldn’t trust him to be on time anywhere, always a good half hour to an hour late.
The complete opposite to his previous self. ‘ It’s probably a phase ,’ some people whisper, ‘ he’s finally acting his age.’ The worst is that these are coming from people like Mori or Kouyou. One of which he respects, the other he fears.
Dazai is not a normal teenager.
-
“I didn’t realize what time it wa-“ Dazai started to explain, though he was cut short by an angry dog barking back at him.
“Don’t give me that shitty excuse again, Dazai. If you forgot then just say so. Why do you insist on lying about it?” Chuuya’s mad. He was late again. This was an important day to hang out with Chuuya. He was late.
“I’m not lying. “
“Yes you are! Stop being such an asshole!” Chuuya shouted, storming off and leaving Dazai alone in the arcade. Fitting, considering Dazai was the one to leave first.
That was not the first time something like this happened, and it wouldn’t be the last. It couldn’t be the last. The world was not that kind. Only, the next time was a bit more serious. It wasn’t by only an hour, but it doubled. Dazai was supposed to show up for a mission two hours ago, but he was nowhere to be found. Not until Chuuya had already completed the thing himself, that was. Only then had Dazai decided to show up, panting and out of breath like he sprinted to get there. “Chuuya! What did-“
“Fuck off, Dazai. If you’re going to show up now then why bother coming at all?! God you’re so fucking unbelievable!” Really, Dazai didn’t blame Chuuya for this reaction. He’s pissed, and rightfully so, but Dazai really didn’t mean it.
“Chibi! I didn’t mean to. One moment the clock said it was ten and the next it was noon. I don’t know what happened. I’m trying, I really am.” Dazai tried again, doing his best to explain while also not sounding too vulnerable or anything. Vulnerability was weakness and being weak was the last thing he ever wanted to be around his partner.
“Bullshit! No one just ‘loses time’.” Chuuya mocked, “Stop fucking around and just tell me what the hell your deal is.”
“I’m being serious, I really am,” Dazai mumbled, shifting his weight from one foot to the other back and forth a few times. He’s not usually this anxious. He doesn’t get anxious. But if he had to describe the feeling, that’s probably what this is. He’s anxious. Maybe.
“Fine. You want to keep playing this game, then whatever. Don’t expect me to give a shit anymore,” Chuuya shoved his hands into his pockets. Dazai makes the educated assumption that he’s trying his hardest not to beat Dazai up.
Things were going so well between them. Their bickering was as consistent as ever, but it never cut as deep as it used to. Things were getting better. They never talked about the time they kissed, they didn’t need to, but Dazai has been feeling even weirder lately. In a good way.
Until recently. Until Dazai started fucking up. And honestly? Dazai would never admit it, but it’s starting to scare him. If it’s to the point of missing a mission, who knows how much worse it could get?
It’s beginning to mess with his mind. Is he going crazy? He can't be. He’s started to constantly keep track of the time. He bought a watch with the Mafia money he hates to spend, growing an obsession with counting the seconds almost immediately after.
Then the time jumps. That night, the night after missing the mission, when things got worse, the time jumped.
2:34:23
2:34:24
2:34:25
2:34:26
5:07:12
That’s not possible. That’s not possible. It was just two am. It was two in the morning. It is two in the morning. Dazai grabs his phone, flipping out open to see that it read 5:09. Maybe it was never two to begin with? Did the watch just catch up in time?
If not, that would mean…
Dazai lost three hours.
He bangs the watch against the ground, effectively popping it open, just to check out the inside. It looked fine. Nothing was off about the gears, it looked okay. It wasn’t okay. He would smash his phone too, but what would that achieve?
He spent the next hour meticulously putting the watch back in place, and making sure it was perfect. The time matched his phone exactly, down to the second.
He didn’t sleep much that night.
The next day, Dazai woke up to stare at his clock. Then he checked his watch. It was eight in the morning, now. He should be fine to get up and head to Chuuya’s. The time jumping doesn't happen around other people. He wants to spend as much time with other people as possible.
He wonders if Oda will believe his story. Chuuya doesn’t, which is to be expected. He’s known for lying, and this is absurd.
He misses Oda. He hasn’t had the chance to go out to drink lately. Not with his constant punishments for being late and back to back missions. The worst thing was not seeing Oda often. The second worst thing was Chuuya always being genuinely mad at him. And the third worst would probably be the punishments themselves.
Despite them, he has yet to be trained out of his tardiness.
Dazai knows why, but they don’t believe him. He’s losing time, and it’s getting worse every day. He’s scared for when the hours become days. That just can’t happen.