Chapter Text
Chuuya walked out of the locker room with his bag slung over one shoulder. He stretched his arms, feeling the slight burn of his sore muscles. "Chuuya! I was just coming to get you." Kouyou, his boss, said, waving him over.
He draped his towel over his other shoulder and walked towards him. He could feel water dripping down his neck from his hair. It took so long to dry that he just accepted that he would never leave practice or work in a dry shirt. "Yeah, what's up?"
"Would you be willing to take on another swim student? A client wants private lessons for his son twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays. He requested they be at 7:30 pm after the pool has closed."
"I didn't know we offered lessons after closing?"
"We don't under normal circumstances. However, this client is an exception. He's offering triple the standard price." Chuuya gaped. He taught at a fancy ass country club pool, so the regular price wasn't cheap. But then again, only people with more money than they knew what to do with came here, so he really shouldn't be surprised.
"I should be able to. What's the kid's name?"
"His name is Osamu Dazai. He's said to be quite stubborn. His past teachers have all quit." Kouyou warned. "If you don't want to teach him, I can tell Mr. Ougai that we won't take clients after closing."
Chuuya had dealt with plenty of stubborn kids. So far, none of them have been worse than he could handle. He was sure this kid wouldn't be any different. "It's okay. I'm sure he can't be that bad." Chuuya rubbed the towel over his neck, gathering the droplets that had fallen from his hair. "Does he want to start this week?"
"Yes, he said he would like to start as soon as possible. If you're sure, I will let him know and the first lesson will be tomorrow."
Chuuya nodded. "Yeah, that works for me. I have a lesson from 6:30 to 7:00, so I'll already be here."
"Perfect, thank you, Chuuya."
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟
Chuuya chewed on the end of his pencil. He was sitting by the pool in his swim trunks and a lifeguarding hoodie. His last student of the day had canceled, so he'd spent the time allotted to the lesson working on his homework instead. He was almost done with his math homework but got stuck on one of the last problems. He'd already tried it three different times, but the answer never matched the one in the back of the textbook. He threw the pencil down on his notebook and sighed, frustrated. Chuuya was sure he'd go insane if he tried any longer, so he decided he would figure it out later.
"You dropped a negative," a bored voice said from behind him. Chuuya startled and whirled around, nearly punching the teen hovering over him.
"How long have you been there?!" He was sure he would have heard someone approaching; it was hard to be sneaky when the floor was covered in puddles and the room was as echoey as it was.
"Long enough to see you struggling for way too long over this problem." He flopped down onto the chair next to him. "Honestly, I don't know how Mori expects me to learn anything from someone as dumb as you."
"Oh, fuc—wait, Mori?" Chuuya asked. He looked closer at the teen sitting next to him. He was wearing a suit, and Chuuya could see bandages wrapped around his wrists, where his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his neck, where the suit didn't cover. There were also some wrapped around his head, covering one eye. "You're Osamu?" he asked incredulously.
"My, my, so personal!" Osamu gasped dramatically, placing a hand on his chest.
"Yeah, well, I was expecting a 7-year-old, not a 17-year-old," Chuuya snapped back, trying to remember his last name. He didn't usually pay attention to the surnames on the charts he was given because when working with kids, he just used their first names. He also apparently should have looked at the age more clearly. "Why do you even need swim lessons, Dazai?" He added the last part after a moment as he finally remembered the other teen's surname.
"Mori decided I tried to drown myself one too many times." Dazai shrugged.
Chuuya gaped. He said it nonchalantly, but he had to be joking, right? "Wh—"
"Oh, close your mouth; you look like a fish."
"YOU look like a fish." Chuuya retorted instinctively, mentally facepalming as he did. Seriously, that was the best he could come up with.
"Wow," Dazai deadpanned, "clever."
Chuuya ignored him and looked away. His cheeks felt hot with embarrassment, and he didn't want the other teen to see. He didn't know why he was reacting like this, so he just decided to ignore it. "Whatever. Why are you wearing a suit? You know you're supposed to be getting in the water?"
"Mmmm, I don't suppose I will." Dazai leaned back in his chair. "I'm not a huge fan of water."
"Too bad." Chuuya stood up. "I'm getting paid to teach you how to swim, so you're going to learn how to swim." He reached into his backpack and pulled out an extra pair of swim trunks. He tossed them at Dazai's head. "You can borrow these."
Dazai tossed the swim trunks back to Chuuya. "I'm good." He pulled out his phone and loaded up a racing game with the volume turned all the way up. He began playing it, shouting as he did and ignoring the glare Chuuya was giving him. After a few minutes of this, Chuuya sighed and put the swimsuit back in his bag. He better still be getting paid for this. It wasn't his fault Dazai was stupidly stubborn. Then again, Kouyou had warned him that Dazai was stubborn. And Chuuya wasn't one to give in easily.
Chuuya walked closer to Dazai, glancing at the game he was playing. "What game is that?"
Dazai once again ignored him, too busy yelling about someone getting ahead of him in the game. "Take this attack!! AGHH, he dodged it!" He held the phone above his head, and Chuuya saw his opportunity. He grabbed the phone from Dazai's grip and jumped a few steps away so Dazai wouldn't be able to reach him.
Like a switch, Dazai's personality flipped. He stood up slowly, his one visible eye dark and emotionless. Chuuya took another step back, thinking he may have made an error in judgment. No teen should look like that. It's something he'd expect to see in a mafia movie or something similar. He should probably just give the phone back, but he'd already dug his grave, so he might as well continue. He shoved the phone into the pocket of his hoodie, jumping at the sound of a crash coming from it.
"You made me lose the level." Any trace of the whining and teasing that was present in his voice earlier was gone.
"You can play later. Get in the water." Chuuya tried to sound firm, but he probably failed.
"Make me."
Chuuya grinned. That he could do. After only a moment of hesitation, he charged forward, shoving Dazai towards the pool behind him. At the last second, Dazai gripped onto his wrist and pulled Chuuya in with him. They both crashed into the water, and panic coursed through Chuuya as he realized Dazai's phone was still in his pocket.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit." He hoisted himself out of the pool, fishing the phone from his pocket, thanking whatever was out there that it hadn't fallen out. His stomach sank as he looked at the phone. It was expensive. Chuuya's phone was so old it barely worked anymore, but he kept it because he couldn't afford a new one. He'd never be able to pay to replace Dazai's. Speaking of Dazai, why hadn't he gotten out yet? Chuuya glanced over, his heart nearly stopping when he saw Dazai flailing around, trying to keep his head above water.
Chuuya dove back into the water, his worries about the phone were entirely gone for now. The phone wouldn't matter if he was in jail for killing some rich dude's son. He tried to get closer to Dazai but just ended up getting punched in the face by one of Dazai's flailing arms. Ignoring the pain, he swam closer, grabbing onto Dazai and treading with his legs to keep them both afloat.
"Chuuya tried to kill me! I want to die by suicide with a beautiful woman, not because of some ugly slug!" Dazai yelled as Chuuya swam them both to the shallow end of the pool. He only let go of Dazai when he was sure the other could touch with his head well above the water.
"I didn't think you couldn't swim at all!" Chuuya shouted back. "What kind of 17-year-old doesn't know how to swim at least a little bit!"
"Why do you think Mori's making me come to these stupid things!"
Chuuya paused. Okay, so that did make sense. And maybe shoving a kid into the pool on his first day wasn't the smartest idea, even if the kid was 17. Dazai had just made him so mad he couldn't stop himself. And he'd basically asked for it. It didn't matter; he was definitely fired. No matter how much Kouyou liked him, with how much money this Mori dude had, if he wanted Chuuya gone, there was nothing she could do about it.
"Are you okay?"
Chuuya glanced up, surprised that Dazai would care. "Huh?"
"You look like someone just killed your dog in front of you." Dazai shrugged, "And while dogs are evil creatures, you seem like the kind of guy that would be attached to them."
Chuuya wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he just answered Dazai's earlier question. "I'm fine; I just realized I am fucked because now I'll have to replace your stupid expensive phone without the income from my job because I am definitely fired for this. But I should really be asking you that, not the other way around." Chuuya sighed, moving closer to Dazai. "Are you okay? Did you swallow any water?"
"Aww, look at that, the slug pretending to care about me like he wasn't the one trying to kill me," Dazai said, his teasing voice back. "But don't worry, I'll just make Mori buy me a new phone! I would have trashed that old thing sooner or later. I'm always looking for an excuse to waste Mori's money."
Chuuya's eye twitched at the flagrant show of wealth. He'd have to save up months of his lesson money before even getting close to being able to afford that phone, and Dazai was calling it old. At least it meant he didn't have to replace it. He was still out of a job, though.
"Well, while Chuuya decides to stay there floundering like a fish, I'm going to get out of the pool." Dazai hummed, walking towards the edge of the pool. "My bandages are all wet now, thanks to someone."
"Yeah, well, who wears bandages to a swimming lesson?" Chuuya retorted, following him. "That's your own fault."
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟
Over the next two days, Chuuya hovered in a state of panic. He was sure he'd be getting the call to let him know he was fired any minute, but it kept not coming. He would go to work, and Kouyou would greet him the same as always. Did she not know yet? Surely, Dazai would have complained already.
Yet, Friday came and there was still no word. And as he was cleaning up from his last lesson, Dazai showed up once again in his suit and bandages. Chuuya stared at him, dumbfounded. He was sure Dazai would never be back after that fiasco.
"You came back?"
"Wow! Great observation, Captain Obvious!" Dazai gasped dramatically, "What next? Are you going to tell me the sky is blue?"
"You know what I mean! Did you not tell anyone what happened?" Chuuya should probably just stay quiet. Maybe Dazai hadn't thought about it, but now that Chuuya brought it up, he would. But he couldn't stand the fear that came with not knowing when the other shoe would drop.
"Why would I do that?" Dazai asked simply. He shrugged and sat on one of the chairs by the pool. "So, did you bring my swimsuit today? I suppose I could go swimming in this again. If you go swimming in a suit, does that make it a swimsuit?"
Once again, Chuuya found himself staring at Dazai in shock. "What, no? Oh, um, I think I should have another swimsuit." He shook his head. "Let me check; my bag is in the locker room." He jogged towards the locker room, glad he'd left his bag in there today. He was eager to get away from the other boy so he could get his head on straight.
"Chuuya!" Dazai called out, sounding panicked. Chuuya spun around, worried he had fallen in again. As he did, he stepped into a puddle, and his foot slid out from under him. He fell backwards, slamming into the ground. He ignored the pain and the way the wind had been knocked from his lungs and pushed himself up onto his elbows, looking for Dazai to see if he was okay. He was standing, perfectly fine.
"No running." Dazai pointed to one of the many signs that said the same thing. Chuuya groaned and flopped back down, staring at the ceiling high above. He would get up in a moment; right now, he just needed to stare at the ceiling. At least air was returning to his lungs.
After probably too long, he pushed himself up and got to his feet. He continued to the locker room without looking at Dazai. Sure enough, he had an extra swimsuit in his backpack. It looked like he would be bringing it for all of Dazai's lessons because the rich fuck couldn't be bothered to bring his own.
He brought the swimsuit out and tossed it to Dazai. "Go change."
"So demanding!" Dazai gasped, but at least he took the swimsuit and headed towards the locker room. Chuuya leaned against the wall. His back hurt, but at least Dazai was actually willing to get in the pool this time. And Chuuya would apparently not be getting fired, which was a relief. He just didn't know why Dazai wouldn't tell anyone. It didn't make sense. Then again, the things Dazai did rarely made sense.
Dazai came back out in the swimsuit but with his bandages still on. "Why are you still wearing the bandages? I thought you said you didn't like them getting wet," Chuuya asked. Technically, he just complained when they were wet, but it was close enough that Chuuya didn't care.
"Wow, I didn't know Chuuya was such a perv! The skin I'm showing isn't enough. Chuuya truly is insatiable."
Chuuya flushed red. "You know that's not what I meant." He gestured to the pool. "Just get in the water."
"And get my bandages wet! Chuuya! How heartless!"