Chapter Text
“Chuuuya, I’m bored.” Dazai lies across the bed horizontally, his feet tapping annoyingly against the wall. Mori had sent them to America for two weeks to complete a mission, but they’d finished it within the first three days. Now, they are stuck here for another week and a half with nothing to do.
“What do you want me to do about it?” Chuuya raises an eyebrow, lazily looking over at Dazai. A rubber ball lazily floats up and down in front of him; the faint red glow surrounding it is the only sign that Chuuya has anything to do with it.
“I don’t know, entertain me~” Dazai whines.
“Entertain yourself, dumbass.”
“If Chuuya is too stupid to come up with an idea, you could just say so!” Dazai swings his legs down from the wall and rolls onto his side.
“For the last time. We have actual shit to do, not goofing off doing whatever that is.” Chuuya waves his hand dramatically, elbowing Dazai’s body.
“But— Chuuya! We’re in America! When else would we get to be here? Let’s do something, please~” Dazai whines. A light gruff escapes his throat as Chuuya’s elbow digs into his ribs. “They have so much! They have this thing called pumpkin patches. It has tons of spooky stuff! We can go to the pumpkins and let Chuuya reunite with his kind!” Dazai gushes, tossing himself across Chuuya’s lap.
“The fuck you mean my kind? Don’t you ever lay off on the ginger jokes?” Chuuya braces his hands on Dazai’s side, shoving him off.
Well, since this is one of the rare times Dazai actually shows interest in going somewhere—whether his intentions are good or bad—Chuuya supposes that a little bit of fun wouldn’t be too bad. Besides, he’s getting bored himself.
”Ugh.” Chuuya grumbles, staring down Dazai. He really needs to stop giving in to what he wants. “I’ll see what’s around. But I swear, Dazai, one little trick, and I’m dragging your ass back to this hotel.” Chuuya threatens. Dazai offers that stupid sly smile, the corner of his mouth lifting in a snarky smirk.
“If Chuuya insists~” Dazai snickers at him. Chuuya shoves his foot into his stomach, ignoring the groaning from Dazai. Yeah, he really needs to stop giving in to this stupid mackerel’s ideas.
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Chuuya returns about an hour later, carrying grocery bags and a flyer. He sets the flyer on the table and throws one of the bags at Dazai. It hits him solidly in the chest. “Owww Chuuya!! What’s in this?” He whines, rubbing his chest.
“Clothes and shoes, so quit whining and get changed. You’re the one who wanted to be entertained.” Chuuya takes the other bag and starts to pull off his shirt.
“Ooooh, a strip show? Is that how Chuuya’s gonna entertain me?” Dazai grins at him.
Chuuya tugs his shirt back down. “Oh fuck off.” He grabs his bag and walks into the bathroom.
“Wait, Chuuya, no! I was joking!” Dazai pouts, but Chuuya just flips him off and closes the door. “Chuuya’s so mean!”
Chuuya sets the bag on the ground and pulls out the outfit he’d bought. He first changes into the slightly baggy jeans. They’re too long for him, but it should be fine since the boots he bought had a bit of a heel. He buttons up a red and brown flannel over the white tank top he’s already wearing and tucks it into his pants. He slides a belt through the loops of the jeans, chuckling slightly at the size of the belt buckle. He tugs on the brown cowboy boots and steps back so he can see his entire body in the mirror. When he was shopping, he’d gone for the most ‘American Cowboy’ looking outfit he could find. Looking in the mirror, he has to say he succeeded.
“Chuuyaa, why the fuck did you buy this?” Dazai calls out. Chuuya leaves the bathroom, holding back a laugh, when he sees Dazai dressed in a similar outfit, just with a blue flannel and black boots.
Chuuya picks up the flyer he set on the table earlier and holds it out to Dazai. “We’re going to the pumpkin patch.”
“Wait, Chuuya’s actually agreeing?” He reeled back in surprise. An ounce of triumph fills Chuuya at the rare sight of Dazai being caught off guard. Chuuya scoffs at the look on his face, the feeling of his own cheeks heating up from embarrassment.
“Well— you said you wanted to go. I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to get it and get some fresh air.” He grumbles, turning his back to Dazai. Silence falls over the room. A light pit of worry fills in his gut. Did Dazai not actually want to go? “Dazai—?” He turns around hesitantly, and his body freezes at the sight of the object in Dazai’s hand.
“No way…” Dazai trails off. ”Did you get another stupid hat?” Dazai holds a black cowboy hat in his hands. He examines the accessory with a bewildered expression. Chuuya stomps over, snatching the hat from his hands. “It’s not stupid! The people here wear them a lot. It happens to be a fashion style. Something your raggedy ass could learn.” Chuuya scoffs, situating the hat on his head. In his opinion, he looks damn good in it.
”Oh, please. Chuuya likes my ass.”
Never mind. He’s gonna throw him off a Cliff.
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They arrive at the address listed on the flier and find a much too long line waiting for them at the entrance. “Sneak in through the back?” Chuuya asks.
“Duh, let’s go.”
They run around the side of the fence until they find an area that is secluded enough that no one can see them. Chuuya grabs onto Dazai, careful not to touch his skin, and jumps over the fence using his ability to assist him. They land behind a shed, and when they walk around it, the first thing they see is a sign for bumper Cars. Chuuya turns to Dazai with a grin.
“Oh, I will destroy you at that.”
“In Chuuya’s dreams!” They run to the bumper cars. Dazai immediately takes it upon himself to grab the nearest one, not bothering to stop with the tickets. Chuuya hastily throws some money on the desk before grabbing his own car. As much as he doesn’t give two shits about breaking the rules, he’d rather not get kicked out immediately.
His thoughts are knocked out of his head as Dazai’s car slams into the side of his. “You cheeky—“ Chuuya feels a smile creeping on his face as he steers the cart towards Dazai. Chuuya’s heart feels exhilarated at the full-hearted laughs escaping Dazai.
Dazai takes a sharp turn to bump against Chuuya. Chuuya hads a different plan. They both don't realize the mistake until their cars collided. Chuuya’s eyes widen as he watches Dazai’s car tip over at the force. Silence falls over the rink as everyone around them freezes. The operator rushes over, panicked at the thought of one of them having injuries. Chuuya snaps out of his shock as the sound of laughs fills his ears. He feels a grin creep on his face at the sight of Dazai giggling. Chuuya snickers with him. Both laugh harder, their arms clenched around their waists, when they notice the unimpressed look on the operator’s face.
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“Idiot! You got us in trouble!” Chuuya whacks the back of Dazai’s head—no anger behind his voice. Dazai whiles as Chuuya’s hand makes contact with his skull.
“But Chuuya wrecked into me! That’s so unfair!” Dazai pouts, rubbing the back of his head.
“Life isn’t fair; get over it,” Chuuya grumbles, shoving his hands in his pocket. Chuuya has his eyes set on the food court. Before he can even start walking towards there, dazai tugs him back.
“Chibi, look!” Dazai mutters excitedly, tugging on his sleeve. Chuuya glances over at what Dazai’s pointing at. A shooting both. Chuuya gives him an unimpressed glare. “Really? Aren’t those, like, rigged?” He looks at the stand warily, watching as a kid walks away with a… ugh… crab plush.
“Yeah, rigged to other people.” Dazai waves, walking over to the booth. Chuuya rolls his eyes, following after Dazai. Chuuya ignores the operator's attempt at an announcer's voice. He slams a five on the table, shutting them up. Dazai bounces giddily as they’re handed the guns. Just as the timer starts, loud bangs of the balloons popping fill the air. A crowd of people gather around, children watching as, one by one, each balloon pops. Dazai smiles in satisfaction as all the balloons lay deflated.
”Chibi! I want the crab!” Dazai points at the plush excitedly.
“Uh.. sir, you don’t have enough points for that.” The operator approaches hesitantly. Chuuya stares at them, confusion in his eyes.
“How? We hit every target?” He scoffs, shoving his hands back into his pocket. He feels irritation building up in his veins as the operator explains the scoring systems. Chuuya lets out a heavy breath; he isn’t going to get in trouble over a stupid plush.
“Dazai, leave it. Let’s just go,” He grumbles, walking away. Chuuya ignored the fake pout on Dazai’s lips.
“Ugh, teenagers are annoying as hell, bro. Acting like children these days.” The operator grumbles. Both freeze
Oh fuck no.
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Dazai picks at the funnel cake on his place, a plush crab sitting on his lap. “You know you have to eat real food.” Chuuya huffs, digging into his turkey leg.
Dazai rolls his eyes. “Ew, no, that looks nasty.” He huffs, ignoring the powder staining the corner of his mouth.
“Then have more than this dumbass. Put something other than sugar in your system,” Chuuya scowls, shoving some of the nachos towards him. Dazai sighs dramatically and picks up the parts with the least cheese.
“What should we do next?” Dazai asks, his voice muffled behind the food in his mouth. Chuuya grimaces; that food combination looks disgusting.
“God, you're a messy eater,” Chuuya scoffs, aggressively wiping the powder from Dazai’s mouth. Dazai scrunches up his nose, leaning away.
“You didn’t answer the question,” Dazai huffs. Chuuya scans the area. Everything is super spread out in this place. Cheering catches his attention. Under the red barn, a crowd of people has formed. Dazai follows Chuuya’s eyes, looking at the barn.
“What are they doing?” Chuuya tilts his head. Everybody cheered around a girl who’s on a—ride? What is that? Dazai glances at him.
“Bull Riding is famous here; they have this thing called rodeos. That’s like a bull riding simulator. You can’t fall off of it,” Dazai explains, his chin resting in his palm. He catches the intrigue in Chuuya’s eyes.
Chuuya scoffs as the girl gets thrown off. “I bet I can stay on longer.”
Dazai turns to him, a slick smile on his face. “Yeah? Chuuya should go try it out.” Dazai grabs Chuuya’s arms, lifting him from the bench and ignoring the protests escaping Chuuya’s mouth. Dazai drags him under the barn roof and into the crowd. Chuuya feels himself grow tense in the packed area. Crowds like this make it harder to keep on guard.
“Excuse me! How long’s the line for this?” Dazai asks the lady controlling the bull. She looks at the list.
“Seems like you came at the right time, kid; how many?” The lazy asks, typing on her tablet. Dazai holds up his and Chuuya’s intertwined hands.
“Two!” He chirps. The lady nods, pointing to the bull. “Go on; let me know when you’re ready, and I'll start it.” She sits on the operating booth, turning it on. Most of the people have dissipated from the crowd.
“I’ll go first! Seems like my dog is scared.” Dazai sighs dramatically, dodging a swat from Chuuya’s hand. He walks under the ropes and pushes up onto the bull, situating himself. Dazai offers a thumbs up, his hand tightening on the handle as the ride starts up.
Chuuya suppresses a laugh as Dazai gets thrown off on barely the second level. Dazai grumbles as he steps off. “It’s Chibi’s turn!” He braces his hands on the shorter’s shoulders, shoving him forward. Chuuya shakes off his hands. He forces his feet forward, situating himself. He nods, Letting the operator start it up.
“Damn”
Dazai expected Chuuya to fall off relatively quickly, but he was good at this—he wasn't even using his ability. A crowd starts to form around them, cheering him on. Chuuya keeps one hand holding his hat, the other gripping onto the saddle's handle, with a wild grin on his face. Dazai stares in awe. Chuuya is truly beautiful under bright lights. Dazai feels his own smile creeping on his lips.
Chuuya looks so stupid.
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Chuuya wanders through the rows of pumpkins. Dazai is somewhere off to his left, but Chuuya is more focused on finding a pumpkin he likes than keeping an eye on Dazai. He is going to beat Dazai at pumpkin carving, and that starts with finding the best pumpkin. He needs one that isn’t too lumpy or lopsided. Just as Chuuya finds the perfect one, he hears Dazai’s panicked voice.
“Chuuya! Chuuya, where are you?” Dazai makes a show of looking around the pumpkin patch, his gaze sweeping over Chuuya twice, both times acting like he didn’t see anything. What was the mackerel up to now?
“Dumbass, I know you can see me.”
“Chuuya? Is that you? I hear your voice!” Dazai looks purposefully past Chuuya. “But I can’t see you! Where did you go?”
Chuuya rolls his eyes, walking through the field. A squawk escapes his throat as Dazai bumps into his back. “Oi! Watch it, mackerel!” Chuuya scolds, shoving him away.
“Oh! Chibi! There you are! I lost you in all this orange. You’re too tiny; these pumpkins are almost the size of you!” Dazai sighs dramatically, draping himself over Chuuya. Chuuya shrugs him off, walking forward.
There.
He thinks, walking towards the pumpkin. It’s perfect. A decent size, round, a deep orange. Chuuya lifts it with his ability, inspecting it. His hands resting under the pumpkin. Suddenly, a heavy weight almost drags his body down. He barely manages to get a good hold on it, preventing it from smashing into the ground. His head whips towards Dazai. “What the hell! I almost dropped it!”
Chuuya chucks a rock at Dazai, whacking him right in the temple. “Chuuya you brute!” Dazai gasps offendedly. “Hey Chuuya, carry this one for me!” Dazai places a pumpkin right on top of Chuuya’s. Chuuya rolls his eyes when he sees they’re nearly the exact same.
“Whatever.” He huffs, hauling both pumpkins up with his ability. They make their way back to the stall. Dazai halts in front of him.
”Oh my god… Chuuya.” Dazai gasps. Looking at the field. Two tiny pumpkins rest in the front. “Dazai. No.” Chuuya grasps his arm, dragging him away.
“But Chuuya! They’re so tiny! They’re just like you!” Dazai complains. Chuuya sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Fine.” He taps each one, adding them to the stack of pumpkins he’s carrying with his ability.
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Chuuya watches the ground shrink further away. He looks at all the different places they’d visited today, memories flashing through his mind. This started as a joke when he saw the flyer, but it is actually the most fun he’s had in a while. Judging from the pile of souvenirs on the other bench that both he and Dazai won, he hopes Dazai can say the same.
He looks up from the ground and nearly gasps at the sight of the setting sun. He’s never seen the sky painted so many different vibrant colors. Sunsets in Yokohama are beautiful, especially from the boss’s office on the top floor of the Port Mafia headquarters, but this is something else. The sun is barely visible on the horizon, and pink clouds that look like cotton candy break up the shades of orange streaking across the sky. Above him, the sky is turning a deep purple, and he can barely start to see stars beginning to shine.
He turns to Dazai to see if he’s also admiring the view but instead finds Dazai staring right at him. Chuuya feels his face flush. Dazai looks beautiful, bathed in the golden glow of the sunset. It makes his usually dark eye shine a beautiful shade of reddish brown. Chuuya wishes the stupid bandage wasn’t blocking one from his view. “What are you looking at?”
“Just admiring the view,” Dazai hums in his usual flirty tone, but there’s something more genuine behind it this time, something that has Chuuya scooting closer to him.
“That was so corny,” Chuuya mumbles, his eyes drifting to Dazai’s lips. He tears his gaze away to look into Dazai’s eye only to catch the other boy’s eye flick down to Chuuya’s lips in return. Rolling his eyes, Chuuya closes the gap between them, pressing his lips to Dazai’s. Chuuya pulls away much too soon for his liking, but Chuuya knows they can’t stay kissing forever. He stays close enough that their lips brush against each other when he speaks. “I love you, Osamu.” It comes out barely louder than a whisper, but Chuuya knows Dazai hears. The last rays of sunlight dipped below the horizon, and string lights flickered on throughout the pumpkin patch.
“Chuuya! Kissing in front of our children? How scandalous!” He gestures to the four pumpkins they’d picked out earlier, the two tiny ones resting on top of the larger ones.
Chuuya shoves him away. “Oh, fuck off.” He looks out across the pumpkin patch, trying to ignore the feelings of embarrassment bubbling up. He shouldn’t have said that. He was so stupid.
Dazai grabs his hands, guiding Chuuya to look back at him. “I love you too, Chuuya.”
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“I’m starting to regret this.” Chuuya scans the row with his flashlight. His shoulders are tense, ready to block off anything that jumps out.
“Oh? Who knew Chuuya was a scary cat.” Dazai snickers, walking ahead of Chuuya. The ginger held back from grabbing the other's arm when he wandered too far. He wasn’t going to give Dazai the satisfaction of admitting he was apprehensive—at least not yet.
”I’m not scared dumbass.” Chuuya mutters. He ignores the chills that run up his arm at the slightest rustle. He’s in the mafia for fucks sake. A corn maze doesn’t scare him. Dazai glances down at the map as they reach a trail marker.
“To the left!” Dazai instructs as if he’s directing a boat at sea. Chuuya scoffs, following behind him. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
“Dazai—“
“I know.” They freeze in place, the cold autumn air catching up to them. Chuuya flashes his light forward, stepping in front of Dazai’s right side. Both wait silently, the same anticipation they commonly felt during missions building up.
“Wh—“
GHRAH
”WHAT THE FUCK—“
“SANTA MIERDA!”
“WHAT?”
Dazai grabs Chuuya’s arms, racing forward. Chuuya glances behind them. Holy fuck. They let children in this thing? Chuuya is too caught up looking at the— clown? Demon— whatever— to notice the branch in front of him. His foot catches the twig, sending him crashing to the ground. Both Dazai and the scarer stand there, staring at him.
”Pfft—“ Dazai slaps a hand over his mouth, pointing at Chuuya. “HAHA!” Dazai falls onto the ground, pointing at Chuuya as he wheezes over laughs. Red-hot embarrassment flushes on Chuuya’s face. He stands up, yanking the back of Dazai’s shirt, ignoring the spluttering of the shirt choking him. Chuuya flips off the scarer as he drags Dazai out of the cornfield. Yeah, he’s never entertaining Dazai on his stupid shit again. But he can’t deny… he did have some fun.
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“Chibiii,” Dazai sways back and forth, his arms locked around Chuuya’s neck.
“Get off—” Chuuya tried to shrug his arms off him, but Dazai just holds on tighter. “Get off of me. And go dry your hair properly, you’re literally soaking my shirt.” Chuuya grumbles, shoving Dazai away—successfully this time. They were back at the hotel after the long outing, now showered and in the pajamas Dazai had bought them the first day they arrived in America.
Dazai walks over, flopping on the dining chair. “Hey, Chuuya,” Dazai mutters quietly, catching his attention. Chuuya turns around, raising an eyebrow at Dazai. He watches as the other picks at the pumpkin, brushing off the dirt.
”Thanks for today. It was nice.” He mutters, not looking at the ginger. A faint smile crosses Chuuya’s face at the words.
”You’re welcome, Mackerel.”