Work Text:
Dazai groaned when he heard the alarm go off on his nightstand. Was it that time already? He lazily reached out, slamming his hand against the clock. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wake up at this godforsaken early hour every day. He reluctantly slunk out of bed while yawning widely. He mindlessly freshened up for the day, as he had a faculty meeting, and he was required to be there.
It had been a year since he started living at this place, which wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t extremely posh, but it also wasn’t run down or ragged. It was located in the quieter part of the bustling city, as it faced a park and some other local shops. However, up the street, one would hit the main big road where there were all sorts of extravaganza and tourists overcrowded the atmosphere.
Dazai sighed after he put on his clothes and looked at his kitchen, knowing he had nothing to prepare to eat. Great. He hastily slipped some slices of bread into the toaster. He gathered his belongings and stepped out onto his balcony, peering over to see the side of the apartment building. Hmm, would those two stray cats show up again?
Once the slices of bread popped out, Dazai quickly ate it after applying some blueberry jam on it and headed out the door, not forgetting to grab the bag of cat food that he specifically bought last night. Dazai never thought he would ever be personally invested in feeding some random cats, but after Sigma first spotted them, Dazai was weirdly interested in them. He had no idea why. Thanks to Atsushi’s pleas, the landlord, Hirotsu, decided to let them stay, as it felt they were one of the apartment’s residents. Thus, everyone took turns to feed them. It was, more or less, an implicit duty, and no one ever complained about it. Even his grumpy neighbor, Fyodor, who had some weird aversion to pets quietly left food out for them.
As Dazai was about to head towards the stairs, he caught Atsushi, one of his next door neighbors, leaving his own apartment.
“O-oh, hi, Dazai! Are you leaving for work?” Atsushi chipperly greeted him.
“Yup, for a meeting.” Dazai shrugged, then asked, “Where’s Kyouka?”
Atsushi lived with his half-sister, Kyouka, and went to college while also working part-time at a convenience store. Atsushi was a sweet soul even if he could be a bit daft at times, and Kyouka was extremely quiet but sharp and aware despite only being in high school. Kyouka often took care of the house when Atsushi couldn’t be around, even cooking food. Thus, Dazai was a bit surprised when he didn’t see the studious Kyouka who never failed to go to school every day.
“She’s not feeling well, so she’s sleeping in. I think she caught a fever. I’m going to the store to buy some medicine and stock up on some ingredients.” Atsushi explained as he walked over to talk to Dazai.
Dazai admired how hardworking and kind Atsushi was. He never had anyone like that in his life. For most of his life, it consisted of himself. Was that too selfish of a life to live?
“You’re a responsible, big brother.” Dazai teasingly said as they started to head off.
“I… Well, she does so much that I feel I don’t look after her enough.” Atsushi twiddled his fingers, staring down at them.
Before Dazai had a chance to make another remark, they stopped as Akutagawa, one of the neighbors who lived down the hallway, trekked up the stairs. Dazai swore he heard Atsushi gasping. He glanced over and saw Atsushi, blushing an obvious bright red, as he looked like he would implode.
Dazai smirked and called out to Akutagawa, “Hello, Akuta! How are you doing this early in the morning?”
Dazai heard Atsushi squeak when he addressed Akutagawa, but he paid him no mind. Heh. Atsushi would thank him later.
Akutagawa stopped and raised an eyebrow, as he was holding a bag of groceries. He had run down to the store to pick up some ingredients Gin needed, as she was fond of cooking. What did his nosy neighbor, Dazai, want? That guy was always up to no good.
“Fine. I’m surprised to see you up.” Akutagawa sarcastically commented.
To Dazai’s knowledge, Akutagawa resided with his own little sister, Gin. Apparently, Akutagawa was from some mysterious wealthy family, but lived away from them due to family issues, and Gin followed her big brother to look after him. Akutagawa didn’t talk much, but he was courteous, although he was always very sardonically harsh to him. Dazai had no idea why, but Akutagawa never did anything untowards to him personally. And Gin never hesitated to talk about cooking and food, as she was quite a big cooking enthusiast.
“Eh, for work. You should’ve waited to go shopping with Atsu! He’s going to get some food, and he’s going to be all by himself.” Dazai quickly changed the topic.
“Ahhhh! D-d-d-dazai- I-I-I-I- Oh my god! Hahahaha! Look at the time! I have to hurry!!! Byeeeee!” Atsushi, caught off guard and flustered by Dazai’s nosy fat ass actions, stammered and zipped away as fast as his two feet could carry him away.
Dazai didn’t understand why Atsushi constantly ran away at the sight of Akutagawa. Didn’t Atsushi have some secret, hidden feelings for the guy?
“I’m going. Bye.” Akutagawa thought Atsushi was acting weird as usual, then headed home, as he didn’t wish to keep Gin waiting any longer.
Dazai sighed at the dense Akutagawa and made his way down by himself. Eesh. His neighbors could be so boring.
When Dazai reached downstairs and stepped into the lobby, he noticed Sigma opening his mailbox to check his mail.
“You look snazzy.” Dazai remarked as he passed by Sigma.
Sigma blinked, seeing Dazai wearing a smart, handsome suit. “You don’t look bad yourself.”
Sigma was always dressed up beautifully from head-to-toe like he was some model. Dazai had a few hunches as to what Sigma could be doing, but it wasn’t his place to speculate out loud. His suspicions were only further proven correct when he saw different men picking up Sigma every night in their over-the-top, luxury cars. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he might possibly do. Not that Dazai particularly cared, as it honestly wasn’t his business.
Dazai stepped out, heading out towards the side and saw a big moving truck sitting in the parking lot. Hmm? He didn’t hear of anyone moving out. Was someone new moving in?
Breaking his thoughts, Dazai heard someone loudly humming from not too far away. Dazai peered over, seeing his loud upstairs neighbor, Albatross. He lived on the same floor as Sigma, and Dazai wondered how Sigma didn’t lose their mind with all of the noise that guy made. Did the guy even know about the concept of sleeping? Dazai then recalled that Albatross worked in an auto car repair shop. He supposed it fit, as Dazai usually saw Albatross tinkering with his motorcycle or fixing up random machine parts around the complex.
“Always fixing that motorcycle of yours.” Dazai commented as he headed towards the side of the building.
“Have to give it a good shine before I drive her out into the wilderness, heh!” Albatross smiled with pride. He then pulled down his sunglasses, eyeing Dazai’s alluring figure, “What are you up to today? Heading off to work in your snazzy outfit?”
“Certainly not to spend time with you.” Dazai rolled his eyes.
When he arrived at the side of the building, he slightly smiled at the sight of the tuxedo colored cat with a grey tabby cat. Dazai didn’t understand why or how the two of them stuck together, but it was cute. Not that he would ever admit it out loud.
“There you go. I hope you guys like it. I got it just for you two rascals.” Dazai quietly spoke to them as he opened up the food he bought and placed it down on the ground.
The two cats carefully stepped over and innocently stared up at him, as their doe eyes beckoned for physical affection, which Dazai was more than happy to provide. He gently petted both of them, even scratching underneath their chins with his index finger. He had to resist from tickling them, as he couldn’t afford to risk someone catching him. He would only look like a childish fool if someone spotted him.
The two cats happily began to chow down on food, and Dazai satisfactorily watched them fill their bellies. Growing up, he never cared for others or the world. Who had to when there was nothing to look forward to? And yet for some weird reason, he was compelled to watch these cats.
He peered up, hearing a car engine vrooming into the parking lot and noticed a black car pulling up into the apartment parking lot. Huh. That must be his neighbor, Fyodor. Dazai had once asked Fyodor what he did, and he answered that he worked at a tech company, mainly focusing on software programming. On his off days, Fyodor tended to camp at home, playing videogames or fidgeting with new technological equipment, programming ways to make his apartment more automated. He didn’t doubt Fyodor’s talent, but Fyodor didn’t look like a nerdy programmer to Dazai. He acted with such strange grace and refinement.
In any case, Dazai didn’t make it a habit to socialize with Fyodor because any time he was available Fyodor loved to pester him to play chess - something he wasn’t interested in doing with Fyodor. If Dazai didn’t have to speak with Fyodor, then he steered clear of that guy. Dazai sensed they were similar in more ways than he would like to acknowledge.
Dazai checked his smartwatch and gasped, “Shit! I’ve gotta go, stray cats. You two behave while I’m gone.”
“Meoww.” They both cried out, looking up.
Dazai lightly scratched their furs, not wanting to part from them either. But sadly, he couldn’t stay here forever. Otherwise, he might get fired and be out of a job.
He reluctantly left them to finish their meal and made his way out of the apartment. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Fyodor electronically locking his car and heading up stairs. Dazai didn’t see Albatross nor his motorcycle, meaning the guy must have already left. Just as he was about to exit, he noticed Hirotsu, the landlord, walking alongside a very short guy with flaming red hair and speaking with the stranger. Who was that guy?
Dazai wished he had more time to stay around and snoop, but he sadly had work to attend to. Oh phooey.
—————
It had been a long, hectic day with meetings back-to-back. Dazai almost thought he was never going to leave. Somehow, everything managed to wrap up before rush hour. As he waited for the train, he contemplated what he should buy to eat. He should have cooked, but he didn’t have the energy nor will to do so.
“Dazaiii! It’s a surprise to meet you. Are you heading home?” He heard a familiar voice and turned around, seeing it was Lucy, who was an American foreign exchange student and a resident of the same apartment complex.
In fact, Lucy moved here earlier this year and attended the same university as Atsushi. She often came upstairs to visit Atsushi, bearing cookies and other treats. Kyouka, though, had suspicions that Lucy had other ulterior motives. It was quite hilarious to see the three of them interacting. Dazai still vividly remembered the day Lucy moved in, as she was slightly rude and standoffish. However, as Dazai learned, that was only a cover for her true kindness, which he finally witnessed after he helped her with one of her homework assignments for class. Fortunately, he did not teach at the same school she and Atsushi attended, so neither of them could track him down and take his classes. He liked them enough as neighbors, but he didn’t wish to have any closer contact with them.
“Yes, crashing on my couch and sleeping for the rest of the evening.” Dazai humorously remarked.
Lucy giggled at Dazai’s dramatic statement, “By the way, did you hear about the new neighbor who is moving in today? Apparently, he’s some hot shot.”
“Hot shot? How do you know that?” Dazai was puzzled how Lucy already knew about the newcomer.
“From Louisa. She saw them while taking a break from her work.” Lucy said in a peppy tone.
Quiet and kind, Louisa was also an American woman who moved to the apartment building a few months back. She worked as an editor for a big publishing company. And while she did commute to meet various authors and her bosses when needed, she mainly stayed at home. In her spare time, she was a freelance writer and wrote a blog, containing reviews of books she read.
“Ah, I see. Huh. I wonder what kind of hotshot he is. He did look smoking sexy.” Dazai casually remarked.
“Oooh, whaaat? You’ve already schmoozed with him?” Lucy wasn’t the least bit surprised as Dazai was quite the smooth talker. She always found it curious that Dazai never dated anyone and remained single.
“No, I just saw him talking with Hirotsu before I left for work this morning.” Dazai shook his hand, explaining himself.
If Dazai had so desired, he could have easily seduced and had anyone he wanted. Perhaps it was a bit arrogant to say so, but many people constantly fell head over heels with him. Of course not his neighbors. He wasn’t that friendly to any of them. But his coworkers and students. Even when he attended school himself. It was not hard to hear people constantly gossiping about him about how handsome and suave he was. He wasn’t sure what people saw in him that was so attractive and appealing. If anything, he was a hollow, empty shell who was merely moving through the motions of life.
“Oooh. I wonder what he’s like. Do you think we should have a welcoming party for him?” Lucy asked as the train arrived, and both her and Dazai stepped on it.
Luckily, they were able to find seats, so they could both sit down and converse with one another.
“Welcoming party? Is something like that necessary?” Dazai chuckled, wondering what Lucy’s true intentions were.
“Why not? It’ll be fun!” Lucy eagerly said with enthusiasm.
Even if Lucy was so gung-ho about it, would anyone else even attend? Maybe a few like Atsushi and Kyouka. And perhaps Gin and Louisa as well. But he had a hard time envisioning anyone else showing up.
“Too much work. Besides, who knows if the new resident wants that much attention?” Dazai shrugged.
It wasn’t that he was against Lucy’s idea, but what was the purpose of it? Everyone was merely trying to survive and make it to the next day. Who had time to be so frivolous and care about something that didn’t equate to their survival in life? Most humans were creatures of nature like that.
“Pleaseeee? I can also get Atsushi to enlist help, and well, together, I think we can make it happen.” Lucy pleaded with Dazai to think twice.
Ah, shit. If Lucy got Atsushi involved, then Atsushi would no doubt come to beg him and make him feel horrible for not being involved. He shouldn’t have cared about Atsushi and his feelings, but somehow, the naivety to see the better of people within Atsushi oddly tugged at his heartstrings. Atsushi, in that sense, reminded him of someone he once knew a long time ago.
Dazai loudly sighed, “Oooh, fine, fine. But don’t come crying to me if it fails.”
“Hehe, thank you, Dazai!” Lucy happily clapped her hands at her own ingenious idea.
Thankfully, they arrived at the train station and headed back to the apartment together. For most of the time, Lucy was jabbing about what kind of party it should be, even listing out the types of foods, drinks, and snacks that should be there.
When Dazai and Lucy stepped into the parking lot, Dazai noticed a small white sedan car pull in.
To no surprise, it was Margaret, another American woman who happened to live on the ground floor along with Louisa and Lucy. She dressed impeccably and elegantly, which made Dazai suspect she belonged to the upper class society. But Margaret never confirmed and only ever said that she was a businesswoman who worked in handling stocks. But Dazai caught her speaking fluent Spanish and Chinese as well as Japanese. It only proved she was well taught by someone.
“Hi, Margaret!” Lucy greeted her after she locked her car door.
“Lucy, Dazai. Hello. It’s rare to see you two together.” She carefully responded.
“More like Lucy roped me into planning a welcome party for the new resident who moved in today.” Dazai casually said.
“A new resident?” Margaret blinked, then noticed the moving truck.
“Yeah! You should come to help us if you can!” Lucy enthusiastically said.
“Hmm? The new resident.” Margaret raised one eyebrow.
Just as Margaret was mulling over her decision, Dazai spotted the new guy coming out of the lobby and proceeded to close up the moving truck. Oh, perfect timing.
“Yahoo~ Newcomer.” Dazai called out, waving to him.
The guy stopped and skeptically stared at him, “What is it?”
“Aww, come over here. It’s hard to have a conversation from that distance.” Dazai invited him over.
The new guy carefully stepped over, noticing the two other women next to this dubious brown haired man who was tall and attractive.
“What?” Chuuya spoke up.
“What’s your name? My name is Dazai, this is Lucy, and she’s Margaret. We all live here.” Dazai widely smiled with friendly eyes.
“Chuuya. Chuuya Nakahara.” He blew some strands of hair out of his face as he introduced himself.
“So unrefined.” Margaret snorted, speaking in English.
“What? What did you say? What are you? An English teacher?” Chuuya frowned, not liking how the lady most likely insulted him.
“Margaret! That’s not nice. He’s the new guy. We should be more friendly with him!” Lucy lightly chastised her.
Margaret simply harrumphed, not seeing what she said wrong. She was merely stating her own opinion.
Dazai chuckled, “Chipper Lucy here suggested having a welcome party for you since you’re the new resident.”
“A welcome party? That sounds excessive. What is this place? Some secret agency?” Chuuya sarcastically scoffed.
“Whoa, a welcome party?” Atsushi popped up from behind.
“Holy shit. Where did you come from?” Chuuya blinked at the pretty guy.
“I was just throwing away garbage, and I saw you guys talking, hehe. My name is Atsushi. If there’s going to be a party, I’d love to help out!” Atsushi excitedly clapped his hands together with sparkling eyes.
“It’s going to be for Chuuya! What do you think, Atsushi?” Lucy used this moment to explain her idea.
“I think it’ll be wonderful! Kyouka and me, and oh! Maybe Gin as well. We can help with the cooking.” Atsushi offered his services.
“Where is it going to happen?” Margaret skeptically asked, thinking Lucy and Atsushi were jumping a little ahead of themselves.
“In the clubhouse on site. It also has a billiards pool table, some gaming machines, a karaoke machine, and a television, plus other game stuff! Let’s go ask!” Lucy was fired up.
As far as Dazai knew, Atsushi, Lucy, and Kyouka tended to hang out at the clubhouse. Sometimes, Gin would get roped into spending time with the three of them, and on a random occasion when the guy wasn’t busy, Albatross would join them, daring anyone to do karaoke with him. Together, they would spend long hours, playing games, snacking on food, and jabbing the night away. Those five kept that building in shape. Dazai only used the clubhouse whenever Fyodor requested a chess match from him, as that place conveniently had a chess board with the proper pieces. Aside from that, he didn’t see too many other people loiter around there. Randomly, Margaret would invite clients over, and they would eat lunch she bought from elsewhere and hold meetings there.
Hmm, now that Dazai thought about it, it was utilized quite often. Just not everyone in the building all came together to spend time in there simultaneously. This welcome party would be the first time all of them would congregate in the clubhouse all at once.
“Are you sure? I’m not-” Dazai was about to speak up, but Atsushi and Lucy already dashed away, racing over towards Hirotsu’s office.
“Looks like it’ll happen one way or another.” Margaret sighed.
“If it’s gonna happen, I can contribute.” Chuuya felt bad even though it was being thrown in his name. He couldn’t let random people who didn’t owe him anything to throw a party simply because he moved here. He had his own reasons for coming here.
“Don’t look at us. Talk to the party organizers.” Dazai shook his hand, not taking responsibility.
“Hirotsu said it’s okay! We can do it!” Atsushi rushed out, hollering on the top of his lungs.
“That was rather quick.” Margaret spotted Lucy coming right out after Atsushi.
Dazai had no inkling to be involved, but Atsushi dragged him along, and now, he was forced to make desserts. Seriously? Desserts. Did he look like a woman? He was tempted to burn it, but that would be rude, seeing how eager Atsushi and Lucy were. Margaret volunteered to buy drinks while Lucy would make, or buy if necessary, snacks. Atsushi vowed to make sandwiches and other finger foods.
“Aren’t cakes usually involved in this sort of thing?” Chuuya awkwardly brought up, as both Lucy and Atsushi refused to let him chip in with anything.
“Gin makes cakes actually. I’m sure she’ll agree.” Lucy grinned, feeling ingenious about her idea.
Dazai softly laughed to himself. Knowing Gin and her kind heart, she would probably agree and drag her big brother, Akutagawa, to the party. Would Akutagawa actually show up with a big frown on the day of the party? That would be interesting to see.
Now, Dazai had to think about what desserts to make. Goodness. He would need to whip out his baking material this weekend.
—————
Despite Dazai’s busy work schedule, he managed to squeeze in time to find what recipes to make and buy the ingredients he would need. For some of the more complicated desserts, like mochi, he decided to buy it from the store. He hoped Atsushi would forgive him for cheating a bit. The party would happen the next weekend, so it gave Dazai plenty of time.
In the meantime, Dazai noticed Chuuya adjusting to his new apartment just fine. Nowadays, he saw Albatross constantly chatting with Chuuya every morning if possible. The two of them were living on the same top floor, so Dazai thought perhaps they became friends. However, Chuuya was constantly telling Albatross to piss off, but that didn’t seem to deter Albatross from being friendly with Chuuya.
Also, Dazai received a flyer in the mail, seeing the party invitation. He figured it was Lucy and Atsushi who probably got Louisa to design it, as she dabbled with some art programs to spruce up her blog posts with images and graphics. Dazai hoped they didn’t make her work too hard.
The evening before the party, Dazai managed to finish baking the double chocolate chip mint cookies and was letting them cool on the metal rack. He had the brownie going in the oven and decided to throw away some garbage. He thought about baking a pie, but he just decided to buy a blueberry and strawberry pie because that was simply too much work for him.
With the garbage in hand, he headed towards the dumpster and stopped when he spotted Sigma and Louisa speaking with one another in the lobby, which doubled as a mailroom, as it was where everyone’s mailboxes were located. The two of them together was not a common sight.
“What are the two of you up to?” Dazai curiously asked them.
“H-hi, Dazai. Good evening.” Louisa was caught by surprise and politely smiled.
“Oooh, Louisa and I were out shopping for decorations, see? For the party. Poor Atsushi and Lucy were going to make Louisa do it all by herself, but I didn’t mind helping out. We only just returned.” Sigma proudly announced.
“Wow, you two sure went all out.” Dazai noticed the several bags Sigma and Louisa were holding.
“Sigma did most of the work. They really had a lot of fun, picking out the various colors and banners, hehe.” Louisa giggled.
“I-I- Well, even if it’s only a welcome party, it still has to look beautiful. Hmph!” Sigma defended themself.
“Can’t wait to see how it looks tomorrow. I’m sure you two will make the place shine.” Dazai was curious as to what kind of palette and design Sigma picked out.
“You look like you were busy.” Sigma noted the garbage bag.
“Well, I was in charge of desserts, so… ah! Speaking of which, I need to hurry back. See you two tomorrow!” Dazai gasped, then skedaddled out of there to throw away the garbage.
Dazai hurried to the dumpster, chugging the trash into the bin, then was in a haste to return. However, he paused when he spotted Fyodor quietly feeding the two stray cats, who became permanent residents at the apartment complex, their dinner. Whoa. It was rare to see Fyodor with such gentle eyes when it was usually cold and stoic.
“It’s not nice to spy on others.” Fyodor spoke up.
“I wasn’t spying. I was merely observing.” Dazai smoothly covered up for his snooping around.
Fyodor peered up at Dazai, who was dressed in a stylish blue and white striped dress shirt, which accentuated his body, “Are you attending the party tomorrow?”
He loved gazing at Dazai and conversing with this intelligent, witty man, but Dazai tended to keep his distance from everyone in the building even though he acted friendly and polite. Did Dazai not have any intentions in fostering a close relationship with anyone? What prevented him from letting his guard down and opening up his heart?
“Does it matter if I am?” Dazai didn’t see what the big deal was.
“I suppose not.” Fyodor chuckled with an amused smile, finding Dazai’s apprehensive behavior towards him cute. Only Dazai ever looked at him with suspicion, which oddly tickled his heart.
Dazai blinked, then cleared his throat, “Well, I have to get going. See you later.”
“Goodnight.” Fyodor merely said as Dazai took his leave.
Dazai sensed those sharp eyes glued onto him until he darted inside of the building. Sheesh. Fyodor. That guy was always a mystery. He gave off weird vibes. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but Fyodor also didn’t socialize much with anyone except for him. What was with that guy?
Dazai shook his head and checked on the brownies after he returned to the apartment. He saw the timer, signaling that he still had some time left. Hopefully, the party would go well. Not that Dazai particularly cared, but he could only imagine Atsushi’s and Lucy’s disappointment if it failed spectacularly. Strangely, seeing those two sad or depressed made Dazai feel as if the whole world would go to pieces. Those two odd ducks. They sure knew how to make people feel guilty.
—————
Dazai had to wake up early on a damn weekend. Damn. He didn’t mind parties, but on a weekend. The weekend was meant for him to sleep in, but he couldn’t do so today. Oh, whatever. It was all for the “community spirit”.
After packing all of the food up, Dazai slipped on a grey t-shirt with black jeans and a light blue scarf. He made sure to wear a dark blue coat in case it got cold later.
When Dazai headed down the stairs and arrived at the lobby, he noticed Albatross wheeling packs of drinks with a trolley cart. Dazai was about to ask why, but then noticed Margaret following behind Albatross. Ah, Margaret must have threatened or coaxed Albatross somehow.
“That’s a lot of drinks.” Dazai commented, joining the two of them.
“There can never be enough.” Margaret simply remarked.
Dazai saw Margaret wearing a fancy afternoon dress with plenty of bows and frills designed all over and a matching elegant summer hat. She was even holding a parasol as if she was a Southern belle. Whoo whee. Dazai felt sorry for her partner, if she had one, as he bet she had expensive tastes and preferences.
“I was moving the stereo equipment earlier, and Margaret said she also needed help, so I chipped in.” Albatross explained himself.
“Ah, a busboy.” Dazai teased him.
“Whaaaat? Hey, I’m a strong guy who likes helping others!” Albatross clicked his tongue with a chuckle. “By the way, have you chatted with the new guy? He’s pretty cute.”
“Don’t tell me you like, like him?” Dazai raised both of his eyebrows.
“Of course he does. Why else would he be flirting with him any moment he got?” Margaret scoffed at Dazai’s supposedly innocuous question.
“O-oi! I’m standing right here!” Albatross objected to their remarks.
It didn’t take them long to arrive at the clubhouse where Dazai already spotted Louisa and Sigma decorating the place in bright, beautiful colors. Atsushi, Kyouka, and Gin were setting up the food while Lucy was assisting in blowing up the balloons.
“Woow, Gin baked a beautiful cake.” Dazai noted as he approached the food table.
“Waah, thank you, Dazai, hehe. I hope it tastes as good as your desserts.” Gin smiled with a cute laughter.
Dazai noticed Lucy sneaking looks over in their direction, however, Lucy immediately went back to blowing up the balloons with the helium machine when Dazai caught her. Hmm.
“Why don’t you help Lucy with the balloons, so we can get the decorations up faster. I’ll set up the rest of the cake and dessert section.” Dazai suggested.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you alone to do the work.” Gin worriedly said.
Dazai casually waved it off, “I’ll be fine.”
He then quickly pointed out to Gin, “On the other hand, I think Lucy might be having a bit of trouble.”
“Oh, hehe. You’re a real softie, aren’t you, Dazai?” Gin lightly laughed while covering her mouth with her hand. “Okay, don’t eat up everything, though.”
“I won’t! Scout’s honor!” Dazai saluted.
Dazai watched as Gin approached Lucy, who was taken by complete surprise and almost fell out of her seat when Gin appeared before her. He noticed Lucy’s cheeks becoming even rosier than usual and chuckled to himself. Ah, young love.
As Dazai set up the dessert section, he heard the door open and saw a grumpy Akutagawa with plastic bags in hand.
“How do you go buy decorations and forget plastic plates, cups, and napkins? Geez.” Akutagawa approached the food table.
“Akutagawa, thanks for buying it, hehe. It’s super appreciated.” Atsushi shyly took the bags from Akutagawa. “Do you want to help set it up with me? I mean, where to put the plates and stuff?”
Before Akutagawa had a chance to answer, Atsushi wasn’t watching where he was going and was about to bump into Albatross, who was moving the drinks for Margaret.
“Whoa! Watch out!” Akutagawa shouted, then had to suavely swoop in and wrap his arm around Atsushi’s waist pulling him in close before the damn idiot hit his fucking head.
“Ahhhh!” Atsushi didn’t even know what happened.
However, his eyes widened at the sight of Akutagawa being so close to him. He could barely breathe, almost forgetting that he was in a public setting. Oh god. Akutagawa’s cologne smelled so handsome and alluring.
“Are you alright? You should look where you’re going next time.” Akutagawa sighed, then noticed Atsushi remained silent with that foolish hair-brained look. His eyes peered over and pinched his nose, “Yo. Are you dead?”
“Ah! Owie! Akutagawa! T-t-that hurt!” Atsushi cried out, being snapped back to reality.
“Whoops. Are you two… okay…?” Albatross asked with concern, but he stopped when his eyes caught Akutagawa and Atsushi interlocked within each other’s embrace. Okay, someone was getting some love.
Dazai had the pleasure of witnessing their cute little scene. He wondered when Akutagawa would realize that Atsushi had feelings for him. He then snuck a look over at Kyouka who had lined up all of the delicious entrees.
“You and Atsushi made everything?” Dazai sniffed.
“Yes, Atsushi made fried chicken, sandwiches, which include the fruit and the pinwheeled shaped ones, fried mozzarella cheese sticks, and the teriyaki skewers. I made the sushi rolls, the paper noodle rolls, the coconut shrimp, the crab cakes, and the sausage rolls. We decided to order veggie plates and dumplings. I think we also have pizza coming later.” Kyouka factually stated, even looking at her clipboard to check off everything was in order.
Dazai was impressed, as his mouth watered by the selection. Damn. Atsushi and Kyouka knew how to whip up delicious food. He also noticed the snacks Lucy bought, including the pretzels and the chips and dips. Hmm, he would be eating well tonight.
“No eating.” Kyouka slapped away Albatross’ sneaky hand with a slight glare.
“Ow! But why? It’s meant to be eaten!” Albatross didn’t realize Kyouka could pack a punch despite how light it was.
“The party hasn’t started yet.” Kyouka answered, not budging one inch.
Dazai snorted at Albatross, trying to eat some of the tasty food for himself.
“Everything has really come together.” Dazai heard a familiar voice and spotted Hirotsu, their kind landlord.
“Oh, you’re joining us today, too?” Dazai didn’t expect him to show up.
“Atsushi and Lucy insisted.” Hirotsu gently nodded, impressed by the amount of effort put together by the residents of the apartment complex.
Many people had come and gone by, and many of those who rented out where he owned didn’t tend to stay long. They were more of a transient nature, living here for a year at most before moving elsewhere. Dazai, one of his longest tenants, would soon be living here for another year, making it the second year. Would things remain this way? Or would there be another shift in the wind soon?
With help from everyone, the group managed to decorate and finish setting up the clubhouse. And when Fyodor showed up, they managed to set up the karaoke station and the multiplayer video gaming station as well as the other board games.
“Where is the main star of the show?” Fyodor asked, seeing that the person they had all spent so much time for wasn’t even here.
“Atsushi and Akutagawa went to pick him up. We didn’t want him seeing everything before it was finished.” Lucy happily explained.
Dazai was more surprised that Fyodor actually showed up. The guy even brought crackers and cheese even though he had no obligations to do so.
“Whoa, all of this? It’s a little…” Chuuya entered the clubhouse, seeing how decked out it was.
There were even plates of foods, desserts, drinks, and just a whole lot of shit around the place. He didn’t think these weirdos who lived at this apartment complex would actually take the time to set up a welcoming party. Erm, wow.
“Whoooo welcome!!!” Sigma stretched out their arms, proud of how much they worked with Louisa to put it all together.
“Welcome to living here with us.” Louisa greeted with a smile, delighted that she could take part in this event. It was nice to spend time with the other people who lived here. She hadn’t ever spent time with Sigma who turned out to be quite knowledgeable about fashion. She wasn’t into fashion that much, but she admired how Sigma wasn’t afraid to express their true self. She wished she could be more like them.
Atsushi nudged their landlord to put in a good word, “Hirotsu.”
Hirotsu cleared his throat, “We hope you find your time here welcoming, and don’t hesitate to reach out to me for any issues.”
“I won’t, heh.” Chuuya returned the friendly smile.
“Then let’s… dig in!” Albatross cried out.
Dazai watched as everyone mingled with one another while eating. Parties of this type of nature weren't really his thing. He never fit in, and he never knew what to do. For him, he viewed the interactions more tiresome than fun, but the ragtags of residents who lived here made him feel that maybe there was more to this mundane, pretentious world. Everyone here, even though they all had their secrets and complex lives, wasn’t too bad. Everyone could be fun, even if a bit quirky.
At some point, he saw Chuuya being dragged to sing some American song with Albatross. One of the repeating lines was, “I got you, babe”. Was this Albatross’ weird way of courting Chuuya? Atsushi was cheering them on while Akutagawa covered his eyes, embarrassed by the sight. At the other station was Gin, Lucy, Kyouka, and Louisa. They were embroiled in a multiplayer game with cartoon characters. Lucy became extremely heated, shouting at the screen, while Kyouka was intensely focused on winning. Odd enough, he noticed Margaret interacting with Fyodor, playing checkers, with Sigma observing them.
“Are you not going to join in on the fun?” Hirotsu asked, as he caught Dazai by the food table, munching the entrees.
“I’m too enthralled by the food.” Dazai cheekily said, chowing down on one of the cute fruit sandwiches Atsushi made.
Hirotsu chuckled, “You’re not planning on becoming an old hermit man, are you?”
“Of course not. I just like observing others.” Dazai quietly said.
He didn’t mind chatting with others, even flirting on occasion, but to truly open his heart up? That wasn’t something he was keen on doing. The secrets that he carried in his heart. He wasn’t looking for a savior either. He didn’t need one nor did he have a use for one. The last thing he needed was to be swept up like some princess and whisked away to what some cheesy writers liked to call a “better future”. That shit didn’t exist.
Before Hirotsu could respond, Atsushi rushed over and clamored, “Dazai, Dazai, Dazai! You should sing this song!”
“What the - Whoa!” Dazai cried out and saw that Atsushi had picked out a song, which was in English. “Wait a second. I’m not prepared.”
“Heh. Sing up unless you’re too chicken to do so!” Chuuya challenged him.
Dazai frowned at Chuuya’s provocative statement that weirdly grated on his nerves, “Fine. I’ll beat your stupid score!”
Hirotsu watched as Dazai belted out the notes and fondly smiled. He looked on at his tenants, wondering how long it would last. For now, he enjoyed the joyful sight and only wished for better days ahead.
Dazai couldn’t believe he was egged on by this idiotic, small guy to sing. Huh! Dazai was tempted to give him a disparaging nickname, but that would be lending the guy too much character. They weren’t even that close anyways.
“Wow, I didn’t know you could sing, Dazai.” Atsushi commented.
“When I feel like it.” Dazai sat down, tired from the endeavor.
“Not a bad voice.” Chuuya added, inserting himself into the conversation.
Dazai glanced over at Chuuya, who stared at him with a serious countenance. What was with that weird peering look? He didn’t like it. He ignored Chuuya’s supposed compliment, then nonchalantly said, “I’m grabbing more food.”
He left without waiting and grabbed a beer, popping open the lid to take a swig of it. Damn. What was with that fucking Chuuya guy?
Dazai peered over his shoulder, seeing everyone chatting and sitting around. He eyed his half-empty beer bottle and decided to not stay any further. What was he even doing here? For the free food? Fuck. He had to get out of here.
He exited the clubhouse and let the double doors close on its own. Even as he headed back to his own apartment, he could hear the music and loud noises emanating from the clubhouse. As he entered his own apartment, he closed the door behind him and kicked his shoes off. He placed the beer bottle on the counter and plopped down on the sofa, not bothering to turn on the living room lights. Damn. Why was he tired? He blamed it on the lack of sleep from last night.
He closed his eyes, recalling how merry everyone was at the party. Too much noise. Too many people. Why did he even let himself be talked into going? He swore he wouldn’t ever attend another party like that anytime soon. Or ever again. Human connections. It just wasn’t for him.