Chapter Text
The beginning of the school year had always sucked. After weeks of going to bed at random times of the day; 2, 3, 4AM, and all of a sudden you have to wake up at 7AM just so you could go to school for 6 hours? Yeah. It sucks.
Chuuya had fully forgotten it was a school night. He spent most of the day resting because he was fully jett logged from his families summer in France.
You may think,
“France sounds so cool!!”
“Why would anyone be upset about going to France!?”
However, that was the opposite of Chuuya's thoughts. Chuuya didn’t mind France. Sure, It was a beautiful country with great places and great food. But, staying there for all of summer break can be draining.
Chuuya was fluent in French, it just…..didn't sound perfect to a native French speaker. Sometimes he’d get asked to repeat himself because the person couldn’t understand him. Which in all honesty, pissed Chuuya off.
He’s trying his best, you know?
You may be wondering, why France? Every year too? Well, Chuuya’s older brother, Paul, has a boyfriend who lives in France.
Chuuya likes him.
His name is Arthur Rimbaud. He’s nice to Chuuya. And he’s good to Chuuya’s brother.
When they’re in France, they always stay at his place and Chuuya has never seen his brother happier..
However, at home, back in Japan, that person immediately disappears. Verlaine becomes quite strict. He always wants to know where Chuuya is, who he’s with, the whole lot. Chuuya knows he’s only doing it because he’s worried but sometimes it gets a bit much. And annoying.
Suddenly, the sharp sound of a door swinging open shot into Chuuya’s ears. Verlaine stood in the doorway, one hand holding onto the door handle and one holding onto the doorframe.
The older brother was wearing his work uniform, a white button up with some black jeans. Pretty basic. Meanwhile, half of his blonde hair was done up into a braid on the side of his head which was then brought back into a ponytail.
Chuuya turned over in his bed, opening one eye to look at his brother.
“Asshole..can you learn to knock?..” Chuuya says lazily, bringing a hand up to rub his eyes to adjust to the light in the hallway that’s beaming into his dark room.
Verlaine’s face didn’t look too happy as he stormed into the room to open the curtains. Chuuya groaned, covering his eyes with his arm.
“Get up. Did you not hear your alarm? It’s your first day of school and you’re already gonna be late? Hurry up and get dressed”
The realisation suddenly hit Chuuya.
Oh shit. He’s right. It’s the first day of school.
He pulled his arm away from his eyes, making a what seemed to be a disgusted face at the thought of going back to school.
Verlaine noticed, but didn’t say anything. He simply scoffed. “Your lunch money is on the kitchen counter. I’ll be home around 6. Now get up you lazy ass.”
As Verlaine turned to leave the room he was met with a pillow flying into his back. He didn’t react though; he simply rolled his eyes as he went downstairs.
The red haired boy laid in bed for a bit longer, staring up at the ceiling. He thought about how much all his classmates had probably changed over the summer. What his friends did. What that…idiot Dazai did that whole summer without him.
After a few seconds, Chuuya got out of bed and walked over to his wardrobe.
Unfortunately, his school had those boring as fuck uniforms. A simple white button up, black or grey pants and a tie with the school’s colour.
Luckily, Chuuya's school's colour was red, so it fit him pretty well.
After Chuuya got changed into his uniform he did his normal morning routine. Went to brush his teeth, went downstairs, made himself some toast and as he waited, he packed his bag for school.
It was 7:23am. A lot later than the boy would like since he did oversleep a tiny bit. But the bus stop is just outside his house. It was like a 3 minute walk and the bus usually arrived at 7:30 if it wasn’t late.
Once the toast was done, Chuuya took it out of the toast maker, holding it in his mouth as he zipped up his bag and walked out the door.
The bus was usually empty around this time since Chuuya’s house was one of the first ones on the way. The bus driver and Chuuya were quite familiar with each other. They always greeted one another with a good morning and a smile. The bus driver was an older gentleman who had been a bus driver for years; he practically watched Chuuya grow up ever since the boy started middle school.
The red head took his usual spot in the back of the bus, setting his backpack on the seat beside him. He put his earphones in and turned on some music.
Holy Diver by Dio
Chuuya had always liked hard rock. It was some of his favourite type of music. Dio, Metallica, AC/DC, Danzig, and Slayer were some of his favourites to listen to. For no real specific reason, he simply liked the music.
After around 15 minutes, his peace and quiet was ruined. He felt as someone took out one of his earphones. Chuuya quickly swished around to grab the person's arm.
“Hey!! Woah woah! Calm down shrimp! At this point you should know it’s me!”
The boy had messy brown hair and the same chocolate coloured eyes. He was also wearing the same uniform as Chuuya. It took Chuuya a bit ( more like a few seconds ) to realise who this was.
Dazai…
Osamu Dazai and Chuuya had been friends for what seems like forever. They have gone to the same school since they were like 8 years old and have always been close.
Their friendship is made up of them making fun of each other and being rude to one another. Constantly. In the 9 years of knowing each other, they had barely ever once said a nice word to each other. Unless it was Dazai teasing for no reason or if it was a genuine serious moment which only ever happened once…..but that’s something they have never spoken about. Not even now.
Chuuya stared up at Dazai with a scowl on his face as the brunette put the earphone into his own ear.
“Seriously? This again? Can’t you listen to something good for onceeee!” Complained Dazai.
Chuuya let out an offended gasp.
“Excuse you asshole!? My music taste is amazing!? At least it’s not some shitty jazz or whatever you listen to.”
“Okay. I don’t know what hurts me more. That you’re dissing on jazz or that you think the smiths and the arctic monkeys are jazz in the first place!? They’re indie rock! I think-“
“Oh shut up!? It doesn’t matter!”
The bickering went on for almost the whole bus ride to school. Which wasn’t long. Maybe 10 extra minutes?
Even though dazai lived closer to the school and could easily walk there, he has chosen to ride the bus with Chuuya every time (only when he gets up early enough. Otherwise, Chuuya stops a few stops beforehand to go pick up Dazai and walk to school with him. )
As the two of the boys got off the bus, Dazai stood still for a bit, stretching his arms out above his head, yawing.
“Is that necessary?”
“What’s your problem! Can a guy not stretch!!”
“No, because the way you do it is stupid.”
Dazai blinked, lowering his arms.
“How does one stretch stupidly. . . “
Dazai was then met with a kick to his leg and a playful punch in the arm.
Honestly, their school was pretty big. They also had a huge field where they had pe, but they could also sit there during lunch and breaks; most students did, even in the winter. That’s where the two boys ended up heading first. They usually try to meet up with their friend group before classes start to simply talk and kinda relax before they have to be put through 6 hours of hell.
Dazai and Chuuya were the last ones of the group. As usual.
”Hey! Good morning you guys!” a white hair boy with a black streak in his uneven bangs waved his hand at the toy boys approaching the group. They were all sitting under a large willow tree; it was like their personal spot. If anybody else sat there either, Chuuya would tell them to leave or chase them out.
“Good morning” said Dazai, as he sat down with the group, leaning back against the tree, opening his backpack to take out a 3DS.
Chuuya and Dazai's friend group wasn’t that big. You've met Atsushi already. There is also Akutagawa, who has short black hair that was dyed white at the ends ( he thinks it makes him look cool ) and then there’s Ranpo and Yosano who are the principal's children. They’re pretty cool though.
Ranpo, Yosano and Dazai call themselves ‘the gossip trio’ which to Chuuya sounds so stupid. But at least he gets drama off of dazai when he gets it off ranpo and Yosano.
Chuuya sat down next to dazai, leaning his back against the brunette's arm, glancing over at the gameboy.
“Did you seriously bring that thing to school? You’re just gonna get to taken off you”
“I will if you're gonna be a big bully and tattle on me to a teacher like a little kindergartener”
Chuuya crossed his arms. He didn’t actually know how to argue back to that. . . Because it’d result in dazai making fun of his height!
It was 7:54am. Six minutes until the bell went. The small group spent most of the time talking amongst each other. Chuuya talked about how boring his trip to France was; same as every year. Meanwhile Ranpo talked about how he met a guy over the summer. Everyone practically knew him. He was an exchange student from the US. He and Ranpo seemed to have gotten along quite well if they hung out all summer. Atsushi and Akutagawa mostly hung out together. Doing what? God knows what. Akutagawa kept giving vague answers like
‘What normal people do during the summer’
So the group got nowhere in finding that out. Yosano on the other hand went on a week trip to the beach with some of her friends.
Chuuya looked back at Dazai, who hadn’t said a word this entire time, noticing that he was just glued to his gameboy.
“So what did you do this summer dumbass? Or are you just gonna avoid any and all social interaction?”
Dazai finally glanced up from the game, pausing it even (shocker I know).
“You know me. I stayed home. Unless Mizuki dragged me out somewhere with her stupid boyfriend-“
Chuuya didn’t exactly like the answer but he didn’t press any further.
Class was boring. A 50 minute lesson dragged on for what seemed like years. It didn’t help that Chuuya's first lesson was maths. Ugh. Horrible right? Adding on to the absolute torture Chuuya was going through, that asshole Dazai stole his spot by the window so he couldn’t even rest his head against the wall comfortably.
Chuuya basically felt himself zoning out from boredom. Everything was going in one ear and right out the other. The red hair stared down at his note book, colouring in the small squares on his page before he felt a hand grab his arm, pulling it.
Dazai really liked drawing on Chuuya’s hand. He wasn’t really good at it. It was usually just some simple swirls and. . . Slugs. You’d think Chuuya would be annoyed by it but…he actually kinda liked it. It gave him something to look forward to since dazai only finished at the end of the lesson and didn’t let Chuuya look until he was done. It was stupid. But sweet.
“Psst. Shrimp. Draw something on my hand.” Dazai whispered. Chuuya turned his head to look at the brunette. He’d never actually asked this before. Was something wrong? Was dazai going to make fun of his drawing? Oh he better not.
Chuuya debated on whether to kick dazai’s leg and go back to ‘listening’ or to actually draw something. The red-haired boy then scoffed and grabbed dazai’s hand, laying it in front of him since his own hand was still being drawn on by dazai.
What to draw what to drawww….something stupid. Just like this stupid asshat. Oh. I know
Chuuya grabbed his pen, drawing onto dazai’s hand. It was a quick drawing. Nothing special.
“There. Done.”
The bell went off just in time. The two boys packed up their books into their bags and cleared up their desk.
Chuuya groaned. Finally that lesson was overrrr..god it was so boring he thought. As he walked down the hallway, he felt dazai grab his shoulder, spinning him around.
“Hey!? Watch it—“
“How. Could you!” Dazai said in a dramatic tone, lifting his hand up to shove in Chuuya's face. Showing him the drawing. It’s almost as if Chuuya hadn’t drawn it himself.
The drawing was a basic fish. You know. The oval body with the triangle as a tail? Yeah. That one. Adding to the drawing were three stink lines with an arrow pointing to the fish saying,
“Smelly jackass Osamu”
Chuuya snickered as he read the note he had left on dazai’s hand.
“Whattt! Is the little mackerel gonna cry!”
“First of all. Mackerel? Why a mackerel of all things- and second. I am literally taller than you!? Who are you taller little, you- you stupid slug!?”
“What did you just call me!?”
The boys were interrupted soon enough by a teacher thinking they were gonna get into some sort of fight or something. Chuuya rolled his eyes, a scoff following soon behind.
The day went on like no other. Dazai followed Chuuya around like a lost dog during their breaks. The lessons were nothing new. Boring as always. In some lessons, Chuuya managed to steal the window seat from Dazai which resulted in Dazai pouting about it for the rest of the lesson which was a bit funny to Chuuya.
Finally, the last lesson ended. The red head let out a sigh of relief. Finally he thought.
Walking outside actually felt refreshing. Inside the school felt humid and just. . . Uncomfortable. Outside however, the sun was shining down, there were barely any clouds in the sky but there was a refreshing, small cool breeze that hit against chuuya’s exposed arms (he had rolled up his sleeves to try and cool himself off a bit during the day).
Sadly though, this weather wouldn’t last long. Soon enough it’s gonna be raining and it’s gonna be cold.
“Hey slug. Ready to go?”
Chuuya looked up at Dazai who had a seemingly stupid smile on his face. Chuuya stared at him for a bit. A lot longer than he’d like. Despite dazai’s stupid personality, his face was gentle..
Chuuya had always liked dazai’s eyes. He loved the dark brown colour of them and how they matched his hair. The red haired boy didn’t understand how people with brown eyes could hate their eye colour? To Chuuya, they’re some of the most beautiful eyes. But dazai’s especially..everytime Chuuya looked into them he felt lost. . but safe.. It's a weird feeling..
“Earth to Chuuyaaaa!”
Dazai waved his hand in front of Chuuya's face before it was quickly slapped away. Dazai chuckled at the aggressively playful gesture.
“Shut up. Just come on or we’re gonna be late for the bus.”
Their walk to the bus station wasn't long. Maybe a 5 or 10 minute walk from the school. Chuuya sat down on the bench with Dazai sitting beside him.
This time, Dazai was the one to put in his earphones. This usually happens. In the morning, its Chuuya who wears the earphones and after school its Dazai. They never agreed to this. They just sort of. Subconsciously started it and its like a small routine for them.
Chuuya took one of the earphones out of Dazai’s ear, putting it in his own. Just like how Dazai did on the bus coming to school.
You’ve got everything now by The Smiths
Chuuya scoffed, crossing his arms as he sank into the bench. Dazai snickered.
“What! Is my music taste not good enough for my slug!”
My?
“Yeah actually! I can't stand this shitty jazz stuff of yours!”
Dazai scoffed, adding a smile onto it. “Like I said, I am deeply hurt that you think The Smiths are jazz.”
All of a sudden, the sound of a motorbike approaches the bus stop.
Oh
My
God
Is that who I fucking think it is?
Chuuya shot his head up as he saw a red motorbike pull up to the side-walk. The man on the bike takes off his helmet. He had light blonde hair which had a small braid done up from the back of his hair. The man wore a black sleeveless jacket with a white shirt underneath. Alongside that, he had on some light brown jeans with quite a few holes in them. From years of Chuuya seeing this man, he knew damn well those holes weren’t always there.
“Hey Chuuya! Long time no see!!”
“Albatross!? What the fuck dude!? I didn't know you were coming back today!?”
The blonde man laughed. “There is no way I'm letting dear little Chuuya be all doom and gloom on his first day back at school. Come on! Hop on! We’re meeting up with Lippmann, Pianoman and the rest!”
The red head grabbed his bag excitedly. He turned back to Dazai to give back the earphone. The tall brunette let out a long sigh.
“Wowwww. Your buddy shows up and all of a sudden you're leaving poor ol’ me all aloneeee!”
Chuuya couldn't help but smile.
“Dont be stupid Dazai. I’ll see you tomorrow. I have no clue when I'll see this asshole next since he goes to college all the way in Hamamatsu.”
“Fine fine fine! Whatever! Just..text me when you get home. I’d love to know if my slug is actually alive by the end of the day so I can annoy him tomorrow!”
“Oh piss off you jackass.”
Chuuya handed Dazai back the earphone before quickly rushing over to Albatross. The younger boy threw his leg over the bike, sitting behind his friend. Albatross handed Chuuya his helmet knowing damn well he could get pulled over for not wearing one but he’d rather not be killed by Verlaine for letting something happen to Chuuya than getting a simple ticket.
Chuuya put the helmet on, something he had done multiple times in the past. The red head then looked back at Dazai, waving to him as the two of them quickly drove off.