Work Text:
Ring. Ring. Ring.
“Moshi Mosh?” Dazai says as he picks up the phone call.
“Dazai-kun, we have a meeting in about half an hour. I'll be expecting you there.” Mori says, getting straight to the point as always.
“Do I really have to? I'm kinda busy right now.” Dazai is outside on a beach, he thought maybe trying to drown himself would work, even though last time it didn't because of an annoying dog.
“I hear some waves in the background. Are you trying to drown yourself again, Dazai-kun?” He can hear Mori sigh on the other side of the phone.
“Perhaps.”
“Dazai-kun, this is serious. Please meet up.” Mori hangs up before the brunet could complain more.
So, he just sits down on the sand and puts the phone back into his coat pocket. Sitting on the beach has never been something he thought much of, it was calming and the sounds of the waves hitting the sand sometimes helps calming his mind. But he never comes here if he hasn't decided to kill himself. He closes his eyes and leans back on his hands, remembering when Chuuya saved him about a month ago.
A month ago.
Dazai is walking aimlessly with no goal in mind. His arms hurt, he was hoping he would bleed out but he hasn't even started to feel dizzy yet, so his guess is that he didn't cut deep enough.
He blinked and before he knew it he’s standing on the beach, reaching down into the water to check the temperature. It's cold. He lets his coat fall off his shoulders and onto the ground. He only registers that he's jumping off the beach’s bridge when he's in the air.
The cold is a great shock to his body but, somehow, it is also comforting. The cold has always helped him numb the way the bandages were scratching his scars.
He lets himself float down by emptying his lungs for any air, a fact he learned when Mori had forced him to read some of the books in his office, which was about the human body and how it works. And Dazai knows he remembers correctly; keeping air in your lungs makes you float, emptying them does the opposite.
His back hits the sand underwater. He can still see the light from the moon shining through the water. It's beautiful. If he finally does die here then he's happy this is the last thing he sees. However it might take some time, because of all his other drowning attempts he has learned – involuntary – to keep his breath for a long time.
Suddenly Dazai sees something red. It looks like some type of a red aura. He doesn't have time to dwell over it before the water above him splashes and orange hair comes closer to him for each second passing. Two arms wrap around him and drags him up.
The person who saved Dazai takes a deep breath the moment he comes out of the water, before he can even notice it, Dazai does the same.
“You fucker.”
“Chuuya-”
Chuuya still holds the brunet's hands as if he's scared he'll go under again. “Now I'm wet because of you, damnit.”
Can't help but let a giggle slip out. Chuuya looks like a wet golden retriever.
“What are you laughing at, huh?!” Chuuya finally lets go and punches Dazai's bicep.
“Chuuya is stupid~”
“Calling me stupid after saving your damn life?!”
“I never asked you to do it.”
Chuuya stills at that. It is true, Dazai never asked him. But… “If you're going to die one day, it'll be by my damn hands. Alright?”
His eyes widen slightly, something about that sparked a feeling inside of him, a feeling he quite can't understand. He's never felt this before. He quickly pushes the feeling away to the side and gathers his expression again. “As if I'd ever want to die by your hand.”
“Tch. Let's just get out of the water, I'm cold as hell.” Chuuya is already climbing the ladder to the bridge, not waiting for Dazai to answer, knowing he'll follow after him.
They walk in silence from the bridge to the beach, sitting down in the sand once they're there. Dazai lays down flat on his back, staring up at the nightsky. Neither says anything, it's not needed. The silence speaks for itself.
They don't know how long they stayed there. But the sun was starting to rise, switching places with the moon. That's when they went back to Chuuya's apartment, and slept because Dazai was able to convince Mori to let them have a day off.
Now time.
Dazai doesn't bother knocking on the door to the meeting room. He just walks in confidently with a lazy manner, Chuuya is there too. He sits down on the other side of the table, facing the redhead.
“So, what is the urgent meeting about?” Kouyou asks.
“As you all know, after the Verlaine incident we lost some important members of the Port Mafia.” Mori explains, eyeing Chuuya who frowns at the memories.
It hasn't been long since Verlaine was here to take Chuuya with him, and killed The flags, a group Chuuya was friends with, in the meantime.
“Therefore…”
Dazai zones out the rest of the meeting, this wasn't interesting at all. It was just words about which Port Mafia members should take over the jobs The flags members had. What was interesting though, was watching Chuuya's reactions, it was like he was trying to conceal himself to not snap right there and then.
“So? Any thoughts?” Mori ends his explanation with.
The meeting ends, Chuuya is the first one to leave, saying something along the lines of, “I need to continue my reports.”
Dazai knows it's a lie, Mori does too. “Dazai-kun, if you'd be willing to?”
He sighs and stands up, walking out the door with his hands in his pockets. ‘I think I know where Chibi might be.’
It's pouring down and Dazai is making his way to the graveyard. He's got a tiny (big) suspicion that that's where the redhead might be. He stops in his tracks when he sees the redhead sitting down on his knees in front of the five graves. The funeral wasn't long ago so the flowers are still new and fresh, it almost paints an aesthetic moment if one doesn't know the story behind it.
Dazai walks over silently, holding his coat open and over Chuuya so that he won't become too wet even though he looks like is already soaked through.
Dazai has never been good with words except for when he manipulates someone or he needs something. And the communication between the two of them has never been good, at least not with words.
Watching Chuuya's shoulders tremble was something Dazai never thought he would see. The man was always acting tough even if he was scared or sad inside. But that's just how it is in the Port, show vulnerability and it'll be taken advantage of.
Dazai sits down instead, letting the part of the coat he was holding up fall to his side.
This time he'll repay Chuuya for all the times he's saved his life even if he didn't ask for it.
“I'm soaking wet because of you now.” Dazai says, and Chuuya scoffs.
This time he'll be the one to comfort Chuuya without words like that time at the beach.