Chapter Text
Dazai, not having had much of a childhood, often struggled with acting like an adult. As a teenager, he had been forced to grow up in the Port Mafia much too fast. Now, as an adult, he acted more like a child. At work at the Armed Detective Agency, he would slack off, take naps, play mindless colourful games on his phone. Off of work, he often went out drinking, usually hooking up with a stranger to distract himself. At home by himself was different, though.
In his Agency provided dormitory at night, Dazai would change out of his daytime clothes and into pajamas. Cute onesies, similar to ones toddlers would wear, but adult sized. He would take soft childlike blankets, stuffed animals, toys, pacifiers, and bottles from his closet. He loves warm milk in a baby bottle, snuggling his teddies in his cute dinosaur onesie, and watching cartoons or colouring. He didn't have to pretend to be an adult.
Dazai felt he should hide this from the Agency. He didn't think they'd understand. So many people thought age regression was a kink, but it was NOTHING like that. It was an innocent coping mechanism.
Tonight, Dazai made a mistake. He had forgotten that Kunikida was coming over after work to force him to catch up on his overdue paperwork. Dazai had a stressful day. He had spilled his coffee all over himself, leaving his chest sticky all day even after changing his shirt. He had stubbed his toe on a corner. And he had missed the train, having to walk to work. By the end of the day when he got home, he was in a miserable mood. He needed a bath before changing into his pajamas, but he didn't feel like running a bath or making his bed. The day had taken a lot out of him. He had just been laying down to sleep without bathing or changing when there was a knock on his door.
Without waiting for a response, Kunikida walked in, shutting the door behind him. He shed his coat and shoes, looking over to see Dazai in bed. Unsurprising. He began walking over as he spoke.
"Get up, lazy ass. It's your fault I'm here. If you had just kept up with your paperwork like you were supposed to-"
Kunikida trailed off, noticing Dazai's expression as he got close. He looked on the brink of tears. Kunikida had never seen Dazai like this.
Dazai sat up, wiping his eyes on his sleeves. He had already begun slipping into a younger headspace, his mind feeling fuzzy and sensitive.
"Don't be mad at me.."
Dazai whined, tears welling up no matter how much he tried to stop them. Kunikida was completely thrown off guard. He set the paperwork aside, sitting next to Dazai in the soft futon to examine him closer. He wasn't very good at comforting, especially when it came to someone like Dazai.
"What's going on?"
Kunikida asked, hesitantly reaching out to touch Dazai's shoulder. Though, it was obvious his mind was still on their work, eyes flicking back to it. But he knew if Dazai was like this, there was no way their work would get done.
Dazai began sobbing openly now, causing Kunikida to pull back in surprise.
"I-I missed the train! And I stubbed my toe and it hurts.. a-and I spilled my coffee and I'm still all sticky but I don't wanna run a bath but it feels so gross!"
Dazai sounded like a child. It was shocking to Kunikida.
"Slow down. I still don't understand why you're in this kinda mood."
Kunikida pushed Dazai to sit up straight, rubbing his back to try to calm his breathing.
"I age regress. Y-you know what that is?"
Dazai had calmed down enough to speak clearly, though he had gotten the hiccups from his crying, ruining his mood even further.
Kunikida had heard of age regression before, but didn't know much. He knew Dazai couldn't explain in this state, so he turned to his phone, looking up a few articles on it.
Dazai should've known kunikida was just looking it up, trying to understand him better. But to him, it felt like Kunikida was ignoring him, causing his tears to return.
After a few minutes, Kunikida looked back up at Dazai, just to see him crying again. He knew more about what was happening now, and could guess why Dazai was crying.
"So.. you feel like you're little right now?"
Dazai simply turned away, pouting. He didn't want to talk anymore. Kunikida sighed, trying to keep his irritation in check. This was not how he envisioned his evening. He had read about caretakers. Maybe that's what Dazai needed. Kunikida may be a bit too rough for that, though.
"Get up. I'm running you a bath."
Kunikida said firmly, standing and walking to the bathroom without looking back. Dazai sat up, mouth hanging open a small bit. But he wasn't in the mood to disobey. He stood slowly, walking to the bathroom with Kunikida. By the time he got in there, the bath was already running, and Kunikida was stirring in the bubbles. A lot of bubbles. That made Dazai feel a bit better.
Kunikida turned to Dazai, beginning to unbutton his shirt, only for Dazai's hands to gently stop him. Getting the message, he turned around, covering his eyes as Dazai undressed himself, even taking his bandages off, which he hated. Kunikida only looked when Dazai said quietly that he could. Dazai was in the bath, the water turned off as the tub was full. Only his head, shoulders, and knees were visible over the bubbles. That had been intentional when Kunikida put the bubbles in. He didn't need Dazai feeling any more uncomfortable than he likely already did.
Silently, Kunikida washed Dazai's hair, back, legs, chest, and feet. He let Dazai handle the rest, turning away to give him privacy. After the bath, Dazai dressed in his favorite dinosaur onesie, soft pink socks with matching pink underwear underneath. Kunikida made some warm milk in one of Dazai's bottles, biting his tongue to keep from lecturing him on how bad those rubber bottle nipples were for his teeth.
Kunikida ended up doing Dazai's paperwork for him while Dazai slept with his head in Kunikida's lap, cartoons playing on the TV in front of them. It was quite peaceful. Despite having to do Dazai's work for him, Kunikida enjoyed himself. He might become Dazai's permanent caretaker, giving them both more peaceful evenings like this.