Chapter Text
“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Chuuya asked as he glanced up at Dazai, who was sitting directly in front of him. They were sitting at their usual seats by the window of the local coffee shop that was closest to the college.
“Of course I’m sure,” Dazai said as he leaned back in his chair.
“You weren’t planning on staying here and teaching all summer, were you? If not, then I don’t see why you’re worrying so much.”
“That’s not it... It’s just... You’re probably gonna be really busy with your duties as best-man or something,” Chuuya muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the man in front of him.
“What are you talking about? Ryuunosuke’s wedding is only gonna take up the first week in Yokohama, and then we can spend the rest of summer around Asia. Plus, I wanna show you where I grew up. I wanna take you to all my favorite places.”
“Oh? Are you gonna show me the sacred bridge where you lost your virginity?” Chuuya teased as he raised an eyebrow.
“Mhm! We can even stage a reenactment!” Dazai said as he bit into a jam covered scone. “And doesn’t a friend of yours live in Yokohama?”
“Yeah, Kouyou, we worked together for a few years. She showed me the ropes and shit.” Chuuya said as he smiled to himself. “She’s been BEGGING me to come visit for a long time now.”
“See, you have more reason to come. You’re gonna love it there, Chuuya.” Dazai said as he grinned like a huge dork.
For a few more minutes, they chatted more about Dazai’s adventures in Yokohama, with Dazai turning around occasionally to scan the room in case some snooper who recognized him was listening in to their conversation.
At a neighboring table, a girl who huddled behind her plate of mini finger sandwiches was getting increasingly excited at the conversation she was overhearing. She had suspected it was him but now she was absolutely sure. It was Osamu Dazai. Even though she was only fifteen at the time, Yamane Ayano never forgot the day Dazai strolled past their table and flashed his devastatingly perfect smile at her sister Kaede.
“Is that Osamu Dazai?” their mother had asked. “The boy you were fawning over a few weeks ago? Ooh, he’s so handsome! You should go talk to him!”
“Eh? Why are you now suggesting to talk to him when you swat away any other guy who comes near?” Kaede asked as she took a sip from her beverage.
“Stupid girl! I’m only trying to protect you from those fortune hunters! This one you’d be lucky to have!”
Yamane couldn’t believe that her mother was encouraging her big sister to talk to this boy. She stared curiously at Dazai, now laughing and chatting away casually with his friends as if he hadn’t stolen the hearts of half the women in the room. Even from afar, Yamane could tell why people loved the guy. With his perfectly brushed out brown hair, pop-idol features, and thick eyelashes, Osamu Dazai was the cutest, dreamiest guy she’d ever seen.
“Kaede, why don’t you invite him to your fundraiser on Saturday?” their mother kept on.
“Stop it, mom,” Kaede said through gritted teeth. “I know what I’m doing.”
Kaede did not know what she was doing since Dazai never showed up to her fundraiser, much to their mother’s eternal disappointment. But that afternoon left such an indelible mark on Yamane’s adolescent memory that six years later and on the other side of the planet, she still remembers him
“Emma, lemme get a picture of you with that delicious strawberry shortcake,” Yamane said as she took out her camera phone. She pointed it in the direction of her friend but trained the lens on Dazai. She snapped the photo and immediately e-mailed it to her sister, who now lived in San Diego, California. Her phone pinged a few minutes later.
BigSister: OMFG! THAT’S OSAMU DAZAI! WHERE ARE U?
Yamane Ayano: coffee shop.
BigSister: Who’s the boy he’s with?
Yamane Ayano: BF, I think. Looks American-born Japanese.
BigSister: Hmm… Do you see a ring?
Yamane Ayano: No ring.
BigSister: PLS spy for me!!!
Yamane Ayano: You owe me big time!!!
“Yokohama sounds amazing, but ten weeks … I don’t think I want to stay away that long..” Chuuya sighed. He could sense Dazai’s eagerness, and the idea of visiting Asia at all filled him with excitement. Chuuya heard many stories about Dazai’s travels and wanted to catch up with his boyfriend. This trip could be that chance.
Yet something about this trip made Chuuya feel weird, and he couldn’t help but ponder the deeper implications. Dazai made it seem so spontaneous and knowing him, Chuuya was sure he had put more thought into this than he let on. They had been together for well more than two years, and now all of a sudden he was inviting him on an extended trip to visit his hometown, to attend his cousin’s wedding, no less. Did this mean what he thought it did?
Chuuya stared into his cup of coffee. As if the disgustingly bland and bitter drink will tell him Dazai’s true intentions of this trip. He had never been the romantic type. Being twenty-nine, he was sorta already too old to even be thinking about relationships (according to himself..). This surprise invitation sparked some sacred instinct in him that he had long thought disappeared once he turned twenty-two. He wants to take me home. He wants me to meet his family. The long-dormant romantic in him was awakening once again and he knew there was only one answer to give.
“I’ll have to check in with the dean to see when I’m needed back, but you know what? Let’s fuckin’ do this!” Chuuya declared as he set down his cup of coffee. Dazai leaned back and clapped his hands together.
Minutes later, before Chuuya himself knew for sure what he was gonna do this summer, the details of his conversation had already begun to spread far and wide, circling the globe like a virus. After Yamane Ayano emailed her sister Kaede Ayano in Cali, Kaede called her best friend Yamaoka Sugimoto and breathlessly filled her in. Yamaoka texted eight friends, including Momo Harumi, whose cousin Hana Harumi went to Oxford with Dazai. Hana simply had to IM her friend Misaki Kei, and Misaki, whose office was right across the hall from Naoki Ryota’s, simply had to interrupt his conference call to share this juicy tidbit. Naoki in turn skyped his girlfriend Ryoko Hayashida, who was holidaying with her grandmother and her aunt Masako Kotone. Masako made a poolside call to Natsumi Yamanaka, knowing full well that Natsumi would have a direct line to Naomi Tanizaki, who spent every spring at her family’s vast estate in Yokohama. And so, this delicious strain of gossip spread rapidly through almost every entitled Asian who kept their eye out for any fast-growing rumor. And in only a few hours, almost everyone in this exclusive circle knew that Osamu Dazai was bringing a boy home to Yokohama.
And holy fuck was this big news.