Chapter Text
It was 9pm.
The sports hall was full of people. Everything was loud : The students, the cars outside.
The performers.
If they all gathered around at such a late hour, it was for one thing : The performances. Every Saturday night, a few students would play a cover or one of their own songs. The teachers were completely unaware about this. Well, rumors said that the teacher Sakunosuke Oda knew. But no one was worried, they knew he would never do anything against the events.
"Ah, Chuuya, you're here ! We're next soon, we better get ready !"
The music that was currently playing was echoing in his ears, making it difficult to understand what the other teenager was telling him. However, he managed to understand the words that were shouted at him.
"Yes, I know, Tachihara !" he yelled back. "I hope your guitar is well tuned !"
"Of course it is, who are you taking me for !" the said Tachihara gave a boyish grin, looking confident. He was already carrying his electric guitar and, sometimes, Chuuya was wondering if it was his girlfriend at this point. The guitar's name was Isabella, apparently.
The redhead laughed a little, readying himself. He looked behind himself, and saw Gin making sure the drums were alright.
He then looked at the students who were performing from behind the curtains. They were good, but it was easy to see they were still new to the stage.
"Let's go, you two." Chuuya said when the other group finished.
Dazai didn't like attending such events. Too loud, too many annoying people. Don't get him wrong : he was a social butterfly, he loved crowds and parties. But right now, it was late. He'd rather be home and do nothing, or read a book.
He didn't come to the event because he was curious, nor because he wanted to. He was here because Mori told him to do so. Told ? No, he begged , because the brunet was very stubborn and kept saying no.
Mori was his uncle, but also the CEO of a popular music agency. He was constantly trying to find new talents. Doing so was good for economical reasons, obviously. But he also loved meeting new people, he loved giving them new opportunities, and giving them the chance to express themselves.
Dazai never really understood his passion, but he respected it, which is why he ended up agreeing to this. "Go to the event and if somebody stands out, tell me !" was what his uncle said. He let out a tired sigh, looking at the stage.
No one impressed him too much so far. Well, the dude who did a backflip was impressive, but his uncle wanted a good singer, not a gymnast.
Ah, how annoying.
As he was about to leave without paying attention to the next group who came up, he froze when he heard the voice of the singer. He slowly turned around to face the stage again, trying to properly see who was the owner of the voice.
Pretty long ginger curls, blue eyes, small height but strong aura. The teen was smiling while singing, but he was also able to control his face expressions to give a good stage presence. Judging by the cheers, the mini band was pretty popular amongst the students.
Nakahara Chuuya. Dazai recognized him pretty easily. They were in different classes, but they had to interact a few times. All he knew was that the redhead was hotheaded, loud, and short. But he also knew that he was always willing to help anyone, and that he was very empathetic. That’s all he knew about him.
But he didn't know he had such a voice, and such a charisma on stage. He was almost mezmerised.
The brunet quickly took his phone out, so he could record the performance. He was in the back of the sports hall, no one was able to see him.
Maybe, now, he understood how Mori felt whenever he found a new talented person.
«He's the one. He's the one we need.»
He left when Chuuya's performance was over.
***
The next day, Dazai opened Mori's office's door with his leg, opening it wide open. The raven haired man glanced at him, sitting in front of his desk. The brunet kicking the door open ? That was an unusual sight.
"Uncle !"
"Hello to you too, Osamu..." he mumbled while the teenager was approaching him.
The adult kept staring at him. Dazai took his phone out of his pocket, put the video he recorded yesterday on, and almost threw it at Mori's desk. The older man felt immediately curious, and watched the video in silence. He wasn't expecting his nephew to actually find somebody, knowing how picky he was.
Once the footage was over, he looked at the brunet who was tapping his foot against the wooden floor.
"He caught my attention." Osamu finally said, the silence bothering him.
"I can see why." Mori nodded, looking back at the device's screen. "It was pretty impressive."
"That's all you have to say ?"
"Well, no. But I doubt you want me to talk about more technical things, am I wrong ?"
"No, you're right, spare me that..." he sighed, and took back his phone. "So ? Has he caught your attention as well ?"
Dazai's uncle looked at him again, and put his elbows against his desk.
"He has."
"Okay cool, he's in the agency now."
"Osamu, no..." Mori laughed a little. "You need to ask him first."
"Right...Wait, why me ?"
"Well, obviously because you're in the same school as him."
Indeed.
The brunet wasted no time.
The next day, he barged into the redhead's classroom during lunch. He spotted him with Gin and Tachihara, with whom he was probably chatting about their next performance. They all seemed to be in a good mood, that's perfect. Since he's in a good mood, he will accept, right ?
Dazai approached them, looking confident. They all looked at him with curiosity. It was unusual to see Dazai Osamu wandering in other people's classes after all.
The brunet has prepared every sentence he should say. He has even talked in front of his mirror, saying things like "Hello, Chuuya. My uncle and I were stunned by your performance at the event. Would you like to join my uncle's music agency ? Do you need time to think about it ? It’s totally okay. You can always call him, and he'll answer your questions." and then take out the agency’s business card.
Perfect, wasn't it ?
He cleared his throat.
"Chuuya."
"Yes ? Hello."
Dazai's throat went dry. Come on, say something already ! he thought.
"My...Uncle is interested in you !"
Gin's face showed a shocked expression, which said a lot. What on Earth ?
Chuuya blinked a few times, trying to think of an answer.
"Hum...That's weird as hell. I'm not into much older guys you see...Thank you though, I guess." he carefully tried to say, and Dazai immediately understood that what he said sounded awfully wrong.
"Wait, no no no, that's not what I meant !" Dazai started making wide gestures with his arms. "He's a CEO ! And your performance was wooow ! And uh music ! Contract, and questions accepted ! And wouw haha do you want to join ?! Business card here !"
Needless to say : No one understood what he was talking about.
It was Osamu's first time asking something so important to someone else.
"...A CEO of what ?" Tachihara dared to ask.
"Ehh entertainment !"
The teen got up, facing Dazai.
"How dare you–"
"MUSIC entertainment !"
Tachihara froze, sighed, and flopped back on his seat.
"Dude you gotta be more precise, I almost punched you..." he complained whilst Chuuya facepalmed.
"There's no need to punch people, Tachihara." he said, then looked at Dazai. "So, if I understood what you said well, you want me to join a music company, and if I have questions I can ask them ?"
The brunet eagerly nodded. Chuuya continued :
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to do this." he gave an apologetic smile. "I'm glad and grateful that a CEO enjoyed my performance on stage, but I don't think I'll be able to handle this type of life."
***
"I don't understand. I don't understand ! " Dazai dramatically said while walking in circles inside of Mori's office, visibly upset. "I just...Don't understand !"
"It's his choice, and we must respect it."
"Lame !" the brunet shouted, and his uncle sighed. "Why would he miss out on such an opportunity ?!"
"He probably has his personal reasons, like his family, his studies, his lifestyle in general."
"Oh look at you, such an expert about the matter !"
Mori raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I'm a CEO, so, yes, I am..." he slowly said. "Why are you so upset anyway ? You never cared for such things."
"Well, now I do !"
"Then find someone else ?"
"Heck no !"
Mori sighed, tired. He has never seen his nephew getting so worked up about something. But, in a way, it was quite pleasant to see something comparable to passion in his eyes.
"Osamu, it's okay. Just let him perform and keep going with his life. If you liked his performance that much, you should go see him perform every week, then. Case closed."
Dazai sighed, feeling defeated and disappointed. See Chuuya perform again ?
Sure, why not.
He wanted to feel these goosebumps again. He wanted to feel the energy again.
He waited for the next Saturday to arrive.
Chuuya came back home and immediately got greeted by his older sister. He stopped moving, surprised.
"Hi Kouyou, you're home early today." he said, entering the living room. She was laying on the couch, her bun messier than a nest and her eyes closed.
"I was too tired for some reason, so I decided to come back home earlier." she answered and Chuuya hummed.
"You did well. Your day was tiring I guess ?"
"Very. How about yours ?"
"Tiring too. And a bit strange."
His sister finally opened her eyes, and glanced at him. He was already in the open kitchen, readying himself to cook something.
"What was strange ?"
"Remember Dazai Osamu ? The dude I had to work with once in school." he said, and Kouyou simply nodded. "His uncle, who's apparently the CEO of a music company, wanted to hire me."
She didn't answer anything, until the information actually hit her.
"Wait, what ?!" she almost jumped out of her seat. "Did you accept ?"
"I did not." he admitted. "We don't have the time for that."
"Tsk. Lame." she closed her eyes again, and Chuuya huffed.
"Fuck you. You know I can't do that. I need to keep my job so we can pay the rent of this flat."
"I know, I know, but still...Such an incredible opportunity..." she dreamily sighed. "However, the industry can get very scary, so I understand."
"Yeah, exactly." he replied while cooking. "Dazai seemed pretty nervous while making the proposition. He's not the type to panic, it was surprising."
"It's because you're too cool."
Chuuya rolled his eyes while laughing.
Kouyou has always been supportive towards him and his love for music. Oh, you participate in non allowed music gatherings at your school every Saturday ? Okay, that’s cool, you go boy !
Every time the redhead was excited about something related to music, she would always listen to him. And if she didn’t understand a few things he was talking about, she would always make researches about them later on the internet.
He was so lively, and she loved it so much. Hot tempered ? Yeah. Stubborn ? Also yes. But she didn’t mind, because it brought some energy to the flat, especially after a long day at work. And despite everything, Chuuya was a caring and loving little brother, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She was proud of him.
He finished cooking and they ate together.
She was glad they had each other.
The following week wasn’t anything special. It was just school, Dazai being bored during lessons, Chuuya practicing with his band, and the world going slow.
Until…
“Wait, what do you mean you can’t sing tomorrow ?”
Chuuya looked at Tachihara with an apologetic smile, putting his backpak on his back because it was the end of the day.
“I’m sorry. Kouyou had to take a few days off and, if we want to be able to pay the rent, I have to work a few more days. I’ll try to be present next week !”
“Fine, I hope you’ll be alright.” said Tachihara. “We’ll play something instrumental, no big deal. Right, Gin ?”
Gin nodded, showing a thumb up. Chuuya softly smiled : He knew he could count on them.
“Thank you guys. See you next week !” he replied as he walked away.
Big was Dazai’s surprise when he didn’t see Chuuya next to his group on Saturday. He was standing at the back of the sports hall and saw Tachihara chatting with Gin.
But no ginger curls.
He actually wanted to try to convince him again but, first, he wanted to see if it was really worth it with another performance. He discreetly approached them : Maybe he just didn’t see him, which wouldn’t have been a surprise for obvious reasons. (But just in case : Chuuya wasn't the tallest man.)
He was then able to hear something from Tachihara :
“Damn, it sucks that Chuuya couldn’t come today. I hope his sister is alright, though.”
His sister ?
“She seems to be pretty tired lately…” Gin softly replied, to which the guitarist nodded. “Does he still work in that supermarket next to the train station ?”
“Yeah...I think he’s still working right now, since morning.” he said, then shook his head a little. “He must be exhausted, I hope his schedule won’t be as fucked tomorrow.”
“I hope so too…”
So that was why he was absent today. Dazai almost wanted to ask what was happening to get more details, but he decided against it.
Actually, he didn’t care about being nosy. He just didn’t want to make any bad moves that would repulse Chuuya.
The supermarket next to the train station, huh…
He remembered where it was, and how it looked like. It wasn’t a big shop, but it was big enough to sell a little bit of everything. He went there once, maybe twice. And see, Dazai had a lot of flaws, which included curiosity.
Curiosity was a good thing !
But not when it came to Dazai Osamu.
So he got the splendid idea of going to the supermarket right now. It shouldn’t be too suspicious.
He left the sports hall : He didn’t care much about the other performers. He didn’t really know why he was behaving that way : Was it because he hated failure ? Or did he truly want to see more of Chuuya ? Maybe both ? He had no idea, and he absolutely needed to figure that out.
He walked in the streets, which were already dark. He loved October so much : People always avoided going outside at such hours because it was cold, and it made the streets empty. It was soothing to the soul.
He made a lot of noise with the leaves that were on the ground, but because he liked their sounds. Autumn truly was a marvellous time of the year.
Thankfully, the train station wasn’t very far away : he arrived pretty quickly. He looked around and saw the shop and its interior lit up by the lights. It was probably going to close soon, so he had to hurry a little.
He entered the supermarket and looked around. It was almost empty, with only a few customers roaming through the shelves. There was a tall man a little further away in front of a desk, he was most probably the cashier. On the other side of the room, there was a woman with papers, he quickly guessed she was the manager.
He walked more into the shop, and pretended to look at the products.
He was about to sigh until he accidentally bumped onto something...Wait, no, someone.
“Oi, please be careful !” said a voice and Dazai looked down.
It was Chuuya, crouched down, placing new products on a shelf. He lifted his head up and froze at the sight.
“...What the hell are you doing here ?” he slowly asked, almost ashamed.
“Ah, I was looking forward to today’s performance ! I feel so disappointed !” Dazai dramatically said and Chuuya was not amused.
“Creepy.” he answered as he got up, which made it easier for the brunet to observe his face.
Chuuya looked tired and frustrated. His gaze seemed a little unfocused.
“Creepy ? Why’s that ? I just needed to buy something.”
“...Then go ahead ?”
“I realized I don’t really need it.”
“...Then go away ?”
“And what if I don’t want to ?”
“Then help me out. I don’t have the energy to deal with your bullshit right now.” he said as he placed a box into Dazai’s arms, then lifted one as well. These were empty cardboards. “Just follow me.”
“Will I get paid ?”
“You won’t, but at least I won’t kick your butt.”
“Fair enough.”
Dazai followed him, and got curious glances from the other workers. Chuuya quickly explained it was someone from his school and they went into the shop’s basement.
“Woah, so that’s how the basement of a shop looks like !”
“Yeah.”
“Lame.”
“Agreed.” Chuuya replied and put the box on the floor. Dazai did the same, and looked at Chuuya sliding down against the wall.
“Are you alright ?”
“Yeah, I’m finally done with today. You can go.” he mumbled as he closed his eyes, but the other teenager stayed still. He reopened his eyes. “...I said you can go, thanks for your help.”
Dazai didn't say anything and sat next to the redhead.
“Is it even legal to work so many hours as a student ?”
“I mean, I’m the one who asked for it, for today.”
“How come ?”
“My sis...Why do you care ?” he suddenly asked, and Dazai simply shrugged his shoulders.
“I heard your friends talk about her.” he admitted, and Chuuya stared at him for a while before replying.
“...Yeah. She took a few days off, and we can’t financially afford that. I doubt you would understand, since your uncle is a CEO.”
Dazai hummed. It was true that he never struggled financially, which he was thankful for.
“It’s true that I can’t fully understand what you’re going through.” he agreed, earning Chuuya's intrigued gaze. “Doesn’t mean I can’t empathize, though.”
“True, true. Sorry if I sounded harsh.”
“You always do.”
“Fuck you.”
Dazai laughed a little, got up and extended his arm towards Chuuya.
“You need to take the train too, if I’m not mistaken ? We should hurry.”
Chuuya looked at the other student’s hand, and accepted his help by grabbing his hand.
“You’re right, thanks.” he said as he got up. He quickly took the bag he always brought at work and they left the shop together.
The weather became even colder, and the wind was very strong, but they both liked it. They headed towards the station, and waited for the train to arrive. Chuuya sat on a bench and looked straight forward.
Dazai didn’t sit down, but stayed next to Chuuya. They already went home together twice, after working on a school project together until late.
He then looked at the other teen, who seemed like he was about to fall asleep. He softly hit his head.
“Hey what the fuck !”
“Don’t sleep, I won’t carry you if the train arrives.”
“Bastard.”
“I know !” he cheekily said and Chuuya rolled his eyes.
The train arrived after a while, and they both hopped in. It was almost empty : it was easy to find a good place where to sit. Chuuya sat next to the window and looked at the view that was moving in front of him. Dazai was sitting next to him, staring at the ceiling, until the other teen tugged on his sleeve.
“What is it ?”
“The Tama river is really pretty at night.”
Dazai looked at it.
“It really is…”
“You don’t often travel at night, do you ?” he asked, a little smile on his face.
“Do you ?”
“Whenever I feel overwhelmed, or when I can’t sleep well.” he explained, and looked at the view again.
“It’s dangerous.”
“I don’t really care, I can fight…” Chuuya sighed. “I often take different trains, just to see how pretty the city is. My sister doesn’t know I do that, though.”
Dazai’s gaze went from the river to Chuuya, more curious than ever. In a way, he could understand. Feeling overwhelmed and wanting to go away, just to forget everything for a few hours.
“When it happens to me, I just go out on the balcony and I stare at the sky.” Dazai answered, and the Chuuya looked at him again. “There’s something so peaceful about it.”
“I agree. Have you heard of Torami Kaigan ?”
“Ah, the beach, right ?”
“Yes, the beach.” Chuuya nodded. “I heard it’s an amazing stargazing place. It’s not too far away from here. I should definitely go there someday…” he muttered, mostly to himself. He seemed dreamy at the thought. “Maybe, you should too.”
“Perhaps.” Dazai agreed.
Chuuya smiled, seemingly in a better mood. The other student was almost scared of ruining it by asking him about the music agency again. Apparently, right now, his face was like an open book, because Chuuya noticed that something was off.
“You look hesitant about something. What’s the matter ?” he calmly asked, looking right at him.
“Just...Know that i’m not pressuring you or anything.” he started and other teen didn’t interrupt him, even though he knew where it was going. “But, if you were to change your mind about the agency, know that you’ll still be welcome.”
Chuuya pressed his back against his seat, his gaze still on Dazai. He seemed to think for a moment. There wasn’t any anger, nor frustration.
He seemed peaceful.
Dazai knew that the other one was a nice guy, but he wouldn’t have expected him to be so soft looking. The lights of the train were dim because of the late hour, it gave a warm atmosphere.
“I’ll think about it.” he finally answered, his voice carrying the weight of a feather. “I just can’t rush with such things.”
“Of course, of course ! Thank you !”
Dazai felt happiness jump in him. He felt like he could go run a marathon. Sure, Chuuya didn’t say yes, but it was still a victory. So much better than getting turned down right away ! Chuuya chuckled.
“You seem happy.”
“Like heck I am !” he said, and Chuuya laughed a little bit more.
“Was I that good ?”
“You were ! You really were !”
Chuuya didn’t question it. He knew that whenever Dazai praised someone, it was genuine. He wasn’t the type of person who would say nice things out of hypocrisy. He smiled, happy that his passion reached someone who never cared that much about music.
“Thank you, I really appreciate it.” he answered, the smile still on his face.
They kept chatting a little bit. Dazai got out of the train first at his stop, and Chuuya got out of it a little later.
***
Monday morning, Dazai greeted Chuuya, and the redhead greeted back. The interaction surprised everyone. It wasn't like they were enemies or anything, but the other students were used to these two either bickering with each other of barely acknowledging one another's existence. They were the two, vastly different, popular guys.
At the lunch break, Gin and (mostly) Tachihara talked about their performance. They said it went well, but it felt incomplete.
“I’m sorry. Next time, I’ll be with you !”
“It’s okay, Chuuya. Did everything go well at work ?”
“Yeah ! Exhausting, but I’m fine.” he explained to his friend.
All of a sudden, a tall brunet entered the classroom. Everyone looked at him, and a few girls started whispering.
Right, Dazai Osamu, the super cool guy.
Chuuya didn’t even spare a glance at him, thinking he wasn’t here for him.
Oh, he was so, so wrong.
Dazai walked across the classroom, and the girls were expecting him to start talking to them.
Oh, they were so, so wrong.
He shamelessly sat on Chuuya's desk, a small smirk on his face. The girls were bummed out, to say the least.
“Hey, Chuuya.”
The said Chuuya blinked.
“Yo.”
“I was wondering if you’d like to eat with me on the rooftop ?”
“What—”
“Aaahh, Chuuya has a new friend ! That’s cool ! Don’t worry about us !” Tachihara said, a boyish grin on his face as usual.
“What—”
Gin gently elbowed the Chuuya's side and he got confused meanwhile his two friends were wiggling their eyebrows. Chuuya didn’t really understand the meaning behind this, maybe they saw this as another occasion for him to enter the agency ?
“Uh, I guess I’ll join you, yes.” he ended up accepting as he got up off his chair.
They went to the rooftop together, and once they’ve arrived, Chuuya stared at the brunet.
“I thought you told me you wouldn’t pressure me ?”
Dazai sat on the ground, an innocent look on his face.
“I didn’t bring you here to talk about the agency,” he reassured. “I just want to know you better.”
Now, the teen was intrigued, as for why.
“You were pretty cool when we were in the train.” Dazai then explained after noticing the confused look on the other’s face.
“So...You want to be...Friends ?...”
“Yes !”
Chuuya narrowed his eyes.
“Is this going to lead me somewhere weird ?”
“Like where ?”
“I don’t know, in an abandoned place in the middle of a pentagram ?”
“Oh come on, I’ve tried to summon a demon only once.”
“Oh yeah, totally a normal thing to do.”
Dazai huffed and the other teen laughed a little, finally sitting next to the brunet.
A few days had passed, and they kept having lunch together every two days.
Dazai discovered that Chuuya truly was a chill guy, as long as he didn’t act like a little shit with him. And Chuuya discovered that Dazai wasn’t just a cunning bastard.
Chuuya really wanted to say that everything was alright.
But he had this weird feeling lingering in his chest and his mind. Something that was telling him that something was wrong.
When he woke up, when he was at school, when he was working, and when he went to sleep.
The bad feeling kept following him everywhere.
He has tried to get rid of it as much as he could and, whenever he succeeded, it ended up coming back anyway.
A few teachers tried to ask him if something was wrong, but he couldn’t really answer. He didn’t know what to say. Because technically, nothing was wrong.
“You’ve been pretty quiet lately.”
Chuuya slowly looked at Dazai, who was currently eating potato chips.
“I don’t constantly yell.”
“What a surprise...Want some ?” he asked, showing the bag of crisps, but Chuuya shook his head.
“No, thank you.”
“Okay, now that’s serious.” he said as he put the snack aside. He sat right in front of his friend and looked at him. “What’s wrong ?”
“Nothing.”
“No, seriously. What’s wrong.”
Chuuya stared at him, tired. He was just... Tired, yes, that was the right word.
Tired.
He hesitated, not saying anything for a long while. He kept looking at the teen that was sitting in front of him.
“Honestly, it’s quite ridiculous...” he started, still unsure.
“I’m sure it’s not.”
“...I’ve been having this weird feeling lately..." he started, making a few gestures, "It’s been days already, but it won't go away. It feels like something wrong is going to happen soon, and I just...Don’t know what to do about it, nor what to expect.” he finally admitted.
“You can’t do much against that.” he immediately said, and Chuuya slightly frowned. “All we can do is hope that it’s nothing serious and that everything will be alright.” he finished.
“You must be right.” he replied, slowly nodding.
“The slug thinks too hard sometimes ! His brain isn’t made for that !” Dazai whined as he came closer to Chuuya who looked at him suspiciously.
“What ?”
“Hug !”
“What ?! That doesn’t sound like you at all ! What were these potato chips made of ?!”
Chuuya let out a long complaint when Dazai caged him between his arms, but he rolled his eyes with a small smile.
In the span of a few days, they genuinely became very comfortable around each other. It was like they've already met each other in a past life, because who on Earth could bond this fast with someone ?
“Of paprika.”
“I prefer the salty ones…”
“What a shame.” Dazai said, taking his bag of chips again while Chuuya simply put his head against the Dazai's shoulder. “Getting comfy ?”
“Yeah, shut up. Just don’t move too much.”
“Hah, I will.” he said, but those were empty words. He actually tried to not move his shoulder too much.
The redhead closed his eyes, and enjoyed the soft breeze. It was cold outside, especially on the rooftop, but once again, they didn’t mind.
Chuuya felt himself relax. He wanted to go home, and get some good sleep. Dazai glanced at him and smiled.
He realized that it was okay if the redhead didn’t want to join the agency. He made himself a new friend instead. A short, hot-tempered, constantly screaming insults, loud friend. But he was also funny, affectionate, talented, bright. He started understanding why Chuuya was popular.
He made himself a new friend, and it was more than enough to him.
They skipped a class, staying on the rooftop.
Chill, happy high school afternoon.
***
“We outdid ourselves this time !” Tachihara said, louder than ever. “Chuuya, dude, how did you manage to improve that much ?!”
It was Monday morning, and Chuuya kept his promise about joining them next time. He shyly chuckled, scratching the back of his head. They were in class and everyone was looking at them because of the loud speaking teen.
“Thanks, but I didn’t do much—”
“Bullshit !” Tachihara happily laughed. “Damn, I wish somebody would have recorded it. Wait, Dazai probably did ! He always does !”
“Aaahh leave him out of this…” he laughed a little, then calmly smiled.
He felt better. Nothing bad has occurred, which made him calm down a little.
Everything.
Was.
Fine.
The day went well. The lessons went well. His lunchtime with Gin and Tachihara went well. Work went well.
Everything went well.
At the end of the day, he got out of the shop he was working in, and he had only one wish : Go home and rest.
Dazai took the habit of coming to the supermarket towards the end of his shift. The workers got used to him by now and they didn’t mind his presence. Sometimes, they were giving him free snacks.
Every time they went to the train station, the brunet would carry Chuuya’s work bag to help him. He pretended it was a bother, but he was happy to help.
Once they were on the train, they talked about everything and nothing. They looked at the view together. Chuuya almost fell asleep on Dazai who started poking him to keep him awake. Them being the only passengers in the wagon, bickering and laughing with no shame.
Today was a good day.
Dazaigot out of the train first, and Chuuya got out of it a little later, as usual.
He entered his flat, expecting Kouyou to greet him with good food or something hot to drink.
He removed his shoes and entered the living room.
Empty.
Okay, it happened sometimes. His sister was probably resting in her bedroom. He softly knocked at her door to ask if she needed anything.
No response.
He opened the door a tiny little bit, just to make sure she was fine.
But the bedroom was empty, the bed still neat.
It was okay. It happened as well. She probably had to help someone out at work.
He decided to call her, because it was unusual for her to not call him when she has extra work to do.
No answers, only beeping sounds.
The uneasy feeling came back to him as he got out of her bedroom. He wandered around the living room, worried.
He was about to call her again, until her phone number and name appeared on his screen. He immediately picked up the phone.
“Kouyou, hi, are you alright—”
“Are you Nakahara Chuuya ?” a deeper voice interrupted him, and Chuuya got a little scared.
“Yes, I’m her brother. Where is she ? Who are you ?”
“This is the Yokohama General Hospital.”
Chuuya listened, not saying a single word.
Once the call was over, he let his phone fall on the rug, and his knees dropped on the hard floor.
Breathing became difficult.
Nothing was fine.