Hello! This is my first Soukoku collab with QwertyTop777! (His art is great, go check it out on Instagram: _qwertytop_)

To my Danganronpa readers: No, this isn't another 11037 fic I'm sorry TwT

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His heart pounded a bruise within his chest as he endeavored to catch up to his teammates and prevail. The palms of his hands were slick with sweat, his breaths labored at uneven intervals. Gunshots sounded behind him as he ducked behind the ruins of a building just when the enemy fired bullets at his team. He was tempted to hide, to cower away as he made his way back to the frontlines. He wanted to survive until another fight, just as he had last time. But no, he thought. He couldn't. Cowardice costed him greatly last time; his teammate had been shot trying to protect him.

Swallowing thickly, he wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand as he cocked his guns.

'On the count of three', he told himself.

One.

Two.

Three.

He lunged from behind his hiding spot, firing at his opponents, attempting to buy his team more time to run away. With a yell, the last of his opponents went down like a sack of potatoes, their body limp on the ground. Before relief could seize him, a sudden pain burled through his abdomen, causing a sharp gasp to fall from his mouth. Black blossomed across his vision while he desperately tried to drag his weak body behind the ruins again. However, before his body could be completely covered by the block of cinder, another round of bullets was fired.

Blood blossomed across his vision and he realized he was about to die. Maybe his teammates would honor his death - a sacrifice to help them fight on. Maybe they would thank him for his services after he'd died. Maybe-

"CHUUYA NAKAHARA, I TOLD YOU TO STOP PLAYING THAT STUPID GAME OF YOURS!"

Chuuya nearly jumped a foot in his seat when his mother, Kouyou, hollered from the hallway. His head snapping behind his shoulder, he hastily smashed the mute button on the computer before she could scold him.

"I'M NOT!"

"YOU BETTER NOT BE, YOUNG MAN! YOU HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW!"

When Chuuya looked back at his screen after confirming that his mother was no longer peeping through the crack in his door, the words "Game Over" flashed in a deep red, taunting him.

"You screwed up so badly this time."

"Shut the fuck up," Chuuya fixed his headphones and hissed lowly, not wanting his mother to overhear, "maybe if you were better at aiming, we wouldn't have this problem."

"Ohhhh, shifting the blame now, are we?" The voice laughed from the other side.

"Shut the fuck up, or I'll swear I will kill you."

A peal of laughter, "I'd like to see you try! I highly doubt you'd kill a teammate and ruin the match for everyone," the other person paused, "but then again, I wouldn't put that past you."

"You motherfucker," Chuuya growled into his mic, squeezing his controller with a force so harsh it turned his knuckles white, "run if you want to fucking live."

"Bold of you to assume I want to live."

With a 'bloop', 'No Longer Human', his gaming partner, cut out from the voice chat, leaving Chuuya to scream profanities at the computer screen.

"Chuuya."

Chuuya caught himself before he let out another colorful string of curses at his mother.

"Mom, you HAVE to stop popping up behind me like that!"

"You're the one who isn't paying attention to your surroundings." Kouyou rolled her eyes, "dinner's up in a few, you better log off before you lose your gaming privileges."

"Alright, alright."

"And didn't I tell you not to talk to strangers?" Kouyou furrowed her eyebrows.

"Mom, I know him. He's not a stranger."

"Alright, then," Kouyou crossed her arms, giving her son an uninterested look, "tell me his name."

Chuuya's mouth gaped open, then closed, then opened again.

"Birthday? Where he lives? What college he goes to?"

Chuuya's mouth hung open like a fish, his mind as blank as a piece of paper.

Kouyou sighed, leaning against the frame of the door, "I know you're a college student, but you still have to protect your privacy. There's no telling what could happen."

"But-"

"No buts except yours coming downstairs. Also, don't you have a Chemistry final tomorrow?"

Chuuya shrunk back into his chair with a huff, placing his controller on the desk. His arms going lax against his sides, he looked down at his legs with disgruntled expression and played with his headphones that were wrapped around his neck, "I'm just going to fail it anyway, so what's the point in studying?"

"You don't have someone that could help you? A friend at school? A tutor?"

Chuuya shook his head, still avoiding his mother's gaze.

"Well, you better figure something out before tomorrow," her hand wrapped around the doorknob, "I'll be waiting."

His mother then closed the door, leaving him all alone with just his thoughts. That was, until, he heard a voice emitting from his headphones. He hastily put them back on in an attempt to hear what was said.

"-hard. I can help."

"Huh?"

"I could help you study," he repeated.

Chuuya raised an eyebrow at the offer, taking note that he had connected again, "You're not kidding, right? I highly doubt you of all people know Chemistry - let alone teach it."

"Oh, are you underestimating my abilities?"

Chuuya could practically feel the mocking tone radiating from the computer screen, "Yes. Yes, I am. You can't even fire a bullet straight to the head, what makes me think that you can do chemistry, no less?"

"I know much more than you do," the voice on the other side purred, "I'll have you know I got a solid B last year."

"H-How?"

"I'm just that smart! If you do accept my offer, I take Paypal as paymen-"

"CHUUYA NAKAHARA. DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO COME DOWN HERE FOR DINNER?"

"ALRIGHT!!" Chuuya yelled back, face turning red with embarrassment.

"...See you tonight at 8, Arahabaki."

"WHY DO YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE IT'S A DATE-"

'No Longer Human' cut off from the voice chat and Chuuya nearly flung the office chair across his room before exiting out the door with a huff.

~~~

After Chuuya had finished dinner, took a shower, and watched a little bit of TV, he slapped his bed in search of his phone to check the time.

7:56.

He wasn't sure if 'No Longer Human' would actually be waiting for him on the game, but it wouldn't hurt to check really quick, right?

Arahabaki: Are you up?

Chuuya's hands shook as he pressed enter, his fingers drumming the keyboard with each second that went by without a response. After a few minutes did 'No Longer Human' reply when Chuuya was about to close his laptop.

No Longer Human: Sadly.

No Longer Human: You still need help?

Arahabaki: Yeah, if you don't mind it.

No Longer Human: Nah, I don't. As long as I'm getting paid, I could care less.

Arahabaki: Of course.

No Longer Human: Buuuuuuuuuttttttt, this would be a looot easier if we used Discord. Do you have that?

Chuuya swallowed the lump that got lodged in his throat.

Arahabaki: Uh, yeah?

No Longer Human: Alright, cool. I'll friend you first. What's your tag?

Chuuya paused, not making any attempt to give this guy his account information. His mother would undoubtedly be mad about it, but if she wanted him to get a good grade on this test, she'd have to deal. Surely he wasn't going to turn out to be a bad person, right?

They quickly exchanged their tags and soon enough, a notification pinged, stating someone had sent a friend request. Hastily, Chuuya clicked 'accept', and as soon as he did, another ping appeared in his direct messages.

(No Longer Human): Hey loser. Hop into the voice chat, we're gonna fuck up your life and your chemistry exam.

(King of Sheep): I can and will block you.

(No Longer Human): I'd like to see you try ;) Afterall, your grade kinda depends on me at the moment and I highly doubt your mother would be happy with you once she sees you bombed it.

Chuuya was practically seething at this point. Why had he given this douche his information?

(King of Sheep): I don't have all night.

(No Longer Human): Alright, fine, hurry up and join.

He initiated the call first, the little song causing Chuuya's anxiety to spike through the roof. Chuuya took his time pressing the 'Join Call' button, his stomach dropping when his ears picked up the sound of yelling.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO FINISH THAT PAPER AGES AGO!"

"Relax! I asked the professor for an extra week on it, it's fine!" A familiar voice retorted - Chuuya had no doubt that it was 'No Longer Human,' but he wasn't sure who the other person was.

"I swear to god, Dazai," the person huffed, "you need to catch up on all your work - I know your grades are slipping."

"You think I'm not aware of that?"

"You act as though you aren't!"

"Uhhh," Chuuya's voice cracked, "should I go orrr..."

"Oh, shit- hey! No, you're fine, I just... uh..."

"Who are you talking to now?!"

"NOBODY! Get out of my room!"

"THIS IS OUR ROOM-"

"Yeah, well, for the time being, it's mine."

The sound of a door slamming shut echoed through Chuuya's headphones. He also heard Dazai, (was it?) slump down into his chair with a grunt.

"Sorry about that," Chuuya heard him huff.

"Who was that?"

"My friend, but that doesn't matter right now. Do you have your stuff ready?"

"Ah, right, gimmie a sec," Chuuya leaned over and snatched his backpack, unzipping it and thumbing through all his papers and folders until he found his binder that was dedicated to Chemistry.

"Is there anything specific you're having trouble with?"

"Not really? It's mostly just..." Chuuya trailed off, "everything?" He awkwardly laughed, cringing to himself.

Dazai chuckled from his side, "So, it's going to be a long night, huh?"

"Sorry," Chuuya apologized, getting out his pencil and elements table.

"Nahh, you're fine. Just take out something you want to work on now and describe it to me."

"Might as well just start out with the basics," Chuuya opened his binder and looked through it, "the atomic and molecular structure of atoms?"

"Well, do you know the Bohr model of the atom?"

~~~

"Yo? Are you still there?"

Chuuya's eyelids snapped open, his back straightening as he shook his head rapidly to chase off the drowsiness, "Huh? Yea-yeah. I'm still awake," he yawned, viciously rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.

"You certainly don't sound awake. You should go on and head to bed, I think we covered the gist of it."

"No, no, no, no. I'm very much awake. You were saying?"

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the line, and Chuuya wondered if Dazai had given up on him. "Dude, you need to sleep. It's what? Like midnight for you?"

"One, actually," Chuuya sucked in a breath, wiping his eyes again, trying to read the tiny numbers on his computer's screen.

"More of the reason to sleep. Rest, you'll need it tomorrow if you want to succeed. Besides, I think you've got the hang of all the topics; no need to panic, thanks to me."

"What time is it for you, anyway?"

"It doesn't matter," Dazai stated matter-of-factly, "what does matter is you getting to bed."

"Just tell me."

Dazai sighed, "two."

"In the morning?"

"What else would it be?" Dazai joked.

A sense of guilt overwhelmed him - he had kept Dazai up so late just for his own selfish desires. He was probably struggling to stay awake himself and that made Chuuya swallow thickly.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could've studied on my own."

"Be honest - you wouldn't have even opened up your backpack if it weren't for me."

Chuuya's fingers hovered over the keyboard; what Dazai said had been true, but now Chuuya felt as if he owed him something for wasting his time.

"You said you took payment with Paypal? How much do y-"

"I was kidding," Dazai snorted.

"But-"

"You don't have to pay me just for helping you out for a test."

"But I really-"

"No," Dazai sniffed, "but if you're that adamant about giving me something in return, just text what you got after the test."

"That's it?"

"Yuupp. I'm logging off now so you can go to sleep. Goodnight... uh-?"

Maybe it was because his mind was muddled, or maybe it was because he felt as if he trusted Dazai, but either way, the ginger said, "just call me Chuuya."

A moment of silence before Dazai replied, his voice light and soft, "very well. Goodnight, Chuuya," - it almost made Chuuya fall asleep right there. Groggily getting up, his head hanging down, Chuuya slowly made his way to his bed.

~~~

Kunikida shoved Dazai around the floor with his foot, whispering at him to wake up, but to Dazai's dismay, it quickly morphed into yelling. Groaning and repeatedly smacking his friend's leg, he murmured something along the lines of 'suck my ass,' and 'leave me alone.'

"Get up," Kunikida pressed his foot down on Dazai's butt, "and for the love of god, put some pants on."

"Noooo," Dazai whined, raising his ass to the air and wiggling it.

"I'm leaving here in fifteen minutes with or without you," Kunikida grunted, kicking Dazai one last time for good measure. His body rolled to the right like a ragdoll.

Kunikida smirked and opened the curtains, causing Dazai to viciously hide his face and hiss.

"Why were you even up all night?"

"Porn," Dazai responded, his voice muffled from the blankets under him.

"Shut it," Kunikida snapped, making his way back over to Dazai. He stepped on him with all his weight, making Dazai heave and gasp for air. He kept walking to his dresser and pulled out some clothes before leaving the room to change.

"Fucker," Dazai coughed, sitting up and rubbing his ribs. He stood up in defeat, his legs wobbling as he tried to stand up straight. He warily took one step, but tripped on a pillow and almost hit his head face-first on the wall.

"What are you doing?!" Kunikida yelled from the bathroom.

"Nothing, fuck off!" Dazai screamed back.

After standing in the room, rubbing at his eyes and suppressing yawn after yawn, he decided he couldn't dawdle anymore and began to rummage through his pile of clothes to find something. In the end, of course, he grabbed the same hoodie he wore every day and a random pair of black jeans. Kunikida had always chastised him for wearing dark clothes, but Dazai insisted that 'dark clothing attracts heat!'

Once Dazai had gotten dressed and gathered all his things, it was his turn in the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, hair, put on deodorant, and sprayed a little bit of axe before exiting. Kunikida was waiting at the front door, tapping his foot with a frown on his face. Dazai snatched his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, joining his friend.

"Got everything?"

"Yup!"

"Are you sure?"

"Nope!"

"Good enough for me," Kunikida exhaled, unlocking the door. Dazai was absolutely not ready for when Kunikida swung open the door - bone-chilling air harassed his face and he could already tell it was turning his nose and ears pink. Dazai groaned, knowing the temperature was going to worsen his cold.

The two didn't waste any time scrambling into the car. Dazai's fingers were red and shaky as he clicked his seatbelt on.

"You still have a cold?"

"Yeah," Dazai sniffed, wiping his nose with his sleeve, seeing Kunikida cringe from the driver's seat, "have been for a few weeks. I think it's getting worse, but I can't tell."

"Have you taken medicine for it yet?"

"We fuckin' ran out. All I want right now is a muffin and coffee," Dazai knew that Kunikida couldn't possibly say no; the situation was in his favor and he was sure as hell going to take advantage of it.

"Buy me a muffin and coffee, would you, Kunikida?" Dazai coughed into his arm to exaggerate his point, "I forgot my wallet at home."

Dazai watched as Kunikida's shoulders relaxed, his expression faltering slightly, "Fine, I'll buy you the muffin and coffee, but you buy the medicine yourself. I'm not the one who's sick, you are."

"I never knew you were such a good person, Kunikida!" Dazai held back a sneeze, the tingling sensation residing in his nose. In the back of his mind, he took a mental note to find out a way to coax his friend into going to CVS with him later.

"Shut it before I dig a muffin and coffee out of the dumpster."

"Alright, alright. No need to be so mean, Kunikida."

"I can throw you out of this car and have you walk the rest of the way if that's what you want."

"It's really not-"

"Good, then keep your mouth shut."

Dazai did as he was told and gazed out of his foggy window, watching the town fly by. Suddenly, his phone felt heavier in his back pocket. Sliding it out, he typed out a quick message.

(No Longer Human): Good morning. I'm on my way to school now and I just wanted to wish you luck. Talk to you later.

That sounded really blunt, but it was too early in the goddamn morning to worry over it. Plus, he only got a few hours of sleep, so his brain wasn't functioning as well as it had yesterday. Dazai rubbed his face with a hand, groaning internally. If he wasn't getting his coffee in ten minutes, he was going to pass out and then guilt-trip Kunikida for not getting to the cafe on time.

With half-lidded eyes, Dazai stared at the blurring scenery, his mind wishing for the day to pass by with a few blinks of the eye.

~~~

It didn't take long for Kunikida to pull up to the school and park in his spot. Gathering their things, they jumped out and hurried over to the cafe's entrance. Dazai practically slung open the door, a wave of warmth washing over his body, enveloping him in its hold. His senses filled with the scent of freshly baked goods and brewing coffee. There was no doubt he was giddy; the cafe's sweets tasted the best right in the morning - they were just right enough to wake him up and get him started on the day.

"Stay here while I go buy our breakfast," Kunikida stated, his eyes fixed on Dazai's flushed face.

"Now, now. What's the worst I can do? I'm sick, anyway." Dazai sniffs, removing his gloves.

With a click of his tongue, Kunikida disappeared into the line of students. Seizing the opportunity, Dazai decided to check his phone for any new messages on Discord. It was 7:30, so the time at Chuuyas side would be 5:30.

Perhaps Chuuya was awake to do some last-minute studying? Dazai opened the app, but his heart fell in disappointment when he saw that there were no new notifications waiting for him.

The last message he sent was 'Goodnight', in which Chuuya hadn't responded to

Dazai reloaded the page, once, twice, three times with his thumb. His frozen lips curved into a frown when nothing popped up in the chat. It was a pity that Chuuya hadn't replied yet; it would have put a little more enthusiasm in his crappy day.

"Here's your coffee and muffin." Kunikida slammed down the plastic cup with an intended force while he slid the muffin across the table.

"Thanks."

"We have thirty minutes until class starts. Hurry up and finish your food. After your classes have finished, I expect you to go buy your own medicine. Don't come crying to me when you can't; I'm not your mom." Kunikida pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he took out his books of ideals to read.

The heat of the coffee thawed Dazai's hand when he made contact with the paper around the plastic. Desperate for more warmth, Dazai placed both hands on the cup, lifting it up to his chapped lips.

The coffee warmed his throat and stomach - a momentary relief from his cold. He took delicate sips along with tiny bites from his muffin, his eyes glued to the clock the entire time. He wanted to spite Kunikida, wanted to make them leave as late as possible just so he could ruin his roommate's "perfect" schedule.

"Oi, Dazai," Kunikida looked at his watch as he stood up from his seat, "we have to leave now."

"But I'm not done with my food yet," Dazai whined, taking yet another slow sip of his coffee.

"Take it on the go or else we'll be late," Kunikida seethed, pointing at the clock in the cafe.

"Okay, okay, one more sip," Dazai drawled, taking a long, slow gulp. With every second that ticked by, Kunikida's eyes became more menacing.

After a minute, Kunikida hauled Dazai out of the seat by the front of his hoodie, lugging the protesting male out of the cafe with the muffin in his mouth and two hands gripping his coffee - it was splashing left and right. He knows he made a scene, but Kunikida was not about to have Dazai be the cause of why he's late to class.

~~~

"It's time to wake up, Chuuya," Kouyou gently shook her son's sleeping frame. She flicked on the bedside lamp, the light burning Chuuya's eyes. He moaned, turning his head the opposite way, making no attempt to get up.

"I know you stayed up all night, I heard you laughing," Kouyou's voice was hushed but stern, "what were you doing?"

Chuuya's answer was muffled, thanks to the pillows he was trying to suffocate himself in.

Kouyou sighed, "you have five minutes. If you aren't up by then, you'll be in a world of hurt."

"I already aaaammm," Chuuya cried, flinging the covers off of him, his body instantly starting to shiver. He scrunched his legs up, whining and wishing it wasn't Monday.

"If you wake up now, I'll pack you lunch for today!" His mother called from down the stairs, trying to bribe him out of bed.

Needless to say, it worked.

Chuuya scrambled off, throwing sheets around, trying to rid himself of the blankets that were tangling around his legs. He wasted no time fumbling to his dresser, ripping something warm to wear for the day. Ungracefully stuffing his papers and binder into his backpack, he threw it on his shoulder and slipped on his shoes, running as fast as he could down the stairs without stumbling.

"Blueberry or strawberry today?"

"Blueberry- also, hold it on the granola, you always put way too much," Chuuya set his things down on the floor next to the kitchen table and opened the fridge, moving the contents left and right until he found the desired jug of juice. After he filled his water bottle, he grabbed his lunch box with a smile.

"As always, you still insist on making it for me," Chuuya rolled his eyes, "I'm practically a grown man, y'know."

"Yes, but the last time you did it yourself, you forgot to put the ice pack and there and complained all day that your yogurt was 'snotty'."

Chuuya visibly bristled and turned away with a scowl.

"Don't forget to put ice in your drink," she cooed, twirling the ring of keys around her finger.

Chuuya growled, "I didn't forget," he lied, "they have ice machines at school."

"Sure," she sang, "and you're alright with walking there?"

"It's not that far," Chuuya shrugged, "I'm fine."

"Alright, I'll see you when you get home," his mother waved goodbye and made her way to work.

Chuuya was left alone in the kitchen, so he decided it'd be best to just start walking. He'd get there in less than an hour and he'd have extra time to mess with his friends before his EMT classes started. Closing and locking the door with his set of keys, he pulled out his phone and looked through his notifications. Eyes widening, his finger hovered over a discord message alert.

(No Longer Human): Good morning. I'm on my way to school now and I just wanted to wish you luck. Talk to you later.

Chuuya's breath hitched in his throat as he looked down at the message - Dazai had sent that a few hours ago, which pushed him all the more to reply, his fingers shaking from the cold.

(King of Sheep): Morning! Sorry I didn't respond earlier, I was sleeping. My Chemistry class is in the afternoon, so I still have time to study before the test. I hope your day is going well so far - I just wanted to say thank you again for helping me out.

Chuuya started his trek to school, but his phone vibrated right after he put it in his hoodie's pocket.

(No Longer Human): It's good you have some extra time. My days are never good, but thanks for asking. Also, it really wasn't a problem.

(King of Sheep): I bet they are good, you're just being stubborn about it.

(No Longer Human): 🙄

(King of Sheep): Edge alert.

(No Longer Human): Yeah yeah whateverrrrrrrr

(No Longer Human): Oh shit

(No Longer Human): Lunch is over, so I gtg. See you later, loser.

(King of Sheep): You're such an ass.

(No Longer Human): 💖

Chuuya shoved his phone in his pocket, not daring to turn it back on and respond. Honestly, Dazai pissed him off - the ginger didn't know what to think of him. At some times he was nice, but others, a complete douche. He debated if he should keep texting him or just say thanks for the tutoring and leave it at that.

He'd wait and see.

Hell, maybe this fucker could actually be interesting.

On second thought, probably not.

~~~

"Did you study for the exam?" A figure slid from the shadows, stepping in front of Chuuya when he rounded the corner after he had ascended the stairs.

Reflexively, Chuuya threw a sidekick at the man in front of him, his foot directed at the figure's face. In a swift motion, the man ducked and then did Chuuya noticed that it had only been his emo, stinky, skunk-looking friend.

"You're going to get suspended for kicking a teacher one day when they catch you off guard and wish you a good morning."

Chuuya's tense body relaxed, his shoulders sagging, "Oh, it's just you, Akutagawa. Holy fuck- and those are my reflexes, I can't change how fast they react to my surroundings."

Akutagawa frowns, shoving his hands into his oversized black hoodie, "whatever." He turned around and left Chuuya behind - presumably going to the cafeteria to meet up with the others. Chuuya almost tripped in his haste to catch up, accidentally scuffing the back of Akutagawa's shoes.

"Anna ou," Chuuya wheezed.

Akutagawa tch'd and kicked Chuuya back, which soon turned into a full-blown 'lets kick each other as hard as we can,' as they fought each other to the cafeteria, keeping mind of the teachers. It shifted to shoving and once Chuuya was the one to enter the cafeteria first, he pushed Akutagawa as hard as he could and booked it to the table where Gin and Tachihara were waiting, Akutagawa high on his tail.

Chuuya used the table as a makeshift shield, hands splayed over the top with Akutagawa snarling from the opposite side. When Akutagawa moved to the right, Chuuya, from his side, turned to the left.

"Can't catch me, bitch," Chuuya taunted, a devilish smirk crawling its way up to his features.

"Guys-"

Akutagawa slammed his shoe on the bench, raising himself up to jump over to his victim.

"You wouldn't-"

"I would," Akutagawa retorted.

"Guys, I really think-"

Gin rolled her eyes, knowing whatever Tachihara said to coax them to stop would only prove to be futile. Still sitting down in her spot, she grabbed the back of her brother's jacket and yanked him backward.

Chuuya grinned in triumph and plopped down in his seat, smiling innocently at Akutagawa who had his arms crossed and was fuming.

"Aint it crazy?" Chuuya asked, resting his chin on his palm, staring at Akutagawa just to piss him off.

"What?" Tachihara asked.

"I haven't heard Akutagawa cough at all in the past few minutes. You think he finally got rid of his illness?"

"THAT'S IT!" Akutagawa roared, slinging himself over the table to try and get a hold of Chuuya any way that he could.

~~~

The day flashed by and with each class, Chuuya's anxiety increased. Every spare moment he had, he was thinking about the night before - Dazai helping him with his soft, deep voice, that just lulled him to sleep without actually teaching him anything. Of course, in the beginning, he caught on pretty easily to all that Dazai had said. He helped him with equations, formulas, elements, and basically, everything Chuuya had asked him to.

Which is why he felt bad.

He felt bad that with each minute that ticked by, he was forgetting things and jumbling up answers. And when 5th hour, also known as his Chemistry class, rolled up, Chuuya thought about ditching. He thought about cheating - he thought about anything he could possibly do to either skip it or ace it without actually doing the work.

He remembered how hard Dazai tried to help him - when Chuuya asked to repeat something or that he didn't understand, Dazai wasn't rude about it. Dazai told him, in detail, what to do and how to do it.

Chuuya defeatedly slumped in his seat and pulled out his phone. His stomach was churning and his throat was clogging up; he couldn't do this.

He couldn't fail.

He couldn't let Dazai down.

He couldn't let his mom down.

(King of Sheep): Hey

(King of Sheep): I'm so sorry.

Dazai was quick to respond.

(No Longer Human): Are you okay? What's wrong?

Chuuya sucked in a breath as he tapped at his keyboard. Once he pressed enter, he slapped his phone face-down on the desk, not wanting to look at what Dazai had to say.

He couldn't.

He wouldn't.

He turned his phone on and peeked.

(No Longer Human): Calm down, I know you'll do great - and hey, even if you don't, I'm still proud of you. The fact that you tried is good enough for me and good enough for your mom, believe me.

(No Longer Human): I have to go, but remember this, alright? If you don't remember something, just try and think back to last night.

(No Longer Human): You can do this. I believe in you. Good luck, little sheep.

'Little sheep'......?

Chuuya rubbed his face with a shaky hand and closed his eyes, reassuring himself that he could if he had confidence as he put his phone away.

He could do this.

Dazai believed in him.

His mother believed in him.

As the professor walked into the room, Chuuya's heartbeat picked up its pace, his palms sweating and his throat had suddenly gone dry. He forced himself to relax by cracking his knuckles, an unhealthy habit which Kouyou had drilled him about, but nonetheless, it helped him get rid of his anxiety. All he had to do was test for an hour, and it would be over.

"You may begin."

An hour and counting.