After an agonisingly long car ride, and reluctantly leaving Akutagawa on the side of the street somewhere. Atsushi and Tanizaki had finally made it to Dazai and Chuuya's hotel. They got out of the car hurriedly, closing the car as they jogged from the car towards the entrance of the hotel.

A woman with round golden coloured glasses and black hair that was styled in a messy bun sat there. The moment her golden eyes landed on the two boys her brain immediately recognised them, she scrambled from her chair fixing her uniform slightly, grabbing something hastily.

Tanizaki was about to ask what room they needed to be in but she seemed to already know. 
"Room two hundred and sixty-five, fifth floor!" The woman spoke,
Tanizaki eyed her curiously, shaking his head slightly as they ran before turning around waving at her, Atsushi following suit, giving her a wave of gratitude as well.
"thank you so much!" He shouted, she looked surprised, her eyes widening, lifting her hand slightly to wave shyly back at them.

"President has probably already told them about what's going on" Tanizaki called back from a little way in front of Atsushi.

They made it to dazai and Chuuya's room, however, before they entered Tanizaki activated his ability. Creating a small illusion that the two had gotten the wrong room number and turned in the opposite direction. Precautions were necessary.

The two Agency members entered their colleague's room, closing the door tightly behind them, turning the lock on it too, just for good measure.
Atsushi emerged from the corridor, into the dimly lit room, his dual coloured eyes falling to quite an admittedly pathetic, yet oddly heart-warming sight.

Chuuya sat with his back to the radiator, his knees pressed up to his chest wrapping Dazai's coat lay on his head, draping down his shoulders, the brunets his blue shirt wrapped around his torso tightly. Although he looked quite pitiful, both younger boys felt an immense feeling of sympathy for him.
"Atsushi? Why are you here?" Chuuya questioned, his voice hoarse at the beginning of the sentence then gradually smoothing out by the end.
Atsushi walked to him, crouching down beside him and hugging him tightly. The older's slender hands shyly gripped at the inside of Atsushi's biceps, sniffling slightly.
"We came to check on you and give you some support, maybe some help too." Atsushi finally replied, looking back at Tanizaki who simply nodded before turning around, beginning a leisurely pace around the hotel room, looking for any potential clues. Chuuya nodded feeling embarrassed by this, being comforted by someone younger than him and who's in the Agency took a bit of a stab at his pride
"Don't be embarrassed, I'd have been the same you know?" Atsushi smiled. Chuuya pouted,
"Shut up..." he mumbled shyly.

Meanwhile, Atsushi plopped himself in front of Chuuya taking his hands for comfort
"Has it gotten any better?"
"Yeah a little, I'm still shaking and my throat hurts really badly, like I'm choking on my own blood or spit, but it's tolerable." the ginger spoke subconsciously tightening hold on the younger's hands, his eyes travelling slowly towards where the door used to be.

The weretiger followed Chuuya's gaze, his own eyes now meeting with a plain white wall.
"Can't you speak to Dazai through the wall?" Atsushi questioned
"No, I can't hear anything and I don't think he can either..." The ginger mumbled, looking down at his feet, which he shuffled weirdly, puffing his cheeks in embarrassment.
"I really want to be with Dazai right now...god it's so fucking embarrassing" Chuuya mumbled whilst Atsushi grinned happily
"Don't worry I'd feel exactly the same if it was me and Ryuu." He paused then started again
"You must really like him" Atsushi added, Chuuya's face flushed
"Don't say it out loud it makes me want to dig a hole and never come back up again.

They sat like that with Tanizaki appearing and disappearing from the corridor and back. Chuuya felt much better having someone with him, though he couldn't speak much, thanks to the pain that would resurface in his throat. Meanwhile, Kunikida had called a few times to check on the situation only to get more aggravated and annoyed at the fact that Dazai was still trapped inside. And considering Chuuya had said his symptoms had gotten worse it was a safe bet to say that Dazai's had too.

"We're gonna have to knock down the wall eventually, Dazai might be coping with worse, who knows what's happening to him," Tanizaki spoke, looking out the window, thinking about how he missed Dazai's craziness around the office.
"Even if we tear it down, we'll need to move Chuuya and Dazai to another hotel as soon as possible, also aren't we going to have to pay?" The silver-haired male spoke.

Chuuya could care less about what happened once Dazai came out of the bathroom, he just wanted to be with him and make the pain go away, as well as find out if the brunet was okay.

About half an hour passed and just as Tanizaki was on the phone with Kunikida, to talk about breaking the wall and the complications behind it a tired yet familiar voice filled the room.

"my, my what have we here~?"

Tanizaki, Atsushi and Chuuya all whipped their heads round in the direction of the bathroom, only to find out that the wall was no longer there but a tall brunet man was instead.

To say that Dazai looked horrible was nothing short of the truth, he looked worse than horrible, his bandages were coming off revealing parts of his scarred skin, the tips of his dark brown hair were stuck to his forehead -from all the sweat- his eyes looked glossy and his skin was incredibly pale (unlike his usual tanned complexion) making the bags under his eyes more prominent. 
"Dazai-san..."Atsushi's breathed out, his eyes beginning to water as he looked at the state that Dazai was in, he had never seen him look so bad, the entire time he had known him.

Atsushi jumped up immediately and  wrapped his arms around Dazai, encasing him in a hug, not evening allowing the brunet to wiggle his arms out so he could hug him back.

Dazai chuckled and closed his eyes momentarily leaning his head into Atsushi's hair, he then peeked his eyes open, finding Chuuya on the floor.

Dazai's hazel eyes met Chuuya's blue ones, staring at one another. The brunet analysed how Chuuya looked, subconsciously taking a mental picture of him. His sand coloured coat draped over his head, his blue shirt hanging off of his shoulders, the smaller looked so vulnerable like that. The light was reflecting off of  his puffy eyes, making them shine, beautifully. Chuuya just sat and watched as Dazai stared, feeling too tired to move.

Atsushi finally let go allowing Dazai to be free from his grip. Not wasting even a second Dazai walked over to Chuuya, squatting right in front of him pulling the mafioso's legs down flat, Dazai sat down, placing his legs over Chuuya's so he was hugging him like a koala, he then rested his head on Chuuya's shoulder, a deep sigh of relief leaving his lips.

"Dazai-san we're gonna have to move you away from here." Tanizaki spoke, Dazai lifted his hand waving it in lazy dismissal.
"Yeah, yeah, we'll move tomorrow I'm not moving a limb or separating from chibi here." Dazai mumbled not moving his head to even glance at the two, breathing deeply as his pain subsided.

"Da-Dazai?" Chuuya stuttered, looking at the brunet in surprise, wrapping his arms around Dazai's back hesitantly. Chuuya looked at Atsushi, in utter confusion, the younger boy shrugged before he pointed over to the door to show he was going to leave the two of them be.

The two sat in that position for while and the longer it went on, the more Chuuya's concern and questions grew. Dazai shuffled around for the first time moving his head so that his nose was buried in the crook of Chuuya's neck. When Chuuya's Azur eyes glanced down at Dazai's, he noticed how peaceful Dazai looked and he too felt glad that the brunet was with him.
"Dazai....?"
"Hmmm?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah...much better"
"Did anything happen to you, did it worsen?" There was a pause, silence followed as the shorter unknowingly held a breath in,
"Yeah... I had a really bad migraine, never want to go through that again. Thought I was going to die!" Chuuya couldn't help but laugh when Dazai said that, his brown eyes widened as if the thought of dying was absurd and considering it was Dazai, it really shouldn't be absurd.

"What?" Dazai chuckled,
Chuuya pulled Dazai away from him, so they could stare at one another.
"You're a big idiot."
"And you're a short one." Dazai returned, the ginger pouted lightly punching the detective in the shoulder, Dazai pretended to collapse onto the floor, slinging his lanky arm over his eyes causing to Chuuya break into a fit of giggles. Dazai peeked from under his arm, watching the older laugh with a soft smile, for the first time in his life, his usually numb body felt a fuzziness take over, the feeling made him feel like his body was floating, he had never felt this before, sure he had felt his heart beat fast before, both due to adrenaline, nervousness, surprise and many more, after all, no matter how horrible is mental state was, he was still human.

But this feeling, this fluffiness, comfort, like he was floating in the air, was something he had never experienced before, it made him feel like he was alive..... it made him, of all people feel alive. And that feeling came from the one and only Chuuya Nakahara, who was sitting in between his legs, laughing wholeheartedly. That's when Dazai realised this feeling wasn't a small crush, he loved him, he loved Chuuya Nakahara, his ex-partner and the smallest Port mafia executive that Dazai had the pleasure of being partnered up with.

As the taller came to that conclusion, a smile spread on his face, tears pooled in his eyes.

The taller didn't realise he was staring at Chuuya, causing the latter to stop laughing.
"Do I have something on my face?" the smaller questioned,
"Yeah, ugliness" Chuuya pouted whacking Dazai on the stomach
"Not like you can say much" The ginger retorted, with a scoff
"How incredibly blind of you, slug. I would need to have a charming, and an incredibly handsome face, if I am to commit suicide with a beautiful maiden" Chuuya, raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms
"What's with grammar, you Sherlock Holmes or something?"
"Well, I am a mighty good detective" Dazai commented lifting his index finger, waving it around as he spoke.

Chuuya took Dazai's hand softly,
holding it, then Dazai turned his hand so that their palms were touching, comparing the size difference.

Chuuya used to have bigger hands than Dazai when they were younger, it was the one thing Chuuya had bigger than him, at least to Dazai's knowledge. The feeling of their skin touching in such an intimate manner, made both the males feel incredibly fuzzy. Dazai clasped his long fingers around Chuuya's smaller ones, letting his hand fall to his stomach along with Chuuya's, holding onto it tightly, Chuuya's eyes looked up at Dazai's face, feeling his breath get taken away. Sure, Dazai looked tired but he still looked handsome, with his hair falling onto his face in just the right places, some of the loose ends of his bandages laid sprawled out onto the floor, chocolate eyes on Chuuya.

Chuuya turned red, pulling his hand away in embarrassment, although he regretted it only seconds after.
"Can we go sleep?" Dazai asked, sitting up with a lazy groan,
"It's only six in the evening" Chuuya returned, frowning slightly
"Doesn't matter, with the amount of pain my body tolerated in that room, I'd be able to sleep for a year." Dazai huffed, Chuuya could understand that so nodded silently, feeling bad about the fact that he hadn't experienced anything as significantly bad as that. His eyebrows furrowed standing up immediately, startling Dazai slightly, Chuuya placed one hand on his hip the other reached the other towards Dazai, not looking him in the eyes
"Let's go then" Chuuya exhaled, frowning as he looked at him. Dazai smiled, taking his hand gratefully.

The mafioso hoisted the detective upwards, their bodies coming into close proximity of each other, definitely a violation of their personal bubbles- then again being partnered with Dazai was always a violation of personal space. Nonetheless, the closeness made the smaller's body flutter, part of him told him to push the taller away, the other wanted to grab his head and start making out. Instead, however, he glanced nervously upwards, making their eyes meet again.

Dazai noticed Chuuya's pretty eyes widen in surprise, noticing that his face was reddening ever so slightly, the detective smirked
"So you are falling for me." Dazai whispered in Chuuya's ear his breath making the mafioso shiver. Chuuya's breath hitched, feeling Dazai's hands circle around his waist, hands dangerously close to his ass. It made Chuuya unsure of where to put his own hands.
"D-Dazai..." He stuttered looking up, feeling how the air surrounding them was filling with tension, his expression was soft and almost lusty, Chuuya wasn't sure though and would rather not confuse himself. Despite the situation Chuuya didn't feel uncomfortable, he just wasn't used to this feeling of closeness and the pleasant dizziness that was possessing his body. In all honesty, he wanted more, to be touched more by Dazai, only by Dazai.

Dazai chuckled lowly, lowering himself ever so slightly so that their lips were only centimetres away from each other. He then suddenly slipped his hand down, making Chuuya squeak, hoisting the smaller on his shoulder, cutting the seemingly sexual tension swiftly. The mafioso now found himself dangling from Dazai's shoulder, the brunet's hands carefully handling the smaller's backside, making sure to not touch anything that would make the latter uncomfortable. Chuuya's heart felt like it would explode any second, hiding his face with his hands, feeling like he could have a heart attack any second.

Dazai wasted no time, throwing himself along with Chuuya -who was his still on his shoulder- straight onto the bed, Chuuya yelped, flopping onto the bed helplessly, his hips trapped in between Dazai and the bed.

The detective sighed happily, but his smile soon faltered when he realised something
"Chuuya?" He spoke turning his head to look at Chuuya's face who was returning his gaze, albeit more lighthearted than his.
"Yeah?"
"How did you know about my symptoms worsening, earlier on?
"Well, it worsened for me too..." Chuuya replied, averting his eyes to look at the ceiling, that familiar feeling like he was coughing up blood or saliva still very much alive in his memory. Dazai sat up, turning his body towards Chuuya, giving him his full attention
"What was it?" Dazai asked causing Chuuya to grumble, not too keen on recalling the unpleasant sensation.
"Coughing, really badly, it felt as if I was choking on my own blood or something of the sort." He spoke clutching his neck, massaging it as to get rid of the feeling.
"Chuuya-" Dazai spoke with a pause, his face fixing hardly onto
"Yeah?..." Dazai looked down at his lap, silence enveloping the two of them. The detective looked up slowly, creating an unfamiliar tension between the two
"Do you feel anything when you use corruption?" The question came off as a surprise to Chuuya, it was definitely not what he was expecting.
"Yeah I can see and feel everything but it's subdued and I can't control it," Chuuya spoke thoughtfully.
"I see..."
"How come you're asking me this?"
"No reason, in particular, just curiosity" Chuuya narrowed his eyes, knowing that he was lying, Dazai had never questioned corruption up until now, but ultimately he decided not to say anything else.

Dazai meanwhile had crawled under the covers, pulling them up to his nose, desperate for warmth, snuggling his head deeper into the pillow and covers, Chuuya wasted no time joining him. They were facing each other but there was still an established distance between them, for reasons they both couldn't name.

The brunet didn't want that, so he shuffled towards Chuuya, shimmying forwards so he could snuggle into the smaller's chest, sighing deeply, allowing himself to be vulnerable. Chuuya curled his hands through the younger's hair, twirling the strands around his fingers, both of them falling asleep quickly.

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The warm rays of winter sunshine seeped through the white curtains by the window, two birds sat perched side by side on the windowsill outside, chirping happily at one another, probably pleased at the subtle warmth the sun was giving.

Chuuya awoke slowly, his body feeling numb and warm, he was facing towards the window, eyes landing on the two birds outside, he spent a few minutes just watching them, letting his tired eyes adjust to the light and his brain to wake up, unlike usual when he would stare at his phone screen for a good ten minutes before even considering getting up.

Slowly his previously blurry vision completely adjusted, he was awake now. Chuuya considered getting up, but then he heard shuffling behind him and remembered that Dazai was behind him. Chuuya turned around, expecting to see Dazai awake, but much to his surprise he wasn't, he was fast asleep, his bandaged arms tucked under his pillow, soft mussed brown hair trickling over his face yet not obstructing Chuuya's view of it.

The older, in all his years, that he had slept next to Dazai had never seen him asleep, Dazai was just that type of person, secretive, never allowing himself to be seen in a vulnerable position and when you are asleep, you are the most vulnerable. Chuuya's heart was beating loudly, staring at the taller, with a panicked expression, taking in the view as much as he could, until it would all be over. Dazai stirred slightly, moving his head somewhat forward, Chuuya's expression finally relaxed, his lips forming into a smile, hesitantly he reached his hand out towards Dazai's face, using his middle and index fingers to move some of his hair from his face, tucking it softy behind his ear. Chuuya waited to see if the latter would move or wake up, but he never did.

Chuuya shuffled closer to him, admiring his sleeping face, moving his arm to trace his fingers on the edges of Dazai's bandages. He went through this pattern of running his fingers through his hair, tucking it behind his ears and then sliding his fingers down his bandages for a good ten minutes.

"Well aren't you a hopeless romantic?" Dazai's groggy yet charming morning voice spoke over the birds chirping, Chuuya retracted his hand quickly in shock and to hide the fact he had done that.
"Hey no it's okay, that felt nice" Chuuya made eye contact with him, a soft smile was on the brunet's face, eyes half-lidded from just waking up
"'m'sorry, I woke you." Chuuya mumbled shyly, listening to what Dazai had said earlier, continuing to run his slender fingers through his hair, along with his bandages.
"It's fine, I wouldn't mind waking up like this more often." Dazai muttered bashfully. Chuuya felt his eyes water when he thought that maybe Dazai was finally beginning to trust him. Dazai trusted him in moments that were life or death but not moments like these, but now maybe Dazai did. Chuuya closed his eyes, blocking any of his tears from escaping, he giggled slightly

"I wouldn't mind waking up like this either."

Dazai and Chuuya sat in bed much longer than planned, the only time they moved was to shift into another position once various body parts went numb, the other time was to pick up their phones...and put them on silent.

The two were too caught up in the serene silence and cosiness of their bed, it was just the right temperature of warm, their bodies were in absolute consolation, fitting perfectly with one another, both of them never wanting to leave the comfort of their heaven-like cocoon. 

Even when they heard voices and approaching footsteps, neither of the males made any sort of attempt to move. Chuuya was now half asleep, his nose nuzzled in Dazai's hair. Meanwhile, Dazai was awake but found comfort in laying with his eyes closed, dozing off here and there.

"I never expected the rumours to be true, annoyingly enough they remind me of Akutagawa-Senpai and the
Man-tiger" Dazai peered his eyes open ever so slightly, his vision blurry at first, yet he could still make out who was standing at the doorway, kyōyō and Higuchi. They stood together eyeing the sleeping males, both wearing comfortable clothing, clearly just taking the time out of their day to help just for the fun of it (although Higuchi was just trying to get on Dazai's good side because of Akutagawa's approval), however that didn't stop the blonde from being more than fascinated with the two's intimacy, Dazai wasn't surprised, considering the number of times Higuchi must have sat in Chuuya's office with Akutagawa, hearing the ginger whine on and on about how much he hated him.
"You two were supposed to get up two hours ago" Kyōyō spoke calmly, though annoyance was clearly present, none of them said anything, they just tightened their grip on each other
"it's comfy" Dazai whined, the smaller by this point had awoken, glaring daggers at both Kyōyō and Higuchi
"I don't want to move anee-san" the ginger complained pulling Dazai's head closer to his chest burying his face in Dazai's brown locks, even more, his slender fingers grabbing onto the duvet, pulling the soft covers over their heads, not really registering how clingy he was being to Dazai, in front of Higuchi, whom he wasn't close with and was under the impression that he brimmed with hatred for the taller male.

"Chuuya Nakahra and Dazai Osamu get yourselves out of bed right now or I'll drag you both out myself"  Kyōyō shouted sternly, throwing their new hotel keys on the bed. Dazai and Chuuya grumbled with a sigh.

Chuuya was the first to get up with an unbelievably big frown stapled onto his face, he walked out of the bedroom and towards the bathroom, eyes meeting with Kyōyō admiring the wine cups that sat on the kitchen table top, she looked at them, a sigh escaping her lips as she averted her eyes towards Chuuya, both their ocean-like orbs meeting.
"We'll talk later." The ginger woman simply said, Chuuya scratched the back of his head, nervously giving a small nod replying with an incoherent 'alright' before entering the bathroom.

He closed the door behind him, pressing his back on it, running a hand through his hair, he knew exactly what she was going to say: 'don't get close to him, don't fall for it Chuuya, he had already deduced that all this time Kyōyō was more aware of his feelings towards the brunet man than he was. She had always tried to keep him from realising this, to prevent him from getting hurt, to save his teenage heart from being broken, by someone who- at the time of being in Port Mafia- was not worth it. Thinking back to it, it was definitely a good thing that Kyōyō did that, if Chuuya had realised that he harboured these feelings when Dazai was in the Mafia, finding out that Dazai had left without a word, he would have probably started breaking down right in the middle of Mori's office.

Instead, he brushed it off until he got home and when the undeniable truth ended up making its way into his heart, he opened some wine and broke down on the kitchen floor.

Whilst Chuuya was in the bathroom, the younger brunet man emerged from the bedroom, hair messy, bandages falling, even more, revealing parts of his scarred skin, he didn't mind, however, knowing Higuchi was downstairs now, waiting in the car. Kyōyō, as harsh as she could have been to him at times, she did care. Of course, the detective was well aware that she had a soft spot for Chuuya, however, it didn't mean she didn't care for Dazai either, she just liked him less because of his cold, unwelcoming and blood-curdling way of behaving sometimes, but that was in the Mafia days.

The woman sighed, seating herself at the kitchen isle
"Kyōyō-san I-" She raised her hand shaking her head simultaneously
"It's alright Dazai, you are both adults now, I am in no position to oppose or stop you, plus...You seem like a changed man." the executive spoke
"Doesn't excuse anything..." Dazai mumbled guiltily. Kyōyō shook her head
"You are changing, that's the important part. You and Chuuya had always been close, even if you fought and argued, in an odd way that's what brought you closer. You were both just teenagers who were victims to the Mafia, I'm sure if you had met under different circumstances, the outcome would have been the same." Dazai looked down at his feet, it was true, they were victims to poor lives, to the Mafia, to abilities (both a blessing and a curse) and of course to life itself.
"I liked Chuuya back then too, I just wasn't aware of it. " Dazai admitted, walking towards the counter, standing across from her, his eyes held no weight, no menace, just mellowness, softness, vulnerability, Kyōyō mentally noted; this wasn't the Dazai Osamu she used to know, he was long gone.

"I always have liked Chuuya, he made me feel like a teenager, even if it was for a small moment, we went to the arcade and messed around, pulled pranks on each other and even spent days off together with the excuse that we had no other choice. He made me experience a childhood, at least as much of childhood that we were permitted ." The brunet confessed, holding eye contact with the woman. Dazai had always felt like this, that Chuuya had brought about experiences he wouldn't have been able to live through without Chuuya by his side, it was one of many things he was very grateful to Chuuya for. Kyōyō nodded, taken aback by Dazai expressing his feelings so outwardly especially for someone he claimed to hate Ninety per cent of the time.
"Kyōyō-San...I have something to tell you."

It was almost like a wave completely enveloped her, she felt relief wash over her, she felt nothing but happiness from what she was told, her eyes teared up beautifully, looking at Dazai with the utmost affection.
"I'm glad." The woman spoke, finally feeling at peace with the idea of Chuuya and Dazai being together.

The two put the conversation aside, Kyōyō asked about the incident from the cafe and Dazai was completely fine with elaborating. Meanwhile, Chuuya emerged from the bathroom, no longer looking like a dying corpse; instead, his milky skin glowed and radiated prettily, his hair was now combed yet his curly locks still remained. Chuuya's eyes averted from Kyōyō straight to Dazai, eyeing him suspiciously, Dazai noticed, shrugging with a mischievous smirk, not missing the opportunity to make his mind wander. The detective got up flicking Chuuya on the forehead
"Ow! You suicide freak! That fucking hurt!" Chuuya swore, lifting his foot and to take his slipper, throwing it at the younger male, causing Dazai to run into the bathroom for cover, laughing as he did so, he closed the door for a moment, then poked his head out, sticking his tongue out at the ginger, earning him another hit with Chuuya's other slipper -which, unfortunately, hit the door instead of Dazai's face.

Chuuya sighed stretching his back, still cussing out the brunet, then picked up his shoes from wherever they ended up. Kyōyō lifted her hand to her mouth letting out a giggle, causing Chuuya to eye her with a small smile, however it quickly deflated as he remembered what he told her before walking into the bathroom a mere five minutes ago.

Chuuya, now resorted to making food, placing some bread into a toaster, getting the wine glasses Dazai had bought, unaware of the small smile creeping onto his lips
"Dazai bought them, didn't he?" Kyōyō questioned, a small smile on her lips, head leaning onto her palm, she didn't even have to turn around and look to know what the younger's expression was like. Chuuya swirled around looking at her with wide eyes. The woman still stayed in her spot, not turning around to meet his gaze. A blush began to tint the shorter's cheeks, he glanced down at the cups, then in the opposite direction to Kyōyō, clearing his throat
"Y-yeah they were, so what? He mumbled, Kyōyō laughed again
"You don't have to be so secretive about your feelings, I figured you felt like this ever since you were sixteen after all" Chuuya finally looked at her, his gaze softening
" I was gonna ask you about that...." Kyōyō gave a hum and nod as encouragement for him to keep speaking.
"I didn't know I liked him until I asked Atsushi-"
"The man-tiger that Akutagawa-Kun likes?" The woman interrupted
"Yeah, him... I figured since he and Akutagawa seem so deeply infatuated with one another, he'd help me out. That, and he's around Dazai every day." Chuuya continued, as he spread some butter and jam on his toast, putting some extra pieces in the toaster.
"And did he?"
"Yeah... He told me I was likely comfortable around the idiot so I didn't feel like I was on cloud nine all the time, unlike most people. He said that for me I probably only react when Dazai does something...more out of character. And when I thought about it, he was completely right. Though now that I think about it, I always felt like this, it's just in the Mafia..."
"The bad side of him outweighed the good" Kyōyō continued, Chuuya nodded, his motions stopping briefly, inadvertently tightening his hold on the butter knife.
"There's no reason to be upset about it. It's completely normal to feel hurt about your past with him, considering how he was sometimes but he's different isn't he?" Kyōyō responded,
Chuuya turned around slowly, his eyes immediately meeting Kyōyō's, who was now facing him.
"He's insufferable, annoying and a suicide loving idiot...but, he's- he's-"
"Made his way into the deepest crevice of your heart and laid dormant there until recently."
Kyōyō finished again, Chuuya turned back around, covering his face with his hands, eyes tightly shut as if it could blind him from the truth because that was the truth, Dazai was so deeply engraved in Chuuya's heart that even if he tried to separate from him, it would be impossible, it would be like separating half of himself. 
"Yeah.." Chuuya finally replied, sighing into his hands.

Kyōyō hummed, pleasantly surprised with how the two's males relationship had developed over the years.
"I think Dazai was a very broken individual when he was younger, who suffered a lot more than we could imagine." Kyōyō finally said she was planting a reminder that the man -contrary to popular belief- was, in fact, a fragile human who had experienced a less than fulfilling life. Kyōyō had the sinking feeling that if Chuuya was careless about what he said and didn't think carefully about when he decided to bite his tongue, the consequences would end up being dire.

As if it was planned, Dazai sprinted into the kitchen, now showered and clean. He crept up behind Chuuya snatching the half-eaten piece of toast from the smaller's hand, Chuuya glared at him as they all sat down and talked to each it her about little nothings.

It only lasted for around twenty minutes until finally Chuuya and Dazai got dressed and then all left.

━━━━✦❘༻❤️‍🩹༺❘✦━━━━

" Atsushi..."
"Hmm? What is it??"
"There's bunny-shaped ice cream can we get it?"
"Oi, stop emptying the Jinko's pocket Kyouka"
"Akutagawa! It's fine Kyouka-chan I'll get us some." Akutagawa huffed uselessly, causing Kyouka to glare stiffly at him. The young teen had warmed up ever so slightly towards Akutagawa but her mind could never fail to forget the poor treatment she had received from him a little more than a year and a half ago. Slowly she was accepting that he was part of her dark past and felt slightly empathetic towards him, and he made Atsushi happy.

"Do you want some Akutagawa?" Atsushi asked, trying his best to make it seem like his heart wasn't crying for his wallet. Akutagawa, however, was observant, not failing to take notice that the weretiger's gloved hand involuntarily squeezed his wallet.
"I'll buy them let's go" Akutagawa stated, Kyouka's eyes sparkled, taking Atsushi by the hand quickly, not allowing him to protest.

"Wow, this tastes really good! You have a good eye Kyouka-chan! " Atsushi complimented petting her on the head, she nodded enthusiastically, enjoying the praise. She stopped for a moment eyeing Akutagawa and then shuffling closer to him
"Can-can I try some of yours?" She asked, voice shying away, Akutagawa stared dumbfounded for a moment, before hesitantly nodding, leaning his hand forward, so that his ice cream was closer to Kyouka's mouth, he noticed her bright eyes sparkle in anticipation, causing him to unknowingly break into a small smile.

One lick of Akutagawa's ice cream and her tastebuds exploded, it was delicious in every way shape and form, Kyouka found herself taking much more than she should have. Atsushi noticed and was about to tell her off but he couldn't even get a word out. Akutagawa grabbed Kyouka's hand (with as much care as he could muster) clasping it tightly around his ice cream. Kyouka automatically gripped onto the wooden stick tightly, her eyes meeting with her former superior, his eyes were gentle and comforting to look at, strangely Kyouka found herself feeling at peace
"here, have it," Akutagawa affirmed, pushing her hand towards her, she looked down at the two ice creams she now possessed. She then glanced at Atsushi, noticing him looking at Akutagawa lovingly.

Kyouka smiled brightly, her blue eyes meeting Akutagawa's dark ones
"thank you Akutagawa-san." she spoke, specifically choosing to use the honorific. The mafioso covered his mouth, looking away from her as masked his embarrassment with an incredibly obvious fake cough. The three now sat together on the side of the pavement, in comfortable silence, unaware of the eyes watching them from across the street.

"Now that was a sight to behold" Dazai whistled his torso spread across Chuuya's lap allowing himself to look out the window, where the three sat. Dazai then turned his attention to Chuuya, surprised that he wasn't being viciously smacked around the head for leaning over him, yet he found him smiling proudly at Akutagawa, Dazai's eyes darting between the two.

"Don't look at me like that, am I not allowed to be proud of the subordinate that you failed?" Chuuya asked not peeling his eyes away from Akutagawa who was now on the verge of laughing at Atsushi who had managed to get ice cream on his nose.

The brunet sighed, unable to argue with that, he hadn't treated Akutagawa right in the least, he was painfully aware of how much it affected the younger as well. Dazai had never wanted a subordinate, he wanted to be as detached from people as possible (though it failed miserably when he met Chuuya and he somehow took an odd liking to him) he didn't need a subordinate -someone to train much like he had been- yet he had no choice, thus leading him to treat Akutagawa as if he wasn't a human who made mistakes, as if he was vermin.

Somewhere along the line, Dazai had forgotten that Akutagawa too was a child just like he had been, yet he treated him as if he was an experienced man, far beyond what a twelve to fifteen-year-old was capable of, even if he was aware of how powerful Akutagawa was and how he would only continue to grow, he had only once given him that praise in person, it had always been to other people. This was something Dazai came to somewhat regret however he wouldn't take it back if he could...maybe.

During those two years, he was in hiding, he'd often be alone with his thoughts, on the occasion they'd wander off to Akutagawa and the more he thought about him the more culpable he felt, especially seeing how it affected the younger later. He regretted it but not as much as he regretted not hinting to Chuuya of his betrayal, yet, despite that he couldn't find a way to properly convey those feelings of regret to both Akutagawa or Chuuya.
"you didn't treat anyone right, but you had it out for him"
"I didn't want a subordinate"
"you didn't want a partner either"
" I did."
"what?"
"I did want a partner or more specifically I wanted you to be my partner."

They sat in silence, neither sure on what to say, Chuuya found it extremely hard to believe considering how Dazai treated him, though his heart was beating unbelievably fast. Meanwhile, Dazai was busy cursing himself mentally at his poor capabilities to express his actual feelings.
"I see..." the smaller finally replied, though he felt like he should have said something else.

The two males got out of the car, the slightly tense atmosphere from before completely dispelling when Dazai's auburn eyes met Atsushi's bright dual coloured ones. Dazai waved enthusiastically at Atsushi -who was radiating with delight at the fact he was finally able to see his cheerful co-worker again, though he didn't have the energy to deal with him.

Akutagawa looked at Dazai giving him a nod which was received with a warm grin, causing the younger mafioso to turn slightly red.
"Dazai-san, are you feeling better now?" Atsushi asked looking up at the male with curious eyes, they stared as if they were somehow affirming to themselves that the other was alright, though Atsushi still wanted verbal confirmation.
"of course I am Atsushi-kun." Dazai pressed his arm to his forehead, his other clutching his chest as he started spinning dramatically
"-no matter how hard I try to die, the reaper insists that I am to stay on this world longer than I wish" he cried, speaking as if he was the star of a Shakespeare tragedy.

Atsushi sighed not surprised by Dazai's words, though he did feel glad and relieved to see that he was back to his old suicide loving self
"yeah and what about the woman part?" Chuuya asked whacking him around the head spitefully
"ouch! Chuuya that's mean! And anyway I feel like a woman wouldn't be satisfying anymore" the brunet stated, placing his hand on his chin thoughtfully, Chuuya blinked for a moment, processing that information, he could feel his hopes rise. Chuuya quickly put his guard up, rolling his eyes characteristically mumbling something along the lines of 'shut the fuck you suicidal bastard' to which Dazai replied with a whine, following the shorter man like a lost puppy.

Obviously, Atsushi wasn't in the mood to deal with a hyper Dazai and his aggravated crush, Akutagawa, much to his dismay, could also tell that the younger man looked as though he hadn't slept much. The black-haired male sighed, grabbing the younger's hand, leading him in the direction their superiors had walked in
"Ryuu?" Atsushi asked, the name slipping from his lips as if it was as soft as velvet.
"i- I thought it might... might make you feel b-better..."
Akutagawa stuttered, still, his voice never wavered, the weretiger flushed, looking at the floor in embarrassment, he quickly jogged a little catching up to be at the mafioso's side, slipping his gloved fingers between Akutagawa's bare ones in, both of them now walking hand in hand, red as beets.

Kyouka was at the back, thoroughly unimpressed but not surprised. She decided that browsing around the shops in the streets would be much better than having to watch four adult men who were hopelessly in love.