“Dazai - “ Oda groans, rubbing the back of his neck, “I know you’re still torn up over Sasaki - but we have class tomorrow.”

“Easy for

you to

say!” The brunette dramatically claps a hand over his forehead “You already

have

love, Odasaku - I’m going to die

alone

.”

“Sooner rather than later, hopefully,” Ango quips, not bothering to look up from his phone. “I’m still not sure how you roped me into this.”

“I blackmailed you!” Dazai reminds him, mockingly cheerful as ever.

“...Right,” Ango sighs, rolling his eyes. It’s been a

long

month.

Oda would never admit it aloud, but he’s kind of

glad

Sasaki dumped Dazai. She was gorgeous, sure, and definitely smart - but... Dazai was the sort of person that needed to be

looked after

, and she seemed far more interested in what she could do for herself.

“And

why

are we going all the way to Motomachi for this?” Ango looks like he’d rather be locked in a room with a crocodile at this point.

“

Because

, Odasaku’s meeting up with some friends from Kanagawa Academy.”

Ango frowns, “Ozaki-san’s school?”

“That’s the one!”

Odasaku’s girlfriend was a year ahead of them, and had already gone off to university in Tokyo - but, much to Dazai’s delight, Odasaku had kept up with the friends he’d made through her at Kanagawa.

And Kanagawa, blessed be, was

co-ed.

“Would it

kill

you to go without a girlfriend for more than

a month?”

Ango groans, but he

knows

his friend isn’t listening anymore.

“There should be three girls, and one guy--”

“A guy is coming?” Dazai frowns, casting an annoyed glance at Oda, “Why?”

Oda shrugs. “I met most of the first and second years I know through Kouyou’s little brother - they're his friends, really.”

Well - if that beautiful bastard was the one bringing Dazai’s rebou -

- Er, the future love of his

life

, then Dazai supposed he could tolerate his presence.

“Does he know he’s offering them up to a

freak?”

“That would sting Ango, it really would, but, well...”

“Well

what

, Dazai?”

“I was able to blackmail you, wasn’t I?” Sometimes, Oda honestly does wonder why he didn’t choose a slightly more

peaceful

social circle.

They round the corner, and Dazai can see a cluster of highschool students standing in front of a cafe, wearing the same uniform Kouyou-san used to wear. The girl on the far left is cute enough, with long, jet black hair and gray eyes - but she seemed a bit

reserved

.

Standing next to her was a blonde wearing sunglasses. She didn’t seem nearly as shy, but there was something just...a little

intense

about her. And then, to her right -

Dazai feels his jaw go slack. Fiery red hair, piercing blue eyes, high cheekbones, a sharp jaw -

- Wait -

Now, Dazai would be the first to tell anyone that he was generally pretty good at playing it cool - and he

is

, right now his expression is fairly neutral. But staring at this very beautiful, very

male

student standing in front of him, Dazai comes to a jarring realization.

He was definitely,

absolutely

bisexual. A pretty big thing to have come smashing into your life on a Thursday afternoon - but Dazai could

handle

that.

“Is - " Dazai clears his throat, tugging at his collar.

“Is that--?”

“Chuuya? Yeah.”

Chuuya

.

They finally meet up with the group on the street, and the nape of Dazai’s neck is sweating.

Should that be happening? It’s September, right?

“Oda-kun!” The redhead grins, walking over to clap Dazai’s friend on the arm. “It’s been a while - Ane-san said your exams went well.”

His voice isn’t really high or deep, but

expressive

, and Dazai feels instantaneously jealous of the familiarity between the two of them. What would he sound like, saying ‘Osamu-kun’? At first Dazai dismisses the thought, because that’s ridiculous - this isn’t some

Otome

game. But then he

really

thinks about it, and suddenly it feels like it’s absolutely

sweltering

.

‘That was so cool, Osamu-kun!’

‘Y-you look nice today, Osamu-kun - ’

‘O-Osamu-kun, please accept my - ’

“Yeah, they turned out pretty good. I’m hoping to be able to join her next year.”

“That would make her happy - I think she gets a little lonely in the city.” Chuuya shrugs, rocking back on his heels. “But you didn’t hear it from me.”

Oda smiles indulgently. “My lips are sealed.”

“Anyway - “ Chuuya’s eyes slide over to Oda’s friends, and Dazai still hasn’t mastered the art of breathing properly “We haven’t met.”

“Ango Sakaguchi - Oda and I have been classmates for quite a while. Pleasure to meet you.” Ango bows his head formally, reaching forward to shake Chuuya’s hand. Chuuya tilts his head to the side, adorably baffled by Ango’s formality, got, the way he wrinkles his nose is

so -

“ - and you are?” Dazai snaps to attention to see that Chuuya is staring right at him, and suddenly his mouth feels like sandpaper.

Jesus

. Who has

eyes

like that?!

“Ozai - “

“Huh?”

“Dazoo - ”

“I’m sorry,” Chuuya tilts his head to the side

, “ what?”

“Dazai Osamu.” He croaks.

Everyone is

staring

at him, and his heart is pounding. Luckily, the newcomers just seem confused, but Oda and Ango? They’re staring at him like he’s

lost it

.

“...I apologize,” Dazai smiles, attempting to turn up the charm as much as he can, “I think I just had a small stroke.”

“That’s - “ Chuuya’s face suddenly slips into this confused, amused smile, and Dazai wants to explode into a burst of cherry petals like it’s a

shoujo

manga. “That’s okay. But your name

is

Dazai, right?”

“It is,” they shake hands, and Chuuya’s fingers are

warm

.

“Well,” Chuuya gives his hand another squeeze before letting him go, and Dazai’s hand hovers in the air for a second before it drops limply to his side, “It’s nice to meet you - I’m Chuuya Nakahara.”

Nakahara? Oda leans in to whisper an explanation in Dazai’s ear - “Different fathers.”

Nakahara

. It’s a nice name. It feels nice on Dazai’s tongue when he tries it out under his breath. And he’s pretty sure a lot of other things about the redhead would feel nice on his - “Well, this is Higuchi-san and Akutagawa-san.”

“Where’s Yuan?”

Who?

“She’s coming.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Ango reaches out to greet the two girls. “No, the pleasure is all ours - “ “Please, call me Gin!” Dazai follows the motions of the introductions, but he’s

way

too focused on the way the autumn breeze plays through Chuuya’s hair to care.

Dazai is running through a thousand different scenarios Under which he could weasel his way into getting the boy’s phone number, excuses to meet up, future marriage proposals -

“Chuuya!” A third girl, one with pink hair who is even

smaller

than Chuuya, runs towards them. She’s cute, her uniform is slightly askew, and she looks like she’s just rushed across town. “Sorry!” She wheezes when she catches up, bending over to pant with her hands on her knees. “Club activities ran over, and I missed the bus--”

“

Relax,

Yuu-chan.”

...Yuu-chan?

Chuuya places his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them gently before pulling her against his side in a one-armed embrace. “You didn’t have to rush, we’re just grabbing some dinner.”

“I didn’t want everyone to wait on me!” Chuuya rolls his eyes, but his smile is affectionate.

Chuuya looks over at them, his arms still around the girl’s shoulders. “Oda, you’ve already met - "

“It’s nice to see you again, Oda-kun!” Dazai’s eyes narrow.

“--but this is Yuan - my girlfriend.”

Record scratch

.

Dazai’s life is

over

. It’s over and he has this horrible, cute, apparently

considerate

girl to blame for stomping on his hopes and dreams. Yuan bows deeply, the sleeves of her sweater slipping over her wrists. “Sorry you had to wait on me!”

Dazai

hates her.

“It’s not a problem,” Ango smiles politely, pointedly elbowing Dazai in his side when his friend remains frozen in shocked silence.

“Yep!” Dazai chokes out, trying his very best not to look like he’s imagining the girl’s fiery demise, because he

is--

“Not a problem at all!”

Dinner is

excruciating

.

Dazai prefers to think of himself as an optimist, really - but right now drowning himself the moment he gets home seems like the only option.

You see, he had been hoping that Chuuya had just been lucky enough to inherit his sister’s good looks only to have a

shitty personality.

But the universe hates him, because Chuuya is...

Perfect. So perfect that it’s almost

annoying

. He’s got a sense of humor, and a laugh that makes Dazai’s stomach flip. He’s straight forward, but he isn’t

stupid

either.  Not to mention that he’s

decent

, and it’s

refreshing

, goddamnit.

But the entire time Dazai is noticing all of these wonderful, endearing things about the redhead, he has

that

simpering jezebel clinging to his arm. She offers to get a refill of Dazai’s soda for him when she gets up, smiling politely.

Jesus Christ, what a

monster

.

“So, you’re third years?”

Oda nods, eyeing the way Dazai is aggressively picking the sesame seeds off of his burger out of the corner of his eye. “Yeah - we graduate this spring.”

“That’s exciting!” Yuan beams, “It feels like I’ve got so long to go, I’ve only just started...”

Dazai bites back a

sneer

.

A

first year?

The love of his life, stolen away by a first year who probably has no idea how to

please a man?

Dazai doesn’t know how either, but that’s

beside the point.

His eyes snap to Chuuya’s, “What year are you, Nakahara-kun?”

Chuuya blinks, a little surprised - Dazai hasn’t directly addressed him since his

cardiac event

outside the cafe. “Oh - I’m a second year.”

Dazai smiles, his eyes flashing with a sense of newfound opportunity, “Ahhhh, I see. Have you taken your practice entrance exams yet?”

Chuuya shakes his head, frowning a little as stress starts to creep into his eyes. “I’m signed up to take them next month - ”

“And he’s been studying

super

hard!” Yuan smiles encouragingly, squeezing his arm.

“Right, well - if you want any advice from your senpai, you can always ask.” Ango gives Dazai a

look

.

“Do we really count as senpais? We don’t go to the same

schoo - !“

Ango chokes when Dazai crams a handful of french fries into his mouth, effectively shutting him up.

Chuuya bites his lip - god, is he doing this on

purpose

? - “I’ve been going to cram school, but I kind of hate it.”

“Group environments aren’t for everyone,” Dazai nods sagely while Ango wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, glaring

daggers

at him. “Sometimes one-on-one tutoring works better.”

“Yeah,” Chuuya sighs, his eyes conflicted, “I don’t think my dad would pay for that.”

“He sort of expects me to be able to figure it out on my own...” Chuuya sighs and shrugs. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Well, I could always tutor you.” Now Oda and Ango are

both

staring. Dazai is

notoriously

unhelpful. Just last month, he made Atsushi take him to

Disneyland

to help him study for a

math quiz

.

“You would do that?” Chuuya blinks, eyes wide with surprise. “I can’t ask you to - ”

“Really, it’ll help me refresh my memory,” Dazai beams, “I have a second round of exams in the winter.”

Chuuya tilts his head to the side. “A second round?”

“Dazai had the top scores in the prefecture,” Oda explains slowly, staring at Dazai, clearly confused, “he’s been invited to apply for Kyoto University and Tokyo University.” The top two universities in Japan, no

big deal,

really.

Dazai is

preening

. “And you’d help me?”

Dazai nods, “Any friend of Odasaku’s is a friend of mine, that’s what I always say. And like I said, it benefits me as well.” Oda and Ango are staring, because Dazai has

never

,

ever

said that.

“Well...” Chuuya smiles, looking

relieved

, “that would be great, thanks.”

“It’s no big deal...” Dazai waves it off, but he has a Cheshire Cat grin in place. “You can reward me with snacks or something, if you really feel the need.”

“I can manage that!”

“Thank you so much for helping him, Dazai-san!” His smile fades a little at the sound of his

nemesis

.

“Like I said,” Dazai repeats flatly, “it’s no big deal.”

Later, when they part ways, Dazai stops Chuuya with a hand on his shoulder.

“Hmm?” Chuuya turns his head, tilting his chin up to meet Dazai’s gaze.

“Don’t you need my number?”

“Oh!” Chuuya fumbles in his pocket, “Right!”

He pulls out his phone, offering it to Dazai. Dazai has to pause and glare at the screensaver - Yuan hugging Chuuya from behind at what looks like a rock concert - before entering his number and sending himself a message. “There” He hands it back “We can work out the details later.”

“Right, thanks.” Chuuya takes the phone back, tucking it back into his jacket before looking up at Dazai with this smile that makes him feel

winded

. “It’s really cool of you, to help me out like this. See you soon!” He runs off to rejoin his friends, and Dazai is floating.

It’s really cool of you -

Really cool.

The most beautiful person in the world thinks Dazai is

cool

.

The swelling, romantic music playing in Dazai’s head is brought to a halt by Ango’s stupid, annoying voice. “Okay, what the

HELL

, Dazai?!”

“What?” Dazai blinks, turning around to see both of his friends staring at him - well, Ango is

glaring

, while Oda just looks concerned - “I’m being nice to Kouyou-san’s little brother!”

“You acted

bizarre

after you DRAGGED us out here!” “I got caught up in the atmosphere!”

“WHAT

ATMOSPHERE - ?!”

Ango cuts himself off when Oda taps his arm gently.

“We have school in the morning, remember? We should get back.”

“...Right,” Ango relents, his shoulders slumping. He turns his glare back to Dazai. “I’m

never

doing that for you again, blackmail or not.”

The wall back to their side of town is filled with Ango grumbling and Dazai sighing while staring at the moon, and Oda stays quiet until he and Dazai split off, walking towards their neighborhood.

“Osamu?”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t know how to put this, so I’m just gonna say it--are you sure you’re over Sasaki?”

Dazai freezes, looking over at his friend with a surprised snort.

“What?”

“You acted so

weird

today - you don’t have to push yourself back out there, there are always gonna be girls out there for you.”

“I - ?” Dazai sputters.

He looks around, like there must be some hidden cameras, because this seems like a huge

joke

. And yes, Dazai had been

crazy

about his ex, but...after today, he could say pretty decisively that he had

moved on.

But...would it hurt to let his friend think that he hadn’t?

“You know what, you’re right,” Dazai nods emphatically, hooking his arm through Oda’s. “I thought I was ready, but really I should focus on

friendship

right now.”

“I was wondering if that was what you were thinking about when you offered to help Chuuya - it wasn’t like you.”

Dazai gasps, clutching his chest in makeshift shock, “What do you mean?! I’m helpful!”

“You

never

offer help up to strangers.” Oda shakes his head “But hey, if making a new friend helps you move on, you picked a good one - Chuuya is a great guy.”

Dazai smiles softly. “He really

is

, isn’t he?” Dazai sighs, his heart skipping a beat when he remembers the way the redhead smiled at him before. “But that girlfriend of his...” Dazai makes a

face.

“What? Yuan? I like her.”

“I don’t like the ‘cute little first year’ act.”

“...but she

is

a first year - “

“ - and how long have they been dating, anyway? Couldn’t be that long, we’ve only been in school for a month - “

“Around a year and a half, I think?”

Dazai practically chokes on his own spit.  “What?!”

“They went to the same middle school, I’m pretty sure.”

Well. Dazai’s eyes narrow with determination as they stop in front of his house. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Odasaku!”

“See you - ?”

Oda blinks, watching Dazai March towards his front door like a soldier going to war. What the

hell

had gotten into him?