Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dazai walked in the door with a sigh, running a hand through his chocolate locks as he threw his trenchcoat on the golden coat hanger beside the door to his home. He was grateful to be home, his day was filled with nothing but Kunikida screaming and yelling at him to do his work and how he was late to work (aka the usual). The male examined the house quietly as he closed the door behind him, the house was silent.

“Maybe they’re not home?” The brunette mumbled as he made his way to the kitchen to see if a note was left on the fridge.

Seeing as there were none he turned his attention to the window, leading to the back yard and smiled. There in the backyard by the large old swamp oak, set in the middle of the open space, was one of the people he was looking for. A mop of silver hair and dressed in a pair of jeans and a white dress-shirt, looking up at the tree with arms crossed, assumingly annoyed. He couldn’t tell since the male had his back to Dazai. The male rounded the corner and opened the sliding glass door that separated the outside and the kitchen and stepped out, wondering what his boyfriend was up to.

“Get down from the tree!” Dazai instantly knew what happened.

“But mama, I want to see the view!” He heard a small voice shout from above them in the tree.

“Save the climbing for tomorrow! We are going to the park tomorrow so you can climb there, now come down before you hurt yourself!” Atsushi called.

“Alright mama.” A rustle came from the tree and leaves fell as a small boy came into view, short and curly chocolate hair with a silver crown where his scalp is, slightly tanned skin and wearing a dark hoodie and gray jeans. “Catch me!” Instantly the boy let go from the branch he was holding onto and Atsushi, in a panic, caught said boy.

“Daichi! How many times have I told you to not give me a heart attack?!” Atsushi looked down at his son, relieved the boy was ok.

“About 20 times, give or take.” Daichi grinned up at his mother.

“Should I be worried you actually counted?” The child giggled at Atsushi’s comment, soon pressing his lips against Atsushi’s cheek.

“I love you mama!” The silver haired male couldn’t help but smile.

“I love you too kiddo.” Soft lips were pressed against the equally soft mop of hair on the boy’s head.

This was a scene Dazai loved to come home to. His beloved boyfriend playing with their precious, albeit strange, son. He had a family to come home to, something to love, and die for to protect. He never had regrets upon seeing Daichi smile at him with such glee and happiness. Seeing said boy made all sorts of trouble just melt as he now focused on playing with the person that brought him the most joy, aside from said male that brought the little one into the world of course.

“Hey mama? Can we play spaceship again?” The boy looked up at his mother with a hopeful look.

Atsushi playfully huffed and looked up towards the sky in feign contemplation, soon returning his gaze back to the boy with a smile.

“Alright.” The boy threw his arms above his head and cheered as his mother turned him around to hold him better under the small child’s arms and walked over to a piece of cardboard with ‘Launch Pad’ messily scribbled onto it in different colors. “This is space control to Captain Daichi. Are you ready for take off?” Atsushi covered his mouth and altered his voice to make it sound like he was talking into a microphone, adorably of course.

“I roger you loud and clear space control, I am clear for take off!” The boy responded, holding out his arms as though he were a plane and with a look of determination.

“Copy that, take off in three, two, one.” Atsushi picked up the young boy under his arms, imitating the sounds of a rocket, “And we have liftoff!” The small child giggled as the silver haired male ran around the back yard with the child, making ‘hairpin turns’ and ‘dangerous dives’ for the ‘space cadet’ he held.

Dazai couldn’t help but chuckle to himself; even Atsushi seemed so much happier now that their son was in their life. He no longer cried at night, no longer did he have constant nightmares and night terrors. He practically always smiled now and he no longer droned on about his times at the orphanage, unless his son politely asked, and of course Atsushi kept said discussion as appropriate for a child of age five as possible, and he no longer talked about how useless he was. Not even a single peep about how he was a screw up, or how much he hated himself. Dazai supposed that was the magic of kids, they brought out the best of an adult and a sort of childlike wonder that was once thought to be lost with age. Children remind an individual of their adventures, the troubles, and the simplicity life once was. His attention was brought back to the two loves of his life as Daichi shrieked.

“You seem to be approaching a meteor belt Captain! You need to turn or you’ll get hit!” Atsushi stated as he ducked, dodged, and weaved through the imaginary objects.

“Making emergency u-turn now!” The boy called and Atsushi turned and stopped in front of Dazai.

“Oh no! It’s an alien!” Atsushi smiled up at his boyfriend and the child giggled.

Dazai pouted at the two with a huff escaping his lips.

“Hey now! That’s the third time in a row now! How come I’m always the alien?” Dazai looked down at his son, admiring the mismatched eyes, the left eye shined a dark brown color, much like his own, the right one being that of Atsushi’s, that deep violet color with the gold shine erupting from the pupil. He adored those eyes, they were proof he was their baby, their son, and most importantly, their joy and meaning to live.

“Because you’re out of this world papa!” The small child spoke, loud and proud as a matter of fact.

Needless to say, Atsushi groaned in displeasure and Dazai was laughing rather hard, he was always proud of his son, the boy was intelligent, playful and very social, but this moment brought tears to his eyes. Atsushi just shook his head, still smiling of course. He indeed was Dazai’s child if he came up with that ridiculous joke on the fly.

“Well in that case,” Dazai picked the boy from Atsushi’s arms, “you are now my captive!” Dazai shouted and ran away with the boy laughing.

“No! I refuse!” The boy screamed and laughed as he squirmed slightly in his father’s hold.

“You have no say in this matter! You are now mine to do as I wish with! And I say you are to do your homework.” The boy groaned and fell limp in Dazai’s arms.

“But papa-!”

“No buts. Besides you want to stay the smartest kid in school don’t you?” Dazai set the boy down on his feet.

“But I already am!” The boy protested as he held his father’s hand and followed him back to the house, and towards a smiling Atsushi.

“And you can stay smart if you do your homework.” Atsushi added, and with a disappointed groan the boy went inside the house.

“Can we eat lunch first, mama?” The boy pleaded.

“Of course, kiddo. Smart minds can’t work on an empty stomach.” The boy smiled at his mother and made his way to the dinner table.

Atsushi turned his attention to his lover and wrapped his arms around the taller male’s neck, while Dazai wrapped his around the smaller man’s waist. They both shared a kiss or two before being interrupted by a prolonged “ew” from their son.

“Hey just wait until you’re older. You might get a girlfriend and be doing the same thing.” Dazai replied.

“No! Girls are icky!” The boy stated.

“If only your father had the same idea.” Atsushi added.

“Hey now-!”

“We been together for three years Dazai!”

“And I still got it.” The male added with a cocky grin; however, Atsushi was not impressed.

“Just for that, you don’t get food.” Dazai, stared at his lover with a gaping mouth in shock.

“Papa got in trouble!” The child sang from inside the house and giggled.

“You hush over there or I’ll abduct you again, mister!”

“You’ll never take me alive!” The child ran off and out of sight with Dazai running after him.
Atsushi smiled and entered the house, closing the glass door behind him and starting on lunch with a smile. He truly was blessed with a wonderful family, strange, but a family he adored none-the-less.

Chapter Text

He stood outside the dorm, he was scared, frightened. Dazai called him and asked him to meet him at his apartment, he didn’t know what the reason was, Dazai hung up before he could ask. He sounded rather serious though, not too serious (it was Dazai Osamu after all) but it was a matter that the brunette didn’t make a wisecrack or ask the silver-haired male for anything about suicide kind of serious. This was what made Atsushi worried. All sorts of questions swam through his mind, ‘what is Dazai going to ask me?’ ‘Why was he so serious?’ ‘Was there something wrong?’

“He probably wants you to leave.” That voice, so familiar, yet so strange.

He turned his head, there leaning on the wall, so casually was himself. Something was off, he seemed more malicious, that cold stare in those identical eyes were enough to send a shiver down his spine and to make him sweat in nervousness.

“L-leave?”

“Oh don’t play dumb!” The other snapped, making the real Atsushi flinch and take a step back as his clone approached him with a scowl, “Leave the Agency of course.”

No, no that couldn’t be true. He was loved at the office! They were his family, Kunikida-san, Yosano and Ranpo-san-

“It’s all a front. They couldn’t care less as to who you are, whether you are in trouble-”

“No that isn’t true, they love me.” He interrupted, he had to have been loved.

“You been trouble since day one! You brought near calamity to the city! You should just go die, run away and die. It would be so simple too! Just pack and leave, you won’t bring misfortune to anyone ever again.”

Something inside Atsushi snapped, all sorts of memories came rushing back to him. His double was right, he was a failure. Can he really trust his ‘friends?’ No, of course he could trust them! They would never abandon him! They won’t throw him out into the streets like the orphanage did!

“How long do you plan to be naive?” He turned to his counterpart again, that harsh and disapproving glare, how many times had he received that look?

“I’m not being naive!” He shouted back.

“Oh will you grow up?!” That glare turned to a smirk and he chuckled, “You keep trusting people like that and you might get hurt, you know that all too well don’t you? Even the kids at the orphanage hated you. You can’t keep playing along and think you have a home among these freaks. Even they will get sick of the shit you cause, how many screw ups do you think you are allowed before they turn their backs on you, huh? Another 10? 20? Or maybe they are sick of you already. Dazai is who you are closest to, so he has to be the one to break it to fragile, little Atsushi.” The clone purred the last part.

No Dazai wouldn’t do that! He wouldn’t, he would never-

“Atsushi?”

The small male snapped to reality, he found himself facing the guardrail of the outdoor hallway, a death grip on the cold metal. When did he do that anyway? He was breathing heavily and sweating, another hallucination of his?

“Hey, you alright? You look like you seen a ghost.” Dazai came to the side of the male, a sort of curious wonder on his face, not that he blamed Dazai. That was perhaps the worst of his hallucinations. Perhaps he should check into therapy at some point.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” He croaked. Shit, he totally was not okay.

But then again what was he supposed to say? ‘I was just having an argument with myself about if you are throwing me out into the streets again and also whether I can trust you and the others.’ Yeah that wasn’t happening.

“I know you are lying Atsushi. But I won’t ask, you don’t want to talk about it obviously.” This brought some ease to the younger male.

“So what did you call me out here for?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to skip work tomorrow? Maybe we could go out on the town, maybe see a movie? Have dinner and lunch together?” This surprised Atsushi.

“What are you asking me out on a date now Dazai-san?” The male joked, a small smile on his face.

“Actually yes. I also made dinner for us tonight as well.” The elder smirked, he rested his chin in the palm of his half-bandaged hand, looking at Atsushi with those brown eyes that teased him.

Atsushi was shocked beyond words, was Dazai being serious? No way, he was getting pranked right now wasn’t he? Dazai Omasu is not into men! He’s into women, pretty women, women who were slender and hair glowed in the sun’s shining rays. Girls who had a beautiful smile and fair skin-

“I’m serious Atsushi.” The silver-haired boy was yanked from his train of thought.

“No he isn’t,” That haunting voice returned, “if anything he will use you until he is sick and tired then dump you.”

“I really like you Atsushi, you’re adorable-”

“Lies-”

“Kind-”

“Lies-”

“And you are just so amazing.”

“It’s all lies!” The counterpart shouted into his mind, “Just run away! Use those tiger legs and run away! Like he could ever fall in love with a pathetic little shit like you!”

“And I am not lying.” Those words made the small male cease breathing. “I am not a man who lies Atsushi. I always told you the truth. No reason for me to lie now.”

That warm smile made his heart melt. Dazai was right, he never lies, and he never lied to Atsushi. Why shouldn’t he trust the weird male in front of him? He dismissed everything the clone said, he smiled at his superior.
“You know what, I’d love to Dazai-san. It’s a date!”

Chapter Text

The brunette let out a groan, the jungle heat was starting to get to him. His curly hair clinging to his sweaty skin, the sweat rolling down his back and frankly disgusting him. The bugs were quite a nuisance. He might have to get the bites checked by a doctor when he returned home. Oh yeah, he almost forgot he was surrounded by giant, and rather angry, gorillas. They were beating their chests threateningly and screaming at the male. He honestly didn’t remember how he came across this situation to be honest but that didn’t matter to him at the current moment, especially if he was going to be beaten to death by these wild beasts.

“Normally this is the part where people mumble to themselves that this situation can’t get any worse. But since this is my life, the life of Dazai Omasu, it probably could. And it probably will.” Just as he said those words all the apes turned their attention from him, going silent.

He followed their gaze, up towards the trees he saw a figure. Was this a tribal man? No, he had too fair of skin, he also seemed rather young as well. No more than 18. He quickly jumped to the jungle floor and the apes parted to allow the boy through as he approached Dazai. Now that the boy was close he could get a better look. A child, silver hair and fair skin with a few scars. The child was filthy, presumably from living among these wild beasts, but he was still very nice looking, strong and lean. His eyes were captivating, an amethyst color with a yellow-amber color bursting from the pupil. Simply stunning. There were three black stripes that came from the corner of his jaw and extended to his cheeks on either side of his face and he had a loincloth (thankfully) that was made of a lion pelt and still kept the tail, that small tail that swayed behind him when he walked. He wondered if this was the supposed “Spirit of the Jungle” the natives sang about in their songs.

“You are very brave for coming to my territory.” Oh good, they boy knows english.

“I wouldn’t say ‘brave,’ I merely got lost.” Dazai replied.

“Your kind don’t ‘get lost’ without a reason.” The boy held such an angry gaze, was he upset Dazai roamed into ‘his neck of the jungle?’

“What do you mean by ‘my kind?’”

“You, man. Your kind come out here searching for something. Come to terrorize my family, my home. Kill one of us and use our body as a display!”

“I will be honest, some of us do that. But I merely came out here to see what could have inspired the legendary ‘spirit’ that guards this jungle.” Dazai remained calm, no reason to be rash right?

“You are honest. But that doesn’t make you better. You are all the same! You come to my home and try to take it over. I will not let you,” The boy stepped closer, he was shorter than Dazai, but he was outnumbered if a confrontation arose, “I will protect what is left of my home.”

“And I don’t doubt it. You done a good job actually. It’s a beautiful part of the jungle too, full of wildlife, birds sing to their heart’s content, your family here must love you very much and happily consume the fruits here. The bugs are pesky,” The male added as he slapped at his neck and shooed away a rather annoying mosquito, “But they are healthy and numerous. I actually hope you keep up the good work, ‘Beast of the Jungle.’” Dazai smiled and this confused the boy.

This man, he was so honest, so sincere. He was praising him for preserving the jungle? He had to be lying, that was what man did. Lie. Lie to gain. To profit. But at the same time, something was different about this man. His instincts told him to run, or better yet to kill this man. But he saw this man interacting with the tribe in the nearby village. He was kind to them too, dancing and singing to their songs and old legends. If the tribe trusted him, maybe he could.

“Atsushi.”

“Hm?”

“My name is Atsushi. And I expect for you to remember that.” The male in front of him smiled.

“Dazai Osamu. I hope you can remember mine.” The boy was not impressed by his attempt at humor. “Not even here my sense of humor is appreciated.” The male sighed in defeat.

“Are you really lost?” Dazai was surprised, but nodded. “I can show you the way to the village.”

“That would be lovely, Atsushi.”

Something about the way his name was said made the boy feel something. Giddy? Happy? He didn’t understand it. This man was an outsider, the enemy of the jungle. Yet he felt like he could trust the man. He guided this strange man back to the village, much to his family’s protests. But he assured them that he would be fine in their native tongue. He just hoped that he was right in placing his trust in such a bizarre man. He traveled the path to the village, the tall man just managing to keep up with the boy, with a few complaints here and there and somehow falling over tree roots. A strange man indeed. Soon they reached the village and Dazai seemed relieved.

“Keep treated the people with kindness would you? You seem to make them very happy Dazai.”

“I practically grew up here. I am very close with the chief.”

“Tell the chief that Atsushi says ‘hello’ then.” The male turned his attention to Dazai and was confused by the cloth the brunette was holding.

Such an intricate design, a creamy white color with soft blue stitching and swirls and a beautiful red rose made of cloth standing proud from the base.

“My mother gave me this handkerchief. She told me to give this to someone special. You are very special Atsushi, I hope we get to know each other more.” Dazai smiled.

Atsushi was shocked beyond words. This man, who was originally viewed as an enemy, is giving him something precious. Something that was held so sacred from his own mother. Could he even accept it?

“I want you to have it silly! Take it, think of it as a peace treaty between us two.” The man gave a playful wink and Atsushi could not stop the blush that appeared on his face.

“T-thank you. I will keep it safe.” His hand reached out and accepted the soft fabric. So delicate, he felt like he could rip it if he so much as pulled on it.

“I guess I will see you around, Atsushi.” Dazai left the boy, making his way back to the village.

Atsushi held the handkerchief close, almost afraid it would blow away in the soft breeze.
“Yeah. See you soon.” The boy mumbled before returning to the dense forest.