It takes two to create a whole | Soukoku Au |

Under The Sunset

With each passing day, they spent most of it behind the doors of Chuuya's room or on dates. Occasionally leaving to explore the neighborhood, meet some of the kind people that lived around Chuuya's neighborhood. There was a street Chuuya seemed to always avoid. About twenty minutes after taking a left from his house, there was a street Dazai had never set foot on. Today, under the light of the sun, wearing a simple tank and shorts, still overheating in the summer sun, Dazai held onto Chuuya's hand.

"Chibi, why don't we ever turn down that street?" Dazai pointed to the street they were about to pass, noting how Chuuya's hand lightly squeezed his own.

"Sheep territory. It's the single area of the town that the cops don't do much about. A ton of local gang fights, drug dealing, it's the least wealthy area of the city." In other terms, that was the slums of this city. Where there was wealth, there was always poverty to follow. "It also happens to be his street." Dazai's eyes narrowed, tugging Chuuya away from the street's entrance.

They stopped at a park along the way. Chuuya ran over to sit on the seesaw with a little yawn. Stretching his arms as Dazai walked over, Chuuya lifted his weight off the opposite seat, allowing Dazai to take a seat. Neither of them spoke when the taller male ended up with his feet slightly off the ground. Chuuya's cheeks reddened, dropping to stare at the floor. God that was adorable. "Ah Chibi has mussel, I'm a walking stick!" Dazai huffed, leaning over with a small smile.

"If you ate more than instant ramen when I'm not cooking for you, then you wouldn't be a human stick; all skin and bones!" Chuuya narrowed his eyes as Dazai rolled his with a snicker.

"But Chibi spoils me!" Dazai whined suddenly trying to hop from the seat. "Come on, let me down Chibi!" Chuuya smirked, leaning over the seat.

"Sorry, I didn't hear a please there, Dazai." as if offended, Dazai placed his hand over his heart and gasped, turning his face to the side with sniffles.

"Chibi! You're being so mean to poor me!" Chuuya stuck his tongue out, Dazai noticed a little something he hadn't in the past week. His eyes dropped to the small male's tongue with wide eyes. Hadn't they kissed a few times? How had he not noticed? "When did that happen?" Dazai swapped their fun banter to try getting a closer look at the bead.

"Huh? Oh, the piercing? I don't usually have it in during the day, but I got it at the start of the summer. It was a present from my dad since I always wanted one." Chuuya shrugged before the thoughts crossed his mind. He was sure Dazai had the same thought running in his head, judging by the look in his eyes. "Perverted ass!"

"Eh? You were thinking the same thing though!" Dazai whined, puffing his cheeks out as he glared.

"Was not!"

"Where to!"

"Fuck off!"

"Chibi's so mean!" Dazai crossed his arms, holding his head high with a pout, before having to quickly brace himself as Chuuya stood up. Dazai crashed onto the floor with a hiss. Standing up, he grabbed his backside and whined. "That hurt Chibi! I don't like pain!" Chuuya rolled his eyes, walking to the swing and taking a seat.

"Once the sun starts setting, we gotta head back." Dazai tilted his head, they always stayed out longer than that. What had the ginger wanting to head back home?

"Awww, but parks at night are more fun! You can run around and not sweat to death!" Chuuya rolled his eyes, pushing slightly on the ground to start the swing.

"You only sweat because you're wrapped like a mummy." Dazai rolled his eyes, taking a seat next to Chuuya. Lightly pushing from the ground to sync their swings.

The laughter of younger kids echoed in the silence that had settled on the couple. Chuuya stopped his swing abruptly as he pulled his phone out, glancing at the time. "Come on, let's go for something to eat." Dazai tilted his head, glancing at the time with a confused tilt to his head. It was a bit earlier than they normally ate. Seeing the kids enter with the blue bands on their wrists, Dazai understood why Chuuya was eager to get out of there.

"Sure, but I want Italian tonight!" Dazai hummed, jumping from his moving swing onto the ground with a smile. Grabbing Chuuya by the hand, aware they were being stared at. The ones he was familiar with, the pink-haired girl, and a few others that regularly attended Fyodor's parties, kept the others from getting in their way. Making sure to stay far away from Dazai, after all, rumors spread widely about that silver-haired boy; about what happened the night of that party.

"You just want breadsticks! You don't eat pasta!" Chuuya glared knowing he'd be long out of allowance pretty soon.

"Chuuya! I will eat the stuffed shells!" Dazai bit back with a childish huff as the two of them walked away from the park, heading down the streets. "We could go to the beach after." Chuuya glanced at Dazai with a nod.

~

Dinner wrapped up with Chuuya forcing food down Dazai's throat so his money didn't go to waste. "I do eat pasta, he said, and then proceeded to complain about the slimy texture and the blandness." Chuuya glared at Dazai, frowning as the male sucked on a lollipop.

"I ended up eating it though!" Dazai glared, popping the sweet from his lips.

"Yeah, after I shoved it down your throat!" Chuuya swung his leg at Dazai as the brunette dodged.

Sauntering along the beach as Dazai strolled around with the sweet in his mouth, Chuuya settled into the silence joyfully. The setting sun dusted over the sand, spreading over the couple. Chuuya pulled his phone out, snapping a selfie of them with a hum. Dazai glanced over, raising a brow in suspicion. Chuuya only shed a smile, kicking his shoes off and stepping forward. Letting the edges of the tide splash against his feet. Dazai watched from afar, he had never been much of a beach person despite living so close to it. Chuuya seemed to love the calming sounds of the saltwater hitting the rocks, and the call of seagulls squealing out over the water. He kept an eye on the ginger, tilting his head as the mood seemingly fell lower. "My dad and I used to go to the beach like this every day before I led the sheep and started getting violent."

"Why not start going out again?" Dazai had moved to stand beside Chuuya, staring off into the sunset as the wind picked up. Dazai had covered his body in that tan coat again: Oda's trench coat. Chuuya had tossed his jacket over his shoulders, not sliding it onto his arms. The black fabric blended in with the rest of his outfit. His hair slightly over his shoulder, painting a pleasant picture of the two. Contrasting each other in the last hours before the sun sank beyond the horizon.

"We can't... he won't be past summer... cancer. He's living it out at home instead of a hospital... His wish is to be surrounded by family. It could be tomorrow, a month or six... but it won't be after summer ends. He was delighted to know that we had gotten together." Chuuya glanced at Dazai's face, emotionlessly still. Even together, it was rare to see him show vulnerability. Pity rarely showed itself in those coffee hues nor along his lips. Though, Chuuya could say the same. He didn't show vulnerability too often either.

Dazai's hand latched onto his squeezing it reassuringly with silence. It was a while before the brunette spoke, though he didn't face the ginger. "I'll be here for you Chu... I know what the pain is like... at least a little." Chuuya nodded, leaning against the taller male.

"I know Dazai... I know."