You Know You Love Me {Soukoku}

"You little-"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay. I just don't want to leave.."

"Don't be such a baby, Dazai. You'll be fine. Plus, we'll see eachother soon enough, right?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"...We'll still be friends after this, right? Promise?"

"Of course, I promise."

That was the conversation Osamu Dazai remembered having in grade two with his old friend, whom he hadn't seen in years. He had moved away due to his parents' problems with money, and although he never had a say in the situation, he always knew it was better for them. He just missed angering the shorter boy, who always argued with so much enthusiasm that you would think he enjoys disagreeing with people.

Dazai shook his head, ridding his mind of the thoughts that he always desperately tried to get rid of. He thought about it often. Too often for his liking, anyway. He walked down the empty halls of the school that he had officially transferred to the previous night. He was in grade twelve now, he shouldn't be haunted with thoughts of when he was seven.

As he walked into the classroom of which was supposed to be his homeroom, he looked around at the many teenagers he saw fooling around, talking to friends, or sitting quietly by themselves. He specifically noted a group of people sitting in their desks (which were all close together, by the way), who seemed to be happy and talking with eachother. He then noticed another group of people on the other side of the room, arguing but in a friendly-ish manner. At least, that's what Dazai hoped. They just argued, from what he saw.

As the teacher cleared his throat, the class slowly settled down.

"Good morning everyone. I would like you all to meet your new classmate. Introduce yourself, please." The adult looked at him and gestured for him to walk closer.

Dazai complied, walking to the middle of the board that was stationed on the wall.

"Hello, my name is Osamu Dazai. I hope to get to know you all well." He spoke. He heard a few girls quietly giggle, and one specific boy looked up at the mention of his name.

He looked at the boy and immediately froze, recognizing his eyes all too well.

How?

How was he here?

"Chuuya?" He asked quietly, still processing the situation.

"Dazai?" The ginger asked as he slowly stood up.

The teacher sighed and sat at his desk, knowing he wouldn't be able to stop whatever was going to happen.

"Oh, you- you asshole! What are you doing here, huh?!" Chuuya yelled at the brunette.

"I'm starting school here, obviously! Why are you here?!" Dazai shouted back.

"I have been going to school here, idiot!" The short male had now stomped his way to the front of the room, right in front of Dazai.

"Still, with the insults? You haven't changed since grade two, you're still a child!" The taller boy laughed, only irritating the other more.

"Shut your fucking mouth, at least I didn't trick my friend into thinking that if you barked at a fucking tree, you would get taller!" Chuuya looked like he was just about ready to punch his old friend's lights out.

"Aw, so you admit we were friends? Plus, you fell for it! You were never the brightest kid!" Dazai snickered at the ginger. "Plus, you don't look like you've grown in quite a while. Has the chibi stopped drinking his milk~?"

The class, who had been watching this happen since the start, laughed quietly to themselves. Chuuya turned his head and gave them a death glare that made them shut up almost immediately.

"What would you know, you left and never bothered to contact me! And you grew too much, so now you're taller. That's all! I can still surpass you, I'm still growing!" The small boy stomped his foot.

"Ah, classic Chuuya. You never could handle the fact you were short. But alas, you're probably one of the shortest boys in this class. What a tragedy." Dazai bent down a bit so he could be on the same level as the boy whom he used to be friends with.

This earned him a slap in the face from the orange-haired teenager, and rightfully so. Chuuya had been teased far too much by him, and he was fed up. A slap was the least he could've done.

"Oh just shut up already, nobody wants to hear your stupid voice!" Chuuya yelled in his ear.

Dazai stood back up to his full height and looked down at his childhood friend, crossing arms in the process.

"I do hope you didn't forget about that bet we made back then? You're still my dog, Chuuya. And now I have some new commands, the likes of which don't require any barking. So how about you shut your mouth and we won't have any problems, how does that sound?" Dazai said, looking his new rival in the eyes.

This quieted Chuuya down, which earned a snicker from the class.

"This isn't over, mackerel." He turned away.

"Oh, but I do believe it is, slug." Dazai smirked, knowing he had won.

Chuuya remembered. Of course he remembered, how could he not? His memories with the brunette were some of his earliest- and happiest. Although he denied it, he enjoyed spending time with the boy, whether they were playing with toys, or arguing about who was the dad in their game of house. Dazai usually won, he remembered, which now made him angry. Everything about Dazai pissed him off now. Gee, he wondered why.

Unfortunately, the two learned that they had been seated next to eachother. And to make matters worse, they had almost every class together as well. The only class they didn't have together was when Chuuya had math, and Dazai had science. The ginger had never liked math class as much as he did now.

But unfortunately, Dazai decided to make his life a living hell, and tease him in the hallways, too. He would constantly hear from somewhere behind him; "Hey, Chuuya! Why haven't you grown yet? I have to look down at you more now than when we were kids!" But Chuuya never caught him. He decided not to let it get the better of him (which is exactly what happened multiple times).

God, Dazai better get ready for alot more disagreeing, because that is the only thing the two would be doing this year.