Soukoku: Country Children

First Encounter

Chuuya Nakahara lives a comfortable life. He lives with his guardian Kouyou and has two good friends at school: Aktugawa and Gin. Kouyou, even with her clingy traits, is a loving carer who Chuuya loves very much, and even though Aku and Gin are introverts, they show a happy, more outgoing side towards him. His grades are good and Kouyou already has a job set up for him when he leaves school in a couple of years, to work at the traditional tea house he loves and visits daily. He is happy and content, and doesn't feel the need to have any extra additions to his peaceful life.
He doesn't want any extra additions in his peaceful life.

**

It was 6am and Chuuya was already awake and getting ready, when Kouyou's humming could be heard from outside his room. He listened in, the tune reminding him of when the French singer's voice could be heard through the radio downstairs in the evenings. To Chuuya, songs always had a certain taste to them, and this song was just like coffee. The shrill notes woke him up, but the sweet sound of it also gave him a warm cosy feeling inside.
Kouyou's humming drifted down the stair-well as she headed to the kitchen, the taste of coffee lingering a bit longer in his head as he followed.

"Chuuya, sit down for a second, would you?" Kouyou purred, her mouth covered slightly by her long kimono sleeve as she took a long sip of tea.
Slightly worried, he obeyed, biting into an apple and watching her facial features twitch and flicker as she thought of what to say.
"You know Mori, across the road?" She said stiffly, drumming her red nails impatiently on the counter.
Chuuya nodded. Mori was a mysterious man, with black hair that hung around his face and lilac eyes which seemed to stare Chuuya down every time he walked home. All he really knew about the man was that he was a physician, and that he put Kouyou on edge.
"Well, he has been looking after a boy a couple months younger than you, however has been very caught up at work. So, he asked if I would ... take him in. Mori is very close with the child and worries over his state if he were to spend more time away from his side (apparently)." The last part she whispered to herself, her fingers drumming faster on the counter surface and her eyes narrowing. "He'll be arriving today after school so I want you to be nice to him, okay?"
"Okay." Chuuya was finishing off his apple and thinking very hard.

He.did.not.want.anyone.else.involved.in.his.life.

This was the worst possible situation. Even though he was open to meeting new people, having a complete stranger live with him possibly for the rest of his life was not what alright.
"Chuuya."
Chuuya snapped from his thoughts and looked at Kouyou, who was about to leave for work at the tea house.
"I almost forgot to tell you that he's going to walk with you to school. Strike a friendly conversation and see how it goes." She winked before shutting the door.
He watched her through the window as her face was slowly hidden by her red parasol as she rested it on her shoulder, and as soon as he was sure she was gone, he slammed his fist on the table.
"Dammit." He muttered, throwing the apple into the bin from his seat. "This is not what I want."
He suddenly heard his phone ring on the sofa and ran to pick it up.
"Oi, Chuuya, do you want to walk to school again?"
It was Aktugawa. For a second he was about to agree, but he remembered that he had to walk with the new kid. Dang it.
"Sorry," Chuuya groaned. "I have to walk with someone else today. He's moving in, and if I don't Kouyou will probably kill me with her parasol."
'Oh, okay." There was some muttering in the background. "Gin says hi."
And with that the call ended.
Chuuya grabbed a pillow and screamed into it, frustration boiling inside him. He hadn't even met the damn guy and the new kid was already getting in the way of his social life. Walks to school with Gin and Aku were brilliant, they could talk openly about problems and funny stories, and he really needed to be open about his current issue.

He then heard someone at the door. He paused in his screaming and turned his head to see Mori happily waving to him from the window, with a young brunette at his side.
"Damnit." Chuuya muttered. The guy probably thought he was a lunatic now.
Chuuya opened the door, school bag over his shoulder, to see Mori standing in the driveway.
"I need to go to work now!" He said happily, patting the boy beside him on the head. "You two have fun and I'll drop his things off later. Be good now?" Mori then proceeded to walk back up the driveway before heading the same direction as Kouyou's tea shop.
Chuuya turned back to the boy in front of him.
He had brown hair that fell around most of his face, but Chuuya could still see his chestnut eyes which were staring right back at his. He also had a number of bandages on his body: neck, arms, even some on his face.
Chuuya thought that he seemed pretty alright, there was only one problem: he was way taller than Chuuya.
He was used to this, but this time it was bugging him. This guy was huge, looming, a giraffe to the small guy Chuuya was. He felt like a dwarf, and the guy seemed to notice it as he looked down at him.
"Let's go." Chuuya forced himself to say it as politely as he could as the towering guy above him looked almost as though he was enjoying his advantage over the small ginger.
"Sure." He replied. His voice was smooth and devious, and a smirk was creeping on his lips as him and his new companion started to walk up the country road to school. "Let's go."

**

The walk to school wasn't as bad as Dazai had expected it to be. It was brilliant. The midget he was supposed to be living with was hilarious to tease, and it was even funnier that he always had to look up at him. It was pretty ridiculous how short he was. Even the pretty petite Atsushi was taller than this guy.
But he didn't dislike him. He thought he was kinda alright, even when he yelled and threw pretty painful punches into his arm.
"So what's your name, Shorty?" Dazai asked, curious as to what it really was since he had been calling him many nicknames on their journey.
"Huh? You don't already know?" The guy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nope." Dazai sighed, looking out at the golden fields that surrounded the small sandy path they were walking down, the country school not too far ahead.
"Well, it's Chuuya." Dazai looked back down at the boy by his side.
"Chuuya?"
"Yep. Chuuya Nakahara."
"Well, I'm Dazai. Dazai Osamu."

**