Rot

Threshold

Dazai has never liked school.

There's not a lot of things Dazai is fond of, Sensei and crab being at the top of that list, and school being at the bottom. Just above Mori, of course. There's nothing he dislikes more than Mori.

But now school is starting, in a new town that gives him a strange feeling, but his reluctance to go is trampled. It's eight hours away from that house, away from the suffocating stairwell, smoldering room and glowing garage. The only downside of leaving the house is he has to part ways with Sensei, who has, in Mori's words, become 'quite the little guardian'.

His feline friend ambles behind him wherever he goes, and the company is nice, he decides. Especially when Mori attempts to pet the cat and gets swiped at. Everytime Sensei does that, Dazai is sure to reward him with some of whatever left over meat is in their fridge and lots of scratches and pets.

Mori says he shouldn't reward bsd behaviour, but Mori also says a lot of stupid things, and so the boy ignores him.

But Sensei is not here, only Mori is with him, driving the now parked car, no doubt nattering on to him about how Dazai should try to socialize and make friends this year. Dazai is ignoring him in favor of watching kids trickle towards the small school, seeing if he'll recognize any of them from Mori's clinic. Sure enough, he does, including the weepy eyed white haired boy with the broken arm, standing hand in hand with a much younger, dark haired girl with white flowers in her hair and a sour look on her face.

"Geeze, you should make him switch bunks with Kyouka-chan if this is gonna happen."

Mori's assistant had mentioned a Kyouka, so perhaps this is her? They do not look even slight alike, but that of course does not negate the possibility of them being siblings, maybe even adopted ones. That would explain the drastically different features.

The boy, Atsushi, is happily chatting to the girl, who nods along to him, seemingly every once in a while chiming in herself.

They look like normal, friendly siblings. Close. But in a good way.

(Him and Mori are close, and he knows it's not a good thing.)

This sky thunders and shakes the car. It must have struck close, he thinks, and his suspicions are confirmed as the students move from a casual walk to a sprint in doors.

"I should go." Dazai hums, grabbing his bag from the back seat and putting it on his back, opening the door by pushing it outward with his foot.

"OH! Yes, of course, go Dazai-kun, I almost completely forgot because of how adorable you look in your new uniform--" Dazai slams the door behind him and strides toward the school not bothering to glance back at the man. He knows he's still there, since he hasn't heard the car start pulling away.

Glancing upwards, the sky is dark and cloudy, the kind of dark grey that promises a terrible thunder storm, or even hail. Neither sound great, considering he'll have to make the dash from the schools doors to Mori's car again after school, and both mean he'll be pelted by either water or ice.

Well, rains probably better, actually.

When Dazai reaches the doors, he yanks them open with all his might, since just by looking at them he can tell they are obscenely heavy, and he makes his way in.

For a k-8 school, with every single child in that age range in the entire town, the lobby is surprisingly quiet. He's used to yelling in the halls from overly enthusiastic students, despite the hour, but here, in this school, the kids are quiet in the lobby.

Dazai wipes his shoes on the mats at the front and steps further into the building, frowning as he looks down the hallway to find the lockers are much the same, just a few students huddled together against them, some giggling and perhaps the odd sneeze or cough,but other than that, it's silent here.