Kunikidazai Oneshots

Kunikida's Worst Fears

(A/N: this is part 2 of the mini-series about Dazai, Kunikida, and Aya being a family. I apologize in advance, but I'm going to have to add an angst warning to this one. I hope y'all enjoy it either way though!)

It had been about a week now since Dazai and Kunikida had adopted Aya, and things were going fairly well for the three of them. They were all adjusting to their new life in their own unique ways, and they were truly glad to have each other.

For example, Aya was glad to have two new parent figures, even if one of them was Kunikida. She did her best to stay out of trouble and be a good child. And she succeeded...sometimes.

In Dazai's case, he had cut back on his suicide attempts. He was a parent now, and he had decided that it was a bad example to always try to die. He still had the desire here and there, but he wanted to try to live for both Aya and Kunikida.

As for Kunikida, he had been trying to keep his lecturing to a minimum, but he'd also realized just how necessary it could be to lecture a child. Still though, he was doing his best to be a good parent to Aya. He had quickly learned that he'd somewhat misjudged the girl. Keyword somewhat. She was definitely annoying. She never addressed Kunikida properly, and that was frustrating. She would also team up with Dazai and the two of them would decide to prank him for fun. But Aya's annoying tendencies weren't all there was to her. She was actually a really nice kid when she wanted to be. And the real surprise came not too long after Aya had been adopted.

It had happened one day while Dazai wasn't there, so Kunikida and Aya were alone.

She walked up to him. "Hey, um...Kunikida?" She sounded a lot more genuine than usual.

Kunikida looked up and almost corrected her with his usual "it's Mr. Kunikida" but this time, he didn't. Maybe it was because he was starting to get tired of always saying it when he never seemed to get listened to. Or maybe it was because of how genuine she sounded. Either way, something was up. "What is it, Aya?"

Aya looked guilty. "I just wanted to apologize for all those times I've been annoying..."

Who are you and what have you done with Aya? Kunikida thought. "Oh. Don't worry about it."

"But I've always bothered you in so many ways," Aya protested.

"I've dealt with worse," Kunikida pointed out.

"I guess...I mean, you almost died because of me. I'd say that's worse," Aya replied.

"That wasn't your fault," Kunikida said.

Aya looked down. "Why did you even bother saving me? We barely knew each other and all I did was annoy you."

Kunikida looked at Aya. "I already told you why. Because while it's true that you did frustrate me a lot, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do everything I could to save you...even if that resulted in my end. And luckily, neither of us ended up dying."

"Yeah..." Aya agreed.

"So I don't regret saving you," Kunikida continued.

Aya still wouldn't look at Kunikida.

"I'm serious. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I wasn't going to let you die," Kunikida insisted.

"Well...thanks, I guess," Aya replied.

Kunikida kept studying Aya. This was a bit confusing, if he was being honest. First of all, since when did Aya apologize for anything? And second, when did she seem this...sad? It was almost as if she'd picked up on some things Dazai tended to think and say. After all, Kunikida had some conversations with Dazai like this. Maybe he'd end up doing that with Aya, too.