There is more than one of him

Chapter 11

"Yes, great, ehm, we can do that, I just need to get my stuff ready hold on." And with that Itsuki closed the door, almost slamming it shut in the emotions that were overcoming him.

He had to call his wife or his parents, one of them at least.

And so he called his wife, who was, as expected not to thrilled about being woken up in the middle of the night, but answered nonetheless.

"Hey honey, what's up, why are you calling so early in the morning?" Koharu asked

"We're coming home. To Kawasaki. We're leaving in like half an hour. Be ready when we arrive"

it was silent for a moment, then Koharu answered.

"Alright. I won't ask questions now, about how all of this happened suddenly. I'll be ready when you arrive. But you will explain this to me at some point. Just one thing. Should I tell your parents?"

"thanks honey, but I don't think callem them right now would be a good idea. They'd be up and running to our house. I don't think he'd like being questioned and cornered by him"

And with that the call ended, leaving Itsuki to pack his bags.

It surprisingly only took him about ten minutes, before he opened his door back up, almost afraid Dazai had left again.

only to sigh in relief as he found Dazai standing right where he had left him with the bag in his hand.

"You sure you want to do this?" He asked his brother.

"If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't be here." Dazai countered

Fair argument. Though he still questioned what kind of needle he found in the haysack to make Dazai not only agree but also request returning to Kawasaki.

"Alright, that's fair, let's go my car's downstairs"

The car ride went by mostly silent, Itsuki unsure about what he supposed to say, afraid he might say something triggering or generally anything, that might convince his brother from not doing this.

Dazai simply enjoyed the silence and how he could basically hear Itsuki's thoughts spiralling in his head. To tell the truth he had already deducted the sentence Itsuki was going to think in ten minutes, but it was still fun.

When Itsuki spotted a sign for a reststop on the highway. Which reminded him, that it was the middle of the night and he was infact hungry. He wondered if he should text Koharu to get something ready.

"Hey, ehm, are you hungry? Cause i could arrange something for when we arrive."

"Not particularily, it's in the middle of the night, no one is hungry at this time of the day"

That seddles that then he guessed. Not that it acctually settled anything, cause it did leave the bring back the mention of issues with fod. He would think about that once Dazai was safely settled in the house with him and Koharu.

"We're almost there" He told Dazai.

"I know" He answered

"You know?"

"You're living in our grandparents' old house, aren't you?"

"Yes, sorry, I kinda just now didn't remember you..." ... are the same person that was once part of this family

Both knew what the sentence would have ended with, neither said it.

Five minutes later they turned the corner into the driveway and came to a stop.

Itsuki wanted to ask Dazai if he was ready, when he realized, that he could ask himself that as well. He himself wasn't even sure if he ready for this.

There was an inner debate whether he was more afraid of his brother meeting Koharu or Koharu meeting his brother.

What would she say?
probably nothing much
what would she think?
Probably a lot
Would she judge him?
Of course she would

He didn't know why he was so nervous all of a sudden.

It's not like his, by now no longer so identical but obviously identical, twin brother, who had been kidnapped and claimed dead years ago, was about to meet his fiancè, who had half of their relationship comforting him about said brother's dissapearance, probably believing he was long dead.

No that wasn't the case at all...

He logically knew, that Koharu was glad for him that he had found his brother, but he also knew that she knew, that this would change everything.

The both of them knew it.

"Are you waiting for something, or?" Dazai asked, although he must have guessed Itsuki's hesitance as what it truly was.

"No, sorry, I just kinda spaced out for asecond there." Itsuki answered "follow me" he announced and with that left to go to the entrance. Dazai following closely behind.

He rang the doorbell and waited. He hadn't even told Dazai that he was going to meet his fiancè, shit.

"I notified my fiancè earlier, that we were coming."

Before Itsuki could lose himself in an endless run of trying to explain himself for absolutely no reason, Dazai's attention was pulled form his brothers face to the door, that had opened just a second ago.

The woman that answered the door had an ironic similarity with Naomi, older of course, and taller. She was fairily pretty and would probably be considered attractive. She held herself with confidence which was only disturbed by the nervous posture of her arms, fingers anxiously cramping and realesing, invisible to eyes that weren't looking for it.

Dazai carefully studied her facial features as she set sight on him. He wasn't about to leave it up to fate. He was aware that he and his brother didn't really seem like twins anymore, so there was no doubt, she would know who was who even in the dark.

What Dazai wanted to know, was her opinion of him. For once not in a sexual way, he wasn't about to seduce her, although he bet he could with ease. No he wanted to know what she thought about the fact, that he was there. As the brother who had been lost for years.

And there it was. Written clearly in her face, for anyone who knew what the expression meant. He knew what his brother thought about him and what he feared about their first enouncter. And now he knew how much he had told her.

There was no fear in her eyes. Uncertainty yes, but no fear, so she didn't know, who he was.

And as much as Dazai would have perferred to just stay in Yokohoma and pretend like none of this ever happened, he couldn't go back to Yokohoma. Not for now at least.

So he'd have to get along with her. He'd have to make her think he was a nobody who had been freed from kidnapping. Basically he had to play the victim, but keep it in check enough to make her keep him instead of giving him to some institution.

"Hey, come in. I've been waiting for you." She said and gave itsuki a kiss.

They took their shoes off and stepped inside and then Dazai bowed to her in a form of greeting, something he hadn't done in years. Not for anything in his life would he bow down to anyone, yet here he was.

"My name is Koharu nice to meet you, welcome to our home" She said.

"Thank you for allowing me inside I'm Dazai, Dazai Osamu. I'm honored to meet you"

And with that his entire demanor changed, completely dumbfolding Itsuki. It struck a nerve in him. Reminding him of Fukuzawa's words. Dazai was nothing more than an actor who played into people's favors or against them depending on what needed to be achieved.