What you're name ?

Chapter 31 Taking the Wheel

Made by @cataclysmiceve1 on Twitter!
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That Sunday, Dazai has to return to Kyoto—and saying goodbye to Chuuya is never easy, but it's especially hard now.

"Try not to get into any more violent outbursts while I'm gone, 'kay?" Chuuya mumbles against his lips.

They've been matched to each other for the last ten minutes while they've been waiting on the train, and Elise—

Well, Elise is gagging. "You're both so embarrassing!" She whines, crossing her arms over her chest. "Don't you do that enough at home?"

Dazai smiles faintly and hugs Chuuya closer, dipping him back a little as he kisses him again. "Nope!"

Fukuzawa is staying with Mori for the next few weeks because of 'home renovations,' so it made sense for Elise to take the train with Dazai, since the stop for her mother's house is on the way.

"Chuuya-nii! I can't believe you're just going along with him, he's gross!"

Really, if Chuuya didn't know how desperately he was going to miss Dazai over the next few weeks, he would be embarrassed, but—"Nah," Chuuya mumbles against his mouth, his fingers sliding into Dazai's hair. "He's not that gross."

By the time the train arrives, the little girl is sulking , and Dazai seems a little sated. "I'll be home as soon as exams are finished, okay?"

Chuuya nods. It'll be just before the verdict, which he's grateful for, but...It's stupid, he shouldn't be so sad about the fact that Dazai used all of his absences to be here this week, it's a good thing he did, because Chuuya needed him here, but...It also means he can't come down on Chuuya's birthday.

Which isn't the end of the world. It's not.

He's just disappointed.

"I know," Chuuya squeezes him one last time, "if you actually study hard, I might even do something nice for you."

"I always study hard!" Dazai whines.They both know he doesn't, and that he usually just pulls a high score with no effort—but he likes to save face.

" Right ," Chuuya rolls his eyes, giving him a chaste kiss. "I love you."

Dazai hugs him tight for a moment, nodding. "I love you too, sweetheart."

And then he gets on the train with Elise, and Chuuya is left there gaping.

Sweetheart...? Since when did he start using pet names?

And why did Chuuya kind of like it ?

Most of the next few weeks of Chuuya's life revolve around baseball practice and trying to pick a university. Mori takes him to Sendai one weekend, and Chuuya complains about the weather. When he's in Kobe, the facilities seem too small. And Osaka—well, he hears that Yuan is going there , and he doesn't really want to deal with that kind of close proximity to her all the time.

But, on a lighter note—baseball is a massive success. The team was able to win the top spot in the prefecture—because, as it turns out, Atsushi Nakajima is one of the best hitters in the country. Most of which, he learned from Dazai—but he didn't start his last season halfway through, and so...the team qualifies for Nationals.