Red Camellias

Chapter 1 ~ Departed

Dazai wanted some space after the funeral, some time to think and Chuuya was more than happy to give that to him, but it was getting late, too late.

Dazai had been out somewhere for hours now, it had gotten dark and close to midnight so Chuuya decided to go out to find him, and he knew exactly where to go.

He parked his car on the side of the road and slowly walked towards the alleyway.  There it was, that bright illuminating sign that read “Lupin”. Chuuya squinted his eyes and began to walk down the steps to the bar.

He was hoping Dazai was okay, that he wasn't in a bad state, mostly because he was tired and was more than ready to bury himself in his bed.

Opening the door he peeked inside the empty bar to find Dazai sitting with his head laying on the table with his arms acting as a cushion, a drink next to him which was clearly untouched.

Chuuya sighed and slowly walked towards him giving him a light tap on the shoulder, Dazai didn't raise his head however.

“Cmon Osamu, it's late, let me get you home.”

Chuuya was really desperate to go home by now but didn't want to rush Dazai too much.

Dazai mumbled something but it was too muffled for Chuuya to be able to tell what he said.

He took a seat next to him and lightly rubbed his back to try and motivate him to get up. Dazai's shoulders tensed up at the sudden touch but quickly fell back down upon realising it was just a back rub.

Chuuya leant in closer to Dazai's face and spoke softly.

“I promise you'll feel more comfortable in bed rather than on this bar counter.”

Dazai groaned in response but lifted his head slightly, what Chuuya saw was a pair of red swollen eyes and a desperate look.

“I want.. to stay at your place”

His voice broke with every syllable as he whispered those words out, it was clear he didn't want to be alone but he didn't want to admit that, not to Chuuya.

“Sure, let's just get going okay?”

Chuuya would've usually been more pushy but he knew what Dazai needed right now was his patience, so he gave him exactly that.

Eventually Dazai pushed his body upwards off of the bar stool whilst keeping his head down, it was obvious that Dazai had been crying, it was a normal thing to do after all, but he didn't want Chuuya to notice.

Chuuya stood up with him and offered himself as a support for Dazai to lean onto whilst also pulling out some money from his wallet and leaving it on the counter for whatever Dazai had ordered.

Dazai stumbled and caught himself on Chuuya on the way out. Chuuya wasn't sure if he was drunk or if he was just simply feeling tired, it could've very much been both. Good that Chuuya brought his car because they would not have made it home on foot with Dazai's current state.

Sitting him down and buckling his seatbelt for him, he walked over and sat in the driver's seat shortly before starting the engine and making a swift journey to his apartment.

When they arrived, Dazai was almost completely uncooperative and refused to walk, Chuuya had to basically drag Dazai's feet along to get him up into his apartment. But eventually they made it.

“Here, sit.”

Chuuya had a feeling Dazai wouldn't bother to take off his shoes or coat so he did it for him whilst leaving him for a moment to run a bath, there was no way he was letting him into his bed like that, there was no denying it, Dazai has been pretty filthy for the past few days.