A Certain Simple Situation

13

"Chuuya."

"Chuu-chan."

"Chuu-Chuu-train." 

Chuuya opened his eyes in the same forest as before. Dazai waved at him. His ears twitching on the top of his head. "Dazai?" Chuuya stood up and grabbed Dazai, holding him without even an ounce of possibly letting go. "You're alive!" 

"Unfortunately," he sighed, returning the hug. "The Boss tried to kill me but the other organization saved my life. You can't let him know that I'm alive. Act like I'm dead for the time being." 

"You smell," Chuuya growled, sniffing Dazai's hair. 

"There is another omega in the room with me and I might've made a move on my darling kohai." Chuuya punched Dazai in the stomach. 

"What was that for?" Dazai grabbed his stomach. He was bleeding even in his dream. Right on the wound. 

"I know we aren't together...but I still felt like I had to punch you," Chuuya frowned. "Dazai..." he took a step back and looked at Dazai's face. His ears were twitching again. Chuuya reached up and pet them. They were so soft. 

"I'm not your mate..."

"You don't know that. We haven't tried..."

"Chuuya, I can't be your mate..."

"Oh," Chuuya lowered his hand. "Do you not like me?" 

"It's because I like you," Dazai grabbed Chuuya's hands. "If I give into the alpha side I could hurt you." 

"You wouldn't hurt me." 

"You don't know that." 

"I do know that." 

"There is a reason the Boss doesn't want us together and it's not just because he is obsessed with you. Ask him about 'Kyouyou.' I've got to go." He let go of Chuuya's hands and turned around, morphing back into his wolf form. 

"Will you be back?" 

He didn't give a response. 

...

Dazai opened his eyes to see Atsushi staring down at him with a perplexed look. "You're a brave one, aren't you?" Dazai snickered. 

"You looked like you were in pain...I was going to wake you up..." Atsushi looked at the ground instead of Dazai. 

"Do I scare you?" 

"I scare myself."

"That's how it should be," Dazai sat up. "If you aren't afraid of yourself then the other parts of you will end up controlling you." 

Atsushi didn't say anything. Dazai lifted his hand to try and pat his head but the handcuff held him back. "Oh, I forgot about these." Fear crossed over Atsushi's face. His body shook a bit. 

"You should be afraid of me," Dazai nodded. "You should be afraid of all alphas but you shouldn't let them know so obviously." 

"I'm sorry," Atsushi began to sob. 

"Why are you apologizing?" Dazai forgot about the handcuffs again and tried moving to comfort but he was stuck in place. "Okay, these things are pieces of shit." 

"I don't know I just am," he tried to wipe away his tears but more continued to flow out of him. 

"Come here," Dazai gestured to his bed. 

"What?"

"I'm not going to do anything. I'm handcuffed so I can't. Just come here." Atsushi nodded and crawled up onto the bed. He laid down beside Dazai on the side that wasn't wounded. "You're almost like a cat."

"I'm a tiger..." he muttered, rubbing his face into Dazai's shoulder. 

"I'm a wolf." 

The two held each other like this which only reminded Dazai of Chuuya. He sighed and closed his eyes again. There wasn't much to do but sleep around here. 

...

A stained glass window stared down at him. Strange colors melded with other strange colors and he stood directly in the center of the light. There was something behind him. He turned his head to see glowing eyes staring back at him. He moved to exit the light but snarling was what he was greeted with. Dazai scratched behind his fluffy ear. 

"This must be your place," he observed. "Mine is a forest." Dazai sat in the center of the circle. "I'm not going to hurt you, Atsushi-kun," he said. "I can help you." The snarling only got louder. 

"You're an alpha," a voice unlike Atsushi's spoke. "Alphas are the enemy." 

"That's true. I'm an alpha and you have every right to be wary of me," Dazai laid down. He stared up at the stained glass and sighed. "I didn't choose to be an alpha just like you didn't choose to be a tiger. This is your world. You invited me here for some reason, didn't you?" 

"How can I trust you?" 

"You can't." 

"Why should I?" 

"Because out of all the alphas you've met...what do I smell like?" Dazai scrambled to his feet and immediately exited the circle. The tiger pounced and pushed him back to the ground. He winced as claws threatened to tear off his face. He didn't fear death, even in a dream world. The tiger was beginning to understand that. 

The tiger sniffed the air around Dazai. He wasn't oozing pheromones as the rest of them did. He hadn't even tried fighting back. This alpha was weird...strange...not normal in any sense of the word. "Lavender." 

"I won't hurt Atsushi-kun and if I do you can kill me, how's that sound?" Dazai suggested. It was becoming his go-to phrase. Chuuya would murder him for that alone if he ever found out. But who knows when he'd see Chuuya again. 

The light from the stained glass shifted from its current location and onto the two males. Atsushi shifted back into his human form with cute little tiger ears and a tail. His body was naked lying on top of Dazai. He moved into the furthest of the circle that he could go without stepping into the darkness and curled up, trying to cover his scars. 

"Everyone has scars, Atsushi-kun," Dazai took off his jacket. He stared at it, confused about where it came from. He didn't have a tan jacket like this. Actually, he didn't have any of these clothes. The bandages on his face weren't there. Just his neck and arms. What was going on? Well, this was Atsushi's dream world maybe he wanted Dazai to dress like this. His wound wasn't there either. Dazai shook his head. He wasn't going to question this anymore. 

Dazai undid the bandages on one of his arms and showed it to Atsushi. The needle scars from him choosing the wrong spots or working too hastily. His arm was riddled with pinholes. "I've been running away from being what I am all of my life. Don't do the same thing." Atsushi scooted forward and held Dazai's hand. He stared at his arm in silence before running his hand along it. The scars were gone. He moved to Dazai's other arm about to take off the bandages when Dazai stopped him. 

"Those are scars of a different sort..." he closed his eyes, not wanting to see them up close again. He felt Atsushi removing the bandages which brought back the memories all the same. A cold bathroom in the middle of the night with a knife in his hand after he shifted the first time. He'd tried his arms and ultimately his neck but he still didn't die. He couldn't kill the monster. Dazai placed his hand over his mouth feeling himself about to wretch. 

"It's okay," Atsushi spoke. His voice was calm and sweet. He smelled like apples. Everyone smelled like fruit to Dazai apparently. Dazai hadn't felt Atsushi take the bandage off of his neck but he was aware of its absence. He wanted to gag again, feeling sick to his stomach. Atsushi grabbed his face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. "It's okay," he repeated. 

Dazai opened his eyes and stared down at his arms. They were gone. He knew this was a dream and that it would have no impact on reality. When he woke up, the scars would still be there, but for now he could pretend like it never happened. A single tear escaped his eye because that was all he would allow himself to feel, but Atsushi could see the tears he didn't shed. 

"Let me teach you how to shift..." Dazai tried to change the subject but Atsushi pushed him back, forcing him to lie down. 

"Not today."