※𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐔 (𝐀𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐱 𝐀𝐤𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐰𝐚)※

Chapter 1

99% of the earth's population had a natural confidence, it was embedded in them as much as evolutionary survival instincts were. Atsushi Nakajima was a part of the unfortunate 1% which lacked.

Atsushi was a quiet child, hopping from foster home to foster home, then being adopted only to constantly be returned, yet he never complained once. Even if a new foster or adoptive family didn't work out, he was always grateful they'd deemed him worthy enough to consider him in the first place.

Being grateful wasn't an issue in itself, it was good to practice gratitude. However, Atsushi's gratitude, politeness, and overall work ethic had a straight-line link to his abysmal lack of confidence. Every action he took, every word he spoke every thought he had. It all dwindled down to Atsushi's lack of logical and positive emotional connection. He was a ball of ethics, justice, and philosophy that'd been scrambled together with anxiety and a nasty inferiority complex.

He saw himself as unworthy.

Unworthy of happiness.

Unworthy of success.

Unworthy of life itself sometimes.

This is why everyone who knew him was incredibly proud when he was accepted into Yokohama University. The busy environment offered many opportunities for him to gain confidence in himself. Everyone who knew him, knew his story, was cheering him on.

If there was one instance where Atsushi's gratitude wasn't misplaced, it would be in his friends. Well, friend.

"I'm back!" Dazai sang, surprisingly Intune, when he dramatically kicked open the door of the bathroom. His long legs reached Atsushi, who was quietly studying in the campus snack bar, slamming himself down opposite him and spreading his papers all over the table, "Did you miss me? Huh? Huh?"

If there was one person Atsushi could be considered comfortable around, it was his roommate Dazai. He had no issues with being honest with him. Mainly because, in the past when he was a lot less socially able, he'd tried everything he could think off to shake the man away. Nothing worked. Atsushi even tried being blatantly mean, which was nowhere near mean by regular people's standards, it didn't work.

Atsushi sighed, trying his best to pull the loose pages together again "You were only gone for 5 minutes."

Dazai whined, slurping on the tea he left while he went on his bathroom break, "Wrong answer Atsushi!" He was very needy.

Dazai was a social butterfly. The type of person, extroverts, who adopted others, introverts, to help them flower; and Dazai had quite the planetarium growing. However, out of all his little flower projects, Atsushi quickly became his favorite. So much so that he barely left the poor boy alone.

Atsushi sighed, trying his hardest to read the material for his next lecture even though he'd read it a thousand times before. He didn't even have the confidence in his own brain to remember it. Atsushi looked up, meeting Dazai's playful chocolate eyes, "What is it?" He asked, assuming the other had something up his sleeve since he always seemed to.

Dazai gleamed, resting his face between his two palms, almost proud that his little socially inept roommate could tell when he was plotting, "I invited some friends over for a drink, and they really want to meet you."

Atsushi was instantly nervous at the idea, "But you know I'm not good with people" It was his turn to whine now. He leaned back in his seat, head hitting the soft cushioning of the booth. His mind instantly succumbing to the pressure he kept on himself at all times.

Dazai stuck out a long, determined finger and waggled it in front of him, "No, you're fine. You just think you're terrible." Atsushi sank in his seat, a reaction Dazai was very used to "C'mon it'll be fun, you don't want to miss out, do you?"