This is set 6 months after Chuuya joined the Mafia
UK-US English Translation notes:
Mac - Raincoat
Wellies - Rainboots
Fears.
Everyone has them, some more rational than others.
At least that's what Ane-san had told him.
He'd worked so hard over the past six months to get over or better manage some of his fears. A stable home, income and source of food had helped a lot of his fears, and time with the Port Mafia therapist had helped for some of the others.
Except for this.
The damn crash-crack-boom of thunder, followed by the static crackle of lightning.
Rain he could do, even the worst storms that had everyone around clinging onto something heavy didn't bother him.
But thunderstorms?
They were more terrifying than facing Mori and telling him a job went wrong.
He couldn't face telling Dazai – his work partner and roommate, that he was scared of thunderstorms. So, he huddled in the corner of the closet in his room and hoped the fact that he couldn't see the thunderstorm would help, otherwise it was going to be a long night. Even if the Thunderstorm was short, Chuuya could never settle until the rain had passed and he could see the clear sky again.
Dazai on the other hand had rather gleefully told him he was going to be going out shortly, for something he called 'the thunderstorm scream' so at least Chuuya didn't have to worry about him finding out about his little fear.
He wasn't that wasn't that lucky, in a strange move for Dazai, he'd decided to check on Chuuya before he got ready to go out. It was the worst storm they'd had for a long time in case the power went out when he wasn't there, he wanted to make sure Chuuya had a torch, enough blankets and that he knew where the spare candles were kept. But he couldn't find Chuuya in the living room, bathroom or his bedroom, he was going to give up when he noticed the closest door wasn't fully shut.
Chuuya yelled in fright when Dazai opened the door, the movement coinciding with the loudest rumble of thunder they'd had so far. He glared at Dazai, trying to hide his fear with a menacing aura.
It didn't work.
Dazai crouched in front of Chuuya, lightly taking his hand, his voice was low.
"Are you okay Chuuya?"
"I'm fine."
A boom of thunder was followed by a crackle of lightning, Chuuya started trembling and tried to hide, pulling his hand from Dazai's.
"Close the door" he whispered.
So Dazai did, shutting them both inside the closest
"I meant with you on the other side."
"Nope, Chuuya's my partner and clearly scared, so I've got to help make it better."
"Like you care." Chuuya grumbled.
"I can care sometimes." Dazai paused, "You help me on my bad days, so it's only fair I help you on yours. Why are you scared?"
"A fear doesn't have to have a reason."
"Oh, it's one of those fears…"
"Aren't I stopping you from your plans though?" Chuuya asked, trying to change the subject.
"Nah, I can always do it next time."
"But a thunderstorm scream, surely that's not something you can do often?"
Chuuya was so focused on trying to get Dazai out of his hiding closest that he'd stopped reacting to the thunder.
"Well, you could always join me." Dazai suggested
"I am not going outside."
"It may help, you get to go up to the roof and just scream or yell or make any noise you like. Maybe Chibi can yell that loudly he can scare the thunderstorm away." Dazai paused, "it's really cathartic, and I always sleep well after it."
Chuuya was silent as he thought it over, Ane-san and his therapist had told him that some fears just needed to be faced to get over them. How did he know if thunderstorms were one of them if he didn't at least try?
"Oh! You need to wear some wellies and a mac though. The first time I did it, I caught a cold and Mori was not happy when I was laid up in bed for a week."
"I'll try it, but if you lock me on that damn roof, I will kill you and damn the consequences."
"We work to you Chibi, when you've had enough, we'll come straight back down, okay?"
Chuuya nodded.
"Can you pass my wellies, they're behind you." Chuuya asked.
Dazai passed them over, feeling the hanging coats till he hit the slippery material of the mac, pulling it off and handing it to Chuuya. His own were waiting in the living room.
"You ready?" Dazai asked when Chuuya was dressed, pushing the closest door open slightly.
It was poor timing, with the door open the thunder was louder and they could see lightning through the curtains. Chuuya whimpered,
"Nope."
"That's fine, I'm just going to get my shoes and coat on, join me when you're ready okay?"
Chuuya nodded, as Dazai stood up and left the closest
"Oh, and put some blackout blinds and curtains on your shopping list, we can make it safer for next time then."
It took Chuuya five long minutes to leave the closest. During that time Dazai made up two hot water bottles placing one in each of their beds, and made sure their towels were over the radiator in the bathroom as even with the coat and wellies they would probably end up soaked. His coat was on and he was just pulling on the wellies when Chuuya appeared in the living room.
"I'm ready."
Dazai held out his arm so Chuuya could link with him.
"Let's go then."
As they were on the top floor of the apartment block, they were right by the stairs to the roof. A minute later they were in front of the door that led on to the roof.
"Last chance Chibi, we can go back home now if you want."
"No. It's just weather." Chuuya almost sounded convinced.
Dazai pushed the door open, the thunderstorm was still raging. Dazai led Chuuya to the middle of the roof, letting go when he stopped.
"Still with me?" Dazai asked.
"What do we do now?"
"Open your arms wide and scream or shout or yell. Whatever you feel like. The storm is so loud no one can hear us" Dazai smiled, spreading his arms and screaming.
Chuuya joined him, choosing to yell rather than scream.
"YOU'RE NOT BETTER THAN ME YOU STUPID THUNDER! I CAN CONTROL GRAVITY, WHAT CAN YOU DO? HUH? MAKE SOME SCARY NOISES?"
Lightning lit up the sky and Dazai stopped screaming to take in the beauty of it, he had unconsciously moved closer to Chuuya allowing him to hear his next yell
"OH! GOING FOR THE ELECTRIC LIGHT SHOW NOW ARE WE? I CAN MAKE PRETTY THINGS WITH LIGHT TO! AT LEAST MY POWERS ARE USEFUL!"
Dazai couldn't help but laugh at the outrage on Chuuya's face as he yelled.
"What?!" Chuuya grumbled, noticing Dazai was laughing.
"I uhh I like your methods." Dazai smiled. "Is it helping?"
Chuuya nodded. "The screaming helping you?"
"Yeah"
The thunder started up again, Chuuya taking Dazai's hand, as they screamed together. Chuuya at the Thunderstorm and Dazai at the void. They ran out of energy to scream as the lightning flashed again.
"It really is pretty." Chuuya murmured, for the first time actually looking at the lightning than hiding.
"Nature is both amazing and terrifying."
"Can we go in now? I'm cold."
"Sure."
Dazai led them back to their apartment. Chuuya silent in thought. They left their wellies and macs by the front door; they could deal with them the next day.
"Why don't you shower first?" Dazai suggested, he could deal with being a little cold, but Ane-san and Mori would kill him if Chuuya caught a cold because of him.
"Could…could you shower with me? Like we do on missions when it's too late and we just want to sleep?" Chuuya asked
"Sure" Dazai smiled, he knew it was because Chuuya was still scared, but he would agree with whatever stupid reason Chuuya came up with, that's what partners were for.
Thirty minutes later and they were both washed and dried. The storm had faded, being replaced with rain that was hammering against every window. Dazai made sure Chuuya got into bed, placing a spare blanket on the floor next to him, in case he got cold in the night.
"Thanks for tonight Dazai, I still don't like them, but thunderstorms don't seem so scary now" Chuuya smiled, as he slipped into bed, "Oh! That's toasty"
Dazai smiled, "I put a hot water bottle in for you earlier." He turned to leave the room, as the wind picked up and the rain battered the window louder than before, making Chuuya jump.
"Dazai…."
"Yes?"
"I don't want to sleep alone tonight."
"I'll just be next door Chibi, the thunderstorm is over now"
"But what if it comes back? The weather forecast said we could have multiple thunderstorms tonight…" Chuuya trailed off
"Well, we do share a bed on missions, although that's more to do with Mori being a cheapskate so I guess I could share your bed for one night."
"Wait, I thought Mori made us share to confuse any attackers? Two of us in one bed, no one's going to expect that"
Dazai laughed, "Lesson number two of being employed by Mori – don't believe everything he says." He left to grab a blanket, his own hot water bottle and to turn off the lights in his room, he continued talking as he returned, "lesson number three, don't ever, ever tell Mori about lesson number two."
Dazai shut the door behind him, slid his hot water bottle into the bottom of Chuuya's bed and got in next to him, grateful that Chuuya had bought a double bed. He could sense Chuuya relaxing the second he got in the bed.
"Good night." Chuuya told him as he turned out the lamp on his nightstand.
"Night Chibi."
The darkness seemed to make the storm louder, and Chuuya inched closer to Dazai
"Oh, it's loud out there."
"I'm not leaving Chibi, well I may need a pee in the night, but I promise I'll come straight back to you, okay?" As he spoke, Dazai took Chuuya's hand in his squeezing it to reassure him.
"Thanks Dazai."
"Thank you, your bed is comfier than mine" Dazai laughed.
To their surprise, they both slept through the night, waking up feeling refreshed. The storm had run its course during the night and the sun was shining when they woke up. As they made breakfast together, they felt closer than they had before. Even Mori noticed the two boys were working together better.
The next thunderstorm to hit, Chuuya was eager to join Dazai during his Thunderstorm Scream although only on the condition that Dazai joined him in bed afterwards. Soon Chuuya's fear of thunderstorms became smaller, he still wasn't a fan, but he didn't feel the need to hide away from it.
You can also find me on Twitter and AO3 as Darke_Faerie