Chapter Text
Chapter 1: The Silver Lining
Sunlight shimmered through the window and past the blinds, illuminating the room in a nice yellow glow. It was mainly silent, the AC and the sounds of someone cooking in the kitchen created a welcoming ambiance. Chuuya, however, blocked it out, headphones blasting some rock band from the 90’s. His foot tapped to the beat against his floor, humming the lyrics as he finished up some math problem.
He was exceptionally good, one of the more smarter students at his school, but focused more on physical activities. That was what interested him the most.
The main problem was that he would most likely be denied any male activity due to his birth gender. Annoying, definitely discriminatory, and not worth his time to go through all that trouble. Besides, he has some friends and family who don’t care about his sex, which Chuuya is very grateful for, but it doesn’t give the sense of fulfillment he so desperately wants.
Chuuya placed his pencil down on the desk, leaning back in his chair and sighing. He pulled out his phone, seeing a new message from Shirase.
しらせ
”You wanna come over today??”
“Me and #@!%0 are planning a date in a few days and I wanna get her something but I don’t have ANYTHING😭”
Sent 4:29
“Jesus, is he seriously asking me for help? That’s your girlfriend…” He muttered under his breath. Chuuya typed a quick response, making up some excuse about his brother needing him at home.
He never understood why people asked help from him about relationship problems or solutions. Like sure, he can conjure something up if he knows the person, but it gets annoying. Chuuya hasn’t had a partner ever! No first kiss or crush, an anomaly if you will. He’s not aromantic or asexual, he has had his fait share of attraction to celebrities and—embarrassingly, fictional characters from shows and anime. But a real life person giving him butterflies and making him all giddy, nope. Hell, he didn’t even know if he liked women or not! It was all frustrating. Everyone has it figured out but him, so why is God picking favorites?
“Chuuya? Can you come downstairs for a few minutes? It’s important!” Rimbaud’s voice seemed to snap him out of his thoughts, taking off his headphones and getting out his seat.
Chuuya walked downstairs to find Rimbaud . “What’s happening?”
”Your brother texted me about you needing to go outside more. He says he’s, ‘Very worried about you never going anywhere but school’. And I think he’s right.”
“What do you mean? Tell him I go outside everyday!”
“You only set foot outside when you’re going to school.”
”I’m still going outside?”
Rimbaud pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh, muttering something in french before turning around to stir the large pot on the stove. “Take a walk, explore, go to a friend’s house. Just go outside for about an hour, please? He’s worried about you and doesn’t like to see you cooped up like before..okay?”
Chuuya seemed to freeze at the end of the sentence, his mind flashing with unforgettable memories. The cold rooms, the uncomfortable talks, the names, the numbers, t̵h̷e d̶̡̎õ̴̬̃c̵̬͗t̴̝͑͛o̵͖̣̾ř̷̩̙͌
“Hey, are you okay, Chuuya..? I’m sorry I brought that up-“
”No, It’s o…okay,” He paused, heading towards the door and slipping on his shoes. “I’m just gonna go to the park then..”
Rimbaud stared for a moment before giving him an apologetic nod. “Be back by seven, dinner will be ready by then. And stay safe, too..”
“Alright, see you later..” Chuuya mumbled, grabbing his key and walking out.
Annoying yet true if you were to ask Chuuya about how he felt on his predicament. On one hand, he’d rather stay inside and go take a nap than walk around aimlessly for an hour. But on the other hand he never left his house anyway, and if he did it wasn’t for any physical gain.
Maybe there was something to gain from this. He could be alone with his own thoughts, only now in the big, loud city instead of the comfort of his own bed…yeah, no, this was going suck some way or another
.
.
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.
Chuuya looked up from his phone, the change in environment almost shocking him. How long has he been walking? How immersed in his phone was he? Probably too much, considering he barely noticed how the concrete sounded awfully different ten minutes ago.
Well, if he had been walking in (hopefully) a straight line, turning around was the most reasonable option! An almost comical sigh left his throat as Chuuya slipped his phone in his pants pocket, the wind creating a nice ambiance throughout the trees’ leaves and bringing a small chill down his arms.
Then-
snap!
Chuuya turned around, face full of confusion. Was that an animal? A person maybe- No, don’t think that. Thinking like that just gets him scared. Stupidly scared for no reason.
Another few seconds passed, the previously calm winds growing into something uncomfortable, an indication to go home. No need to tell him twice. Chuuya turned once again, taking a step forward only to meet a face only inches away.
”OH SHIT-“ He yelped, slipping as he flinched back and falling straight on his ass, embarrassing himself further more. His day couldn’t get any better, could it? The person standing in front of him let out a small chuckle, crouching down to stare at him directly.
Their hair curled wildly, framing their face while creating a rather unique silhouette. It was a chocolate-y brown, and it practically shimmered from the sunlight. Their eyes…uh…eye was almost the opposite though, as it seemed never ending, like it could suck him in and never let him go. Kinda creepy honestly. Then their ears- Wait. Ears? What type of a person has ears? No- Worded that wrong, what type of a person has fox ears?!
”Are you okay?” They asked, the voice higher than he’d thought it’d be but soothing in a way Chuuya couldn’t explain.
”I…uh…I-Y-yeah…thanks for asking…?”
”…Did I scare you that bad~?”
Chuuya quickly sat up, wiping himself of the dirt and grime he could’ve possibly gotten from his fall while scoffing.
”Shut the hell up- It’s not my fault you’re like some…ninja- Okay look,” He cut himself off, staring at the top of the stranger’s head. “What is up with your ears man? I mean wear what you want but-“
Chuuya cut himself off as he watched the stranger immediately go stiff, expression startled and practically mortified?
”UH-um- Forget you saw me! Like- Ever! Bye bye, Chibi!” They sped away, pushing past Chuuya with an almost enthusiastic but increasingly nervous tone. Weird. Everything about that guy was weird, annoying, too. But…Chuuya felt off. Maybe he was still feeling the effects of being scared half to death.
Whatever, he just needed to go home, it looked like he was late. God, he could hear the worry from Verlaine and Rimbaud this very second.
”Wait, what the fuck did you call me?!”