Some missteps were made...

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Dazai was a bit confused. He'd just spent the last 34 minutes searching for a child in a playroom, and when his student had shushed everyone and quietly crept over to a toybox in the corner of the room and pulled the child out of it, he'd been kicked someplace near the lungs and had doubled over, accidentally letting go of the child. The next few moments after had gone in slow motion for Dazai- the child had run as far from Atsushi as possible, and frantically scanned the room before locking eye's with Dazai and decidedly choosing him as the safest option somehow. He'd been so focused on figuring out what was going through the child's mind that he'd nearly been startled when the kid ran towards him with tears streaming down his face as he latched onto Dazai and spun to behind him, nervously looking out from where he stood behind his legs. 

Atsushi had seen the action and cooed out something soft, slowly crouching down to appear smaller and less threatening as he slowly tapped forward along the hardwood floors. Dazai looked down to where the child was anxiously watching the weretiger and was shocked when the kid looked up and met his eyes- a sort of recognition and expectancy in his eye. He was so confused, but almost there- who did the kid think he was? A family friend? A relative? Maybe someone deceas... Oh. Oh. The kid let go of Dazai within a second as he processed what he'd just realized, slowly creeping back into the corner of the room and making himself small as he hissed out what seemed to be curses in an odd language as Atsushi held his hands up in surrender and attempted to come closer to the young boy. As soon as Dazai snapped out of his stupor he stopped the teen- "Atsushi! Stop where you are, you'll only make him panic." and slowly sat down on the floor. He heard Atsushi whimper slightly in regret as the child's breathing sped up and tears slipped down his cheeks again. 

Dazai held his arms forward, hoping to coax a little trust from the 5-year-old in front of him, and was shocked when the little one ran towards him at what was clearly his max speed and jumped into his arms, pushing Dazai back ever so slightly with the motion. The little one held on tight, arms wrapped around his neck as Dazai slowly lifted him and turned to face Atsushi with a concerned look. The child was still crying, but it seemed that the exhaustion of running around had gotten to him- slightly odd considering young kids his age usually had enough energy for that and far more, but nothing Dazai couldn't handle. Walking towards his student, Dazai made sure all his steps were light, measured, and ultimately wouldn't jostle the child too much- getting a closer look at him now, the bags under his visible eye were horrendous- he'd seen better on torture survivors. 

Thinking about it, it probably should've been obvious from the start that the child thought he was someone else- he'd locked onto him immediately when trying to escape. Kunikida might think him cruel for it, but Dazai had no intentions of letting on that he wasn't who the child thought he was, not when being considered someone of emotional significance could aid them in finding where the hell the kid came from- and besides, it would do the little one some good to have someone around that he knew, or at least, someone that he thought he knew. It was decided then, the child would stay with Atsushi for the first night and then come to stay with Dazai the next day after he'd had some serious cleaning time. Dazai grimaced at the memory of the state his dorms were in, there was no way he could let a child stay there until he at least cleaned a bit. 

Moving down the halls, Dazai's shoes squeaked slightly against the waxed tile floor. He was walking somewhere, likely having had been led out by Atsushi- he'd have to thank the boy later for his help. His hand sat firmly in the young child's hair as he kept his head up from where he'd gone lax in his arms, little snores wracking the young child's body as he slept away in Dazai's arms. He was almost tempted, just for a moment, to let himself pretend this was a young Akutagawa, that he hadn't ruined what could've been something he could hold onto. Something he could have and keep- just for a little while; but then he remembered that this was not Akutagawa, and that he'd ruined that just like he ruined everything else. He couldn't even bring himself to free the man now that he was no longer a child, refusing to ever say just one good thing to his face for fear of trespassing where he has no right to. Not after all the time's he refused to when he could've had the right.

"Dazai? Why is the child in your arms?" A very confused Kunikida asked, snapping Dazai from his thoughts and bringing him back to the present. A small grin grew on Dazai's face then, the realest smile he'd had all day, and he quickly responding "Ah, Kunikida-san! It's the funniest thing; we spent half an hour searching for him just for him to run when we found him! We went to take chase, but he did the job for us- ran right to me calling me "Dad" for some reason." Kunikida tensed instantly, Atsushi made a small noise of confusion from where he stood behind him and Dazai turned quickly to give a small wink where Kunikida couldn't see, Atsushi going limp slightly, sighing in understanding as Dazai rambled off about something he didn't pay attention to. Clearly at some point in his incessant ramblings Kunikida seemed to catch something because he asked that Dazai restate whatever he'd said last. "Well, I was just saying that I'd never seen him in my life and," he was interrupted "No! not that- the other thing, what was it you said right before that?" Kunikida asked, a sense of panic in his words. Dazai quickly stood taller, back tensing slightly as he moved closer to stand beside Kunikida as he responded, "I just said that he'd been calling me 'Wilbur', and that I'd been joking about having been called dad. Why, do you recognize the name?" 

(A/N: Unbeknownst to both Dazai and Kunikida, Atsushi stood slightly confused in the background- all he could think being, "Why are my mentors flirting again?" Atsushi would soon find out that he was only half right.)

"As a matter of fact, I do." Kunikida replied quickly, "Wilbur soot, an American who came to teach English at the school I used to work at- in fact I believe I may even still have his work number saved in my old phone if we're lucky." Kunikida began, "and we're never lucky" Dazai finished.