Chapter Text
To anyone else, the walls would look like a paint-splattered mess. To Dazai, it was just a fair reflection of his current state of mind. For all he tried, for all it was worth, he could scarcely pick up a brush anymore. He couldn’t so much as look at one without feeling a stinging surge of dread. He hid it as best as he could, for as long as he could but it was in these singular moments when he was alone that it all came back to him.
Sitting in the dark of his apartment overlooking the twinkling Yokohama skyline, Dazai let out a quiet hum and turned his attention to his latest disasterpiece (as he affectionately called these abominations). Nothing short of horrible. It was bright, it was beautiful—it would undoubtedly fetch a decent price in an auction and keep him fed for the next couple of months. But it wasn’t what he wanted.
The only question he had was this: why? Why couldn’t he just paint how he wanted to anymore? Why did they always turn out so unlike his vision? It was there— he knew it was, just a breath away yet like a spider thread, he could never fully grasp it. It always just fell out of view…somehow….
Oh well, no matter. No use dwelling on a query he’d mulled over hundreds of times in his head.
It was done and he’d be no worse off had he managed to conceive an answer.
Dazai supposed life just worked that way.
Then again, what was life to someone like him anyway?
His phone lit up with a message as he pondered that notion. It was from Atsushi. His kōhai must still be working at the studio at this late hour.
‘Dazai-san, sorry to bother you while working! I thought you’d like to take a look at this!’
Linked was an article about a comet due to be passing by sometime tonight.
Another message. ‘This comet apparently comes by once every four years. Isn’t that interesting?’
Perhaps. Dazai hummed again while scrolling through his phone and gingerly clicked on the link to read more. Indeed there was a comet passing over Japan tonight. He couldn’t help but snort as he read said comet’s name. ‘Who names a comet Arahabaki?’ Dazai would like to know. Not like its colloquial name was any better in his opinion. The Tainted Sorrow?
‘Because of its intense red glow when it approaches the sun, comet Arahabaki was dubbed the Tainted Sorrow by social media when it was first spotted 14 years ago. The comet is said to bring good will and fortune to anyone blessed by its passing.’
Now, this was interesting. Dazai had never given much thought to comets or anything else space-related since it was far beyond his field of expertise. However, he was familiar with the age-old myth of wishing on a star. Could the same apply to a comet?
Speaking of the devil, a red streak of light made its way into Dazai’s view, lighting up the sky just outside his window. It was a pretty strange sight for a comet, so angry-looking and wild. Now he could see why they called it The Tainted Sorrow. Seemed more like a fireball and less like a comet in his opinion. Still it had piqued the artist’s curiosity and he figured it wouldn’t hurt to indulge this curious part of him tonight.
Dazai sauntered over to his window, took another look at the scarlet comet and closed his eyes. ‘How did it go again? Twinkle, twinkle little star?’ No, that was a nursery rhyme. It probably didn’t make a difference anyways. Now concentrate…“Starlight star bright, first star I see tonight, how I wonder what you are. Like a comet in the sky. I wish I may, I wish I might, have my wish I wish tonight.”
It still sounded off but like most things, Dazai just went with it. As to what his wish was, he simply wished for what he assumed most people would: for his dreams to come true.
That is if he ever had any. Who knows? Maybe the star will think mine aren’t worth the trouble at all, Dazai sardonically thought. Satisfied with his short-lived indulgence, Dazai turned back to his work, intent on pushing through the night as usual.
Before he could attempt to pick up his brush, a sudden sleepiness overcame him. It certainly gave Dazai a bit of pause. Maybe he had been pulling one too many all-nighters recently. The last time he pushed himself so much had resulted in nothing except for a week’s worth of Kunikida’s relentless scoldings and Yosano-sensei’s monitoring of his every movement. Dazai would rather not have a repeat of that again, and he figured a minute’s rest wouldn’t hurt.
Laying his head against his desk for a proper rest, Dazai let the hollow silence wash over him. Again bothersome questions drifted back into his mind. What was the point of his art? What was the point of him?
He was too tired now to think about it and frankly too tired to care. Maybe he’d find the answer somewhere in his dreams. After all, that’s what he’d wished for, wasn’t it? For them to come true.
If only he knew what his dreams were to begin with.
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A soft, rosy-orange glow outside Dazai’s window always indicated the fast approach of a new day. As the sun would rise from its slumber, the dawn’s golden rays would stretch out towards the sky, the light always finding its way into Dazai’s room.
But this was the first time the light came from inside Dazai’s room. And it was also the first time the light spoke to him too.
“Oiiii, you! I haven’t got all night so wake up!”
Dazai’s eyes flung open. Something was off. He could’ve sworn it wasn’t even near daybreak when he fell asleep. It certainly didn’t feel like daybreak yet either.
Who on earth came to wake him so early then? Kunikida perhaps? If so, what was with that “you” bit? It was so rude!
Rousing himself to face his intruder, Dazai plastered on a pouting frown but dropped it as soon as he realized two things.
One: It was still night.
And Two: There was a small, redheaded man floating in his living room.
Not only that but he was glowing.
...
Dazai had to be dreaming. He just had to be. But how could he possibly have dreamed of this ?He wasn’t even aware he could dream. It didn’t even make sense from even the most logical perspectives.
He stared in flabbergasted silence at the mysterious specter levitating in the middle of his apartment suite. And whatever it was—it stared right back. It looked annoyed too, like it was waiting for something.
As to what Dazai hadn’t a clue.
Naturally Dazai did what any insane man did when faced with a whimsical dream. He went back to sleep, with hopes of changing the channel from this odd fantasy.
——————
Nakahara Chuuya. Official Name: Comet Star Arahabaki. Classification: Interstellar Class.
Current Status? Out of his depth.
According to his star chart, he was right on course passing over Earth on his routine visit around this part of the universe.
Correction, he had been on course when suddenly he had gotten summoned right out of the sky by a strange incantation.
Nothing unusual at first—it was probably just a child who’d gotten the spell mixed up or something. Nothing a star of his caliber couldn’t handle.
So imagine his surprise when he materialized inside some slovenly-kept apartment to find that the spell was uttered by none other than a grown man. A large, grown man who had fallen right back asleep, much to Chuuya’s chagrin.
Great. This was already proving to be difficult.
Seeing no other alternative than to rouse him again, Chuuya flew closer to the odd human and hovered his hand over his shoulder to shake him. “Oiiiii! Were you even listening? I said wake up!”
Chuuya kept shaking and shaking his shoulder but instead of waking, the man slumped unevenly across his desk and eventually dropped right onto the floor in a haphazard bundle of limbs.
….’Are you kidding me?’ Chuuya cursed under his breath and hovered directly over his slumbering summoner. Reaching a gloved hand down, he gingerly hit the human’s cheeks in another attempt to rouse him. All he got from that was his hand getting slapped away and a couple of sleepy grumbles.
This man wasn’t not the most well-mannered person, was he?
Well, neither was Chuuya.
Chuuya uttered a command to his platform, lowered it as close to the ground as possible and with a firm hand, lifted the colossal human by the shoulders and shook him as hard as he could. “Hey you! You’ve got a lot of nerve napping when a comet comes to call. I’m not going to tell you again! Wake. Up!”
But instead of waking, Dazai simply crumpled back in on himself and fell to the floor once again in a more erratic arrangement.
Great cosmos above, this human was determined to stay asleep.
Chuuya could scarcely believe it.
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Dazai was no stranger to waking up in strange places. In his sink, on top of his paint supplies, inside a bookcase, etcetera etcetera.
So it was no surprise to him that when he next awoke, he was on his room’s floor with his body sprawled in some misshapen form. That much he’d expected. What he hadn’t expected was for whatever he dreamt up to still be there!
Sensing that Dazai was fully awake now, the strange dream glowered at him with an unimpressed face.
Dazai just sat there agape, his groggy mind attempting to reconcile the fact that this wasn’t a dream.
Now Dazai was no expert but he was fairly certain that most things that came to visit in the night were harbingers of ill tidings to come. Just see any myth ever written for reference.
A clock’s hand bridged the silence between them until at long last, his visitor spoke. “About time you woke up. I’ve been waiting for ages.”
Dazai’s jaw hit the floor. “You talk!” He exclaimed, eyes suddenly brimming with a fascinated gleam.
Chuuya rolled his eyes and flapped a dismissive hand in his direction. “Yes, yes, I talk. Aren’t you a clever one? Now let’s make this quick.”
Snapping his fingers together, Chuuya’s fingertips sparked a trail of glittering stardust that cascaded through the air and condensed into a small, luminous sphere. “A wish you wanted, a wish you’ll receive. From the sky above, I, the comet star Arahabaki will grant one for thee. What is your wish, human?”
Somewhere in the back of his head, the gears in Dazai’s never-ceasing mind ground to a halt. For once in his young life, he had no idea of what was going on.
Dazai often prided himself on his discerning ability to read a room on any given occasion and have a handle on things but this—this was straight out of the wildest depths of his imagination.
“A wish?” were the only words he could blurt out, brain still astonished by this odd spectacle.
He just stared dumbfounded at the wishing sphere while repeating the (what was it that he said?)—the Chibi star’s?— words out loud.
“Yes, a wish. You said the rhyme, didn’t you?” Chuuya asked.
Dazai nodded, unsure of what that had to do with this.
“It’s actually a spell that summons stars to Earth. It allows us to use our powers to grant wishes.” Chuuya said as-a-matter-of-factly.
Now it was Dazai’s turn to look unimpressed. All this because of a silly rhyme? Call him crazy but Dazai didn’t buy it. Especially if it came from a so-called wishing star. “I summoned a Chibi Star by saying a nursery rhyme?”
“Eh? Who are you calling a Chibi Star?” A frown etched its way onto Chuuya’s lips and his light grew noticeably harsher at the insult.
Dazai didn’t seem to notice (or care) much. If anything, he was far more interested in poking fun at the comet star. He bobbed his head emphatically at Chuuya’s question, gesturing between his height and Chuuya’s lack thereof. “You, you’re a chibi and a star so Chibi Star.”
For this Chuuya got pulled out of the sky?
“Ah? What’s my height got to do with anything?!”
“Nothing except for the fact that you’re a chibi sitting on top of a giant cookie.”
Wait, a-a what? Chuuya glanced down at the star platform he often rode on his travels and felt his temperature soar at the prospect of his beloved platform being downgraded to a simple pastry. “Oi, listen here, I’m no chibi and this isn’t a cookie! I’m a comet star!”
“Then why does Chibi Star float if he isn’t a chibi?”
Chuuya had never punched a human before but there was a first time for everything, he supposed. The quips on his height aside, Chuuya huffed pointedly and said, “Look, you said the rhyme and I’m here; what’s the problem then?”
Dazai shot back, “I didn’t think it would actually work. As far as I know it’s just a nursery rhyme.”
“It’s not a nursery rhyme, it’s a spell for granting wishes. You said it and somehow the universe heard and believes you deserve a wish.”
“And so the universe sends me a dwarf star?” came Dazai’s disbelieving response.
“Hey, call me a dwarf again and I’ll twist your wish so much, you’ll have wished to have wished to have never have been born,” The comet star scowled, his glow darkening to a deeper, red shade.
Now this was promising! Dazai’s eyes glittered even brighter than before at this prospect. “Really? I can wish for that? Then Chibi Star can just grant me that!”
Now that gave Chuuya plenty of pause.
This had taken an unexpectedly dark turn, one the star wasn’t sure how to navigate. All his centuries of granting wishes, he’d never come across someone who would wish for something so…sad.
Thank the cosmos he couldn’t grant it.
“No, you can’t wish for that,” Chuuya firmly stated after another beat, “It goes against our protocol.”
Protocol? Since when did stars follow rules? That was rather boring, he thought. For all his luck, Dazai just had to get the star equivalent of Kunikida, didn’t he?
Dazai turned away from Chuuya just as quickly as he’d leapt up before. An empty look crossed his face, completely masking his fleeting joy. “Eh, really? Then I guess you’ve wasted your time with me, Chibi Star. I wouldn’t know what to wish for even if you could grant it.”
Chuuya’s shine dialed down as he watched this curious human. Though he wasn’t a star, Chuuya could see Dazai’s own glow dim as his eyes flickered ambiguously, struggling to retain a piece of the light they held just a second ago.
Come to think of it, why had the universe decided to grant his wish?
The thought quelled something in Chuuya, a part of him feeling sorry for this human in that regard.
Again the air was shrouded with silence with neither knowing what to say.
Yet suddenly from the nothing, the light returned to Dazai like it’d never left him. He clapped his hands together and shot a cheeky smile at a perplexed Chuuya. “Well if that’s the case then, Chibi Star can go on home to wherever it is Chibi Stars live.”
Tch, fair enough. No need to stay where he was subject to slander. Besides, the quicker Chuuya got going, the quicker he could wrap up his visit to this part of the universe.
Without sparing a second glance at this enigmatic human, Chuuya shut his eyes and prepared to be pulled back into his orbit. He recited the incantation meant to send him home but got the strangest feeling that something would go wrong.
No—Wait….Something was wrong!
His star chart no longer mapped out his interplanetary route, his platform refused to function beyond its current hovering state. It was like…his course had changed.
“Chibi Star? Are you lost? Do you need me to phone home for you?” Dazai wasn’t too worried about his interstellar visitor since he was—you know— a star. However, seeing as how he was still here muttering at the ceiling, Dazai thought maybe he should step in.
Ha! As if that would make things any better. Chuuya had enough problems right now without adding this nonsense to the mix. “Quiet you, listen very carefully. I want you to think back and tell me exactly what you said to summon me here.”
What did Dazai say? The brunette was having a hard time remembering because one, he was sleepy and two, he was sleepy due to being rudely woken up in the middle of the night by a temperamental comet.
Dazai fished around in the depths of his mind until at long last, he remembered. “Hmm I think it went like, ‘Starlight star bright, first star I see tonight, how I wonder what you are. Like a comet in the sky. I wish I may, I wish I might have my wish I wish tonight.’
The cold makings of a black hole began to churn around in Chuuya’s stomach. “You didn’t say just one spell? You combined them both?!”
Dazai had just about enough of this. He crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes. “I just said whatever came to mind. Like I told you before, I didn’t think it would summon you. I didn’t even know they were spells.”
Chuuya’s glow turned a sickly red and his eyes were practically bursting out of their sockets as the weight of his sudden realization came crashing down on him.
He couldn’t go home. He was stuck here. For whatever goddamn reason, he was stuck here.
Unsure of what to do, the comet star glanced around the room in hopes of finding something that would answer his growing uncertainty. Said answer laid in the following: the wishing sphere, it started to shimmer.
Not just that, but it shone and twirled around in the air as it shifted from one form to another. Suddenly it jumped right onto Chuuya’s lapel, leaving a star-shaped badge in its wake.
It then hit him like a meteor strike. Not only could he not go home but his course had been changed. His directive had been altered!
….Oh no. Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Out of all the things it could’ve been, this is what happened?!
Chuuya pinched the bridge of his nose in a desperate attempt to calm down then looked over at Dazai to regrettably inform him of the situation at hand.“You didn’t just recite a summoning spell. You combined it with a keepsake spell.”
“Meaning?” Dazai didn’t like where this was going.
“Meaning that I’m stuck here until I grant you not one but five wishes.” Chuuya bitterly replied.
For the first time that night, Dazai was truly wide awake.