kitsune!dazai and student!chuuya
dazai's always kept his distance but loosely acted as a protector to the child until he believed chuuya could take care of himself, but he's terribly fond of chuuya and continues to watch over him.
they met on the grounds of a shrine where dazai crouched down to chuuya's level and presented him with a necklace that would act as a ward, as a way to protect him. he puts it on chuuya before chuuya can protest, and chuuya just yanks on the pendant dangling on the end and asks, "the heck is this for? who ARE you?"
dazai's not one to lie or hide the truth, especially from this unsuspecting child who does not yet know the danger looming on the horizon coming for this mortal world, and for chuuya specifically as a descendant of shrine keepers and priests. dazai does not belong here in this world, but the yokai underworld is also unfit for some*thing* like him who takes no interest in gorging himself on the flesh and blood of humans. it's a nicer world. there's a pack of stray cats loafing around the shrine. the trees are full.
the garden is well-loved with flowers plants across the rainbow, and most of all, there are people going about their day whether to pay respects to the great fox statue perched at the steps leading up to the shrine or to sit on a bench in the courtyard and admire the petals drifting through the wind. it's peaceful.
the necklace is meant to both protect chuuya and keep his presence hidden from the *others* crossing over into their world. "keep it, kid, you'll like it eventually," dazai says fondly and ruffles chuuya's hair, who grunts in response.
it wasn't a matter of if chuuya would ever be discovered by other yokai, but *when*; dazai could sense his blood was unusual from the moment he laid eyes on chuuya and knew like those before him, he would suffer a terrible fate when he got older and grew into his lineage. dazai's unable to explain the situation both to protect chuuya and because it sounds so outlandish how could chuuya possibly believe him. but he's protective too, having already saved chuuya from a near-death experience at one point because the necklace also acts as a tether to one another.
chuuya thinks about how his life was normal before meeting dazai, and wonders if dazai was the omen causing all of this suddenly: the blurring of both worlds, the tragedies striking the rural village, the inexplicable creatures both humanoid and grotesque hunting him down but no, as chuuya got older, the lineage in his blood became more apparent to yokai, and he was easier to find as he got older. they swiftly go from a boy with a fox in his backpack hungry to see the world while causing mischief in his school to kitsune!dazai making sure he grows up safe and sound as they eliminate the threats of the other world encroaching upon the human realm
