Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Atsushi wakes up to a chilly breeze coming from the window. Sitting up from his futon he goes into a stretch, before grabbing his phone to check the time. He didn’t wake up to his alarm so he had to hope he woke up before it. His eyes widen as he sees the time, 20 minutes late.
“Crap, I'm late.” He mutters, throwing the blanket off as he rushes to the drawer to grab his uniform before rushing to the bathroom, slamming the door.

Taking a shower in record time he struggles to pull his clothes on while trying to get toothpaste on his toothbrush at the same time. He finally gets his pants on as well as sticking the brush into his mouth. He shrugs on his shirt and belt rushing to finish his other necessities running out of the bathroom and out the door of his dorm.
Atsushi tidies up his uniform as he steps down the stairs. Thinking about it he probably didn’t have to worry so much with how late Dazai tends to be.
“Well can’t be helped.” Atsushi shrugs his shoulders as he shakes the thought from his mind.
Atsushi reaches the agency’s office door, taking a deep breath; he hopes no one will notice how late he is (though he doesn't have much hope) as he turns the knob.

Atsushi walks into the office to chaos … Well actually it was calmer than usual but seeing how he can see Kunikida strangling Dazai (who was early for once) he didn't change his mind. Atsushi looked around at the others.
Kenji was spending his time looking at his plant, a closed eye smile adorning his face
Kyouka was speaking to Tanizaki about this new cafe she wanted to try and wanted to know if he’d like to come
It was a tuesday so Naomi was at school for now
Atsushi remembered yesterday Yosano mentioned something about being called to Shizuoka for a car pile up leaving only an hour later, she should be in of middle of it now
Atsushi looks at Ranpo who's sitting at his desk, legs perched to his chest as he looks over a few files, spending only a few seconds on each before setting it back down -most definitely solving them all- though truth be told he seemed far more interested in the small pile of sweets he was eating and the phone call he was on. Atsushi only heard bits in pieces about a double homicide before he heads to his own desk to get started with his own (read: Dazai’s) work.

It hadn't even been 5 minutes when Ranpo jumps from his seat shoving his phone into his pocket as he turns to Atsushi.
He sing-songs “Come on Atsushi-kun.”
Atsushi himself didn’t waste any time closing his files and standing up “Where too Ranpo-san?”
“Oh just an interesting case.” Ranpo makes it to the door before he turns to Atsushi “Go grab a scarf, its pretty chilly”
Atsushi nods before running past Ranpo himself and back up to his dorm. Entering his bedroom he goes to grab a grey scarf and is about to walk out when he pauses for a second before going back and grabbing a set of gloves and a hat just in case. He finally walks back out, locking his dorm, spying Ranpo walking down the stairs on the left from his own dorm above Atsushi's. He sported his own scarf and pair of gloves. They were both a soft green color. Ranpo seems to have swapped his usual hat for a beanie -also green-, Ranpo looks at Atsushi before walking towards him and grabbing his hand, dragging him forward.
“FoxFur. It's a clothing store. It's also where we’ll be going.” Atsushi nods, slipping out his phone typing the address that Ranpo rattle off in as he takes the lead. They walk to the train station going through the slow process of getting a ticket and on the train.
45 agonizing minutes later they exit, Atsushi leading Ranpo out of the station. Now back in the sunlight Atsushi looks down at his phone looking for where they're going next when Ranpo pulls his arm in a direction. Atsushi looks up from his phone
“Ranpo-san. You're going the wrong way.”
“... I knew that!” Ranpo huffs as he turns around. Atsushi looks back down at his phone. Finding the directions he mutters
“Okay, so we just have to walk 3 streets forward, before we take a right, then left.”

Atsushi goes to lead again when he sees Ranpo stop moving completely, staring at the road behind them. Atsushi looks at him weirdly before asking “Ranpo-san, why’d you stop?”
Ranpo doesn't give an answer as he pulls Atsushi along in a direction that was most definitely not correct.
“R-ranpo-san!” he exclaims as he looks behind him trying to find what made Ranpo move so abruptly. All he saw was a busy street. Atsushi couldn't see anything suspicious but he knew something had freaked Ranpo out, so he didn’t complain as Ranpo dragged the two of them around turns and random alleys and up streets Atsushi himself has never gone down. Atsushi spies Ranpo biting his lip at one point, worry in his movements. Atsushi looks behind him once more trying his best to see what they were trying to avoid. It was still just a busy street the only thing weird being a white car with windows far darker than the ones around it, but Atsushi doesn’t know the law about tinted windows so he ignores the bad feeling in his gut (why did he do that, he would wonder later as he sits at the bedside of the beloved detective)

Ranpo finally lets him take the lead again after a few more turns. Atsushi does his best to get them to the crime scene in a timely order however they are inevitably 20 minutes later than they promised. Atsushi looks up at the 4 story building, it wasn't a building he had even ever been in, in fact he's not sure if he’s even seen it before. Nonetheless he leads Ranpo all the way up to the 3rd floor -the one Ranpo mentioned when giving a small debrief to him- exiting the elevator they walk down the hallway to a meeting room. It was a bit eerie with how the usually busy floor was so quiet. Soon enough the scene comes into view, yellow tape crossing it off, Atsushi doesn't waste time as he lifts up the tape letting Ranpo go through first before walking underneath himself.

Despite being 20 minutes later than asked, no one makes a mention as Ranpo takes the lead of the case. Atsushi looks at the homicide and almost gags.
There stuck almost halfway through the wall was a man. He looked about mid 40s and already had a head full of grey hair, however what drew Atsushi’s attention was the multiple stab wounds littering his body, one hand even missing. His outfit was ruined and his head was caved in as his neck tilted at an odd angle. However, that was nothing compared to the other body. A woman about late 40s and matted messy artificial blond hair, grey and brown roots were coming through. At least that's what Atsushi could tell from the main body. She reminded him of swiss cheese with how much was missing, ligaments, muscles, and even some fingers were scattered all around the room. That's not even speaking of the missing teeth, bald patches, or even skin just ripped away, some pulled only halfway out as if the killer/s decided to move on. Half her face was missing the word harlot carved out on the other side down to the neck. Both her legs were twisted to the point that even if she survived she would never be able to walk again. Intestines were sprawled out, obviously the killer/s held more of a grudge against the women than the man.

Atsushi shakes his head as he turns away trying his best to erase the site from his head -not that it did anything- and walks over to Ranpo who was speaking to a cop Atsushi recognized. His name was Izumi Kota and he was often at the crime scenes that Ranpo went to. Atshushi’s pretty sure Ranpo enjoys his presence. He tunes into the conversation
“Makoto Mida, age 44. Time of death; 1:57am. He was just recently promoted to manager.
Amanda Jefferson, age 49. Time of death; 2:00am She was Mokoto’s secretary. She moved from Britain to Japan 22 years ago at 27. As you can see the killer had quite the grudge”
Izumi finished the small summary quickly before going to talk to the other people there.

It doesn't take long for Ranpo to figure it out.
“Cheating on their spouses” He says. “The summary is this; Makoto and Amanda both married young, despite Mokoto not caring much for his wife and Amanda being a party animal. It's with this trait that Amanda met Mokoto at a club, quickly hitting it off and starting a relationship.” Ranpo walks over and kneels down by Amanda looking over her closer
“Fast forward 17 years and their spouses find out. They are not happy. They learn of each other and start to conspire with each other in a murder plan. Bit of an extreme but these types of people never think things through. Of course while they held a grudge I very much doubt that they would commit something like this. No, they had help.”
Ranpo leans a hand out to atsushi who nods and pulls out his phone bringing up the map before handing it to Ranpo who scrolls for a few seconds before turning the phone to Izumi, he pointed to a small warehouse about 15 minutes out
“It just so happens that a local gang located here owed Mokoto’s wife -Ren Mido- a favor. Ren and Tommy -Amanda's husband- made the plan and the gang, named ‘the striped dragon’, carried it out. Brought them to their workplace at about 12:30 last night where the two were already waiting and they went to hands at them. Even let the gang have a go at it, them causing most of the injuries.”
Ranpo stands back up and walks back over to Izumi as he tilts his head up
“The two should be at the nearest airport right about now, if you start now you can catch them.”

Atsushi watches as Izumi says “Understood.” as he pulls his phone out and makes some calls. Atsushi who is handed back his own phone starts searching for some cheap places to eat after this, Ranpo no doubt being hungry but Atsushi wants to make sure he can actually afford it all (also having some chazuke would be nice) Atsushi hears Ranpo mutter something about “Not making sense-” but Atsushi had already toned it out once more. Ranpo himself was speaking to Izumi and a few other officers about the case itself and other pertaining details when Ranpo cut himself off, freezing up. Izumi notices, and is about to ask what's wrong when Ranpo’s pale face snaps up, causing the others around him to look up including Atsushi who had just found a place to eat when he also noticed Ranpo freezing up, but it was too late. Ranpo drags Izumi -the nearest to him- to the ground screaming for the rest to ‘GET DOWN’

As soon as those words leave his mouth, explosions burst out from around them, the air lighting up in a bright orange before just as quickly turning a smoky grey.
Coughs claw from Atsushi’s throat as his eyes blur a little due to the smoke. He hears gunshots and screaming.
He tries to call for Ranpo but just as he cups his mouth to call out he drops forward, a sharp pain spreading throughout his head. Atsushi slams into the ground, vision blurring even further now with the numbness taking over his mind. To his right he sees what exactly had knocked into his head; a broken ceiling piece. His last though before his mind goes blank and sight black is “Please be okay Ranpo-san”

Atsushi isn't sure how long it was when he stirs and he’s not able to figure it out as he immediately goes into a coughing fit. His eyes water and his vision is just a bunch of grey blurs. Slowly he brings his arms up and twists around to lay on his back. He breaths harshly, coughs racking his body every few seconds. Atsushi can't see anything thanks to the smoke but he still hears screams, the gunshots have stopped thankfully but it doesn’t change much about Atsushi’s situation.

His eyes widen as his head finally clears up before raising up into a sitting position far too fast but Atsushi can’t bring himself to worry about it because there's someone else here in worse shape than him. He raises to his feet as his scratchy throat gets to work yelling
“Ranpo-san …. Ran-” Atsushi goes into another coughing fit before re-starting “R-ranpo-san! Can you hear me?

Atsushi squinted his eyes to try not to tear up at the smoke. He looks around and little relief fills him as some light starts to shine through the maze of broken building/s. Atsushi continues to call out for Ranpo but looks down at himself quickly to see how injured he was. He was 98% sure he had a concussion and some cuts and bruises on his body but that seemed to be the worst of it. Thankfully he wasn't impaled or anything equally worse. It's not that he couldn't heal himself but he’s been impaled enough times to last a lifetime.
Atsushi has to chuckle just a little despite the situation itself as he sees his left leg is fine. His opponents seem to specifically target that limb, with how it's always the one he loses first. He looks back up, self-check done, and calls to Ranpo once again when he trips hard. He falls with a yelp, chin hitting the ground. Atsushi rubs his chin, a horrible bruise most definitely forming and probably a 2x concussion as well as he turns into a sit. His voice, raspy from the smoke, speaks
“What the hel-”

Atsushi cuts off with a gasp as his vision clears up enough to spot what exactly he tripped over …. Or rather who.

Chapter Text

The screaming becomes just a dull thud in the back of his head, the lights finally shining through the smoke more of a bother now as it only makes the double concussion he surely had hurt even worse ….though to be fair Atsushi paid no attention to even the building/s crushing into itself, 4 stories crumbling to the ground. No, both the pain and destruction was quiet.
His ears ring a high pitch squeal that threatens to make him deaf. Atsushi wishes he could make it stop, but that was impossible.

However, not even the obnoxious shriek that sounded more and more like nails on a chalkboard does nothing to stop Atsushi from hearing the sound of his own blood rush throughout his veins, a perpetual chill overtaking his body as he can almost feel it tiptoe throughout his system.

His eyes widen as they take in the horror in front of his vision, the horror reflecting into the gleam of his own eyes that begged to have never in-counter something like this, unfortunately whatever entity lived out there did not feel welcoming in its kindness.
His mouth becomes one with the floor with how far it falls with shock.
His muscles, tired and numb from getting trapped in a large explosion, begin to seize up weighing 100x more in guilt and pain as no matter what they refuse to move, locking him in place.
Atsushi crawls to his knees as he digs his hands into the floor, he ignores the warm blood sliding down his palms as they are sliced open thanks to the floor being more debris than actual floor. However, despite the sting he can't bring himself to care about such a small wound.

Atsushi slowly begins to crawl the few feet of space, his tongue clinking against his teeth trying to form words but utterly failing. He swallows his saliva, throat bobbing up and down as dry lips form around nothing, like a toddler learning to speak. He babbles nothing and yet everything as he reaches an arm up and grabs onto a torn up sleeve. Then what feels like hours later his vocal cords finally work, shaky and raw, and only one word, but working. With all the breath he can take he whispers

“R-ran … po-san”

Because the figure laying there was Ranpo.
Atsushi’s throat threatens to choke him as his eyes crawl across the limp body of Ranpo. The smoke brings tears to his eyes but Atsushi just ignores it because he wasn't the one hurt. The one hurt was Ranpo.
Because it was Ranpo laying in a pool of his own blood, growing bigger the more seconds past. It was Ranpo covered in rubble while dust settled around him. Atsushi even saw some dust layered on his pale and bloody lips.
It was Ranpo whose clothing was shredded, the parts of his uniform that was white looking more dark grey and the rest becoming a bloody red as the blood seeped into his clothes. It was Ranpo whose own half cloak was too ruined to ever be worn again, his beanie completely missing.

The injuries were even crueler.
Ranpo was curled into his stomach, as if trying his best to be as small as one could be. Burn marks dig their greedy hands into his skin as it crawls along his chest and arms, slowly wrapping its painful self around his neck as if trying to strangle him. It even crept up a little bit up his face.

The rest of his body wasn’t any better. While Atsushi was lucky in the explosion in avoiding being hurt by the rubble and debris, Ranpo himself was not lucky. One of his wrists was crushed beneath a piece of broken wall. His soft green colored gloves mostly burned away as well. Atsushi wheezed as he spotted a burnt up part of a tapestry still attached to the broken piece of wall.
There was so much blood.
The least of the injuries was probably all the Bruises littered into his skin.
Cuts and slashes were running all over as they cut into his skin.
Unfortunately that wasn’t the worst of all his injuries, as there, sticking out of his lower stomach was a short, thick metal rod.
A bullet wound was shot into his collarbone, most likely cracking it as well. It gushed blood.

Atsushi feels closer to bawling the longer he lingers, and it wasn't because of the smoke, his body shakes as he becomes privy to every injury the pillar of the agency has collected … Injuries that may make this day his last.
Atsushi scrambles to drag his hands over to Ranpo’s shoulders, going to shake them. He screams.
“Ranpo-san, please wake up!” Ranpo did not budge.
“Come on, wake up, wake up, come on Ranpo-san im begging you.”
Tears blur the edge of Atsushi’s vision as he continues to chant for Ranpo to at least make a sound.

Atsushi in panic moves a hand to Ranpo’s bruised but relatively okay wrist and wraps his palm around it as his fingers move to the pulse point exactly like Yosano had taught him. The seconds trudge forward as he struggles to find the soft beat of the pulse.
Finally after agonizing seconds Atsushi cries in relief, his tears finally falling as his fingers catch onto the slow ‘bump…bump…bump’ of a heartbeat.

Tears drip down his cheeks, the bruise on his chin stinging slightly. Atsushi quickly scrubs them away as he crawls over to Ranpo’s legs that were trapped under large pieces of rubble. He hooks his arms under the largest and lifts with a grunt.
Atsushi cringes as the piece slams into the ground but he quickly shakes his head muttering
“Its going to be okay Ranpo-san, I promise I'll get you help.”

After removing a few more pieces Atsushi is able to shimmy Ranpo’s legs out from where they were stuck, taking it slow as one of Ranpo’s legs looked to be broken if the dark bruising Atsushi saw dancing across his calf was anything to go by.
Atsushi continues to remove the rubble but he flinches after a particularly loud slam of rubble. He looks at Ranpo,
“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.” He stutters out.

His eyes involuntary trail down to stare at Ranpo's crushed wrist “I'm sorry.” he repeats once more as he takes in the entirety of the detective's mangled wrist. Almost instinctively his arm reaches up to gasp at it for a few seconds until he feels the soft beating again, calming Atsushi down a little.

Atsushi turns to hurry and finish getting the rest of the rubble off
‘I have to hurry and get him out, if I don't …’ Atsushi didn't continue the thought and instead put his focus on getting the last few big pieces of rubble.

Finally when the last piece falls to the ground Atsushi rushes to pick up Ranpo. His hands shake as he shuffles one arm under Ranpo’s back, the other going to hook underneath his knees and goes to stand bringing Ranpo into a bridle carry with him.
Atsushi really wishes he could just grab a fistful of Ranpo’s burnt up scarf and shove it against his collarbone, to soak up the blood … his hands would no doubt shake but it would slow down the bleeding at least a little.

Atsushi shakes his head as now was no time to think about what-if’s. He goes to take a step when a small noise and a brush of air flows against his left ear. It was Ranpo. It takes some seconds but Atsushi is able to make out the hushed words
“Th-they planned thi-”

The words are aired out before Ranpo falls silent once more. Atsushi’s heart starts to race
“Ranpo-san, what do you mean by that?” However Atsushi didn’t get an answer as the weight of Ranpo’s head leaned into the crook of his neck. Atsushi was on his own now.

Atsushi’s face hardens as he shifts to get a better hold on Ranpo before taking a step to get out of the ruined building. Going into a light jog Atsushi heard everything. It felt like a maze with how much he struggled to get through. He ended up tripping several times, though luckily he didn’t drop Ranpo.

His vision scans the ruins taking in all the injuries, blood, and broken area. He spotted Izumi -who himself carried a large gash on his arm- helping another officer whose leg was stuck under a large piece of a broken ceiling tile. Izumi spotted them when Atsushi tripped over his legs. His breath was ragged from the smoke.
Izumi walked over to them after making sure the other officer was in safe hands. His eyes darken as he spots Ranpo in Atsushi’s arms.

“How bad is it?” He grabbed Ranpo’s scarf that was sliding down his neck, it was burnt and torn and the green was mostly red but Izumi paid no mind to it as he moved the scarf towards his collarbone and pressed it against the wound with the bullet hole.
Atsushi watched as it happened, his eyes glazing over slightly
“I-i’m not sure, his injuries are bad but for now he’s thankfully alive.” Izumi just nodded.

“Service is out so we haven't been able to call for help” Izumi goes to wipe some blood and dust off his face before going back to make a make-shift bandage out of Ranpo’s scarf for his collarbone.
“How about you?” Atsushi frowns “My phone is broken and Ranpo-san didn't bring his”

Izumi makes a noise “Right, this building is more hidden than most clothing stores, so I'm not sure how long it’ll take for help to get here,” his face goes grim “I’m sure someone outside has called for help however, if the ambulance isn't already here then I doubt,” He cuts himself off as he looks at Ranpo “Then I doubt that their gonna get here in time for him.”

Izumi turns to look at the ruins watching the other officers linger around some still trapped under things. He shakes his head as he points to Ranpo “We should be alright here, there's some injuries but nowhere near as bad as his.”
Atsushi nods “Where’s the nearest hospital?”
Izumi looks through the smoke to the small light breaking through “You have that tiger ability right?”
“Uh ye-yeah I do.”
“About 40 minutes straight north is the closest hospital, if you use your ability you could get there in 20.”

In a bright flash of light Atsushi’s legs and arms become that of the white tiger, tightening his arms around Ranpo he gave another determined nod to Izumi before taking off in a sprint. As he speeds through the city to his destination Atsushi goes back over the facts.

Him and Ranpo arrived at the crime scene 20 minutes later than promised, after Ranpo got them lost. After that Ranpo solved the case quickly, and when Atsushi was trying looking for a place to eat Ranpo screamed to get down right as explosions rang out. Atsushi knew something was wrong there but he couldn’t find what. Suddenly the whispered words Ranpo was able to get out ran across Atsushi’s mind. He ran it over again and again when his eyes widen, his thoughts arriving at the correct answer

‘A trap … it was a trap for Ranpo-san,’ Atsushi looks down at Ranpo after a jump ‘A trap that worked.’
Atsushi huffs as he races across the streets “Why out of all times did Yosano-san have to be gone.”

The time slipped by Atsushi in a blur, but the doors of the hospital finally came into his sight in what couldn’t have been more than 17 minutes. 3 minutes faster than Izumi concluded.
The smell of blood continued to linger in his nose making Atsushi want to gag because of where the blood came from.

Atsushi slides up to the doors, the doors themself opening far too slow for Atsushi’s own liking. Running into the hospital Atsushi yells
“HELP US PLEASE!”
Immediately nurses rushed up to him, moving around to take Ranpo from Atsushi and placing him onto a stretcher that a male nurse had brought out. The other people in the waiting room run to the side giving them space. An older nurse with dark blond hair in a bun and tired eyes walks up to Atsushi asking him

“What happened?”
Atsushi stares at his hands. They were covered in blood and shaking. He looks down to his feet, the blood attached to his clothing dripping down onto the floor in a small puddle. His mouth twitches before they form the words that made it too real

“W-we were finishing up the crime scene we were at when Ranpo-san screamed at all of us to get down, explosions happened right after. T-the ambulance never arrived.”

It starts to become hard to breathe when Atsushi jumps. He looks up seeing the old nurse patting him on the shoulder
“It's going to be alright hon, I promise.”
Atsushi can only nod as the nurse leaves.

A few minutes pass as Atsushi stares at the direction that the nurses rushed Ranpo off to. He tilts his head down to stare at the blood once more. It covered him like a warm-sticky blanket that no matter what he did, it continued to wrap its dirty claws into him. It felt suffocating, and Atsushi hated it because the blanket was made of blood … blood that came from both himself, and Ranpo.

The older nurse returns but this time she's carrying a wet rag, handing it to Atsushi. She explains at his confused face
“Have it, to clean up.” Atsushi gives a small thank you as a shaky hand goes to hold it loosely.
The fog holding him down clears up slightly as he cleans himself up a bit, the rag quickly filling up with blood. With a new strength Atsushi turns to the nurse who was smiling warmly at him. Taking a deep breath he asks

“Can I get a phone?”

Chapter Text

Atsushi back-tracks, going into an explanation “Ah, sorry. My phone broke in the blast.”
The nurse chuckles before nodding in understanding “Please follow me.”

She leads Atsushi across the hospital, their steps clink on the floor, ringing in Atsushi’s ears. Atsushi can’t help but stare at the sterile white walls in disdain as if they were mocking him. The fog grasps at his mind as he walks, the floors seeming to get longer and longer the further he follows the nurse.

His ears ring, his head is lightheaded as Atsushi continues to hear the loud rushing of blood throughout his body.
Finally, finally after what felt like years of walking through a foggy abyss the old nurse brought him to a wall phone.
The nurse smiles at him slightly
“Here you go dear, let me know when you're done.”
“Oh uh sure, I'll do that.” Atsushi replied before walking to the wall phone and pausing as he thought over who exactly to call. In the corner of his vision he sees the old nurse walk back over to the reception desk.
Atsushi’s mind fails him as he thinks it over before he signs and goes to grasp the phone. His breath sputters as he hears the click of the phone leaving the wall case.

In essence of his blank mind -no matter how hard he thinks- Atsushi takes a breath and lets his hands dance across the dial on their own. Atsushi leans back and stares at the phone wire as the rings go out. His throat closes as the noise lingers.

The air stills as the 1st ring plays out, Atsushi’s breath catching in his throat. The 2nd ring whispers against his ear and Atsushi prays. The 3rd ring happens and Atsushi feels ready to cry before a click is heard indicating the other side has picked up.

Atsushi huffs out a breathy laugh as the voice begins to speak
“Hello? Who is thisssss?” The slow drawl of Dazai’s voice reigns out brushing the fog away as air fills Atsushi’s lungs like a first breath after drowning at sea.
Atsushi gives another wet laugh as he hears Kunikida yelling at Dazai about professionalism over the phone.

However Atsushi shakes his head as now was not the time to laugh nor small talk. Therefore Atsushi doesn’t let Dazai speak again.
“Ranpo-san’s going under surgery.”
Because that was logical right? He has to go under.
Atsushi hears Dazai take a sharp breath before he goes to speak once more, however this time his voice is now stronger, less playful
“What happened?”

Atsushi obliges but his lungs seize up again as he remembers what happened, though none-the-less he forces his lips to move and his voice to work.
“The case went fine, it was just a case of cheating spouses. Ranpo-san was finishing talking to the police when he screamed for everyone to get down … but it was too late. Explosions happened not even a second later, I think …”

Atsushi breathes hard as he gets his thoughts in order before continuing “I think it was targeted at Ranpo-san. The ambulance wasn’t there and the service was out, not that it would have done much with how my phone was broken, so Izumi-san told me to head to the hospital closest to us. It took a bit but I was able to get him to Ameren hospital.”

Asushi is breathing fast as he finishes up explaining to Dazai what exactly happened. He goes to calm it as he waits for Dazai to give him an answer on what he should do.
Dazai doesn’t reply for a little bit scaring Atsushi slightly until he finally speaks up
“I see …” He pauses, Atsushi can hear Dazai clicking something on his phone before continuing “I’ll let everyone know. We’ll be there soon.”

Atsushi lets out a sign of relief as he agrees before going to hang the phone back on the wall to hang up when Dazai calls for him “And Atsushi,”

Atsushi brings the phone back to his ear “Yes, Dazai-san?” He gulps, throat bobbing up and down as worry consumes him. Illogical, he knows but the worry happens despite himself.
Dazai laughs softly as he picks up on Atsushi’s worry for the agency
“Its going to be okay.”

Atsushi takes a deep breath as he nods, his tears stinging his eyes once more. His vocal cords refused to answer despite his lips forming the words, although Atsushi thinks that Dazai understood if the huff of breath he releases is any thing to go by
Atsushi smiles just a bit as he hooks the phone back onto the phone case, cutting off the conversation.

Hanging up the phone Atsushi looks to the ceiling as he calms down. He hated how white it was but at least it wasn’t red, Atsushi thinks he would have hated that more.

Atsushi turns to look for the old nurse just like she asked before she left to let him have his phone call in private. It doesn’t take very long - only a few turns- to reach the reception desk. Though on the way Atsushi noticed how wary the other patients viewed him, probably because of all the blood that covered him. Walking up to the desk he gives a small wave to her. His eyes trail to her nametag, his eyes widen slightly ‘Oh I guess I missed it.’

It was a pretty name. Angelica Johane.
The nurse notices his staring and smiles “I know, It's not a very common name over here in Japan. My parents were both from America and wanted to give me at least something from their country.”
Atsushi blushes a bit at being called out before muttering “It sounds nice.”
Angelica laughs “I’m glad you think so.”
She goes to walk around the desk going to cup his shoulder “Well dear, your co-worker is in surgery as we speak, I promise he’s in good hands.” She gives a hearty laugh “The doctors here are some of the best there are.”

Her hand moves to gently clutch his own, slowly dragging him along to the waiting room.
“Come on hon, why don't you go sit down. After the day you’ve had you don't need any more stress. I’ll let you know as soon as he’s stable and out of surgery.”

—

Atsushi has only sat down for less than 5 minutes, his mind blurring the time, when he jumps back up from the chair the nurse, Angelica, led him to.
He stares at His feet as his legs move across the floor on their own, much faster than his mind can process and when he finally raises his head he’s in front of is a baby blue wall with a few paintings of colorful butterflies dancing around some sunflowers, also painted on.

Atsushi looked behind him towards the floor, there was a small trail of blood. It must have dripped off of his clothing. He looked down at himself, the blood-stains etched into them still not dried, some stains smeared from the rag that barely helped.

Atsushi looked around at the other patients in the waiting room, they were staying on the other side.
A little girl wearing a frilly white dress with a braid pointed at him and asked
“Mommy, why is he all red?” The mother quickly hushed her “It’s because his friend is really hurt, don't bother him.” The mother must have been here when he ran in with Ranpo. Her and 3 others gave him looks of pity, having been here when he got here. Most of them, though, gave him wary looks, most likely having got here after the nurses took Ranpo back and only seeing the blood that covered him.

Even though Atsushi understood why they gave him wary looks, he couldn’t bring himself to care very much. Shaking his head he goes back to pacing the room despite the silent protests.

The clock ticks.
10 minutes passes.
Atsushi looks back at the clock. He clutches his fist in worry.

The clock ticks.
15 minutes passes.
Atsushi stops in the middle of the room looking back up at that horrid ceiling. A frown forms on his face.

The clock ticks.
23 minutes passes.
Atsushi has started to pace again. He flinches when a hand falls onto his shoulder, he turns to see who did it. It was the mother of the little girl. She smiled at him, handing him a small water bottle

“You should get some water in yourself, honey. I can’t imagine how stressed out you are.” Atsushi stares at the water bottle before nodding in gratitude
“Ah thank you Miss …” She smiles again “Akari Takami”
He nods “Atsushi Nakajima, thank you Miss. Akari-san.” With that he goes to grasp the water bottle gently.

Atsushi twists the lid off, tilting it up to his lip and taking a sip. Within seconds the entire bottle was empty. He brings the bottle down and twists the cap back on turning to Akari to thank her again when she cuts him off
“No need to thank me.” She pauses as she takes the bottle back from him, “And I must apologize for my daughter Himari’s question earlier.”

Atsushi shakes his head “No need Miss. Akari-san. I understand that she was just curious.”
Akari breaths sign of relief as she looks at his clothing before telling him
“You should get yourself cleaned up.” Atsushi looks at her as he stutters out “N-no, not until I know.” He didn’t elaborate but he thinks she got it. He turns towards the automatic doors leading outside “Besides, I'm waiting for some others, my co-workers.”

Akari stares at him before bursting into laughter. Atsushi goes to explain better but she just waves him off “I’m not laughing at you, I promise.” She covers her mouth with her hand “You must care a lot about your co-workers huh? Almost like a family.”

Atsushi looks back at her in confusion as her sentence re-winds over and over in his head, before he finally smiles and whispers “Yeah … yeah I do.”

Akari pats his shoulder again, turning back around “Well I’ll leave you to it, I left Himari with my friend but I promised I wouldn't be long.”

Atsushi looks at where she was looking, spying Himari sitting in a waiting chair as she babbles to an older man, about Akari’s age patting her head as he tries to continue reading his book.

Akari starts to walk over when she turns back to Atsushi “Atsushi-kun,” He looks at her “I promise you, your friend will make it.”
Atsushi is quiet for a few seconds before he replies, “Yeah, I know he will.”

Atsushi watches Akari walk back over -throwing the empty bottle in the trash can- to her daughter and friend, picking Himari up. It's only a few moments later when a nurse walks over to them and begins to lead them away. Atsushi looks around and smiles just slightly. Although his heart is still heavy he can’t deny that he feels lighter thanks to his conversation with Akari.

He looks at the clock. It has now been 27 minutes since he called Dazai.
Atsushi goes to pace again.

His feet slam into the ground as he walks across the floor, only slamming harder and going faster the longer the clock ticks and the others still haven’t walked through the doors.
Realistically he knew very well that they were fine, but with everything that has happened today, the explosions, Ranpo, all the blood - Fear couldn't help crawl up his spine. He was paranoid.

He heard the clock tick again.
It had now been 29 minutes since Angelica led Atsushi to the waiting room. Atsushi turns and goes to pace around the room again when his ears twitch at the sound of the ding of the hospital doors.

The clock ticks again.
At exactly 30 minutes Atsushi hears the words that breathe life into him.
“Atushi-kun.”

Atsushi snaps his neck at the voice, breathing out a sign of relief because he knew that voice. It was the voice of

“Dazai-san!”

Chapter Text

That day, a chilly Tuesday at 11:30AM stood the ADA members Atsushi, Dazai, Kunikinda, Kyouka, Kenji, and the president Fukuzawa. They all stand in the waiting room of Ameren hospital as the linchpin of the ADA undergoes a surgery that will decide if today shall be his last.

Atsushi walks over to them looking them over before speaking
“Where’s Tanizaki-san?”

Kunikida straightened up to answer, although despite his best efforts Atsushi can see the stiffness raging in his shoulders, no matter how straight face he appears. Atsushi can tell he was rattled as well.
“Since Naomi is still in school, Tanizaki wanted to stay behind to let her know. He’ll make his way over here after letting Naomi know why we’re all gone.”

He shifts his glasses up, but the action has nowhere near as much enthusiasm as if he did it not even an hour ago.
Kunikida speaks up again “We also called Yosano-sensei, but as you know with how she's all the way over in Shizuoka as well as with all the injuries because of the car pile up she wont be back for another 3 days.”
Atsushi nods in answer.

Fukuzawa walks over to Atsushi. In a gruff voice he asks “How’s Ranpo?”
Atsushi lowers his head, feeling his lungs constrict as it feels like water is filling them, because what could he say? That he didn’t know if Ranpo-san would live?
There is no way he could say that to the president, He knew how close the two were.

Atsushi could feel the smoke still stuck in his throat begin to crawl up as if wanting to choke him, his lips part and though it takes a while he is able to speak out a few words
“I-I don’t … I really don’t know.” He goes to clutch his hands, tears springing forth but not yet falling “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
Atsushi's hands ramp up his bloody shirt latching onto one of the largest blood stains, most of it still wet.
“He was … he was basically dead when I got him here, the nurses rushed him to surgery.”

Atsushi finally looks back up to lock eyes with Fukuzawa
“I haven’t gotten an update.”

Fukuzawa just gives a small nod before moving towards the closest group of chairs in the waiting room. Everyone else follows, taking a seat.
The clock ticks as they wait for any updates.

The clock ticks.
Slowly 30 more minutes pass by.
Atsushi stares at the wall. He hates how he can’t do anything, he leans his elbows against his knees, forehead falling into his palms.

The clock ticks.
1 hour passes.
Kunikida lifts his hand and chews on his nail. His schedule is completely ruined but for the first time he can't bring himself to care as worry passes through him.

The clock ticks.
1 hour and 15 minutes passes.
Kenji looks around at everyone, his eyes landing on the nurse at the reception desk. It was Angelica. She notices him and gives him a wave. Kenji repeated the action until she turned away back to her paperwork. Kenji looks around again. He doesn’t know what to do.

The clock ticks.
1 hour and 27 passes.
Kyouka stands up and walks away to Angelica. She sees Kyouka and smiles
“What can I do for you dear?” Kyouka takes a second to gather her words “Where’s the vending machine at? I would like to get some snacks for everyone.”

Angelica walks around the desk “That’s very sweet of you, dear, here I’ll show you.” She leads Kyouka away.

The clock ticks.
1 hour and 42 minutes passes.
Kyouka has long returned, giving out a few snacks to everyone before taking her seat.

Dazai is looking at his phone. He shakes his leg slightly as he reads something on it. Most likely already trying to figure things out.

The clock ticks.
2 hours passed.
Fukuzawa's mouth twitches.

2 hours have passed

Atsushi was terrified. He didn’t know what was happening.
His body shakes as he thinks of what-if’s. What if Ranpo was still in surgery or what if he already died and a nurse was on their way, coming to tell them all the horrid news. Atsushi looked around and everyone was tense.

Even that of Dazai looked frazzled. His lip is bitten raw, his knuckles white from the strain of clutching his phone, still typing. His usual composed self faltering in the face of who was injured.

Atsushi looks through his blood stained hair, eyes trailing across his skin, clothing, and hands, no doubt spread around his face as well. Some of the blood was dried but most of that wet-sticky blanket was still wrapped around him, strangling him as it dragged him into the deaths of the sea and as the saying goes; blood is thicker than water.

Atsushi can’t breathe.

“-shi?” His mind is racing back to the smoke filled maze as he walks around trying to find Ranpo

“-sushi?” He falls to the ground as the blood pours around him and he stares at the body of Ranpo, the metal rod sticking out of him, crushed beneath the rubble

“Atsushi?” The blood wasn’t disappearing. He can’t breathe. His hands stain even further as he grabs onto Ranpo, looking for any kind of sign that he’s alive. He’s not breathing. Why isn't he breathing? My fault. My fault. My fault. My fault.

“ATSUSHI!”
Atsushi’s head snaps up.

“Wha-what?” Atsushi whispers.
“You were shaking, muttering, and staring at all the blood all over you.” Kyouka spoke to him softly.

Atsushi looks down with a blush forming on his face. Notably his eyes avoid his clothing.
“Ah sorry Kyouka-chan. I didn’t mean-” He trailed off.

Kyouka pats his back “It’s alright, are you okay?”

Atsushi shakes his head, tears springing to life once more “The blood … every time I see it, my … my mind brings me back t-to the explosions,” He leans his face in his hands, “And I see Ranpo-san underneath the rubble, tha-that metal rod sticking out of him” His vision trails to the blood, “So much blood, there's so much blood.”

Kyouka is silent for a bit and when she finally speaks her voice is soft, a whisper, “I’m not sure what to say to make you feel better, Atsushi.” She leans into his shoulder “However I do know that despite what you think, Ranpo-san will push through this.”

Kyouka pauses as she looks for the words “And this isn't your fault.”
Atsushi turns to look at Kyouka as a few tears start to fall but he gives a smile “Thanks Kyouka-chan.”

Kyouka gives a nod, “You're welcome Atsushi.” She takes her hand from Atsushi’s back and looks at it. It was full of blood. “We should really get that blood cleaned off you.”
Atsushi shakes his head “No I can’t.” He goes to explain himself at Kyouka’s confused face, giving the same answer he gave to Akari “I can’t leave until I know Ranpo-san is alright.”

Although it was obvious that Kyouka was still worried she let it go, moving back to sit in silence with him. She wraps her now bloody hand around his clutching it tightly. Atsushi returns it in full as he takes a look around at the other members.

Dazai was still clicking on his phone but now Fukuzawa was leaning over his shoulder reading out what was on the phone - likely joining him in figuring out what happened.

Kunikida and Kenji were keeping each other occupied as they played around with a random game on Kunikida’s phone, and although there were many small noises of ‘congrats’, ‘good job’, ‘amazing’, and ‘wow’ indicating them flying through the levels neither of them seemed to be really interested in it with how they both kept looking up towards the halls behind the reception desk. The both of them frowning more and more.

Kyouka was by his side still holding his hand gently but now she was patting his shoulder with her other hand trying her best to cheer him up.
Atsushi appreciated her support, truly, he did … but it’s just that it's so damn hard not to think of absolutely everything that can go wrong, going wrong. He hates it.

The clock ticks.
2 hours and 12 minutes passes.
Atsushi has no idea what he should think.

The clock ticks.
2 hours and 25 minutes passes.
Atsushi’s lungs constrict as his nails scratches at the choking wet-sticky blanket wishing it was gone but he’s not able to bring himself to get up and clean himself up a little bit. He can’t. He has to know.

The clock ticks.
2 hours and 37 minutes passes.
Atsushi wants to cry. The tears sting as he brings the hand grabbing onto his seat up to his face to rub at the tears. He rubs them raw.

The clock ticks.
2 hours and 50 minutes passes.
Atsushi stands up, hand leaving Kyouka’s intending to get some water when he hears the doors of the hospital open and a soft voice speaks up “How is everyone doing?”
Atsushi turns to face the voice. It was Tanizaki.
Tanizaki walks over to them giving Atsushi a small pat before speaking “Have you gotten any updates yet?”

Kunikida, looking up from the game that he and Kenji were playing, shakes his head “No.”
Kenji frowns before giving his own input “On the bright side, the nice nurses haven't said anything's gone wrong.”

Tanizaki gives a small smile “Yeah I guess that is one good thing going for us.” He goes to sit down next to Kenji. They wait.

The clock ticks.
3 hours passes.
Atsushi finally walks off to get some water again. Behind him he hears Tanizaki join Kenji and Kunikida in the matching game they were playing. His ears twitch as they pick up Kunikida leaning back and opening up his notebook as he turns the corner.

The clock ticks.
3 hours and 5 minutes passes.
Atsushi has returned and is about to sit back down when Tanizaki looks up from the game, handing the phone to Kenji and says “Hey Atsushi-kun.”
Atsushi asks, “Yeah, Tanizaki-san?”
Tanizaki looks him over “Have you gotten yourself checked out?”
Atsushi looks down at himself, seeing all the blood and cuts on him “I’m fine, I had to transform somewhat to get here in time. Most of my injuries have healed.”
Tanizaki nods before looking at the phone in Kenji’s hands again.
Atsushi sits down.

The clock ticks.
3 hours and 20 minutes passes.
Atsushi is leaning back against Kyouka. Some of the blood is smeared away.

The clock ticks.
3 hours and 40 minutes passes.
Atsushi turns his head and pauses as he sees a sight he never thought he would. Across from him was Dazai with misty eyes as his raw bitten lip from before had spilt, a small drop of blood sliding down his chin. His hands were shaking as they continued to clutch his phone. Atsushi is about to turn around to give Dazai his privacy when Dazai snaps his head up, eyes locking with his. Atsushi quickly looks down, praying that Dazai didn’t notice (he doesn’t have much hope though)

—
Dazai huffs a small breath of noise as he watches Atsushi race to look back down at the floor before he looks towards the floor as well, handing his phone to Fukuzawa who looks at him in worry but decides to let it go, continuing to figure things out by himself for now.

A deep frown forms on Dazai’s face as the thoughts take over his mind. He was always prepared for everything, he always pulled the strings to guide the chess piece forward, so why, why couldn't he do anything to save the most important person in the world, the most important person to him!

Dazai stands up.
Fukuzawa looks at him and speaks with a soft tone “Where are you going Dazai?”
“Bathroom.” He mutters not explaining anymore.

Dazai trudges through the maze that's called a hospital, hate for it consumes him. He walks past the bathroom. He walks up the stairs to the second floor. He walks across the floor. He walks up until he reaches the bathroom on the other side. His hand reaches up and wraps itself around the handle of the door, turning it and slowly opening the door. Dazai quickly steps in, slamming the door shut behind him and locking it.

Dazai takes a deep breath before he leans against the door and slides down, his knees bend to his chest as he looks at the ceiling-an ugly white- and he squeezes his eyes shut trying to will the tears away. He raises his hand to rub them away, head hitting his knees as his breath stutters and a small sob follows.

‘Why can’t I do anything? Why didn’t I realize? Why did it have to be Ranpo?’ Dazai's hands fists into his hair and pulls. He pulls his lip back in between his teeth and chews, spilling the drops of blood further. The tears fall and he sobs.

One hand falls from his hair and Dazai digs his nails into his cheek so hard it draws blood and his vision fogs as his mind runs wild.

~~~
Dazai has officially joined the armed detective agency only 2 weeks ago and he’s still not exactly sure how to act although he does know that he enjoys messing with Kunikida.
Dazai slips his shoes on before he walks out of the dorm he was given. He is about to turn down the stairs to head to the agency (He’s not sure if he can be late but he wont chance it for now) before he jumps when a hand grabs the back of his(that’s a lie it will always be odasaku’s) trenchcoat.

“What?” He whispers as he turns around, the hand belonged to Ranpo.
Dazai smiles “Why hello dear Ranpo-san, what can I do for you?”
Ranpo gives him a frown “Let’s cut the shit Dazai,” Ranpo’s frown turns into a small smile, “I’m honored that the demon prodigy decided to join us after leaving the Port Mafia.”

Dazai’s eyes widen as he tries to jump away, but with surprising strength that no one would guess him to have, Ranpo tugs his(odasaku’s) trenchcoat forcing him back “Calm down Dazai, I won't tell anybody.”
Dazai pauses as he takes in the full sight of Ranpo. He was wearing his uniform but his tie, cloak and hat were missing. He still had the small smile on his face but Dazai notices that Ranpo’s emerald green eyes were soft, kind, and beautiful. Dazai shakes his head quickly as he looks down. He hopes that Ranpo didn’t see the red blooming on his face but with the quiet laugh that Dazai heard he knows that it was a failing motion.

Dazai’s throat bobs as he speaks the most important question here “Why?” Because that was the question, why was Ranpo here, why did Ranpo tell him, why didn't Ranpo tell the others, why does Ranpo know, why is Ranpo treating this as any other day, why did he let the president hire him if he knew, and he most definitely did.

Dazai raises his head as his lips close causing Ranpo to tilt his head up slightly so their eyes can lock.
Dazai has to silently chuckle, ‘woah, he’s short. Well at least it’s a better height difference than the slugs.’
Ranpo’s smile becomes a grin “Why am I here? Because my dorm is across from your’s. Why did I tell you? Because I can. Why didn’t I tell the others? Because they don’t need to know. Why do I know?” Ranpo leans forward slightly as his voice softens,
“Because you can’t hide from me. Why am I treating this as any other day? Because it is. Why didn’t I let the boss know? Because you're wrong. I did tell him and we’ve accepted you anyways.”

Ranpo giggles as he pushes Dazai back slightly “You have no reason to worry, I only told the boss and I won't be telling anyone else.” Ranpo walks pass Dazai a few steps before he turns back to face Dazai, that small smile back on his face
“You're part of the agency now so that means you're under my protection demon-chan” Ranpo turns back around and walks down the stairs disappearing from view.

Dazai has to fight the blush forming on his face as he decides he’ll just skip work today. He’s sure Kunikida won’t mind too much.
~~~

The fog clears from his vision as his mind slows, waiting for his thoughts to come together before it runs into a memory once again.
A wet laugh tumbles out of his throat as he slams his head into his knees over and over again as the tears stain his pants. In a shaky voice he whispers “He really called out all my questions that time didn’t he?”
Dazai hooks his arm around the underside of his knees as he shoves himself further against the bathroom door. Behind him he hears a tug against the doorhandle, but Dazai ignores it entirely. Sure enough the shaking soon stops, the person leaving to go to a different bathroom.

“I’m so sorry Ranpo, can you forgive me?”
Dazai tries to curl up tighter as his mind decides to play another memory

~~~
Dazai has been at the agency for 3 months when Ranpo walks over to him and grabs his hand, dragging him up gently as he smiles brightly “Come on Dazai, you’re coming with me today.”
Dazai is pleasantly surprised as he follows Ranpo out the agency and down the stairs through Cafe Uzumaki because this is the first time since he joined that Ranpo decided that Dazai was the person that was gonna take Ranpo to his case.

Ranpo stops in front of the cafe causing Dazai to stop as well “What's wrong, dear Ranpo-san?”
Ranpo turns to look at Dazai before quietly saying “Well obviously I don’t know where we have to go, dummy.”
Ranpo quickly rattles off the address that the police had given him over the phone. Dazai recognizes the address as a small old Port Mafia trading post. Mori decided to stop using it shortly after Dazai became an executive.

Ranpo seems to notice something wrong with his face because that soft smile he saw 2 weeks after joining is back “It looks like demon-chan recognizes the address, care to share?”
Dazai laughs a bit “Don’t tell me Ranpo-san hasn’t figured it out yet?”

Ranpo’s smile turns into a grin “Of course I already know.”
Dazai gives a nod as he clasps hands with Ranpo again before he starts leading the two of them towards the old trading post.
The two walk hand and hand towards the train station

For a few minutes that is.
As Ranpo looks up and spots a billboard. He gasps “Dazai, Dazai, we have to go!”
Dazai watches as Ranpo begins to jump up and down slightly as he pulls Dazai towards the billboard, but Dazai stops moving as he tenses his arm causing Ranpo to stop moving as well.
Ranpo turns and glares at him, but Dazai just smiles “We have a case, dear Ranpo-san.”

Dazai tilts his head down to look at Ranpo eye-to-eye, his eyes glaze over as a shorter ginger takes Ranpo’s place. Him and Chuuya had never actually liked each other even towards the end but they did trust each other with their lives.

Dazai snaps back to reality when Ranpo angles his neck to look back at Dazai. Dazai snickers as he bends his knees slightly.
Ranpo gives him a blank look before he raises his hand and lightly smacks Dazai’s head “you’re an idiot, Dazai.”

Dazai gives him a smile as he stands back up to full height. Ranpo himself huffs as he goes to cross his arms and turns his head away, ending the conversation. Dazai laughs softly at the sight about to apologize when Ranpo suddenly shifts around to face him and quickly grabs onto Dazai’s hand before he starts to walk off, forcing Dazai to follow.

Dazai stares at their clasped hands, a giddy smile crawling up his lips.
Dazai lifted his head to look at the back of Ranpo, it was bopping up and down with his steps. Ranpo was also going the wrong way, but Dazai didn’t say anything. He wanted to see where this would go. Dazai walked behind Ranpo, Ranpo’s hand in his, and the giddy smile frozen on his face all the way to the train station.

Dazai watches as Ranpo guides them into the train station -if the wrong one- but the confidence that Ranpo is radiating and the smile glowing on his face is starting to make Dazai question if he’s actually the one in the wrong.

Ranpo pulls him along to the ticket booth “You can buy the tickets today Dazai.”
Dazai looks at Ranpo with a frown “Why, Ranpo-san, this is the wrong station?”

Ranpo looks back at him before signing and dragging him over to the board that displayed the stations and trains Ranpo points to the area on the board showing the station they were at before trailing his finger across to another station about 15 minutes out and then crossing to a 3rd station. It was the station they needed to get to.

Ranpo gives a small sign “While it’s true the way you were leading us does get us there faster, and this definitely isn't a common way to get over there either, we’ll only be a few minutes later.”
Dazai stares at Ranpo in wonder, a giddy smile re-appearing “So you do know where you're going.”
Ranpo smiles as he leans into Dazai “Yeah I can, but it’s nice to shut your brain off sometimes.”
Dazai nods, hand moving up to pat Ranpo’s head “Yeah… it’s nice sometimes.”

The two walk back to the ticket booth -this time now buying the tickets- before they quickly board the train. Dazai finds them some seats, and they sit.
Only 4 minutes have passed when Dazai crosses his legs and pulls out of his pocket a small word search packet he grabbed before he boarded the train.

Ranpo notices the packet “Word search huh?”
Dazai nods as he opens to the first page. He feels Ranpo flop against his side, cheek smushed into his shoulder, joining him in finding the words. Dazai’s eyes searched the list of words they had to find, it was animals.

DOG
HORSE
CHEETAH
ELEPHANT
BLUE WHALE
EASTERN RATTLE SNAKE
PARAKEET
RED PANDA
CAT
WELDERBEAST
GOBLIN SHARK
POLAR BEAR

It was such a random set of animals that Dazai couldn’t help but laugh, Ranpo joining him not even a second later.
Dazai goes to scan the page for the first word ‘DOG’ but before he can take a decent look, Ranpo points his finger to the 7th row and sitting there is ‘DOG’. Dazai blinks before he shakes his head and crosses the word out.
Dazai’s eyes scan for ‘HORSE’ but once again Ranpo’s finger trails up to the 2nd column and there ‘HORSE’ is.
‘CHEETAH’ found by Ranpo
‘ELEPHANT’ Ranpo
‘BLUE WHALE’ Ranpo again
‘EASTERN RATTLE SNAKE’ Ranpo finds it again

Dazai just stares at Ranpo as he finds the words ‘PARAKEET’, ‘RED PANDA’, and ‘CAT’.

No matter how fast Dazai looks, Ranpo is always able to find the words faster. Stars appear in Dazai’s eyes as he watches Ranpo find the word ‘WELDERBEAST’. Dazai isn't even able to cross it out when Ranpo points out ‘GOBLIN SHARK’. One word was left.
Dazai waits for Ranpo to point out the last word but Ranpo instead tucks his arms into him, bringing his legs up to his chest and leaning even further into Dazai’s side.

Ranpo gets comfortable as he says “You can find the last one just fine. We have about 9 minutes left. You should be able to solve about 4 more of those, 5 if you're fast.”
Dazai smiles before he looks for ‘POLAR BEAR’. He finds it in seconds, although even though Ranpo didn’t look for the word this time Dazai knows that it would have still been faster.

Quietly the time ticks by as Dazai continues to cross out words and Ranpo was leaning against Dazai’s side, knees curled up against his chest as his eyes were closed. It was peaceful.

The train pulled up to the second station just as Dazai crossed out the last word of his 5th page, just like Ranpo had said.
They move though the station, Dazai leading the way, getting on the new train quickly and finding a spot to sit. The ride was only 10 minutes this time.
They fall into the same position as the last train -Dazai with his legs crossed and Ranpo curled up beside him pressed into his side- Dazai goes back to his word search but Ranpo joins him for most of them this time. Dazai’s only able to find 3 of the words, though Dazai has a sneaking feeling that Ranpo let him get those words.

They arrive at the final station. Exiting the station, they're able to get to the crime scene in a timely manner.
There's yellow tape that blocks the small shed off from public eyes, but Dazai raises the tape up easily enough, letting both Ranpo and himself through.

Dazai watches as Ranpo slips out of his hand and walks over to a police officer who seemed to be the head officer. He was tall, taller than Dazai himself and had short choppy black hair. Ranpo swings his hand in the air as he yells “Heya, Izumi-chan~.”
The cop now named as Izumi looks over, a frown formed on his face “Please for the love of god Ranpo-san, do not call me that. I’ve told you, you can just call me Izumi.”

Ranpo laughs as he waves Izumi’s words away, and instead skips to the white cover that was laying over the body of the victim. Dazai and Izumi walk behind Ranpo, Izumi giving the details

“Akimitsu Sota, age 23. Time of death; 9:47pm, 3 days ago. The florist up the street said they saw Akimitsu walking down this road from the nearby ‘Idemitsu Kosan’ around 7:15pm Friday. The victim was stabbed 47 times and dumped. A call came in when a biker stopped here for a break, opening the door to the shed in curiosity after he started to smell an odor.”

The first thought Dazai has is Akimitsu saw something he shouldn't have by accident and was taken out. The second thought was he got into a fight with someone and the attacker went way overboard. The third thought was Akimitsu was just an unlucky man seduced into letting his guard down.

Ranpo looks at the body of Akimitsu for a few seconds before he turns to Dazai with a look that Dazai couldn't identify. He didn't like that, but for once, shivers didn't run down his spine at not knowing. He locks eyes with Ranpo who began to speak
“Well~ Dazai, what do you think happened?”

Dazai blinks at the question, repeating what Ranpo asked him before a smirk grows on his face and he trotts over to Akimitsu’s body “Of course, Ranpo-san, I'd love to give it a try.”

Dazai kneels down at the side of the body of Akimitsu and carefully flips the white cover to the side to take in the details.
Akimitsu was an average man, only about 5'7. He had a black buzzcut and he wore a t-shirt and jeans. Though it was a bit hard to tell the color of them thanks to the blood poured around him, seeping into his clothes. A pair of sunglasses were cracked and thrown to the side a few feet away.
His body was a sickly grey thanks to the time passed, the post-mortem effects on full display.

The stab wounds ran along his chest making a mess of even his thighs, a gruesome sight, but one Dazai has seen many times before.

‘Most likely a fight.’ Dazai thought.
Dazai looks around the crime scene again, to the clawed at walls, to the knocked over potted plants, to the dried up mud on Akimitsu’s tennis shoes.
He stands up, turning to Ranpo. Dazai notices the only person besides the two of them still in the shed was Izumi. Izumi or Ranpo must have sent the other officers away.

Ranpo gives him a smile “well, do you have an answer?”
Dazai nods

“It started 3 days ago when Akimitsu was leaving the Idemitus Kosan from up the street. Akimitsu was heading home after a long day of work, but unknown to him, our dear Akimitsu was being followed by another who wanted a quick cash, hence the missing wallet and jewelry, as told by the tan lines on his hands, wrists, and neck. They follow him down the street before making their move when he passes this shed. The killer hits him over the head with a baseball bat, dragging him inside the shed,- because they didn't plan to let Akimitsu leave alive.”

Dazai frowns as he gathers his words “I’m not sure why they wanted to kill them, whether they were fixing mistakes after they got caught before or they just didn't want Akimitsu telling anyone, either way the point was this shed was going to be the last thing Akimitsu saw.”

Dazai twirls in a circle, hand on his chin “It was supposed to be simple, but Akimitsu woke up before the killer finished causing a small scuffle, which left the claw marks on the wall and Akimitsu’s glasses to fall and crack.”
Dazai points to each when called "Ultimately, Akimitsu lost and was killed. The killer, now in a panic, brought out a knife,”
Dazai’s face darkens with no understanding as to where the knife came from “And well…stabbed him 47 times before running off.”

Ranpo laughs at Dazai’s explanation “Well you're right to some extent.” He shifts his weight onto his other leg “But the truth is actually far more complicated.”
Ranpo walks past dazai to Akimitsu’s body “This actually starts 5 years ago, when Akimitsu was 17. He was driving home from a bar drunk when he hit a woman. The woman Akimitsu hit was 47 years old Aya Akane. Mother to 18 year old Mai Akane. It was instant death.”

Ranpo turns and leans his body forward, head tilting up at Dazai as he gives him a smirk, emerald green eyes open for once and shining beautifully just like they did on the stairs months ago.

“You can deduce a whole lot from his body alone, but the facts are that the killer is the very same Mai Akane whose mother Akimitsu killed.” Ranpo’s smile goes soft “Akimitsu was arrested for drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter, however, he was released only a week later after his father -Isamu Sota- paid the bail. Mai Akane didn’t like that very much… so she made a plan.”

Ranpo stands straight again as he walks around Dazai before stopping at the head of Akimitsu.
“Mai Akane became his girlfriend to make him let his guard down and when he did, that’s when she struck.”

Dazai with a giddy smile and stars in his eyes stares at Ranpo, who is so passionate about the true explanation Dazai can’t bring himself to be mad at being wrong. In fact he can’t even find it in himself to get upset.

—
Izumi stares at Dazai, staring at Ranpo explaining the case, it was such a pathetic look Izumi snorted. Dazai himself didn’t even seem to be aware of the love-struck look he gave the great detective openly as Ranpo kept going on and on about how wrong his reason for the murder was. Izumi notices a bright gleam in Ranpo’s eyes as he watches to make sure Dazai was paying attention, even if Izumi knew very well how Ranpo already knew Dazai was tunnel-visioned on Ranpo and Ranpo alone.

‘Looks like even the greatest detective in the world can fall in love.’ Izumi thought as he watches the two go back in forward
—

Dazai’s giddy grin just grows wider as Ranpo finishes the explanation, though he can’t say he’s very happy about how he won’t hear Ranpo’s voice much for a while.
~~~

A gasp a breath released from Dazai’s throat as a sob cuts off. He’s not sure how long he’s been in this bathroom and frankly he doesn’t give a single crap, but he should get back to the others, they're bound to be worried by now.
Dazai would have been fine just staying in this bathroom for hours more but he respects the President too much
‘Besides,’ Dazai thinks ‘When Ranpo woke up, he would get on my ass for worrying everyone when they all have enough stress already.’

Because that was the truth. Ranpo would wake up, he had too, there WAS no other possible way this could go.

Slowly Dazai rises from the ground, hand sliding up against the door. When he finally straightens to his full height, he reaches up and rubs his eyes roughly. When he deems them good enough one of his palms wraps around the door handle and he twists before yanking the door open, slamming it against the wall.

And he walks.

Dazai’s eyes are glazed over as he walks, and walks, and walks, making his way downstairs.

~~~
Dazai has been at the agency for well over a year at this point and he’s happy to say that he has finally settled in.
Dazai laughs as Kunikida rages from something he said “Calm down, Kunikida~ I was just messing with you.”
Kunikida’s glasses crack and he’s about to slam his notebook down onto Dazai’s head when Ranpo walks in, speaking up “Ney, Kunikida, could I steal Dazai from you?”

Kunikida pauses his assault as he pushes up his cracked glasses “Sure Ranpo-san, I have to get back to my schedule anyways.”

Ranpo grinned as he walked over and grabbed Dazai’s hand, gently dragging him out of the office. Dazai stumbles as he follows, stars appearing in his eyes “Well, why did you want to steal little old me away, dear Ranpo-san?”

Ranpo looks back as he waves a hand back and forth "There's a new cafe that opened a few streets out.” Ranpo looks down, puffing out his cheeks slightly as his face reddens, “And well… I wanted to go with you.”

A smile crawls up Dazai’s lips as he bursts out laughing. Ranpo glares at him “It’s not funny, dummy!” The blush continues to bloom across his face. Ranpo goes to tell him off again when Dazai cuts him off, bringing him into a hug “I’m very happy right now, Ranpo-san.”

Ranpo sputters as Dazai presses his face closer to his chest. Dazai laughs even more until eventually he begins to pull Ranpo along and out of Cafe Uzumaki “Well where too, Ranpo-san?”

Though Ranpo still looks flustered he’s able to get an address out. It was a few streets up, just like Ranpo had said a few minutes ago.
The two quickly make their way to the cafe. Ranpo, now over his embarrassment, is once again dragging Dazai along, pushing the door of the cafe open and walking in.

The two walked up to the service table where a woman barista was standing. The woman smiled “Hello! What can I get for you?”

Ranpo looks at the menu before he rattles off two items - A strawberry milkshake for himself and a chocolate milkshake for Dazai himself. Dazai huffs at the order because of course Ranpo knew what he wanted.

They take a seat in a booth in the corner and wait.
It doesn’t take long for Dazai to start a conversation “So, dear Ranpo-san, how did you find this place?”

Ranpo looks him over before answering “Remember that billboard, some months back, when you joined me on a case for the first time?” Dazai nods.

A smile grows on Ranpo’s face “Well, I’ll admit I did forget about it shortly after we got to the crime scene of Akimitsu. I was scrolling through my notes on my phone when I came across a mention of it, so I checked it out.”

Ranpo leans his cheek into the palm of his hand. “And well, turns out they opened pretty close to us, so I figured I would keep to my promise of bringing you along.”

Dazai covers his mouth as he snickers “Weren’t ranpo-sans exact words that day, ‘Dazai, Dazai, we have to go!’?”

A blush forms on Ranpo’s face as he tries to hide with his hands “Ughhh don’t remind me, I read the sign wrong.” Only seconds later, Ranpo peaks through his fingers, a deadpanned look showing though, “Also, how do you remember what I said?”

Dazai doesn't answer.

Ranpo is about to retort when the barista calls Ranpo’s name who with a groan, makes his way over to the counter, grabbing the milkshakes and walking back over to their booth.
Ranpo hands the chocolate milkshake to Dazai who takes it happily, taking a sip. Dazai melts at the taste. He forgets sometimes how he also has a sweet tooth, although when he glances at Ranpo -who had a blissed out look- Dazai concludes that his sweet tooth isn't as strong as he once thought.

Dazai goes back to sipping his milkshake until he spies Ranpo again, who was looking up at him. Ranpo giggles before it becomes a full on laugh, tears forming, some even falling down his face.

A confused look appears on Dazai’s face as he asks “What’s so funny, Ranpo-san?”
Ranpo, gasping as he tries to catch his breath, points to Dazai’s own face. Dazai reached up to touch his face; there was whip cream on his upper lip forming a mustache. Dazai quickly grabs a napkin to wipe it off, laughing at himself as he slowly gets out “It’s not that funny, Ranpo-san.”

Ranpo just bursts into laughter again at his words, wheezing out “It is hilarious actually.”
Dazai laughs with them as they continue to try and fail to drink their milkshakes again.

—
Unknown to either of them, the barista watches them. She smiles as she thinks ‘What an adorable couple.’ She signs, bringing a hand to her cheek “If only I could find someone like that.”
—

It’s a few hours later when Dazai walks out of a convenience store. He stops under the cover above the door as he opens his umbrella to keep away the rain. It started raining shortly after him and Ranpo got back to the office and hadn’t stopped for hours on end.

Dazai would have loved to stay in his dorm for the rest of the night, but he was hungry and he ran out of food. A few years ago Dazai would have just skipped food that night -and probably the next few days- however the other members of the agency didn’t like it when he skipped food and Dazai never seems to be able to say no to Ranpo.

After opening the umbrella he raises it above him and walks out into the rain. It’s only a few minutes later when Dazai looks over to the other side of the street and spots Ranpo standing under the cover of another convenience store, a small plastic bag hanging from the nook of his elbow. Ranpo didn’t look very happy at the rain pouring around him, and he also seemed to be missing his umbrella.

Dazai crosses the street, raising the umbrella over Ranpo when he makes it over.
Ranpo huffs as he looks up at Dazai “Someone stole my umbrella.”
Dazai smiles at him, “Well, good thing I still have mine, Ranpo-san.”
Ranpo just shakes his head “I suppose it is.”

The two walk off into the rain, umbrella hanging above them both.

That is until a car races by, splashing a giant puddle onto them, though the water mostly got on Ranpo with how he was the closest to the road. Dazai stares at Ranpo who was soaked, he turns to the car, a frown on his face as he gets angry on Ranpo’s behalf. At least until Ranpo begins to laugh brightly.

Dazai watches as Ranpo goes to wipe away the rain, only succeeding at smearing the water across his face further, although Ranpo doesn’t seem to care very much. Ranpo turns to Dazai and grabs his arm holding the plastic bag dragging him out into the rain, his umbrella falling out of his hand.

“W-what?” Dazai stutters out.

“It’s just rain, Dazai.” Ranpo continues to laugh as he pulls Dazai along in the rain, the both of them getting drenched now.
Dazai’s vision locks onto Ranpo’s smiling face as they run through the rain, a smile of his own growing on his face as a laugh bubbles out of his throat.

It was easy to laugh.
It was easy to smile.
It was easy to live.

Because Ranpo was with him.
Ranpo was laughing with him.
Ranpo was smiling with him.
Ranpo was living with him.

No doubt his view of the world would become the same gloom he has always known the next morning, but right now as he runs in the rain back to the dorms with Ranpo at his side, he smiles and laughs.
Ranpo always seems to be able to bring that spark Dazai never had to life.

~~~

It’s a haze as Dazai walks back to the waiting room.

—
Atsushi looks up when he hears shoes patting the floor. It was Dazai. Atsushi gives a small wave to him but Dazai doesn’t return it, that was okay.
Dazai sits back down next to Fukuzawa, who tries to give his phone back, but Dazai just leans back, head hitting the white wall as he raises an arm to cover his face.

No one thought to make any mention of the red lining underneath Dazai’s eyes, nor of the dried tear stains running down his cheeks.

—
The clock ticks.
6 hours and 29 minutes passes.
Atsushi looks up at the white ceiling, the light blinding him. His lips part in a sign as worry creeps back up.

He hears the clock tick again.
Atsushi turns his head and pauses as he sees Fukuzawa look up from Dazai’s phone to the reception desk. He turns to look at what Fukuzawa was looking at. There he spots Angelica standing up from her chair as a male nurse speaks with her. She turns to them and smiles as she walks over to them, a clipboard in her arms.

Finally after a total of 6 hours and 30 minutes, Angelica with a calm voice speaks the words that break the dam holding the tears back and Atsushi cries.

“Ranpo Edogawa, right?”