the beauty of water: deep end | o. dazai ✔

chapter two.

"Hey, Kunikida," she awkwardly greeted with a small wave. "Long time, no see."

He slowly walked over to her, standing in front of her and Dazai as he let his arm drop from around her shoulders. He said in a serious yet somewhat quiet tone, "It's been a while."

"Y-yes. Yes it has." She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat as she looked up at her old blonde partner. "I... I came back to help out. Dazai came to the place I was working at and requested for my assistance."

"So Dazai managed to drag you into this," Kunikida stated with a single nod, looking back up at the dark-haired man with a glare. "Is this what you've been so secretive with the president over? (Y/n)'s return?!"

"Yep!" Dazai answered with a simple nod, turning on his heel as he grabbed (Y/n)'s hand and began to drag her towards Fukuzawa's office. "Now if you excuse us, we have a president to greet!"

Kunikida was rendered speechless as he watched Dazai drag (Y/n) away, eventually getting to the door and finally out of sight. He blinked a couple times, Junichiro and Kenji walking over with very confused expressions as they looked from the office back to their superior.

"Uh, Kunikida," Junichiro began as he looked back to him, "what just happened? That was almost like you two were ex-lovers greeting each other after an awkward break up."

"We certainly weren't lovers!" Kunikida shot back, turning back towards the two. "(Y/n) was a detective with the agency who worked here two years ago—an incident happened and she decided to take a leave of absence since then. Nothing more."

He walked back to his desk, leaving the two teens standing there equally as confused as before they asked what had occurred. Junichiro looked back down to Kenji, stating in an iffy tone, "That didn't really seem like nothing."

"Is it possible that Kunikida has a crush on that (Y/n) girl?" Kenji inquired in a mostly innocent tone. "By the way he was looking at her, he reminded me of back home when one of the cows were about to mate with another and they were going to start—"

"I'm not sure I want you to finish that sentence, Kenji."

Dazai and (Y/n) stepped into Fukuzawa's office, his hand still intertwined with hers even after the door had closed and they were out of sight from the rest of the office.

Talking with Kunikida was so awkward! I probably would've made it to Fukuzawa's office if I wasn't pointed out by that redhead—Junichiro, was it? she thought as they walked through the somewhat large office. I honestly had no idea how he would react—especially since we had that huge fight a bit before I took my leave from the agency. I know we apologized to each other, mainly him apologizing to me, but it was still so weird seeing him again.

She looked from her hand to his, watching as he didn't let go and stepped towards Fukuzawa's desk as he was looking down at a couple files on his desk.

Neither (Y/n) nor Dazai said anything before Fukuzawa stated, "I see you've returned, (Y/n)." He looked up from his desk, his stoic expression not changing even as he laid eyes on the detective he had rescued three years prior. "It's good to have you back. I'm glad to see you despite this time of crisis."

A smile came across (Y/n)'s face as she responded, "It's good to be back."

A bit of noise came from outside the office, eventually ending as the door swung open—revealing Ranpo with a large bag of chips that appeared to be recently opened. "It's fine! Who's so important that I can't be in the room to see?"

Ranpo abruptly stopped, dropping his chip bag as the door slowly closed behind him. He stared at (Y/n) for about fifteen seconds, finally running over to her and engulfing her in a hug—Dazai barely having enough time to release her hand before the twenty-six-year-old embraced her.

"(Y/n)! You're back!" he exclaimed as he enveloped her in the hug, holding her tightly as he had reunited with his old and close friend. "I'm so happy to see you back! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Ranpo!" she responded, wrapping her arms around his torso as she held onto him. "I'm sorry I didn't come to visit at all!"

"That's okay," he assured her in his usual bright and almost cocky tone. "I already knew where you were, so I wasn't too worried about what you were doing while you were absent from the agency."

Glad he didn't change that much, but what a waste of chips! She chuckled to herself before the two separated. My greeting with Kunikida wasn't exactly the greatest, but this is certainly an upgrade. I can't believe how much I've actually missed Ranpo—but that might've just been because he has the best snack selection in all of Yokohama...

"I have an idea of what you're back for," Ranpo stated as he looked between her and Dazai. "So before I allow you to choose one of my snacks to have, you better go with Dazai and do whatever you need to."

A smile came across her face as she looked between him and Dazai. "I suppose you're right. I didn't just come back for food and reunions."

"Then you might be missing something, (Y/n)," Fukuzawa chimed in, standing up from his desk as he walked over to one of the corners of the room.

He went into the nearby closet, opening it up and pulling a duffle bag similar to the one she was carrying out of it. He walked back over to where they were standing, placing it onto the coffee table that sat in front of them.

"If you're going to work with the agency, you'll need something that will keep your clothes from getting too wet," he simply stated, prompting her to unzip the bag and look inside.

She did so, placing the bag she was carrying down before doing as he intended for her to. She quickly unzipped it, pulling the flap over and revealing the contents. She nearly teared up at the sight, looking up from it to him as she asked, "You kept them this entire time?"

"I made sure one of the staff members assisted me in maintaining the set just for this moment," he replied, his expression still not changing as he spoke. "Welcome back, (Y/n)."