gentle angel • kousano

VI. it was good to know

Another week flew by smoothly without any shifts with Yosano. Dazai seemed to have taken a liking to her, and she was getting along well with Ranpo.

Atsushi and Akutagawa, on the other hand, were rather intimated by her. Although, it might have been that the two were just intimated by women in general. Kouyou noticed that Atsushi was always more skittish than usual around Kouyou, and Akutagawa made it his mission to please her when they worked shifts together.

It was shocking how similar the two boys could be, considering their irrational hate for each other.

Kouyou appreciated Dazai's efforts to prevent her and Yosano work together, she really did, but she could tell that he was bending things to make it happen, so she decided that this morning, she would go to him and tell him that it was perfectly fine. She was emotionally prepared to work with the girl who had threatened her at knife point. If Kouyou was being honest, she was definitely less bothered by that whole situation than she probably should have been.

Anyway, that would have been the plan, except for the fact that when she walked into the shop to talk to Dazai, Yosano was already there, prepping the coffee, already dressed in uniform and laser-focused on the task at hand.

The boss never ceased to amaze.

Yosano looked up when she heard the bells on the door ring, her eyes laced with confusion, for the store wouldn't open yet for another hour until they locked with Kouyou's own.

With the hope in mind that things could be normal between the two girls, Kouyou told the girl good morning. She wanted to keep things casual—their fiasco was just dirty laundry. Despite her hopes, she wasn't expecting a response but was pleasantly surprised when Yosano returned the gesture.

Kouyou could tell that the other was still uneasy around her, hell, she was too, but she appreciated the effort.

Happy with the response, Kouyou went to the back to change, and the next few hours of working together were spent productively and went by without a hitch.

The two eased into conversation with each other, but eventually, they made the discovery that they quite liked one another's company. They worked well together and rarely got in the other's way. They had a mutual understanding that they wouldn't be talking too much, but when they did, it came easily and without gauche.

That was until Kouyou started to notice some odd behaviors from Yosano.

It was about their second week of working together, and they had grown far more comfortable in each other's presence, but the girl was always extremely shaky on her feet and constantly looked exhausted. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking whenever she was pouring coffee or dealing with the cash register, and there was a constant sheen of sweat across her pale forehead.

It wasn't like she was being overworked; Dazai, despite the immature and careless attitude he dawned the majority of the time, was very careful about giving his employees lunch breaks and general time to rest if they were unwell. With that in mind, Yosano's state was even more concerning.

She tried to keep it to herself, not wanting to sound pretentious about Yosano's well-being. Kouyou knew that the girl was confident and somewhat prideful, and she didn't seem the type to ask for help, or take it, for that matter (from Kouyou specifically especially).

So, she continued to ignore it, just as Yosano was. Which, in hindsight, was definitely a bad decision.

Their shifts would end in around fifteen minutes, and Ranpo and Atsushi had just arrived early to take over. Kouyou and Atsushi continued finishing up together, so as to let Yosano and Ranpo talk, but a thump and Ranpo's panicked gasp caught their attention.

On the floor, in front of Ranpo who was on his knees and examining, was Yosano, passed out with a tiny pool of blood where her head had hit the ground.

"Oh my god!" Atsushi exclaimed, running toward the girl. "Is she okay, Ranpo? What are we gonna do?"

The sensitive boy's eyes were already brimming with tears, but Kouyou really couldn't really blame him. Yosano could most definitely pass as a dead body at the moment, lying there with the dark red blood that surrounded her sickly pale face.

Ranpo took a shaky breath in after he finished checking her pulse. "She's okay."

Kouyou let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.

"So, what should we do guys?" Atsushi asked nervously. He was fidgeting with the slightly longer piece of hair that had a black streak in it which framed his face.

Ranpo hummed in thought and looked up at Kouyou, "how about you take her home to rest, hm? You're both girls, so she'll probably be less freaked out when she wakes up. Plus you're shift just ended. Not that we wouldn't drop our work for Yosano, just convenient is all."

The black-haired boy had a certain glint in his eyes when he said it that Kouyou couldn't quite place. She knew that she didn't like it, though.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not quite sure that would work out well," Kouyou replied, somewhat timidly, which was out of character for the girl.

Ranpo raised a questioning brow, "And why's that?"

'Well," Kouyou chuckled nervously, "I was under the impression that you were already aware of this..."

She trailed off but Ranpo gave her a look that she could definitely decipher this time.

"Go on."

"Well, I've had her at my place before, found her looking rather sickly on the street, poor thing, but when she woke up, she was quite spooked by the whole situation. I'm not all that sure she's fully comfortable with me yet, is all. And after that experience, which was quite a scary one for the both of us, I don't want to rekindle any bad memories."

Ranpo laughed in her face, and it wasn't even a small one, it was a big loud "Hah!"

Kouyou looked at him, miffed. "What is your problem," she scowled.

It took far too long for the boy to stop laughing, and Kouyou considered decking the boy more than once throughout the debacle, but once he finally did, he told her the origin of his grating laughter.

"I knew that, Kouyou."

A pause.

"You..." she was at a loss for words, "you knew?"

"Yes."

"And you still believe that it is perfectly acceptable for me to bring her home?" Kouyou exclaimed. "That is absolutely insane!"

Ranpo sighed condescendingly. "I don't believe, Kouyou, I know."

"Uh... guys," Atsushi cut in nervously, shaking the two from the conversation and/or argument (depending on which of the two you asked). "Shouldn't we do something about Yosano now?"

And with those words, Kouyou found herself fidgeting nervously in her pink loveseat that lie in the center of her small living room while she watched Yosano sleep soundly on her couch.