(*randomly looking for a crackhead-like song about fish because why not do so when you can't think of an interesting title* *skips educational kids songs because bleh* *sees fish song and clicks on it* *listens to it and dies of laughter*) (*Can't find it now and is angry*) (*Gives you this instead*)
It was a normal day at work for everyone. Except Dazai.
No one would do his paperwork for him, and he wanted to take a nap.
So, he pulled out his phone and called someone to help him out.
Walking outside the office that way he could talk to this person in private, Dazai listened to the phone on the other end ring through.
A few rings later someone answered it.
"Hello?" They asked.
"Hey Akutagawa~ I was wondering if you could do me a favor!" Dazai said, knowing already what Akutagawa would reply with.
"If it were for you Dazai I would destroy all of Yokohama in an instant," Akutagawa said confidently.
"Good. Then you won't mind doing a little something for me here at the agency, right?"
"Of course not Dazai. I would do anything for you."
"Alrighty then. Please come to the Armed Detective Agency as soon as possible."
Dazai hung up the phone and counted to five before walking to the building's front door and opening it for Akutagawa, who had rushed over immediately.
"If you'll follow me, then you can get started!" Dazai announced, walking towards the main office.
Inside, the ADA members were having their first normal day in weeks, and they were enjoying it a lot.
Kenji was working and would look outside the window every few seconds up at the clouds.
Naomi was sitting at Junichiro's desk talking to him while he worked. And she was also flirting tremendously.
Ranpo was sitting on his desk eating pocky. He was waiting on Poe to arrive with a new novel, and as per usual, he didn't feel like working.
Yosano was checking her list of members, trying to find anyone who needed a checkup or any sort of healing.
Fukuzawa was having a discussion with a friend in his office, so no one was allowed in there for the time being.
Haruno had called in sick, so Kenji and Kyouka sent her a cat plushie they bought from the store that day since Naomi had said that Haruno loved cats.
Kyouka was now working as well, glancing at the door every so often. She'd noticed Dazai leave and make a phone call, and she'd realized that no one was doing his work for him.
Atsushi was finishing up his paperwork and contemplating wether or not to do Dazai's. It had to be done, after all.
And Kunikida was working hard at his desk like normal, typing away on his computer and simultaneously writing things in his notebook.
When Dazai reentered the room, some people looked up. Kunikida was about to yell at Dazai to do his work, but he immediately stopped himself upon seeing Akutagawa enter behind Dazai.
"Akutagawa?! What are you doing here?!" Atsushi exclaimed.
Kyouka, following a procedure Atsushi had taught her, led Kenji to the other side of the room where they sat in a corner behind a couch and waited to see what Akutagawa was going to do.
Akutagawa scoffed loudly and replied, "It's none of your business, Weretiger."
Out of nowhere, a wind came through and wooshed Akutagawa's hair around.
It looked great.
"I invited him over here for a reason, so you all can calm down now," Dazai said.
Hearing this made most people confused, but they were less surprised after hearing it as well.
Dazai led Akutagawa to his desk where paper work was sitting unattended to. Atsushi watched in annoyance as Dazai handed the stack to Akutagawa, who then went outside with it.
"You're not gonna have him burn it, are you?" Yosano asked skeptically.
"Of course not. I'd do it myself if I planned on that. After all, I am the much better arsonist."
"Of course you are," Kunikida said, rolling his eyes.
After the day was over, Dazai had Atsushi talk to Akutagawa for him as though the port mafia worker wasn't standing two inches away.
Atsushi begrudgingly did it.
Then, everyone went home, or wherever certain people went after work. And wherever Akutagawa went.
The day was fairly normal, which was rare. And it was about to not be so normal for one of the agency members anymore.
Kunikida walked into his home. He put his keys on the small table, pulled out his notebook, and started writing. After about two hours of writing, he prepared himself for bed. After all, he had to get plenty of sleep to be healthy and do good at work. And he definitely needed sleep if he was going to deal with Dazai and his antics.
As soon as he fell asleep, he started having a strange dream.
There was a loud noise from behind him, and for some reason, he couldn't turn around. He tried to, but his body wouldn't budge. He felt he wasn't alone, but he had no idea who it was there with him.
There was a feeling he had that he couldn't describe very well. It was kind of like fear, but slightly different. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, though.
There were three footsteps from behind him. He still couldn't move, either. Still, he kept trying. It was all he could do.
He then tried to calm himself. He couldn't. His heart was racing, and he was sweating heavily. He tried to take a deep breath, but he felt as though he couldn't breathe.
The footsteps got closer. This was their second time getting closer. And with each step, Kunikida only felt worse.
A shadowy figure stepped in front of him and put something cold against his neck, pointing it towards his head. His vision wobbled for a second, and then the figure cleared to be someone Kunikida knew well.
It was the one and only Sasaki Nobuko.
She was glaring at him, not out of hatred or anger, but out of disgust.
"I liked you," she started, her voice deep. "You were a lot like him. You both believed heavily in your ideals."
Kunikida knew instantly who she was talking about, and it gave him a bad taste in his mouth.
"I'm nothing like him."
"Oh, but you are. And even still, you abandoned (*takes five minutes to figure out how to spell abandoned*) those ideals you treasure so much, and you let your friend kill me. And when your partner didn't feel bad about it, you weren't even mad at him. You were only mad at yourself for letting it happen, and you soon got over those feelings."
"I'm sorry you died, but you didn't give him a choice. You shot him, and you didn't feel bad. And then you were going to shoot me and Dazai, too."
"I was going to shoot him, not you. I wanted to keep you by my side, and I was hoping you would see how similar the two of you are. We could have carried out his ideals together, but you just couldn't let it go."
"Are you going to kill me?" Kunikida asked, not fearful at all.
"No. I'm going to make you suffer the same way I suffered when he died. You're going to feel the pain that your life is crashing down right in front of you and there's no way to do anything about it; that you just have to sit and watch everything you love disappear."
"What are you talking about?" Kunikida asked sternly.
Sasaki smirked and walked backwards, lowering her gun from Kunikida and disappearing through a nearby door. She came back with a smaller person that Kunikida also knew.
"Aya?!" Kunikida exaclaimed questioningly.
Sasaki smirked more and stepped into the light so that Kunikida could see her, bringing Aya closer.
"Kunikida.....?" Aya asked, scared.
Sasaki had her gun against the back of Aya's head, her finger resting on the trigger.
"Aya, don't worry, it'll be ok. I'll find a way to save you, I promise."
Sasaki laughed at Kunikida, finding it amusing that he was trying to reassure Aya that it would be ok.
"Kunikida, I'm scared. I don't want to die," Aya said, tears falling heavily from her eyes.
"It'll be ok, Aya. I promise. I'll find a way to save you, I swear to it."
At this point, Kunikida also started to cry a bit. He held the tears back, knowing it would only make Aya more afraid if Kunikida didn't seem sure he could do what he was promising.
Sasaki narrowed her eyes once more and pulled the trigger.
"Kunikida-!" Aya yelled, getting cut off as a bullet from the gun went into her skull.
Blood spilled everywhere. Aya's body fell, landing on the ground with a thud.
"NOOO!!" Kunikida yelled, trying to get out of the chair once more. He had to get to Aya. He had to.
Sasaki smirked once more, and she left.
Kunikida kept trying to get out of the chair, but he couldn't. And then, he understood what exactly Sasaki had been talking about.
It was as if the world stopped. Kunikida's voice failed after that. It was due to the tears falling endlessly from his face. It was as though he would never stop crying. Kunikida felt stupid for crying when he was the one still breathing, but it was all he could do. He kept trying to get out of the chair, past whatever was restraining him, but he couldn't. He just kept jerking forwards and being unable to move, that is until his body wouldn't move anymore.
He closed his eyes and turned his head away. He was angry at himself for doing it, but he couldn't bear to look at Aya's body anymore than he already had. He hated himself for letting Aya die. Pure hated, fresh, strong, it ran through him like a cold drink.
He stayed there, unable to do anything except for cry and hate himself.
It was just like Sasaki had said. It was as though his life had been a building in front of him, standing tall and strong. But after Aya died, the base of the building had failed, and the entire structure fell to the ground. And he couldn't stop it.
He thought he was being ridiculous. He had no reason to be sad, when he didn't even tell Aya that he'd loved her like a daughter, no matter how disrespectful she was to him.
Then, Sasaki came back. Seeing the pain Kunikida was in, she laughed loudly. It was more like a cackle than anything.
"You.... Monster....." Kunikida muttered out.
All his ideals no longer mattered to him. He didn't care anymore. They weren't important. Nothing was, now. Nothing mattered, and there was no longer a point to anything.
So he focused on revenge instead. It was now the only thought he allowed to cross his mind.
"You..... Bitch....... I'll kill you......" Kunikida said, pure anger and hatred in his voice.
"You won't. You can't. You can't bring yourself to do it, even after how I've hurt you. And now, I'll be a good person."
"You can't. You killed her, you can't be a good person after that."
"I can. And here's how I'll do it."
Sasaki moved her gun up and aimed it at Kunikida. He immediately understood what she meant. He smiled, closed his eyes, and thought to himself that he'd see Aya again. And then, Sasaki fired her gun.
"I gave you the release that I never actually got. You're welcome."
Kunikida's eyes shot open quickly, and he jumped up in an instant. Someone was tapping him gently.
"Mr. Kunikida? You overslept, and everyone got worried about you. Are you ok?"
Kunikida grabbed his glasses and threw them on, looking at whoever was by him.
It was Atsushi and Dazai.
"Kunikida~" Dazai said.
"Wh-" Kunikida looked around, and just saw his apartment. He calmed himself down as best as he could, and he asked what time it was.
"It's.... 9:54."
"Kunikida, you naughty boy~ You didn't come to work on time~"
"Like you have any room to talk," Atsushi muttered.
"Kunikida~ I missed you!" Dazai said.
"Are you alright, Mr. Kunikida?" Atsushi asked.
"Hm... Atsushi, wait outside for us, would you?"
"Alright?" Atsushi walked outside the apartment and waited in the yard below.
"What happened?" Dazai asked in a serious voice.
Kunikida stayed silent.
"Nightmare?"
Kunikida nodded silently.
Dazai frowned and placed his left hand gently on Kunikida's shoulder, and Kunikida lifted his head slightly.
"Did it have to do with someone you know?"
Kunikida slightly nodded.
Dazai asked if it was someone they both knew and got a nod. Then, he asked if it was a female, and Kunikida also nodded.
"Was it Nobuko?"
Kunikida's look darkened.
"Did she hurt you?"
Kunikida didn't nod.
"Someone close to you?"
Kunikida nodded.
"An agency member?"
Kunikida didn't move.
"Aya?"
Kunikida started to tear up again.
Dazai sat by Kunikida and hugged him gently. He noticed Kunikida's eyes appeared empty, and he hugged Kunikida closer.
Neither exchanged a word after that, but it wasn't awkward or anything. It was comforting.
"Do you want to see her?" Dazai asked. "I'm sure we'd be able to find her if you want."
Kunikida stayed silent. He wasn't sure. He didn't really know. And he definitely didn't want her seeing him depressed.
"Well, you've got me, and you always will."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, Kunikida."
Dazai smiled gently and told Kunikida he loved him. Kunikida smiled slightly for a moment and said, "I love you too."
And so they stayed like that for a bit. Atsushi poked his head in once to see if everything was ok, but upon seeing them, he went back outside and called the agency, explaining that Dazai and Kunikida weren't going to be coming in today.
Then, he went back to work.
Author's Note:
Did this take me forever? Yes.
Is this a longer chapter? Yes.
Is my mother screaming for my cat to come to the house currently? Yes.
She doesn't even call his name she yells "Here kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty!" Over and over and over again.
This is going to be the reason I go crazy.
Anyway, bye, and um yeah.
WC: 2401