Chrysanthemum Garden [Dazai x Reader] ✓

Epilogue

ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 26 - ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀᴀɴᴅᴜᴍ:

ɪꜱ ɪᴛ ᴘᴀɪɴꜰᴜʟ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴ ᴡʜᴏ ᴡᴀɪᴛꜱ? ᴏʀ ɪꜱ ɪᴛ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴘᴀɪɴꜰᴜʟ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴ ᴡʜᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇꜱ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀꜱ ᴡᴀɪᴛ? ᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ ᴡᴀʏ, ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ'ꜱ ɴᴏ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴀɪᴛ ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ. ᴛʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪꜱ ᴍᴏꜱᴛ ᴘᴀɪɴꜰᴜʟ.

Atsushi found those few words encrypted on a page of Kunikida's journal – a page he'd left gaping open beside his stationery fingers that perched on a cold laptop touchpad while his eyes stared back at a blank document he'd put up on his monitor for minutes counting.

'Kunikida,' the albino called out politely, obliging himself to tap the older male's shoulder as a way to earn his attention – it did not work. He tried once again, a little louder this time, and thus watched as his senior's grey-tinted emerald eyes hesitantly glanced up at him.

This same vacant stare that now focused wholly on the young detective was the exact same look Kunikida had been giving his work for the past half hour that Atsushi had spent at the Agency; it was rather unsettling to watch the productive blond counter such adjective, more so with the unusually tall pile of paperwork weighing on his desk beside an open green notebook.

Atsushi shook his head reluctantly and waved his fingers awkwardly. 'Nevermind...'

October was anticipated to mark a time of gloom in the office, but Atsushi had not foreseen such bitter loneliness to replace the absenteeism of his mentor Dazai and colleague [Y/N] over a visit to the cemetery; an earlier round to the rooftop had been enough to confirm the belief that both of those mentioned characters had left for the set destination, for several white chrysanthemum buds were missing from the soil and likely to have been arranged into handmade bouquets in the morning before sunrise.

But the scene before him was oddly off-putting.

No one except Kunikida and himself were present in the office – Kyouka had come in earlier but returned to Café Uzumaki as he was making his way up, having this unapproachable look in her eyes that not even he, her work partner and friend, managed to snap her out of. Everyone else had either sat quietly around a coffee-scented table or else disappeared completely.

'Kunikida,' the albino tried calling again, earning the male's attention far more easily this time. 'We're expected to cover for [Y/N] and Dazai's absence, right?... Haven't we agreed as a collective to mark their presence and complete their portion of work for today?'

The only response he received was to witness the blond male's eyes return sharply to his laptop.

Pursing his lips dissatisfied, Atsushi bowed and led his way silently towards his desk, furrowing his eyebrows as he noticed Dazai's chair mantled with his new beige coat – one which [Y/N] had worked day and night to buy for him; though it did not seem like so at times, Dazai held whatever gift his peers gave him with deep emotional appreciation, so really, Atsushi could not understand why he'd leave this coat in particular behind... Why was a gift from [Y/N] – someone Dazai introduced to the Agency and worked so hard for – left behind on such an important visit to the cemetery?

'Atsushi,' Kunikida called out weakly, pushing himself off his chair abruptly. 'I have a meeting to attend...'

As the blond male adjusted his glasses, Atsushi noticed Kunikida's scleras to be tinted in a faint red, his usually clear lenses mantled in a warm fog that gave the younger detective an impression that his senior had had an early eye-irritation, or else –

'Have you been crying, Kunikida?' he asked hesitantly, his own lids drifted apart in anxious awakeness. 'I can cover that meeting for you if you need some time...'