AUTUMN'S BALLAD ( bsd x hq! )

Prologue

ooo. PROLOGUE
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The moment Haruo raised her fist to knock on the door, the weight of her intentions increased tenfold. Tension and pressure wove seamlessly through her nerves, draining her of all semblance of confidence she approached the her boss' office with. Her limbs felt as if they'd turned to lead. She couldn't move.

     No, she could do this. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. There was no reason she couldn't do this. This was something good for her, so why did she suddenly feel so terrified of the risks when she hadn't before?

     "Nope! I can't do this!" Haruo declared, her arm falling back to her side. She spun on her heel, intent on marching away to drown herself in paperwork, probably Dazai and Ranpo's paperwork too. Yeah, that would work, she could just productively avoid all her problems.

      Her plans were foiled immediately as a pair of hands, bandages extending from the wrists up their arms, set themselves on her shoulders gently, but just firmly enough to keep her from moving any farther from the door. She slowly looked up to glower at a tall dark-haired man with narrow, dark brown eyes glimmering with mirth.

     "Dazai, please move."

     "Now, Haruo-chan, you were so~ close. Why don't you try again? Just one more time!" he urged, pushing on her shoulders, forcing her to turn around and face the door again.

     Haruo sighed deeply and reluctantly stared at the entrance to Fukuzawa's office. Her boss' office.

     "I really don't think I can right now... what if this isn't the right decision? What if it leads me in the wrong direction?" she questioned, unknowingly voicing her anxieties. Dazai hummed thoughtfully for a moment.

     "You won't know unless you try," he told her, bending down so his chin rested on her shoulder. "Besides, when have you ever stayed down after you fall?"

     Haruo's expression deadpanned, not turning her gaze away from the door even as she arched a brow. "I'm beginning to think you're just trying to get rid of me."

    Dazai gasped in mock disbelief, pulling back instantly. Haruo turned to see him place a hand over his chest like he'd been stabbed in the heart. "Do you really think so lowly of me, Haruo-chan?!"

     "Do you really want me to answer that?" Haruo asked, her expression not budging even slightly.

     "Eh?! You wound me!" Dazai pouted before growing thoughtful, bringing a hand to his chin. "Maybe you're right, though. I should get rid of you." She arched a brow when his eyes lit up and he clapped his hands together. "If you're gone, maybe I'll have a better chance at finding someone to commit a double suicide with. Go on, go on! Shoo! Shoo!"he began waving his hands, motioning her away as if she were an insect.

     Haruo continued to stare at him, utterly unimpressed, before sighing again. Turning, she faced the door again, standing there for a few moments. With a deep breath, she raised her fist, rapping it lighting against the door. She heard a muffled "Enter" and cast a final glance over her shoulder in hopes of some last second reassurance from whatever kind of brother-figure Dazai have become for her.

     His eyes sparkling as he stared, not at Haruo, but at the door with hope, his hands cradling either side of his face as he hummed a small tune.

    "You are the literal worst." Haruo rolled her eyes before entering Fukuzawa's office. Her posture instinctively straightened at the sight of the stern-faced silver-haired male sitting behind his desk. "Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to speak with you about something," she said with a slight bow after closing the door behind her.

     Fukuzawa nodded. "I had a feeling you would approach soon. Spurred on, no doubt, by Dazai's urging."

     Haruo's lips twitched as she slowly crossed the room. "He can be annoyingly persistence when he wants to be, and usually that's more often than not."

     "Something you're familiar with having spent a year with him underground," Fukuzawa noted, leading Haruo to nod in confirmation. She watched his eyes shift, still stern, but now revealing a hidden depth of welcoming ease, silently urging her to make her request.

     "Would it be possible for me to take temporary leave from the Agency?" she asked, messing with her fingers behind her back and rocking on her heels. The anxiety from before had come crawling back, making its presence known as the words left her lips. But she noticed the more she pushed forward, the more the weight on her shoulders began to lift. "I take pride in what I've been able to do in the short time I've been here, but I'd like the opportunity to fulfill my father's last wish for me."

     Fukuzawa remained silent for a minute, pondering her request and giving Haruo too much time to start overthinking everything she'd just said. Her gaze jumped the moment he moved to open one of the drawers and retrieved a thin file. Flipping it open, he scanned the contents before laying it on the desk, sliding it across to Haruo.

     She took the wordless invitation to briefly read through the file. Only, every word she read caught her attention, each passing sentence causing her eyes to widen even more.

     "In the two years that you've been a member of the Armed Detective Agency, Haruo, you have accomplished many things and helped many people. I think I can speak for all of us here when I say you deserve a chance to help yourself," Fukuzawa began after noting her surprise. Haruo glanced up from the file as he continued, biting her lip as she fought the tears wanting to gather on her lashes. "Dazai brought up your intentions to me a few weeks ago and I agree with both his and your sentiments. We organized this opportunity for you."

     Soft laughter escaped Haruo's lips before she could help it. She didn't really want to anyway. "I should've know he'd go ahead and plan things behind my back."

    "Not just Dazai, Haruo," he corrected her. "Everyone in the agency wants you to be happy and healthy. We understand the ghosts you have here in Yokohama make that difficult."

     "Thank you. Thank you very much," Haruo said, hoping she was conveying the immense gratitude she felt warming her chest. Her eyes glanced back down to the file, where an enrollment form for a high school in Miyagi sat at the very top.

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