Bungou Stray Dogs x OC ~ Alter Ego

Chapter 20

With his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his lips, the brown-haired man shuffled through the aisles of a small store, where he was sure he would find what he was looking for.

With a ten-thousand-yen bill in the left pocket of his beige coat, Dazai browsed the various models at his disposal, in the aisle he had been hoping to find.

Then, resting his eyes on the items at his foot level, forcing him to crouch, he let a victorious smile play across his features as he grabbed what he needed, slipping it into the shopping basket hanging on his arm.

As he stood up, thoughtful, he swept his gaze over the surroundings, while fiddling with a certain bank card that was in his pocket, right next to the bill.

Then, with a shrug, he headed for the food aisles, and more particularly the meat aisle. Practically drooling, Dazai almost immediately spotted a piece of beef that caught his eye, and tossed it into his basket without even looking at the price.

Why would he do such a thing, if he was buying this meat to please himself? It wasn't every day he could afford it...

For it wasn't every day he could steal dear Kunikida's card without getting caught. Although Kunikida had noticed the money disappearing from time to time from his bank account, he had never known who was responsible. So he had resigned himself to shouting his anger without anyone ever being able to come up with a solution to his problem.

And it was not Dazai who was going to help him find out, that was for sure. Since the culprit was none other than himself. Ranpo had understood that, unsurprisingly, but the other detectives were not as efficient as their skillful colleague. Which was not such a terrible thing.

Kunikida had mountains of money at his disposal, so why couldn't he share it with his poor colleague, whose bank account was close to being in the red at the end of every month? When it was not right in the middle of the month, that is...

Whistling merrily, Dazai finally emerged from the convenience store with a shopping bag on his arm, filled not only with victuals paid with his dear blond-haired friend's card, but also with the necessities for their mysterious client, which he had bought with the ten-thousand-yen bill supplied with her last letter.

He had some change left over on this bill, a lot in fact. After all, he'd been careful to take the cheapest one immediately available.

...

What if he stopped for a few drinks at the nearest bar? It would be a crime not to put that extra money to good use...

The Agency had already received an impressive sum from this young stranger, on top of which... Who was going to notice the disappearance of a few small yens?

He had made up his mind. A brief call at his apartment to drop off his few groceries, consisting mainly of meat, instant food and alcohol, and he'd be in for some well-deserved relaxation.

For their client's errand, he'd see a little later. The Agency still had time to fulfill its part of the contract, after all.

And the call of alcohol fresh from the bottle was stronger than anything.

            

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"Over thirteen thousand yen spent on my own account just today, when I can't remember...!! Who? When? How? Why?"