The sparkle in his eyes

chapter 3

Kunikida pov

The sun is rising and birds are singing. The sky seems brighter, grass greener and even my usual headache is gone when Dazai is nowhere near by me.

That man surely is hopeless. Today I had to come to work an hour earlier just to finish his work from yesterday. I wonder how somebody like him could make it this far in life.

I look at the clock. It's a few minutes after eight. Work should normally start at this time, and yet I'm the only one here. I'm used to that everyone is always late but this time not even Atsushi came here on time. I hope he just fell asleep and he's not saving Dazai from yet another suicide attempt. That boy has enough trauma and doesn't need any more.

I finally get to do even my own work.

After a few minutes, I hear the door open.

"Oh, good morning Kyouka."

"Good morning mister Kunikida. Sorry I'm late."

"Well it doesn't really matter since now you're here. Tell me, where is Atsushi? You two usually come here together."

"He didn't came home yesterday and I thought he worked all night actually."

My heart stops and every possible bad scenario flows through my mind.

This is bad. He always lets somebody know where hes going.What could possibly happen? I try to call him but he doesn't pick up his phone.

"Good moooorning Kunikida-san." I hear Dazai from the other side of the room. And there comes my headache again. Right now? Seriously?

"Not now Dazai. Atsushi might be dead." he looks at me me with a calm smile. How can he keep so calm in such situations? Does he not care about him at all?

"Is that so? Then who was that man I just met in the hallway?" he says with a smirk and in that same moment, Atsushi really comes through the door.

"Is everything alright Kunikida-san? You look very pale. Maybe you should rather sit down." My heartbeat slows down. Thank God he is alright. The last thing we need right now is a disappearance of one of us.

"I'm alright, but you have some explaining to do. You might be an adult but you should let somebody know next time you disappear for the night and especially now when theres somebody going after all the gifted. So tell me, where have you been?"

I can tell from his face that he expected this question.

"Well, there is a lot to say. I don't really know where to start."

Atsushi pov

I tell them everything from the start.

How I was attacked, how I passed out, how Akutagawa saved me and how he even took care of me.

Kyouka seems more surprised by the part with Akutagawa than anything else I say.

"I see. Take a break then. I will take care of your work today. Only thing I need you to do is write a report about this situation when you feel better. " says Kunikida-san with a comforting smile.

"Thank you for your offer, but I think I can handle it myself."

Kunikida just nods and continues to do his work.

I sit down behind my desk. My body is still a little in pain and my head hurts, but I cant let others do all of my work. And definitely not Kunikida-san. That poor man has to do even Dazais work all the time and I can tell hes getting sick of it.

And speaking of Dazai, I feel how he lies his left hand on my shoulder and ruffles my hair.

"Atsushi-kuuun. Something seems to bother you. You really should take a break or you will end up just like Kunikida and trust me, you don't want that to happen."

"I will, Dazai-san. I just want to do some of this paperwork and go home." he sits down on a chair next to me.

"Sure. And while you work you can tell me what were you talking about with Akutagawa. Did he told you anything interesting?"

"Yes. I've learned a few interesting things about him. For example, that he likes tea and figs and he dislikes citruses. And he even agreed to go out with me for chazuke someday, but I'm certain he promised me that just so I would shut up."

"Hmm, that's interesting. But did he told you anything else? Anything about me for an example?" he looks straight in my eyes as if hes staring directly in my soul.

"He told me..."

Akutagawa actually told me everything about his past. Dazai would probably not be happy if I told him I know everything and that is why I cant tell him the truth. I cant imagine what he would do to Akutagawa, but I'm sure it would be terrible from what I learned about how he treated him.

"He told me that your a great man and you like alcohol, especially sake." my hands are shaking.

He looks down on the ground and stays silent for a couple of seconds but to me it feels like hours.

"Your a really bad liar, Atsushi-kun." he smiles but his voice is deeper than usually.

"Well, I have to go. Kunikida wanted to talk to me, but we will discuss it later." he stands up and leaves. He really treats me way more different than he treated Akutagawa when he was young. I think I finally understand all the hatred Akutagawa has against me.

A/N:

Heyy!

I would like to thank you for reading my story and wish you a happy new year.