Bungou Stray Dogs || Drown Under (On-Going -Slow [Very] Updates)

Chapter 4 - Three Detectives

'He slightly gulps some of his nervousness away. With a slight hesitation, he stutters his response to the intimidating girl: "A--Atsushi. Atsushi Nakajima."'

"Nice to meet you, Atsushi-kun." She replies in a sweet, soothing tone, with a smile painted on her face, a smile that could melt butter.

Atsushi was stunned under her smile. He stares with a slight shock that someone so intimidating could have a pure smile. "N-nice to meet you too."

Silence surrounds the group for a few seconds. [F/n] ponders on what she could do to carry out the conversation, but her thought process was interrupted by a loud growl.

[E/c] eyes widen while staring at Atsushi. The unexpected growl came from the pale young boy's stomach.

"Are you hungry?"
"Are you hungry, young man?"

Both (F/n) and Dazai simultaneously asked Atsushi, causing him to skittishly jump out from his worn-down shoes.

He weakly smiled with a hint of guilt at the two adults. He hesitantly answered both of their questions with honesty.
"To... To be honest, I haven't eaten anything in several days." He replies in a quiet voice, laced with shame.

Another growl was heard again, but the growl wasn't coming from Atsushi. This time it was coming from Dazai's stomach. He stared at the boy with a nonchalant expression. "Neither have I, and my wallet got washed away by the river."

(F/n) glances at Dazai with criticism. "Idiot." She said under her breath.
"Well, for once, I didn't bring my wallet with me. But I can go back to my place and grab my-" As she was about to propose a plan, she was interrupted by another voice.

"Heey," a male voice booms across the river located opposite from where they stand, "So this is where you dumbasses been fooling around too!"

(F/n)'s attention was torn from Atsushi towards the infuriated Kunikida, meanwhile, Dazai completely tunes out Kunikida.

"I left for a few minutes and came up with a perfect plan. But once I came back, you dumbasses were gone!" His irritation builds up like building blocks.

As Kunikida rambles on, [F/n] tried taking the situation seriously, but was proven futile. She chuckles as Dazai continues ignoring Kunikida's presence.

Dazai's features sparked up as an idea suddenly lit up in Dazai's head.
"I just had an idea. This is mine and (F/n)'s colleague and knowing him, he carries his wallet around everywhere. Let him treat you." He proposed the idea.

"Eh?" Was all the response out the boy's mouth, he stares slightly confused.

Dazai smiles slightly. "Follow me, Atsushi-kun. What do you want to eat?"

With no thought at all, he responds to Dazai: "Umm... Well, I want to eat chazuke."

Dazai stops in his tracks and stares at Atsushi. Pfft. After standing still like a statue, Dazai breaks out into hysterical laughter. "A kid dying of hunger wants to eat chazuke of all things!" He says in between laughs, and uncontrollable laughs more when he finishes speaking.

(F/n) glares at Dazai with cold eyes, elbowing him on the side, hard enough for him to understand the meaning is to control himself.