Bungou Stray Dogs AU

Chapter-9

Detective Agency

"Today was a strange day", Haru thought. While it was normal for Dazai to be late to work for a mountain of excuses such as overslept or trying out a new method of suicide, it was indeed strange for Kunikida not to show up to work when it was already almost afternoon. And as if answering to that thought, Dazai opened the door with a loud bang.

"Good morning, everyone" Dazai cheerfully shouted at everyone.

"Dazai-san, it is almost afternoon so it is not good morning. And do you know where Kunikida-san is? I can't contact him though" Atsushi bombarded Dazai with a mountain of questions as soon as he stepped into the office.

"Well, well, Atsushi-kun, calm down a little. As for Kunikida-kun, he is taking a rest today as he is not feeling too good. He told me to tell you guys too" Dazai lied smoothly as if he was breathing with a smile. The first one to notice something was off was Ranpo.

"Is that so?" Ranpo questioned Dazai with a questioning look.

"Yes" And Dazai replied with a smile. A few minutes passed with the two of them looking at each other, one with a questioning look and one smiling. Atsushi was the first to break those two silence,

"Is..Is that so? So, he is just feeling not good. That is a relief, right, Ranpo-san?" Atsushi turned back to Ranpo with the hope that the atmosphere between Dazai and him will turn back to normal.

"Yeah....You are right" Ranpo said and he went back to whatever he was doing with his laptop.

"Ah, look at the time. It is almost lunch time. No wonder, I was feeling quite a bit hungry. Haru, would you like to come along with me to have lunch?" Dazai questioned Haru who was just observing the scene before her. Haru nodded as she was thinking that she was feeling hungry too.

"Ah, Dazai-san, you have not finished your share of work in the morning" Atsushi hurriedly said to Dazai who was now with Haru trying to go to have lunch.

"It's okay. It's okay. I will finish them up when I come back, Atsushi-kun" And Dazai and Haru were out of sight of Atsushi.

Cafe

"Is...something...wrong?" Haru said suddenly to Dazai who was drinking his usual coffee for his so called lunch.

"Mmm....I might have...angered Kunikida-kun" said Dazai, after finishing his coffee in one go and looking straight at Haru with his face on his hands and his hands on the table.

"Isn't that...what..you..usually..do?" Haru was a little confused at his reason.

"This time is a little bit serious. I might have been a little harsh on him" Dazai said with his eyes looking at the empty cup of coffee now.

"..Harsh?..You..might..have a good reason..for saying...something..like that..to him" Haru answered while observing Dazai who seemed indeed a little down.

"Haha..Good reason? Why do you think something like that, Haru? Of course, everyone has their own reasons to act and there is no good reason or bad reason. After all, everyone do it for their own gain. When you help someone, you will definitely want something back. That's how people are." Dazai said with his eyes avoiding to meet Haru.

"..No..No..Not all are..like..that. The reason..that.you..said..something harsh..to him..is because you are kind...You don't want..him..to face a terrible..choice" Now it was Haru's turn to look at the empty cup of coffee while Dazai looked up to hers.

"Kind? Of all people, you are the one to say that I'm kind? Is that a joke? Or did you forget about those times?" Dazai really thought that he didn't deserve to be called kind by her after he did something terrible like that.

"..At that time...you saved..my life...And..now,you are..on the good..side. That's...why..you are kind" Haru said now looking up into Dazai's eyes and maybe smiling a little.

".....Really, you are really...." Dazai said breaking the eye contact because he felt like he was being stripped naked in front of those clear blue eyes, the eyes that was the light of his life at one time but he refused them for a period and now he was here back to thinking that they were indeed the light that he was reaching out for a long time.

City

It was now nighttime. The surroundings are filled with voices of all time, people talking, music, news and other things. But in Dazai's mind, the sounds were shut off and just replaying the scene from noon.

"Haru's smile at that time, I really don't deserve it. Even now, I am still regretting the actions that I had done to her. I thought that if I bring her with me to the side where we can feel the light freely, my sins would disappear. But no, they would not disappear. Seeing her in front of me now with a little smile on her face, instead of my sins disappearing I feel like they are being reminded. By bringing her to this side, I will one day make her decide difficult choices that she may again feel that she is better off dying. The day that Port Mafia and the Agency clash against each other may not be too far away. I am throwing her into an endless pit of suffering. "Former murderers don't deserve to be good people" Is it really true?" Dazai was thinking those in his mind until he felt that his clothes were tucked by someone.

"I found you" the little girl in red kimono said and then behind her a big white shadow with a blade in its hand appear.

"This..might..be.bad" Dazai said not expecting this kind of ambush in the middle of the city with many people.