thicker than the mind | dazai o. ✓

six.

'She shows up when I have a subordinate in hand? How ironic.'

Dazai was currently lounging in the café below their office. He needed some fresh air from that suffocating environment. Seeing her face and hearing her voice made Dazai want to thrash his head into a wall. It's not like he sees her as an ugly human being, it was far from that. He sees her as a disgrace—a waste of space.

Dazai took another big sip of his mug filled with coffee. 'I'm not sure if I can handle working with her again. Speaking of, where will she be working at?'

The bandage-user took a second to think of places where she could be staying—which have all been debunked. 'Where else?' He looked around the café, imagining it to be his office up on the fourth floor.

'Where els- oh fuck.'

Dazai groaned out in aggression; gripping the roots of his hair, tugging at it harshly when he forgot that there was an empty desk in front of him back in the office. 'There has got to be something wrong in this world I live in.'

He sighed as he let his head lightly thump on the counter, making the old man who made his amazing coffee, jump."Dazai-san? Are you okay?"

Dazai turned his head to look at the man's direction, "I'm fine." The man hesitated at first but then nodded and returned back to what he was doing. He decided not to mind the frustrated detective anymore.

Dazai, head still on the counter, heard the bell ring behind him. He didn't care much at first, until he felt that presence sit beside him.

"Kurishima-san?!" The old man almost dropped the cup he was cleaning when he exclaimed out the woman's presence. Of course, if you were gone for 2 years without any leads nor notes whatsoever, people would be shocked to find you back.

Dazai felt like he was on top of the world and he wanted to jump off. Why is it that she just didn't notice the tense aura around him? Dazai was glad enough that she showed up unnoticed. Did she just had to go and talk to him when he clearly wanted to get away from her?

"I'm pleased you still know me, Mister Coffee!" The old man, which is not named Mr. Coffee, chuckled, "That nickname of mine never got old, huh?"

Taiyo chuckled back,"Nope. The usual, please." She said as she put down some bills on the counter. The old man grabbed it and proceeded to whip up her favorite coffee.

While she waited, she glanced at Dazai, "Are you okay?" Dazai's breath hitched. He did not want to talk to her right now, and yet he did. "I'm alright." He said, taking a sip.

Taiyo wasn't convinced that he was alright one bit. She may not be good at reading situations, but she can read a person. That's whats made her survive this long.

"C'mon, I know something's bothering you. You can tell me whatever, you know." Dazai gripped the handle of his mug tightly, 'She is so blind.'

Dazai took a moment to think if he should or not. He chose to use the former option.

"An old friend of mine was supposed to take care of me, but they suddenly left me behind. Then they show up when I have a new friend to take care of. Isn't that ironic?" Taiyo tilted her head, clearly not knowing that it was her he was talking about.

"Well, it is, in a way." Taiyo sighed, "I say you face that friend and go say that they should change." Dazai couldn't help but laugh out loud. 'Change? Change? Say that for yourself.' Taiyo looked at Dazai with worry, 'Did I say something?'

Just as Dazai was about to respond back to her, a phone rang from inside her pocket, "Oop. Sorry." She got up from her chair, going near the door when she suddenly stopped before she could get out. She nodded and said a few 'yes's when she hung up, "Mr.Coffee! I'll take my drink to go please!"

Dazai looked at her with a questioning look, "I'm so sorry, but Fukuzawa suddenly needs me? He says that there's something I should take care of." She said as she fiddled with something from her jacket pockets, "Can we do this another time?" Taiyo smiled at her subordinate, before placing something down.

She grabbed her coffee, gave the old man some tips before walking out of the café to go back to her workplace. Dazai's face was unreadable. The old man saw this and went to the bathroom to give the detective some space.

He looked at the things she put down on the counter. It was a card with her number on it, and a 500 yen coin. 'Why would she give me 500 yen and her number card? Why is she so nice?'

◎

Meanwhile, Taiyo knocked on the president's office, casually entering, "You needed me for something?"

Fukuzawa looked up from a file he was holding and gave his attention to her, "Yes. There has been a mysterious case two blocks from here near the bay. Apparently, a child was burnt alive by a strange substance. Any research about this substance was meaningless, and the forensics theorize that an ability user was the one held responsible."

Taiyo grimaced, "What kind of monster would burn a child alive?" Fukuzawa sighed, "This woman apparently. Witnesses claim to have seen a woman with orange hair, with a fluffy beige coat walking around after the burning. Your mission is to find this woman and ask her some questions."

Taiyo nodded and suggested something, "Can I bring a friend? This woman seems dangerous to handle on my own." Fukuzawa admired her courage to face the fact that she admitted that she needed backup. Many people nowadays would boast about how strong they were—then end up getting hurt.

"You will take Atsushi with you. He's our new member we talked about." Taiyo's eyes gleamed when she heard about the new member, "The boy with the white hair?"

"Yes. Now take this file, and go to the crime scene immediately." Fukuzawa took out his hand which was holding the files, and she grabbed it. Not wasting anymore time, she walked out, and decided to go meet her partner for the day.

"I wonder what ability this 'Atsushi' has."

hello! just a heads up, ill be going back to school this week which mean i cant update much. but i will try my absolute best to work still! school sucks yall ://

also if any of my readers are from australia, please keep safe! i am praying and hoping that this problem will be resolved as soon as possible.

yours sincerely,
velvet.