0.5

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erity listened to the cracks as dazai stretched out his sore body and sat down on the now pushed over oil drum, atsushi next to him.

well, i guess i can leave now

"That was painful" dazai sighed in relief as he continued to crack his hips "I owe you one, atsushi-kun. without you, i would've snapped in two at the waist"

"Didn't you ask your other coworkers for help?" atsushi asked him as he leaned back up.

"I called them, sure. i told them i was on death's door but then everyone was all like 'congratulations', how's that make you feel?" dazai explained, which atsushi didn't seemed to be to surprised about.

"Which reminds me, erity-kun. how did you know where i was? you hung up on me before i could tell you" dazai asked making erity turn back to him as she was about to take her leave, their was a certain look in his eyes.

"Wasn't hard, seeing as people kept murmuring about some legs sticking out an oil drum in front of a dormitory. all i had to do was ask" she lied simply, atsushi deadpanned once again and after a couple seconds dazai smiled but the look never left his eyes, she didn't mind it though and turned back around.

"jeez, anyone gifted with supernatural powers has something wrong with them inside" dazai inquired.

thanks for calling me out like that

"Dazai-san, everyone at the Armed Detective Agency. the private investigators, that is. their gifted, right?" atsushi asked.

"Right, they're an armed force. taking on antagonists the police don't stand a chance against" dazai explained.

"I don't stand a chance at joining the agency, then" atsushi told him looking down at the ground.

"You're gifted just fine" dazai told him.

being gifted isn't always enough, though

"It's true that i have the supernatural ability to turn into a tiger but i have absolutely no control over it, i just transform unaware. i can't will myself to transform into a tiger, so i don't think i'll be of any use. even if i join" atsushi explained before standing up and turning to dazai "I really appreciate the off, though" erity watched as he bowed down "i'm sorry"

"What's your plan, then?" dazai asked him.

"I think i'll look for a job i can actually handle, though i don't think it'll be easy to find" atsushi explained with a small smile. it was quiet for a couple seconds as erity looked from atsushi to dazai who seemed to be planning something.

he's up to something

"i have an idea for a potential job, i can help you get it. if you'd like" dazai told him with a small smile.

"Really?" atsushi asked hopefully "Thank you so much!" he smiled brightly.

i guess it wouldn't hurt to stick around a little longer

-

it seemed they didn't mind that she had tagged along and it wasn't because they hadn't noticed her from the way they occasionally glanced down at her, having now a clear few of how much smaller she was compared to them as erity walked in between the two of them.

"We're going to meet the guarantor who'll introduce you to the job, i'm sure he'll like you" dazai explained, smiling. erity just continued to walk between them, not really paying attention to their conversation.

the headache has lessened and the thumping has stopped but it will probably get worse again. i should buy some extra aspirin later

"What's the job?" atsushi asked.

"No point spoiling the fun, well. there may be a test of sorts" dazai told him, catching erity's attention.

what kind of job makes you take a test? isn't it supposed to be just an interview

"Huh? a test?" atsushi questioned, getting nervous.

"Atsushi-kun, can you write?" dazai asked.

"I do know how to read and write" atsushi answered nervously.

"Then you'll be fine" dazai cheered with a closed eyes smile making atsushi let out a sigh of relief as he put his hand on his chest "You'll be just fine, i'm sure. i guarantee it"

"Thank you!" atsushi said with a bright smile as he turned to dazai making him laugh.

"You'd better thank me! just leave it to me and everything will be fine" dazai told him with a cocky smile as he stopped in his tracks making atsushi and erity do the same as they watched him.

erity just turned back to looking in front of her as she knew whatever he was saying was absolute nonsense when she noticed a familiar figure walking up to them from afar.

oh, it's that guy from yesterday. kunikida-kun, i think his name was

"After all. i am dazai. the one and only whom the agency trusts and populace adores!" dazai continued before getting cut off by a booming voice.

"There you are, dazai!" kunikida shouted, clearly pissed before stomping over to them.

yep, that's definitely him

"You bandage-squandering machine!" he continued to shout in dazai's face making him take a couple steps back, covering his face with his hand.

"N-Nice nickname there, kunikida-kun" dazai muttered, slightly offended.

that must have stung

"Who's the one and only one the agency trusts, huh?" kunikida asked as his voice became louder "You're the one and only one who we get complaints, curses and grievances about!"

"Huh?" atsushi questioned.

"What? since when did i ever get a complaint?!" dazai asked with his hands on his hips looking to the side having recovered from the comment he had just received.

kunikida took out his notebook that erity remembered from yesterday and opened it before clearing his throat and started to say the complaints out loud, even impersonating the voices of the people who complaint.

"Call in august: One of your employees has been caught in an offshore fishing net, can you come retrieve him?" kunikida read the first complain while impersonating the voice of the caller, atsushi deadpanned while erity tilted her head up to the sky as she continued to listen.

"Call in september: some weirdo's got himself buried on my farm, could he be one of yours?" kunikida read the second complain as atsushi slowly turned to dazai who looked taken back.

"Th-th-th-th-th...." dazai muttered as kunikida continued.

these sound familiar but from where?

"Call in the same month: pay your tab, okay?! all six months' worth" kunikida read.

"That's impossible..." dazai said, backing up slightly "Who knew you where so good at imitating other people, kunikida-kun?!" he shouted while holding his head.

eritys eyes widened slightly but it went unnoticed as she finally looked back down from the sky.

that's right! my landlord told me some similar complaints about me coming from other people

erity forgot about the thought though when she saw kunikida strangling dazai.

"You bastard!" kunikida yelled as he continued to strangle him "Stop ridiculing me!"

"I wonder if it's actually a good idea to have him help me find a job" atsushi questioned nervously, glancing at erity for a second who just shrugged.

probably not

"Oh, right!" kunikida said as he stopped shaking dazai and turned to atsushi and erity "i wasted a whole minute dealing with this idiot. let's hurry to the agency!" he said sternly looking back at dazai.

"Why?" dazai asked boredly as kunikida still held him by his collar.

"We have an emergency!" kunikida started to explain "A bomber's taken a hostage and holed himself up in our office" dazai let out a small gasp before his expression became serious.

"A bomber? Atsushi questioned worryingly as erity looked at them with slightly squinted eyes.

an emergency? hmm, something's off about this

-

erity followed the three as they where making their way to the agency, she would have thought that kunikida wouldn't allow her to come seeing as their wouldn't be any point to it but he had been to caught up with the situation at hand.

he'd be right though, their really isn't any reason for me to be hear. after all...this isn't my test

it wasn't hard for erity to figure out this was the test dazai had been talking about before to atsushi. their where clues everywhere, the look dazai had when he told atsushi that he could help him find a job, if this really was an emergency than it would have made more sense for kunikida to call dazai rather than to search for him trough yokohama seeing as that could have taken a long time until he actually found him and he would have gone straight to the point rather than first nagging to him.

although it seems atsushi himself hasn't figured it out yet

"Um.." atsushi trailed off, not sure how to ask his question.

"What? the agency's on the fourth floor" kunikida told him.

"That's not what i wanted to ask" atsushi stuttered before being cut of by dazai.

"Let's take the stairs, just in case" dazai told them and they made their way up the stairs slowly and quietly.

"Excuse me..." atsushi said in his normal voice making kunikida cut him off.

"Quiet!" kunikida shushed him.

"Oh, sorry" he apologized.

"Let's go, atsushi-kun" dazai told him.

"What?" atsushi questioned.

the four of them listened as they heard a voice from inside the office before sneaking in and hiding behind a low wall with bushes and peek over it.

"I can't...I can't take it anymore, it's all your fault. the Armed Detective Agency's fault" a boy murmured as he sat on top of a desk. he had a slim, average build and orange hair, hazel eyes and pale skin. his hair is parted in the middle with its spikes sweeping downwards, along with a light grey bobby pin clipped on his left. He wears earrings with the corresponding color of his pin. he wore an over sized, off-white V-necked sweater with a black stripe on the collar, light blue pants, and brown shoes and red sweater is wrapped around his waist.

the remote in his hand which was shaking with the bomb next to him as a girl was tied up and placed under him on the ground, probably the one he had taken as the hostage. she had hip-length black hair and dark grey eyes, She wore a standard seifuku with a long skirt that comes just above her knees, as well as black socks that come to the middle of her calves.

"Where's the president?" he asked as he looked back up, glaring "bring the president!" he shouted as he lifted up the girl "If you don't, i'll blow everyone to kingdom come" he finished before trowing the girl on the floor again.

gotta say, their acting is pretty good

"A personal grudge? that's inconvenient" dazai spoke calm and quietly as he watched the orange haired boy so that he wouldn't notice them.

"Yeah..." kunikida agreed.

"Why am i here?" atsushi asked with a sweatdropped expression.

"The bomber seems pretty furious at the agency" kunikida spoke, ignoring atsushi.

"I don't think i'll be of any use, may i go now?" atsushi asked again.

"We do attract a lot of ill will" dazai said, also ignoring him.

"You're ignoring me?" atsushi questioned, even glancing at erity but she too seemed to busy observing the situation to pay him any attention

that bomb, it's seems pretty real...

"besides, that's a high explosive. if the bomber acts on his threat and detonates it, the whole floor's as good as gone" dazai explained.

"Oh no..." atsushi said, nervously.

"We may be able to mitigate the force of the explosion somewhat, if we can find something to cover the bomb" dazai explained "But given the circumstances, i can't believe he took a woman as a hostage. the coward"

something to cover the bomb with...

erity looked at the bomb, deep in thought.

"Who's the girl?" atsushi asked.

"She's naomi-chan, a part-time office assistant" dazai answered.

"A part-timer?!" atsushi questioned surprised but clearly worried "Then she's a completely innocent bystander!"

"What should we do?" kunikida asked dazai from behind atsushi and erity.

"Why don't we let him see the president?" dazai suggested.

"He'll try to kill the president!" kunikida shouted quietly "We can't let the president walk into a situation like that! i'm glad he's out on a business trip"

erity hummed unnoticed, knowing that last statement is probably not true as she kept watch of the situation while she also continued to listen to them.

in the end it would be this president to decide if atsushi past the test and could join the agency, so he had to be here somewhere to see it

"Then there's only one method" dazai said, holding a completely serious expression before raising his arm which kunikida copied.

erity glanced behind her right the second that they striked forwards and watched as their hands formed scissors.