Chapter 4: The Confusion Continues

After the scary event yesterday, even Kunikida of all people was hesitating to come into work the next day (shocking, right?). He felt that he couldn't in good conscience skip work for what may seem like a trivial reason, but at the same time, he was genuinely terrified over his incident with Yosano and didn't look forward to facing her again lest she try to give him a checkup again. That and he was still confused about his feelings. What if that continued on today? What if he found himself not annoyed at Dazai again?

After at least half an hour of debating with himself, Kunikida finally made the (potentially wrong) decision to go to work anyway. In the end, his ideals won out. He knew he'd probably regret this later, though.

But as per usual, Kunikida was the first one there so he didn't have anything to worry about. Not yet, at least. He decided he'd try to get some of that paperwork from yesterday done. It should be easier to do so since Dazai wasn't there to distract him...

Speak of the devil.

Right then, Dazai crashed into the room.

Kunikida sighed. So much for doing paperwork.

Upon further inspection, Dazai looked like he was high.

"Dazai, did you eat a mushroom again?" Kunikida asked.

"Of course not. Who does something like that...?" Dazai replied.

Yeah, he definitely ate one, Kunikida decided. "You've got to stop doing that."

"But I'm trrrrryyyyiiiinnnggg toooo diiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee," Dazai whined.

"Exactly. You need to stop," Kunikida repeated.

"But why?" Dazai protested.

"I've said this before, I don't want you to die," Kunikida reminded him.

Dazai was hit with that confusing feeling again. He'd heard a few times that someone didn't want him dead, but why did it feel so different coming from Kunikida? Was it just cause he wasn't used to hearing Kunikida say stuff like that? Or was it something else?

"Don't die," Kunikida commanded.

"Fine..." Dazai reluctantly agreed.

Kunikida smiled. "Good."

Did he just...smile?! Who is he and what has he done with Kunikida? Oh no...does he have amnesia again? I guess now I see why Yosano wanted to give him a checkup. This is really concerning, after all, Dazai thought.

And as luck would have it, Yosano was the next person to enter the room.

Kunikida paled at the sight of her and leaped under his desk, hoping against hope that she wouldn't find him.

Yosano looked around. "Where's Kunikida?"

Dazai shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen him."

Dazai... Kunikida thought.

"Odd, he's usually the first one here," Yosano commented.

"For real," Dazai agreed.

He's a good liar...not that that's a good thing. Well...maybe it is in this case, Kunikida thought, remaining under his desk.

Yosano looked around. "Kunikida?"

Just hearing Yosano say his name scared Kunikida even more.

"Sorry doc, but I don't think he's here," Dazai fibbed.

"I could maybe believe him being late, but since when does Kunikida skip work?" Yosano asked, looking at Dazai doubtfully.

Oh no, is she on to me? Dazai wondered anxiously. "Erm...since he decided to take my advice and start taking more days off. Honestly, the guy's really overworked."

"He is...but I have a hard time believing he'd listen to you of all people."

"Ouch. Jeez doc, you're really burning me."

"Would you like some ice with that burn? You just have to let me give you a checkup..."

"N-no thanks, doc. I'm good."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Totally!"

Welp, I'm never getting that paperwork done, Kunikida thought resignedly.

Atsushi came in next. "Morning, guys."

"Hey kid," Yosano greeted.

"Greetings, Atsushi," Dazai replied.

Atsushi looked around, feeling like something was missing. "Erm...where's Mr. Kunikida? I thought he'd be here before any of us."

I am here, but no one's going to find that out, Kunikida thought.

"Welp, I guess I'll just be in my office if anyone needs me...which I doubt they will since everyone avoids checkups like the plague," Yosano spoke up, leaving the room.

Once she was gone, Dazai turned back to Atsushi. "About that, Atsushi...he is here."

"He is?" Atsushi asked.

Dazai nodded and pointed to Kunikida's desk.

Atsushi peered under it. "Oh there you are, Mr. Kunikida."

"Yep, here I am," Kunikida agreed, making no move.

"Might I ask what you're doing under there?" Atsushi asked.

"I was hiding from Yosano," Kunikida revealed.

"Lemme guess, she was trying to give you a checkup again?"

"That she was..." Kunikida looked terrified again.

"This is such a switch from that time you had amnesia, I'll never forget how you'd practically beg her for checkups," Atsushi remarked.

"Those were some truly dark times..." Dazai and Kunikida replied in unison. They looked at each other surprisedly.

Atsushi laughed. "Now I'm getting more flashbacks cause you guys would speak in sync so many times."

"We still got it," Dazai announced, winking.

All Dazai had done was wink at him, so why was Kunikida hit with those strange feelings again? It wasn't like Dazai was trying to flirt. As far as Kunikida knew, Dazai just did that to girls he planned on asking for a double suicide with.

"Kunikida?" Dazai asked.

No answer.

"Mr. Kunikida?" said Atsushi.

Still nothing.

Dazai looked worried.

"Mr. Dazai, you look really worried. Is everything ok?" Atsushi asked.

"Honestly, Atsushi, I really am worried about Kunikida," Dazai admitted.

"Has this been happening a lot lately?" Atsushi questioned.

"It started yesterday. For some reason, Kunikida wasn't as mad at me as he usually is despite me distracting him from his paperwork in every possible way I could think of. Don't get me wrong, it's great that he isn't mad at me. But it's giving me flashbacks to when he had amnesia and it's worrying me," Dazai explained.

Atsushi thought about it. "Yeah, that is pretty concerning."

"It is," Dazai agreed.

"It would explain why Dr. Yosano wants to give him a checkup so bad. She's probably worried, too," Atsushi remarked.

"Which is understandable, but counterproductive since at this point, Kunikida can't even be in the same room as her without freaking out," Dazai pointed out.

Kunikida finally snapped out of whatever trance he had been in. "What happened?"

"Yes," Dazai joked.

Kunikida did crack a smile, so Dazai considered that a win.

"Mr. Kunikida, we're starting to be concerned about you," Atsushi announced.

"What for?" Kunikida asked.

"You're not as mad at Mr. Dazai as you normally are, and you seem a lot more afraid of Dr. Yosano than usual," Atsushi answered.

"I don't understand it myself," Kunikida admitted.

"I guess we're all just confused," Dazai remarked.

Atsushi and Kunikida nodded in agreement.

Ranpo then entered the room. "How's it going?"

"We're all very confused," Atsushi announced.

"And why might that be? Maybe my Super Deduction can help things," Ranpo suggested.

"No offense, but I doubt it," Dazai said.

Ranpo pretended to be offended. "Woooooooow, Dazai. Unbelievable. You dare question the almighty Super Deduction?!"

Dazai's eyes widened. "N-no...?"

"Good," Ranpo replied. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

Kunikida debated on whether he should answer, but while he was still doing so, Dazai jumped in.

"Well you see, Kunikida here hasn't been that mad at me lately," Dazai began.

Ranpo was visibly surprised. "No way."

"Yes way," Dazai insisted.

"I hope he doesn't have amnesia again," Ranpo commented.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This is all way too reminiscent of that," Atsushi agreed.

Ranpo nodded. "That it is."

"Oh, and he's been a lot more afraid of Yosano," Dazai added.

"Well, that's normal. Everyone knows Kunikida's the most afraid of checkups around here," Ranpo pointed out.

Kunikida considered arguing that claim, but in the end, he admitted that it would be utterly illogical to do so. No one would be able to argue the blatant displays of fear he'd been showing.

"Fair point," Dazai agreed.

"Can't say I blame him," Ranpo said.

"Same," Atsushi added.

"So it sounds like Kunikida's demeanor is reminding everyone of the way he was when he had amnesia, except for the fact that he's terrified of Yosano, cause that's normal Kunikida behavior," Ranpo continued.

Dazai and Atsushi nodded.

Are they really practically having a meeting with me as the subject? Kunikida thought.

Ranpo glanced at Kunikida and spoke as if he could read his mind. "Yes, we are."

"It's all in good intentions," Atsushi assured him.

"Yeah, naturally we're worried about our beloved idealist," Dazai added.

Ugh. There it was again, the confusing feeling. He didn't feel this way when Yosano (often) referred to him as the beloved idealist of the agency, so why did it feel so different coming from Dazai? Nothing made sense anymore, and Kunikida hated that feeling.

"There you go again, zoning out," Dazai remarked.

"You're freaking us out, Mr. Kunikida," Atsushi added.

"Sorry..." Kunikida apologized.

Dazai put his hands on Kunikida's shoulders. "Hey, it's all good."

There it was AGAIN. Maybe Kunikida just imagined it, but he could've sworn his heart skipped a beat just now. Why oh why is this happening to me...? Kunikida wondered despairingly.

"Jeez, maybe he does need a checkup," Ranpo remarked.

That did the trick. Kunikida then snapped out of it. "No, no, no, no, NO! I don't need one!"

"But you're acting really weird," Atsushi pointed out.

"I am not!" Kunikida protested.

"Did someone say CHECKUP?" Yosano asked, emerging from her office.

Once again, Kunikida became paler than a ghost.

"Oops..." Ranpo said.

"Mwahahahahahaha..." Yosano cackled as she crept over to Kunikida.

Kunikida screamed and ran away faster than he thought was humanly possible.

"Ahhh, I never get tired of hearing Kunikida's lovely screaming," Dazai sighed in contentment.

Everyone in the room gave Dazai a strange look.

"What? It's true," Dazai said.

"...I don't think I want to know..." Ranpo commented awkwardly. He'd be thinking about that for awhile now.

"Anyways...we'd better save Mr. Kunikida," Atsushi spoke up.

Dazai and Ranpo nodded, and the three of them took off running after Kunikida and Yosano.

By the second run around the building, Atsushi, Dazai, and Ranpo ran into Kyouka.

"Do I even wanna know what's going on?" she asked.

"Long story short, Mr. Kunikida's bene acting really weird lately and Dr. Yosano wants to give him a checkup," Atsushi summarized.

"Weird how?" Kyouka wanted to know.

"He's not as mad at me as usual," Dazai explained.

"Shocking," Kyouka remarked.

"...I should've known you'd take every opportunity to shade me," Dazai sulked.

Kyouka smirked.

Just then, Yosano and Kunikida ran into the others.

"Woah there," Ranpo interjected as he grabbed Yosano's hand.

"Ranpo, let go!" Yosano commanded.

"Listen, I know I said maybe Kunikida does need a checkup, but that was before I realized how terrified he's been getting around you. I feel like giving him a checkup in this condition would be counterproductive," Ranpo reasoned.

"I'm just worried about him! I keep hearing you guys talk about how strange he's acting, and I've seen some of it myself, so this is really concerning and should be looked into," Yosano protested.

"I mean, yeah. Maybe it would help to try to figure things out, but maybe we can do that without a checkup," Ranpo replied.

"That...would...be...great," Kunikida spoke up, out of breath and looking like he might collapse at any given moment.

Yosano sighed in disappointment. "Fine. I'll refrain from giving him a checkup...for now."

"For now?!" Kunikida exclaimed. Well, that just made things worse.

"Well, yeah. If this continues, shouldn't I try to figure out what's going on?" Yosano pointed out.

"No need! I'll figure it out myself," Kunikida protested.

"But this is serious!" Yosano argued.

"I'm aware that it may come as a shock that I'm not mad at Dazai, but why does everyone think I have amnesia because of it?" Kunikida wondered.

"Cause otherwise you're always mad at him," Kyouka pointed out.

"I guess you have a point there," Kunikida replied.

"And that's exactly why you need a checkup," Yosano announced.

"No thanks, I'm perfectly fine," Kunikida insisted, beginning to walk away.

"I doubt it," Yosano replied. "But as I said, I'll wait for now."

"I hope you mean forever," Kunikida said.

"Oh, unfortunately for you, I don't mean that," was Yosano's answer.

"Great..." Kunikida said sarcastically.

"And don't try and say you'll figure it out yourself, because I'm pretty sure this needs medical attention," Yosano continued.

"No, it really doesn't. It's just regular confusion," Kunikida protested.

"Mhm, and how exactly do you plan on figuring it out?" Yosano questioned.

Kunikida thought about it. "I'll ask someone for advice."

One way or another, I WILL give him that checkup, Yosano vowed. "Alright, fine."