Chapter Text
"Yeah, lets go."
They are walking side by side, heading towards the staircase leading down the side of the building. A comfortable silence lays between them, when Atsushi feels the need to say it.
"Dazai-san."
"Hm?"
"Go talk to Chuuya-san", Atsushi suggests.
His mentor's steps halts beside him.
He looks back, throwing his mentor a questioning look.
He caught his mentor's eyes, and the chaos he sees in it made him stop as well. A confusing tangle of different emotions swimming inside amber. Uncertainty, fear, exasperation, hopelessness.
The older's voice, when he speaks, is the most uncertain he'd heard coming out of his mentor's mouth. It cracks a little at the end, lost.
"I'm not—I don't think—" the brunette shakes his head minutely, heartbreak in his eyes.
"I'm not sure it will end well, Atsushi-kun", the older finishes softly, albeit miserably.
Atsushi feels his lips tightens, hands balling into fists. It hurts to see his mentor like this.
"Just try Dazai-san, please.."
The brunette hesitates, before finally complying in a small, uncertain voice.
"...I'll try.. No promises."
That's enough, Atsushi thought, nodding his head.
"Alright", he said.
"Alright", his mentor replied.
"Shall we—"
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN?!"
The loud roar of a familiar voice thunders, breaking the calm and eerie atmosphere of the desolated rooftop.
Heavy, angry stomps follows the voice, as the owner strides furiously towards the two detectives.
"Aww Kunikida-kun~ Did you come to look for me? Did you miss me that much? I'm touched~". His mentor calls in flamboyance, then, seemingly realizing something, gasps theatrically. "Wait, did you just curse? Did the upright Kunikida-kun just curse?"
"Shut up you bandage squandering machine!" The blonde rages, pointing a finger at his partner. "You! You said you'd be right behind us but you didn't turn up in hours. At least pick up your phone! We thought something happened! And you!"
Atsushi jumps as the blonde's finger points towards him. "Ye-yes! Kunikida-san!"
"Why didn't you pick up your phone?"
It was said kindly, but Atsushi can sense danger beneath the calm voice, the smile the older's currently sporting is downright eerie.
Under the older's menacing glare, Atsushi fidgets, fishing for his phone, finding countless miscalls from other members of the agency. His phone was in silence mode since the infiltration mission two days ago.
A bead of cold sweat rolls down his forehead.
"I-I'm terrible sorry Kunikida-san!", He bows as low as he can manage without doing a kowtow.
"Stop bullying the kid Kunikida", a woman's voice cuts into the night, as the owner makes her way from the top of the stairs
"Yosano-sensei", his mentor greets the woman who just joined them.
"It's freeezing..", a whine resounds from the man climbing the stairs behind the doctor.
"Ranpo-san?" He ask, surprised.
"Yo", the older greets, a lolipop in his mouth.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"The question is what are you two doing here?" the blonde gripes.
"Oh, just chatting~", his mentor chirps offhandedly with his typical cheerful smile.
Yosano-sensei takes in their surroundings with a slight frown, then throws her two "missing" colleagues a suspicious glance, but then shrugs.
"Well, I'd be glad to treat you if you two froze to the brink of death."
Atsushi shudders.
"Here", the blonde outstretch his hand towards them, hanging from it is a transparent plastic bag containing take-out boxes.
"Kunikida-kun! You do care~"
His mentor clutches at his heart with a hand, the other wiping faux tears off his eyes.
"Shut it! Take it or—"
Atsushi snatches the bag from his senior before the older can actualize his threat. "Thank you, Kunikida-san!"
There are five boxes in there. After their futile attempt to contact him and his mentor, the rest of the agency had went on ahead while the three volunteers to look for them. And cause neither of them had had any decent meals since yesterday, they'd decided to get take-outs. Or so Kunikida-san explained to him.
"That's sweet and all, but I'm afraid I can't join you." His mentor had said after the blond's explanation, turning everyone's gaze towards him.
"I got somewhere to be tonight." The brunette explains.
Ah. He remembered an offhanded invitation a certain Mafia Executive had extended towards his mentor earlier that evening. He can't help but smile, also remembering the "not promise" his mentor made with him earlier.
"Good luck, Dazai-san", he said.
His mentor had gave him a confused look, feigning obliviousness. "I dont get what you're talking about Atsushi-kun~"
Atsushi laughed at that.
But then, he felt his ears twitched, his superior sense of hearing caught Yosano-sensei and Ranpo-san's low snickering behind him, pulling his gaze towards the two.
The great detective's head was tilted towards the doctor in a conspiring manner, nonchalantly muttering to the other. "Two bottles of ramune says Dazai's getting screwed tonight".
Atsushi felt his ears reddened.
The doctor had muttered back, "Four bottles says they fight it off before screwing."
Apparently, they were not subtle enough, or not really trying to be, for Kunikida-san had gaped in a scandalous manner, glancing between the two conspiring detectives and his mentor. While his mentor, the one in question, had looked downright incredulous.
Now, the four of them sat on the floor of the rooftop, occasionally gazing at Yokohama nightscape. The boxes of take-outs lays open on the ground in front of each of them. There's no light other than the faraway glimmer of the city lights and that one flickering street lamp on the parking lot below the building. Light chatter surrounds them, filling the earlier silence, as the detective chats and jokes amongst themselves.
Somehow, it doesn't feel as bad as it sounds, Atsushi thinks, as he swallows lukewarm take-out ramen, sitting on dusty, cold-hard concrete floor of the rooftop of an abandoned motel in the dark, cold november night. It doesn't sound ideal, but somehow, the late november air feels warm. Somehow, this desolated, lonely rooftop feels like home.
No, it doesn't feel bad at all.