Chapter Text
The whole Armed Detective Agency had come in early, minus Atsushi, to set up his birthday party, even Dazai came in early, he was actually the first one there. People were running around, hanging decorations, Yosano and Ranpo went out to buy a cake, and Kyouka was preparing breakfast at her and Atsushi's shared dorm.
"No, the banner is supposed to be up here!" Kunikida barked out orders "Kenji move those balloons! Naomi rotate the couch ninety degrees to the right! Dazai, for god's sake, take down the noose!"
Dazai looked over pouting, "But Kunikidaaaa" Dazai whined but still took down the noose. He was going to take it down anyway, he just wanted to annoy Kunikida. 'I might need some help with this...' Dazai thought, before a light bulb went off and he bolted out.
"Oi! Shitty Dazai! Where the-" Kunikida was quickly cut off by Dazai "I need to make a call!" Dazai was already down the stairs, Kunikida sighs "Why do I bother... No Noami that's ninety-three degrees to the right! Did you think I wouldn't notice?!"
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Dazai was on the second floor, the second floor of the building was a storage floor, he walked in turned on his phone and called someone, that someone happened to be his beloved husband.
"Chibi! Hi!" Dazai said, he was always happy talking to Chuuya
"Oh, what do you want know, Mackerel?" Chuuya said on the other side, clearly annoyed "I have work to do."
"Well, you know my new protégé Atsushi?" Dazai asked, tone still playful, but with a now more serious tone.
"Yeah, I do, Akutagawa hasn't stopped talking about wanting to kill him." Chuuya said, his tone now also had a more serious tone after hearing Dazai's tone, it was rare for Dazai to be serious about anything "Why did something happen to him?" Chuuya asked, he wasn't too worried, with Atsushi's regeneration and Yosano's healing ability it made it pretty difficult for Atsushi to die.
"No, nothing he's fine. It's just... it's his birthday and-" Dazai was trying to explain but was cut off by Chuuya.
"And you don't know what to do, right?" Chuuya finished his sentence.
"Yeah..." Dazai said.
"You know for someone so smart; you can be so dumb sometimes." Chuuya laughs.
"Hey! At least I grew more past the age of fifteen!"
"You fucker! I did grow!"
"Really? And is this height in the call with us now?"
"Why you... you know what, no. I don't need to help you."
"Wait Chuuya please! I need help!" Dazai said quickly, slightly panicked.
"Fine, Fine, alright tell me about him and what he likes, I'll see what advice I can give" Chuuya said, slightly surprised at Dazai's reaction. It wasn't everyday Dazai genuinely panicked.
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Atsushi slowly woke up, and opened the closet door, crawling out then stretching.
"Morning Kyou-" Atsushi realized Kyouka wasn't in her futon, then he smelled food, walking into the kitchen he saw Kyouka preparing breakfast, he smiled.
"Isn't that my job?" Atsushi asked, still rather sleepy.
"Well I wanted to make you something." Kyouka said, smiling softly at him.
"Aw, thanks Kyouka. What are you making?" He looked in to the pot, it was rice, and based on the kettle on the stove, he guessed there was also tea, his eyes lit up.
"Kyouka! You made chazuke!" Atsushi smiled, Kyouka nodded in response "You're the best! I'm going to go wash up, then I'll eat and we'll head off!" Atsushi said, jogging to the bathroom "Alright." Kyouka said.
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"R-Ranpo, are you sure it's fine if I'm here, this seems pretty important." Poe asked, looking around, Karl was on Ranpo's head.
"Of course! I want you here, so it's okay if you are here!" Ranpo said, sitting on his desk, as he looked around, decorations were almost complete, Dazai was surprisingly being very productive, though he was looking at a notepad.
"If you say so..." Poe said, sitting in Ranpo's chair "Who's birthday is it anyway?"
"Atsushi's, the tiger kid" Ranpo said "We found out from a file Ango gave us."
"Alright... Though shouldn't have Atsushi told you himself?" Poe asked.
"Yeah... Though knowing him, he likely didn't not want to be a burden." Ranpo said, feeding Karl a treat
Poe made a sound of understanding, he watched as everyone rushed around, even Lucy was here helping out. Though something still irked him.
He didn't know what it was. But after all this time...
He learned to always trust his intuition.
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Atsushi and Kyouka were walking to the Agency, they were about halfway to the office, Kyouka was trying to distract Atsushi, and succeeding, he was quite easy to distract. Kyouka was waiting till she got a text saying the party was ready and set up.
After about five more minutes, she got the text, stopped distracting Atsushi and walked to the Agency.
It wasn't long before they got there, they walked up the stairs to the top floor. Atsushi wanted to say hi to Lucy, but she wasn't in the cafe, which was weird, normally she was. They made it to the top floor, and opened the door.
Confetti went off, streamers came down.
"Happy Birthday!" Everyone in the office said, minus Atsushi and Kyouka.
To say Atsushi was confused would be an understatement. 'Whose birthday, is it?' Atsushi though, till he realized something.
"H-Happy Birthday, Kyouka!" Atsushi said, nervous, he then ran out after a second of silence "I'll be right back!" Atsushi bolted down the stairs.
Everyone was left dumbfounded and confused. So much so they didn't, no couldn't say anything when Atsushi ran out.
"Uh, Kyouka, did you tell Atsushi it was your birthday?" Tanizaki asked.
"No. I didn't..." Kyouka said, eyes wide.
Suddenly a sense of dread and pain went through everyone.
Did Atsushi not remember his own birthday?
'No way...', 'It can't be...', and 'Don't tell me...' were coming from everyone.
Everyone minus Kyouka, tears formed in her eyes.
"Atsushi..." Is all Kyouka whispered.
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'Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!' Atsushi thought, running out
'How did I forget her birthday?'
'I'm a bad friend.'
'I have to get her something, quickly'
'Why am I even alive?'
'Bunnies? She likes bunnies.'
'I'm useless'
'A toy bunny maybe? Maybe some hydrangeas? She likes those too'
'I should just die'
'What do I do. What do I do?'
Atsushi was lost in thought, till he pasted a shop with a beautiful kimono in the window, it was mostly red, but had a purple floral pattern, the flowers were hydrangeas. 'Perfect!' Atsushi thought, it was around Kyouka's size, something she could grow into, and it wasn't too expensive.
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Dazai, Ranpo, Yosano, Lucy, Kyouka, and Poe were still in shock, everyone else was looking at each other whispering.
"How could he not remember his own birthday?" Ranpo spoke almost in a whisper, it was as rare for him to be shocked as it was Dazai.
Even Dazai remembered his birthday, whether he celebrated it was a different story.
What did he do now?
Kunikida called Atsushi, but he didn't pick up, either his phone was on silent, or he didn't realize it was ringing.
"W-What do we do now?" Haruno asked.
Good Question. What did they do.
"We wait for Atsushi to come back." Lucy said "Then we will tell him what's happening!"
"Will he come back? Did we scare him?" Kenji asked.
"He will. He thinks it's Kyouka's birthday, he likely is looking for a gift." Ranpo said.
So they waited... Still trying to understand what was happening
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Atsushi thanked the cashier and walked out, bag in hand, then he started running back to the Agency.
'I hope I'm not too late.' Atsushi thought, afraid he would be kicked out for being late. Or everyone hating him for not remembering.
He rushed back to the office, making it in about ten minutes, he ran up the stairs, took a deep breath in on the third floor, and walked up.
"Sorry about that I was-" Atsushi was cut off by Kyouka hugging him.
"Huh? Kyouka are you okay?" Atsushi was confused, was she upset?
Kyouka didn't respond.
"Atsushi... Do you know when your birthday is?" Dazai asked gently.
"Uh... Yeah, I mean, who doesn't" Atsushi was lying through his teeth, he was hoping they'd drop it.
"Atsushi." Dazai said, now with a sternness in his voice.
"I... Uh... No... No, I don't" Atsushi says, he never had a birthday party before, or at least one he could remember, he never got one in the orphanage.
'Only good kids were allowed a birthday, not a beast like you.' The orphanage staff would say, he was also never allowed to attend a birthday party of another one of the orphans, so he sat in the cellar, in his cage, chained up, listening to the party, the laughs, the music. He would cry. He wanted that, he wanted to have a birthday party. Soon he just forgot his own birthday, the only reason he knew his age was because the orphanage staff would say it every once in a while.
Everyone one stood mortified, some slightly more than others.
"Atsushi... Do you know what today is?" Yosano asked, gently.
"It's... It's the fifth of May, why?" Atsushi responded.
"Was today important or something?" Atsushi was very confused. Hearing him say that, blatantly disregarding one of the most important days of the year for him.
"Atsushi... It's your birthday..." Dazai said.
Atsushi looked confused.
"Is it? Huh, didn't know." Atsushi said, shrugging, sitting down at his desk and opening his computer, surprising everyone. "What?" Atsushi asked.
"Atsushi, what do you mean 'not important'?" Kunikida asked.
"It's just a birthday, what's there to be so hung up about?" Atsushi said, he looked really confused.
"Atsushi, when was the last time you had a birthday party?" Kunikida asked.
"Oh, I never had one, or at least I don't remember having one." Atsushi answered, not seeming upset, more just stating a fact.
Everyone was in shock. Even Dazai has a had a birthday party before, and he didn't grow up in the best of conditions.
If hearts could actually break, everyone would be dead from heartbreak.
Some wept, Naomi and Kyouka went over to hug Atsushi tightly, even Karl joined in. Most were trying to still wrap their heads around this.
"Wha? Guys are you okay?" Atsushi seemed panicked, he didn't understand why everyone was upset, did he do something wrong?
He felt a slap, it was Lucy "Idiot! Yes a birthday is important! And you're going to celebrate yours right now!" Lucy dragged him out of his chair
"Uh, okay." Atsushi said.
The party started off weird, mostly people trying to explain why a birthday was important, but soon the atmosphere cleared, and joy filled the room, people were talking and partying, but that feeling of sadness never truly left, especially to Kyouka, Ranpo, and Dazai.
Atsushi opened his gifts, he loved all of them, he decided to save the gift he bought Kyouka for her actual birthday.
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After the party, everyone walked home.
Everyone minus Ranpo and Dazai.
"You're still thinking about it." Ranpo said, it wasn't a question, more of just a statement
Dazai nodded. "It's just- How do you forget your own birthday?! It's one thing to not realize it's your birthday, but he didn't even know it was his birthday! I just..." Dazai for once, didn't know what to do.
"We need to find out why." Dazai said
Ranpo nodded "Yeah. I'll text you what I find, we should probably get going"
"Yeah, bye Ranpo."
"Bye Dazai."
They left solemnly.
...
...
Just what happened to Atsushi at that orphanage?