Chapter Text
Grey clouds thundered over a quiet city as the sun set and the hidden sky turned to black.
Pedestrians walking by rush around in search of cover from the on-coming storm.
Deep in the heart of this gloomy city, sat a just as gloomy brick office building.
The wind howled through the open windows, a chill breeze washing throughout the inside.
The dark room on the top floor looked like any old office, it had some bookshelves across the walls, and writing desks with computers and stacks of files sitting on them.
On the right of the room, walls hiding more rented out spaces within the building.
To the left, a lonely door, with the placard at the top reading “President Fukuzawa.”
An aged man with long silver hair, wearing a dark green yukata and black haori, sat at the desk in the room behind the lonely door.
His hands were pressed to his thighs, just close enough to snatch the katana at his waist if need be.
The cold draft was expected.
But the temperature fell to freezing at the snap of a finger, and the wind dropped its light moaning for a booming roar.
The man’s hand slid to the hilt of his sword.
The door flew open, and in came rushing a horrific apparition, it’s clawed, rotting hands outstretched, reaching for the man’s neck.
And it’s sharpened, snapping jaws let out an angered shriek.
In a second, the katana was swung out of its sheath, and the blade slashed through the air, cleaving the spirit clean in half.
It’s body fizzed away into the space around it, leaving a condensed cloud of smoke where it had just been.
Out of the smoke dropped a scarlet ribbon.
The man sidestepped the desk, and bent down to pick it up.
Silky and covered in a dusty residue, it was just a normal ribbon.
Unless you looked closer.
Within the woven fabric, gleamed streams of silver, slithering through the red like white snakes in a sea of blood.
The man walked to the back of the room, where a black wardrobe sat, dusty and obviously rarely used.
The man held the ribbon in both hands, and muttered a chant.
This chant incited muffled cries of pain from behind the doors of the wardrobe.
Tiny bulbs of light lit up around the man once the screaming started, and both left at the same time when he went silent once more.
He pulled the iron handle open, and revealed thousands more of these little red ribbons hanging on sharp metal hooks inside.
The man searched for an empty hook.
Once he found one, he pierced the ribbon through onto it, and a grey plume of dust flew out of the cloth, the silver within the stitching disappearing.
As he silently closed the door, a knock came from the entrance.
The man’s piercing gaze tensed a smidge, and he made his way to the front of the office.
The knocking became more rapid and impatient the longer the man took.
Once he reached the door, it flew open without a second thought.
“Jeez prez, how long does it take to answer the door? And why is it so dark in here?” Whined a male voice from a few inches below the silver-haired man.
A young man with brown hair sticking out at all angles from under his cap and green eyes so squinted it looked like they were closed entirely, entered the room.
The president’s lips curled at the ends. His features softening.
“Good evening to you as well Ranpo,” he said in response.
The younger man paused in his tracks, and turned to face the president.
He, too, smiled, and gave a small wave, before continuing on towards his desk at the end of the room.
A moment later the door swung wildly open, and the president stepped out of the way just in time.
A white haired youth with oddly cut bangs flew into the room, skidding to a stop just a second before he rammed into a desk.
He was followed shortly by a young boy with medium length blonde hair and bleached overalls, who skipped into the room right after.
“Good evening President Fukuzawa!” The two Said in unison, the white haired boy slightly more panicked than the other, bowing deeply as he spoke.
“Good evening, Miyazawa, Nakajima.” The president nodded.
Nakajima Atsushi, the white haired boy, looked very worried, and started to blabber. “Oh gosh, I’m not late am I? I know it’s my first day on the job, but I couldn’t figure it out how to set my alarm-“
Fukuzawa raised a hand.
“Don’t worry, Nakajima, you’re not late at all. In fact, you’re earlier than most of your co-workers. Look, only Ranpo is in the room. Oh, well, and then Miyazawa, but he entered just a moment after you did,” he explained, adding that last part as an afterthought.
Atsushi audibly sighed, his golden eyes blinking closed with relief.
The three new arrivals settled into their respective seats, making light chatter as they set out their work for the day.
Kenji stood by Atsushi’s desk, telling him what to do first, where to put what, and other things you usually tell a new recruit.
All the while, Ranpo made quick work of tearing open his daily bag of treats the ladies working in the office prepared for him every morning, and pulled out a cherry flavoured lollipop, untying the wrapper and popping it into his mouth.
He smiled at the taste, kicking his feet up on his desk, and resting his hands behind his head.
It didn’t take too long for the rest of the Agency to arrive.
First, a purple haired woman in a doctor’s uniform carrying a massive cleaver the size of her entire leg.
Next, a man with long blonde hair tied in a low ponytail, wearing low-rim glasses unsuited for his sharp features.
Then, in came a young man, around Atsushi’s age, with short orange hair, his bangs pulled back on one side with two hairpins. He was accompanied by a younger girl with dark hair, who stuck to him like glue.
And finally, just when the clock struck 12, while everyone was busy with and totally consumed in whatever they were doing, the door opened for a 6th time.
A tall man with a mop of messy dark brown hair, and bandages crawling down his neck and arms, swaggered into the room, his brown overcoat swishing by his legs as he did so.
The blonde man in the glasses, Doppo Kunikida, immediately rose from his desk, his lips pressed into a thin line, and the veins on his forehead looking like they were about to pop.
“Dazai! You’re over 3 hours late! What the hell is so important to miss an entire 3 hours of work for?! I and our other co-workers needed to consult matters concerning our own work with you- and when you never showed up, we were just sitting here! Lazing about! Getting no actual work done!” Kunikida shouted, raising a finger like an upset mother, and setting his fist on the table with every exclamation.
Dazai Osamu just grinned, obviously overcome with joy that he has once again foiled his partner’s precious schedule.
As Kunikida kept raving on about how irresponsible it was for Dazai to miss work, the brown haired man went to his own seat, and got to work.
Or at least made it seem like he got to work.
In reality, as his desk was next to Atsushi’s, he spent his time bothering the new hire.
Junichiro Tanizaki, the orange haired boy, sat on Atsushi’s other side, and tried to continue helping with his work, but poor Junichiro couldn’t even get a word in before Dazai cut in and started asking about something weird.
Yosano Akiko, the work place doctor, put a hand on Kunikida’s side of the desk and used an exasperated tone of voice in an attempt to calm him down, but Ranpo called from his seat to just let him be.
The president heard all of the commotion from behind the door, and left his own work to see what was going on.
Compared to earlier, the office was much more lively.
It had a warm glow to it, even with some of the windows open, letting in the cold night air.
President Fukuzawa couldn’t help but smile in that case.
It wasn’t so long ago that it was only himself and Ranpo.
But now, they had friends they could rely on to have their backs in this strange new field of work.
This, is the Armed Detective Agency.
Where the employees are individuals gifted with supernatural abilities, and they work together to defeat ghosts and ghouls under the cover of night.
It’s not the best paying job, seeing as how no one knows what they actually do.
But it certainly is a thrilling one.