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Atsushi was terrified about Fyodor joining the armed detective agency. He wasn't just worried; instead, it felt as though someone had tied a rope around his neck and tightened it every time Fyodor's name was mentioned. He was sure this was the most scared he'd ever been; worse then when Fyodor had been their enemy. He'd stayed up thinking about it more then once, terror pressing down on his lungs as he tried not to cry too loudly as to not wake Kyoka up.
Dazai had assured him more then once there was nothing Fyodor could actually do to him—he'd told him that he would keep Fyodor in check—that the other was too smart to try something in the situation he was in, however if he did, Dazai would make sure it was something he regretted. Atsushi didn't doubt for a second how cruel Dazai could be, however he prayed it wouldn't come to that.
When it finally came to the day that Fyodor came into the detective agency building for the first time—the day Atsushi had counted down to subconsciously—Atsushi felt deeply compelled to stay off of work for the day. He decided against it, however the walk there made him regret the decision. Multiple scenarios played in his head, Fyodor could kill everyone there if he wanted, and the fear made Atsushi so nauseous he felt he'd be sick any second.
When he got there, he was late. Most people were already working, and Atsushi felt mild relief that nothing had happened yet. Kunikida didn't scold him for showing up late for some reason, although Atsushi suspected Kunikida was just as stressed as he was.
He opted to keep his head down and work. His desk was somewhat close to Fyodor's, however after a bit he forgot the other was there. Fyodor had his head on his desk, resting on his arms, and actually hadn't moved the whole 2 hours since Atsushi had arrived. Atsushi managed to completely ignore him, at least for that short time.
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Dazai came in at 11 AM and made a big ordeal about it. Kunikida scolded him immediately, having also seemingly forgotten the fact Fyodor was in the room; or perhaps his need to yell at Dazai completely overruled his fear. Dazai brushed him off, walking past him, and headed to his own desk. Well, that was what Atsushi had hoped, at least. His desk was also near Fyodor's, so that was where Atsushi told himself Dazai was going, however he felt his heart miss a beat as Dazai walked right past and straight to Fyodor's desk.
"Hellooooo~ Fyodor, wake uppppp," he drawled smugly, shaking Fyodor's shoulders quite roughly, and it was only after the fifth shake that Fyodor finally lifted his head from the desk, grabbing Dazai's arm and glaring up at him.
"Awwww," Dazai cooed, pulling his hand back momentarily then moving it to ruffle Fyodor's hair instead, "someone's grumpy today. Come on, lighten up a little," he said teasingly. Atsushi briefly wondered if Dazai had a death wish before remembering yes, he did; however surely not by Dostoyevsky's hands.
"Osamu, if you touch me again, I'll make sure you regret it," were the first words that came out of Fyodor's mouth that morning, Atsushi thought about leaving the room right then and there— Dazai however, did not retreat at the threat, and instead doubled down.
"Fyodor, you can't threaten me. I'm above you right now in every sense. If you decide to do something I don't like, I could kill you and nobody here would bat an eye," Dazai said, and the entire room quieted. The tense silence lasted at least a minute before Fyodor stood up so fast his chair fell backwards, kicked Dazai pretty hard in the leg, and stormed out of the room. Everyone stared for a minute, however nobody had the guts to follow after him.
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Fyodor wasn't actually angry—sure, he was annoyed, however he didn't really care. He walked towards Fukuzawa's office, he knew just wandering around wouldn't be the best idea, however if he spun something about Dazai threatening him, Fukuzawa would most likely give him money to go to the cafe downstairs.
He had been asleep for a few hours, the sun shining from the window making it a decent heat to nap in. He had gotten there early, looked around the building, then managed to pass out before anyone else got into the building. Speaking of passing out, perhaps he shouldn't have stood so quickly, as he now felt as though he'd collapse any second.
He focused on just trying to get to Fukuzawa's office, walking down the hallway until he got to the door and knocked, waiting a few seconds. After a little bit, Fukuzawa opened the door, "Fyodor, are you alright? Why aren't you in the main office?" He asked, his tone even.
"I was, however Dazai started to threaten me so I left," he explained, Fukuzawa nodded calmly and rummaged in his pocket for a minute.
"I'm happy with you for staying there as long as you did," he praised and pulled out his wallet, taking out ¥500, "here, go treat yourself in the caffe downstairs, take as long as you need," he handed the money too him and stepped back into his office.
Fyodor smiled as he walked to the lift, and he thought he'd finally be able to rest peacefully, when he saw two people walking in his direction.
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Atsushi had been surprised momentarily when Dazai had asked if he wanted to go to the Cafe together. He knew, deep down that it was probably just a ruse to get him to pay, however he found himself looking forward to it either way. What he hasn't expected, was that Dazai had planned to add another person too their group.
They walked to the elevator, and Atsushi saw Fyodor also standing there looking in their direction," uhm.. Dazai? Mayby we should wait..." He asked however when he looked back up, Dazai was already gone.
"Fyodor~ why'd you run off earlier, I missed you!!" Dazai whined as he hugged Fyodor and shook him intensely; Fyodor didn't reply and instead looked right at Atsushi with an annoyed expression. Atsushi stammered something unintelligible before he finally managed to get words out.
"I don't...uh- I don't think he likes that, Dazai-san..." He managed to mutter, his voice shaking with fear, Dazai stopped to turn to him.
"Nah, he likes it, don't worry. Don't you, Fyodor-kun?" He asked, although it was clearly rhetorical.
"Let go of me." Fyodor replied, glaring at the other man and pushing him off roughly.
"Aww, don't be like that, you're scaring Atsushi-kun—look at him, he's shaking," Dazai observed; Atsushi wished to climb out of his own skin from embarrassment, "anyways, since we're all here, let's go down to the cafe together!" Dazai offered cheerfully, and Atsushi felt fear wrap around his neck like a tourniquet.
Fyodor sighed as he stepped into the lift—Atsushi hadn't even noticed it arrive— and replied, "I suppose we could, however I'm not sure Atsushi wants to. He's terrified of me, no?" Fyodor asked, looking at Atsushi.
"What??? No! I just..." He attempted to defend himself however what could he say? He was terrified of Fyodor, to the point he'd been sick from it.
"Guys, come on! It'll be nice for you two to get to know eachother," Dazai pleaded and Atsushi took in a deep breath, stepping into the lift with them, however it suddenly felt a lot smaller then usual.
Fyodor was more terrifying up close, the only thing keeping Atsushi from being sick right there was the fact that Dazai was in the lift with them. The ride down seemingly took much longer then usual, and Atsushi took another breath the second he stepped out.
They all sat in a booth, Atsushi ended up facing Fyodor, however opted to look out of the window instead. The waitress came by and they all ordered, Atsushi asked for his usual drink, Dazai asked for a latte alongside his usual flirting, and Fyodor asked for tea with jam instead of sweetener.
"Jam..?" The waitress asked, "that's certainly a new one, I'll see what I can do," she said, Fyodor thanked her and she walked off to make their drinks.
"Guys, I really need to pee," Dazai whined, "Fyodor, if you do anything whilst I'm gone, I'll know," he warned before running off to go to the bathroom. The silence after Dazai left was very uncomfortable, and Atsushi was the first one who opted to talk.
"So... What are your hobbies..?" He asked, instantly regretting opening his mouth.
"Ah, terrorism." Fyodor replied with no hint of sarcasm in his voice, Atsushi could not tell whether it was a joke or not.
"Aha... That's great..." Atsushi squeaked out, his voice cracking halfway through. He sat there sweating buckets for a good few minutes in silence until their drinks arrived. Dazai was still nowhere in sight, and Atsushi was starting to feel sick again.
"Atsushi, you can calm down, I'm not going to do anything to you," Fyodor sounded somewhat annoyed—Atsushi did feel bad about being so nervous—Fyodor hasn't even done anything wrong yet, if anything, he'd been more polite then Dazai.
"I'm sorry... I don't know why I've been so nervous today..." He lied; He was nervous because a major terrorist was sat in front of him, and in his opinion, his fear was completely warranted even if he felt guilty about it.
They both sat in silence again, sipping their drinks until Dazai came back a few minutes later, "guys, why aren't you talking?" He whined, sitting down next to Fyodor, "have you been sat like this the entire time, awww, come onnnn."
"No, we actually had a quite nice conversation about the books we read, right, Atsushi?" Fyodor lied smoothly.
"O-oh! Yeah, we... We enjoy a lot of the same books," Fyodor glared at him because of how bad the lie was and Atsushi shrank in his seat.
"Oh, you did? That's great then!" Dazai cheered as he grabbed his drink. He took a sip then grimaced, "oh man, it's gone cold... I probably shouldn't have taken that long, huh?"
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Conversation flowed smoothly with Dazai there, and Atsushi managed to calm himself and even enjoyed the conversation they had. Fyodor was actually pretty funny, and he made Atsushi laugh a few times throughout their conversation. By the time waitress came with the check, Atsushi was actually enjoying himself.
"Don't worry, I'll pay," Fyodor said pulling out some money, ¥500 to be exact, and handed it to the waitress. Atsushi had thought the government would've taken all of Fyodor's money when he was taken into custody, however surely they hadn't if he some on him now.
"You're the best, Fyodor," Dazai teased, hugging him. Fyodor scoffed and pushed Dazai off of him, glaring again. He stood quickly and dusted himself off, walking back to the lift.
Atsushi and Dazai stay sat there for a bit until Fyodor was gone, "see? He's not too bad, right?" Dazai asked, grinning as he attempted another sip at his drink and looked as though he instantly regretted it, "there was nothing to get all nervous about, I haven't seen you like this since you first joined."
"I mean... I guess he isn't too bad. It's just... I don't know how to explain it..." He muttered, trying to think of what to say, "I've been told how horrible and evil he is ever since we started trying to arrest him, and now I have to treat him like an ordinary person, like he wasn't trying to kill us just as few months ago..." Atsushi attempted to explain, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I get that, but really, Fyodor isn't dangerous. The only power he holds is that to manipulate people, but if he does do that, he'll get executed. All he can do right now is behave, he's too smart to try anything but that," Dazai explained. Atsushi was aware of it, it's what Dazai had said to him every time he'd tried to console him, however in reality it meant nothing.
Atsushi got up and walked to the lift, getting in alone and going back to his desk to finish working. He didn't manage to get any work done, though, and for most of the time he sat there, he just stared at an empty document.
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Fukuzawa sighed as he came into the main office. He was leaving early with Ranpo and Fyodor to take them both out to eat; Kunikida was aware about it and said he could take care of things for the rest of the day; Fukuzawa was planning on paying him more this month due to taking over his own tasks for an entire week plus today.
The second he walked in, everyone who wasn't working started pretending to— Fukuzawa didn't care, really, he had others things on his mind, "Fyodor, Ranpo, come on," he called and they both got up and left the office. They walked to the car in quiet for a while.
"Fyodor, how was your first day?" He asked knowing it wouldn't have been the greatest.
"Fine, I suppose," Fyodor replied calmly, although Fukuzawa was one hundred percent sure he was lying.
"Fine my ass," Ranpo responded as he slipped into the back seat of the car, "You crashed out at Dazai like three hours after you came in. Although I guess he did deserve it."
"Ranpo, I only got angry so Fukuzawa would feel bad and give me money, I don't really care what Dazai says to me," Fyodor shot back, and Fukuzawa raised an eyebrow as he started the engine.
"Did you now?" He asked, although it was clear he was only joking, he was trying to establish a relationship with Fyodor that wasn't just rules and punishment. He wanted a positive relationship with Fyodor, which was one of the reasons he was talking them all out in the first place.
Fyodor simply smiled and then took a nap on the ride there. Ranpo kept asking Fukuzawa to turn the AC on in the car, however it was already on, and Fukuzawa was worried turning it higher would wake Fyodor. Either way, Ranpo refused to open the window, whining that he didn't like the feeling of the air on his face.
It was 1:30 PM when they arrived, and Ranpo was already complaining of hunger. Fukuzawa turned to Fyodor and shook him gently, "wake up, Fyodor," he urged, however Fyodor remained asleep. It took a few minutes to get Fyodor to wake up, however when he did, he slapped Fukuzawa hand away from him as hard as he could.
"Do not touch me," Fyodor said firmly. Fukuzawa simply apologised and they all stepped out of the car—it was somewhat expensive, Fukuzawa thought it'd be nice to treat them both today so he opted for somewhere on the pricier side.
Fukuzawa was completely aware of how he looked when with Fyodor. An older man with a younger, somewhat attractive looking man; he couldn't say they were related because they weren't even the same nationality, he couldn't explain that Fyodor was actually a terrorist, and he was sure Fyodor wouldn't be okay with him saying he'd adopted him.
Even so, how do they explain the collar on Fyodor's neck? In every sense, Fukuzawa looked like a creep, and the amount of weird looks they'd gotten just going out shopping a few days ago proved it wasn't just him being anxious.
Anyway, Ranpo was here, which made it look significantly less bad. They stepped into the restaurant, the waiter showed them too the table, and they all got sat down. For drinks, Ranpo got a milkshake, Fukuzawa got tea, and Fyodor ordered red wine. Fukuzawa shot him a look, however he didn't stop him, as long as he was careful, Fukuzawa didn't see an issue.
They all looked at the menu, and after a few minutes, the waiter came back with their drinks and asked what food they wanted. Fukuzawa opted for one of the cheapest options and just went for chicken katsu curry, Ranpo ordered sweet red bean soup, and Fyodor got a beef stew.
After they ordered, Fyodor put his head down on the table, closing his eyes, however Ranpo yanked him back up by the hair, "what are you, a cat? You've slept all day, how tired are you??" He complained; Fukuzawa didn't find it too strange how much Fyodor had been sleeping, a lot had happened these past three weeks so it wasn't a suprise he was exhausted.
Fyodor didn't reply to Ranpo's remark, and instead took a sip of his drink, "Fukuzawa, why are you letting him drink, he's under age right?" Ranpo asked, and Fukuzawa sighed.
"Ranpo, if you manage to be quiet until our food arrives, you can get dessert," Fukuzawa offered. He was letting them get dessert anyway, however he hoped this would be enough to get Ranpo to stop complaining, at least for a little bit. As expected, Ranpo went silent, and Fyodor put his head back on the table.
It was somewhat peaceful for a good few minutes, and then the waiter came back with their food. He placed their plates down then addressed Fukuzawa, "exam season, huh? Really drains the life outta them," he commented, and it took Fukuzawa a few minutes to realise he was talking about Fyodor.
"Oh, yeah," he replied, the man seemed pleased with that answer and walked off, Fukuzawa sat there silently for a few seconds processing. The man had thought Fyodor was a student — Fukuzawa couldn't blame him, Fyodor looked young, and with the way he was sleeping at every opportunity he could find, he might as well have been doing exams.
Fyodor lifted his head groggily at the smell of food, rubbing his eyes and stretching. He prayed quietly in Russian and then began to eat. Ranpo ate quickly, then realised he was able to talk now, "haha, man, that guy thought you were a student, Fyodor," he laughed.
"Ah, did he? I mustn't have noticed," Fyodor replied and took another sip of his drink, "I suppose I do look quite young," they continued to eat quietly after that, and everyone seemed content with the food.
"Fyodor, why are you sleeping so much?" Ranpo asked between bites, having not been happy with the lack of an answer earlier.
"I'm not usually this tired, I suppose it's just because of my body adjusting to the melatonin pills I take now," he replied absentmindedly.
"Were you not taking them before you came here?" Fukuzawa asked, he had thought Fyodor had been taking them a while, since he was captured at least.
"Ah, no. I started them after my most recent medical examination. The one just before I came, I believe it's been about one and a half weeks of taking them now," he answered considerably. No wonder he'd been so tired and irritable, new medication did that to a person.
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After a bit, they all finished eating, ordered desserts and then got back in the car to go home. Fyodor napped again on the car ride back, however he was awoken by a speed bump then couldn't get back to sleep.
When they arrived home, Fyodor stepped out of the car and almost passed out, as he was steadying himself, Ranpo purposefully bumped past him, making him fall onto the drive. Fukuzawa scolded him lightly and Fyodor pushed himself back up, going inside.
The cats greeted them at the door and Ranpo immediately pet the tabby. Fyodor paid little mind to them and instead took his melatonin off of the counter and went up to sleep. When he got to his room, he undressed and got into bed, curling up for a few minutes until he heard the cat flap on his door jingle slightly, he then felt a mildly heavy weight on his side.
He looked up and saw the fluffy white cat kneeding into his side, he shifted onto his back and it crawled onto his chest, meowing at him and curling up. He pet it, the soft fur slowly dragging him into a soft semi-conscious state.
As he felt himself drift, he found himself thinking about the day he'd had—about being able to hang out with Dazai without having to hide it, about not having to spend his own money on food and drink he wanted, about someone caring enough to check if he was okay. As the thoughts drifted slowly through his head, he found himself thinking maybe staying here, at least for the time he had too, wouldn't be so bad.