Chapter Text
Atsushi peers over the windowsill, narrowing eyes as scans the ground below.
He swears that he caught a glimpse of something, but he's not sure what or where. As he peers down to the floors below, front he white walls of Yosano's clinic.
He brushes his mind off, there on the second floor, there's no way someone was at the window. At the very least nobody small enough to avoid his eyes for this long. He steps back and looks back at his colouring book.
As he goes back to very carefully tracing the lines of the giraffe on his page he sees another flash of yellow at the window. Atsushi looks at the window before glancing back at his giraffe before sprinting back to the window. Not wanting to potentially miss out on his chance to see a giraffe.
Looking out again though, he again sees nothing. Feeling more than a little disappointed he heads back to the less-interesting paper giraffe he had been given while he waits for Yosano to come back. She said they could play today with Kyouka, but she has work to do first. He looks out the open door at Kunikida, sitting focused, yet frantic at his desk and wonders if there's any way he could get him to play with him. However, everybody seems hesitant to play any more games with him for a while. So he won’t bother him, especially since he’s working so hard.
His thoughts are stopped in his tracks as he hears the thump at the window, accompanied by the flash of yellow. Which now stays at the window in an ever present blur. He blinks, now registering the flash as a crown of blonde hair.
Mouth agape he hears a soft ‘oof’ before pale hands make themselves known on the windowsill. A small body clad in a scarlet dress lifts itself up onto the windowsill, perched like the image of childhood grace, Elise in all her missing toothed smiling glory. Now complete with bruised knees and red finger tips.
Atsushi just stares dumbly, moth agape. Half expecting her to disappear when he blinks.
“C'mon say something, you look like a fish” she crosses her arms, tapping his foot impatiently.
“How… how did you get here?”, getting up to look down at the drop. Half expecting the window to be suddenly lower to the ground. Two stories, same as he left it.
“I jumped”
Which makes no sense in any way shape or form, but Atsushi is seven years old and doesn't really care about things like that.
“Okay, want to colour?”
“Obviously”
Elise plops down on the floor beside him, grabbing the pink crayon and getting to work on the hippo besides the giraffe. It's cramped, all pressed up together, elbows bumping and crayons skidding as they share the far to small page.
Elise is harsh too, not as mean as the kids at the orphanage. Clearly taking the art of colouring books far more seriously then Atsushi knew was possible.
“Your supposed to colour in the lines”
“Giraffes aren't green”
“your so quiet, you need to speak up more”
Atsushi didn't realize there were so many rules with coloring. He also didn't realize how demanding it was to have a friend his age.
He didn't realize how much he craved it either.
He latches onto Elsie's words like the lines on his pages, guiding and demanding. Providing enjoyment at the cost of a small amount or control.
He wonders why her words don't bother him, he's certain that at one point he would care far too much. When she claims that her colouring is better than his, how come he doesn't believe her? Why does he argue her point? Why is he not scared of her?
He doesn't think about it too much, as her small shoulder against his bumps the orphanage a little further from his mind each time, holding up the finished page.
“Wow that was fast, I told you I was the best at this”
Atsushi nodded, she was pretty good. She stayed in the lines and everything, and the colours didn't muddy in a gross brown the way he sometimes did.
“We should sell it and make a bunch of money,” Elsie says smugly, staring at her smiling hippo.
Atsushi's heart sinks, pouting he says, “but I want to keep it…”
Elsie scoffs at him before looking at it deeper,” we could be famous Atsushi!” Before pondering the dilemma deeper, face eventually lighting up.
“We could sell it to one of the members of your agency! Then you can keep it!”
While Atsushi would much rather just give the drawing as a gift, he cannot deny that Elise’s idea is super smart. Probably the greatest compromise they can come to. Especially considering that Elise doesn't seem like someone to back down once she has an idea in mind.
He nods, he runs up to the office where Yosano is. The doors ajar and she seems engrossed in her work.
Atsushi is just about to turn away, before Elise bursts into the room in the office slamming the drawing onto Yosano's desk, covering whatever paper she was working on.
“Pretty nice, huh? You could have it for $100!” Elise grins as Atsushi sheepishly enters the room filing in besides Atsushi, “more than that if you want it signed!”
“There's numbers bigger than 100?” Atsushi can't help but ask.
“Uhh, yeah plenty!” Elise says confidently, but Atsushi doesn't think she's too confident.
Atsushi turns to Yosano, looking for her input on the matter, before the looks on her face stops him in his tracks.
She's staring straight at Elise, wide-eyed, mouth agape. Atsushi wonders if she's afraid, but that's not quite right. Haunted, more like. He isn't sure if her mind is in the room anymore. Turning to scrutinize his friend in disbelief. Is she scared of Elsie?
With a start Atsushi realizes that he never told anyone that she was there, right before the familiar dread of having done something wrong weighs on him Yosano grins up at them. Atsushi can pretend he doesn't see the shakiness.
“Elise, Dazai told me that you and Atsushi were friends now.” She says the words like they taste bad, far too sour and stale of memories long past. Like she wasn't ready to believe them.
Elise stares at her, scrutinising and distinctly Atsushi waits until something breaks the tension in the room to release the breath he’s holding.
“I'm sorry, do I know you?” Elsie cocks her head to the side, and Yosano sags in what Atsushi recognizes as relief.
“No, you don't” she chuckles to herself, breathy and light, “I just heard about you from, Dazai”
Atsushi guiltily finds that he doesn't believe her, that there's more to the story. However, Elise barrels past.
“So you gonna buy it or not?” She huffs, and Yosano folds her fingers together.
“I would love to, but I seem to have left my wallet at home” she smiles, and Atsushi finds himself relieved. Not really wanting to take Yosano's money at all.
Elise reluctantly accepts the answer and huffs, turning to face the weretiger. Arms crossed and pouting with a face that screams ‘any ideas?’
“We should ask Kunikida” he mutters, sounding painfully quiet in comparison to the borderline shouting of his new friend.
Yosano raises an eyebrow at him, “why Kunikida?”
“Because Dazai says it okay to take his money”
Atsushi jumps a bit in shock as Yosano chuckles to herself. Eventually laughter bubbles up into cackles. As she rubs her eyes.
“That's a wonderful idea Atsushi, make sure to tell Kunikida what Dazai told you as well”
Elsie grabs his hand, “alright, let's do this” as she leads (read, drags) him away from the room, waving shyly at Yosano as her smile disappears from behind the door.
She seemed so upset for a moment there, but she seems fine now? So surely he's just imagining things. He looks at the swaying blonde hair leading him away, and finds that he can't bring himself to doubt her.
A pit of guilt settles in his stomach, because he knows that he's being selfish. Both Dazai and Yosano had such a weird reaction to her, so was it really okay being with her? Were they only okay with it to make him happy? He shakes his head, no, they were okay with it. They wouldn’t pretend to like someone dangerous for his sake.
So it's fine then, it must be fine. He overthinking again.
There's nothing wrong with Elise. She is loud and overwhelming, and frankly a little rude. But he's her friend, his first one ever. She came all this way to spend time with him, and she holds his hand like she wants to keep him close.
He trusts her, perhaps quicker than he thought he would. Perhaps he just craved a friend, or perhaps he senses a kindness there.
He finds that even with Dazai and Yosano's bizarre reaction that he trusts Elise. He doesn't know how he would go on in a world where he doesn't trust her. His best friend.
He has no evidence, but he thinks about what being a friend should mean.
***
Yosano groans and buries her face in her hands, for the first time in days she wants to just sit down and get all her work done. Piles of order requests and medical documents that she needs to sort and a kid to keep an eye on.
She already was uneasy about watching the boy so soon after his actual literal kidnapping. However Dazai had a lot to explain to the boss, and nobody else except Kunikida was working, and Yosano is far more fun out of the two.
She runs a hand over her face, she is so happy that Atsushi's life is starting to gain some normalcy. Making friends, approaching without fear, and having fun like a kid should. Especially someone so confident in her actions, Lord knows that Atsushi needs someone to speak up for him. Yosano will have to talk to him about not letting himself get pushed around.
God, though, why her? Yosano feels like her bloods have been replaced by air, wind rattling her bones.
How the hell is she supposed to look at the little girl, without thinking of the man who ruined her life. How is she supposed to look little Elsie in the eyes and not see the girl for the mirror she is? Why does Dazai think this is fine?
She doesn't even know what she would do if Elise recognized her, if that horrible little girl looked her in the eyes and laid her past bare to the world.
She didn't though, Elsie is a regular little girl that doesn't recognize her, one who cares for Atsushi, and likes colouring.
She chuckles to herself, so worked up over a little girl. Over nothing. How embarrassing.
Yosano is strong, she prides herself on rolling with the punches, she's come so far from the scared little kid she used to be. She can face Mori if need be, she can treat Elise as Atsushi a friend and nothing else. She knows she will, that's the gift the agency provided her.
A gift she finds herself wanting to share.
A tentative knock rings out through the room, and Yosano grins to herself. Carefully stacking the papers scattered in the kids earlier attempts at solicitation.
The doors peeks open, Kyouka peeking into the office. Yosano wastes no time in waving the girl over.
“Hey, how are you settling in? Is the agency treating you well?”
The ravenette nods, suspicion pitching her face and warping those delicate features.
“Well, I'll get right to it. The boss approves of you sharing a room with Atsushi. The paperwork is already done”
The girl remains blank, but Yosano notices the slight relaxing of the girls shoulders. A slight bow of the head.
“Truthfully, I forgot that it was still under scrutiny.” That was true, when the boss broke the news to her, she had already assumed that the kids were already as good as roommates, “but the boss was a tad hesitant in letting the two youngest live together without any adults”
Kyouka nods, quiet yet as far from passive as you can get. A poisonous flower.
Yosano tosses keys towards Kyouka, standing up from the desk.
“Alright let's see what we are working with”
“Huh?” Rather eloquent for the first words spoken in the conversation.
“It's a room for one, we gotta jam you in somehow” Yosano shovels papers into her bag to deposit at her apartment while she's out, and her wallet as well. God forbid if the earlier little girl had seen it. “I got some home decor stuff left over that Atsushi didn't use, you're free to pick.”
Yosano finds herself cringing, seeing as how the apartment was treated as a glorified play area where Atsushi happened to sleep. The space is decorated to the tastes of a seven year old boy. Which Yosano imagines is quite a bit different then Kyouka aesthetic, so while it pains her to take down any of Atsushi’s things, it's a necessary evil for the sake of the comfort of both, though perhaps she can work around it.
She struts out the door, towering over the girl standing in the door. If not in height but in sheer presence.
“You coming?”
The girl nods and follows her out the door, timidly fiddling with her fingernails when she thinks Yosano isn't looking.
Yosano has to stifle a laugh as she comes across the scene of Elise attempting what can only describe as a mugging. Sitting on the man's desk, still going on about selling the artwork while Atsushi sits with Thera on the couch. Position suggests that Atsushi tried to calm her down, but has instead decided it was better to just watch the show. A good lesson to learn if he's gonna be spending any more time with Dazai.
Yosano is not going to be able to hold it together if she looks at Kunikida's bewildered face for any longer, and she's got a new recruit to impress.
“I trust you're watching them, Kunikida?” she waves, “make sure they eat soon, there's yogurt in my mini-fridge”
“Yosano! Who is this-”
Yosano pretends not to hear his question as she leaves the room, Kyouka in tow. Hurrying past the room where she knows the Mafia woman is being held captive. Not wanting to open a line of questioning between master and student right at this moment. She waves at the boss and gives Dazai a nod before exiting the building.
Smiling to herself all the while, happy to get her mind off of things.
***
“Kunikida!!” a childish voice prances right up to the desk. Slamming the work down. Atsushi cringes as he imagines the paper tearing from the force but it seems to be holding on so far. “I got a business offer that you’ll be lucky to here”
One hand firmly in her grip he allows himself to be lead to the blonde man, having had just enough time to grab Thera in the other as the walk in a train. Atsushi knows there's no stopping her now.
Kunikida is sat hunched over his notebook, as he often is. He shoots up at the voice, eyes narrowing on the two kids.
“Keep your voice down, I'm working” he says in what he can only describe as a teacher voice
He goes back to writing, before the pen scratches to a stop, he perks up and stares at the little girl.
“Wait, who are you?” He murmurs, before the situation fully loads in, “Wait who are you? Atsushi, who is this!?” He shrieks.
His friend's presence makes the normally grating yelling much more tolerable, especially as Atsushi guiltily realizes that he never told anybody that Elsie had shown up. That he shouldn't have assumed everybody knew who she was as well.
“This is Elise, she's my friend”
Kunikida just gapes at her,
Elise elbows his side, “tell him to buy our art” she whispers, but far too loud to be anything less than announcing her intentions.
“You don't have to buy it, I'll just give it to you-” Elise clamps a hand over his moth. Shushing him loudly.
“-just more than $100!”
“Wha- no, how did you get here!” he sputters, looking at the girl like he's seeing a ghost.
“I jumped”
“She jumped”
“Like from the ground?” Atsushi giggles when the man’s voice cracks in bewilderment. Dazai has a point, this is really fun.
“Uh, yeah. Look just cough up the money old man”
“It's okay Kunikida, you can have it-” For his valiant efforts Atsushi gets a mouth clamped over his mouth again.
Elsie charitablely nudges him, but more realistically pushes him, intot he couch. Taking at him all the while. “Shush, I'll handle this”
“E-Elise? What do you mean you jumped?”
The blonde rolls her eyes as Atsushi cuddles up on the couch with Thera, accepting that there's nothing he can do.
“I meannnn- I jumped” she pops her words as she plops himself on the desk, “people with glasses are supposed to be smart y'know”
“Where are your parents!”
“I'll tell you if you buy our art, it costs more now since your weird”
“Young lady, you tell me who you are and where”
Elise sticks out her tongue at him, “Don't wanna, give me money”
Kunikida just opens and shuts his mouth, clearly not expecting this to be the direction his day has taken.
His poor schedule doesn’t stand a chance.
***
Kyouka wasn't quite sure what she was expecting from the older women, but being immediately put to work wasn't it.
The lady walked into her apartment like she owned the place, quickly tossing dishes into the sink and folding blankets. As she strolls through the rooms.
It feels vaguely invasive to Kyouka, which is absurd because Kyouka is the true interloper. This woman belonged here since the beginning.
Perhaps if she had a better read on the women she'd be more comfortable with the lady wandering through her apartment but Yosano remained a complete and total mystery to the women.
A doctor, but Kyouka senses something dangerous below the surface. She speaks with a confident, planned, cadence but her actions show a spontaneity she's used to seeing in Dazai. She's simultaneously cold and distant, yet portraying herself as a warm older sister type. It makes Kyoka's hair stand on its ends.
“So I assume you've been sleeping on the couch?” Yosano starts, gesturing to the furniture in question.
Kyouka doesn't see a point in lying to her, “no I sleep in the closet, Dazai-san takes the couch usually”
Yosano frowns, “the closet?” Looking towards the room, Kyouka feels a rush to defend her room.
“Yes it's big enough” she says with a pinched look, eager to defend her admittedly strange choice.
The doctor's mouth pinches in disbelief, frowning as she stares at the room.
“It is big enough to put a futon in…” she caves, “It's certainly big enough for Atsushi, maybe you should-”
“No!” Kyouka shouts, face flushing, “no, I'm not taking his room.”
Kyouka can't read her expression any longer, at the mercy of someone who seems to understand her a little bit too well.
Yosano sighes, “ are you sleeping in the closet because it's comfortable, or because you don't think you deserve to sleep anywhere else”
Kyoka's face flushed, of course she understands how it looks. God knows that she feels unworthy of all this kindness. She doesn't know how to articulate that, that's not what this is about at all.
Kyouka wants to shout as Yosano opens the closet door, to stop invading her privacy. She holds her tongue though, it's one of the things that she is best at after all.
“Hm, this does actually look pretty cozy” Yosano Marvel's, Kyouka just silently yells at her.
Yosano closes the door, looking around to the rest of the room, including Atsushi's more open bed and all the little stars or the roof.
“The way I see it you got two choices” the woman finally turns to look her in the eyes, “we can get you a separate bed in this room, perhaps a loft so that you and Atsushi have some separation. The closet can be kept the same or turned into a sort of safe space type area”
Kyouka perks up a little bit more, expressly as Yosano pulls some furniture catalogues out of her bag. An aptly manicured nail, pointed at the bed she talked about. A cute white twin sized, separated from the rest of the room.
“The second option would be staying in the closet, we could knock out the top shelves and lengthen the walls a bit for you.” Kyouka opens her mouth to protest but then gets cut off, “-I don't want to hear it, your a growing girl, you need some space”
She hands the magazine to Kyouka, showing all the room layouts and furniture. Jabbering about things like aesthetics, Kyouka distantly wonders if Yosano just wanted an opportunity to shop.
The idea is dashed when the young girl feels a hand on her shoulder, looking up to see Yosano's earnest eyes meeting hers.
“This is your home now, y'know? You're the older one, so really this is your apartment that Atsushi is living in, you deserve to be comfortable in it”
Kyouka nods, heart fluttering, and she wonders how she was ever suspicious of this woman. How it seems like all the best people in the world are compiled into one non-descript brick building.
“I like the first option best” she mutters and Yosano grins.
“I was hoping you'd pick that, cozy or not I cannot believe Dazai has been letting you sleep in the closet” she punches the bridge of her nose, “I swear the nerve of that man sometimes”
Kyouka allows herself to smile.
…
“ -That's why Kenji's not allowed to have keys to the office”
Kyouka nods, as they ruffle through various storage closets. Searching for pillows, futons, and various other furniture items they have lying around so they can see what needs to be bought. Also serving as a pseudo tour of the agency building. Kyouka finds out that despite every unit having a kitchen and a bathroom, there's also a communal version of both. One that Yosano claims to prefer in the kitchen's case. That the president never locks his door, allowing for anyone to come and go as they please, and that there are a few civilian tenets sharing the building, but most of the rooms are a government loan to the agency.
Kyouka also learns that Yosano is the chatty type, which was oddly surprising, Kyouka thinks she already has a grasp on everyone's dynamics just by how everyone is spoken about.
Yosnao struck her as a sort of motherly figure at first, yet now she feels far more youthful than first perceived. Like she was weighed down by the world, but simply grew strong enough herself to overcome the increasing gravity.
Kyouka finds that she likes Yosano.
She was so convinced that she'd be dedicating her life to the little boy who saved her, so sure of her role that she assumed that everybody felt the same way. Yosano seems determined to give Kyouka her own life, the same way the boss insisted that she didn’t have to live for other people anymore. The way Yosano speaks to her, calm, collected, like she’s a child. Like Kouyou in her more tender moments, so gentle and supportive. However, this time without any chains attached, and far less patronizing.
They talked about future missions, about the guild issue and Atsushi. However Yosano asked about her, about her life, what she wanted to do. It was overwhelming, it gave her such a sweet buzz.
As they carry boxes back to the room, Kyoka's face hasn't stopped flushing.
Yes, she likes Yosano quite a lot.
***
Yosano doesn't know if she'll ever forgive herself for losing Atsushi no matter how long ago it was. Now it feels like the time has gotten closer. That thee second she looks away from the boy that he'll be gone.
She only truly feels reassured when he's in someone else's hands, far more convinced by the components of her team rather than herself, and it hurts.
She lies awake at night, staring at the ceiling, thinking about just how bad it could've gone. Just how close she got to losing the boy, in turn losing Dazai as well. Would she ever be able to regain that trust in herself?
Yosano's failure led to Kyoka's success, leading to this girl entering their lives. As she watches the girl eat the fruit she cut, enraptured in some cartoon made for ages far younger, she finds herself dwelling more on what went right rather than how things could've gone wrong.
She had long from a distance observed Dazai's improvement, flourishing under the agency and over Atsushi. It wasn't until coming face to face with Elise this morning that she realized how far she'd come as well. The idea that all she needed was a guiding presence.
She's not sure if she trusts herself to be that presence, if she could ever be as pure as Fukuzawa or as earnest as Ranpo, but she'll try. By God she can't rewrite the past, but she can endure it. She can roll with the event that provided this girl to the little family that Atsushi is growing.
The greatest crime is making someone think they aren’t loved after all.
Yosano leans over and rests a hand on Kyoka's shoulder.
“I'm so happy your here” she tries to inject as much care she can into her voice, delighting in the girls shocked eyes and growing blush, “Thank you for doing such a lovely job”
She hopes that she can look after the two of them the way Kyouka looks after Atsushi.
It's such a nice little family they've built, she muses as Kyouka stutters out a flustered ‘Thank You.’
She'll do whatever she can to deserve a place in it.
***
Dazai rests a hand on his hips, grin damn near splitting his face in half.
Admittedly, he was a bit put off by Atsushi being friends with Elise, but now he sees the error in his ways.
This was quite possibly the best thing that's ever happened to him.
Atsushi is excellent at entertaining himself, mummering to himself on the couch as he flops Theras limbs around in some game only understood to him. Allowing Dazai's attention to be fully on the scene in front of him.
“Don't scam me! There are no numbers over 500, that's absurd” Elsie confidently states, “you suck at math”
Kunikida sputters and drags a hand over his face, “there infinite numbers over 500, I was a math teacher”
“Yeah, that sucks at math”
Dazai grins, not even understanding the context for the debate, the discussion with the boss having taken a sizable chuck out of his day. Nor understanding why Elise was in the building in the first place, but he finds that he doesn't care.
“I'm not buying your drawing Elsie, and - Dazai!” Kunikida jolts and stares straight at him. “This has something to do with you, I just know it” he seethes.
“Hey, hey, I don't even know what's happening” Dazai waves his hands placatingly, shit eating grind never faltering.
Kunikida's eye twitches, as he grits his teeth. Hands gripping the unfinished papers on his desk. “Well, this fine young lady broke into our agency somewhere”
“I jumped”
“She jumped,” Atsushi chimes in.
Dazai adds on, “Sounds to me like she jumped”
“-Anyways! She has been hounding me for money. For. Three. Hours.” He hisses. “I have a schedule-“
While Dazai is left reeling from the funniest fucking thing he's ever heard in his life. Kunikida sighes, pulling out a 5 dollar bill. Waving it at the girl.
“-On the subject, I will give you this to leave me alone” he accentuates each word.
Elsie hurriedly grabs the paper, investing it carefully before shoving it into her dress pocket. Before hopping off of the desk and plopping down on the couch besides Atsushi.
“I thought I said to leave” Kunikida hisses,
She leans up against Atsushi, “yeah I'm not on your desk anymore”
Kunikida makes a strangled sort of noise, one Dazai is all too accustomed to. However, it's not like Kunikida can smack a little girl the way he would Dazai. He's truly met his match.
“I'll give you 5 more dollars to leave the building” he says, truly desperate at this point. Now behind on 3 hours of work being tormented by a random little girl the agency tiger dragged in.
Dazai holds his breath, waiting for Elise’s response.
She crosses her arms.
Pouts her lip, opens her mouth.
“Don't wanna.”
Kunikida loses his mind, and it's a good day at the agency.
***
Eventually Elise does choose to leave, saying goodbye to a very sleepy Atsushi and getting walked to the cafe by Dazai. He trusts the humanoid ability to make it home well enough on her own.
“So, before you leave, what was all that about in the first place?”
Elsie looks up at him, ponders, and shrugs.
“I don't remember”
Dazai sincerely hopes she comes back soon, maybe he can give her some tips and have the little menace apprentice that Atsushi is too kind to be.
***
Chuuya wanders down the street, hands in his pockets. Backing in the atmosphere of street lamps coming and going from his vision.
He makes his way past the former buildings, imagining agency members peacefully asleep. making his way to the cornerstone building where his target lies.
He's sighes, not in any rush. Mori gave him the order, but the plan was already in as good as put to motion in his mind. He's almost less willing to do it now that he's been ordered too strangely enough.
He basks in the golden shadow of the brick building, the cozy cafe he'll never be able to try and the street that never seems to be quite empty despite how easy it would make things.
He takes languid steps towards the door, not procrastinating a second longer.
There's nobody in the agency he needs to worry about, besides the one he’s there to retrieve.