女面 - Bungo Stray Dogs Fanfiction

第九話

'Did I make the right choice?' she wondered.

After changing back to her clothes, Fumiko left the Port Mafia Base. Her exit was rather easy, and as Mori said. No one dared to raise their weapons at her when they saw her. They'd rather pretend to ignore or not notice her over facing the wrath of their boss. So there she was, standing at the bottom of the staircase that led to the entrance with a blank look. She stared ahead as she thought back of that episode back inside the bedroom. Though minutes had passed since then, she couldn't help but wonder - did she make the right choice of rejecting Mori? Even if she did, he would always come back to her as he'd promised. So was she going to repeatedly reject him until she gave in to his advances, or was he actually willing to accept things the way they were? But as much as she wanted to stay there until the answers reach her, it'd be a waste of time; for now, she had to return to the Armed Detective Agency and get back to work.

Stepping out of the elevator, Fumiko's gaze landed on Atsushi standing outside of the office door. He seemed awfully worried about something. It must've bothered him so much that he'd been standing there for some time. "Atsushi-kun?" she called.

He finally snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head towards the source. "Fumiko-san!" he exclaimed, not expecting her sudden appearance after being away for almost a day. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." she reassured with a smile. "Don't worry about it. I just happen to have a little encounter with the mafia, but all is good now."

"Ah, I see." he said, heaving a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. I was a bit worried that something bad had happened to you."

"Speaking of worry, what are you doing out here?" asked the young woman. "Is everything alright? You've been standing here for quite some time."

Atsushi seemed hesitant to tell her something. It's not that he didn't trust her, it's just that he wasn't sure if she'd be willing to accept a new addition to the team; a girl named Izumi Kyouka who'd killed many people and was an assassin under the notorious Port Mafia. But eventually, he told her everything; from the time he encountered her inside a train with a bomb strapped to herself, up to when he defeated Akutagawa and was rescued by Kunikida after escaping the ship with her.

"She came back alive." he muttered at the end, looking at the ground with a sad expression. "But will the Agency forgive her for killing 35 people? What will I do if she and the Agency disagree with each other?"

He knew it was bad of him to have such thoughts, but Atsushi was expecting some sort of negative reaction from Fumiko, considering that she was one of the senior members. He thought she'd reprimand him for bringing an assassin to the Agency. But what he didn't expect was a giggle, followed by a gentle pat on his shoulder. He looked up and was slightly taken aback by the closed-eye smile plastered on her face. "You worry too much, Atsushi-kun." she assured. "Even if the Agency doesn't agree, it's up to the President to decide whether Kyouka-chan is allowed to join or not. Why don't we go in and see for ourselves?"

Atsushi had a look of surprise. Fumiko was right. If he just stood there and expect the best, it'd only make him even more nervous. He took in a deep breath and gave her a determined nod before turning back to the door. Giving the doorknob a twist, he pushed it open as he greeted, "Good morning."

As if he couldn't be any more surprised, what he saw inside the office was Kyouka dressed in a maid uniform surrounded by his fawning colleagues.

"Can you turn around?" asked Naomi who had glimmering eyes. Kyouka obligingly spun a few times before she stopped, facing towards the door where a dumbfounded Atsushi and confused Fumiko stood. "So cute~!"