Death Becomes Us (Dazai x Reader)

Chapter Fifteen

Atsushi walked into the Agency's office early the next morning. With the previous days chaos, he had barley been able to sleep. He had finally given up around five in the morning and even with drawing out his morning routine as long as he could, he'd still arrived at work at seven am. 

He had expected to come in early and find the office empty save for maybe Kunikida working quietly at his own desk. He had expected to arrive and have a chance to catch p on the paperwork he was falling behind on. Instead, he walked into the office to find every one else, save Dazai, had also come in early.

All the desks had been cleared and pulled into the center of the room which was brightly lit by the newly risen sun. Kunikida, Rampo, Yosano, Kenji, Tanizaki, Naomi, and Hurano were all seated around it, chatting cordially with one another. At the sound of someone entering the room, they all turned to face Atsushi. Yosano waved him over and he hesitantly found his place in one of the three empty chairs.

There was a slight sound of humming and the cleaning of a pan filtering in from the little kitchen the office housed. 

"Whats going on?" he hesitantly asked.

Tanizaki let out a light laugh and Kunikida sighed, a hand held to his temples.

"She was like this when I got here." he said, "God knows how much sleep she must've gotten."

"Who?" Atsushi asked.

"Y/n of course!" Kenji cheerfully replied.

"She's making pancakes for breakfast." Rampo nodded seriously, "Y/n makes the best pancakes."

"They are pretty good, aren't they?" Naomi chuckled.

"Y/n?" Atsushi asked, his brow furrowed, "But..."

It didn't make sense. The girl he'd met yesterday against the stories the other members had told him about her. The fact that barley twenty four hours had gone by and she'd gone from trying to kidnap him to... making them breakfast?

"Don't think too hard about it." Kunikida patted him on the back, a wry smile fixed on his face, "Trying to understand Y/n's logic is like trying to read a book in a language you never learned."

"You've got that one right." Tanizaki sighed, turning towards the cracked open door of the kitchen, "Still, it is nice. To have her back, I mean."

"But is she really back?" Yosano sighed, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms as she repeated her sentiments from the previous day, "I mean, she has been hiding from us for two years. If what... if she really has been doing work through the black market..."

"That's all stuff we can deal with later." Tanizaki reassured her.

"Let's just be happy for now." Rampo nodded.

"Can someone come get stuff to set the table with?" Y/n called out to them through the kitchen door, "It's almost ready."

"I'll go." Atsushi stated, getting to his feet.

He was curious about her, he couldn't help it. With a steady step, he made his way into the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind him. It was a mess. The counter was covered in flour, there were maybe four or five bowls in the sink. Y/n had her back to him, her hand on the handle of a pan on the stove and a plate stacked high with perfect pancakes to her side.

At the sound of his entering the room, she turned. She was dressed in a bright yellow sundress that nearly hit the floor and a pair of black platform sneakers. The coat, Dazai's coat, she had been wearing the previous day had been traded for a frilly pink apron they kept around the kitchen. Atsushi had always wondered about that apron, never having seen any of his coworkers actually use the kitchen before except to make a cup of tea or instant coffee. There was a smudge of flower on her cheek and she used the back of her left hand, which was holding a spatula, to brush some stray hair out of her face.