Bandages and Salt (PJO X BSD AU)

Chapter Sixty-seven

A/N: I don't really like this chapter, but here you go

Atsushi POV

The Drive back to the Agency was filled with a heavy sort of silence, only ever broken by the dull beep of the car as Kunikida turned on the blinker to change lanes and to turn every now and again as the blond drove. The President had asked him to before we had even left the elevator and I thought that perhaps he was seeking to give the other detective a sense of control. The white knuckle grip that Kunikida had on the steering wheel caused me to wonder just how effective such a task was, but I didn't dare break the silence to ask. Not when even Akutugawa had left it so devoid of the usual death threats that spilled from our lips as he sat quietly beside me in the back seat of the Agency car.

As for Dazai and Executive Nakahara...

The six of us stood outside of the Agency car, a clear question in the air. Kunikida, who would usually be the first to propose a solution to such a problem, only remained as silent as he had been since leaving the Agency building earlier in the day, a stark contrast to how he usually was. I didn't quite understand all of the intricacies of what had occurred in the office - other than the fact that Dazai and the Port Mafia boss knew each other very well during the detective's time as a mafioso, a connection that didn't seem all that pleasant given how the older detective had reacted to the other's touch - but judging by the fact that the blond detective looked as if someone had ruined his entire schedule for the, it wasn't good.

When no one else said anything for another minute or so, the President seemingly resigned to leaving us to solving our own problems as Kunikida stood as unhelpful as Dazai who was still at his former partner's side, I decided to bite the bullet and speak.

"We're not all going to fit," I remarked unhelpfully, speaking for the first time since entering the meeting; if one wanted to call it that.

"Well done for stating the obvious, Jinko. Do you want a sticker?" The Port Mafia's hellhound goaded as he glared at me, a sight that undoubtedly would have brought fear to me only a few months ago, but did nothing now as I only glared back, too tired to properly fight.

It was sad knowing that I had been having a pleasant day before this had started. Before I had been dragged into this mess by my bandaged mentor, the former mafia executive it seemed.

"I'll just ride my bike and follow you lousy detectives," the executive offered in a way that wasn't much of one at all.

It was only then that I noticed how the strange pair were standing a bit away from the rest of us, even Akutagawa stood closer to the detectives than Dazai and the mafia executive did. They were also the only ones on the receiving end of Kunikida's glare.

Everyone agreed easily enough, knowing that it wasn't much of a suggestion at all and having no better ideas, though I guess the gravity manipulator could have used his ability to sit atop the car, but that didn't seem particularly legal, not that the mafiosos would have cared. We were just about to get in when a voice that hadn't spoken since the office drew all eyes to him, though he almost always did.

"Actually," Dazai started and I watched from the side the way that Kunikida froze, his jaw tightening as if the man was holding himself back, a trait he didn't usually possess when it came to his partner, and made me step away from the blond, too many years in the orphanage telling me that he was a bomb waiting to drop. "I'm going to ride with the slug."

It wasn't a question, no one treated it as such, but even I could guess the reasons behind the older detective's decision. It was walking to the driver's seat after all. I didn't particularly want to be in the same car as Kunikida either, even as I knew that he would never hurt me in the same way as others had before.