Episode 8

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"Dazai is gone?" Kirokugakari raised an eyebrow, "good riddance. To hell with him."
Atsushi shook his head.
"But I seriously can't reach his phone! What if something happened?"

"He's probably floating down a river," said Doppo,
"Maybe he was finally thrown in jail?" Kenji mused,
"He's probably off with a woman." Ranpo concluded,
"Should I go find him?" Junko asked.
"Nah, he's a big boy now, he can manage without you." Kirokugakari just dumped a metric ton of case files on Junko's desk. Junko nodded and looked through the files that were given to her and started writing in them.

"Are you sure this is alright?" Atsushi gave Junko a helpless look, expecting her to be at the very least a little more concerned about this than the others.

"I texted him last night and he was fine, it's probably not a big deal. He disappears sometimes, it happens. It's fine, it's fine, don't worry about it." she smiled that smile that Atsushi hated.

Something about that smile seemed fake and forced. It didn't suit her at all.

But by then Atsushi had already learned that Junko was a compulsive liar. She lied about everything that mattered. Everything regarding herself. It was maddening. Atsushi promised himself no matter what horrible thing he would go through, he would never lie to himself like that.

"But he is targeted by the Port Mafia...." Atsushi tried to get back to the task at hand.

" Atsushi tried to get back to the task at hand

Rất tiếc! Hình ảnh này không tuân theo hướng dẫn nội dung. Để tiếp tục đăng tải, vui lòng xóa hoặc tải lên một hình ảnh khác.

••••••

"Is it really ok that we let Atsushi-san go with Yosano-sensei?" Junko looked up at Doppo, they all hid in Kirokugakari's office as Akiko arrived only to take Atsushi away.
"You shouldn't pamper him too much, Furuta. He can't rely on you forever." Doppo replied.
"But Yosano-sensei might be too much for him..." she furrowed her brows and pulled out her phone, "I should text him some words of encouragement."
"Oh my god, apprentice, he's not a lost kitten, stop worrying so much." Ranpo chided and went back to his desk. Kirokugakari followed him and climbed to sit on his lap. "Yeah, Furuta, chill. Nothing bad will happen." she said.
"It's fine." Kenji added. "They'll have a great time!"

"Yeah, you're right. I need to give him some space." Junko sighed. She tried to convince herself.
But she couldn't really let it go.
She decided she should text Akiko anyway.

"Yosano-sensei, PLEASE don't be too rough with Atsushi-san!„

She received a reply almost immediately.

"Don't you trust me, Furuta?„

Junko stared at the text for a long moment.
Then came another message.

"Don't you trust Atsushi to be able to handle it?„

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Of course Akiko was right. Atsushi has been around for long enough, he should be able to handle it even if something does happen. She can't stress out every time Osamu isn't there for twelve seconds. She can't go mental every time Atsushi leaves her sight.
Nothing bad will happen.
This will be fine.
She had to calm down.
They will both be back safe soon.
It's fine.

She texted Akiko back.
"I'm sorry to have bothered you. Enjoy shopping!„

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