To The Stray Dogs [Bungou Stray Dogs Fanfic] [Author's Edition]

Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning to hear my phone ringing. "Give me a sec..." I groaned and grabbed it. "Hello?" I answered. "Vivi-chan~," said the voice. "Ugh... Dazai-kun you blockhead... what is it now?" I asked. "I'm waiting for you right now," he said. "Where?" "In front of Atsushi-kun's dorm." I ruffled my hair and said, "I'll be right there."

When I arrived at Atsushi's dorm room, I found Dazai sitting in an oil drum on the ground. "What the..." "Vivi-chan, you're here~," he said and smiled brightly. "You left without me," I told him. "Eh? But I don't want to bother you sleeping," he said. "How nice of you," I said as I tried to pull him out, but he was stuck. "Seriously?" I asked and he just smiled at me. "Idiot..."

Dazai took out his phone and said, "I'm calling Atsushi-kun now." We waited for a few seconds before hearing Atsushi's panicking, "H-Hello?!" "Good morning!" Dazai said in English. "Hi, Atsushi-kun," I said. "Oh, Dazai-san, Vivi-san," said Atsushi. "Today's another fine day. How's the new dorm?" Dazai asked. "Great, thank you. Compared to sleeping outdoors, it's heavenly."

"That's good to hear," I said. "The change of clothes at your pillow is a gift from everyone at the agency," said Dazai. "Thank you so much for everything." Atsushi thank us. "By the way, Atsushi-kun, I apologize for asking this out of the blue.. but there's been an emergency," said Dazai. "An emergency?" Atsushi repeated.

"Yes, there can be no delay. Please come to the specified location immediately. It's a crisis! Only you can help." said Dazai. "O-Okay, I understand," said Atsushi. "I can't believe we're doing this," I said. "Are you ready, Atsushi-kun?" Dazai asked. "Yes," he answered. I heard the doorknob turning and said, "Here he comes." "First, when you leave the room, make sure you close the door. Look behind you!" said Dazai. "Behind me?" Atsushi asked and saw us.

"Vivi-san," he said. "Hey, Atsushi-kun," I said. Then the moment he saw Dazai, he scrambled over to him. "Um... What's this about?" he asked. "What do you think?" asked Dazai. "Maybe I'm hallucinating this morning?" Atsushi guessed. "Wrong!" Dazai said cheerfully. "Is it an enemy attack? Did you get caught in a trap?" Atsushi continued guessing. "I got in myself," said Dazai.

"Huh?" "Well, you see... I heard that there's a way to commit suicide by getting stuck in an oil drum, so I decided to give it a shot," he said and wedged himself deeper in the oil drum. "But now that I have, I'm just suffering without being able to actually die. Now to mention, now that I've wedged myself this deep, I can't get out on my own. I think I might die." he said.

"I see... But it's a way to commit suicide, so you should be able to kill yourself if you stay that way, I think?" said Atsushi. "I like suicide, but I don't like suffering or pain! Why would I?!" said Dazai as he was so close to wedging his upper torso in the oil drum. "I see," Atsushi said and Dazai continued, "Also, I only learned this after the fact, but it wasn't a suicide method... it was a torture method!"

"There," said Atsushi pushed over the oil drum, causing Dazai to fall over and roll out. "See? You can get out." I said. Dazai stood up and stretched himself and moved his hips side to side. "That was painful," he said and sat down on the oil drum. "I owe you one, Atsushi-kun. Without you, I would've snapped in two at the waist." He leaned back to stretch out.

Atsushi and I sat down on either side of him. "Didn't you ask your other coworkers for help?" Atsushi asked. "I called them, sure. I told them I was on death's door. But then everyone was all like, 'Congratulations,'" said Dazai as he sat back up. "How's that make you feel?" Atsushi just smiled nervously.

"Jeez. Anyone gifted with supernatural powers has something wrong with them inside..." Dazai murmured. Atsushi thought of something and said, "Dazai-san, Vivi-san." "Hmm?" we said. "Everyone at the Armed Detective Agency... the private investigators, that is... They're gifted, right?" he asked.