Twisted Innocence

Quirky Detectives

"Conceal your dispositions, and your condition will remain secret, which leads to victory.

Show your dispositions, and your condition will become patent, which leads to defeat."

- Sun Tzu (The Art of War)

~oOo~

        Nighttime had officially begun by the time the four made their way to a nearby traditional restaurant. Atsushi and Seiko sat next to each other at their table, while Dazai and Kunikida sat across from them. The orphaned teenager was ravenously shoveling rice into his mouth with stacks of several empty bowls on the table, while Seiko cheerily slurped on some cold soba noodles as she swung her legs back and forth on her chair. 

        "You're unbelievable," Kunikida gave an irritated sigh as he fixated a glare at Dazai, who looked as though he was paying little to no attention to the blonde man. "Who goes 'that's a nice river' and jumps into it in a middle of a job, let alone leaving Seiko to wander off by herself?! You of all people should be fully aware to avoid that!"

        He then angrily looked down at the small notebook he held in his hands (which read 'Ideal' on the front cover), his eyes glaring at the pages. "Thanks to you, look! Look how off-schedule we are!" He growled. 

        "You sure like your schedules, Kunikida-kun." Dazai remarked. 

        "I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me that he even showers with them ~ " Seiko added her own bit in the conversation as she looked up from her bowl of cold soba, causing Kunikida to twitch one of his eyes in exasperation. 

        The man then slammed his notebook on the table as he snapped at Dazai, "This isn't a schedule! This is an ideal! My guide in life! And nowhere in this book is it written that my work partner is a suicidal maniac who can't even properly care for a 12-year-old brat!"

        "Oi, what's that supposed to mean, Kunikida-san?" Seiko gave the said adult a grumpy pout as she slurped up the last of her noodles before wiping her mouth with a napkin. "Dazai-kun's not a bad caretaker! He's just weird, that's all!"

        "Aaww, you're so kind, Sei-chan ~ " Dazai cooed, placing his hands on his cheeks as he fawned over the little girl. Kunikida, on the other hand, had tick marks dancing all over his head as he glared at the child. 

        "...then name one thing, any useful thing, this suicidal idiot has taught you so far." The glasses-wearing man challenged, emphasizing on the word 'useful'. 

        "Okay! Dazai-kun told me that it's more than okay to mooch off of someone else's money if I can't afford something, as long as it's Kunikida-san's money I'm mooching off of!" Seiko replied without hesitation, her bright closed-eye smile and glittering blue eyes filled with a ridiculous amount of innocence that clearly showed how much she genuinely believed it.

        CRACK!

        Kunikida's lenses practically shattered as his face contorted into an expression that looked as though he was about to start screaming, his trembling fists so tight the knuckles were beginning to pale. Then, through gritted teeth, he seethed, "Just...use...your own...goddamn...money! This is exactly why you're the last person who should be caring for a child Seiko's age, Dazai! You can't even teach her some common sense!"