BSD: Watch the Show

by fizzyshizz

In the aftermath of the train bombing and Kyouka Izumi waking up, a mysterious woman arrives at the agency to show the ADA the future... and past..

3. Episode 2

Dazai watched the other ADA members from his spot on the couch. He hadn't moved since the episode had stopped, lost in his own thoughts. He watched his new protege talk with the others, all the energy and enthusiasm bringing a small smile to his face. He wondered when the smiles of his colleagues would disappear, to be replaced with hate and fury.

To say Dazai didn't regret what he had done as a Port Mafia member would be a stretch. He did regret many of his actions, especially to his old companions like Chuuya and Akutagawa. But he was aware of the fact that his old cruel methods had actively kept both from looking for him, their fear of him halting them in their tracks.

And for that he was grateful.

But it didn't change the fact that Chuuya and Akutagawa were hurt by him, not to mention Ango and of course, Odasaku. He had seen the anger in Maddie's eyes as she had looked at him and he knew, he just knew that she had seen everything, every rotten piece of him that he felt remorse for and she hated him.

He had told Fukuzawa everything he could, because he knew Fukuzawa understood.

He wasn't sure if the others would.

Dazai wondered how things would change around him and resolved to himself.

If they hate me for what happened, then I really will go to the afterlife.

That thought alone put a contented smile on his face.

The ADA members eventually headed back to their spots on the couches and Maddie played the second episode.

The already familiar title screen popped up, Atsushi's voice reading what was displayed, "I haven't smelled tatami mats in a long time."

The scene shifted to show Atsushi asleep in bed, the light of day dancing across his face. He slowly woke up, "Where am I? What happened last night? Was it all a dream?"

The screen slowly changed again, showing a flashback of the last episode's events.

Atsushi jerked upwards, remembering his right hand's transformation, staring down at it. He let out a sigh, still heaving. He moved his hand a couple of times, as though he was making sure it was real, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw it was normal.

Tanizaki laughed, "Why didn't you believe it had happened?"

Atsushi shrugged, "I guess I was in denial. A lot happened that night."

Dazai closed one eye, "If it makes you feel better, I didn't even know a person could have abilities when I got mine."

"Really?" Atsushi asked him, to which Dazai nodded in response.

"I had no idea what was happening."

Ranpo popped another candy in his mouth, "I always knew I was gifted."

The entire agency rolled their eyes, this time including Maddie.

He looked around the small apartment he had been given. "Sleeping under a roof feels… so good." He told no one in particular.

His silence was interrupted by a phone ringing, Atsushi flying into a panic as he couldn't locate the phone, which was placed on top of a bunch of clothes.

Yosano gasped as she seemed to realize something, "You've never really had a phone before, Have you Atsushi?"

Atsushi shook his head, "I've never owned one at all, much less one as nice as the ADA phone."

Kyouka's grip on his arm tightened and he glanced down at her, enough to see her looking at her own phone on her neck in fear.

Spotting it, he ran on all fours towards it, "I'll get it! I'm coming! I'm coming!"

Naomi chuckled, "It seems like you are still in cat mode Atsushi!"

"Meow meow Naomi," Atsushi teased her, causing another fit of laughter.

Grabbing the phone, he tried for a couple of seconds to get the phone to work for him, saying "Yes? Hello?" in a strained voice when he got it working.

"GOOD MORNING TO YOU," Dazai's voice came out of the phone, a cute chibi version of him on the phone floating above Atsushi's head

"I can't believe the Dazai chibi thing exists." Ranpo smirked, "It's adorable."

Dazai laughed, "Maybe if I actually looked like that I'd pick up women."

Kunikida didn't even look up from his notebook as he responded, "When do you ever pick up women in the first place?"

Yosano burst into laughter and Dazai's face shifted from startled to amused, "Nice on Kunikida."

"Oh, hi Dazai." Atsushi said, sounding more tired than normal.

"It's a beautiful morning!" Dazai told him, "What do you think of your new accommodations?"

Atsushi turned to look at the room he was staying in, "It's great thanks! Compared to outside this is like heaven!"

Dazai's chibi form beamed, "I'm glad to hear that! There's a change of clothes at your bedside. That is a gift from the Agency."

"Oh wow thanks!" Atsushi smiled at the clothes.

"We picked them out!" Naomi told everyone, "The secretaries and Yosano helped me go shopping for you."

Atsushi blinked, "Oh I didn't know that you picked them out, Naomi, Thank you so much!"

Naomi smiled at him, "It was no trouble at all and Yosano, the girls and I had a ton of fun doing it."

Yosano nodded, " We made sure to pick colors that went with what we knew about your ability."

Kenji blinked, "Is that something that is important? I just wear what I've always worn."

"I wear the kimono that Kouyou gave me," Kyouka said solemnly, "It's very comfortable."

Kouyou? I wonder who they are? Atsushi thought to himself, I wonder if they let Akutagawa hurt Kyouka.

Yosano gave Kyouka a small grin, "You look very lovely, Kyouka. I think your kimono is very beautiful."

Kyouka flushed a bit, her face looking more alive than it ever had, which Dazai noticed and gave her hair a ruffle.

"By the way," The camera shifted to the real Dazai, his face looking quite solem, "I need help with a tiny emergency."

"Emergency?"

"Yes," Dazai's voice grew very somber, "And its urgent. I'll give you the location and I need you to meet me there immediately. Do you understand?"

"Why did you make it sound so serious?" Atsushi asked, " You we're just stuck in a barrel?"

Dazai hid a smile, "It was an emergency. I could've died."

Kenji sweetly asked a question, " Don't you want to die anyways?"

Dazai looked at his hands, "But I want to die painlessly."

Kunikida clicked his pen, thoughtfully, "Your suicide attempts send the opposite message."

"Ok," Atsushi's eyebrows furrowed, "I understand."

Then the screen flowed green over water and music began playing, the camera shifting up to reveal Yokohama City, shrouded in green light. The camera moving to a building.

Naomi shrieked with shock, "OMG, WE HAVE AN OPENING!"

Maddie nodded, "My ability creates every part of a real television show, even an opening and end credits, as well as sneak peaks at the end of episodes."

Tanizaki huffed, "That's quite convenient."

Naomi elbowed her brother in the ribs, "We gotta watch them really closely, they could end up being symbolic."

The building moved up to see a man jumping off of the roof, switching quickly to the man's face, who was revealed to be Dazai.

"Why am I jumping off a building?" Dazai asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Why are you surprised at this point?" Kunikida responded.

Dazai sighed, "I don't know."

Then abruptly the screen turned red and a logo reading, "Bungo Stray Dogs" was written, quickly flashing back to Dazai falling, the light of the city behind him, the red screen occasionally glitching in as Dazai fell further and further. The city lights flashed as the logo from earlier flashed, the screen spinning to show a calm wood area, where someone walked towards the camera.

As the camera got closer, Atsushi Nakajima was revealed, the camera spinning revealing Dazai walking next to him with a slight smirk on his face.

Kenji scratched his head, "Naomi said there can be symbolism in these openings but all I see is that Dazai is suicidal and that Atsushi and Dazai are friends."

Naomi blew a chunk of hair out of her face, " I said there could be symbolism,not that there would be."

Then Kunikida and Ranpo were shown walking next to Dazai, followed by Tanizaki, Kenji and Yosano. Fukuzawa being the last one shown, staring into the camera grimly.

The camera zoomed out showing the ADA in whole, the light shining from behind them.

Ranpo rolled his eyes, "Wow such great symbolism, Naomi. We have the light shining behind us because we are the good guys, what magical symbolism."

Naomi threw a piece of the food she was eating at Ranpo, who grabbed it off the floor and threw it back.

Fukuzawa spoke up, "Please act with a bit of dignity you two?"

Both nodded and looked embarrassed.

Then a mugshot background appeared, and lined up across the screen were a bunch of sleazy looking individuals, changing poses every few seconds. The camera zoomed in on a man in a black coat with his hand over his face, and his eyes opened to stare at the camera.

Atsushi felt the grip on his hand become more painful as Kyouka strangled his hand in a death grip.

He glanced at her, noticing the fear in her eyes and he gave her a hug.

"It's ok, Kyouka." He told her, "He's not here."

He closed his eyes, trying not to think about the man who follows him, the headmaster.

He wondered if Kyouka saw Akutagawa in every piece of black and every harsh movement, just like the headmaster haunted him.

A table with three candles in front of it and two individuals at the end were shown, one hidden in shadow and the other was a young looking blonde girl, the camera only focusing for a second before spinning away.

Dazai's mind clicked with that scene, That was Mori and Elise.

I wonder why they are there.

The camera went back to Dazai falling down the building, a zoom in on his face occuring.

Then the interior of the ADA was shown, Kunikida near Fukuzawa, then Ranpo, Naomi and Tanizaki, the shot transferring into Kenji jumping across cars with a smile.

"Look at me!" Kenji clapped his hands, excitedly. "I look so happy and friendly!"

Yosano blinked, "Don't you always look like that?"

"I'm just glad that they kept my friendly appearance even in this TV show! I've noticed that TV shows tend to make things either a lot darker or lighter than normal, Like over exaggerating movements and stuff!," Kenji paused, "At least in the few shows you guys have made me watch since I got here."

Ranpo gestured with a ramun, "He has point."

Kunikida stopped taking notes, "It is used for dramatic effect in a TV show, to make the drama and suspense more clear to an audience who won't get all the effects of a tense situation because they are not actually there."

"That is also why music and sound effects are used," Naomi ran her fingers through Tanizaki's hair.

Her face flushed, "Sorry I watch a lot of TV."

Then Yosano, Kunikida, Tanizaki and Kenji were frozen in battle positions and Dazai's eyes opened.

Directly after, the man in black's eyes opened and his hand fell off his face and then a man in a fancy-looking hat with red hair and blue eyes as shown, this shot fading into one with Atsushi using his ability, then charging at someone.

This someone was revealed to be the man in black who dodged his attack, the red lightning on his back activating and smashing into Atsushi, an explosion occurring.

Dazai cracked his neck, trying to make sense of the scene. Shin Soukoku hasn't had a real fight as far as I know. However they do fight in the opening. I saw Chuuya a second ago and we used to fight before we were partnered.

His brown eyes widened, Atsushi and Akutagawa were going to have a fight. Based on my guesses and how a normal TV show works, this fight will be the season finale, which means that we were interrupted before the season finale could happen.

His gaze flew to Maddie, who met his gaze evenly, So we'll see the future sooner than I thought.

Then a young girl faced the camera, a phone in her hand which quickly disappeared by a slash from Yosano, who attacked the camera.

The same red-head from before fighting her, before Yosano faded into Dazai who attacked the red-head, jumping in perfect harmony, the pale flower girl then attacking the screen with a demonic looking creature.

Tanizaki adjusted his seat, "Kyouka's in the opening, That means she must be important."

He looked at the young girl, who kept her death grip on Atsushi's hand, still tense after Akutagawa showed up.

"I wonder why Kyouka was used as an assassin."

Kunikida adjusted his glasses, "An ability that can be controlled by another person is rare, but it makes for a good assassination ability," he paused swallowing, "As long as the ability user doesn't protest."

They fell silent after that.

Each member of the ADA was shown one after the other, smiling.

Then a shot of Dazai, an evil looking smile on his face and blood flying through the air, the camera switched to his opponent who was the man in black.

Fukuzawa carefully turned around and studied the faces of the ADA at that scene. Nobody seemed to notice it, still shell-shocked at the Kyouka revelation, but as Fukuzawa met eyes with Dazai, he knew.

This was Port Mafia Dazai.

There was real fear in Dazai's eyes and posture, but not the kind Fukuzawa expected. It looked like the fear of rejection and a familiar fear to him, the fear that people would see him as the same person he had used to be.

Fukuzawa couldn't reassure Dazai that everything would be fine, because he didn't even know what Dazai had done, but based on Maddie's attitude, it hadn't been good.

But he knew Dazai now, and he couldn't honestly say he could see him as a Mafia agent anymore.

And he tried to put that into his face as he and Dazai locked eyes.

Dazai smiled.

Atsushi stood in front of Yokohama as the ADA walked towards him, the camera showing the mood above and then…. Silence

"I like the song," Ranpo said, interrupting Dazai and Fukuzawa's staring contest, "It's very bouncy and energetic!"

"Isn't that what we basically are?" Yosano cleaned one of her knives, looking bored, but unable to admit she was as excited as everyone else.

"Of course!" Ranpo told her, swinging his ramun, spilling it on Kenji's lap.

Atsushi sat in front of the door to his house putting on his shoes, Dazai's voice sounded through the phone, "Are you ready, Atsushi?"

"Yes," Atsushi responded full of grit and determination

"First when you leave the room, close and lock the door," Atsushi carefully did both things.

"THEN," Dazai's voice grew more dramatic, "LOOK BEHIND YOU."

Atsushi turned around," Behind me?" Then noticing Dazai's legs sticking up from someplace, quickly running over to where Dazai was.

"What the fuck, Dazai?" was the first thing Yosano said," What are you doing?"

"Suicide," Dazai casually responded.

"Why am I not surprised?"

The camera showing Dazai sitting in a barrel with his legs sticking up.

Atsushi asked him, total confusion evident in his tone," What are you doing?"

Dazai beamed at him, "Why don't you guess?"

Atsushi narrowed his eyes, "Am I dreaming?"

"Wrong," sang Dazai

"Have we been attacked and you are caught in a villain's trap?

"What in the world would make you think that?" Dazai asked Atsushi, who looked baffled as well at his own stupidity

"I assumed that you were telling the truth about an emergency, so my first thought was that a villain had attacked you."

"That's hilariously dull of you. Dazai replied cheerfully.

"Wrong I got in myself." Dazai said cheerily.

Atsushi blinked almost in shock, "HUH?"

Dazai scooted further down the barrel, "Well you see, I read about a fascinating way to commit suicide by sticking yourself in an oil drum, so I decided to try!"

A very detailed diagram of the oil drum suicide method pooped on screen, Dazai informing Atsushi that securing the feet is key as a red line circled the feet on the diagram.

"That looks exceedingly violent," Kenji commented, his voice somehow keeping it's light tone.

Dazai spoke flatly, "I found out later that the website was wrong and it was actually a torture method not a suicide method."

Atsushi blinked, "So it really was hurting you as much as you said it was,"

"Unfortunately."

"But I didn't do it right, so now I'm suffering," Dazai scooted further down in the oil drum, "And I can't get out on my own."

"I see," Atsushi said,looking annoyed, "So you decided to commit suicide and this is the way you are going with it, I don't see any issues."

Dazai's eyes furrowed, "I like the idea of suicide, but not suffering, Who wants that? Also I believe this isn't a form of suicide but more likely a form of tor-"

He was cut off by Atsushi literally shoving the barrel onto the floor, Dazai falling out instantly.

The entire ADA started laughing.

"That's one way to get things done, Atsushi!" Ranpo cackled.

Kunikida wrote in his notebook frantically, muttering things like, 'direct problem solving,' and 'getting out of oil drums'

"Rip Dazai." Naomi smirked, "Atsushi is giving not shits."

Dazai chuckled, "It didn't hurt that much."

Atsushi's internal monologue started

My name is Atsushi Nakajima and last night I turned into a tiger and went on a rampage. This guy, Osamu Dazai, brought me back to normal.

"Why is it telling us what we just saw?" asked Kyouka, her small voice echoing in the silent room.

"That's how a television show works, honey," answered Yosano, " It makes sure that people who might've not seen the first episode are aware of what has happened,"

"Well it's annoying," Kyouka stated, a note of finality in her voice, Ranpo spitting out what was left of his ramun, all over the Kenji.

Kenji just beamed and took the hit, wiping the ramun off his face with a grin.

After showing brief flashbacks of the events of last night the shot shifts to Dazai stretching out his back.

Dazai works with a group of people with abilities just like me at the Armed Detective Agency and last night, he asked me to join.

"Huh, That was painful," Dazai cracked his hips, "I owe ya one Atsushi. Without you, I would've eventually snapped in two at the waist"

Dazai leaned backwards off the oil drum while Atsushi watched him.

"Why didn't you call your co-workers? Couldn't they have helped?" questioned Atsushi.

"Oh," Dazai replied, " I did. But all they said was 'Congrats, You're finally doing it.'"

"We were being supportive of your interests," Naomi informed Dazai.

Yosano rolled her eyes, "No we just didn't care because somehow you survive every suicide attempt you make."

"It's a curse," Dazai fake-fainted backwards onto the couch, almost falling onto Atsushi.

"They seem supportive," mumbled Atsushi sarcastically.

Dazai gave an exhale, "Sometimes I think everyone with supernatural powers isn't totally right in the head."

"That's a weird observation," Fukuzawa startled the group on the couches, by speaking. "But not entirely false."

Dazai laughed, "Am I the only one who's noticed that?"

"Since when is Kenji not 'right in the head'?" Naomi asked, "Or Tanizaki for that matter."

Dazai lifted a finger, "The observation was that most people with abilities are very eccentric and odd."

"I'll admit that that's true," Naomi admitted.

Atsushi's face changed to be more concerned, "Dazai…"

"Yea?"

"Everyone at the agency has powers, right?"

"Correct," Dazai swung his legs, "We take on cases the police or military can't handle. They normally involve other gifted individuals."

Atsushi sunk down, "Then I don't stand a chance."

Dazai chuckled, "What are you talking about? You definitely have a gift."

"Yes, but I can't control it at all. I have no will over it and I have no idea what I'm doing when I do transform." Atsushi looked sad as he responded, "I don't think I'd be useful."

"That's dumb," Ranpo informed Atsushi.

"IT IS?"

Ranpo nodded, "You could join the agency for a bit of training, even if you didn't want to go on missions, we are probably some of the only people in the city who would willingly help you control the tiger."

"Oh," Atsushi looked ashamed, "I didn't think of that."

Kyouka swallowed,"Although you didn't know this at the time, the Port Mafia was getting that bounty that's on your head that day. So even if you hadn't joined the Agency, the Port Mafia would still come after you."

"Then I'm definitely glad I joined."

He stood up and turned to Dazai, "I appreciate the offer though."

Dazai didn't react at all, "Very well. What is your plan then?"

Atsushi easily answered back, "I'll look for something that requires low skill and low wage."

"I think I may know the perfect job."

Dazai gave Atsushi a winning smile, "I could even help you get it."

Atsushi's eyes opened, "Seriously? Thank you!"

The title for the episode flashed on screen, A Certain Bomb.

Tanizaki laughed," That's a pretty funny title considering what happens in this episode."

"Oh yea," Dazai said,"This is our test with Tanizaki as the bomber,right?"

Atsushi sighed, "Yea, This was terrifying."

Tanizaki flushed, "I'm sorry, Atsushi."

"It's fine," Atsushi told him, "You were just doing your job."

"Still…"

The scene showed Dazai and Atsushi walking through Yokohama, Atsushi listening attentively as Dazai spoke, "I'll talk to the supervisor and he'll give you all the details on the job. I've got a good feeling about this. He'll love you."

Atsushi cocked his head, "What's the title?"

"No point to spoiling the fun!" Dazai declared, "However there may be a test of sorts!"

"A TEST?" cried Atsushi, his loud voice starling some passerby.

"Hm," Dazai said, "Can you read and write?"

"I don't see what reading and writing has to do with a bomber attack," Atsushi observed.

Fukuzawa answered,"It's actually Agency protocol that all members have the ability to at least read, writing is just a bonus. Dazai was just doing standard procedure by asking you that."

"Huh, that makes sense."

Atsushi nods his head, his movements jerky.

"Then you'll be fine," Dazai agreed, pretending not to notice Atsushi's sigh of relief.

Atsushi's head drooped again, "Thank you so much."

"You better thank me, Just leave it to be and we'll be alright!"

"After all," Dazai struck a pose, "I am Dazai, a trusted member of the ADA and a hero to adoring fans everywhere."

Everyone in the room broke out into hysterical laughter at that statement.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Yosano asked through her laughter, "WHAT FANS?"

"Those fans," Dazai said gesturing to nowhere in particular, which cause another outbreak of laughter

His flaunting was immediately overshadowed by the arrival of Kunikida who screamed Dazai's name across the street.

"YOU BANDAGE SQUANDERING MACHINE!" Kunikida bellowed, half the passerby staring as Dazai exaggeratedly recoiled from the insult, screaming about his wounded pride.

Ranpo blinked, "What the hell does that even mean, Kunikida?"

"It means that Dazai hoards bandages in his room and goes through them very quickly, and there is no real purpose to wearing all those bandages."

"There is," Dazai protested.

"And what could that be," Naomi's finely plucked eyebrow rose.

"The aesthetic."

A title card flashed above their heads, "Bandage Squandering Machine? That stung a little."

"That was a terrible insult. Why don't you come up with something better?" Dazai asked of his partner.

"Because you actually think you're the most trusted ADA member," Kunikida ignored the question entirely, "You aren't. You get the most complaints in the entire agency,"

"Really.." Atsushi's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"WHAAAT?" Dazai stretched out his word, "Since when?"

Kunikida pulled out his ideal notebook and began reading off complaints, changing his voice to match each client.

Dazai sunk into his chair angrily, "You didn't have to call me out, Kunikida."

"You were lying," Kunikida responded, "You shouldn't do that, especially in front of our new recruit."

"I'm pretty sure I could tell he was lying about being the best," Atsushi muttered.

"I'm shocked.." Dazai stuttered, "WHO KNEW YOU WERE SO GOOD AT IMPERSONATIONS?"

Kunikida's pen snapped again and he started to strangle Dazai again, Atsushi watched the pair, utterly confused.

"I still don't get how you two were partnered," Atsushi said.

Dazai laughed, "I've always worked well with people who get easily annoyed, my old partner would be able to tell you all sorts of stories."

"YOUR OLD PARTNER?" The agency shouted together.

Dazai smirked to himself, If everything is going to get revealed I might as well have fun with it.

"Oh yea," he drawled, "At my old job, my partner was a lot like Kunikida here, Angry and strong. I guess I just work well with those types."

Tanizaki almost screamed, "What did you even do?"

"Cool stuff," was all Dazai said.

Ranpo smacked him with a book, "OW OK I'M TELLING THE TRUTH. IT WAS COOL."

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about asking for his help."

Kunikida stopped strangling Dazai, instead checking his watch, "Damn I lost a whole minute with this guy."

He picked Dazai up by his collar, "We have to get to the Agency!"

"We do?" Dazai complained.

"We have an emergency.." Kunikida said, "Someone has a hostage and a bomb. And he's in our office."

Dazai's eyes widened and Atsushi stared, "A bomber?"

"Has this ever actually happened?" Atsushi questioned.

Yosano shook her head, "Not as far as I'm aware of."

Ranpo also agreed, "I've been here since the beginning and there's never been a bomber in our building before, only gunman and hit squads."

The shot shifted to a building, assumably the headquarters of the ADA.

"Uh"

"What is it? The agency is on the fourth floor."

"No that's not it…"

Atsushi was cut off by Dazai, "Let's take the stairs."

Kunikida nodded, "Yea."

Atsushi tried to interject but failed and then fell silent.

Dazai's mental voice came into the narration, Are you ready, Atsushi? It's showtime.

Kyouka furrowed her brow, "But this is a real situation right? Why would this be a show if people were actually in danger?"

Atsushi decided to let Kyouka in on the what was happening, "The bomber isn't a real one, this is the test Dazai was talking about."

Kyouka's blue eyes filled with understanding, "I get it now!"

Atsushi smiled at her as her eyes shone with excitement and awe at the screen.

A closeup of the door is shown with the words, Armed Detective Agency written on them.

The scene changed to a close up of a bomb detonator in someone's hand.

"I can't take it anymore."

A guy with red-hair sat on a desk, a young woman with dark hair tied up beneath him,and a bomb next to him.

"Hey look Tanizaki! It's us!" Naomi told her brother, as if he couldn't see the screen in front of him.

He just sighed, "I wish my first appearance in this show wasn't me threatening to bomb my own office."

Kenji shook his head, "You were in the opening, weren't you?"

Tanizaki brightened, "OH YEA I WAS."

"It's all their fault. The awful ADA's fault."

The layout of the office was shown as the secretaries hid in a corner and Kunikida, Dazai and Atsushi ran into the room.

The orange-haired guy put his hand on his face, "Now where is the president? BRING HIM TO ME!"

He grabbed the girl underneath him and lifted her up to his eye level, "If you don't, I'll blow this place to kingdom come!"

"Sorry," Tanizaki muttered to Naomi, who just shrugged, "It was part of the act."

"Seems like the show is framing it to look like it hurt more than it did," Ranpo observed.

Naomi nodded, "It wasn't actually that bad."

The two ADA members and Atsushi watched this happen from a corner.

"He seems like he has a personal grudge," Dazai admits, "That's annoying."

"Agreed." Kunikida muttered.

"Why am I here?" squeaked Atsushi.

"Based on what he's saying, he has a hate for the Agency." Kunikida observed.

Atsushi tried to back out again, but is interrupted by Dazai, " We attract a lot of ill will because of the work we do. That is a military grade bomb, if it detonates, we die."

"OH no." is the only reply Atsushi can muster.

Dazai laughed, "I didn't even hear you say that, but the only thing you could say was 'Oh no?"

Atsushi looked embarrassed, "Sorry but I was kinda numb throughout this entire exchange."

"If we can cover the bomb before it detonates, we can reduce the damage." Dazai eyes Kunikida, "But we have a problem and it's the hostage, we know that he's not only crazy but cruel."

Atsushi finally seemed interested, "Who is the hostage?"

"Her name is Naomi, she's a part-time office assistant."

Atsushi's eyes go cold, "So she's innocent"

"Awwww, Atsushi!" Naomi cooed, "Did you care about me?"

Atsushi nodded, "As far as I knew at them time, you were a friend of Dazai and Kunikida, plus you were a hostage, I wanted to make sure you ended up safe."

"You're such a good person, Atsushi!" beamed Kenji.

"I'd like to think what I was doing is common decency."

Kunikida turns to Dazai, "What should we do?"

"He wants the president, bring him here." Dazai shrugs his shoulders.

"Are you insane?' Kunikida protests, "He'll try to kill the president. We can't let him walk into this situation. Plus he's on a business trip."

Fukuzawa suddenly spoke again, startling the room, "I was actually in the next room over, listening to this whole conversation."

Dazai recoiled, "YOU WERE?"

Fukuzawa nodded, "I wanted to make sure you weren't lying when you said he'd be a good recruit."

"Oh that's embarrassing for me and Kunikida, considering what we did to decide who confronts the bomber."

"Right," Dazai says, "There's only one way to settle this."

He and Kunikida strike poses and, as Atsushi watches, they play a tense game of rock-paper-scissors which Dazai wins.

They all watched this exchange in shock.

"Seriously?" Yosano asked them to which Dazai just shrugged.

Kyouka turned to to Atsushi, "Is this normal Agency behavior?"

"Unfortunately, I think so."

The bomber is starting to look bored when Kunikida speaks to him, "Hey, Easy does it kid."

"Stay away!" the bomber says, "I just want to see the president. Don't try anything or I'll blow this place sky-high."

Kunikida raises his hands, "Ok"

The bomber grins, "I know who you are. You're Kunikida! You want me to lower my guard to use that ability of yours, That won't happen! Lay down on that desk on your hands and knees and keep your feet above your head!"

Kunikida looked up from his notes again, "What exactly were you asking me to do?"

"I have no idea, I was reciting lines from movies, but I kinda got them all mixed up."

"I can tell," Kunikida observes.

Kunikida raises an eyebrow and the bomber reacts, more sweat dripping down his face.

"DO AS I SAY OR I'LL TAKE EVERYONE WITH ME!"

Kunikida sighs, "Fine."

He walks over to the desk and sits down.

"This is bad," Dazai utters, "Because of his grudge, he's researched all the agents. If I try to talk to him, he'll get more angry."

"Whatever shall we do," Dazai eyes Atsushi with the expression of someone who knows exactly what he's doing.

"As soon as I saw his face, I knew." Atsushi informed the room.

Ranpo chugged yet another ramun, "As soon as anyone sees Dazai's face they know, He's an open book."

"HEY," Dazai sounded mildly insulted.

Uh oh.

"Attttssuussshhhiii," drawls Dazai.

"NO"

"I haven't said anything yet."

Atsushi frantically whispers back, "I know what you are going to say."

Dazai's face gets serious. "Listen Atsushi, you're all we've got. You're not a member and the bomber doesn't know you at all."

"That's true," Atsushi says nervously, "But if I go, I won't be able to do anything."

"What kind of attitude is that?" Kenji asked Atsushi, "You gotta be more positive."

Atsushi sighed, "I was kind of in a bad place at the time, I didn't really feel like I could control the tiger. I still don't really feel like I can."

Dazai almost rolled his eyes, Oh you will be able to, Atsushi. Yokohama and Akutagawa need you to.

"I bet you are better than you think."

Kyouka nodded her head enthusiastically at Dazai's words, "I bet you're good at it."

"You'll be fine," Dazai says rummaging around a cabinet, "We just need a distraction. Maybe talk to him, I'll take care of everything else. Here I have an idea, put on an act!"

He hands Atsushi a bunch of newspapers,"Here's some props."

Atsushi takes them.

"Trust me."

Atsushi looks up.

Dazai gives him a grin, "This is child's play compared to what we normally do. You'll do great."

"You are right Dazai." Atsushi says,"Compared to what happens later, this is really stupid."

"See?"

Yosano sighed, "We've even done worse than those things and something tells me that in the future we'll do even harder things."

A quick title card shows that we have reached the middle of the episode.

"DON'T DO IT!"

The bomber glares at the new voice

Atsushi stumbles into the room, shaking like a leaf, "What are you hoping to get out of this? Uh.. This would make your parents really sad."

"What does that even mean," Ranpo says, "You didn't even know this guy."

Atsushi gets defensive, "Well, I never had parents so I wouldn't know what they teach you!"

Kenji makes an odd strangled noise, "That's so sad, Atsushi!"

Atsushi wondered if Kenji even knew what happened to orphans outside of his village.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" shouts the bomber, startling Atsushi so bad that he falls over.

The title card appears next to Atsushi as he mumbles apologies, "S-s-scary."

"I don't know who you are. You are not a member of the agency." The bomber looks very irritated.

"I-I-I'm a newspaper boy," Atsushi stammers, holding up the props Dazai gave him. Kunikida watches him from the desk, looking unamused.

Tanizaki smiles, "A real bomber would not take that at all, They'd blow up the place as soon as a new person entered the area. They wouldn't take a single chance."

Dazai nods, "You need to get better at lying, Atsushi. Or at least thinking before going into a tense situation."

"You are the one who told me to go!" Atsushi insists.

"You are right!" Dazai says cheerfully, "And I apologize, that was a bad call on my part."

"I was just passing by as I was on my route." Atsushi lies terribly.

The bomber calls him out, "Why the hell would you put yourself into this situation?"

Atsushi stands up, "Because what you are doing is not right, No matter how you feel you shouldn't threaten to kill people. Just think about the wonderful things worth living for."

"Yea?" The bomber narrows his eyes, "Like what?"

Kunikida's face is shown, a title card showing his thoughts, "Did you start a thought without thinking it through?"

"Yes,"Atsushi responds to the Kunikida on the screen, "Because Dazai forced me to go out there and risk my life for nothing."

Kyouka interjects, "As a teacher, Dazai should've treated this like a real situation, It would've helped."

"Exactly," Kunikida says, "Thank you Kyouka for pointing this out."

Kyouka looks startled at the praise but then smiles, "You are welcome!"

She seems to relax a lot more than she had been, immediately following this. Instead of curling in on herself, she sits up straight and her limbs look looser and more comfortable.

Atsushi swallows nervously, "TEA ON RICE."

Kunikida's head falls in exacerbation, "That's true."

"Tea on rice is something to live for," Atsushi's voice gets steadier, "And sleeping somewhere with a roof over your head."

The bomber looks utterly confused by this turn of events.

Yosano grins, "Look at Tanizaki's face!"

"He looks so confused," Naomi chuckles, gripping her brother's arm, which he tries to wrangle himself out of.

"I'd be confused in his place as well," Dazai said, "I didn't tell him anything about Atsushi before this, so this was Tanizaki's first impression."

"Oh wow that's embarrassing," Atsushi buried his face into his hands.

Tanizaki ruffles his own hair, "I thought you looked nice, Atsushi. Even if you were a bit hysterical."

"Wow," Atsushi rolled his eyes, "I feel so much better."

"And walking outside and thinking about how pretty everything is," Atsushi stutters out, "But if you push that button, neither of us will ever see it again. Because we'll be dead."

The bomber's voice grows angry, "I understand that."

"WAIT!" Atsushi shouts, throwing his arms above his head, "Have you really thought above this from every angle? I mean, If you die….

YOU'RE REALLY DEAD."

"Brilliant observation, Atsushi!" Ranpo comments, "You'll be a master detective, like me, in no time."

Yosano bites her own tongue to keep from laughing out loud at Atsushi's dilemma.

Kenji has no such composure and laughs loudly at Atsushi's expense.

Atsushi clearly doesn't know what to say so he just keeps talking, "I mean sure some people's lives are awful, but they keep on living, Just like me! I have no family or friends either, I even got chased out of an orphanage. I have no hope for the future."

"What's worse," Atsushi stares at his own hand, seeming like he's about to cry, "I turn into a wild tiger."

The bomber's face is a look of utter confusion, he obviously doesn't know what to do about this guy who's unloading all this on him.

Yosano loses it at the look at Tanizaki's face her laughing sparking a chain reaction as the ADA including Atsushi, himself starts laughing.

"Tanizaki's face makes it!" Ranpo screeches with laughter as Tanizaki's face gets redder and redder.

Dazai laughs as well, "It was pretty entertaining to watch Atsushi attempt to talk since it was obvious you were dying on the inside."

Kyouka sighs, "This is hard to watch."

"It may be true that I lack any redeeming qualities and everyone agrees that I am a useless member of society," The determined glint grows a bit in Atsushi's eyes, "But at least I'm still alive and I haven't gone psycho!"

Dazai crouches behind a counter, getting ready to strike, "Looks good Atsushi. It's almost like this isn't an act for you!"

"Why don't you put down the bomb detonator?" Atsushi basically runs up to the bomber's face, "AND WE CAN LOOK FOR JOBS TOGETHER!"

A title card clicks on screen, "Did you forget you're a newspaper boy already?"

Atsushi's face gros red, "I didn't even remember being a paperboy when I started yelling, which is odd because I was holding newspapers. All I remember was being very annoyed about Tanizaki throwing his life away like that."

"That's a perfectly reasonable reason to get angry," Kunikida said, "Some people are just that desperate for a way out."

Dazai falls silent, knowing most of the ADA is looking at him. Please nobody ask.

Nobody does and for that, he is grateful.

"No thanks," The bomber edges backwards, "I'm not really looking for work these days."

Dazai seizes his chance, "NOW"

Kunikida quickly scribbles something down in his notebook, "ON IT!"

"Ability: Doppo Poet!"

The symbols with "Doppo Poet" are created, before splitting in half. Kunikida shouts, "WIRE GUN," as the piece of paper he's ripped out of his notebook transforms into an actual wire gun.

"CRAP!" the bomber screeches as Kunikida aims the gun, hitting the detonator out of his hand.

Dazai jumps on a desk, "Get him, Kunikida!"

Kunikida grabs the bomber's shirt and throws him down on his back, "I already said I'm on it!"

Yosano shakes her head, " I still can't believe you two work so well together yet, constantly argue and fight."

Dazai rolls his eyes, "It's a gift."

"It sure is something alright," Kunikida says with a click of his pen.

Dazai's shit eating-grin returns, "My old partner acted a lot like Kunikida and we worked pretty well together."

"All this about your old partner," Ranpo gestures with his ramun, "You've never mentioned them before."

Dazai shrugs, "Never felt a need to, besides I can't even tell you why we worked together."

Tanizaki sighs, "That's right it's part of your nonexistent old job."

Dazai sighs, "I actually did have a job before this one, How many times must I tell you this?"

"I'm sorry if your current attitude prevents us from believing you when you tell us about your old job," Kunikida says.

Dazai shrugs, "When you figure it out you'll feel very stupid."

Dazai saunters over to Atsushi, "OK everyone, the man is down, Well done!"

Atsushi breathes a sigh of relief. Kunikida picks up the detonater as the secretaries clap.

Kunikida glares at Dazai, "One man down, Are you kidding me? Sure it was one guy, but I had to do the hard physical work, you are all talk and no action."

"No I'm not! I do plenty of hard work." Dazai mutters.

"Not really," Yosano, Atsushi and Kunikida said at the same time.

Dazai slumps down angrily.

Dazai leers, "Don't be ridiculous, it was my only option. Besides.."

"You lost Rock-Paper-Scissors."

Kunikida glowers, "Bastard."

"All's well that ends well teammate. At least we are all in one piece!" Dazai's face glows, but quickly changes tunes, "But I've been meaning to tell you, I heard that if you are too neurotic, your aging becomes accelerated."

Kunikida blinks, "Is this true?"

"Yes," Dazai widens his eyes to look more innocent, "Write it down."

Kunikida begins to write in his notebook as Dazai turns away, "I'm messing with you."

The pen snaps in half and so does Kunikida's temper and he literally kicks Dazai into a door, "You WEASEL! I'll teach you to stop ridiculing me!"

Fukuzawa pushes a teacup to his lips, "One of these days, if you do that in front of a villain, you'll end up losing the fight,"

"Actually," Ranpo points out, "The fact that Dazai and Kunikida were arguing shows that the threat of the bomb wasn't a real one, If this was a real situation they would've been disarming the bomb by now."

Atsushi cocked his head, "I didn't notice that."

"Of course not, you are not a master detective."

In that instant the bomber gets up again and makes a scramble for the device.

"Now you pay!" the bomber laughs, holding the device up like a trophy, "I swear anyone with abilities is not totally right in the head!"

He clicks the red activation button.

"There's actually a weird sense of satisfaction from clicking a button like that," Tanizaki observed randomly.

Kenji nodded, "It's because of the colors and the primal thrill of causing destruction."

"What's that?" Kyouka asked.

"The urge of a human to build something up only to see it destroyed," Kenji keeps the smile on his face even while discussing destruction.

A thirty second timer appears on the bomb located next to Atsushi and Kunikida takes quick action to try and help Atsushi, but is tackled by the bomber.

"KUNIKIDA" Atsushi screams, and then looks at the device, What should I do?

He has a flashback to Dazai explaining that it might be possible to reduce the blast, Something to cover the bomb.

He glances rapidly around, "Something to cover!"

"There's actually purposefully nothing that you could use to cover the bomb," Dazai says, "We wanted to see how you would improve a solution to the small problem of limited time and a literal live bomb."

Kyouka put a finger to her mouth, " What were some other solutions?'

Kunikida pursed his lips, "He could have thrown the bomb out the window, which would result in civilian casualties, he could have destroyed the bomb with the tiger, but there was a risk of it being a live wire. There's a lot of solutions but not very many of them are clean."

Naomi sighed, "I'm just glad he didn't use me as a human shield."

"THAT WAS A SOLUTION?"

He manages to catch Naomi's terrified eyes in that moment and makes his decision shoving her as hard as he can towards Dazai, who is running over to help.

"Atsushi!"

Atsushi curls up around the bomb and lays down on the floor, "I guess I really am crazy."

"You fool!" Dazai shouts, followed by Kunikida agreeing, "Don't!"

The timer hits zero and the screen cuts to all white.

Atsushi is shown, eyes squeezed shut and it slowly dawns on him that he's alive.

"Geez," Kunikida says, "You know I figured you were stupid but not that stupid."

"Ouch Kunikida," Tanizaki says, "A bit harsh of you don't you think?"

Kunikida exhales, "It was a pretty dumb decision on Atsushi's part."

The bomber hesitantly peeks out from behind Kunikida, Dazai laughs, "He's got the talent to become a suicidal maniac, right Tanizaki?"

The bomber, now named, Tanizaki deflats, "Sorry," he says to Atsushi, "Are you ok?"

Atsushi rapidly blinks as he tries to understand, "Huh?"

"My brain still thought of you as the bomber," Atsushi admitted to Tanizaki, who looked mildly embarrassed.

"Sorry again about that."

Namoi runs up, stars and hearts around her, "Oh my sweet big brother!"

She jumps on Tanizaki, "I'm so glad that you are alright!"

Atsushi watches them as Naomi continues to rave about her brother.

A title card appears next to the two reading, "Tanizaki Junichiro, Ability: Light Snow. Tanizaki Naomi, His Younger Sister."

"Yay!" Naomi dances in joy, "We finally get our official introductions!"

Tanizaki hums in agreement, "They even got my ability name correct."

Atsushi nods in agreement, "It is a bit odd that everything is super exact."

"I find it a bit unnerving," Yosano says, and is about to continue when Kyouka interrupts, "If things continue this way then you can probably figure out important info about your enemies and allies."

"A smart observation, Kyouka!" Dazai praises her, her mouth turning up in a happy smile.

Naomi smiles and talks quickly, "You were such a great actor and I loved every second of your performance! I had so much fun being tied up and threatened!"

Atsushi glares at both Kunikida and Dazai.

"So she was in on it too?"

Kunikida sighed, "If you are mad then you should blame Dazai, or yourself. After all you chose a dumbass like him to help you find a job."

"That's true Atsushi," Kenji pointed out, "What made you think Dazai would be able to help you with finding a job?"

"Well, he was the only person who I knew some what and he was the only person that was near me"

"Both of those are hard reasons to argue with," Yosano smiled.

"Wait," Atsushi hesitated, "Does that mean this is the job?"

"It sure is!' Dazai flips his hair. "I told you there was test!"

"As in an entrance exam…" Atsushi trailed off

A man walked into the room, looking very serious, "Exactly."

One of the waiting secretaries turned to him, "The exam has been completed without any complications, President"

"Hey," Kenji observes, "Its Haruno!"

Tanizaki nodded, "And Fukuzawa is here too."

Fukuzawa opened one steel gray eye to observe himself on the screen and smiling for a second before closing his eye.

He nodded at her, "Good."

"President?" Atsushi squeaked.

A title care appeared next to the president, which read Yukichi Fukuzawa, Ability: All Men are Equal.

"Dazai came into my office saying that his work had led him to run into a capable young man, but I wanted more than his word so I had a test conducted," Fukuzawa explained.

"You did good!" Dazai spread his arms with a grin, "I asked the agency hire you, but there was disagreement among the ward since you are technically a major threat."

"Then Dazai asked me a question," Fukuza lowered his head.

A flashback occured with Fukuzawa sitting at his desk with Dazai speaking to him, "President, what if the most gifted person in the world came into the office wanting to work here, Would you hire them?"

Yosano shook her head, "Of course not. That is not how the Agency operates. Even if the strongest man in the world walked in here, he might not have the strength of character that drives a member of the agency. That's why most of us were chosen."

Ranpo puffed out his cheeks, 'If someone isn't dedicated to these ideals, they were the most likely to run when things get violent. Even abandoning teammates and civilians to save their own life."

"Its cowardly," Kunikida spits, "That is why I believed you were an ideal fit for the Agency, Atsushi. You didn't run away from the danger, but rather you sacrificed yourself, even if it was dumb."

"Thanks guys," Atsushi mumbled, turning to a big eyed Kyouka.

"Do you think I can join the Agency?" She asked him earnestly.

He paused, "I bet if we gave you a test that you would pass with flying colors."

"You think?" Kyouka asked.

"In fact I bet you'd be the best member," Atsushi informed her, watching her face light up

"Power alone doesn't make someone a member of the agency."

Dazai grinned, "That's exactly why I'm recommending him."

The flashback ends and Kunikida turns to the president, "With that in mind, have you made your decision?"

After a very long pause, Fukuzawa turns around, "I'll let Dazai decide."

"You can trust me sir," Dazai says to Fukuzawa's retreating back.

"Can he really trust you?" Ranpo rolls his eyes, not noticing Dazai's cringe.

Kunikida agreed with Ranpo, "You'd probably blow up the entire office in a grandiose suicide attempt."

"Do you really think so little of me?" Dazai protested.

"You are very unpredictable Dazai," Kenji says, "We don't really know what you're thinking."

Dazai lifts his brows, "Who says that's not intentional?"

That shut up a good number of the ADA.

Atsushi stands up still holding the bomb, "Hold on, this is happening too fast, Does this mean the job you said this morning was-"

Dazai's eyebrow raises, "You passed the test, Welcome to the Armed Detective Agency."

Naomi drags a protesting Tanizaki over to Atsushi, "Great! I'm glad I was able to help."

"Congrats," Tanizaki tells him.

"No no no, " Atsushi protests, still holding the bomb, "This job is way too violent for me, you guys are very reckless."

"Too violent?" Yosano asks Atsushi, "Since when?" Her voice is filled with laughter as she speaks, like she's trying not to laugh.

Atsushi nervously chuckles in response, "Yea too violent."

His brain went to what he know was going to happen soon, he remembered it well. The crackling of red lightning as he fell to the floor, blood coating his vision and his screams filled his own ears.

He wished Kyouka didn't have to see it.

"Yet you're the one who threw yourself on a bomb to protect everyone here. That takes a special kind of person."

"He's right!" Naomi says, squeezing her brother's arm, "You were really brave!"

Dazai's gaze softens, "You'll be fine."

Atsushi rolls his eyes, "Will I?"

"OH?" Ranpo exclaims gleefully, "That was very sassy of you!"

Atsushi sighs, "I suppose it was."

The camera shifts to show Fukuzawa sitting at his desk, sipping tea. One of the secretaries stands in front of him, a title card next to her revealing her name, "Haruno Kirako."

"Do you think the young man performed well?" She asks.

Fukuzawa doesn't respond merely showing her his tea cup. "Oh," She comments, "A tea leaf standing straight up, It looks like a very good omen."

Fukuzawa takes a sip of his tea and chokes, "Too hot."

The whole ADA turned and stared at their president, who had the decency to look a bit ashamed. " I think blowing on tea is weird," he offers.

"It's very common for me to burn my tongue on tea because of this."

Kenji nodded enthusiastically, " You learn something new everyday!"

Ranpo took a very loud bite out of the caramel corn he'd created, chewing with apprehension.

"Now" Dazai's voice cuts in as he stares at Atsushi, "Obviously, we can't force you to join the Agency. But if you don't there are a lot of things we should do. You'd have to vacate your Agency residence, You not really have skills or friends who can help you get a job and let's not forget that you are a wanted tiger with a major bounty on your head. Should anyone figure that out you'd get arrested or shot dead."

"I think those were all very well-thought out and valid reasons for why you should stay with us!" Naomi exclaimed excitedly.

"And I'm glad I stayed," Atsushi replied, "But at the time I was mad at Dazai for being very logical."

Dazai smirked at Ranpo, "See I can be logical sometimes."

Ranpo just took another, rather condescending bite of popcorn.

"SHOT DEAD," Atsushi panicked.

"But if you were with us!" Dazai shoots Atsushi a shit-eating grin, "You'd be happier."

"So I'm stuck here."

"Welcome aboard!" Naomi says, "We are excited to work with you! Right Tanizaki!"

Tanizaki gets squeezed very hard by Naomi's arms as she hugs him.

"Just follow the rules," Kunikida sits down, looking annoyed as usual.

"Well," Dazai puts his hands down, "I guess it's settled."

Naomi claps her hands as the screen fades to black, "Wow that was a really good second episode, even if we had seen it before and you-know, been there."

Atsushi nodded, "I didn't realize how much music adds to something, It really boosted the intensity of the test."

"It's interesting seeing what some people were thinking during these scenes, cause it gives a whole new perspective on everything." Tanizaki commented.

"What are you waiting for Maddie?" Kunikida says, annoyed, "Play the next one."

Maddie shakes her head, "This episode isn't over yet."

Music begins to play as a book opens slowly, Atsushi staring at the pages as they begin to fly away. Dazai appearing next to him and then, surprisingly the man in black, holding a book in his hand.

Akutagawa is there, Atsushi felt the utter hatred for this man grow again, Why is he there?

"OMG," Naomi shouts, interrupting Atsushi's inner monologue, "An ending song and I already love it!"

"It is quite catchy," Dazai admits, his head swaying back and forth to the beat.

Atsushi is shown laying down next to Dazai, their hands touching. Then Atsushi stares out of a window at the moon, peace on his face, blue light decorating him.

The the man in black walks away from a silhouette of Yokohama, red lights glowing behind him.

"Why is he there?" Kyouka mutters to Atsushi, her hand tensing, "He shouldn't be there with you and Dazai."

"I don't know," Atsushi admits.

A series of images flash rapidly, then Atsushi stands in front of a wall, his shadow moving to change into a tiger. More images decorate the screen, then Atsushi's hair is shown blowing in the wind.

Kenji blinks, "That's an interesting way of showing your ability, Atsushi."

"I like it," Kyouka says, visibly relaxed now that Akutagawa was gone, "It says that even though the tiger is part of Atsushi, he'll always be a person first."

Yosano runs a hand through her hair, "That's one way of looking at it."

Dazai reaches a hand out and slightly ruffles it. Then another shot of the man in black as he stands at the end of a dark alley, his shadow behind him, not moving as his long coat blows in the wind, his shadow changes colors to become pure white.

"Hmmm" Ranpo says, "That's interesting."

"What," Atsushi asks, tensely. Kyouka next to him, her hands sweaty from fear.

Ranpo put more popcorn in his mouth, "Nothing I just found it interesting that both you and the Dog have shadows that change. The Dog's shadow changes colors, seeming to indicate an internal thing and Atsushi's shadow changes shapes, which seems to show a physical change."

Atsushi glares at Akutagawa's back on the screen, "I don't think he's capable of that."

Surprisingly, Dazai speaks up, "You don't know that Atsushi."

"What does that mean?"

Dazai shrugs, "How many times have you actually seen Akutagawa? Once. Maybe you shouldn't assume everything based on a first meeting?"

"HE HURT KYOUKA!" Atsushi yelled, the fury in his voice obvious.

He put his head down, "I'll never forgive him for it."

Kyouka stared at Atsushi with her eyes wide, Atsushi will never forgive him…

"Alright," Dazai says, putting his hands up.

Atsushi doesn't know. He doesn't know what happened to Akutagawa, he doesn't know what I did. If anything I'm responsible for what happened to Kyouka and Akutagawa.

Dazai's shoulders dropped with the weight of the two assassins' pain.

My fault.

His face is shown, his hair blowing, the screen doused in red. He looks somewhat sad as Dazai's hand appears, reaching out to grab him, but fades before it can touch him.

Atsushi's newfound anger at Dazai didn't subside, "Why are you reaching for him? He doesn't deserve it. If this is supposed to be symbolic than, what are you doing Dazai?"

Dazai remained silent, his head aimed at the floor...

Then Atsushi is thrown into a pool of water, sinking as Dazai's hands appear again, grabbing and touching Atsushi.

The camera shifts to the man in black, who sinks down, blood dripping down his face, breaking the surface of the water.

Fukuzawa observes the silence of Dazai and the scene on the screen.

Interesting… He mentioned that he had some regrets when leaving the Port Mafia.. I wonder if the Port Mafia's dog is one of them..

I better keep an eye on both of them.

The camera follows him as he sits under a bridge, his coat shifting in the wind and a shadow on his face.

Then Atsushi stand in front of a tree peacefully.

The images switch to show the man in black standing with papers flying behind him, then Atsushi with his paws and fangs and then the name of the show, "Bungo Stray Dogs."

Kenji attempts to break the silence, "What do you think that the name of the show means?"

When utter silence answered him, Kenji turned his head towards Kyouka, who looked a bit shell-shocked after the yelling match between Dazai and Atsushi.

They lock eyes and Kenji realizes how young Kyouka is….

He winks at her, and she smiles.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway as a man came into view. His cravat shone white and the tips of his black hair were dusted with ivory. He had no emotion on his face.

Akutagawa…

Kunikida narrowed his eyes at the dog. Having only met him once, he could say that he was strong as a foe, but the recent arguement had made him change his mind.

Dazai knows him.

He wrote this note down in his paper and stared at it, eventually adding something to it.

Dazai knows him well enough to defend him.

A woman was seen, her blonde hair done up in a bun, she leaned against a wall.

This time Tanizaki glared at the screen, "That's her."

They all looked at him, the silence broken by his voice.

"That's the woman who cornered Atsushi, Naomi and I in an alley and shot Naomi."

Naomi nodded tensely then Kyouka interjected.

"That's Higuchi. She works closely with Akutagawa," She paused, " She's nicer than him."

No one knew how to respond to that, so the overpowering silence fell again.

"The man-tiger has been located." She informed the man in black, who walked by her without a sound.

She got up and began to walk next to him, their footsteps echoing in the dank tunnel they were in.

The man and woman walk never to each other and then the man's coat flies up into the air, a red crackling monster emerging. The thing came towards the screen before it faded to black.

Atsushi and Kyouka flinched as Rashomon came roaring to the screen, which faded to black as the episode ended.

No one spoke.. Too shocked to really say anything…

Maddie sighed into the silence