Soooo, I realized a couple of days ago that I've been mixing Kouyou and Kyouka's names. I've been using Kouyou when meaning Kyouka in the first chapters. I'll get around to fix that! Sorry. Again- new to the fandom.

I might be able to upload another chapter to this story sometime later today, as it is nearly done! I decided that it would be too long compared to the others!

Fukuzawa decided that it was time to bring in the big guns. He walked away from Dazai's room while looking at his phone, pressing the screen and found the number he was looking for.

«President?» was heard from the other side, as Atsushi answered the phone. «Is Dazai okay?»

«Considering the circumstances, yes. But I need you to come back here.»

«Why's that?» he asked worriedly. Fukuzawa scoffed.

«We're gonna have to get to the bottom of this, but Dazai's will not talk to me. I was thinking to use a more... unconventional method. Come over straight away, that's an order.»

A gulp was heard on the other end as Fukuzawa abruptly hung up the phone, not letting his young subordinates ask any more questions.

It didn't take long before Atsushi was walking slightly slumped over through the hospital corridors for the second time that day. He was worried about what his boss would order him to do. Surely he couldn't ask him to torture Dazai. That could not be the unconventional method he had mentioned. Thinking about it, he had some serious doubts that Dazai would crumble under torture anyway. But if not that.. then what?

"Ah, hello Atsushi," Fukuzawa greeted him, waving him over to where he was standing further down the hall.

"President! Wha-what's going on?" Atsushi asked uncertainly and picked up his pace.

"Can you by any chance, cry on command?"

Atsushi stopped, only blinking at the older man. Fukuzawa only stared back, so Atsushi arched his eyebrows.

Nothing.

"Hah?" he uttered, intelligently.

"Can you cry on command?" he repeated as if asking him to hand him the salt.

"I- I don't think I can..?"

"Try."

Atsushi kept staring. 'What the hell is he on about?'

Fukuzawa sighed and scowled at him. "Apparently not." A finger tapped on pouched lips, humming as if he thought for a moment, and proceeded to reach out his hand. Atsushi watched guardedly and leaned slightly forward like his boss' hand was gesturing to do. A sharp pain shot through a part of his nerves system and his eyes grew warm and watery. Atsushi's hands shot to his face, covering his nose in disbelief, where the hairs of his nostrils had been ripped out by his superior.

"There you go!" he exclaimed happily, as the tears started to well up in Atsushi's eyes.

"What'd you do that for?" he cried out. Strong and determined hands shoved the young man towards Dazai's room, while instructions were being given.

"I couldn't get Dazai to talk, and I know he has a soft spot for you. Go get the information we need to move on with the investigation."

"Aaah," was all Atsushi was able to say before he was pushed into the room and the door shut behind him.

"Atsushi?" He heard Dazai's voice ask, and he turned, still covering his nose. The tears were running freely now as he watched his mentor lying in the hospital bed.

"Are you okay?" the dark-haired man asked, tryingly sitting upright. He rolled his eyes when he realized that there was no way.

"I... uh, D-Dazai?" Atsushi stuttered, wiping his eyes and hesitantly approaching the bed. "I'm... I'm sorry, I just- uh..." he sniffled. "I was worried, about you. That's all. About who did this to you," he finally managed to flounder out.

Dazai smiled faintly and pointed to the chair on his left. Atsushi complied, sitting down obediently.

"Atsushi..." Dazai sighed. The younger man lifted his gaze to meet his elders. "I need you to get me out of here."

Atsushi startled with wide eyes, his voice breaking as he uttered, "huh?" He was just full of intelligent responses today, wasn't he?

"I need you to get me out, today. Right now. I have some business to take care of. It might be a matter of life or death," Dazai stared intensely into the wide eyes of Atsushi and continued, "It's absolutely crucial for me to get out at this instance. This whole country might rely on this. Yes, that's right. All of Japan. Do you think you can do that for me?" he asked with intensity.

"Da-Dazai? Are you sure, I mean..." Atsushi felt his breaths getting caught in his throat and his heart raced probably twice as fast as it was supposed to.

"I would have done all of this myself, but... it's kinda hard with the president's outside, guarding me like a dog," he overly-pronounced and half-shouted at the door. The door had miraculously cracked open without Atsushi noticing, and was now quickly shut.

Atsushi still in shock and lips trembling as he looked from Dazai to the door repeatedly. Dazai let out a slight chuckle but looked somewhat unimpressed at Atsushi's' confusion.

"Don't worry, it's not the first time he's tried something like this," Dazai stated, folding his hand at his chest. "Sorry kiddo, my lips are sealed."

"Wait, you're not... you're not really..? Japan isn't in danger?"

"No," he scoffed, with a satisfied grin on his face, before it dropped in annoyance. "I just wanted to get rid of Fukuzawa. He makes it so troublesome to convince any of these beautiful nurses to agree to commit double suicide with me," he sighed dramatically, looking longingly through the window on his right.

The next day, once again- another call came from the hospital to the ADA office.

"What?" Kunikida's voice rung through the room, loud and angry. "What do you mean 'he's gone'?! He has a broken back and a broken leg, he can't exactly just walk out by himself!"

Like the days before, all attention was turned to the tall and bespeckled man. It wasn't as if he tried to hide his outrage as he waved his arms furiously into the air and yelling to what must have been a very distressed nurse at this point.

Kyouka just arrived through the door to the raucous going down in the middle of the room and sat curiously down by Atsushi's desk.

"What's going on?" she whispered to him, deliberately ignoring some of the colorful profanities that embroidered the idealistic man's language, usually reserved for Dazai.

"Apparently Dazai is missing from the hospital," Atsushi answered her, looking horrified and guilty at the same time.

Suspicious eyes looked him over, and Kyouka forcefully turned his face with her hand so he would look her in the eyes. Sharp nails dug into his skin as he let out a small yelp.

"You don't happen to know anything about this jailbreak, do you?" she glared at him.

"No! No no no. I really don't! I swear! It's just-"

"No, you calm down missy! I'd like to speak to your superior! Arranging a search party for that suicidal maniac was not part of my-my... I... I'm sorry. Miss? Don't- don't cry... I'm-"

"It's just what?" Yosano shot in with a soft, yet strangely sensual voice, leaning over the desk, head resting in her hands and letting a generous part of her cleavage spill out between her elbows.

"He- he kinda joked about it yesterday. That's all. Fukuzawa heard it too, just ask him! I didn't take it seriously though."

"Why wouldn't you take it seriously?" Yosano snapped back.

"He told me not to!"

"Have you met Dazai?"

"What's going on in there?" a strong bass voice echoed from the hallway before the door into the shared office landscape was even opened. Fukuzawa entered with an angry grimace, demanding to know why Kunikida was yelling and the rest of the agency seemed to chatter around it instead of working.

"Uh, president, it's..." Kunikida startled.

"Apologize to whoever you are verbally abusing and tell me what's happened!"

"Y-yes, I'm so, so sorry miss. Please, we will see you in a little while. Ilooklikeanavaragehightbrownhairedbandagewastingmummiewithastupidsmirkonmystupidface." And he hung up, receiving a poisonous stare from his superior.

Kunikida cleared his throat. "Sir, Dazai seems to have disappeared from the hospital sometime during the night."

"Ah, yes. I know," Fukuzawa simply stated.

"You knew?"

"Yes. Atsushi too. He was there."

The stares turned to Atsushi, who squirmed in his seat. "N-no, I didn't! Not really... for...sure." Atsushi swung his head down in defeat. 'I guess I should've known'.

It rained heavily as Dazai with poorly hidden difficulty stepped out of the cab, leaning unsteadily on his crutches. He had gotten a strict message from the doctors that he was in no way, shape or form to leave the hospital yet, even though he had really turned on his charm and tried to sweet talk with anyone who would listen- which turned out to be frustratingly few. He wondered if it had anything to do with the three more times he had sung the Greek national anthem to get rid of the guards on his suicide watch.

(...)

God dammit, he was in pain. How in the world could the doctors and the others at the agency think that he would inflict this amount of pain on himself again, for the second- no wait, it was also that time at the shopping mall... Well, a third time! They must really think he was stupid if he hadn't figured out that jumping off buildings was a much too painful way to go, after three attempts.

His eyes gazed at the old abandoned church in front of him. He couldn't understand why in the world they wouldn't just have knocked the whole... unholy fucking abomination down years ago. What was the point of leaving it? He should've done it himself when he had the chance. Long before it would come to haunt him again, after almost ten years of being buried, deep down in the lowest depths of his fractured mind.

Now it was too late. He needed it again.