Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume SS - Chapter 2.2

A Certain Explosive - 2

“Mmm…!”

Dazai stretched out an arm after crawling out of the barrel. He must have felt really stiff and sore from being in that position for so long. He swung his hips around and smacked his shoulders to loosen up while Atsushi sat on the barrel’s side and idly watched. But after some time went by…

“Whew. That was painful.” Dazai took a seat by Atsushi. “I owe you one, Atsushi. My body would have been permanently folded straight down the middle if it wasn’t for you.”

“…Why didn’t you ask someone else in the agency for help?”

Dazai placed his hands on his hips, then stretched backward as far as he could.

“I did! I called them and told them I was going to die. And you know what they all said? ‘Congratulations.’ Can you believe it?”

He pulled himself upright, then turned to Atsushi, clearly perturbed.

“Yeah, that makes sense… Ah-ha-ha-ha…”

Atsushi laughed awkwardly, his eyebrow twitching.

It sounded like Dazai’s colleagues already knew exactly what kind of person he was. This was probably an everyday occurrence for them.

“Skill users are all twisted people if you ask me,” Dazai grumbled, facing forward.

Skill users…

Atsushi faced forward as well, lost in thought.

“Dazai…,” he said, lowering his voice.

“Hmm?”

“These…detectives at the Armed Detective Agency—they really are all skill users, right?”

“Yep. We take on foes even the military police can’t handle.”

There was a hint of pride in Dazai’s voice.

Atsushi hung his head and fell silent. Then casting aside any remaining doubts, he continued:

“…I don’t belong here.”

“You’re an amazing skill user yourself.”

“Sure, transforming into a tiger is a unique ability…one I have zero control over. It happens seemingly at random, and it’s not like I can voluntarily transform.”

He couldn’t even remember what happened while he was in his tiger form. No self-awareness, no voice of reason—all he could do was destroy.

This was surely going to end up being no different from when he was at the orphanage.

“So…I don’t think I’m going to be of any help to you guys. I really appreciate the thought, though.” Atsushi hopped off the barrel and looked down at his feet. “I’m sorry.” He dipped his head.

Dazai was still facing forward with his eyes on the dormitory.

“…What do you plan on doing now?” he asked Atsushi.

“I’m going to start looking for a job that even I can do.” Atsushi forced a smile. “I doubt it’ll be easy, though…”

“I know a job you could do.” Dazai glanced at Atsushi out of the corner of his eye, his lips curling into a faint smile. “…I could hook you up, if you want.”

“Really?!”

Atsushi’s face lit up. With Dazai’s help, he might even get a job right away. At the very least, Atsushi felt far more hopeful now, since he had originally planned on aimlessly looking for work on his own.

Visibly excited, he swiftly lowered his head. “Thank you so much!”

Life always extends a hand to you; you’ll never know if it’s a helping hand unless you take it.