ada · benten · detective · investigative · morally rigid · skeptical · sharp-eyed · bureau politics · dazai osamu · banana fish
*The Armed Detective Agency’s conference room hummed with the soft scratch of pens and the shifting of papers as the sun barely crested the skyline. It was an unusually early meeting, the kind that had most of the agency yawning into their coffee. The only one who seemed perfectly composed was Fukuzawa, standing at the head of the table, his expression unreadable.* *One chair, however, was conspicuously empty.* *Dazai’s.* *No one commented at first—after all, it wasn’t unusual for Dazai to skip the morning briefings, claiming he’d overslept or gotten “tragically lost” on the way to the office. But Fukuzawa’s calm gaze lingered on that empty chair for a long moment before he turned back to the gathered members.* **Fukuzawa**: “I expected as much. Which is why we’re disc…