Atsushi request by @SouthEastOtaku-Nese.
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Atsushi drawled around in the office, it being his first time on the job after all. He still wondered why Dazai picked him up in the first place, even if it was a charitable action it still didn't help Atsushi's thoughts. He glanced down at the tile floor wondering if he really would be right for this job. Suddenly he got distracted by some loud chatter outside of the room. Raising a brow in curiosity he went to go investigate. He peeked through the door seeing Tanizaki, Naomi, and another girl he did not know. From what he saw she had (h/c) (h/l) hair, (s/c) skin, and he heard her laughing along with Tanizaki and Naomi.

"So I heard you had gotten a new recruit is that true?" He heard her ask.

"Yes, Nakajima Atsushi is his name. You would like him (Y/n)-san." Tanizaki said.

'Like me? Who would like me?' He thought.

"I bet, I can't wait to see him." She said with a grin. His eyes widened slightly at the girls words. She seemed honestly excited to see him of all people, he never had this kind of treatment before.

"Oh? Hey Atsushi!" Tanizaki waved to him. He flinched as his hiding spot was uncovered, and he walked out into the open. The girl turned to him with a curious look eyeing him silently. They both took in each other's appearances. Atsushi somehow became mystified with this so called (Y/n)'s appearance. Her (long/medium/short) (h/c) hair complemented her skin, and her (e/c) were shimmering in a very enthralling way.

Meanwhile (Y/n) was observing Atsushi, analyzing him. She put her fingers on her chin like a stereotypical detective. She walked around him humming and her eyes glazing over him. The more she did this the more Atsushi became nervous and jittery.

"Hmm.." You narrowed your eyes, and then snapped your head towards Tanizaki.
"I like him already!" You said grinning and giving a thumbs up.

"Wow really? You don't say that often about people you just met." Naomi said a little surprised.

"U-Uh what?!" Atsushi stammered confused.
You held out your hand in a greeting while grinning playfully.

"Heya Nakajima-kun, my name is (L/n) (Y/n)! It's.." You trailed off and then pulled out a cheese grater, "GRATE to meet you!" You exclaimed.

Atsushi blinked a couple of times trying to process what was going on.
Naomi snickered while Tanizaki rolled his eyes, "There she goes." He said.

Atsushi stared at your expression, you just smiled at him and glanced at your hand. Atsushi hesitated before finally shaking it.

"Uh, i-it's nice to meet you (L/n)-san. Um why do you have a cheese grater?" Atsushi asked.

"Oh this is for my Home Ec class. I just found the opprotunity to make a joke." You said while rubbing the back of your head sheepishly.

"She does this all the time." Tanizaki commented.
"And Naomi somehow finds all of her jokes funny." He added looking at her.

"We are friends after all." You said back to him laughing. Atsushi didn't know why but he started to grow fond of  your laugh, not even your laugh but your smile. It looked like it could light even the darkest void.

"Sooo Nakajima-san want to come with us to the new bakery down in the city. It's gonna be SWEET! Aha!" You once again laughed at your own joke.

"Ehhh not your best one." Tanizaki commented. Atsushi saw how carefree you were, and how you were able to spread that feeling to both Tanizaki and Naomi. He craved to be a part of that, to be care free and not have a worry in the world. But of course fate was not on his side, he was cursed with his power, his thoughts...his past. The  more he thought about it the more dark his mind became.

"Yoooo!" (Y/n) waved a hand in front of his face. He blinked before snapping his head towards her.

"You seemed spacey there. So are you coming?" She asked tilting her head slightly.
Atsushi scratched his cheek while glancing to the side.

"I don't know..." He said quietly.

(Y/n) blinked before grinning and grabbing his hand.
"Of course you are!" She exclaimed starting to drag him.

"Eh?! W-Wha-Wait a minute!" Atsushi tried to regain his balance from the hyper girl pulling him.
"You're gonna have a CAKEFULL of fun!" She exclaimed.
Tanizaki facepalmed, and both he and Naomi walked along side of you two.

"(L/n)-san!" Atsushi said with a slight whine.

"Call me (Y/n)! I'm going to make it goal to make you my friend! Ok Atsushi-kun?" She asked. His cheeks turned pink as he felt a warm feeling invade him. He somehow liked you calling him by his first name, it felt...right.

"...Ok." He said giving up.

"Yay!" You cheered beaming a smile. Atsushi took one glance at your expression, and felt a tiny smile invade his face.
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You and Naomi howled with laughter as you started spewing jokes and very bad puns left and right. Tanizaki covered his face with his hand as he felt nothing but embarrassment, while Atsushi watched you two in amusement.

"Ok ok I got another one!" You declared.

"Oh god let it end." Tanizaki groaned pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So one guy goes camping in the woods, and suddenly he's in front of a wild black bear. That trip became unBEARable!" You and Naomi covered your mouths as small sounds of snickers escaped.

"Booo!" Tanizaki exclaimed giving you a thumbs down.

Atsushi smiled as he watched you, Tanizaki, and Naomi interact once again. This is what he always wanted...friends and time to actually spend with people his age. It was the most wonderful feeling, to feel like himself around those he cared about instead of a failure. A person forever caged in his own failures. He especially found this connection to you, your mood instantly made him forget his own thoughts, even if it was just a moment. You continued to tell her jokes constantly giving a light hearted mood to the are around her.

"Hm I was trying to think of deer pun, but I can't...aw well at least I'm having FAWN!" She exclaimed.

Atsushi chuckled at her joke finally letting the mood take him over.
"Ah! Hey I got you to laugh!" (Y/n) pointed out and smiled with a content expression.

"Success!" She cheered.

"Is that why you were telling those lame jokes? To get Atsushi to laugh?" Tanizaki asked.

"That's right!" You declared. Atsushi's eyes widened slightly as he looked into your own eyes. He found something in there, something screaming to him...'I want to save you.'

Finally an hour and a half past; you all left the bakery bidding goodbye.

"Bye Tanizaki-kun, Naomi-chan, Atsushi-kun! I'll be there again tomorrow!" You called to them waving. You finally walked into the direction of your house while the other three went back to the Agency. Atsushi lingered a bit as he watched you walk away, he felt his heart beat remembering the look in your eyes.
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~Time skip 2 weeks later~

"Heyo! I'm back!" You declared as you slammed open the doors to the Agency.

"Hello (Y/n)-chan..." Tanizaki greeted you with a melancholic tone.

"What's up with the dreary atmosphere in here?" You asked.

"Well..." Tanizaki trailed off as he rubbed his arm.
"Tanizaki-kun...what's wrong?" You asked dropping your care free expression for once. He explained the whole story of what happened the past 2 weeks. You never knew of the Agency's activities unless Tanizaki or Naomi told you. Your eyes widened as you heard the entire story, your jaw clenched as you went to search for one person.
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"Atsushi-kun!" You called as you burst open the door to his house. You remembered he had told you about the house the Agency had given him and ended up running there.

"Come on Atsushi-kun!" You called searching the entire house. You went into a vacant room, or at least you had thought it was vacant. There was a futon sloppily sprawled on the floor, and a bump under the covers. You huffed as you walked into the room. You kneeled down near the futon poking the bump under the blankets.

"Atsushi-kun....heeeeeyyy Atsushi-kun. Come out." You said with a pleading tone. There was no response.

"Come oooonnn, for me please?" You pleaded. Atsushi moved just a tiny bit, but he remained under the covers.

"Well then what you need is a full dosage of jokes prescribed by yours truly." You bumped your chest with a sly smile.

"Ok, what did the ocean say to the boat? Nothing it just WAVED!" You exclaimed, again no response.

"Even if you're not responding I'm staying, I'm STANDING MY GROUND, on this one." You said. Once again the same result, and at this point you were getting worried. You had developed a special bond with Atsushi over the time you had visited, or more like barged into according to Tanizaki, the Agency. You knew just from looking at him that he was drowning...drowning in self-doubt, failure, and the darkness of his own mind.

You didn't want that, you didn't want someone to lose themselves because of the temptations of fate...like you almost did.

"Come on Atsushi-kun, what can I do to make you come out?" You asked this time in desperation.

"There's nothing you can do (Y/n)...she's gone, and it's my fault." He said quietly.

"No Atsushi-kun, it's not. I'm sure whatever it was you are definitely not responsible for Kyouka's disappearance." You said.

He got up from the covers glaring at you in anger, not angry at you but more at himself. "You don't understand! I was there yet I was powerless, even with the ability of mine I still screwed up. I failed." He said with his voice cracking.

You sat down on the floor staring at him, and finally looked to the ground. "It was something you couldn't control Atsushi-kun, sometimes things don't go in your favor. But...it's how you handle it is what matters. Ok so you failed, but mulling over it is not going to get you anywhere." You said. Atsushi listened to your ramblings as they started to influence his way of thinking.

"Wanna hear another joke?" You asked with a smile, but Atsushi could tell this smile wasn't one of happiness.

"Me..." You said. He looked at you confused until he saw tears glistening in your eyes.

"Here I am trying to cheer you up with jokes despite it being a serious situation. You remind me of what I used to be a few years ago...when my younger brother died." You said looking distantly at the floor.

"I always blamed myself because I was unable to save him from his own demise. I guess I was just a crappy sister. I would've just sat around depressed, but then I remembered what he did. He would always tell a joke to at least save the smiles of people who don't deserve to be tortured by sad fates. Just saving that one shred of innocence, and here I am trying to do the same thing to you. Trying to save the suffering through light hearted prattle and smiles." You explained. You ran your hand through your hair as tears spilled from your eyes. You looked at him chuckling, "It's just one big joke isn't it?" You said while wiping your eyes with your sleeves. Atsushi joined in your tears as his own spilled from his eyes.

"I'm...sorry." He said, his voice cracking from anguish.

'Look at this, you made her cry.' His own mind yelled at him.

You hugged him as you smiled slightly. "You got nothing to apologize for. I just want to see that smile you always show me. I'm not joking now when I say pick yourself up after you failed Atsushi. You'll find Kyouka." You said. Atsushi finally felt overwhelming emotion as he held you close crying his eyes out. After about a minute you faced him once more wiping his wet face with your uniform sleeves.

"You can do it, you're PAWesome after all." You said grinning at him. He blushed once again as he felt his heart race at your expression. Once again he felt the warmth, he saw the eyes that said 'I want to save you.' This time he was going to take her advice, no more self pity.

He smiled slightly while facing you with a slight blushing face.
"Thank you (Y/n), your jokes are PAWfect." He said.

"Haha! You said a joke! I'm rubbing off on you!" You exclaimed, your playful personality returning to you once more. He smiled in amusement as he watched you gush over his pun. It was the moments like this he enjoyed the most with you, and this time he was determined to protect.

A/N: Ok it went from fluffy humor to feels to humor again. I didn't know what my mind was thinking when I wrote this. I was chatting with my senior friends and we came up with a bunch of puns and I got inspired. Btw Here  Kyouka is seen as a little sister. Anyways...up next depending on the requests:
Dazai x Pregnant Reader

Dazai x Ajin! Reader

Man people really love Dazai, I'm surprised no one requested Ranpo.