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In her desk, Haruno keeps a tally of Dazai’s fake laugher versus his real laughter.
It’s not like she’s exceptionally talented at reading people. She’s no Dazai, let alone Ranpo. She doesn’t need to be. See, she and Dazai joined the Agency at around the same time, so she’s had ample opportunity to watch Dazai’s antics. Plus, when Dazai’s playing tricks on his coworkers, he usually ignores the clerks in favor of one of the detectives, most often Kunikida.
(God bless Kunikida, and may he find a migraine medicine with no side effects someday.)
Dazai’s actual laughter only comes when he’s surprised, which means it hardly ever comes at all. In two years Haruno’s seen him really laugh only a handful of times. The difference is obvious when you know what to look for: Dazai’s actual laughter puffs out his cheeks much more and it’s not as loud.
It’s not hard to understand that Dazai’s irresponsible, carefree prankster persona is an act. Haruno may not know the real Dazai as well as the detectives do, but she knows that there’s more beyond the surface level.
If it’s possible, she’d like to add to the pathetic column of real laughter tallies. So…
“Dazai-san, are you busy?” she asks, after she announces she’s going on break.
“Nope!” Dazai says with a bright smile. Given that he was lounging on the couch rather than doing any work, his answer comes as no surprise.
“Great! Then, come with me for a second!”
Haruno grabs a hold of Dazai’s arm. She already knows he isn’t used to casual physical contact, and she’s not ashamed to use that to get him off balance if necessary. Dazai’s eyes widen minutely, but his mask is already back in place as he lets her drag him outside.
“Being whisked away by a beauty, how romantic~ Is our destination the river for a double-”
“Shut up,” Haruno interrupts, without losing her cheery tone. She’s not that desperate to make him smile, thanks.
Their destination is a street fair, specifically a booth offering face painting. Haruno pays for the both of them before Dazai can even ask why she dragged him out here for this.
“Do you want to be a beautiful butterfly, Dazai-san? Or maybe a cute, cute kitty?” Haruno’d be lying if she said she wasn’t biased towards the cat options on the list, and she’s definitely going to pick one for herself, but Dazai comes first today.
“Hmmm…” Dazai peruses the list. “Do you think Atsushi-kun would get mad if I came back as a white tiger?”
“I think he’d be happy and then get embarrassed about being happy,” Haruno replies, steering Dazai into the chair.
“A hundred yen says Kunikida-kun yells at him for being distracted.”
“Two hundred says he drops whatever he’s holding when you come back.” She loves Atsushi, really, and she wouldn’t make a mean-spirited bet against him. Her coworker’s just so easy to tease.
Dazai hums thoughtfully as the artist picks out their paints. “Three hundred says he walks into a wall.”
“Four hundred says he tries to blame thinking you’re cute on the tiger, then starts blushing when someone points out that he thinks you’re cute all the time.” Haruno hasn’t only been paying attention to Dazai, of course.
Just before the painter starts their work, Dazai chuckles. It’s too soft to be anything but genuine, and even if Haruno loses the bet, she’ll consider it well worth four hundred yen to have made Dazai laugh today.
(As it turns out, she gets to keep her money. Atsushi blushes and stammers, and from across the room, Haruno gives Dazai a thumbs up.)