I have been super into Bungou Stray Dogs lately. Excited to finally contribute to the fandom!

Also, I'm very much in love with the idea of Fukuzawa having a soft spot for Atsushi due to his cat status.

Normally, Fukuzawa left the day to day client meetings and request vetting in the more than capable hands of his employees. Kunikida and Tanizaki were excellent when it came to handling people. Even Dazai and Kenji had their individual strengths when it came to charming clients.

However, there were many requests that came directly to Fukuzawa himself. These usually involved government jobs and corporate clients who deemed themselves too self-important to consort with the riffraff.

This request was one such.

It was from the military police, he observed with some curiosity. A large tiger terrorizing the countryside? That was certainly news.

Fukuzawa contemplated the request. He had no doubt that his employees could handle it, but something about it sparked his interest. Or was it his innate caution? The situation outlined was definitely odd. If the tiger had escaped from the zoo, there would have been at least some media coverage. Yet… silence. Press blackout? No, the request would have requested they uphold the blackout if that were the case. Private owner, then. Or smugglers.

Should he give it to Ranpo? He might find tracking the large cat beneath his talents, but the smuggling angle might interest him.

Or there was another possibility at play here.

The cat was clearly smart enough to avoid capture by the military police, and evade most of the regular populace outside specific periods of activity.

An ability user, perhaps?

Dazai and Kunikida, he would send. Dazai for his negation ability, and Kunikida to handle any interactions with the military police.

Although if it turned out to be an actual tiger… they may have issues.

He would notify Yosano and Kenji to be on standby. Just in case.

"President."

Fukuzawa blinked, and met Dazai's unusually serious gaze.

"Suppose the most gifted person in the world appeared before you," he proposed. "Would you hire him?"

An odd question, given the source.

"Power doesn't make you a member of the Agency," Fukuzawa told him.

Dazai smiled. "That's why I recommend him."

"Then I trust your judgement in testing him." Fukuzawa then glanced back down at the report he'd been perusing - the report from the prior night's incident, in fact.

A were-tiger. It was a powerful ability to be sure, and one they had need of. Although all of his personnel were talented and not to be underestimated in a fight, a combat-class ability of this caliber was a much welcome addition. If Dazai was recommending him as well, then there must be other talents being brought to bear here as well.

Provided the young man passed the test, of course.

There was the issue of the threat designation that had to be dealt with, after all.

The youth of the boy had come as both a surprise, and yet not. Younger ability users often could not control their abilities, it was true. It took training, and dedication. It also helped if the person in question was aware of their ability in the first place, and it seemed from Kunikida's report that that was not the case here.

"President."

Fukuzawa looked up into the bright, smiling face of his employee, who was still standing in front of him.

"We're going to have a bomb in the main office this afternoon, so please stay in your office until it's over."

If this had come from anyone other than Dazai, he might have questioned the statement a little more. But this was hardly the first harebrained scheme that had been run through the office, and far from the most hazardous, truth be told.

"…Ah."

Kunikida was going to suffer today, Fukuzawa was certain.

"Where's the president? Bring the president!"

For the second time that morning, Fukuzawa glanced up from his work in surprise. Was that… Tanizaki, he heard?

"If you don't, I'll blow everyone to kingdom come!"

So they had Tanizaki playing the bomber, then. That was rather amusing to Fukuzawa. Yosano would have made a much more convincing villain. But then again, she had met Atsushi Nakajima already. And from the sound of things, Tanizaki was very talented at playing a villain. This was a new side of him.

In a moment of horrifying clarity, Fukuzawa suddenly hoped that the bomb being used was in fact a dud, and not the actual thing. Dazai might have decided to try up the stakes and possibly get himself taken out. No, that was too uncharitable. Dazai did not care to inconvenience other people (with the exception of Kunikida) with his suicide attempts.

As the sounds got louder and louder, Fukuzawa's curiosity grew. So he stood from his desk, walked to the door, and peeked outside. Any possible view of the action was blocked by the bulk of the office assistants, gathered at the end of the hallway worriedly watching the proceedings.

"What's worth living for?"

"T-t-tea on rice! You can eat a lot of tea on rice!"

What an interesting answer.

"You can sleep somewhere with a roof over your head! When you go to sleep at night, you can wake up to a new day! And every day is a new day!"

This confirmed Fukuzawa's suspicions about the young man's life prior to this. Most of the time, those things were taken for granted… until they were no longer an option.

As he went on, Fukuzawa couldn't help but notice the similarities between this young man and Tanizaki. Both in terms of how they thought, and in their situations. Although this sort of speech would generally not work, it would definitely have an impact if Tanizaki really was a bomber. Was it instinct? An innate recognition of someone of like kind?

Was it just luck, or was Atsushi Nakajima also a talented negotiator?

Only time would tell, Fukuzawa decided, when it seemed things were wrapping up. Two things he could conclude from this incident. Firstly, Tanizaki had gotten far more into the villain role than anticipated. Secondly, Atsushi Nakajima had a reckless streak matched only by his selflessness. Time would, again, show whether or not this was an asset or a liability to the young man.

…Was now the time to make his entrance?

"I told you there was a test involved." Dazai said.

"As in, an entrance exam?"

"That's right," Fukuzawa intoned, stepping out fully from his office.

The assistants took note and moved to the sides to let him pass. "The exam has been completed without much ado, president."

"Hmn," he acknowledged. As he entered the room, he took a good, long look at the recruit on the floor, still kneeling on the tiles and hugging the fake bomb to his chest.

So young.

"Since Dazai said there was a capable young man, I had him test your mettle," he explained.

In the end, Fukuzawa left the choice about whether to hire Atsushi to Dazai. Though he knew what the former mafioso would decide, regardless.

They had a new employee.

Fukuzawa wondered if Atsushi would require special accommodations at the office. The boy was a giant cat, after all. In his experience, cats could be very particular. Was catnip necessary? Would that work on an ability-user like it would on a housecat?

Also, did this count as getting an office cat?

I think I'll probably end up writing more for this in the future. I had fun with it.