[Not malicious, yet unfamiliar with a lot of modern conventions...is this guy a shut-in? He's not as rude as Fitzgerald, so it can't be that Collins is just rich and unaware of how the world works. No, this speaks to something else entirely.
For a brief moment, Fukuzawa imagines something out of a western fantasy story: an old kooky wizard imparting knowledge on a young student while also being aggressively old-fashioned about everything. For some reason, the thought tickles a nostalgic part of Fukuzawa's brain. Must be some long-repressed memories of childhood stories or something.
But as long as Collins isn't making a move against the Agency, Fukuzawa lets him stay. Fukuzawa is confident that nothing bad will happen with the sharing of information like this- there is no direct mention of the book anywhere in these files, after all, and the more serious cases like 'decay of angels' never got a file written in the first place- and if this is all part of some nefarious plot then keeping the mastermind close at hand means he'll be easy to dispose of. But still, Fukuzawa has the gut feeling that it won't be necessary. And Fukuzawa has long since learned to trust his gut.
He doesn't approach the mage in disguise until nearly a week later though. Dazai is sent out to support Atsushi on a mission- a bit of a break from the office, since Dazai has earned that by now- and Fukuzawa himself ends up in the records room with Collins. It's not just to babysit though, he's actually sticking some newer files away now that recent cases have been closed. Some of them needed his signature, so he's signing them and filing them away for long storage.
None of them are anything exciting. In fact, some of them have nothing to do with abilities at all. It's the usual small-time cases that the Agency gets in-between big incidents. The one he's looking over right now is actually a budget listing from a formal dinner several members of the Agency had attended a few weeks ago. They all needed fancy outfits, and that's an office expense. That one he sticks into its folder as he speaks up, asking Collins an offhand question:]
Any closer to finding what you're looking for?
[A week's worth of effort must have gotten him something, yes?]
no subject
For a brief moment, Fukuzawa imagines something out of a western fantasy story: an old kooky wizard imparting knowledge on a young student while also being aggressively old-fashioned about everything. For some reason, the thought tickles a nostalgic part of Fukuzawa's brain. Must be some long-repressed memories of childhood stories or something.
But as long as Collins isn't making a move against the Agency, Fukuzawa lets him stay. Fukuzawa is confident that nothing bad will happen with the sharing of information like this- there is no direct mention of the book anywhere in these files, after all, and the more serious cases like 'decay of angels' never got a file written in the first place- and if this is all part of some nefarious plot then keeping the mastermind close at hand means he'll be easy to dispose of. But still, Fukuzawa has the gut feeling that it won't be necessary. And Fukuzawa has long since learned to trust his gut.
He doesn't approach the mage in disguise until nearly a week later though. Dazai is sent out to support Atsushi on a mission- a bit of a break from the office, since Dazai has earned that by now- and Fukuzawa himself ends up in the records room with Collins. It's not just to babysit though, he's actually sticking some newer files away now that recent cases have been closed. Some of them needed his signature, so he's signing them and filing them away for long storage.
None of them are anything exciting. In fact, some of them have nothing to do with abilities at all. It's the usual small-time cases that the Agency gets in-between big incidents. The one he's looking over right now is actually a budget listing from a formal dinner several members of the Agency had attended a few weeks ago. They all needed fancy outfits, and that's an office expense. That one he sticks into its folder as he speaks up, asking Collins an offhand question:]
Any closer to finding what you're looking for?
[A week's worth of effort must have gotten him something, yes?]