Chapter Text
Akutagawa wakes up to find himself tied to a chair with a man pacing in front of him. He seems agitated, and Akutagawa can't seem to summon Rashomon to free himself. There's a table with a gun and cleaning supplies on it though the rest of the room is empty.
"This is getting out of hand," he whispers, still angrily pacing. "My own brother contacted that stupid detective agency, and now I have a mafioso working with them to find me. How did they remember anything? That shouldn't happen. There should have been enough confusion for me to get out of town, and off the hook."
Akutagawa attempts to move, only to realize that there are also chains cutting into his wrists from where they're shoved behind the chair. His joints are screaming, his already fragile body being pushed much farther than it should. And as always when that happens, it doesn't take long for the metallic taste to fill his mouth as bringing in oxygen becomes like breathing through a straw. Bile floods his mouth, the blood quickly following it as he hacks it out of his lungs. His hair sticks to his face, and he's suddenly aware of how hot he is, sweat coating his face. The man flips his head towards Akutagawa, his face red from anger.
"Is this your fault?" he demands.
"That your brother is a snitch, I wouldn't assume," Akutagawa replies coldly, his tone blank despite the blood dripping down his chin.
The man slaps him, snapping his head to the side.
"No, my ability should have dealt with the problem that my brother caused. It erases me from their memories gradually, but only if I take something from them. It's blind, I don't have a choice in what it is, just something they care about. To be honest though, I don't care. If everyone forgets you, and everyone near that stupid boy forgets me too, then it's worth it. I don't care what I take from them if it gets me off the hook. Did you put someone up to this? How did you even get them to believe you since they clearly don't remember you?"
"I didn't do anything."
"Who was that man with you?"
"I don't know, I happen to work with a lot of men, not that any of them remember me," Akutagawa replies snarkily, glaring at the man.
"Don't play dumb with me. I will torture you."
"Go ahead, it can't be that bad. You have the nerve of a coward. You're so anxious that you can't keep your hands still. I'm not expecting much from a lowlife like you. Honestly, your ability is probably the only reason that you've managed any crimes. Though I have no idea why you would have told your brother what you did if he's such a rat."
"He was involved, it wasn't my fault he gained a conscious afterwards. And my ability doesn't work on him, so he couldn't take the fall alone."
Oh, another mistake. Now you've told me how he was involved, and I'm sure you'll tell me more if I make you feel like I'm blaming you for your own poor choice in partner.
"What could you have done that's so bad that this man would flip on you? Or was it something small, and you're both spineless?"
"It was not small! It was a big hit, and no one was going to be any wiser cause they couldn't even remember to check leads that would come back to us! That's genius! It's only because my brother is spineless, not me!"
Akutagawa smirks, leaning back in his seat. "I'm sure."
He clearly doesn't sense the sarcasm, nodding in satisfaction. "Good, now you stay quiet while I try to figure out what to do."
Did he forget about interrogating me?
"Wait, what about the man with you? Who was he?"
Eh, it only took him a second to get back on track. It's not that bad.
"Who are we talking about?"
"The man that went into the police station." He snatches up the gun on the table in front of him. He waves it wildly at Akutagawa. "Don't play dumb with me! I will shoot you."
Akutagawa takes a breath. "It doesn't matter what you know about him, you're not going to be able to stop him. He will catch you, and there's a fifty-fifty chance that he'll kill you."
"Don't say that, I don't believe you!"
He becomes more erratic with the gun, sweat beginning to drip down his face. "I'll just kill you, and kill him, then none of them will remember me. It'll all be ok. I already took care of my brother, and no one else knows anything."
There's a crash on the other side of the room, out of Akutagawa's line of sight. The man's head snaps up, his eyes widening. Before Akutagawa can do anything to deescalate the situation, the man fires the gun, a bullet sinking into Akutagawa's side. The force is enough to knock the chair over, sending Akutagawa crashing to the floor with it. Blood fills his mouth before he even registers the burning pain in his stomach. Atsushi crashes to his knees beside him, filling Akutagawa's vision.
"Sir, are you alright? Shit, that's a lot of blood."
Shut the hell up, Jinko, Akutagawa tries to say, but no words come out. He doesn't want to hear Atsushi speak to him so politely, wants to pick a fight, but blood just pours out of his mouth when he opens it.
Atsushi's eyes go wide, but Akutagawa's goes dark before he can say anything else. Akutagawa wakes up slowly, the pain dull, and clearly dampened by heavy meds. Atsushi is sitting next to his bed, his eyes tired and worried.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Akutagawa asks, managing to sound snarky despite how scratchy his throat is.
Probably from all the blood and choking on it.
"Akutagawa, how are you doing?" Atsushi asks, sitting up straighter.
"You remember me?"
"Yes, Dazai-san wasn't able to touch him before he died, but it seems like his ability is slowly going away, meaning I was the first to remember you."
"How long has it been?"
"Only a few hours. Yosano took care of you, though she still medicated you for your lungs since she said it must hurt a lot."
"Eh, sometimes it does. Sometimes it's alright."
"I'm sorry I forgot you."
"Why are you sorry? It's not your fault, you didn't want to. Though I wouldn't blame you if you did. It wouldn't hurt."
Atsushi looks away. "Sometimes losing a friend is hard whether you want to admit it or not. I know you don't like whatever we have going on, but you are one of my closest friends, and I don't want to lose you. I wasn't throwing you away cause you didn't matter. He took you cause he knew you do. You, Dazai, the other members of the agency, you're my family. I haven't ever had one of those before, and I am not going to lose this one," Atsushi says, fire in his eyes.
Akutagawa looks away. The look reminds him too much of Gin, and how determined she was to help protect him once he got older... and sicker. She wanted to hold on to him, and she always tells him how much she loves him. The knife barely missing his neck passes through his mind, her cold, calculating eyes trained on him.
"I'm sorry if that was intense."
"No, you're fine. Just shut up, and let me sleep," Akutagawa replies, his eyelids getting heavy again.
Atsushi nods, shrinking back into himself. Akutagawa wakes up more aware that night, immediately taking his stuff, and heading towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Atsushi asks, leaning in the doorway.
"I'm going home. I'm cleared to leave, so there's no reason for me to be here. I want to see Gin."
"What if she doesn't remember you yet?"
"Then I'll spend the night in the office, and go back in the morning. There's no way she doesn't remember me by then," he says, sounding unconvinced and tense.
"Call me if you need me. I'm sorry again for all of this."
Akutagawa nods, forcing himself not to roll his eyes. Atsushi has always had a tendency to blame himself for things he couldn't have stopped. It annoys Akutagawa even if he also blamed Atsushi earlier that same day. It feels like longer though, the last few days feeling like a lifetime. Akutagawa finds himself walking slower than he normally does, delaying his arrival at his apartment by a whole hour. It's getting late, near eleven by the time he reaches it, his heart still clenching despite how long he stalled. His keys jingle as he pulls them out, his hands shaking making it all harder. However, before he can fully turn the key, the door is flung open. Gin's arms wrap around Akutagawa's neck, pulling him tightly against her. The air is forced out of his lungs from the force, but he wraps his arms back around her too.
"I was so worried. I don't remember most of the last few days, and I came to find you and tell you about it, and you weren't here. Then when I asked the others, they said they didn't remember much either, but your card hadn't been swiped in two days, and no one remembered seeing you. Where the hell were you?" Gin demands, then pulls Akutagawa in.
He pulls his keys out of the door in just enough time to bring them in with him before she slams the door. "There was an ability, that's why you don't remember it. You didn't remember me either, and I had to work with Dazai to fix it."
Gin's eyes soften, and she reaches for his hand. "I'm sorry, Ryu. I'm glad you're ok."
"Can we eat dinner now?" Akutagawa asks, deciding to breeze past the whole situation, and how much it hurt him.
Gin nods, and leads him to the couch. They end up eating instant noodles, and drinking prune tea, then fall asleep on the couch together. It's good since Akutagawa knows he wouldn't be able to sleep alone tonight.