Chapter Text
Something felt different about Yokohama today.
Atsushi can’t quite place his finger on it, but the wind blew as though it warned him of an incoming danger. It made the hair on the back of his hair stand, and leave a sense of foreboding he can’t quite explain.
It’s only been a few weeks since the Cannibal incident; and in Yokohama, the next big thing was certain to come up shortly after. Atsushi repeatedly wished that any previous problem they’ve faced would be the last, but somehow doing so just jinxes it, so he stopped. The moment he did, the world seemed to finally listen.
This was the longest time Atsushi has had a taste of peace and quiet, and it was beginning to make him anxious.
He supposed the lack of action was also because both special ability organizations in Yokohama decided to continue honoring its ceasefire. They kept out of each other’s way and turned away from the other’s radar. Still, regardless of how big Yokohama was, both the Agency members and the Port Mafia managed to find each other.
It made the city feel a lot smaller than when Atsushi first arrived here. His primary offender was Akutagawa, who he wasn’t sure was stalking him or something. He’d bumped into him a couple of times in the shopping district. Atsushi would always ignore him though. Akutagawa also perfectly hid his irritation as he walked the opposite direction.
I’ll kill you in six months.
A month was nearing to a close, and Atsushi still hadn’t achieved anything worthwhile that will aid him in winning against Akutagawa. He’d already asked Kunikida to train him in close combat, but he had a hard time following through with all the errands he had to run in the agency.
Still, he wasn’t worried about himself that much, because he wanted to use this chance to not only improve but to help Akutagawa. In exchange for accepting Akutagawa’s promise, Atsushi made him promise to not kill anyone within that time period.
Akutagawa surprisingly accepted it without hesitation. Reports of the Black Hellhound’s handiwork in any alleged Port Mafia attacks ceased after that day. Akutagawa didn’t show the struggle on his face, but Atsushi knew he was having a hard time. Akutagawa was a killer, and he was trying to make him into a good person.
A mafia that doesn’t kill.
It seemed like a pipe dream, but Atsushi knew it could be done. Dazai did it. Kyoka did it. Akutagawa could too, just as long as he had the right motivation. Once, it may have been Dazai, but now Akutagawa’s main driving force was his anger and hatred for Atsushi. If Atsushi can make Akutagawa realize that his view of strength was a dangerous one and change him, then he’d be able to move on from his own demons as well.
Amidst his thoughts, Atsushi’s phone buzzed to show a message from Kyoka. It was short, simple, and direct to the point. I’ve found one near a trashcan in the park, and another climbing a tree. Did you find the last one?
Atsushi chuckled at how fast Kyoka managed to find their targets, and typed in an unfortunate response. No, he still didn’t find the last kitten.
Earlier today an old lady came to the Agency to help look for three kittens she accidentally lost two days ago. The police found her inquiry foolish so they sent her their way instead. Ranpo wasn’t interested in it, calling it below his paygrade, while the others didn’t seem as interested to do the charity work. Still, Kunikida wasn’t heartless and threw the case on Atsushi’s lap when the latter’s ears figuratively twitched upon the mention of cats.
It wasn’t a mystery to the Agency that Atsushi adored cats. It was weird to like cats, when he himself was sort of like a gigantic cat too, given his ability, but no one seemed to question nor tease him about it (except Dazai). Kyoka just volunteered to help and yet she was more successful at this than him.
Atsushi sighed. “So much for being the senior member.”
He asked around town in case they’d spotted a cat of a certain coat and size. Some were helpful enough and kind enough to deny or point him to where they thought they saw it, while others just downright ignored him and told him to stop bothering them. People can be really rude sometimes.
His biggest clue came from a middle school aged girl which pointed him towards an alley where she swore she saw the kitten being fed by a young man. Atsushi immediately ran towards it, and spotted the young man she described.
He had spiky brown hair, and looked roughly the same age as Atsushi. He was crouched down in front of a cardboard box with an outstretched hand. For a split second, Atsushi spotted a small black paw trying to claw at the other's hand.
He found the last kitten!
“Uhm… Excuse me?” Atsushi said, and the brunette looked up at him with wide amber colored eyes. Atsushi was thrown back for a while, not quite expecting the person to look a lot younger than he did. “Is that cat a stray?”
The person shrugged. “Probably. It stole my sashimi so I figured it was hungry. I followed it back here to give it more. Why?”
Atsushi raised the picture given by the old lady where the black kitten was a part of, and the other person gaped. “Oh! How lucky. I’ve been trying to get him out since earlier but it’s too afraid.”
How kind… Atsushi thought. “I can try getting it out,” he said and slipped beside the other man and reached out for the kitten.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were –” Atsushi immediately pulled his hand back when the cat’s claws dug themselves unto his skin. The feline hissed. “Are you alright?”
Atsushi winced at the slight sting left behind by the claws. It started to bleed a little, but Atsushi just calmly tried to repair it with weretiger’s healing. Before he could however, the brunette had already fished a white handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around Atsushi’s arm.
“Uh… thanks?” Atsushi said, unsure. “You didn’t have to do that though, I can heal myself.”
The other shook their head. “It’s alright, it was my fault you got scratched. I should have warned you earlier that it was going to defend itself.” He raised his arms to show some of the claw marks he’d sustained compared to Atsushi and chuckled, “If you want to take him back then I think you have to befriend it first.”
Atsushi could only stare at the other boy in awe. The marks on the other’s arms didn’t look that deep to be infected but the amount of scratches still worried him. “I can get it more food then,” he offered. “Then I’ll buy you some tuna too since you fed it all yours.”
The boy’s eyes widened. “There’s – n – no need of that! I gave it away on my own, you don’t have to pay for anything!”
“It’s alright,” Atsushi said, insistent. “It’s my job to find it, and it ended up causing you trouble. Think of it as a thank you gift, for free.”
The boy stared at him for a while, before conceding. “Alright, I can stay here and watch. The sushi store I was eating at should be a few stores down. It has a cute fish streamer.”
“Okay,” Atsushi nodded. “I’ll be quick. I’ll try and find something to clean and patch your arms too.”
The brunette blushed and protested against the idea, but Atsushi waved him off. Atsushi was going to buy him something to clean those wounds regardless of what he said anyway.
It didn’t take Atsushi that long to gather all the things he needed. When he returned to the alleyway the brunette had his back against the wall and was dragging around a stick in front of the kitten. He managed to get the cat out with the enticing make shift toy. The cat stared at the stick with wide blown out eyes. It pressed itself lower unto the ground and pounced at the stick.
Atsushi’s eyes sparkled at the adorable thing. “You’ve made progress!” he cheered, startling both the kitten and the other man. The kitten immediately scrambled back inside its box, and the other man laughed.
“There goes the progress.”
“I – I messed up!” Atsushi cried.
“No way, it’s just not used to us both. I had to sit really still so it didn’t even notice me.”
Atsushi sat beside him and threw one sashimi towards the kitten as a start. Its black coat slowly popped under the box but didn’t crawl out. Instead, the kitten extended its claws to try and reach it. Atsushi chuckled at the kitten’s futile attempt and pushed the tuna slice a little bit closer to the kitten’s reach. The kitten stayed silent for a while after that.
Atsushi turned to the brown haired man, and said, “Oh right, I bought some alcohol and band aids! I can clean them while we wait for it to ask for another slice.”
“I’m fine really,” the other insisted. “You really don’t need to that – uh…”
“Atsushi,” he said, “and yes I do. The kitten may be healthy, but we can’t be too sure.”
Without any other reason to give, the brown haired boy leaned back and let Atsushi lather his skin with rubbing alcohol. He hissed a little at the sudden burning sensation around the deeper cuts, but soon relaxed. Atsushi covered all the marks with multicolored Band-Aids that made the other boy laugh.
“Gokudera is going to be so worried about this. Probably would freak out if I tell him it’s from a kitten.”
“It was a brave kitten though.”
The boy laughed again. “Yes it was. I’m Tsuna, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Tsuna.”
“You too, Atsushi.”
The kitten meowed inside the box, obviously asking for more, and Tsuna threw another slice closer to the box. Almost immediately a paw shot out to grab it. “Well, it knows what we’re doing, but we still can’t convince it to come out.”
Atsushi looked around the alley, and stared far too long on the stack of cardboard boxes beside the cat’s hiding box. “Maybe… I can carry it back inside another box?”
Tsuna gaped at the idea. “That could work! But –” he stared at the decrepit cardboard in front of them “– I don’t think any of these will be of use. I’ll try and check over there.” Tsuna disappeared in a corner and came back shortly with a small cardboard box on hand. Atsushi noted how he barely made a noise as he walked despite the number of wet puddles on his path.
“Here we go! Now you can take it back to its owner.”
They decided to let the kitten get inside the box on its own by leaving a trail of sashimi from its hiding spot and into the new one. Patiently, they waited until the kitten peeked out from box, and munched on the slices one by one until it leapt inside.
Atsushi quickly closed the box’s lid and tried to ignore the kitten’s distressing cries from inside its temporary cage.
“That’s going to be hard,” Tsuna said, seemingly affected by the cat’s cries too.
“Yeah, but I can handle it, thank you for your help today. The uh – the last plastic is yours. New sashimi for you.” While Tsuna once again refused to take the food payment for his deeds, Atsushi’s phone buzzed. “That’s my cue. I’ll see you around.”
Tsuna waved him off, and the former took the opposite direction as him, while Atsushi walked a little ways west to meet Kyoka.
She was seated on a bench with one kitten curled up on her lap, while the other lay on the ground, pawing at the tips of her Datejime. Kyoka waved at him and said, “That took you a while. I thought you liked cats.”
“I do… This one just didn’t like me.”
Kyoka chuckled and placed the remaining kittens inside the box. The kittens mewled affectionately at each other and rubbed their little heads in greeting. “Mission accomplished. We should return soon. Granny’s heart may not handle being apart from them any longer than this.”
Atsushi nodded in agreement, and quietly made their way back to the Agency. As they walked along the streets of Yokohama, Atsushi spotted a familiar brown colored hair wandering around the city with a confused frown on his face. “Tsuna?”
“Atsushi!” Tsuna sighed, relieved. “You have to help me.”
Atsushi and Kyoka gave each other a look, and Kyoka stepped forward. “What happened?”
Tsuna blushed at seeing Kyoka, either surprised by her initiative or the fact that she was with Atsushi. "I – I forgot how to go back to the hotel,” he coughed.
“You live in a hotel!?” Atsushi asked. Tsuna did not come off as the type to have the pockets to afford living lavishly. He paused. If Tsuna could afford to live in a hotel, then... Atsushi got conned into treating him to free sashimi?!
“I’m just staying in one,” Tsuna said, embarrassed. "Do you… know where Sorachi hotel is? I remember it being around here, but… I haven’t found it yet.”
Atsushi shook his head. “Sorry, I only just started living here too.”
“It’s four streets north, across the seventh building on your left, and right in front of the second stoplight,” Kyoka said almost a little too mechanically.
Tsuna stared in awe at Kyoka, who only returned the former's gaze. Tsuna's face turned tomato red.
“Ahh, Kyoka-chan knows everything about Yokohama,” Atsushi explained. “She’s memorized maps, so she’s great with directions.”
“Really?”
Kyoka nodded. “We can take you there if you're lost.”
“I - I really shouldn't bother the two of you!” Tsuna once again refused, but Kyoka grabbed his wrist and led the way leaving the former without much choice but to follow. Atsushi stuck close to them with an amused smile on his face. “I don’t know how to repay you...” he said towards Atsushi.
Atsushi shook his head, “You don’t have to pay us anything. We want to help.”
Kyoka’s eyes on the other hand gleamed greedily. “Crepe. I want crepe." She then pointed to the stand across the street, and Tsuna bought her the largest one as gratitude.
Atsushi looked inside his coin purse and wept at the difference between his miserable coins and the bills Tsuna pulled out of his pocket.