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He was going to blame it on Chuuya. Not to his face- obviously, but in the privacy of his own head he would boil it down to Chuuya. Or maybe that stray cat that seemed to pop up randomly around Yokohama. He would figure it out.
Akutagawa tried to make himself think it wasn’t his own idea. He tried to place the blame on anything other than his own fascination with the stupid weretiger he was walking with.
Although, he supposes, it started further back than that. It really started a few weeks ago when he was having an actual conversation with Chuuya. Something he hadn’t planned on doing but when the Armed Detective Agency got to a case before they could they had some free time.
So really, the only blame would be that Chuuya brought it up.
“That asshole Dazai and his damned cat are going to put us out of a job at this rate.” Is all he said.
The whole conversation was a lot longer and not even really about the ADA at all, and yet here Akutagawa was. Stuck on that one thing Chuuya said, specifically about the weretiger.
Try as he might, he couldn't get the word cat to leave his brain whenever Atsushi crossed his mind. It would've been funnier had it not made him realize how much he actually thinks about the detective. The thought should have made him laugh too, given that it was the image of his rival as a cat. However, he was unfortunately… endeared. It was kind of gross in his opinion.
And so, the thought devolved. He found himself wondering if he was a bigger fan of fish and chicken than red meat because of it. If he liked to sleep in the sun. Many things that he would physically shake out of his head once Akutagawa caught himself in the act of thinking about the weretiger.
It was like some sort of bad joke, masterminded to torture him for the rest of time. Dazai had to be behind it… somehow, he was sure of it.
Now it wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that he was constantly being forced to interact with and see Atsushi. The newest case? The weretiger beat him to the location and tried to do everything before him because of it. Picking up supplies for their headquarters? Somehow Atsushi was sent on similar grunt work when realistically neither of them were the ones that task would normally fall to. Evening patrol around a sector of Yokohama? For some reason the cat was assigned the same area as him, and even more unfathomable, he decided to walk with Akutagawa. On purpose.
He caught it again. Sights on Atsushi and he thought of him as a cat. He tried to shake the thought away. But then he saw the belt-tail that was secured around the weretiger’s waist. Another shake. Then he saw the suspenders that looked a lot like stripes on his back. He was getting close to hitting his own head to get rid of the thought. Then he got a glimpse of the gloves that made him look like he had paws and knew it was no use.
With a deep sigh Akutagawa resigned himself to forever battling his inner turmoil. He didn’t even dare imagine himself making a murder out of the “Atsushi is a cat” thought, somehow the weretiger would find out and call back their deal.
It was at that moment that he realized he had stopped walking and Atsushi was next to him. Standing there, looking mildly concerned.
“Akutagawa? You in there?”
Had there been any better blood flow in his body he might have blushed. Thankfully he didn’t.
“Is there something you need, weretiger? I am, in fact, capable of patrolling alone. Seeing as though that’s what I was sent out to do.” It was flimsy at best but he hoped there wouldn’t be any questions.
“Sheesh, no need to bite my head off. I could just tell you stopped listening to me earlier than normal.” Akutagawa caught a glimpse of the grin on Atsushi’s face and knew he couldn’t try another excuse.
“Whatever. Keep moving, we have things to do.” Akutagawa strided forward with purpose, fighting off a small smile of his own, unwilling to let the weretiger see even the beginnings of it.
It hadn’t even been five minutes since his whole “stopped in his tracks” stunt that it nearly happened again. He watched a young pair using their watches to create little dots of light against a dark alley wall. He was about to turn to Atsushi and poke fun at them for being strange when he caught a glimpse of a small black cat about to pounce at the light.
That just made him think more about Atsushi. It was troubling really. How many things made him think back to who was supposed to be his rival.
Specifically, he was wondering if he would… act like a cat when provoked. He knew he fought with the tiger and he could see the agility it gave him. But he was thinking about more mundane things. He thought about an old string toy Dazai had, one he said Mori had given to him for the cat at the bar he went to.
At the time he couldn’t imagine Dazai playing with a cat, or Mori for that matter but he didn’t think about Mori as often.
Now, however, Dazai barely lingered in his mind. Now all he could think about is having a string toy big enough for the tiger he only ever saw a handful of times.
The back of his mind was nagging with the thought of his own ability, the belt for his coat would make quite a good- not quite toy but something.
Without even meaning to, he found himself using Rashoumon to drag a thin line swinging behind him. He turned his head to get a view of Atsushi and his reaction. He watched as Atsushi’s focus went from the city around him to zoning in on the black cloth moving in small sharp movements in front of him.
He could see his eyes moving back and forth tracking it as it went, almost shaking with how fast they were moving. He could have sworn he saw the belt around Atsushi’s waist twitch, it had to have been a trick of the light but it was pretty convincing.
Akutagawa was beginning to think Atsushi was going to drop to the floor, with how intently he was watching Rashoumon move. With the briefest second of worry for the weretiger’s neck, that he would never admit, he decided to pick the strap off the floor.
In a swift motion Rashoumon whipped the fabric up around the height of their shoulders. Akutagawa watched as Atsushi took an alarmingly fast step forward and swung at the end of the string, not quite like he was trying to grab it… Almost as if he was trying to hit it.
At that point he gave up on pretense entirely and turned around fully. Atsushi seemed unaware that the thing he was chasing was Rashoumon, Akutagawa figured he could work with that. He walked backwards a few steps, leaving the string in the air, where it hung still.
He bent slightly into a fighting stance to see if that would get through whatever fog Atsushi seemed to be in, it didn’t. Armed with this new information and rudimentary knowledge of predator animals like cats, he began.
He let the fabric fall back to the floor and watched the purple and yellow eyes follow it as if he expected it to drop at any second. He waved Rashoumon in a big ‘S’ pattern going back and forth in the same area between them until he thought Atsushi might lunge for it. He watched as Atsushi’s feet pattered back and forth in place and decided his next move would be to bring the string up as high as he could get it as quickly as possible.
In an instant Atsushi went after it, jumping higher than even a gifted human should be able to jump. In Akutagawa’s surprise Rashoumon was captured by the weretiger, between his gloved hands. It was now that he let a full smile cross his face.
“Having a good time there weretiger? That will be the last time I let you capture Rashoumon, I’ll have you know.” He could hear the humor in his own voice.
In an instant Atsushi seemed to snap out of his string induced haze. Akutagawa felt something within him constrict when he saw the weretiger blush.
Atsushi seemed to fully come back to himself all at once, and became even more embarrassed. He began three different sentences one after another, trying to formulate a thought before deciding on a defeated:
“Alright, get it over with. Make fun of me now before I just finish patrol early.”
Akutagawa schooled his face again and put his hands in his pockets, clearing his throat to prepare himself for the next words out of his own mouth.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I am above making fun of you for that. It was actually a bit… endearing.” The word was even worse when spoken aloud. He nearly gagged at the sensation. But the disgust eased as he saw a bright flush cover the weretiger’s face.
When Atsushi didn’t respond, Akutagawa began to panic slightly, once again, something he would never admit. So he spoke up again after turning around fully.
“Let’s go weretiger. We still have a few blocks to walk.”
The pair walked in silence for a few moments. Side by side, just far enough that their shoulders didn’t brush. Akutagawa thought the silence was a bit suffocating but hearing what Atsushi had to say was almost worse. Almost.
“Endearing, huh? I didn’t know you were a cat person. Personally I thought you were more of a snake, or maybe even a dog person. Good to know you like cats though…” The way he trailed off made it obvious to Akutagawa that he was waiting for an affirmative response.
“Admittedly I don’t dislike cats. Like is a strong word… but I suppose it fits.” With a small pause he added, “If you ever tell anyone that I will deny it until my last breath.”
Atsushi smiled at that. “I wouldn’t dare. Plus no one else needs to know that anyways.” What he said seemed to catch up with him a moment later as he had another, albeit lighter, blush on his face.
“Exactly. Glad to hear that we are in agreement.” Akutagawa had to bite back a smile so as to not give away the pleased hum in his own chest.
“Looks like there is a first time for everything, huh, Akutagawa.” Astushi smiled unwaveringly.
The pair continued their patrol without another incident, Atsushi made sure he didn’t let his eyes wander to the dangling belt by Akutagawa’s waist.