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Recently, Atsushi found himself more in tune with the Tiger that dwelt right beneath his surface. They had spoken a few times in Atsushi’s dreams and he grew to love a part of himself that he had previously despised. It was a part of him, and despite how much abuse the Headmaster had inflicted upon him, he found his words still ringing through his head.
“When that time comes, Atsushi, hate me. You must never hate yourself.”
He hated that those words rang through his head so often. He hated how much he took it to heart because he couldn’t bring himself to hate the Tiger. It hadn’t done anything wrong; it was part of him and it protected him and protected his friends. It gave him the power to defend something he had previously never had, a home.
That being said, his connection with the Tiger had grown stronger and he found himself displayed distinctly feline characteristics even when he wasn’t transformed.
The most common thing he did was sleep in little patches of sunlight. They just always looked so appealing, and one of the sofa’s at the Armed Detective Agency office was positioned in a way that let a stream of sunlight land on the perfect spot for Atsushi to take a nap right there. It was often that someone found him curled up, legs pulled up to his chest and the sun making his silver hair glow.
It became a common occurrence to find Atsushi spending the entirety of his afternoon break on that sofa, looking so at peace. Everyone quieted down when he was asleep without even discussing it, and even Kunikida whisper-yelled his complaints at Dazai instead of screaming them at the top of his lungs like he always did.
No one thought to question why it was that he always napped there on the same spot at the same time. Not until a visitor came to the office one day looking for Dazai and was instead met with a sleeping weretiger.
Chuuya was confused, because why was the weretiger asleep on the sofa in the middle of the day, and where the hell was Dazai?
“Chuuya-san.” Kyouka greeted as she slipped into the office silently, her voice quiet as always.
“Kyouka-chan.” Chuuya nodded his head, his eyebrows still furrowed as he examined Atsushi.
“Chuuya,” Kunikida appeared behind Kyouka with Yosano, “we weren’t expecting a visit from you today.”
“I’m looking for Dazai,” Chuuya responded, “why exactly is the weretiger napping in the middle of the fucking day?”
“Keep your fucking voice down.” Yosano hissed, her eyes sharpening into a glare and Chuuya found himself stepping back slightly without even realising.
“He always sleeps at this time. In that spot.” Kyouka took a seat at her own desk, sparing a glance at Atsushi briefly.
“That’s something cats do,” the redhead mused, “sleep in patches of sunlight, that is.”
“Interesting,” Kunikida hummed, arms crossed over his chest, “you said you were looking for Dazai, huh? Bastard still downstairs, he has no regard for time.”
“Of course.” Chuuya sighed.
Seconds later, Atsushi shifted on the sofa and stretched his arms above his head as he slowly pulled himself up to sit instead of lay down. He rubbed his eyes and yawned; eyes fluttering shut as he struggled to wake up properly. “Good nap?” Yosano asked, leaning against Kunikida’s desk while the younger was annotating a case.
“Mhm, good as always,” Atsushi mumbled, stretching once more before he turned his gaze to the other people in the room, “Chuuya-san!”
“Weretiger.” Chuuya nodded.
“I have a name, you know,” Atsushi grumbled, standing, and walking to his desk, patting Kyouka’s head as he passed her desk, “what brings you to our office today? Wait, let me guess… Dazai-san.”
“What else would it be?” Chuuya sighed dramatically, “why were you napping in the sun like a fucking cat?”
Atsushi blinked.
“Atsushi-kun!” Dazai’s voice boomed from outside of the office, before the door slammed open and the older man stood there, a grin on his face, arms spread wide.
“Dazai-san.” Atsushi greeted.
“There you are!” Chuuya turned around to face Dazai.
“Ah, chibi…” Dazai stepped around Chuuya.
“Shitty mackerel, I’ve been waiting because we have a fucking assignment. The Boss and the President arranged it and you were off frolicking.”
“I was not frolicking!” Dazai gasped dramatically, “I was fetching something. For Atsushi-kun!”
“For… me?” Atsushi raised his eyebrows, cocking his head to the side.
“Dazai, this is not the time to be distracting Atsushi from his work. It’s bad enough you never do yours, let him do his.” Kunikida frowned.
“Not now, Kunikida-kun. I have a theory to test!” Dazai waved his arms around.
“I think I might know what theory you’re testing.” Yosano’s lips curled up and she sat on Kunikida’s desk instead of leaning on it.
“Is this theory going to hurt Atsushi?” Kyouka narrowed her eyes.
“Of course not, Kyouka-chan! Who do you take me as?” Dazai put one of his hands over his heart, widening his eyes.
“A former Port Mafia executive.” She deadpanned and Chuuya snickered.
“Key word former,” Dazai waved it off, “whatever, I have an experiment to conduct now.”
“Okay…” Atsushi crossed his arms over his chest, looking on curiously. Even Kunikida had dropped his pen, eyes narrowed at whatever Dazai was about to do. The brunet dug in the pocket of his brown coat and extracted a silver pen-shaped object, lifting it up like it was made of gold.
“Is that a laser pointer?” Kunikida asked.
“It is!” Dazai nodded.
“You’re not…” Chuuya trailed off, seeing the corners of Dazai’s lips quirking up.
“Atsushi-kun, you can turn into a tiger,” Dazai began in a matter-of-fact tone, “and tigers are felines, part of the cat family, they’re big cats essentially. I’ve noticed you nap on the spot where the sun lands on that sofa, which is quite similar to something cats do so it piqued my curiosity and I want to know if you display any other feline characteristics.”
“I’m a little confused.” Atsushi whispered.
“That’s okay!” Dazai said brightly, turning the laser pointer on and directing the red beam onto the table right in front of Atsushi. The silver-haired boy’s gaze immediately dropped to the light and followed it as Dazai pointed it at different things, rising in his seat slightly the more time passed.
“Theory confirmed?” Yosano murmured, crossing one leg over her other as she watched Atsushi practically standing out of his chair as Dazai drew the light further and further away from him.
“I think that’s enough.” Dazai turned the light off and Atsushi stilled, blinking suddenly, and looking down to see himself standing and not in his chair anymore.
“What –”
“Atsushi-kun! You display a lot of feline characteristics but you’re not transformed in any way whatsoever.” Dazai commented, pocketing the laser pointer.
“Hmm…” Atsushi frowned, sitting back down in his chair, and spinning in it, “I guess I’ve been closer with the Tiger. We have an understanding.”
“You speak with the Tiger?” Chuuya’s eyes widened.
“Yeah! My Tiger is nice. We talk when I’m dreaming sometimes.” Atsushi nodded fervently.
“Talk in sleep…” Kunikida muttered under his breath, making a comment in his notebook.
“I see, I see…” Dazai nodded, “that could be why you’re displaying these characteristics, because you and your Tiger have developed a better relationship and you’re closer. I don’t know any people with similar abilities, so we can’t compare this to anything.”
“So does this mean we can pet Atsushi like a cat?” Kyouka asked.
“What does the “like a cat” part mean?” Atsushi frowned, “like is it different than a regular head pat?”
Yosano hopped off Kunikida’s desk and approached Atsushi with her hand held out in front of her, the same way she held it out to the stray cats she crossed near their dorms, “pspspspsps…” she whispered.
“Yosano-san –” Atsushi gave her an affronted look, eyeing her hand like it had personally offended him, and it had.
“Shh…” she got closer and put her hand on his head, ruffling his hair and scratching slightly at his scalp. The reaction was instantaneous as Atsushi’s eyes slipped shut and he slumped back in his hair, a faint rumbling sound coming from his chest, “is he purring?”
“Oh my god, he is a cat!” Chuuya’s eyes widened, “that’s it, he’s my subordinate now. You can have Akutagawa back, he’s too obsessed with you anyways. I’ll take the weretiger.”
“Take the weretiger?” Dazai spluttered, “no, no, chibi, he stays here.”
“Atsushi will not be going to the Port Mafia.” Kunikida interjected.
“Yeah! If Kunikida-kun says no, then it means no. There, your plans are thwarted. Besides, Akutagawa was already trained when he came to you, Atsushi wasn’t when he joined us.” Dazai stuck his hands in his pockets, mimicking Chuuya’s stance.
“If you think so much of Akutagawa, then take him back. You’d make his entire year if you did that.”
“I don’t think I should train him, not after before. Atsushi is different, I’m not the only one who’s in charge of him.” Dazai shook his head.
“You fucked up a perfectly good kid, that’s what you did,” Chuuya grumbled, “I better not see the weretiger turn out like that. He’s too… pure.”
“Is that concern I detect in your tone, Chuuya?” Dazai cocked his head to the side, leaning back and forth on his heels.
“I’m not emotionally constipated like you, asshole,” Chuuya bit back, “can we get on with our fucking assignment, we don’t have all day.”
“Fine, fine.” Dazai sighed dramatically.
“Yes, begone,” Kunikida waved them off, “maybe we’ll all get some work done now.”
“Atsushi-kun is too far gone to get any work done now.” Dazai snickered.