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Akutagawa is, admittedly, on edge. He was tensed, he was constantly checking his phone and the local news stations and he was not relaxed in the slightest. Normally, he wouldn’t be so stressed when Atsushi went out on a mission without him but today the weretiger wasn’t answering any of his messages or calls and hadn’t checked in in a while, so forgive the mafioso for being worried.
Worried was also something Akutagawa seldom felt for other people, barring Gin of course. But he and the weretiger had gotten closer recently and while he knew that the white-haired boy could handle his own, it didn’t quell the surging wave of nervous energy building up inside him. He had an inkling as to why that had suddenly changed but that was something he didn’t feel like exploring, not if it meant a weakness Mori could exploit.
With a sigh, Akutagawa picked up his phone for perhaps the fifth time in the past ten minutes and called Atsushi. The line rang and went straight to voicemail.
“Weretiger, it is not like to you ignore my calls… and messages. You haven’t checked in, haven’t given any progress updates. What is going on?” He sighed heavily. “Don’t make me call Dazai-san.”
He really didn’t want to call Dazai and give the older man another thing to tease him about, another thing to lord over his head and use to make him do things he didn’t particularly feel like doing. But he would suck it up and deal with the consequences if Atsushi didn’t call back or message him soon. The mission wasn’t even supposed to be a dangerous one, Dazai’s instructions had been to simply observe and report back. They weren’t supposed to engage, so Atsushi should be fine.
Akutagawa dropped his phone onto the table with a muffled groan, covering his face with the palms of his hands and leaning back in his chair. Feelings sucked. Feelings did this to him. If he didn’t have feelings for the stupid weretiger, he wouldn’t be so stressed about his wellbeing. Conclusion: he would like a refund on this whole having a crush thing, it was doing him no good. He wasn’t even dating the damn detective so really, what was he getting out of this.
Just when he was about to pick up the phone (again), the radio spoke. The radio had been provided by Dazai, a way to allow them an insight into what the police were up to, so they didn’t run into any of them during this mission. Akutagawa snapped his head to the device and pulled it closer, listening closely to what was being said.
“…body…in the alleyway. Victim…young man…white hair…” Akutagawa’s blood ran cold. “Multiple lacerations…blood everywhere…”
No, no, no, no. This couldn’t be real, there was no way. Akutagawa stumbled to his feet and left the warehouse they were using as a temporary base. He used Rashomon to move through Yokohama, hoisting himself atop a high building and looking for a large group of police officers gathered anywhere. There, he saw them.
Anguish clouding his mind, he dropped down in their midst and slashed the walls with his ability, nicking some of the officers to scare them off. He saw some of them reach for their guns and simply knocked them out of their grips, sending them all racing back to their cars, barking orders into radios and racing out of the area.
When the sound of squealing tires faded from his hearing, he turned back to the alleyway and almost fell to his knees as he realised the sheer amount of blood splattered on the walls and gathered around a motionless body on the floor. Atsushi, he recognised from the red tainted white hair; Atsushi, he recognised from the crimson stained white shirt; Atsushi, he recognised from the stupid suspenders he always wore; Atsushi, he recognised.
Akutagawa stumbled his way over on weak knees and dropped down beside the body, his hands fluttering out, not knowing what to touch. Atsushi’s throat was ripped apart, blood still dripping from the wound sluggishly and continuing to stain the front of his shirt. There were multiple cuts on his arms and legs and one right under his fringe, staining his hair and covering one of his eyes in metallic red. The mafioso almost threw up when he looked down at Atsushi’s abdomen, finding a hole in his stomach, just oozing blood.
“Who did this to you?” Akutagawa whispered, finally laying a hand on Atsushi’s hair, and carding his fingers through it, his head bowed low. “Why didn’t you call for me?”
Why didn’t he call? Where was his phone?
Akutagawa searched through Atsushi’s pockets and found no such device, but then his eyes landed on a phone just a metre or so away from them, laid on the floor of the alleyway and covered in blood. He picked it up shakily, wiping it on his coat and swiped the phone open. The first thing that popped up on the screen was an unsent message to him. It was a voice message and Akutagawa had no clue what he was going to hear when he tapped on the play icon.
But he did it anyway.
Atsushi was alone. He didn’t go on too many missions alone these days but Dazai thought he could handle this one because it was only a scouting mission. He wasn’t supposed to be engaging, just observing, and then reporting back. Him and Akutagawa would be taking turns doing this for the next few days before combining their findings and reporting them to Dazai.
So, here Atsushi was, curled up on the rafters of an abandoned building, his tiger eyes watching the exchange happening below keenly. There was a group of men, some sort of gang he assumed, because who else would be running around with guns and what looked like a spiked whip of some sort. It kind of reminded him of a whip from a video game Ranpo showed him.
Everything was going fine, there was no action, and no one spotted him. Of course no one would spot him, he was hidden where a regular human wouldn’t notice. But that was regular humans. He didn’t count on an ability user walking into the building and instantly looking up to meet his eyes. Atsushi’s heart skipped a beat and he bolted.
He heard rather than saw practically the entirety of the gang running after him and his first instinct was to contact his partner. He fumbled with his phone and managed to press the record button on their messages to each other, clutching the device with a white-knuckled grip.
“Akutagawa, I –“ he ducked under a piece of wood and continuing running, wanting to make it out of the building. “They saw me, they have an ability user and she found me –“
“Come back little spy!” A sing-song tone of voice called after him.
“They’re chasing me.” Atsushi let out a whimper as a bullet grazed his arm. “Fuck, fuck, they’re shooting.”
He managed to make it out of the building but he still needed to get out of the general area because he knew they would keep chasing him otherwise. Some of the pursuers had hung back, leaving presumably their best combatants to take the lead on this one. Atsushi wasn’t going to engage; he couldn’t realistically hold them all off on his own so he just needed to focus on running away.
But just when he thought he as far enough, a whip, the same spiked whip he had seen earlier, wrapped around his body, caging his arms to his side, and sending stinging pains all down them, blood dripping from the cuts and slipping down his skin. He was yanked backwards and the phone slipped from his grasp, clattering to the floor. Atsushi cried out as his face made contact with the ground and s sharp pain bloomed from his cheek.
“Got you!” The same voice giggled and the whip released as someone flipped him onto his back and sat atop his chest with a manic grin on their face. It was the whip-wielder, a young, dark-haired girl with gleaming purple eyes and a wickedly sharp dagger in her other hand. “You’re that little tiger boy we keep hearing about.” She commented, trailing her dagger down his cheek as he squirmed beneath her.
“Fuck off.” Atsushi spat.
“Now, now, that won’t do.” She tsked, shaking her head with a mock disapproving on her face. “I hear you can regenerate, that makes it tricky to kill you.”
She made a sound of realisation and her eyes lit up before she motioned for one of the other pursuers to bring something over. She stood, replacing her body with a foot on his chest, pressing him down onto the floor as she was handed a large metal pole. Atsushi’s eyes widened as she brought the pole down and sunk it into his stomach.
His mouth dropped open in a silent scream of pain as blood dribbled from his mouth and he gasped. “Can’t regenerate if I don’t take this out, right?” She said brightly, leaving the pole inside him and walking off to get something else.
Atsushi laid there, eyes wide and gasping for breath, his hands scrambling at the pole, desperately trying to extract it from his body. He had just started easing it out when the girl came back, slamming her boots onto both of his hands. This time he screamed. But she wasn’t having it, because the next thing he knew, there was a gag in his mouth and he choked back a sob, hot tears slipping down his cheeks as he tried to tug his hands out from under her boots.
“That won’t do, little tiger boy. You’re struggling too much.” She pouted. “I wanted to play with you a little longer but it looks like we have to cut it short.”
He saw the knife in her grasp and shook his head furiously, trying to turn his head away from her but she leaned down, grasping his chin in one hand to make sure he didn’t move.
“No, no, I want you to look at me while the life drains out of you. it’s the least you deserve for spying on us.” She scolded him, her nails digging into his chin, as if he needed more pain.
Then, her knife dug into one side of his neck and in one swift motion, she had slid it to the other, slitting his throat open and stepping back as the blood sprayed all over the wall to his side, over the pole embedded in him and down his clothes. She removed the gag and Atsushi choked on his own blood, feeling the hot liquid build up in his throat as he dribbled warmth all down his front.
His hands scrabbled at his throat, desperately trying to staunch the blood flow but the girl came back as the wound started healing and slit his throat again and Atsushi’s eyes widened as he screamed, or perhaps tried to scream would be a better thing to say, considering his voice box was thoroughly shredded and he couldn’t make a single sound anymore. He was merely laying there, choking on his own blood.
He coughed and a spray of blood landed on his cheeks and forehead. Another slit in his throat and he made something that resembled a whine but it was too choked and wet to understand. “Easy, just give in, little spy.” The girl bunched up his hair in her hand, tugging tightly as she traced her knife around his forehead, digging another cut into it that dripped down onto one of his eyes. Atsushi turned his gaze up at the blue sky as a wave of exhaustion washed over his body.
It would be okay if he closed his eyes, wouldn’t it?
“That’s it, give in.” The girl crooned as Atsushi’s eyes fluttered shut.
Akutagawa exited their chat, cutting off the sound and covering his mouth with one hand as he tried not to be sick. They’d slaughtered him. They killed him and made a sport out of it.
He didn’t know what possessed him but Akutagawa found himself going to the photos application on Atsushi’s phone and there was only one video there. A video of Atsushi. He opened it.
“Hi. If you’re seeing this, I’m dead. That’s the only reason, because I don’t let people use my phone and there would be no other reason you’re seeing this. I hope I died in a cool way! Saving someone maybe? Helping the Agency? That would be nice.” Atsushi laughed softly.
“Stupid weretiger, why did you have to die at all?” Akutagawa whispered, cradling the phone gently.
“Um… I thought it would be a good idea to make one of these videos because we go on a lot of dangerous missions and you never really know what’s going to happen. I guess that’s kind of morbid to think about, that I’m prepared for my death… but I’ve always been accepting to that I guess. I was ready for death since I can remember, I wished for death at one point in the orphanage.
“But that’s not… I shouldn’t be talking about stuff like that. you don’t deserve to hear sad stuff from me if I’m already dead. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologise. Why are you apologising? I want to hear everything and more from you. I don’t deserve any of it but I want it so badly. Come back. Come back and tell me everything, I’d listen to you talk forever. Please.”
“So… I’m sorry if you’re the one who found my body, I can’t imagine that would be something pleasant to look at. Please… please show this video to the rest of the Agency.
“Dazai-san, thank you for giving me an opportunity. I’m glad I saved you that day at the river, you’ve taught me so much and introduced me to the people I would be happy to call a family, even though I’m not sure if they feel quite so strongly about me.” Another weak laugh. “I wish I could tell you to live for me but that would be kind of selfish and… I don’t know…” he trailed off, looking down at his hands briefly before meeting the camera with a wet smile.
“Kunikida-san, I’m sorry if I’ve given you a hard time or ever slacked off. Thank you for trusting me with the responsibilities you have and I’m sorry I couldn’t do more. You’ve been so kind to me, showing me the ropes at the agency and being so patient with me. Thank you for buying me all that chazuke when we first met, I wish I could have repaid you for that.”
“Ranpo-san, I wish I could keep helping you around the subway system. I… I wrote a guide for you, it’s in my desk drawer at work. I hope it helps you where I now can’t. You’re so smart and I’m so happy I got to see you helping so many people, it’s very admirable.”
“Yosano-san, I think you’re really badass and kind of scary and I wish I could go shopping with you one more time. I don’t mind carrying all your bags, so thank you for inviting me out when you did. It made me feel welcomed.
“Tanizaki-san, Kenji-san, we didn’t spend much time together but I admire both of you a lot for all you’ve done to protect the things and people you love. I think you’re both very cool and strong and I thank you for being so welcoming to me when I joined the Agency.
“President, I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you let me join the Agency and gave me control over my tiger. All my life I’ve been afraid of hurting people and you eased that fear. Thank you, and please take care of Kyouka-chan for me. Give her everything I own; I want her to have it all.”
“Kyouka-chan… you’re my best friend. It saddens me that I can’t take you out for crepes anymore or cook you dinner. At least you have the whole flat to yourself now? That’s… probably a bad joke, I’m sorry. You’re my family and I love you very much so please don’t be sad. I’m glad I got to spend some time with you, even if it wasn’t very long.
“To… my partner… Akutagawa…”
Akutagawa’s eyes widened.
“I wish I got to tell you this to your face… I really do. I’m sorry I can’t. I love you; I really do. I don’t know when it happened but I do. My hearts feels so full and I don’t know what to do with all the love I feel and I wish I could have told you, it’s probably my greatest regret that I didn’t get to. You must be feeling really mad now that someone got to kill me before you… sorry… that honour should have been yours. I wouldn’t have even been mad if you had, I don’t think I could fight you.”
“I couldn’t fight you either, dumbass.” Akutagawa said, tears finally slipping down his pale cheeks. “I couldn’t, I couldn’t.”
“Um… yeah, that’s all I think? Thank you everyone for the happiness you’ve given me the past year. I feel happier than I’ve ever felt in my entire life. Thank you for giving me a family, for accepting me and teaching me. I only wish I could repay you all for everything you’ve done for me. Sorry.”
The video stopped and Akutagawa hugged the phone to his chest, head bowed and body shaking with quiet sobs, the tears dripping onto Atsushi’s mangled body.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”