Chapter Text
It seemed Fyodor had more tricks up his sleeve than initially thought.
The explosion had taken everyone all off guard. Going off the moment Pushkin had been apprehended—a short-lived victory when a deafening blast roared from the tunnel, spraying dust and debris everywhere. Sending ADA and Port Mafia members alike scattering for cover.
The result had been a massive cave in. Which seemed to be its intention rather than killing anyone. Several of the tunnels had collapsed making entry…and escape quite impossible.
Four days.
It had taken four days for an excavation team to clear the rubble and make the mines safe to navigate again. They’d found the bodies of several dead and injured grunts discarded by their master like trash. The ones that weren’t dying or already corpses were taken into custody—perhaps a few interrogations would reveal where their rodent leader had scittered off to?
They had eventually managed to break through to the cavern Akutagawa and Atsushi had been—Akutagawa had been found. He was in bad shape from the cave in but he’d live. Atsushi however…was nowhere to be seen.
The excavation team had reported that they had found traces of blood as well as disturbance in the rubble. This indicating that someone else had been digging through it before they’d arrived.
And with Fyodor’s subordinate also missing these clues were all pointing to bad signs.
Had Atsushi been the intended target all along? This Dazai thought as he walked down one of the stony corridors.
Was this all some elaborate trap for a were-tiger? Or had Fyodor simply saw his chance to seize a shiny prize and took it?
It was all very troubling.
“Did you find it?” He was greeted when he stepped into a wider cavern.
Within stood Ranpo, hands tucked in his pockets while he looked contemplatively at the scene before him. To the average layperson it might’ve not looked like much—nothing but piles of stone scattered everywhere. But to Ranpo it was a place rich with clues.
Dazai held up a plastic bag containing a phone and a badge—both belonging to Atsushi. “Right where you said we’d find them.”
Ranpo had deduced they’d find both items discarded in the woods west of here. A red herring—a poor one at that. Meant to make them believe that Atsushi had been taken somewhere further up the mountain. It wouldn’t make sense, he had reasoned. The woodland would’ve been the first place authorities combed through. They wouldn’t have gotten far before being caught.
Dazai walked up to his companion’s side, silently observing him in his reflection. It was almost enviable—the smallest details those eyes could catch. What did he see when looking at these ruins? What minuscule clues had been left behind?
“You notice anything else on your way here?” Ranpo eventually asked him.
“You mean how most of the stone here looks cleared away?” Dazai replied thoughtfully. “The excavation team did report disturbances in the debris.”
As a matter of fact it appeared an entire path had been cleared through the collapsed rubble.
“With a cave-in like this, it wouldn’t have been an easy feat to move it all.” His companion went on. “Even if Fyodor’s men had set to work clearing it themselves to get to Atsushi before we could, they would’ve made so much commotion with the tools and necessary machinery that someone would’ve noticed.
“If the plan was to kidnap Atsushi right from under our noses then he would’ve needed a quick escape. And in order to procure that, it would be advantageous to have an ability user on hand who could manipulate the earth.”
That would be the ability user that Atsushi and Akutagawa had encountered. The last status report from Atsushi had been that they’d subdued the individual. However, that had only been seconds before the explosion had gone off…
Ranpo went on. “With an ability like that, they would’ve been able to dig Atsushi out easily and then clear a way out. He would’ve been unconscious because of the cave-in—wouldn’t be able to fight back. And even if he were conscious it would’ve been futile to put up any fight while trapped. His only option would’ve been to go with the enemy.”
Atsushi was alive. That was at least one grim consolation that could be taken from all of this. Fyodor would have nothing to gain from digging up a corpse.
Though alive didn’t mean safe.
Four days…
That’s how far ahead Fyodor was…
It wasn’t supposed to go like this. Dazai had thought he had it set up to all play out perfectly. After coaxing Fitzgerald’s assistance, Eyes of God had certainly been a useful tool for locating the rat.
It was as if he’d been inviting Dazai to confront him. Sitting so boldly in public, not even bothering to hide his face in that cafe. But then the man looked up suddenly and appeared to be staring directly into the camera, as if he could see the detective watching him. And he smiled.
A chilling, smug smile.
That was when Dazai had received that very urgent call from Kunikida telling him of their current situation.
The mangy little rat had seemed to plan for this all along. Dazai being forced to let him slip away in favour of checking on his allies.
And slip away he had. Unable to intercept Fyodor himself, he’d tipped Ango off in hopes that his forces would capture the man instead. But by the time they arrived he was already gone.
Fyodor had outmaneuvered him just like that. It was almost as impressive as it was annoying.
Though now Dazai was paying for that blunder in the form of a missing protégé.
It made his mind race as he wondered what could have done differently. If he had planned differently—better—would this have ended another way? Could it have ended with Fyodor captured and Atsushi safe? There had to have been a way. He just never accounted for this turn of events.
Looking back now, Dazai should have realized it had been a trap. Atsushi would have been cut off from the rest of the Agency down here. Vulnerable. This cavern had been the perfect cage to catch a tiger with.
The whole thing had all been so carefully orchestrated. One big, convoluted distraction. Their attention would be somewhere else while Fyodor’s would be on Atsushi.
Did I send him straight into Fyodor’s hands without knowing? The troubling thought gnawed mercilessly at the back of his mind.
“You shouldn’t blame yourself so hard.” His companion saved him from those ravenous thoughts.
He blinked. “Is it that obvious just from looking at me?” Of course, nothing was ever easily hidden from those sharp eyes.
Ranpo nudged a rock with the tip of his shoe. He watched for a moment as it clattered across the cavern floor. “Fyodor made sure all of our attention was diverted elsewhere. As far as any of us knew, the boss and Mori were the only targets.” His expression was somber—strained. As if trying to fight back his own worry. No doubt feeling just as blindsided as Dazai did. “So it’s useless for any of us to despair over wishing we had planned better. How could we have planned for something that none of us even considered a possibility?”
A tired sigh. “You’re right.” Bemoaning about what he could have done differently was a waste of time. “I just hate there wasn’t anything any of us could’ve done about it.” Nothing could settle his nerves on that.
“Well,” Ranpo started, “We’re doing something about it now. And that’s finding Atsushi—and we will find him.”
He was right about that as well.
They would find Atsushi. And they’d find Fyodor as well. If Dazai had to tear this city down brick by brick to find the darkest hole a rat would hide—he would.
Because he wasn’t getting away with this…
The rumble of earth. The split second of realization before the explosion roared in his ears. Dust choking his lungs when he opened his mouth to shout a warning to Akutagawa. And then the darkness…
These are the memories he awoke with.
Atsushi opened his eyes to find himself in a dark room, illuminated by several screens playing only static. Though he could just faintly make out images flickering and shifting in them it was too unclear to tell.
He couldn’t move. Strapped to some sort of chair with thick leather belts tightened across his arms, legs, and chest. Another held his head in place, preventing him from turning his neck to look around. He was forced to only stare into the screens. A tangle of wires curled around his body like snakes, poking into him at seemingly random spots.
Where…
“Ah good, the tiger wakes.” Purred an accented voice.
The fall of footsteps. Atsushi couldn’t turn his head but out of the corner of his eye he spied a figure in the darkness of the room. A man draped in a cap and wearing an ushanka hat. The light from the screens caught his face. Making it seem as if those violet eyes watching him were glowing.
He’d never met the man himself but even then he knew…
This was Fyodor Dostoyevsky…
The gravity of his situation began to sink in.
Where were the others? Akutagawa? Kunikida? Dazai? Kyouka?
As panic seized him, Atsushi struggled against the bindings that held him in place. He had to get free. He had to find the others. However, the leather bit painfully into his body, holding fast despite it all.
How had he gotten here?
Faint memories teased just under the surface of his mind. The chaos of dust and rocks raining down everywhere like a storm from hell. The feeling of stone pounding against his body, breaking bones—burying him alive…
How had he even survived?
Had Akutagawa survived as well?
A fuzzy memory seized across the back of his brain. The sight of Akutagawa being pummeled by the falling stones—disappearing in the cascade of dust.
He pulled harder against his restraints.
“Tsk, tsk.” He heard from Fyodor. “Awake for not even five minutes and already trying to get away? How rude. Here I was hoping you’d be in the mood for some stimulating conversation.”
“Let me go!” Atsushi snapped in response.
“That I am afraid I cannot do just yet.” Fyodor hummed as he moved to walk somewhere behind Atsushi. “You’ve just arrived and we have so much to talk about.”
“As if I’d have anything to say to you…” He growled.
“Is that so? Not even questions about the fate of your allies?” Fyodor’s voice came from the other side of him this time. The man languidly leaned over and began to adjust the straps as if to pull them taunter. Not that the were-tiger had managed to loosen them at all in the first place.
Amused violet eyes caught Atsushi’s worried expression before he could hide it.
“My subordinate was captured and was forced to disable the virus.” The man went on. “So Ogai Mori and Yukichi Fukuzawa will live. Quite the happy ending for everyone, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Well,” He moved away, walking somewhere behind Atsushi again. “Happy for everyone but you.”
“They’ll come looking for me.”
“Currently your allies believe you crushed under several tons of stone from a cave in. It will take days for them to realize you’re missing. And by the time they do realize it will be too late.”
Too late…What did Fyodor intend on doing to him?
“What do you want from me?” Atsushi growled out as he continued to struggle in vain against the bindings. All his fidgeting seemed to be doing very little. It was almost as if these bindings were specifically made to hold a were-tiger in place.
Was it his ability? Is that what Fyodor wanted? To use him like Fitzgerald had?
Fitzgerald had been willing to level an entire city to locate the book he so greatly yearned for. What would someone like Fyodor be willing to do for it?
“You needn’t struggle so fiercely. As I said, I brought you here for some stimulating conversation. I only wish to ask you a few questions.” Came his captor’s voice from somewhere at the back of the room. “Answer them and we can get you out of that uncomfortable chair much quicker.”
“How about you let me ask some questions first?” Atsushi counted. “Where am I? And why did you bring me here”
He heard a chuckle from the man. “We are somewhere far out of reach of aid from your companions. As for why you’re here—I trust you understand the integral part you play in the fate of this world?”
“You want to use me as the book’s guide…”
“Precisely.”
“What if I refuse?”
“You haven’t even managed to break free from your restraints. Are you certain you are in any position to refuse me?”
Atsushi gritted his teeth at that.
He hated that he couldn’t see what Fyodor was doing behind him. Hated that this stupid chair held him prisoner so easily. Otherwise he would’ve sprung free in that instance to prove him wrong.
“If you have nothing else to comment, then shall we begin?” The demon asked him.
“As if I have any other choice.”
He’d be stuck here, forced to play along. Unless he figured out a way to escape. But where could he go? He knew nothing else in this room aside from the glowing screens in front of him.
He blinked, trying to clear the pinpricks from his vision. The static was beginning to make his head throb.
“What is your name?” He heard Fyodor ask suddenly.
What?
“You already know that.” The were-tiger snippily responded.
Dazai had described Fyodor as a conniving and manipulative man. Dangerous and always playing people like pieces on a board. So what game was he playing at with this?
“Incorrect.”
And then Atsushi heard a humming in the air, his warning before the pain hit him. A scream ripped from his throat as electricity shot through him. His body convulsed and jerked painfully against the restraints. It was agony. Agony that he felt went on forever.
And then it stopped…and he slumped back against the chair. He can feel his heart racing…pounding rapidly against his ribs.
“What is your name?” Fyodor asked again.
“What,” Atsushi manages to snap from his daze, “Is the point in you asking such a dumb question?”
“Incorrect.” Was the cold reply he got. .
And once more the were-tiger felt electricity course through his body again. It felt worse than the first time…
“What is your name?” Again.
Atsushi didn’t understand. What was the point of this? Some sort of torture? Was this how he’d get him to break?
“Atsushi Nakajima.” He warily answered.
A pause.
“How old are you?”
Another odd question.
“I don’t understand what you’re getting from this.” Atsushi said.
“Incorrect.”
Again pain. It felt as if his body were being fried from the inside. He could taste blood upon his tongue as he screamed. Stars danced across his vision—dancing with the static on the screens.
And then it stopped.
Fyodor spoke again. “How old are you?”
“Eighteen.” He wearily replied, finally catching on to this bizarre interrogation.
“What is your ability?” The next question.
This time the boy knew better than to make snippy commentary. “Beast Beneath the Moonlight. It allows me to transform into a tiger…”
No shock this time. Fyodor moved on.
“Who are you loyal to?”
“The Armed Detective Agency.”
“Incorrect.”
What?
He felt it again. Horrible, painful electricity making his body seize. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t move. There was no running away from it. And suddenly it was like he was back in the orphanage. Held prisoner by the headmaster as he was victim to his cruel punishments. No one around to hear his screams. No one around to make it stop.
Even when the electricity had been turned off, Atsushi could still feel it. Twitching in his limbs. Making his heart race so fast he thought it was going to come up from his throat.
God make it stop…
No…He knew pain. He could handle this. He would handle this. He’d been through worse. This twisted game Fyodor was playing would not break him.
“Who are you loyal to?” The man asked him again.
Atsushi grimaced. “I already told you. I don’t know what else you want me to say!”
“Incorrect.”
Again he heard that awful hum that was precursor to the pain that shot through his body. And then again Fyodor repeated himself.
What does he want?
“Yukichi Fukuzawa…” Was Atsushi’s weary answer this time.
“Incorrect.”
He was electrocuted again.
This went on for several more times. Fyodor would ask that very same question and Atsushi would give him an answer—any answer he could think of. The Armed Detective Agency, Fukuzawa, Yokohama…However, none of them seemed to satisfy the demon and he would receive his usual punishment for not giving the correct answer. Each shock felt more intense than the last.
How long did this go on? Atsushi couldn’t be sure; he hadn’t been keeping track of the time. It could’ve been mere minutes…but god it felt like hours.
Over…and over…and over…
Why?
Why is this happening?
He thought he was going to die. Thought that this was just Fyodor’s perverse way of killing him slowly. At some point he must’ve blacked out from the pain. Reprieve—then he felt another awful jolt through his body and that forced him awake…
He could feel himself trembling. He could feel his heart pounding painfully against his chest as if it were going to burst free at any moment…His throat burned from his screams…His head ached as if someone had taken a hammer to it…not helped by the glaring light from the screens in front of him.
Static. Static as always. Staring at it made his skin itch. Made it feel like tiny sparks of electricity were still stinging him.
He needed to get away. He needed to fight back. Yet even with this thought in mind, the were-tiger could not will himself to move his limbs to struggle against his fetters. He felt too tired. Too weakened.
“We are not finished with our conversation yet, Atsushi Nakajima.” He heard Fyodor say. “Please try to stay awake. It’s quite rude to doze off whilst someone is speaking to you.”
Why? Why is he doing this?
Atsushi swallowed the lump in his throat. “Just kill me already.” He breathed. “I don’t know what you want but I know I’d rather die than give it to you. So you’re better off just getting it over with and killing me.”
He saw no benefit to Fyodor asking him these questions. So it had to be some sort of torture. Some sort of punishment for interfering with his plans.
“Your role in all of this is far too important.” Fyodor replied back. “You are of more use to me alive.”
For some reason that made Atsushi feel a prickle of anger within his chest. Frustration cut through his exhaustion like a blade. “Then what the hell do you want from me?! You keep asking me these pointless questions! And I don’t see how they’re supposed to further your plans in any way! So—What. Do. You. Want?” He snarled.
How he wished he could break free and get to him. How he wished he could take hold of his tormentor. Make him experience his own pain. Make him know suffering.
A pause.
And then… “Who are you loyal to?”
Atsushi ground his teeth in annoyance. This time he stubbornly kept his mouth shut. He wouldn’t answer. He didn’t know what game Fyodor was playing but he refused to take part in it.
“Answer the question.” Fyodor commanded when he noticed his captive’s silence.
No.
He refused.
He wouldn’t play.
From behind him Atsushi heard a long and very exasperated sigh.
“Increase voltage to max.”
Pain. But he expected it this time. Always pain. White. Hot. Burning. Like his blood had turned molten and was burning him from the inside.
He was going to die…
He must’ve blacked out again…For suddenly he was jolted awake, coughing and struggling to breathe.
“You are making this far harder than it needs to be. It’s simple: I ask you a question and you answer.” His tormentor told him.
“Go to hell…” He huffed back.
“Who are you loyal to?” That stupid question. It was that stupid question again. He hated it.
Tired. Atsushi was getting so tired of it. “I already told you…”
“Incorrect.” Like always.
And like always followed by his usual punishment.
What did Fyodor want him to say?
Through the ringing in his ears, he heard Fyodor ask him again. That same question. That same damned question. “Who are you loyal to?”
What did he want?
Atsushi didn’t want to answer again. He didn’t want to do anymore of this maddening back and forth. Why didn’t Fyodor just tell him what he wanted?
When Atsushi didn’t reply immediately, Fyodor spoke again. “We’ve already had our discussion on cooperation, little tiger. Answer my question.”
Either way he knew Fyodor was going to hurt him regardless of whether or not he cooperated. Stay silent and be punished. Or answer his question and still be punished anyway because he kept answering wrong.
“Dazai…” Atsushi eventually whispered. “...Dazai’s going to find me. He’s coming for me right now…and when he gets here. He’s…he’s going to kill you.”
Silence. A very long and tense silence.
And then he heard Fyodor laugh.
“Incorrect.”
Atsushi didn’t think he had any strength left in him to scream anymore. He was wrong. God he was wrong. Because the pain that hit him was somehow even worse than anything he’d ever felt before.