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With the Decay of Angels crisis resolved, Yokohama returned to a usual sort of peace.
That is, until…
Dazai comes out of a meeting with the president and Kunikida looking very serious. “Uh-huh. Okay.” He nods. “I see.”
There's a tense silence—at least in Atsushi's mind—as Dazai walks back into the office.
“...Atsushi-kun,” he says abruptly.
Atsushi startles in his seat and drops a pen, fumbling to catch it. In his efforts he bats it away from himself on accident, sending it flying through the air.
Dazai catches the pen. “You need to be careful,” he says. “There are reports of a new ability user in Yokohama—we think he’s a visitor from the Order of the Clock Tower. He’s a young man with pink hair, and we don't know what his ability is, so watch out.”
“Ah—alright!” Atsushi sits up straight. “Is he dangerous?”
“We don't know, but it's very likely,” Kunikida chimes in.
At that moment, Yosano slams open the door to her office. “Atsushi-kun! Come shopping with me!”
Atsushi exchanges a glance with Dazai, thinking is this really a good idea…? But after all, no one can say no to Yosano.
Not fifteen minutes later, Atsushi is staggering down the street, barely able to see over the pile of boxes in his arms. Yosano has already stepped into another store, but he can't tell which one, so he just keeps walking, looking in the shop windows.
Unfortunately, with the tower of boxes blocking his way, he bumps into someone, sending Yosano’s purchases flying. Atsushi manages to right himself with his tiger-like agility, and immediately starts picking up packages while apologizing profusely.
The other victim of this collision groans in protest. “What?! What are you doing, running into me?! Don't you know everyone is beneath me?” he yells in indignation. “You should offer to help me up and then kneel at my feet!” He stands up, pink hair disheveled and hanging in his face.
“I’m really sorry…?” Atsushi says, uncertain how to respond.
“You will be! From this day on, you won't ever forget my name—George Orwell! Remember me!” With a contemptuous wave of his hand, everything distorts in Atsushi's vision.
At first Atsushi panicks—is this an ability? What's happening? Suddenly, everything gets really big around him. He opens his mouth to call for help, and all that comes out is a tiny squeak.
Orwell’s laugh is booming and giant now. “Soon all of Yokohama will be on equal footing: beneath me!” His laugh echoes as he walks away.
Atsushi shivers, feeling cramped and cold. He sneezes, and realizes his face is shaped oddly; he raises a hand to touch his nose, but it's a paw instead, and that's when he realizes…
…he’s a cat.
He stumbles around in the pile of boxes on four stubbly paws until he figures out how to make them work together—this is harder than it looks! He has a new respect for the powerful coordination of the tiger; he has no part in controlling that. Once he has his feet under him, he leaps off in some direction.
He doesn't know where he's going. In the opposite direction of that ability user, he hopes. Then he skids to a halt. Maybe he should be going after him, to get changed back? Or should he go look for Dazai?
He looks around with wide eyes. Everything is bright and moving very fast, and it looks different so close to the ground; he must be a kitten, which is a little frustrating. He doesn't know where he is, so he sniffs around a bit. It’s amazing how much information he can parse just from the scents around him; while this isn't how he usually gets around, he does recognize a few smells. One of them is very strong, probably recent: an aroma of tea and something else, like ink or metal.
He starts following it. He’s so intent on the trail that he barely realizes he’s headed into an alleyway, until he steps into a puddle of something and mews in protest. It's a weird sticky liquid that's some color he can't quite make out, but it smells super strongly—ah, this is the scent of blood.
There's a cough. “What… is that?” a quiet voice murmurs. The sound, to Atsushi’s heightened senses, is like a cool breeze.
Catching his reflection in the pool of blood, Atsushi notices how scruffy he looks; aside from darker fur around his nose and paws, he’s covered in white fur sticking out every which way. Then he looks up to see a long black coat, a pale hand, and dark eyes edged with long eyelashes staring back at him.
“Akutagawa!” …is what he tries to say, but it comes out as a yowl of kitten proportions.
Rashomon uncurls slowly towards him, wrapping around his torso and back legs and lifting him into the air. It's actually surprisingly comfortable and supports his weight well. Akutagawa studies him. “Strange being, so unafraid of Rashomon. Where did you come from?”
Atsushi wriggles around and meows again. Let me down, he thinks.
Instead, Akutagawa picks him up with his hands instead of Rashomon, settling him in the crook of his elbow. It’s absurdly comfortable, even if Akutagawa is really bony, and then—of all the things—Akutagawa starts petting him.
The thing is, Atsushi is very overwhelmed by suddenly being a cat. Not even a proper cat—a kitten. So that explains why he buries his little kitten face in Akutagawa's elbow and starts purring.
He can never let Akutagawa know it's him underneath this cute kitten disguise. Never.
Akutagawa starts walking. Atsushi looks up to watch where they're going, and they make their way into the lobby of one of the tall Mafia buildings, at which point Atsushi demands, with his claws, to be let down.
In response, Akutagawa holds him at arm’s length with Rashomon again, making an expression that almost looks like—is he pouting? “Who would know what to do about a stray cat?” he asks himself. “Chuuya-san?” He pulls out a sleek shiny flip phone and dials a number. It rings for a few seconds, and when it picks up, he abruptly says, “Chuuya-san. Where are you right now?”
The faint, tinny reply—Atsushi's kitten ears can just barely hear it—sounds incredulous. “What? I’m in my office. What's wrong?”
“Understood,” Akutagawa replies, and hangs up. Atsushi has never felt so much sympathy for Mafia Executive Nakahara Chuuya before.
(Okay, that's not true. The man was Dazai’s partner for three years, and that deserves more sympathy than can possibly be expressed. Still.)
Akutagawa settles Atsushi in his arms again and takes the elevator up to some high floor, and slowly it sinks in that Atsushi is getting to see parts of the Port Mafia headquarters that possibly only people of Akutagawa’s rank or higher know anything about. He… can never tell anyone this happened to him. He would probably be executed on the spot, likely by Akutagawa himself.
Soon they exit the elevator and Akutagawa takes a winding, maze-like path through the hallways to a door with a nameplate on it. He doesn't pause long enough to knock or let Atsushi get a glimpse of who this office belongs to, but it's obvious when Akutagawa bursts through the door and ducks a brick being thrown at him at record-breaking speeds.
“Akutagawa? What the fuck?” Chuuya splutters. “What are you barging in here for? What's wrong?” Then he notices the kitten. “Ohmygodwhatisthat.”
“It's a kitten,” Akutagawa answers. “I assumed since you are good with animals that you would know what to do with it.”
Chuuya takes a deep breath. “First of all, I’m a dog person. And second of all, are you sure that's a cat? It’s giving me the creeps.”
“Don't listen to him,” Akutagawa murmurs to Atsushi.
“Holy shit.” Chuuya seems to come to a realization. “You want to keep it, don't you?”
Akutagawa hesitates for a moment. “...No,” he says, but his voice sounds weird, and Atsushi turns to look up.
Is… is the fearsome hellhound of the Port Mafia blushing?
Chuuya points at him. “I knew it! Aw man, now I owe Gin money. She predicted you were a cat person.” He comes a little closer and looks at Atsushi. “It's so tiny,” he says. “I still think there's something weird about it, but I can't stop you, I guess.”
Atsushi can feel his little kitten heart thumping very loudly. What is going on?! Can Chuuya tell he’s not really a cat? Akutagawa is a cat person? Does that mean he's secretly wanted to pet Atsushi this whole time?!!
Nope, no way. He’s getting carried away with that train of thought. More importantly, what's going to happen to him next?
Chuuya peers a little closer. “He’s got funny eyes, though. Don't cats usually have green eyes?”
“Many cats have yellow or green eyes, but colorpoints often have blue eyes,” Akutagawa tells him. Then he turns Atsushi over to stare intently at him. “Hmm. That is unusual.”
“Yeah, I’ve never heard of cats having multicolored eyes, let alone purple.” Chuuya rolls his eyes. “Weird cat,” he mutters, and stalks back to his desk. “Now, will you please leave me to finish this godawful paperwork?”
Akutagawa just stands there for a moment, staring at Atsushi's eyes. One could practically see the gears turning. Then his eyes widen dramatically. He turns and walks speedily to the elevator, glancing at Atsushi incredulously every few seconds. The elevator dings and opens and he steps in.
Seeing that it's empty, he levels the kitten with a very serious gaze. “Jinko, is that you?”
Atsushi panicks and bites Akutagawa's hand, getting dropped into the floor. He runs around yowling while Rashomon comes after him, and it's only after barely evading the black cloth that he realizes Akutagawa isn't actually trying to skewer him. He gets scooped up again and wriggles around in protest, but he can't escape.
Akutagawa frowns. “I know those eyes,” he says. “Who did this to you?”
Atsushi just meows.
“I see.” Akutagawa picks Atsushi up with his hands again, and tentatively tries to scratch behind his ears.
Atsushi hisses and bats at his hand. There is no way in hell he's going to let Akutagawa see him purring twice in one day.
“Very well, jinko.” Akutagawa withdraws his hand. “You will direct me to the person who did this, and I will strangle them with their own entrails.”
Atsushi yowls in protest again.
“...I will threaten to strangle them with their own entrails,” Akutagawa amends.
Satisfied, Atsushi starts cleaning his ears for the rest of the elevator ride.
When they reach the lobby again, Akutagawa walks briskly towards the doors, the crowd giving him plenty of space. It's likely that a lot of people in the Mafia are intimidated by his reputation. While Akutagawa is dangerous, Atsushi is probably never going to be intimidated by him again after learning he has a soft spot for cats.
Once outside, he sets Atsushi down. “Which way?”
Atsushi looks around. He didn't actually get a sense of what Orwell smelled like, so he's not sure. He meows and reaches up with his paws on Akutagawa's shin.
Akutagawa sighs. “Very well.” He picks Atsushi up to his eye level. “Can you see him?”
Atsushi looks around. With the myriad of people walking around the street, it's hard to pick out any single color, and then—oh. Cats don't see all the same colors. What if he can't even identify the pink-haired ability user? Everything had looked so natural to his cat eyes that he hadn't even considered that.
Then he notices a face in the crowd, eyes wide and alarmed.
Atsushi leaps out of Akutagawa's hands with a yowl and races as fast as his tiny legs can carry him towards Orwell. Behind him, he can hear Akutagawa making his own way through the crowd, but he's focused.
They come out of the crowd at the edge of a fountain in the middle of the square. Akutagawa looks around, and so does Atsushi, but their quarry is nowhere to be seen.
There's a laugh from behind them, and Orwell pushes Akutagawa into the fountain. He makes his own way out of the crowd and stands with his hands on his hips and a triumphant expression. “Got an ally, did you?” he taunts Atsushi. “Well, my ability turns people into animals that they resemble, so anyone stupid enough to hang around you must be a mouse!” He throws his head back and laughs.
There's the sound of water being shaken off, and Akutagawa climbs out of the fountain: Akutagawa, who is now a sleek black street dog with a spiked collar, at least three times Atsushi's current height. He growls and lunges in one moment, grabbing Orwell by the sleeve. He immediately starts dragging the young man along, and Atsushi follows as fast as he can.
Orwell seems to be scared stiff, barely putting one foot in front of the other. They make it to the front of the Armed Detective Agency—Atsushi could probably have found it in a few hours in this state, but Akutagawa navigates there with a single-minded purpose. Atsushi scampers up and paws at the door, shoving it enough to ring the bell in the cafe. When he turns around, Akutagawa is gone; not far, from the smell of it, but out of sight. So Atsushi sits there and doesn't take his eyes off of Orwell, who is shaking like a leaf in a gale.
The cafe door opens and he hears Lucy gasp, but he doesn't budge. A few minutes later the door opens again, and Dazai walks out.
“Oh, my, what have we here?” he says. “You must be the ability user we’ve been looking for.” He claps a hand on Orwell’s shoulder.
All at once, Atsushi feels his body expand and warp back into a human shape, and he stands up, gasping for breath. “Dazai-san!”
Dazai smiles. “Has anyone ever told you that you make a very cute kitten?”
“Have—” Atsushi draws in a long breath, getting used to his normal body again. “Have you got this under control?” he asks.
“Of course, why?” Dazai replies, but Atsushi is gone before he hears the question.
He skids around the corner, relying on his tiger senses to find that familiar scent again—and there's Akutagawa, black coat nearly blending into the shadows, sulking in an alleyway. “Akutagawa!”
Akutagawa turns. “What do you want, jinko?” His voice is flat, but Atsushi sees a hint of emotion in his eyes, downturned to the ground.
Atsushi hesitates before blurting out, “Are you okay?”
Now Akutagawa just looks annoyed. “Did being turned into a cat drive you mad? Go away.”
“You didn't even let Dazai-san see you,” Atsushi argues. “Aren't we partners?”
“Be silent,” Akutagawa demands. He looks away. “...Dazai-san hates dogs,” he says finally.
Atsushi gives him an incredulous stare. “You're so stupid. You're lucky that Dazai-san could nullify the transformation just by touching the source.”
Rashomon writhes warningly. “Do not make me kill you,” Akutagawa says, seething. “I finally gained Dazai’s approval—”
“With my help,” Atsushi interjects.
“—and I will not encourage him to take that back because I appeared in front of him as the thing he despises. Don't be stupid.”
“You're being stupid,” Atsushi argues. “Dazai-san wouldn't do that. You couldn't help getting turned into a dog.”
Akutagawa scowls. “One cannot help weakness, and yet is punished for it anyway.”
Atsushi sighs. “That's it,” he says decisively, and grabs Akutagawa's wrist. “You need to stop moping.” He starts walking down the street, and mostly Akutagawa seems too surprised to resist.
Finally he recovers enough to tug out of Atsushi's grasp. “What are you doing?”
“I will drag you,” Atsushi threatens. He keeps walking, and Akutagawa follows him. “I’m going to cheer you up.”
“This is a very forceful and disagreeable way of doing so,” Akutagawa points out.
Atsushi waves a hand. “You like arguing with me. Aha, wait here.” He dashes off to a stand in the square, rustles up some change, and returns holding his prize.
“What,” says Akutagawa in faint disbelief, “is that.”
“It's a crepe!” Atsushi holds it out. “Kyouka-chan loves them. Plus, it's shaped like a cat.”
Akutagawa stares incredulously at him.
“You can't possibly tell me you're not a cat person,” Atsushi says pointedly. He holds out the crepe.
Akutagawa slowly takes ahold of the dessert, as if he's never held a crepe before and isn't sure how to approach it. He spends a minute just looking at it from various angles. “It's not even a very good cat,” he observes, sounding disappointed. “It's not even the best cat I’ve seen today.” He blinks owlishly a few times, like he hadn't meant to say that.
Atsushi thinks about that for a few seconds. “How many cats have you seen today?”
Looking resigned to his fate and slightly embarrassed, Akutagawa replies, “One.” With that same resolute expression, he takes a bite of the crepe, getting one of the cat’s strawberry ears.
Well. Akutagawa thinks Atsushi is a better cat than a crepe version.
“I changed my mind,” Akutagawa announces after another bite. “This is an excellent cat.”
Atsushi starts walking again while Akutagawa finishes the crepe. “Well, let's see if you change your mind again.”
Akutagawa, following him, is silent for a minute or two as he finishes the crepe. “What do you mean?” he asks finally.
Atsushi smiles, falling into step with him. “You’ll see.” He leads Akutagawa on down another few streets, and finally opens a door with a short teasing bow.
Akutagawa steps in the door and almost immediately stops, eyes wide. Atsushi has to judge him forward to get the door closed behind them, and he doesn't even respond with a snappy comment like usual. He covers his mouth with a hand.
“Do you like it?” Atsushi asks, nervous now with the silence stretching on.
“I…” Akutagawa drops his hand from his mouth and he’s smiling. He's smiling. A small, soft smile, barely there, but a happy one, not a vicious smirk or a mocking grin. It makes his whole face look gentler.
(To say Atsushi fell in love right there would be a vast overstatement. He cares about Akutagawa through all of the fights they've had, and the complete and total trust they have in each other, and the way they work together so well they feel like one organism sometimes. It's the hard-won battles and the demonstrated lengths they would go to for each other that did him in. Akutagawa's smile is just another brick on the massive pile of bricks that's been building since the Moby Dick, that—
Where is he going with this metaphor?)
“I’ve never seen such a place before,” Akutagawa says, surveying the cat cafe with a quiet air of amazement.
“I thought so,” Atsushi says to himself. He presses a button to get the ticket saying what time they went in, and opens the gate to the main area.
The kittens immediately give Akutagawa a wide range of space, and he looks so wounded Atsushi has to suppress a laugh. “Maybe they don't like your coat,” he suggests.
Akutagawa frowns slightly but takes off the coat, hanging it by the gate. “If anything happens…” he says, trailing off in a warning as he glances at Atsushi.
Atsushi holds his hands up in surrender. “Yeah, yeah, I got your back. Don't I always?”
Akutagawa seems to think that doesn't need an answer, because he crouches down and tries to get the cats’ attention. One calico that looks suspiciously like Mii-chan lays in a window and gives the two of them a haughty look that only cats can give, but a brown tabby slowly walks up and sniffs his hand. She lets Akutagawa pet her and then rubs against his leg. It's like a signal to the other cats, that this person is alright.
Five minutes later, Atsushi is laid out flat on the floor. There's three cats napping on his chest, a black kitten with white paws trying to bite his face and failing spectacularly, and more cats just leaning up against him to nap. Akutagawa is taking pictures and not bothering to hide the smirk of laughter on his face.
Atsushi groans. “Come on, Akutagawa, you’ve got to help me.”
“I am sending these pictures to Kyouka,” Akutagawa says, neatly ignoring Atsushi's plea for help.
Atsushi scrunches up his face as the kitten nearly steps in his eye and picks it up in the air. “That's quite enough,” he scolds it. “Didn't anyone teach you manners?” He and the kitten engage in a silent staring contest for a minute, until he comes to a realization. “Hey, Akutagawa…”
“What, jinko?”
“Doesn't this one kind of look like you?”
Akutagawa moves to crouch down by Atsushi's head to get a better look. “... Don't be ridiculous,” he finally mutters.
Atsushi holds the kitten closer to Akutagawa. “You can't deny facts! Maybe that's why he kept trying to bite me. He has the spirit of Rashomon.”
Akutagawa mutters something about stupid jinko, but he switches to sitting cross-legged instead and Atsushi drops the kitten in his lap. It immediately curls up and starts purring like a bulldozer, the little traitor.
Atsushi knocks his head against Akutagawa’s knee. “What are you thinking about?” he asks.
“What?”
Atsushi leans up on his elbows, to the protest of two of the cats napping on him. “Come on, you’ve got that thinking look on your face.”
Akutagawa looks scandalized. “I do not have a thinking look.”
“Yeah you do,” Atsushi says, rolling his eyes. “Your forehead gets all tense and you pout a little.” He pokes Akutagawa's cheek.
Akutagawa's face is red. “I was not…” he starts to protest again, and then thinks better of it. He starts again, quieter, “I have not… I have never tried to bite you with my own teeth as this small hellion did. But I—” He shakes his head, clearly blushing now. “This is foolish.” He looks down at the kitten in his lap, hair hanging in front of his face.
Atsushi pushes his bangs out of the way. “Talk to me,” he says.
Akutagawa grabs Atsushi's wrist, wrenching it away from his face. “You just do that,” he hisses. “Things like that—you do them without thinking about it, without regard for how—”
“Who says I’m not thinking about it?” Atsushi interrupts.
“You—” Akutagawa looks simultaneously amazed and ready to murder him, but he's speechless, which is a win in Atsushi's book.
Then he grabs Atsushi by the back of the neck and leans in to kiss him, biting down on his lower lip.
Atsushi takes in a sharp breath at the pain, and Akutagawa is already leaning back; Atsushi touches his lip, and comes away with blood on his fingers. He looks back at Akutagawa. “You—what? I—you—” he stutters.
Akutagawa just looks smug. “Now you may make the comparison.” He goes back to petting the kitten in his lap, but looks at Atsushi every few seconds.
“I—I’m going to get you back for that,” Atsushi stammers, once he feels like he can form sentences without making a complete fool of himself.
Akutagawa smiles. “I look forward to it.”