Chapter Text
Akutagawa leans back in his chair and bounces Yume. “Baby girl, you’re okay,” he croons to her, but she’s still sniffling and wailing as he holds her. He brings her in under his chin and scents her, emanating a calming pheromone that he doesn’t quite feel himself, but the motion soothes both of them. “Sorry, sweetheart. I know. Papa has to focus though.”
She’s settling in and starting to nap on his chest and he rubs at her back over the cloth swaddling her. Once upon a time Rashomon tore his enemies to shreds. Now it holds his kit as he turns his attention back to his reports.
“Hey, Akutagawa, so-” Chuuya says as he opens the door and heads in.
He curses under his breath. So much for focusing on his reports.
“Hey, you’ve got Yume!” Chuuya says with obvious glee. Akutagawa sighs and stands. He crosses the room to where Chuuya still waits in the doorframe and he allows Rashomon to retreat so that he can hand his offspring over.
“Hello baby girl! Good to see you. Dad never brings you into work,” he bemoans as he rocks the child who is now giggling with glee to receive attention. Baby hands grab at Chuuya’s ears and tail and he allows the contact because he will let Yume walk all over him if she wants.
“That is because as a general rule I do not want my kit to be here. We are trying to keep her out of the more… unsavory elements of Atsushi and I’s lives. At least until she is older.”
“And can understand and make her own choices?”
“Until she can shred those who might bring her harm.”
“Right,” Chuuya says. “Well when she’s ready to learn to fight, I’ve got her. We’ll have her kicking ass in no time.”
“She is five months old,” he points out. “We will cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“You’re going to be the best fighter in Yokohama,” Chuuya tells Yume. “Kicking ass right and left.”
Akutagawa rolls his eyes. “Anyways, the weretiger had to stay late for a case, so I brought her in with me. He should be here shortly though.”
As if on cue, his door opens again. “Ryuu, Yume!” Atsushi says as he adjusts his messenger bag. “Oh and hey, good to see you Chuuya.”
He reaches out for Yume and receives her. Atsushi smiles as he gives her some small kisses and balances her on his hip. Akutagawa has to be deliberate in not staring at lush hips as Atsushi rolls them. As if knowing what he is thinking, Atsushi grins at him. He moves Yume to his side so he can kiss Akutagawa’s cheek and nuzzle against it for a moment. “Thanks for watching her. I’ll take her out to lunch and then head home. Know when you’re getting home tonight?”
“Shouldn’t be long. I’ll be back for dinner.”
“Good. I’ll cook, if you can handle dessert.”
“I can - oh. Oh, yes, I can take care of that.”
Atsushi smiles and pulls away. “Sounds good, I’ll see you then. Ready to go to the store Yume? We can get the stuff we need for chazuke.”
“If that ends up being her first word, I will be quite upset,” Akutagawa says. It’s a losing battle.
Atsushi just waves and takes Yume back out with him, saying to her, “Chazuke, chazuke, chazuke!” the entire time as he tries to get her to join him on his chant.
They head to a shopping center only a few blocks away. Mafia affiliated, but that just means Atsushi gets a good deal on his groceries when he checks out. Everyone knows him at this point. Both as the savior of yokohama, but also half of shin soukoku. And as Akutagawa Ryuunosuke’s mate. At this point in time it’s impossible to say which title carries the most weight nowadays, but the effect is the same. He can make chazuke for cheap.
He holds Yume and wraps his tail around her waist to keep her in place. It’s not quite as handy as Rashomon but he has the stamina to carry her around the entire day if he so desires.
“Does this look ripe?” he asks her as he holds out a cabbage to her. She doesn’t respond, of course, but he smiles at her and says, “That’s what I thought too,” as he puts it down.
“Atsushi,” someone says behind him.
He turns and narrows his eyes. He doesn’t know the man who called his name, who now approaches him with a deceptively casual air, hands in pockets and shoulders slouched. Dark eyes watch Atsushi in a way he does not care for in the least.
Atsushi casts a glance around the room. They’re alone in this part of the store. In the back. There’s a utility door to the side. The lock on it is already cut off.
He sighs.
“What do you want?”
“Your mate has been causing us quite a number of problems,” he says. He steps closer, invading Atsushi’s space. He does not back away, but he does tighten his grip around Yume.
“That’s nice. I don’t have anything to do with mafia business. I stay out of it,” Atsushi tells him. He looks around the room, but other men slink over to the exits. He did not come alone. Atsushi frowns and brings a hand up to cover Yume’s head.
“That’s really not a choice you get to make when you’re a mafia executive’s bitch,” the man says.
Atsushi’s head whips to stare him down. “What did you call me?”
He backhands Atsushi.
He sees it coming. Of course he does. He has more than just a tiger’s reflexes, he has byakko. But he doesn’t want to move too quickly while holding Yume and the hand was coming for him, not her, so he just takes it. It lands with a crack across his cheek and he feels the man’s claws dig in. They rake across his skin and he feels blood well, then trickle down his face.
Yume starts to cry and he brings her under his chin. “Hey baby girl, I’m sorry. Daddy’s okay.”
The dog barks out a jeering laugh. “Omegas should be seen and not heard.” His eyes rake over Atsushi in a way that makes his stomach churn. “Or better yet, they should be on their backs.”
“Not in front of Yume,” he says softly.
“Listen, if you think-” he raises a hand again, as though to strike him again. The door opens behind him and Atsushi sees what he’s laid out. Waylay him here, get him to a van waiting on the other side. To either be hurt or killed, depending on how they wanted to try and fuck with Akutagawa. He saw the plan from the moment he realized he was alone.
“I’m trying to keep her away from this. Not yet,” Atsushi says almost sadly.
The man’s hand reaches out to strike him again.
The blow does not land because he no longer has an arm.
There’s a beat. A pause. He processes what happens and it’s so slow. Atsushi almost rolls his eyes. If he were alone, he would have, but right now his main focus is on making sure that his daughter’s eyes are shielded. She’s only a few months old but he still does not want her seeing this.
The man’s friends rush in once he starts screaming. They stop short. Where there was once a smiling omega talking to his kit, there is now a man with glowing yellow eyes and blood dripping down his fangs. He smiles at them. “You are lucky my kit is here. Were it just me, I would have torn you limb from limb.”
That is all the warning they get before the carnage starts.
Akutagawa is there in minutes, if not seconds. It is blocks away but the moment he gets a ping that there is something happening at the Kanagawa center, he is out the window and using Rashomon to spider climb his way there. He did not even need to finish reading the message to know Atsushi is involved.
The shopping center is abuzz as he gets there. Multiple men with guns stand around, though they do not seem to be involved in an active incident. Whatever has happened here was over quickly. They nod to him, bowing respectfully.
“Sir,” one of the more courageous men says. “Your omega-”
“Where is he? Where is Yume?” he cuts in.
He is already moving past him. “They’re in the back,” he says.
He finds Atsushi standing among the cabbages. Other members of the mafia are in the room, but no one has approached Atsushi. Maybe because he’s dripping blood. Maybe because he growls when one of the men shifts his gun from one hand to the other. Maybe because he’s surrounded by men whimpering in pain and missing several limbs.
Aktuagawa does not break his stride as he crosses the room. He only stops when Atsushi seems to act on delay, turning his gaze to him once he’s a few feet away and baring razor sharp fangs.
“Weretiger,” he says softly. He throws a quick glance over his shoulder. It is Port Mafia men in the room, and he dismisses them with a gesture. He turns his attention back to Atsushi.
The weretiger sways on his feet, not like he might fall, but as though he might strike. “Atsushi,” he says.
That does the trick. Atsushi’s shoulders slump and he blinks a few times before looking at a crying Yume in his arms. “She’s - she’s not hurt. She’s not hurt. I wouldn’t let them get her.”
Akutagawa collapses the distance between them and wraps them both in a hug. “Let me see her,” he says. Atsushi hands her over but does not let go of Akutagawa.
Yume is fine. Compared to Atsushi she’s clean, though a few splatters of blood decorate the back of her jumper. Akutagawa presses his hand to the spot and activates his ability for a second to clean her off. He looks at Atsushi, who needs more than just a spot cleaning from Rashomon to get the blood off of him.
“You did good, weretiger. You did what you had to.”
Atsushi is still a bit in a daze. He holds onto Akutagawa’s arm as it's wrapped around him. “I didn’t want her to see that.”
“I know. I know, but it’s better than whatever they had planned.”
Almost sulkily, Atsushi adds, “Yeah, but…” He trails off as though he isn’t quite sure how to finish that sentence.
So Aktuagawa says, “She won’t remember this. I’d much rather you kill them then have them get you to another location.”
“They’re not dead,” Atsushi says. In response to Aktuagawa’s cocked eyebrow, he adds, “You can survive a dismembering.”
Despite everything, he laughs.
He casts a glance around the room and sees that Atsushi is correct. Despite the missing limbs, wicked sharp tiger teeth have been deliberate in their carving. “Alright, alright. Let’s get you two home.”
Atsushi shakes his head as though clearing it and steps over the men at their feet. He is not deliberate, and in fact Aktuagawa sees him intentionally kick out and hit one in the side of his head.
“He slapped me,” he mutters in response to Akutagawa’s look.
“I wasn’t judging you,” he responds on instinct. Then Atsushi’s words catch up to him. “He what?”
“Slapped me!” Atsushi huffs.
Akutagawa kicks him too.
He moves with Atsushi out of the building. He still holds Yume. Atsushi is still too jittery and, frankly, blood soaked. He gets them a car so they do not cause a spectacle in the streets and head home. Gin has already beaten them there, after an earlier request to meet him at the house. They are in a white dress, having been enjoying a day off.
“Hey, good to see you,” Atsushi mumbles as he gets out of the car and sees her at the door.
“Thank you,” Akutagawa says as he follows. “Gin, can you watch Yume?” He keeps an eye on Atsushi but the weretiger doesn’t need assistance as he moves his way inside. This is not the first time he’s stumbled home covered in blood, but Yume being present for the encounter adds an additional level of concern.
Several in fact.
“Yume is - I - she probably needs a nap, but might be a little unsettled,” he says.
“I can get her,” Gin says as they take their niece. “Go take care of Atsushi.”
“Great. Just - stay home. I’ll get all the alarms set.”
“Of course,” Gin agrees, already bouncing Yume and heading to the nursery.
Only when they have rounded the corner does Akutagawa go to find Atsushi. He follows the sound of running water until he’s in their bathroom. Atsushi’s left bloody clothing on the floor and he picks it up and moves it to the laundry room. “Atsushi,” he says in the doorway. The figure hidden behind frosted glass shifts, but does not say anything. “Atsushi,” he starts again. “Can I join?”
“I’m done,” Atsushi says shortly.
He turns off the shower and steps out. He’s at least no longer covered in blood. A disappointment. Akutagawa likes seeing him covered in blood and snarling and feral.
Just… just not when their daughter is involved. Not when she was in danger. He knows Atsushi feels the same. It’s in the way he won’t look Akutagawa in the eye. The way he holds his arms around himself like making a shield. The way his spine hunches and he looks so small.
“No,” Akutagawa says. He reaches out and brings Atsushi to him. “Weretiger, stop it. You did wonderful. Yume is safe. You are safe. You are both home. That is all that matters.”
“She shouldn’t have - what if - I don’t want her to -”
“She is not going to turn out like us. Or at least, not having the same wretched childhoods we did.”
“I don’t want her to have our same bloody paths,” Atsushi says.
“She will not. Because she has parents who love her very much. A pack to chip in to help. A safe home. I am so sorry this happened, but if anything, she knows she has a father who will protect her.”
Atsushi signs and leans into him. “Two fathers.”
“Hm?”
“Two fathers who will protect her,” he says.
Aktuagawa gives a small smile at that. “Yes.” He guides Atsushi to the bed and pushes aside the plethora of blankets that have started to take over. “Lie down. I’ve got you.”
Atsushi is blinking through exhaustion as he rolls into the spot indicated. He still takes a moment to adjust the blankets to the exact right configuration and then he’s curling into a small ball. Akutagawa lies next to him, holding him and breathing in his sweet scent. After an already long day of work, Atsushi is asleep in moments, leaving Akutagawa alone with his thoughts. He knows Atsushi blames himself for putting Yume in danger.
He did not.
Akutagawa did.
It was his job, his position that did this. Chuuya is still at the center and will find out who these men are and what organization, if any, is responsible. He reaches out and strokes Atsushi’s cheek. The weretiger murmurs in his sleep, but shifts closer to him. He watches the rise and fall of his chest.
Maybe he’ll kill them all. Maybe he’ll let Atsushi do it. Or maybe Atsushi will wake up feeling virtuous and will want them to be merciful.
Akutagawa lies with Atsushi for a while, then disentangles himself to go and find Gin. They’re in the nursery, sprawled on the ugly chair with Yume on their chest. He smiles to watch them, then goes back to Atsushi.
On the way, his phone dings.
He checks and sees a text from Dazai.
For a moment he almost disregards. He does not want to deal with him now. But it could be relevant so he checks.
Dazai: they’re taken care of
He does not know if he’s annoyed the opportunity was taken from them, or glad that he no longer has to make the choice on protecting his family or breaking his promise.
A second message comes through.
Dazai: Can I see Yume pleaseeeee
He rolls his eyes.
Akutagawa: Ask Atsushi
He turns off his phone before another message can come through. As he enters their bedroom he sees Atsushi’s phone is lighting up, but the sleeping weretiger does not see. They can discuss it later. For now he just lies back down and settles his head on Atsushi’s shoulder as he takes his hand, closes his eyes, and just listens to him breathing.
In and out.
In and out.