Chapter Text
3rd person POV:
Atsushi dodged the punch the man threw at him.
Again.
He'd dodged about a hundred of them now.
Unfortunately, he also got hit and kicked just as many times, and couldn't seem to get a single hit in.
Why was he fighting?
He didn't know himself.
The man had some anger issues, that's for sure.
All Atsushi did was say that he didn't know where... whatever place the man was looking for was.
He'd never even heard of it, and had already forgotten the name.
He grunted as he was sent flying into the wall by a kick to the stomach.
His vision went red, and blinking rapidly, Atsushi realized blood was pouring into his eyes.
The wall was caved in around him, his head was bleeding, it felt like he had several broken bones. Which he most likely did.
It hurt. A lot. Atsushi groaned in pain as he lifted his head slightly to look at the man.
His eyes widened in fear as the man pulled out a knife.
No, I don't want to die! Atsushi thought, but it was useless. He couldn't even move from the pain.
He tried to get up, but it was useless, the most he could do was sit up a little straighter, only to collapse into his hunched over position again.
Tears formed in his eyes as the man raised the knife. He was going to die like this.
His vision started to fade. I'm sorry everyone...
His vision went completely black as he closed his eyes and the man dug the knife into his chest.
***
Atsushi blinked slowly as he woke up.
Everything hurt, and he was in a rather uncomfortable position.
What happened... Atsushi couldn't remember, he was really groggy.
Then his eyes widened as he remembered. He glanced at the knife in his chest. His injuries weren't healing, he was too injured, all his ability could do at the moment was keep him alive.
Then Atsushi noticed that the clothes the man was wearing were nearby. What?
What did he do... It wouldn't make sense for the man to... and to someone he'd think was a corpse.
Atsushi mentally shook his head furiously, and he tried to remember what had happened.
Byakko? Did you do something? Atsushi asked the tiger.
A scene played out in his mind. Atsushi froze. Not that he could move anyways. His blood ran cold. No... nonononononononononononononono!
The scene was of him killing and eating the man, then stumbling back from his injuries, and slumping back into the position he was currently sitting in where the man had stabbed him.
I killed someone... ate them... Oh god I'm a murderer. He wanted to throw up, but he couldn't move. Now he knew why everything hurt so much more... It wasn't the knife, it was because the tiger inside of him forced him to move, to kill and eat a human being. Atsushi felt sick to the stomach. Dizzy from blood loss and horror, he simply cried silently until he passed out again.
Kunikida yanked Dazai's headphones off.
"Hey!" Dazai complained, reaching for them.
"Have you seen Atsushi? Nobody's seen him since he went out for a walk yesterday. Kyoka said he never came back, and she was awake all night waiting for him."
Dazai froze, hand still outstretched towards his headphones. "He never came back?! Could he have been kidnapped?! Or killed?!"
Dazai leapt to his feet and left in a hurry.
He ran through the streets, calling Atsushi's name, and asking people if they'd seen him.
"Excuse me, have you seen a white haired boy, about this height, black streak in his hair, white shirt, black shoes, black tie, black fingerless gloves, black belt, it has a sort of 'tail', black suspenders, black cropped pants, lopsided bangs, purple and yellow eyes?" Dazai asked a couple, for the umpteenth time, gesturing with his hands.
The man nodded. "I saw him talking with a tall, strong looking, blond man. Unfortunately it was rather dark, so I can't give you much more information then that, I'm terribly sorry. But I can show you where I saw them if you'd like? I remember how to get there, but I'm afraid I don't know what the exact street was."
Dazai nodded emphatically. "Thank you so much!"
The man smiled. "Of course."
He turned to the woman he was with. "I'm so sorry, I hope you don't mind, but this sounds urgent."
The women rolled her eyes, looking annoyed.
"What are you apologizing for. That boy could be in trouble, help this man find him already!"
The man nodded, and swiftly led Dazai to where he'd seen Atsushi. "This is where I saw him."
Dazai looked around, there wasn't really anybody there. "Atsushi! Atsushi, are you here?!" He called out. But he didn't have high hopes, the description the man had given him sounded a lot like the leader of the Guild, meaning Atsushi had likely been kidnapped by them.
Again.
Then he heard the woman scream.
He hurried over, her eyes were wide, and her hand was over her mouth. The man she was with also rushed over. "What's wrong?!" Dazai asked quickly.
He looked in the direction she was looking, and his blood ran cold. Atsushi was sitting there, injured, in a pool of blood, a knife jutting out of his chest, right around where his heart was, but it was hard to tell if it was actually piercing his heart or not. But it had definitely cut a major artery if it hadn't actually cut Atsushi's heart. His limbs were limp, and one of his legs was splayed at an unnatural angle, obviously broken, and he likely had many other broken bones as well judging by the Atsushi sized crater in the wall. Dazai froze, then fumbled out his phone, and called Yosano.
"What is it Dazai? Because I am TRYING to heal Ranpo's broken hand, he got it stuck in a jar he was using to store cookies. I don't-" She sounded both amused and annoyed.
"Well that's going to have to wait, because I found Atsushi, and if he's not dead already, he's about to be." Dazai interrupted.
"What? Where are you?"
Dazai gave the address, then hung up. He turned to the couple. "I'm so sorry you had to see this... You guys don't have to stay here if you don't want to."
The woman hesitated, then said, "I want to stay... I want to know if he's okay."
The man nodded in agreement, and they both sat down on a nearby bench, while Dazai got closer to Atsushi. Not wanting to make his injuries worse, he was going to wait until Yosano arrived to touch him. Then his eyes strayed to the clothes thrown to the side. "What the heck is that all about..."
He pulled out his phone, and sent a quick text to Ranpo, with nothing but his location, knowing he'd understand. (A/N, to any MHA fans reading this, yes, that's where I got the idea)
A short while later, Yosano showed up, and she froze in horror when she saw Atsushi. Ranpo showed up seconds later.
"Dazai, I get calling Yosano here, but why'd you need me?"
"Because of that." Dazai replied, pointing to the clothes. "To anyone else, it might look like Atsushi was SA'd then..." He gestured at Atsushi. "But the fact that Atsushi is still fully clothed means it was something else happened. I was wondering if you might know what that something was."
Ranpo frowned slightly as he put his glasses on, then froze. "I don't know." He said after a heartbeat. "I can't figure it out."
Dazai and Yosano looked at Ranpo in horror. "Then what could have happened...?" Dazai asked.
Yosano swallowed hard, then used her ability, Thou Shall Not Die on Atsushi. She carefully pulled out the knife, then used her ability again. "His ability should be able to take care of the rest. Now let's take him back." Dazai nodded, and Yosano picked Atsushi up and the two left.
Ranpo watched them leave, then asked the man who led Dazai to the place if he perchance had a lighter. The man nodded, and handed it to him, and Ranpo promptly set the clothes on fire. He handed the lighter back to the man, and informed them that Atsushi would be okay. Relieved, they left. Ranpo stared in the direction they went for a few minutes, before heading back to the rest of the ADA.
When Atsushi woke up, he was in bed, with Yosano and Dazai sitting near him. Yosano immediately started saying something, but Atsushi was unable to focus on her words, his thoughts consumed with what he did to his attacker.
Finally it set in that Yosano had said something. "I- I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"Are you feeling okay, and do you know who attacked you?"
"Oh... I feel fine. A little distracted, but overall okay. But I hardly remember what happened last night." Atsushi lied.
He felt fine other than what he did, but he remembered what happened very vividly.
Yosano nodded, but she was clearly still worried. Dazai on the other hand was sleeping and so didn't know Atsushi had lied, if he were awake though, he would have noticed immediately.
The days passed slowly, Ranpo, Yosano and Dazai never bothered mentioning what happened to Atsushi since there wasn't anything to be done about it, he was fine, and so it wasn't really their business to say what happened. Atsushi of course said nothing because he didn't want anybody to worry, and tried to carry on like normal. But his thoughts were still filled with what he did, and so he was very visibly distracted, and even started drinking heavily behind the agencies backs in order to take his mind off things. He had crazy hangovers every morning, and slept in a lot, hardly leaving his room.
Dazai told them that he'd had a nasty encounter, that had likely traumatized him, and so they pinned it on that. One day they found his door open, and Atsushi was nowhere to be found. The agency started panicking, looking for him, but Ranpo just casually went to the roof of a tall building. It had a nice view, and was a common place for people to go in order to cope with trauma, even recommended to non suicidal patients by therapists in Yokohama. However it was also a popular place for people to jump off and kill themselves. Ranpo still couldn't understand why they didn't put a fence up, and instead just used a stone ledge that was about knee height for him, and very easy to step onto.
Sure enough, Atsushi was there. He was sitting against the ledge, gazing out at the city. Ranpo pulled out his phone, and texted the agency, letting them know where he was and that Atsushi was there.
The rest of the ADA showed up a short while later, and Dazai went over to Atsushi and sat next to him. "Hey Atsushi."
Atsushi turned to look at him, his eyes blank and empty. Dazai shivered seeing those eyes. They were just like how his used to be when- Dazai mentally shook himself to clear his head. "Everything okay?"
Atsushi stared at him for a moment before nodding.
Ranpo headed over to them, but said nothing.
"Why are you up here?" Dazai asked curiously.
"...It has a nice view." Atsushi replied turning his gaze back to the city stretching below them.
"It really does." Dazai agreed.
They sat there in silence for a moment. The ADA stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do.
"...I killed the person who attacked me. It was an accident, but it's been weighing on me. I don't want to do it again. He was going to kill me, and I lost control of my ability. And I killed him." Atsushi finally said, shocking everyone present with his sudden statement.
"You didn't come up here to kill yourself and make sure you don't kill anyone else right?" Dazai said with urgency, scared that he'd been a bad influence on Atsushi.
Atsushi shook his head without any hesitation like before.
Dazai breathed a sigh of relief. "Come on, let's go back."
The ADA left, leaving only Ranpo, Dazai, and Atsushi there.
"You guys go without me. I'll be down quickly." Atsushi replied.
Dazai nodded, and he and Ranpo turned to leave. Then Ranpo stopped. The way Atsushi phrased it... It was bugging him. His eyes widened, and he spun around, to see Atsushi, stand facing him on the ledge. His mouth opened to say something. Atsushi smiled... And leaned backward, falling off the building. "ATSUSHI!!!!" Ranpo screamed, running to the edge of the building. Dazai spun around, eyes widening, and he also ran to the edge and looked over.
Ranpo quickly climbed onto the ledge, and stood up straight. "Ranpo?" Dazai asked, scared. Was Ranpo going to kill himself now too? Ranpo sprung off the ledge, his legs kicking off the building as he leaned forward giving him downwards momentum, arms reaching toward Atsushi. He grabbed the surprised boy, and clutched him close, then realized he had no idea what to do next. The two of them were just free falling to their death. So he started screaming.
***
Akutagawa froze. He'd been heading to where Fukuchi had instructed him to meet him there, when he heard screaming coming from above him... Wait above him?
He looked up and saw two people falling right above him. Other people were also looking up, and were now panicking.
Who...? Akutagawa wasn't sure what to do. Then a blur of images rushed in his mind. He clutched his head, squeezing his eyes shut, then they snapped back open. He looked up at the two people falling above him. He knew them. Atsushi...
"Rashomon!" A black cloth shot out from his clothes, grabbing Atsushi and Ranpo, and the ledge of the roof they'd both just jumped off of. They were propelled to him, and he grabbed Atsushi by the collar, and he was propelled to the roof, where he sailed in an arc, landing in a slightly crouched position on feet right behind Dazai.
"Atsushi! Ranpo!" Dazai cried, whirling around. "Akutagawa?"
Akutagawa smiled awkwardly, then quickly summoned Rashomon back into his clothes. "Dazai."
Ranpo breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought we were gonna die!"
"How did the two of you come to be falling from here anyways?" Akutagawa asked.
"Oh, Atsushi jumped off because he felt guilty about killing and eating a man, and I jumped off to save him- then realized I had no idea how I was going to do that."
"I'm sorry, did you say killing AND eating? Atsushi never said that!" Dazai said.
"Oh, yeah, I knew from the beginning. Hid the evidence. Don't tell anyone, we don't need the police finding out, or everyone freaking out. It was a loss of ability control, that's all."
Dazai and Akutagawa both nodded. Then Ranpo grabbed Atsushi by the ear and dragged him downstairs where the ADA was waiting. "When we get to the ADA I want you to kneel with your head touching the floor and apologize." Atsushi nodded, then immediately regretted it as Ranpo was still gripping his ear.
***
"Ugh, what is taking them so long!" Yosano complained. Right as she said that Ranpo came down dragging Atsushi by his ear. He practically shoved the boy forwards, letting go of him.
Atsushi bowed in front of them, forehead touching the ground. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!" He cried out.
"Sorry for what?" Fukuzawa was visibly confused.
Atsushi didn't respond.
Ranpo dragged him up to his feet, turned him around, and grabbing the collar of his shirt, began slapping him repeatedly. Tears brimmed in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall, Atsushi however couldn't hold them back and tears streamed down his face. The ADA froze in shock for a few moments, then forcibly dragged Ranpo away from Atsushi. Dazai was standing behind Ranpo, and did nothing. As soon as Ranpo was dragged away though, he stepped forward, slapped the other side of Atsushi's face then made to leave.
"What the hell has gotten into you two?!" Kunikida yelled. "Dazai- Dazai!! Get back here!"
"Dazai-san, Chuuya should be here soon." Akutagawa said, alerting the ADA to his presence.
All of them had the same thought. Why is Akutagawa here?
"Chuuya?" Dazai asked.
"You dropped your phone on the roof, so I updated him on the situation, everything you told me. I figured he'd think a text from me would be a trap from Fukuchi. Apparently he also did a lot of research trying to find Atsushi's family because he knew what it was like not to have one, and was wanting to know if they really abandoned him. Turns out he has a little sibling, they/them pronouns, and is going to bring them."
"Ah, okay." Dazai said. "But can I have my phone back?"
Akutagawa nodded, and handed the phone to him.
"THE WERETIGER DID WHAT?!" A voice yelled from the entrance of the building. Chuuya stormed angrily into the room. "Alright, we're having a talk!"
"Perhaps we should go somewhere more... Private?" Dazai suggested.
"No, we're having this conversation right here, right now! I am NOT waiting another second! Now get your ass over here Dazai!"
Chuuya took a deep breath to calm himself, then turned to Atsushi. "What the hell were you thinking trying to- Because you accidentally killed-!" He paused to take more deep breaths since he was still too upset to speak full sentences.
Atsushi nodded. "I'm sorry..."
Chuuya rubbed his temples. "You accidentally killed someone because you lost control of your ability. Great, I did the same thing. Not accidentally kill another person, but do something I greatly regretted because I lost control of my ability. I got Dazai to help me! Also, ability stopping bracelets! They block your ability so that you don't accidentally use it, and it's easy to allow it to only release a fraction of it so accidents like that don't happen. They don't work on me because of Arahabaki, so I have to use this idiot. But no, your brilliant idea was to try and kill yourself!?" He took a deep breath. "I'll take you to buy one of those bracelets. Anyways, you have a younger sibling in the Mafia, Yumeno, also known as Q."
Yumeno beamed at Atsushi, and waved. "Hello big brother!"
Atsushi smiled slightly, and hesitantly gave a small wave. Then Chuuya grabbed Atsushi's wrist. "Great, now we're going shopping! C'mon Yumeno." He then dragged Atsushi away, followed by Yumeno.
"Ooh, I'm coming too!" Dazai followed him.
"Yay, shopping day! I want to come to, I need to stock up on snacks, so might as well tag along." Ranpo followed happily. "Oh, you should come to Akutagawa, it's evident you regained your memory, so I trust you to not kill us, let's go!" Ranpo added, doubling back to drag Akutagawa with him.