Chapter Text
Several days have gone by since the end of the deadly battle between Atsushi’s side and the Decays of Angels but the haunting memories of what Atsushi went through still surround him every day. Even so, he accepts it, like how he accepts his past and abilities - things he once denied, once feared, knowing that it is not easy to consider this aftermath as "a part" of himself, but compared to the enormous reward of bringing the world’s peace and the Armed Detective Agency that he see them as his family, this haunting memory is way too little like a grain of sand in the abyss.
Anyway, those memories of that battle are not even a half of the cursed memories of Atsushi’s 18 years of childhood living in loneliness, fear and hatred in the orphanage. At least, that battle only lasted a few weeks and when it ended, he managed to save what he love the most.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:
While wearing the working outfit, Atsushi unconsciously remembers the dream last night that kept him awake. He dreamed about that deadly battle.
It was a fierce battle, those insanely powerful enemies made him think “I’m definitely going to lose!” for several times. But every time that thought appeared, he immediately let it faded away and counterattacked, because he knew he’s not alone in this apparently uneven battle.
Because, his partner, Akutagawa, was there. If the other side had Ame-no-Gozen with the ability to absorb anyone and their ability with only one slash, then on Atsushi’s side, he also had Akutagawa who not only possessed the Rashomon exceptional ability but also but could also infinitely recover his wound even after being stabbed or slashed by the Ame-no-Gozen. Without Akutagawa, Atsushi would barely be able to keep his morale up.
However, the thing he remembered most about Akutagawa at that time was probably the moment the orphanage director where Atsushi used to live in Dazai's body let him witness his past filled with hardship and pain. It was uncertain whether Akutagawa's personality was as cold-blooded as a beast. From then on, Atsushi also told himself to sympathize with that attitude, but after returning to reality, what he realized later really made him unable to forget Akutagawa's figure in that fateful battle.
Akutagawa used to be a killer always carving to kill Atsushi, like how a beast carving to tears its enemy into pieces with his own jaws or insulted him until his face turned pale to satisfy Akutagawa’s hatred, making Atsushi, no matter how calm himself was, still lost his temper and quarreled with that black-fanged Hellhound. Therefore, Atsushi knew that the relationship between the two of them becoming better even just a little bit was more unrealistic than a fairy tale. Yet, when the loneliness, disorientation and hopelessness wrapped around Atsushi the most, whether in his heart, in his dreams or in the fierce fight, Akutagawa cóntantly presenced by his side, still with that cold face, still with those murderous eyes, but Atsushi now can feel the astonishing reliability and gentleness of that killer. Akutagawa always said "I absolutely will kill you!" but whenever they had to do a mission together, he protected him at all times. How strange he was.
Even so, soon, the critical moment would come when that "partner" would use all his ability to kill Atsushi. He knew their relationship could go no further than that, but deep down, he understood that he owed Akutagawa too many things.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･*
As the security and political situation is still in the process of stabilizing, the Detective Agency is in a hectic pace even though it’s too early in the morning, dealing with a bunch of requests for assistance from government agencies since the end of the war that had shaken up the world. Everything is so chaotic and busy that all the employees of the Agency have to work until late at night, except for Atsushi, because…
“Hey, you don’t have to do anything, Atsushi! just take it easy and rest!” Kunikida shouts and grabs the file before Atsushi could touch it.
“He’s right! While we were all getting slashed to pieces, you had to struggle to fight! Now is the time for us to make it up to you. Enjoy your day off, Atsushi!” Tanizaki quickly grabs Atsushi’s shoulder, who is about to reply to Kunikida, and takes him out of the messy office. All of it is to stop him from working.
“Can I just help you all a little?” Atsushi feels a bit down and goes down to check the Agency’s mailbox and as expected, it is filled with dozens, hundreds of letters, all stacked together, some even falling out of the box. And by only looking at the form, he can easily guess the content and the recipient of each letter.
“Let’s see… Apology letters from TV station Michiharu, TV station Seikichi, apology letters from the Tokyo Police Department, invitation letters to receive the “Peace Hero” medal from the Ministry of Defense, and dozens of apology letters from the residents… And what the hell is this?? A love letter to Dazai-san?!” Sitting in the Uzumaki cafe, Atsushi couldn’t help but sigh at the huge number of all kinds of apology letters, thank you letters, and invitation letters to receive awards with several writing styles. Reading sincere letters with respectful statements is not a problem for Atsushi, but he feels completely powerless to the ones that reeked of hypocrisy and have overly aggressive content. Imagine giving this to his busy friends and seniors to read, they will definitely have dizziness.
“Your coffee’s cooled down, kitty!” The cold voice startled Atsushi, making him look away from his unfinished work. Beside him, Lucy Maud Montgomery stands with her arms crossed, looking at Atsushi with her usual arrogant expression, then pointed at the cup of coffee that was only one-third empty and now no longer steaming on his table.
When Atsushi take a break to take a sip of coffee, Montgomery conveniently picked up a letter and openly threw out a sarcastic comment: “How weird are these people, when being led by nose , they falsely accused and insulted the Detective Agency that protect them and this city day and night so they can live in peace, then when the truth was revealed, Agency company feels, but these people might be only doing it for their face.”
“It’s fine, Montgomery, it’s great enough to see them apologize.” Atsushi smiled awkwardly, trying to comfort his red-haired friend.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*
After handing over the sorted letter to Kunikida and receiving a light scolding “I told you to rest!” from him, Atsushi goes for a walk around Yokohama as he have nothing to do.
Every street, every place Atsushi pass by was filled with signs of the daily life of Yokohama city, from the presence of people laughing and talking with their families and friends to the bustling sounds of shops and businesses without the presence of bombs or gunshots, evidence that the fight had ended, bring the peace back to the town where the wind blows.
While walking and thinking back, since arriving in Yokohama until now, he had only been hanging around the areas near the Detective Agency and had never really thoroughly explored his new hometown, that’s why when he has this opportunity, he’s determined to explore every corner of Yokohama and in fact, wherever he went, he always surprised because there were so many places he had never seen before. Atsushi prompts himself to find a place worth visiting to take Kyouka to.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･
It’s already 12 o'clock and Atsushi has just explored 5 places. He planned to go back and have lunch with everyone, but unfortunately, he is now getting caught in the rain right at Shikinomori Park, where there is only a vast expanse of vegetation that was changing to autumn colors. He hardly found a temporary shelter under the canopy of the small guard station, but even so, he’s still unlucky enough to get soaked.
"Damn, I shouldn’t be so lazy to bring the umbrella this morning..." Atsushi blamed himself in frustration, looking at the heavy rain pouring down, completely covering the entire park.
At this rate, it would probably rain for a long time. He didn't know how long he would have to stand here... While he was worrying, his phone rang. The screen displayed: "Kunikida-san. Calling."
"It’s me, Atsushi." Atsushi picked up the phone.
"Are you caught in the rain? Do you have an umbrella?" Kunikida's voice came from the other end of the line.
“No…I don’t…” He smiled awkwardly, shyly replying.
“Well, as expected.” He clicked his tongue, his tone not seeming surprised but still speechless with Atsushi’s clumsiness.
“Where are you now, Atsushi? I can bring an umbrella to pick you up.”
Hearing that, Atsushi immediately say eagerly: “Please don’t do that! I’m in a restaurant right now, I’ll eat here and come back when the rain stops! Thank you, but you don’t need to pick me up, Kunikida-san!” and quickly hang up when the senior only has time to shout: “Hey Atsu…”
Atsushi had to do that simply because the location of this park is too far from the Detective Agency. If Kunikida-san had to go all the way here in this pouring rain, it would be a crime of Atsushi.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*
Besides Atsushi, there is another person at the guard post, a young man wearing a light brown raincoat, his hood covering most of his face and giving off a strange atmosphere that makes Atsushi think for a moment that this man isn’t an ordinary person. Not to mention, it’s raining heavily but his raincoat is quite dry. However, Atsushi doesn't pay much attention afterwards, cause maybe this person isn't keen on interacting with strangers and predicted that it would rain so he found a place to hide in advance. t's just that you get a very weird feeling about this person.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ
Nearly an hour had passed but the rain still show no signs of stopping. Unfortunately, Atsushi need to take a nap because he couldn't sleep last night, but now he have to stand here in a daze without being able to rest.
Just as his eyes started to droop, his body also swayed as if he was about to fall down at any moment...
Suddenly, a sound of wind tearing right next to his face.
Then, a nimble arm wrapped around Atsushi's back and held his body tightly against the owner's chest.
Although he doesn’t understand what’s happening, it’s clear that he’s in a rather dangerous situation, so he forgot his sleepiness and opened his eyes wide, preparing to deal with it.
But the person hugging him is…