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Atsushi raises his head off his desk.
Kunikida, who's sitting at the other end of the table, glances over.
"Something wrong?" He grumbles. "Or have you finally decided to do some work?"
Atsushi frowns.
"No," he murmurs, "I just feel like something's... off..."
Kunikida scoffs.
"Hah." He says. "You sound like that bastard Dazai-"
Yosano, at her desk on the other side of the room, sets down her pen and swivels around.
"I hope nothing happens." She sighs. "With it only being us three here, this would be the worst time for an attack-"
Atsushi looks at her.
"Speaking of which," he says, "I meant to ask, where is everyone?"
Yosano puts up five fingers.
"Well, Ranpo-san is off assisting the police again." She ticks them off. "The President and Tanizaki-kun are meeting with an important client- some diplomat. It's the secretaries' day off. Kenji-kun's investigating some situation in the next town involving- I think it was missing livestock?" She sighs. "I think he just wanted to visit a farm again. Oh, and I have no idea where Dazai is."
Kunikida glowers.
"Typical." He mutters.
"So this would be the worst time for an attack." Atsushi echoes, murmuring. "With the Agency's defenses down."
Yosano shrugs.
"Well, I don't think we have much to worry about at the moment." She says offhandedly, turning back to her desk. "You two are combat-class, and the Port Mafia's been fairly quiet lately-"
A gunshot rings through the street.
As though in slow motion, Atsushi feels himself whip around- the window behind him shatters, and he bolts under the desk, feeling his arms morph into the now-familiar tiger paws.
There's a clatter in the room.
"Atsushi!" Yosano shouts. "Get out! Now!"
When he looks up again, there's a stream of pale white gas hissing from something that had been thrown into the window- something silver and shiny. A gas canister. His eyes widen and he immedietaly
covers his nose and mouth with his paws.
Wait.
Yosano. Kunikida.
Both of his seniors were closer to the can's point of impact than he was.
He staggers upright- the gas must be getting to him already, there's a faint burning in his veins and his limbs feel sluggish- and almost gasps at what he sees- Yosano is almost collapsed, holding onto the edge of the desk with white-knuckled fingers for support, her tie wrapped around her nose and mouth, and Kunikida-
He's on the floor.
Fuck.
Without thinking, Atsushi stumbles towards him, eyes narrowing against the gas. Yosano coughs and tries to warn him off, but he keeps on, and manages to kick the canister away from them so it rolls into the corner of the room- the hissing is starting to lose velocity, so the can must be almost at its capacity.
"Kunikida-san." He mumbles, dropping to his knees beside the other man. Why isn't he getting up?
The answer is patently obvious. His head sports a sluggishly-bleeding gash about two inches long, and Atsushi makes a noise before he can stop himself- he turns to Yosano.
"Can you walk? He says through his paws. His head is starting to swim, and she must have gotten a higher dosage of the gas- he doesn't know how she's still standing or conscious. Atsushi distractedly makes a mental note to compliment her more often. Maybe carry her bags on another shopping trip.
"Yeah." She grits her teeth, wobbling on her legs. "The longer we stay here, the worst it'll get. We need-" She breaks off to cough. "We need to get to the hallway so I can treat us."
"Okay." Atsushi takes a deep breath, then stops breathing as he takes his hands away from his face- he slides his paws under Kunikida's armpits and drags him through the door before gasping for air.
Yosano staggers after him and slams the door behind her. They collapse to the floor.
"That door should be vaccum sealed." Yosano mutters, unwrapping the tie from her face. "The leakage into the street from the broken window should be fairly minor, but we should evacuate outside just in case."
Kunikida, prone on the floor, lets out a brief moan.
Atsushi glances down at him in concern.
"Will he be okay?" He asks, panting.
Kunikida groans again, louder- his face is pale and scrunched, and sweat is beginning to bead on his forehead.
"Atsushi." Yosano gasps- gasps because her windpipe is beginning to swell, restricting her air passageway. "Atsushi-"
He looks between them, panic starting to set in again.
"What's going on?" He asks frantically- there's nothing but a faint burn in his lungs, but Yosano's face is beginning to turn red, and her features twist in pain.
"Fast-acting neurotoxin-" She wheezes. "Atsushi, you have to kill me-"
Atsushi jolts.
"What?" He stammers. "Yosano-san-"
Yosano shakes her head.
"No time-" She chokes, "Kunikida-"
Yosano's eyelids flutter, and the arm holding her up falters- she drops to the ground, but looks up at him with wide eyes, pointing at her neck, then his hands.
His hands?
Oh.
Atsushi glances at his claws.
"I-" His voice quivers,, "I don't think I can-"
She smacks his leg weakly and points emphatically at her neck again. Her face is turning purple. Beside them, Kunikida lets out a shout, twisting in agony, apparently still knocked out.
Atsushi brings his claws to her neck.
His paws tremble.
He strikes.
It's over in one violent motion. The feel of blood- warm, wet, sticky- instantly splatters his fur as he slits Yosano's throat, and he gasps in horror- tears spring unbidden to his eyes, and he unthinkingly wipes his cheek, smearing blood on his face. Yosano stares at him. Blood seeps viscously from the open, gaping wound.
Before his eyes, it begins to close.
The flesh moves to re-coat the bone he can see exposed- the skin zips together, heals as though the bloody blemish was never there, and Yosano gasps again, chest heaving for air. She gets up weakly.
"Good job, Atsushi." She pants. "Thank you."
He's still crying. His hands feel numb.
Beside them, Kunikida lets out another wail of pain. His limbs are taught, skin pale and clammy, sweat trickling down his forehead- his eyes are open unseeingly, staring at the ceiling as he writhes in agony. Yosano crawls over to him and beckons Atsushi over.
"Atsushi," she says, sounding exhausted but somehow still in control, "I need you to kill him."
He can't stop the tears from his eyes. He doesn't want to. He doesn't want to hurt people. His bloodsoaked paws shake and his chest twists like someone's trying to rip his organs out- he looks at Kunikida on the ground with utter anguish, tears sinking into his torn waistcoat.
Yosano looks at him.
"Atsushi." She says, gentler but still urgent. "He'll be fine, but I need to treat him."
It'll be alright, he tells himself as he raises his black, black claws to Kunikida's pale throat. The other man's adam's apple bobs as he swallows. Atsushi remembers vividly the feeling of ripping through human flesh. It'll be alright.
"Please, Atsushi." Yosano whispers to him.
He squeezes his eyes shut and feels his paws move.
~~~~~~
Of course, it all ends up alright.
After she heals Kunikida, Yosano digs her phone out of her pocket and calls the rest of the detective agency to inform the of the attack. She glances at Atsushi periodically. He kneels beside Kunikida, tears occasionally dripping onto the other man's shoulder, his bloodstained fingers in his lap.
"Yes." She says. "Yes, I've called the inspectors and the hazardous chemicals unit. Yes, they'll be here soon."
She pauses.
"Atsushi was very good today." She adds softly. "I'll call you soon, President."
The dial tone rings in her ear.
"Atsushi." She puts her hand on his shoulder. "Atsushi, he's fine."
Atsushi blinks and wipes his face with the back of his hand.
"I-I know." He whispers, voice quavery, twisting his fingers.
He hears the sirens begin to howl.
~~~~~~
Kunikida wakes up in his dorm.
He groans.
Atsushi's worried face pops into view.
"Yosano-san, he's up!" He cries, face splitting into relief. "He's awake! Kunikida-san-"
"Not so loud." He mumbles, and tries to sit up. "What happened?"
Yosano is standing in his kitchen over a pot of something. He instantly stiffens in suspicion.
"The Agency was attacked." She says levelly, stirring her pot with a ladle. "You got hit in the head by a canister of a gaseous nerotoxin."
"I'm glad you're alright." Atsushi sighs, sitting back on his heels. His fingers twitch, and he looks down at his lap.
He doesn't think he'll ever forget the feeling of slick blood on his claws.
"Of course." Kunikida grumbles. He tries to get up. "I'm fine-"
Yosano turns around and fixes him with a glare.
He slowly sits back down.
"You're not fine." She says bluntly, ladling that soup- soup?- into two bowls. "We don't know what that gas might've been, so I've signed us three out of work for the next two days."
Kunikida starts to protest, but another sharp look from Yosano makes him snap his jaw shut.
He sighs.
"This was not in my schedule." He mutters before turning to Atsushi. "What happened, anyways?"
Yosano interrupts again.
"Atsushi got you out." She says. "I think it didn't affect him as badly because of his partial transformation- tiger blood or increased lung capacity or something- but the gas would have put us in comas, not killed us, so he injured us enough so that I could heal us." She smiles. "A direct hit to the head with a gas canister launched through a broken window. What are the odds?"
Kunikida looks at Atsushi.
"...injured us?" He asks. "Atsushi, are you alright?"
"I think..." Atsushi murmurs, "I think I'm fine."
Kunikida frowns.
"Are you sure?" He doesn't let up, shifting to take Atsushi's hands in his.
Yosano raises her eyebrows.
"I'm... going to go back to my dorm." She says, leaving two steaming bowls of soup on the counter and letting herself out. When she's in the doorway, she turns back and catches Kunikida's eye, sending him a subtle message- take care of him. As soon as the door clicks behind her, Atsushi sighs.
"I was scared." He confesses, sadly. He feels the familiar wetness in the corners of his eyes. "Kunikida-san, you almost died, and I had to-"
Kunikida tugs him forwards and kisses him. Atsushi's tears rub off against his cheeks.
Atsushi smiles, then chuckles, wetness still streaming down his face.
Kunikida pulls away, just a bit.
"I'm fine, brat." He mutters, relinquishing his hold on Atsushi's hands to wrap his arms around his waist, pulling him into his lap to hug him properly, to hold his head against the crook of his neck. "I'm fine."
Atsushi buries his face in his shoulder. His tears stain Kunikida's shirt.
"I know." He says, muffled against the fabric.
They fall back onto Kunikida's mat.
Neither of them remembers falling asleep.