Chapter Text
An Electric Storm
I. Blindsided
Yokohama was often characterized by storms like that one, where within hours, raindrops were hitting the ground hard, quickly forming puddles.
Puddles that turned into small streams sliding towards the street drains.
Akutagawa watched from the window of his flat as the city’s movements changed rapidly because of it, bringing a cup of tea to his lips and identifying one by one the most problematic areas.
It was an old habit that he seemed unable to break over the years. He looked towards the lights of the port, which remained bright despite the increasingly frequent flashes of lightning in the sky, and hoped that they would stay that way.
In just a few hours, the Mafia would carry out one of the most important transactions of the quarter, an exchange that could not be ruined by a few drops of rain.
He looked away from the lights of the harbor and glanced at the watch on his wrist again, it was 8:15 p.m.
Gin wouldn't be there for another couple of hours. He thought about the storm that had just broken and sighed resignedly. There wasn't a single ingredient for tonight's dinner in that fridge. Although there rarely was. And yet, if he delayed his departure any longer, he would probably find the sidewalk already flooded.
He looked away from the window and set the cup down on the counter that connected the kitchen and the living room.
He grabbed his house keys, his usual black coat, an umbrella, and a pair of dark glasses. As a wanted criminal, the worst place to be spotted would be at the convenience store next to his flat wearing tracksuit bottoms, so the dark glasses were a must.
The bell at the convenience store greeted him as usual. He wandered around the aisles for a moment, looking unimpressed by the options, until he settled on a simple meal: fish, vegetables, and rice.
After paying, the shopkeeper quickly wrapped his purchase in a white bag with a smiling cat on it, which he received with a sour expression and said goodbye.
As he left the shop, however, he had to react quickly to a series of rapid footsteps that he knew well enough to recognize them even with his eyes closed.
He looked on his way out toward his right from the sidewalk only to confirm that from a distance, he could see that ridiculous weretiger.
Of course.
He was soaked from head to toe, wearing only that thin shirt and his ridiculous trousers that didn't even cover his calves, splashing water from the pavement with his giant black boots.
How on earth did he manage not to trip over that ridiculously long belt?
Akutagawa sighed exasperatedly by his partner’s carelessness, but it wasn't as if he still had to kill him now. The events in the past had turned that promise into a constant banter between the two, but neither he nor the weretiger seemed to be paying much mind to it.
But also, those same events from the past made the present situation somewhat different. It was true that Akutagawa did not want to kill him, but not only did he not want to kill him, Nakajima Atsushi had become his own ordeal.
And now, probably, what kept him running soaked along the pavement, in addition to his inability to check the weather report, must be a problem to face by their powerful alliance.
He started feeling those footsteps getting closer and closer, and he was almost surprised at how fast Atsushi could run when he wasn't the one chasing him.
Once he was only a few metres away, he stepped forward to block his path and glanced at him indifferently.
“Oi, Jin-“
Yet, even before the words left his mouth, his chest was pushed by Atsushi's palm, knocking him out of the way.
“SORRY!” he yelled without looking back.
Akutagawa frowned in indignation, not only at being ignored, but also at being pushed aside like a mere pedestrian.
Thrown against the automatic door of the convenience store, and without letting go of the umbrella in his hand, he decided that such haste and carelessness on the part of his rival could only confirm his suspicion that he was facing some kind of threat, and not following him would be simply negligent on his part, as a member of the mafia. He frowned and sighed annoyed by the thought of it, but he began walking on the same direction. Just in case.
The intermittent flashes of lightning in the stormy night revealed the silhouette of the young tiger running desperately towards the entrance of an alley, that was already known to Akutagawa. Of course.
But it was then that, from the opposing sidewalk, and in a flash that lasted perhaps a few seconds too long for Akutagawa's misfortune, he saw the young tiger rushing into the arms of an unknown man and hugged him tightly.
What the-? What.
The man was taller and broader than him, he used a grey overcoat and carried an umbrella that was almost blown away because of the enthusiasm of the embrace.
The grip of Akutagawa fist around his own umbrella made the handle slightly groan. Was that an ability user?
Perhaps, the weretiger had been attacked by some kind of mind control ability that worked by aggressive physical contact and made him act with so little regard of public decorum.
That had to be it.
But Atsushi didn’t seem under distress, for what Akutagawa could see thanks to the intermittent lightning, he was smiling, giving him a relieved and private smile as the mystery man pulled away the damp hair out of his face, just for receiving a little laugh from the young tiger, a kind of laugh that Akutagawa had never seen directed to himself.
The dark haired young man felt something constricting inside his chest and bubbling up his throat, he still hadn’t moved from the same spot in front of the alleyway, and he didn’t move even past the time both the weretiger and that mystery man left to walk together down the road under a shared umbrella.
It must be the rain, my lungs must be struggling. Yes.
Back at his apartment, Akutagawa decided he was over it. Completely. He had deleted the mental file on the "Grey overcoat wearing unknown man" and was now focusing on his tea.
He stood in the middle of his kitchen, still wearing his coat and damp socks from the puddles made from his dripping raincoat, staring at the white bag with the smiling cat. He had intended to throw it away, but as he reached for it, he stopped.
It was a perfectly functional bag.
"I am a man of reason and he’s a clumsy fool with a ridiculously long belt, why would I care?" he asked the cat on the bag but the stupid cat just continued to smile, and after a small pause of realization, he decided it was time for him to get back on dinner.
For a moment he imagined the unknown man in grey was the fish over the wooden table and smiled.
He wondered if he could cut his head first, or rather open it in half first, he let out a little giggle while convinced that the only reason he felt like he’d been hit by a freight train was because the tea he drank earlier had been slightly cold.
The blood thirst he felt that moment had absolutely nothing to do with the way the stranger’s coat had looked under the weretiger’s arms.
To prove himself he was unbothered, he opened his cellphone and messaged that fool.
Akutagawa: I’m sure I don’t need to remind you to read the next mission’s brochure. Sent 22:15.
Akutagawa: ?. Sent 23:15
Akutagawa: ??. Sent 00:45
Resigned over the counter, he looked back at the smiling cat on the bag who looked back at him, definitely judging him now.
"Rashomon."
He let out in a whisper.
Through the night, he continued to receive notifications on his phone about the port transaction, yet all he could do was frantically search the young tiger's social media accounts, trying to find some clue as to who this mysterious man was. His search would be more fruitful if he knew anything more than the fact that he was a tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a grey coat.
It wasn't until he read a message from Gin asking if he was paying attention that he noticed a suspicious group nearby the Port’s transaction point, which, fortunately for him, had already been taken down by Black Lizard.
Frustrated by the distraction, and all the insane ideas that brought back into his head the black and white image of that peasant hugging his only, well, not quite true, but at least his best rival.
And so, he carried on pacing around his apartment until he had decided that he needed a plan of action.
Which means, he would do whatever it takes to make sure to gather all the information necessary to destroy any threat to the already fragile alliance between the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency.
Yes, it was a mission.