Chapter 4: No Longer Human

Without proper control of my ability and barely any combat training at all, I´m probably the weakest member of the Port Mafia right now.

I clenched my fists trying to keep my hands from shaking. Standing in front of me were two members of the Armed Detective Agency, a famed organization composed of powerful ability users that dealt with situations the military police was unable to handle. As if that weren't dangerous enough, I had just confessed to being a wanted criminal.

"Is that a threat?" The man that spoke was Kunikida. At the moment this is what I knew about him: He was (clearly) taller than me, he was experienced in fighting much more powerful enemies than me, and on top of that, he had an ability I knew nothing about. But most importantly, he was holding a gun.

"Sounds more like a plea to me, Kunikida-kun." That voice belonged to Dazai, Nakahara's former partner and current enemy, the man that was single-handedly holding the Mafia back. Dazai was (not so clearly but certainly noticeably) taller than me and he had bandages crawling up his arms and all the way to his neck, which I found a little unnerving to be honest. What had he been through? What had he done?

"I didn't mean to destroy anything or harm anybody." This much is true, they have to believe me, they have to… "I don't control when it happens, I don't even know when it happens. At first I thought the tiger was following me but now…"

"If you have no recollection of these transformations." Kunikida was calmer now, at least he wasn't holding so tightly to his gun anymore. "Then how do you know you are the tiger?"

"Somebody saw it, when the moon…" It had gotten darker inside the diner, Was it night already? If I suddenly turned into a tiger, things could go wrong, Kunikida could shot me, Dazai could… "When did the sun go down?" Then I noticed a waitress, calmly cleaning a table. There are other people here, this time I really might hurt somebody. The mission, I have to… I was thinking about everything Nakahara-san had done from me since the day he found me, I swear I was, but as soon as the moon began to peak into the restaurant, I ran.

The idea of being killed scared me, but the idea of killing somebody was somehow even worse. I won't be able to do it. I won't be able to complete the mission.

The change wasn't always pleasant, when I was aware of it, my body ached all over as I transformed into a beast. I could feel it, even before reaching the door, I could feel the bones morphing and tearing into my skin harder the more I tried to resist. I have to get out before I lose it. Even after everything the Mafia has done for me, my thoughts in that moment were that I didn't want to be the reason people got hurt. It was stupid, and a little bit selfish, but my mind was wholly consumed by this thought.

"Wait a minute!" I heard Kunikida voice, but as soon as I managed to run past the restaurant doors, I transformed. The legs I was running with turned into paws. This time, however, I managed to remain somewhat conscious even after becoming a tiger. My senses were sharper and my speed was grater.

"Oi, Atsushi-kun" I turned around to the sound of a familiar voice. Where had I heard it before? There was a man with brown hair and brown eyes approaching. Who was he? What did he want from me? I growled tentatively, he was getting too close.

The man extended one of his hands towards me, why was he wearing bandages? My heart began to move faster, and then, I pounced over him.

He avoided me with ease, calmly sidestepping. "Impressive." He sounded amused. "You could easily break a person's neck." I jumped again, this time he didn't move. I wanted to kill him, his presence scared me, but at the same time some part of me was screaming I don't want to hurt you so please! "Being killed by a beast isn't a horrible ending, however..." He wasn't moving, why wasn't he moving? "You won't be able to kill me." Just when killing him seemed inevitable, he touched my face lightly. "My ability is to dispel others' abilities just by touching them: No Longer Human."

And just like that, with a single touch of his fingers, I was back to myself. I fell into him, Dazai, the man who could stop any ability with his bare hands. It made sense now why the book changed the stakes; as things were right now, The Mafia could need Dazai´s ability someday to stop a particularly dangerous individual, but if the book could replace Dazai in nuliffing abilities, then he was no longer useful.

"I have no such tastes in men." He said before dropping me out of his arms, luckily I managed to steady myself before falling into the concrete of the street.

Kunikida walked out of the restaurant with a group of people trailing him. Amongst them was a tall woman who glanced towards me and then Dazai back and ford.

"What's going on?"

"Fufufu, don't worry about it. I already dealt with the situation"

"What, there's no one injured? How boring" Boring, she says? There's something wrong with these people.

"This is Nakajima Atsushi-kun" Dazai explained. "and he is the man-eating tiger."

A young boy from the group spoke up. He was wearing a hat, so maybe Nakahara-san would would have liked him, then again, he was part of the Armed Detective Agency, so maybe not. "But what'll we do with him? He wasn't even conscious right?"

I was frozen in place. Should I run? Should I stay? No option seemed logical.

"What will you do, Dazai?" Asked Kunikida. How can they decide on a person's fate so calmly.

"The truth is, I´ve already decided." He answered. He is going to lock me up, just like they did in the orphanage. He is going to kill me. He glanced at me, but I couldn't read anything in his expression. "He'll join our company."

"Huh?" I asked in unison with the rest of the Agency's members.

"Come on Atsushi-kun" He said to me. "The Agency is on the second floor."

I followed the rest of them into the building, but right before walking through the restaurant's door, a shadow caught me attention.

Is it a person? No, wait, there's two of them. Nakahara-san had told me that the brothers came to Yokohama following me, could it possibly be them?

"Atsushi-kun" Kunikida's voice called from inside the building.

"Y-yes" I answered. "I'll be there in a minute"

As I climbed up the stairs of the building, my mind was on the shadows. The brothers, the book, might have been closer to me than I'd thought.

Hello internet!

November is here so let's celebrate with a new chapter.

If any of the grammar or spelling seem off, it's probably because I'm writing this during breaks and really late at night (the rest of my life is a constant cycle of homework, crying, and trying to enjoy any free time I get by sleeping) Even if you just want to rant, feedback and reviews are always welcome.

Hope you enjoyed, Shikkaku.