Responses

Guest: Huh... actually now that you mention it... I've been considering whether or not to let Atsushi know about his abilities. I'm still making up my mind on that. And also, yeah... he's gonna be traumatized...

quest: Glad you're liking it. Yeah... Dazai's going to be pissed.

EvilMindedZ: Yes, I did have to... You really ought to know this about me by now.

jilnachtaugen: LOL! Yes, I am enjoying this. I feed on the pain of readers. Don't worry ADA is on the way. Not like I'm leaving him there and letting him get sold off. I'm a sadistic writer, but I can't go that dark. =P

Daughter of Trickery: Yes he did! =D

TheSilverHunt3r: Awww... Thank you. It's encouraging to know that there are a few people out there who believe that I'm not a terrible person... Also, his name is Atsushi Zane Kaneki Decim. I generally either call him Atsushi. Name him after characters from Bungou Stray Dogs, Ninjago (Do not judge me =P I like ninjas) or Pretties, Tokyo Ghoul, and Death Parade. Yeah... I'm definitely and Otaku.

Guest: I could hurt him a lot worse... I would be down for that, but torturing a child under the age of 12 isn't exactly one of my specialties. Unless you count that one time... (Only in writing)

Hello! Here I am, back again, writing more. I'll be completely honest, guys, this chapter was not the easiest.

I've been occupied with school again and I should be reading The Aeneid instead of posting at this moment, but... this is more fun. =P Besides, it's not like I'm just now writing it, and I'm in a very optimistic mood right now. Never underestimate the power of a 2 hour nap!

Enjoy!

For the past month or so, Dazai had been watching his mouth. He kept every curse word he wanted to say to himself when around Atsushi, so the child wouldn't pick anything up and swear like a sailor in public at any point.

And when he didn't find the child anywhere in the Agency, every word he'd censored came out in a rush. Okay. He thought once he'd drained every vulgar word he knew from his mind. Wasted too much time already. He pulled his phone from his pocket, and dialed an emergency contact.

"Hello?" An impatient voice answered.

"Emergency," he responded quickly. "You need to come to the Agency right now." He hung up without any further exclamation. Then, he checked the wounded employees for signs of life. Somehow, they'd all managed to keep their pulses going however faint they were. "Kenji," he said, lightly tapping the boy's face. He didn't respond. No one did.

"Port Mafia," Kunikida muttered when he came in.

"Of course," Dazai replied seriously. "No one else would attack us like this."

"How did they completely wipe everyone out? This never happens." He pulled out his phone, punching in a few numbers.

"Don't call Ranpo. We don't have the time to wait for him to get back." Dazai sighed heavily, thinking through the situation. "We'll have to ask them when the doctor can get them back, but I have a theory." He paused, staring at the huge gash in Naomi's midsection. "This wasn't a normal raid. They had someone who's gifted with them." The wounds on everyone was more than enough proof for him. "Someone like Akutagawa."

A chill went through the air at the mention of his former apprentice's name. "Why would-"

"This wasn't a normal kidnapping. Unless they knew what he is, they wouldn't go this far."

"What makes you so sure it was Akutagawa?"

I trained the boy. I'm familiar with his personality, his strategies, the aftermath of his attacks. He's just as obvious as ever. Dazai thought in response. "It doesn't matter," he said. "Our top priority is retrieving Atsushi." His partner looked at him, knowing that he was hiding something, but didn't push the issue. "I'm going," Dazai concluded, starting out the door.

"What are you thinking?!" Kunikida said, grabbing Dazai by the arm. "You can't go in there without a plan. Don't be stupid and try to get yourself killed."

"I won't die on this mission, Kunikida. Now's not the time." He yanked his arm away indignantly. "We can't wait on this. Every minute we spend here is another minute that Atsushi could be getting tortured." He turned away and started heading out again.

"But you can't go!" Kunikida called.

"And why not?" Dazai yelled back, not slowing his gait.

"Because you don't have a driver's license."

He still didn't stop. "I know, I'm expecting you to drive me there. Pick up the pace!"

"What?! You can't go in there with no plan," he said again.

"Have you ever known me without a plan?" That's when he actually turned around to face his colleague. "I know you see me as an idiot in a rush to die with no sense of responsibility whatsoever, but believe me when I tell you that I have a plan to get the child out of there. My predictions always come true." He stared Kunikida right in the eyes. "You're going to have to trust me on this."

"He's alive. If they went through that much trouble to take him, they wouldn't kill him."

"How would they know about him being a tiger? That's the only reason they'd want him."

Dazai shrugged, rummaging through the glove compartment. "The Mafia has their ways. They know more than we'd like to admit." He shoved aside a car owner manual. "Where do you keep your sunglasses?"

"Middle compartment," he answered, not sparing a glance as Dazai adjusted the shades on his face. "What's your plan anyway?" Kunikida asked. "You've given me no details."

The car slowed, and Dazai jumped out. "Just be here in forty three minutes. I'm going to get Atsushi back."

Atsushi was in a different sort of prison when he woke up. He wasn't bound to the wall as he had been in the orphanage, which was a relief. He was only behind bars. What happened? He thought, trying to steady himself as his head spun. He could remember somehow bursting free from the box, but after that… He didn't know.

Akutagawa was nowhere in sight. The only person within a twenty foot radius of him was the girl in traditional clothes, Kyouka. He didn't ask her any questions or try to talk to her. Kyouka's face was passive, her eyes held no interest or disdain for him, they purely looked on him without expression.

He cautiously rose, cradling his hurt arm. No one had bothered to pop it back into place after he'd passed out, and it still felt crooked and hurt a lot. Atsushi looked down at himself. His clothes were stained with dried blood, and he was left wondering if it was his own. If he could just find a way out… Then what?

It's not like he knew how to get out or where to go. He didn't know Yokohama very well. Heck, he didn't even know if he was in Yokohama any more.

He abandoned me. What makes you think he wouldn't do the same to you?

Dazai was likely going to sell you to the client as well.

Learn to accept your fate, Weretiger. Dazai was planning to do the same thing with you.

Atsushi shook his head. That… That couldn't be true. Dazai wouldn't sell him off to some stranger. But Dazai's not here now… Atsushi's arm ached more and he clutched it closer to his body, gritting his teeth. His mind flashed back to the sound of truth in Akutagawa's voice, and swallowed hard. He'd said Dazai would sell him, no differently than the Port Mafia.

And despite how much he wanted to fight the idea, he just couldn't. He felt broken down, tired. His body was weak, and his arm hurt ceaselessly. Atsushi's legs trembled under him as he thought more about it. He never hurt me… The child thought, remembering how Akina commented that Dazai had beaten Akutagawa on a daily basis.

That's because he was going to sell you. His own voice whispered in his head. That's the same reason why Akina yelled at Akutagawa. She said that they wouldn't get money if you're dead…

… Is that why?... Is that why? Atsushi's legs shook harder, pulling him to the ground. He found himself curled up, trembling on the floor. Kyouka's eyes bore into him, studying his small, huddled form. She didn't say anything as he sobbed. Atsushi sensed some pity in her gaze, but that didn't matter. He was alone again. Abandoned by Dazai as he had been by his parents before he could remember them.

It took him a while to calm down, to stop crying and wind up in the corner, as far away from his prison guard as he could get. Kyouka didn't react, she kept her eyes on him, not in a threatening way, simply observative. Then, he just put his head on his knees, giving up.

Crap. Dazai thought as he walked out of another closet. This is taking longer than I thought. Pulling Atsushi out is going to have to be quick. He lifted the sunglasses on his face above his eyes, glancing around as he walked. Hey, did they redecorate in here? Hardly even recognize it. Dazai took a left turn, he couldn't afford to get too distracted, Atsushi's life could very well depend on it.

The trip to the detention center wasn't a problem even with the new decor. As someone who had spent years of his life in the Port Mafia, a few of those years as an executive, Dazai could never forget the way there. Even if he was blind, he'd have been able to find his way there by its scent. It didn't smell like blood or anything like that. Citrus fruit. The overwhelming sharp, smell of citrus fruit. Cleaning products were always used with no end to wash away the blood stains on the floor and walls.

Dazai had never understood the reason for doing so. It was a detention center, there wasn't much of a reason to keep it tidy, but regardless, it always had the harsh fumes of chemicals. His stomach twisted when he thought about Atsushi in there. He was only a child, there was no doubt that he was terrified and confused.

A demon lashed out at him the moment he entered the prison. Dazai stood, unfazed. The Port Mafia put excessive stock in their ability users, it was predictable that they would have an ability user be their defense. Against a normal person, this would be effective. Against Dazai, it made no difference. The ability user, a young girl, didn't look surprised, nor did she look frustrated. She didn't ever try to retaliate with her ability. She simply blinked in the light of his ability colliding with hers.

Atsushi sat rigid in the corner with his head resting against his knees. Dazai's eyes hardly glanced at him before the girl came flying at him with a short sword. She would have slashed his throat if Dazai wasn't faster and more experienced than she was. He caught her wrists effortlessly, impairing her movement, keeping her in one place.

He squinted at her eyes. "You don't really want to do this," he stated knowingly. "I know how that is." The girl didn't respond, she simply stared back at him. His fingers brushed her skin as he focused his ability into his hands. The girl's eyes grew wide for a second and she flinched as though an electric shock ran through her body, then she went limp.

Dazai propped her body against the wall and turned to Atsushi. The child was now standing, pressed against the bars, staring at Dazai. His eyes were narrowed with distrust, which almost caught Dazai off guard since Atsushi had stopped looking at people that way a long time ago. The only time Dazai had seen him make that face was when they passed by a dog that barked a lot. He hadn't looked at Dazai that way since they'd first met in the orphanage.

The man released a long sigh as he got to work on the lock. "Okay," he began. "What did they tell you?"

So, that was something... Just a slight exclamation with Dazai knocking out Kyouka, he's done it before, more or less. If you recall the first and second episodes, Atsushi was out cold when Dazai used his ability on him. That could be argued that turning into a tiger exhausts him and stuff. However, there was also that one time with Steinbeck in season two. So... Idk, I think he'd have a decent control on his ability and to what degree he uses it. (So, that was just me defending my writing, that was fun)...

I've got a lot more planned for the next few chapters, I would have just added them to this chapter, but that was long and I'm working on feeling the characters' emotions for what's coming next and I've been relatively too busy to feel stuff this week.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading. Please review!

P.S. I swear, Akutagawa will be in the next chapter. This was all build up...