Hello, everyone! Happy New Year! I posted this on AO3 earlier, and recently just remembered that I should probably post it here. I've been working on this fanfiction for a while, and hopefully, I can be semi-consistent in posting new chapters. I just got my wisdom teeth out yesterday, and sometimes posting new chapters and such makes me feel better. So, yeah.

Anyway, here's another Port Mafia! Atsushi fanfiction!

Enjoy!

It was a gut feeling.

Don't move. Atsushi told himself as he pressed a hand to his mouth. Don't make a sound. His muscles ached from being pulled taut for so long. He wasn't sure how long he'd been hiding for or why he was hiding at all. He only knew that he was hiding from the men who swept the area with flashlights before they'd found the light switch and plunged the whole place in light.

Don't let them find you. Stay where you are. Run as soon as their backs are turned. The voice in his head hardly sounded like his own. There was no tremble to it; it had a commanding ring to it that made him obey.

Atsushi fought the urge to shift in his tiny hiding space; he was so hungry that he wanted to double over to try to ease the pangs. The space between the crate and the brick wall was suffocating, even for him. He was lucky that he had such a small frame. If he'd been any bigger, his cramped hiding spot would be impossible to fit into.

"Do you think he slipped out without our notice?" One voice asked. It sounded so close that Atsushi nearly jumped.

"Doubt it," another voice, a little further away, replied. "The doors are still shut and it would be obvious if he tore through a wall."

"Well, it's not like he has many places to hide! How else would a ti-"

The voice was cut off by a long, metallic sound that echoed off the walls and ceiling of the warehouse.

Atsushi bit his lip as the sound rang in his ears, making his head feel like it was about to explode.

"Yes, Sir," one of the men said after a moment of deafening silence. "No, we haven't found him yet." Another pause. "Understood."

"What's the status?"

"He decided to send in the demon prodigy. He'll be here soon."

The demon prodigy. The title alone made Atsushi's blood run cold. He had no idea who it was, but he could guess that nicknames like that weren't given out like party favors.

"So, what do we do until then?" A new voice asked.

Atsushi leaned his head forward just a bit, trying to hear the conversation more clearly. His head bumped lightly against the splintered wood of the huge crate in from of him. He held his breath, hoping that the small thud was too small to notice.

"Guard all exits," a voice that carried more authority stated. "If it tries to run, shoot to kill."

Black spots crawled into Atsushi's vision with that order. He felt sick to his empty stomach. He pressed a hand to his abdomen and his other hand to his mouth, trying to keep from dry heaving at the thought.

"Why did you expect anything different?" His headmaster's voice played in his brain. "This is the only kind of end you deserve, hunted down like a feral animal."

He swallowed bile, fighting back a scream that built up in his throat.

I know that. He thought in response. I already know! But even if that's all I deserve, I don't want to die!

His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten enough for the past few days. Any other time, he would just ignore it. It was normal to him after all, but now… Now, that simple growl was dangerous. Had the men heard that? Would they be able to find him now and put a bullet through his skull?

Atsushi held his breath, praying that the faint hum of the electricity in the building would be enough to drown out the sound of his hunger.

Another minute passed by, and he heard no footsteps in his direction and no gunshots. He suppressed a sigh of relief. He was by no means safe, but for the moment, he was still hidden.

/-/-/

"An odd place for a tiger to run," Dazai muttered as he stepped out of the car; his fingers wrapped a little tighter around the cup of ramen in his hand. He glanced at the text message on his phone. "How do twenty of our men fail at finding a five hundred pound cat?"

Many of the men stared at him, their bodies tensed.

Dazai clicked his tongue boredly before groaning and mumbling, "I can't believe I got pulled off the bridge for this."

"What are your orders, Dazai-san?" One of the bolder agents asked.

"Wait here." He pocketed his phone and stirred what remained of the noodles with his chopsticks.

"B-But, Dazai-san, it-"

"What? It's a tiger that can kill me before I have time to blink? I certainly hope so. Dying like that would almost make up for getting dragged into this earlier." He glanced at the man, giving him a cheerful smile that was devoid of light. "Give me fifteen minutes."

/-/-/

Atsushi wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there. He wasn't skilled at estimating elapsed time based on how badly his muscles hurt. It felt like hours, so he guessed about an hour.

An hour since the demon prodigy had been called in, an hour of waiting with clenched teeth, shallow breaths, and a heart beating so hard that it felt like it would break his sternum. An hour of forcing his body to remain still and forcing his lungs to accept the heavy air in his tiny, suffocating space.

At a few points, he genuinely considered walking out with his palms held up in surrender. It definitely wasn't ideal, and he had no idea what would happen if he did that, but he did feel like anything would be better than barely breathing. The voice in his head held him back.

Don't move.

Don't even think about going out there!

They'll kill you, and that's if you're lucky.

So, he didn't move a muscle. He kept taking shallow breaths that hardly satisfied his lungs and listened to every sound in the warehouse.

No one spoke now. He could hear footsteps, but otherwise, it was nearly silent.

Is this the demon prodigy? He thought, swallowing hard. It only sounded like a single person searched now, and Atsushi began to wonder if this person was an actual demon.

He was approaching. Footfalls getting louder as they got closer to him. His heart beating harder with every step the person took.

Atsushi could hear a heavy sigh and the footsteps stopped. He could smell something. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he knew it was food. His mouth watered as his stomach growled again. Atsushi stifled a gasp. Had the man heard his stomach growl? Did that give him away?

Something banged against the crate that Atsushi hid behind. He flinched, biting back a shriek.

For the second time that day, a loud ring filled the space.

"No, I haven't found him yet," the man said after answering the phone with a quiet click. "Well, it's a big warehouse, really he could be hiding anywhere." A pause, then more footsteps. "No, I don't need help, and frankly I believe he'd slow me down."

The man kept talking, and his footfalls were beginning to sound further away. The aroma of food was still there, still close.

He left his food behind. Atsushi realized, salivating and feeling his stomach ache with hunger.

He was beginning to feel dizzy. He needed to eat.

Slowly, slowly, Atsushi slipped out from his hiding place. He just needed to silently grab the food while the man was distracted. He squeezed through the narrow space between two crates. He could see it. A styrofoam cup of noodles sat unguarded right in his field of vision.

It was even better than he expected! He didn't even need to completely leave the hiding place. All he had to do was go to the edge and grab it. Easy enough. He'd stolen several secret meals in the orphanage's kitchen. He tried to convince himself that this was no different.

Almost there… He thought, nearing the open space. He awkwardly leaned to one side because he didn't have the room to crouch. His fingers wrapped around the hot styrofoam cup. The corners of his lips pulled up for a second. He'd be able to finally eat something.

"Gotcha."

Out of nowhere, a bandaged hand grabbed his wrist.

Atsushi shrieked and tried to pull away, but whoever grabbed him didn't let him get far. His captor yanked on his arm, forcing him out of his hiding spot. Atsushi stumbled out, desperately trying to pry the man's fingers from his wrist.

He caught Atsushi's other wrist, his hands bruising him. He fought, knocking over the cup of noodles in the struggle. Atsushi bit back a starved cry as the food went to waste on the ground. If it weren't for the man's tight hold, he'd have eaten it off the ground without a second's hesitation.

"Calm down," he ordered, yanking Atsushi forward.

Atsushi's breath caught in his throat, hunger forgotten when he slowly lifted his eyes to his captor. He shook when he met his eyes, or rather eye, since one eye was covered with bandages. That one uncovered eye was hard and narrowed and made Atsushi shrink back.

It was clear now why they called him 'the demon prodigy'. There was something unnerving about the utter lack of light in his eye, and how under his gaze, Atsushi felt so much smaller than he ever had before.

The man's hands shifted below Atsushi's wrists and he gripped his forearms, squeezing them slightly as though he was trying to measure how much meat Atsushi had on his bones. Not much, Atsushi was hardly more than a skeleton under his skin. His hands weren't quite gentle, but they were far from rough. Atsushi shuddered, so unused to being touched in a way that didn't hurt. Somehow, the firm, but not quite painful grip was even scarier than fists and guns.

"P-please," Atsushi began, managing to find his voice. "Please don't hurt me! I-" He choked on his words as the man looked him in the eyes. "I didn't do anything. I swear," he said, his words getting desperate. "I don't even know how I got here. I just- I didn't see anything! If anything was going on, I-" He sifted through his brain to figure out what to say. "Please, please let me go."

His ice cold eye ran over Atsushi's small frame. He released one of Atsushi's wrists, keeping a firm grip on the other.

"What do you mean you don't know how you got here?" His voice was calm and cold, like a steady rainfall.

Atsushi swallowed hard, his already wobbling knees giving out from under him. "I don't know… I woke up, but… I don't remember ever going to sleep." He looked down at his knees. "Everything's hazy," He muttered after a long pause. He glanced up at the man, trying to find some shred of emotion in his face, any sign that he did or did not believe him.

"Hmm…" The man hummed, crouching down to Atsushi's level, fingers still wrapped around his arm. "By chance, do you have a history of sleepwalking?"

Atsushi didn't know. Maybe sleepwalking was a normal occurrence for him. He used to be chained down in the basement back at the orphanage. For all he knew, he could have always sleepwalked.

Maybe that was why the headmaster of the orphanage had hated him so much.

Maybe he'd wandered the orphanage in his sleep and made a mess of it in his childhood, and being locked in the cellar was his punishment.

"Well?" The man prompted.

"I don't know," Atsushi whispered.

"Where were you two days ago?"

Atsushi answered.

The corners of the man's mouth pulled up in a knowing smirk, as though he'd expected Atsushi's answer.

"Well then, it looks like you are the one they were looking for."

Atsushi felt his blood run frigid in his veins. "What?"

The man hauled him to his feet, looking up and down his shaking form again. After a long, tense moment of silence, he clicked his tongue.

"You look like you can hardly stay upright," he remarked to Atsushi.

What he meant by that, why he'd said it, Atsushi had no idea. Before he could ask, or try to wrench his arm free and run, the man tugged him forward. He walked at a brisk pace, dragging Atsushi with him.

It took a moment before Atsushi struggled. He pulled back, dropping to the floor and writhing there to keep the man with one eye from hauling him off.

He paused, raising an eyebrow at Atsushi.

"Aren't you hungry?"

Atsushi paused.

"We have a few questions to ask you, but," he began, pausing to pull Atsushi to his feet again. "You can hardly stand and you need food."

He did need food.

He was so hungry that it was a wonder he hadn't passed out from it yet.

So, he gave up his resistance.

His feet dragged slightly as he walked, more from exhaustion than any kind of resistance. It was as though the man's reminder that he needed food had drained him of whatever fight he had left in him.

"Boy," the man said, his back to Atsushi. "What's your name?"

"Nakajima Atsushi," he responded tiredly. He blinked up at the back of the man's head, tracing out the lines of the bandages that were covered by his hair. "Who are you?" He swallowed before adding, "They called you the demon prodigy."

"They are very fond of that nickname, it seems," the man sighed. He turned slightly, so that his one uncovered eye gazed at Atsushi. "My name is Dazai Osamu." He gave a small smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Nakajima Atsushi-kun."

His grip on Atsushi's wrist loosened before the man-Dazai- released him completely and walked ahead of him with a quick, steady gait.

Atsushi lingered behind, nervous and not completely sure how he felt about the man.

"What do you want to eat?"

Atsushi didn't speak for a moment, partially because he felt dazed and partially because he didn't feel comfortable with asking for a specific food.

"Really, you can choose anything," Dazai encouraged. "Don't hold back."

"Umm… if it's not too much trouble… can I have chazuke?"

Dazai blinked at him.

"I'm sorry," Atsushi said quickly when he didn't get a verbal response after a few heartbeats. "That was too much? Okay… sorry… I shouldn't ask-" He stopped talking coherently, his words reducing to nervous mumbles, which were completely cut off by Dazai laughing. He looked up with wide eyes.

"You're basically on the brink of death and that's all you want."

Atsushi blinked, unsure of how to respond.

Dazai clapped him on the shoulder, catching hold of his shirt and pulling him along again. "It's no trouble at all," he said. "I'm...borrowing my partner's credit card, so really, the sky's the limit." He smiled, the light of it not quite reaching his eye. Atsushi knit his brows, trying to figure out what that smile meant. It seemed so incredibly blank. Was that expression malicious? Or was it kind? Maybe he just smiled like that. Maybe he was like a few of the older children in the orphanage, and his smile just never went higher than his lips.

Atsushi bit his lip, keeping the image of the man's grin in his head, trying to unfold it to see what was at its center.

He supposed that a blank grin didn't necessarily mean cruel intentions. At least he didn't glare daggers or look like he hated Atsushi, so that was already an improvement from what he was used to.

Atsushi flinched out of his thoughts when Dazai threw open the solid doors. He followed him out with some hesitation.

"On your knees!" Someone commanded. Atsushi's blood froze when he looked up. Several guns pointed at him. Several fingers on triggers. Several bullets ready to find their mark.

He obeyed, falling to his knees with a force that would leave them black and blue.

It'd been stupid to believe that someone he'd just met would actually be genuinely kind to him. Kindness didn't happen to him. He wasn't the kind of person who deserved that, not according to the orphanage, and not according to the voices that screamed in his head.

He trembled.

"Weapons down," Dazai's voice ordered. "He's with me."

Atsushi looked up, sucking a shaky breath into his lungs. He stared at Dazai's form in front of him.

The man's arms were spread wide, his body between the gunmen and Atsushi.

"You can get up," he said, turning over his shoulder to address Atsushi. "No one's going to shoot you."

"But, Dazai-san-" One of the men began.

Dazai turned back to the gunmen. "Are you questioning my orders?" he asked dangerously.

Guns lowered.

"Let's go, Atsushi-kun," Dazai said calmly, gesturing for Atsushi to follow him.

With shaking legs, Atsushi complied, him movements slow and careful. He could feel the men's glares and perplexed eyes. The feeling of eyes on him made the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

"After you," Dazai said, opening the door to the back seat of a sleek, black car. Atsushi slid into the car, knowing from Dazai's tone earlier that the man didn't tolerate resistance.

Dazai slipped in after him, that strange smile back on his face.

And to some extent, it felt very final when the doors closed. It felt like his fate was sealed now, though he had no idea what his fate was.

The sound of the locks clicking into place didn't help with the sense of unease.

He fought the urge to squirm as his reality set in a little further.

People had been looking for him.

Dazai, the demon prodigy, had found him.

He was sitting in a car, right next to said demon prodigy.

Atsushi stiffened to keep from squirming. He stole a quick glance at the man, who looked bored. Looking at him from this angle, he appeared younger now. He looked less scary and stood less tall. Still plenty intimidating, but less so now than earlier.

"A few places that serve chazuke are probably open this late," Dazai said to the driver. "Take us to the best one."

The mention of Atsushi's favorite food made his mouth water.

It wasn't long before the car moved, it was a smooth motion, but Atsushi still lurched with it. Dazai caught him by the shoulder to keep him steady, a gentle touch that Atsushi still shied away from.

"You didn't put on your seatbelt," he commented.

"Huh?" Atsushi blinked nervously.

Dazai reached past him, tugging on a strap on Atsushi's other side. Atsushi flinched as it clicked into place.

"Have you never been in a car before?"

Atsushi reddened, shame in his ignorance and extremely humble roots welling up inside him. "Once or twice," he muttered, feeling painfully restrained under the strap. It was like he couldn't quite breathe under the strap. "We never used these though." He pulled on it to loosen its pressure on his chest.

Dazai hummed disapprovingly. "That's a blatant disregard for safety."

Atsushi didn't say anything in response. Everything he remembered from the orphanage could be classified as "a blatant disregard for safety." He struggled against the seatbelt again, sensing that he shouldn't undo it. Dazai had made his disapproval for going without a seatbelt very clear.

"You have to have it from now on. I don't want you to fly out a window if we have a collision."

That sentence caught Atsushi off guard. Why would Dazai care what happened to Atsushi if they crashed? It shouldn't have mattered. Atsushi shouldn't have mattered to him. Atsushi hardly mattered at all.

They sat in silence for a little while. Atsushi couldn't find words; his mind was too consumed with questions.

"Well, that was a fairly quick ride," Dazai commented as the locks clicked again. He pushed open the door and gestured for Atsushi to the same.

Atsushi obeyed, forgetting to press the button that would release him from the seatbelt and getting immediately yanked back into the seat. He felt heat rush to his face and fumbled with the button before slipping out of his seat and stepping out of the car.

He'd known that he was tired before, but now he felt drained in every possible way. It took all his energy just to drag his feet to where Dazai was. Atsushi hunched his shoulder, making himself just as small and exhausted as he felt.

"Come on, Atsushi-kun," he said softly.

Atsushi obeyed, forcing himself to keep his chin up and his eyes on Dazai.

Dazai got him seated at a table before ordering an ungodly amount of chazuke for Atsushi and decaf coffee for himself.

What happened next was a bit of a blur. A blur of savory food and relief for his aching stomach. He had no idea how much time had passed by the time he finished, but it was still dark outside and he felt completely stuffed.

"Are you feeling better now?" Dazai asked, though he very clearly knew the answer.

"Y-yes," Atsushi replied quickly. He bowed his head slightly. "Thank you so much! I don't think I would have lived for much longer if I hadn't eaten anything."

With food filling his stomach and the bruises on his wrists faded, Atsushi found himself lulled into a sense of security. His muscles started to relax and he sat back against the chair. That tense buzz in the back of his brain reduced to a nearly silent hum.

"Atsushi-kun," he began as he laced his fingers on the table. "I had something I wanted to ask you."

Atsushi swallowed hard, a bitter taste creeping into his mouth.

Right, that was why he'd been so panicked earlier.

Would this become an interrogation in a matter of minutes?

"Y-yes?" Atsushi managed, pushing down the fear that he could feel rising to the surface.

"Have you heard about a tiger? A ferocious beast that stalks the streets and ravages cities at night."

Atsushi's blood ran cold, and he quickly looked down at his glass of water to avoid looking into the intensity of Dazai's eye.

"Hmm, looks like you have," Dazai said, almost sounding bored. He took a sip of coffee before continuing. "Well, I was looking for it, hence the search party you saw over at the warehouse. It was last seen in there, and we blocked off all the exits."

Atsushi's heart sped up a bit.

It was in there with me. It could have killed me. He glanced back at Dazai, feeling extremely indebted to him. If he had left me there, I'd probably be eaten by it. He shuddered, imagining the men finding his mangled, lifeless form.

"So, the search goes on!" Dazai exclaimed.

Atsushi looked down at his hands. "Th-that's good." He swallowed before speaking. "That tiger attacked my orphanage. It tore apart our food stores." He glanced up at Dazai, surprised at himself for going into such a topic, but the man had saved him from the tiger and had given him food. If anything, it was only natural to mention his situation. "W-we were on a shoestring budget already, but after that…" He looked down. "They couldn't afford to keep me, and-" He fought to control the nervous crack in his voice. "It followed me. It's been chasing me since I left."

"Were you the only one?" Dazai asked in a low voice, ignoring the part about the tiger.

Atsushi nodded. "None of us were treated very well, but…" He bit his lip. "I think they hated me the most." He looked down again, not knowing what more to say.

Dazai hummed softly before setting his coffee down. "You strike me as someone in need of a job, Atsushi-kun."

Atsushi raised his eyes, surprised by the comment.

"There's a position opening in my organization. How would you like to come work for me?"

"Uh… I-" He paused, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with his good fortune.

Then, he remembered the men with guns, the threatening voices, and Dazai's rough grip on his wrists when they'd first met.

"What is your organization?" He asked shyly, wincing when Dazai looked at him. "If you don't mind me asking!" Atsushi added hurriedly, not wanting to offend the person who had given him food and offered him a job.

Dazai's eye glinted in a way that Atsushi couldn't quite comprehend, then he smirked. "That's a good question. I'm a bit surprised that you didn't just let desperation take over and accept whatever was given to you. It seems you're smart enough to think things through."

Atsushi bit his lip, the weight of their conversation seemed to increase with his question.

"I work for an organization called the Port Mafia," Dazai said calmly. "It's not the calmest place of work, but it pays well enough, and you would fit in nicely."

Halfway digested chazuke churned in Atsushi's stomach. "What would I be doing?" He asked slowly.

Dazai leaned back in his chair, his eye running up and down Atsushi's frame like he was taking in every detail. "That depends on you, really. I could see you as a spy or assassin with some training, but ultimately we'd have to see where your strengths lie."

Atsushi gulped, feeling dizzy, feeling sick.

This is the catch.

He wasn't the kind of person who got good things out of life. He'd known that for a long time. But this… This felt more like a cruel prank rather than plain bad luck.

"I don't think I'd fit in very well," Atsushi replied softly. He looked back at Dazai, expecting to see surprise or anger in his face, but his expression was blank. "I wouldn't be able to handle an exciting work environment like that. So, thank you for the offer, but I think I'll try to find something a little more normal."

He didn't know what he expected Dazai to say. Fear crept into his gut when he thought through the situation a bit more. He was in no place to reject that job after being protected and fed by Dazai, and he couldn't forget that he was talking to a man who worked around assassinations. Dazai could easily drag or threaten him into it if he wanted to.

"Well," Dazai began. Atsushi's muscles tensed, ready to run if he needed to. "Ultimately, I don't want to force you into a job that you don't want."

He loosed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Dazai-sa-"

"Of course, I can't help but worry about your future." Dazai took another sip of coffee and took a long breath in. "After all, you have no connections, no work experience, and ability users who lack control rarely fare well in this world."

"I-wait, what?" Atsushi blinked at him. "What do you mean 'ability user?"

"You haven't heard of them? People with supernatural abilities?"

"I've heard about them," Atsushi said quietly. "What do you mean that I'm one?"

"Well, if my prediction is correct," Dazai put his elbows on the table and leaned closer. "You transform into a tiger."

Atsushi physically recoiled. "W-What?" He stuttered. "That's impossible! I'm as average as humanly poss-"

"Then can you explain how you wound up in that warehouse or how the tiger managed to slip through our fingers?"

"I can't-" Atsushi tried to swallow. His mouth was completely dry. His muscles were twitching as though they didn't quite know what to do.

"We have witnesses and cameras that can prove that the tiger ran that way. To our knowledge, no one aside from Port Mafia agents got in there." He smiled again. "So, Atsushi-kun, how exactly did you wind up there?"

"I- I don't know-" He choked on his words, suddenly realizing why guns had been pointed at him and why he'd been hunted. He could feel the tears building up behind his eyes. "That can't be true," Atsushi managed.

"How can you be so sure?"

Words escaped his grasp. He could hardly take air into his lungs with the way Dazai was looking at him, a single brown eye expecting an answer.

Dazai leaned back, yawning and stretching. "Of course, I could be mistaken. It's possible that the tiger is still hiding in the warehouse, that you aren't an ability user, and that the tiger has been following you." His face seemed to soften a bit, the harsh glint of suspicion vanishing from his eye.

Atsushi's heart slowed a little, his tense and tired muscles loosening. He nodded. That was it. That was exactly what was happening. The tiger was still lurking in that warehouse. Atsushi had been lucky to get out of there alive, and Dazai's men would shoot it dead soon.

"In any case," Dazai continued. "I have an offer for you."

"Offer?" Atsushi croaked.

"If you are an ability user, you'll need to learn to get a handle on the tiger."

"I'm not the tiger," Atsushi whispered, more to himself than to Dazai. "I'm not…"

"In the case that you aren't, you're still wandering the city aimlessly, with a wild tiger stalking you. No food, no money, no shelter."

His words seemed to weigh Atsushi down like they were physical masses that forced him to the floor.

"So, how about we give it a month?"

"What?"

"Consider this, I take you under my wing about a month. During that time, we monitor you to confirm whether or not you have anything supernatural about you. If the tiger is truly hunting you, we'll be able to take it down more easily." Dazai smiled. "In either scenario, it gives you somewhere to go."

Atsushi looked down at his hands, the surge of panic from earlier not completely worn off. "And what happens after a month?" After the tiger is brought down?

Dazai shrugged. "We cross that bridge when we get there. It's your choice." He stood up before extending a hand to Atsushi. "So, what do you want to do?"

Atsushi glared down at his hands for a moment. He took a shuddering breath in and took the outstretched hand.

Yay! Chapter posted, story begun! Feels good to get more out there!

I've been crocheting a lot lately. I made a bunch of BSD plushies a while ago and I'm hoping to make more soon. There are pictures on AO3 in the story "The Fine Art of Crocheting." So, feel free to check that out.

Any feedback for this story is very much appreciated!

See you next time!