Chapter 2

Dazai sighs to himself as he slips out of a window on the third story of the building he was just investigating the ground is pretty far, at the right angle he could snap his neck. He's been looking into the Weretiger for the last 2 days with absolutely no success

Unfortunately this abandoned office building was his last lead and there hadn't been even a trace of anything substantial. He needs something soon, Mori's getting antsy which is always a worst case sicario.

He runs over the layout and look of the building in his head as he descends the fire escape that's one stray bolt away from falling away from the building and crushing anyone lucky enough to be under it at the moment.

Besides having leaky pipes and some office supplies thrown about, likely by homeless people looting the place or squatting there in the past. Not one thing to indicate any kind of animal besides some stray cats had touched the place.

Well regardless of how desperately he needs information there's no way it will fall into his lap just because he's annoyed (no I'm not moping slug, just a tich annoyed). It's getting late and he's been out searching since this morning so deciding to treat himself to at least one meal today he sets out towards a small restaurant he knows is nearby. They have excellent crab cakes.

As he walks across town he finds himself drifting again. People's conversations filter in and out of his mind, he can't help but break them apart and extract the important info out of it. Who has family, who cares about who, such small pieces of conversation could be the key to ruining these people's lives should such a measure be necessary. The way the walls lean in slightly, bowing with the weight of so many things resting upon them for many decades. Potential alleys for assassins to hide in, the best places to make a run for. Possibly improve weapons. It all enters Dazai's mind to be picked apart and then treasured or discarded.

He is at the bridge now, the restaurant and its crab cakes he's been craving are close now. The sun is setting making the bridge sparkle in an orange light, birds caw and the wind rushes through his hair, it's perfect really. Almost nothing could top this quiet peacefulness, the perfect place to die.

He takes one step, then another, it's a bad idea, he hasn't finished his assignment yet.

He'll die before that could matter.

He reaches the edge of the bridge and faces up towards the sky, leans back and

F

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Atsushi hadn't been having the best day. Sure, as a newly homeless teenager no day was a good day but today had been exceptionally bad.

First, the abandoned building he's been using for shelter got dragged into gang territory fights so he'd had to evacuate the building while it had been being treated like a GTA lobby. He'd even caught a stray on the way out and had to dig it out in a back alley nearby

Next, when he was grabbing a late breakfast consisting of a slightly moldy a breakfast sandwhich somebody tossed in the dumpster outside, then the convience store the owner decided they had nothing better to do than come out and throw fucking glass beer bottle at a 14 year old kid trying to eat. Either way he managed to dash off with the sandwich and crash on a nearby roof and lick his wounds.

Then came what Atsushi would mentally consider his day job. You see, as much as the idea had bothered Atsushi when he'd first been kicked out of the orphanage he'd pretty quickly realized that stealing would be absolutely crucial to not starving to death or wind up frozen to death in some back alley. So most afternoons Atsushi would spend pickpocketing.

At first he had been terrible at it, he'd tried to steal from people by themselves in ally's who looked rich or like trouble. It had ended up with him battered and bruised even with the whole tiger thing on his side.

But over time the necessity of such skills had forced him to improve quickly and he now had about a 70% success rate when it came to stealing without being spotted.

He was still getting used to the area that was Yokohama, the previous city he'd been in had been much nicer, less crime and more Airheaded tourists to not notice their wallets were gone. In Yokohama everyone is more on guard.

All that to say it was time for the daily rounds and maybe come up enough for some decent dinner.

Slipping his hood over his head he melts into the shadows of the street cast by the bright sun glaring onto the overbearing roofs that make up the walls of many streets in the slums.

A group of 3 men walk past him first. He listens in on their conversation, they say they're heading to a shift at a nearby loading dock. Not terrible they're probably pretty broke but they'll want to drink after their shift is up so they'll have some extra cash on hand for it.

Grabbing the little money he's got left out of his pocket he holds it up until a strong breeze sweeps past him and he lets the 30 yen fly out of his hand and watches it land right in front of the men.

Perfect.

He kicks off the wall he was using as a place to hide and dashes up to the men.

"Ah, there it is! Thank you for pointing it out for me sirs, I would be a real shame if I lost that money."

"Ah, wait just a minute boy" the man holds his hand out as if to placate him "I just dropped this, you can't just steal it like that."

"Please sir, I really need the money, I haven't eaten anything today."

Atsushi makes sure to keep his eyes towards the ground to make himself look more young and bashful then he is

"Fine brat, it's only 30 yen, you're bugging me out with how pathetic you are."

The man sneers as if Atsushi is the most pathetic thing on earth. It doesn't bother him it doesn't he's heard worse a million times over at the orphanage.

Leaning and grabbing the money off the ground he reaches up to the man and grabs his hand.

"Thank you so much sir, you have my gratitude!"

Bowing deeply, Atsushi finally dashes off before any of them can remember to be cruel or angry. Reaching into his pocket he grabs the wallets he slips from their pockets.

First he runs a little farther to make sure that if the men decide to follow him so they won't catch him in the act. He walks down a small side alley and ends up right by a river, the view is amazing. The sun hits the water just right, it's a nice place to sit.

Opening the first wallet Atsushi isn't expecting much but can't quite keep the excitement out of his eyes when he spots two 20's. The second and third keep up his positive mood, only working to further it.

Atsushi doesn't even try to keep back his smile after adding up the total in his head and coming up with 10,000 yen.

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At first all Dazai see's is darkness. Good sign. Wait, his lungs burn for air that he doesn't have- wait never mind now he does.

Damn.

This canal is too shallow to properly drown and too deep to break his neck upon the fall. Unbelievable, really his luck is superbly terrible that he could fall off a bridge and the only thing that happened would be getting a little wet and a waste of time.

Crab cakes long forgotten, Dazai elected to drift further down the canal and take some time to stew in his frustration surrounding the utter failure of this subside attempt and his day.

His train of thought is completely ripped from his mind when a splash sounds in the water. His mind is still pretty foggy from his importo swim and the minimal oxygen intake. Looking over to his left he could almost swear he's staring at a boy…

Ha, he's losing his mind then, cool.

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Atsushi really feels like he's floating on the clouds, seriously, 10,000 yen, he won't have to worry about food for two, maybe three weeks if he rations it properly.

He knows a full moon is tonight and he'll have to let the tiger out, so being fully fed is crucial unless he wants "man-eater" added to his already ridiculous sounding name in the rumors.

Seriously, Weretiger, it sounds like something that would be straight out of twilight not the beast it was.

The sound of birds draws Atsushi's eyes back towards the water where he notices something out of place. A pair of very human legs stick out of the water as they circle around and float down the river.

Oh, a suicide then. Hell no.

While Atsushi will be the first to admit his morality was definitely questionable, he wasn't heartless. The birds in the nearby trees fly down and land on the legs poking out of the water, further adding comedy and a sense of tragedy to the entire situation.

Decision already made Atsushi throws himself into the water with no hesitation. The canal doesn't turn out to be very deep, only several feet, enough Atsushi would have to tread water but shallow enough to touch the bottom if he wished.

As he looks at the person- man he can now see, the guy opens his eyes and stares at Atsushi. And god if those weren't the deadest eyes Atsushis ever seen. The look in them was something he'd only ever see on himself, reflected in windows and broken mirrors.

Slipping the man's arm over his shoulder Atsushi kicks off the bottom of the trench and drags the man to the shore and drops him on a patch of concrete next to the edge of the canal.

Waiting a moment to see if the man will wake up naturally or if they'll need to be revived, Atsushi takes him in.

The man in question is really an odd one, his brown hair still sopping wet from the water is covering most of his face, and the parts that aren't are covered by a black mask made from what looks like some kind of metal almost like a muzzle. He wears a skin tight gray top without sleeves and gray pants look like they could cost more than his life. Bandages are scattered all over him, covering his arms, neck, ankles, and probably more places that are covered by the black tuxedo top that here wears like a cape.

Lost in thought Atsushi doesn't immediately notice the mans waking up until he's staring right into their face. To his credit Atsushi merely blinks at the man instead of freaking out like he is internally.

Looking straight into his eyes the man just stares at him, Atsushi stares back. It feels like they're playing a game of some kind or maybe getting ready to fight, waiting for the other to bend and make the first move

Wonderful, just great, incredible. A perfect way to finish off the horrible day that has plagued Atsushi.

Jumping into a river and getting his only set of clothes wet to drag out a person who has clearly attempted suicide.

Honestly, Atsushi really had horrible luck.

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