(A/N: Thank you PinkiePieParty122894 for your review! And to everyone who's followed, favorited, and added this story to their alerts. I'm glad this story is doing well. It's been a lot of fun to write. ^^)

"I-I...I'm so sorry!"

Seated in a comfy booth in a rather cozy cafe located on the first floor of the agency she had been brought (dragged) to, Atsushi could only grin awkwardly at Tanizaki whose hands were pushing down on the table in the seat across from her where he had begun to profusely apologize.

"Though it was for your exam, I was so rude to you," Tanizaki lamented, slowly lifting up his bowed head, his hazel eyes filled with regret. "I don't think I gave a proper introduction earlier...My name is Tanizaki Jun'ichirō. I work as an assistant of sorts at the agency. I wanted my acting to be legit, but I could tell you were pretty frightened back there..."

Shaking her head, Atsushi held up her hands to stop the male from going any further. "Please, it's all right."

I'm just relieved he isn't intimidating like I first thought...

"And this is-"

"His little sister, Naomi." the young intern reintroduced, latching cheerfully onto her now startled brother.

"A-are you really siblings...?" Atsushi murmured more to herself at the bizarre display of affection. "I'm not sure I see a family resemblance."

Her pale features growing more seductive, Naomi slowly stroked at her sweating brothers cheek. "Oh? You doubt us? Of course we're siblings by blood. We're quite similar, especially this part. Right, brother?"

"B-b-but..." Atsushi stuttered out weakly, watching as Naomi's hand snaked up inside a clearly panicking Tanizaki's shirt; poor Atsushi's face completely turning red since she swore Naomi was about to kiss the male right on his lips as she leaned closer into him!

"Don't pursue this line of inquiry with them too far," Kunikida warned, his glasses seeming to have clouded over as if to block out the inappropriate display. When Atsushi gave a weak nod, Kunikida cleared his throat before continuing, "In any event, brat, today you have joined the ranks of our Armed Detective Agency."

Turning his attention on Naomi and Tanizaki, who were clearly doing something 'shameful' in the booth, Kunikida's tone became more fierce. "Do not be a burden to anyone, nor shame the Agency's good name! The rest of us are committed to that, at least. Right, Dazai?"

Dazai was currently stroking at the baristas palm where he asked her in a flirtatious tone, "Would you strangle me with these fragile, delicate fingers?"

Stomping over to the frustrating brown haired male, Kunikida gave Dazai a hard punch upside the head-which caused his face to impact with the counter-before screaming out, "Are you going to smear mud on the Agency's name right as I'm saying we never would?! You bastard! Don't bother asking for her help all the time! I'll crush your neck with my own bony fingers!"

Letting out a heavy sigh when Kunikida followed through with his threat by wrapping his hands around Dazai's throat, Atsushi found herself bringing up, "Um, by the way, what were you both doing before you joined the Agency?" When the two slowly turned to stare directly at her, Atsushi smiled sheepishly. "Uh, no real meaning behind that question, by the way."

"Take a guess."

"Huh?"

"Oh, it's a game we play often," Dazai voiced with a secretive smile. "The rookie tries to guess her senior colleagues' former occupations. Well, it's part of their training as private investigators."

"Well...Tanizaki-san and Naomi-san...were students..."

"Oh! Bingo! I'm impressed," Tanizaki congratulated without a hint of sarcasm, even clapping his hands.

"How did you know?" Naomi inquired with a small tilt of her head.

"I heard you are a part-time worker, and I thought you might still be a student considering your uniform," Atsushi explained with a faint blush. "Tanizaki-san seems close to me in age, so...just a hunch."

"Honesty is a virtue," Dazai mused, moving to sit backwards in his chair where he could face Atsushi's table better. "What about Kunikida-kun?"

Despite Kunikida's annoyance at being put on the spot, Atsushi squinted her eyes at the male as she thought it over. "Public worker? An official?"

"Close. He was a teacher. A math teacher," Dazai hummed out.

I can see that...And it also makes me feel bad for his students Atsushi couldn't help but think, picturing the male slamming his hand on a blackboard while instructing his students to solve a complex problem in a certain amount of time.

"Now, what about me?" Dazai chirped, pointing at himself.

"You? Dazai-san?" When Dazai gave a vigorous nod, Atsushi cupped her chin and let out a thoughtful hum. "Dazai-san was...Erm...He was a..."

Ah! I can't think of anything at all!

"Don't bother, brat," Kunikida claimed, pushing up his square specks. "His former profession is one of the seven mysteries of the Armed Detective Agency."

"The first person to get it correct receives a reward, right?" Tanizaki mentioned with an amused smile.

A reward?!

"That's right. No one's been able to guess right, so the rewards just ballooned,"

"B-by the way, how much has the reward ballooned to exactly?!" Atsushi asked, sitting rather catlike in her seat while her eyes seemed to glow.

"700,000-yen total," Dazai answered rather nonchalantly. He could feel a rather intense aura coming off of Atsushi, yet he didn't even flinch when the girl was abruptly in his face.

"S-so if I can get it right, I can claim it? For real for reals?!"

A gleam shone in Dazai's own eyes, and he gave the desperate sounding female a cheeky gaze. "A suicide proponent is true to his word."

Naomi and Tanizaki couldn't help but watch the seemingly awkward girl with incomprehensible expressions when she pumped a fist in the air before Atsushi then loudly declared, "That seven hundred grand will be mine! Speculator!"

"No."

"Writer?"

"Nope!"

"Office worker?"

"Wrong!"

"Researcher?"

"No."

"Lawyer?"

"No!"

"Journalist?"

"Boo."

"Carpenter?"

"Nope."

"Fortune teller?"

"No~!"

"She's just shouting out random jobs, isn't she?" Tanizaki muttered considering Atsushi didn't even seem to be thinking it over as the girl continued to call out numerous, oftentimes bizarre, professions.

"It's actually a little sad..." Naomi added considering Dazai seemed to be far too entertained by the females frantic guessing.

Scoffing when Dazai gushed over the fact that Atsushi thought he could be an actor, Kunikida took a sip from his cup before giving his coworker a side eyed glance. "I bet you were just wandering around doing nothing,"

"Nope. I would never lie about this," Dazai said, alarming Kunikida at his sincere tone. "Do you yield, Atsushi-chan?" When the girl seemed hesitant, Dazai smiled and surprised her when he placed a napkin with a small slice of cake on it in her hands. "Here. A token for your efforts."

"Um, thank you?" Atsushi murmured a little perplexed. Looking down at the tasty treat, she noticed the vanilla cake had been decorated with a cat made out of blue icing. "Why does it have a cat on it?"

"Isn't it cute? I thought it suited you, don't you think?" Dazai said, clearly pleased with himself.

"Erm, but technically I turn into a scary tiger, not a cute cat..."

"Ah, ah, ah! Don't sweat the details!" Dazai proclaimed, causing Atsushi to blush a little when he placed a finger against her lips to silence her.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have a job. The clients already at the agency," Tanizaki spoke up after closing his cell, rubbing at his hair since Atsushi seemed a little flustered as she nibbled on her cake.

Everyone standing up from their seats, Dazai voiced casually while giving a small clap of his hands, "Well, it's time to work. Let's save the guessing game for another time. Shall we get going?"

"So...You've mentioned that you'd like to request an investigation, but what manner of investigation are we speaking here?"

A young female with shoulder length blond hair and deep brown eyes, that held a troubled look within them, had been waiting on Atsushi and the others once they had returned to the office. Tanizaki had been the one to take it upon himself to look over the woman's files while also interviewing her.

Before she could answer, Dazai had taken the woman's hand in his, giving her a charming smile. "Beautiful...You're a lady as ephemeral and elegant as a lotus blossom. Would you be willing to join me in a double suicide-"

Does he ask that question to every girl he meets Atsushi pondered, her features indifferent as she found that she didn't feel sorry for Dazai at all when Kunikida punched him all the way to the other side of the room, instantly halting his coworkers bizarre flirting.

"Apologies for the disturbance. Don't worry. Please disregard what just happened," Kunikida spoke up professionally, dragging a twitching Dazai out into the hallway and then slowly closing the door. "Please continue."

"Regarding my request..." the woman voiced, causing Tanizaki, Naomi, and Atsushi to stare at her in awe as she was completely ignoring the loud hits and pain filled yelps coming from behind the door. "Well, it seems there's recently been a group of distasteful people loitering in my company building's back alley."

"And by distasteful, you mean..."

"They appear to be dressed in rags. Some of them have been heard speaking a foreign tongue,"

"They must be smugglers or some such," Kunikida announced abruptly. Atsushi winced since Dazai was surprisingly still conscious, and seemed to be reaching out for help, but Kunikida simply shut the door in his face. "The military police may police all they want, but they keep multiplying like rats on a ship. They're unavoidable in a port town."

"Right. If we had some evidence that they're running afoul of the law, we could reach out to the military police," the client voiced softly, her gaze meeting Kunikida's. "So..."

"You want us to stake out the place and get the evidence," Kunikida realized, turning his focus on their newest member. "Brat. You go."

"What?!"

"It's a simple stakeout job. Besides, smugglers are mostly harmless. They're usually only good at making a break for it. It's the perfect first job for you."

Atsushi gripped at her dress. The 'mostly' harmless part is what concerned her. "But..."

"Tanizaki, go with her,"

"If he's going, I'm going, too!" Naomi squealed out, wrapping her arms so tightly around Tanizaki's neck from behind she caused him to gag. She then playfully winked at Atsushi. "I can't have you stealing brother's attention by going on a solo mission with him, after all~!"

Atsushi could only manage a weak laugh at the girl's teasing. It wasn't that she didn't feel relieved to have Naomi and Tanizaki going with her, but what if she couldn't handle the mission and made things more difficult for them? More than likely, she'd just end up being a burden...

"Hey, brat," Kunikida addressed, shaking his head when the girl jumped. She was packing a camera and film as instructed, but he noticed Atsushi had appeared frozen as she gazed down at the case. "It's not that I lack sympathy for your unlucky, ill begotten life. As such, I'll give you one hint for surviving in this city."

Atsushi blinked when the blond-haired male showed her a slightly dark photo. A young male with short, choppy black hair and side bangs with white tips that reached his chin, seemed to have been heading somewhere when the picture was shot. Even with the photo being a bit blurry, Atsushi could tell his gray eyes seemed cold, almost empty in a way.

"Don't run into him. If you do, run."

"Who is he?"

"A mafioso," Dazai chimed in, lifting his head up from the desk where he had been resting. He had collapsed there after the client had left the building, saying she would wait on them outside while they prepped for the mission. "Though we call them that because we don't know anything else."

"They're a vicious criminal organization who claim the port as their territory," Kunikida added. "They're called the Port Mafia. They're the most dangerous gang in this city's underground. Of them, the one in this photo is a very dangerous man beyond even the Agency's reach."

"Why is he dangerous?"

"Because he's an ability user. His ability happens to be of the ruthless sort designed for slaughter. Not even the cops stand a chance against him. I wouldn't want to fight him, either." Kunikida confessed, his hands sliding into his pockets.

Biting down on her lower lip, Atsushi stared at the photo and asked softly, "What's his name?"

"It's Akutagawa."

"I think I want to go back to my old life, even if it means sleeping on park benches again..."

Tanizaki let out a laugh as he watched the gray-haired girl drag behind Naomi and him. She had been all doom and gloom since leaving the agency.

"I guess hearing all that stuff was pretty scary, huh?"

"How can you even laugh? All this talk about vicious mafia and how you can die, I'm not sure I'm cut out for this..."

"Well, even I've been able to manage," Tanizaki reassured while Naomi beamed and nodded her head in agreement. "You'll be fine."

Atsushi pursed her lips while gripping onto the camera cases strap. "But you also have an ability, right? Your ability must be different from my own useless one."

"I wouldn't set your expectations too high," Tanizaki commented with embarrassment. "My abilities not suited for combat."

Naomi latched onto her brother's arm, which she was clinging too, more tightly. "You have a wonderful ability. I love it."

Shivering when Naomi blew into his ear, Tanizaki gave her a shaky expression. "Stop, Naomi. Not here..."

"Oh, are you talking back to me? I wonder what mouth's saying such cheeky things,"

I wonder how our client feels about this sort of PDA? She hasn't said a word since we set off Atsushi wondered with a tired expression as she wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to the sibling's relationship herself. When she thought about it more, it probably was nice to have someone that you could feel that close to. She had never really experienced that...

"We're here," the woman said, catching them all off guard when she headed down a secluded alley way. "This way."

"It's pretty creepy..." Atsushi whispered, walking forward with Tanizaki and Naomi while the client hung back.

"That's strange? Is this really the right place?" Tanizaki inquired. This area didn't meet the criteria like he was expecting. "Um..."

"The names Higuchi."

"Higuchi-san. Smugglers are a cowardly bunch. They'll always have an escape route. But this is a dead end. If anyone came after them from there, they'd have nowhere to run,"

"That's right. I apologize. I led you into a trap, " Higuchi replied almost far too calmly, dropping the purse she carried and undoing some of the buttons upon the white shirt she wore underneath her black suit jacket. She then pulled her hair up into a bun while also donning a pair of black shades. "My real target was you!"

This was a trap Atsushi thought in horror. Her eyes grew bigger when Higichi pulled out her cell and spoke a certain name into the receiver.

"Akutagawa senpai. I have them, as planned."

"Then...she's with the Port Mafia?!" Atsushi gasped out, a hand moving to cover her mouth when the woman pulled out two very large guns. She wasn't even certain where Higuchi had been concealing them.

Time seemed to have frozen for Tanizaki when the traitorous woman let loose a fray of bullets, none of them connecting with him for his younger sister had shielded his body with her own; her once white school blouse now becoming stained crimson.

"Brother...Are you okay?" Naomi weakly asked, managing to smile at him before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell limply into his arms.

"Naomi?! God, what should I do? Oh, right! Tourniquet!" Tanizaki cried out frantically. "Atsushi-chan, do you have a tourniquet on you?! No, first I must clean the wound...No. I have to get her to Dr. Yosano. We...we have to take her to the infirmary! Atsushi-chan! Get her legs!"

Even if Atsushi had wanted to move, she couldn't. Her body had fallen to the ground, and she could only quiver as she watched Naomi's blood stain Tanizaki's clothes. What was worse, Higuchi had pressed one of her guns to the side of Tanizaki's head.

"My investigations have already revealed that you are a non-combatant member," Higuchi spoke coldly. "Let's have you follow the noble princess to the afterlife."

Tanizaki's normally kind eyes filled with pure rage as he turned to face the blond. "What?! You two-bit thug..." Backing up when Tanizaki started to unleash his ability, the male held Naomi in his arms while he spat out, "How dare you hurt Naomi! Ability: Light Snow!"

"Snow at this time of year?" Higuchi murmured when a green light seemed to surround the area while gentle flakes appeared to be falling from the sky.

"Atsushi-chan, stay far back." Tanizaki instructed in as calm a tone as he could muster. "This one...is mine to kill!"

"What?!" Higuchi shouted when Tanizaki seemed to vanish before her bullets could connect.

"My Light Snow ability transforms the entire space with snowfall into a screen. I have overlaid the background scenery onto my image. You can't see me anymore!"

"I don't need to see you for my bullets to hit you!" Higuchi barked, spinning around as she aimed the twin machine guns in all directions.

"Wrong," Tanizaki said icily, his hands seeming to come out of thin air from behind Higuchi as he latched onto her fragile neck in a death grip that caused her to cry out. "Die!"

"Tanizaki!" Atsushi screamed out. It was too late. The teen had been struck from behind by what looked like black tendrils, and she felt her body grow cold when seeing the very person Kunikida had warned her to avoid at all costs.

"Fear death," Akutagawa said through a series of coughs before wiping at his mouth where he slowly started to approach Atsushi. "Fear slaughter. Those who desire death have an equal desire to die. Therefore...It's nice to meet you. I am Akutagawa, one of Port Mafia's dogs, as is she."

"Akutagawa senpai! I can handle this myself!" Higuchi declared. Despite what the woman had done, Atsushi couldn't help but flinch when the almost ghostly pale skinned and slim male placed a harsh slap upon her cheek that knocked Higuchi's glasses right off of her face and made the woman stumble.

"I believe my orders were to take the weretiger alive! And yet here you are, gunning everyone down. You useless bitch!" Akutagawa growled out. "Stand down."

"I'm sorry..."

"Take the weretiger alive? What are you after?" Atsushi asked meekly. She could understand why Kunikida warned her to avoid this male. He was clearly insane if he'd even hurt a comrade like that. It was completely different from the banter Kunikida often got into with Dazai.

"My target has always been you and you alone, weretiger. Your fellow agents lying there just got caught in the crossfire," Akutagawa said coolly while closing his eyes.

Her fingers dug into the ground when hearing this. "Then...this is because of...me...?"

"Indeed. That is your karma, weretiger," Akutagawa voiced without a hint of sympathy to the clearly distressed girl. "You cause misfortune for everyone around you, just by living."

He's...he's saying the exact same things they told me at the orphanage...

"Ability: Rashoumon," Akutagawa proclaimed as those black tendrils shot around Atsushi, leaving scorch marks embedded in the cement. She hadn't noticed it before, but the black forms of mass seemed to be coming straight from the trench coat he wore. What was even more terrifying, they had formed a face; one that resembled a demon. "I missed on purpose that time, of course. But my Rashoumon has poor taste. It devours anything and everything. I intend to capture you alive, but if you continue to resist, I'll take your leg next."

"But why? Why me?" Atsushi bemoaned, not yet crying, but she was close to doing so.

Do I...do I really make everyone suffer just by living?

"At...Atsushi-chan...Run, Atsushi-chan..." Tanizaki managed to get out as his eyes connected with Atsushi's; trying to make her understand it was all right when he noticed the despair within her multicolored orbs.

They're still alive Atsushi thought with relief when also hearing Naomi coughing while her brother seemed to be struggling to get up. Gripping at the front of her white blouse, she recalled Kunikida's words of never being a burden upon the agency, and she clenched her teeth before forcing herself up onto her feet. Letting out an angered yell, she charged straight for Akutagawa, ignoring the fear that had once consumed her.

Yes. Atsushi knew she was a burden. But maybe, just maybe, she could be useful for once in her life!

"Choosing death over submission, how tiresome," Akutagawa said with vexation, scoffing when the girl managed to avoid his attack by ducking down and sliding between his legs.

Snatching up one of the guns Higuchi had dropped, Atsushi quickly hopped onto her boot covered feet and opened fire on the cruel Akutagawa. Using up every single bullet, Atsushi gasped when not seeing a single injury on the male. Rashoumon let out a fearsome snarl, and Atsushi watched in dismay as the coat actually spat out the bullets onto the dingy ground.

"That move wasn't half bad," Akutagawa acknowledged, not even the least bit fazed as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "But in the end, it was a fools last stand. I told you. My black beast in indiscriminate. It devours anything and everything. It consumed the very space the bullets were attempting to cross to reach me. Neither spears nor flames can reach me without a space to traverse."

How is anyone supposed to attack him, then?

"And I am a man who keeps his word."

Rashouman struck before Atsushi could even blink; her right leg being torn right off as she could only watch it in an almost dazed-like state as it spun in the air behind her before falling to the ground.

The pain suddenly setting in, Atsushi let out an earsplitting scream, falling to the ground and cradling her missing limb as blood pooled around her.

"Quit crying, brat!"

Atsushi wondered if she was going to die. She was suddenly recalling a memory of when she was a child and the orphanage director had placed a pain-filled slap upon her cheek while chastising her.

"Only children who have parents to care of them are allowed to cry without reservation! A child abandoned by her parents has no license to cry!"

That's right...I've been abandoned countless times over the course of my life Atsushi pondered. It was as if she was standing in the orphanages chapel once again, watching as that once small girl sobbed and could only hope someone would show her some form of compassion. I was never allowed to cry, no one ever accepted me, and I never had a place I could call home. And yet, I...

Akutagawa furrowed his brows as he was expecting the female to pass out at any moment. Instead, a blue light surrounded her, showing she was activating her ability. Atsushi's form had leaped onto the side of a nearby building, a fearsome growl escaping the girl's lips and her eyes glowing yellow.

"Her right leg regenerated!" Higuchi cried out in pure shock.

"This is how it should be." Akutagawa declared when Atsushi had fully transformed into her tiger form, an almost crazed look within his gray eyes. Pushing Higuchi away when the tiger lunged at them, he told her to stand down when Atsushi came rushing back for him; greatly shocking the dark-haired male when she managed to push through his Rashoumon and send him crashing into the wall.

"Senpai?! You!" Higuchi screamed out, grabbing her gun and firing lividly at Atsushi. She tossed her gun in frustration to the side when running out of ammo. "The bullets can't penetrate its skin." Higuchi's eyes widened in fear as she had no way to defend herself when Atsushi unleashed a growl and came right for her; teeth bared as if she planned to bite the female mafia's face right off.

"Rashoumon: Jaws!"

Akutagawa's trench coat lashed at Atsushi, slicing the female tiger in half and seemingly killing the ability user.

"I was supposed to take you alive," Akutagawa muttered while coughing. His eyes widened slightly when a green light surrounded the tiger, and Atsushi disappeared. "This is...So I just ripped apart a mirage? Then..." Akutagwas flipped around when realizing the tiger was coming at him from behind. "Rashoumon: Swarm!"

Letting out a roar, Atsushi managed to dodge the attack coming for her; her eyes gleaming like those of a true predator as she charged for Akutagawa.

"Okay, that's enough!"

Standing in the middle of both individuals before they could do further harm to one another Dazai held up his hands where he used his own ability to cancel out both Atsushi's and Akutagawa's.

"What?!" Akutagawa gasped out as Dazai caught the out cold female instead of allowing her to fall to the ground.

"You're one of the detectives," Higuchi said, furrowing her brows at the brown-haired male. "Why are you here?"

"I'm the type who can't stop thinking about what a beautiful lady might be up to," Dazai responded with a charismatic smile. "I decided to secretly listen in.

"Impossible!" Higuchi cried out when Dazai showed he had bugged her, and she dug around in her pockets to find the device. She recalled when he had gripped her hand, crushing the tracker in her fist. "Back then...you had already seen through my plans."

"Ah, you look so cute, Atsushi-chan!" Dazai cooed out, having sat the girl down as he poked at her cheek over and over again, something that caused her to unleash rather adorable mumbles. "But I really need you to wake up. I don't want to carry three people back at the same time."

Gritting her teeth at being ignored, Higuchi pulled out a handgun. "You think we'll let you go alive?"

Akutagawa let out a small laugh before turning to his comrade. "Don't, Higuchi. You can't win. Dazai-san, we'll retreat for this round. But the weretiger will be the Port Mafia's someday."

"Why?" Dazai questioned, turning to look at Akutagawa with mild curiosity. An overexaggerated gasp escaped Dazai's lips while he covered his mouth as if he were in shock. "Don't tell me our little Atsushi has caught the ruthless Akutagawa's attention of all people?!"

Higuchi seemed offended at the very idea and Akutagawa had a small vein appear on the side of his head.

"Fool...That weretiger has a bounty on her from the black market. The bounty sum is seven billion yen."

A smile formed on Dazai's lips, but his eyes had narrowed. "Now, that's very generous,"

"We'll pay a visit to your Agency at a later time. The Port Mafia will claim that seven billion,"

Placing a small pat on Atsushi's head, Dazai turned to Akutagawa with a challenging smirk. "Is that a declaration of war on the Armed Detective Agency? Try it...if you dare."

"You're a small-scale operation," Higuchi hissed out, "whereas we are the city's darkness made incarnate. We have connections in this city's politics and economy at every level. An agency with a dozen or so operatives will become ashes along with your office in three days' time. No one has opposed us and lived."

"I know that," Dazai voiced completely unperturbed.

"Indeed. You know that better than anyone being an ex-Port mafia member, Dazai-san," Akutagawa voiced, sporting an unreadable expression.

Dazai chuckled at this and closed his eyes. "Make sure you don't tell the Agency's newest member that. It'll spoil our game."