I can't stop a blood-curdling scream from escaping my mouth. With a jerk I roll out from under him and try to assess my surroundings. I can't find Atsushi anywhere. Did he disappear? That's impossible. He was chained to the ground... just like the tiger is... Wait. I know those yellow eyes. That can only mean one thing: The tiger IS Atsushi. I see now. I understand why he is trapped down here, all alone. Now I know what I have to do.
Just as I am about to call upon my ability, the tiger makes a lunge for me. Luckily, the thick chain holds true. I'm just barely out of reach from his snarling teeth and sharp claws as he strains against the iron links. Still, my breath hitches in my throat as I call upon my ability.
"Bīsutoteimā! Sōgo ishiki!" I say as I gently place my palm against the tiger's forehead. (English translation: "Beast Tamer! Mutual consciousness!") All the tiger's features immediately begin to relax and he nuzzles his head into my hand. He then retreats back to his corner to curl up and go back to sleep. I, on the other hand, can no longer sleep. My heart is still pounding in my chest, my ears echoing with his growls. I know I'm safe now because once my ability is used on an animal we become bonded for life. But I am still too shaken to close my eyes again. Come daybreak, I watch the ferocious tiger dissolve delicately back into that scared little boy I met earlier. He doesn't even know about his own ability, does he? Well, if the headmaster chose not to tell him, then it isn't my place to do so either. I guess I'll just have to settle for being his friend. We'll survive this hellhole of an orphanage together.
After that day, the headmaster kept his word and let Atsushi out of the dungeon, but only in the daytime. Every night, we'd get locked back in the iron cage until sunrise the next morning. But it wasn't so bad anymore, now that we had each other. Atsushi and I were best friends, and not just because I was being forced to always stay by his side. One night, after Atsushi was asleep, the headmaster sent for me. I was brought to his office to give him a full report on the weretiger's ability and progress. That's when it happened.
The tiger had escaped. There was a huge ruckus outside- growling, screaming, footsteps. Then suddenly, it was silent. The headmaster shoved me outside, and I started searching the place up and down. How could a whole tiger possibly vanish? Then the sound of screeching fills the air. It wasn't a human sound though. This sound has a more avian tone to it...
The chicken coop.
I rush to the little pen in the backyard to find a horrific sight. There's feathers and blood spewed all across the muddied ground. And inside the coop, a pair of yellow eyes are peering out at me, glinting in the moonlight. My eyes fill to the brim with tears. I can barely bring myself to walk over the lifeless bodies, or rather the remains of them, but I know I have to get to Atsushi before any more destruction happens. I use my ability on Atsushi, then the headmaster takes him away. Back behind the now familiar iron bars, I wait all night, but he never returns. Instead, I'm awoken roughly by the headmaster.
"Get out," he says bluntly.
"hm?" I ask, only half awake.
"You remember what I said don't you?" asks the headmaster, "When I brought you here, I told you that if anything were to happen, it would be your fault. You failed. And without the tiger, you are no longer of any use to me. So go." And with that, he kicked me out.
What am I supposed to do now?
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Part of Your World {A Bungo Stray Dogs fanfic}
FanfictionAtsushi wasn't completely alone in that dreadful orphanage. He had a friend named Kagami. She was the only person he liked in that place. She made it a little bit less terrible and had this way of calming him down. This is the story of Kagami's jour...
