Part of Your World {A Bungo Stray Dogs fanfic}

"Dead Apple"

********(Credit to @Tini_Tiny_Tonifor letting me use her OC in this chapter. I hope you guys love her as much as I do!)********

----------------------------Kagami's POV-----------------------------

A few days later, as the moon begins to rise high in the night sky, I roll over in my bed expecting to feel the familiar furry figure of Creed. But instead, all I discover is the cold feeling of an empty space beside me. With my eyes still glued shut, I move my arms and legs all around the bed like I'm making some kind of invisible snow angel. Still, no sign of Creed. Grumpily, I drag my eyes open and start looking around the house.

"Creed! Creed, where are you bud?" I call out as I glance under the bed and into the closet. I still can't find him. It's like he vanished into thin air. But then, looking out of the window, I realize the air isn't thin at all. It's quite the opposite, in fact. A thick fog has set in over Yokohama. The same kind of fog that the President warned us about. I have to get to the agency and make sure everyone is okay. I get dressed as fast as possible and rush over to the office. Between the darkness of the night and the thick fog, I can barely see where I'm walking. Multiple times I almost run into cars that have been left vacant in the streets. The farther I walk the more nervous I get. The atmosphere is eerily quiet; it sends a shiver down my spine. I have yet to see another living thing anywhere, and the echoing sound of my footsteps is slowly becoming too much for me. I think I hear something behind me, so I take off running. Turns out running around blindly is a terrible idea. Within seconds of my manic take-off, I run straight into something. Whatever it is, it's huge and furry. We roll over and over across the pavement until I finally throw it off of me and stand up. Once I've composed myself and look up, I don't even know how to react. Before me stands a full-grown black panther. Its striking eyes are locked directly on me as it stalks closer and closer... It bares a full set of sharp, pearly-white teeth at me, and I can hear a growl rumbling deep within its chest.

Confidently, I hold out my hand and call upon my ability saying, "Bīsutoteimā! Sōgo ishiki!" But nothing happens... not even a sliver of the usual swirling light comes forth from my hand. And now it's too late, the panther is already making its move. My body is frozen in place as the creature lunges for me; I don't know what to do. Just as the cat's claws are about to sink into my flesh, someone else dives out of the cover of the fog and yanks me out of harm's reach. It's... a girl? 

Before I know it, she's running at full speed down the back alleys of Yokohama, dragging me along with her. As we're running, I finally get a good look at my captor/savior. She's a very small girl, about the size and build of Akutagawa's sister Gin, with long raven-black hair. She wears a pair of black slacks rolled at the ankles and a matching black coat over her white button-down shirt. I also notice she's wearing a tie as it blows in the wind while we run. Looking down at her brown leather shoes, I'd expect them to make more noise as they hit the pavement, yet she moves with such stealth. I can't help but be impressed. I swear her footsteps don't make a single sound. 

Finally, once the girl decides we're a safe distance away from the panther, she stops running and releases my hand. I immediately hunch over, completely out of breath. 

"So you must be a gifted too then?" the girl questions me.

"Yeah, my name's Kagami," I respond, standing up and extending my hand to her.

"I'm Nekori. Nice to meet you," she says, shaking my hand. I go to respond, but when I finally look up at her face, I become completely distracted by her eyes. Her left eye is green, as bright and sparkling as an emerald, but her right one is a deep ocean blue. I must have stared too long because she pulls her hand away and avoids making eye contact with me.

"Your eyes," I say in astonishment.

"Yeah, I know they're-" she starts to respond, but I cut her off.

"Beautiful. Your eyes are absolutely beautiful," I finish. She turns slightly back in my direction, just enough for me to make out the stunned look on her face.

"Uh..thanks," Nekori says. She acts like no one has ever told her that before. Surely, someone has, right? Before she can say anything else, I see something in the corner of my eye. 

Is that who I think it is?..

"Creed! Over here bud!" I call out to him with a smile, stepping out of the shadows in which we're hiding. But before Creed can spot me, Nekori forcefully yanks me back into the darkness and presses her hand firmly over my mouth. I struggle against her grasp but it's no use. For such a small girl, she's extremely strong. I resign to just giving her a pleading look, my eyes full of questions.

"That's not who you think it is," Nekori whispers in my ear. I don't know what she means by that... I look back over at Creed, mentally willing him to come find me, but then I realize something. The animal in front of me has not one, but two ears standing tall on its dark head. Then my eyes dart down to his paws. My heart breaks and I stop struggling against Nekori's grasp as I realize he has ten sharp claws sparkling in the moonlight. That can only mean one thing- this is not Creed. As I wait there in the shadows holding my breath, I have to blink back the tears that begin to swell in my eyes. I miss my best friend. I hope he's okay.

Once Creed's ghost finally disappears down another alley, Nekori cautiously removes her hand from my mouth. She gives me that look that says 'don't you dare scream or I will kill you.' I throw my hands up in response, begrudgingly letting her know that I got her message.

"Your ability must have taken the form of your pet," Nekori explains in a low voice.

"He's more than just a pet," I murmur under my breath, my eyes glued on the pavement.

Nekori puts her hand on my shoulder sayings, "Look, I get it, but we're no match for our abilities like this. It's best if we just avoid them for right now ok?" 

I just give her a somber nod in response.

"Come on, I know a secret passage we can take," Nekori changes the subject, motioning for me to follow her. She gets a few steps away before realizing I'm not moving. Nekori looks over her shoulder at me with a questioning expression on her face. "Aren't you coming?" She asks.

"I don't know... We did just meet. How do I know I can trust you?" I say. There's a million thoughts running through my head. Dazai told me that I couldn't even trust him right now. If I can't trust Dazai, how am I supposed to trust a complete stranger that I literally just met on the streets?

Nekori notices my mental back and forth, so she adds, "Hey man, I'm not going to force you to come with me or anything. I was just trying to do something nice." With that, she starts walking away into the fog. I stand still for a moment, looking back and forth between Nekori's disappearing figure and the direction of the Agency. Finally, I decide I'd rather not be alone.

"Hey, wait for me!" I call out, running to catch up with Nekori. Together, we make our way to the secret passage. Little did I know that Nekori is only aware of the passage because she used to be a member of the Port mafia...