𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓. ★ | 𝘽𝙎𝘿

#7 | weretiger

★ - HUNTING.. A TIGER?

Atsushi falls back from the chair he was sitting on earlier, a terrified look plastered on his face.
You just look down at Atsushi on the floor with a blank expression.

Dazai continues,
" There's a man-eating tiger that has been around town recently. It ran wild in a warehouse, ate all the produce of a certain field. "
" It was sighted simewhere around here recently, though. "
Atsushi, still terrified, starts crawling which is, escaping,

" I- I'll be taking my leave now! G- Goodbye! "
When he crawls, you ask him,
" Atsushi-kun.. Where are you even going? "
Atsushi just trembles while crawling away until Kunikida stops the younger white-haired male by picking his body through the back of Atsushi's collar,
" Hold it. "

" I- It's impossible! Y- You can't defeat it! " Atsushi exclaims in a terrified and traumatized manner,

" Brat.. You know about the 'man-eating tiger?' "

" It's after me! It's here to kill me!
If it's around here, I have to run- "
[Y/N], still sitting on the chair that was beside Atsushi's before the chair Atsushi had sat on fallen, by him.

Before Atsushi could continue rambling in fear, Kunikida lets go of Atsushi's dirty shirt for a second and then pinning the poor boy onto the wooden floor within a glimpse,

" I've told you already, brat. We're the Armed Detective Agency. We specialize in cases like that.
Should I break your arm as the payment fee for the chazuke, or are you going to start talking? "

Atsushi turns his head to the man pinning his back onto the wooden floor, slightly groaning in pain.
Suddenly, a hand touches Kunikida's shoulder, making him jolt in surprise.
" Calm your nerves down, Kunikida-kun. "
It's Dazai, not to anyone's surprise.
[Y/N] nods and agrees by saying,
" Right, right, "

" Information should always be gathered through questioning yet it's like you're interrogating the young man. Isn't that what we always say? "
" Hmm.. "
Kunikida somewhat agrees with Dazai thus letting go of the young man and shooshing the watchers near them.

" So? What exactly happened, Atsushi-kun? "
" Our orphanage was destroyed by that tiger. It ran amok the fields and destroyed the warehouse, "
Atsushi takes another breath after continuing while Kunikida and [Y/N] listening to his explanation.
" Nobody died, but our poor orphanage didn't make it. So to reduce the amount of mouthing they had to feed, "
Atsushi's traumatizing pasts played like a movie scene in his mind before continuing,
" They kicked me out. "

Now all of the four sitting down calmly at their table earlier, [Y/N] began to doze off, second by second seeing that nothing is of interest to her.

" So.. Brat. What do you mean by 'It's here to kill me' earlier? "
Atsushi, looking frustrated answers the older male,
" The man-eating tiger.. It could've just eaten the daikon radishes in our orphanage's field, but it chased me all the way here! "
Atsushi clenches his fist, making
[Y/N] pat his head.
Atsushi remembering the horrifying sight of the tiger in his reflection, he shouts in anger and fear,

" It even came down to the city just to hunt me down! "
Atsushi shouts frustratingly while looking down, clenching his fists as [Y/N] gives him a pitying look.
" My mind was hazy from hunger, so I didn't know how and where to run.."
Atsushi exclaims in sadness, making Dazai ask him,
" When exactly did this happen? "
" I left the orphanage two weeks ago and saw it by the river.. Four days ago. "
Kunikida adds,
" If I seem to recall correctly, the victims of the tiger began to be concentrated in this area about two weeks ago, and we have an eyewitness account of the tiger being seen by the river four days ago. "

Dazai goes into thoughts and then starting,
" Say, [Y/N]-chan and Atsushi-kun. Will you guys be free after this? "
Atsushi and [Y/N] sweatdrops, [Y/N] being the first to reply,
" Yes, I will be free. What about you, Atsushi-kun? "

' I have a really bad feeling about this..'
Atsushi thoughts,
" It's convenient for us that you are being targeted by the man-eating tiger, Atsushi-kun. "
" So, will you help us out on our tiger hunt? "
" I- I- I- I- I- I don't want to! That would mean I'm the bait here! Who would volunteer for that!? "
" We'll pay you. "

Dazai offers Atsushi reward money, making Atsushi's eyes light up with the money-like symbol in his eyes.

" Kunikida-kun will go back to the Agency and give this to the president. "
Dazai holds up a note, gesturing for Kunikida to accept it.

" Hey! Are you three planning to catch the weretiger with just the three of you!? First and foremost, we shold get the other side of the store-",
" Just do it. " Dazai sighs, Kunikida taking the piece of note.

" B- By the way, Dazai-san. How much is the pay? " Atsushi asks, making Dazai pulls out a piece of the check for the money, making Atsushi and [Y/N] jaw drops.
Well, to be speaking truthfully, the author nor the artist has mentioned the price of the reward money so that would make her jaw drop.

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A/N :

edited.
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★★★

- 876 words-