Praise (shinsoukoku)

Chapter 22

Once the drug stops working, Atsushi immediately grabs his phone. His hands are shaking from the unbelievable anger he's feeling and he's seconds before calling Chuuya when he remembers that everyone thinks Akutagawa is dead.

He throws the phone on the ground and starts thinkng, how could he have been so fucking stupid? How could he ever start trusting Akuatagwa when he knew the man hated him. Removing that hatred would take a lot longer than just one month.

Atsushi puts his head in his hands and needs a few moments to calm down, to plan what to do next.

He doubts Akutagawa went to any of his friends. If that happened, the agency and the port mafia would be by his door already attempting to kill him.

He has no idea where the diablo could've gone. He never talked about himself, so Atsuhi knew nothing about his past in the slums, only that he was homeless. Asking azai about it would seem suspicious so in the end, Atsushi decides to take a sick day and to start tracking Akutagawa all by himself.

He starts looking through social media posts, hoping to find even a small portion of Akutagawa's whereabouts. Once that doesn't work, he starts looking through all cameras he can, he starts asking people and then making them forget everything by using the coin.

Hours turn into days.

Atsushi is getting more and more frustrated. He let Akutaagwa use his moment of weakness and he was starting to blame himself for it.

Days soon turn into months. 3 months, to be exact.

Atsushi has stopped coming to work and is starting to lose excuses. He decides to tell them a fake story about finding a small group he somehow managed to join, and that he will be working undercover.

Everyone in the agency believes him and he's glad that for some reason, no one doubts him for even a second. Fukuzawa lets him leave the agency without any worries, knowing Atsuhi won't get hurt.

Sure, Atsushi might've used the power of the coin a bit to make sure Fukuzawa allows him to leave without making him wait, but now that was all in the past.

His priority was finding Akutagawa.

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Akutagawa is wearing a black suit and under it a white shirt, not quite what he usually wears but close enough. He recently found a job at a bar and even though it didn't pay much, it was a start to his new life.

He found out that the small town he was living in had cheap apartments but ok-paying jobs, so he started to save up a bit of money already.

Akutagawa changed his name into Ryuunosuke Tagawa. It wasn't a big change but enough for people not to recognize his name.

Getting a new ID was also pretty easy because the coworkers at his bar, especially a nice lady in her 30s called Bea helped him find a good dealer.

"Ryuu, remember to clean the glasses after the shift is over. Mike is sick today so he can't do it" Bea tells him and takes him out of his trance. The man looks at her and nods.

"Will do" He answers her and Bea gives him an appreciative clap on the shoulder.

Akutagawa was still used to his new life. It was a life without violence, something AKutagawa never experienced before.

It felt peaceful and Akutagawa was fearing that soon, he might get addicted to this lifestyle. He doesn't want to leave, even though he knows he will have to once Atsushi comes looking for him.

"Hey, everything okay?" Bea asks suddenly and the diablo looks at her and gives her a small but reassuring smile.

"I'm just a bit tired" He answers her and once she makes sure the diablo is alright, she gives him the keys so he can lock the bar and then she leaves.

Akutagawa really liked her. She never asked him questions about his past, never tried to overcome any boundaries. Sure, he also didn't know her that well but... It was nice having someone he knew was by his side.

Sometimes Bea reminded him of his sister...

He misses Gin so, so much.

Akutagawa turns on the radio and lets some piano music play and starts to clean up the cups that have been used throughout the entire day. He finishes fairly quickly but stays at the bar for a bit longer, enjoying the quiet night.

Small towns were very comforting for him, but he didn't know why.

After he leaves the bar, he stares up at the moon and the slight cold wind on his face makes him feel free. With Atsushi, he feared for himself every single day, never wanting to get raped or just in general hurt again. But here, he felt, just, great.

Only after one or two hours when he gets cold he decides to return home and once inside, he shudders a bit at the change of temperature.

He doesn't yet notice the other jacket on his hanger.

A jacket which should've immediately caught his attention.

He yawns and first walks into the bathroom to wash his hands. He looks at himself in the mirror and checks for any obvious pimples, thankfully finding none. Bea gave him some cream which worked miracles and Akutagawa was convinced that the cream was somehow enhanced by an ability.

Suddenly, he hears a peeping tone and immediately stays still.

That was the sound his oven made whenever he used it, but it wasn't turned on...right?

He turns the water off and slowly walks towards the kitchen, hoping that there was only some malfunction happening.

Unfortunately, that's not the case.

The first thing he sees is a pie with a face cut on it, which makes it seem like some horror movie. The second thing he notices is the weretiger, staring right at him with a piece of the pie in his mouth. The red liquid inside of it sputters a bit when Atsuhi bites into the piece and his mouth becomes red, as if he just ate someone.

Akutagawa takes a hesitant step backwards but knows that he has no way to escape. Atsushi knows that too and tilts his head as he smiles at the diablo, anger very much obvious.

"Hello, dear. How have you been?"
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I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter
-Nat