𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 // 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐤𝐨𝐤𝐮

Chapter 2 • Akutagawa!!

As the sun started to set, Atsushi decided that he needed to rest for his wound to heal faster.

"Akutagawa, I'm gonna sleep, do you mind?" Atsushi asked tiredly.

"Sure, whatever. I'll keep watch until you wake up." Akutagawa grunted.

Atsushi nodded and leaned his head on one of the shelves, his eyelids closing soon after.

Akutagawa's eyes left the outside for just a moment to check on the sleeping weretiger.

He looked so peaceful. When they first encountered each other, Atsushi looked like he hadn't slept in days. He winced from time to time from the pain in his side, but other than that, he looked very calm.

'Tch, he's so vulnerable just sitting there, can't believe I actually agreed to keep watch while he's sleeping. To be fair, I did say that we had to look out for each other, but still! I hate his guts.' Akutagawa thought as he stared at Atsushi's vulnerable state.

Despite his hatred for the weretiger, Akutagawa kept to his word and watched the store as Atsushi slept.

After a while, Akutagawa started to become drowsy as well, as his rest had been interrupted when Atsushi entered the store earlier.

He tiredly walked over to Atsushi and shook him lightly.

"Oi, Jinko. Jinkoooo." Akutagawa said as he shook the weretiger's shoulder.

"Nghh. Hm? What is it, Akutagawa?" Atsushi groaned, confused as to why he was woken up.

"It's your turn to keep watch. You can't sleep forever." Akutagawa said.

"Yeah, yeah. Ok, you can rest now." Atsushi groaned as he stood up.

Akutagawa grumbled tiredly in response as he soon nodded off like Atsushi did a few hours ago.

'Woah, for once Akutagawa doesn't look scary.. It's weird seeing him like this. I cant believe he actually trusts me with his life right now. Wait, no! I hate him, he's my rival!' Atsushi shook the thoughts out of his head as he caught sight of Akutgawa's resting face.

Atsushi stood watch for a couple of hours and from time to time looked over his shoulder to check on the Port Mafia member, who was sleeping soundly.

The sun started to rise and as soon as the sunlight shone between the buildings, Atsushi woke Akutagawa up.

"Akutagawaaa. C'mon we have to get out of here before the kanshiiki find us."

"Mmm.. Uuugh, fine, I'm up, I'm up." Akutagawa grumbled as he opened his eyes.

"Where are we even gonna go?" The raven haired boy asked as he filled a bag with necessities from the store.

"I was thinking maybe the Agency's Headquarters. Since we were both split up from our groups, there's a possibility that others might have gotten separated as well. The best place to find the others is in a familiar place." Atsushi explained, going through the plan he was formulating in those hours that Akutagawa slept.

"Alright. Let's get going." Akutagawa nodded as he slung the bag over his shoulder.

Together, they exited the store and walked down the deserted streets.

The streets were grey with rubble, debris, and the occasional splatter of blood from all the chaos that the kanshiiki has caused.

The blood on the streets scared Atsushi. What if one mere splatter of blood on the ground was the blood of one of his friends and he didn't even know it? What if they had gone looking for him and died or got turned into a kanshiiki?

"H-hey, Akutagawa?" Atsushi said quietly, trying not to disturb the deadly quiet atmosphere.

"Do you think everyone is ok? What if they died after we got separated, or they turned into one of the kanshiiki? It'd be even worse if they became one of the kanshiiki, because we could kill them and not even know it was them? What if-" Atsushi started to ramble before he felt something wrap around his mouth.

"First of all, Jinko, you're being too loud. At this rate, we'll be the ones turning into the kanshiiki. Second of all, do you really expect  that our subordinates can't handle this situation? Have some faith in them and trust that they're ok." Akutagawa said, and after his short speech, he loosened Rashomon around the weretiger's mouth.

"..Yeah, you're right." Atsushi looked down and continued to walk.

They continued to walk in silence until they reached the familiar street corner cafe. Or at least, what was left of it.

Chunks of the exterior walls seemed to have indents in them, as if someone or something had collided with it. Like all the other buildings in the vicinity, the exterior was covered in dust and blood. The glass of door of the cafe had shattered, leaving glass shards all over the floor.

Atsushi then remembered the employees of the cafe. The manager who always smelled like coffee, the girl whom Dazai wanted to commit double suicide with, and Lucy Montgomery, the former Guild member who joined soon after their battle with the Guild.

'God, I hope they're ok. Maybe Lucy brought them into Anne's room? Even if they were, how are we supposed to find them? Wherever you guys are, I hope you're ok.' Atsushi prayed as he looked into the cafe.

The cafe meant a lot to Atsushi. That's where the members would bond and spend time together. He made a lot of memories there. It was where he first got to know Naomi and Tanizaki. It was also where Atsushi tried to guess Dazai's job before the ADA, only later finding out that he was part of the Port Mafia.

Akutagawa must've noticed the weretiger staring blankly at the cafe and tapped his shoulder.

"Oi, Jinko. You're probably thinking about how life was before all this shit went down, but you can think about that later. We have people to find and lives to save." Akutagawa said as he searched for the elevator leading to the Armed Detective Agency office.

Atsushi realized that Akutagawa was right, and soon shook of the feeling of sadness he was experiencing before. He lead the way to the office and they opened the door to see almost everything untouched. There were papers scattered everywhere from when they had to suddenly evacuate the building to lose the kanshiiki three months ago, but aside from that, it looked exactly as it did when life was... normal.

The two explored the office a bit, looking through drawers and looking at the files scattered on the floor.

Akutagawa then went to the desk closest to the window, where Ranpo would always sit and eat his snacks. He opened the drawers but revealed nothing.

Just as Akutagawa was closing the drawers, Atsushi heard a low growl.

He knew that growl too well. He had heard it the time he split up with the other ADA members.

His head whipped around quickly as he heard glass shatter.

"Akutagawa!!"

A/N
yeet second chapter out
ehh this one was ok and it'll have to do
i have chapter 3 in my drafts but i wanna make y'all wait a bit heehee
but yea hope you liked the chapter and as usual i'd appreciate it if you voted! ٩( ᐛ )و