Bungou Stray dogs x reader

A girl and her tiger; Izumi Kyouka + Nakajima Atsushi

A/N: Not a ship!

Lost amongst a sea of an excited crowd Kyouka tried her hardest to navigate where her mother might have run off to. So far, for a majority of this trip, Kyouka's small hands had been enveloped by her mothers, they were gentle, they were soft, she missed holding her mothers hand as she wandered aimlessly through the bustling crowd. She and her mother had been strolling through the zoo together, marvelling at all the different animals cooped up in their enclosures, and Kyouka had found herself gazing a minute too long at one of them. When she had snapped out of her trance her mother was out of sight, hell, Kyouka didn't even remember letting go of her mother's hand in the first place. The bluenette wouldn't let herself succumb to fear just yet. And it was then that she remembered her mother's word just before they checked out the last exhibit.

"Oh, Kyouka darling, look! They just opened a white tiger exhibit, you've always been eager to see a tiger in person!"

She knew she should stay put and wait in the last location where she saw her mother but the likelihood of running into her while heading over to the tiger exhibit was high. Clutching the plush bunny that her mother had bought for her at the zoo's gift shop, Kyouka ventured even further into the crowd with her objective being clearer than the sky itself. As she made her way through the crowd she told herself the story her mother told her almost every night. A tale about two sisters who ended a shadow king and queen's reign and brought light into the world. One with a heart of fire and gold while the other harbored a heart of snow and silver. It was a story Kyouka found herself remembering by heart, including the way her mother harmonized the story with her voice, as soft as snow but as strong as a blade.

Soon enough Kyouka had managed to break free from the crowd and was able to make her way to the tiger exhibit. However, her mother was still nowhere to be found. Kyouka debated whether or not she should go back and wait at the previous enclosure, maybe her mother was waiting for her. Suddenly, a woman's voice whisked Kyouka away from her thoughts, however, it wasn't her mother's voice. A woman with magenta eyes and a black bob was gazing down at her, her golden butterfly hairpin reflecting the sunlight. Kyouka examined the woman's shirt to find the zoo's logo sewn into the left breast of her navy green blouse. She seemed like a kind woman.

"Hi there, I'm Akiko Yosano. I'm one of the zookeepers monitoring Atsushi, I'm one of the three zookeepers working to ensure he's settling down into his new environment well."

"Who's Atsushi?" The bluenette asked, her blue orbs sparkling in curiosity.

"Oh, he's the new white tiger cub that we had brought in a week ago. The police found him after raiding a smuggler's base and thought that little Atsushi would have a better chance of survival here!"

"Oh."

"He doesn't get too close to the glass just yet but you can still see him. He'll get used to the attention of the public soon enough."

Suddenly, the sound of a somewhat familiar melody pierced the air, the same as the one that emits from her mother's phone whenever somebody calls her. Kyouka checked her surroundings in case her mother was nearby while Yosano nonchalantly fetched her phone from the pouch on her belt.

"Akiko speaking." She said. "At the white tiger exhibit, why? Yes. What does her child look like?" Yosano listened intently before sparing a glance at Kyouka, taking in her features, "Yeah, I believe I've got the child she's looking for. 'Kay, I'll let her know."

Yosano returned her phone to it's pouch before bending down to eye level with Kyouka.

"Sweetie, are you lost by any chance?"