Work Text:
1.
Kunikida woke up to a loud noise coming from the dorm’s kitchen. That wasn’t a good sign, considering the… less than great cooks they had sleeping there (highlights for Dazai and the hazard of a cake he’d attempted to bake on Yosano’s first birthday after he’d entered the agency). It was also currently 3am, unless Dazai had once again messed with his phone’s clock, which was even worse news.
Cursing under his breath, Kunikida got up and looked for his glasses, already attempting to calculate how this would affect his schedule for the day. Without bothering to change his clothes, he began his way to the kitchen.
The noises were… not as alarming as when Dazai was making a mess, there was also the distinct lack of burning smell. But if not him, who else was awake and eating at this ungodly hour? Even stranger was that the lights seemed to be off. Who the fuck was in the kitchen, at three in the morning with the lights off?!
Why had Kunikida decided to stay in the agency’s dorms again? The Tanizaki siblings had known better than him.
“Alright, who is-” Kunikida said as he opened the door. His phrase, however, died on his throat as he looked at the situation in front of him.
A pair of glowing golden eyes were staring back at him, like a deer caught in the headlights. Kunikida jumped back swearing, his heart almost jumping out of his mouth from being taken aback.
“Kunikida-san?” Atsushi’s voice came from the pair of eyes in the dark and only then Kunikida noticed that it was the boy’s eyes. He put a hand on his chest and leaned against the wall for support.
“Atsushi, what he fuck are you doing in the kitchen at three in the morning in the dark?” He asked “You almost gave me a heart attack”
“Are you alright, Kunikida-san?! I’m so sorry!” Atsushi asked anxiously, approaching Kunikida worried “Should I call Yosano-sensei?! I’m so sorry, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal so-”
“Don’t call Yosano” Kunikida interrupted, already shivering at the thought of undergoing treatment because of a mild scare. If this hadn’t already fucked over his schedule, that certainly would “Just… why didn’t you even turn the lights on?”
“Uhm… it isn’t that dark and I was just going to have a quick snack so…” Atsushi explained awkwardly “Was I not supposed to…”
“Don’t worry about it” Kunikida said, it wasn’t, after all, prohibited to eat during the night at the dorms. He didn’t understand how Atsushi was seeing anything in the dark pit of the night, but that was a whole other thing “Just don’t make a habit out of it, eating this late can be bad for your health”
Atsushi just nodded, his glowing eyes were still staring at Kunikida with worry and he couldn’t help but compare those to cats’ eyes.
Wait, was this why he was seeing well? Was his ability passively allowing him to do so?
“Do you want me to get something for you, Kunikida-san?”
“No, I’ll be heading back. Good night Atsushi”
“Good night!”
As he turned to exit the kitchen, Kunikida caught sight of Atsushi going back to sit on top of the table to finish eating the bowl of water he had decided was a good middle-of-the-night snack.
2.
“I just need to grab it and then we’ll leave” Kyoka told Kenji as they entered her and Atsushi’s dorm.
The both of them had planned to go see a movie during their day off, as neither of them had really had the opportunity to indulge in such things (though for completely different reasons), but Kyoka had forgotten her phone, so they’d come back for it.
“Your dorm is really pretty!” Kenji noted as they entered.
Kyoka’s response never came, as she realized Atsushi was napping on the couch, the exact spot she remembered leaving her phone. Which meant she needed to wake him up to retrieve it. She didn’t like the idea of interrupting his sleep, Atsushi deserved to relax after the amount of stuff he dealt with daily at the agency.
“He looks like an old cat we have back at home” Kenji, who didn’t seem to have such worries, commented before approaching Atsushi and putting a hand on his hair before Kyoka could say anything about it.
Surprisingly, Atsushi didn’t stir at it (and Kyoka had seen him wake up from the tiniest of noises, so he must have been exhausted). Kenji slowly began moving his hand as if petting an actual cat.
“Kenji, let’s go without my phone I don’t-”
She interrupted herself when a chuffing noise made itself present. Both Kenji and her exchanged looks before staring down and Atsushi, who was still sleeping, but seemed to have leaned onto Kenji’s pets, all while undoubtedly being the origin of the chuffs.
Kenji’s smile became even bigger and he made some kind of comment about ‘city folks’, but Kyoka was only half listening as she crouched on the side the couch and extended her hand to pet Atshushi’s hair, but stopped just a few millimeters away from his hair, afraid of waking him up.
“His hair is soft like a cat’s fur” Kenji said, as if encouraging her.
Very slowly, she allowed her hand to touch it and slide with its flow. It was… really soft.
She must have made some kind of excited face, because Kenji laughed a bit and pointed for her to try to pet behind Atsushi’s ears, which she did. The chuffing now was louder than ever and he had rolled in his sleep as if to lean into their pets even more. At that moment, seemingly trying to convince them to keep doing what they were doing, a pair of tiger ears, as well as a tail popped into existence.
Kenji’s eyes brightened even further at that, not taking another second to start to play with the novelties, carefully sliding his hands through the extension of Atsushi’s tail, that swang lazily from one side to the other at that.
Kyoka hands traveled between both of the ears, observing closely how they twisted and turned at being scratched gently.
Sadly, eventually Atsushi began to wake up and the chuffs, as well as the ears and tail, went away (both Kenji and Kyoka wore disappointed expressions at that). As soon as he became aware of the presence of the youngest members of the agency, Atsushi shot up, likely jump-scared at their unexpected sight.
“Kyoka! Kenji!” He exclaimed “Weren’t you two going to soo a movie?”
“We were but…” Kyoka said, unsure about how to explain what had distracted them.
“Did you two need me to accompany you?” Atsushi suggested, a bit unsure, at her lack of response. Kyoka just nodded before reaching for her phone, now freed from being under the boy on the couch “Oh, just give me a minute to get ready”
She nodded again, waiting beside Kenji as Atsushi went to the room to grab whatever he needed. Kyoka looked at the boy at her side and saw in his eyes that, just like her, he was planning on doing this again.
On their defense, Atsushi’s hair was really soft and his chuffing was really cute.
3.
When the president called Ranpo to come to his office at 5 in the morning, two hours earlier than normal, he wasn’t sure what he had expected, but it definitely hadn’t been a dead deer bleeding in front of the president’s door.
The president hadn’t even been waiting for Ranpo inside the room, instead he was standing by the side of the deer, looking at Ranpo as if asking him what the fuck was going on. No one else would be able to tell the signs of a completely confused, surprised and worried president, but Ranpo could see the signs as clear as the day.
The deer did still surprise him. Of course, quickly he was able to access the situation, but that didn’t change the initial ‘what the fuck-” that almost left his mouth before Ranpo took out his glasses with a sigh. As the realization of the situation dawned upon him, he brought up his hands to cover his mouth and disguise a laugh as a cough. The president, of course, didn’t seem to buy the fake cough for even a second, just staring down at Ranpo, still waiting for an answer.
By then, Ranpo had already given up on hiding his laugh and was bent over, holding his stomach.
“Just-” He said in between his laughter “I’ll bring the culprit- I’ll bring him to you later. Have the deer for lunch or something”
“Ranpo, this is a whole deer, I cannot eat it” The president said, unimpressed “I suppose it’s not a threat?”
“Oh, it is the furthest thing from it”
With one last laugh, Ranpo went to the Agency’s main office, not surprised to see Kunikida already setting himself up to start working. He ignored the questioning look from Kunikida and just opened his snack cabinet before setting down and messaging about the situation to Poe, who was sure to find this just as amusing as he did.
Throughout the next couple of hours, the rest of the members slowly began filling up the office. Only when Atsushi and Kyoka arrived did Ranpo finally turn off his phone before pointing at Atsushi with his phone and saying:
“Come with me”
Everyone turned to look at them confused and Atsushi put down the papers of a case he’d been working on for the past few days and had planned to continue that day.
“Do you need my help with anything, Ranpo-san?” Atsushi asked, obviously confused.
“Nah, just come, it’ll be quick” Ranpo said before exiting the room with Atsushi following him, ignoring the questioning looks as they left. Without saying anything he guided them to the president’s office, opening the door before he could question what they were doing there.
“Pres! I’ve brought you our miscreant!” Ranpo announced, observing the presidents confused look before turning back to Atsushi “The president wanted to talk to you about the deer”
Immediately understanding took over the previously confused expression on Atsushi’s face. He turned to face the president and, almost shyly asked:
“Did you… did you like it?”
Ranpo smiled even more as the president struggled to come up with a response, likely still in shock with the situation. The president sighed after a couple of moments before standing up and setting a gentle hand on Atsushi’s head, who closed his eyes instinctively before reopening them.
“Thank you very much for your gift Atsushi. I appreciate you wanting to show you care” He said, both him and Ranpo smiling a bit softer when Atsushi’s eyes shined upon hearing it “However, this is a whole deer. It is too much. Perhaps you should go for something simpler next time”
Preferably not a dead animal in my door, the president left unsaid, but Ranpo heard it anyway.
“But everything else seemed so little, you’ve given me so much!” Atsushi told the president.
“Atsushi, that deer can feed the whole Agency and there will still be over half of it left” The president said tiredly.
Atsushi pouted a bit, but eventually agreed to not make a habit of leaving gigantic animals at anyone’s, not even Dazai’s, doorstep. When he eventually left, the president gave him a headpat that received a low chuff in response before only Ranpo and him were left in the room.
Ranpo couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the president, still staring at his hand that had been on Atsushi’s head when the chuff was heard. His love for cats was no secret, but it was still always fun to witness it.
“Y’know, cats do have a tendency to leavy ‘hunt prizes’ for people they care about. You’re quite lucky, pres!” Ranpo told him jokingly, laughing even more when the president’s face became softer and more affectionate upon hearing him.
4.
The day had been pretty slow, at least for Tanizaki. He knew that Kunikida and Dazai had to resolve a case, but it didn’t sound that dangerous and everyone else had just ended up doing some minimal office work before basically chilling for some time at the agency. Ranpo and Yosano had even clocked off early for some shopping.
“Kyoka-chan!” He heard Kenji calling out as he exited “Want to go to the park with me? I’ll water the garden”
Kyoka sent a look at Atsushi, who just nodded, before standing up to go to the door as well. Before the both of them closed the door, Tanizaki overheard Kenji talking about some type of gardening technique.
He sighed, wondering if he should also go home early. He’d feel bad about leaving Atsushi alone at the office, though… Tanizaki glanced up to look at him, surprised to find Atsushi staring in his direction. Before Tanizaki could ask what he was doing, he blinked very slowly, still staring as if expecting something back.
Was he supposed to do something? Should he say something? Was Atsushi mad at him? Tanizaki felt his heart beat get a bit faster as anxiety filled him about what he should do. Tentatively, he blinked slowly back, praying it would break Atsushi and him out of whatever awkward interaction this was.
As soon as he did that, Atsushi seemed to jump back in surprise, eyes immediately diverting and fidgeting. Shit, had he done something wrong?
“Uhm…” He said awkwardly “Do you… want to go eat something?”
That was a safe bet right? Surely whatever was bothering Atsushi after such a slow day could be dealt with food?
Immediately Atsushi seemed to lighten up as he began to sort everything in his desk very rapidly before standing upping and saying:
“Let’s go Tanizaki-san!”
Tanizaki just smiled relieved before standing up himself and joining Atsushi, the two of them starting a calm conversation as they walked down the stairs of the building. As they approached the door that would lead them to the cafe, Atsushi stopped on his tracks and, unexpectedly, stood on his tip toes and rubbed their cheeks together. Before Tanizaki could even react to that, Atsushi was already out of the door.
‘ Isn’t that the type of thing Haruno-san’s cat did?’ Tanizaki realized. Was this Atsushi’s ability?
“Tanizaki-san?” Atsushi called from the cafe, having noticed Tanizaki had not been following him.
“Coming!” He said, embarrassed from having stood still staring at nothing. He quickly rejoined Atsushi at his side.
Should he ask Haruno-san about cat behaviors?
5.
“Ok, who took my scalpel?” Yosano yelled entering the main room of the Agency, noticing how weirdly empty it was. Instead of answering her, Dazai just took his finger to his mouth, telling her to be quiet before pointing at part of the floor hidden behind the desks.
Curious, she joined Dazai to see what was in the floor, surprising herself at the sight of Atsushi sprawled on it exactly where there was a patch of sunlight hitting.
“Everyone had a case earlier” Dazai whispered at her “He must have finished his early, cause I came back and found him like this”
“Did you even finish your own before coming here?” She asked with a smile, knowing very well the answer to that question. Dazai’s innocent smile answered enough “Glad he’s getting a bit of rest though, the kid does need it”
“Atsushi-kun is taking a cat nap” Dazai laughed, still keeping himself quiet, but pulling out his phone “This is amazing”
It was quite funny, Atsushi would probably have a seizure if he knew they’d caught him like that. Yosano watched as Atsushi chewed on his sleeves, still sleeping. It was quite odd, she’d never noticed him doing anything like that even when in the infirmary.
“Wonder why he does that” She whispered to Dazai.
“You’re the doctor, Yosano-san” He said amused while shrugging, still taking pictures from various angles “It does make this funnier, though!”
Yosano flicked him on the forehead with a smile before turning on her phone to satisfy her curiosity. After pondering a bit, she searched about the behavior on cats (this was a cat nap after all, it would make sense, right?).
The amused smile quickly became a frown when she read the results, though. Dazai noticed her reaction and put down his phone in favor of reading what was on hers behind her shoulder. He also didn’t seem as happy about it after finding out it was a behavior common in kittens taken away from their mothers too soon.
Both of them were silent for a couple of seconds before Dazai sat beside Atsushi and gave him a light head pat, clearly being careful as to not wake him up. Yosano decided to break the silence between them by suggesting:
“Think if we leave a cardboard box beside him, he will go to it when he starts waking up?”
Dazai’s face immediately lightened up and a slim grin overtook his face, Yosano looked at him with a matching one before they both went to find one to test their theory.
The answer was yes, Atsushi had been still out of it enough when he woke up to just roll himself inside the box. He didn’t even seem to notice until someone addressed him, though as soon he did he got up with a jump, face completely red from embarrassment.
(And if Dazai had given him a few more head pats than normal later and Yosano had gifted him with a small bag of candy before she clocks out, well, that was nobody’s business, was it?)
+1.
The meeting between the mafia and the agency was only half planned. In the way that Dazai and Ranpo had 100% taken them there on purpose, Mori had definitely agreed to it, but no one else had any idea this was happening.
There was no threat at the moment and their treaty of peace was quite fragile, so Fukuzawa took it upon himself to cordially greet Mori, hoping to prevent a fight from escalating. Thankfully, Mori also didn’t seem enthusiastic about the idea and returned to courtesy, both the mafia executives and agency members marginally relaxing at that.
At first, they’d talked about the terms of their treaty but sooner rather than later things had evolved into more of a relaxed meet up than a proper meeting. Dazai had jumped at the opportunity to annoy the executive Nakahara Chuuya, who was attempting to hold a conversation with Kenji, Kunikida seemed to be about to snap at Dazai and the whole thing was watched closely by an amused Kyoka. Yosano and Ranpo at some point had begun a conversation with the executive Kouyou, while Atsushi and Akutagawa were bickering in the background and Tanizaki attempted to keep Elise from throwing a tantrum.
“You do know this isn’t forever, right Fukuzawa-dono?” Mori asked.
“Of course, however, it is not like we have a reason to fight at the moment” Fukuzawa responded calmly.
“I’d say that Yosano-chan’s presence here is more than enough” Mori said casually, his gaze diverting to her as he mentioned her, but mocking no move to actually pose himself as threatening. Fukuzawa tensed but, before he could say anything in response, a loud hissing filled the room.
Everyone turned to Atsushi at that, surprised to find Tanizaki holding his arm as some kind of safety net while he growled and hissed, eyes locked at Mori, who seemed mildly surprised at the reaction, as if he hadn’t expected his conversation with Fukuzawa to have been overheard.
The mafia members immediately tensed up, preparing for a fight to break out, and, against his best strategic judgment, Fukuzawa didn’t say anything, figuring Atsushi’s reaction to be an appropriate response to Mori’s statement. He waited to see his reaction to the situation.
Mori simply laughed briefly, calming down the tension between the mafiosos, but rising the agency’s. After it was apparent no orders would be given by either side, Dazai moved to the side of a still quite mad Atsushi and took out a piece of bread and handing it to him, who looked at it a bit puzzled for couple moments before shrugging and biting it, finally distracted enough to turn his attention back to Akutagawa when he made a snarky comment about the weretiger being food motivated.
“That is quite a wild kitten you’ve found, Fukuzawa-dono” Mori commented. Fukuzawa simply smiled at him.
By the time the organizations were departing, it seemed the previous incident had already been mostly forgotten, though everyone did a double take when, right before leaving, Atsushi pushed a dead rat onto Akutagawa’s hands.
“Jinko?” Akutagawa asked, confused, but he had already rejoined Kenji and Kyoka and was seemingly being teased by the other members and receiving an exasperated look from Kunikida. A bit closer to him, he noticed Dazai and Yosano were exchanging money, though he didn’t understand why. Was this some kind of agency way to threaten your enemies?
He sent a puzzled look to Chuuya, holding the dead rat by its tail.
“Is your weretiger a tiger or a cat dammit?” He heard Chuuya saying to Dazai, but he was already leaving before receiving an answer. Mori simply watched the situation amused and Elise was seemingly very entertained.
“What a sweet kid” Kouyou commented, though she didn’t elaborate upon seeing Akutagawa’s confusion.
What the fuck was up with the weretiger?!