女面 - Bungo Stray Dogs Fanfiction

第三話

"Take the weretiger alive?" repeated Atsushi with much confusion. "What are you after?"

"My target has always been you and only you, weretiger." was Akutagawa's reply, as he was unfazed by the fact that he and his colleague were the ones who severely injured the Tanizaki siblings. "Your fellow agents lying there just got caught in the crossfire."

Atsushi let out a gasp of horror and disbelief. "They're there because of me?"

"Indeed." confirmed the mafioso. "That is your karma, weretiger. You will cause ill will for everyone around you, just by being alive."

The new detective's eyes widened further, as a sense of dread struck him when he put the pieces together. "My karma?"

And that was all she needed to know.

Back to the present, the unconscious detectives were brought back to the Agency after their unfortunate encounter with Port Mafia's dog. Fumiko and Kunikida stayed in Atsushi's room after the younger man received treatment from Yosano. The former stood at the bedside with her open left hand hovering over Atsushi's forehead, as a soft peach light shrouded her palm. On the other hand, the bespectacled man sat on the chair next to her reading the same report that Fukuzawa read earlier.

"My, my, Port Mafia sure roughened them up." she commented. The glow soon disappeared, and she removed her hand. "I didn't think they would be this quick in making their move. But then again it is Port Mafia we're talking about, so it's bound to happen sooner than expected."

Kunikida's focus soon went to her once he finished reading. "What should we do next, Enchi-san?" he asked while folding it to put it back inside the envelope. "Port Mafia will take whatever measures in getting what they want."

The said woman let out a quiet hum, pondering what the Agency should do to reduce any risks that could've caused more damage to themselves. "My next guess would be a friendly visit from them." she assumed. "However, I'm not sure if they'll send an entourage to raid the building, or an honourable representative who has the capability of taking more than one person down. Either way, we can't afford to be careless."

After jotting down some notes, Kunikida closed the book and placed his spectacles on the head. "I see." was his response.

Suddenly, they heard a gasp from beside them, turning their heads to see the awoken Atsushi who clearly had a bad dream; an unpleasant memory about his exchange with Akutagawa before the mafioso launched an attack at him. "Where am I?" he muttered, with his wide gaze fixated on the white ceiling.

"I see that you've awoken." noted Fumiko. "That's a relief."

Atsushi tilted his head slightly to see his seniors next to his bed. "Kunikida-san? Fumiko-san?"

"Seriously, I can't believe you did this during such a busy time." sighed the former.

But the younger man was still overwhelmed by what happened. 'I was... attacked by the Mafia.' he thought as his mind replayed the incident. It was until he remembered his colleagues who were the first to be attacked, that he shot up from his bed and asked, "Kunikida-san! Fumiko-san! How are Tanizaki-san and Naomi-san?"

The latter gave him a look of reassurance as she said, "Don't worry. Both of them are safe."

But he was still worried when he let out a shaky, "Really?"

"Yeah." assured Kunikida. "Tanizaki is being treated right now by Yosano-sensei next door." Right then, all of them heard Tanizaki's bloodcurdling scream coming from next door, followed by a satisfactory moan.