The Shin Soukoku duo.

A long promised trust

Atsushi pauses his show, before grabbing his ringing phone on the table. It's Chuuya.

"Hello?"

Atsushi, we need some help.

"Oh no, what happened now," Atsushi shifts on the couch.

Akutagawa went off by himself on a private mission, and he's now captured by an ability user .

"Location."

Up the lake, in the forest, there's a shed. He's unconscious.

...

Atsushi, it's dangerous out there, I'm sending you out with a squad whilst Dazai and I defeat the enemy.

...

Atsushi, are you listening to me??!

~~~

Atsushi runs through the woods, his tiger claws digging the soil with each powerful leap. Sharp thorny branches scrape his skin, but he continues moving forward, panting with each breath. He tries to ignore his pounding heartbeat, and instead focuses on his eyesight, desperate to get a glimpse of the dark mafioso somewhere.

Suddenly, his ears twitch at a slight rustle. He quickens his pace, and ends up in a clearing where the shed lay eerily still. Destroyed trees line the edge of the clearing, and the doors of the shed lay broken near the entrance. Atsushi morphs back to his human form, and runs, following the strong scent of blood. 

In the middle of the shed, a limp body is tied to a pillar. It's Akutagawa. Atsushi stands still, sweat running down his forehead. With each step, his eyes get a better focus on the wound bleeding furiously out of Akutagawa's abdomen, staining his white shirt crimson red. At his feet, blood is pooling.

Atsushi runs forward, and desperately claws the ropes out. His hands scorch from the rope burns, and the stickiness of blood soon follows. When the last strand of rope falls to the ground, Akutagawa falls onto his knees, his back sliding harshly down the pillar. Atsushi hastily takes off his shirt, and uses it to press against Akutagawa's wound.

"Atsushi-"

A slap whips across Akutagawa's face.

Silence ensues, except for the pittar-patter from the droplets of blood and tears. Akutagawa looks up to see Atsushi trembling, furiously wiping sloppy tears off his face.

"Just take the cloth. The medics are here." Atsushi stands up to leave.

"Atsushi," Akutagawa digs his knuckles into the ground, trying to heave himself up. With trembling knees, he manages.

"Atsushi please I-"

"Don't talk to me," Atsushi's voice cracks. He takes one long glare into Akutagawa, his lips quivering from the words, before walking away.

Akutagawa gives up and falls on his knees. He feels as though a claw has just ripped out his insides, leaving his body an empty corpse. As his vision starts to fade, and the worried shouts of medical staff nearby starts to muffle, he thinks back to the look Atsushi gave him.

A look of betrayal and hopelessness he has never seen before.

~~~

The doctor hands in his slip. "You're free to go." Akutagawa receives it, and finally steps out of the hospital after 2 weeks. During those weeks, Atsushi didn't visit, not even once.

Akutagawa fidgets with the slip. It's not often for the weretiger to be mad, and apart from the time on moby dick, he has never seen Atsushi lash out. No matter how many times he used to stab him, Atsushi would forgive and forget.