Twisted Innocence

A Rough Start

"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."

- Sun Tzu (The Art of War)

~oOo~

I haven't smelled tatami mats in a long time.        

        The chirping of birds singing their daily songs was the first thing Atsushi heard as he stirred in his sleep before wearily opening his twilight-colored eyes. "Huh?" He muttered, sleep clouding his mind. "Where am I? What happened last night?"

~oOo~

        "Do you remember nothing nothing at all from when you were transformed?" Dazai asked.

        "What are you talking about?" Atsushi asked, turning to face him. Dazai then blinked in curiosity when he noticed something.

        "But your right hand's still there." The brunette noted, pointing at the said hand.

        "Right hand?" Atsushi repeated in confusion as he lifted up his hand...........which was a white tiger's paw instead of a normal human hand.

~oOo~

        Atsushi's breath hitched in terror at the memory as he quickly sat up and looked down at his hand. Fortunately, it was perfectly normal and showed no signs of it being a tiger's paw from earlier. After curling and uncurling the fingers, the young boy let out a sigh of relief as he calmed his palpitating heartbeat, before glancing around at his surroundings. 

        He was laying in a futon located in an empty, traditional-styled apartment, with no signs of anyone residing in it. "It's been so long..." He murmered with nostalgia as he looked up at the ceiling. "...since I slept under a roof."

        The sudden sound of a phone ringing startled Atsushi out of his nostalgic trance, the boy hurriedly crawling out of bed to look for the source. "What? What?!" He stammered, crawling on his hands and knees while looking around before he noticed a cell phone placed on some folded clothes behind him.

        "Huh?" Atsushi blinked, before hurriedly taking it in his hands when the cell phone rang again. "Uh, uuhh... Okay, I'm taking the call. I'll do it right now! Right this second!"

        He fumbled with it as the phone continued to ring. "Which button am I supposed to push?" He panicked as he began to press random buttons. "This one? C'mon, hurry up. Gosh, which one is it?"

        He finally found and pressed the right one before quickly raising the phone to his ear. "H-hello?!" He stuttered. 

        "Good morning!"  Dazai's voice greeted cheerfully from the other line. 

        "Oh, Dazai-san." Atsushi recognized.  

        "Today's another fine day ~ How's the new dorm?" 

        "Great, thank you," Atsushi expressed his gratitude as he surveyed the room. "Compared to sleeping outdoors, it's heavenly." 

        "That's good to hear. The change of clothes at your pillow is a gift from everyone at the agency. Sei-chan's the one who chose the style, by the way."

        "Thank you so much for everything!" Atsushi smiled gratefully. 

        "By the way, Atsushi-kun," Dazai said. "I apologize for asking this out of the blue..."