Chapter Text
Akutagawa should not have gotten up that morning.
He woke up late, spilled his morning tea, and stubbed his toe while rushing to put his shoes on. All clear signs from the universe that he should cut his losses and stay home. But that day, he had a joint mission with the agency and he couldn’t ignore that. Especially when he was partnered with the weretiger and he refused to look incompetent in front of him. Because he was an enemy, even with the truce.
So with a slightly worse frown than usual, he showed up to the agency building where he was given a short briefing and sent with the tiger to go take care of a smuggling ring that had gotten out of hand. It was a simple mission with their opponents barely putting up a challenge and once the police arrived, they were able to go back.
The ease in which he and Jinko could work during battle was almost relaxing in a way and he found himself thinking he had been foolish to think about skipping this over some spilled tea. Then as they passed an alleyway, the weretiger paused. He stiffened, turning his head into the darkness of the alley.
Akutagawa tensed, readying himself for a fight. A remnant of the smugglers? Or was it another enemy entirely?
The weretiger stepped closer, and as he trailed cautiously behind, he could hear a strange whimpering sound like a wounded animal. Not just any animal but a—
“Aw, poor puppy,” the weretiger said to what was definitely not a puppy.
The thing had to go up to his waist on all four paws, with dirty matted black fur that clung to a skeletal frame. Its eyes were dark as night, set in a large droopy face.
“It’s just a stray,” Akutagawa scoffed, turning away.
“He’s an injured stray. We can’t just leave him.”
“I can. It’s lived this long in the streets, I’m sure it can recover on its own.”
“No way. Look at how he’s lifting his paw, he must have injured it somehow. We have to take him to a vet!”
“We? I do not have to do anything. If you take that dirty mutt, I will not be accompanying you.”
Jinko looked from him to the injured creature and clenched his jaw. “Fine. I’m not going to waste time arguing with you. Tell everyone I’ll be late.”
He scooped the thing up in his arms and ran in the opposite direction. The fool. Did he even know where the nearest vet was? Well, it wasn’t Akutagawa’s problem.
He walked back to the agency, going slightly faster than normal to burn off his annoyance.
He barely gave more than a few words to the agency, just that they could find their tiger at the vet and left to go fill out a mission report in his mafia office. It took longer than usual as his mind was invaded with the image of the weretiger getting attacked by a vicious mutt at the vet’s office. He didn’t know why that worried him when the other had regenerative healing and surely a vet’s office would be best equipped to deal with dog bites anyway.
He filled out his work slower than usual and hurriedly walked home, checking his phone. No new messages, which was normal.
The next few days were perfectly normal, except for the way his stomach twisted and turned whenever he thought about Jinko and the dog, which was more than he would have liked. He felt as if he had abandoned his (work) partner to face a dangerous being alone, which he supposed he had. Even if a tiger would definitely win against a dog, leaving him to face the danger alone and running away was a cowardly thing to do.
He supposed checking on him was the least he could do. Days had passed so he was most likely back in the dorms while the dog was at a shelter.
He would make sure the weretiger was alive and take responsibility for his earlier cowardice.
Knock, knock.
BARK! BARK! BARK!
He jumped back, feeling the fabric of his jacket ripple as Rashoumon prepared for an attack.
The door cracked open, just enough for him to see a familiar gold and purple eye.
“Hey Akutagawa, did you need something?”
“Is it… In there?”
“You mean the dog? The vet cleaned him up and bandaged his paw.”
“And you took it home?”
“I couldn’t just leave him! I’m not going to adopt him, I just want to take him in while I look for someone else to take him.”
“What about Kyouka? I highly doubt she’s okay with this,” he scoffed. A mutual dislike of dogs was something they silently agreed on back in the mafia.
“I’ve managed to rearrange things so she doesn’t have to interact with him at all. Now, what did you need?”
Right. Akutagawa was not the kind who could come visit the weretiger without reason. He cleared his throat, trying to remember the script he practiced in the mirror.
He opened his mouth. The weretiger jumped aside and the door flew open as the mutt ran out, barking and growling, prepared to tear him apart.
“Doggy no!” Jinko shouted, just barely managing to grab the thing by it’s white collar. “Bad dog, we don’t jump at strangers,” he continued scolding as he held the thing back.
Akutagawa stayed pressed against the railing of the dorms, trying to calm his furious heart beat. “I knew you were a fool, but you named your dog, Doggy?” he said, trying to appear as unafraid as possible.
“That’s not his name. It’s just what I call him because I can’t think of anything else. Unless you have a name?”
“As if I would waste time naming some mutt.”
The weretiger didn’t respond, too busy scolding the dog and trying to get him to sit. He bared his teeth at the dog, trying to fight back as best as he could while clinging to the railing.
The dog continued thrashing with it’s tongue lolling out of its mouth. After some more scolding and commanding it to sit, the dog finally obeyed, though it continued to track him with eyes darker than the abyss.
The weretiger stared at the two of them, looking back and forth for a bit before grinning.
“Well, if that’s all you came for, I think I better make sure Doggy is okay. See you later.”
The dog was thankfully dragged back inside and the door closed.
Akutagawa stared at the door for a moment, unsure of why he was so disappointed for it to end like that. He had confirmed the weretiger was alright, so what else was there to do?
It wasn’t until he was back home did he realize the dog scared unsettled him and made him forget about taking responsibility for the earlier incident. He didn’t want to go back into enemy territory and deal with the demon, so he decided to wait until their next mission together, where the dog wouldn’t be invited.
Atsushi clipped the leash to the dog’s white collar, checking one more time that he could fit two fingers under it as the vet had told him.
The dog hadn’t been happy about being suddenly scooped up and carried away, growling and snapping, but he had faced worse and the dog was too weak to do much. He remembered a veterinarian he solved a case for once and went to the clinic she worked at for help.
She bandaged the cut on his paw and explained that most of the dog’s issues were from malnutrition. He had no microchip or collar, wasn’t fixed, and had his ears and tail intact, which meant he was most likely a stray that had never known a home.
“Why are his ears and tail a sign he has no owner?” Atsushi had asked.
The vet sighed. “For this breed, a Cane Corso, most people will dock the ears and tail. I certainly do not recommend this practice for any dog. It has no benefits and all sorts of negatives.”
He nodded and they continued talking because for some reason, he was going to take it home rather than let a shelter have the dog. At least the vet gave him a discount for the visit and a free collar and leash, as thanks for helping her.
Then he took the dog back to the dorms, much to the chagrin of everyone else.
After promising that he would be the only one looking after the dog, would pay for any damages, and that he would be actively looking for an owner, Fukuzawa allowed him to keep the dog. Then he had to set up a small corner in the dorm for the dog to stay in as Kyouka hadn’t wanted him in their room. He was just glad she was even allowing it to stay, though he felt guilty watching her guard go up whenever she was near it.
He slept with the dog in it’s lonely corner, which had only some old blankets and a food and water bowl he quickly bought at a nearby pet store. He knew he couldn’t keep the dog forever, but staring at the ribs poking through its fur as it lay its soft, warm head on his lap, he couldn’t abandon the dog to a shelter either.
He had taken some time off to get the dog situated and put up some posters advertising the dog. All he had to do was wait for the calls to come in. In the meantime, he had finally come up with a name after Akutagawa’s impromptu visit.
Seeing the two of them together made him realize how similar they looked. There was a white patch on the dog’s chest, which resembled that frilly thing the man always wore around his neck. While the part of the ears the vet told him would have been docked, were tipped in white.
With newfound confidence, he took the newly named dog out on a walk to the agency. He couldn’t leave him there alone since there would be no one to let him outside and he was sure the agency would be quiet enough. Hopefully.
He kept a careful eye on the dog, watching as he stayed close and alert, barely stopping except once to pee on a telephone pole. Since the dog was still weak, Atsushi carried him up all four flights of stairs. The dog was long but not very heavy, so it wasn’t too difficult. He slowly put the dog down and opened the door, noting that everyone else was already there.
“Everyone, meet Ryu. He’ll be coming and going with me so I can keep an eye on him.”
They all stared at the dog who stood beside him, regarding them warily.
Dazai was the first to speak. “You can’t bring that drooling beast in here! It’s against the rules, right Kunikida?”
“Actually, this has already been cleared by the president. So long as he looks after the dog and maintains his usual workload, the dog can stay.”
Dazai had never felt more betrayed.
Atsushi took his usual seat and Ryu lay at his feet. He was a little surprised that no one tried to pet him, but maybe his looks had scared people away.
Just like your namesake.
While doing his work, Dazai began to slide over his usual stack of extra work when—
Grrrr.
He looked down to where Ryu was now sitting up, his eyes barely managing to reach over the desk. He gulped, looking from the work he really didn’t want to do to the eyes of the softly growling dog.
He pushed it a little closer. The dog growled again, a little louder. A warning.
Dazai sighed in defeat and reluctantly pulled the papers back to his own desk. He got up to go nap on the couch instead and bumped into something solid.
It was the dog. It growled at him one more time and moved to nudge his leg.
He practically fell back into his seat and scrambled to turn around and do his paperwork for the first time in weeks as the dog kept watch over him.
Kunikida had to excuse himself to the bathroom to cry tears of joy. Only for five minutes before his alarm rang and he went back to work.
More time had passed and Ryu was doing well. He was slowly gaining weight and strength back. Atsushi quickly found out that Ryu would chew on his clothes if he had nothing else, but he also quickly ripped apart most toys. The only thing that had lasted was a bone and a rope for tug-of-war, which he always let the dog win out of fear of accidentally hurting him.
He and Ryu had visited the pet store for more toys that would hopefully last more than a day, when he saw a display of dog clothes.
“A raincoat and some boots to protect your paws from the hot pavement. That makes sense,” he said to himself, throwing them in the cart.
The coat was all black and he couldn’t help but be reminded of the dog’s namesake. His eye caught on a white tie. It was the closest thing to what Akutagawa wore around his neck and it matched Atsushi too. So it wasn’t a waste of money to buy it, he told himself.
After paying (and silently crying) he dressed Ryu in the coat and tie. Yeah, it was definitely worth the money.
Akutagawa was buying some snacks for him and Gin to share when he heard it the weretiger’s familiar voice.
“You’re so cute Ryu!”
He froze. Cute? Was he hallucinating?
He turned around to see the weretiger and the mutt, now dressed in a black raincoat and a white tie.
“Aw Ryu, you look so handsome in that tie. So handsome and distinguished.”
Of course the tiger was talking to that damn mutt and not him. He glared at it, feeling his heart pound against his chest as the other man continued complimenting the thing.
A white tie, obviously bought to match the tiger. What a ridiculous fashion choice. And why did he put the thing in a rain coat when the skies were clear? Stupid, foolish Jinko.
He stomped away, the words still echoing in his ears, somehow not drowned out by his beating heart.
He tried to ignore it, but it kept happening! Whenever he saw the jinko these days, he was always accompanied by that mutt he couldn’t stop heaping praise onto.
“Sit Ryu, sit. Now paw. You’re such a good boy Ryu.”
“You’re so smart Ryu!”
“Good boy Ryu, do you want a treat-treat?” he would say, hand-feeding the thing a dog biscuit.
One may wonder if Akutagawa was purposefully seeking him out if he heard this so often. The answer was of course not. They just happened to live and work in the same city, with many of the good shops happening to overlap. Though if the Jinko happened to be alone while walking, he would take the opportunity to walk over and confront him over the offensive name choice.
The thing had only grown stronger since they first came across it, it’s bony frame filling out and the previous dull coat now shining in the sun. He continued to glare, hidden in an alley at the opposite end of the street, as the dog panted happily beside his new owner, who was carrying groceries. Then the clumsy Jinko tripped over a bit of raised sidewalk and one of the bags spilled. Before it could roll too far, the mutt batted a carton of juice away from the edge of the sidewalk, where it would have rolled onto the road.
“You saved it, good boy Ryu, you’re such a good boy!” he praised, patting the dog’s head, “You deserve a reward. Do you want a kiss Ryu?”
Akutagawa felt his heart stop.
A kiss from the weretiger.
The very idea of it sent his stomach into turmoil, as if a horde of butterflies were trying to escape.
“Mwah!”
The dog received a kiss on the forehead. Akutagawa turned around and went home.
Jinko’s warm hands felt nice, fingers running through his hair and brushing his face. He felt full from the picnic, though he had only taken a few bites.
“W0w Ryu, I can’t believe you made all this for me. It was so good, you did such a good job,” Jinko praised, continuing to rub his head.
“It was nothing,” Akutagawa said, though he was sure that had to be a lie. He couldn’t cook at all. How did he cook then? He looked at the crumbs on the plate, wondering what he cooked. When did he and Jinko even arrange this picnic anyway? …Did the weretiger just call him—
“No, this was really good. You deserve a reward. How about a kiss, Ryu?”
Akutagawa felt himself blush, trying to push away his questions as Jinko leaned in, close enough he could feel his breath on his face. It was just as warm as the rest of him. He shut his eyes for a moment, before deciding he wanted to see his first kiss.
He opened his eyes to see his bedroom ceiling. He shot up, gasping and clutching his chest.
It was just a dream, he tried to calm himself. Just a dream. Where he almost kissed the weretiger. Worse still, he was annoyed because he woke up before their lips could meet.
Why would he want to kiss the weretiger?
He thought back to the previous day when he saw the man(tiger) give that mongrel a kiss for saving a carton of juice. Or even when it got treats for something as simple as sitting down and raising a paw. Ridiculous. Akutagawa never got a treat for sitting down, much less a kiss.
Why doesn’t he offer me rewards when I do something good?
Not that he needed them, because he was much better at controlling himself than some stupid dog, but he had done much more difficult things with barely any acknowledgment. How could some mutt get more praise and affection than him?
He got up and began getting dressed with a new goal in mind. He would prove that he was much better than a dog and earn Jinko’s highest seal of approval: A kiss.
Dazai was in misery.
Ever since Atsushi brought that dog in, he had to actually do his work. Sometimes it would go lay down somewhere and he would think he had an opportunity to escape, only for it to suddenly raise it’s head and pin him back down with paralyzing eyes.
Kunikida had never been happier. Next to Atsushi, he was the one who doted on the dog the most. It was given toys, treats, a comfortable dog bed to lay around on while Dazai toiled away. Not even his dog was so rude. (Maybe he should pay him a visit.)
He sighed, loud and dramatic like the mongrel lying in the ridiculously expensive dog bed.
When everyone turned to him, he spoke. “Atsushi-kun, I don’t think you should keep that around much longer. It’s disrupting the flow of the workplace.”
“Since when do you care about the flow of the workplace?” Yosano snorted.
Dazai gasped. “I’ve always cared about that.”
“Cared about disrupting it, more like,” Kunikida muttered as he flipped through his notebook. “Aha, here it is! The page showing that since the dog was first brought in, we’ve actually become 145% more efficient.”
This was because not only was the dog forcing Dazai to do his work, but it also kept him from walking away and even began barking if he tried to sleep.
“Seeing his cute face every day really energizes me,” Naomi said, giving Ryu some head pats.
Dazai scoffed. “Cute?”
“I mean, he’s no Shih Tzu or Yorkie but he’s still cute,” Naomi said, pulling up pictures of said dog breeds on her phone.
“Yeah, those are cute too,” Atsushi said in the same way one complimented an abstract painting.
She gave him a suspicious look and pulled up a picture of a snarling Doberman.
“Awwww, it’s adorable!”
A picture of a Corgi.
“Looks cute.”
A picture of a Great Dane biting through a stick.
“It’s so cute!”
A Dachshund.
“Looks like a sausage.”
The most terrifying, unflattering picture of a Pit bull ever.
“AWWW! It looks so cute and sweet, I want to pet it.”
Naomi’s face was unreadable. “So, you think the large, fierce, rabid dogs are adorable?”
“I mean, I like the small dogs too, but isn’t there something sweet about the bigger breeds?”
… “Oh, that explains that,” Tanizaki said.
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
“Explains what? What does that explain,” Atsushi demanded as they all ignored him and went back to work.
Dazai sighed again, but the moment he let his hands drop, Ryu rushed to him and let his cool wet nose poke one of them. He screamed and started scribbling on the paper so fast one could swear it was smoking while desperately wiping his other hand on his clothes.
Kunikida did his work through his tears of joy.
Atsushi was still working on finding Ryu a home, really. It was just going slow.
There had been a big rainstorm that rendered most of his posters useless and he didn’t have the budget to make more. Though he wasn’t sure if adoption was the best thing to do anyway, as Ryu still seemed timid when he wasn’t around him.
He didn’t mind bringing the dog with him, but it made things inconvenient at times. Like needing to go to a store that didn’t allow dogs. He had no solution other than only brushing his teeth in the morning to make his toothpaste last longer.
Even worse, Kyouka was obviously uncomfortable with him in the apartment. She stayed in their room most of the time, the only room in the house he had never been in, only coming out if she had to. As cute as Ryu was, he couldn’t adopt him and continue making her uncomfortable in her own home.
“He tries to follow me to the bathroom, how is he supposed to be comfortable with adoption?” Atsushi sighed to Kunikida during their lunch break.
Before the blond could open his mouth, Dazai swooped in.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking and I have a contact who could take it in. So that way you and Kyouka could go back to living in peace.”
Atsushi considered it, staring at Ryu sleeping peacefully in his dog bed. He felt suspicious of Dazai’s offer, but he didn’t believe he would actually hurt the dog.
“Alright fine, on one condition. I want to meet this contact and inspect his living conditions,” Atsushi said, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt.
“That’s fine with me, I’ll text you the details,” Dazai said, slowly backing away as Ryu woke up from his nap and began to approach them.
Ryu moved a little too fast and he ran away, jumping out the window. Of course, they happened to have some conveniently placed bushes so the four-story fall didn’t kill him.
Atsushi took that as his cue to take the dog out on a walk.
They strolled around town, ending up near a fruit stand where a familiar someone was picking up figs.
“Akutagawa?”
“Jinko. And the mutt,” he added, staring distastefully at the dog. What he wanted to do was run away, but he couldn’t be a coward twice. Besides, it was a good opportunity to enact his plan.
“He has a name you know.”
“Oh yes, I’m well aware of the insulting name you gave the thing.”
“It wasn’t an insult! I just thought the two of you looked similar. I think it really fits.”
“Saying I look like a dog is the most insulting thing anyone has ever said to me,” Akutagawa replied. Sure he was called a loyal dog to the Port Mafia but that had more to do with his personality, and it wasn’t as if he were the only person who got compared to a dog. But saying his face was like that of a dog’s?
“He’s got a little white patch on his chest like you. And look at his ears, they’re like your hair.”
“I don’t see how those two are comparable. My ears are perfectly normal and he has fur not hair.”
“…Right. Well, I’m not changing it because he’s already used to it and it really does fit him,” Atsushi said, rubbing the dog’s head.
It panted happily eying his namesake like a new chew toy. He resisted the urge to step back and instead focused on his plan.
“I don’t see how. I am much stronger and more accomplished than some mutt. I even have tricks of my own.”
Atsushi tipped his head in curiosity, reminding him of a cat. How cute. …The cat. The imaginary cat in his head— Time for the trick!
He pulled out three primary-colored rubber balls and began to juggle them. The weretiger seemed impressed by this of course, but that wasn’t all he had. Using Rashoumon, he added three more balls. Then some clubs and rings, like a circus act.
Atsushi stared blankly as the dog tracked the balls with it’s dark eyes. Of course, Akutagawa was oblivious to that last part as his concentration was mainly focused on his juggling. He didn’t notice when Ryu went stock still causing Atsushi to slacken his grip on the leash ever so slightly, allowing the dog to jump and tackle him.
Akutagawa screamed, something he hadn’t done even as he was literally dying. But at the moment he screamed in terror and Rashoumon responded to his emotions, flying out in spikes around him and piercing each pin, ring, and ball, except for one which the monster had managed to grab and run away with.
“Oh my- I’m so sorry Akutagawa I should have kept a tighter hold on him- Ryu, RYU!” Atsushi shouted, watching the dog run around the other stands with the ball in his mouth.
The other man had blacked out a bit, only coming to when he saw the weretiger’s apologetic face above him and an outstretched hand. He took it without thinking, feeling the warmth bleed into his own skin and travel to his chest. His heart must have been the one generating the heat actually, with how fast it began to beat when he looked into a pair of sunset eyes.
The moment was ruined by a slobbering mongrel popping into his vision, holding a blue and yellow ball in it’s mouth.
He somersaulted (something he had never been able to do before) away as the weretiger grabbed it’s collar and began scolding it, trying to wrench the ball from it’s mouth.
“Sorry again, here let me grab this for you.”
“No, it’s fine, I have somewhere to be,” he lied, quickly picking up his bag of fruits and the broken juggling material.
He ran back home, not because the dog had scared him, but because with his first plan ruined he needed to start on plan b.
“A dog should be with his own kind,” Dazai announced as they arrived at the penthouse of a mafia executive.
Atsushi knew that logically they all made good money but one foot inside and he was almost blinded by the wealth. The executive in question was dressed in more casual clothing, which still probably cost more than his monthly salary. Ryu would definitely be well taken care of here, though the glare on the redhead’s face was making him worry.
“I’m not even going to ask how you got past security—”
“There was security?” Atsushi asked before he could stop himself. They had just walked in and taken the elevators. Separate ones of course, as Dazai refused to be in an enclosed space with a dog.
Chuuya sighed. “Like I already told the fishy bastard, I can’t take care of a dog right now. Especially not one that size. Things may have calmed down for you guys with Fyodor and Fukuchi’s deaths, but we’re still short one executive and number five barely does anything as is. Even when things go back to normal, I’m still busy. I can’t give a dog the care it needs.”
“Can’t you just hire someone?”
“What’s the point of getting a dog if I’m paying someone else to do everything for me?”
“Oh come on Chibi, I’m sure you can figure it out and start a pack with your fellow dog.”
“It’s not that easy mackerel! If I had figured out a way to care for a dog by now, what makes you think I wouldn’t already have one? Fuck, I’d have an entire pack by now if I could.”
It was then Atsushi noticed how longingly he was staring at the dog. He had never had a pet before and to be honest he wouldn’t have picked a dog. Ryu was cute and took well to training, but at the end of the day, he was a cat person.
Dazai began tapping his foot, which was the signal for him to drop the dog’s leash. Curious about the new person, Ryu cautiously approached and Chuuya took off his glove, holding out a hand for him to sniff.
After a good sniff and a searching look, the dog began to butt into the hand for affection which Chuuya gladly gave.
“He is a cutie and I can see you’ve done well with training but I really can’t.”
Ryu whined and looked up at him with begging eyes, probably for more pets but it almost felt as if he could understand what they were saying.
Chuuya was now using both hands to pet him and holding him close. “I-I really can’t. The apartment doesn’t allow dogs.”
“That’s clearly a lie when you’re here.”
He didn’t even notice the dig at his height as he was desperately resisting the urge to adopt the adorable animal in front of him. How could anyone resist that adorable face?
“I can,” Akutagawa said, walking in. It seemed he had spoken aloud.
The other two visitors stared at him in surprise. He had changed from his usual clothes to a white tie and black button up with a different black coat that only reached to his knees.
“Akutagawa-kun changing clothes? Never thought I would see the day. What could have possibly inspired you to make such a change,” Dazai teased.
He ignored him, his focus entirely on the weretiger, who was the entire reason for doing this. He hadn’t expected to run into him so soon, but one learned to adapt.
“Um, yeah, that’s a different outfit,” Atsushi began, struggling to find the words. It wasn’t that he looked bad, it was the opposite. He looked amazing but he couldn’t just say that.
Akutagawa continued staring at him, waiting. Surely I must also look handsome and distinguished. More so than a dirty drooling dog.
“It’s not bad at all. It’s a good change. You look good,” Atsushi said, feeling his face warm.
Akutagawa frowned. Clearly, it wasn’t good enough.
“I’ll change.”
“What, why?” Why do any of this, was what Atsushi wanted to ask, but he knew the other well enough to know he wouldn’t answer that.
Said other person was walking back to the changing room to try on more clothes from the pile Chuuya bought for him the moment he asked about changing his style. Dazai followed after him, probably to look through the clothes and tease him more, but before anyone could snap at him, Ryu leaped from Chuuya’s hold and tackled him to the ground.
“I’ll adopt him!” Chuuya said as Dazai screamed in terror while the dog covered him in licks and refused to budge.
Akutagawa suddenly found the expensive wall art to be in need of analyzing. Oh and his ears suddenly stopped working because of how focused he was on that art. So artsy. Many colors.
In the end, after making a time to meet up and properly discuss adoption, Atsushi pulled Ryu off and they left. …After getting Dazai a change of pants from one of the recently bought clothes.
“That dog made both of you change,” Chuuya laughed.
Akutagawa sighed, Rashoumon carrying the many bags of new clothes he was given. “I think I’ll return these.
Tricks were a fail. New clothes were a fail. But Akutagawa was never one to give up, especially when it involved the weretiger.
What could he do that the dog could not? Plenty of things, seeing as he had opposable thumbs but those weren’t praise worthy. No, the one thing he had an edge on was his ability. The weretiger had complimented it before but not to the extent he did with the dog. If he did something truly impressive however, then that would surely change.
Luckily, there happened to be some illegal weapons traders who were getting a little too comfortable in mafia territory, which meant he and the tiger were paired up on a mission again. And because of the danger involved, there was no dog to ruin it.
Not to mention, he woke up on time, his tea had come out perfect, and there was no toe-stubbing as he got ready. Truly, the stars had aligned for the day he would finally get a kiss from the weretiger.
Then they actually got to the compound the traders were hiding in. The sound was subtle at first, buried within the bustle of weapons being counted and polished, but grew louder as they crept closer. Barking.
For a moment, he wondered if the mutt had affected him so much he was having an auditory hallucination. Then the weretiger stiffened as well and he figured they had guard dogs. Not entirely uncommon though annoying.
“We were wrong,” Jinko whispered. “The weapons aren’t just guns and knives. It’s dogs as well.”
“What are you talking about? Those are just guard dogs.”
“Look! I can hear the dogs but can’t see them. Wouldn’t they have guard dogs all around the area sniffing for intruders? All the barking is coming from inside one building.”
One might think he would be happy that the dogs were locked up and out of the way for the upcoming battle. That was partly true, but he was mostly annoyed that even without the mutt’s presence he still had to deal with more stinking mongrels.
“That doesn’t change the plan then. We take out the traders and the police will come to arrest them. The only thing this changes is that they’ll also call a shelter.”
The weretiger still seemed troubled, but nodded and they went back to looking for a good opening to drop down and fight.
As usual these days, the fight was almost laughably easy. Guns and knives were no issue to them. He did find the “no-killing” rule to be difficult at first, but now he had found new ways to incapacitate enemies, some flashier than others.
It was an easy fight until one of the leaders of the group ran away, far enough that Jinko had to use his tiger eyes to look for him.
“He’s heading to that building with the dogs,” he shouted, transforming his legs and running after him.
Akutagawa had to grab onto his waist with Rashoumon to catch up, ruining the effort he put in to look cool and capable.
They chased the man through a maze of halls until they reached one very large room lined wall to wall with cages, stacked on top of each other, filled with barking rabid dogs. He tried to ignore the uneasy feeling in his stomach as the man reached the other end of the room where a lever stuck out of the wall.
“How sad, the tiger brought down by mutts and the rabid dog to be devoured by his own kind.”
The room seemed to spin as he looked at the bloodshot eyes, sharp teeth exposed by snarling jaws, and the paws slamming against the cage wires. He directed Rashoumon at the lever, but the man pulled it down before he could reach it, allowing the cages to swing open and the dogs to descend upon them. There were only moments before the closest ones were within biting range. He felt a panicked cough threatening to overtake him as he tried to gather his scrambled thoughts when a roar rang through the air.
Not a bark or a howl, but the roar of a wild animal ready to tear through bone. It reverberated throughout Akutagawa’s body and his hair stood on end, yet his muscles relaxed as he turned to see the weretiger’s eyes had turned a feline yellow and his teeth had become fangs.
The dogs had paused at the noise and when he growled again, they backed away whimpering, tails between their legs. Several of them even went belly up.
Their human enemy had also frozen at the sound of the growl, so Akutagawa directed Rashoumon at him once more and used it to choke him hard enough to knock him out. Not kill. Not that it was something that deserved praise at this point when he could only do so because Jinko had stepped in.
Speaking of, the silver-haired man was slowly stepping forward and extending a hand out for the dogs to sniff. His eyes had gone back to their usual beautiful sunset color, but the dogs still seemed scared of him. As they should.
“I’ll text the agency. Um, you can go now,” he offered, remembering the other’s fear of dogs.
Suddenly, Akutagawa thought back to that alley, ages ago. He had run away then, embarrassingly terrified of a single weak dog. These weren’t exactly healthy but certainly strong enough to put up a fight, and there were dozens of them. It was time to take responsibility.
“No. I’ll stay. Someone needs to make sure none of these dogs run into the streets.”
“You think I can’t do that?”
“I know you’ll get distracted by one and the others will use it to their advantage. An old yet effective tactic.”
The weretiger laughed and his heart jumped at the sound.
“I hate to admit it but you might be right about that. They’re all just so adorable,” he said, patting one on the head. It accepted the pats the same way one accepted having a meeting with the boss. With dread and a pulsing fear that it had reached the end.
“Aren’t you a cat person?” Akutagawa asked, voicing one of his many questions since the dog came into the picture.
“I am. Ryu is going to be going with Chuuya-san once he finishes getting some things ready. I mean, just because I like cats doesn’t mean I hate dogs. I think they’re both cute.”
“Even the mutt?”
“Ryu is very cute, but I think his namesake is cuter.”
…
Akutagawa stared at him with wide eyes.
Jinko seemed confused until his brain finally caught up to his mouth and he slapped a hand over it, his face turning pink.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean, I mean I did but—”
“I’m cuter than the dog?”
“What?”
“Am I cuter than the dog?”
He had a certain look on his face, the look he got whenever he was doing detective work.
“Why does that even matter?”
“Because I am better than a dog and I want you to say it,” Akutagawa hissed, all his pent up rage finally spilling over, “You praise that slobbering mongrel for the most elementary tasks while I, your human partner who has done the most laborious tasks receives nothing. Don’t I deserve a treat?”
It was his turn to slap a hand over his mouth as Atsushi processed.
“Wait a minute. The random juggling, the new clothes, the flashy fighting, was that all because you wanted me to give you a treat-treat?” He sounded incredulous but also strangely happy.
“Of course not! I only needed you to give me your highest seal of approval to prove that I am better than a dog.”
“My highest seal of approval?”
“A kiss,” he admitted, feeling foolish now that he had admitted it out loud.
“You did all this because you wanted a kiss from me?” Atsushi asked, sounding oddly breathless.
“Yes, yes, I realize was a fool now.”
“No, you weren’t. Well, maybe a little. A kiss isn’t how I show my approval, but if you want one from me, I’d be glad to give it.”
They leaned in a little closer, tilting their heads when—
Bark!
Akutagawa turned to see their audience of dogs and almost passed out.
“Um, let’s leave the kiss for later. We can meet at the cafe tomorrow at noon. It’ll be like a date.”
“Don’t be foolish Jinko,” he wheezed, “It won’t be like a date. It will be a date.”
At that moment, he heard sirens and realized the police must have come to do their jobs. He took that as his cue to leave. The agency and mafia were at a truce, but he hadn’t been told what the government decided to do. His wanted posters were still up, though not very well-maintained.
The Next Day, At Noon, In A Cafe
“Ryu has officially been adopted by Chuuya-san as of this morning. I shouldn’t be calling him that actually, since he said he wanted to rename him.”
“A good decision on his part. Things may get confusing if it kept that name.”
“How come?”
Akutagawa rolled his eyes. “Because you call me that.”
“I do?”
“We are dating now, so I permit you to use my nickname.”
“We’re dating?” Atsushi almost choked on his iced coffee.
“Are you going to repeat everything I say? I thought you were a tiger, not a parrot, Jinko. And obviously we are dating. This is a date.”
“Right, of course,” Atsushi said. They were dating now. Yay!
They continued to talk about nothing important. Atsushi mentioned that although Chuuya promised to bring the dog back for a visit, Kunikida was still mourning. He was so depressed the agency was talking about getting an office dog for him and Dazai was threatening to nap on train tracks if they did.
“And your opinion?”
“It’ll be up to the president what happens, but with how uncomfortable Kyouka has been the past few weeks, I think I’m against getting any more dogs.”
He nodded approvingly.
They finished their coffees and left the cafe, unsure of what to do next. Atsushi had been given the day off for the dog hand-off, though that didn’t take more than thirty minutes.
“You know, I think I still owe you a kiss,” Atsushi said in what he hoped was a very cool and off-handed way.
It wasn’t but Akutagawa was too busy trying not to let his heart stop to really notice.
“Yes,” he coughed, “I supposed you do.”
They leaned in again but this time, they were in a less busy part of town with no dogs to interrupt. Just like his dream, warm breath fanned across his face but this time, he didn’t close his eyes. He didn’t want to risk waking up.
Then their lips met and he felt the resulting jolt in his heart could have jump-started several cars. The kiss tasted like coffee of course and felt as if it lasted a few seconds (which it did) and a thousand years all at once.
It was strange how breathless he felt when they separated. They stared at each other for a moment before Atsushi jumped up and kissed his forehead, stamping it with warmth.
“What was that for?”
“Well, now you and the dog have both gotten forehead kisses from me, but you’re the only one who’s gotten a real kiss, which puts you above him. That’s what you wanted right?” he said teasingly.
He glared. “I’m over that now.”
“Okay. So you don’t want me to pat you on the head and give you treat-treats?”
“…No.”
Atsushi smiled knowingly. “I’ll buy you some fig bars.”
Eight Weeks Later…
Akutagawa was on his way to another date with the weretiger when he heard it. A noise from the dark alleyway he was passing.
He looked, just in time for something to leap out at him.