Tortured Souls || BSD AtsushixReader [✔]

Chapter 3

3rd person view

Atsushi had been living with (y/n) for a week now. She never spoke, but she did do very thoughtful things.

When Atsushi woke up every morning, (y/n) had breakfast ready. She also cooked dinner almost every night and helped with other chores like laundry and grocery shopping. Apart from the fact that she hadn't spoken a word, she was an ideal roommate so far.

During the day, when she was at the Agency, she seemed a little different. More distant, if that was even possible. At home, Atsushi felt like she was starting to seem a little more like a person. She still didn't show any emotion on her face, but he felt like her eyes seemed a little less empty.

"Atsushi-kun, I need to talk to you", Dazai said.

"Okay", the man-tiger replied before turning back to (y/n). "Could you stay here for a minute? On the couch?"

He made a 'stay' sign with his hand and (y/n) blankly stared at him. Atsushi grimaced and walked towards Dazai, who was standing in the far corner of the office with everyone else as well.

"What's with the cult circle?", Atsushi hesitantly asked. "Did I miss something?"

"I've found something", Dazai stated. "About (y/n). The Port Mafia apparently took her in after her caretaker died, but she disappeared less than a week later."

"What does that mean?", Kenji asked.

"I'm not sure, but they did give me another hint", Dazai said as he dropped his gaze to the ground. "I'm sure you've all heard of 'The Maiden of Yokohama'?"

Atsushi furrowed his brows. He had never heard of it.

"That's just an urban legend", Kunikida interfered. "Why would you bring it up?"

"It's true that the legend has been around for decades, but... You must have noticed the amount of back-alley murders going up in the past few years", Dazai murmured.

"Isn't that just the Mafia?", Yosano questioned.

"I thought so, but now I'm not so sure", Dazai answered. "You've all heard the rumors, probably. The legend of the Maiden has gotten more popular in the last few years due to a certain type of murders happening more often."

"You don't mean...", Tanizaki began.

"Yes, I do", Dazai said. "The victims who had every single bone in their body shattered to pieces."

"You think she's the Maiden of Yokohama?", Yosano asked in a surprised tone.

"She can't be", Kunikida interjected. "Ranpo-san, surely you must be able to find some proof of this if it's true."

"It's her", Ranpo replied stiffly. "But I can't figure anything out but that. I have no idea what happened to her or how she became this way. It's like she materialized out of thin air four years ago."

"Wait a second!", Atsushi said. "You're saying (y/n) is this urban legend? There's no way!"

"It's her, Atsushi-kun", Dazai said with a grimace. "I don't like this any better than you do."

"But she can't be", Atsushi protested. "She saved me two times on my way back to the boarding house last week, and she's been so thoughtful living with me. I refuse to believe that she's this maiden person."

"If Ranpo-san says it's true...", Kenji mumbled.

"You have to accept it, Atsushi-kun", Yosano said. "She's not some sweet girl."

"So what do we do now?", Tanizaki asked. "We can't let her get away, right? Maybe we should take her to the military poli-"

"No!", Atsushi interrupted. "Please allow her to stay with me!"

Dazai's eyes widened at the man-tiger's request. He seemed so sincere that Dazai couldn't bare to refuse him. After all, he didn't want to lose his little sister.

"I'll give you two months", Fukuzawa's voice sounded.

Everyone turned around and saw the Director standing in the doorway leading to his office.

"If she kills someone in that time, we turn her over to the police."

Atsushi nodded, determination taking him over. He didn't believe (y/n) was a murderer, he refused to. He would prove all of them wrong.

A few hours later Atsushi and (y/n) were back home again. Atsushi scrolled through his phone and glanced at (y/n), who was watering some plants she bought. Atsushi pursed his lips and looked at his phone again.

"I've got two months", he murmured to himself. "I've made some progress regarding her demeanor, but... She's still kind of like a zombie. I wonder if I could get her something. A stuffed animal maybe...? But she's already seventeen, she probably wouldn't like that."

Atsushi pondered on something to get for (y/n) that would be within his budget. He didn't have much money saved, but he was willing to spend it on this girl. He really wanted her to be able to live a normal life, and she couldn't really do that while she was so detached from her emotions.

Eventually Atsushi decided to get her something like a bag or purse and a stuffed animal, since he couldn't decide and had no idea what a seventeen year old girl/woman would want.

"But what color should I get?", Atsushi mumbled. "Does she even have a favorite color? If I get it wrong, she'll surely like it less. I need to think this through. (y/n)'s favorite color..."

"White."

Atsushi slowly turned around at the soft feminine voice. His eyes met (y/n)'s and he was surprised to see how bright hers were. (y/n)'s face was still emotionless, but her eyes didn't seem glossed over and empty like usual. They actually seemed present, intelligence clearly shining through.

"What?", Atsushi mumbled, surprised to hear how weak his voice sounded.

"My favorite color", (y/n) said. "It's white."

"Y-you speak Japanese?", Atsushi stammered.

(y/n) nodded.

"So you've been listening to everything I've said so far?", Atsushi awkwardly asked.

(y/n) nodded again.

Argh, I've been talking to myself so much! And about nonsense too!, Atsushi thought to himself.

"What would you like for dinner?", (y/n) asked like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Eh, soba...?", Atsushi suggested.

(y/n) nodded once and turned around. She walked into the kitchen like nothing happened and started on dinner, leaving a dumbfounded Atsushi in the living room.

The man-tiger silently shook his head and looked at his phone again. He couldn't believe it. First of all, (y/n) could understand Japanese. Second of all, she just spoke to him. 

Atsushi didn't know what to do then. He quickly got up and hurried into the kitchen, where (y/n) was calmly preparing dinner.

"S-so would you like a purse? Or a stuffed animal?", he shyly asked, afraid those were ridiculous proposals.

(y/n) turned around and locked eyes with Atsushi. Her eyes seemed intelligent and curious, making Atsushi feel like she was staring straight into his soul.

"A stuffed animal", (y/n) said. "A tiger. A white one."

"A-a tiger?!", Atsushi yelped.

"Is something wrong?", (y/n) asked.

"N-no, it's nothing!", Atsushi quickly said. "I'll order you a tiger."

(y/n) nodded and focused on cooking. Atsushi slowly backed away until he was in the living room again. Once there he quickly looked for a white tiger plushie. As soon as he found a good looking one he ordered it.

Atsushi hoped it would make (y/n) happy, perhaps even put a smile on her face.