Bungou Stray Dogs: Out of One Prison and into Another

Vaccinations

"Atsushi-kun, wake up," Dazai's voice said above Atsushi's head. He struggled to open his eyes, squirming in the bed and sending up clouds of dust. "Sometime today, Atsushi-kun," he said, flicking the boy between the eyes. Atsushi bolted upright just in time to see Dazai leave the room. "The shower's across the hall, change of clothes by your bed, food in the kitchen. Don't take long."

Atsushi felt more grateful than he probably should have. Perhaps it was the fact that he hadn't bathed in more than a week and had hardly eaten anything substantial for just as long. He was still wobbly on his feet, stumbling every few steps. His hand was braced against the tiled wall as the hot water ran over him; his legs trembled under him. I should've eaten first. He realized he got slightly lightheaded.

He wolfed down his breakfast like a wild animal. "Slow down," Dazai said from behind him with a cup of coffee in his hand. "You're going to wind up retching if you go too fast." Atsushi obeyed, forcing himself to actually chew his food.

"I haven't had real food for weeks," he muttered through a mouthful of rice.

"Pretty obvious," Dazai responded. He took a sip of his coffee. "You looked like you could hardly hold yourself up when we left the prison last night."

Right, the prison... Atsushi thought, which lead right back to his main concern: His new job here. Dazai had made it abundantly clear that he wasn't about to let Atsushi leave... or make excuses for not killing someone when he was told to. He didn't want to bring it up, not when he sensed he'd get the same response as last time he brought it up.

"Worried about killing?"

Atsushi jerked back. Dazai smirked knowingly. "H-how did you know?" Atsushi asked.

Dazai chuckled slightly. "You're going to have to learn how to hide your thoughts, Atsushi-kun. Your face is an open book." Atsushi blinked, and Dazai gave him a displeased frown. "Emotions are a dangerous thing to show here. Be careful."

Atsushi nodded, doing his best to keep his face blank. "Better," Dazai said, though his voice wasn't quiet approving.

"You said I'd be your apprentice..." Atsushi began. "What did you mean when you mentioned 'training'?"

Dazai shrugged. "Maybe some strength exercise so you aren't this scrawny forever." He finished his coffee. "Primarily gaining control over your ability."

"How long will that take?" Atsushi asked, daring to speak up.

"Who knows? For some people, controlling an ability comes as naturally as breathing. My last apprentice and I fall into that category." He paused. "Others, like yourself, aren't that lucky and it takes more time and effort to get there."

Atsushi didn't say anything for a moment, wondering how he was supposed to tame this thing that he hadn't even known about until twelve hours ago. He wasn't quite sure what to say after that.

"Assuming you're anything like the legends of weretigers," Dazai continued. "You only transform in the moonlight. It's possible you'd change if you faced enough stress or felt threatened, but that's still a bit unclear." Atsushi swallowed hard, getting a bad feeling in his stomach when Dazai mentioned him feeling threatened. There had been something about the way he said it, like he was planning on seeing how far he'd have to push Atsushi to make him change.

"I don't think that would--" Atsushi began, stopping suddenly when Dazai gave him a sharp look. He pressed his lips together, looking down.

"Go ahead," Dazai prompted, waving an arm. He put his empty coffee mug on the table.

"Uh..." Atsushi struggled for words. "I... um... Can't--"

"What? You're going to have to finish your sentence for me to understand you."