Oblivion • Akutagawa x Reader

•33

A phone rings in Atsushi's apartment, the small alarm letting out a song too cheerful for the somber atmosphere around you. You, Atsushi and Kyouka each look at each other in question of who was going to pick it up, but after a few seconds and with a sheepish smile, Atsushi looks around and crawls to his own phone less than a metre away and answers. You and Kyouka wait patiently as the white-haired boy's face goes from light embarrassment to concern as the phone call goes on, both of you practically on the edge out of curiosity.

"We need to go to the agency right now, there's a case for us- or um, for [f/n] to be exact." Atsushi says with a sigh, looking just as nervous as you felt.

"What is it?" Kyouka asks before you can.

"I don't know, they wouldn't tell me. All they said was that it was urgent."

What did I do?

•••

Changing out of the pijamas that you found out belonged to Atsushi, you wear a long, loose black dress as your attire as a "gift" from Lucy (or so you were told), and the boots you had gotten from Louisa. You decide to also wear your overcoat that you hadn't seen in a long time, but was stored by the agency. Your hair is as you like it.

Now arriving to the agency's main office, you see Kunikida standing right at the door waiting for the three of you, his face giving away his annoyance as his foot taps away impatiently, his arms crossed across his chest.

"You're late."

"I haven't worked here in months. Where's the file?" You reach out your hand without wasting time, your gaze on him unmoving. You refused to give away how much your heart was aching as you tried to keep yourself together.

Something always goes wrong. Why is he so tense?

Kunikida immediately pushes your hand away with a shake of his head, opening the door behind him slowly as he grimly explains:

"Someone from the Port Mafia has requested to see you, and they refuse to leave until they have. Don't worry, she isn't here on aggressive terms."

She?

When the door opens completely, you see Higuchi sitting on a couch with black dress pants, a white blouse and a black suit jacket, her blonde hair up in a bun as you remembered her usually wearing. A stubborn look rests on her face, her hands holding each other tightly as if stressed resting in her lap. Ranpo sits lazy in front of her, eating loudly without shame.

When you walk in, Atsushi and Kyouka trailing behind you, both Higuchi and Ranpo turn to your direction immediately, but their reactions are contrastingly different. Ranpo sees you and relief washes over him, and you are sure it's because he had been dreadfully bored and wanted to leave. Higuchi's expression, on the other hand, is one of shock and anxiety with a bit of penitence.

"[l/n]..." The blonde trails off, unable to remember her words as she sees you.

At first, you don't understand why she was so seemingly shocked, but then you remember when you saw yourself in a mirror for the first time since being locked up in the mafia.

In a few short words, you look like death. Or at least, now that you had gotten a bit better, your eyes nevertheless still do. Your spirit is broken, just barely hanging on. There is a fight going on inside, and it all combined into one singular tattoo left on you. Tormenting suffering.