That Fucker! (Shin Soukoku)

Not Like I Care

Dazai sat down by Atsushi, reading the same old book as always and waited. He was interested in what happened because even Ranpo couldn't tell. It was really strange, and if this had anything to do with an ability user, they had to know because they were dangerous and could do a lot of harm.

"NO!" Atsushi shot up to a sitting position, gasping for air. Finally! He could inhale and exhale without any problems and the pain was gone. Well, some of it. The words that the priest said to him were bow airing thorough his head and they were louder than ever.

"Woah there Atsushi-kun, calm down!" Dazai said closing the book and putting his hand on Atsushi's shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked as Atsushi just kept staring into nowhere. He had his eyes fixated on nothing and he was just staring at nothing at all with wide eyes.

"It was like it was happening all over again! The torturing, the messed up words they threw at me, it felt so real and I felt like I was being torn apart from inside." Atsushi said still staring into nothingness tears rolling down his cheeks. "Their words were louder than ever! They told me to die but it sounded worse! The burns they gave me they were hurting like they were new!" He choked out still staring at the same spot. "I couldn't breathe Dazai-san," he finally broke his gaze from the spot he was staring at and looked at the side where Dazai was standing.

"I felt like every bad memory of that place just flooded back and the pain came with it." Atsushi looked Dazai in the eyes, tears still rolling down his cheeks. Dazai looked shocked and he didn't know what to do or say. "Hey listen up Atsushi-kun, it's okay now! All of that is over now and you're here in the Armed Detective Agency!" He said putting his hand on Atsushis head slightly kinda petting him and smiled.

"Now do you think you can walk now?" Dazai asked looking at Atsushi who was slowly recovering from the terrible experience he had last night. "Yeah I think I can," he said with a shaky voice. "All right then. I'll wait for you to change outside." He smiled at Atsushi and exited the room.

Atsushi got on his feet and got dressed and by the time he finished buttoning up his shirt he felt better and slowly started to try and forget about what happened.

And when he finally stopped thinking about it the only other thing that he didn't want to think about came to his mind. Akutagawa. That goddamn asshole has been on Atsushis mind since that store accident yesterday. And the thought of saving him hasn't left him either.

As he opened the door and Dazai was waiting leaned against the wall. When he entered the office the chatting that was going on between Atsushis colleagues stopped. "Glad to see that you're on your feet," Ranpo said taking a lollypop out of his mouth. "Could you explain what exactly happened last night?" Kunikida said leaning against a desk.

"Uh well I woke up at about 4 am and I suddenly started remembering every bad they did to me at the orphanage and I couldn't breathe," Atsushi said looking at the floor trying to get his thoughts straight. "So you had a panic attack?" Kunikida asked

"No! It wasn't a panic attack. Sure I have never had one but I'm certain that it wasn't that! I could physically feel the pain that they caused. My burns it felt like they were fresh!" Atsushi started freaking out a bit until Dazai put his hand on Atsushi shoulder signaling him to calm down.

He took a deep breath and kept telling everyone what happened "It was really cold! Yes! It was very cold that's actually the reason I woke up. When I looked outside my closet everything look normal and then... it felt like a sting or a hit in the head and the memories started flowing back. The words were harsher than ever and it felt like a million needles were poked in me at once. I tried to crawl to Kyoukas bed and tell her but at that point, I couldn't breathe at all."