The door was opened and a single switch lit up the room. Atsushi groaned as he tried to adjust his eyes to the new brightness. It was early in the morning and Tanizaki has come to bring him breakfast.
Atsushi felt himself feeling better. He didn't know exactly when he dozed off, but he did and he felt good about it. He could faintly feel throbs in his head, but the door squeaking open helped brush it off his mind.
"Good morning," Tanizaki closed the door and approached the bed.
"Morning..." Atsushi moaned weakly, getting up to sitting position just fine.
Tanizaki smiled, "It seems you got better."
"Yeah. I managed to sleep last night and now I feel great!" After stretching a bit, Atsushi hopped off the bed and took the plate from Tanizaki's hands, thanked him briefly, and playfully place a piece of meat in his mouth.
"Glad you have the appetite..." a suspicious feeling grew in Tanizaki but he brushed it off.
"Look who is awake!" Dazai's head popped inside the door, darting the boy with his mischievous eyes. Atsushi watched Dazai waltzed in the room, shoved Tanizaki off his place and claimed it his own. He then bent down to Atsushi's height. "Have enough sleep, Atsushi-kun?"
Atsushi furrowed his eyebrows, doesn't really know what to say as a reply. Instead, he kept chewing like no conversation ever happened.
"How are you feeling, Atsushi-kun?" Dazai kept his cheerful attitude, but more annoying this time.
Again, ignored.
"Answer me, Atsushi-kun. You're making this poor man sad." Dazai fake-cried dramatically.
A comical vein popped from Atsushi's head, introducing his slowly rising anger. Between chewing and ignoring Dazai, he growled, "So be it. Get lost, you bandaged piece of annoyance."
Suddenly creeped out, Dazai and Tanizaki stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the still eating tiger boy for a while.
Atsushi stared at them for a while and jolted up, realizing his misbehaviour. He took several steps backwards and sat back down on the bed. "I'm sorry, Dazai-san. I must be very tired." he apologized sincerely. Dazai only smirked, making Atsushi wonder if the man is being too forgiving or has an evil plan in mind. Atsushi shook the thoughts off his head.
"Are you feeling okay now? Do you think you need to skip work today?" Tanizaki asked. His tone sounding more concerned.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I'll get ready now." Atsushi tiredly held his head and got off the bed once more.
It didn't take long for Atsushi to finish taking a bath, cleaning his hair, and dry off. As he dried his hair with the towel, he walked over to a mirror and saw his own reflection stare back. He then noticed how his hair was even darker than how it was. Silver was now more of a shade of gray.
He ruffled his own hair in disbelief, twisting and turning to see himself from different angles. He then noticed his eyes. Under the purple shade of his eyes was more golden than yellow.
Just what did he do to me...? Atsushi gulped.
Atsushi got himself fully dressed in his normal clothes and headed to the office. Everyone was already there when he arrived and all eyes dropped on him. Kunikida was the first to stop typing and stood up. He walked over to the boy standing by the door while everyone else stayed there silent. Atsushi started to feel uncomfortable, trying to figure out what he did wrong now. Is it because he was careless and got himself kidnapped? Is it because he was late for work? Why isn't anybody saying anything? Finally, the stiff man stood there, right in front of Atsushi.
"I'm not worried!" he suddenly yelled in an unnecessary volume. Atsushi only stood there, dumbfounded at the man's sudden eruption. "Your actions are reckless! And yes, maybe Kenji's too because he was there, but--"
He cleared his throat, realizing he has slipped words out of his tongue.
"I'm just glad you're okay." he continued in a calmer tone this time. The man then gave Atsushi a closer look, observing him from side to side almost as if inspecting a crime object, which made Atsushi feel more awkward than he already was.
"Kunikida-san... please tell me what you're doing..." Atsushi tiredly begged. Kunikida turned to lok at him in the eyes.
"I heard what happened yesterday. You did good escaping from the mafia. Although we need to figure out what they did to you," he paused to look at Atsushi's hair, "It really is darker, huh?"
"It certainly was not this dark the last time I saw it." Yosano reported, not looking at Atsushi, instead was polishing her nails. "It's still getting darker, isn't it, boy?"
"Y-yes," Atsushi answered anxiously. Yosano then walked over to the boy and played with his hair while observing the abnormal color change. Her eyes widened with curiosity when she saw his eyes.
"Boy," she lifted his chin up so his eyes can meet hers. "Your eyes are turning gold."
At this point, everyone has gathered around Atsushi to observe the changes too. Atsushi, despite himself, has grew annoyed of all the ruckus.
"Give me a break, won't you? Who gives a damn of a little change of hair color?" he snapped, again, immediately surprised by his short temper.
"I don't think color is all that changed, Atsushi-kun..." Tanizaki gulped. Behind him, Dazai and Ranpo exhanged glaces and grins.
Atsushi panicked. He dared not to say another word, afraid of his own tongue. He looked down feeling terrible not just about himself, but literally too. Something inside him just did not feel right. It was as if something was clawing it's way out of his body like a coccoon.
"I suggest you calm down and take more rest--"
"No!" Atsushi exclaimed, "I'm... I'm fine."
He walked over to his seat and quietly did his work for most of the day. Occasionally, his coworkers would throw a glance back at the boy for any signs of changes. At first, it was as if everything was back to normal, until the phone on his desk rang.
Kyouka watched Atsushi answer the phone and had a normal conversation with the client. Tired but polite tone slowly changes more in a disrespectful manner. She softly squinted her eyes everytime Atsushi's tone sounded like he was about to shout.
"Atsushi." Dazai appeared behind the boy, startling him as he attempted to catch the phone he accidently threw and failed.
Dazai caught the phone just before it hit the floor and looked Atsushi straight in his eyes, "That's no way to talk to a client."
He then proceeded to place the phone to his ears and apologize to the caller. He also managed to do his infamous sweet talks to cheer the mood. When he was finished, he placed the phone back where it was and sighed.
"You don't have to work if it bothers you so much, Atsushi-kun."
"Urgh! I told you. I'm fine! That caller was just stupid for messing up the schedule--"
"I won't consider this as fine until we solve this... anger issues." Kunikida dictated, in which Atsushi only grunted as a reply.
"I'm sorry. I'll try to control my temper." he bowed apologetically and continued his work, visibly irritated by what happened.
Several hours later, the sky has turned dark and most of the agency has started packing home. Despite everything, Atsushi managed to fall asleep during work. He woke up only after Kyouka patted him on his head.
"Atsushi-kun. It's time to go home." she whispered softly.
The tiger boy's eyes fluttered open, revealing a pair of eyes painted with gold and faint purple. He was still drowsy but soon his eyes focused on the girl.
"When did I fall asleep?" he rubbed his eyes.
"Don't worry about that." Kyouka replied, helping Atsushi pack his stuff before he does.
Atsushi watched her pack his stuff, doing nothing at all. Not that he didn't want to, he couldn't. As if he was in a daydream, he softly spoke in a haze.
"I don't know what's wrong with me."
"It's not your fault. We'll figure things out." Kyouka stated with her usual cool and collected voice.
Kyouka's attempt to comfort Atsushi seemed to have worked as Atsushi relaxed and sank his head to his arms. He looked down blankly to his desk, thinking of ways of fix things up when a document slided in his vision. Atsushi looked back up to Kyouka, asking for an explanation.
"I did some research while you were asleep and found places that might lead us to that ability user." Kyouka whispered again, more cautious this time.
"Louis?" Atsushi went serious too.
"Yes. We will go to these places tomorrow, disguising it as a mission."
"Why disguised?" Atsushi started whispering too.
"I doubt they want you to have any contact with the mafia until you're stable. But I believe you won't be fixed until this ability is lifted. So what do you say? Are you coming with me tomorrow?" Kyouka asked.
Atsushi nodded.
"Do you think they will still allow me to go on missions, though?" he asked.
"Just act normal. I'll handle the permissions." Kyouka assured him. Atsushi smiled, deep down grateful for a friend like Kyouka.
"Yeah. Act normal." Atsushi rolled his eyes, this time not noticing his attitude.
Kyouka sighed, "Start by not rolling your eyes when talking to me."