Portrait Of A Father(?)

Portrait Of a Father(?)

I think we can all agree that this is the most controversial chapter in the whole manga. We can’t agree on what its message is, if we are supposed to agree with it, what Asagiri wanted us to think about the characters involved … So, I finally decided to jump in the lion pit and put forward my opinions on it.

Portrait Of A Father(?)

I’ll start with a brief recap: Atsushi finds out that the Headmaster of his orphanage, the one who tormented him, is dead. His reaction is … well, if he had been legal for drinking, he would have rushed to buy champagne. A fitting reaction, considering what we have already seen of the Headmaster at this point.

Portrait Of A Father(?)

But then we get a shocking revelation: the Headmaster died in a car accident while going to buy flowers for Atsushi, to congratulate him on his successes with the Agency and his great work in saving the whole city. Atsushi is shocked, because … seriously? Eighteen years of abuse, and now he acts like he has always cared about him?

And he expresses his conflicted emotions with a likewise erratic behavior: he runs off from Tanizaki, tries to have a cathartic fight with Akutagawa (who ignores him exactly because of his state of mind), goes to his old orphanage to attend the funeral from a distance, and lastly wanders off to see some conveniently placed families with attentive fathers and young sons.

At this point, Dazai reaches him. And here starts the really controversial part.

Portrait Of A Father(?)

They examine together the Headmaster’s background: he appearently grew up in the same orphanage, but at a time when it had even worse conditions, enough to make Atsushi’s time under his education ‘look like heaven’ in comparison. When he got out alongside some other orphans, he quickly fell into a life of crime; then they all got drafted into the Great War, and saw his friends die one by one, until he was the only one left standing. 

This left him with an huge unaddressed trauma and the convinction that his determination and will to live, acquired in spite of hardships, were the only reasons he survived; so he decided to dedicate himself to raising the next generation of orphans according to these principles, creating a system where the priority would have been survival at all costs. 

And the narration, through Dazai, sorts of portrays him positively for that. Attention is brought to how he was tortured worse than Atsushi did, how the fierce mindset underneath Atsushi’s meekness was grown by his treatment of him. If the Headmaster never did so, would Atsushi be so attached to life? Would he have not succumbed to self-loathing?

To answer this, I’ll take the liberty to give first my own analysis, and then consider what the manga probably wants me to answer.

Portrait Of A Father(?)

Yes, if the Headmaster had not been abusive, Atsushi would have survived. Much better, I’d add. It is mentioned that Atsushi was nearly killed at his orphanage, more that one time, and let’s remember that he has one hell of an healing factor. If he had been a normal kid, chances are that he wouldn’t have survived … which, besides begging the question of how on earth the Headmaster’s own time at the orphanage could have been worse than attempted and nearly successful murder, makes one wonder how exactly it’s supposed to be formative for the kid.  

Then, the Headmaster is given the credit to have prevented Atsushi’s self-loathing for being a tiger, by becoming himself the object of his hatred. What a martyr. The problem with his reasoning is, that is all the damn story that we see Atsushi have an huge issue with self-loathing! And it isn’t even related to the tiger, most of the times! There are moments where he’s shocked and scared after he went overboard with his power, but the main sources of his problems, the flashbacks that plague him? They’re about his time at the orphanage. 

Portrait Of A Father(?)

He regularly remembers, and even has allucinations of, the Headmaster and the other members of the staff calling him worthless, good for nothing, pathetic, unworthy to live, and all sorts of pleasantries of this kind. When he allucinates the Headmaster, that nasty voice in his head is the one who tells him to quit, to give up, that he’s not good enough and he shouldn’t even try to do something with his life. 

Of course, at this point we could rigirare la frittata saying that it’s what the Headmaster meant, to make Atsushi stronger by giving him someone to rebel against … but honestly? There are thousands of better, different ways to teach someone to value their own life. If the Headmaster, given his traumas, couldn’t think of one, then it’s his own damn fault for not realizing that he couldn’t be a good teacher or caretaker before a lot of therapy, and not taking a different life path. 

The one who gives his all despite his insecurities is Atsushi. The one who is willing to face down powerful enemies in desperate battles for the sake of a city he has come to love is Atsushi. The one that didn’t wield to despair and self loathing, pushing forward each and every time, that’s Atsushi. The Headmaster doesn’t have a shred of merit in this. 

Now, time to take a guess at authorial intent. And this is … tricky, that is, for the very simple reason that I can’t get into Asagiri’s head and extract the intended correct interpretations from the multiple possibilities. All I can do is propose the most likely, based on what I can read.

Portrait Of A Father(?)

The first possible interpretation: the most obvious. We are meant to take that scene and its message as it is. The Headmaster did terrible things, but he also helped Atsushi in his growth. Our boy wouldn’t be half as strong if he hadn’t already experienced severe abuse, and he’s really got to cry the death of his father figure. Bacia la mano che ruppe il tuo naso perchè le chiedevi un boccone. 

Portrait Of A Father(?)

Another possible interpretation is that it’s an acknowledgement of the fact that people are complicated, and it’s fine to have complicated feelings towards them. Warped as he was, the Headmaster truly believed that he was doing what was better for Atsushi. Isn’t it horrible to confront the fact that the person who abused you is not a cardboard villain with nothing inside, but instead a very complex human being who had a ‘benevolent’, if not logically sound, reasoning behind them? Atsushi is not in a good situation: on the one hand, he can’t forgive the Headmaster for what he did to him, but on the other, he can’t ignore the fact that he did it out of “care” for him (wheter of not it did him any good). He, who had repeatedly been told that he was worthless and undeserving, he had been the object of care all along! What’s one to do in such a situation?

Atsushi doesn’t know either. There is no manual with the instruction for the right emotions and reactions to have. 'Quando a mio padre si fermò il cuore' ... magari avessi semplicemente non provato dolore. He ends up looking at Dazai with that face, a very forced smile in the uncertainty about how else to react. And Dazai just gives his comment about people crying when their father dies, and Atsushi does exactly that. This is already a kinder interpretation: Dazai made it clear that Atsushi could react however he felt better, but he understood that the kid felt like crying, and gave him an implicit okay to do so. It was a way to help Atsushi express his emotions, bypassing the blocks that the Headmaster himself had put on the road. And personally, I suspect that it gets the closest to authorial intent, because of the emphasis on ‘finding a will to live despite one’s trauma’ has already been established as a central theme of the manga.

Portrait Of A Father(?)

A third interpretation put as much focus on Dazai as it does on Atsushi. Dazai is the one who reaches to Atsushi and all but call the Headmaster’s violence ‘necessary’, defining him as Atsushi’s ‘father’. And we already know that Dazai is no stranger to violence as a teaching method; just ask Akutagawa. His treatment of the young mafioso - beatings, calling him worthless, even an attempted execution - is strikingly similar to how the Headmaster raised Atsushi.

And sure, Dazai’s got his promise to Odasaku, be a better person, stay on the path that protects the weak, but these are the ideals he picked up in his formative years in the mafia. It’s likely that he can recognize that his treatment of Akutagawa was wrong, but on some level, he thinks himself as justified: it was how you taught a kid to live in a cruel world, the same reasoning of the Headmaster. He still has his violent tendencies: remember the famous slap he gave Atsushi?

I’m not sure whether he still stands by this ‘educational system’ or not. He hasn’t expressed any explicit regret over how he treated Akutagawa, but he made a point of treating Atsushi in a very different way. He still gave that slap, but that could have been a moment of ‘regression’: a situation in which he needed an Atsushi on top of his game ASAP, couldn’t figure out how to calm him down properly, and fell back on doing what he knew: teaching through violence and harsh words. He expresses no regret over this thing either … but there actually might be, Dazai is a character defined by the fact that he lies to everybody (to his mentees, to his colleagues, to the enemies, to the readers) and so pinning down his true thoughts is very difficult. 

With his answer, he might have projected more than a little in the Headmaster. Maybe what he told Atsushi was a covert way to explain his own actions, to present the point of view of ‘a person who does these things’. Maybe prepare him for an absolution; maybe prepare him to handle disappointment over his mentor’s true nature. Maybe prepare him to recognize himself in Akutagawa, and thus sympathize with him and improving the Shin Soukoku dynamic! Bungou Stray Dogs has pulled bigger levels of insane planning after all. 

Anyway, I find this a pretty interesting interpretation; even if it could have been elaborated upon better, if this is the case. It would show the situation not strictly as a message to the readers, but an analysis of the characters.

Thanks to anyone who bothered to read my ramblings!

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1 year ago

thought this as i was getting ready to sleep last night

atsushi who starts getting super clingy -- all hugs and cuddles, more than normal

atsushi rubbing his cheek against his friends'

atsushi giving his sweaters to his friends, or gloves or scarves or other such things

atsushi taking their clothes and wearing them and giving them back

the ada confused as hell, finally going to ranpo like "is atsushi dying???"

and ranpo is like "isn't it obvious"

and the ada is like "no" unaware that atsushi is scratching/sharpening his nails at the entrance

and ranpo is like "its the time of year we get a lot of cats in the neighborhood. he's marking his territory"

fukuzawa is delighted at being shown affection by his cat son but heartbroken that his cat son is trying to make sure no other cat comes

everyone else is mostly just amused

1 year ago

Tide

Atsushi & Kyouka gen commissioned by @harlequinade-13​! They get a day at the beach together :D

Rating: G Words: 3,600 Warnings: mentions of past child abuse.

Tide

Summer dragged over Yokohama like a beast’s hot breath, sweltering from mid-morning to late at night, making the pavement simmer. It seemed to turn the streets liquid and the day light to fog; Atsushi could not walk outside without feeling like he had stepped into a cloud, if clouds were made of sticky sweat. Sharing a dorm with Kyouka meant that whatever coolness they could afford by the way of electric fans had to be shared as well, and often the night found Atsushi breathing loudly in the open closet where he slept, trying and failing to put his overheated mind to sleep.

If Kyouka suffered the same, she didn’t say anything. She was still as a statue as soon as she lay down at night, but Atsushi didn’t know if it meant that she slept. She always kept her back turned to him.

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1 year ago
Drew My Favorite Outfits From The Fall Festival Event For Tog:nw 🍁🍂
Drew My Favorite Outfits From The Fall Festival Event For Tog:nw 🍁🍂

drew my favorite outfits from the fall festival event for tog:nw 🍁🍂

5 months ago

Feral Atsushi because he is a weretiger.

Atsushi hates wearing shoes with a vengeance and kicks em off whenever Kunikida isn't looking.

He will argue what's the point anyway when his ability will just break them. It's not like the Orphanage ever let wear shoes anyway so what's the big deal?

When Atsushi runs he will automatically do it on all fours, because it feels natural and he's just faster that way.

He once gave Akutugawa a dead bird as an apology.

Atsushi curls up into a ball when he's asleep. He'll sleep in his futon but sometimes he'll just throw off his blanket and snooze on the floor.

He loves to swim because tiger and is almost as bad as Dazai in that he will just dive into whatever body of water he finds.

Dazai sometimes hops in with him because it's fun and it pisses off Kunikida.

Kenji is more than happy to gift Atsushi with meat he's acquired from family. Atsushi will straight up eat it raw if he's hungry, not even bothering to cook it if Kenji hasn't already.

Atsushi is a lot more alert and focused at night. He likes to take night walks and hunt in the woods.

Atsushi both as a combination of poor socialisation and being part tiger, doesn't understand humans and their etiquette sometimes. He will blurt out that someone is lying.

He will ask and state things very bluntly without beating around the bush what so ever. He was punished and taught to always tell the truth, so this all confuses him.

The only one who gets him in that regard is Ranpo.

When Atsushi gets lost or kidnapped he will roar to try and get the others attention.

Atsushi makes chuffing sounds when he's happy. He takes naps during his breaks, either curled up on the sofa or under his desk.

Atsushi has deemed the Agency as his terrority. He's very protective over everyone in the Agency, especially Kenji and Kyouka.

He had to be held back from biting Fitzgerald because Atsushi sensed bad intentions. Infact the Agency always know if someone's bad news because Atsushi will immediately start growling at em to back the fuck off.

And if that doesn't work Atsushi will than launch himself at them and bite them.

It's why they know Poe and Lucy are cool now because Atsushi just waved at them.

Cut to Ranpo leaving the meeting with Fukuchi after thinking it well. And the moment Atsushi spots Fukuchi he's on all fours hissing

Ranpo:... Well I fucked up.

5 months ago

Have you ever seen one of those videos of Tigers or other big cats playing with a pumpkin that's been filled with meat?

Here's a cute one if you've never seen that before. https://youtu.be/fFOPhelZxPU?si=5jR3eDQg5BU4QBjC

Anyway can you imagine as Atsushi Starts to feel more comfortable and safe around the agency He starts displaying more big cat mannerisms. Because he knows the others won't judge him for it or think he's less human.

Imagine getting him to feel comfortable and safe enough that he starts playing. I think that would be fun.

a/n: THAT’S ADORABLE OMG honestly atsushi deserves to play around every once in a while outside his agency duties given his traumatic childhood :(( i think it’d b so nice seeing him relax a bit and just be the kid he never got to be. here’s some headcanons i think might fit into ur idea !!

atsushi hcs: big cat behavior!

✑ character/s: atsushi nakajima, mentions of other ada members

✑ short desc: just atsushi being the big cat he is.

✑ content includes: general headcanons ; focus is on atsushi ; no warnings, just pure fluff

✑ word count: 1.3k words

Have You Ever Seen One Of Those Videos Of Tigers Or Other Big Cats Playing With A Pumpkin That's Been

i think as much as atsushi may have been portrayed as being on the more timid / wary side in the beginning of the series when he first joined the agency, he was also almost always on high alert / defensive mode a lot — typical cat behavior

after the whole shenanigan with the black lizard breaking into the agency’s main office (and them being thrown out promptly after lol), that’s when his trust in them solidified a little more and he decided then and there that they were the people he could always come back to no matter what

hear me out for this one: although the popular choice for the person able to loosen up his screws a bit more is dazai, i genuinely think that both the tanizaki siblings are one of the most responsible for helping him relax a little around the agency

when both jun’ichiro and naomi aren’t being weird (ahem) or when they aren’t on the job, i’m pretty sure they act the same way all typical teenagers do — they have interests outside of work / school that they spend time with, like to go along with trends, and they socialize a lot with people their age

and because the tanizaki siblings are the closest age-wise to atsushi, i think he learns to act his age around them as well. they probably hang out every once in a while and do normal stuff that don’t involve the use of abilities or crime-solving

hanging out with dazai is a little more different; i don’t want to make their relationship seem shallow because i know there’s more to them than meets the eye, although branching out in this post might make me go off topic, so we’ll just stick to saying that beyond them having a mentor / supervisor and student relationship, dazai seems to be able to bring out a much more honest and open side to atsushi

dazai’s words of encouragement and points of advice allow him to grow from being stuck in a circle of self-pity and learn to slowly move on from the events that traumatized him as a child — that being said, atsushi learns to unfold himself a little more with dazai’s guidance, which in turn helps him become a more honest version of himself around others

outside agency duties, i hc dazai to be the more chaotic of the two, often dragging atsushi into whatever shenanigans he has planned. he probably lures atsushi into playing pranks on kunikida, who very likely finds them irritating at first (schedule issues) but i think kunikida has the heart to let them off easy every now and then given he’s well-aware that they never had the easiest upbringings either. and if he scolds dazai / atsushi, it’s really just because he cares about them

with ranpo, i think atsushi is probably the more mature of the two. i hc that whenever they get paired together for a mission and are sent out of yokohama for that same reason, they often stop by candy stores to bond over buying sweet treats after accomplishing their tasks

yosano comes off as quite strong to atsushi at first, and the whole operation thing probably still scares him to death, but her kindness and care towards everyone including atsushi helps put him at ease. he’s at comfort knowing that someone is there to patch him up as well as the other people he cares about at the end of the day, even if his ability allows him to regenerate his limbs

he learns to become an older sibling figure through both kyouka and kenji. there’s more responsibility taken for them outside their jobs (older brother duties), but the innocence that comes with playing games with them or simply chatting about whatever topic pops up helps him hold onto his own innocence

and then there is fukuzawa — stern as he may appear, i’m sure he genuinely cares for the well-beings of all his employees. his ability says it all: it gives his subordinates all the control and freedom needed to ensure that their abilities are under full command of themselves. from atsushi’s side, there is gratefulness (especially after making peace with his own ability), but from fukuzawa, there is a lot of parental care outside duty (also because atsushi is part cat and fukuzawa likes cats lmao)

that comfort from having peers he can socialize with without the fear of being bullied or messed around with allows him to feel a little more at peace with himself at some point later on, and because he is part-tiger, he eventually ends up becoming more playful around everyone when his feline instincts come out

i like to imagine everyone sees it as a little inside office joke at first when they buy him toys like those cat scratching pillars or the little fishing rods with the feathers at the end, and he gets embarrassed about it initially, but he’s around people who care about him and don’t judge him for what he is, and he figures hey, why the hell not?

so now, it becomes the norm for one person every day to bring a new cat toy for atsushi to play with

it’s kenji who brings the pumpkins to the office (which earns him a few side-eyes of confusion, not to his knowledge), and at first, atsushi doesn’t really know what to do with them until one day after a particularly stressful mission, he finds himself gnawing at the pumpkin to help relieve himself a bit

it’s a strange feeling at first, but being able to sink his teeth into something that (thankfully) isn’t human flesh really helps him relax

sometimes he’ll use his tiger claws to slash at the pumpkins and mess around with the insides if he doesn’t feel like using his teeth

nobody at the agency really says anything about it aside from the occasional joke about it here and there but it’s all light-hearted and they seem to really enjoy watching him be himself around them

there is now a supply of pumpkins specifically for atsushi, and the roof garden above the agency now also has a pumpkin patch (run by kenji and kyouka, of course, and supervised by fukuzawa every now and then) so they don’t run out

remains of the pumpkins aren’t wasted. somehow the rest of the agency members (or at least the ones who know how to cook) find different pumpkin recipes to try and now they have a mini cookbook in the communal kitchen where the main ingredient for every dish is a pumpkin lmao

i’d imagine that if they do celebrate halloween, atsushi’s in charge of gnawing out the insides so the rest of the members (and he himself) can carve their decorations on the pumpkins respectively

when atsushi is sleepy, he’ll rub his face around on the surface he’s laying on or the person nearest to him (kind of like cats in general) and i think that a lot of the other members find it adorable so nobody makes any comments about it when he does that

sometimes dazai will bring one of those laser pens around when he’s bored and when he points it at a wall (or kunikida’s forehead), atsushi instinctively goes up to try and “catch” it lmao

i think he really enjoys playing hide-and-seek with the kids (and ranpo) especially when he’s “it”, primarily because of the feeling of the chase / hunt (which big cats seem to enjoy)

to no one’s surprise, fukuzawa enjoys playing with him a lot when he’s in his big cat form. i feel like he spares a few of the sardines he keeps in his yukata for atsushi as well. he probably carries around one of those fishing rods with a toy fish / feather at the end for atsushi (and atsushi enjoys it anyway lol)

everyone thinks it’s very enjoyable seeing him be himself. even if the whole found family dynamic turns out to not be true in canon, his happiness will still remain their happiness because they’re all still part of an organization who supports each other and are understanding of one another’s upbringings

atsushi with big cat behavior is so cute :>

Have You Ever Seen One Of Those Videos Of Tigers Or Other Big Cats Playing With A Pumpkin That's Been

a/n: i think i enjoyed myself a little too much with these and got carried away LMAO feel free to let me know how i did!


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5 months ago

so much atsushi slander. how do i put into words that his character is so refreshing. that his reactions aren't weak for the situations he was put into and what prep he was given, but endearing to me because he's always trying his best. not in a 'he just messed up and is trying his best sort of way' but in a 'he's experienced so much cruelty that still affects him to this day, but he's still trying his best.' that he hates himself sometimes and can't brute force a solution to the problems he faces. he's just. so realistic.


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1 year ago
SIGHHHH BSD REREAD…................I MISS THEM SO MUCH :(((

SIGHHHH BSD REREAD…................I MISS THEM SO MUCH :(((

6 months ago

Cat!Atsushi spending the day with Akutagawa (hc)

This is based off my “Atsushi w/cat like urges” headcanons (will be linked below). Feel free to take this as platonic or romantic 😉

TW- mild swearing (nothing to bad, just a few mentioned here or there)

Cat!Atsushi Spending The Day With Akutagawa (hc)

It originally started out as a way for the ADA to get at least one moment of peace to do their work without worrying about Atsushi accidentally swating something off the table or out of someone’s hands

It was one of Atsushi’s “bad days” where the cat urges he felt from the Tiger were more violent/prominent and between the broken mugs and near constant head scratches, everyone was starting to get frustrated

Atsushi included

He felt terrible for causing so many problems around the office and always got frustrated when he couldn’t control the urges the Tiger gave him

Of course no one blamed Atsushi, it wasn’t his fault his ability caused him to nap if he sat in the sun to long, or lead him to ignore people completely for no reason

But it was taking Kunikida all his will power to not yell at Atsushi when he swatted at his ponytail like it was a cat toy for the fourth time that morning

Of course Dazai, being the selfless mentor he was, offered an idea

“I have a job for you that should take up most of the day. I’ll even call Akutagawa to help out!”

It was clear as day that Dazai was scheming something, but everyone was to tired to argue.

And it would be good for the truce if the Agency and Mafia worked together more often

So thats what lead to Dazai and Atsushi walking across town to the Port Mafia HQ to steal Akutagawa on his day off

He refused to let Atsushi know where he lived, so they planned to meet at the Port Mafia instead

“Why do I have to be teamed up with him?” Atsushi had whined as they walked through Yokohama

“Because it’ll help the Agency and Mafia get along better!” Dazai had responded with a big smile as he wrapped an arm around Atsushi so he didn’t walk off

‘It’ll help You and Akutagawa get along better’ is what Dazai really meant

Luckily Atsushi’s discourage about having to spend the day with Akutagawa kept him from getting to distracted on the walk over (he only wondered off twice)

When they got there Akutagawa was patiently waiting outside the Port Mafia building, though he also looked less than pleased to be spending his day off with the weretiger

Dazai pretty much just dropped off Atsushi with a “Take care of him, and be careful around cups!” Before walking off

Atsushi and Akutagawa just glared at each other before Atsushi sighed and asked if Akutagawa was hungry

“We can go over the case while we eat, that’s all” Akutagawa didn’t argue, just huffed and started walking down the street

The first thing that Akutagawa learned about the Jinko was that if he didn’t keep a close eye on Atsushi, he would loose him in the heavy crowds of Yokohama

The first time Akutagawa lost Atsushi, the latter was helping a little girl who had gotten separated from her parents. Nothing new

The second time he lost Atsushi, he was found at one of the candy shops in town. “Ranpo-san’s birthday is coming up soon and this is his favourite shop” Atsushi had claimed

They spent much longer than Akutagawa would have liked in the candy store, but Atsushi refused to budge until he got all of Ranpo’s favourites

The third time they got separated, Akutagawa found that Atsushi had somehow been convinced to chase birds in the park with some of the little kids

Akutagawa had no idea how or when that had happened but he was already starting to loose his patience. This was the third time in the half hour since they left that Atsushi had wondered off

Akutagawa had to practically drag Atsushi by the collar to get him to leave, especially when Atsushi tried to get them to stay by giving him the big kitten eyes

It took all Akutagawa’s will power and “hatred” for Atsushi to not sigh and agree to five more minutes of running around

The second thing Akutagawa learned was that Atsushi ate...a lot...

“It’s the tiger” he had said sheepishly after scarfing down his 12th bowl of chazuke within the short time they had been at the restaurant.

Akutagawa just hummed and continued to eat his food. He wasn’t one to judge, Rashomon was the same way.

The third thing Akutagawa learned was to keep anything and everything glass or ceramic away from Atsushi

Atsushi had tried to explain that it was one of his “bad days” but Akutagawa didn’t catch on until half way through their lunch when Atsushi tried to swat the tower of empty bowls off the table

Luckily for them Aku was quick on his feet, using Rashomon to catch the bowls, and finding out it apparently wasn’t uncommon for things to get knocked off the tables according to their waitress

“The tables are pretty small, it happens all the time so don’t worry” she had said while Atsushi began to apologize profusely for the trouble

Needless to say, they took over the neighbouring table to keep their empty dishes on so they didn’t have another incident

The fourth, fifth, and sixth things Akutagawa learned was that Atsushi couldn’t sit in the sun for more then a few minutes without falling asleep, he was clingy, and he was addicted to head scratches

“Jinko, hand me that case file Dazai-san gave you.” Akutagawa had asked only to get no response from Atsushi.

“Jinko? Jinko are you listening to me?” He had asked, looking up to see Atsushi’s head resting in his arms and face towards the window. It was only when Akutagawa saw the sun illuminating his partners face did he realize Atsushi had fallen sleep.

“You have got to be kidding me...” it took Akutagawa two minutes longer than usual to wake Atsushi up. It wasn’t the first time Atsushi has fallen asleep during a mission. But it was usually during late night steak outs not in the middle of the afternoon at a restaurant. In the end Akutagawa had to blow in Atsushi’s face to get him to finally wake up.

“Huh...what’s wrong Akutagawa?” Atsushi had asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Akutagawa did not find it cute when Atsushi’s nose scrunched up as he stretched out his arms. He most certainly did not!

“You fell asleep”

“O-oh my gosh! I-I’m so so sorry Akutagawa! The sun makes me really sleepy! I’m sorry!” Atsushi had stuttered out, face red with embarrassment. Akutagawa just shook his head and told Atsushi it was fine.

“But sit over hear so you don’t fall asleep again, idiot”

So there they sat, Atsushi sitting as close to Akutagawa as humanly possible. Like he was borderline sitting in Aku’s lap as they looked over the files

“Jinko must you be so close?”

“Yes, it’ll be easier for both of us to read the files like this”

So there they sat, Atsushi practically in Akutagawa’s lap, his head on the mafioso’s shoulder as they read through the files Dazai gave them.

It wasn’t long before Akutagawa could feel Atsushi staring a hole into his hands. Every time Akutagawa moved his hand to turn a page or cover a cough, Atsushi’s eyes would follow like a hawk

Rather than just ask Atsushi what was wrong, Akutagawa decided to do a little experiment. He had remembered seeing Dazai pat Atsushi’s head a few times in the past, and the weretiger seemed to like it

So without much thought Akutagawa raised his free hand and rested it on Atsushi’s head. Atsushi squeaked a little in surprised confusion before eventually melting into his partners touch

That’s when Akutagawa discovered his favourite thing about Atsushi; thing seven, the jinko purred when he was happy

Though it wasn’t long before Akutagawa learned his least favourite cat trait that Atsushi had

It was getting late and both boys were starting to think Dazai had sent them on a while goose chase (took them long enough)

“I’m starting to think Dazai-san has sent us on a wild goose chase.” Akutagawa huffed out, rubbing his temples with his free hand. The other one was holding three of Atsushi’s shopping bags, apparently they were all gifts for the Agency members.

After a few moments of silence, Akutagawa raised an eyebrow.

“Jinko?”

No response.

“Jinko! Jinko are you listening to me?”

Still no response. Now Akutagawa was starting to get annoyed.

“Jinko you best not have fallen asleep again because I will NOT be carrying you back-“ When Akutagawa finally turned around he was surprised to see Atsushi still following him, and not asleep on a park bench (it had happened earlier, Aku was not happy). Though rather then looking Akutagawa in the face like his partner usually would, Atsushi was staring at his phone.

Okay. Maybe Atsushi just didn’t hear him, the weretiger did have an annoying habit of zoning out during missions when nothing was happening. So Akutagawa stopped and tried again.

“Jinko snap out of whatever trance you’re in. We’re still working remember?”

But rather than Atsushi snapping out of it, stopping in his tracks and apologizing like usual, he just continued walking down the street. It was almost as if he was ignoring Akutagawa.

“Jinko are you ignoring me!? Where are you going!?”

Still no response. Now Akutagawa was getting pissed. No way in hell was he just going to stand by and allow his cat like partner to just ignore him after all the babysitting he had to do! Atsushi had walked off three more times after lunch and Akutagawa did not want to be dragged around another department store.

So Akutagawa stormed over to Atsushi, grabbed his shoulder, spun the weretiger around, and snatched his phone.

“Atsushi look at me damn it!”

That seemed to pull Atsushi out of his daze. ‘Finally!’ Akutagawa thought as Atsushi looked up at him, purple and gold eyes blinking a few times before registering what was happening.

Suddenly Atsushi’s face turned a deep red and his face dropped in horror; Akutagawa had him by the shoulder, Atsushi’s phone in hand, and had actually used his name for once. He messed up and he messed up big.

“A-Akutagawa...I-I-I’m so so so so so s-sorry! Oh, it happened again, and in public this time! I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to, I just kind of zone out and oh my god your probably angry with me now!” Atsushi scrambled out in a mix of embarrassment, guilt, and fear. It was one thing when he accidentally ignored the ADA members...it was another thing to ignore Akutagawa.

Noticing Atsushi’s nervousness, Akutagawa let out a long, drawn out sigh and let go of Atsushi to run his hands over his face. While Akutagawa didn’t appreciate being completely ignored like that, he could tell Atsushi wasn’t doing it on purpose. Honestly, he was starting to think that none of the weird things Atsushi had done today was on purpose.

“It-its fine, just don’t let it happen again”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll try!”

It wasn’t long after that till they realised they had, in fact, been sent on a wild goose chase and neither one was happy about it

“Dazai-san! I can’t believe you would send us out on a fake mission like this! Well, actually I can believe it, but still!” Atsushi had said the moment they entered the ADA office

Dazai, of course, was laying on the couch with a smile on his face that clearly screamed, ‘But you both had a good time didn’t you?’

Despite a few hiccups here and there, Akutagawa and Atsushi had to admit that the day wasn’t all that bad.

They still kicked Dazai off the couch though. They were tired and needed a minute to sit.

It wasn’t long before Atsushi had passed out again, his head laying in Akutagawa’s lap this time.

“Do you want me to move him Akutagawa? It’s getting pretty late?” Dazai had asked when he noticed the silver haired boy had gone quite.

Akutagawa glanced down at his partner; he had covered Atsushi with his jacket so only his face was visible, but even so his face looked the most relaxed it had been all day and he could hear Atsushi’s purring as he combed through his hair. A ghost of a smile tugged at Akutagawa’s lips as he shook his head.

“No, it’s alright. It seems he’s claimed my lap for the time being”

Cat!Atsushi Spending The Day With Akutagawa (hc)

Wow okay, this is my first time doing a set up like this! I hope it turned out good 😅. Like I mentioned earlier this is based off of a mini series on my tiktok (@bigglitchcos) about Atsushi if he had cat urges. Someone had mentioned doing a skit where Shin Soukoku spend the day together, so here’s my take!

Cat!Atsushi hc pt 1 | Cat!Atsushi hc pt 2

4 months ago

YESSSS to the"feel strongly, that's what you do when you want to experience the past". atsushi's hallucinations mentioned by fake dazai YAY next month has to be about atsushi's ptsd PLSSS (also, AWWW atsushi's expressions when he's overwhelmed😭 i want to hug him)


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1 year ago

okay since obviously ive gotten to into catifying atsushi i forgot he was a tiger - as u guys pointed out

this is how a beach episode would ACTUALLY play out in my head - kunikida, dazai, and atsushi focus

kunikida: are you not gonna go swimming dazai?

dazai: nope! i think today im just going to relax in the sand! maybe i'll try and drown myself later tho... what about you?

kunikida: im not swimming either

dazai: awww why not

kunikida: for some reason i dont feel safe getting in the ocean w/ u here

dazai, snickering: aww~ how could you say that~ im so hurt

atsushi, in the background, trying to secretly run away:

dazai: aww atsushi-kun why are you sneaking away

atsushi, startled: me? running away? haha... no i wouldn't

kunikida: atsushi, is everything all right? don't tell me you've decided to not participate in a company wide vacation?

atsushi: no! it's not that

dazai: you cant swim? but you fish me out all the time

atsushi: i know how to swim! i just... i don't really like water

dazai: is it becuz you're a cat?

kunikida and atsushi: he's/im a tiger

kunikida: atsushi don't tigers usually like water

atsushi: well... im not really a tiger... it's just my ability

kunikida: is it becuz dazai's here?he is a rather unsafe person to be near when you're also near wtaer

dazai: how cruel~ atsushi-kun i pinky promise i wont drown you~

atsushi:

atsushi, shyly: you really promise?

dazai, who was just joking: ?????????

kunikida, also flabbergasted: ?????????? did you think one of us would-

atsushi: no! i mean obviously not haha... but you promise...?

dazai:

kunikida:

dazai: of course! we promise not to drown you

kunikida: and to get you out of the water if you're in trouble

atsushi: oh... but didn't you not want to swim

kunikida dazai, professional dgaslighters: that never happened

atsushi: ...oh okay... then i think i'll try to swim... you'll be there?

dazai and kunikida: of course

*later*

dazai: atsushi-kun you really...

kunikida: atsushi, please, it's been 7 hours come back out

atsushi, having the time of his life, eyes sparkling, tail wagging: five more minutes!!

kunikida: you said that last time too...

dazai: atsushi-kun sure likes water

kunikida, fixing his glasses: we have to just grab him and run off quickly

dazai: ooh~ kunikida wants to kidnap someone~? how despciable

kunikida: its not kidnapping its for his own good

dazai: if that helps you sleep at night :3

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