Entering: Grey, the white reaper

❖❖❖

Ryuunosuke frown as he quietly jumped back, gaining some distance between himself and this new version of the weretiger.

The person in front of him was giving an off vibe, something akin to blood and death.

Like a grim reaper moving at night to collect lives.

It was not something that Ryuunosuke thought he would ever see in the weretiger.

Their target, Lewis Carroll, stood there in shock. The brat clearly didn't expect this to happen either.

An ability that went out of control was bad news. Ryuunosuke needed to act quickly. Rashoumon shot toward the boy, taking advantage of his shocked state to capture him while Ryuunosuke kept his eyes solely on this weretiger.

"...Akutagawa?"

The young adult probably came to his senses, the Mad Dog thought as he came face-to-face with a pair of bright golden eyes. The weretiger he knew, the Nakajima Atsushi he knew... his eyes had the color of a sunset sky, gold fading into violet. It was always beautiful to look at, not that Ryuunosuke would ever tell him. But this weretiger, however, his eyes were thoseof a predator, always searching, always hunting.

"Jinko."

The weretiger blinked at the nickname, clearly wasn't familiar with being called that by Ryuunosuke. The young adult's eyes quickly sharpened as he finally looked at him properly.

"You are not my Akutagawa."

It made him wonder. Was he that different from the Akutagawa Ryuunosuke that this weretiger knew? The answer was probably yes, Ryuunosuke came to his conclusion as he looked at this completely different weretiger.

"I'm not."

He answered honestly.

"And you're not my Jinko."

The young adult stared at him intensely, like he was searching for something from Ryuunosuke. Something akin to understanding, to bewilderment, to recognition flashed through the young boy's golden eyes. Ryuunosuke did not know what he found but it made the weretiger's golden eyes melted back into those familiar sunset eyes that he knew.

"So it's 'that world' huh."

❖❖❖

That was what happened 10 minutes ago. Right now, Ryuunosuke and this off version of the weretiger were traveling back to the warehouse where they had planned to meet up with Dazai-san. Lewis Carroll had been unconscious ever since Rashoumon captured him. The Mad Dog kept an eye on the weretiger as he didn't really trust this one yet. Neither of them had said anything else since earlier.

Then the tense silence was broken by the weretiger.

"Who are we supposed to meet?"

"...Dazai-san."

Upon hearing his answer, the weretiger stopped dead in his tracks. Ryuunosuke turned back as soon as he realized that the weretiger had stopped moving, eyes narrowed until he saw the expression on the weretiger's face.

There was a haunted look in the weretiger's eyes. It felt similar yet, Ryuunosuke couldn't put a finger on.

"...Jinko?"

"...Dazai-san, you say?"

The weretiger mumbled dryly yet, the haunted look in his eyes didn't disappear, it just grew eerier. The weretiger looked so empty like this, and suddenly, it reminded him of his own reflection looked like in the mirror when he thought that Dazai-san had died back when he just left the Port Ma-

Oh.

Oh.

This weretiger, this Nakajima Atsushi, was just like him, wasn't he? Being haunted by a man they both loved and hated, by a man who had abandoned both of them, they were similar in such a way.

The Mad Dog finally realized what this weretiger was. It made him want to laugh. Ryuunosuke remembered telling his weretiger that he wouldn't survive a day in the mafia. But that wasn't true, was it? Deep down, he always knew this. He always knew that he and the weretiger were more alike than he liked to think.

And if Ryuunosuke could crawl his way through this world that was dyed in black and blood then, Nakajima Atsushi could too.

"Yes, Dazai-san, my old boss, your senior coworker, the man who pinched us together for this mission."

There was an odd edge in Ryuunosuke's voice as he told the weretiger.

"Pfff- You really are Akutagawa, aren't you?"

Ryuunosuke stared. This was the first time he saw the weretiger smile genuinely at him. Normally, he was all growling and snarking. Which, Akutagawa thought, was fair as they hated each other and... their first meeting did not leave a good impression. But this laugh, it made him feel warm inside, and he started to wonder if the weretiger he knew also laughed like this.

"Thank you, Akutagawa."

The haunted look didn't disappear completely but the weretiger looked a bit lighter. And Akutagawa understood. Something like this would haunt them their whole lifes. But right now, right this moment, this was probably enough.

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Nakajima Atsushi Entry:

✎ Grey - the white reaper
Name: Nakajima Atsushi
Occupation:
    •    Mafioso
Affiliation:
    •    Port Mafia
    •    Mori Ougai (adopted father)
    •    Akutagawa Ryuunosuke (partner)
Nickname(s)/Alias(es):
    •    White Tiger
    •    Port Mafia's White Reaper
    •    Jinko/Weretiger (by Akutagawa Ryuunosuke)
Notes:
    •    The White Reaper is from the BEAST world, but with a bit of a twist in what happened at the end and what happened in the aftermath.
    •    One of the few Atsushi who is aware of the truth about his world and The Book.