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Entry tags:
a clod of earth
Title: a clod of earth
Fandom: Bungou to Alchemist, Bungou Stray Dogs
Character(s): BunAru Akutagawa, BSD Akutagawa, cameos
Pairing(s): None
Genre: Fluff
Word Count: 1,010
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Akutagawa goes searching for Akutagawa.
Notes: Almost very nearly done with NaNo.
There’s no communication on the side of the Agency with the Mafia, of course, but the summoned authors are more or less in one group, and word reaches Akutagawa’s ears that some of them have apparent reincarnations, or something similar. And curiosity drives him to drop by the Agency to ask.
The Agency members look at each other. Atsushi clears his throat. “Well… Akutagawa isn’t one of us, but we do know him, sort of-”
“He’s hard to reach if you’re looking for him specifically,” says Dazai. “But if you’re trying to avoid him, he’ll show up right away. Your best bet is hanging around too late at night and getting involved in criminal activities.”
Akutagawa frowns. “I couldn’t do something like that.”
Dazai gives an exaggerated shrug. “Then there’s nothing to be done about it! We’ll give you a photo, anyway.”
Akutagawa leaves dissatisfied.
It takes a few weeks worth of staying out too late, and the Librarian starts to get worried about him, but eventually a shadow as black as the deepest pit appears in his field of vision as he’s returning to the library. The face peering at him above the coat matches the picture he was given.
Akutagawa stops. He’s brought his sword for protection, of course, but he has no desire to use it. “Good evening.”
Ryuunosuke coughs a few times before answering. “Are you intentionally trying to provoke the Mafia?”
“No, I’m intentionally trying to meet you.” Akutagawa smiles at him. “Ryuunosuke-kun. It feels so strange to call anyone other than myself by that name.”
“...Your name?” Ryuunosuke asks, eyes narrowed.
“Akutagawa Ryuunosuke.”
Akutagawa draws his sword as soon as a dark tendril from Ryuunosuke’s coat shoots towards him. It’s not so different from fighting Taints - try not to get hit, first of all, and secondly don’t hesitate to attack if an opportunity is given. Damage to Ryuunosuke’s coat doesn’t seem to hurt Ryuunosuke himself, which is good.
“How dare you…” Ryuunosuke is wheezing as he continues to attack. “That name belongs to me, how dare you try to steal it-”
“I wasn’t trying to,” Akutagawa says. “It’s happened to plenty of us. Dazai has a double, and Atsushi-”
Ryuunosuke falters in his attack for one second before resuming with renewed vigor. “How dare anyone impersonate Dazai-san-!”
“Oh dear,” Akutagawa murmurs, dodging backwards. “I seem to have hit a nerve. Perhaps another night would be better…?”
It’s difficult to lose Ryuunosuke before Akutagawa can return to the library, but he manages it. Bringing him back to the other authors would be a bad idea.
It becomes something of a habit after that. Stay out too late, run into Ryuunosuke, fight. Akutagawa avoids mentioning Dazai, but he keeps up conversation aside from that.
“You cough so much that I worry you inherited it from my smoking,” he says one night. “I apologize if that’s so.”
“You apologize…?” Ryuunosuke says, sounding more confused than anything else.
“I’m dead,” Akutagawa says. “The going theory is that you and your contemporaries are reincarnated from myself and my contemporaries. I’m not trying to steal your name from you, Ryuunosuke-kun. It’s yours.”
Ryuunosuke finally, finally stops trying to attack him. His coat retreats back into a coat-like shape, and he just stares for a second.
Progress. Akutagawa bows low. “It’s a pleasure to meet you properly. You’re quite strong, so I’m honored to share anything with you.”
“...Of course I’m strong,” says Ryuunosuke. It’s hard to tell in the night from this distance, but his hands might be trembling, just a little. “The weak perish in this world.”
“Is that so? That explains a few things,” Akutawaga says. He certainly wouldn’t consider himself a strong person. “Would you like to talk in the daylight, perhaps?”
Ryuunosuke hesitates. “...I’ll find you,” he says, and disappears into the night.
Akutagawa smiles, and returns to the library whistling.
The place that Ryuunosuke finds him in next is a bookstore, appropriately. He’s still dressed in all black.
“Isn’t that too hot?” Akutagawa asks after greeting him.
“You’re not much better,” says Ryuunosuke.
He has a point. Akutagawa chuckles and looks back to the shelves. “Do you like to read, Ryuunosuke-kun?”
“...Occasionally,” says Ryuunosuke.
“I’m an author,” says Akutagawa. “I doubt that anything I wrote will be here, since I mostly wrote short stories, but - ah.” He pulls a book entitled ‘Kappa’ off the shelf and shows the spine to Ryuunosuke: the author’s name is their name, plainly written.
“I’ve never seen that book before,” says Ryuunosuke.
“It’s old,” says Akutagawa. “1927. I’ll buy it for you, if you wish.”
Ryuunosuke shakes his head. “I’m paid well.”
So Ryuunosuke purchases the book, and the two of them take a walk outside. It’s a beautiful day in the city, though it is a bit hot to be wearing all black or long capes.
“Ryuunosuke-kun.” When Ryuunosuke gives Akutagawa his attention, Akutagawa asks, “Does the life you’re living make you happy?”
Ryuunosuke hesitates for a few moments too long before nodding.
Akutagawa is sure it’s a lie, but it’s not his place to say anything. “I see. I’m glad.”
“Why?” Ryuunosuke asks. “I’m a stranger. There’s nothing that connects us besides our name.”
“That’s true,” says Akutagawa, “but I can want to see strangers happy if I wish. There isn’t much I can do now, but I hope that the current generation attains happiness that I never reached.”
Ryuunosuke doesn’t answer, just looks ahead of him again.
“...Ryuunosuke-kun, would you take my number?” Akutagawa asks. “Technically it’s the library’s number, but just ask for me. I’d like to talk to you again.”
“I’m not very interesting to talk to,” says Ryuunosuke. He coughs once.
“Maybe not,” says Akutagawa. “But it’s the job of old men to be there for young men when they want to have someone listen to their troubles.”
Ryuunosuke gives him a dubious look. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-five.” Akutagawa chuckles. “Older than you, so my point stands.”
“...I’ll take your number. But I won’t promise to use it.”
“That’s all I ask for.”
Fandom: Bungou to Alchemist, Bungou Stray Dogs
Character(s): BunAru Akutagawa, BSD Akutagawa, cameos
Pairing(s): None
Genre: Fluff
Word Count: 1,010
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Akutagawa goes searching for Akutagawa.
Notes: Almost very nearly done with NaNo.
There’s no communication on the side of the Agency with the Mafia, of course, but the summoned authors are more or less in one group, and word reaches Akutagawa’s ears that some of them have apparent reincarnations, or something similar. And curiosity drives him to drop by the Agency to ask.
The Agency members look at each other. Atsushi clears his throat. “Well… Akutagawa isn’t one of us, but we do know him, sort of-”
“He’s hard to reach if you’re looking for him specifically,” says Dazai. “But if you’re trying to avoid him, he’ll show up right away. Your best bet is hanging around too late at night and getting involved in criminal activities.”
Akutagawa frowns. “I couldn’t do something like that.”
Dazai gives an exaggerated shrug. “Then there’s nothing to be done about it! We’ll give you a photo, anyway.”
Akutagawa leaves dissatisfied.
It takes a few weeks worth of staying out too late, and the Librarian starts to get worried about him, but eventually a shadow as black as the deepest pit appears in his field of vision as he’s returning to the library. The face peering at him above the coat matches the picture he was given.
Akutagawa stops. He’s brought his sword for protection, of course, but he has no desire to use it. “Good evening.”
Ryuunosuke coughs a few times before answering. “Are you intentionally trying to provoke the Mafia?”
“No, I’m intentionally trying to meet you.” Akutagawa smiles at him. “Ryuunosuke-kun. It feels so strange to call anyone other than myself by that name.”
“...Your name?” Ryuunosuke asks, eyes narrowed.
“Akutagawa Ryuunosuke.”
Akutagawa draws his sword as soon as a dark tendril from Ryuunosuke’s coat shoots towards him. It’s not so different from fighting Taints - try not to get hit, first of all, and secondly don’t hesitate to attack if an opportunity is given. Damage to Ryuunosuke’s coat doesn’t seem to hurt Ryuunosuke himself, which is good.
“How dare you…” Ryuunosuke is wheezing as he continues to attack. “That name belongs to me, how dare you try to steal it-”
“I wasn’t trying to,” Akutagawa says. “It’s happened to plenty of us. Dazai has a double, and Atsushi-”
Ryuunosuke falters in his attack for one second before resuming with renewed vigor. “How dare anyone impersonate Dazai-san-!”
“Oh dear,” Akutagawa murmurs, dodging backwards. “I seem to have hit a nerve. Perhaps another night would be better…?”
It’s difficult to lose Ryuunosuke before Akutagawa can return to the library, but he manages it. Bringing him back to the other authors would be a bad idea.
It becomes something of a habit after that. Stay out too late, run into Ryuunosuke, fight. Akutagawa avoids mentioning Dazai, but he keeps up conversation aside from that.
“You cough so much that I worry you inherited it from my smoking,” he says one night. “I apologize if that’s so.”
“You apologize…?” Ryuunosuke says, sounding more confused than anything else.
“I’m dead,” Akutagawa says. “The going theory is that you and your contemporaries are reincarnated from myself and my contemporaries. I’m not trying to steal your name from you, Ryuunosuke-kun. It’s yours.”
Ryuunosuke finally, finally stops trying to attack him. His coat retreats back into a coat-like shape, and he just stares for a second.
Progress. Akutagawa bows low. “It’s a pleasure to meet you properly. You’re quite strong, so I’m honored to share anything with you.”
“...Of course I’m strong,” says Ryuunosuke. It’s hard to tell in the night from this distance, but his hands might be trembling, just a little. “The weak perish in this world.”
“Is that so? That explains a few things,” Akutawaga says. He certainly wouldn’t consider himself a strong person. “Would you like to talk in the daylight, perhaps?”
Ryuunosuke hesitates. “...I’ll find you,” he says, and disappears into the night.
Akutagawa smiles, and returns to the library whistling.
The place that Ryuunosuke finds him in next is a bookstore, appropriately. He’s still dressed in all black.
“Isn’t that too hot?” Akutagawa asks after greeting him.
“You’re not much better,” says Ryuunosuke.
He has a point. Akutagawa chuckles and looks back to the shelves. “Do you like to read, Ryuunosuke-kun?”
“...Occasionally,” says Ryuunosuke.
“I’m an author,” says Akutagawa. “I doubt that anything I wrote will be here, since I mostly wrote short stories, but - ah.” He pulls a book entitled ‘Kappa’ off the shelf and shows the spine to Ryuunosuke: the author’s name is their name, plainly written.
“I’ve never seen that book before,” says Ryuunosuke.
“It’s old,” says Akutagawa. “1927. I’ll buy it for you, if you wish.”
Ryuunosuke shakes his head. “I’m paid well.”
So Ryuunosuke purchases the book, and the two of them take a walk outside. It’s a beautiful day in the city, though it is a bit hot to be wearing all black or long capes.
“Ryuunosuke-kun.” When Ryuunosuke gives Akutagawa his attention, Akutagawa asks, “Does the life you’re living make you happy?”
Ryuunosuke hesitates for a few moments too long before nodding.
Akutagawa is sure it’s a lie, but it’s not his place to say anything. “I see. I’m glad.”
“Why?” Ryuunosuke asks. “I’m a stranger. There’s nothing that connects us besides our name.”
“That’s true,” says Akutagawa, “but I can want to see strangers happy if I wish. There isn’t much I can do now, but I hope that the current generation attains happiness that I never reached.”
Ryuunosuke doesn’t answer, just looks ahead of him again.
“...Ryuunosuke-kun, would you take my number?” Akutagawa asks. “Technically it’s the library’s number, but just ask for me. I’d like to talk to you again.”
“I’m not very interesting to talk to,” says Ryuunosuke. He coughs once.
“Maybe not,” says Akutagawa. “But it’s the job of old men to be there for young men when they want to have someone listen to their troubles.”
Ryuunosuke gives him a dubious look. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-five.” Akutagawa chuckles. “Older than you, so my point stands.”
“...I’ll take your number. But I won’t promise to use it.”
“That’s all I ask for.”