To Find A Needle In A Haystack.

Author note:
Hey, little note at the beginning here because my beta reader said so!

Trigger warning: Sexual Assault, muder, graphic depictions of violence, and Shibusawa's creepy ass face

Starts at: Atsushi gets a snack

Ends at: Whatever, it's happened already

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"We need to talk." Akutagawa says in a low voice, dragging Atsushi into the closest tunnel.

"Wha- why?" Atsushi asks, his confusion evident in his voice. Akutagawa says nothing as the two pass a couple of Gen Ed students, who barely glance in their direction. The rest of the journey is silent, that is until Atsushi is shoved into a chair by Akutagawa while Rashomon slams a door closed.

"You don't have to be so rough, you know." Atsushi says with a huff of annoyance. The mafioso just rolls his eyes, and sits across from him.

"Maybe, but I don't care. What I do care about is why I saw you shaking and crying like a terrified child." Akutagawa says bluntly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. Atsushi's eyes widen as he goes stiff. He wasn't expecting to have to talk about this now, not with Akutagawa going onto the final round, but it seems he was wrong. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat, looking down at his lap.

"Can't this wait? You have to do the final round and all." He asks, hoping to change the subject. He deflates when Akutagawa's stare hardens, knowing he isn't getting out of it. The silence drags on, Atsushi hoping he can at least stall for time.

"Jinko-"

"I know." Silence follows, and Atsushi takes in a deep breath, eyes closing. He lets it out a moment later before speaking.

"I just saw someone from the orphanage in the stands, watching me." Atsushi says quietly, bringing his knees up to his chest the best he can in the small-ish chair.

"Who?" Akutagawa asks plainly, though Atsushi can hear the dangerous undertone to the single word.

"Shibusawa Tatsuhiko." Atsushi says, and Akutagawa frowns at the name. He remembers it from a while ago during the Dragon's Head Conflict. He doesn't remember much of the event itself, only that Soukoku was named not long after it, and that red-haired man that Dazai-San was so fond of saved him.

"He's supposed to be dead. I.... I killed him." He continues, and that makes the older pause. Atsushi wasn't in the Dragon's Head Conflict at all. How could have possibly killed Shibusawa? Akutagawa was just about to ask that question when Atsushi beat him to the punch.

"When I was in the orphanage, he visited frequently. He always sought me out for reasons I don't know, but I remember what he did. One day, it got to be too much and I turned into the tiger, and attacked him. I didn't mean to kill him, I just didn't want to die there and-"

"Atsushi, you didn't kill Shibusawa." Silence. Long and almost deafening silence fills the room.

"What?" Atsushi asks, dumbfounded. Akutagawa coughs into his hand before continuing.

"Shibusawa didn't die by your hands. I know this for a fact since six years ago, he became a problem for the Port Mafia during an all out war between the underground of Yokohama." The mafioso continues, brow raised in slight confusion.

"And I remember it being Chuuya and Dazai killing him at the time." He says. The room once again goes silent as Atsushi digests this information. Another question crosses the older's mind, and he decides to ask it.