TW: Cursing, Child Abuse, M*ri
SW: Borne Back Ceaselessly into the Past (Constantly Pushed to the Past, Part 2)
RI: Lucy Maud Montgomery, Atsushi Nakajima, Junichiro Tanizaki, Osamu Dazai
(A/N: For clarification on something that might've confused readers in the previous chapter, "changed your name" meant "give yourself a name". You'll find out later in the fanfiction that {Y/N} did not have a good backstory and they were given a number that was their name for a while, and then they eventually changed it back to {Y/N} when they got into the ADA, but people from their backstory still view it as their "real name" in a way, if that makes sense? My apologies if this is confusing!)
Lucy seemed as happy as ever as she exclaimed, "looks like we made another friend! Aren't you happy, Anne?" She spoke like she was speaking to an adorable puppy when Anne floated back over to her. "Oh, what's that? You still want more?" Directing her stare back at Atsushi and you, she exclaimed, "alright then! We've got a pretty one here! I'm sure they'll be loads of fun!"
In less than a second, Anne had leaped towards Atsushi and you. But before her hands could clamp down on you again, Atsushi grabbed your waist with his tiger arms. "Don't worry, (Y/N)! I've got you!" He shouted, knowing that your ability wasn't good for agility. He quickly pushed off of the ground after forming his tiger legs.
When he jumped up to push off of the ceiling, you had to be honest and admit you really thought it was going to be like outer space and you would continue floating forever. But somehow it was solid ground, and Atsushi pushed himself back down to the floor, where he dropped you off and continued the game of tag by hopping back to the ceiling to swing onto a yellow ribbon.
Anne thankfully followed him, which left you impatiently waiting on the ground for him to stop trying to show-off. He ran along the wall, defying all laws of gravity as if this was some sort of anime, and then finally pounced back onto the floor.
As he hit the ground, Lucy giggled and clapped her hands together. "Incredible! I wanna see more!" Atsushi stayed crouched down on the ground as he watched Anne float down behind Lucy.
"You have such a strong and useful ability," Lucy exclaimed, casting her head to the ground as she got lost in her mind. "You must've been highly valued from the moment you were born. I know that you're an orphan. I grew up in an orphanage too. I still remember the cold... After using freezing rags to clean for hours and hours on end, my fingers would ache for days."
Eyes widening, you looked at Atsushi and Lucy. Was his orphanage like that too? That's horrible... Why does this always have to happen to good people? They don't deserve this treatment, and yet it always happens to them. Then they end up in the hands of whatever organization happens to pick them up off of the side of the road. Could things have been different for Lucy? Maybe she could've worked at the agency, if only the Guild were pushed away... she deserves to be given the right to choose where she wants to go, right? Or is the world really that cruel?
Trying to direct your mind off of pity on Lucy, you ended your thoughts by deciding that you would have to ask Atsushi about the orphanage after all of this was over.
Lucy had turned around and was now caressing Anne's cheek again. "They all shunned me because of my ability. They all thought that I was some kind of freak. I heard that when you were taken, the agency was desperate to find you. How wonderful! It must've been because of your great ability."
Atsushi desperately tried to shut her off by yelling, but she only continued to speak over him. "That's not-!"
"That's the reason why the Guild took me in, but there's no room for error in the Guild." She stopped caressing Anne's chin and sighed, "if I fail on this mission, I'll be tossed aside like a used napkin and I'll be all alone again. Tell me. Why are you special?" She turned around to face him, frustration and confusion evident on her face. "How come I'm not special? It's not fair! You should know how I feel more than anybody else! You deserve to stay here forever!"
With that, Anne had made her move again, getting ready to clamp her hands down on him. Seeing that you weren't the main target, Atsushi made a quick choice to push you aside so that Anne wouldn't catch you.
He started running away, throwing large presents at the doll when he got to the corner of the room. That's when you realized how close he was to the door with the hostages. Making eye contact with you, he quickly gestured his head to the door if you hadn't got the gist of it already.
Nodding in response, you dashed over to the door, holding up your hands to catch the key to the door holding the hostages. When Atsushi chucked it, it flew gracefully through the air before somehow landing in your palms. In your moment of triumph, you shouted, "I got it!"
"Put it in, (Y/N)!" Atsushi shouted the moment Anne turned around to glare at you.
"Anne, stop them!" Lucy ordered, pointing a finger in your direction as you quickly tried to insert the key. Junichiro was so going to owe you for saving his ass!
But before you could put the key in the hole, a voice from behind you warned, "hey, watch out!"
Turning around to figure out who had just yelled at you, you didn't expect to feel the key sliding by your cheek, cutting lightly into the flesh as it flew backwards onto the floor in front of Lucy. In response, Anne floated away and back over to Lucy as Atsushi exclaimed "(Y/N)! Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine!" You answered, despite the fact that you flinched the moment the blade of the key touched your skin.
A warm red liquid dripped down from your skin. It wasn't a large cut, but it was enough to cause a visible wound. Atsushi ran over to doubly make sure that you were alright, grabbing onto your shoulders when he came near you. He wiped the blood from your cheek off with his hand and looked into your eyes. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I said I'm fine, Atsushi. I've had worse," you replied, taking his hand off of your cheek and ignoring his concern almost completely as you turned to face Lucy. He was caring, but you had to focus on the situation at hand. You both wanted to make sure the other was okay, but you didn't want it to cause you to fail.
You could almost imagine the looks on Kunikida, Dazai, Yosano, and Ranpo's faces. You couldn't help but wonder, how long until they all get tired of saving you?
Meanwhile, you spotted Lucy leaning down to pick up the key. "You shouldn't throw away your chance at escape," she teased.
Atsushi sounded enraged as he turned to Lucy. A flicker of dread and fear also appeared in his eyes where triumph once was. "Weren't we supposed to win if they used that key!?"
"That's right, if one of you could open the door!" Lucy giggled, "I don't know how to use this key either! It's a complete mystery to me! The real game starts now! Obviously, the weretiger is very good at tag! The pretty one seems to be easy to catch but fun to play with. As long as they're on the board, you seem to have motivation! Once I take them though, I'm sure you'll crack!"
Her words caused Atsushi and you to glance at each other. It was becoming more and more obvious that she had a new main target: you. You grumbled under your breath, "why does this always happen?"
"I wonder just how much longer you'll last!" With that, Anne prepared to pounce on you.
Although Atsushi reached to grab you, you decided to get out of everyone's way and run towards a present box. Once you were there, you crouched and hid, sneaking into a dark crack so you wouldn't be seen by Anne. The doll quickly rushed over to quickly search the area, until you heard Atsushi screaming to catch her attention and make sure she got away from you, successfully causing her to dash off in his direction.
During this time, you decided to make a game plan. Remaking the key out of your ability wasn't impossible. But in order to make it, you'd probably have to run up to the door. Then you could just fill the keyhole with crystals and turn it.
Making a quick decision, you ran out of your hiding place and sprinted towards the door holding the hostages. Your hand was outstretched as if that could somehow help you reach it faster. You were almost halfway there when you decided to quickly glance over in Atsushi's direction. Of course, you just happened to look over as he fell from the sky, a ribbon hanging from the ceiling blocking him from leaping to another wall.
"Atsushi!" You yelled out as concern got the better of you. His eyes locked with yours as he sat on the ground he had just fallen upon, Anne looming over him threateningly.
He gulped before yelling, "I'm sorry about what I'm about to do, (Y/N)! I guess I'm just not the hero everyone thought I was!"
With those words said, he quickly leaped away from Anne as she turned around to you. Lucy kept her attention on Atsushi as he ran towards the exit door. You felt betrayed as you watched him leave you behind.
"What are you doing!? Atsushi!" You yelled after him in a last desperate attempt to get him to come back. But honestly, you knew that all you should focus on at that moment was the large doll staring you down.
"At least save your partner, you moron!" Lucy yelled after him too surprisingly. She seemed shocked by his actions as well.
Meanwhile, you were getting ready to face Anne head on. Your ability wasn't good for agility, so you couldn't outrun her. Your only hope was to stand your ground and fight.
In less than a second, Anne's hands closed around you. You quickly made spikes sprout from all over your body. You curled into a ball to protect yourself, hoping that the spikes would warn Anne off. You thought it would at least pierce her, but she wasn't human, so you couldn't have known what she'd do next.
She swiped her hand up to get ready to knock the crystals out of you, which made you make a quick decision to retract them. Of course, this now caused you to be completely open. The last thing you saw before a bunch of tinier dark orange hands dragged you into the room of hostages was Atsushi's eyes. The doctor-looking man seemed to stop him before he could reach the exit. "Fight, Atsushi!" You shouted, "fight!"
With that, you were pulled in and vanished into the darkness of the hostage room.
~-•-~
Everything was pitch black around you. You could no longer feel the ground beneath your feet and the air felt stuffy. You wondered how long it would take until you were free from whatever place you were in.
Unless you truly were stuck here forever...
But all of your thoughts were broken as something bright entered your vision: a bright yellow ribbon being pulled inside the room and familiar screams echoing around you.
In the next second, suddenly you blinked and you were in the middle of the road once more. You were surrounded by the other people that were in Anne's chamber with you, but drivers angrily honked at you. They all yelled stuff such as "get out of the road" and "move it, idiots!"
Before you could go with the crowd and move out of the way, a familiar voice yelled, "(Y/N)! Naomi! Oh, thank goodness! You're both safe!" You were brought into a large hug by Junichiro.
Although you could spot Junichiro and Naomi, you also worried about where Atsushi was until you saw him running over to Lucy. You looked over at her, wishing you knew more about how to help her. If only you knew each other better...
Suddenly a voice spoke beside you three. "Can I join the communal hug too?"
Casting a glance behind you and seeing a grinning Kenji caused you to smile and hold out a hand to him, beckoning him to join the hug. His contagious smile only grew as he kneeled down and joined the hug.
A couple seconds later, another familiar voice caught your attention. He yelled your name in the distance. "(Y/N)!"
When you saw who it was, you broke the hug and sat up. Dazai's eyes were wide with fake worry as he ran up to you, but you only glared at him and sighed. He knew all of this was going to happen, of course...
"You're a bit late, you asshole!"
<~-•-~>
(A/N): Hello everyone!! I hope you enjoyed the twenty-fourth chapter! The struggle for motivation is real though... I promise I'll get new chapters out ASAP as soon as I finish writing them!!
I want to slap M*ri and hug Kenji so much. Like... how can I adopt Kenji and where. He's such an innocent and wholesome child.
Weekly song recommendation: "The Red Means I Love You" by Madds Buckley
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the story and don't forget to vote, comment, and maybe follow if you really liked it!
Everyone have a stupendous day/night!!
(2347 words)