The lack of fics for this awesome manga and anime saddens me! So I decided to write some for them (I should be on hiatus atm but shh). From the ED song I could see a beautiful bond between Osamu and Atsushi which became the inspiration for this story.

Warning: Unbetaed and English's not my first language

Found Each Other

"Life is a dream for the wise,

a game for the fool,

a comedy for the rich,

a tragedy for the poor.

But life always offers you a second chance, and it's called tomorrow."

This was a story of how a man's life was saved by saving a strange little stray feline from the brink of death.

My name is Osamu Dazai, male, age 22, had dark brown hair with matching dark-colored eyes, quite tall and slim in physique. I work as a detective in a shady group (yes, shady) called Armed Detective Company where we mostly solve cases that were considered as too violent or difficult for the Military Police to handle. Simply put, you'll find us whenever something supernatural is around.

And I like suicides. No, I don't like watching other people commit suicide but I, myself want to take my own life away. Countless attempts made, and all were deemed unsuccessful.

And on my way home from another exhausting work today, I found a stray cat.

Well, not just any ordinary stray cat - this cat had a rather peculiar pattern, it had snowy white fur covered with black stripes like that of a Bengal tiger. Maybe it was a lost baby tiger that somehow mysteriously ended up in the back alley of Japan's most busiest city, Tokyo, who knows?

The man encountered the cat...

Having giving up on life like he always did, Osamu decided to take an alternative route back home, a dark, creepy back alleyway that had been deserted for years. Perhaps this time he would finally get lucky enough to be attacked by a serial killer or stumble into a den of rotten thieves where they would mercilessly kill him after robbing him for all that he's worth in order to silence him for eternity?

He had always wanted to die without troubling other people but considering how desperate he was to get rid of his life but too lazy to do it himself that particular night (since even if he did, someone would always save him in the end, like that uptight Kunikida for example), he marched straight into the smelly, cockroaches-infested, rats-crawling narrowed space without a second thought.

Walking deliberately slow and humming to distract himself, Osamu failed to notice a furry ball of dirtied white laying on the ground and what he did next might've sounded a bit inhumane - He stepped on its long unmoving tail that poked out of its body. It was accidental he swore.

And the poor thing yowled.

The dark-haired man jumped two feet in the air from shock before his dark hazel eyes fell onto the trembling ball of fur, now writhing in pain.

"Oh dear, did I step on you, poor little...cat?" Osamu peered in closer before assuming it to be a cat judging from its large cat-like ears and long stripy tail (with a bit crooked part from where he misstepped just now). Then, the brunette carefully scooped the injured animal into his arms, finally noting the sharp purplish yellow irises weakly gazing into his eyes before it fainted.

Something about the way the white cat stared into his eyes felt almost...human.

"Oh my, oh my. What should I do with this little fellow?" He hated dogs but wasn't so fond of cats either. Osamu contemplated, but didn't take that long to finally bring the cat back home. He was at fault for stepping on its tail anyway.

Oh well, yet another suicide plan foiled. But he must hurry home and tend to the wounded cat first before anything else.

The last thing Osamu could remember after cleaning up the cat, treating its injuries and feeding it with the leftovers he had for dinner was heading straight to bed dead tired before a fluffy white thing crept quietly under his arm, and they both fell asleep snuggling close to each other.

When morning comes, a new day begins...

"Uhh.." The brunette stirred a bit in his sleep, planning to sleep in for a couple more hours since today was a weekend after all. He then felt something warm underneath his arms and vaguely recalled bringing home a stray cat last night.

He was just about to doze off again when suddenly he felt arms wrapping around his waist. Human's arms. Osamu lived alone. So why would there be another human sleeping right next to him again?

"What the fuck-!" Osamu popped his eyes open, and roughly tear away from the stranger but ended up falling from bed instead.

Thud!

"O-ow...my back..." The poor man rubbed his sore back, momentarily forgetting what was on top of his bed.

Then the sheets rustled, the bump underneath the blanket moved before a white head popped out and what appeared to be a very sleepy teenage boy came into view. "Wh...where am I?"

Osamu spat in distaste at the thought of sleeping with a male (and probably underage) on the same bed. The brunette simply didn't swing that way. Eyeing the boy with full caution, he asked back, "Shouldn't that be my question instead, boy?"

Somehow the boy looked oddly familiar.

That thin frame...

The white hair...

The purplish honey yellow eyes...

"It can't be... you're the cat?"

The boy cocked his head to one side, looking mildly confused, "Huh?"

Did he really not remember? Or just pretending not to?

"Do you remember anything last night?" Osamu dusted himself up once he stood up on his two feet again. "How did you get those injuries?"

"I.. I've been kicked out of the orphanage I grew up in and had been starving for days. A couple of thugs asked for my money and when I said I had none, they beat me down pretty badly. Are you... the one who saved me, mister?" The boy leveled his gaze into Osamu's eyes, looking suddenly very tiny and vulnerable.

"Yeah... but I did it on a whim. Don't page me for a good guy or anything. Now scram." The brunette ruthlessly replied before exiting the bedroom.

Osamu quietly closed the bathroom door behind him and dialled up a number on his phone.

"Hello, Kunikida-kun. I have a problem." Osamu then explained to his bespectacled coworker from A to Z.

5 minutes later...

"What do you mean he's my responsibility now? I didn't know he was a human to begin with!" An irritated Osamu almost yelled through the phone.

"You reap what you sow, Dazai. You have no choice but to take care of him. Maybe this would teach you not to be so suicidal anymore." Kunikida flatly said.

"But-"

"Now I have a poem to finish so don't disturb me anymore, new cat owner-san."

"Wait, Kuni-"

Click.

How aggravating.

Ring... Ring...

"Hello, Ranpo-san?" Osamu started.

"Dazai-kun." A silky voice greeted back.

"There's something-"

"Let me make a guess, you found a stray white cat with black stripes which can mysteriously transform into human, a young boy I presume and now you want me to take him in instead?" Ranpo deducted precisely as always. But how an earth he managed to do that remained a mystery to Osamu.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Unfortunately, the answer's a big no, Dazai-kun. Farewell."

Click.

Well, he suspected as much.

Ring... Ring...

"Yosano-san?"

"Ah, Osamu-chan! What a pleasant surprise." Akiko Yosano, the only female member in the company, giggled from the other end.

"Can I trouble you with something?"

"Why, of course! Anything for my dear Osamu-chan~" The woman chirped.

"Can you take care of a stray cat I found? P.S. he's a werecat." The brunette bluntly explained.

"Oh dear, sorry but I'm in Hawaii right now."

"What?"

"I secretly took a one month vacation so don't tell anyone, Osamu-chan! And good luck with the cat! Bye-bye!"

Click.

Okay he didn't see that coming, to be honest.

Ring... ring...

"Hiya, Dazai-san!" A cheerful voice greeted Osamu's ears.

"Hey, Kenji-kun. Do you like cats?"

"Eh? No, I'm allergic to them!" The blond truthfully answered.

". . . . ."

"Dazai-san, you still there?"

"Oh, okay. Nevermind then."

Click.

What a bummer. In the end, he couldn't even get the cat out of his hands. Now what?

Almost simultaneously, he received four text messages, one of each from his colleagues. And they were the exact same text.

'Don't hurt the cat's feelings.'

And Osamu undeniably felt remorse afterwards. Just now, he was being a little too harsh on that cat who had recently been abandoned. He should apologise properly.

"Cat?" He looked around his house and found no signs of the mysterious cat boy.

The main door to his house was wide open.

Oh, God.

'I knew it. He didn't want me. No one ever wanted me. Not my parents. Not the orphanage. Not even that kind man who saved my worthless life. No one.' The white haired boy stared down from the top of a tall building with the idea to jump off and end his miserable life once and for all.

He took a step closer to the edge of the building with one foot dangling on nothing. "Goodbye, world." He closed his golden violet eyes and stepped on air.

"Don't, you fool!"

A hand snatched his arm in time and both of them stumbled backwards on the rooftop, the white haired boy lying on top of the brunette, his saviour for the second time now.

"Now, wasn't that frightening? Look, you're shaking like a leaf so don't lie." Osamu held the trembling boy tighter and patted his head as if to comfort him. He looked so frail and small that Osamu couldn't help but want to protect him. To keep him safe from any unwanted harm or danger. Osamu began to wonder if he'd finally grown a human heart?

Both of them stayed in that position for a while longer, listening to each other's racing heartbeats as they gradually began to slow down.

Osamu finally opened up his mouth, "The name's Osamu. Osamu Dazai. What's yours, young one?"

The white haired boy softly replied, "Atsushi... Atsushi Nakajima.. u-um.. t-thanks.. for saving my life.. again..." Shortly after, he transformed into a cat again and weighted almost nothing against Osamu's chest. The transfiguration usually occurs when he's tired or under great stress.

"Hey, don't tell me... You plan to have me spoil you by carrying you back home again?" Osamu remarked but cradled the now sleeping cat close to his chest once more. He must be exhausted from shock, the poor thing.

Sighing, the brunette mildly stroke its fluffy fur before scratching behind its ears with his fingers, earning himself a low purr from the feline, seemingly enjoying the touch. 'Aw, how cute,' he thought, his lips unconsciously formed a wide smile.

Maybe having a pet cat wasn't as bad as he thought it would be...

"Alright Atsushi-kun, let's go home." Osamu began walking back to his house, thinking he'll keep the stray cat after all.

None of these would ever have happened had they not found each other.

In the end, the stray cat had found its home, the one place where he belongs, and the suicidal man had found a reason to live, and he started to look forward to spending his everyday now with his new little friend, Atsushi, the werecat.

-The End-

Thanks for reading! Hopefully more stories of these lovable characters will come as the anime continues! :3