"Indeed, you know, just like Itsuho-chan deduced, there are some special abilities in this world even though it is not known to the public"
Atsushi looked at the moon like he was in some kind of trance as he suddenly stiffened like he was possessed; sensing Atsushi's movements, Itsuho frowned.
"Those who inherit this power without being able to control it, most of them will have their bodies destroyed by their own abilities."
Even though she couldn't see, Itsuho did feel the boy's transformation, but she didn't move.
"Probably those from his orphanage already knew the identity of the tiger, even though they didn't tell him or other authoritative figures for some unknown reason" She opened her eyelids as she tried to see something from the boy.
"You are the only one who didn't know it, your other self, Atsushi-kun. You are a....what do they call Dazai?"
"You really surprised me, Itsuho-chan. I have to say that you are not bad for the job" Dazai closed his eyes for a moment as he chuckled.
"He is a gifted one." He looked at Atsushi, who was almost a tiger now. "You took down a machine gun like it was nothing the other day. You are a user of moonlight"
"So he is like a were tiger in jungle myth who becomes a tiger when the moon is full or something like werewolves.... oops, my mistake; it is not he is like a weretiger....he is the were tiger"
She turned to Atsushi, who is now a tiger. When it growls at her, Dazai jumps towards her to protect but she ignores it as she walks to the tiger.
"Itsuho-chan!" The claw of the tiger came to get her head in no time.
As the claw was just a few centimeters away from her, she suddenly moved, dodging it easily as she jumped away from it.
"It is quite big, huh... nope, probably bigger than a normal tiger"
She dodged another one of its claws as the tiger crashed into the boxes right where she had stayed a moment ago.
"Itsuho-chan! Are you alright?" Dazai ran to her, although he seemed to be surprised at her nonchalant attitude as she wiped the dust off his trench coat, which she was wearing to cover up her tattered robe, as she hadn't had a dodging battle with a tiger that was enormous and aiming to end her life.
"Hn, it seems the cat is quite unruly. Like it is asking for a collar to put around its fluffy neck" Itsuho's smile changed as it became a bit wild, with a hint of sardonic pleasure added to it.
Dazai looked at her with a speechless smile, not knowing what to say as she charged at it again.
"No matter how fierce a tiger can be..." Her legs sprinted to the floor as she launched herself into the air, then in a millisecond her hand pressed on its nose as she landed on the back of the tiger.
"..... it's still an overgrown cat that is likely to eat bigger things than rats!" Seeing a human mount it, the tiger became furious as it started to run and jump in all directions to shake her off with a furious roar.
"It seems like we found a quite interesting person, Kunikida-kun." Dazai's eyes widened for a moment as he stood away from the 'ruckus' as he rubbed his chin while muttering under his breath.
No matter how it struggled to move and shook off her off its back, Itsuho effortlessly held on to it as she shook her head like she was looking with disappointment at a kid who has been behaving badly.
"How naughty! It seems putting a collar isn't enough. Bad kitties need to be punished!" Soon her fist clenched as it crashed down onto Tiger's head in the blink of an eye.
"Ouuoooh!!" Tiger howled in pain as the fist didn't stop as the next punch crashed on to its below neck. Soon, punch after punch started to crash into it.
"Ouch!!" Dazai hissed under his breath as a non-existent pain hit him just by seeing this savage scene in front of him.
As she kept this stance, gradually the tiger's fierce howls started to tone down. By the time she stopped punching, it started to whimper under her as she touched its head in satisfaction. "Good kitty, after all hisses and growling, now you tone down!"
"See, no one harmed you just because you stopped that fierce growling. So why do such a useless thing in the first place? You could have become an obedient cute kitty in front of me instead of jumping at me and almost destroying the cloth I got, burrowing to cover myself properly!"
If Kunikida were here, he would have screamed at the absurdity of this scene, accusing that she already punch it down until it got traumatized just for the safety of her clothes.
But for some fortune or misfortune of the tiger, it was Dazai in the warehouse with them who was now looking at this in a daze for a moment as his script of cool moves and speeches got stolen by her fierce fists and attitude.
She caressed its fur as she scratched under its chin as it groaned comfortably while asking for more scratches. "See... if you were good earlier, I would have given you a belly rub too"
"Meow" Its whimpers became more and more aggrieved as she kept scratching under its chin. Sensing Dazai was looking at them motionlessly, her hand paused for a moment.
"Dazai, are you okay? Did something happen?"
".... No, not at all, Itsuho-chan", He snapped out of the trance. "Are you this strong, Itsuho-chan?"
"Huh? You mean the punch? I am not that strong. There is a trick behind it" Itsuho chuckled as the tiger whimpered aggrievedly, and she said nothing else.
"Well...." Dazai walked to them awkwardly as he looked at the tiger, turning its fierce eyes at him, but he kept getting closer as he wasn't scared of it.
Then the tiger turned its eyes back to her as the fierce look in those eyes earlier vanished like that wasn't there to begin with, as those multicolored purple eyes looked at her full of submission, with a gaze begging for more scratches.
"Er...." Dazai stood beside her speechlessly as the smile on his lips twitched while looking at the tiger that was snuggling its face on her lap as he crouched down.
Then he touched its fur with his fingertips. "My ability is to dispel others' abilities just by touching them."
As a light shone upon it, it looked at Dazai grudgingly. Sensing its gaze, Itsuho chuckled. "If my good kitty behaves properly, I will give you a belly rub next time we meet"
"Meow!!" It meowed like it was asking whether she was promising it as it vanished, revealing the familiar white-haired boy who unconsciously sprawled on the floor, his head placed on Itsuho's lap as she ruffled his hair.