I do not own Bungou Stray Dogs. (This goes for my whole fanfic here because I'm very forgetful)

Dazai glanced up at the dark clouds. So gloomy...He thought as misty rain dampened his hair. This kind of weather made him want to jump in a river, even though he normally would have done that on a perfectly clear day. He sighed. The president couldn't have sent anyone else on this job?

There were members better suited for this kind of job.

Well, maybe not. As far as Dazai knew, he was the only former Port Mafia member within the Agency, but everyone else had experience with dealing with the Mafia. Therefore, as far as Dazai was concerned, he should have been allowed to eat strange mushrooms and mess with Kunikida. He sighed as he looked back to the orphanage, feeling the utter pointlessness of this entire job. As if the Mafia has agents here. He sighed, it was best to get it over with now.

…

He did not doubt his earlier prediction. The orphanage was by no means a Port Mafia hideout. As he figured earlier, too far from Yokohama for them to be stationed. That didn't mean something wasn't off in that orphanage. It was always possible that the Mafia would take children from there. Dazai was well aware that the use of children wasn't beyond them, but based on his quick peek at the records he could conclude that wasn't the case.

Despite all of that, something was almost indescribably off. The man who had been sent to give him a tour gave him bad vibes. Maybe it was the gloomy feeling in the atmosphere that hung in the air like smoke. All the children murmured among themselves, for visitors must have been rare. Dazai's eyes glanced at their faces. Hungry. Dirty. Sad. He sighed internally, the sooner he got out, the better. He knew enough about orphanages to know that they weren't the happiest of places

Suddenly, a scream tore through the mutters of children. Dazai froze and turned. He stared down the hallway. That's not good! Ignoring the children's stares and his guide's dismayed calls, he took off in the direction of the cry.

He came to a solid door, and opened it without hesitation.

There were very few things that could make Dazai feel sick, the awful thing he saw and the cries he heard were enough to make his stomach flip. A cage sat in the very back of the room. He would barely describe it as fit for an animal to live in. In the cage was a small child with grayish white hair that hung limply over his eyes.

The child backed away when Dazai approached and lowered himself to get a better look. There were shackles on his wrists and ankles that kept him tethered to the back wall. "Hey," Dazai said gently as he slowly reached through the bars. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." The kid only pressed himself against the wall, whimpering. At this point, Dazai withdrew his hand, scaring the child wouldn't do anything to free him.

He rose from the floor, dusting himself off. He hid his disgust because the kid didn't need to think that Dazai was appalled by his very existence. Judging by the conditions he was living in, he'd already had to deal with that enough. Even the Port Mafia wasn't this aweful. He thought.

"Sir," his guide from earlier called in a blunt, hard voice. "This room is off limits to visitors. So, if you could exit over here." He gestured to the door. Dazai gave his signature smile, a smile that several thoughts lurked behind.

"Of course," he responded just as politely, his voice as cheery as it normally was. "And I would like to have a talk with you."

The man gave a single, slow nod.

"I would like to inquire about the child in that room," Dazai began after the two of them sat down in the office.

There was an unreasonably long stretch of silence before Dazai got his answer. "Atsushi needed some time by himself," the man responded dully. Dazai gave a skeptical look. "He isn't like the other children."

"So, that's reason to lock him in a cage and treat him like an animal?" The ability user questioned calmly. Freaking out was entirely against his nature. Keeping calm, speaking normally, and acting like nothing was wrong was always his go to strategy.

"There's other reasons for his imprisonment."

"Such as?"

"Nothing that concerns you, Sir," he said, the gleam in his eye enough to make a normal man fear for his life. However, Dazai was not a normal man. He tilted his head a few degrees into a slightly intimidating look. A full minute of silence passed. "Sir," the man began. "I'm going to ask you to leave."

Dazai smirked slightly as though he hated the situation, but would respect the headmaster's rules and requests. (He wouldn't really, of course, but he could act like he would.) The member of the Armed Detective Agency threw a hint of defeat into his voice to sound convincing. "Seeing as how there's nothing I can do to change your mind or anything, I'll be on my way." He rose from his seat, gave one last unhappy look, then paused as though as he just thought of something. "What if I adopted him?"

"I'm afraid that would not be possible, not in a matter of minutes at least." He put his hands on the desk. "Adoption requires months, possibly years, of background checks, interviews, and child care courses."

Dazai sighed disappointedly. "I'll take my leave then," he muttered, leaving the room. The second he was out of the office, he silently dashed back to the room with the caged child. Hopefully the headmaster would assume that he left.

He glanced behind him when he entered. The child whimpered when the ability user approached him. "Calm down," Dazai said quietly as he got closer. "Everything's fine." He crouched beside the cage again, fiddling with the lock, until it popped off. The cage door swung open, and the boy immediately shuffled backwards, chains dragging and jingling. Dazai grabbed one of the boy's chains, murmuring some soothing words when the kid struggled.

He frowned, observing the links. He was pretty strong, but the chain were thick. Breaking it wouldn't be that easy. He had a hairpin hidden in his hair, specifically for picking locks, but that would probably take time, a luxury he didn't have. It was quiet enough, and it would probably wouldn't scare the child as much as breaking the chains. Dazai exhaled a long sigh as he pulled out the pin. Best to get work on it now.

The boy calmed down eventually when he figured out that Dazai wouldn't cause him harm. The ability user could sense the child's questioning gaze on him as he worked at the shackles.

One lock after the other. It took him a few minutes total, which didn't seem very long, but the headmaster could come in at any second. "Come on," Dazai said as the child crawled toward him. He lifted the boy up and carried him out the door.

"I knew you weren't leaving," a voice said from behind them. The kid cowered, clinging closer to Dazai. "Leave Atsushi or I'll call the police." The headmaster wasn't kidding, but neither was Dazai. Instead of running or leaving the kid like a normal person, he smirked and shifted the child to his side. He pulled his ID card from his coat pocket.

"I'm with the Armed Detective Agency. I came to investigate Port Mafia activities within this orphanage." He smiled fully now, putting together a reason. "Not that we can be sure right now, but based on the fact that I found him chained to a wall and caged gives me reason enough to take him in."

"You don't know what you're dealing with," the headmaster of the orphanage said grimly. "He's not normal. He's dangerous."

Atsushi trembled slightly and Dazai looked straight into the man's eyes, stifling a laugh. "I may not look like much, but I think I can handle a child."

So, that's the first chapter... Hope people liked it. Please review!