Off Duty [open]

“Ah, what a large dog! Look at the coat!”

Daisuke stopped, letting the people admire him. He stilled as children cautiously approached, patting his head. A few adults looked wary, some already on their phones. He had about fifteen minutes before a dog catcher showed up and he would have to scram. He knew this because it happened sometimes in his main stomping grounds. But, as of recently, his little murder spree as the Beast of Ikebukuro was slowing down. It seemed as if the villains of that slummy part of Tokyo were wising up to the fact they were being picked off. That was unfortunate for Daisuke, since they sometimes had food on them he’d steal after the fact and scarf down.

And, having been raised in a laboratory where he’d eat good, high quality meals of meat cuts or eggs with fresh, dog-safe vegetables… He couldn’t lower himself to digging through the trash for rotted meat anymore. He hated it.

So, here he was in the nicer part of town, seeing if anyone would give into his appeal as a “pet” animal and give him a treat. So far, no luck. Who could really blame anyone? His slightly tarnished but still blatantly visible metal collar likely warded off anyone who might have approached him with hopes of rescuing a poor, homeless pooch off the streets. His sheer size and his intimidating docked tail and cropped ears combination likely reduced his opportunities for a snack even further. Yet, he remained determined.

He was going to get a real meal, even if he had to find a sucker to steal it from and out run.

“Puppy...”

“Honey, don’t touch it, you’ve got ice cream.”

As tempted as Daisuke was to steal the ice cream from the child when it petted the bridge of his nose, he resisted. It was chocolate. He knew well enough that chocolate ice cream would hurt him. But, something rich in fat would be awful nice. Fat from a nice, marbled cut of beef, especially, but unless he got bold enough to start breaking into butcher shops, that likely wasn’t going to happen. Maybe he should have followed that man home, just to get more meals out of him…

Daisuke’s pondering led him to spot Bai. He sniffed the air. Strawberry, banana, some sort of bread?

Bingo.

Trotting over, the animal villain wondered how, exactly he should get the treat from the woman. Oh, right, begging. He hadn’t done that since he was a puppy. Head down and ears flopped to the side as much as they could, he immediately started up with loud, high pitched whines. If she didn’t back away or shoo him, he’d sit down right in front of her and stare up. The whining would only continue.

He understood perfectly. He licked his lips, actually salivating at the idea of having his own treat. He felt a little disappointed that the scent of chocolate had also been coming from her crepe; there was so much around that he couldn’t distinguish it all, but, hey, at least he’d successfully puppy eye’d his way into his own.



He did indeed follow her, though he walked with his shoulder even with her thigh. His pace was even, eyes wandering but not particularly trying to run away. Maybe someone else would think she was walking him off leash. Good. That’d delay some tattletale from ratting to the dog catcher so he could properly enjoy his food.



When she had the crepe in hand, Daisuke would sit down. It was a very tight, tense bodied pose. His ears were erect, his noise was pointed straight towards her, and not a part of him drooped or relaxed. He briefly considered her kindness. Hm. Well, he didn’t particularly like people, but at least he’d had something to trade the old man. What could he give her…?



A thank you, he supposed. In quick succession, he let out seven boofs: arigatougozaimasu. He couldn’t speak Japanese or any human language due to lacking the vocal cords for it, but he was smart enough to know how to count syllables. Maybe she’d be tickled by his little trick.



Regardless, he licked his lips again, once again involuntarily salivating at the crepe. If/When she offered the crepe, Bai would be able to see information etched into the metal collar. It was tarnished and warped in places, clearly burnt by hot fires. The information was, written naturally in Japanese, the equivalent of the following:

PROPERTY of NPA SB.

Or, as the acronyms would more clearly imply: Property of the National Police Agency Security Bureau. Bai Zheng had stumbled upon something that could have, if things gone differently, a coworker from another division. And, he was positively drooling.

Animals had a form of manners, a variety of culture, but it was unlike and in some ways incompatible with any of the varieties among humans. When the food was given, Daisuke took it with a gentle mouth - his teeth did not click together for the sake of sparing Bai’s fingers, his movements were slow to avoid touching her hand. But, that was where all semblance of human intention ended.

With the crepe balanced between his pearly white fangs, the dog tilted his head back and chewed but twice. It was more rough readjustment than biting, but that was all that happened before it was gone down his gullet. Bread… bloating, filling bread.

Fantastic.

If his tail wasn’t docked, he might have wagged it. He briefly just basked in the moment. The city was noisy, but he’d always been assailed by noise. He’d never had a quiet moment in all his life. The sun was out, though; it felt good on his fur. He was full. He wasn’t fighting. His shoulder wasn’t even sore anymore from the fight the other day.

Then he heard her say security bureau. His eyes snapped back to Bai’s face. He knew that’s the department his black site training grounds had been under. He’d never been able to tell due to the angle, but, sure enough, that stupid collar had details. But, now that she was on the phone, what could he do? Would they tell her what he had done? No, that’d require them to admit they’d intentionally purchased an animal with a quirk to be turned into a weapon.

And, that’d likely open up more questions than they were willing to answer. But, he’d be wanted back now that he was found. So, he had to figure out a way to escape. He had to make it feel natural, to keep the human off guard.

Putting his nose to the ground, he didn’t even sniff deeply. His eyes roamed and as he mimicked the actions of tracking a scent, but was otherwise trying to walk away from Bai. However, it was just a walk. He couldn’t run, or he’d give away exactly how much Japanese he understood.

He wasn't deaf and she wasn't a fool. Daisuke stopped walking, looking at first over his shoulder and then turning around to look at the woman. The red merle male considered his options. He was lucky that, thus far, the dog catcher hadn't been called. But, she'd ratted on him. He only had so much time. What was more important? Getting away quickly or maintaining his cover? There weren't any heroes around. If he moved quickly, perhaps the shock of the revelation of who - or, rather, what - the Beast of Ikebukuro was might buy him enough of a stall to get away. He wished he had training for this.

But, all his training did was make him ready to do violence. So, violence he had to do.

With a final, warning woof, Daisuke ignited. The scent of burning flesh and fur permeated the air. The dog's neck and head burnt away while the rest of him turned to charred flesh. The once short, docked tail billowed into a fiery blaze, matching his new inferno of a mane. The metal collar remained, revealing exactly why it looked so unkempt. Empty eye sockets bore towards the officer. Heat rolled off Daisuke, sending the air circling around him. Discarded papers danced on the hot breezes before being burnt for being too near his fire. The crowd couldn't ignore him anymore than they'd ignore any other rampaging villain. Daisuke clacked his bare teeth together as a threat.

Stay away. Or, else.

His time was running short. They would be coming for him, no doubt. Probably in another four posts or so.