BEAST Chapter 15

Birthday is the 15th chapter of the Bungo Stray BEAST manga.

Summary
During that certain May 5th, Atsushi crashed into the orphanage director's office, where he found the latter standing before him. Referring to him as Number 78, the orphanage director called out his tardiness, to which Atsushi angrily demanded him to stop calling him as such. The orphanage director had seemingly been awaiting him for the graduation ceremony, while Atsushi realized that the office locked automatically, which meant that the orphanage director had unlocked the door for him.

The orphanage gong alarmed, a sound the orphanage director described to bring order among them, though Atsushi perceived it as a sound that bound them and dictated what they must be doing. Amidst the absence of clocks in the orphanage, only the orphanage director, who roped them in, possessed a clock.

According to the orphanage director, the orphans who lived only to be controlled and educated had no need for clocks. When a senior once tried to purchase a watch using his savings, he was severely beaten and thrown out of the orphanage. The orphanage director then commended Atsushi for being quite obedient and brought out a small box.

Atsushi asked what the box was, which the orphanage director claimed to be necessary for his graduation. Atsushi continued to press on with his questions, panically assuring himself that he would win in physical combat against the orphanage director. He pondered what the box contained, thinking that it might be a gun or, worse, a bomb as a possible precaution against his tiger ability that the orphanage director knew of.

Walking towards Atsushi, the orphanage director reminded him that those unable to protect others did not deserve to live. Atsushi demanded him to stay away, though his instincts urged him to fight. As the orphanage director stretched out his arms wide and declared that he had completed teaching Atsushi, the latter struck the orphanage director with his claws and beat him to death. Atsushi then caught a glimpse of the box's contents, namely a watch and a paper on which was written "happy birthday".

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Atsushi Nakajima (flashback)
 * Orphanage Director (flashback)