Episode 31

'''Part 1: Herurisu! / Part 2: Portrait of a Father' is the 31st episode of Bungo Stray Dogs'' anime series. It aired on May 17, 2019.

Synopsis
The Agency is tasked with finding and delivering an important document. A man is hit and killed by a truck. His identity shocks Atsushi.

Summary
While Atsushi and Kyōka dine together, the latter comments how their food needs more soy sauce. Demon Snow hands her some, but she pins it towards the wall with her knife, remarking how she does not like abilities moving independently. She tells Atsushi that if Demon Snow were human, she would sever her third cervical nerve to prevent her from moving, scaring Atsushi with her extensive knowledge.

They head to Café Uzumaki, where an annoyed Lucy welcomes them and serves them some water. She tells Atsushi that she is working to exact revenge on him; before Atsushi could ask why, Kyōka cuts in and places her order. Lucy warns him to remember her reason behind her revenge, but Kyōka assures him that she would cut her down should she harm him. Lucy also hands them a request from a client for the Agency, specifically for Kyōka.

Atsushi and Kyōka head to a dock to deliver a briefcase with some money to a certain company. Instructed that the briefcase is inside one of the numerous boats at the dock, they split up to search for the boat. It turns out that Lucy has taken the page that states where the briefcase is located in.

As Atsushi struggles in the task, Lucy shows him the missing page, after which she asks if he figured out her reason for revenge. Atsushi guesses incorrectly until she tells him that he has broken his promise before he left Moby Dick, which is to save her. Lucy tosses the page to the water, which Atsushi tries to retrieve. He gets entangled in an old mooring chain in the water and asks for help, forcing Lucy to jump close to him and transport them to Anne's Room. He thanks her and apologizes, telling her that he searched for her in Moby Dick after it crashed. Lucy then retracts her revenge, saying that she merely works at the café as an apology for not waiting for him.

Completely drenched, Atsushi suggests a way for Lucy to transport their bodies and clothes without the water to Anne's Room. In the end, Lucy transports themselves without their clothes into Anne's Room, much to her embarrassment, and instantly transports a naked Atsushi to float back on the water.

Ango heads to the scene where a Special Division for Unusual Powers transport vehicle was attacked. His subordinate Yachiyo Murakoso informs him that an attacker stole Document No. I-75-81-A, leaving Ango wonder why a document on the ability Demon Snow and its record of killing Kyōka's parents would be taken. Meanwhile, the three head to the boat that Lucy points to as stated in the document and finds the seemingly empty briefcase. Kyōka notices something beneath the case and finds a document, labeled as an "employment gift".

The three head to the boat that Lucy points to as stated in the document, though Kyōka voices out her distrust towards Lucy. Inside the boat, they find a seemingly empty briefcase. They then read the document back at the café, which reports the events about the deaths of Kyōka's parents.

One night three years ago, Kyōka's parents were attacked by unknown assailants. The father, a former government spy; and the mother, the erstwhile wielder of Demon Snow, fended off the attackers with relative ease. After being affected by an ability that used blood to control his body, the father was slain per his plea by Demon Snow. Later controlled by the same ability, the mother ordered Demon Snow to protect Kyōka, resulting to the mother getting killed. Before dying, the mother instructed Kyōka to flee and promised that she shall always be with her.

Atsushi tells Kyōka that abilities can be transferred to blood relatives, in which her mother learned how to do so from an ability user who controlled black shadows. However, the transfer was imperfect and thus needed an intermediary (her cell phone) to control Demon Snow. Kyōka recalls that her phone was given her mother days before their deaths, making Atsushi realize it to be the reason she keeps it even after she joined the Port Mafia. As Kyōka realizes that Demon Snow did not kill her parents, Lucy drags Atsushi outside to give the girl some time alone after finally knowing that the ability she resented is actually the embodiment of her parents' love.

As Atsushi wonders who put the report in the briefcase, the assailant walking down a hallway is greeted by Kajii. He remarks on her generosity for spending six months' worth of their operating budget to obtain information from the Special Division for Unusual Powers. As Kōyō reveals herself, she tells him that it is for an employment gift, hence making it worth spending.

Later, Atsushi meets with Tanizaki for a case, filling in for Ranpo who has issued the case to him. Though the request was directed to Ranpo, the detective simply tells him that his pastries are nice and fresh. Left with no choice, Atsushi is briefed on the victim. Tanizaki describes the man in his forties was hit by an approaching truck and died on impact. The man's face was also destroyed and could not yet be identified. According to witnesses, the man jumped in front of the truck. Atsushi also notices a ripped news clipping on the man's hand.

As Tanizaki tries to use Super Deduction, Atsushi remembers Ranpo telling him before he left to head to the flower shop should he end up in a bind. At that point, an officer hands Tanizaki the profile of the identified victim; after showing it to Atsushi, he is completely taken aback — the victim was his orphanage director. Tanizaki suggests they take a break if the case is too heavy, but Atsushi admits that he feels great, since the source of his nightmares is now gone.

He recalls his stay at the orphanage where he felt abandonment and an identity crisis. Chained up as a child, Atsushi was visited by the director. As the latter asked him why he was locked up, Atsushi reasons out that the man hated him, but Atsushi realizes at present that he used to wreak havoc whenever he turned into a tiger. He also remembered the director constantly advise him to resent the man instead of himself, especially when he gets to live in the outside world.

Eventually, Tanizaki approaches Atsushi after the police found the rest of the clipping the victim had. The director was actually searching for Atsushi after his image showed up on a news article after the battle with the Guild. Since the man learned about his work from the article, Tanizaki guesses that he might have wanted to meet the boy. Atsushi refuses to believe him and runs away. Tanizaki asks Dazai, perched nearby, whether he is happy with how things are unfolding. Dazai comes up to Atsushi, who asks him why the director hid his identity as the tiger. Dazai merely remarks that the secret must have been hard to keep, especially from him.

As per Ranpo's hint, the director had an appointment at a flower shop to buy a bouquet of flowers before meeting Atsushi. It turns out that the director chased the news article he was reading after being blown away by the wind. While he chased it, a truck had hit him, resulting to his death.

Despite this, Atsushi cannot bring himself to forgive him, which Dazai acknowledges. Whatever his reasons may be, Dazai believes that the hell he once lived in raised him to save other people from the same violence and evil he himself experienced. Atsushi asks him what the conflicted and overwhelming feelings he is experiencing are, but Dazai answers that only he can understand his own feelings. Nevertheless, Dazai advises Atsushi that a person tends to cry when losing his father, causing Atsushi to cry.

Manga and Anime Differences

 * In the manga, when dining with Atsushi, Kyōka remarks that their food has too much soy sauce. In this episode, she remarks that it lacks soy sauce, after which Demon Snow hands her some.
 * The manga also portrays Kyōka taking a bath, which is not shown in this episode. She is handed a soap by Demon Snow instead of the soy sauce as shown in the episode.
 * Kyōka attacks Demon Snow with various kitchen tools in the manga, while she throws a single knife to the ability in this episode.
 * When Atsushi tries to guess the reason behind Lucy's revenge, Atsushi guesses in the manga that he did not compliment her new hairstyle, while he guesses in this episode that she does not like his bangs.
 * Unlike in this episode where he does not appear, the manga includes Akutagawa as an informant in the middle of the case and hands Atsushi a file about the orphanage director's life. Soon after, a glimpse in the director's past is shown, which is omitted in this episode.

Trivia

 * Herurisu is the romanization of cherrírs, a Palauan word that refers to jealousy or over-possessiveness for one's spouse. This is featured in the real-life Atsushi Nakajima's work Husband and Wife, where two women compete over a man.