Chapter 31. Double Black

When that figure pushed the door open without warning, everyone present seemed to be put on pause. Their thoughts and actions faltered for a moment, and no one was able to react in time.

Sato Goro's heart leaped into his throat. Just a second ago, he was secretly cursing this person in his mind, and now the person in question had suddenly appeared. This coincidence startled him so much that his hand trembled violently, and he almost dropped the notebook he was holding.

In the end, Dazai came to his senses in time. A smile slowly appeared on his face, a calm and polite smile, as if the appearance of Nakahara Chuuya was nothing more than expected to him—if Nakahara Chuuya hadn't seen the stunned expression on Dazai's face when he came in.

“Mr. Sato,” Dazai’s voice was so calm it was almost imperceptible, “Could you please excuse me for a moment? Chuuya and I have some private matters to discuss.” His tone was gentle, yet carried an undeniable air of authority.

Although Sato Goro was somewhat curious as to why Nakahara Chuuya had come, he was eager to leave this somewhat awkward place as soon as possible, so he readily agreed. As he headed towards the door, Nakahara Chuuya was also walking in. The two exchanged polite smiles as they were about to pass each other, which served as a greeting.

Sato practically slipped out along the wall, making sure to close the ward door tightly behind him.

With a soft click of the lock, only two people remained in the ward.

Chuuya Nakahara strode to the bedside in just a few steps, his leather boots making a clear tapping sound on the floor. Then, he looked down at Dazai on the bed, his face full of impatience, his deep voice seemingly suppressing some kind of agitation: "Hey, didn't you say nothing would happen? Why did you end up in the hospital again?"

The familiar questioning tone made it seem as if they were close, at least friends, a stark contrast to the empty chat windows on his phone. This quickly made Dazai realize that this incident might have been premeditated, whether it was the sudden visit, the alleged assassination attempt, or the threatening message.

Perhaps the real culprit was never Yamamura Kyosuke.

He subtly adjusted his breathing, deciding not to reveal his "amnesia" for the time being. A forced smile appeared on his lips, his voice carrying just the right amount of weariness: "Well, plans never go as expected. Some unexpected circumstances arose, so..."

He deliberately left his words blank, attempting to throw out a probing hook to Chuuya Nakahara.

However, Chuuya Nakahara did not press the matter further. Instead, he suddenly chuckled, tilted his head, and his eyes gleamed with a mischievous glint. His gaze, fixed on Dazai Osamu, was so sharp it seemed to pierce through any pretense: "Alright, stop pretending. You're not the original Dazai Osamu at all."

These words instantly shattered Dazai Osamu's carefully constructed psychological defenses, and he felt as if his heart might have stopped beating for a moment.

It wasn't a misperception; he'd been seen through. So direct, so certain, as if any explanation he offered would be futile, as the other person had already formed an unshakeable judgment in their mind. All because of his single reply.

"...Who are you?" Chuuya Nakahara's voice deepened, carrying an unavoidable sense of pressure.

Dazai Osamu fell into a brief silence. This feeling of being questioned about his identity... had a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had experienced something similar somewhere before, but he couldn't remember anything at the moment.

"I am Osamu Dazai." In the end, he chose the most direct answer, his voice calm and unwavering.

Since the other party can make such a assertion, they must possess some evidence that he cannot deny. For example... his answer just now?

This thought suddenly popped into my head, and combined with the subtle sense of incongruity that had arisen from certain previous events, a startling hypothesis instantly formed:

This scene before him was likely foreseen by his counterpart in this world at some point in the past, and because they were counterparts, they could probably anticipate his thoughts. That person not only foresaw that he might come into his body, but also gave Nakahara Chuuya a method to determine his identity, such as a specific question plus a specific answer, which would be the evidence to confirm whether the body had been changed.

That's... disgustingly cunning. Did they know from the beginning that he might show up?

Dazai Osamu's fingertips curled slightly under the thin blanket, and a sense of anger and powerlessness quietly rose in his heart.

The instigator had already left, leaving him alone to face this chaotic mystery. This feeling of being out of control filled him with intense disgust and irritation. He couldn't quite put his finger on what he was disgusted by.

As his mind was filled with a jumble of emotions, Chuuya Nakahara had already dragged a chair over and sat down casually. He crossed his arms and looked at the silent Dazai on the hospital bed with a sharp and probing gaze, but did not disturb the other's thoughts.

At this moment, only the faint chirping of unknown birds and the barely audible breathing of the two people could be heard from outside the window in the ward.

Time passed in silence. Dazai Osamu's thoughts were a jumbled mess, countless possibilities colliding and disappearing in his mind. Finally, he decided to abandon his roundabout approach. Since the pretense had been seen through, there was no need for further buildup. So he raised his eyes, his gaze piercing through the expanding shadows in the ward, locking onto Nakahara Chuuya:

"You know why I came here, right?" His voice was very calm, as if Nakahara Chuuya's previous words hadn't affected him much. Although he asked the question, he didn't actually expect Nakahara Chuuya to give him a clear answer.

His once clear thoughts were now a jumbled mess, and countless gloomy emotions began to surge into his heart, eroding his soul.

Neither the other party's identity nor their purpose mattered at this moment. What weighed heavily on his mind was a question: Was all of this ultimately manipulated? From his death in his first life, to being forced into a distorted mirror image in his second, and now suddenly entering this strange world, occupying this unfamiliar body, and losing four years of his life for no reason... How much did this Chuuya Nakahara before him know?

Even though he knew that the other party might be completely unaware of this, the shackles weighing on his soul grew heavier and heavier, along with the forcibly imposed trajectory of fate. Whenever he thought he could end it all, fate would always play a joke on him, forcing him to find a way to keep going.

He needed an outlet, even if it was small. So, the negative emotions that had been forcibly suppressed by reason, as pointed out by Chuuya Nakahara, were like an unknown liquid thrown into a crucible, boiling and bubbling with black bubbles as they began to frantically fill his mind.

He couldn't help but recall the very beginning. If it weren't for that guy in some other world who also named Nakahara Chuuya, he might have been able to stay in a younger timeframe forever, without having to endure so many additional painful events. Instead, he was forcibly stuffed into a body that was already over twenty years old, losing four years of his life for no reason.

He recalled his terrible experience of body-sharing in the previous world, where a slight misstep could lead to the absurd and disgusting ending of "committing suicide with oneself," and so on. Fragments of chaotic memories repeatedly tore at his nerves, forcing him to recall certain thoughts he thought he had long forgotten.

In short, Dazai, unusually, was unable to contain his emotions, which were revealed by Chuuya Nakahara's seemingly all-knowing words.

...The black mud aura emanating from this guy was almost tangible. Chuuya Nakahara felt that if he didn't find a way to interrupt the other's thoughts, this guy might start thinking about where to go for some life-threatening activities in the next second.

"Tsk." Chuuya clicked his tongue in annoyance, finally breaking the silence with a barely perceptible urgency in his voice. "Hey, listen! I don't know the specifics either." He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts, his gaze unconsciously drifting to the deepening twilight outside the window, lost in memories. "That bastard—I mean, the original Dazai of this world—before he disappeared, he suddenly came to me and said some strange things. Something about him going on a trip to another world, and if I met him again and he didn't say a specific sentence, it meant his experiment had succeeded... And then!"

Chuuya's voice suddenly turned laced with a hint of gritted teeth: "That bastard has really vanished completely! Not only is his phone unreachable, but he's also completely out of the loop. The next time I heard about [Dazai Osamu] was when you were in the hospital. So," he shrugged, his expression a mix of helplessness and frustration, "I was just doing what that bastard left behind. As for you... I have absolutely no idea what happened to you, where you came from."

Dazai Osamu's previously unfocused iris-colored eyes gradually focused as Chuuya explained. Finally, he fixed his gaze on Chuuya: "Is that so?"

His tone was light and airy, as if his soul had left his body and wandered to some unknown place, making Zhongyuan Zhong feel inexplicably uneasy.

At this moment, the setting sun was about to completely sink below the horizon, and the sky gradually changed from yellow-blue to gray. The lights in the ward were off, and darkness quickly engulfed every corner devoid of light. Outside the window, tree branches swayed in the wind, constantly tapping against the glass with a monotonous tinkling sound.

Twilight streamed through the windowpanes, casting long shadows in the hospital room. The light and shadow danced across each person's silhouette, dividing them into unevenly lit sections.

Dazai Osamu's gaze fell on Nakahara Chuuya. The last rays of the setting sun enveloped him, casting a soft golden edge on his ochre hair and half of his profile, while the other half remained hidden in shadow. This interplay of light and shadow gave him an unreal, hazy appearance, like a dream.

Dream.

The figure that existed in his memory from many years ago seemed to overlap with the person before him. Dazai Osamu's mind was blank at this moment; he wasn't thinking about anything, or rather, he didn't care about anything anymore, no matter what it was.

The only clue he wants to confirm, the only clue he can grasp, is this:

The only thought that popped into my head at that moment rushed out of my throat without any hindrance and transformed into words:

"Do you know about 'Gravity Master'?" His voice remained calm, but his iris-colored eyes followed Chuuya's figure closely, locked on, revealing a kind of moth-to-a-flame hope.

Now, he was beginning to feel a deep weariness again. This weariness did not originate from his body, but from the depths of his soul.

He was utterly exhausted; holding on until now had nearly drained him of all his strength. If nothing else appeared to sustain him, he might give up.

The slight tension on Chuuya Nakahara's face, which had been tense from explaining, melted away instantly upon hearing the word "gravity user." A complex smile, a blend of nostalgia and understanding, slowly bloomed on his lips, exceptionally clear in the dim light. He leaned slightly forward towards Dazai Osamu, his cobalt blue eyes shining brilliantly in the dim environment, like polished gemstones.

His voice was deep and clear, carrying a certain certainty that had been settled, as he answered Dazai's question: "I know."

You can ask me anything.

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Author's Note: Yesterday I suddenly had an idea for how to write the side stories. It might be a combination of "Dazai in the Second World" and "Celebrity Dazai (Unauthorized Version)". I haven't decided on anything else yet. [hugs]