21 21

◎"Do you want to join the Armed Detective Agency?"◎

twenty one

The next day, Kawakami Wakana was woken up by the red-haired little girl who followed Dr. Blackjack and called herself Pinocchio.

I rubbed my eyes, and after the world in front of me became a little clearer, I realized that I had fallen asleep on the bed without knowing when, and the bed was already empty.

"Are you looking for Monk Fyodor?" Pino asked in a still-not-quite-standard voice. "He's gone."

"I see..." Kawakami Wakana hummed in agreement, patting the little girl's head. "Is Pinoko-chan going to kindergarten?"

"How rude of you!" the little girl immediately snapped. "Pinoco is already 18!"

"...?"

From the moment the little girl pronounced "sir" as "sen-seng" and called the doctor "chi-sen," Kawakami Wakana assumed the child was pretending to be an adult, said "sorry" to her, and left Blackjack's residence and clinic.

Before this, she had asked Dr. Blackjack. He said that Feda's fever had subsided that morning, and that he had some personal matters to attend to, which was why he left early.

Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."

Is there any personal matter that you absolutely have to deal with while you have a cold and are in a weakened state?

Feda...

Could it be that he's avoiding seeing her?

She didn't have anything planned to do today. She was supposed to go home. But Kawakami Wakana went straight to the Armed Detective Agency.

She didn't go directly to the other members of the detective agency, but instead arranged for Dazai Osamu to meet her alone at the Whirlpool Cafe where she had been working.

When Ruoyi arrived at the coffee shop, Dazai Osamu was already waiting at a two-person table. As soon as he saw her, he waved.

"Good morning, Ruoyi-chan. How was the Russian I taught you the other day?"

Kawakami Wakana immediately clenched her fists: "Do you want me to scold you when you bring this up, or do you want me to complain to Kunikida-san or Oda-san?"

Osamu Dazai: "..."

“However,” Ruoyi said, settling into her seat, “we’ll talk about this later. I didn’t come here today to settle scores with you. I want to ask you some questions.”

Dazai Osamu's previously amused expression immediately vanished.

Kawakami Wakana had no choice but to tell the truth about what happened after she met Fyodor. However, she subconsciously omitted the memories that spanned thousands of years that she had received, and only mentioned the labels she saw above Fyodor's head, such as "Demon," "Sin and Punishment," as well as murderous intent and favorability.

Even the "leader of the rats in the dead house" and the "one of the five signs of decay" were omitted.

Dazai Osamu listened quietly the whole time, and after Wakana finished speaking without taking a deep breath, she asked, "Is this what they call 'superpowers'?"

Dazai Osamu didn't answer directly, but pointed to the top of his head: "Can Wakai-chan see anything from above my head?"

"..." Kawakami Wakana squinted at it, but nothing was displayed.

She shook her head.

“That’s true…” Dazai Osamu nodded, picked up his phone, and started sending a message to someone.

A few minutes later—

Kunikida Doppo and Oda Sakunosuke barged into the café.

Kunikida Doppo: "Dazai, our company is facing a major crisis. Is it true that someone who knows how to solve it is at the Whirlpool Cafe?"

Oda Sakunosuke: "Whirlpool Cafe has released new spicy chicken ramen curry and kids' meals?"

Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."

She works at this store, how come she doesn't know about the spicy chicken curry and the new kids' meal?

but……

She quickly noticed—

A label was written on the top of Kunikida Doppo's head;

[Member of the Armed Detective Agency, candidate for next president, special ability: Lone Bard.]

Favorability: [30% (friend). 】

[Murderous intent: 0%]

Oda Sakunosuke is:

[Member of the Armed Detective Agency, former member of the Port Mafia, Special Ability: Flawless.]

[Favorability: 70% (friends). 】

[Murderous intent: 0%]

"...?"

Speaking of which—

Did she see the word "friend" again in Fei Jia's previous tag?

"As expected, Wakai-chan can see the characters above your Fei Jia's head on Kunikida-kun and Oda-saku's heads, right?" Dazai Osamu said thoughtfully.

"Yes." Kawakami Wakana nodded quickly.

Dazai Osamu took a sip of his juice before continuing, "It seems that Wakana-chan is indeed a superpowered individual. As for what your superpower is, while I can't be 100% certain yet, at least I can be sure of one thing—"

"You can see the identities of everyone you know, as well as their level of affection or murderous intent towards you."

Kawakami Wakai: Eh...

She immediately stared at Dazai Osamu with suspicion: "Then why can't I see yours?"

“That’s because—” Dazai Osamu said as he pulled Kunikida Doppo and Oda Sakunosuke to a larger seat, “My ability, No Longer Human, can nullify other abilities.”

"...?"

…………

While sipping her self-service beverage, Kawakami Wakana listened to Dazai Osamu talk about supernatural abilities.

The so-called "superpowers" that we can currently understand are special abilities possessed by a portion of people. Most of the superpower users in Japan are concentrated in Yokohama, which is why this city has always been described as "turbulent," "unsafe," and "not to be visited unless necessary."

The Armed Detective Agency is indeed not an ordinary detective agency, but a detective agency composed of people with supernatural abilities. Together with the other two supernatural ability organizations in Yokohama—Port Mafia and the Special Ability Affairs Section—it maintains order among people with supernatural abilities in Yokohama.

“I understand what that bastard Dazai said,” Kunikida Doppo said. “Wakai-san, if you’d like, we can talk to the president and have you take the detective agency’s entrance test.”

After all, the girl in front of him was someone who could see part of a person's identity information and even the name of their superpowers at a glance just by exchanging names. If he let her be noticed by other groups of people with superpowers, it would definitely not be a good thing.

Should I join... the Armed Detective Agency?

Kawakami Wakai paused for a moment.

Since she is also a superpowered individual, joining the Armed Detective Agency would indeed avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble, but—

She thought about what happened last night.

When she said the words "live for me," Feda, lying on the bed, raised her eyes, which were blurry from the fever, and looked at her with some confusion.

"You haven't changed at all."

"But... you're just an ordinary girl. It's such a heavy obligation for someone to entrust their life to you. Can you really bear that burden?"

“Maybe I can’t do it yet…” she said, head bowed. “But you also said…”

"What I really want is the feeling of being needed by others."

"—So, just think of this as the capriciousness of a naive little girl. After all, I don't want Fedia to become someone who 'disappears in the next second' one day."

Fedia arrives in Yokohama in search of the "Book" and to eliminate those with supernatural abilities. If the Armed Detective Agency, one of the "Three-Tier Project," finds out, will they accept him?

She wasn't quite sure.

but--

She didn't want to show any hostility towards Fedia right after saying those words.

After all, she had decided first to become someone that Feda needed.

“Let me think about it!” Kawakami Wakana said immediately. “After all—there are ‘superpowered individuals’ in this world, and I might be one of them or something… It’s really hard to accept that right away…”

“Yes.” Dazai Osamu nodded. “If you’ve thought it through, you can contact me anytime.”

"Okay," the girl said hurriedly, then picked up her bag and left.

It wasn't until Kawakami Wakana left the coffee shop that Dazai Osamu looked at his two colleagues:

"Oda-saku, and Kunikida-kun, what do you think of Wakai-chan?"

"The spicy curry and kids' meal were definitely a lie," Oda Sakunosuke said with a hint of resentment.

Kunikida Doppo adjusted his glasses and commented, "In my opinion, this person is only suitable to be developed into an ally, not an enemy."

"If one day we discover that her stance is opposed to our club's—"

"Don't think of things so badly, Kunikida-kun!" Dazai Osamu interrupted Kunikida Doppo. "I think that one day in the future, Wakai-chan will agree to join the Detective Agency."

…………

Sleeping face down on the bed naturally results in poor sleep quality. Kawakami Wakana returned to her rented apartment in Tokyo, feeling exhausted, and went to sleep, pulling the covers over her head. When she woke up again, it was already evening.

When Ruoyi picked up her phone to check the time, she noticed a message from Fei Jia and realized that he had removed her from his block list. Opening the chat history, she saw that Fei Jia had simply sent a picture of a thermometer and a "thank you."

After opening the thermometer, the following is displayed:

34 degrees.

Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."

This person is really extreme!

"It's alright, it's alright!" she quickly replied. "On the contrary, I'm the one who suddenly barged in front of Fei Jia, said some rude things, and even vomited all over the place. I should be apologizing!"

However, on the other hand—

If everything Dazai taught me was a lie—"I love you" actually means "You're crazy," and "Goodbye" actually means "Idiot"—then what exactly did Sukabule mean?

Fyodor, upon receiving the message: "..."

This kitten—

Why do we have to keep harping on this?

He didn't intend to tell Kawakami Wakana the meaning behind those words. After all, the insult "You're crazy" was far more damaging to a Lucia than "You're insane."

But unexpectedly—

The kitten immediately sent a meme of a cat with big, watery eyes.

[Kawakami Wakai: Does it mean "idiot," "good-for-nothing," or "scumbag"? Or is it that Japanese people sometimes use to mock someone—"Your mother's belly button is protruding?"]

"..."

[Author's Note]

What does it mean? What does it mean?

Small Theater

One day, when Kawakami Wakana was taking a walk with Fyodor, they saw a child walking a dog in the park.

Looking at that adorable dog, Ruoyi's heart melted.

"Speaking of which, Fei Jia, if you were to have a pet, what kind would you like to have?" she couldn't help but ask.

“Cat,” Fyodor replied.

"Huh?" Kawakami Wakana was a little surprised. "Is it that ordinary?"

"—Because you're Lucia, I thought you'd want to keep polar bears or wolves as pets, Fedia."

Fyodor: "..."

This is a stereotype from somewhere!