Chapter 26 Fifteen Years Old (Part Two)

On my fifth day in Yokohama, I'm settling in well.

Even if I can't rent or buy a house, it's okay!

If you're living alone, Yaochuan Ling doesn't really need a house.

She can be the wind, and where the wind stops is where she sleeps.

She could be a cat, lazily sunbathing in Yokohama Park.

She can be a tree, rooted in the forest veins, freely stretching her branches and leaves.

The world is vast, and one can live anywhere.

For example, right now.

She sat in the chair and chatted with the kittens.

Thanks to the elf's natural friendliness, the kittens in the park are happy to stay around her.

Some jumped onto her head and shoulders, using her as a cat tree, while others enjoyed being petted in her arms. Those who arrived late could only surround her, meowing and cuddling.

Meow~ Meow~

The silver-haired man came again, and his aura terrified the cat.

He comes often, and the cats recognize him well, but they've always been afraid of him.

The chubby little cat snuggled closer to Yao Chuanling's arms.

"It's okay, I'll go take a look."

She pinched the cat's neck, her eyes narrowing.

Yokohama's security is far worse than Namimori's.

She's been running into annoying troublemakers every day these past few days.

She assumed that this cat-hating man was one of them.

"Meow?"

Why?

The chubby cat misled her!

The great detective Sherlock Holmes is now online.

Judging from the envious look in the other person's eyes and the fragrant dried fish in their sleeve, this person likes cats and probably wants to feed them.

"He has some delicious dried fish, aren't you going?"

She picked out the most gluttonous little tabby cat.

The crisis is over.

Meow~

I'm scared.

Meow~

I really want to eat it.

A group of kittens stared at her expectantly.

"Meow, meow meow meow."

Ling, go and snatch the dried fish.

The most affectionate little black cat tugged at her clothes, its tail slapping against her legs intermittently.

"No." Yao Chuanling tugged at its ear and lectured it, "We should be polite cats."

"Meow."

All right.

Yaochuan Ling released his hand and then said loudly, "Mr. Kimono, they want to eat dried fish."

Occasionally, I would torment the kittens and let them suffer a bit.

Fun.

"Meow?"

The spirit is evil.

Fukuzawa Yukichi had no expression on his face. He took out some dried fish from his sleeve, but his movements as he walked over inexplicably revealed a sense of urgency.

As he approached, the cats backed away.

Fukuzawa Yukichi stopped in his tracks. It seemed that, just like before, the cats wouldn't come near him.

"It's okay, I'm here. Didn't you want to eat dried fish? If you leave now, you won't get to eat the delicious dried fish."

Yao Chuanling soothed the restless kitten.

"Meatball, you're the bravest, come here."

The orange cat that was called out froze, then reluctantly walked forward.

It jumped onto "Boss Cat's" lap and stopped.

Fukuzawa Yukichi very sensibly fed it dried fish.

Such opportunities are rare and hard to come by.

The chubby orange cat tentatively took a bite.

"Meow."

tasty!

It flicked its tail restrainedly.

Xiaoling, the cat language translator: "It says this is the best dried fish it has ever eaten."

Don't worry, Master Xiaoling will step in when it matters.

That's wonderful.

The serious-looking middle-aged man's expression softened, and the smile he revealed was barely perceptible.

In order to develop delicious dried fish, he specially asked Ranpo for help.

Yokohama has many people with special abilities, and Fukuzawa Yukichi believed that she was someone who could communicate with animals.

Seeing that there was no danger, the other cats also bravely came over.

The closer you get, the stronger the aroma of the specially made dried fish becomes, making it a kind of dried fish catnip.

"Thank you so much."

Fukuzawa Yukichi took it very seriously.

After the dried fish ran out, the cats ran away again. Although he didn't get to pet a kitten in the end, he was still satisfied.

The only regret is that I didn't bring more dried fish.

He always kept small dried fish in his sleeve, but he always left them there quietly for the cat to eat, and the quantity was not large.

Yao Chuanling smiled brightly: "You're too kind."

She was overjoyed to be able to fulfill the wishes of both the human and the cat.

"If you have time, sir, bring some dried fish to this place on Saturday, and I'll take you to feed the kittens."

She spoke with such conviction, as if a cat's tail were wagging behind her.

“I will come. I am Fukuzawa Yukichi.”

The lone swordsman, Silver Wolf, had a gentle expression, like the first melting snow on Mount Fuji.

Today was a day of great significance for him. Even when he returned to the detective agency, Fukuzawa Yukichi was still visibly in high spirits.

"Did something happy happen to the president today?"

Yosano Akiko asked curiously.

It looks noticeably different from when I left home.

"Well, the president finally got to feed the cat."

Edogawa Ranpo turned his chair around, stuffing potato chips into his mouth while mumbling incoherently.

The club president is in a good mood today, so he can eat a little more snacks!

After all, he deserves credit too.

He opened another bag of fruit candies and popped it into his mouth.

"The girl the president met is quite something."

He seemed to be saying it casually, and Fukuzawa Yukichi didn't sense any danger in his words, so he didn't ask any further questions.

He was older and more experienced than Edogawa Ranpo, and could tell that Youkawa Rei was not like that heartless fellow disciple.

Because she is loved and even depended on by cats.

What bad intentions could a child who is liked by a cat possibly have?

Suddenly, Mori, the ruthless fellow disciple whom Fukuzawa Yukichi was eyeing, sneezed.

He is the newly appointed leader of the Port Mafia, and he is currently in his office on the top floor of the Port Mafia building.

"Is Mr. Mori getting sick?" The bandaged boy fiddled with the new reagent in his hand and said gloatingly, "After all, it's dark and cold here, and Mr. Mori doesn't look very healthy, so catching a cold is inevitable."

The reagent he prepared yesterday not only tasted terrible, but also gave him a stomachache all day. Today, he's going to develop a drug that will allow him to leave this world painlessly.

Mori Ougai was quite annoyed. He rubbed his temples and decided not to bother with the rebellious brat.

"Dazai-kun, those two kids you brought back will definitely become the backbone of our Port Mafia in time." He seemed to be thinking of something, his expression softening. "Especially Gin-chan~ I really can't bear to see such a cute little girl have to undergo training~"

The two children that Dazai Osamu brought back a few days ago are indeed promising talents. Akutagawa Ryunosuke, who possesses supernatural abilities, requests to follow Dazai Osamu, while Akutagawa Gin, who does not have supernatural abilities, is handed over to Hirotsu Ryūrō.

It was no secret in the port mafia that Chief Mori had a thing for girls under twelve. Dazai Osamu had known him for a long time and was used to his behavior, but he still found a way to tease him every time.

“Ugh, a perverted leader.”

Dazai Osamu lay on the table, absentmindedly stirring the glass rod.

He wasn't very interested in such official business.

He would be much happier if he completed the game.

Mori Ougai neither agreed nor disagreed, adopting the air of someone who had been through it all, and said, "Dazai-kun is still young and doesn't understand how cute these little girls are."

He changed the subject, and although he was smiling, his words were full of pressure.

"I'm afraid Dazai-kun has reached the age where his heart is fluttering with romantic feelings, and has been secretly investigating a certain blonde, green-eyed girl for days, hasn't he?"

Dazai Osamu did not report the matter of meeting Yokawa Rei to Mori Ougai; he simply secretly tripped her up a little behind her back.

Upon hearing this, Dazai Osamu raised his head, his eyes dark and deep, with a faint glimmer like a pebble thrown into a pool, disappearing in an instant.

“Middle-aged people with dirty minds always like to make malicious assumptions; I just find it amusing.”

He wasn't surprised that Mori Ōgai knew about this, since Mori hadn't hidden these things from him. But the fact that he found out so quickly meant that the leader had more informants than he had thought.

"You might be interested in her."

Having lost "Please Don't Die," their leader has been preoccupied with the emergence of healing-type ability users.

Akutagawa Gin didn't say it, but he sensed it from the siblings' conversation: Yokawa Rei was a healing-type ability user.

I'm afraid there's more than that.

Considering that she managed to evade Rashomon's attacks, and the probing she's been doing these past few days...

In a moment of distraction, the glass rod struck the side of the cup, making a crisp sound.

"Huh? That's not right, Dazai-kun. I only like little girls under twelve."

Yokawa Rei is the same age as Dazai Osamu, but he is already past that age.

Sen Ou smiled outwardly, concealing his inner thoughts and curiosity.

"Whatever you want."

Since he already warned us, we can't blame him for what happened afterward.

Mr. Mori is truly a despicable adult.

Dazai Osamu secretly despised him.

"I'll be going out on Saturday, so I'd appreciate it if you could send my regards to the future fighting force of our Port Mafia."

There was a black envelope on the leader's desk, which had been delivered by the Special Abilities Division before Dazai Osamu arrived.

He had just been chatting with Osamu Dazai when he opened this letter.

It was a trap.

Mori Ougai is having another headache.

Not long after becoming the leader, he already felt that he had lost a lot of hair.

"Want to try it? It can make your hair grow."

He handed the prepared reagent to Mori Ōgai, eager to try it out.

Mori Ougai declined, saying, "I want to live a few more years."

Not everyone is as resilient as Dazai Osamu. Sometimes Mori Ougai even suspects that his supernatural ability isn't "No Longer Human," but rather indestructible.

Dazai Osamu listlessly stopped and took a sip of his drink.

"It tastes awful."

He poured the medicine into the trash can with a look of disgust on his face.

The recipe has been improved, but the taste is not as good as yesterday.

Thinking of that crisp sound, Dazai Osamu felt indignant.

It's all her fault.