Chapter 24 Running away from home, planning to work at the port...

I woke up at midnight. Lying on my bedding, I looked at the dark beams above my head and couldn't fall back asleep. My mind was filled with the conversation I had with the consciousness of the Demon Slayer world.

To bring Yoriichi back to the Demon Slayer world, we must change the Bungo Stray Dogs timeline so that Oda Sakunosuke can survive and join the Armed Detective Agency with Dazai Osamu.

To achieve this goal, I must subtly approach and get to know the two of them, and ideally become their friend. This will increase my chances of successfully rescuing Oda Sakunosuke and persuading them to join the Armed Detective Agency.

You absolutely cannot take chances. If you don't max out your favorability in the early stages, you'll regret it if something goes wrong later.

The only thing that's giving me a headache right now is how, as a student of the president of the Armed Detective Agency, who has always been at odds with the Port Mafia, I can contact the lower-level members and executives of the Mafia without arousing suspicion.

With my current status, let alone achieving friendship with them, I can't even get to know them. If I get close, some scoundrel will suspect me of having ulterior motives, and then I'll be plotted against and die without even knowing how. Am I supposed to infiltrate the enemy and join the Port Mafia? I feel like I'll be expelled from Fukuzawa-sensei's school!

No! Given Fukuzawa-sensei's sense of responsibility, he probably wouldn't expel me from his school, but he definitely wouldn't agree to me joining the mafia. He'd probably rather break my legs than have me hang out with that child-complex guy, Mori Ougai! *shudder*

This is really troublesome. Is there really no way to get close to Dazai Osamu and Oda Sakunosuke without joining the Port Mafia and without being suspected? Although joining the Port Mafia would definitely raise suspicion, at least that black mud demon wouldn't openly try to kill me.

It seems I'll have to become a child laborer for the Port Mafia, but how am I supposed to tell Fukuzawa-sensei? He definitely won't approve of me joining the underworld.

I can't bring myself to tell Fukuzawa-sensei about the future plot of Bungo Stray Dogs. Telling him directly that I have to join the Port Mafia to return to the Demon Slayer world is such a ridiculous excuse that he'd never accept it. What am I supposed to do?! I feel like there's absolutely no way I can convince him to join the mafia!

My head started to ache. I was absolutely certain that Mr. Fukuzawa wouldn't agree to this. I guess I'll have to sneak away after all. I'll wait until I've established myself in the Port Mafia before secretly coming back to apologize to the teacher. He should forgive me then, right?

I had a somewhat uncertain feeling that Fukuzawa-sensei would be very angry, extremely angry. Well, I'll just use the harem version of the cat-transformation technique then. I don't believe that Fukuzawa-sensei, surrounded by a bunch of cats, would have the heart to scold me.

That's the decision!

I got up, dressed, and planned to leave that night. It wasn't that I didn't want to see Fukuzawa-sensei again and say goodbye to him silently, but Ranpo was also in this house. With his super deductive reasoning ability, which was as powerful as a superpower, he would probably know I was going to join the underworld just by looking at me. Once he said it, I wouldn't be able to leave.

I folded the bedding and put it in the closet. Although I tried my best to make no noise, the sound of the closet door closing was still particularly noticeable in the middle of the night, and it immediately woke up Yoriichi, who was sleeping in the room.

He opened his warm-colored eyes blankly, saw me standing by the closet, sat up from the bedding, and asked softly, "Aren't you going to sleep, Ge?"

I sighed softly, walked over to Yoriichi, squatted down, and whispered, "I'm leaving for a while. You can continue sleeping."

"Where is the song going?" Yoriichi's voice was as gentle and calm as ever, but his hand was already holding mine, much tighter than usual. It seemed he had also realized that I had been gone for more than just a moment.

“I just dreamt about the world consciousness. It can’t find our world, so I have to do something to help it find us. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”

"I'll go with you."

"No, Yoriichi has to stay here to practice swordsmanship and study cultural knowledge. He's very busy and doesn't have time to run around with me." After a pause, I continued, "I'll come back to see you in a few days. I'll bring you daifuku when I come. Both Fukuzawa-sensei and Ranpo love this kind of sweet."

"I don't want snacks, I don't want to be separated from the song."

Looking at Yoriichi's serious face, I couldn't bear to make him unhappy, but I couldn't really stay either. After thinking for a moment, I came up with a solution.

"Okay, let the other me stay with you, so we won't be separated."

I formed hand seals and used the Shadow Clone Technique. As a cloud of white smoke appeared, a little girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and six whisker marks on her face appeared—it was my Shadow Clone.

After this period of chakra modification, my appearance is now the same as my real self. I'm no longer the strange person I used to be with black hair mixed with blonde hair and dark blue eyes. I don't feel awkward looking in the mirror anymore.

Although the change in appearance, hair color, and eye color was quite fantastical, Fukuzawa-sensei knew I came from another world and didn't ask any further questions, which made me secretly relieved. Otherwise, if he had asked, I would have had to tell the truth, and if he knew my real age, he would probably have been petrified.

As for Ranpo, he probably knows everything, but when he's not wearing his glasses, he'll pretend he didn't see anything even if he does, which is really endearing. He'd be even cuter if he didn't compete with me for Fukuzawa-sensei's affection.

The most worry-free one is Yoriichi. He never showed the slightest doubt about my changes in appearance. In fact, I now doubt whether he has truly mastered the Transparent World. If he hasn't, I guess in his eyes I'm just a skeleton covered in flesh and blood. It's a bit chilling.

No wonder Yoriichi couldn't speak until he was seven years old. All he saw were those terrifying and bizarre images. How could he not become withdrawn? It's truly remarkable that he grew up to be such a heartwarming little angel.

To be honest, it wasn't easy for me. Knowing that Yoriichi could see through bodies, I didn't cut corners at all when creating this shadow clone. It completely replicates my body from the inside out. Even if I stabbed it, it would still exist and even bleed. It really consumed a lot of my chakra.

"Another song."

Yoriichi's once round and beautiful eyes became even rounder. I then explained to him what a shadow clone was, making Yoriichi understand that it wasn't a puppet or anything like that, but rather another version of myself.

"Yoriichi, let's sleep together. I'll let my true self do what she needs to do."

My shadow clone grasped Yoriichi's hand, which was holding mine. The boy with the freckles on his forehead looked at me and then at my shadow clone, before finally slowly letting go.

As I watched my shadow clone coax Yoriichi to lie down, I was about to leave when Yoriichi's voice suddenly rang out again in the darkness, "Aren't you going to say goodbye to your teacher?"

I gave a wry smile. "I can't say it! Yoriichi, please help me say goodbye to the teacher."

Then, I quietly left Mr. Fukuzawa's house and walked slowly through the dark streets of Yokohama in the evening breeze.

The city is chaotic at night. I've already seen several gangs fighting each other along the way. Some of them are armed with guns, and some are armed with knives. So far, I haven't seen any members of the Port Mafia.

Didn't they say that Yokohama at night was under their jurisdiction? This level of management is terrible! Is it because the leader is so obsessed with changing into cute skirts for his special ability that his subordinates have become lax?

I silently grumbled, then realized that the battle for the top spot hadn't even started yet. There were countless gangs of all sizes in Yokohama, and the Port Mafia hadn't yet reached its future massive power. Joining the Port Mafia would be quite a busy time.

The thought that I would have to contribute to the development of the Port Mafia in the future made me feel bleak about life, and I felt that I couldn't even face Mr. Fukuzawa.

With a deep sigh, I began to consider how to join the Port Mafia.

Although Mori Ougai seemed quite fond of me not long ago, and I should be able to get the job by going directly to the Port Mafia, you can't force things. Last time I seemed quite disgusted with him, but now he's actively applying for a job at the Mafia, which is obviously suspicious.

Even though that unscrupulous doctor would probably agree to my job application even if he suspected I had ulterior motives, his constant probing would be really annoying. I still need to come up with a reasonable reason to leave the Armed Detective Agency. If I end up on the streets, he can invite me again and I can then join the Port Mafia without any problem.

After thinking it over for a long time, I decided to create a persona for myself that is pleasure-seeking and doesn't like studying. That way, I'll have a reason to run away from home. Even if Mori Ōgai, with his mysterious mind, still suspects that I have a problem, it's still better than me actively seeking a job.

Now it's all about how to get that lolicon's attention.

Although my combat abilities are not bad, I have no intention of charging to the front line. Isn't it better to stick to my old profession as a doctor? As long as Mori Ougai knows that I have healing abilities, he will definitely invite me to join the Port Mafia even if he knows I have problems.

What I need to do now is smash up a gang that deals in human trafficking, plunder their money to buy all sorts of snacks, game consoles and other entertainment items, and incidentally use my medical skills to treat those poor trafficked people. It won't be long before Mori Ougai gets wind of it and comes knocking on my door.

I secretly pondered the steps to infiltrate the Port Mafia. I had no trouble finding such a gang. Yokohama was so chaotic right now, there must be gangs involved in these illegal and criminal activities. I could just take them all down and send them to the police station, which would be a good way to boost the police's performance record.

I started thinking about how to find such gangs. A targeted search seemed too deliberate; I'd just take care of any gang I didn't like for now. These gangs should be very familiar with each other's businesses, making it easy to gather useful intelligence…

Suddenly, a memory popped into my head—the memory of coaxing Yoriichi to sleep. After he fell asleep, my Shadow Clone Jutsu was dispelled, finally easing my chakra shortage.

My chakra is still too low. Otherwise, I wouldn't be so weak after just one shadow clone. Although it's much stronger than when I was in the Demon Slayer world, it's still too weak compared to my main body. I wonder when I can activate the Yin Seal.

I thought helplessly, feeling the still relatively abundant chakra within my body, and strolled towards the two gangs that were fighting not far away, intending to take them down together, hoping to find some useful information!