Leibo Street [Minor Repair]

The wind was quite strong in Yokohama today. The gray clouds in the sky were low and moving quickly, casting a gloomy shadow over the entire port city.

Tsurumi Kawakami and Dazai Osamu emerged from the clinic and meandered through the complex alleyways of Leibo Street. Finally, they passed through a long alleyway and headed towards the giant pit in the center of Leibo Street.

"Dazai, where are we going?" Tsurumi Kawa asked.

Ahead lay a continuous stretch of shacks that gradually descended into the lower reaches of the land. He glanced back at the dilapidated bungalows left behind and hesitated before stopping.

Dazai Osamu seemed very familiar with this place. He stepped across a stinking ditch, stood on the sloping ruins, and turned around. His right eye was bandaged, and he was wearing a black overcoat as he looked down at the Tsurumi River.

Dazai Osamu crossed his arms and stared at Tsurumi Kawaru, saying in an ambiguous tone, "Oh, Mori-san asked you to come with me. Didn't he tell you where we were going before we set off?"

Tsurumi Kawa looked up at Dazai Osamu, who was looking back at him from behind the light. The angle of his view and the dim light blurred Dazai's face, making it impossible to see his expression.

But upon hearing Dazai Osamu's words about stabbing someone, Tsurumi Kawakami frowned somewhat unhappily.

He crossed the ditch and climbed up the ruins, standing opposite Dazai Osamu. He replied earnestly and truthfully, "Dr. Mori didn't tell me. He just told me to stay close to you."

Having answered Dazai Osamu's question, Tsurumi Kawakami repeated the question he had just asked.

Dazai Osamu curled his lip in boredom, finding Tsurumi Kawakuri's straightforward and earnest personality dull. He opened his mouth to make a sarcastic remark, but then, thinking of Tsurumi Kawakuri's strange abilities, he ultimately kept his mouth shut with some apprehension.

But a hint of ill intent flashed in his iris-like eyes. Dazai Osamu curled the corners of his lips and said, "It's a good place. You'll see when we get there."

After saying that, Tsurumi Kawaru saw Dazai Osamu walk straight down from the ruins without turning back. He pursed his lips unhappily and muttered Dazai's words to himself.

Staring at Dazai's departing figure, Tsurumi Kawaru put his earlier hesitation behind him and happily jogged after him.

-

As they entered the central area of ​​Leibo Street, they encountered more and more simple shacks, densely packed yet arranged in a staggered manner, scattered like a honeycomb.

Tsurumi Kawaru looked around with his golden eyes, and saw many young and thin children who were barely clothed and living in shacks. They stared at him and Dazai Osamu with their dark eyes that were filled with a desire to survive.

Tsurumi Kawaru saw a group of slightly older, neatly dressed boys not far away. They stood together in twos and threes, laughing and joking. They were not afraid when they met his gaze, and one of them even smiled at him.

Tsurumi Kawakami paused for a moment, then subconsciously smiled back at the other person. His smile seemed to send a signal, and those who had been watching them began to stir, some of them unable to contain themselves and immediately crowding around.

Two skinny little boys, about seven or eight years old, ran over playfully fighting each other. They were wearing yellowish, oversized shirts. Under the guise of their playful fighting, they ran towards Tsurumi Kawa. As they ran past him, one of them secretly reached into the pocket of Kawa's coat.

"Bang--"

The two boys who rammed into Tsurumi Nagare and tried to rummage through his pocket were thrown back by the impact, with the boy who was stealing the items holding a brand-new black cell phone in his hand.

The sudden attack stunned everyone around who was itching to attack.

Their gazes toward Tsurumi Kawaru turned fearful, alarmed, and filled with deep apprehension. No one had expected this scene to unfold in front of everyone. The two boys who had stolen the items, realizing they had offended someone with supernatural abilities, collapsed to the ground, shrinking back in terror.

—A person with superpowers.

No one dares to mess with someone with superpowers; this is a well-known survival tactic in the neighborhood. Offending a powerful superpowered individual is undoubtedly a very unwise thing to do. And having a powerful superpowered individual means that even a group of young children can become a force to be reckoned with.

For example, the famous "Sheep" organization on Leibo Street.

When Dazai Osamu heard the noise, he turned around and saw two pickpockets slumped on the ground, with a bewildered Tsurumi Kawaru standing to the side.

He glanced around, ignoring the fear and apprehension in their eyes, and then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the cell phone that Mr. Mori had bought for the idiot Ryu a few days ago. Dazai Osamu quickly realized what had happened.

Dazai Osamu's indifferent eyes swept over the two people slumped on the ground. He stepped forward and picked up the black cell phone from the ground: "Idiot, didn't Mr. Mori tell you to stick close to me?"

Tsurumi Kawakami was still reeling from what had just happened when he heard Dazai Osamu's questioning and felt a little guilty. But when he saw the phone that had almost been stolen, he immediately realized he wanted to teach the thief a lesson.

After taking the phone from him and putting it in his pocket, Tsurumi Kawaru turned around and found that the two children had run away at some point.

Dazai Osamu turned his head and looked around at the people who had disappeared and were observing from the shadows. He casually comforted them, saying, "They've run away, so be it. It's going to rain soon, let's leave first."

Tsurumi Kawakuri was still a little angry, but the person had already run away, so he could only keep it to himself. He nodded and followed them into the alleyway, until they reached a small alleyway that connected to the main road.

Before going in, he saw Dazai Osamu glance at the containers outside the shed, and Tsurumi Kawaru also glanced at them, but they didn't notice anything different. Then they entered the dark and narrow passageway.

In the dimly lit corridor, which was filled with a faint stench, a number of people stood scattered about. Tsurumi Kawaru curiously turned his head to look at those who were leaning against the wall, puffing out smoke, and his direct gaze swept across their faces.

Noticing his actions, Dazai Osamu glanced at him sideways and warned him coldly before the others could notice, "Don't stare at them, stay close to me."

Tsurumi Kawakami nodded and quickly looked away. He followed closely behind Dazai, not daring to look around, and could only stare at the bandages exposed on the back of Dazai Osamu's neck.

After passing the people outside who were smoking, they entered the innermost shed made from shipping containers. Once inside, they could see that it looked like a small bar that had been converted.

The lighting was dim and ambiguous, the air was thick with the mingling smoke and the smell of alcohol mixed with the smell of cigarettes, making the atmosphere murky.

Tsurumi Kawaru sniffed and frowned in disgust, but he still remembered Dazai Osamu's words. His eyes did not wander, and he walked to the black leather sofa in the corner and sat down.

Not long after they sat down, a man dressed as a bartender approached, and Dazai Osamu seemed to have dealt with him many times before. Upon seeing him, the bartender whispered something in his ear, and a moment later returned carrying a black case.

A slender, pale index finger tapped lightly on the black box. Dazai Osamu then stood up and nodded to the bartender. He turned to Tsurumi Nagare, who was sitting on the black leather sofa, and said, "Take the box and let's go."

Tsurumi Kawaru felt that they hadn't even been sitting for three minutes, so he obediently picked up the box and left with Dazai Osamu. On the way back, they didn't return the way they came, but instead took a shortcut back to the clinic.

"Dazai, what's inside?"

Tsurumi Kawakami gently shook the case. It was a black leather case about the length of a forearm and the size of a medicine box, and it was very light, as if there was nothing inside.

The young man in the black coat didn't turn his head, his voice drifting lightly from the front: "It's something Mr. Mori wants, but I don't know exactly what it is."

Hearing Dazai Osamu's words, Tsurumi Kawaru became even more curious about what was inside, and he chased after Dazai, wanting to get back to the clinic as soon as possible.

-

The three of them sat around the clinic's desk, with the black box they had brought back placed in the center. Tsurumi Kawakuri knelt on the wooden chair, leaning forward, his golden eyes fixed intently on the box.

"Dr. Mori, aren't you going to open it?" He looked up at Mori Ougai, who was drinking herbal tea behind his desk.

Mori Ougai took a sip of goji berry water. He'd been so busy these past few days that his dark circles were turning into panda eyes. He was even unkempt, and the stubble on his chin made him look increasingly颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being listless, dispirited, or颓废) like a corporate slave tormented by life and work.

Mori Ougai stared at the box for a few seconds, then slowly said, "Ah, I forgot how to open it."

Tsurumi Kawakami stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "Huh? What do we do then?"

On his way back, he noticed that the box had no keyhole, it was a single piece, like a work of art.

Dazai Osamu glanced coldly at Mori Ougai, who looked troubled, and said to Tsurumi Kawa, who was holding a box and trying to figure out how to open it, "Well, if you can't open it, use a knife, an axe, or a saw. If all else fails, just smash it on the ground."

"Mr. Mori, are the things inside valuable?" he asked Ryu with a smile, then seemed to remember that the items belonged to Mori Ougai and he needed to ask for his opinion.

Mori Ougai paused, then shook his head with a wry smile at Tsurumi Kawaru's curious and questioning gaze: "Let's do as Dazai says. It's not anything fragile inside."

With permission granted, Tsurumi Kawakami ran to the storeroom to retrieve a saw, then went to the kitchen to get a knife. But the result disappointed everyone; the black box was exceptionally durable. The knife only left a shallow mark, and the saw was barely usable, but it got stuck after making only a shallow cut.

Tsurumi Kawa gripped the saw tightly, stubbornly struggling against it, until the blade snapped in two. Holding the broken saw, he looked up blankly, a hint of guilt flashing in his golden eyes, and stammered an apology: "I...I didn't mean to."

Mori Ougai's expression froze for a second. He took the box back and handed it to Dazai Osamu, trying to salvage the situation. He said sincerely, "It seems that opening it by external force is not realistic. Then I'll trouble you, Dazai. You must have a way to open it, right?"

Dazai Osamu: "What? Mori-san only remembers me when he needs something. And if you just assign me the task of opening boxes like this, won't I be angry?"

As he ran his fingertips over the saw marks on the box's surface, Dazai Osamu smiled and said.

He turned his head and saw Tsurumi Kawaru, like a homeless golden retriever puppy huddled under the eaves after being rained on. He was still holding the saw with the blade broken in two, and the color of his golden eyes seemed to have dimmed a little as he silently looked at Mori Ougai.

Dazai Osamu's cryptic remarks gave Mori Ougai a headache for the first time. Under their gazes, he paused before finally changing the subject: "It's almost noon. Is Ryu eating the same rice bowl as yesterday today?"

At the mention of food, Tsurumi Kawaru immediately forgot everything else. His dim golden eyes brightened instantly, and he looked at Mori Ougai with sparkling eyes, nodding vigorously: "Yeah! I want to eat rice bowls again today! Three extra-large ones!"

Thinking about the money he had spent on takeout recently, Mori Ougai felt a pang of regret. He took out his phone and called the restaurant from yesterday.