Chapter 29: The Double Black
Dazai Osamu, maintaining his frail appearance, looked at his manager, Sato Goro, with a bewildered expression. His voice carried just the right amount of confusion, as if merely a curiosity sparked by the police officer's words: "Mr. Sato, those people the officer mentioned earlier, what's my relationship with them...? I have absolutely no recollection of them." Although he didn't care about other people's affairs, the only thing he cared about was Nakahara Chuuya's situation, but he didn't intend to show it.
Sato Goro, unsuspecting, immediately began his introduction dutifully, his tone tinged with indignation and lingering fear:
“That bastard Yamamura Kyosuke!” He lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard, his face showing disgust. “He used to be your assistant, seemed honest, but he secretly sold some of your personal items! We fired him immediately after we found out, and he made a huge scene, threatening to take revenge on you. So I think he's the prime suspect in this attack!”
He paused, his tone softening, but with a hint of uncertainty, and said, "As for Ayako Uehara, she seems to be the female lead you worked with in the last drama, but I'm not sure about your relationship. There have been some public interactions between you two on camera..."
He talked about a lot of boring things, and just as Dazai Osamu's patience was about to run out, he finally got to the matter he was concerned about: "As for that Nakahara Chuuya, he's a very popular singer recently, and his manager was competing with us for some resources..."
Nakahara Chuuya.
“Mr. Sato,” Dazai Osamu’s voice carried just the right amount of curiosity as he asked, “Do you… have a photograph of this Mr. Nakahara Chuuya?”
Sato Goro was taken aback for a moment, clearly not expecting him to make this request, but he quickly recovered: "Oh, photos? Yes, yes!" He hurriedly took out his phone and started searching, muttering, "These are photos taken together during one of your previous collaborations."
He turned his phone screen towards Osamu Dazai.
Suddenly, Dazai Osamu felt that there was no sound around him anymore, or rather, all his attention was focused on the photograph.
Although the photo on the phone has low resolution and looks slightly blurry, it is still clear enough to see the content: the person has a very familiar face, ochre hair that shines under the flash, a bright smile that is almost arrogant on his face, and cobalt blue eyes staring straight at the camera.
They were separated by a screen, and even though it was just a photograph, Dazai Osamu felt as if he were already looking directly into the other person's eyes. It was as if he could see the soul hidden inside the phone through the other person's face.
Nakahara Chuuya.
They have the exact same name and identical facial features.
Dazai Osamu felt his heart pounding more clearly, and a certain emotion began to ferment in his chest. However, before seeing the person, Dazai could not make any bolder guesses, so he could only try to suppress his impulses and calm himself down.
Even though his inner emotions were already turbulent, he only blinked slightly, showing a moment of surprise, before quickly looking away to indicate that he still couldn't remember anything. Then he told Sato Goro that he needed to rest for a while and let Sato Goro go back first.
When Dazai Osamu was alone in the ward, he put away the weak and bewildered expression on his face.
He slowly sat up, leaned against the headboard, and began to organize his thoughts.
The discomfort from exposed skin was more intense than ever before. His neck, arms, and body wrapped in hospital gowns were not covered by the familiar white bandages. Even though he was dressed, he felt as if he were naked and exposed to the air.
He could almost feel the subtle sensation of the air rubbing against his skin, a discomfort that seemed to act directly on his soul, making him very uncomfortable, but there was nothing he could do about it for the time being.
He left the previous world rather hastily, without saying goodbye to anyone. But it didn't matter to him, because apart from Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya in that world, no one else knew of his existence. As for his two friends, they had already said goodbye when they parted ways that night after taking photos at the Lupin bar, which could be considered a perfect ending.
That's all. In fact, his departure solved a lot of problems.
The only regret is that those group photos couldn't be brought out. His departure was a departure of the soul, but the photos are still safely lying in [Dazai Osamu]'s clothes. But it doesn't matter. At least he had the photos, and he still remembers the content and scenes in them. That's enough.
Dazai Osamu decided that the first thing he would do after being discharged from the hospital was to wrap his body in bandages as before. Otherwise, he felt uncomfortable all over. Without bandages, it would be like exposing everything about himself to the public, and he didn't like that.
The so-called celebrity status is now a troublesome matter for him. Although he hadn't had much experience with it before, he had heard about how troublesome it was. So, in order to have more freedom to do certain things, he needed to find an opportunity to resolve it, such as staging a so-called accidental disfigurement or planning a complete retirement. There were many methods, and he needed to carefully consider them.
Also, there's Nakahara Chuuya.
He couldn't believe that such a coincidence could happen in the world. In this world where he had just transmigrated and was immediately involved in a murder case, a singer named "Nakahara Chuuya" appeared as a suspect. Just thinking about it made him realize that there were many problems.
As if guided by some unseen force, he felt compelled to investigate this person. Even knowing it might be a trap, he had to find an opportunity to get close to this so-called Nakahara Chuuya and personally verify his identity. He wanted to see if this guy was a stranger with the same name or someone he knew. Even if the latter was unlikely, he still wanted to make contact.
A tiny spark of hope quietly ignited in Dazai Osamu's heart.
After making some decisions, he first called Sato Goro and asked him to bring some information about him next time he came. Then he started looking through the messages on his phone and quickly deduced his relationship with the other party based on the information.
He also decided that if any person had a special relationship with him, he would have to get rid of them, except for Chuuya Nakahara, because he had no desire to have contact with other strangers and would avoid it unless necessary.
Once his thoughts were clear, he picked up his phone and dialed Sato Goro's number: "Mr. Sato, could you please bring some detailed information about me next time you come? For example... my major works, my interpersonal relationships, and related news reports about those people, the more detailed the better. Perhaps... looking at these familiar things can help me recover my memory."
After hanging up the phone, Dazai Osamu continued to examine the contents of his phone. His fingers moved rapidly across the keys, checking the information saved in his emails and social media accounts, examining the traces left by the previous owner of this body (if such a person existed), trying to understand the other person's social life and personal information, especially the traces of interaction with Ms. Uehara Ayako. However, the search results showed that they were just ordinary colleagues who only occasionally exchanged a few words of comfort.
He needed to quickly sketch out the social map of the character "Celebrity Osamu Dazai".
Then, clean up any unnecessary connections.
Aside from the one he needed to closely observe, [Nakahara Chuuya], all the other strangers labeled as friends, romantic interests, or important business partners were just troublesome individuals who required him to expend energy. He had no interest in them and absolutely no intention of maintaining any superficial relationships. Unless they were necessary stepping stones to achieving his goals, he needed to sever these pointless connections as quickly and completely as possible.
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Author's Note: To be revised
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