Chapter 46: The Double Black
Dazai Osamu lost control of his body; this happened in the blink of an eye.
His eyes could still see the outside world, but his consciousness had become hazy, and his mind was too sluggish to think. The figures in front of him flickered in and out of focus; he had lost the ability to recognize them. All information around him was beyond his brain's ability to analyze; he had entered a state of chaos.
He lost the ability to think.
Chuuya Nakahara was already quite adept at this kind of thing. In the past, Dazai Osamu's sudden, unpredictable episodes had long since transformed from events that initially caught him off guard into random tasks that required his personal attention. He could even roughly judge the severity and possible duration of each episode based on the speed at which Dazai's eyes became unfocused and the degree of muscle stiffness.
So when he saw Dazai having an episode at Lupin Bar, he just clicked his tongue, with a knowing "Here we go again," and after politely saying goodbye to Dazai's two friends, he habitually hoisted Dazai onto his shoulder and carried him out.
Dazai Osamu was much lighter than he appeared, as if his tall frame was barely covered by a thin layer of skin and flesh. His bones pressed against Chuuya's shoulder through the fabric, causing a distinct discomfort.
Chuuya could only feel that the other person's weight was disproportionate to his height, and the bones in his body were pressing against his shoulders, causing him pain. He couldn't help but complain in a low voice, "You, do you even eat properly usually..." But no one responded to his complaint.
As he walked out, he adjusted his posture to make sure the person on his shoulder wouldn't slip off. His heavy motorcycle was parked in front of the hotel, its cold, metallic sheen gleaming under the bar's entrance lights.
Chuuya skillfully positioned Dazai Osamu on the back seat, making him face forward and lean over him. He then used pre-prepared restraints to secure Dazai's hands to his waist. He performed this process with incredible practice, as if he had done it a thousand times. He even adjusted the position of Dazai's head to prevent him from hitting it due to the bumps when the motorcycle started moving.
"If I fall and get hurt, I'll have to keep nagging when I wake up..." he muttered, as if trying to convince himself that this unnecessary care was not out of concern, but simply to avoid more trouble later.
The engine emitted a deep roar that echoed through the quiet night. Chuuya didn't send Dazai back to that cold, showroom-like safe house he knew. After several similar experiences, he had long since given up on that option.
He remembered the first time he encountered Dazai experiencing such a seizure, right after a mission. He'd thrown the guy back into the safe house, and when he returned three days later, he found him nearly dead from dehydration, his face as pale as paper, curled up in a corner, only his faint breathing indicating he was still alive. And no matter how much Chuuya patted and called to him, the guy didn't respond at all, remaining in a dazed state.
Since then, Chuuya has tacitly agreed to bring the ailing Dazai back to his apartment. Although he was extremely reluctant, at least here, he could ensure that this troublesome fellow wouldn't quietly die in some corner and cause even greater trouble for the organization and himself.
"You're such a pain, always causing me trouble." The wind carried away his whisper. He had just finished his last mission and was in dire need of relaxation, both mentally and physically. He had planned to enjoy his precious day off, but now this huge troublemaker on his shoulder had completely disrupted his plans.
If Yokohama were to hold a best partner contest, the trophy would undoubtedly belong to him.
Back at the apartment, he carefully placed Dazai Osamu on the makeshift bed he had prepared beforehand—a spot he had habitually set up in a corner of the bedroom for Dazai after countless similar experiences, just to prevent this from happening again.
He roughly removed Dazai's signature black trench coat and loosened the tie around his neck to allow the man to breathe more easily. The subsequent care was slightly more complicated. During his episodes, Dazai Osamu was practically a breathing doll. He couldn't eat on his own, couldn't fall asleep on his own, and even blinking became extremely slow and infrequent. If it weren't for the faint rise and fall of his chest and the occasional, extremely slow blink when stimulated, he really wouldn't look like a living person.
Chuuya needed to feed him liquid food and water regularly through a straw. Fortunately, the guy still had a subconscious ability to handle his physiological needs, perhaps driven by a lingering sense of shame. Basically, whatever position Chuuya put him in, he would maintain that position until it was changed by external force. He also knew that deep down, Dazai Osamu would never like to be seen by strangers in this submissive state. Within the entire Port Mafia, besides the boss Mori Ou, probably only Dazai would accept being approached in this state. And it was obviously unrealistic to have the busy boss personally do this kind of caregiving work.
Once, perhaps for testing purposes, or perhaps to save trouble, Mr. Mori assigned professionals from the □□ Medical Department to care for Dazai. However, after Dazai awoke, whether out of anger at being invaded or fear of his own vulnerability being exposed, he used various "accidents" or "mission failures" as pretexts to eliminate those who had cared for him—perhaps realizing that this meant he was being meticulously observed, and as a form of resistance—Mori Ōgai could only acquiesce, as assigning people to care for and monitor Dazai without his consent touched a nerve with this sensitive mackerel. Ultimately, to protect the organization's precious medical resources, this task naturally fell to Nakahara Chūya.
Chuuya initially protested, but to no avail. Over time, a strange tacit understanding developed. Until the first Dazai disappeared, Chuuya almost always took over when Dazai had an attack. Fortunately, as time went on, or rather, as Dazai adapted to this state, he retained more instincts when he had an attack later on. For example, he could eat simple meals when food was placed in front of him, which further reduced Chuuya's workload.
Of course, to retaliate against the extra workload Dazai brought him, Chuuya would occasionally play harmless pranks during these days when Dazai was powerless to resist. For example, he would draw cat whiskers and a pig nose on Dazai's pale face with a marker that wouldn't easily fade, or dress him in extremely childish or maid-style pajamas (and take pictures), or pose him in various comical poses and take pictures—these embarrassing photos would later become important assets for him to mock Dazai. Looking at the guy in the photos, completely at his mercy, Chuuya always derived a certain pleasure from it.
...
When Dazai Osamu's consciousness returned to his body, the first thing he heard was the soft snoring coming from not far away. He slowly opened his eyes, his iris-colored pupils adjusting to the darkness for a moment, then sat up from his futon. The thin blanket covering his stomach slipped down, revealing a slightly loose white shirt—not the one he usually wore, but one that felt more like the fabric Chuuya liked. His ever-present black trench coat was nowhere to be seen.
He stood up, first subtly surveying his surroundings, then turned his gaze to the curled-up figure on the bed beside him.
Lying on the pillow was Chuuya Nakahara, fast asleep. His ochre hair was softly spread across the pillow, and his usually sharp and flamboyant expression softened in his sleep, even taking on a childlike quality. Although he had lived with Chuuya in the previous world, they hadn't shared a room, so he rarely had the chance to see the other's unguarded sleeping face like this. Seeing it now was quite a novel experience.
He paced slowly and silently around the room. His gaze swept over the hats and key rack hanging on the wall, silently criticizing Chuuya's taste, before finally settling on a slightly out-of-place pile of cardboard boxes in the corner. He walked over and, using the moonlight streaming in from the window, discovered that they were neatly stacked empty milk cartons.
Dazai Osamu's lips silently curved upwards into a smile.
Oh, we caught Chuuya secretly drinking milk! But no matter how much he drinks, he'll never be taller than him. ^^
With this pleasant thought popping into his head, he quickly found Chuuya's phone on his bedside table. Unlocking the screen was a piece of cake for him; he knew his partner's simple passwords all too well—usually important dates or just something like "chuuya" (and even if not, he had other ways to crack it). Sure enough, the screen lit up after a few tries. He went straight to the photo album, where, as expected, there was an encrypted folder, the password equally useless. He clicked on it, and the screen was filled with embarrassing photos of him when he was unconscious: graffiti on his face, dressed in a maid outfit, posed in all sorts of strange positions… it was a veritable feast for the eyes.
Dazai Osamu browsed the images without changing his expression, tapping the screen with his fingertip and selecting "Select All" followed by "Delete." Afterward, he even thoughtfully emptied the recycle bin. However, before deleting them all, he left a few that looked decent and sent them to himself through Chuuya's account as evidence to later accuse Chuuya. He knew, of course, that given Chuuya's personality, these photos would definitely have backups, but that didn't stop him from cleaning them up now.
After doing all this, he found his phone, which had been put away, in the room. He turned it on, and it showed that the battery was fully charged. He opened the camera app and took dozens of close-up photos of Nakahara Chuuya sleeping soundly on the bed from various angles—some were drooling, some were frowning, and some were curled up like shrimp with the blankets kicked to the side. Only after he had taken some photos that satisfied him did he put the phone away contentedly.
Then, he did something undeniably childish. He stood with his thighs pressed against the edge of the bed and then plopped heavily down on top of the sleeping Chuuya. But Chuuya didn't wake up from his action.
Seeing that the other was sleeping soundly and showed no signs of waking up except for frowning and muttering a few words, Dazai Osamu leaned closer to the other's face, then reached out and pinched Chuuya's cheeks with both hands, showing a disgusted expression while having a great time. He even pinched Chuuya's nose with his fingers, making it hard for him to breathe, until the other's face turned red before letting go. At this point, no matter how soundly Chuuya was sleeping, he was awakened.
He groggily opened his eyes, his vision filled with a blurry darkness and the silhouette of an even darker figure. But just by looking at that irritating aura and build, he could tell who it was even with his toes.
"Dazai...you bastard..." He struggled to sit up, his voice hoarse and filled with anger at being forcibly woken up.
Before Chuuya could fully wake up and launch an attack, Dazai Osamu nimbly rolled out of bed and stood at a safe distance. He wore that smile Chuuya knew so well, and said in a sickeningly sweet tone, "Chuuya, finally awake? It took me quite a bit of effort to wake you up~"
Chuuya couldn't see the exact expression on his face, but just hearing that voice perfectly conjured up that irritating look in his mind. He angrily threw off the covers, ready to get out of bed, intending to teach this disturber of his sleep a lesson in the meaning of "morning grumpiness." However, his movements abruptly stopped when he saw the phone with its screen lit up in Dazai Osamu's hand.
On the screen was a close-up of Osamu Dazai's blank face: his iris-colored eyes stared blankly at the camera, his mouth was slightly open, and cat whiskers were drawn on his face.
Upon seeing the photo, Chuuya Nakahara was mostly awake, his anger instantly extinguished as if doused with water, and embarrassment gradually crept up his spine. Chuuya's cheeks felt a little hot. He recognized it as a photo of Dazai Osamu that he had secretly taken not long ago.
"I never imagined that Chuuya would secretly take so many...interesting photos while I was unconscious." Dazai Osamu's voice carried an exaggerated aria. "How perverted, Chuuya. After taking the photos, did you do anything else secretly? After all, in that state, I was completely at his mercy. If Chuuya wanted to do something strange to me, I probably wouldn't even have the strength to resist."
He deliberately widened his iris-colored eyes, looking in the direction of Chuuya Nakahara. He was really curious about Chuuya's expression right now; it must be quite interesting, but unfortunately, he couldn't see it clearly.
Although the light switch was right next to him on the wall, within easy reach, Dazai had no intention of turning it on.
Chuuya Nakahara sat motionless on the bed for a few seconds, his brain seemingly still processing the lewd implications of Dazai Osamu's words. His cheeks instantly flushed red, thankfully obscured by the darkness. He sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, stammering as he loudly retorted, "What...what nonsense are you spouting?! How could I possibly do anything to you? Do you think everyone's brain is full of lewd nonsense like yours?!"
He spoke louder and louder: "And you bastard, what are you doing here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?!"
He jumped off the bed and, using his familiarity with the room's layout, easily approached and grabbed Dazai Osamu's collar. But Dazai had somehow moved closer to him again, and the distance between them instantly shrank to the point where they could almost hear each other's breath. Chuuya could even feel the warmth emanating from Dazai's body, but he didn't notice Dazai's deliberate approach.
"Dazai, if you don't want me to make all those ugly photos of you public," Chuuya threatened fiercely, his voice even more hoarse from exhaustion, "you'd better stay put!"
Dazai Osamu held up his phone in one hand, looking somewhat like he was surrendering. His expression was unclear, but he suddenly became curious and tried to walk around Dazai to touch the light switch on the wall.
As a result, this guy always managed to move his feet precisely, blocking his path, causing their arms or chests to collide occasionally in the darkness, producing slight thuds and causing a little pain. Then he would turn around and say, "Oh dear, why does Chuuya keep bumping into me? Is it because I hit the nail on the head and you're angry, so you're trying to shut me up with violence?"
Before Chuuya could reply, there was a click, and a beam of light from a flashlight shone through the window, illuminating the two of them.
"Wow~ Chuuya. What are you guys doing? Am I disturbing you?"
A voice came from outside the window, in a clearly mocking and sarcastic tone, as if it were watching a good show.
Although his words contained an apology, his actions showed absolutely no remorse. No sooner had he finished speaking than the window was swiftly pried open from the outside, and a figure gracefully vaulted in.
The bird landed silently, a small flashlight dangling from its beak. It adjusted the angle of the flashlight, ensuring the beam steadily illuminated the frozen Chuuya Nakahara and the instantly unreadable Osamu Dazai. From its angle, it looked as if Chuuya Nakahara had fallen into Dazai's arms.
"I was originally planning to ask Chuuya to join me on a mission, but I didn't expect you already have plans for tonight." Adobird said with a smile, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Chuuya and Dazai, with undisguised inquiry.
In the instant that Chuuya squinted slightly due to the intense light, Ado's gaze briefly met Dazai Osamu's in mid-air.
Dazai's lower face was exposed to the light, with a faint smile playing on his lips, but his upper face was hidden in shadow. His iris-colored eyes were dim and unclear at the boundary between light and shadow, radiating an unpleasant feeling of being disturbed. He was clearly displeased with the appearance of the silly bird.
But the silly bird doesn't care about all that!
He rushed to the bedside, taking three steps at a time, gradually approaching Chuuya. The moonlight that had crept into the room was enough for them to barely see each other's faces. Chuuya had already released his grip on Dazai's collar as if he had been burned, and took a step back, distancing himself from Dazai.
He scratched his head in frustration, yawned widely, and tried to dispel the eerie atmosphere: "I'm not going out, I'm not going on any missions. I'm going back to sleep, you all should leave now."
Ado-bird reached out and grabbed Chuuya's arm, pulling it away while saying in an exaggerated tone, "Please, Chuuya, I can't think of anyone else who could do this better than you!"
"You clearly think the mission is too time-consuming and troublesome, so you want to drag someone else along to do the hard labor!" Chuuya bluntly exposed him, his body tilting as he was pulled to one side.
However, his other arm was suddenly pulled by a force. Dazai Osamu had somehow appeared and grabbed his other arm, shouting, "No, absolutely not! Chuuya promised to sleep with me tonight! I absolutely will not agree to let Chuuya abandon me to do some boring mission!"
Chuuya Nakahara: ? ? ?
"Hey! Are you crazy, you mackerel? When did I ever promise to sleep with you?!" Chuuya felt like he was about to be driven crazy by these two bastards.
"My sleeping mat has been laid out on the floor. Isn't that what you meant? If not, why do something that could cause such a misunderstanding!"
Dazai Osamu's tone was like that of a wayward youth who had been cheated on by Chuuya and refused to acknowledge it, making Chuuya's forehead veins throb.
"You damn Dazai, what nonsense are you spouting!"
"Huh~ I didn't expect Chuuya to do something like this~"
His voice and that of the silly bird rang out almost simultaneously.
Finally, Ah-Dai and Dazai Osamu were each punched by Chuuya and then kicked out. The heavy security door slammed shut behind them with a bang, making the walls seem to shake.
Ado and Dazai Osamu stood side by side in front of the tightly closed door of Chuuya's house. A strange silence gradually spread, and the noise and chaos inside the house had long since disappeared without a trace.
The exaggerated expression that Dazai Osamu had deliberately displayed in front of Chuuya had vanished without a trace. He stared at the door silently for a few seconds, not even glancing at the dorky bird beside him, before turning and leaving, his footsteps so light they were almost inaudible.
Ado Bird didn't move. He turned to the side and, using the faint light coming in from the window at the end of the corridor, watched Dazai Osamu's receding figure, and couldn't help but mutter a few curses in his mind.
He had only heard about this guy from Chuuya and others before, but he had never actually met him in a formal way, so this was the first time he had seen this person named Dazai Osamu up close.
What a strange person. When he's with Chuuya, he can act like a naughty boy, laughing and joking. But the moment he's kicked out, his smile vanishes instantly. He's completely different from his previous behavior. He could definitely be called a master of changing faces.
Thinking back on the terrifying rumors about this guy circulating online, he felt that this person was truly mysterious and dangerous, and he wondered how Zhong had become so familiar with such a guy.
Adobird shook his head, thinking this would probably become one of the top ten unsolved mysteries of the Port Mafia.
...
On the other side of the door, Chuuya Nakahara had already lain back on his large bed. He covered himself with the blanket, then let out a weary sigh, as if the sounds of those two bastards arguing still echoed in his ears. He rubbed his temples, which were still throbbing slightly, and decided to put the troubles of the night out of his mind for now; he would deal with even the biggest problems after he had a good night's sleep.
Meanwhile, Dazai Osamu was walking the streets of Yokohama late at night. All the surrounding shops were closed, and there was no one else on the street except him.
During the period of unconsciousness, his senses were not entirely blank, but rather hazy and indistinct. Or rather, his consciousness was on the verge of dissipation, and his soul seemed to have broken free from the shackles of his body, transforming from a human state into some kind of lighter state.
At that time, he could vaguely perceive touches and sounds from the outside world, including Chuuya's quiet complaints and snickers during pranks, but all of this seemed to be separated from him by a thick barrier; he was unable to perceive or react to these things. It wasn't until he awoke again that he slowly regained consciousness, and his scattered soul once again coalesced into the core of the being [Dazai Osamu].
He later considered whether this illness might throw him back into the world he had already left. But as it turned out, that didn't happen; he remained in the world he had been forced to stay in. Even though he was no longer able to travel between two worlds, he still experienced this derivative symptom. He couldn't find the cause yet, but it indirectly proved that this world was also a world he had once been to—becoming one of the reasons.
Perhaps it's to allow his soul to get used to this place, or for some other reason. Dazai needs more clues to find the root of the illness, and that will obviously require more time and patience.
This was the first time he had experienced a seizure like this, one that he had only heard about from Chuuya before. Overall, it wasn't a good experience. Of course, if he could die from the illness without causing trouble for others, that would be a good thing. There was no pain, no warning, just like his life had been put on pause in an instant.
Upon waking, he checked the time; nearly three days had passed since the last day he remembered experiencing before falling into a coma. Based on his observations of other places before leaving Chuuya's house, he was likely unable to eat during his episode, but he couldn't confirm anything else. However, if Chuuya really did what he knew was necessary for caring for someone unable to care for themselves...
Dazai Osamu couldn't help but cover his face with his hands, and only let go after a long while.
However, the good thing was that when he opened his eyes, he didn't see anyone else besides Zhong. If he had been cared for by some stranger, even a medical professional, Dazai wouldn't have been able to suppress the violent emotions that might have welled up inside him. He would rather choose for himself, even if he was forced to accept it, than be observed by others while unconscious.
And a few days later, at yet another ambiguous time.
Dazai Osamu sat alone in the center of a spacious room, on the only chair. The room had no windows, only the cold, pale light of a single chandelier overhead. In his hand was a stack of documents of a special material; the paper was smooth yet resilient, written on using a special process that rendered it impossible for even supernatural abilities to replicate. These documents were specifically designed to record top-secret information, containing crucial information capable of overturning the existing power structure in Yokohama.
His gaze swept quickly and steadily over the dense text and charts, his handsome face expressionless, not even a twitch of his eyebrows, as if he were reading a trivial weather forecast. Yet, deep within his heart, various plans were gradually taking shape.
His gaze paused for a moment when it landed on a description of a European transnational crime syndicate collaborating with a secret Japanese organization. Next to that text was a code name—N. This was one of the clues he had been secretly tracking. He had already dispatched his direct informants to investigate the secret research sites related to N, but the feedback had mostly been unsatisfactory. The security at those locations was astonishingly tight, possessing not only state-of-the-art physical defenses and electronic surveillance systems, but also seemingly some kind of special interference field targeting supernatural abilities. To avoid alerting them prematurely, he had to temporarily abandon his plan to forcibly infiltrate them.
However, he didn't come away empty-handed. He first contacted the police officer who was supposedly N's younger brother, and after conducting a discreet investigation of the officer for some time, Dazai Osamu decided to find a breakthrough with him. Before the European investigator arrived in Yokohama, he needed to gain more initiative and leverage.
The framework of his plan was partially formed in his mind, but many obstacles remained to be overcome in reality. His unpredictable illness was like a ticking time bomb, ready to disrupt the entire scheme at any moment. Dazai gently put down the document in his hand, his fingertips tapping lightly on the area marked with the code "N." Everything seemed so troublesome.
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Author's Note: [Patch: ① Dazai's episodes never last longer than five days, otherwise it would be too exhausting for him.]
②The sleeping mat was the one the 16-year-old slept in. As an adult, it's less about transmigrating into the body of the 16-year-old and more about awakening future memories; essentially, it's just one person.
I feel like I can finish this month! I currently have six chapters saved up, so it's basically nearing its end. I'll release it once I've refined the chapters a bit more.
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