Chapter 43
PortMafia entered a state of exhaustion and exhaustion in a short period of time.
If one of the five major cadres dies, there must be a new cadre to take his place, and when the new cadre takes office, he must recruit new subordinates.
Anyway…
The seemingly calm organization is actually more turbulent than usual.
The day after Sasaki's death happened to be Japan's annual statutory holiday - Mountain Day. Most people did not choose to take a day off. PortMafia distributed some things to members according to their departments during this holiday.
Kamado Miru had just received news from Sakaguchi Ango in the morning, and in the afternoon he was given a bag of wheat flour, a box of Mushroom Mountain chocolates, and two swimming crabs.
He thought about it and decided not to take it back to the apartment directly.
After get off work as usual, which was no different from the schedule before Sasaki's death, Kamado Miru re-planned his current goal -
Influence Dazai Osamu and pull him out of despair.
This is the only one left.
Following Mr. Eguchi's will, the long-lasting task of fulfilling all his regrets has been completed. Now Dazai Osamu is his only goal.
Regardless of whether the other party discovers the truth or not, his original intention will not change.
So that night, Kamado Miru took the things distributed by the organization to the scrapyard in Yokohama.
…
"Meet Liu Jun."
After returning from Lupin, Dazai Osamu looked at the white-haired boy sitting alone at the door of the container, and he fell into silence.
He only drank one beer tonight, so he won't have any illusions or hallucinations.
The handsome black-haired boy lowered his eyes to look at the current time, and after a long while, he spoke in an unchanged voice: "Won't you explain it?"
"Why are you at my doorstep so late at night?"
"Because the organization gave each employee a holiday gift, I wanted to share it with Mr. Dazai."
Shen Du Jianliu rubbed his tired eyes, raised his head when he heard the voice, and stood up from outside the container door.
Because his body, which was filled with severe pain, suddenly felt sore and tired, he fell asleep while waiting without realizing it.
PortMaifa sends different things to each department, and the person in charge of each department is also different.
As far as Kamado Miru knows, swimming crabs are limited in quantity.
The head of a special department like him can get two, while a general department may only get one, or some other things, and even cadres are no exception.
"...You haven't forgotten my identity, have you?"
Dazai Osamu's brown eyes swept over the bag that Shen Du placed beside him, "I have those things too, but I gave them to other subordinates and didn't take them back."
“It’s very troublesome to deal with raw ones.”
"Yes, I know."
Shen Du Jianliu nodded. He bought a recipe before coming here: "I just learned how to cook swimming crab and wheat flour. I want to make it for Mr. Dazai to taste."
Dazai Osamu: “…”
“Cough…cough.”
The white-haired boy couldn't help coughing halfway through his speech.
His eyes passed over his unusually pale lips, and Dazai stopped speaking in a cold tone. After a strange pause of a few seconds, he suddenly sighed, "Forget it."
"Come in."
The scene inside the container was no different from before, darkness enveloped the entire room, and the silent atmosphere was like a big hand, strangling the throat of anyone who wanted to enter.
The only difference is the table.
On top of it sits a set of light bulbs made from small Tesla coils.
There was a layer of dust on the front and back of the light bulb. It looked like no one had ever touched it, but it hadn't been thrown away as waste either.
"Mr. Dazai, can I use the kitchen?"
"what ever."
The black-haired boy returned to a relatively cold and quiet state as soon as he entered the dim container. It was so calm that even some exaggerated suffixes no longer appeared.
"You can do whatever you want, just don't disturb me."
"Otherwise I'll throw you out, understand?"
"Um."
The white-haired boy spoke in a sweet voice.
“…”
The area inside the container is not too large. Although it is called a kitchen, it is actually just a simple area consisting of an induction cooker, a few knives and a sink.
Kamado Kenru glanced indifferently at a black-haired boy who was changing clothes, then withdrew his gaze expressionlessly, lowered his head and began to clean the crabs.
[Ahhh, camera!] Can the camera be moved a little to the side? I want to see Zai change clothes! 】
[It’s so dark over there that I can’t see anything clearly]
[I surrender to Dazai... and start to slander him again]
[I really don't understand Zai, he's sometimes hot and sometimes cold. Well, it's only because Liu can tolerate his temptations.]
[By the way, what time is it now? A Liu, do you want to have a midnight snack? 】
It is 9:28 pm now.
Dazai Osamu went to Lupin around 6pm and stayed in the bar for more than 3 hours before returning.
He didn't have dinner, but he didn't feel hungry either. He changed his clothes and sat on the chair at the door, supporting his chin with one hand. His deep eyes, which in the past would only stare at the door, now had a new option.
He stared at the white-haired boy who was busy working with his head down not far away.
Until a strong fragrance came from not far away.
The black-haired boy blinked, as if the fragrance brought him back to his senses from the deep and silent state, and his stomach began to growl.
"Jianliu-kun, what are you doing?"
“Crab Udon.”
"Really...are you good at cooking?"
"I don't know. This is my first time doing this. The steps are very simple."
"Simple...ah."
Dazai Osamu looked at the slender boy's delicate profile with a faint look in his eyes, and suddenly changed the previous topic and asked unexpectedly: "Jianliu-kun, do you know that one of the five major cadres is dead?"
"He was killed by a bullet fired from the southeast."
Shen Du saw that there was no change in the way Ryu was serving the soup, and said with a normal expression: "I only know that he is dead."
“Hey…I see.”
"I remember that the armory guarded by Jianliu Jun is also in the southeast direction, right?"
"Well, Mr. Dazai can come visit."
The flawless tone, the calm purple eyes, everything was exactly the same as usual.
But the qi and blood are not just a little bit poor.
Dazai stared at the white-haired boy's increasingly sick face, closed his eyes and stretched out his soft tone: "You said it so coldly."
"You've seen that person, haven't you? You don't have any feelings at all—"
"In this case, if I died, I probably wouldn't have any emotions when I saw Liu Jun."
"Please don't say things like that."
Shen Du Jianliu suddenly interrupted the other party.
He rarely showed disapproval, and swept his eyes straight over, his cold voice striking and serious: "Mr. Dazai is different."
"I won't let you die."
The udon noodles were ready at this time, and the white-haired boy brought the bowl and chopsticks filled with noodles and placed them on the table in front of the other party.
“…”
Dazai Osamu silently lowered his eyes and looked at the bowl of udon noodles with a rich and delicious soup base, and the crab shells of swimming crabs on it as embellishment. The bright color and rich aroma seemed to temporarily dispel all the darkness in his heart.
"What if I really succeed in dying, Jian Liujun."
The young man asked relentlessly.
"Then my existence has no meaning."
“…You’re really good at talking.”
The two people fell into a strange silence for a while.
It seemed that Dazai Osamu was not going to bother with his appetite. He reached out, picked up the chopsticks, and tasted the noodles lightly.
Seeing that the other party did not resist, Shen Du Jianliu also served himself a bowl for the purpose of companionship, sat next to the boy and began to eat quietly.
For a moment, the only sound in the room was the sound of chewing.
When they had almost finished eating, Shen Du Jianliu thought for a while and took out his cell phone from his pocket.
He deleted the screen saver without hesitation, stood up and said to Dazai Osamu, "Mr. Dazai, can we take a photo together?"
The handsome black-haired boy raised his eyebrows and looked over with the bowl in his hand.
"Yes, yes. What are you going to do?"
“I want to take a picture.”
"…Really? So you're the one who likes taking photos."
"You seem to be extra clingy today. Don't you have anything else to do besides me?"
"I thought your general theory of good people would be carried out at any time."
Dazai Osamu glanced at the boy's mobile phone screen with his back to him. The other party had stopped typing. He narrowed his iris-colored left eye, and his cold and dangerous scrutiny lingered in the small space for a few seconds.
"Well, forget it."
Putting down his chopsticks, the black-haired boy stood up from his chair and wiped his mouth with a tissue: "Just consider it as a reward for the udon noodles."
"Whatever you like."
"Okay, thank you, Mr. Dazai."
Kamado saw Ryu walk slowly towards the other party. Because the light in the container was too dim, he thought of the light bulb set on the table before Dazai Osamu spoke.
The white-haired boy took the homemade device and held it in his arms. With a few "clicks", the pale white light bulb lit up instantly.
The handsome faces of the two young men were clearly illuminated in the dark environment.
Dazai Osamu's expression was stunned for a moment.
“Crack.”
The camera captured the two teenagers and preserved this moment forever.
Since Dazai Osamu had not finished eating, Kamado Miru was the first to wash his bowl. He wanted to continue waiting, but was driven out by a black-haired boy on the grounds that he "couldn't eat because he was being stared at."
Confirm that the other party is in good spirits today, at least he will not commit suicide... Shen Du Jianliu does not intend to continue pressing the other party.
He left the container very obediently.
"Meet Liu Jun."
Before the boy left, Dazai called him, his expression cold and deep without a trace of emotion: "I will thoroughly investigate Sasaki's mission."
“…”
"OK."
Shen Du Jian Liu was silent for a moment and said goodbye to the other party calmly.
The black-haired boy was the only one left in the not-so-large room again.
However, it was different from the deserted usual days.
The container, which was originally empty and dim, and seemed to be able to suck away people's souls, suddenly added an unprecedented breath of life because of the aroma of noodles lingering on the table and the warmth brought by the food.
Not receiving any intense or obvious emotional response, Dazai Osamu looked away as if he was somewhat bored.
He turned his head to his side.
The table top where the white-haired boy had just placed his dishes still had a trace of warmth left.
He stretched out his slender hand, lowered his eyes and gently stroked the edge of his gradually cooling bowl, as if he wanted to touch the residual warmth of the table next to him.
However, the black-haired boy's movements stopped in mid-air with some hesitation.
He sat there quietly, without moving for a long time.
***
Kamado Kenru returned home and had just laid down on the bed for a few seconds when he received a call from Nakahara Chuuya on his cell phone.
The reason is simple: the other party is going to be promoted.
Officer Sasaki died suddenly, and naturally one of the top five officers was vacated.
Judging from the merit ranking of everyone in the organization at present, excluding some who have no intention of becoming cadres, Nakahara Chuuya, a prospective cadre with outstanding military achievements, is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.
[Are you going to be a cadre too? 】
[Wow, I remember that in the original work, Chuuya became a cadre only after Dazai defected, how come it’s so fast now? 】
[I can’t even tell what timeline it is now]
[Because of the intervention of Shinto, Sasaki died earlier than in the original work, so Chuuya's schedule to become an executive was also advanced.]
[When will A Liu be promoted to a quasi-cadre?]
"Ahem...I'm leaving for Europe on a business trip tomorrow afternoon."
The orange-haired boy's voice came from the other end of the phone to Shen Du Jian Liu's ears, and his tone seemed to reveal some unconcealed joy: "It may take a few days or a week for you to come back, it's hard to say."
And this mission will be a transition that everyone knows about.
Once he completes his mission and returns to Yokohama, his status will change from a quasi-cadre to one of the top five cadres of PortMafia.
"Miru, let's have lunch together before I leave."
Nakahara Chuuya's voice was a little awkward, and he said awkwardly: "Brother, please."
When he comes back, he can use his higher-level identity to protect Shen Du Jianliu.
Moreover, cadres have more authority than quasi-cadres, so they can help others find more ways to alleviate physical decline.
"OK."
Shen Du Jianliu, who wanted to refuse, glanced at the barrage of comments that almost filled the live broadcast room, thought for a moment, and agreed to the other party.
The two agreed to meet tomorrow, and the call went busy again.
The sky outside the window is getting darker and darker, and it is so quiet that I can hear my slow heartbeat, the sound of blood flowing in my blood, the sound of the drainage pipes, the sound of the elevator outside the security door, and the sound of dust falling to the ground...
Accompanied by unbearable pain churning the brain.
Shen Du Jianliu asked the system to turn off the barrage.
He exited the call page, stood up from the bed, took out a few tissues, and wiped the blood flowing from his ears.
Returning to the bed with a normal look on his face, the white-haired boy lowered his purple eyes and expressionlessly changed the screensaver of his phone to a photo of himself and Dazai Osamu.
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