Hinata Hajime occasionally dreams, in which he wonders what would have happened to him if he had not accepted the human experiment at Hope's Peak Academy.

The world in his dreams is full of strange things, and the development is also very nonsensical. Sometimes he is persuaded to drop out of Hope's Peak Academy because he could not pay the tuition. Sometimes he is found to have rare talents and is promoted to the undergraduate program, becoming a classmate of Nanami.

However, Hinata Hajime knew better than anyone that if there had not been that human experiment, the most likely outcome for him would have been to be exploited by desperation along with other students in the preparatory department, committing mass suicide in a despair incident, and becoming an ordinary victim in the biggest and most evil despair incident.

Moreover, there will never be another Kamisada Deru born.

Hinata Hajime never cared about what he dreamed about, because dreaming is what makes us human.

It's just that this dream was a little bit strange.

Perhaps the fever in his body caused his brain to make a wrong judgment, or perhaps some kind of throbbing in his heart was misreceived. Things like dreams are difficult to explain. Hinata Hajime couldn't figure out why he was in such an environment and why he had this dream.

The boundless water surface was as clear as glass. Hinata Hajime lay on the water with his hand outstretched. He looked at his palm, feeling puzzled.

The water surface reflected Hinata Hajime's back, forming a very strange picture. He put down his hands and looked up at the sky. The sky was azure blue with a faint white light floating around. There was no sun and no shadow. It seemed that except for him, everything was white, and the emptiness made people feel uneasy.

At this moment, a shadow suddenly blocked one of his eyes. He moved his gaze and saw the man.

Kamijou Izuru was sitting next to him. He seemed to be admiring the surroundings, but his eyes were filled with boredom. He did not stand up slowly until he found that Hinata Sou had woken up. His red eyes stared into Hinata Sou's eyes. Although they looked the same, Hinata Sou's heartbeat suddenly went out of control at that moment.

The long black hair fell on the water, and Kamijou Izuru stretched out his hand to cover his eyes.

He said, "Look at me."

Hinata thought: You are blocking my eyes, how can I see you clearly? Besides, it's just the same face, what's so good about it?

Even if he thought so, he couldn't stop his heart from pounding wildly. He saw Kamijou's eyes through the gaps between his fingers. They were red, like blood.

【Creation.】

"well?!"

Hinata Hajime suddenly sat up from the bed, startled and covering his heart. He looked around in a frightened state with fear in his eyes. After a moment, he put his hands down and spoke in a low voice as if he had done something wrong.

[Out of the house? You were the one who called me that just now? ]

【Your heart rate is very fast, exceeding the normal value. 】

[Yes! I just had a nightmare! ]

Kamiya Izuru was silent for three seconds before speaking, "If you haven't forgotten, there are no secrets between us, even if it's a dream."

【Well.】

...It's over.

"Well, I just feel a little embarrassed. It's definitely not what you think!" Hinata tried to save the situation, "It's really hard to explain dreams."

[No, dreams also have a scientific basis. ]

【ha?】

[The formation of dreams cannot escape from human cognition of the world, including the five senses and inner thoughts. As for your dream just now, perhaps you have heard the story of Narcissus.]

[But, just dreaming, why is your heartbeat so out of control? ]

Hinata Hajime covered his ears and wanted to cry. Although his fever had subsided, he felt that he was burning hotter now than when he had the fever.

[Please, Deru, don't analyze my dream too seriously, okay? 】

He was dying of embarrassment.

Although he thought he really didn't have any ideas, after listening to Kamukura Izuru's analysis, he felt that everything was strange.

Kamizuru Izuru didn't say anything else. He seemed to be thinking about something. Although he was stripped of his emotions, it's not that he doesn't understand emotions. He just doesn't understand why Hinata Sou was embarrassed about this. In Kamizuru Izuru's heart, they are one person, and it is normal for him to cherish himself.

What saved everything was a phone call. When it rang, Hinata Sou simply answered it as if he was escaping.

"Hello, this is Hinata."

"Hinata-kun! How are you feeling now?"

Hinata Hajime let out a long breath, it was Dazai Osamu.

"I'm fine now. Thank you Mr. Dazai for visiting me yesterday."

"Huh? Are you aware of the outside world?" Dazai Osamu muttered softly.

"Mr. Dazai?"

Dazai Osamu coughed quickly, "Very good, Hinata-kun, now I have a very important mission for you, because no one in the detective agency has time, and this mission is very urgent, it must be you! Hinata-kun must do your best, understand?"

"You want to give me a mission this important, even though I asked for leave yesterday?" Hinata Hajime asked suspiciously, "What kind of mission is it?"

"First, Hinata Hajime must leave the dormitory as soon as possible and go to the convenience store to buy some shochu."

"Boiled wine?"

"Yes! Then go to the snack shop next door and buy some snacks!"

"snack?"

"Finally! Come meet us at Yokohama Park! Everyone in the detective agency is on vacation today, so let's enjoy the autumn maple forest in the park!"

Hinata Hajime: ...

He was such a fool to have believed in Dazai Osamu for a moment.

"Is the detective agency so idle lately?" Hinata Hajime murmured strangely after hanging up the phone. "Dazai Osamu said earlier that he was worried about an intelligence dealer named Mouse, but now he is so excited to go on vacation and have fun."

Kamuzuru Izuru held his chin with one hand, [Because someone needs to rest.]

"Someone?" Hinata Hajime was confused. He walked into the bathroom and started to wash up. The cold water poured on his face and he shivered. He subconsciously raised his head and looked at the mirror. In his dream, the surface of the river really looked like a mirror. As long as he tilted his head slightly, he could see the two of them through the gaps between Kamukura Izuru's fingers.

But this is something they will never be able to do.

Besides the mirror, who else can I look into my eyes with?

After washing up in silence, Hinata Hajime tied his tie and went out.

After that rain, Yokohama officially entered autumn, the weather gradually became colder, and pedestrians on the road had already changed into sufficiently warm clothes. Hinata Hajime passed by a store and thought for a long time at the door of the store. In the end, he went in and bought shochu, but only one bottle.

You can bring more snacks. Mr. Ranpo likes to eat them, and Kenji is a child so he will like them too. Naomi will definitely come with Tanizaki, so you can bring some desserts.

Finally, Hinata Hajime looked at the box of straw cakes.

Buy it as a gift for yourself.

Walking all the way to the park in the sunshine, the young children waved at him after seeing him. As for Dazai Osamu who was mixed in, he could be ignored.

"Hinata-kun!" Dazai Osamu said angrily, "That's too much! How can you ignore me?"

"Hinata is right to ignore you. Your device is wasting bandages. Only by ignoring you can we avoid causing greater losses!" Kunikida Dopo interrupted.

Dazai Osamu was delighted when he heard this. "Because I caused greater losses or something, that sounds interesting!"

"Shut up, you bastard Dazai!"

…

The weather is nice today. After the rain, the maple leaves in the maple forest have all turned red. It is a sea of ​​red everywhere. There are many tourists around. Maybe it is because the detective agency has been very idle recently. Even President Fukuzawa has come out, although he just sat quietly by the side, drinking and admiring the maple leaves.

The children of the detective agency were quite happy. Nakajima Atsushi, who came from an orphanage, had never seen such a scene before. He ate his snacks while watching intently, his eyes filled with hope for the future.

As always, the Tanizaki siblings turned this maple viewing into a large-scale date.

As for Kenji Miyazawa, he had successfully mingled with the tourists around him and was even given a lot of snacks and refreshments, which shows how popular he is.

"It's so boring!" Dazai Osamu said irresponsibly after drinking the soju. "We can't go on like this! Let's play a game!"

"Playing games with a guy like you is definitely punishing yourself. No one will join." Kunikida Dobu vowed, "Give up, Dazai. Everyone here already knows your true face and will never be fooled by you!"

Edogawa Ranpo sat up. He was a little interested in the game. "What game? Do you want to play a detective game with a famous detective?"

"Of course not. If we play detective games, wouldn't Ranpo always win? He would be bored." Dazai Osamu shook his head. "So how about we play a game that has nothing to do with detectives?"

Hinata Hajime sat beside him chewing straw cake, not trusting Dazai Osamu's words at all.

Like Kunikida Doppo, he believed that the game Dazai Osamu wanted to play was definitely not something that normal people could play.

"Want to play a game to decide who is the murderer?" He closed his anatomy book with Yosano Akiko. "That's right, I need an experimental subject to identify a magical organ inside the human body. It would be great if you volunteered to participate."

"...Please don't turn normal gameplay into a bloody massacre of Ah and Dr. Xie Ye."

"Tsk." He continued to look through the album with Akiko Yoshino.

After hearing the conversation, Naomi Tanizaki came over holding Junichiro Tanizaki's arm and said, "Want to play the game of King of Children?"

"It's the game where you get to randomly pick someone to play truth or dare with if you draw the king!"

Hearing this, Tanizaki Junichiro shuddered, "Um, Naomi, is it necessary to play this game?"

"Of course!" Naomi Tanizaki covered her face. "If I draw the king, I will definitely choose my brother to answer the question. If it's a truth question, I will let my brother say who he likes the most. If it's a big adventure, I will let my brother confess to his favorite person!"

Hinata Hajime continued chewing his straw cake in silence.

【This brother and sister are getting weirder and weirder.】

【You need to learn to get used to it early. 】

[Is this something you can just get used to? ]

"Okay!" Dazai Osamu raised his hand, "Let's play this game!"

Hinata Hajime almost choked on his straw cake.

[…How casual. ]

[He decided to play this game from the beginning. After all, he is a person who enjoys other people's dark history. ]

【You are right.】

But no matter how much Kunikida Doppo tried to stop it, the game still began. Dazai Osamu even ran to pull back Miyazawa Kenji, who was being patted on the head lovingly by various uncles and aunts. So this big game within the detective agency began. Of course, Miyazawa Kenji had no idea what this was all about, he just had to wait.

"Then I'll deal the cards." Yoseno Akiko, who had no interest in the game, shuffled the cards and dealt them to everyone.

Hinata Hajime flipped over the card and took a look. It was the 6 of hearts.

Although I think this number is okay, I always have a feeling in my heart that Dazai Osamu would never play a game so casually.

Then, Dazai Osamu declared himself king.

Crowd: …

【He cheated.】 Kamukura Izuru concluded.

[No way, cheating in a small game, is Dazai Osamu a child? ]

Ranpo Edogawa stared at the cards in Dazai Osamu's hand. He seemed to know something, but obviously didn't intend to care. Ranpo Edogawa also had a childish temperament and liked to read something interesting. In addition to detective novels and snacks, cartoons were also very interesting!

"Everyone, look! I really am the king!" Dazai Osamu stood up and showed his cards. Then he said proudly, "I choose the six of hearts!"

Hinata Hajime looked at the cards in his hand and thought: Dazai Osamu might not have done this on purpose.

"It's Hinata-kun! What a coincidence!" Dazai Osamu pretended to sigh.

"No, Mr. Hinata hasn't said yet that he is the Six of Hearts, right?" Miyazaki Junichiro asked doubtfully.

"Indeed, there isn't one, but this guy has already confirmed that the Six of Hearts is Hinata." Kunikida Dopo continued, "This guy has made no secret of his desire to dig up someone's dark history. Hinata, you have to be careful. If you get upset, just stand up and beat up this seaweed-headed bastard. No one will object."

"Kunikida-kun, what you said makes me so sad." Dazai Osamu covered his chest.

Nakajima Atsushi scratched his hair, "But is there anything special about Hinata-san that attracts Dazai-san?"

"Who knows?"

"Eh? What card did I draw?" This is Kenji Miyazawa who is out of his situation.

Dazai Osamu coughed, then stood up and looked at Hinata Hajime, "So, Hinata-kun, will you choose the truth or the big risk?"

"To be honest," Hinata Hajime said, "I don't think there's anything bad to say."

"Very good! Brave Hinata-kun!" Dazai Osamu put the ace card on the table, his iris-colored eyes sparkling, "Then Hinata-kun, tell us about your dark history."

Hinata Hajime fell into deep thought.

Dark history, it is indeed dark history.

"Uh." Hinata Sou thought for a moment, "Well, if it's about black history, for example, on a ship, you say to your temporary roommate who is chatting with you in the same room: You are so boring?"

Crowd: …

【That lucky guy is really boring. 】

[Say this to anyone except Komaeda and you will be met with anger. ]

【Humans don’t like to hear the truth.】

“Is this considered dark history?”

"Maybe it's about the embarrassing remarks during the middle school years. After all, everyone has such a period."

"I didn't expect Hinata-kun to be like this."

"I think I've passed."

No, you don’t understand. That is truly a dark history, a history that cannot be any darker.

But after passing the test, Hinata Hajime silently put down his cards, thinking that he would not be the next round player, and that he would have to be more cautious even if Dazai Osamu cheated again. However, he did not expect that this guy Dazai Osamu would certainly not care about his own face, even if he was cheating openly.

So Hinata Hajime fell into deep thought as he watched Dazai Osamu become the king again and asked him to answer a question.

"Hinata-kun?"

"No, I just think... Mr. Dazai is so lucky." Hinata Hajime smiled.

【Outflow.】

【Um.】

【You come. 】

【Um.】

[You have the talent of luck to make Dazai Osamu lose. 】

[You are not much more mature than Dazai Osamu. ]

But Kamuzura Izuru still took over the body while saying this, and she and Yosano Akiko looked into Kamuzura Izuru's eyes and raised their eyebrows slightly, and then she began to deal the third round of cards.

"Now, it's round three."

Dazai Osamu raised his hands and said, "Don't worry, I will still be the king of the third round."

"He's so upright."

"Nothing can be concealed at all. The adult world is really scary."

"Hinata, I support you tear up the cards and beat the hell out of this seaweed head."

"Everyone, don't be so enthusiastic. I'll be shy!" Dazai Osamu said happily, and then he turned the cards over. The moment he saw the cards, Dazai Osamu blinked his eyes, "Huh?"

Everyone looked at the cards, it was the Six of Hearts, not the King.

Everyone present looked at their cards, and finally they looked at Kamuzuru Izuru who had been sitting quietly.

"Boring."

Kamuzuru made the same sound as usual, then casually turned over the card, and it was the king.

"Six of Hearts, Truth or Dare." Kamukura Izuru's voice was as cold as ever. He held his chin with one hand, and there was no wavering in his red eyes. He looked as casual as if he was completing a task. Everyone looked at Dazai Osamu with a look of schadenfreude on their faces.

This guy Dazai Osamu, he always fails when he cheats.

"Ah, okay." Dazai Osamu stroked his chin, "Then tell me the truth! It's just a dark history, no big deal!"

This is a guy who doesn't care about his dark history.

Shameless!

Kamukura Izuru looked at Dazai Osamu, and after a moment he said, "Tell everyone about your previous occupation."

Dazai Osamu: ...

"Are you serious, Hinata-kun?"

"This is a 700,000 yuan bonus!"

Kamiya Izuru certainly doesn't care about money. If he wants, he can get a lot of it anytime and anywhere.

"Alas, this secret that I have kept for more than two years has been made public." Dazai Osamu had a tearful expression, "This is the terrible secret that allowed me to enter Rat City! In fact, I used to have a proper job. After changing careers, I never thought that I would have an intersection with my previous career."

"So what did you do before!" Kunikida Dopo roared.

Dazai Osamu coughed and said, "The Mafia."

【Dazai Osamu actually said it. 】

[This matter is not really a secret to him.] Kamukura Izuru calmly looked at the people in the chaos, [Even if Dazai Osamu doesn't say it now, there will be various things in the future that will lead to Dazai Osamu's identity being exposed. After all, he was once a high-ranking member of the mafia, and too many people know him.]

[From this perspective, it seems quite remarkable that Dazai Osamu was able to keep it a secret for two years? 】

So the game was quickly shifted to Dazai Osamu's former career. After all, to be honest, the only person in the detective agency who could guess Dazai Osamu's former career was Edogawa Ranpo, and everyone else said they couldn't imagine that someone like Dazai Osamu could be a member of the mafia.

The game was over and Hinata Hajime regained control of his body. He took a straw cake and a cup of tea and sat down beside him, looking at the maple leaves around him.

[It's so beautiful. Even though I know the maple leaves will turn red, I still can't help but want to shout "It's amazing" when I see such a scene. ]

On the other side, Edogawa Ranpo came over with a bottle of soda and sat next to Hinata Hajime.

"How are you?"

"Me?" Hinata Hajime blinked, "Mr. Ranpo, is there anything wrong with me?"

"You must be very tired recently, facing tension and serious death incidents all the time." Edogawa Ranpo swallowed the straw cake that Hinata Hajime brought over with a gulp, sounding a little slurred. "Dazai suggested that everyone take a vacation to play, probably because he wanted you to relax."

"Hinata, don't take the blame for your life without permission."

Hinata Hajime was stunned for a moment, "I..."

"Even if you didn't find it in time, it's not your fault." Edogawa Ranpo said: "The reason why a detective is called a detective is that it means solving cases, but cases can only be solved after they happen. Detectives can't predict when a case will happen, and no detective will care about not stopping the bad guys they don't know in advance."

Hinata Sou retracted his gaze and looked at the maple leaves around him. There was a gentleness in his green eyes. "Is that so?"

[Izuru, you said before that someone needs a rest, is this what you meant? ]

[Your dream was asking me for help. ]

[I didn’t even notice it.]

【However, you seem to have understood it to mean something else. 】

[…Let’s not discuss this matter anymore! ]