Chapter 55 Countdown: Five Days
On the day Edakawa left Yokohama, the sun shone brightly. He looked up at the clear blue sky, his deep blue eyes slightly narrowed by the sunlight.
The weather was just like the day he left Tokyo; the sun was shining brightly, and the breeze was gentle and pleasant. The only difference was that the Yokohama wind came from the harbor and carried a salty, coastal scent.
Judging from his lifestyle alone, Edakawa is a meticulous person, as can be seen from his good nature of living alone.
Before leaving, he had already canceled the lease on that apartment, resigned from his job at the Armed Detective Agency, and ended all his undercover and side quests.
"We will never see the system again"—that's what the system said, its exact words being, "We will never see each other again, host."
The system asked him a final question about memories, asking if he wanted to retain all his memories of Yokohama. Edakawa didn't hesitate and chose to retain them.
However, when asked later whether he wanted to preserve everyone's memories of him in Yokohama, Edagawa hesitated, even to the point of not answering immediately.
It was during his last visit to the Armed Detective Agency that he casually brought up the topic with Edogawa Ranpo.
He asked, "If you had known I would leave, would you have wished you had never met me?"
"Huh?" Edogawa Ranpo deliberately switched to the hand that hadn't touched potato chips and tapped his head. "How could you be so stupid as to ask such a question? Isn't it obvious you don't know? Or..."
Edogawa Ranpo added, "Instead of asking such a question, it would be more practical to tell the famous detective that you will come back to visit often."
This prompted Egawa to quickly smile and agree, "Okay, okay."
On the day he left, he treated Dazai Osamu to a meal.
"I've been planning this for a long time, and I'm going to treat Dazai-san to a meal before I leave. But actually, the reason I invited Dazai-san to dinner was to ask you to deliver a letter to Sakura and the others."
The boy sat by the window and glanced out at the familiar streets of Yokohama and the passersby.
Edgawa had probably seen this scene countless times, but rarely felt anything special about it. Now, perhaps because he was about to leave, he felt a slight sense of reluctance.
Dazai Osamu noticed the change in his gaze, but by the time he turned back, that lingering look had already vanished. Only the bright sunlight streaming in through the window shattered in his eyes.
“But then I thought it wasn’t necessary.” Egawa smiled and said, “But even if I don’t need to ask you to deliver the message, Mr. Dazai, I will still treat you to this meal—I am very grateful to Mr. Dazai.”
If you were to ask Edagawa who he was most grateful to for coming to Yokohama, the answer would undoubtedly be Edogawa Ranpo and Dazai Osamu.
The order is sequential.
grateful.
Dazai Osamu held the word in his throat, swirling it around without spitting it out, and silently repeated it over and over.
He hadn't heard many such words before. Very few people thanked him at work, and his subordinates were mostly afraid of him.
His verbal conflicts with his fellow executive, Chuuya Nakahara, who was at the same level, were countless. His superior, Ougai Mori, might use that word, but it wasn't entirely genuine.
Dazai Osamu thought about it for a moment and said those words with Mori Ougai's face, and inexplicably felt a wave of nausea.
"Luckily, it was Mr. Huo who said that," he said with a smile. "If it were anyone else, I would have just felt disgusted by it."
Edakawa: "..."
Edakawa might really want to say, Mr. Dazai, if you're implying something about Mr. Nakahara—then I can only say, rest assured, Mr. Nakahara will probably never speak to you like that in his entire life.
Dazai Osamu asked, "But why not send a message to those children?"
He was always sensitive, especially to information conveyed through words, whether intentional or unintentional, Dazai Osamu could always grasp it very quickly.
When asked this question, Edgawa would lower his eyes slightly, his raven eyelashes curling up and casting a thick shadow.
He said, "I just suddenly realized that it's fine to stop contacting each other."
Dazai Osamu asked, "Will they come back?"
"Yes," Edakawa said. "I'll come back whenever I have the chance."
"If Yokohama needs a sorcerer, I will come without delay," he said with a smile.
“Eh—” Dazai Osamu drawled, “Now that you mention it, I’m actually looking forward to it, as a sorcerer or…”
Egawa smiled again, a smile tinged with a very faint hint of helplessness: "But encountering a curse is not something to look forward to, Mr. Dazai."
Dazai Osamu, utterly bored, rested his chin on one hand and slowly spoke in a languid tone: "How many times have I seen you, Ori-kun?"
"Hmm?" Edgawa uttered a questioning syllable, not understanding the meaning of the question for a moment.
While the boy was still in a daze, Dazai Osamu had already continued speaking on his own, as if he hadn't expected an answer to the question at all.
"The earliest designer, then the bartender, the armed detective agency member or Jun, then Jun who suddenly appeared at night dressed in tattered clothes, then Jun who appeared as the Manhasset representative at the Port Mafia banquet, and finally Jun who should be the one who ran away from the orphanage with Atsushi last time."
As he read, Dazai Osamu pretended to count on his fingers: "If you count it this way, it's been six times... I've seen it or different versions of it."
As he recounted the events, Edakawa thought through everything and realized that he hadn't overlooked anything: "Yes, Mr. Dazai."
The next instant, their eyes met. With the help of light and distance, Dazai Osamu vaguely reflected his own image in those deep blue eyes.
He twitched the corners of his mouth, a smile that held no particular meaning, and said softly, "Although I've seen so many different versions of myself, every time you see me, I'm just a member of the Port Mafia—it always feels a bit of a shame."
"Hmm?" Edagawa tilted his head. "Is Mr. Dazai also looking for a part-time job?"
"Maybe," he said. "Or maybe it's a job change."
"Then I hope that when we meet again, Mr. Dazai won't be homeless."
As the conversation came to an end, the light blue-haired boy said something in a half-joking manner.
When leaving Yokohama, Edagawa told all his colleagues at the Armed Detective Agency, as well as Osamu Dazai, about his departure.
However, he has only told Gojo Satoru about his trip to Tokyo so far.
Originally, it was because of the intention to return to the high school that Edakawa would first contact Gojo Satoru. However, when he mentioned that he should tell Zenin Maki, Inuyama Toshiki, and Panda, the white-haired sorcerer changed his mind.
"Let's not say anything yet, or wouldn't it be fun to surprise them later?" That's what Gojo Satoru said.
Then Edakawa was persuaded.
After all, he has always been more like Gojo Satoru, and there was nothing wrong with what he said; on the contrary, it was very much in line with Gojo Satoru's style.
So naturally, when Edakawa once again stepped into Tokyo, the first familiar person he met was Gojo Satoru.
It can only be five insights.
"Long time no see." Gojou Satoru, taking advantage of his height, easily patted his head. "Or."
Egawa smiled, but inwardly he felt something was off: "It hasn't been that long, has it, teacher?"
“It’s been a long time.” Gojo Satoru’s voice suddenly deepened a few degrees. He lowered his head, and his disheveled hair brushed against the side of the boy’s neck.
He had wanted to say this for a long time—
"Or, welcome back."
It's not just a welcome back to the college, but more importantly, a welcome back to my side.
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