Chapter 26 The Main Body in Fourteen Days
I'm really annoyed.
It doesn't matter who appears at this moment, it doesn't make much difference to me.
But it was Dazai Osamu.
I thought I could fool Nakahara Chuuya, but then Dazai Osamu suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
It feels like you're playing a game and just when you're about to beat a level, a final boss appears.
I feel hopeless.
I really want to curse.
I couldn't help but quietly ask the system: "System, can you travel through time?"
Then the system coldly said: [Sorry, host, you can't.]
[What about the pause time? A pause time will do.]
[This is beyond your capabilities, host.]
So I had to rack my brains to figure out how to fool Dazai Osamu, but unfortunately it got stuck and I couldn't come up with anything for the time being.
But I couldn't just stay silent, so I started a conversation and took it one step at a time.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
Fortunately, all the mixed emotions inside me did not prevent me from appearing calm.
I couldn't see my expression, but I listened carefully and confirmed that my voice was normal, at least it wasn't trembling.
I tried to put myself in the role of Erikawa, forgetting all the identities and alternations, and asked in a normal way, "Sir, do you also feel like you've seen me before?"
While waiting for the answer, I felt the subtle movement of the air around me, and my heart was pounding.
Spring and summer in Yokohama should be warm, but I found it terribly cold.
I was so nervous.
Because whether Dazai Osamu realizes I'm a member of the Detective Agency, or he connects me to the bartender at Lupin's bar, it's not a good thing for me. There's even a possibility he'll realize both, which would be the worst possible outcome.
If Dazai Osamu says yes, then the situation is almost entirely doomed.
I even considered whether, if the worst-case scenario were to occur, I should kidnap Dazai Osamu and run away.
But my limbs were terribly stiff.
“Indeed.” He smiled. “This young man looks very familiar.”
"..."
I looked down and saw a bulge on his side; I won't go into what it was.
"You look a lot like a friend of mine. He also works at a bar." Dazai Osamu leaned closer and glanced back at Nakahara Chuuya. "Your eyes are blue, just like Chuuya's, but better looking than Chuuya's, don't you think, Chuuya?"
Chuuya Nakahara: "?"
Chuuya Nakahara: "Huh? What did you say? You bastard Dazai!"
Dazai Osamu ignored him. He turned his back and, out of Chuuya Nakahara's sight, grabbed my wrist. He looked down at it, then looked up again, still smiling: "Don't touch me."
He leaned close to my ear and said, "I don't care, but if we make a move, we won't be able to get past Chuuya."
My brain didn't process it for long; I simply denied it instinctively, almost instinctively: "Sir, what do you mean?"
He smiled, seemingly in praise: "Oh, so calm, but the downside is that you're too calm."
“Also, you seem to have forgotten.” Dazai Osamu pulled my wrist up, his index and middle fingers tracing my skin as he pressed down. “I can feel your pulse.”
"—Or you."
My heart almost skipped a beat.
The moment that name, "Huo Jun," came out, I knew perfectly well that my disguise had been exposed.
It's truly a terrible ending, and there's no way to salvage it now.
“...Mr. Dazai.”
“If you admit it, you’re a good boy, right, Ori-kun.” He released my wrist. “Although I know you have questions for me, I also have questions for you, but now is obviously not a good time to talk, and this is not a good place to talk either.”
Dazai Osamu took a step back and shrugged helplessly: "So we'll have to wait until next time, or so you do."
After saying that, without waiting for my reaction, he turned around and called out in a drawn-out voice, "Time to go, Chuuya—"
Chuuya Nakahara roared, "Haven't I been waiting for you all this time, Dazai! It's because of you that we've been delayed for so long!"
"Hey? Chuuya, are you jealous that I'm talking to a handsome guy?"
"That's completely untrue!!"
****
Ranpo and I returned safely to the Armed Detective Agency. The first thing Ranpo did upon returning was to happily store all the things we had bought in his little warehouse.
I went to the coffee shop on the first floor and ordered a glass of milk.
Thinking about what happened on my way out this morning gives me a headache, and the milk helps to soothe my anxiety to some extent.
"Edaka." I tapped the table with my bent index finger. Yosano Akiko had come downstairs at some point and sat down opposite me. "You don't look well."
Yosano Akiko asked, "Is there anything wrong with your body?"
"No, Miss Akiko, you're overthinking it. I'm just a little tired; I probably haven't had enough rest," I explained.
"Huh? Is that all?"
"Yes."
Yosano Akiko was skeptical, but ultimately said nothing.
In many ways, I can barely be considered a good actor.
I can act in a way that makes people believe what I want them to believe, even though I know that's not actually the case.
The matter of Dazai Osamu is like a knot in my heart that I can't get over.
I can't understand how he figured out that I was the same person as the person he knew, or Jun. All my aliases look different just by looking at them—otherwise, it would be too scary to have more than a dozen people who look exactly alike in different places in Yokohama. Only the eyes are different because the procedure was performed and the resemblance is extremely high.
Therefore, when facing Dazai Osamu, I deliberately used a technique to change the state of his pupils.
But he still shouted out that name, "or you," with a powerful and resounding voice.
I don't understand.
I felt a surge of inner turmoil; I hadn't been in such a state of intense negative emotions in a long time.
But I can't tell you all of this.
Just like back then.
I stayed in the coffee shop for a long time, and didn't go back to the detective agency's office immediately when I left.
Cars passed by the road in front of the coffee shop from time to time. I lingered nearby, took out my phone, and paused when my finger scrolled through a contact list.
After hesitating for two seconds, I dialed the number.
After a beep, the call was answered quickly.
"Hello, is this Huo? That's rare, what made you think of calling your teacher?"
Hearing that familiar voice, I almost felt a lump in my throat, “Gojo-sensei.”
"Huh? Or? What's wrong, Or?"
I leaned against someone's wall, looking up at the Yokohama sky: "It's nothing, I just suddenly wanted to talk to you, teacher."
A car horn sounded in the distance.
My right fingertips unconsciously traced the wall as I said, "Teacher, it must be tough being alone in Yokohama."
There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by a reply: "Then come back, or... you can come back if you want."
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