Chapter 29

"We are back."

Sakaguchi Ango greeted him and walked into the house one after another with Dazai Osamu.

In addition to the seasonings listed in the memo, Sakaguchi Ango also bought two bottles of sake to go with the dishes. As for Dazai Osamu... he left empty-handed and returned empty-handed.

They separated as soon as they entered the supermarket, so Ango Sakaguchi had no idea what he was going to buy - did he really buy anything?

Before entering the door, Dazai Osamu slowed down his pace and smiled at his friend, "I'll trouble you for a while, Ango."

Sakaguchi Ango: “…” What’s going on with this ominous premonition!

He reluctantly recalled the plan that the black-haired boy had described enthusiastically on the way back, and suddenly felt overwhelmed. In fact, there weren't many things he needed to do in the plan, he just needed to hold back Chuuya Nakahara after dinner - wait, this difficulty is already beyond the standard, right? !

Sakaguchi Ango really wanted to grab Dazai Osamu's shoulders and ask him what gave him the confidence that a powerless clerk could hold off the top fighter of the port mafia.

He took a deep breath, his hand holding his glasses trembling slightly, "I'll try my best." You can't blame him if he fails, he has tried his best anyway.

Dazai ignored his implication, his eyes sparkling: "Ango! You are such a nice person, I will buy you a drink next time!"

Sakaguchi Ango: "...Forget about the treat, just let me have a peaceful meal, please, Dazai-kun."

Just like that, the two people who reached a secret agreement returned to the apartment safely.

"Welcome back."

Inside the apartment, Kimino Seiryoshi, who had just taken off her apron, greeted the two of them.

The hot pot on the table was already emitting steam, and several circles of side dishes were placed around the copper stove. Among the exquisite Japanese cuisine, a plate of sushi with an apologetic shape was particularly eye-catching.

Ah, and there's also a gravity user with pink flowers floating around him. It's hard not to notice something unusual.

Once again, Ango Sakaguchi felt that the road ahead was bumpy.

Kono Seira thanked him and took the bag from Ango. When he saw the smooth bottle of sake inside, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Do you want to drink, Ango?"

"I have to drive back soon, you guys just drink." Sakaguchi Ango waved his hand and said casually: "Dazai-kun and Nakahara-kun should be able to drink."

When Nakahara Chuuya heard his name, he was awakened from a dream. He only heard the second half of the sentence and quickly replied, "Want some wine? I brought two bottles of Petrus."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt the atmosphere become quiet. He was not able to detect the subtle changes by himself, but Dazai Osamu, who had just sat down, suddenly sneered, which gave him a bad feeling.

Across from him, Kono Seiyoshi was in a dilemma holding two bottles of wine, hesitating to speak, but finally nodded with a complicated expression: "Well, if you drink a little occasionally... it's okay."

Since everyone is a member of the mafia, it is okay to disobey the laws and regulations that prohibit underage drinking. Although street gunfights are not uncommon, Chuuya's mention of drinking still makes Kono Seira feel indescribably complicated.

It's like a well-behaved cat at home, but when the owner isn't looking, it rebels by getting a tattoo on its arm and goes to fight with the dog. After returning victorious, it finds its owner, who is shocked, strange.

This complicated feeling continued until another person's voice was heard.

"Drinking alcohol is not good for your health, right?" Dazai raised his eyes and bowed innocently, "I'll just drink juice."

Kono Seiryo immediately breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that there was still a cat that was willing to sympathize with its owner's sadness. A smile appeared in his eyes again: "It's in the refrigerator. I'll get it."

Nakahara Chuuya was almost sent away by Dazai's green tea-flavored tone, but he also knew that now was not the time to quarrel, so he could only glare at Dazai Osamu while feeling sorry for his slip of the tongue, trying to kill this green tea-flavored bandit with his eyes like a blade.

The latter instantly put on a mocking expression, picked up a piece of sushi with a smile and put it in his mouth - of course, it was a piece of perfect shape that was obviously made by an experienced person.

Sakaguchi Ango, who was sitting in the best viewing seat, was shaking his hands as he was cracking chopsticks. He looked at Dazai Osamu in disbelief. You've been drinking a lot at Lupin! Can you come up with a more reliable excuse?

What made him most tired was that Gong Ye Shengliang seemed to buy into this.

Forget it... Ango Sakaguchi comforted himself that this was not an area he should enter.

After everyone is gathered, the dishes are served.

The night was a little bleak as autumn gradually approached, but the apartment with bright lights was very cozy. The warmth and aroma of the food, the idle chats and jokes in the intervals, tonight, no one's identity or origin had anything to do with it, and those who gathered here were not Mafia cadres or intelligence agents, but just ordinary and sincere friends that can be seen everywhere.

"Kuno-kun, is this beef loin cooked?"

"Let me see... You can eat it now. Be careful not to burn yourself."

"Okay, it's decided! I'm going to put detergent in the base of my soup!"

"Put it in quickly, no one is stopping you--Hey! Wait! Who told you to pour it into the pot?!"

"Here, Dazai, your favorite crab meatballs."

“It’s so tight… Can you come a little closer? Ah, just feed me—mmmm!”

"You guys better shut up and eat quietly!"

It’s just that…some of the people at the table seemed a little too lively.

--

The joyful atmosphere may have worked up an appetite, and by the end of dinner, everyone was full.

Since everyone was very law-abiding today, they had not opened the sake that they had bought to go with the dishes. Now, everyone was sitting in a circle on the sofa, each holding a cup of barley tea to help them digest their food.

Next time I can buy a quilt, it's warm and comfortable. Gongye Shengliang felt that his whole body was immersed in the warm current, and he just lazily lay on the sofa, letting all the work and tasks go to hell!

Sakaguchi Ango took off his glasses and rubbed his eye sockets. His vision was not clear and his brain became less serious. He thought of the bottle of wine that was not used and asked casually, "By the way, Kono-kun, how old are you this year?"

The intelligence agent did have access to the identity information of the mafia members, but he did not conduct a special investigation. During this period of time, through his interactions with Kono Seira, Sakaguchi Ango could see that he was quite mature both in his work and in his interpersonal relationships, and sometimes people would often overlook the fact that he still looked like a teenager of sixteen or seventeen years old.

I guess I'm not old enough to drink.

The two who were also paralyzed on the sofa and taking a break pricked up their ears silently, but one was really curious while the other suppressed his expression.

Faced with this problem, which was not difficult at all, Kono Seiryoshi seemed to be stuck. He put down the barley tea in confusion and said, "My age...?"

Before coming to this world, he was the 24-year-old Kimino Seira, the secretary of Vongola Yunshou; and after coming here, he was Kimino Mutsuki who had been locked up in the basement of the Port Mafia for three years.

...Come to think of it, how old was he when he was arrested by the Port Mafia? Why didn't he feel any time had passed? What happened to him, and was his memory interruption related to this?

His thoughts became more and more complicated, like a tangled mess, entangled and led him deeper into the fog. Gongye Shengliang suddenly felt a sharp pain in his mind, and he broke out in a sweat.

Suddenly, his finger, whose nails were digging into his flesh in pain, was pulled out with gentle but irresistible force. The man patted the back of his hand soothingly, and then a familiar voice with a smile rang in his ears: "Ango, can you change the channel? This show is too loud."

"Hmm?... Yeah, sure." Although Ango Sakaguchi was confused, he still lowered the volume as Dazai Osamu said and switched to the news channel.

Before Kono Seira had time to think about why he suddenly had a headache, the force on his wrist suddenly changed direction - Dazai Osamu did not let go of his hand, but picked up the coat on the back of the chair with one hand and gave him a mysterious smile: "Let's go."

...Where to go?

With a confused look on his face, Kono Seiryoshi passively followed him away from the warm sofa.

"!!"

Sakaguchi Ango, who was prepared, quickly stopped Nakahara Chuuya who was about to stand up, "Wait a minute! Nakahara-kun, I have something to tell you."

"Huh? Can't we talk about it at work?" Zhong Yuan Zhong was very angry, but he still maintained basic courtesy, "Get out of the way first."

"No, I have to tell you now." Sakaguchi Ango took a deep breath, told himself that life would pass quickly, and said in a tragic tone of sacrificing one's life for justice, "Actually - Nakahara-kun, I have always admired you!"

He lowered his head and didn't dare to look at the other person's expression. He picked up the barley tea on the table and said loudly: "I toast you a cup!"

Nakahara Chuuya: “????”

--

When Kono Seiryoshi heard a noise coming from behind, he was about to turn around to see what was happening, but the door was closed.

He raised his eyes and met Dazai Osamu's iris-colored eyes that reflected the light of the wall-mounted lamp.

Just as Kono Seiryo was about to ask him how he suddenly came up with this idea, he shuddered as soon as he opened his mouth. The temperature at night was much lower than during the day, and the cold wind seemed to penetrate every pore of his body. He couldn't help but clench his arms.

The next second, the coat, which still carried the warmth of his body, was covered on his shoulders. Gongye Shengliang subconsciously grabbed the collar of his coat and turned around to see the black-haired boy, who seemed to be not afraid of the cold, walking out of the eaves at a leisurely pace wearing only a thin shirt.

...The bandage doesn’t have a heating function, right? Kono Seiryoshi thought for a moment, took off his coat and followed him out.

Unless it is covered horizontally, a well-cut windbreaker cannot cover two people. Wearing it alone always feels unworthy, so he chooses to blow the cold wind together.

"Put it on," Dazai Osamu's voice came through the wind. He didn't turn around, and his chuckle was teasing, "Otherwise, what if you get a fever again?"

Kono Seiryoshi's hand stopped awkwardly in mid-air.

After struggling for a while, he had no choice but to hold on to his collar and follow Dazai closely, until they were within two steps of each other. "Is there anything you want to see outside?"

When Dazai Osamu mentioned fever, he naturally thought of the moon after the rainstorm that night, but today was not a full moon day, and there were only a few sparse stars in the night sky.

"Hmm..." Staring at the bald sky above his head, Dazai Osamu seemed to be in trouble. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed with a headache: "I came out just because I didn't want to see that noisy slug..."

Isn't there any difference?

It's all equally unpleasant, indescribable, and the wind is rather cold.

Kono Seiryoshi just thought it was just a whim. After all, they had been together for so long that he was used to the strange thoughts that the black-haired boy would occasionally have.

He closed his palms and looked up at the clouds, which were some deep and some shallow. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, with only a hazy, veil-like light faintly visible. It was so quiet and peaceful that it was easy to forget that this was a city that had been ravaged by disasters.

In the distance there is the faint chirping of insects, in this early autumn when life is about to end, they are tirelessly leaving behind the last traces.

Kono Seiyoshi is a person who can adapt to the environment very well. It doesn't mean that he has strong living ability, but that he is like an animal with protective coloration, and he does everything without feeling out of place. At this moment, he stood in the clear moonlight, without saying anything, and quietly blended into the night with a not-so-strong presence, as if it should be this way.

Dazai Osamu, who was sitting on the railing, looked at him and a light flashed in his eyes.

He suddenly stretched out his hand, grabbed the hanging sleeve of the windbreaker, and pulled it hard. Unprepared for him, Gongye Shengliang staggered towards him two steps and widened his eyes slightly.

The breath of another person quickly approached, and did not stop there. The distance was so close that he could even see the whorl of hair on the black-haired boy's head.

Dazai Osamu's hands half-circled around his waist, slowly groping upwards along the fabric, too close, his breath lingering around his neck, causing a shudder.

Too close... Kono Seiryo tilted his head uncomfortably, but before he could make the next move, he suddenly heard the black-haired boy's voice, which was much lighter than before: "Found it."

"……?"

Kono Seira was stunned and his eyes shifted. He looked down and saw that Dazai Osamu's hand was still in his coat pocket, with a lighter between his fingers.

He was still confused - wasn't he out to look at the moon but to look at the lighter?

Dazai Osamu retracted his tilted front half, sat on the railing with one leg raised, and opened his lighter.

Amidst the flickering orange light, a brilliant flower suddenly exploded.

The golden light suddenly rang, and the suddenly blooming firework sticks became the only bright source of light in the dark night, coming into view.

Dazai Osamu handed him the firework stick. His bottomless iris eyes were briefly illuminated by the intense light, and a harmless filter was cast over his whole person: "Make a wish."

"..." After a long while, Gongye Shengliang finally heard his own voice, "Is today a festival?"

Dazai Osamu stroked his chin and tilted his head: "For example, celebrating the new students?"

Asking a suicidal person to say such words was obviously a bit too much to ask, and Dazai Osamu felt like every pore in his body was about to explode.

He was the only one who had seen Mutsuki's file, and it was still locked in a locked drawer in his office, detailing every detail of his life before he was imprisoned in the Port Mafia, but without his age or birthday.

In fact, people do not need these cumbersome things when they are alive. Instead, they feel lighter without these numbers. In a sense, birthdays and ages exist to provide convenience for others - after their death, people can be reduced to a few words on their tombstone. With just one effortless glance, one can see through a person's life.

Dazai Osamu didn't care about how to live. He would rather have a close contact with death. He was insensitive to the word "rebirth" which was full of hope and positivity. He felt deeply hurt just by lip-syncing.

——He originally thought so.

The black-haired boy glanced away angrily.

Sooner or later, any absolute creed must be followed by a twist, which must be retribution.

The firework stick had burned to the end, but someone was still holding the burnt wire tightly as if it were a treasure. His eyes flickered, but it was an illusion caused by the poor lighting, and there was a flash of mist in them.

"It's over..." Kono Seiryo was a little reluctant to throw away the bare firework stick, "Is it too late to make a wish now?"

“……” Dazai Osamu raised his head and sighed silently towards the night sky.

After a long while, he uttered softly, "I promised you." His voice was low and vaguely hoarse.

It went against his rationality and desires, and was an unnecessary and fantastic wish.

——I wish you all your wishes come true.

--

When he returned to the apartment, Kono Seira saw Sakaguchi Ango, who was leaning his shoulder on the table and kept shaking, and Nakahara Chuuya, whose arm was being pulled hard by the former, with veins popping out on his forehead, and his expression was speechless and he didn't want to take any real action.

When the ochre-haired young man saw him finally come in, he jumped up from the sofa, not caring that his arm was still being pulled, and immediately went over eagerly: "You guys -" What were you doing outside?

Seeing the look on the other person's face, Nakahara Chuuya suddenly became speechless.

Kono Seira met Chuuya's gaze, and the joy rising from within made his golden eyes sparkle slightly, "I am very happy today, thank you for coming."

His tone was very serious, as if he was carrying out some important ceremony, but at the end he couldn't help laughing: "How about you, Chuuya, are you happy today?"

...This question is too unfair. How should he answer it?

Nakahara Chuuya almost wanted to pull the person over and confess his feelings loudly into his ear.

The answer is of course - "Isn't that a yes?"

Nakahara Chuuya stared at him earnestly with his blue eyes, and whispered, "Let's do it together next time, just you and me."

Gongye Shengliang was slightly startled, and a more sincere smile spread in his eyes. When he was about to answer, he was suddenly interrupted by a slow voice - "Is it really okay to talk about this topic behind my back? Then I want to go too."

Hearing the familiar voice, Sakaguchi Ango sat up from his dying dream on the table in shock, his glasses were crooked, and there was still shame and confusion on his face, "Is it over?"

Dazai walked slowly to the side of the group. When he passed by Kouno Seiryoshi, he paused for half a second with a malicious intent, turned around and stood in front of him, saying in amazement: "Ango, you are not drunk from drinking tea, are you?"

Sakaguchi Ango: “…” My heart is so tired. I will never love again.

Nakahara Chuuya had already endured Dazai Osamu for a whole night, and now his anger value finally broke through the barrier, "Tai-zai-!"

Dazai Osamu nimbly dodged the punch that was attacking him from the front, and leaned weakly and innocently behind Kono Seira, only showing a pair of eyes full of mockery to Nakahara Chuuya.

There was a lot of chaos and Kono Seira was sandwiched between the two of them. Looking at Sakaguchi Ango who was shaking his head in silence, he suddenly felt relieved for some reason.

This unprecedented feeling made it difficult for him to control the throbbing of his heart. Perhaps he failed to control his expression without paying attention, and the two people who were noisy just now suddenly quieted down and looked at him.

"What, what happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"No, nothing." When Kono Seiryoshi heard his own voice, if there was anything different from before, it might be that he had finally made up his mind.

"I will remember this day carefully."

Coming into this world is not a bad thing. Perhaps today is indeed his new life.

…

One night thereafter, Seiryoshi Kono was awakened by a specially set reminder sound.

[The Zhonghui headquarters is closed today. I just found that the residents around have disappeared. I am afraid that Zhonghui has noticed that someone is investigating them. Lord Kono, should we continue? 】