Chapter 37

Until the end, Kono Seiryoshi didn't know whether his words were useful or not.

Because the three of them went back to the infirmary together.

The buy one get one free offer shocked Dr. Matsubara. While Akutagawa Ryunosuke was forced to continue the physical examination, the doctor raised his head and asked another rare guest, "By the way, Dazai-kun, it's rare for you to come here on your own initiative. Would you like to have a check-up as well?"

Dazai Osamu, who had kept his mouth shut since entering the room, pouted and said, "Please let me go, doctor."

The doctor had just asked the question casually, but after hearing the rejection, he really treated Dazai Osamu as a painting and stopped paying any attention to him.

"Konno-kun," Dr. Matsubara put on a gentle and worried expression as he turned to the other person. "I adjusted the ingredients and dosage of your medicine. According to your current recovery, you only need one last course of treatment. Are there any adverse reactions?"

Gongye Shengliang, who was daydreaming, suddenly heard his name being called. He sat down properly reflexively and said, "Yes, I am fine. Thank you for your help."

This was not his first interview with a doctor, and he was particularly nervous today, probably because there were other people in the room.

Especially when the doctor was speaking, Dazai Osamu's eyes were always staring at him silently, like the tip of a needle shining coldly in the sunlight, tiny but hard to ignore.

The doctor went to get some medicine from next door, and they were the only two people left in the room. The look in his eyes became more intense.

Kono Seiryoshi gritted his teeth, trying to figure out which of the following sentences would not be awkward: "Congratulations on your promotion to cadre" or "I got promoted too, congratulations." But he was sad to find that both of them sounded like someone trying to make small talk.

...Then don't talk.

His troubled heart was suddenly poured with a bucket of cold water. He exhaled lightly and shifted his gaze to the sky and cloudless scenery outside the window.

In the gradually dispersing silence, a low voice sounded without warning.

"For the first month, I was in the underground torture chamber. I did to them ten times what they did to you."

Kono Seira was stunned for a few seconds before realizing that Dazai Osamu was talking to him.

He turned his head and met Dazai Osamu's dark and lifeless eyes. The latter's lips were slightly raised, as if he was smiling, but that faint smile was tinged with a cold haze.

“…They couldn’t hold on any longer after the third time,” he continued, his voice mixed with a hint of sarcasm and laughter. “They burst into tears and spilled all the information, because I told them that the interrogation would end as long as they told me.”

"But this is a lie to them." Dazai Osamu paused for two seconds and continued, "Every word coming out of the mafia's mouth cannot be trusted." When he said the second half of the sentence, he seemed to be suppressing something, and his voice became low again.

The figure, which was mostly hidden by the black coat, gradually lost the youthfulness of the boy. His brows were drooping and his expression was cold. Just sitting there without saying anything, he already had a terrifying and frightening appearance.

Kono Seira was shocked. He was not so compassionate as to show sympathy to evil people based on just a few words. He just felt that the person in front of him suddenly became a complete stranger. Just like the mafia cadre who reprimanded Akutagawa in a cold voice outside the training room, he was completely separated from the boy in his memory.

"...I accidentally said something boring, and you probably don't want to hear it."

Dazai murmured, and when he raised his head, a faint smile appeared on his face again. "In the second month, I was verifying the information I got from the interrogation, and I found a rat by the way. I wasted some time on him."

"I discovered Akutagawa's talent by chance while out on a trip, and took him in as my direct subordinate and trained him, and it has been going on ever since."

Gongye Shengliang came back to his senses and asked hesitantly, "Why... are you telling me this?"

It was like I was specifically reporting my itinerary to him.

"…There's no reason. Just think of it as me just wanting to talk to you."

Dazai Osamu lowered his eyelashes and spoke in a calm tone.

He had spent an extremely busy and long three months, with his days filled with all kinds of work and tasks. He dug out tasks that he had previously considered unimportant and put aside from time to time from dusty files. To him, people's congratulations for being the "youngest cadre in history" were nothing more than layers of trouble.

But Dazai took on all these troubles and responsibilities. He still found it all boring and annoying, but he would rather face these burdens than let himself be idle.

Every time I closed my eyes, my vision was once again covered with blood.

He didn't dare to go to the ward on the top floor, and didn't even dare to hear any news about it. Dazai once again wrapped himself in layers of overly defensive thorns, but the difference was that while the thorns resisted others from getting close, they also cut him deeply and made him bleed.

...Maybe there will be a time for us to meet, but not now.

He didn't know if he could extricate himself from it. It was a very time-consuming process and it was very likely that there would be no result in the end. After all, he didn't have the courage to face the facts.

"Is that so?"

After being surprised, the person opposite narrowed his eyes and said in the same gentle tone as before: "Dazai has grown up too."

Yes, if recognizing one's own timid nature is called growth, he has already left others far behind.

Dazai Osamu's eyes darkened, his lips curled up slightly, and he nodded.

"Strict training is true," Kono Seira said, a little embarrassed. In fact, he had no right to comment on the teaching methods of the master and apprentice, "but Akutagawa-kun is not in good health."

He was just a weakling, while Akutagawa was the one who was seriously ill in the literal sense. And judging from the boy's stubborn character, he didn't seem like the type who would listen to the doctor's advice and take good care of himself.

Besides that, there is one more thing... Is Dazai really okay?

"That's the way he chose to survive in the Mafia."

Dazai Osamu answered calmly.

He was silent for a long time, and a fake smile reappeared in his eyes, "What's wrong? You seem to care about Akutagawa-kun."

Kono Seiryoshi lowered his head silently.

He couldn't say that Akutagawa reminded him of the half-dead self he was in the Variant training camp in the past. Just thinking about it made him feel phantom pain all over his body.

But it's true, these are the paths that everyone chooses for themselves, and Akutagawa doesn't need anyone else's comfort.

"Maybe it's fate." Kono Seiryoshi answered in a very relaxed tone.

He stopped talking, and his flashing eyes focused on the person opposite him again, "Dazai?"

Dazai avoided his gaze and responded softly through his nose.

"Don't push yourself too hard."

"……Um."

There were hurried footsteps outside. When Dr. Songyuan came back, he had a locked medicine box in his hand. He took out two ampoules of new medicine from it and stopped abruptly when he was about to hand them to Gongye Shengliang.

He hesitated for a moment, "Kunye-kun, do you want to get better quickly or take it slow?"

Gong Ye Shengliang silently put down his hand waiting for the medicine. In fact, both methods made no difference to him. "I'll listen to the doctor."

"That's enough," he said, putting the medicine back into the medicine box without looking up. "I'll write another prescription and ask the nurse to bring it to you when the time comes."

Kono Seira nodded, turned around and left without disturbing the doctor's work. Before walking out of the room, he glanced at Dazai Osamu in the corner with concern.

The black-haired boy noticed his action, smiled, and stood up.

When they walked out of the room one after the other, a person was already standing in the corridor. Akutagawa Ryunosuke still looked unhappy. He looked even sicker in his serious black windbreaker. He folded the report in two and held it in his hand, showing that he didn't care about his injury at all.

When he saw someone coming out, a burning light instantly flashed in his eyes.

Gongye Shengliang subconsciously took a half step back, thinking that this welcoming ceremony was a bit too grand.

Someone gently supported his shoulder, and then Dazai Osamu's voice, neither salty nor bland, rang in his ears: "Go back and rest, Akutagawa."

Akutagawa Ryunosuke widened his eyes, eager to prove himself: "Mr. Dazai! I can still continue training--"

Dazai interrupted him: "This is an order."

"...Yes." After a long silence, Akutagawa gritted his teeth and forced out an answer.

Due to Dazai Osamu's words, he turned around and left reluctantly. Before leaving, he glanced at Kono Seiryoshi resentfully, as if blaming him for meddling in other people's business.

Gongye Shengliang was very surprised and pleased about this. He thought that young people really have personality, which is good.

He blinked and called out to the boy who was about to leave quickly, "Akutagawa-kun, remember to take your medicine on time." After saying that, he felt that his words lacked strength, so he added, "This is also an order."

Akutagawa Ryunosuke's steps first paused, and then he walked so fast that he almost lost his shadow.

Watching the boy's fleeing back, Kimino Seira felt a sense of useless accomplishment. He felt that he probably understood the happiness of Oda Sakuyuki in raising a child, even though the child was a little rebellious and a little over his age.

He felt more relaxed, turned around and smiled at Dazai Osamu who was standing quietly beside him: "Then I'll go back first, how about you?"

It was unknown what Dazai Osamu had been thinking about from the beginning, and there was some depression in his eyes at this moment.

Realizing that someone was looking at him, he quickly closed his eyelashes to hide the emotion in his eyes.

Dazai Osamu pursed his lips tightly, his finger joints hidden under his coat were twisted and turned white, he raised his head and let out a light sigh.

"On the Zhonghui ship...did it hurt?"

This was the first time in the past few months that he had forced himself to recall the details.

“…”

Kono Seiyoshi originally wanted to say that it didn't hurt, because after the pain was reduced to the minimum, he really didn't feel anything, but he thought about how he looked when he came out, and felt that saying it didn't hurt was not convincing.

So he answered cautiously, "A little bit."

"But it's all in the past. I've long forgotten what it felt like."

Kono Seira noticed the other person's tense knuckles with his sharp eyes, and he smoothed out his palms, just as Dazai Osamu had done for him.

"Want to go back?"

“…No, I have other things to do.”

Dazai Osamu seemed to be in a better mood, with a smile in his eyes: "You go back first."

Kono Seira noticed a subtle discrepancy, but seeing that Dazai Osamu did not seem unusual, he suppressed his doubts.

As soon as his figure completely left the scene, the smile on Dazai Osamu's face instantly disappeared without a trace.

After a pause, he turned around expressionlessly and opened the door of the infirmary again.

Before the people inside could express surprise at his return, they heard the cold voice of the young officer:

"Doctor, give me a portion of his medicine."