Chapter 39

The next day, early morning.

Everything is back to normal.

The half-empty bed sheet was flat and tidy. The warmth that belonged to another person disappeared at some point, and the last trace of alcohol that remained in the night was replaced by the smell of disinfectant.

When he came drunk he was very imposing, but when he left he was silent.

The nurse packed up her medicine box and said to the dazed boy on the bed with a smile, "That's great. You can be discharged today."

Gongye Shengliang came to his senses, narrowed his eyes and responded with a smile.

When he was the only one left in the room again, he rested his head on his arms and looked up at the ceiling in a daze.

A sober Dazai Osamu would never ask those questions, and fortunately, it was a drunk Dazai Osamu, so they didn't have to face the embarrassment of answering irrelevant questions.

In the past, he would of course answer that he wanted to live, even if the predetermined ending could not be changed. Whether it was by relying on the "book" or the collected energy, he would do his best to beautify the final death into an accident.

There may be regrets, there may be reluctance, but in the end it must be a wonderful encounter.

But now...Kuno Seiryoshi doesn't know how to answer.

He could only comfort himself in this way - after all, he was the only one on this road from beginning to end, the starting point and the end point had not changed, so it didn't matter if he walked faster.

"…Forget it. There's no point in thinking too much."

Gongye Shengliang sighed, turned over and buried his face in the pillow, half-closed his eyes, and whispered to himself, repeating the nurse's words: "...You can be discharged from the hospital today."

Let’s talk about it after we get out.

--

The layout of the office had not changed at all. Following his memory, he opened the drawer and could see that his usual writing tools, pens, ink, and paper were still there.

The only difference is that the colleague has changed.

Gongye Shengliang laughed dryly twice, quickly turned his head and looked at Guangjin Liulang with a look of help, and asked in a low voice: "What's going on?"

The young man with graying hair standing at the door with his hands behind his back gave him an expressionless look and turned back without hesitation - it was none other than Akutagawa Ryunosuke, whom he had an unpleasant meeting with in the infirmary before.

In stark contrast to Akutagawa who had been silent since entering the room, the experienced Hirotsu Yanagirami was very kind to Kono Seira. He smiled and said, "Oda-kun is busy with another task right now and cannot be away. In the meantime, Akutagawa will temporarily replace him and work with you."

As he spoke, Akutagawa Ryunosuke once again fixed his gloomy gaze on Kouno Seira.

Kono Seiryoshi: “…”

He temporarily ignored the look that was definitely not friendly, frowned slightly, and asked Guangjin Liulang: "Was this arranged by the leader?"

Hirotsu Liulang groaned, "It is indeed the leader's intention, but it is also Mr. Dazai's intention." In order to ease the atmosphere, he took the initiative to speak well of Akutagawa, "Akutagawa has a powerful supernatural power, and the leader values ​​him very much-"

"This is not appreciation at all!" Akutagawa Ryunosuke interrupted him, and in a moment of emotion, he covered his lips and coughed twice.

He gritted his teeth and said with an extremely firm attitude, "My mission should be to use my supernatural powers to tear all the enemies to pieces, not to run errands for..." At this point, Akutagawa looked at Kouno Seira again, his eyes full of reluctance and anger, "Running errands for someone who can't even protect himself."

"Akutagawa," Hirotsu Yanagirami's voice suddenly rose in severity, "Are you going to disobey the leader's orders?"

"...I don't dare."

After a long silence, Akutagawa Ryunosuke clenched his fists and answered in a hoarse voice.

Seeing that he had calmed down, Hirotsu Liulang shook his head apologetically towards Kouno Shengliang, "Akutagawa is young and hot-tempered, please forgive me."

Kimino Seira, who had done nothing but was inexplicably shot in the heart, said: "…It doesn't matter, what Akutagawa-kun said is right."

If he had the ability to protect himself, he wouldn't be standing in the Port Mafia building now.

After coming to terms with his own worthless fighting ability, Kono Seiryoshi obediently sat back at his desk.

Before leaving, Hirotsu Liulang gave a few more instructions to Akutagawa Ryunosuke, the main idea of ​​which was "This is a mission, this is an order, this is the arrangement of the leader and Mr. Dazai, no matter what you must listen to Mr. Kouno", which made Kouno Seiryoshi embarrassed.

However... he stopped spinning the pen and silently glanced at the black-haired boy who was standing at the door with his body stiff as a statue.

...I've been wanting to complain for a long time. Why is Akutagawa so obsessed with Dazai? Every time I hear the name of Dazai Osamu, I feel like I'm possessed.

Gongye Shengliang sighed and stood up to make a pot of black tea.

He poured two cups and said to Akutagawa, "Aren't you tired of standing? There's not much work to do today, so you can be more relaxed."

Akutagawa Ryunosuke ignored him.

Kono Seiryoshi: “…”

Kono Seiryoshi: "Come and have tea. This is an order."

Akutagawa Ryunosuke's forehead was bulging with veins. He approached reluctantly, still uttering harsh words: "If it weren't for Mr. Dazai..."

Kono Seiji was prepared and made a "pause" gesture.

He blew away the tea foam. Perhaps influenced by Akutagawa, as he gazed at the clear tea, his thoughts uncontrollably turned to Dazai Osamu.

I heard that he was on a business trip and might be back tomorrow, or he might disappear again without a word for a few months.

A hangover plus a ten-hour flight... Isn't Dazai the one who is most afraid of pain and trouble?

The porcelain cup fell heavily on the glass tea table, interrupting his thoughts with a "pop" sound. When Kono Seira looked up, he saw Akutagawa Ryunosuke wiping his mouth heavily, still with a deadpan expression, and raised his chin to declare, "I've finished drinking."

Kono Seiryoshi: “…”

He looked down and saw that there was indeed not a drop left.

...This kid doesn’t mind the heat, which is really amazing in a sense.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke stood up and was about to leave. It was then that Kono Seira took his first sip of tea, looked up at the boy's face and asked, "What about your training when Dazai is not here?"

"...No need to bother Mr. Dazai all the time. I can train myself."

"Even though what I say is not very effective..." Kono Seira lowered his head again, staring at the tea stems sinking to the bottom of the cup, and lowered his voice, "Don't forget to take care of your body, Akutagawa-kun."

Akutagawa Ryunosuke froze.

He frowned, and doubt appeared in his dark and empty eyes.

To him, this statement not only sounded nosy, but also had a bit of black humor. However, Akutagawa had no sense of humor, so he suspected that the person in front of him was mocking him.

You yourself look so sick that you'll fall down at the slightest sign of trouble, yet you're still advising others to take care of their health?

Akutagawa Ryunosuke remained indifferent and stood back at the door.

--

After a few days of peace, Kono Seira found that Akutagawa Ryunosuke was actually quite easy to get along with, as long as Dazai Osamu was not mentioned.

After the first day of resistance, Akutagawa seemed to accept reality. Although he was still like a statue, when Kono Seira took the initiative to talk to him, he could communicate smoothly without the suffix "This is an order".

Gongye Shengliang just kept a pot of black cactus as his office.

Perhaps the higher-ups took into consideration that he had just recovered from a serious illness, so the tasks assigned to him were all very light. The casino mission was not urgent, and the seal was safely locked in the safe, waiting for him to deal with it when he had the energy.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, who was annoyed by him, finally learned to fight back. The specific action was to take the teapot and make tea when the time came.

Kono Seira was very pleased. After praising Akutagawa for his understanding, he subtly hinted that his tea-making skills still had a lot of room for improvement.

It was not known whether Akutagawa Ryunosuke understood or not, and maybe even if he did, he did not care. He just stared at him with his calm black eyes.

Gongye Shengliang lowered his head to drink tea and dared not say anything.

Another two hours passed peacefully. When it was time to get off work, Gongye Shengliang closed his notebook. He had just discovered in the past few days how wonderful life was without overtime.

If possible, don't go to work.

When Akutagawa Ryunosuke went out to submit the report, the cell phone that Kono Seira had placed in his coat suddenly buzzed - someone was calling him.

His previous cell phone was lost on the ship, and his new one was empty, and he hadn’t had time to save his colleagues’ contact information. But he was already familiar with the number displayed on the screen, so he picked up the phone without thinking twice.

"Mr. Oda," he said with a slight smile in his voice, "is the work finished?"

It seemed that the person on the other side was outdoors, and all kinds of noises were distorted through the microphone. Only the sound of breathing could be clearly heard.

After a long silence, Oda Sakunosuke hummed softly, "...what about you?"

As soon as the words came over, Kono Seira immediately noticed something was wrong. Oda Sakunosuke's voice was hoarse and slightly tired.

He remembered that Hirotsu Yanagirami mentioned that Mr. Oda was on a secret mission.

Kono Seiryoshi couldn't help but restrain his expression. He identified the voice coming from the microphone and asked cautiously, "Mr. Oda, is it raining where you are?"

As he spoke, he walked to the window and looked at the sunset. It had just rained outside the window, and the sky was filled with a gorgeous orange-pink sunset glow. The hazy water vapor stained the afterglow of the sunset and spread it on the sparkling sea.

"Well," the other person paused and said, "It's almost time to stop."

Kono Seiryoshi's heart suddenly started beating very fast, and a strong premonition flashed through his mind. He didn't care about calming his turbulent heartbeat, and quickly opened the Yokohama map from the bookshelf.

Where it is still raining now——

The person on the other side seemed to sense his panic and soothed him gently, "I'm fine, I just suddenly wanted to hear your voice."

Kono Seira's eyes widened for a moment, "Mr. Oda...?"

"It's enough now." Oda Sakunosuke still said to himself. He rarely had such a self-centered moment, and when this moment came, it made others' hearts drop. "I'm sorry... I'm an unqualified guard."

"wait--"

With a beep, the phone was hung up.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa knocked on the office door symbolically and walked in without waiting for a response. The owner of the office was holding a cell phone with his back to him, revealing only a slender back.

He didn't think much about it, and walked forward and said as usual in the past two days: "The time has come, I will take you..."

The word "go home" was stuck in his throat, and Akutagawa Ryunosuke's eyes were stunned.

The man who he had judged to be weak since the first time he met him, the gentle smile that always appeared on his face was replaced by another pale expression.

"Akutagawa."

The golden eyes that should have been bright and shining were frozen, a completely unfamiliar and cruel gesture. When he looked into those eyes, Akutagawa Ryunosuke's breathing froze for a moment.

The next second, he heard a cold order.

"I'm going out for a while, and you are not allowed to follow me."