“I'm sorry, Edogawa-kun, for always mixing you up with everyone else.”
Sawada Tsunayoshi looked directly into Edogawa Ranpo's eyes, showing his sincerity without any concealment, "From now on, I will only be watching you."
Is that how you put it? I suppose so.
Mm, that's about the idea—viewing Edogawa Ranpo as Edogawa Ranpo, rather than Lambo, nor Gin, nor Gokudera Hayato.
Having said that, the young girl took a light glance at Sawada Tsunayoshi's tiny appearance, closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again to see his tiny appearance.
She said softly, "What a sin."
And what does Edogawa Ranpo look like now? His face was flushed red like a tomato, an expression of indignation surfaced in his eyes: "You really are a playboy."
No, the term "playboy" has appeared far too many times. He could tolerate being called other things, but he really couldn't tolerate this.
Sawada Tsunayoshi pressed further, "What do you mean by that? Answer me!"
Edogawa Ranpo covered his ears and walked forward. "I'm not listening, I'm not listening! You're trying to seduce me with words again. I'm not listening and I'm not looking; don't even think about tricking me."
What on earth is going on? Sawada Tsunayoshi continued to press for answers: "Tell me, what on earth does this mean!"
I'm not listening, I'm not listening.
You need to explain!
I'm not listening!
Is that all you can say?
I'm not listening.
Ahhhhh, are you a repeater?
I'm not listening.
The young girl sighed with great humor; kids these days are truly something else, being able to flirt like this at such a young age—what will they be like when they grow up?
Otherwise, I'll just find a younger boyfriend next time; kids these days seem to have a lot of potential.
Well, a nurturing type, then. I get it.
Sawada Tsunayoshi and his group arrived in front of a red building. The people here seemed to know Edogawa Ranpo, a waiter from a cafe greeted them happily, "Mr. Edogawa, you're back! The President was actually planning to come and look for you."
Edogawa Ranpo's face fell, losing his previous look of pride. "Edogawa Ranpo the Great won't get lost, I'm not a child anymore. Why can't the President have a little more trust in me?"
The waiter covered his mouth and laughed, clearly knowing his personality.
Honestly, I didn't even get to eat any good sweets on this trip, now I'm going to get lectured by the President when I get back. I've really lost out this time.
Muttering to himself, Edogawa Ranpo looked at Sawada Tsunayoshi: "Alright, that's enough. The rest is a matter for the client and the Detective Agency. You can head back now. Remember to take a vehicle on your way back, otherwise, you might see something dirty."
What kind of riddle is this?
But things really did end there; Sawada Tsunayoshi took the advice, said goodbye to Edogawa Ranpo, prepared to leave.
"Hey." He was called back.
Seeing Edogawa Ranpo standing on the steps with an air of supreme confidence, he asked, "Do you still remember what my name is?"
Edogawa Ranpo." Sawada Tsunayoshi said his name firmly. "My memory isn't that bad.
Hmph, good, just make sure you don't forget again," Edogawa Ranpo said, hands on his hips. "If you run into any small troubles in the future, the Detective Agency can help you, but don't come to us with big troubles; the President gets very tired too.
Fine then.
When Sawada Tsunayoshi went back, he took the advice and didn't walk, taking a taxi instead. However, he was hit by a stray bullet on the way, forcing him to get out of the car. Fortunately, his home wasn't far from there, so he could walk back.
As he was walking, he happened upon a black and white, human-shaped mass.
Ah, the familiar Dazai Osamu.
Chapter 88: Literary Stream Day Eight
Encountering Dazai Osamu, he tried his best to fight but could not win, so he fled; he couldn't escape being caught, was instead forced to wander around with him like a vagrant.
This was a true reflection of Sawada Tsunayoshi's current state. On his way back from the Detective Agency, he encountered Dazai Osamu, who was doing warm-up exercises before entering the water. Accompanied by a light and cheerful "heave-ho," Dazai Osamu dove into the water like a lithe fish, popped his head up to wave cheerfully at Sawada Tsunayoshi, then let his body sink.
Sawada Tsunayoshi stood on the shore, the cold wind blowing past him, his heart felt chilled to the bone, unable to find any sense of grounding.
What kind of mess was this? He really didn't want to go save anyone ever again.
That being said, Sawada Tsunayoshi still plunged into the water with a splash, pulling Dazai Osamu up by force.
Kneeling on the ground and gasping for breath, Sawada Tsunayoshi said with difficulty, "The.. last time. I.. won't.. look after you.. ever again, cough, cough."
Dazai Osamu covered his eyes with his arms, lying flat on the ground, soaking wet and lifeless.
And he didn't make a sound.
Naturally, Sawada Tsunayoshi dragged him to a sunny spot and laid him down, then poked Dazai Osamu's body: "Are you awake yet?"
No response.
He poked him again. "I've left you here, okay? Remember to head back later, or call your subordinates to come and pick you up."
Still no movement. Sawada Tsunayoshi solemnly felt his pulse; he was definitely still alive.
The footsteps gradually faded away, Dazai Osamu's posture remained unchanged, still covering his eyes in that same manner.
Before long, the footsteps returned, stopping lightly and cautiously nearby. There was a rustling sound, something was left behind. This time, once the footsteps receded, they did not sound again.
A long time passed, until the black-clad subordinates found Dazai Osamu, but they did not dare to approach, merely standing in silence to guard around their difficult boss; they also didn't know when Dazai Osamu would finish playing and finally get up.
The only thing that could be confirmed was that they didn't dare to move or make a sound; who knew which movement might touch upon their supervisor's sensitive nerves?
Dazai Osamu's stomach let out a rumbling growl, urging him to get up and find something to eat.
Ah, it's truly annoying; starving to death is far too painful, it doesn't fit his aesthetic of suicide.
Thinking this way, Dazai Osamu opened his eyes and sat up blankly. He could feel his body temperature rising; he estimated he would likely have a fever soon.
He braced his hand against the side, feeling a bag of something.
He remembered; he remembered what Sawada Tsunayoshi had left behind before leaving, he idly guessed it might be clothes.
Picking them up to look, snow-white, clean bandages were piled together with cold medicine and fever reducers.
Dazai Osamu's hand clenched unconsciously, the bandages loosened slightly after being soaked in water.
If Sawada Tsunayoshi were given a pill of regret, he would undoubtedly travel back to the day he said goodbye to Edogawa Ranpo without hesitation and knock himself unconscious at the Detective Agency. That way, he wouldn't have to walk back and run into Dazai Osamu, nor would he have had a sudden change of heart and bought a few things he thought Dazai Osamu needed.
This way, he wouldn't have experienced that sense of breakdown, as if he were being haunted by a ghost.
Heaven knows the sense of salvation he would feel if, upon opening the rice jar, he saw Dazai Osamu curled up inside, smiling and greeting him, before saying, "I'm stuck in here, can you help pull me out?"
He closed the lid on the spot, silently chanting for the monsters and demons to leave.
He opened the lid again, but it was still the same.
It wasn't just this time; even when Sawada Tsunayoshi went downstairs to take out the trash, Dazai Osamu suddenly popped out from the trash can, with a banana peel on his head.
When Sawada Tsunayoshi went to the supermarket to buy groceries, the cabbage section had been occupied by a mass of unidentified black matter.
Even when Sawada Tsunayoshi went to soak in the bathtub, there was already a weirdo fully clothed sitting inside.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was furious.
Sawada Tsunayoshi broke down; he arranged eighty locks for his home overnight, attempting to stop the increasingly arrogant Port Mafia in this way.
Oda Sakunosuke hesitated, as if wanting to say something but holding back. "I feel like this might not be enough."
Sawada Tsunayoshi had two wide streaks of tears on his face. "What else do you want? Do I have to be launched to the moon or something?"
Oda Sakunosuke fell silent; even someone as slow as him could see Sawada Tsunayoshi's anger.
He opened his mouth, then closed it, fell silent.
Finally, he forced out a sentence: "Dazai just wants to be friends with you."
“Is he some kind of strange elementary schooler?”
Sakaguchi Ango complained, "The person being harassed actually didn't go buy a cannon to blast Dazai away; he really is a gentle person."
They said the exact same thing, Ango and Sawada Tsunayoshi.
Oda Sakunosuke took a silent sip of his drink.
“I don't know what Dazai is trying to do either, but I feel like he has no ill intentions.”
Sakaguchi Ango let out a chuckle.
Just because there's no malice, does that mean you can do whatever you want? Does it mean you can harass others? That's not right!
At night, Sawada Tsunayoshi buried himself in deep thought, pondering how to deal with someone who never played by the rules.
Nakahara Chuuya served him a cup of water and thoughtfully suggested, "How about I send him to Yokohama Bay to be used as sand to reclaim land? That way, he definitely won't be able to get out."
Sawada Tsunayoshi looked at the innocent-looking Nakahara Chuuya in shock; that face looked so well-behaved and sensible, so pure and kind, that it absolutely didn't seem like the face of someone who could say such things.
"Where did you read that?" It definitely wasn't something he had come up with himself.
Nakahara Chuuya blinked innocently. "It was my new friend Shirai who said it. He said he wishes the people he hates most would all become shark food."
During the time Sawada Tsunayoshi was feeling melancholy, it turned out that Nakahara Chuuya had already found a new friend.
Sawada Tsunayoshi gave a forced smile: "It's fine, it's just that this matter was wrong, so make sure you never do it again."
As for my business, it will be resolved very soon.
Soon, or so it seemed.
Dazai Osamu seemed to have developed an addiction to it, it was as if he had placed a tracker on Sawada Tsunayoshi; Dazai Osamu's presence could be found in every place Sawada Tsunayoshi went, haunting him like a restless spirit.
Moreover, the tendency was only getting worse. One night, Sawada Tsunayoshi was startled awake from a dream, because in the dream, over a dozen Dazai Osamus were circling around him, letting out eerie, chuckling laughs, looking as strange as if they had eaten eighteen poisonous mushrooms.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling that he truly had to make up his mind to deal with this matter; if he didn't handle it soon, he was going to end up dead.
Finally, on another day, Sawada Tsunayoshi carefully prepared a large net and caught Dazai Osamu in it the moment he came to provoke him. Standing with his hands on his hips, Sawada Tsunayoshi said proudly, "Let's see where you run now."
The pitch-black figure lay in the net, showing no sign of struggling; instead, he closed his eyes comfortably. "My, what trendy furniture. I'll have to buy the same kind when I get home tonight."
Is now the time to talk about this?
Sawada Tsunayoshi suppressed his urge to retort and tried his best to look fierce. "Speak. Why have you been looking for trouble with me these past few days?"