Chapter 8 : Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

“I am Dazai, Dazai Osamu.” When the boy said this, there was no expression on his face, as though joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness had all been isolated from him.

【That man has appeared!】

【Dazai! Mommy loves you!】

【Dazai aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa】

【Mr. Dazai!!!】

【The reason people live is for Dazai Osamu!】

【Husband, husband, husband!】

【Dazai and Jun’s first meeting!】

【Thank you, everyone, for helping me find my two husbands. I will take them home now.】

【Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa】

【I finally waited until they met!!!】

【Three members of the Scriptwriter Group at one ceremony, hahahahahahaha.】

【Dazai Osamu and Kiyohara Jun sharing a scene!!!!!】

After the boy named Dazai Osamu introduced himself, the bullet comments, which had become especially excited ever since the beginning of this succession ceremony, instantly occupied Kiyohara Jun’s entire field of vision.

Even though the transparency had already been lowered and the screen obstruction prevention mode had already been activated, the overly dense bullet comments still made Kiyohara Jun feel somewhat uncomfortable.

This was the first time Kiyohara Jun had seen the bullet comments become so excited when someone other than himself appeared. Combined with the way the bullet comments called this person named Dazai Osamu a member of the “Scriptwriter Group,” Kiyohara Jun already had some sense of what kind of person Dazai Osamu was.

After all, under these circumstances, even someone as slow-witted as Kiyohara Jun could tell that this boy named Dazai Osamu must also be extremely important, and very likely, just as difficult to deal with as Boss Mori.

But even if Dazai Osamu was an extremely troublesome figure, was it not a little too perverted to call a boy who was at most fourteen years old “husband”…? Kiyohara Jun once again showed the gaze of an old man on the subway looking at a phone.

After a while, the excited bullet comments finally became less dense. Kiyohara Jun, who had broken free from their influence, belatedly remembered that he had not yet responded to Dazai Osamu.

Kiyohara Jun slowly nodded at Dazai Osamu and raised the Scotch whisky in his hand in acknowledgment.

Ah. Only after doing so did Kiyohara Jun remember that he had forgotten to introduce his own name to Dazai Osamu.

Dazai Osamu should know his name… right? Kiyohara Jun thought somewhat hesitantly. Dazai Osamu seemed to be the boy who had witnessed the previous Boss passing his position to Boss Mori. He was not a member of the Port Mafia, if Kiyohara Jun remembered correctly.

After concluding that Dazai Osamu probably did not know his name, Kiyohara Jun belatedly corrected his omission.

“Kiyohara Jun.”

But in Dazai Osamu’s eyes, the scene looked like this.

After hearing his self-introduction, the white-haired boy with a somewhat weary expression looked toward him. Those golden eyes seemed to see something the moment they turned to him. When he met those eyes, Dazai Osamu felt, for the first time, as though someone had seen straight through him.

It was a long stare. The white-haired boy looked at him just like that, yet it felt as though he had turned Dazai Osamu inside out and examined every part of him.

To Dazai Osamu, who was still only a boy, this feeling was like a cat encountering catnip coated in chili water. While it made him feel disgusted, a faint excitement also seeped through.

After staring at him for a while, the white-haired boy finally withdrew those golden eyes. He nodded carelessly and casually raised his glass toward Dazai Osamu.

“Kiyohara Jun.” At the very end, the white-haired boy seemed to finally acknowledge him and gave his own name.

Kiyohara Jun. Dazai Osamu silently repeated Kiyohara Jun’s name in his heart. As expected of someone Mr. Mori paid special attention to, perhaps?

“Jun-kun.” Dazai Osamu revealed a harmless smile, tightly concealing the disgust and excitement in his heart.

【When Kiyohara Jun looked at Dazai Osamu just now, I held my breath.】

【Really. It felt like even the air froze just now.】

【But the tension between them is here!】

【As expected of two members of the Scriptwriter Group. Just introducing themselves felt like Mars crashing into Earth.】

【It is mainly Jun, right? Dazai has not found his goal yet, so he is still a little lost, but Jun has already revealed his sharpness.】

【I am already looking forward to scenes of Dazai and Jun getting along after Dazai joins the Port Mafia.】

…? What Mars crashing into Earth?

Kiyohara Jun was bewildered. Had they not merely introduced themselves normally just now? Why did the bullet comments say that?

These bullet comments must have some serious illness. Kiyohara Jun strengthened his belief that the bullet comments were sick. If they did not have some serious illness, how could they view their perfectly ordinary self-introductions as a collision on the level of Mars crashing into Earth?

“Dazai.” Kiyohara Jun nodded. Dazai seemed a little quick to act familiar, but he was a boy who had been forced to stay in the Port Mafia because he had witnessed the scene of the previous Boss passing down his position. When he met someone his own age, it was understandable if he acted a little familiar.

And so, Kiyohara Jun overturned the first impression of Dazai Osamu that he had gotten from the bullet comments. After all, they even thought that he, Kiyohara Jun, was unfathomable. How absurd was that?

Therefore, Kiyohara Jun cheerfully regarded Dazai Osamu as a somewhat pitiful, overly familiar boy who had been forced to remain in the Port Mafia.

“Why is Jun-kun standing here alone instead of going into the crowd?” A faint glimmer flashed through Dazai Osamu’s eyes. He asked as though merely curious, looking utterly harmless, as if he were only an ordinary boy.

“I am not like them,” Kiyohara Jun answered without hesitation. He was only an ordinary person with a powerful ability, completely different from those members of the Port Mafia.

“I see.” Dazai Osamu smiled meaningfully, but that meaningful smile was quickly concealed beneath an expression of sudden understanding.

【Dazai has already seen Jun’s arrogance here, so that is why he smiled.】

【I really had a vision of Tomioka Giyuu. That line “we are not the same” is exactly identical.】

【It is still different. Giyuu is a blockhead, but Jun is like this because of the arrogance of the Scriptwriter Group.】

【Right. Those ordinary people he can see through at a glance have no need to befriend him, as far as Kiyohara Jun is concerned.】

【That is true. Before Dazai and Chuuya joined the Port Mafia, the only Port Mafia member Jun was close to was his Adjutant.】

【It is normal for him to be proud. After all, he is a member of the Scriptwriter Group who possesses both a powerful ability and intelligence, and he became an Executive Candidate of the Port Mafia at only fourteen.】

? What pride? What arrogance? Kiyohara Jun widened his eyes. After becoming an unfathomable person in the eyes of the bullet comments, had he now become an arrogant person in their eyes as well?

Kiyohara Jun was dissatisfied. He was clearly an extremely approachable person. There was no Executive Candidate in the Port Mafia more approachable than him.

These bullet comments really were a bunch of fools. Kiyohara Jun thought that if they could see Dazai as a member of the Scriptwriter Group and see him as someone unfathomable and arrogant, then what were they if not fools?

Dazai Osamu looked at Kiyohara Jun, who had fallen silent after saying, “I am not like them,” and was now watching the crowd not far away with an indifferent expression. Dazai Osamu’s curiosity toward Kiyohara Jun deepened slightly.

If he clearly looked down on those people, why did he still watch them?

Was that truly interesting?

Or rather, was there truly any meaning in it?

Dazai Osamu’s gaze darkened. He no longer continued hiding his true face in front of Kiyohara Jun, whom he believed had already seen through his nature.

“Do you not find it boring?” Dazai Osamu said softly. Those brown eyes seemed empty, yet also seemed full of churning sludge.

“Why would it be boring?” Kiyohara Jun was at a loss. “Is it not quite interesting?”

Did Dazai dislike banquets? After thinking it over, Kiyohara Jun arrived at that conclusion. He was the type who rather liked gatherings, so he found this sort of banquet quite interesting. Perhaps Dazai simply disliked banquets like this, which was why he found it boring.

Dazai Osamu looked at Kiyohara Jun. The expression on Kiyohara Jun’s face was still that same expression that cared about nothing, yet he had said, “Is it not quite interesting?”

“Interesting?” Dazai Osamu repeated in a low voice. Did he find observing human nature interesting? Or did he find humans themselves extremely interesting?

No matter which possibility Kiyohara Jun was thinking of, Dazai Osamu thought that he and Kiyohara Jun were incompatible.

Was there truly any meaning in living? Whether one found observing humans interesting or observing human nature interesting, was there truly any meaning in it?

He and Kiyohara Jun were completely different types of people.

After reaching that conclusion, Dazai Osamu’s curiosity toward Kiyohara Jun vanished entirely. To him, Kiyohara Jun went from catnip covered in chili oil to a hairball that had been vomited out and then gotten coated in chili oil.

“So that is how it is,” Dazai Osamu said, his expression suddenly turning cold. Amid the sounds of the banquet dispersing, he spoke one sentence in a low voice.

However, because of the noise around them, Kiyohara Jun did not hear the sentence at all. The bullet comments, on the other hand, abruptly exploded.

【Damn, damn, damn!】

【This is different from what I imagined!】

【Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa】

【Actually, this was predictable. The moment Jun said he thought observing humans was interesting, it was already destined that he and Dazai would not get along.】

【After all, it is No Longer Human and Dust. It really does fit.】

【No Longer Human? Dust? What are those?】

【No Longer Human is the name of Dazai Osamu’s ability, and Dust is the name of Kiyohara Jun’s ability.】

【No Longer Human… Dust… I understand!】

? Dazai and he did not get along?

Kiyohara Jun was bewildered. He thought he and Dazai got along quite well. The two of them had also chatted rather pleasantly. Why were the bullet comments now saying that Dazai and he did not get along?

Concluding that the bullet comments were spouting nonsense again, Kiyohara Jun once more ignored their words.

Just as Kiyohara Jun was about to leave the hall, Kogu Takuto, who had left for a while earlier, returned. His complexion did not look very good.

“Lord Kiyohara.” Kogu Takuto did not even look at Dazai Osamu. With a stiff expression, he spoke directly to Kiyohara Jun. “The Boss has something to discuss with you. Please go there now.”

After saying this, Kogu Takuto glanced at Dazai Osamu, hesitated for a moment, then leaned close to Kiyohara Jun and said in a low voice, “It is related to the Tokyo branch.”