Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume 2 Chapter 3 Part 3

Chapter 3 Part 3

My bullet struck the enemy’s pistol, knocking it to the ground. The man who I assumed was the Mimic leader seemed to be taken aback. Maybe he was surprised I’d shot his weapon with such accuracy from so far away, although he looked startled by something else, as well. There was something curious about how he’d tried to dodge before I even fired my weapon.
That wasn’t the time to think about it, though. I rushed toward the enemy as I shot. He fired back, but I could already “see” the bullet’s trail. Turning my head, I evaded the incoming bullet. I then fired back, but he dodged in the same way.
He dodged?
“Mafia reinforcements…?!”
Neither of our bullets were connecting as we drew closer until I was near enough to grab his gun. And I did make a swipe for it, but the Mimic leader nimbly twisted his wrist, thus avoiding my hand. It was the same bizarre reaction from a second ago. He could read my every move.
I promptly gave up on trying to neutralize the enemy and searched for any Mafia members that were still alive. Most of them had already perished, but there was a boy in a black overcoat who was still conscious. Ryuunosuke Akutagawa, I believe his name was.
“We’re getting out of here.”
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
He resisted, but I hoisted him up on my shoulder and made a dash for an exit route. Akutagawa was as light as a tree branch. Someone that thin would bleed out and turn into a mummy in no time. In an instant, I was welcomed by the concentrated fire of the Mimic soldiers’ automatic rifles. Having already seen the attack in a vision, I dived to the side, still holding Akutagawa, and avoided the line of fire. Akutagawa groaned in pain as his wound opened, but I was in no position to comfort him at that moment. I ran away as quickly as I could while firing warning shots at the enemy. Then, right as they took cover, I broke for the man-made forest.
While I heard orders being yelled behind me to pursue, I sprinted through the artificial forest of sparsely planted larches. The trees here should give me a little protection from their attacks, but there was no guarantee this wouldn’t lead us to a dead end.
“Sorry, but I’m gonna have to put you down. Can you run?”
I lowered Akutagawa to the ground. He knelt onto some thick underbrush as fresh blood dripped out of the wound on his stomach.
“I’m Sakunosuke Oda, a friend of Dazai’s. I came to help you escape from this hell.”
I extended a hand, but he simply clutched his abdomen without moving.

While his skill was powerful in both offense and defense, I heard he was rather frail physically.
Out of nowhere, I had a vision. After it was over, I lunged backward in response to what I had seen. Then, like a flash of darkness, a blade swung right through where my head just was.
“I’ve heard about you. You’re nothing more than a lackey,” Akutagawa said, panting. His eyes glowed with outrage as if he was going to pounce at me any second.
“Yep.”
“You’re ‘Dazai’s friend’?”
His penetrating gaze shot right through me. It was as if something had set his heart ablaze with utter darkness.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Dazai told me something once. He said I could train a hundred years and still wouldn’t be able to defeat you.” Akutagawa’s murderous rage swelled and burst forth. “He wouldn’t lie, which is exactly why I can’t forgive you. I’m inferior to even you, the lowest-ranking member of the Mafia? Why? Why? Why?”
Three strips of black fabric soared toward me. Having already seen his attack in a vision, I rolled to the side and dodged. The tree behind me was sliced in two before falling down with a loud crack.
“We don’t have time to fight between ourselves. The enemy will be here any moment now.”
“Why?! Why did Dazai…?!”
I lowered my head until it was almost touching the ground. After cutting down a few trees, the black fabric behind me swung back right over my head. Immediately, a few more trees collapsed.
What a frightening skill. It had extraordinary range and speed. What was more, the blades sliced through everything they touched, making it one of the most powerful skills in the Mafia. The idea of someone this talented at this age was spine-chilling. I could see why Dazai wanted to keep him by his side to train him. However, now wasn’t the time for admiration.
As I shot my pistol at Akutagawa, he sliced the space before him with the black fabric he had apparently been storing by his side. The bullet then sank into the cut space and stopped. However, I already knew about his defense mechanism, so I used that opening to slide to his side and kicked his injured arm with everything I had.
“Gah…?!”

The excruciating pain forced Akutagawa to writhe and fall unconscious. He was already mentally drained from using his skill over and over again and from guarding multiple times with a technique he wasn’t yet accustomed to using. The kick to the gunshot wound was enough to send him over the edge.
He was barely conscious regardless.
I’d heard that Dazai’s Spartan training style was relentless, but no matter how effective it was in producing fast results, Akutagawa was still a kid. Mentally, he was already exhausted from battling the Mimic soldiers, its leader, and me all in quick succession. No one would’ve been surprised if he’d passed out on his own. Just where did that tenacity come from?
“Why?! Why did Dazai…?!”
When he’d let out that anguished cry, I caught a glimpse of something faint—something other than anger—hidden behind his expression. I couldn’t get it out of my head.
“I had a feeling…that I would find someone in this country with that skill.”
“What are you talking about?” I turned around.
The Mimic leader stood at the forest’s entrance with three of his men. Since I could no longer hear any gunfire, you could’ve even described the man-made forest as tranquil in that moment.
“I am André Gide. We ghosts came in search of…the one who will free our souls,” the leader claimed.
He had striking features. If he were wearing a fancy suit with a glass of wine in hand, I could see him being an actor in a movie. However, there was a certain quality to the timbre of his voice that sounded like something from decades past.
“Well, I know this guy who works at a funeral home. I’m sure he’ll give you a discount if I put in a word for you.”
“That won’t be necessary…because I just found who I was looking for.” At the same instant, Gide shot his pistol, aiming for right between my eyes. It was an extremely accurate shot, but knowing it was coming five
seconds in advance made it easy to dodge.
I took half a step to my right. One bullet hit me between the eyes, the other through my heart. The assault weapon’s soft-point bullet broke

through my cranium and into the back of my skull, sending me flying from the impact.
The vision ended there.
My skill showed me the future. While suppressing the panic flashing through my mind, I swerved to the left, contrary to what I did in my vision. However, the moment I dodged, a bullet was buried in my skull. The inside of my head shook from the impact, sending a soft, damp sound through my skull.
The vision ended there.
I stood in a daze. Gide hadn’t moved since he got there. He was still aiming his gun right at me and hadn’t even pulled the trigger yet. I was suddenly thrown into a deep pool of confusion.
What’s going on?
“Your confusion is my confusion as well,” Gide said after lowering the gun. “Because you can do exactly what I can. You have the skill to see danger that involves you seconds before it happens. I saw a future where you moved right, so I adjusted my aim accordingly. However, you ‘saw’ that future and swerved left instead. And I saw that future as well… Do you understand what I’m saying?”
We have the same skill?
“Your ability to observe the future is omnipotent. No one in this world can kill you…with the exception of me.” Gide’s cheeks tensed as his lips vaguely stretched to the sides. It looked as if he was smiling. “And the only one who can bury me is you. You are the sole person who can end this war.” His smile was truly from the heart. It was as if someone had injected ice-
cold poison into my veins. I almost reflexively pointed my gun at him. “Yes. Just like that,” Gide replied as if he were begging for it. “That
bullet alone can stop this war. You’re a member of the Mafia. You should want nothing more than the head of your enemy.”
The muzzle of my gun was pointed at Gide. Everything he said was true. There was no telling who would win in a match between two people who could see the future. But there wasn’t anyone else in the Mafia who could even make him sweat.
I took in a deep breath before exhaling with the muzzle still aimed right at the enemy. Then I lowered my gun.
“I’ll pass,” I replied. “I came here to save my ally. And honestly, I haven’t killed anyone in years.”
“………What?” That was the first time I heard a note of surprise in his voice. “Are you…not with the Mafia?”
“The Mafia’s full of all different kinds of people.”
“Guns are tools to kill, and this is a battlefield.” Gide gradually raised his voice. “So let us fight! Let us fight with all that we are—a battle that tears away at our souls! All a war needs is a single bullet. Even if you don’t shoot, you will have no choice but to fight back if I do!”
He aimed his gun at me. Only moments prior, I “saw” him fire. “Everyone’s obsessed with fighting. They can’t get enough of it,” I said.
“But not me. I’m interested in living. What interests me is how you guys live and what drives you to war. And if you die, that information will be forever lost.”
“There is no life more important than death!” Gide pulled the trigger.
I had a vision.
The bullet hit me as I bent backward to dodge. I ducked, yet I was still hit. I tried swerving to the side, but the bullet connected. Each condition was superimposed as it played out through my head.
Foreseeing the future wouldn’t help me in the least like this. I plunged forward in an attempt to decrease my area of damage. The enemies’ bullets soared by, slightly grazing my temples. The Mimic soldiers shot their automatic rifles in tune with their leader; however, I was able to easily foresee it. Rolling over the dirt, I avoided their bullet shower, then fired back with both of my weapons. They were mere warning shots, purposely aimed to not hit anyone. After rolling to Akutagawa’s side, I got on one knee and raised my guns.
“You purposely…missed?” Gide’s expression darkened. “Do you… really believe this is the battle we have yearned for? What, what is it we’ve been fighting for until now…?”
“Sorry you came all the way to Japan for this, but I have my reasons for not killing anyone. Please find someone else.”
“Why?!” Gide yelled. “After that battle, we searched for a place worthy of death. We wandered the world like specters! You are our only hope! Shoot! Shoot us! If you don’t…”
His howls floated unheeded into the atmosphere. He sounded like a man deep in his grave, but also like someone who desperately wanted to live. It appeared I had no choice but to answer him. In hushed tones, I replied:
“The reason why I can’t grant your wish is that I have a dream. When I quit the Mafia and am able to do anything I want, I will sit at a desk in a room with a view of the ocean…”

—“Then you write what happens next.”

—“That’s the only way to preserve its perfection.”

“I want to be a novelist,” I continued. “I want to throw away my gun. All I want in my hands are a pen and paper… A certain man once told me that writing novels is writing people… You cannot write about someone’s life after you rob them of it. That’s why I will never kill again.”
All noises vanished in an instant. The sound of the wind, the sound of leaves rubbing together—they all disappeared, filling the world with only silence.
That was something I had never told anyone before, not even Dazai or Ango.
“Is that your answer?” Gide asked in a low voice. “Is that the reason why you refuse to stand on the battlefield before us?”
“Yes,” I answered.
I looked at Gide, and he looked back at me. Our gazes quietly crossed as we tried to read the emotions hidden deep in each other’s eyes. That was when I realized the negotiation had failed. Gide aimed his gun at Akutagawa, who was still unconscious, and pulled the trigger.
It would’ve been impossible to pick up an unconscious body and dodge a bullet at the same time, so I threw myself in front of Akutagawa. The impact hit me right in the middle of the chest. I’d jumped to the side, and the force spun me around before I collapsed onto the ground and rolled back even farther.
“To live? We are already dead. We are but soulless masses of flesh controlled by the spirits of the departed. We are nothing more than empty shells waiting for a skill user like you to reduce these bodies to ash with your gunfire.”

Each cough brought an unbearable pain in my chest. I ripped my jacket and checked the bullet to find it stuck in my bulletproof vest. Even then, my sternum ached as if I’d been hit with a hammer.
“You’re not dead.” I slowly strung my words together. “I don’t know what happened to you in the past, but you can take your time to think about how you’ll die.”
“Why don’t you understand…? You’re the only one who can…!”
As he wrung every last bit of anger out of his voice, all emotion suddenly faded from Gide’s eyes like a candle going out. And just like that, his gray eyes were empty, as if I were staring into endless ruins.
“If that is your answer, then there is nothing that can be done. You will not kill me because you do not understand my desire. Also, I will not kill you because you are the only one who can guide us into the battlefield’s sacred fire.”
Without making a sound, the personnel carrier from earlier stopped alongside the artificial forest’s entrance behind Gide. Then he and his men quietly got into the truck to the very last man. The grave tone reminded me of a funeral. As they were about to take off, Gide looked back at me once more, then said, “I will make you understand.”
His expression was pale. There was a note of sorrow in his voice that sounded like something not of this world. I couldn’t even tell where it was coming from.
“I will make you understand me. I’ll show you…,” Gide said while sternly pointing at his temple, “…what is in here. Then you will know the truth. You will understand that one of us must die.”
He silently walked away, got in the truck, and disappeared. However, at the final moment before he left, he cast a glance at me that chilled my blood. At last, he spoke.
“Look forward to it.”