Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume 5 Chapter 1 Part 1

CHAPTER I

1—1

A steam whistle echoed across the harbor, announcing that a ship was about to set sail. The strong afternoon sun reflected off the suspension bridge and the sea’s surface. The ocean breeze blew by as the seagulls cried and flew away. A bell could be clearly heard ringing from afar.
This was the port city of Yokohama with its mélange of modern high- rises and stately brick buildings. Atsushi Nakashima restlessly looked down at the city from a hill as if he was searching for something. On his way down the staircase, he suddenly stopped, for he had discovered a cemetery plot surrounded by greenery.
“I wasn’t expecting to find a cemetery here…,” Atsushi quietly muttered to himself in awe and surprise. Surely it was no more than a few years old. Scores of white tombstones neatly lined the grounds, illuminated by the orange sunlight. Almost immediately, Atsushi saw the man he was looking for out of the corner of his eye, so he rushed over.
The man wore a light-brown overcoat and had unkempt black hair. His neck and hands were wrapped in bandages. He was sprawled out with his back against a tombstone, idly gazing up at the sky.
Osamu Dazai.
He was the one who gave Atsushi a place to belong and served as his mentor at the Armed Detective Agency. He also happened to be the person Atsushi was searching for. But before Atsushi even greeted Dazai, he stopped in front of the grave and calmly placed his hands together in a brief prayer.
“Do you even know whose grave this is?” Dazai softly asked out of the blue.
Puzzled, Atsushi replied, “No… But I know they’re someone important to you, right?”
He glanced at the tombstone and saw the name S. ODA carved into it. Atsushi didn’t know who that was, but he did know one thing: They had to be someone extremely meaningful to Dazai.
Dazai wore a faint smirk as he asked, “What makes you say that?”
“Because I’ve never seen you visit someone’s gravesite before.” “Does it look like I’m visiting someone’s grave?” joked Dazai.
Atsushi, however, simply blinked. What was he talking about? It was a rather unique way to pay one’s respects; most people wouldn’t rest their head against a tombstone. But it was clear as day to Atsushi: Dazai was undoubtedly visiting someone’s grave. Hence, Atsushi didn’t exactly understand Dazai’s question, so he nodded and replied in earnest, “Yes, it does, actually…”
Dazai’s eyes slightly widened in wonderment at Atsushi’s sincerity until his lips wordlessly curled into a smile.

Dazai recalled the events of four years ago—memories of the dilapidated Western-style house’s ballroom covered in dust and blood.
“Be on the side that saves people… If both sides are the same, then choose to become a good person. Save the weak, protect the orphaned. You might not see a great difference between right and wrong, but…saving others is something just a bit more wonderful.”
“…”
He thought about his friend’s last words, then stared at his hands with a blank expression. Atsushi couldn’t tell how Dazai was feeling from his profile alone.

“So…” Atsushi spoke up as Dazai idly daydreamed. “Was this someone you used to be in love with, or…?”
“If this were a woman I loved, I would’ve died with her.”
“Yeah, I bet…,” Atsushi muttered to himself. Dazai then suddenly stood up and faced him.
“Did you say something?” he asked.
“Oh, uh… No, it’s nothing.” Atsushi averted his gaze.
“…He was a friend of mine,” Dazai added quietly. He then began slowly walking in Atsushi’s direction while seeming somewhat sentimental. He stared into the distance.
“He’s the reason I quit the Port Mafia and joined the agency. I’d probably still be killing people for the mafia if it wasn’t for him.”
“Huh…?!”
Atsushi was baffled. He had no idea whether that was true. What did Dazai mean by that? Curious, Atsushi turned around to face Dazai, but all he could see was his back. Nevertheless, before Atsushi could even get another word out…
“I’m kidding,” Dazai assured almost jokingly. The melancholy Atsushi felt from Dazai had disappeared, and Dazai continued to speak in his usual lighthearted manner.
“I’m guessing Kunikida asked you to find me, right?”
Atsushi suddenly remembered what he was here for. “Yes, we have an important meeting.”
He originally came here because Kunikida ordered him to drag Dazai back to the agency.
“I’ll pass.”
“What?”
Dazai continued to briskly walk ahead with his back still turned to Atsushi. Atsushi shot him an accusatory gaze, but his mentor showed no signs of turning around.
“I just thought of a new way to kill myself, so I want to test it out.” “Again…?” Atsushi muttered in exasperation before sighing as Dazai
casually waved good-bye. There was nothing you could do to stop the man once he said he was going to try killing himself. All you could do was sigh. Atsushi simply watched as the sand-colored trench coat gently fluttered in the ocean breeze.