【Taizhong】Forbidden Love

There was no one in the little tavern.To be precise, there were no other visitors except the young man who was waiting for others on the seat.

There was a lot of wind outside, but the house was warm and quiet.The walls of the four walls were old and yellowed, and a layer of fragile skin emerged from the cracks in the corners.The employees are probably not very diligent. The wine cabinet seems to have not been wiped for some time.

A tall man walked in, his whole body seemed to be cool with gusts of wind, the young man sitting on the chair turned his head and smiled when he saw him.

"Long time no see, Odasaku." The man greeted him familiarly, as if they were old friends reunited after a long absence.

"^Long time no see? Have we met?" Oda Sakunosuke separated the young man and sat down on the chair next to him.

"^No, it's the first time we've met, it's the first time I've come to this store, and it's the first time I've drank the wine here. It's also the first time I've met you here, Odasaku."

The only eye revealed by the beautiful young man darkened.He swirled the wine in the glass, and the corners of the ice cubes hit the glass wall with a clang.

Oda thought of the bar called Lupin that he saw outside the store, and thought briefly in his mind, it was indeed his first time here, and he had never even heard of the name before.However, this is all secondary, there is one thing that he cares more about now.

"Speaking of which, do you mean me by 'Odasaku'?" He asked solemnly.

"Pfft." The young man laughed, and then frowned his delicate eyebrows, "I didn't expect you to ask this. Yes, what's the matter? Hasn't Oda Saku been called that before?"

"Never, usually they call me Oda." The man replied.

Osamu Dazai lowered his head, raised it again for a moment and said with a smile, "Okay, would you like something to drink?" He skipped the subject unexpectedly.

Oda won't order bitter wine anymore, thinking about the taste of the last taste, it was really not very good, "Let's just have a glass of corkscrew, and add less ice."

"It's only good if it's chilled." The young man's teasing tone made Oda unhappy.

He replied coldly: "But I don't like it."

The other party was stunned for a moment, then nodded again, "Well...then add less ice."

After Oda's corkscrew came up, the young man raised his cup and signaled a toast: "By the way, I haven't introduced myself to you yet. I'm Osamu Dazai. As for my identity, you should already know it."

The man didn't clink glasses with him, but just drank his gimlet alone, which made the two of them silent for a while.

In the end, it was Dazai who took the lead to break the awkward atmosphere: "Does Odasaku still like curry rice?"

Oda noticed that there was the word 'still' in his words, but he just took it as boring information collected by the intelligence network of the mafia leader.

"Yes, are you interested in such a boring thing?"

"Odasaku is really interesting."

……baffling.

"I have something very interesting—"

"I have a question--"

The two opened their mouths at the same time, but neither of them uttered a complete sentence.

"Oda Saku, let's talk first." Dazai raised his eyebrows, but the other party did not give in.

"Who is Mr. Nakaya to you?" He didn't hesitate, "Sorry, I understand that it might be a bit abrupt to ask..."

"I know, Oda Sakukazuka also knows each other." Osamu Dazai interrupted him, "Not only do we know each other, but the relationship is probably better than I imagined."

"We're friends." The man said calmly, "So, don't evade my question. Is he really your partner?"

"No." The other party denied it quickly, with a slightly surprised expression on his face, "Is that what Zhong told you?"

"No, he didn't say a word about his identity, occupation, and background."

"That's right, how could Chuya admit that I'm his partner." Dazai Osamu seemed to suddenly remember something: "Ah, I almost forgot that Oda Saku and your company's detective have already got the video data, oops, If we had known earlier, we should have taken precautions and kept the personal information of our mafia members secret."

Oda frowned, "You..."

"Forget it." He took a sip of his wine and asked, "Then...if it's not a partner, is it a lover?"

"There seems to be no difference between the two." Osamu Dazai avoided the important one.

"who knows."

"No." The young man gave a negative answer again, "Regardless of whether there is any difference, Zhong and I are neither partners nor lovers. At best——"

His voice suddenly became very obscure, "It's a former partner, but now it's just a subordinate relationship."

"Really? And the other father of his child is...?"

"It's me, that child is mine." Osamu Dazai's youthful, or rather childish, face just now completely faded away, "But so what, at first, none of us wanted to keep this child, but he was just stubborn. If he survived, he is as stubborn as Zhong. So, since... he wants to come to this world to suffer so much, I will not stop him."

"That sounds very heartless," Oda said calmly, "and cold-blooded. Although I just met you not long ago, I think it's something you would say."

Dazai laughed softly again, but Oda felt that the former's laugh was a bit more forced than crying.

"Cruel... Cold-blooded... Ah, yes, I am indeed such a person."

So, there was another burst of silence.

"I heard that Oda Saku is going to publish a novel. It's really amazing." Osamu Dazai turned his head and changed the subject lightly, "I'm really happy for you when I hear such news." After all, in another world, this is what you've been thinking about...

"Did this... Mr. Nakaya tell you?"

"Eh? Chuya? No. But, if it's something magical, you wouldn't believe it."

"It's not convincing, it's hard to believe."

"But Chuya really didn't say a word."

"It doesn't seem right. I gave him two book coupons and invited him to my book signing. He accepted it and said you would be interested."

"What..." Dazai's expression finally changed completely.

"Why, he didn't tell you?"

Osamu Dazai was thoughtful, "It's not like we have everything to say between us."

"However, my novel signing will most likely be postponed."

"Eh? Why?"

Oda was silent for a while.

"My subordinate, that is, Akutagawa-kun, is in crisis now, and this is also the purpose of my coming here on this trip, to achieve something with you.

A good deal for both of us. He looked at Dazai, "Of course, if I unfortunately lose my life during this meeting, then the signing will not only be a matter of delay. "

"Hey... don't make it so serious, I won't do anything to Oda, and Akutagawa-kun too, I don't have any intention of targeting or taking revenge on him." Dazai lowered his eyes, "He will be fine Of... ^ if he gets out of that building alive today."

"You...why...you want to lure Akutagawa-kun to the Mafia." Oda asked suddenly.

"Such a keen insight, it should be said, is worthy of Odasaku."

"It's just... an educated guess." Oda took out a pistol from his waist.

"Odasaku, what are you doing?" Dazai noticed the movement of the man beside him.

"If you come alone to meet the leader of the port mafia, you must come prepared." Oda took out the gun and aimed at Osamu Dazai. If he shoots now, he can directly penetrate the heart of the young man in front of him at this distance. leaving a blood hole. "If the negotiation fails..."

"I don't like people pointing guns at me." Dazai's voice was chilled.

"I don't care, you like it or not." Oda didn't take the pistol away.

Osamu Dazai took a sip of his wine, put a piece of ice in his mouth, and chewed it up. "I promise you, starting tomorrow, from the moment the night turns away and the dawn rises, the Mafia will not cause any harm to Akutagawa-kun."

"I can't trust assurances from people I've just met."

Oda saw the smile on the young man's mouth completely split, but he was not afraid of him.

"I led him to the Mafia, of course I have my reasons. But please trust me, Odasaku." Dazai's tone was almost pleading, "I did this to protect the world."

"Guard this world..."

"Yes, on a parallel line, there is another world, and in that world, we are good friends." He replied.

"friend……?"

"Well, we would occasionally drink in this bar." Dazai recalled, "You, me, and another person."

"Another person? Who?"

"The three of us are in different positions, talking to each other about boring but interesting topics."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Osamu Dazai seemed to be completely immersed in his own world, "I remember that what I talked about most at that time was about Chuya. I told you how he hated him, how he annoyed me, and how I tried my best to tease him. Him." The young man laughed again as he spoke, unlike the smooth smile before, the smile he showed this time was much more sincere.

"Odasaku, I only have one request." Osamu Dazai put away his smile.

"^Don't call me Oda Tsukuru." Oda stared at the young man coldly.

Dazai continued, "Although the moment you took out the pistol, I really wanted to ask you to take it back. But now, I have something more to ask you to do."

"What is it?"

"Whatever the intersection of the port mafia and the detective agency, please don't involve Chuya, okay?"

"He's a member of your Mafia and the top cadre. How could he not be involved. If I'm not mistaken, Akutagawa-kun is just one of your pawns. What about Mr. Nakaya, isn't he?"

"Chu is not in the plan I arranged, and all this has nothing to do with Zhong." His voice was so calm, but Oda felt that the man's mood was not as calm as his appearance. "No matter how strong Chuya's abilities are, his body can't stand the toss recently."

"Just now, you were still saying that you and him are neither partners nor lovers. He is just your subordinate, so why should you ask me for him?"

"Our relationship is not as simple as you think, it's complicated."

"It's complicated, it seems that he is still an awkward child. Is it that difficult to admit that you care about others?" Oda's eyes fell heavily on him.

"Concern?" Osamu Dazai smiled, "It would be fine if I only care about such a simple emotion for him."

"With all due respect, I don't understand."

"It's normal that you don't understand, even I don't understand." Dazai Osamu held his jaw, "If I have to use one word to describe it..."

The young man's slender eyelashes trembled, "These years, these seven years, this long time, I seem to have been dependent on each other."

"Is it such a deep feeling?"

"Profound...?" Osamu Dazai thought for a while, "Ah, it's very profound, whether it's hating him, or another kind... I magnify and monopolize all the emotions that human beings will have on him. "

"It seems that you are not completely cold-blooded and ruthless."

"So, Odasaku, if you want to shoot, you can shoot, but don't shoot at the middle. If you say he is your friend, then he must really treat you as a friend. He will not pose a threat to the detective agency. of."

The furrows between Oda's eyebrows deepened. After hearing this, he put away the pistol and put it back on his waist.

"If possible, I also hope that Mr. Chuya will not be involved." He put his hand on the wall of the cup, "He is a good man."

"Yes, he's a good guy, he has all the missing parts of me." Osamu Dazai stood up, and he looked up at Oda, "I can't say goodbye to Chuya, we can't do this. But , It’s really great to be able to say goodbye to my friends at this moment, Odasaku.”

"Goodbye, Odasaku."

Those were the last words that Oda Sakunosuke heard before the young man left.

TBC.

The line with ^ is the original if line.