[Bungo Stray Dogs] Animal Three Musketeers

Rimbaud, who learned of the identity of the suicide boy and Nakahara Nakaya, went to an abandoned warehouse by the sea. Natsume Mizusui knocked on the door of Mori Ogai Clinic after a few years that she didn't even know.

Seeing her coming, Mori Ogai was not surprised at all, found a chair and patted it in front of Natsume Mizusui, who was five months pregnant, and kindly said: "Be careful."

She looked around, the furnishings were old and ordinary, not very similar to the style of Mori Ogai who became the leader of PortMafia in front of her.

"Isn't there going to be a doctor's attire in the clinic?"

Mori Ogai poured warm water into the cup, and couldn't help laughing, "I'm a black-hearted doctor? Dressing like that in front of you is like an obstetrician who wants to examine your child."

Are suits and red scarves standard for leaders?

Coincidentally, Natsume Mizumi, who had seen the previous leader's outfit, took the warm water handed over by Mori Ogai, and laughed at Mori Ogai's words to adjust the atmosphere, "So, the smart doctor who understands the purpose of my trip decided to talk to me as the leader of PortMafia ?”

Mori Ogai who was sitting at the desk looked back with a smile.

And Natsume Mizusui responded with a smile.

"Well...it's expected." Mori Ogai said with a regretful smile, "But if you want to catch up with Mr. Rambo, it's much easier to go to his place, isn't it?"

"It's unnecessary to ask again after guessing." Natsume Mizushui drank most of the clear water in the cup in one gulp, and looked at the open window with slender eyes, showing half surprise, "Is it for the ventilation?"

"Ask for confirmation is an indispensable way to get to know others. Eh? The window, the smell of blood is too strong will affect the mood of the pregnant woman, so I barely opened it after cleaning it."

"It looks like it's going to fall anytime."

"The old house from a long time ago, um... It seems that it needs to be repaired." Even if he said that, Mori Ogai would not put his words into practice, "What are you going to say to Rambo-kun?"

"...a question that must be answered?"

"No, I'm just asking casually. After all, it's quite refreshing to see friends who are far away from each other but are still considered friends."

The degree of separation between her and Rimbaud cannot be described as exceptional.

There is no overlap or even similarity in any aspect of standpoint, thought, will and ideal.

"perhaps."

Natsume Mizusui's eyes flashed with a puzzled smile, "People who become friends with me are idiots."

"Including me and criticizing severely?"

"It's best if you know yourself."

"A long-lost but similar conversation." Mori Ogai looked nonchalant, put his fingers on the phone and curled his lips, "Call directly? Maybe you can't answer?"

"...That boy called Dazai."

And in the warehouse a few kilometers away——

Dazai and Nakaya were standing side by side but a few meters apart, looking at Rimbaud who was covered by the roof, and remained silent.

The setting sun always brings people a sense of loss.No one knows how many fragile lives were lost in this instant.

The sudden ringing of the mobile phone was a bit noisy in the space. Dazai looked at the name jumping on the screen, and seeing the tone of explanation from Nakaya who was next to him, he suddenly lost his strength, "It's Mr. Mori."

Zhong also clicked his tongue, and closed his mouth as if he was about to say nothing.

"...Can you listen to Mr. Rimbaud on hands-free? No problem."

After listening to Mori Ogai's request, Dazai walked a few steps closer to Rimbaud, squatted down and pressed the hands-free button not far or near.

"...Good night, Mr. Rimbaud."

Rimbaud's pupils widened in an instant.

"Miss Sen...?"

"I'm sorry I can't see you, I can't move too far. I can only choose to borrow my elder brother's phone to 'see' you for the last time."

Speaking of the elder brother, Mori Ogai accidentally burst out the smile he had just suppressed.

Fortunately, Natsume Mizusui was relatively far away, so the burst of laughter was not captured by the phone.

"No...it doesn't matter at all."

"..." Natsume Mizusui had a hard time talking about reminiscing about the past, so he reluctantly parted his lips, "How does it feel to travel in a foreign country?"

"The process is a bit more complicated, but...very fulfilling."

"if……"

Rimbaud raised his heavy eyelids, "What's wrong?"

"No." Natsume Shuishui chuckled, "I don't know when, I actually started to learn to say 'if'."

"Is that so, the 'if' you mentioned are all associations full of expectations, presented in the form of regret for the first time."

"Doesn't it belong to me?"

"No, of course it's you." Rimbaud quickly retorted, smiling lightly, "That's not bad, isn't it?"

Natsume Mizumi's head was filled with an unbearable burning sensation.

"you……"

"Hey, wait a minute."

She was forced to take back what she was about to say.

The young man's clear and hasty voice came from the phone, "Who will explain who the person over there is? Isn't this a simple sentence that can sum up the identity of the past?!"

"...Chuya-kun, is it?" Natsume Mizusui asked hesitantly.

Having not seen each other for nearly six years, she was not so sure that the voice belonged to the orange-red haired child.

"It really is you, the person who broke into Radium Street a few years ago." Zhong Yuan frowned, and the voice with electromagnetic sound on the phone overlapped with the female figure who left after speaking in memory.

He took a deep breath and asked again.

"who are you?"

--Who are you.

Natsume Mizusui hesitated, hesitating between talking with Rimbaud and explaining the balance to Zhongyuan.

"Ms. Mori was one of the members of the research institute responsible for checking your daily situation and protecting your safety."

Rimbaud's voice saved the hesitant Natsume Mizusui.

"Although it's unbelievable, maybe that's why you feel familiar when you see her." Rimbaud trembled his lips, but there was an uncharacteristically calm smile on his face.

Pain spread throughout the body, the light in the field of vision flickered, and the air in the lungs gradually disappeared as the heart slowly stopped.

He felt a bone-chilling cold.

Rimbaud suddenly remembered that on a certain day off, the woman was holding a book to pass the time.

He didn't understand literature, so he just quietly watched her fall into the world of books, and sometimes read a passage of inaudible words from his mouth.

But there was a sentence that tore through the gap of forgetfulness, and came before his eyes beyond time.

"When I stood on the hillside and looked up at the sky, I felt a kind of eternal openness and tolerance, rather than oppression. It was like an easy jump, and I could follow a piece of cloud in it and float together with the same freedom."①

What Natsume Mizusui said with emotion at that time became clear now.

"I never get tired of looking at the world, from the people on the ground to the clouds in the sky."

"Through these eyes, I can see the world and see myself clearly."

Silence floats in two different locations.

Natsume Mizusui opened his eyes, raised the mobile phone that he had put down just now, and the rhythm of his words was like gurgling water.

"Goodnight, Mr. Rimbaud."

"Welcome to home."

The author has something to say: ① Taken from the essay "I See"