I slowly opened my eyes and found out that I was already back at the agency's office.
My head hurts a little thinking about how I teleported here. Where is the blonde girl that I was just talking to a few minutes ago? I can't see anybody here except me. Where are the others?
I haven't mentioned it before, but the interior of our office consists of an office floor, a reception area, a conference room, the president's office, an infirmary, an operating room, and a kitchenette. Inside the president's office is a hidden armory where various firearms, munitions, and equipment are stored, suitable for our agency's name as it is called an "armed" organization.
I carefully roamed my eyes and felt weird. It was still the same as the last time I saw it—which was before Ranpo-san and I left to solve a case, but the whole agency right now seemed to be strange and peculiar.
"Hey, Atsushi-kun, can you help me carry this box?"
I turned around to look at the owner of the familiar voice and saw Kunikida-san. He's carrying a huge box that I don't know what was for. He was sweating on his forehead so I guessed that he had carried the box from the first floor to the fourth floor. He needs my help so I didn't think twice to move towards him and help him to carry it.
We put it on the corner safely. After that, he wipes his sweat using the towel that I didn't know where he got before he looks at me and speaks again.
"Atsushi-kun, are you free right now? If you are free then can you buy a cake for the president with Kyouka-chan? The owner of the cafe on the first floor was currently on a vacation with his wife so the cafe will be closed for a week. You can use this agency card to pay for the cake."
I look at the agency card that Kunikida-san showed me. I didn't move to get it because of confusion. A cake? But Ranpo-san and I just bought a chocolate cake at the bakery earlier. Don't tell me..
I look at Kunikida-san with a shocked face.
"Did Ranpo-san eat the whole cake that we bought for the President?" I asked in surprise.
I have already doubted that the cake would be delivered wholly to the President if Ranpo-san would be the one to deliver it, but I still can't believe that Ranpo-san really ate the whole cake alone!
"Did you just say, Ranpo? He is not at the agency right now. He is solving a case with Yosano-sensei outside." answered Kunikida-san.
It just made me more confused than ever.
Yosano-sensei is solving a case with Ranpo-san? How is that possible when Ranpo-san and I just solved the case together earlier? We also bought a chocolate cake at the bakery. And Kunikida-san is supposed to be in a meeting right now. Is it already done? What is really happening?
"What's the matter, Atsushi-kun? Did Akutagawa fight with you again?" Kunikida-san asked after seeing my face troubled.
I blinked and stared at him blankly after hearing the name he just mentioned. Akutagawa? How did Kunikida-san say Akutagawa's name without a hint of fear and disgust in his voice? Everyone at the agency knows how he hates Akutagawa. He hates being involved with the man more than anyone else.
I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again when I forgot the words I wanted to say. I was trying to build inside my mind the right words, when we suddenly heard the door opening and someone walks in.
"Oh, he's here," Kunikida-san said, pertaining to the person who just arrived. Out of curiosity, I turned my head to the entrance door to see who it was.
It was a man. A man who has a slim build and a very pale skin. The man has short, choppy black hair with side bangs that reach his chin and turn white at the tips. Both of his eyes are sharp. He's wearing a long, black coat reaching past his knees over black fitting pants and black dress shoes. Underneath his coat is a white dress shirt, decorated with a layered ruffled fabric and a white jabot.
After studying his appearance for a while, I can't help but to take a few steps backward in both shock and horror.
"A-Akutagawa?!" I called his name in surprise.
I was so dumbfounded when I saw him standing in front of us. What is Akutagawa doing inside the agency's office right now? As far as I can remember, he's working for the Port Mafia. He is not allowed to come anywhere in this building, especially in the agency's office!
When I got back from the shock, my expression changed and I looked at him with a deadly glare. My fists were clenched. Teeth gritting as I prepared to defend myself if ever he'll attack.
"If you want to have a fight, don't do it here. You're not allowed inside this office so you should leave now, Akutagawa." I said with a rigid tone. I would never allow him to destroy anything here. I would protect this agency at all costs.
"Atsushi-kun, what are you saying? Akutagawa is one of our members here. He's been working at the agency for years already. Have you forgotten?" I hear Kunikida-san say behind my back.
It took me a minute to finally understand what he said and my eyes grew bigger while my jaw dropped on the floor.
What?! Akutagawa is working at the agency? How?
"Weretiger, even if I want to cut you into pieces with my Rashōmon, I won't do it today because as you can see, I'm not in a good mood to fight with you right now."
I didn't move and remained at the place I'm standing while blinking in confusion. I clearly have no idea of what is happening at this moment. Why did Kunikida-san say that Akutagawa—the man who wants to kill me, a man working in the Port Mafia, wanting to cut me into pieces, is a member of the Armed Detective Agency—a place where the members' job is to save and help people?
I felt so confused that my head hurts. And whenever I'm in a state of confusion like this, there's only one person that I want to talk to and see right now.
"Where is Dazai-san?" I asked after a couple of minutes. Unlike earlier, my voice is now calmer. But I still didn't let go of my guard as I don't trust Akutagawa that he doesn't have any scheme to destroy the agency.
"Why are you searching for him?" asked Kunikida-san while raising one of his eyebrows.
"Because he's working with us at this agency." I answered. "He's the one who found and brought me here, remember?" I added. I said those words in a matter of fact tone.
He should know about it as well because he's also there when Dazai-san and I met for the first time.
"You must be dreaming, Atsushi-kun. Dazai Osamu is the late former boss of the Port Mafia.. I heard that he jumped from the rooftop and disappeared after. He was gone for a year already."
My jaw dropped as I couldn't believe what he just said. Dazai-san jumped from the rooftop and he was already gone? It can't be true. Dazai-san might probably be the kind of a person that would try every single method of suicide to kill himself, but he hates dying from pain. He hates pain a lot so I'm very sure that he won't jump from the rooftop.
"What Kunikida-san said is right. Dazai-san jumped from the rooftop and you and I are the witness of that." said Akutagawa when he noticed the doubt and disbelief in my eyes.
He said that the two of us witnessed it. We saw it? I noticed myself clenching my own fist. Akutagawa and Kunikida-san are both lying to me. What they are telling me is all nonsense. Dazai-san is still alive! He was just here before Ranpo-san and I left to solve a case.. Dazai-san can't be—
For a moment, my mind went black. I paused and didn't move as I tried to remember something.
The cake, the robber, the blonde girl who has the ability of 'The Conspiration'...
Paula-chan said that her ability helps people to achieve what they desire the most. She said that to make the impossible possible, all the universe will conspire for that person to get and achieve what they desire. Is that why I am here in a different world?
I looked at the specific spot where I last saw Dazai-san this morning. He was searching for something which Ranpo-san told me—a photo that he treasured the most.
"..If you really want to help Dazai find the photo, you should stay here. It's true that the photo isn't here anymore. But who knows? Maybe the universe will conspire and bring the photo back to this world."
What Ranpo-san said is right. The photo is indeed in a different world. The photo is here, and I need to find it.
"When you want something so bad, all the universe will conspire in helping you to achieve it. Did you hear that quote before, Atsushi-kun?"
"..I'm an ability user. My ability is to help humans to get what they desire the most, but I can only use my ability to help those people that help me first."
If Paula-chan sends me to this world, it means this is not the original world. And in this world, I can achieve and get what I desire the most. What is that thing that I desire the most, actually?
"Oda-san, you're back.." said Kunikida-san when another man entered inside.
My ears twitched after hearing the mentioned name. Oda-san? That name rings a bell as it sounds familiar, but I don't clearly remember where I heard it before.
Hoping that I would get an idea to remember where I heard the name, I turned my gaze to the man and studied his features and appearance.
The man is tall. He had dark brown eyes and short slightly parted hair that had a reddish tinge. It makes a small area of his forehead visible. He's wearing a black-and-white pinstripe collared shirt that he wore loosely, collar covers part of a long-sleeved beige-brown Kevlar-woven coat with brown buttons on the cuffs. His pants were pale grey, whilst his shoes were light brown.
I looked at his face to study it again, but I got frozen when our eyes met accidentally, giving me another weird feeling that I cannot comprehend.
It's a feeling that I just saw a person I wasn't supposed to meet, but I met him now because the universe helped me to make our paths cross.
"You're bleeding." muttered Akutagawa when he noticed the red blood from the wound of the man they called Oda-san.
The man held his arm to cover his wound, then he looked at Akutagawa and smiled.
"It's fine, I can treat this by myself. I won't die because of it."
Walking towards the table to open the drawer below and grabbing the first aid kit with his one hand, he was quick to put it back and decided to just get a white bandage to wrap it around his arm without cleaning the wound properly.
He needs help but Kunikida-san and Akutagawa just let him do what he wants as the man said, "I won't die because of it."
I pouted my lips as I don't like how that sounds. The man named Oda needs help so even though I don't know him that much and he's still a mere stranger to me, I took a step closer towards him and insisted on helping him to clean his wound.
He told me that it's okay and I don't need to help him. He also said that the wound is not that deep so it would only heal by itself and he just needed to wrap it with a bondage, but I didn't listen to him and continued to treat his wound properly.
First, I use a clean towel to apply light pressure to the area of his wounds until the bleeding stops.
Second, I rinse the wound gently with a clean, lukewarm water that I asked Akutagawa to get me because I need it to cleanse and remove any fragments of dirt on the wound (it would help to reduce the risk of infection).
Akutagawa didn't listen to me at first, of course, but Oda-san asked him to get it for me and it seems like he respected the man a lot so he listened to him and politely obeyed.
Third, I use a clean pad to dry the surrounding skin gently.
Fourth and lastly, I covered the wound with a bandage and because the wound is not that big, I finished doing all of the four steps in less than 5 minutes.
I'm actually good at cleaning and treating wounds as I often do that to Dazai-san. One time, Dazai-san came to me and showed me a tiny blood on his finger because he accidentally pricked his finger on a needle.
He's crying while asking me to treat his wound, or else he'll die. And because I know he's just over reacting and he likes being over dramatic, I use my tongue to lick the blood on his finger and bite it after.
"Aww! Atsushi-kun that hurts! I would die from pain!" I heard him complain.
"Isn't that what you wish, Dazai-san?" I asked him back. It took him a minute to respond with another question.
"Do you want me to die, Atsushi-kun?" I shake my head twice as I look at him—who's currently looking at me with his doe eyes.
No. I don't want him to die. Never.
"I want you to live longer than me," I answered sincerely.
Hearing what I said, he got taken aback for a minute but he didn't say a word after that. Instead, I saw him smile a little that tells, "I won't die today then,"
Dazai-san's smile is too precious. I would be so sad if I won't see that smile again once he takes his own life.
"Thank you,"
I was back from spacing out when I heard Oda-san speak. The wound on his arm is now neatly bandaged and when I look at his face, he is already smiling at me. I blink twice and smile back at him sheepishly.
"You're welcome." I muttered.
I admit that I found Oda-san intimidating when I saw him 15 minutes ago. But seeing him smiling genuinely at me right now, I can tell that he's actually a nice person.