It wasn't just the man and Dazai. They have another friend that would join them to drink after work.
The three of them met frequently at the bar somewhere in Ginza to talk and drink together despite the fact that they are from the same organization.
One is an intelligence agent, Ango Sakaguchi. The other one is a low ranked operative with no title, Oda Sakunosuke. While the last one, Dazai Osamu, is one of the feared executives of Port Mafia where the three of them work.
Their friendship was built by often meeting for drinks after work. But it wasn't perfect. It wasn't also the kind of friendship that everyone can be inspired by. Especially when doubt started to ruin their trust for each other.
Their friendship that started with casual warm conversation and rendezvous ended up being torn down when Oda received an order from the Port Mafia's boss—Ogai Mori, to investigate Ango's sudden disappearance.
Ango was kidnapped by the militia known as Mimic. But as soon as Oda finds him, it is quickly revealed that Ango isn't all that he appears to be. In truth, he is a member of the Gifted Special Operations Division of the Japanese government. But that alone isn't how the man betrays them.
Dazai was aware of it from the very beginning. He immediately notices that Ango is lying to them about going to a deal, right after seeing Ango's bag, and figures that he is some sort of a traitor. But instead of trying to salvage the situation, he accepts that he's going to lose someone he clearly values.
"Then," Ango is forced to open his mouth because he knows Dazai and Oda won't do it. "Have you come to confirm that the friendship between us is unchanged?" he asked.
The corners of Dazai's mouth carry a smile.
"How could that be! We're here to obtain information on Mimic. You should have known that by now, right?" he answered with a mocking voice.
"Unbelievable. Even though it's the same alcohol as before, there isn't a great taste to it." Ango stares at the glass, muttering to himself, before he asks Oda.
"The Special Ability Department's monitoring team sent over a report about Gide and Odasaku-san's exchange. You've already seen Gide's ability, haven't you?"
Oda replied that he had seen it. It is the ability that can predict the enemy's attack, same as his own ability.
"The Special Ability Department cannot do anything about such an ability." Ango said, shaking his head. "The only way is to drop a massive bomb onto his head.. But Gide appears and disappears like a ghost, no one can tell where he'll be. The higher ups are planning to leave the entire matter to the mafia to handle. As long as they let these two organizations fight one another, then handle the surviving side, the Special Ability Department will not have to sacrifice anyone."
To the Special Ability Department that agonizes over gifted criminal organizations, such a move would be like killing two birds with one stone.
"Such a method would be fairly selfish." Dazai said as he tilted his head. "Even for the mafia, to break through such an ability would be difficult." Following this, Dazai turns his eyes to look at Oda. "…Of course, other than a certain junior member."
"He is a soldier who has weathered hundreds of battles, a commander who has led several strong soldiers." Oda spoke, looking at his reflection cast in the glass' fluid. "Moreover, regardless of whether it's my ability or his ability, the result is just the ability to 'predict a few seconds into the future'. In the end, who will topple the other will depend on fighting and shooting technique."
Shooting technique that is to say, the person who can accurately attack the other from a further distance will be the winner.
"Odasaku's shooting ability…" Dazai smiles in indication. "The majority are uncertain elements. 'The Oddity of Abilities' is another problem."
"The oddity of abilities?"
"When you were using your ability against Gide, was there something out of the ordinary?"
Oda thought about it for a while before he replied, "There was."
That time, when he and Gide encountered with each other, he saw many complicated overlapping predictions of the future.
"The government has only started to analyze such a phenomenon recently." Ango says with a look of seriousness.
"They have already confirmed that similar abilities counteracting one another will result in the loss of control over the ability and will cause it to develop in a hard to see, unpredictable direction. The details are not clear, but… for example, if two ability users with the ability to 'launch an attack first' faced off, how would the situation unfold? If an ability user who 'will lie to the other party' and an ability user who 'will definitely see the truth' talk to each other, what would be the end result? The answer is 'we won't know if we don't try'.
In most cases, one of the abilities will win out. However, it's been said that rarely, a scenario where neither party emerges victorious can develop. The Special Ability Department terms this as an 'oddity'."
With that being said, Oda realized that it was an oddity that he saw that time when he and Gide encountered each other. Or maybe it's an oddity, something that happens after.
"Actually, I'm not supposed to reveal these matters." Ango said. "If the Ministry of Internal Affairs' higher ups find out about our meeting, it'll be a big problem. For the time being, I have to disappear."
Upon hearing this, Dazai looks at Ango. He opened his mouth to speak while looking at Ango with a smile.
"Aiya, judging by your tone, you must still think that you'll be able to leave this place alive, Ango." said Dazai with a smirk.
The air inside the bar freezes over. The expression on Ango's face quietly subsides.
Dazai is still smiling.
"Isn't that a given? A secret agency surrounded in mystery. Appearing and disappearing, an existence spoken of in rumors that makes gifted criminal organizations in the country tremble. One of its members is right before my eyes. I think the information and name lists I want you to spit out are even thicker than a dictionary, am I wrong?"
Oda cannot help but ask Dazai, "Are you planning to turn this place into a battlefield?"
This place have witness their friendship. Even in the tiniest hope, Oda don't want the three of them to fight—at least not at this place where they all shared good memories and exchanged genuine laughter.
Ango doesn't move, his vaguely smiling expression frozen. His gaze aimed at Dazai looks like it's been nailed down.
"It's my fault." Ango said hopelessly. "I was mistaken. I selfishly believed that everyone could look past their positions and meet in this place. To avoid troubling the shop, I won't retaliate, do as you wish."
Ango should know how ruthless the mafia's interrogation is. He mustn't be planning to return to the Special Ability Department alive.
Oda thought: If he helps Ango now, how will the situation change? It won't. They cannot break out of Dazai's carefully laid web. And in the event he betrays the mafia, the orphans in the Western restaurant will lose their lives.
"Ango." Dazai gazes at his hands, inspecting the palms and the backs, spitting out these words. "On my command, my subordinates will surround this area immediately. But they haven't surrounded the area yet so before I change my mind, get out of my sight."
Ango looks like he wants to say something, but he swallows his words anyway.
Is this the end of their friendship?
"I'm not upset. I knew this would happen from the very beginning." Dazai said. He showed no emotions on his face. "Regardless of whether or not Ango is from the Special Ability Department, I always end up losing what I hold closest. Now that it has come to this, I have no more feelings anymore. It is a given that everything that is worth wanting will be lost the moment I obtain it. Nothing is worth prolonging a painful life to pursue."
Oda looked at Dazai intently. Although they have known each other for a very long time, this is the first time he heard Dazai speak about himself. One can see something as sharp as a giant fish hook piercing and gnawing into Dazai's life.
"Dazai, Odasaku-san, I am the same as everyone else. As a member of an underground organization that I cannot disclose, as an ability user who arrests ability users, I have always buried myself in the dark corner of the government. I am a person who can never live a life walking the path of light." said Ango, looking at his two friends.
If you would look at him closely, his face is painted with sadness and regrets.
"Someday, when the time changes, when the Special Ability Department and the mafia's structures change, when we are in positions of greater freedom.. Can the three of us come back here to drink again?"
"Just stop, Ango." A voice calls out from nearby. That voice is Oda's voice. "Forget it."
Ango shakes his head, he was actually hurt. Following which, he slowly rises from the bar chair, as though listening to the sound of his own footsteps, walking out of the shop with his head lowered.
Oda thought: He won't probably meet Ango again.
He looked at where Ango was sitting, there was something else other than his finished glass. Oda picks it up and shows it to Dazai. That is the photo that they took in the bar just a few days ago.
In that photo, all of them are smiling so happily.