The next time Oda went back to the bar to drink. The bartender gave something to him after saying that the man wearing a black coat left it.
It was a photo.
A photo of three men smiling so happily. Oda can recognize two of the faces in the photo but he has no idea about the other one.
Just like him, the bartender also wandered. Because the photo was taken at the bar, but he hadn't seen the two men hanging around with Oda there. He only sees the man wearing a black coat drinking and chatting with Oda before, but Oda doesn't seem to be close to the man to take a photo with him.
It's impossible for the photo to be real, but there's no way that the photo could be also fake.
At the back of the photo, there were names written: Ango, Odasaku, Dazai
Oda stared at the names for a while. Until an almost vague memory flash to his mind.
"Hi. What a look you've got there. Are you okay?" a voice asked, getting Oda's attention.
It is Dazai who has half melted into the dark, standing there silently, smiling a smile that does not look like one. He can't smile genuinely because he knows Odasaku can't remember him.
"Nothing." Oda answered as he looked at the other person through the smoke. "I just tripped."
"This matchbox is yours, isn't it? I saw you drop it at the ticket gate."
Oda looks at the matchbox Dazai is holding. It is black on the sides, white on top, and has a logo of a bar in front. It is clearly the one that Oda always carries with him.
"Yes." Oda says, looking at the matchbox. Then he observes the man. He stays silent for a few seconds before asking the man with a blank expression.
"Have I met you anywhere?" Oda asked.
Dazai could only smile and shake his head.
"No. This is the first time we met." he answered.
The bandages that have covered most of Dazai's face the whole time are no longer there. He is wearing a flat cap to cover his eyes, and a black Inverness coat to hide his shape and his wounds. As for the voice, Oda has not heard Dazai speak even once.
"Is that so?" Oda says as he takes the matchbox from Dazai and turns his back on him. "Thanks for the match. Good night then."
Oda is just taking a few steps away when Dazai calls out to him from behind.
"Looks like you got into quite a bit of trouble."
Oda stops and slowly turns around.
"What?"
"You just seem so worn out. Your face looks so bad. Also, that thing on your hand and clothes, I can't see very well in the dark, but it's not just dirt. There is blood too, right?"
Oda looks at his own hands. It is true that there is still some blood from when he tried to help the injured cop on his wrists.
"Well, there was a bit of a situation." Oda says, checking the smell on his hands. "It is not my blood. But it's true that I got into some trouble. I got something important taken from me. Something I have always protected."
"If it has been taken," Dazai smiles helplessly, "then at least you don't have to worry about it being taken anymore."
Oda looks at the other for a while—as if he is trying to look for an answer there.
"Probably." Oda agreed. "I can't forgive the guy who took it, though."
Dazai slowly nodded his head, trying to hide his expression. Oda watches his expression for a moment but he finally turns away.
"Thanks for the match. That was a big help. Bye then."
Dazai looks at the back walking away from him and speaks quickly. "If you ever get into trouble in the future…" Oda turns around, once again.
"Huh?"
"You can go to the Armed Detective Agency in Yokohama for help. They will take on even the troublesome stuff. And they will get the job done without fail. I was helped by them in the past, too."
"I see." Oda says after he gives it a moment of thought. "I'll do so then. That is very kind of you. You are a good guy."
Dazai's expression becomes distorted. He opens his mouth, and closes it again, as if he can no longer breathe.
If he tells him everything now, maybe things will go back to how they were. The two of them will go to the bar together and have a toast. Just like what they always do in the original world.
"Odasa…"
Just as Dazai is about to say that nickname, a train passes by. The express train passing through that station cuts through the silence of the night, right next to where Dazai and Oda is.
The darkness and the light alternatively hit the road, and the roar of the steel blows away the silence of the whole surrounding. Oda narrows his eyes.
The train is long, and the sound it makes sounds like an extended sorrow. Dazai looks down so that no one can see him, his face twisted in grief. It is as if that long roar is promising him six long years of heartlessness to come.
The train finally passes through.
Oda looks around, trying to get what the other was saying again. There is nobody there anymore.
Oda blinks his eyes, feeling confused. He looks around. Then he shakes his head as if to shake off all the thoughts, and walks away with a resigned expression.
Only the cold and quiet night breeze is left blowing through the space where no one remains, trying to fill up the emptiness.
Nobody says a word.
Oda is unaware that it was Dazai's goal from the very beginning. From the moment Oda picked the wounded Dazai near his house and nursed him without knowing that the man wanted to know the whereabouts of the painting he hid, to save him from the danger that awaited him in the future. Dazai succeeded in not letting Oda get involved with the Port Mafia. But rather, he had convinced Oda to join the Armed Detective Agency, two years later after that night.
Dazai knows that Oda is safe in this world because he is with the agency.
Two years later after their first meeting in the other world, Oda meets Dazai once again.
They met one more time at the bar counter, in the sad melody of a parting song where Oda pointed his gun at Dazai. Dazai says his last goodbye to Odasaku, and also the last goodbye to his life.
end of flashback~