Return to the Day of Cherry Blossoms ~Bungo Stray Dogs: Regression Arc~ - Gaze Beneath the Water's Surface

The fluorescent lights flickered. Information Division office. Second basement floor. No windows. The air hung stagnant. Sakaguchi Ango sat at his desk. Manually correcting forged career documents. One page at a time. The feel of paper on his fingertips. The smell of ink. Everything was from four years ago. His neck felt heavy. He hadn't slept. Not since that night at Bar Lupin. Not since seeing Dazai. When he closed his eyes—falling cherry blossoms. Oda's corpse. (*Think.*) Ango kept his pen moving. The forged history should have no holes. Perfect documents. Prepared by the Special Division. His past self had blended into the organization with these. But. (*Dazai is different.*) That man was a genius at finding "holes." Perfect documents would only make him more suspicious. His hand stopped. A memo lay on the desk. Tsurumi River estuary—a scribbled note about smuggling route changes. Written unconsciously. From future memories. In this timeline, that smuggling route didn't even exist yet. (*If this gets found—*) Ango moved to crush the memo. Then. The door opened. No knock. "Well, well, Sakaguchi-kun. So diligent." A black coat fluttered. Messy brown hair. Bedhead. Deep purple eyes peering through long bangs. Dazai Osamu. Ango's fingers crushed the memo on reflex. Paper crinkled. "……Knock before entering." His voice stayed calm. But his throat was dry. "Ah, sorry, sorry. But your room is just so interesting." Dazai laughed. Walked right in. A document in his hand. Ango's career history. "Wow. Looking at it again, it's amazing. Graduated from a Yokohama university. Information analysis expert. I've never seen a rookie write reports this accurate in just two weeks." Dazai flipped through the pages. His eyes weren't smiling. Purple eyes. Sizing Ango up. "Almost like you knew about the organization beforehand." Ango's heart lurched. (*Stay calm.*) (*This is what he does. He shakes people.*) "You overestimate me. I simply gathered as much information as possible beforehand." "Oh? What kind of information?" "Reputation within the organization. Mostly yours." "Ahaha, mine? I'm flattered. What kind of reputation?" Dazai sat on the edge of the desk. His coat spread over Ango's papers. "Brilliant, but elusive. Suicidal tendencies. Always wanting to die. And—" A beat. "Someone you should never turn your back on." Dazai's smile vanished. Instantly. The air in the room shifted. The fluorescent lights flickered. As if the distortion of spacetime had reached even here. "……Huh. You're interesting." Dazai slid off the desk. Casually. Pulled a single sheet from Ango's stack of papers. Ango stopped breathing. The crumpled memo. The one he'd crushed. Tsurumi River estuary. Smuggling route change. "Hey, Sakaguchi-kun. What's this?" Ango couldn't speak. His fingertips went cold. "Tsurumi River estuary. Smuggling route change plan. ……Interesting. This route hasn't even been approved by the boss yet. It's still in planning. Hasn't reached the Information Division. And yet you know about it." Dazai's eyes changed. A predator eyeing its prey. Deep purple. Gleaming. Peering into the depths of Ango's soul. "Almost like you know the future." His heart froze. Future memories flashed through Ango's mind. Dazai's face when he'd been exposed as a spy. Cold eyes. Oda turning his back. Falling cherry blossoms. Blood. (*Again—the same thing—*) His hands trembled. Behind his glasses, his eyes nearly clouded with terror. (*No. It's different.*) Ango bit his lip. The taste of blood seeped between his teeth. (*This time is different.*) (*I won't betray them.*) "……Think about it rationally." He forced the words out. Killed the tremor. Forced back the cold composure of an informant. "And that's supposed to be a rational explanation?" "I'm an informant. Gathering information is my job. That memo—I have a contact in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Special Division for Unusual Powers. They leak me advance intel." A lie. But future knowledge backed it up. Internal Special Division intel. Organizational structure. Surveillance target lists. If he could recite those accurately, it would sound convincing. "The Special Division has been monitoring Port Mafia smuggling routes for a month. The Tsurumi River estuary was listed as a candidate site. I bought that information." Dazai listened in silence. The smile faded from his face. His eyes turned calculating. "I see. You have connections in the Special Division." "Yes." "Huh. Well, that explains why your track record as an informant is too good to be true. Two weeks in and you're already performing at this level." Dazai placed the career history back on the desk. A dry thud. Ango held his breath. Watched Dazai's every move. (*Did he buy it?*) He couldn't tell. Dazai's face revealed nothing. Only those deep purple eyes. Seeing through everything. "Alright. Got it. I'll accept that for now." Dazai spun around. His coat flared. Heading for the exit. The tension drained from Ango's shoulders. (*It's over—*) Dazai stopped at the door. Didn't turn around. "Then just one thing. Who's this friend in the Special Division? Introduce me sometime." The blood drained from Ango's entire body. He couldn't speak. "Just kidding. See you, Sakaguchi-kun. I'll be back." The door closed. Silence. Ango collapsed onto his desk. Pressed his forehead against the cold surface. (*He doesn't believe me.*) That one line told him everything. Dazai didn't believe a single millimeter of Ango's lie. And now—Ango was under Dazai's surveillance. His smartphone buzzed. He looked at the screen. A reply from Oda Sakunosuke. The response to his message. The one asking to meet. *Got it. Friday night works.* A short message. Ango gripped the phone. (*I want to see Oda.*) But. (*If I move under Dazai's watch, I'll put Oda in danger too.*) Conflict tightened around his chest. He wanted to save Oda. But getting close would turn Dazai's suspicion into certainty. Staying away would lead to the same ending as the original timeline. The fluorescent lights flickered. Ango raised his head. Behind his glasses, his eyes glinted quietly in the dim room. (*What do I do?*) The Information Division office. Underground. In a windowless room, Ango sat alone. Thinking through his next move. The clock ticked. Tick. Tick. Time crept forward. Moment by moment. Toward the Mimic incident.

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Episode 2

Name: Return to the Day of Cherry Blossoms ~Bungo Stray Dogs: Regression Arc~
Author: Novelia

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