*"Who am I?"*
When Chuuya opens his eyes on a mountain of rubble, he has nothing but his own name. No past, no family, no memories—just a power to bend gravity itself and the comrades he'd die to protect. But the question he's too afraid to ask haunts every battle, every drink, every laugh he fakes: *What if I'm not even human?*
Eight years later, a strange ability is running wild through Yokohama, and anyone who touches it has their deepest secrets torn into the open. Assigned to investigate,
The Night the Twin Dark Hearts Leak - Encounter at Mugibue Bridge — The Leaking Voice of the Heart
The purple light was still pulsing on the bridge.
Get your breathing under control. My heart was pounding. The voice that had echoed in my head until moments ago still clung to me. That had unmistakably been Dazai's inner voice.
"Why the hell are you here?"
I forced the words out. My throat was dry.
"What a coincidence, Chuuya. I was tracking this case too."
Dazai stood at the foot of the bridge. His sand-colored coat swayed in the night wind. Short, dark, wavy hair. Bandages wrapped all around his body. And that ever-present grin. Seeing him for the first time in four years, he hadn't changed one bit from how I remembered him.
"Just looking at your face makes me sick. Disappear. Now."
"How cold. And here I thought this was a long-awaited reunion."
Dazai walked onto the bridge with light steps. Every step closed the distance between us. I found myself backing away without thinking.
"Your subordinate is as overworked as ever, I see. Making a young girl like that touch the dangerous residue of an ability."
"Shut up! Your face is way more of a hazard!"
I shouted back. But deep down, I was thinking something else entirely.
(Why are you here? You're the one person I absolutely never wanted to show up here.)
In that instant, Dazai's feet stopped.
"...Chuuya."
Dazai's smile vanished—just for a moment. His eyes were looking straight at me.
"Did you hear that just now?"
My voice trembled.
"I heard it. Your inner voice. 'You're the one person I absolutely never wanted to show up here'—that's what I heard."
It felt like all the blood in my body was flowing backward.
"You've gotta be kidding! Forget that! Forget it right now!"
I screamed. But the inner voice wouldn't stop.
(Oh no, oh no, oh no. If my true feelings leak at this distance, I'm done for. I never wanted him—of all people—to know what I really think. Why, why, why—)
"...Chuuya, calm down."
"How am I supposed to calm down?! It's because of you!"
"That wounds me. I merely came to investigate the case, same as you."
Dazai put his smile back on. But his eyes weren't smiling.
(This is bad. Even my true feelings are leaking out. This is... really bad.)
Dazai's voice echoed in my head.
"...What?"
I was at a loss for words. That just now—Dazai's inner voice.
(Is he shaken? Is he afraid of his true feelings leaking out?)
Dazai took a step closer to me.
"Chuuya. Let's sort out the situation. This ability residue makes anyone who touches it leak their true feelings to each other. And my 'No Longer Human' should be active, yet this residue won't disappear. If anything, the light's been getting stronger. Do you understand what that means?"
He was speaking fast. That was how Dazai talked when he was serious.
"So why the hell isn't your No Longer Human working? You're not slacking off, are you?"
"I would never slack off. I'm always attempting to nullify it with everything I have. And yet, this ability slips past my power. Which means this ability is a higher-order ability than my 'No Longer Human.'"
"A higher-order ability? That's impossible!"
"The impossible is happening. That's precisely why this case is such a nuisance."
Dazai's voice was calm. But then I heard his inner voice again.
(Being stuck with my true feelings connected to Chuuya is the worst. My mask will peel off. That day, and everything—)
"...What do you mean, 'that day'?"
I'd asked before I could stop myself.
Dazai's smile disappeared completely.
"...Chuuya, could you pretend you didn't hear that?"
"I heard what I heard! What do you mean, 'that day'?!"
"It's none of your concern."
"You heard my true feelings! I've got just as much right to hear yours!"
"Rights, huh."
Dazai let out a small laugh.
"You never change, Chuuya. That part of you, it really never changes."
"Shut up! Answer me!"
"I won't. I have no obligation to tell you."
(If I told him, it would be over. Chuuya, of all people, must never know.)
There it was again. Dazai's inner voice flowing directly into my head.
(What is he hiding? What is it that I'm not allowed to know?)
I stared hard at Dazai's face. He had his usual smile plastered on. But behind that smile, his inner voice was clearly shaken.
"Well, isn't this interesting. Chuuya and I hearing each other's true feelings—there's nothing more entertaining than this."
"What's interesting about it?! It's the worst!"
(There's nothing interesting about it. My true feelings, completely exposed to him.)
"Exactly. I think it's the worst too. But it's already happened. We have no choice but to accept it."
"Like hell I'll accept it!"
I turned my back on Dazai. If I looked at this man's face any longer, even more of my inner voice would leak out.
(Anyway, I need distance. If I get far enough away, the effect of this ability should wear off.)
I vaulted over the bridge railing. Manipulating gravity, I lifted my body into the air. If I escaped into the sky like this—
"Chuuya, wait!"
Dazai's voice chased after me from behind.
But I didn't stop. Into the sky—higher, farther.
That was when it happened.
Something coiled around my ankle.
"What—?!"
The purple light stretched out from the bridge. The residue's glow wrapped around my body like a living thing with a will of its own.
"Ghh—!"
The light dragged me back onto the bridge. No—more precisely, back to where Dazai was standing.
"You've gotta be kidding! Why is this happening?!"
"It seems this ability really is above my No Longer Human. And it won't let us get more than a certain distance apart. Almost like it wants to keep you and me stuck together."
"As if I'd stick to you! Gross!"
"Same here. Rest assured."
(Rest assured, my ass. Just being near Dazai gives me a stomachache.)
"I've got stomach medicine if you need it."
"Don't want it!"
I sat down on the ground. I couldn't escape. As long as this ability lasted, I had to stay with Dazai.
It was the worst night.
——
Dawn broke.
The Black Whale, executive office. I sank deep into the leather sofa and stared up at the ceiling.
I couldn't get last night out of my head. Dazai's inner voice. That shaken look. And the fact that my own true feelings had been completely exposed.
"This is the worst..."
A mutter escaped me in the empty room.
Then there was a knock at the door.
"Enter."
"Excuse me, Executive. A letter from the Boss."
A young member held out an envelope. A black envelope with a gold wax seal. An official Port Mafia notice.
I took the envelope and checked the contents.
What was written inside was unbelievable.
'The investigation of the inner-voice-leak ability incident requires the cooperation of the Armed Detective Agency. Therefore, Nakahara Chuuya is hereby ordered to conduct a joint investigation with Dazai Osamu of the Armed Detective Agency. No right of refusal is permitted.'
"What?! Why Dazai?!"
I'd shouted before I realized it.
"Executive, is something wrong?"
"It's nothing! Get out!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
The subordinate hurried out of the room.
I gripped the letter. The paper crumpled in my fist.
"You've gotta be kidding... Why him, of all people?"
No right of refusal. The Boss had decided. I couldn't go against it.
I gripped the brim of my hat.
——
Top floor of the Port Mafia headquarters, the Black Whale.
When I opened the door to the Boss's office, Mori Ougai was seated behind his desk as always. A glass of red wine in his hand. The blonde girl Elise stood beside him.
"Chuuya-kun. You've read the notice, I take it."
"Boss, I can't accept this. Why a joint investigation with Dazai? He's a traitor. He's with the Detective Agency now."
I removed my hat and stood before the desk.
"I understand how you feel. But this incident can only be solved by you and Dazai-kun—the two of you."
"Why?"
Mori swirled his glass, as if savoring the aroma of the wine, then spoke quietly.
"The inner-voice-leak ability exposes the true feelings between two specific people. And the mastermind behind this case is targeting the bond between you two—the bond of the Twin Dark. That's precisely why the two of you are the optimal choice."
"The Twin Dark's bond... That ended four years ago."
"Chuuya-kun. Even if you think so, the other side doesn't. The mastermind knows that something still remains between you two. And they're trying to destroy it."
I fell silent.
"This is an order. I authorize the joint investigation with Dazai-kun. No—I command it. No right of refusal."
"...Understood."
I answered curtly.
"One more thing, Chuuya-kun."
"What is it?"
"This ability may be connected to your past. Investigate with care."
"...My past?"
"The details are still unclear. But the mastermind may have left clues at the scene that reach toward your origins."
Something stirred deep in my chest.
Memories of childhood. Who I really was. That white room. The voice of someone who called me "my younger brother."
"...Understood."
I left the Boss's office.
——
Around the same time, fourth floor of an old mixed-use building in Yamashitacho. The Armed Detective Agency office, Ranpo-do.
Dazai stood by the window, gazing outside.
"Dazai-kun, what's wrong? You've been unusually quiet since morning."
Ranpo spoke while pulling an old file from the wall-to-wall document shelves. Hunting cap, brown suit. His usual smile on his face.
"Ranpo-san. I ran into Chuuya at Kirifue Bridge yesterday."
"Ah, and? Did you two have a fight?"
"More like... the two of us got caught in an ability that leaks our true feelings to each other."
Ranpo's hand stopped.
"...Is that true?"
"It is. My No Longer Human didn't work. That ability is quite special."
"I see. Well, isn't that interesting."
Ranpo's smile deepened.
"Dazai-kun, an ability that your No Longer Human can't nullify is normally impossible. Which means that ability is either a 'singularity that breaks the principles of abilities,' or it was designed with your No Longer Human in mind. One or the other."
"As expected of Ranpo-san. I was thinking the same thing."
"So, you and Chuuya-kun heard each other's true feelings—what did you hear?"
"...That's a secret."
Dazai laughed. But his smile was just a little strained.
(Being around Chuuya is... honestly, bad for my heart.)
He murmured that in his mind.
"Well, fine. But be careful. Leaking your true feelings means your mask comes off too."
"...Yes, I know."
Dazai turned his gaze back outside the window.
The city of Yokohama was bathed in morning light.
In this city, he would now chase this case together with Chuuya. Bound by an ability that leaked their true feelings.
The worst. But unavoidable.
——
Evening, the Black Whale executive office.
I was rereading the notice on my desk one more time.
'Ordered to conduct a joint investigation with Dazai Osamu.'
"...Why him?"
My inner voice echoed through the room, heard by no one.
Right now I was alone. But starting tomorrow, that would change. I'd be working with Dazai. As long as that ability lasted, my true feelings would be completely exposed to him.
(You're the one person I absolutely never wanted to know.)
The inner voice I'd screamed on Kirifue Bridge last night came back to me.
I pulled my hat down low.
I couldn't run. No right of refusal. Then I had no choice but to do it.
"...Fine. I'll do it. True feelings leak or not—I'm still me."
I told myself that, quietly.
Outside the window, the setting sun was sinking into Yokohama Harbor.
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