*"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 - Ranpo's Deduction and the Revealed Memory—Suspicion Toward Dazai
The mixed-tenant building in Yamashitacho was dim even in the middle of the afternoon. Footsteps on the stairs echoed far too loudly. One step, then another. Chuuya's shoes landed heavy. Behind him, Dazai's footsteps made no sound at all — barely even a presence.
"Oi, you. Walk ahead of me."
Chuuya spat the words without turning around. The man behind him clung to the back of his neck like a damp cloth, and he couldn't stand it.
"Cold as ever. I like walking behind you, you know. If something happens, I can protect you right away, can't I?"
"Don't say creepy shit like that! I'd rather fall off the building than have you protect me!"
"That would be a problem. This is a joint investigation, after all — if my partner fell, I'd be sad."
"Who's your partner?! Never let that word out of your mouth again!"
Chuuya stopped dead and wheeled around to glare at Dazai. His short orange hair seemed to bristle with rage under the dim light. His blue eyes narrowed sharply, and his clenched fist went white.
Dazai smiled — a soft, easy grin. The short, curly black hair. The bandages wrapped around his body. The sand-colored coat. Every last bit of it grated on Chuuya's nerves.
"Now, now. Fighting here won't get us anywhere. Come on, let's go in. The great detective is waiting."
Dazai pushed open the weathered door.
— The Armed Detective Agency office, "Ranpo-do."
Fourth floor of an old mixed-tenant building in Yamashitacho. About eighty square meters. Old document shelves lined one entire wall, and stacks of papers piled up on the floor. The afternoon light slanting through the window set the dust motes drifting.
"Well, if it isn't the little gravity brat. Good of you to come."
A man sat at the desk by the window. Black hair, a little on the long side, sticking up every which way. Narrow eyes that always seemed to be laughing. A brazen smirk. A hunting cap and a brown suit. He pulled a candy from his pocket and tossed it into his mouth.
Edogawa Ranpo. Twenty-six. The Armed Detective Agency's great detective. A man with genius deductive powers who never forgot a crime scene once he'd seen it.
"Who're you calling a brat? I'm Nakahara Chuuya, executive of the Port Mafia."
Chuuya straightened the brim of his hat and glared right back at Ranpo.
"I know who you are. I've always thought of you as a man carrying around an interesting puzzle."
"...What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll understand in time. Now then — shall we get to the point? You brought the residue of the truth-leaking ability, didn't you?"
Chuuya drew a small glass vial from inside his coat. Trapped within it was a purple light. The residue of an ability, collected at Kirioke Bridge.
"This is it. Just touching it makes people's true feelings leak out. Even Dazai's 'No Longer Human' didn't work on it."
Chuuya held the vial out to Ranpo.
Ranpo took it and raised it to eye level. His narrow eyes fixed on the purple glow.
"...I see. This is interesting. You know, this isn't just an ability that leaks true feelings."
"What?"
"This ability exposes true feelings by touching the past memories between two people. What's more, it drags out the memories of what those who touch it are 'hiding' and forces it to the surface."
Ranpo's tone quickened.
"Past memories... you say?"
Chuuya's voice dropped low.
"That's right. In your case and Dazai's, the past you share. Memories from your Mafia days. And — memories you shouldn't even possess."
Ranpo's narrow eyes pierced through Chuuya's face.
"...My memories."
Chuuya had clenched his fist without realizing it.
"Chuuya-kun. Your origins may be connected to the nation's ability experiments. It's no coincidence that this ability is targeting your memories."
Ranpo pulled an old file from the desk drawer. On the cover were the words "Arahabaki Project."
"The Arahabaki Project. Records of ability experiments the nation carried out in utmost secrecy. There's a strong chance the traces of this project connect to the blank spaces in your memory — and to the emergence of this ability."
"Cut the crap! You're saying my past is connected to this case?!"
Chuuya's voice rose.
"Calm down. It's still just a hypothesis. But there's no doubt this ability is aiming at your memories. Someone who knows what you are is trying to shake you."
"...Who would do that?"
"Who knows. But things are getting interesting."
Ranpo grinned.
"Dazai-kun. What do you think?"
Ranpo turned his gaze to Dazai, who stood by the window.
Dazai, still smiling, spoke quietly.
"An interesting deduction. Just what I'd expect from the great detective."
"Dazai-kun, you're a man even I can't see through. I haven't the faintest idea what you're thinking."
"I'm honored. Coming from you, Ranpo-san."
"That wasn't a compliment."
Ranpo shrugged.
Listening to the two of them, Chuuya was probing Dazai's inner voice. The effect of the truth-leaking ability was still going. Dazai's inner voice flowed into Chuuya's head.
(So you've made it there after all. Chuuya's past, and the Arahabaki Project. This case was aimed at Chuuya from the very start.)
"...Dazai."
Chuuya's voice trembled.
"What is it, Chuuya?"
"You knew, didn't you. From the beginning — that this case was tied to my past."
Chuuya looked Dazai straight in the eye. His blue gaze wavered with anger and suspicion.
Dazai's smile vanished for an instant.
"...Chuuya, that's—"
"Answer me! Do you know what I am?! You know something about my memories, don't you!"
Chuuya was about to grab Dazai by the collar.
And that was the moment.
— Crack.
The window glass groaned.
"What?!"
Chuuya spun around. Outside the window, the sky over Yokohama was beginning to stain purple.
"This is..."
For the first time, Dazai's voice carried a note of alarm.
"The ability residue is amplifying! The mastermind triggered the trap remotely!"
Ranpo shouted.
The purple light inside the glass vial surged violently. The vial grew hot in Chuuya's hand — and shattered.
"Guh—!"
The purple light wrapped around Chuuya's body.
"Chuuya!"
Dazai tried to run to him.
But before he could—
— A white room.
Images flooded into Chuuya's mind.
Pure white walls. Pure white floor. Pure white ceiling. A sterile room.
(Where... is this?)
A small Chuuya sits in the corner of the room. Staring at his own hands. A boy who knows nothing but his own name.
— My little brother.
Someone's voice. He can hear it.
(Who... who's calling me their brother?)
The voice is gentle, and cold.
— What are you?
The question pierces through Chuuya's head.
"Aaaaaaah!"
Chuuya clutched his head and crumpled to the floor.
"Chuuya!"
Dazai reached out a hand toward him.
But before that hand could touch him—
Words spilled from Chuuya's mouth.
"Dazai... you... from the very start... you were just using me..."
Dazai's hand stopped.
"My memories... this power... all of it... I was just your pawn, wasn't I..."
Chuuya's voice was like a sob. The truth-leaking ability was broadcasting his doubts, raw and exposed, to everything around him.
"Chuuya, that's not it. I—"
Dazai tried to put on a smile. But that smile was horribly distorted.
>(It's no wonder he thinks that. I never told Chuuya anything. I couldn't. So of course it would come to this.)
Dazai's inner voice flowed into Chuuya's head.
"...So it's true after all."
Hearing Dazai's inner voice, Chuuya became certain.
"Oh my, things are getting interesting."
Ranpo looked back and forth between the crumpled Chuuya and the frozen Dazai.
"The mastermind is trying to tear the two of you apart. Aiming at the blank spaces in Chuuya-kun's memory to destroy your trust. That's the purpose of this trap."
"...I know."
Chuuya slowly got to his feet. His legs were shaking.
"Dazai. I won't be taking your hand."
Chuuya struck away the hand Dazai had extended.
"Chuuya, wait. Those words just now weren't your true feelings. The ability amplified your doubts—"
"Shut up! True feelings or not, I don't give a damn anymore! I can't trust you!"
Chuuya shouted.
"I... just what am I...?"
With that murmur, Chuuya bolted from the office.
"Chuuya!"
Dazai moved to chase after him.
"Dazai-kun, you'd better not go after him now. Your words won't reach him."
Ranpo said it quietly.
Dazai stopped in his tracks.
"...You're right. Just as you say, Ranpo-san."
Dazai's smile disappeared.
"There's a strong chance the mastermind is connected to someone involved in Chuuya's origins. However, we still don't have decisive evidence."
"I know. This case was engineered from the start to break Chuuya. Even my relationship with him is entirely in the mastermind's palm."
Dazai looked out the window. The sky over Yokohama was still stained purple.
"...Chuuya, I'm sorry."
Dazai let the words fall, small and quiet.
—
The harbor district at night.
Chuuya walked alone. He gripped the brim of his hat tight.
(Why... why did those true feelings have to leak out now, of all times?)
Chuuya's heart was in chaos.
(Me, used by Dazai? No. Wasn't I the one being used by Dazai? No, but that inner voice...)
Chuuya stopped.
(Dazai's inner voice said, "It's no wonder he thinks that." That's practically admitting he was using me.)
Chuuya slammed his fist into the wall.
Thud.
The wall dented slightly.
(But then why did he make a face like that? Why did he say "sorry"?)
Chuuya gripped the brim of his hat even tighter.
(What am I? The white room. The voice calling me "my little brother." The question, "What are you?" Was that my memory? Or an illusion the ability showed me?)
Chuuya looked up at the sky. The purple sky still hadn't faded.
(The mastermind is after my memories. Trying to shake my blank spaces, my very existence. And trying to destroy things between me and Dazai, too.)
Chuuya began to walk, slowly.
(I won't lose. Whoever the enemy is, I'm me. Even without my memories, I'm Nakahara Chuuya.)
His feet were carrying him toward the Black Whale.
(But Dazai... I can't think about that right now.)
With that thought, Chuuya vanished into the night.
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