【Taizhong】Ash

Chapter 17

17.

Sunday, nightfall, eight o'clock.It is the time for ordinary people to chat together after dinner, or for young couples to go out on a date after dinner and take a walk to enjoy the night view.Atsushi Nakajima heard the doorbell ring after finishing the dishes, and Akutagawa put down the rag to wipe the table silently and went to open the door, but there was no follow-up knock on the door after a few seconds, so the kid poked his head out from the kitchen: "Who is here?"

Although the apartment they shared was in a good location, the area of ​​the apartment was really small. From the position of the kitchen, you could see the dining room, living room and even the bedroom with the open door on the other side of the living room.Akutagawa, dressed in home clothes, stood at the entrance, and said in a flat voice, "It's Mr. Dazai."

"Oh, Mr. Dazai." So Atsushi Nakajima retracted his head again, and continued to put the dried dishes back into the cupboard one by one, with a cheerful voice, "What's the matter—" the voice stopped abruptly.

"..."

Two seconds later, the kid who reacted a little slower poked his head out again, his voice and expression were shocked: "What?! Mr. Dazai????"

Akutagawa, who had already invited someone in to change his slippers, glanced at him with a look of "you are so stupid", and then maybe felt that a look could not fully express his contempt, so he added in a leisurely voice One sentence: "Idiot."

Atsushi Nakajima wiped his hands in a hurry, but just as he walked out of the kitchen, he heard this familiar comment head-on.So he frowned unhappily, and protested: "I've said it all, don't keep calling me an idiot?"

Akutagawa remained silent, refusing to engage in meaningless conversations with him.

Atsushi Nakajima walked over, and said good evening to Osamu Dazai who was standing in the living room looking around, and then opened his big eyes that were bright and clear, and asked a little nervously, "What's the matter, Mr. Dazai?"

No wonder he was nervous, because in their business, if one day they are called by their boss without warning, the result is nothing more than an urgent task or a short notice, neither of which is very good; on the other hand, Akutagawa looks calm , but staring into Dazai's eyes also revealed that what he was thinking in his heart was actually similar to what Atsushi Nakajima was thinking.

It was the first time I visited the home of a child I brought with me recently. Osamu Dazai looked at the small apartment curiously (in fact, it took less than a minute to look at it twice) before turning around. He put one hand in his windbreaker pocket and touched it with the other Chin: "I didn't expect..."

Atsushi Nakajima: "What?"

Osamu Dazai sighed: "Miscalculation, miscalculation. I thought that with the two of you's personalities, you would not be able to live together for the time being. If this is the case, it wouldn't be too much trouble for me to disturb you for a night. Who knows... Sigh , I underestimated the young people of today.”

Atsushi Nakajima: "...Mr. Dazai!!!"

Akutagawa Ryunosuke sighed silently.

Half an hour later, Osamu Dazai, who was nestling on the sofa in this small apartment with a small pillow, had chatted with Atsushi Nakajima.And in the kitchen, he sent a message to his immediate superior [Did you argue with Mr. Dazai? ] Akutagawa who texted put his phone back into his pocket, then picked up the tea tray and walked out, put the teacup in front of the original boss and sat aside.

Atsushi Nakajima blinked: "So you quarreled with Mr. Nakahara, so you came to stay with me for one night?"

Dazai Osamu lightly fiddled with the plain tassels hanging on the pillow under his hand, and replied casually: "Arguing? No, just a few words—you don't know Chuya's bad temper? So I came out to avoid the limelight. In the middle of the night, he was shot and sent to eternal sleep."

He was sincerely perfunctory, but the children couldn't hear it, not only took it seriously, but also thought Mr. Dazai's words were quite funny: "Actually, I think Mr. Zhongyuan is pretty good..."

"Yes, yes, Chuya is very kind to people all over the world, but he treats me badly." Osamu Dazai said, and then tapped the mouth of his teacup with his fingertips: "But Auntori, who is your subordinate?" ?”

The one named was a little innocent: "Well, I'm just... telling the truth?"

Well, let's be honest.Osamu Dazai sighed, and Akutagawa, who was silently listening to their chat, coughed lightly, probably because he was really bored by their unnutritious conversation and couldn't bear to listen to it, so he quietly stood up from his seat: "I'll go back first Going to bed." He simply nodded to Dazai.Since he didn't ask himself to be perfect in every detail in order to prove that he can stand on his own as before, he has added a bit of demeanor that has finally grown up.

"Akutagawa still went to bed so early." Osamu Dazai watched his former subordinate walk into one of the rooms, then tilted his head and asked himself where to sleep tonight, "So I slept in another room?"

"No, that's my bedroom. Mr. Dazai, you can sleep on the sofa, and I'll get you a plush blanket." Atsushi Nakajima glanced at his boss's expression, and added, "Of course, you can also sleep on the sofa, you Go to sleep in my room."

Osamu Dazai blinked his eyes again and again, showing a rare blankness: "...But don't you two have two rooms?" Two rooms, Atsushi-kun and Akutagawa share the master bedroom, and he sleeps in the guest room, which is not exactly right.

Atsushi Nakajima looked back with a more bewildered expression than him: "That's right, but there are me and Akutagawa?"

The two looked at each other silently for a few seconds. A few seconds later, Osamu Dazai raised his eyebrows in disbelief, and Atsushi Nakajima suddenly raised his hand as if he understood something at the same time, and stopped Dazai Osamu's voice with his face flushed. : "Wait, I see what you mean, so can you stop talking - because no matter what you ask next, my answer will be 'No, we're not there yet'."

Dazai Osamu: "..."

I have grown up, and now I dare to talk to myself like this.Seeing that the child was blushing so hard, Osamu Dazai finally closed his mouth considerately, swallowed back the original ridicule, and replaced it with another harmless sentence: "...that's fine, I'll just sleep here, You don't need to worry about it."

It's not like something he would say.In normal times, he is never afraid of causing trouble to others, and he is not too lazy to leave his own superficial consideration to others other than Zhongye.It's just that he was in a very bad mood today (although the two unrelated children didn't notice it at all), and the funny and interesting Atsushi Nakajima made him feel a little bit less angry, so he reciprocated, Don't embarrass the children on this issue anymore.

After chatting casually for a few more words, Osamu Dazai drove Atsu-kun, who was also used to going to bed early, to sleep, and then rolled up a blanket and lay down in the living room with a warm yellow wall lamp.It wasn't until now that there was no one around that he restrained the hippie smile on his face just now, and stared blankly at the ceiling above his head, which was also smudged into warm yellow, and fell silent.

"..."

After staring at it for a while, he turned over impatiently, decided not to think about anything related to Zhongya Zhongya, and said in his heart that he wanted to be a puppy again.He held a small pillow in his arms, and was going to learn the living habits of children, go to bed early, get up early, and be healthy—but after sleeping for 5 minutes with his eyes closed, Osamu Dazai, who was not used to the touch of the pillow in his arms, suddenly lifted it Throwing the blanket out in disgust, she lay down on her side in another direction, and tossed and turned for a long time, almost turning herself into anger, and finally calmed down after a long time.

"... Tsk."

He stared at the darkness for a long time, made a staggering sound impatiently, and then closed his eyes.

A few days later, no matter how calm Dazai and Nakahara were in the company, the rumors that the two "quarreled again, and it was more violent than before" still quietly spread among many employees. The evidence that has been spread and used to increase credibility is "Mr. Dazai is no longer at home (after learning about the situation of Atsu-kun's house, he moved to the hotel the next day)", "Mr. Nakahara Even the innocent customer whose surname is 'Dazai' has no good face", and the most intuitive "Although it is not obvious, these two people have been unhappy for many days".

Because of the unprecedented level of quarrels, and the fact that the two people hadn’t completed the tagging before, the quiet thoughts of many single young Alphas and Omega’s in the company came alive again. Not to meet each other, but to be on the farthest diagonal position from the other party if you have to meet", they all actively brushed their presence in front of these two.Judging from the content of their daily tea parties, each of them is very confident in their hearts, as if they can enter the room in the next moment and come back with a serious name.

After all, there is not a saying that is good: dreams are still necessary, just in case you meet a ghost and hit the jackpot.

As for the rest of the people, except for the newcomers who are afraid to speak out, there are only a small number of people who have confirmed the relationship or when the relationship is in progress, they only have pure gossip thoughts-the leader must be Kajii Keijiro, this One of the reasons for being promoted to the first place is that his position is higher than others, and the other is that his gossip heart is not weaker than others. The last and most important point is that he not only gossips behind his back, but is also the only warrior-level figure who has the courage to gossip face to face.

For example, right now, at the monthly party organized by the Operations Department, this warrior-level character came over with a glass of champagne and smiled.Because he was not in the mood to play, Zhong Yuanzhong, who was standing in the corner, also glanced at his expression, thinking that this kid looked like this when he came to borrow the car two days ago, he would probably just roll two huge white eyes, and then waved He waved people aside.

"Mr. Zhongyuan." In order to ask one or two vague gossips, Kajii's mouth was sweet and obedient, and he asked hello first.

Nakahara didn't want to pay attention to him at all, so he casually warned: "Kajii, I have a high-definition video of you mistakenly bringing a bomb into a real lemon when you were on a mission before, and ended up holding a lemon in both hands and staring at the enemy speechlessly."

So Kajii suddenly stopped, paused for a while, and said with great regret: "...I haven't asked anything yet."

"Your question is almost written on your face with a marker pen." Zhong Yuanzhong also gave him a contemptuous look.

Kajii sighed, feeling that he couldn't gossip today, so he drank half of the champagne in the glass and planned to take a stroll elsewhere to have fun—unexpectedly, a second before he lifted his leg and left, he heard The boss's voice sounded calmly: "But it doesn't matter if I tell you, I had a big fight with Osamu Dazai, and now we are separating."

It's okay to ask about gossip by yourself, but it would be a bit embarrassing if someone else said it before you asked.Kajii feels a little bit like this now, but in the end, curiosity prevailed, and he asked, "...how did you become so noisy?"

"New and old problems, coincidence of timing, difficulty in communication." Zhong Yuanzhong was also concise and clear. He did not complain unilaterally, but evaluated the reasons for this time very objectively. "Also, we both have bad tempers."

Kajii was stunned by his calmness, and at the same time, he felt a little bad: Generally, if the mood fluctuates greatly during a quarrel, there will be no serious consequences, but if you have such an indifferent attitude during the quarrel, then...

"...Then what, Mr. Nakahara," Kajii finally said honestly after thinking for a while, "I don't think anyone in the company can believe that there will be such a fight between the two of you."

Zhong Yuanzhong also smiled lightly. "I was drinking with Li Yuan at the bar some time ago, and he said the same thing at the time," he shrugged, "but I think some people are quite looking forward to the current situation...here."

Following his voice, Kajii raised his head, just in time to see a young Alpha who had just entered the operations department, holding two glasses of wine, walking over with a just-right smile on his face.

Kajii: "..."

The young Alpha walked up to him, and politely greeted the two people who were higher than him: "Good evening, Mr. Nakahara, Mr. Kajii."

When it comes to Nakahara Chuya or Dazai Osamu, Kajii doesn't care how low he is—after all, he can't afford to offend either of these two—but he is so easy to talk to other people, so greetings to newcomers, Kajii just nodded with a half-smile, but didn't answer.

And Zhong Yuanzhong, who was obviously the target next to him, was also more indifferent than him, he didn't even bother to give a nod in response, he just stood there casually, waiting to see what tricks this Alpha could use.

The Alpha didn't mind Kajii's cold reception, anyway, he wasn't looking for him anyway.So he also grinned at Nakahara, who was only as tall as his chin, and felt very charming, and he could give his performance full marks.

"Mr. Nakahara," the young Alpha stood under the light, with a gentle smile in his eyes, "may I buy you a drink?"

Kajii whistled in his heart, thinking that among other things, this kid who wanted to wear a colored hat for Mr. Dazai has a good skin.Then he turned his head to see Chuya Nakahara's reaction, and found that he stood there blankly for a while, and then moved his fingers for a long time to respond.

Zhongyuan Zhong also lazily reached out to take the glass of wine, then taunted the corner of his lips in the young man's suddenly joyful eyes, and raised his eyelids to look at him.

This bottom-up glance is really astonishing as to make people stop breathing. The narrow and long eye tails are slightly raised, but the eyes brought out are contemptuous and disdainful, with the arrogant and reckless aura of Zhongya Zhongyuan in his daily life——

"The current Alpha, at this level, dares to casually come out and invite someone to bed //////?" He sneered, turned his wrist slightly, and simply poured the glass of wine he received into the potted green plant next to him, "You must think too highly of yourself."

Kajii: "..."

Rookie: "..."

"You will give my assistant a ride later, and I will go back first."

Nakahara Chu also seemed to have finally run out of patience with this boring party due to such an incident. After he explained this sentence impatiently, he casually stuffed the cup into the hands of Kajii who was watching the show, and put it in his pocket. Turned around and left the reception scene.

"........."

"........."

There was an uncomfortable silence.Finally, Kajii held two thin goblets with one hand, freed the other hand, and patted the bewildered newcomer's shoulder sympathetically: "It's not your problem, don't take it to heart—after all, that person's Alpha is a full-fledged monster. As you can see, ordinary mortal methods are no longer able to coax Mr. Zhongyuan at all."

He sighed faintly: "It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality—how simple is it, isn't it?"

TBC.