Yokohama 8pm Theater

In the bar at night, the gramophone plays soft music.

The hour hand of the wall clock on the wall just pointed to the position of "seven". It was still very early, and there were only two people sitting at the bar counter, and the warm yellow light shrouded everything in tranquility and peace.

Suddenly footsteps came from the direction of the door.

After a while, a young man with a briefcase and round glasses came down the stairs.

"Ah, Ango, you're late again."

Ango Sakaguchi, Assistant Counselor of the Supernatural Special Affairs Division.

Today, it was rare for him not to stay up late and work overtime in order to go to a friend's appointment, but he was late because of a small incident in the middle, and he became the last person among the three to come to the bar.

"I have something to deal with temporarily, so the time to get off work is still a little later than expected."

"It's not easy working for the government. Isn't it, Odasaku?"

"It's not easy. But this is what he wants to do, so it won't be hard work."

"Even if you say that, Oda, I won't nod and say yes." Ango Sakaguchi sat next to Oda, and put the briefcase on the empty seat, "Boss, just tomato juice."

"Huh? Ango, don't you drink today?"

Flicking the wall of the glass with his fingertips, there was a crisp and pleasant sound, and Dazai looked over curiously.

Ango Sakaguchi tilted his head, his eyes fell on the glasses of two friends who only contained lemonade and plain water, and said: "The headache caused by staying up late last night and working overtime is still not healed. Order wine?"

"Because Qianzi can't smell wine now."

"Eating spicy food a few days ago ruined my stomach, Yizhi told me not to drink alcohol these few days, so as not to hurt me more."

Ango: "..."

For some reason, he had the feeling of being shown invisibly.

An Wu looked away, and complained: "Three people come to the bar and no one drinks, it sounds very strange."

"What does that matter?" Dazai spread his hands indifferently, "Anyway, the boss doesn't mind."

"The three are regular customers, this is the preferential treatment for regular customers." The boss affirmed Dazai's words while wiping the glass gracefully.

"Have you heard~Preferential treatment for regular customers~"

When Dazai said this, the ending was upturned, and he had the childishness of a boy whose age did not match him. Ango couldn't help but recall the time when the three of them were still in Hong Kong and Heilongjiang.

Since Oda disappeared and Dazai became the leader of Hong Kong gangsters, they have never been together as "friends" like they are now.

The only few times we met were at the negotiation meetings between the Supernatural Secret Service Division and Hong Kong gangsters. At that time, Dazai would never have such a pure smile, and some were just a false mask called "the leader".The rest are just a few cold lines in various reports and documents.

The glass containing the bright red liquid was placed in front of Ango, pulling him back from his memories.

"What's going on with you? I heard that a tricky supernatural criminal has appeared."

The supernatural beings in Tokyo are generally managed by Scepter4 led by Qing Wang. If there are criminals, Scepter4 will come forward to solve them.Unless the supernatural criminal status is special, or there are other problems that are difficult to solve, the "non-time court" will come forward.

Because it is also a special department of the government, the Supernatural Secret Service Division has also heard some news.As far as Ango knows, Tokyo is not peaceful during this period, and both Scepter4 and "Ashikiin" are busy dealing with related incidents.

"It's resolved." Oda replied.

"So fast? That's good. If it continues to drag on, things will definitely become more complicated."

"Well, without Dazai's help, it may take a while to solve it."

"Dazai?" Ango turned his eyes suspiciously to another friend who was chatting with the bar owner, "Is he even involved?"

"It's not 'involved' but 'take the initiative'."

Dazai tilted his head with a smile, and explained: "Qianzi is pregnant, in order to let her have less trouble, so I will help deal with some troubles that bother her mind and work."

"Pregnant?"

"Yes, it is."

"Congratulations." Ango blessed sincerely, "Looking at it this way, Dazai, you are the father of two children, so you shouldn't cause trouble like before."

"Oh? Is that how Ango sees me?"

"That's for sure!"

Recalling the unimaginable things that Dazai had done, Ango couldn't help but twitched his mouth again: "I won't talk about anything else, just talk about those strange dishes you made, such as spiritual hot pot chicken, long-lasting superman hot pot. You can do it too. That's all, why do you want to use me as an experiment?"

"It's not doing an experiment, but helping you." Dazai said seriously, "After that, Ango's efficiency has obviously increased several times. Isn't it good to finish all the work before the 'death timeline'?"

"No, it's not good at all. I don't want to experience it again." Ango decisively denied Dazai's remarks.

"That's such a pity. I forgot to tell you, but I actually added a new recipe I researched to your tomato juice in advance."

"Puff—cough cough cough cough..."

Ango almost spit out the tomato juice he just drank.

Oda, who was sitting next to him, kindly extended a helping hand, patted his back and explained, "Don't worry, Ango, Dazai is just joking."

"No...Oda, I really didn't hear the joke."

"What Oda Saku said is right, it's just a joke." Dazai stood up and took the initiative to dispel Ango's doubts, "No one thought that Ango's reaction would be so intense."

"Indeed, I didn't expect that either." Oda nodded in agreement.

——That's because it has become a psychological shadow!

Ango complained silently in his heart.

"To be honest, Ango, you have such an irregular life and often stay up all night, your health will go wrong soon. Don't you think about getting married and starting a family?"

"Thank you for your concern, Dazai, I have no such plans for now."

"Ah, don't tell me, Ango, you actually have such thoughts in your heart——"

"what?"

"It's the classic line from that movie," Dazai adjusted his voice and imitated, "Because my lover...is exactly this country.""

"Why is it the country and not the job?" Oda also intervened and asked.

"Hmm... probably because 'country' sounds more handsome." Dazai said these two sentences again, "Is it? Right? Sure enough, 'country' sounds more powerful."

Oda nodded: "That's true. Ango's work happens to be for this country as well."

Seeing that the topic was about to come back to himself again, Ango quickly interrupted: "Even if I really want to get married, I still need to have someone? ——Okay, let's not talk about me for now. I heard that your novel, Oda, I have won an international award and have gone abroad, congratulations!"

"Thank you."

While talking, Oda put down the water glass in his hand, and then took out two books from his backpack.

"This is from the publishing house. I took out two copies and prepared to give them to you."

Dazai and Ango took the novel and simply flipped through it.

"This is a collector's edition signed by the author, right? It's amazing, Oda Tsukuru has become a world-renowned novelist!"

"It's not as great as you said, it just happens to be liked by foreign readers." Oda scratched his head embarrassedly, "At first, I just wrote what I wanted to write, and I never thought that anyone would like to read it."

"Odasaku is too modest, don't you think so, Ango?"

"The writing is very good," Ango quickly browsed through a random page, and affirmed, "Oda, you have the ability."

Facing the sincere praise from his friends, Oda chose to accept it silently, and felt happy from the bottom of his heart.

The clock on the wall passed for a long time, and the water and drinks in the cup slowly bottomed out.

At this time, Dazai suddenly suggested: "Let's take a group photo as a souvenir."

"What is it to commemorate this time?" Oda asked.

"The reunion after seven years, and Odasaku's novel won the award. By the way, I will also include Odasaku's novel."

"But you need a camera to take pictures, right?"

"I brought a camera." Ango opened his briefcase, and there happened to be an old camera inside.

"Ango, you still carry a camera with you?" Oda asked strangely, "Is it necessary for work?"

"No. The camera is broken and sent to be repaired. I dropped by today and brought it back."

Whether it is a coincidence or what, anyway, the conditions for taking pictures have been met.

The positions of the three of them are the same as in the old photo seven years ago, and even the habitual poses are highly identical. The only difference is that Oda holds his award-winning novel in his right hand.

The shutter is pressed, and the photos are developed, and each person holds one.

Looking at the photo in his hand, Oda suddenly asked, "Do you want to raise your glass?"

"A sense of ceremony?"

"A sense of ceremony."

"Sense of ritual—"

The three looked at each other tacitly, and at the same time raised the almost bottomless glass on the table.

"Ding--"

The crisp sound of glass colliding, accompanied by the phrase "For the Wild Dogs!", echoed over the bar.

When the so-called "ceremony" was over, Dazai was the first to laugh out loud, and Ango followed suit.

"Sure enough, it still feels a little strange."

"Be confident, Ango," Dazai told him with a smile, "get rid of the 'feeling'."

"Well, but it's already done, so don't worry too much about it." Oda said calmly.

……

It wasn't too late when the party ended.

For a bustling city like Yokohama, the nightlife has just begun, but for a winner in life who has a lovely wife and daughter waiting at home, he wants to go home sooner.

After saying goodbye to Oda at the intersection, Dazai walked briskly towards home.

The door opened, and the light was still on at the entrance, as if waiting for someone who hadn't returned home.

Dazai walked into the living room, and sure enough, he saw Michiko leaning on the sofa and falling asleep.

Walking over lightly, leaning over and hugging the one you love.

"I'm back, Qianzi."

"Hmm... you're done? Welcome home."