Osamu Dazai's Entrance Exam (Bungo Stray Dogs 1)

“Tsk. Who d’you think you are, my dad?”

“No, I—”

I can’t be your father. I swallow the words before they slip off my tongue.

“Anyway, there’s been a change of plans. I need you to trace that client’s e-mail and find out who they are as quickly as possible. Have you made any progress?”

“Oh, that? It turned out to be a lot more difficult than I thought. I won’t get technical on you, but they’re using multiple hubs to hide their tracks. This wasn’t the work of an amateur.”

I am already painfully aware of that.

“I received another e-mail from the same sender. Could you find the source if you had that?”

“It would help, but I can’t say anything for sure until I try… There are other ways to do this, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could send a virus to the hub and use it to trace the source from there. It’d take some work, but it’s reliable. I’d kind of have to break the law, though.”

“It’s fine. The ends justify the means. Do it.”

“Whoa. You serious? You, Mr. By-the-Book? I’m recording this call, y’know. What if I told you to hand over the recording of me hacking into your detective agency in exchange for this conversation?”

“Then I’d do it. Just hurry, okay?”

I never planned on handing it over to the authorities in the first place. I just said that to have an exc

use to get Rokuzo’s assistance. Apparently, he hasn’t figured that out, though.

“Wow. How generous of you, Four-Eyes. You better have some cash waiting for me when this is over.”

The phone clicks. I ponder in silence with the receiver still in hand. This is no time to get sentimental. The bomb is top priority. We’re going to have the deaths of innocent lives on our hands if we don’t find it in time. Still, we have no leads. Damn it. What the hell is Dazai thinking, disappearing at a time like this?

It isn’t long before I find Dazai during my search downtown. He’s at an old-fashioned café facing the road, trying to chat up a woman.

“Is this your first time in Yokohama? I could show you around if you want.”

“Really? You would do that for me? But I’d feel terrible… I mean, it sounds as if things are rather chaotic at the detective agency with the bomb threat. You even said Detective Kunikida has been busy with phone calls and the investigation all morning.”

“He’s a workaholic—a real glutton for punctuality. I mean, get this: If you tell him to meet you at around twelve o’clock, he’ll show within ten seconds of twelve every time. What is he, a train?”

“Oh my… You don’t say.”

“Dazai! What do you think you’re doing, skipping work?! And don’t use me in your attempts to pick up women!”

“Oh, and when we were at this abandoned hospital, Kunikida thought he saw a ghost, and he started shrieking like a little girl—”

“Don’t ignore me!”

I slap Dazai on the back of the head while he merrily chats with Miss Sasaki.

“Ouch! What was that for, Kunikida? Hmm? …Kunikida? How long have you been there?”

“Don’t play dumb. You knew I was behind you. Anyway, what do you think you’re doing? We have a dire emergency on our hands, and you’re out on some kind of fancy date? Not only that, you’re out with a victim from one of our cases!”

“Are you jealous?”

“I’m not jealous!”