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

“You’re absolutely right. I’m not going to do anything.”

“…Farewell.”

Miss Sasaki gazes into my eyes, then faintly smiles. Will she really continue doing this—deceiving others, manipulating criminals, and leaving countless bodies behind as the Azure Apostle, following in the steps of a ghost?

—“Time has stopped for the dead, and there is nothing we can do to bring them joy or make them smile.”

—“I’ve grown tired.”

I cannot allow her to kill anyone. That is not what’s ideal, and an ideal world unquestionably exists. Who is at fault here? What do I have to do to find the answer? How can I reach these ideals?

“Detective Kunikida,” she whispers. “When you saved me in the basement…you didn’t even hesitate for a moment to pull me out from that water tank. While I may have been deceiving you…what you did…made me happy. Since this is the last time we will ever meet, I have one last thing I want to tell you, Detective Kunikida.”

Gunshots.

Three bullets pierce Miss Sasaki’s chest.

Blood sprays from the holes in her bosom.

She twirls in her white kimono like a flower petal fluttering in the wind.

Then, just like a marionette cut from its strings—

“Sasaki!”

I rush over and lift up her body. She’s light, reminiscent of a porcelain doll. The blood flows from her wounds, staining her kimono crimson.

“Eat…shit…”

I look up. A black pistol rests in Rokuzo’s hand as he lies collapsed on the floor.

“You…and the Azure King… You killed…my father…!”

Gun smoke rises into the air. A fierce smirk crosses Rokuzo’s pale lips as he lies in a pool of his own blood.

“That was…for my father…! He stood…for justice! Eat shit and…die…!”

The gun falls out of Rokuzo’s hand, and his face drops into the red puddle. He faintly twitches…and goes still.

“Detec…tive…Kuni…kida…”

Miss Sasaki whispers in my arms. A drop of blood gently slides out of the corner of her mouth.

“Something about you…reminds me of him…”

Her dark-brown eyes tremble as they reflect the light.

“Please…don’t let…your ideals…kill you…… I………love……”

…………………………………………………………………………

She’s dead.

“Kunikida, she killed too many people. This is how it had to be.”

Blood rushes to my head.

“DAZAI!”