Cast into Certain Death...

Under everyone's gaze, I knelt on one knee before the two children, a faint smile curling my lips as my eyes settled gently on them.

"May I have the honor of learning your names, you two lovely little ladies?"

I smiled softly and reached out to stroke their hair, smiling gently again as they stood helplessly before me.

"I-I'm Nanako. This is my little sister, Mimiko."

The little blonde girl fell silent for a moment before answering. She nudged Mimiko, who still had her head lowered, and clutched her hand tightly.

"I see. Then, Miss Nanako and Miss Mimiko, would you lovely girls tell me everything you saw?"

Still smiling softly, I warmly shielded them from all the villagers' stares behind me.

"A monster. It was a monster. We really saw it. I wasn't lying. I'm not a monster."

The dark-haired Miss Mimiko kept mumbling those words, a faint sob in her voice as a clear tear trickled from the corner of her eye.

Looking utterly heartbroken for her, I stroked her head and gently wiped away the tears beside her eyes.

"Yes, yes, I know you saw it. Don't cry, all right, sweet little lady? You won't look nearly as pretty if you cry."

"It breaks my heart to see such lovely little ladies cry, too-"

I drew out the last syllable and glanced sideways at the gathered villagers, then watched Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo, who had brought the car over, lead the girls inside.

Oh, you're asking why I was worried about getting the Assistant Supervisor's car dirty earlier, but wasn't anymore?

That sort of thing didn't matter-he would wash the car himself anyway, right?

In short, I suddenly didn't care all that much about whether I dirtied the Assistant Supervisor's car.

Was there a problem with that? No problem at all. Weren't Assistant Supervisors there to be ordered around?

After a little thought, I decided against putting both girls beside the emotionally unstable Suguru Geto.

Instead, I carried the two adorable children into the front passenger seat. Seeing them huddle together again in search of a little security, I drove more smoothly for once.

If the timing hadn't been so inappropriate, Satoru Gojo would have dearly loved to complain about what miserable days he had been subjected to before.

I had never driven this smoothly. One of my greatest pleasures in life was racing at breakneck speed and pushing every limit.

Still, none of that mattered much to Satoru Gojo now. Suguru Geto was in such an awful state that he had no room to think about anything else.

I drove to a somewhat secluded spot and, seeing that neither girl had recovered yet, quietly took a few bottles of water from beside my feet.

After washing the two little ladies' hands and faces, I gently wiped their mottled bruises with a handkerchief.

It seemed these two lovely little ladies had endured quite a lot of abuse.

I hadn't brought any medicine along, but fortunately, Miss Shoko Ieiri at Jujutsu High would have no trouble taking care of all this.

Once I had cleaned their faces, hands, and arms, I handed the two girls the clothes I had brought specially for them, then pulled Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto out of the car with me.

Suguru Geto hadn't said a single word throughout the drive. He simply stood there in silence, brows drawn tight, his usually gentle, smiling face, so intent on saving everyone, twisted strangely beneath a suppressed chill.

"Geto, you don't look very well."

"Dazai, I..."

"Haha, why don't you tell me, Geto? Has the diamond shattered now?"

Still wearing a faint smile, I glanced at Suguru Geto, who had visibly frozen at those words, then returned to the car with Satoru Gojo.

By then, the two girls had hurriedly changed their clothes and sat fidgeting anxiously, unsure where to put their old ones.

Perhaps because they were malnourished, even the expensive clothes did little to give them any presence.

Clothes meant for children a year or two younger fit them perfectly. Still, even in their current condition, it wasn't hard to see that both girls had good features.

With a little care, they would grow into very pretty girls.

"All right, from now on, you two lovely little ladies are part of my family."

I told them this with a soft smile, gently stroked their heads, and took care of everything that would otherwise have worried them.

"Go to sleep. When you wake up, we'll be at your new home, Nanako, Mimiko."

Almost the instant my words fell, the two tiny children slumped onto the passenger seat.

Smiling softly, I settled them comfortably, then motioned for Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto to get in.

It was nearly noon now, and the sun beat fiercely down on us. Suguru Geto stood silently before the car door, his back to the light.

If Satoru Gojo hadn't given him a push, he probably would have stayed there forever.

"After all this time, have you still not decided on an answer, Geto?"

I smiled faintly, but the words coming out of my mouth were merciless. My brown eyes flicked casually toward them, and I floored the accelerator again.

What followed, however, was a long silence. Satoru Gojo said little, though a trace of expectation lingered in his eyes.

After all, they were the strongest. Suguru Geto himself had said he wasn't afraid of shattering, that diamonds weren't afraid of shattering. If it happened, he would surely withstand it.

I wondered what his former self would think if he met the person he was now.

"Perhaps it has shattered."

As Suguru Geto spoke, his nails dug deep into his already bleeding fists once more, sending blood dripping beneath the seat.

The air filled with the scent of blood and the rusty tang it gave off as it oxidized.

Yet Suguru Geto paid it no heed, allowing the pain and blood in his hands to keep eating away at his reason and clouding his thoughts.

Anyone could probably have seen how dazed he was.

"A good diamond isn't afraid of shattering. Geto, do you think you have a chance to cast yourself into certain death and emerge anew?"

I spoke as though in passing, seemingly unconcerned with whatever answers they might give. Turning my attention back to the car, I sped down the winding mountain road as though showing off my driving skills.

"Dazai, Satoru, does any of this mean anything?"

After a long, drawn-out silence, Suguru Geto suddenly spoke, his eyes brimming with overwhelming rage and helplessness.

"What are you asking about the meaning of, Geto?"

I asked again with a faint smile, softly repeating the word "meaning."

"Suguru, it does."

Unlike me, Satoru Gojo answered almost without thinking.

"Does it... does it mean anything?"

Suguru Geto fell silent again, his gaze fixed firmly on that mountain. Neither the window nor our breakneck speed shifted it in the slightest.

He looked ready to explode at any moment, raze that village, and kill everyone in it while he was at it.

That was how easily someone could stray down the wrong path, though I had never considered it a road that couldn't reach the far shore.

"The more someone clings to pure white, the more easily they shatter at times like this. The more someone clings to justice, the more easily they sink into the mire, never to rise again."

"The collapse of one's convictions often brings a painfully harsh reality. If you can hold to your beliefs completely, or loosen your grip a little, either would count as a tremendous success for this Social Practice Class."

I smiled softly. These were the words I had spoken when I first met Suguru Geto late at night-not exactly the same, but close enough.

"Geto, I believe Satoru has challenged your arguments before."

"Nothing in this world is truly black or white. More often than not, the entire world is a muddle."

"There's no rule that jujutsu sorcerers ought to protect ordinary people. Ultimately, this is merely an extremely dangerous profession. They pay, we do the work. That's all."

"If your reason for entering the Jujutsu Society is to become that hero, then what you'll suffer, what you'll carry, is a mountain of your own imagining-one that should never have been placed on your shoulders in the first place."

I spoke as casually as if we were chatting, unconcerned with what the two silent boys behind me thought, laying out facts Suguru Geto couldn't believe yet had no choice but to acknowledge.

"If there were no ordinary people in the world..."

Suguru Geto suddenly murmured those words, and I couldn't help wanting to laugh.

Would he say that even without having met Yuki Tsukumo?

"That won't be an easy road to take, Geto. I'll stop you. So will Satoru."

"Don't you think I'm being unreasonable?"

"I do. To me, it's an utterly laughable idea, and one that would give Teacher Yaga quite a headache."

I chuckled and turned the wheel at the fork ahead, hurtling down one branch of the mountain road with barely any reduction in speed.

"That's all?"

"Geto, very few people at Jujutsu High hold to the idea that the strong should protect the weak. As it happens, I don't. Neither does Satoru, Miss Shoko, or Teacher Yaga."

"As far as I'm concerned, none of this needs to exist. If there's nothing I want to acknowledge, nothing I want to pursue, then it has no reason to exist. What does it matter to me whether they live or die?"

"...Dazai, I don't understand. Every righteous principle I ever held to was wrong."

After a silence, Suguru Geto finally said those words, but what should have been a question came out as a statement.

"You don't understand? Such a complete collapse in a single moment-you really don't look well, Geto."

"But the meaning of all this isn't for me to judge, Geto."

With a somewhat helpless sigh, I tossed Suguru Geto the bottle of Mint Candy beside me.

"Cursed spirits really do taste awful, don't they? You look miserable every time. Try these."

A few days earlier, I had asked Tengen to produce a small attachment for the candy, something like a barrier that could block the sense of taste outright. It was very useful.

After tossing Suguru Geto the candy, I said nothing more. At a time like this, I might as well let him think.

Besides, Satoru Gojo seemed to have something he wanted to say now, so I would leave them a little room for the moment.

In truth, if I simply left him alone, Suguru Geto would be the one to fall apart.

I watched the streets rush past, then glanced at Nanako and Mimiko lying on the car seat, and drove a little more aggressively.

I could ignore them entirely, but leaving them alone at a time like this would probably be troublesome, too.

As for any deep affection between us, we were really only ordinary friends. The only person I acknowledged having a profound bond with was Teacher Yaga.

Only Teacher Yaga. This wasn't something he would want to see, so I would stop it from happening.

When Teacher Yaga said I was his one and only student whom he had personally taught for three years, I had undeniably fallen under the spell of those words.

Neither in the real world nor anywhere else had I ever met a teacher like him.

He truly had done so much for me. Behind his study of psychology lay countless appeals for help. Teacher Yaga wasn't a genius; he had always been fairly ordinary when it came to learning.

In truth, I didn't know how many nights Teacher Yaga had stayed up studying. I only noticed that, even when psychologists could do nothing for me, the light by his window never seemed to go out.

Whether I knew it or not, he had visited countless psychologists, bowed his head countless times, set aside so many important things countless times, and tried countless times to guide me.

After meeting someone like that, even I would feel a little anticipation for the future.

It wasn't that I had never resisted. Teacher Yaga simply never seemed to mind.

He had never lost faith in me. Even when he was furious, he merely punched me on the head, then calmly told me the next time that he wouldn't give up on me.

Ah-so if Suguru Geto killed those people just like that, if he defected, if he ultimately made that choice, Teacher Yaga would be disappointed.

And so, to offer a little protection to Teacher Yaga's fragile heart, the all-capable Osamu Dazai would have to step in.

Be grateful to me, Teacher Yaga.

If not for Teacher Yaga, whether they lived or died or killed one another would have nothing whatsoever to do with me.

But if something like this dragged Teacher Yaga in and caused his death, that would be an enormous nuisance for me.

After all, I didn't want to be comfortably settled on the Sanzu River, only to run into Teacher Yaga a few years later and watch him throw a punch at me.

Even imagining that was far too awful!