Interlude

No one knew how long the silence lasted before Nobara Kugisaki headbutted the seat back in front of her with a dull thud. "Aaargh, I hate bad endings!" She sniffled, too. Damn it, I was about to cry.

Her cry set off a chorus of wails.

"Waaah... Big brother, this is so unfair. How could they do this~" Naomi Tanizaki's eyes were red from crying as she buried her face in Junichiro Tanizaki's neck. Her brother frantically tried to comfort her.

Mizuki Tsujimura sniffled, her eyes red even as she kept her expression stern. No, I'm an outstanding agent. I absolutely cannot let something like this move me... Fuck that! Mizuki Tsujimura burst into tears. "Why?! Why did you get a bad ending, Mr. Ayatsuji?!"

Ayatsuji Yukito, whose mood had already hit rock bottom, grew even more irritable. "Shut up. If you don't want your mouth anymore, just say so!"

As for certain others, they kept sneering. Hah. A scumbag who falls for everyone he meets.

"Wait," DD's voice trembled slightly. "According to my records, wasn't 143 killed by..." "Another"?!

What kind of tragedy was this?!

"Haha." An Xinyi 144, on the other hand, was perfectly calm. "It's really not that big a deal."

How could it possibly not be a big deal?! DD felt that even an artificial intelligence like DD had been reduced to playing the straight man.

Nobara Kugisaki silently swallowed a mouthful of blood. "What kind of heart-wrenching twist is this? Is there a scriptwriter? I promise I won't beat you to death." Have a taste of my Straw Doll Technique, damn it!

Everyone nodded in unison.

Teruko Okura even pulled out her whip with a sinister air. "I'll make sure he gets a taste of my interrogation methods."

An Xinyi 144's gaze was gentle. He propped his chin on his hand, his expression softening as he recalled a few things. "That guy wouldn't care about something like that."

Had there been so few An Xinyis killed by people they knew? There had been far, far too many.

Whether it was being misunderstood, treated as an enemy, or even killed, An Xinyi had experienced it all far too often. It no longer even made him sad.

Even if 948 had been killed by Fyodor, even if 143 had been killed by Ayatsuji Yukito, there was really nothing to resent.

At the end of the day, they were only familiar strangers.

"Come to think of it, no one could have killed more An Xinyis than he has..." An Xinyi's gaze grew distant for a moment before he shook his head. His voice was so quiet that even DD failed to catch it.

"Sir?"

An Xinyi returned to his usual self. "Rather than being killed by Ayatsuji Yukito, not getting to see his smile probably bothered 143 more."

An Xinyi looked slightly troubled. "Yukito smiled so often during that journey."

"But why doesn't he smile anymore? Is he unhappy?" An Xinyi tapped his temple helplessly. "That's what 143 really cared about."

"In a way, he really is beyond saving."

Even though he was already a counterfeit of a counterfeit, 143 still couldn't escape that vicious circle.

Every An Xinyi's heart was far too soft.

"What kind of idiot is he?!" Michizo Tachihara pressed a hand to his forehead. Still... His gaze wandered. No one could turn someone like that away.

"He's too gentle," Gin Akutagawa said quietly.

"Hey-you're talking?!" Michizo Tachihara was stunned.

Ryūrō Hirotsu gave the two of them a helpless look, then turned back to the screen.

"Even after everything he's been through, he's still a child."

Chūya Nakahara covered his face. "Idiot. How can anyone be this stupid?" Even back when the Sheep had ordered him around, he couldn't have been this foolish.

"When you get down to it," An Xinyi said thoughtfully, his right hand cupping his chin, "that guy was clearly the one who wronged Ayatsuji. Dying was one thing, but he even had to show himself in front of him a couple more times. Wasn't he afraid of leaving him traumatized...?"

"Heh." An Xinyi chuckled, his long lashes lowering over ink-dark eyes that were so very gentle. "I suppose he had a tiny selfish wish, too."

In the end, no matter how much DD pressed him, An Xinyi never revealed that answer.

What had An Xinyi 143 been thinking in that final encounter before his death, in the moment he calmly accepted his end?

The handsome boy paid no heed to the searing pain throughout his body. His gaze lifted to the cloudless sky.

Ah, there was no grand fireworks festival. Of course not. It was daytime, after all.

But if I died beneath the fireworks, I'd surely spoil other people's smiles.

An Xinyi 143 smiled at Osamu Dazai. Whatever happens, please don't grieve for me.

Just like that person, don't grieve for a murderer like me who deserved what he got.

Even if I never got to see your smile-

Being able to leave you with a smile at the very end was wonderful!

So please smile more, Ayatsuji.

Such was the blessing of a traveling companion he had never met.