Suribachi's vagabond (english vers)

Chapter 5 : Free

Port Mafia Dungeons, Inside One of the Cells

As Toru opened the barred cell door, she noticed the dim lighting in the room, provided by a single lightbulb on the wall, seemingly close to burning out. She entered the small room to find Haru sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, his head buried in his arms as he seemed resigned to patiently wait for his sentence. As Toru silently observed him, she couldn’t help but think cynically that this room was akin to those overpriced rentals in Suribachi. The walls were in disrepair, a sink was in one corner of the room, and a bed against one wall was as comfortable as a stone.

As the grille closed behind her with a strident clank, Haru lifted his head, expecting to see the executioner come to finish him off. What a surprise it was when he saw none other than Toru standing before him. He stood up, eyes wide with astonishment.

“What the...”
He was bewildered, not understanding why she was there at that very moment.
“Why are you here?”
“I thought they...”
“...that they executed you for treason.”

Toru shook her head softly.
“No... It’s complicated to explain, but it was just a pretext.”
“But that’s not why I’m here...”

Haru looked at her before smiling softly, lowering his gaze.
“I see... so you’re still one of them...”
“You know...”
“If you came for that... If it’s you who finishes me off... I’d prefer that over someone else.”

Toru shrugged before sitting on the bed and crossing her legs, resting her cheek on her fist.
“I don’t think you fully understand.”
“Dazai reported me for ‘treason’ solely for the sake of my plans. Which means, in other words, he knew the ins and outs of this matter and knew full well that you were not actually an undercover agent I could have used, contrary to the charges brought against you.”
“If you’re here, it’s only because Dazai wanted to take advantage of this case to make you a prisoner for whom I would be personally responsible.”

Haru raised an eyebrow. Though somewhat destabilized by the situation, now that he knew Toru was in control, he was rather reassured and talked to her calmly.
“For whom... you would be responsible? So... you are...”

Toru nodded.
“Yes. I’m the new captain of the hunting faction, succeeding Ryu. I’m not mandated to execute you but rather to decide what becomes of you.”

Haru: “So everything was planned...”
He sighed, a bit frustrated at not being able to see things as broadly as Toru and Dazai could. However, despite the frustration, he kept a slight smile, reassured that everything was ultimately fine and that the situation was under the control of someone trustworthy. Moreover, things might not have unfolded the same way if he had suspected something, so he thought it was probably better that things remained as they were... However, as he thought about what might have happened, an idea came to his mind.

Haru: “Say... why did Dazai go to the trouble of doing you such a favor?”

Toru blinked, tilting her head slightly, curious to know where he was going with this.
“What favor are you talking about?”

Haru: “Well... as you said... He just took the opportunity to make me your prisoner...”
He then smiled more frankly, running a hand over his neck as he tilted his head slightly.
“I’m not completely stupid, you know... If he did that, it’s simply so you could get rid of any ties Mori could use to pressure you as he pleases...”

Toru shrugged, her gaze shifting to the side.
“I don’t really know... I guess I’ll look into it later.”

Haru was a bit surprised by this response... When it came to reasoning or strategy, Toru always had an answer, or at least a logical and appropriate hypothesis... but that wasn’t the case here. He then smiled softly, amused. He could see that Dazai’s reasons belonged to a domain Toru was far from familiar with...