Holy Father-Style Tool-Person - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Tenth Day of Being a Tool-Man

Hiiragi Eiji was led by Dazai Osamu all the way to the warehouse district of the port.

The terrain here was very interesting; there was only one elevated bridge extending from the inner part of Yokohama that could reach this place from land. This warehouse district belonging to the Port Mafia was surrounded by the sea on all sides except for that bridge, meaning one could only leave by boat.

However, after rushing all the way here, Dazai Osamu did not take Eiji inside. Instead, he led a group of men in suits and charged in, leaving Eiji behind with another group to keep watch.

After Dazai entered, Eiji had already figured out the general structure of the warehouse.

The thing stacked most abundantly in the warehouse Dazai had entered was actually flour. This kind of layout made Eiji momentarily wonder if the person in charge of the port had some kind of issue. Wasn’t this explicitly telling everyone that if there was something that couldn’t be settled, a single explosion could solve a thousand woes?

“…So, what exactly is the situation?” Eiji couldn’t help but ask the liaison officer beside him, who was responsible for exchanging information with the personnel inside the warehouse.

The liaison officer said briefly: “The situation isn’t good. We caught a group of people stealing cargo, and they are currently clashing. Reinforcements have already departed from the Port Mafia and are expected to arrive in fifteen minutes.”

“Eh?! In that case, aren’t we going in to help?!” Eiji was pale with fright.

He truly never expected that this wasn’t just a common, minor mission?! He hadn’t read any signals of danger from Dazai’s face at all!

“Follow Dazai-sama’s orders,” the liaison officer said calmly.

Sure enough, Eiji soon heard the sound of fighting coming from inside the warehouse. Fortunately, everyone involved in the operation this time was likely someone who valued their life; no gunshots were heard inside, which meant there was no risk of an explosion.

…Dazai Osamu wouldn’t be in there getting beaten up, would he?! Eiji’s heart instantly began to burn with anxiety.

But soon, an even more anxious situation occurred: a group of agile people suddenly appeared in the dim warehouse district, fiercely launching an attack on the logistics personnel like Eiji and his group.

There weren’t even streetlights here. Eiji couldn’t even clearly distinguish between friend and foe; he could only hear the liaison officer shouting words like “enemy attack” into the communicator.

Dazai Osamu had likely divided the teams based on combat power. Although the people left outside had weapons, each one was an undiluted technical genius but a complete weakling in physical combat. Seeing that the newcomers were about to subdue their team without any effort, Eiji knew it was time for him to make his entrance!

Just as someone restrained Eiji and pressed him to the ground, he suddenly struck. With a violent twist of his body, he flipped the person pressing on his back. In nearly the blink of an eye, he and his attacker had swapped positions; he was riding on the newcomer and deftly restraining the other’s hands.

However, just as Eiji was prepared to use brute force to lift the person up and slam them into the ground, he suddenly froze in place.

…Who could tell him why this person, who was also staring at him with wide eyes, had a face that looked exactly like Furuya Rei’s?!

Almost instantaneously, Eiji’s hands froze in mid-air. Gradually, his hands lost their strength, and he loosened his grip on Furuya Rei’s wrists.

Eiji could only stare blankly at the person lying flat on the ground, and Furuya Rei, lying there, was in the exact same state, having completely lost his ability to act.

The “pause” button had been pressed on both of them simultaneously amidst the noisy environment, appearing completely out of place in this tense atmosphere.

…It really has been a long time. But neither of them had ever expected they would meet under such circumstances.

Eiji’s raised hands slowly fell, pausing several times, before finally landing gently on Furuya Rei’s chest.

Thump, thump, thump—

This person’s heart was beating very fast, and his chest was also rising and falling violently, as if he were breathing heavily.

Eiji realized belatedly that their current posture seemed a bit incorrect. He was currently sitting on Rei. If he was pressing on his abdomen, it might be uncomfortable…

So, without thinking much, Eiji shifted downward, wanting to move from Furuya Rei’s abdomen to his thighs to continue faking the appearance that the two were fighting.

Who knew that Furuya Rei’s expression would suddenly change? He almost uncontrollably used the strength in his waist to try and roll over and buck Eiji off.

“Hey! W-what’s wrong!” Eiji finally sat steady and lowered his voice in panic.

“You—” After that single syllable emerged, Furuya Rei restrained himself and swallowed all the remaining words. He could not have any communication with Eiji; otherwise, even the slightest negligence could bring the risk of exposure to the other party.

Eiji felt that Rei’s heart was beating even faster, completely exceeding the normal heart rate range after exercise.

Just then, Eiji noticed the expression on Furuya Rei’s face turn solemn. He suddenly sat up, pressed his hand against Eiji’s shoulder, and rolled with him to the side. At the same time, he raised his fist high, making a gesture as if he were going to punch Eiji.

Eiji looked toward the spot where they had just been and saw a tall, burly man in black retracting a leg he had just kicked out, preparing to continue attacking in Furuya Rei and Eiji’s direction.

“Don’t worry about me—! He’s no match for me!” Furuya Rei turned his head and shouted loudly.

Hearing this, the burly man in black turned away to another part of the stalled battlefield.

Seeing the man leave, Eiji finally felt relieved. When he saw Furuya Rei suddenly move just now, alarm bells had immediately rung in his heart. He felt that Rei wanted to suddenly spring up and bash the skull of Eiji’s teammate who was attacking him.

Just as Eiji was mentally crying out how ridiculous it was, Furuya Rei had merely led him to dodge at the most critical moment.

And right then, a scream suddenly came from the warehouse. Eiji slid away from Furuya Rei like a loach. “Sorry, but I have to go there.”

He gave Furuya Rei a deep look, turned around, and ran toward the warehouse.

At the very moment they crossed paths, Eiji felt Furuya Rei’s hand loosely grip his wrist for a split second before finally letting him leave without a word.

The corners of Eiji’s mouth couldn’t help but curl up slightly, but this feeling of joy vanished into thin air the moment he ran into the warehouse and saw the scene inside.

“…This is enough, isn’t it? Let me leave this boring world.”

Upon entering, Eiji heard Dazai Osamu, standing in the center of the warehouse, speak those words lightheartedly.

Following that murmur which was almost like a sleep-talk, Dazai raised his hand. In it was a gun, and he was pointing the muzzle at his own temple.

Eiji understood that there would always be strange people in this world who do not play by the rules at all. Dazai Osamu was one of them.

Seeing such a scene, Eiji was so scared his liver, gall, and spleen almost split apart simultaneously.

“Wait—! Dazai—!” At this moment, Eiji even forgot the honorifics. “What are you doing?! Stop it—!”

Dazai let out a light laugh. In this noisy environment, that short laugh filled with a sense of danger reached Eiji’s ears quite easily.

“Because, I want to see fireworks.”

After saying this, Eiji saw Dazai suddenly turn the direction of the muzzle, pointing it straight at the flour bags behind him.

Dazai raised his arm as if no one else were there. His index finger began to apply pressure; the trigger was about to be pulled—

…Screw you! Stop it—! Does this guy want to blow everyone to death?!