Through the years

It is a wonderful morning. The sun is shining brightly, but the earth has not yet had time to play with its warm rays, outside the window birds are singing about something of their own, and there are voices of people who are always in a hurry. It's a wonderful time for a morning jog or a walk. And so it's no different from the usual routine. It was quiet enough in the detective agency, who was writing a report, who was running errands, and in general there was not much work due to the early start of the working day. Our hero - Rampo Edogawa, as usual, was sitting at his seat, and eating a sweet, thinking about something. All these thoughts took him back to the distant past. The years when he worked in the harbor mafia. No one knows about it, not even the president himself, they met quite by chance back then. But now it's not about the meeting with the president, it's about the day the detective last saw his friend and partner. It was a routine day then. *** - I might die on my next assignment. Shaten said it calmly, with a serious and seemingly indifferent expression on his face. But there was a faint note of sadness in his voice. Not that he was saddened by the fact of his imminent death, no, on the contrary, he wanted it. He was sad because of the betrayal of his promise to his friend. - Does that mean you won't keep your promise? Young Edogawa didn't want to believe it. In his heart, he hoped that he would continue to see his friend. But his hopes were dashed by the next phrase. - That's exactly what I'm telling you The brown-haired man's words were like a prediction of the next tragedy. His body was found without a pulse or breath. Rampo found it hard to bear and left the organization. That night he met with the president and became a detective. But the reverberations of the past still kept him from forgetting it all. *** The door to the agency opens with a slight creak and Naomi and the president of the agency walk through it. The girl is agitated and wants to say something, but she waits patiently for the man to tell the news. - The director has news for us! - From now on, we have a new employee. He should be here in a few minutes. The great detective looked lazily at Yukichi. He was supposed to hold a slight grudge that he hadn't been told about the new employee first, and would find out with the others. - Fukuzawa-san, and you didn't tell me about it. I might take offense. After saying that, a tall brown-haired man in a beige coat entered the room. He seemed to be amused by the situation - And for a box of eclairs, will you forgive the director's blunder? Edogawa's eyes widened in surprise and incomprehension at what was happening. He had just recently been able to take over with his death, yet here he is showing up as a new employee. The only thing Rampo could squeeze out of himself was the short word, "How?" - And that's a secret. The brown-haired man named Dazai Osamu smiled innocently, as if he had never died.