The Process of Falling

Because life felt so utterly meaningless, for quite some time I truly was a walking corpse in every sense of the word. I lived an utterly unremarkable life of eating, waking up, and sleeping, letting all sorts of idle fantasies drift through my mind. I found this boring and that dull, endlessly criticizing everything, until life felt more painful than death. I never imagined that others would see this life as wonderfully peaceful and comfortable.

-- Edogawa Ranpo, The Red Room

*

A dreary life, a tedious routine, no desire to get ahead.

Living an ordinary, meaningless existence.

And then, all of a sudden... I wanted to sink into depravity.

I wanted to watch myself keep falling deeper and deeper.

*

“...A mission?” Bailey's slumped across the disheveled sofa. “Mr. Gin knows perfectly well why I don't have to follow the organization's rules.”

“This time, your partner is Moroboshi Dai,” the silver-haired man in black replied without changing expression. “...You're in charge of his code-name assessment.”

“...Sure~”

What a tangled fate...

That evening, after the mission, Bailey's went to a bar run by the organization.

“Hello...” A long-haired stranger approached. “Come to think of it, I still don't know your name, little mister.”

“Thanks for this morning.”

Oh, right. Before the mission, I nearly ran into someone. I even took him to the hospital afterward.

Bailey's thought hazily.

“...Moroboshi?” Bailey's managed to recall and say.

“Mm, that's right...”

Bailey's could no longer make out what came after that. He only vaguely remembered that the man had a beautiful smile and a lovely voice.

“Do take good care of me, senpai~”

For some reason, Mr. Moroboshi was usually cold, as aloof and ruthless as a wolf.

But at certain times, he acted just like a mischievous cat.

*

“Dai, are you with the FBI?”

“Yeah.”

The atmosphere turned tense.

“Then...” Bailey's hesitantly handed his weapon to Mr. Moroboshi, his expression dazed. “You're going to kill me, aren't you?”

“And then escape from here?”

The lamb asked the unknown hunter for death.

“That's the witness protection program,” the man said, refusing and offering him another choice instead. “Will you come back with me?”

His tone left no room for refusal.

“Dai...”

“What is it?”

“Then let's fall together~”

[The prologue has fifteen chapters, followed by two middle sections and one final section.]

[There are three side stories. One excerpt from each has been combined into a single chapter.]

[Choose your own pairing. Even the author doesn't know who the protagonist has fallen for.]

[This story records some of the scenes that played in the author's mind.]

Theme: Karasuma Renya is a bastard.