User:Quartermistress/Sandbox

 Next chapter  Chapter 86   Image Licensing

Licensing
 Links
 * Character designs and behind-the-scenes interview with Asagiri and Harukawa
 * New BSD novels (Kunikida and Katai backstory + Fifteen sequel) announcement
 * Media assortment
 * IRL BSD author pen names

 Pending
 * Update chapter summaries
 * Create pages for:
 * The Cleaner
 * The Soldier
 * Add "(manga)" to manga images where needed
 * Update character image galleries (manga)
 * Add light novel summaries
 * Osamu Dazai's Entrance Exam
 * Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era
 * The Untold Origins of the Detective Agency
 * 55 Minutes
 * Dazai, Chūya, Fifteen Years Old
 * BEAST
 * Add individual ability pages

 Untold Origins summary (Under initial writing)

Summary
At Café Uzumaki, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki asks Doppo Kunikida about the origins of the Armed Detective Agency, though Kunikida answers that he only knows that the President had an encounter at least ten years ago that triggered the Agency's establishment. Later, Osamu Dazai joins them, and Kunikida asks what he plans on doing with Atsushi Nakajima, the homeless boy he took in the day before. Upon being allowed by the President, Dazai seeks out their help on what kind of entrance exam they shall have Atsushi take, after which the three convene with the others in their office.
 * A Day at the Detective Agency

The detectives begin to brainstorm on Atsushi's entrance exam. Tanizaki suggests having him solve a case among their requests, but Kunikida says that they cannot have the wanted weretiger participate in fieldwork. Akiko Yosano asks Dazai, the one who planned the meeting, for his own thoughts. He then pulls out an exam outline, which Kunikida chides for its impracticality that cannot actually test the newcomer's suitability to be part of the Agency. Kenji Miyazawa soon arrives and throws his suggestions, including testing the newcomer against his strength and other tasks unfeasible for an entrance exam, which they all subtly reject.

The detectives continue citing proposals: Yosano recommends rather painful suggestions, while Kunikida proposes ideas having to do with assaulting Dazai, all of which the others reject. Naomi Tanizaki enters the conference room to offer them some refreshments, so Dazai asks for some of her suggestions regarding the entrance exam. Naomi blushes upon suggesting three ideas, which are left undisclosed to readers.

Twelve years ago, Yukichi Fukuzawa, a lone wolf bodyguard renowned for his proficiency in martial arts and swordsmanship, is distraught after his client, a company CEO, has been killed in her office. He heads to the crime scene, where he meets the CEO's secretary and the suspect tied up next door. An adolescent soon arrives to apply for a job, but he is constantly ignored. He soon nonchalantly claims that the secretary is the real killer and states his deduction. Later, upon getting in a skirmish with the suspect — a young assassin named Oda — Fukuzawa subdues him, but Oda shoots the secretary to death. He instructs the adolescent to call an ambulance, upon which the prodigious boy introduces himself as Ranpo Edogawa.
 * The Untold Origins of the Detective Agency

Fukuzawa treats Ranpo to zenzai, where the boy voices out his bewilderment towards adults, talks about his expulsions at school and work, and mentions that he is the child of two geniuses, his father of whom Fukuzawa knows to be a legendary detective. Fukuzawa figures that Ranpo is quite special, though Ranpo does not seem to notice it. Initially reluctant, Fukuzawa allows Ranpo to come with him. They soon arrive at a theater, where Fukuzawa is hired to apprehend a criminal after receiving an advance notice of murder. They are met by the house manager, Ms. Egawa, who shows Fukuzawa the note about the murder, which Ranpo thinks will happen. He inadvertently deduces Egawa and her true emotions in the process, who unsettlingly leaving the two to themselves.

To find a hint when the criminal might likely attack, Fukuzawa and Ranpo question the performers on their stage blockings, starting with lead actor Murakami. During their inquiry, the pale youth states his willingness to risk his or anyone's life for the sake of mastering the art if given the chance. They also question the other performers, who think that no murder shall happen. However, Ranpo believes that the note, signed by an ambiguous "V", is an announcement of murder rather than a mere threat, though he thinks that Fukuzawa, as an adult, must have already perceived the fact just like him. To further assess his skills, Fukuzawa asks Ranpo to deduce him. As the boy is able to uncover his personal past and secrets with relative ease, Fukuzawa fully believes that Ranpo is indeed special.

The play begins, which tells the tale of an angel killing off characters one by one. They believe that an ability user must be behind the murders, with which Ranpo asks Fukuzawa what an ability is, though the latter merely asks him to keep watching to find out. As Fukuzawa scans the theater to find the possible killer, he spots a suspicious man, but Ranpo interjects and asks him why people would watch something so obvious. Though he tries to calm him, Fukuzawa soon finds Ranpo desperately shouting among the crowd on why nobody understands him, after which Fukuzawa brings him out the theater hall. He finds out that Ranpo's parents essentially sealed away his skill for him to learn about the world like an ordinary person, knowing that society will come off as strange to an exceptional child. However, Ranpo was left unaided after their deaths, causing him to feel outcasted in the world around him before he can understand it.

To prevent him from getting crushed, Fukuzawa persuades him that he is special because he has an ability, which is to see the truth in one glance. Furthering his bluff, he gives Ranpo a random pair of glasses that he claims will help him control his powers. Ranpo is later convinced and now confidently believes that he, the world's greatest detective, must protect the simple-minded, ordinary people. He then asks Fukuzawa to return and watch the audience's movements, while he sets out by himself to try and prevent the murder from happening. Hence, Fukuzawa returns to the hall, more vigilant than ever, after Ranpo assures him that the murder will occur in the erstwhile scene.

With Murakami acting at the moment, a knife suddenly pierces his chest, which Fukuzawa knows is not part of the script. He instantly rushes to him amidst the crowd's confusion and recalls Ranpo's advice to watch the audience's movements. As the performers scream out that Murakami has been truly murdered, the crowd panics, though the police later seals the venue and keeps them in place. News also emerges that Murakami has died during transit to the hospital. Meanwhile, Fukuzawa worries that something dangerous might have happened to Ranpo, who has not yet returned. As he decides to look for him, a policeman informs him that one of the audience members has run away, who turns out to be the suspicious man he has spotted earlier in the theater hall. To further fuel his suspicions, the man is said to have been unseen during the play's second half when Murakami was killed. Fukuzawa thinks that the man might have taken Ranpo, so he sets out to find him, blaming himself for the young detective to leave by himself unarmed. Just then, Egawa approaches Fukuzawa with a message from Ranpo and escorts him to the stage operation room.

According to Ranpo, there are two criminals: one shabby and one terrible. Just like how a sea bream is caught with a shrimp, Ranpo plans on using the "shrimp criminal" to catch the "sea bream criminal". Finally, per Ranpo's message, Fukuzawa returns to his seat along with the several spectators. Ranpo emerges at the stage in front of the audience and explains the mystery full of reversals. Specifically, he states how the "angel", as stipulated in the note, ends up being the victim instead of being the killer, as well as how the man suspected by the police to be the perpetrator of the crime is actually a victim, whom he reveals to be tied up behind the projector screen. Ranpo then calls out to the audience for the perpetrator to show himself, to which the supposedly dead Murakami responds. Ranpo uncovers how he faked his death and that the playwright was Murakami's accomplice. He asks for Murakami's statement, who confesses that his ultimate job as an actor was to perform a genuine death and thereby master the art.

In the end, Murakami is taken away by the police, though Fukuzawa is relieved that no one died. The police officer from earlier thanks Fukuzawa and Ranpo for their efforts, to which Ranpo tells him that he is merely able to do it with his special ability. Fukuzawa tries to convince Ranpo that he is not actually an ability user, but Ranpo does not listen to him. Even so, Fukuzawa decides to accompany Ranpo in solving cases from then on to offer him protection. He then asks the police officer to take Ranpo to the police station, while he shall talk to Egawa about the cleanup work at the theater.

Fukuzawa visits Murakami in the dressing room for interrogation, where he discovers that Murakami and the playwright were told little of the man in the suit tied up. At that point, Fukuzawa is notified by a detective that the playwright has been found dead in his own as if he were stabbed by an invisible being. To be continued —