Rei Comic 3

The Devil Comes and Takes Care (悪魔が来たりて世話をする,) is the third comic in the first anthology, Rei.

Summary
Chūya sits at his desk while looking at paperwork. He remarks how he has had to do a lot of paperwork over the past few days. Dazai brings him a warm mug of tea and Chūya angrily asks him what he is doing. Dazai pretends to be confused and asks if Chūya is asking why he exists. Chūya clarifies that he is asking Dazai why he is at the Port Mafia. Dazai explains that he is trying to thank Chūya for his help during their last battle.

Tachihara enters the room and is also surprised to see Dazai. Akutagawa, having heard Dazai was with Chūya, also enters the room to see him. Chūya asks him if he is supposed to be on a mission, but Akutagawa says this is more important. Higuchi runs to Akutagawa, happy to see he has returned.

Annoyed with all the commotion, Chūya yells at Dazai and tells him to go home since he is disturbing everyone’s work. Dazai says that he was going to, but now that he has been asked to leave he has lost all interest. He compares it to a student losing motivation to study after being told by a parent to start studying. He tells Chūya to keep working and to ignore him. He also calls Chūya “Chūya-kun” which further annoys him. Dazai offers to refill his tea or get him coffee if he prefers. This gives Chūya chills.

Dazai spends the day fetching drinks, sweeping, and moving boxes for the mafia. He says he is excited to be of use to the mafia. Chūya begins to leave for the bathroom, but Dazai offers to go for him. Chūya says that does not make any sense and leaves anyway.

While in the bathroom, he screams and scares Tachihara who asks Chūya what’s wrong. Chūya asks him how he would feel if a devil who enjoys harassing people suddenly started acting like an angel. Tachihara says that would be a good thing, but Chūya vehemently disagrees.

When Chūya returns, Dazai says he was getting worried and was wondering if Chūya was flushed down the toilet by accident. Suddenly, Atsushi appears and calls out to Dazai, who he has been looking for. He says Ranpo was right about Dazai being here and explains that they have been looking for him. Dazai had vanished earlier while sick with a cold and a high fever, which was making him delirious. He grabs Dazai and takes him back to the Armed Detective Agency. After they leave, Chūya sneezes and to his disbelief, realizes that he is beginning to feel feverish.

Trivia

 * The title is a reference to the novel "The Devil Comes and Plays His Flute" by Seishi Yokomizo.