“I’m very sorry to admit that the decision is not mine to make,” she answered. It was as though the unconscious old man at her feet wasn’t even there.
For his part, Izaya was unfazed by her refusal. “Come now, we both know that’s not true. Your decision should be taking precedence over everything else. It’s why I’m waiting on pins and needles for the wisdom of it, isn’t it?
“Your decision as the leader of the Jinnai Yodogiri group.”
Rental building roof, Ikebukuro
“Who did you hear that from?” asked Kujiragi through the phone. Nothing in her voice suggested she was alarmed by having the very essence of her being exposed.
Izaya smiled happily. “I didn’t hear it from anyone. I just investigated the situation in various ways and came to the conclusion that the answer couldn’t be anything else. Besides, there’s a Kujiragi in the census, but that’s not even your real name, is it? So the identity is real, but you killed the owner to take its place, perhaps?”
“I did not kill anyone to steal it. It was a proper transaction with the owner’s consent. She’s currently living out the life she really wanted in Southeast Asia somewhere, I would guess. Whether she’s happy doing it or not is for her to say.”
“You’re quite honest. I was only going on half conjecture. But anyway, I don’t have possession of your actual name…so I figured I would start by exposing your position and getting those pitiful old decoys out of the way.”
“There’s no reason to pity them. They made the decision to chase personal profit and engaged in wicked acts knowingly. From society’s viewpoint, one might say they’ve earned what’s become of them,” Kujiragi answered robotically.
Izaya couldn’t help but shrug. He was currently in hiding along with Slon. He’d split up the Dragon Zombie members working for him into several smaller teams, all currently in action. This provided cover from anyone prying for information on him, while he was free to hide and undertake a totally different set of actions.
Still, he kept his eyes on the surrounding rooftops for any sign of danger. “That’s very cold of you. You’re such a pretty woman; why don’t you express more emotion? On that matter, Jinnai Yodogiri’s been a broker in that field for over twenty years, I hear…so if you don’t mind an extremely forward question, how old are you, Miss Kujiragi?”
“I thought it was a widespread social understanding that asking a woman her age is frowned upon.”
“Come on, don’t stonewall me. You can’t be past your early twenties. Is it makeup? Surgery? Some other special reason?”
“I don’t feel any need to answer that,” she answered without any emotion whatsoever.
Izaya found this fascinating.
“Okay, okay, let’s change the subject. Was it you who was using my nickname in the chat room? At first I thought you had someone else do the job, but when I traced it back to your personal PDA, I was stunned.”
“Your information-collecting abilities are tremendous. Did you hack me?”
“Oh, my methods are neither here nor there. The point is, you sought to isolate me within the Dollars, where I had set up base, by spreading rumors about Dragon Zombie while the rest of the Dollars were fighting over the Kadota incident. The fact that you did this in a tiny chat room with maybe ten people in it must’ve been meant as a prank or a warning perhaps.”
As a matter of fact, when he realized she’d both figured out he was acting as Kanra and then imitated him, it came as a surprise—but he hadn’t been working very hard to hide it. Namie and his sisters knew, for example, so it wasn’t that big of a loss.
That was what made him wonder if she’d gotten the information from Namie. “By the way,” he said, “it’s one thing for you to imitate me on the chat…but why all the cat puns? Are you trying to humiliate me?”
Of all the questions he could ask Kujiragi, this was the one he was most curious about, even more than the matter of Namie’s safety.
Once again, Kujiragi’s answer was in a totally flat affect.
“It was cute, wasn’t it?”
“…I’m having trouble gauging who you are as a person,” Izaya said, trying to stifle a laugh. It was hard to do after hearing a line like that spoken with no irony whatsoever. The spasms in his stomach made his voice tremble.
“So that’s it? A personal taste thing?” he mocked. “You weren’t doing it to make fun of me but because you really just thought that was making Kanra act like a cute girl? Kujiragi, on your days off, do you put on cat ears and a tail, make poses and say ‘meow ’ as you stand in front of the meow-ror?”
This was met with a long, thoughtful pause. In the same flat and mechanical manner, Kujiragi replied, “That doesn’t sound bad. I’ll try it.”
“Please have mercy. My sides can’t take this.”
Izaya was so taken with this unexpected side of Kujiragi that he almost completely forgot about the matter of Namie’s location—until his sense of reason won out at the last second. He took a deep breath to steady his mind.
“So you don’t intend to tell me where Namie is?”
“I don’t feel the need. Did you orchestrate a number of traffic accidents just to ask that question?”
“If necessary, I’ll cause many more. The guys I had Niekawa cut were thugs who were opposing me, so I feel no pangs of conscience. I love humanity so much that even the troubles of those who are manipulated into being guilty of harming others are like a beloved little treasure to me,” Izaya monologized—like the villain he was.
In fact, he didn’t wait for Kujiragi to reply: “To be honest, without Namie it takes much, much longer to sort my data. And knowing the incredible sense of pride she has, I can’t help but wonder what sort of face she’ll make when she gets rescued by the boss she hates.”
“I don’t think much of your hobbies.”
“That’s the last thing I expected to be judged on by a woman involved in human and monster trafficking. It’s ironic, isn’t it? You sold Saika to Shingen Kishitani, and now it’s come back around to be your enemy.”
He opened the laptop sitting on the simple table setup before him and gave Haruna Niekawa instructions through the Skype text chat function, intending for her to bring together all the thugs under Saika’s control and have them abduct Kujiragi.
“I’m sorry, but you people are interfering with my ability to observe the outcome of the Dollars,” he said.
“And I’ll admit that you and Shizuo Heiwajima were interfering with my ability to procure my products.”
“…?” The name of Izaya’s nemesis caused his fingers to pause.
“So when you tricked Shizuo into walking right into the police station, you did me quite a favor. I have to express my gratitude for that.”
“And why…would Shizu be a problem for you?” Izaya asked, gauging her reaction carefully. Something felt off.
“When people like Shizuo Heiwajima are around, the children are distracted. Although it seems like Haruna Niekawa’s children already gave up on him.”
“…”
Kujiragi continued on her own. “Saika was in my grasp twenty years ago. That means everything. Do you know why I simply gave up a sword that powerful?”
“Is there some secret power to it that only its owner would know about?”
“I suspect its current wielder doesn’t even know about it… Saika’s reproduction isn’t entirely done by cutting others to create children and grandchildren. There is another way. I call it branching.”
Branching.
He considered what this might mean, and alarm bells went off in his head. And in the act of conceiving all possibilities, Izaya spun around.
He was too late.
“It means breaking Saika in two, then reforging the pieces as separate blades, that’s all.”
As she spoke, Izaya saw the large man who had been standing guard in the back leap toward him with speed and agility that didn’t seem possible given his leg injuries.
Before he ev
en recognized that it was Slon, Izaya registered one simple fact.
The color red.
Eyes red and full of blood, racing toward him.
Half a second before the muscles of Izaya’s body could fire into motion, the red-eyed Slon grabbed Izaya’s neck—and slammed him into the concrete roof.
Basement parking garage
“Mother…I have Izaya now. What shall I do?” said a different voice over the phone, several seconds after a loud, violent noise.
“Take him to office twelve. I need to ask him about the dullahan’s head.”
“Understood.”
Kujiragi hung up the call and closed her flip phone. When she was Yodogiri’s secretary, she never uttered a single unnecessary word, but now she allowed herself a private comment with the faintest of emotions behind it.
“Thank you, Izaya Orihara. I’m grateful to you for destroying the Jinnai Yodogiri organization.”
Ignoring the old man unconscious on the ground, she headed for the exit of the garage, her leather pumps clicking. She even ignored the luxury car she’d driven here. She would use her own two feet.
“I acknowledge you as an impediment in the district of Ikebukuro. The third, after Dougen Awakusu and Shinichi Tsukumoya.”
Free from the shell of Jinnai Yodogiri, of the daily repetition that kept her locked in place, she admitted some appreciation for the man who shattered that very cage to pieces.
As she left the garage, the sunlight seemed to pierce her skin. She felt the powerful prickle, but all she did was narrow her red eyes—not bloodshot, but pure, shining red—with a look of pure, unbridled joy on her face.
“Thank you for my freedom.”
Chat room
.
.
The chat room is currently empty.
The chat room is currently empty.
Kuru has entered the chat.
Mai has entered the chat.
Kuru: It was quite lively just two days ago, but it seems there is little activity today.
Kuru: It is a shame, as I was prepared to offer a good two dozen thoughts on last night’s catatonic catastrophe of cattiness from Kanra.
Mai: Nobody’s here.
Kuru: Let us hope it is just a momentary loneliness. It seems to me that when something odd happens in the city, there is a sudden lack of attendance here. Could this perhaps be some den of thieves, where all involved have some major role to play behind the scenes?
Mai: Scary.
Kuru: I do detest being lonely, so I shall hope that Kanra, at least, returns soon. If my hunch is correct, when things are peaceful again, life will return to this little chat room. As a resident of Ikebukuro, I wish for nothing more than the arrival of that happy day.
Mai: I don’t like being lonely.
Mai: Please be fun againnn.
Kuru has left the chat.
Mai has left the chat.
The chat room is currently empty.
The chat room is currently empty.
.
.
Intermediate Chapter: The Mob Has Many Heads
Shinra’s apartment along Kawagoe Highway, evening
I wonder what to do now.
I wasn’t able to persuade Mikado in the end. If anyone’s going to get any further with him, it has to be Anri or Kida… I can’t believe I’ve been alive for centuries and I can’t convince one single boy to see the light.
If she had a head, Celty would have sighed multiple times by now. That thought only reminded her of her own troubles, which depressed her further.
I’m having enough of a time taking care of myself…
Only a few days had passed since she learned Izaya had possession of her head, and she hadn’t fully processed it yet. All the things that had sprung up in succession gave her a very convenient excuse not to think about it.
I know I shouldn’t be relying too much on Shinra…but I really want to see him right now. If only we can be alone with our love, I’m sure that will solve all this for me.
This was an illusion, of course, but it demonstrated how Shinra was the greatest source of comfort to her. Even Shooter had rubbed his neck against her in the basement parking lot, trying to cheer her up; there was no way Shinra wouldn’t recognize her depressed mood.
That’s fine. I want him to cheer me up.
No! I can’t! He’s the one who’s hurt; he’s the one who needs help! It would be so unfair of me to be the weaker one and lean on him for comfort…
She smacked her helmet with both palms for a quick burst of energy as she headed to the apartment. Right as she reached the top of the stairs, she happened across someone coming out of the elevator.
“Oh my. Celty, are you returning to home?”
“Hello, Emilia.”
Emilia was Shinra’s stepmother. She came to help Shinra at home when Celty wasn’t available, which was quite often recently. At first, Celty felt jealous at the thought of her taking care of him, but every time she talked to her, Emilia spoke so fondly and obnoxiously about Shingen that Celty’s initial distaste was wearing off. She was seeing Emilia more and more as a new member of the family.
On the other hand, Emilia’s cooking was catastrophically bad, so most of the time dinner ended up being so-so food that Celty whipped up, using the groceries that Emilia brought. She’d probably just been out buying food for Shinra.
Celty looked down at her hands, feeling appreciative—only to stop in surprise. The grocery bags seemed stuffed with several times more food than usual.
“Why so much stuff?”
Emilia gave her a radiant smile and puffed out her ample chest. “Today is Party Day of the week! I hereby summon all effort to provide for everyone, you shall view!”
“Er, right.”
Celty quickly rushed to open the front door, wondering what was going on.
There was a horde of shoes, neatly arranged inside the apartment entrance, and she could hear the bustle of a large group of people coming from farther in.
Huh? What? What’s going on?!
For a moment, all her troubles were gone from her mind. Celty raced into the main room. From there, the group that was crowded into Shinra’s recovery room turned to face her.
“Well, hello there, Celty. It’s been a while!”
“Heya.”
Y-Yumasaki?! And, um…the driver guy!
“…Hello.”
“Oh, Celty! Long time no see! Actually, we just met the other day, didn’t we? I see Seiji every single day, of course, so when it comes to other people, it always feels like it’s been a while!”
Seiji Yagiri and Mika Harima?!
“Greetings, Celty. How have you been?”
Shinra’s father! How dare he show up here!
“It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Egor.”
Who’s this?!
“Celty! Welcome home! Oh, I missed you! It’s strange, the more people are around, the lonelier I get. There’s nothing like having you here, Celty!”
“Hang on, Shinra! What in the world is going on here?! Why is everyone at our house?!” she demanded, pushing Shinra down as he struggled to get up despite his pain.
“Oh, well, you see, Mother was cleaning the apartment, and first it was Yumasaki who came over and said, ‘Can we turn this into a secret fort? It’ll be really cool!’ I didn’t know what that meant, so I asked him to explain, and in the meantime, Seiji and Miss Harima came over and asked me to hide them here, right?”
“…And then?”
“I didn’t know what that meant, so I asked them to explain, and then Dad and Egor showed up, and I didn’t know what that meant, and Emilia said she was going to cook because tonight is a pajama party or something, and while I was asking them to explain, you showed up.”
“What do you mean, you didn’t know what that meant?!” Celty demanded, holding her helmet in confusion.
Seiji mumbled, “Um, if it’s a problem, I can just look for a different place.”
“Sei
ji.” She wobbled with the waves of disorientation and placed an unsteady hand on his shoulder. “You’ll be the most rational person to talk to, I suspect. Can you just start by explaining why you and Mika are here?”
“Okay. Well,” Seiji started off.
Celty relaxed, feeling that she would finally get the straightforward answers she was seeking—when the sliding door to the room slammed aside, and a woman barged in with fury on her face and loathing in her voice.
“Get your filthy hand off Seiji, you slut!”
Huh?
Instantly, Celty felt not confusion but a simple emptiness, the lack of any functioning mental power. She went beyond empty-headed into the realm of astral projection, realizing she was somehow viewing herself amid her surroundings.
Finally, she recognized that the woman who had just appeared was Seiji Yagiri’s sister, the very person who had taken her head and run away with it: Namie Yagiri.
Whaaaaaat?!
Hang on, wha…?
Why? What is she doing?! Here!
Whaaaaaaaat?!
“tyfhgoisdgkpokp@,” she typed, so stunned by the entrance that her shadow fingers trembled and failed to produce an intelligible sentence on the keyboard.
“Ugh. I told you not to come out until Celty was good and relaxed,” lamented Shinra from his bed. His lover was as panicked as the time she saw the video of the aliens flying out of a meteor.
It’s really rather strange, I must admit, he thought, surveying the chaos of the room. Something is happening. I can tell that something is most definitely going on in Ikebukuro, and I suspect that at the center of it all are the Dollars…and Celty.
I don’t like it.
His beloved was getting dragged into something, and he couldn’t even walk at the moment. It was driving him crazy.
But Shinra’s love for Celty was not so shallow that he would be fit to sit around and do nothing but lament his fate.
Well, this development…can shove it.
With his heart full of determination, Shinra closed his eyes.
Maybe we just need some kind of opportunity to get back at this unfortunate development. And not just one, many of them. A number of possibilities, capable of affecting all this unpleasantness surrounding the Dollars. Whether they’re good or bad possibilities, it needs to be something big, something huge that can change this situation…
Durarara!!, Vol. 10 Page 15