They walked through the dim alleyway without umbrellas. The worst part about this particular collection location was that it was too cramped to get a car in there, so they had to walk.
“He should be living in this apartment building up ahead. Age twenty, already sank two hundred thousand yen into the call girl club. And he’s only been signed up for a week! How much time does that guy spend on the phone?” Tom grumbled as he trudged onward.
He stopped suddenly, noticing something wrong in the area.
There was a silhouette ahead in the narrow alley.
Several, in fact.
They appeared to be much younger boys, but they all wore yellow in one way or another. It was obvious that they were Yellow Scarves, but that gang wasn’t the type to hang out in a lonely back alley.
Sensing something was off, Shizuo and Tom turned around—and sure enough, there were another dozen youths closing in on them from the other end of the alley.
“Huh? Are we in trouble?” Tom mumbled, but there wasn’t a hint of concern on his face.
They stood in the center of the alley and watched as the youths gradually approached—at which point they realized that some within the group didn’t really fit the label of “youth” anymore.
Most notable of all of them was a large man with bandages on his head. He must have suffered quite an injury, because there were rusty red bloodstains on part of the bandage.
“Who the hell are you?” Shizuo growled in irritation when the group was about fifteen feet away. The bandaged man grinned, a snarl over gritted teeth. He hurled a mocking retort at Shizuo.
“You’re Shizuo, huh? I hear you really did my bro wrong, yeah? Mr. Big-Shot Shizuo Heiwajima!” It was a barely coherent, thinly veiled excuse to pick a fight.
“Oh yeah…?” A blood vessel pulsed on Shizuo’s temple.
“I don’t care if they call you the ‘fighting puppet’ or whatever… The Yellow Scarves have decided you need to be eliminated for good. If you don’t wanna die, start beggin’ on your hands and knees and hand over all the cash in that bag.”
“Oh yeah?!” His eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses, a deep furrow running between his eyebrows. Tom noticed Shizuo’s manner and automatically took a step to the side.
Despite Shizuo’s obvious irritation, one particularly foolhardy boy strode up and brandished a police baton, threatening, “We know you’re goin’ around collectin’ cash for the call girl line. So what’s it gonna be? Just so you know, you knocked out my tooth a while back. So maybe you should start by beggin’ for—”
For an instant, the boy saw a small pink blob approaching him from the lower right. Somehow, the man in the bartender outfit was right in front of him.
Huh?
The shock lasted a moment.
The pain must have come after that, but the boy only felt it after he woke up.
His mind sank like a stone as he was knocked out by a blow like an upward hammer, but contrary to the downing of his wits, his unconscious body flew upward. The breath whistled out of his lips, a number of small white shards among the expelled air.
The other boys saw their companion, baton still clenched in his hand, fly in an arc through the air.
One second later, the boy with the flattened face landed right next to the bandaged man with a sound like a bag of garbage hitting the ground.
“How about I break the rest of ’em, so the hole doesn’t stick out anymore?” Shizuo grunted through clenched teeth, rolling his head back and forth to crack his neck.
Just one hit.
But the exact hit that was the most simple and most effective at changing the atmosphere of the scene entirely.
Every last one of the gang of youths, nearly twenty in all, held his breath.
One of their companions had just been knocked out, but not a single one of them moved. At first, because they didn’t understand what had happened. After understanding, because they were too afraid.
“So? What’s it gonna be?” Shizuo asked without a single drop of sweat or extra breath.
The question was an honest one, not a challenge, but none of the boys were able to answer it. Shizuo strode toward the bandaged man, apparently angered that no one was responding.
The bandaged man immediately twitched into motion, calling out a loud order to his friends to hide his trembling.
“Don’t pussy out on this guy! We don’t gotta fight him one-on-one; jump him all at once!”
The other boys immediately jumped into action…but Shizuo was already on the move.
He trotted over to the nearest youths before he could be surrounded on all sides and gave them each a fist in turn.
“Gakh!” “Yeeb!” “Wait…I— Humf!”
With a series of rhythmic thuds—whump, whump, whump—the boys slammed against the walls of the narrow alleyway. Those who raised their arms to block got the painfully unpleasant sensation of their limbs being twisted out of place; those who landed a punch first felt the bones in their hands scream; and those who fled felt him grab the back of their collars and toss them up into the air, only to fall to the ground with a tremendous crash.
They might as well have been fighting a bulldozer.
The young man with the bandages on his head and the younger boys, who had been confident with the superiority of numbers, were now in a state of panic.
Shizuo Heiwajima was the very personification of terror. In the face of his monstrous, otherworldly strength, the bandaged man rocketed from a state of cockiness to the pits of fear.
And that shift caused him to undo a switch.
The young man grabbed something without thinking, a tool he had only planned to flash momentarily for extracting money easier, never to use in earnest.
Instead…
“That’s bad news. Real bad,” Tom grumbled to himself as he watched Shizuo rage, distractedly kicking an approaching boy in the groin. “I wonder if the cops will accept this as self-defense? Bad news if someone dies, right?”
Better get going before we get into real trouble, he thought, turning back in the direction of the main street.
pop pop pop
The sounds were oddly dry, given all of the rain.
“Huh?”
They were unfamiliar sounds to his ear—but that was how he could instantly identify them.
This seems bad.
A different kind of “bad” sensation from before ran up Tom’s back, and he spun around in a hurry.
“Shizuo…?”
When he turned, he saw the illogical presence of smoke in the rain, shrouding a black object in the bandaged man’s hands.
And collapsed in a massive puddle, the prone figure of Shizuo.
The red liquid seeping from Shizuo’s body spread into the puddle with an eerie marbling effect.
The rain continued its merciless fall—cruelly emphasizing the desperation of the scene.
Chapter 9: Never Gonna Realize How They’re Feeling…
The next day, Raira Academy
The end of the school year ceremonies were over, and the classroom was full of the air of liberation only found around students.
Some were reminiscing with their classmates before next month’s class reorganization, and others were chatting about their spring vacation plans—but only Mikado chose to be alone and stare at the rain through the window.
It wasn’t that he didn’t fit in within the class. He was one of their representatives in the student council, so if anything, he was one of the more sociable members of the classroom.
But at the moment, he was not in the mood to be social. His two friends, who normally sat on either side of him, were not at school.
“Both absent for two days in a row…,” he mumbled to himself as he stared at the sky.
He had tried reaching out to both of their cell phones, but hadn’t succeeded in getting through.
What if they’re on a date together…?
He didn’t want to imagine that possibility, but it wasn’t out o
f the question.
What should I do if that is the case?
If Anri had chosen Masaomi…that would be sad for him, but he wouldn’t stay too down about it. In fact, he might even support them.
But if that meant that their friendship trio fell apart, that would be miserable. If they were ditching school to go hang out, they could have invited him.
Mikado slapped his cheeks to straighten out his mind.
Wait, wait, they might just be sick. No use imagining wild scenarios like that.
He would go and visit Anri and Masaomi on the way home from school today. He ought to anyway; he’d received her report card from the teacher.
Is it even within the rules to have a classmate give an absent student their grade report? he wondered—and decided to take a peek at Anri’s card. Whoa…
I’ve never seen someone get perfect 10s across the board…
Anri had the look of a model student, and he knew she always got high scores on their regular tests. But even then, he hadn’t anticipated the impact of those pristine numbers.
She’s even got a 10 in gym…
“Hey! Hey, Ryuugamine!”
Mikado was so absorbed in spying on his friend’s report card that his heart nearly stopped when someone called for his attention.
“Oh, h-hi, Harima. And Yagiri, too. What’s up?”
“Actually…Mika wanted something.”
It was a romantic couple consisting of two of his classmates: Seiji Yagiri and his girlfriend, Mika Harima.
The trio of Mikado, Masaomi, and Anri was well-known throughout the school, but they were no match for the infamy of these two.
They were together not only when they arrived and left school, but during break time as well. It was almost unthinkable to see them individually with other friends.
Of course, they didn’t have many friends to begin with—the only person Mikado knew as a friend of Mika’s was Anri Sonohara. And after these two had begun going out, even Anri had almost no contact with her old friend…
“So…what’s wrong with Anri?”
Mikado was so surprised to hear Anri’s name that he could only stare at Mika with curiosity. “What’s wrong…? We were all wondering that ourselves. Maybe she’s sick,” he said politely.
Now it was Mika’s turn to look curiously at him. “Huh? Ryuugamine, didn’t you notice?”
“Notice what?”
“Anri’s been dealing with some pretty big problems. Especially two days ago, right?”
“…Huh?”
Mikado was so taken aback by this sudden news that he turned to face them directly, chair and all.
“I asked her about it during cleaning time, because I was concerned for her, but she just claimed that everything was ‘fine’ and wouldn’t say a word about it. She’s always been the type to keep her worries to herself, after all. I thought maybe you’d heard something from her!”
“Er, no… Nothing at all,” Mikado replied, though a sense of anxiety was quickly blooming inside of him.
He hadn’t noticed even an inkling that Anri might be acting differently than usual. It came as a shock to him that he hadn’t perceived any difference despite the time they spent together, yet Mika noticed Anri’s change from a considerable distance.
“W-well, I’m going to pay her a visit today, so I’ll ask her about it…”
“Hmm. Well, I’m worried about her, so tell me if anything happens. We’ll visit when we’ve got the time.”
“Okay,” he mumbled.
With an uncertain look back, Mika took Seiji’s arm and started walking off. But Seiji stopped after a step and turned back to tell Mikado, “Maybe it’s not my place to say…”
“Huh?”
“But being shy and turning your back to the other person is never gonna help you realize how they’re feeling,” he said without hesitation, right within earshot of his girlfriend.
“…You’re right. Thanks.”
Feeling a kind of jealousy for his forthright and outspoken classmate, Mikado was ashamed at how little he had truly been paying attention to Anri.
Seiji had a view of romance that was the polar opposite of Masaomi’s, a fact that Mikado was painfully aware of. He was hoping to speak to the boy for a bit longer, to hopefully learn something new.
“Kya-ha! And Seiji’s always watching me! Always has, always will! It’s all right, I’ve never bothered with watching anyone but you, either!” Mika bubbled like a character in a comic book, as soon as the words were out of Seiji’s mouth. She leaped onto him and clung for dear life.
The teacher was still cleaning up his desk and looked ready to say something, but he ultimately decided it would be futile. He left the room.
Next, Mika dragged Seiji after her out into the hallway, suggesting that they should make their spring vacation plans soon.
The classroom was suddenly empty, plunging Mikado into a lonely mood. He glanced back up at the sky.
For an instant, he felt like he caught a glimpse of blue sky.
But the rain still showed no sign of stopping.
Apartment building, near Kawagoe Highway, Ikebukuro
When she awoke, Anri encountered a strange, foreign sensation.
This must be a dream.
Normally, she had the same dream every time: one of her family when they were still alive. But she could tell that she was having a different dream this time.
As with any dream, it was set in the old house where her family lived happily. Everyone wore smiles that existed only in her imagination, chatting and laughing away. It was the kind of dreamy dream that could never be anything but a dream.
But today, it was not her father and mother who were with her, but Mikado and Masaomi.
Why is it Mikado and Kida…?
As she lay under the blanket with her eyes closed, Anri thought about this dream and the events of the last few days.
She found out that Masaomi was the boss of the Yellow Scarves and was embarking on a massive war because of her—and then she escaped.
How much better it would be if that was the dream.
As she slowly opened her eyes, the sadness settled in. The light that reached her eyes was different from usual. It wasn’t just the light; it was the color of the walls, the pattern on the ceiling, the blanket draped over her, and the many expensive pieces of audio equipment and game consoles around her.
For a moment, she wondered if she was still dreaming. But then she remembered what happened before she fell asleep and realized that this was Celty’s apartment.
When she got to the apartment last night, she wasn’t really in any state to have a conversation. Celty saw how Anri worried about how to tell Masaomi and Mikado about this, and how to apologize for getting them involved, and told the girl, “It’s fine. You can stay here and relax until it all blows over.”
She remembered agonizing all night until the dawn, at which point she got loopy with fatigue. She must have fallen asleep here and been left since.
Anri’s glasses were on the shelf next to the bed, so she put them on to take a good look at the room and confirm that it was indeed not a dream.
I ought to thank her, she thought, sitting up.
It was an unusual awakening for her, but the cursed chant of I love you still rang throughout her body like always. The madness-inducing curses put her mind at ease somehow—a fact that made her sad when it registered on her.
It was normal not to hear voices like that, so how could she feel at ease with them?
I’m…a monster.
She had a cursed blade making its home within her body and mind, and despite its presence, she wasn’t going insane—she was making good use of it. She was a creature far removed from proper society.
Maybe that was why she had that dream. Perhaps yesterday’s events were a punishment she had to bear. Perhaps it was the price she ought to pay for wishing that a monster like herself could lead a normal, happy lifestyle with Mikado and Masaomi.
I shoul
dn’t bother hoping for a human life, like other people have…
She got to her feet with this thought in mind and slowly opened the door to find…
A headless monster watching a variety show on TV as she challenged a man in a white lab coat to a handheld video game.
“Go easy on me, Shinra.”
“You want me to go easy, in a block-dropping game? How would I do that exactly?”
“Don’t press any of the buttons.”
“That’s not going easy, that’s committing suicide!”
Celty and Shinra were enjoying a head-to-head video game battle, bickering away in their usual style. Celty had her laptop set up at her side and was using her body shadows to type at the keyboard so that both hands were still free to use the handheld console.
“Argh, I lost again! Damn…I hate you, Shinra.”
“You do?! Wait, wait, wait! Fine, I won’t hit the buttons this time!”
“Ha-ha-ha, I’m just kidding. I’m not that childish.”
“Oh good… I’m so glad to be alive!” Shinra rejoiced for some odd reason. Celty set down her handheld and watched the TV screen.
There was a young actor on the LCD screen—he was at a press conference announcing his starring role in an upcoming film. His features were still boyish; his height was average, but his face looked like it belonged to a high schooler or even a middle schooler.
“Ooh, it’s Yuuhei Hanejima. He’s really turned into a big star lately. I like his acting, he’s very good.”
“I hate to interrupt your attempt to change the subject by watching TV, but…I wouldn’t get too infatuated with him.”
Celty was confused for a moment—Shinra rarely ever turned his attention away from the celebrities on TV.
A few seconds later, she typed out a teasing response. “Why? Will you be…jealous?”
“That’s Shizuo’s brother,” he said. Silence followed.
Celty was still for a few moments, unable to break down the meaning of his words. Eventually, she typed a hesitant question: “Huh?”
“I’m telling you, he’s Shizuo’s little brother.”
“No way!”
Durarara!!, Vol. 3 (Novel) Page 16