“Hey, Anri… Have you finished all your preparations for the Raikou Festival?”
The Raikou Festival was an event held the day after graduation along with the remaining students of the school, a type of thank-you party. Participation was optional, but because the class representatives of the underclassmen were central to the planning, Anri and Mikado were enrolled by default, and the preparations for the event were ongoing.
It was after school, and Anri was walking the empty halls on her way to get ready to leave, when Nasujima’s imposing face loomed up, as though he’d been waiting to ambush her.
“Well, Anri? You’re here awfully late again… Is everything all right?”
“Um, yes…”
She felt a small measure of unease and fear at the fact that he was calling her Anri now. If he’d started off calling her that, she would have told herself he was just one of those teachers who used first names…but until recently, he was calling her Sonohara. Now she was Anri to him.
It made her feel like the distance had suddenly shrunk between them. Perhaps that was exactly Nasujima’s intent.
After she saw her personal bullies attacked by the slasher and had to undergo police questioning, Anri was nearly caught by a TV interviewer for a segment. She barely managed to escape, thanks to the arrival of Mikado, who had come out of concern for her. But given the stress of the encounter, she took several days off of school to let things calm down.
The final exams were starting just as she came back, and thanks to her diligent studying, she did just fine on the tests. Things were slowly getting back to normal, until…
“I thought you’d still be taking a break from school. Why didn’t you just tell me you were feeling better, Anri?”
She had no reason to report something like that to an instructor who wasn’t even her homeroom teacher. She didn’t tell him anything specific at all, but Nasujima kept badgering her.
“Don’t you know how worried I was? They say that Nomura was the one who got attacked, and she was apparently one of those bullies harassing you… Why were you together? Were they picking on you again? I’m worried for you…so, so worried. But more importantly, I’m worried about that street slasher. I know you said you didn’t see a face on TV, but the slasher might think you did see him!”
He had found his perfect excuse—feigned concern over the incident. The other teachers simply avoided the topic out of consideration for Anri, or ignored her to sidestep the trouble entirely, or showed obvious and honest concern—but Nasujima was the first to reference the attack directly to her face.
Today was the first time she’d seen Nasujima since coming back to school. It was almost as though he’d been waiting to catch her in another lonely situation with no one around.
“Are you sure you want to be waiting around here this late? Don’t you think it would be safer to have someone escort you home?”
He wasn’t even bothering to hide it. Anri’s willpower helped her resist the urge to turn her face away in disgust.
She just wanted to live in peace and quiet.
Her dreams every night gave her the happiness she needed. So she didn’t expect much from reality. She just wanted to avoid trouble.
That was exactly why she wasn’t sure if she should reject the teacher’s advances explicitly. She was already garnering enough attention because of the slasher attack. If she raised a fuss about sexual harassment from a teacher next, that attention might turn against her.
Besides, even if she complained to someone about Nasujima’s actions, what he was actually doing wasn’t against any rules. The best she could do was raise a new rumor among the girls, and that was altogether too risky. If Nasujima claimed that she was the one who tried to seduce him, she might be forced to transfer schools.
She was fine with being shunned. She felt that no matter what happened to her, Mikado and Masaomi would take her side and believe her. That showed how much she trusted them, but it also caused her to realize something else.
I really am just leeching off of Ryuugamine and Kida after all.
But she didn’t feel much regret about this. That was just the way she lived.
The problem was that the teachers and the school system were not that simple to deal with. If she caused a stir and caught the wrong kind of attention, the school might grow concerned with outward appearances. In that case, Anri would be forced to transfer whether she liked it or not.
On the other hand, she couldn’t just let Nasujima continue to have the wrong idea about her. If she didn’t stand up to him at some point, her peace of mind would be threatened in a different way. In fact, it already was.
In normal circumstances, she could just come out and say it plainly. But now, when Nasujima was in what Masaomi might call his “blown-fuse” mode, there was no telling how he might react. On the other hand, if she tried to be subtle about it, he wouldn’t pay any attention.
Anri was so troubled about this turn of events that she started treading down the path toward the worst possible conclusion: that transferring schools was her best option.
Transfer… Yes, that’s an option…
As she weighed the idea, Anri recalled a piece of information that Masaomi had taught her—and decided to try to rattle the teacher a bit.
“…Then, do you think I should hide myself by transferring schools…?”
“N-no! You shouldn’t worry about that. The security here is absolute. You know that, right?”
Anri recalled an event a few days after the start of school, when a man in black and a mysterious motorcyclist went on a violent rampage, but she chose not to bring that up. It occurred to her now that it was the Black Rider that the whole city was talking about, but that didn’t matter now. She ignored it.
“But…I was seen wearing my school uniform…and there are plenty of other schools in the area that I can attend… And, um…Miss Niekawa transferred to a local school, didn’t she?”
Nasujima’s expression shifted dramatically within an instant.
His reddish, tanned face rapidly went pale blue, and though his eyes were still pointed in Anri’s direction, they were losing focus and looking through her to a point far in the distance.
His eyeballs rattled and shook as he regained his focus, and he put on a smile that didn’t extend beyond his mouth. He spoke hesitantly, trying to ascertain where she was coming from.
“Wh-what’s this, Sonohara? You know Niekawa?”
“No, not directly… I just remember when people were saying she transferred, since she had an uncommon name,” Anri replied, looking away slightly.
Nasujima’s eyes were still shaking. “Ah, I…I see. Y-yeah, Niekawa was my student last year. I think she moved to a school in west Ikebukuro. But hey, that doesn’t really matter, does it?”
He was trying to force the conversation to a different subject, and it showed. Anri was now certain that something had happened between Nasujima and this Niekawa girl, and it was the cause for her transfer.
But why was he so panicked now? Anri couldn’t help but wonder, but no matter what it was, it had nothing to do with her.
“Well, sir, I should be going.”
She bowed politely so as not to sound nasty and turned to leave. What she didn’t see when she turned her back was that Nasujima’s hand reached out to grab her shoulder, only to swing through empty air.
Rather than following or trying to pull her back, Nasujima stayed put, his menacing face looking even darker and uglier as he watched her go.
The expression contained elements of anger, of longing, and terror that she might be onto something about him…
Only Nasujima knew exactly what that was, and when the school bell rang emptily down the hallway, it wiped the look off of his face.
I’m such a horrible person.
Anri was calmly analyzing her own actions as she watched the night streets in search of Haruna Niekawa. Technically, it wasn’t correct to say that she was “searching” for Niekawa. She had no
trail, no clues to follow, so it was less a search than a chance to sort out her own thoughts under the guise of searching for the girl.
If she somehow managed to find Niekawa, what would she even ask? How would she approach her? There was no way she could walk up out of the blue and ask, “Were you in a relationship with Mr. Nasujima?”
Even if I don’t ask directly, I might be able to figure out that there was something between them…and that could be the leg up I need to “convince” Mr. Nasujima to leave me alone.
It didn’t need to be anything major. She just needed material that she could use to keep him away from her.
I really am horrible.
She was using Haruna Niekawa’s past as a tool to put distance between herself and Nasujima, knowing full well that the girl probably bore emotional scars from that past.
Anri knew that she was a shallow, self-interested person, but she had no intention of changing her plan.
In the end, I value my own peace of mind most of all. That’s why I’m going to use Miss Niekawa as a stepping-stone. I’m an awful human being. But maybe I actually enjoy this way of life.
Right after school started and Mikado helped her out of trouble, he’d seen right through that aspect of her and pointed it out.
But…he decided to be my friend anyway.
After the loss of Mika Harima, her previous host, this was a pure joy to Anri, and it was why she was determined not to let Nasujima ruin it for her.
She wandered the town.
Searching for the shadow of Haruna Niekawa.
I wonder if she truly loved him. Or if she regretted the way she lived her life. How did she feel about Mr. Nasujima?
It was a matter of personal curiosity. While the information wasn’t necessary to Anri, she found herself more and more intrigued by those details in the hours since she’d escaped from Nasujima.
There was a reason for that curiosity. Something had been wrong with Nasujima earlier.
The reaction he had when she mentioned Niekawa’s name wasn’t just panic at the thought of his relationship to her being revealed—there was actual fear mixed in.
Not the kind of fear of losing his job if those salacious details were made public. Those things were already the subject of Masaomi’s rumor mills, and if he was afraid of being fired, he wouldn’t be messing with a student.
What had happened between Nasujima and Niekawa?
While the mystery was alluring, Anri forced herself to suppress the curiosity.
It was an emotion she didn’t need in the life she’d chosen for herself.
“Excuse me, miss.”
Anri looked up with a start when she realized the voice was directed at her. There were two policemen standing dead ahead.
“Y-yes…?”
Anri was confused, thinking that they were going to take her in for more questioning. She’d told them everything she knew about the attack. What more could there be?
But the policemen didn’t know that she was a witness in the recent attack. One of them pointed to his watch and warned her with concern in his voice, “It’s almost eleven o’clock. You should be home by now.”
“Oh…”
Anri was surprised to learn that she’d been walking the town for so long. Thanks to the frequency of the slasher attacks, the number of police patrols was through the roof now.
As a result, the number of minors out enjoying Ikebukuro late at night was vastly decreased. Of course, most people who stayed out late had moved on to other night districts like Shibuya to continue their business.
“Oh, already? S-sorry, I’ll go home right away!”
“Take care, miss.”
Her straitlaced appearance apparently helped her escape any further questioning, but if she didn’t go right home, she’d only end up in actual trouble before long.
Anri bowed several times to the officers and started on her way home.
“Hang on. If your home is nearby, shall we escort you there?” he asked in a voice devoid of Nasujima’s ulterior motive.
If they were offering, perhaps she ought to take them up on it. In all honesty, though, Anri felt more worried about an ambush from Nasujima than from the slasher.
She didn’t think he would stoop to that, but there was no eliminating that nagging possibility in the back of her mind.
I might as well…
But just as Anri opened her mouth to respond, both officers suddenly raised a hand to one ear, their faces serious. She realized that they must be wearing earpieces and receiving some kind of message.
“…Roger that. We’re on our way. C’mon, Mr. Kuzuhara.”
“Sorry, young lady. We’ve got something to respond to. Take care on your way home. If you want, you can also stop by the police box next to the Parco and wait for an escort.”
The officer named Kuzuhara and his younger partner melted into the night crowd.
“Ah…”
Anri tried to stop them for just a moment, then sighed and turned back on her way. She didn’t desire an escort enough to wait around at the police box for one, and if they were going to break up a fight, there was no telling when they’d be back.
Anri turned her back on the bright town and headed down a silent, empty side street. If she went straight down this way, her apartment would be just ahead, she told herself to calm her nerves.
But she didn’t realize that she was being followed.
The eyes watching Anri’s back were red, so red.
Redder than anything…
“Demon blade?” Shizuo read off of Celty’s screen, raising an eyebrow.
When she tore out of the mansion and headed back to pick up Shizuo as she’d promised, Celty knew she owed him a proper explanation. She couldn’t help but worry, though, that he’d punch her when he read the term demon blade.
“Yes, I know it sounds unbelievable…but it’s a sword with a mind of its own that possesses people.”
Even as Celty typed it out in all seriousness, she realized how stupid it all sounded.
Who’s going to believe in this nonsense?
“All right, gotcha. Let’s go.”
—?!
“You believe me? I mean, I’m not sure if I believe it myself yet,” Celty said incredulously. Shizuo looked directly at her, wonder in his eyes.
“Is this demon blade weirder than a motorcycle steered by a Headless Rider driving sideways along the wall of the Tokyu Hands building?”
“…Good point. My bad.”
She didn’t bear any fault, but Celty couldn’t help herself from apologizing. Shizuo was already on the rear of the bike, though, balancing himself expertly as he waited for the driver.
“A blade dies if you snap it in half, right? And hell, I’ll still kill it, whether it can die or not,” Shizuo muttered, quiet rage smoldering in his eyes. It was as though the murderous rage that had built up within him during work was boiling itself into a caramelized state.
Celty found that both reassuring and terrifying. She straddled the motorcycle, feeling the same nerves she felt that one time she transported nitroglycerin.
The dullahan’s familiar, that pitch-black bike, took its terrible, ferocious engine whinnying into the night.
Thus the accumulation of power focused into a single point known as Shizuo Heiwajima joined the speedy engine known as Celty Sturluson in prowling Ikebukuro without a clear destination, exuding a different kind of fear from that which the stalker spread…
Meanwhile, a strangled yelp sounded inside a van crawling around Ikebukuro.
“You have to stop… You have to stop replacing the word brief with ephemeral and thinking that makes your sentences sound cooler!”
“Is this that age where you like taking contrary opinions on everything, Yumacchi?”
“Denying all the common sense of ordinary adult opinions might make you more popular with antisocial teenagers…but stop thinking that way, too! Stop saying that all power is evil, when you don’t have the knowledge or determi
nation to back that up! If you got wrapped up in some violent nonsense, you’d be begging the power of the police for help, and you know it!”
“You’re at that age where you think bashing ideology and society makes you look cool, but all it does is make you shallow. The thing is, actual adults are smart enough to take that social criticism and write cool stuff about it.”
Yumasaki was bellowing as he read passages from a book in his hands, while Karisawa inserted her own barbed reactions. Their back-and-forth woke up Kadota, who stretched in the backseat.
“You idiots. Whether a book is shallow or deep, as long as it suits your taste, who cares… And I don’t think I’ve ever heard Yumasaki making fun of a book before. What’s he reading?”
“Oh, um…well…”
Yumasaki was at a loss for words. Karisawa cackled at her partner’s consternation and answered for him.
“Oh, it’s this novel he self-published a while back.”
“…Okay, I have a whole lot of comments about that, but I’ll save them. More importantly, I know that it’s rich of me to say this when I was just taking a nap, but can you seriously get to collecting intel? One of our group was attacked, remember? Put the same effort into it as when Kaztano was kidnapped.”
Kaztano was a foreign guy in their group. Rumors said he was an illegal immigrant, but they didn’t care about that. When Yagiri Pharmaceuticals’ henchmen abducted Kaztano a while back, Yumasaki and Karisawa developed a number of horrendous torture methods on the men responsible.
“Okay, but Dotachin, Kaztano is our friend, so that’s one thing. But we don’t actually know the person who got hit. I mean, just because they’re in the Dollars doesn’t mean…”
“Seriously? You can’t even have the courtesy to shed a tear for someone else?”
One of the Dollars had been hit by the street slasher, and yet Yumasaki and Karisawa were carrying on like any other day. Kadota knew that was both their weakness and their strength, but he felt it was worth the warning anyway.
“I think it’s sad, but I choose to feel nothing.”
“I cannot forgive the slasher, but I choose to feel nothing.”
Kadota raised an eyebrow at the phrase they repeated.
Durarara!!, Vol. 2 (novel) Page 10