“You know, it’s not that convincing when you’ve got blood pouring down your face, Neko.”
“What, this? Nah, it’s tomato juice. Hee-hee!”
“You know, it’s a good thing Yatsufusa isn’t here.”
“Yeah, if he was, he might be dead right now.”
“Since he’s so sickly.”
“Dude’s just a bean sprout.”
“That Mikado guy was pretty bean sprouty, too, huh?”
“Yeah, Aoba. That was my first time seeing the guy. You sure he was the one who started the Dollars?”
“You better not be messin’ with our heads, Aoba.”
“If you are, I’ll kill you!” “I’ll take your girlfriend!”
“Wait, does Aoba even have a girlfriend?”
“You know, those twins.”
“…Yeah, I’m killin’ him! You’re a dead man!”
“Calm down.”
“Aoba’s acting tough, but he took some shots. He might actually die.”
“That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” “Hee-hee!”
“…Listen, Kururi and Mairu kissed me, but that doesn’t make them my girlfriends…”
“Now I remember! I’ll kill you!”
“Wow, first-name basis?” “You’re that close already?” “I’ll kill you!” “Die!”
Aoba ignored his companions’ idiotic jokes and threats and stared them all down coldly. “Besides, if you think Mikado’s a bean sprout, that makes me one, too.”
His eyes stopped on one groaning man in a leather jacket trying to get to his feet. Aoba walked over toward him. “Plus, I’m betting that he’s never even been in a fight before.”
Aoba drove his knee into the biker’s face, right as the man was standing up at last. He screamed and passed out on the spot, and Aoba stepped on his back as he walked over him. “Which might be exactly why he was able to create the Dollars in the first place.”
“I don’t get it.” “Yatsufusa’s the only one who can figure out what Aoba means when he gets weird like this.” “Doesn’t he make a good match for those crazy twin chicks, though?” “I’ll kill him!” “Knock it off, Yoshikiri. You got porridge for brains?” “Okay, you die!” “Oh, there’s a cockroach.” “Catch it!” “Fry it up!” “Wait, is that bet still on?” “Seriously, porridge.” “What? Cockroach porridge?” “…” “…” “…Bleagh!”
That mental image caused a number of the delinquents to gag, and they ran out of the factory.
While all this nonsense was happening around him, Aoba was lost in thought.
The question is…how did they know this place?
His mind worked silently as he stared down at the biker he was using as a footrest.
I could threaten them for answers…but these are the kind of guys who don’t rat out their friends.
…Did Izaya Orihara leak the information…or am I overthinking this?
No, if anything, you need to overthink him to keep up.
Another message lit up Aoba’s phone. Similar ringers went off around the gang, indicating that it was a Dollars’ mailing list text.
It said that Kadota, a well-known member of the Dollars, was heading for Raira Academy Field Two with a suspicious-looking man.
Man, if the cops found out about this mailing list, that would be bad.
Actually…did Mikado set up this list? When I checked the history, it sounded like one of the members suggested the idea, and then it just sprang into being. Does that mean an investigation wouldn’t lead it back to Mikado?
Aoba opened a photo file attached to the e-mail.
Huh? Isn’t that…?
He looked at the man shown next to Kadota.
The Toramaru boss? Well, it doesn’t look like they’re going to talk out their troubles.
“Hey, can anyone rush over to Raira Field Two to check it out?” Aoba suggested.
A boy with dyed brown hair elected himself out of the crowd. “All right, I can go.”
“Thanks, Gin.”
The kid named Gin headed to a corner of the factory. He hopped onto the motorcycle parked there with practiced ease.
“Whoa, you just gonna ride off with that?”
“Well, I was just noticing,” Gin said with a laugh, bringing the engine to life with a roar, “they left the key in the ignition.”
The abandoned bike’s engine revved. The other youths in the building exclaimed at his sheer good luck.
“No…wait. Get off that, Gin.”
Nobody else was bothering to prevent him from stealing the motorcycle, but Aoba sensed something suspicious, dangerous, at play.
“How come, Aoba? Are you seriously gonna give me a sermon about how stealing is bad?”
“And are you going to pretend you’re not the type to claim stuff that’s been abandoned in a factory?”
“Well, that’s still a crime.” “What, it is?” “Sure is.” “If you pick up a bicycle left at the dump, the cops’ll pull you over. Didn’t you know that?” “Are you serious?!” “Damn, I’m afraid of bikes now!”
Aoba examined the motorcycle thoroughly, ignoring the typical jabbering of his friends. He noticed that there was a black thread tangled around the rear of the vehicle.
…What is this?
It didn’t seem to be made of any fiber Aoba had seen before. It was so dark that it almost seemed like shadow in physical form and was as smooth as nylon, but without any hint of reflection.
The thread extended from the motorcycle and out of the factory in an unbroken line.
This stuff looks a lot like the Black Rider’s suit.
“Hey, Gin, change of plans. I bet all these Toramaru guys’ bikes are parked near the factory. Take one of those instead.”
“Huh? How come? What’s going on?” Gin asked. Aoba thought about the Black Rider from earlier and announced his next plan of action.
“I’m gonna follow this thread. No idea where it goes, though.”
Sunshine building, sky deck, Ikebukuro
The Sunshine 60 building was once the tallest in Japan.
But even now, when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku reigns supreme, the sixty-story building is a visual symbol that looms over Ikebukuro, serving as a landmark of the neighborhood to all who live there or visit.
The complex contains an aquarium and an indoor theme park, but despite these and other tourist attractions, one of the most popular spots remains the observation deck. Even higher than that deck is a rooftop “sky deck” that opens on weekends and holidays like Golden Week.
In a corner of this sky deck, a man in a bartender uniform looked out upon the city.
“…Shoulda figured I can’t see that fleabrain with a telescope…”
Once he was certain that he had temporarily shaken his Awakusu-kai pursuers, Shizuo headed for the Sunshine building and made his way up to this rooftop observatory.
This was because he considered a crowded location a safer shelter from the mobsters than someplace secluded. And unlike a department store within the building, this place was a bit easier to manage in terms of watching who was coming and going. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized he couldn’t stay all that long.
Well, it doesn’t seem like they’ve contacted the police at all, he considered, letting the cool breeze blow over his heated body. So…what now? They might have gone to the office or Tom’s place already. And I shouldn’t trust that Kasuka’s or Shinra’s places will be safe, either… Shit.
Izaya had played him for a fool, and now peril was approaching his job, family, and friends. It made him furious to realize how easily he’d been framed.
Shizuo gazed over the magnificent view of the observation deck and thought, Actually, maybe Celty could ride her motorcycle up the wall to this spot. If I need to, I suppose I could have her haul Izaya up here for me.
But no sooner had he considered this than he realized that it would be dragging Celty into this stupid mess, too, and instantly rule
d the option out.
Plus, if I knock Izaya off this platform, that would be traumatizing to the people on this deck. Can’t do that, he thought. It was a sensible idea for a person who made such little sense himself. He mulled over his future prospects.
He was on the run from the Awakusu-kai. If he struck back at them at any point, it would be tantamount to admitting his own crime. Once that happened, they would come after him by whatever means necessary to restore their dignity and honor.
Shizuo wasn’t afraid of fighting them alone, but that would almost certainly lead to the Awakusu-kai taking his brother and friends hostage.
They might even go after that little Akane girl, just for being around me, he thought, worrying about the girl who tried to kill him without realizing that she was actually an Awakusu VIP herself.
Even if he wanted to surrender himself to them, he still needed evidence that he wasn’t the culprit first. And if anyone had that evidence, it would be Izaya Orihara.
And I don’t think…he killed those three guys.
Izaya didn’t have the physical strength to kill three men in that manner. And most importantly, he couldn’t possibly have a reason to make such a certain enemy out of the Awakusu-kai.
So maybe he got information that someone was going to kill the Awakusu-kai and manipulated me into going there…
That—conniving—son—of—a—bitch.
Shizuo felt anger rising within him again. He considered heading for Izaya’s hideout in Shinjuku.
If that paper on the door was a fake, the information broker still may not be inside, but he might find something useful. And if Shizuo could use that to negotiate with the Awakusu-kai, it might actually succeed in getting them to chase after Izaya instead.
I wanted to pound him into Tokyo Bay myself, but whatever, he’ll reap what he’s sowed. Well, he has to, or the others will be in danger.
With this plan settled, Shizuo was ready to leave the rooftop deck—and realized that his phone’s text notification sound had been going off.
You know, I think I heard it going crazy while I was on the run, too.
He opened up the phone and received a ton of information all at once.
The Dollars are under attack…? Wait, the Awakusu aren’t attacking them all over the place because of me, are they?!
Soon he realized that the situation was not what he first assumed. A biker gang from Saitama was racing around Ikebukuro, beating down anyone who dared rep the Dollars.
…Is this a war?
Shizuo had been through more than enough of that stuff in high school, so it seemed less worrisome than what he was dealing with now. He was ready to focus on his own situation again, except…
Is it just me, or is this timing a little too perfect?
It could have all been a freak coincidence, but given all the stuff that had happened to him in the span of two days, he began to realize the variety of nonsense going on in Ikebukuro at the moment, particularly around himself.
The next-to-most recent message had a photo attached. “Isn’t that Field Two at Raira?”
It was the place he often used in high school when other schools wanted to tussle and he had no choice but to designate a fighting spot. Against this familiar backdrop were two familiar faces.
It’s Kadota and…that guy from two days ago. From what Tom said, he was the boss of some group called Toramaru. Kid must be tough—he can’t have recovered from what I did to him yet.
Recalling the fight from the other day allowed Shizuo the ability to rationally organize some of the incoming information.
So does that mean Toramaru are the ones attacking the Dollars? If that’s the case, that Chikage guy didn’t really seem all that unreasonable to me. Well…I bet Kadota is capable of handling that, he decided optimistically. He then opened up the most recent message that had just lit up his phone.
His expression hardened.
…I feel sick.
The look on his face changed dramatically.
This wasn’t the same kind of anger he felt toward Izaya and his own stupidity.
The e-mail was from a sender named Nakura.
The title was “Crucial intel!” and the subsequent content of the message read…
Near Kawagoe Highway, apartment building, basement garage
An enormous mass of shadow slid into the quiet parking garage.
There you go, well done! Thank you, Shooter!
Celty stopped her carriage in the corner of the lot, stroking the headless horse’s back.
There were hardly any cars in the garage, perhaps because everyone was traveling for Golden Week.
She freed Mikado and Anri from the shadow seat belts in the rear seat of the carriage, then removed Akane Awakusu from her own back and set the girl down on the ground.
The little girl looked dazed and didn’t get more than a step before she crumpled.
Uh-oh, you okay? Celty wondered, extending a helping hand, but Akane only trembled. Oh…of course.
She’d just been lashed to the back of a bizarre creature producing tendrils of shadow, then taken on a breakneck race through Ikebukuro’s street. The girl didn’t know this, but Celty had even gone to the extreme measure of creating momentary shadow bridges ahead of her to get them past two red lights along the way.
I guess I’m not too shabby after all, Celty thought, proud of herself for pulling off a maneuver she hadn’t been sure would work. A number of drivers had slammed on their brakes when they saw it, and she was relieved that they didn’t cause any pileups.
The trickiest part had been just before entering the driveway down into the garage.
Anyone was bound to notice a shadowy carriage riding around in the middle of the day during a busy holiday. If she stopped at her own apartment building, it would inevitably lead to a crush of police and media there. She was normally careful to avoid attention, but that was impossible with the carriage.
So Celty came up with a plan: She went up an alley before arriving at her building, made sure that no one was watching, then crafted a station wagon body of shadow that would hide Shooter and the carriage from view.
It would be alien on close examination, of course, but at a distance, it was just an oddly large black station wagon, and this was how they were able to slip into the parking garage before they caught any attention.
“It’s okay. I’m on your side, Akane. Don’t worry,” Celty typed into the PDA, using simple words to ensure that the girl would understand, and showed it to her.
Akane watched her with suspicion at first, but after reading the message, she seemed a little less wary. “Are you a good guy, mister…?”
“Actually, I’m a miss, not a mister,” she wrote.
Akane gasped and started bowing in apology. “I—I’m sorry! Miss!”
“It’s all right. I’m not mad.”
This exchange seemed to have softened the tension of the situation, and Akane looked up—only to see the headless horse at the back of the scene. She gasped and hid behind Anri.
Oh, crap. Celty glanced back at her partner and realized that the sight of a horse without a head was a bit much for a child to bear. And then…
Huh? Shooter moved to hide behind the carriage after Akane shrieked, keeping his headless neck out of the girl’s sight. Oh no, Shooter’s taking it pretty hard!
Shooter had greater intelligence than the average horse and could tell that Akane was afraid of him. He couldn’t be blamed for being upset that the passenger he worked so hard to transport was also deathly afraid of him.
In fact, the sight of Shooter’s headless neck drooping toward the ground was the very expression of depression. Celty rushed to stroke his back with one hand while she typed up a message with the other. When the message was finished, she returned to Akane and showed the frightened girl the screen.
“It’s all right, Akane. You remember that sweet-bun hero who fights germs? Well, just like him, that horsey needs to switch to a new head after he uses h
is powers. So there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Celty went back to Shooter, fashioned a piece of shadow armor in the shape of a horse’s head (with a unicorn horn to boot), and placed it on Shooter’s neck.
The cyborg Shooter followed Celty’s lead at a calm pace back toward Akane. The girl flinched once, but now that the horse had a head—or at least a helmet—she felt bold enough to stare at the creature’s body from behind Anri’s back.
“Go on, he’s not scary,” Celty typed on her PDA for the girl. Akane looked up at Anri.
“It’s safe. That’s a very nice horse,” Anri reassured her with a smile, having been on his back on multiple occasions before. Shooter’s tail flapped back and forth in response.
Emboldened by this guarantee, Akane examined Shooter again and tried petting his leg. The headless horse could tell that her fear was ebbing and happily knelt down to facilitate easier petting.
He’s so easy to please, Celty thought, relieved that her mount was back to good spirits.
Meanwhile, Mikado felt a bit uneasy about how quickly the girl had proceeded to petting the horse.
Would you normally get used to the idea right away, just because she put a helmet on it? he wondered, feeling the girl’s actions were a bit off. Perhaps, like him, she was predisposed to accepting the extraordinary quicker than others.
His guess was incorrect, but not entirely off the mark. He couldn’t have known that a part of Akane Awakusu’s heart was already broken in some way. Instead, he wondered, Who is this girl, anyway? She seems to know Sonohara and Celty…
Mikado felt a bit uneasy about being the only one out of the loop in this situation.
And recognizing this unease, he recalled the words that Izaya had told him that morning.
“…It’s not the Dollars going out of control that you’re afraid of, is it?
“…Aren’t you just afraid that they’re going to change and leave you behind?”
He had denied those words on the spot.
He had shouted, “That’s not true!” out of sheer reflex, but the words were out of his mouth before he even registered the statement. As a result, he didn’t actually know if it was wrong or not.
With this exchange at the front of his mind, Mikado told himself that it had nothing to do with his current situation and decided he would ask them about this strange girl.
Durarara!!, Vol. 6 Page 11
