For some reason, the lot still had power, so the rusted interior of the building was lit by nothing but a few naked bulbs.
“…What is it, Mr. Mikado? Why did you call me here?” asked Aoba Kuronuma. Standing across from him was Mikado Ryuugamine, still wearing the same clothes from earlier in the day.
He was spinning a pen in his right hand, occasionally tapping it against an empty barrel next to him.
Around Aoba were the same Blue Squares from that morning, coincidentally arranged in the same layout even.
But in this case, it was Mikado who had made the summons.
“Yeah…sorry about that. There was all that stuff during the day, I had to call you back.”
“It’s fine. I guess we’re even when it comes to calling at strange times of day,” Aoba said with his usual innocent smile. Mikado returned it with the same kind of smile he wore at school.
But this reaction arose suspicion within Aoba. Wait…what if he’s set up a trap with that Black Rider…?
He was rattled underneath, but still played it cool on the outside. “So what did you want?”
“Well…I’ve been thinking about stuff,” Mikado said, looking a bit mournful and smacking the barrel with the butt of the pen. “I think the Dollars as they are now…are in the wrong. They’re definitely not the Dollars I wanted. Some people fit the ideal, like Kadota’s group…but there are plenty who don’t…”
“I suppose not.”
“But the thing is, the Dollars don’t have rules to regulate them, and the moment you create rules, they’re no longer Dollars. In a world without rules, the only way to make your desire come true…is through strength.”
He looked down sadly and clicked the barrel again. “Plus…Shizuo quit the Dollars today.”
“Oh…really?” Honest surprise crossed Aoba’s face; he hadn’t heard about that.
Mikado just nodded. “If you guys will be my source of strength…even if you’re trying to use me for something else…I’d gladly accept that deal.”
“Really?!” Aoba beamed angelically.
Gotcha.
But on the inside, his grin was devilish.
Oh, Mikado, you’re so simple. I never expected it to be so easy.
He hadn’t foreseen all of today’s events, of course. But in the sense of intentionally fomenting a gang war and shoving reality into Mikado’s face, it was surprising just how successful he was.
I’m sure Izaya Orihara had something to do with it, too, Aoba thought, envisioning his nemesis’s lurking shadow. For now, he was satisfied with getting Mikado under his wing.
I suppose that means things are within expectations so far for both me and Izaya. The rest comes down to which of us can gain the better advantage.
Then, he reflected on the events of the day. We identified the apartment building where the Black Rider likely lives. I can get more information on that tomorrow. Also…I’m a bit more interested in Anri now. I’m sure Izaya knows way more than I do about these topics…but he still hasn’t bent the Black Rider into being his pawn. If I can get one up on him there…
While his mind was working furiously on plans, his face never strayed from that innocent expression he wore when playing the role of Mikado’s junior.
Mikado asked him, “Then, come over here and sign this contract.”
“Contract?”
“Well, yeah. We’re entering a fair agreement. It’s only natural, right?”
…Well…I guess this is appropriate for him. I might as well be careful with this—he might be planning to utilize my signature for his own ends.
Aoba had never heard of a paper contract for a deal like this, but he chalked it up to Mikado not being familiar with the ways of the underworld.
So he walked over to Mikado and asked, “What should I write?”
“It’s this contract here,” the older boy said, pointing at a sheet of paper resting on top of the barrel.
What could be on it? Did the founder of the Dollars have some trap prepared within the text, or was it just a straightforward proposal?
Aoba was reaching out for the paper, wondering what the contents would be, when something caught his attention.
It’s blank?
A sharp, instantaneous pain shot across the back of his hand reaching for the paper.
“…! Ah…ah…”
The agony stemmed from the fleshy bit of skin between the thumb and index finger—from the back of his hand through to his palm. Aoba stared at his fingers, unsure of what had just happened to him.
Then he saw.
The very pen that Mikado had been holding was stuck right through his hand, with the blood from the wound dripping down atop the blank white paper in a pattern of vivid red.
Aoba looked back to Mikado—and when he saw the other boy, he froze.
He hadn’t done himself up with cosmetics. He hadn’t changed the shape of his face.
But for one fleeting moment, Aoba felt like it wasn’t Mikado standing there next to him.
Such was the cruel coldness in the eyes of the boy who had just stabbed Aoba’s hand with a pen—eyes that cast judgment on everything they surveyed.
“H-hey, Aoba!”
“Whoa, what the fuck!”
Aoba held out his unhurt hand in an order to his furious comrades. “Mr.…Mikado…what is…this…?”
“You brought Sonohara into this… That’s my answer. It’s also my very first order.”
“…”
“…Suffer my anger.”
Mikado’s face was all cold fury. Through the terrible pain, Aoba was able to gasp, “This is…quite a demand.”
“…If you don’t like the deal, then take that pen and stab my hand. Stab my throat. Go and tell the cops and the school.”
“…”
“What I just did to you justifies that response.”
Amid the coldness, there was also sadness. Amazingly, Aoba smiled back at him.
“…Very well. This…this paper stained with my blood is the contract.”
He picked up the bloodied paper with his left hand and smiled, deeper this time.
“From today on…you are our leader. The strength of the Blue Squares…is at the Dollars’ disposal.”
“…Good.”
Once he had Mikado’s agreement, Aoba looked up, grimacing against the pain—and froze solid.
The other boy’s icy demeanor from just three seconds earlier was totally gone, and now he was smiling the way he always did around school. “Thank goodness…I’m so glad you agreed! Sorry about your hand. Oh, I brought some disinfectant and bandages. Hang on, I’ll tie it up for you; just hold your arm above your heart!”
Mikado was like a fussy nurse’s office attendant, the way he was setting up the bandage.
But seeing the normal Mikado—more Mikado than Mikado even—sent a horrifying thrill of fear through Aoba, a feeling that he had just seen something truly alien.
The other Blue Squares felt that eeriness as well. The normally chatty hooligans were watching the two boys in absolute silence.
With the sweat running down his back like a waterfall, Aoba said a silent monologue.
Izaya Orihara. Do you realize?
Both you and I…may have underestimated Mr. Mikado.
It’s possible that he’s actually something more than you or I realized…
Something different, unknown.
Do you realize this, Izaya Orihara…?
Awakusu-kai office
“Izaya Orihara…”
Shiki said the name aloud to himself, looking at the number on his phone screen.
He’d called the number several times already, but the info broker never picked up.
Normally, “info brokers” were people who collected certain information from particular sources—club barkers, street thugs, pachinko parlor employees—and sold them for loose money. Hardly any of them actually made a livable income on information alone.
Izaya was one of those lucky few, g
athering information from countless “collaborators” all over the city and using his particular set of skills to glean deeper information from what he learned.
The Awakusu-kai made use of his services from time to time, but this was the first time they’d been unsuccessful in reaching him.
Why did Shizuo Heiwajima wind up in that spot? Miss Akane hasn’t told Mikiya much about the topic, it seems…but if anyone stands to gain by screwing over Shizuo Heiwajima, it’s his archnemesis, Izaya Orihara. It’s quite possible that he had his own connection to those Russians.
It was nothing more than conjecture at the moment, but Shiki was already eyeing Izaya with suspicion.
Well, whatever. I’ll let him flounder for now. But…he’s still a kid. I’ve met him a few times, and he’s clearly just a kid. And you never know what a kid might do when he gets carried away.
He sighed and left the room and, as he shut the door behind him, muttered aloud.
“If he goes haywire…we’ll just have to bury him.”
Somewhere in Japan, near a train station, shopping district
“…Yes, it’s just fine.”
“”
“Even if the Awakusu-kai are looking for me, I’m not in Ikebukuro anymore.”
“”
“…Right… Right. I understand that. Anyway, I hope you’ll continue to patronize my services.”
“”
“Oh, please… I just think it’s the Asuki-gumi who are best suited to controlling Ikebukuro, that’s all.”
Izaya hung up on the call and wandered through the night.
He was in a provincial city in northeast Japan. He’d come here, far from Ikebukuro, through only the power of his cell phone and his wallet.
It was the middle of the night, but the pub-lined street was packed with people. Izaya hid himself among the throng as he pondered the situation. There were slight traces of both irritation and joy in his features.
All wrapped up in just a single day… I’m liking how Mikado is shaping up. He’s probably accepting the Blue Squares’ offer by now. I’m guessing he’ll put it like, “Let’s use each other.” I suppose what happens in the future just comes down to who can seize more pawns—him or the Blue Squares.
Izaya wasn’t aware of Mikado Ryuugamine’s “change” yet, so he didn’t consider the matter much deeper than that.
The thing that doesn’t make sense to me is Shizu. Why didn’t he fight back? Why didn’t he just strike back at the Awakusu-kai men chasing after him…? When he was on the run from the police, he threw vending machines and cars at them. What, did he learn from being arrested? I doubt it! Well…in any case, it’s irritating. It’s impossible that Shizu could have grown as a person. Anyway, I should get started on the next move…
At that point, Izaya’s phone vibrated.
He glanced down at it, expecting it would be Shiki from the Awakusu-kai again—but the number on the screen was unfamiliar.
“…”
Cautiously, he decided to answer the call.
The voice on the other end was also unfamiliar to him.
“Ah, hello, hello! Is this Izaya Orihara I have the pleasure of addressing?!”
It was the voice of an amiable middle-aged man.
Despite his suspicion, Izaya decided to respond. “Yes…speaking.”
“Ah, excellent! I was hoping to voice my opinion on something!”
“Opinion?”
“Well, it’s quite a problem. Thanks to your meddling, throwing that Shizuo Heiwajima monster into the Awakusu-kai, my plans have gone a bit awry. If Akane Awakusu and Shizuo Heiwajima hadn’t made contact, everything would have gone fine. Thanks to your little ‘prank’ on Heiwajima, I’m out quite a bit of money.”
“…Who are you?”
“Oh, pardon me! I most certainly didn’t place this call for the purpose of criticizing you! I’m really not worthy of naming myself, I’m afraid, but as a means of getting closer, I’d like to voice my opinion…and impertinent as it is, to ask a favor…”
“Just tell me your name,” Izaya demanded, striding through the crowd. But the man on the other end of the line still wouldn’t introduce himself.
“As for my opinion… Well, it’s really more like a warning… The thing is, you’ve got a bit too big of a profile.”
“Huh? Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
“No, I’m saying that you stand out in a crowd. That well-defined fashion sense of yours makes you stick out from others. In a good way! You see, in my line of work, my ability to determine these things is an asset. But in your case, I don’t think mingling with the crowd is an effective means of hiding.”
“…”
A trickle ran through Izaya’s brain, a sense that something was wrong.
“And as for the favor…”
The man on the other end paused.
“For just a while, would you mind taking a nap? In the hospital.”
He heard the voice from both sides.
The next instant, something thudded into his body.
“So you were poking around, trying to get dirt on me, I understand. Even using that young couple. Look, it’s kind of embarrassing, so I want you to stop.”
That sense of the voice coming from both sides only lasted for an instant—it was back to being audible only through the phone speaker.
“Children should be children. Play in your own yard—stay in Ikebukuro. Otherwise, you never know when you might get hurt!”
Izaya slowly came to a halt.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t twist it in, so I doubt it’ll be fatal.”
He looked down and saw the color red.
“If you’ll forgive my audacity, consider that a warning.”
The moment he realized the red color was his own blood flowing, Izaya finally spoke.
“Shit… Got too cocky.”
With a faint smile, he crumpled to the ground.
A passerby noted the trail of blood spots behind him and screamed.
Through his fading wits, Izaya heard the man’s voice coming through the phone.
* * *
“Oh, and I forgot. It’s probably not necessary to say…but my name is Jinnai Yodogiri. A pleasure to make your acquaintance…”
Then he hung up, and then Izaya heard only the unrest of the crowd around him.
Oh…damn.
Gotta…call Namie…
He picked up the cell phone—but that caused his wound to open further. Izaya passed out, far from Ikebukuro, and wound up in the hospital.
He had no idea his name would be national news by the very next day…
Near Kawagoe Highway, apartment building
“By the way, was there ever a connection between Jinnai Yodogiri and the Awakusu-kai?”
“Hmm? That talent agency boss who went missing? Now that you mention it…I think something may have happened with that…or not. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, Shiki said that I should tell him if I see the guy.”
“Mr. Shiki knows many people, after all. Oh, maybe it’s got something to do with Ruri Hijiribe.”
A black market doctor and dullahan were chatting as they watched the movie Vampire Ninja Carmilla Saizou on Daioh TV late at night.
By normal standards, this was about as abnormal and extraordinary a couple as could be imagined, but here they were lounging on the couch in the living room, enjoying a normal, lazy evening at home.
Not long ago, Shiki got in touch, letting her know that things had calmed down, and they didn’t need her services as bodyguard for now.
She got a larger reward than they had agreed upon, probably for saving Akane, so Celty was in a very good mood that night.
Mikado wasn’t hurt that bad after all, and Anri turned out just fine—this is great.
We went through a lot today, but it all ended up working out in the end.
From what Shiki said, it sounds like they caught the kidnappers, so it’ll be easier to walk around in the open, too.
/> …Oh, right.
The movie ended, they chatted some more, and then Celty decided to bring something up.
“By the way, Shinra.”
“What is it?”
“Um…thanks.”
Shinra looked mystified, so she shyly typed out, “When they tossed that flashbang on the street today…you tried to shield me from the blast, didn’t you?”
“…I don’t remember that.”
“Don’t be shy,” she chided him, as a means to hide her own shyness. “Say, want to go on a vacation tomorrow?”
“Huh?”
“I turned Shooter into a carriage for the first time in ages today, and it occurred to me…you and I could easily sit in there together. So I thought we could go and drive around the shores of some distant lake. Though I don’t know if drive is the right word for a horse-drawn carriage…”
“Celty…!”
He made a tearful attempt to embrace her, but she fended him off and typed another suggestion.
“However, this will be a vacation. You can’t wear your lab coat.”
“What! No way! I’m certain I’ve said before that my coat is meant to contrast with your…”
She covered his mouth before he could say any more nonsense and typed up another message in the PDA.
“I’ll compromise and meet you halfway.”
She hesitated, then continued.
“Maybe I’ll wear something you want…the kinds you write about in your journal.”
That night, a nearly delirious Shinra almost fell over the veranda of the apartment—but that’s a story for another time.
While Celty the monster made plans to go on a vacation and escape her boring, everyday life, a boy who was nothing if not human was saying good-bye to his ordinary life, in a much different sense.
After Aoba and his friends left, Mikado stared up at the night sky and muttered to himself, “So…no going back.”
He felt something burning in the pit of his stomach, there in the factory.
I’m surprised I don’t regret it more.
I’m going to take them back. The Dollars from that night, one year ago… The real Dollars…
I’ll return the Dollars to the way they should be, all on my own. Then I can hold my head up high…and face Sonohara and Masaomi again.
Durarara!!, Vol. 6 Page 21
