“Tough luck. Once Mr. Kuzuhara gets back, you’re gonna spill your guts. About who you’re fighting and why they’re after you.”
“C’mon, at least get me a lawyer. A hot, bouncy one with at least a 90 on the bust scale.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find you an ex-sumo wrestler.”
They bantered endlessly as they waited for Kuzuhara’s return. But at some point, a ringtone from a certain movie began to play from Inui’s chest.
“Hey man, this might be an important one. Could you at least untie my hands?”
“No.”
The volunteer police pulled the cell phone out of Inui’s pocket, pressed the talk button, and stuck it between Inui’s face and shoulder.
Inui shifted his neck to get a firm grip on the phone.
“Yep, hello? …You serious?”
Inui’s eyes turned to dinner plates.
He focused, trying to listen in—
“HEY! It’s Kuzu’s Flunky 1 and Inui!”
“You finally got caught, Inui!”
“Your luck’s run out!”
“Bye-bye!”
The Iizuka children gathered around to make fun of Inui and the volunteer policeman.
Then, Ms. Iizuka came over.
“Don’t bother them, kids. By the way, has anyone seen Yua?” She asked, her expression clouding.
“Nope. Haven’t seen her.”
“She must’ve gone off somewhere again.”
“Yua’s a strong kid.” “Children are simply offspring of the wind.”
The children responded all in their own ways. But Ms. Iizuka pensively turned to the volunteer policeman.
“Have you seen Yua? She’s been gone since morning. She always drops in for lunch before she goes out to survey the island… I’m a little worried.”
“No, I haven’t seen her. But I’ll make sure to ask the others,” the policeman said, and turned—
The rainbow-haired dog slowly stood from his seat.
“Sorry, man.”
“What…?”
Before he knew it, Inui had cut himself free.
Inui nodded apologetically—
“Something came up. I gotta head over to the mainland for a sec.”
With that, he bolted past the other patrons and escaped the restaurant.
“H-hey!”
The policeman quickly realized that there was no point to chasing Inui. Instead, he grabbed his radio and broke into cold sweat.
“Shit! What am I supposed to tell Mr. Kuzuhara now?!”
The phone call had been from someone in the Eastern District.
Gitarin never normally called Inui—it seemed like he had something against him, for some reason—but this time he made an exception. A girl—or a young woman—had been kidnapped from the island, he said, and was to be executed at 3 in the afternoon.
And as it happened, it was the moment he received this information that he heard news about a girl he knew going missing.
‘Fuck! I might make it if I hurry.’
Using the information he had as a basis, he ran for the mainland.
The volunteer police did not seem to be chasing him, but he kept running.
‘I was gonna sit back and enjoy the show…but can’t exactly do that when Yua’s been kidnapped.’
Did Inui realize?
The Hayato Inui who had first arrived on the island would have simply treated Yua’s gruesome death as part of the movie of his world.
Just as Kugi had changed by meeting Inui and Kuzuhara, Inui also had changed—not much, but changed nonetheless—by meeting Kugi and Kuzuhara, and maybe even the island. And no one knew where this change would lead him.
Two hours later. A warehouse district somewhere on the mainland.
“…Let’s get this started,” said the rugged man as he checked his watch.
His subordinates—tension clear on their faces—were ready for the moment of truth.
The ritual called ‘justice’ was their source of income. But this was not justice—it wasn’t even a farce. The men knew that better than anyone.
And even if this was a simple farce, they had already gone too far.
However, even those who had taken many lives on the artificial island felt a strange sense of tension when they had to do the same on the mainland.
The island was special to them.
It was a wonderland where anything was permitted.
Perhaps that was the thought ingrained in their minds.
Perhaps that thought was what allowed them to do such cruel things.
The boss must have sensed the changed air among the men. He cracked his neck with a grin.
“Where’s the laughter here, chucklefucks? Laugh.”
The men stiffened, but the boss snickered.
“There’s always been a lot of demand for bad little girls. The second we sent the regulars her picture, one of them offered 2 million for the recording. And one of the regulars in the other business said he’d give us support as a token of appreciation.”
“Support, boss?”
“S’right. We lost a shit-ton of weapons yesterday, but he got in touch this morning. He’s coming in with a new shipment today.”
“I’m Ginga Kanashima,” said the man who appeared at the warehouse entrance. He fixed his sunglasses.
In the driver’s seat of the small truck behind him was a workman. In the bed of the truck were things resembling sacks of cement.
“Ah. So you’re the one the organization referred to us.”
One of the goons walked right up to the sacks of cement and tore one open with a knife. Straw practically burst out of the sack—and in between the yellow were black, gleaming pieces of metal.
“…Looks good. You sure we can take these?”
“These models here are cheap and not very accurate. But they’ll be enough to scare most anyone. They come with built-in suppressors. And don’t worry about the price—I’ve already received my payment.”
On one hand, the men were leery of the deadly-calm weapons dealer. On the other hand, they were practically swelling at the sight of all the weapons.
“I’d like to have a word with your superior to discuss the details.”
“Whoa. Pat-down first.”
“Just to warn you, I have a gun on hand for self-defense.”
The weapons dealer pulled a handgun from his coat. He shook it lightly by the barrel.
“You’re gonna have to leave it with us for now.”
One of the goons took the gun, then patted down the man’s suit and sides. He did not find any other firearms.
Still wary, they opened the warehouse door.
That was when it happened.
The weapons dealer named Ginga Kanashima was the first to point it out.
“…What is that?”
Kanashima turned. The men did as well—
And they spotted something drawing rapidly near.
Was it a motorcycle, they wondered. But they quickly realized that they did not hear an engine.
“…A bicycle?”
It was an unexpected method of transport. And as there was only one, the men did not assume the rider was hostile—
But the moment they glimpsed the splash of color in the man’s hair, the goons paled.
A man was racing to the warehouse on a mountain bike, his rainbow-colored hair aflutter.
“Th-that’s him! That’s the son of a bitch!”
“Call the others!”
The goons panicked as though having accidentally disturbed a beehive. Some of them even grabbed guns from the bed of the truck.
The weapons dealer, however, remained unflappable. He tilted his body slightly and held out his right arm.
A moment later, a handgun popped out of his sleeve and entered his grip. Though it was small, from the length of the barrel the men guessed it must have been concealed in the crook of his arm.
“Shit!”
The weapons dealer ignored the flabbergasted men, instead shooting at the man on the mountain bike—
And at that moment, every ear heard the sound of the flying shell casing mixed in with a different noise.
The noise belonged to a gunshot muffled by a new type of suppressor. It sounded so unlike a normal gunshot that the men did not understand what had happened.
But the man on the bicycle seemed to realize before it was too late. He shifted his balance on the fly and leaned away.
“SWEET!”
He cut through the air; his rainbow-colored hair rose.
“…Hah! Jackass!”
With a grin, the man on the bicycle—Inui—took a hand off the handlebar and drew a gun.
His gun was also equipped with a suppressor. Hushed gunshots whipped toward the weapons dealer at subsonic speeds.
The weapons dealer glanced at his foe’s gun and stood still, as though the shots would not hit him.
The bullets narrowly passed him by. But unlike Inui, the weapons dealer did not even flinch.
Instead, a man standing behind him was hit. He fell before he could even scream.
“K-kill him!”
A dozen men bolted out of the warehouse and opened fire. but Inui read their movements and swerved a second earlier, zooming into a gap between the containers.
“Get him!”
In unison, the men rushed into the gap. Inui could not so easily evade gunshots in such a narrow space.
The weapons dealer, however, did not move.
“Son of a bitch!” The man who had given him a pat-down ran over, swearing. “So you did have a gun on you!” He drew his gun and raised it up to the dealer’s head—
But a second earlier, something clicked.
Another gun appeared, this time in the weapons dealer’s left hand. It spat a chunk of lead into the goon’s forehead.
Not even realizing that one of their friends had just been killed, the men who had gone after Inui drew their guns and reached a corner—and were faced with an unbelievable scene.
Inui had done a 180 on his bike and was now rushing towards them. The mountain bike, in fact, was barreling down along the wall.
The men tried to raise their guns, but it was too late.
Inui launched himself off the wall again and jumped over the men, keeping the bike nearly parallel to the ground. And in the same instant, he peppered the ground with multiple gunshots and took out three men at once.
He landed. Then, he looked up.
“The shit?!”
Before his eyes was the weapons dealer.
Though Inui had no idea that the dealer was going by the name of a dead man called Ginga Kanashima—
‘Kugi, you son of a bitch… What—are—you—doing here—?!’
Pedaling forward, he escaped the line of fire.
And like before, a muffled noise passed by where he had been only a second earlier.
And the stray bullets drove themselves into the goons who had been behind him.
The weapons dealer, who was actually Seiichi Kugi in disguise, killed the rest of the men gathered there as though collecting leftovers.
And without a second thought, he turned his guns on Inui.
Inui read his line of fire and fled with a deft use of the bicycle, making sure to return fire all the while.
Kugi could no longer remain rooted to the spot. He leapt a second before it was too late.
However, only the first of Inui’s shots had been aimed at Kugi. The rest hit the goons rushing out of the warehouse.
That was when the men guarding the back of the warehouse began to arrive. Inui and Kugi were now forced to continue the shootout.
Between kills, they did not forget to fire ‘stray’ shots at one another.
“Grk…fucked-up…bastards…”
The men fell one after another.
And when their helpless groans finally came to an end, Inui stopped his bike and turned to Kugi with a smirk.
“What were you trying to pull here?”
“…That’s my line,” Kugi said with a frown. Inui’s excitement did not diminish.
“Shit. Who’d have thought we’d be firing away at each other on the mainland, too? There’s no way this ain’t fate. Didn’t think you’d come all the way here.”
At that point, Inui remembered something.
Kugi had once tried to kill Yua, leading Kuzuhara to pursue him.
“Hah! Makes sense now. You tryin’ to make it up to Yua or Mr. Kuzuhara? Well look at you! Trying to win back some honor, eh?”
“…?”
“Or maybe your organization pushed you into this crap. Either way I’m just here to rescue the princess, so can we not get serious this time?” He said flippantly. But Inui’s eyes remained as clear and alert as ever, scanning their surroundings like an attack dog.
His eyes were not only on Kugi, but on the truck, on the warehouse entrance, and the blind spots around them.
Kugi returned Inui’s gaze with an icy glare of his own, also wary of his surroundings with all the alertness of a military dog.
A moment later, a low voice escaped the warehouse door.
“You asked for it, fuckers.”
The voice was seething. From the tone it probably belonged to the boss of the group.
The owner of the voice was nowhere to be seen; he was likely taking cover somewhere inside.
Perhaps he had more support waiting in the warehouse.
“I’m not gonna pretend to get why the dealer the organization introduced is teaming up with Inui. So I’ll pry the answers outta you both while you die.”
Kugi silently let the bloodlust wash over him.
Inui’s grin never left his face. “If that looked like teamwork to you, you need to get your eyes checked, asshole. Retire while you’re at it. You couldn’t tell apart Two-Face’s two faces, let alone Batman and the Joker. The hell kinda champion of justice are you supposed to be?”
“Shut your hole! One wrong move, and I kill the girl.”
For once, Inui’s expression changed.
“Tch. Never heard of a champion of justice who takes hostages… Wait, never mind. I have.”
If the man was holding Yua hostage, Inui had no choice but to be more careful than usual. He had to exploit any opening he could find.
‘If we could just team up, we’d have this one in the bag.
‘Heh. As if that’d ever happen.
‘Kugi’d shoot me in the head before we could pull a co-op finisher.’
With an internal grimace, Inui stared at Kugi and in the direction of the enemy boss.
And—
“I heard what you said, Inui. Here to save the princess, eh?”
A rugged man finally emerged from the door, proudly showing off his hostage.
When Inui saw the girl, he—
The Western District. Iizuka’s restaurant.
“I’m back!”
“Yua! Where were you?”
Ms. Iizuka and the volunteer police officer were floored when they saw Yua. But they quickly sighed in relief.
“Sorry. Nejiro said that he found a new route, so I just had to go take a look.”
Ms. Iizuka, though relieved at Yua’s safe return, sternly reprimanded her. “Yua. Your lunch got cold while we waited. If you knew you were going to be late, you should have called home.”
“I’m sorry…”
The Iizuka children listened to the conversation and each made a comment—”Hey! Why aren’t you hitting her with the knife?”, “You’re only nice to Yua, Ma!”, “This is discrimination!”, “Two-faced demon!”, “Two-faced demon lady!”—but Yua smiled sheepishly.
Ms. Iizuka and the volunteer police were finally calm, and Yua was smiling as usual.
With no inkling of the horrors taking place on the mainland, the island lived as it always did.
“Huh…?”
The girl emerged as Inui and Kugi watched.
She stood behind the rugged man, watched by two of his goons.
Kugi did not even blink.
But Inui’s eyes turned to dinner plates and his jaw dropped.
“Hey…”
“Now drop those guns.”
“Hey, wait just a second here—”
“It’s too late to beg for mercy!”
Inui ignored the threat and turned his attention back to the girl.
Dragged out behind the rugged man with handcuffs on her wrists was a girl with white flowers in her hair and a dead look in her eyes.
The girl barely reacted to Inui and Kugi’s presence. She simply said,
“…Sleepy.”
The boss’s face twisted into a sickening grin.
“Heh! so the princess has no idea what she’s in for! Lemme let you in on a little secret, princess. You and your little knights in shining armor are gonna fall asleep for good!” He roared, pointing his gun at Inui. “What’s wrong? Consider yourself lucky you get to die with your princess—”
He felt an impact on his face.
“?!”
Numbness spread over his left eye. The man felt for a moment like the world had gone dark, but he soon snapped out of his daze and reaffirmed that the world was still quite bright.
With his still-functioning right eye he looked around for the source of the darkness—
“Wha…?”
And he realized that the girl standing at his left was no longer handcuffed.
She was toying with something in her hands. For some reason, her pale palms were wet with blood.
Then he understood.
The terrible understanding finally dawned on him.
The object in her hands—the little ball with a red tendon protruding from the surface—was his own left eyeball.
“Ah… Whaaaaaaa…? URGH! No…!”
The moment he realized that the girl had carved out his eye, his socket was overwhelmed by excruciating agony.
The goons behind the girl only then noticed what had happened. They pulled out their guns—
05 - 5656! -Knights' Strange Night- Page 16
