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Anyone else notice that knife doesn't seem to be the usual one Izaya carries around? Unless they made that knife for the sake of the blue in that picture, idk.
DURARARA!! Vol.6 CHAPTER 5, PART VII
♂♀
Somewhere in Ikebukuro
【GOT THE GIRLS! This way we'll smash Toramaru's leader and make Dollars officially No.1 in Ikebukuro!】
A man let his silent anger flare up as he read the mocking message.
The man in a bartender suit grasped the sign post on the side of the road and muttered:
"…Bastard thinks others are fools."
After several seconds of silence, the man slowly walked on.
Slowly - with the shape of his palm deeply imprinted on the pole of the sign post he had just let go of.
Heiwajima Shizuo marched on towards his destination without hesitation, anger burning in his chest.
♂♀
In front of an apartment building on Kawagoe Highway
"Mikiya-san will be here to pick you up soon. Let's go."
Shiki urged Akane to leave in front of Celty and the others.
Three of his subordinates stood waiting around him, watching out for Akane while carefully avoiding pressuring her further.
"…Do I have to go back no matter what...?"
"Miss…"
"I…I'll apologize to Daddy and Mommy…but…but..."
"Miss Akane, I am aware that you probably don't think highly of what we do for a living. But first of all you should try to talk it through with your parents, right? I am sure your parents have no intention of involving you in our world. Please believe what I just said."
Celty looked at Shiki as if he was something unusual as she heard their conversation.
- Hm…
- It's like I don't even know him any more.
- His voice is the same, and his way of speaking not exactly changed either. But somehow he gives off a completely different vibe.
- I wish that were the way he usually acted.
With these thoughts on her mind, Celty let herself feel truly happy about the fact that the girl got out of all this safely.
- Anyway, the first priority is to get Akane-chan back to her parents before sunset.
Celty was reminded of the duo that attacked her and Anri the night before.
- Judging by the time they chose to act, it's probably safe to assume that the incident is related to my job as Akane-chan's bodyguard.
- But once we're at Awakusu-kai's headquarters, these weird guys, assuming that they're the same people who are after Akane-chan, would probably not try to kidnap her with all these guards around.
However, were they to drive back to the headquarters at night, there was still the possibility that they would attack their car with that mighty weapon. But in the daylight they would probably avoid doing that. Though it was not rare for yakuza groups to fire guns at each other in broad daylight, but for two people whose only goal was to kidnap Awakusu Akane, having to deal with the police was too much of a risk.
- Still, I need to remain watchful.
- I still don't know why they are after Anri-chan…
- I'll follow them as discreetly as possible after they drive off.
While Celty was making up her mind to continue to be the girl's bodyguard, Shiki continued to try to persuade Akane.
"Either way, it would be much better if you stayed at home for a while, Miss Akane."
"…Did something…happen?"
Shiki was lost for words for a moment after Akane's polite question.
- Goodness, Miss Akane really is sharp for her age.
"No matter what happens, it is my responsibility to see to it that Miss would not be involved in anything dangerous. Please rest assured."
"…So are Daddy and Grandpa alright?"
"?"
"Did Heiwajima Shizuo onii-chan do something to them?"
Time seemed to have stopped in the room.
Shiki had heard from Shinra that Heiwajima Shizuo had brought Akane here.
But everything before Shizuo brought Akane to this apartment - including how Akane had met him - Shinra had omitted saying "She told me all that when she was having a fever. It's probably better if you ask Akane-chan to tell you about it yourself after everything has calmed down." It made sense, and it was what Shiki was planning to do.
- Why?
- There was no way Miss should have been told anything about Shizuo's trouble with Awakusu-kai.
- Or did Shizuo tell her something?
Though the alarmed expression on Shiki's face lasted but a couple of seconds, Akane still noticed. She asked in an unsettled voice:
"…! So Heiwajima Shizuo did something, right!?"
"No, he didn't. There's nothing to be worried about, Miss…"
Shiki assured her with a smile. Akane, however, looked as if she hadn't heard him as she shuddered and muttered to herself:
"I knew it…I should have killed him after all…"
- …?
- What did Miss…just say?
Akane's voice was too small for her message to be clear, but Shiki had definitely caught the words "should have killed him".
The entire situation began to feel strange to Shiki.
He began to realize how different Akane was now from the time before she had run away from home.
She had always been more mature than the average kids her age. On top of that, she was shocked at finding out what her family did for a living.
But the Akane in front of his eyes was still strange.
- …
Shiki considered this for a moment. Akane reminded him of some people he had dealt with before.
- She's like those women on the verge of collapse because they had no way to pay back their yakuza loans…
The idea, however, flashed for only a second across Shiki's mind. He did not believe that Akane would be in as desperate a situation as those women. But her mental state definitely warranted attention.
"I'm sorry, but what…did you just say, Miss?"
Just as Shiki, thinking it was appropriate to verify his doubts first, asked in a serious tone -
One of his subordinates cut in at an inappropriate time.
"The Young Head's car. It's here."
"I see. We'll be downstairs in a moment."
Shiki pushed his doubts to the back of his mind for the time being as he walked down the stairs to the first floor, taking Akane with him.
"Thank you for taking care of Miss Akane. We will be in contact with you shortly. I still have a lot of questions I need to bother Celty-san with concerning what happened last night."
Shiki bowed them deeply as a goodbye while Akane waved at Shinra smiling.
After seeing them off, Celty sat back on the sofa.
[What happened exactly? How is Shizuo involved?]
"Yes? What happened?"
Sipping a new cup of coffee inside the room, Shinra looked at Celty's PDA and asked.
[Shiki-san kind of froze when Akane-chan mentioned Shizuo.]
Celty wanted to hear as much as possible before she goes off to follow the car.
Seeing Celty's serious expression, Shinra shrugged and said:
"Ah…I don't really have an idea either. But it looks like the Awakusu-kai folks are after Shizuo."
Shinra smiled hollowly at Celty.
Celty, however, realized immediately that only the corners of his lips lifted a little; his eyes remained unsmiling. To her it was enough clue to suggest that the situation was serious.
[I see. This is getting more people involved than I thought.]
Even Mikado and Anri could end up being involved. Celty regretted accepting the job at the thought.
But now that she had met this Akane girl, Celty could not abandon her responsibilities to her.
- Akane-chan stayed here for a night…
- Will the weird duo target this place too just because of that?
It felt unlikely, but Celty decided that she could not risk it while the duo's true identities still remained unclear.
While Celty double-checked the security system in the apartment, Shinra said in a lighthearted voice:
"Anyhow, Awakusu-kai was after Shizuo because of a total misunderstanding, so I think it's going to be fine. …The real question is, why did Izaya set this up in the first place?"
[What? This has something to do with Izaya, too?]
"It would seem so. If Akane-chan was telling the truth, that is…unless, of course, it was actually Izaya's imposter."
Shinra's hollow smile finally reached his eyes this time. Celty smiled backed at him with a movement of her shoulders and typed on her PDA:
[I can't think of anyone on earth who can impersonate him. Apart from himself, that is.]
"Yeah, you're quite right."
Shinra chuckled.
- It's about time I set out.
Thinking that Shiki and the others should be driving away any moment now, Celty had only just stood up from the sofa -
When a deafening explosive noise from the outside stopped her dead in her tracks.
- !?
- What!? What!?
Thinking that it might have been a gas explosion or something, Celty turned abruptly to look for Shinra.
At the same time, Shinra flung himself on her and shielded her with his body.
- !
- What are you doing, Shinra?
"Celty, it's dangerous! Hit the floor! It's got to be a terrorist attack! There's intense light downstairs outside the window!"
[Calm down! I'll be alright. You take cover under the table, Shinra!]
Is that the right place to go in the event of an explosion?
Shinra doubted that, but he had no time to think.
Celty, on the other hand, was having even less relevant thoughts in this dangerous situation.
- Shinra.
- Don't tell me you were trying to protect me…?
Celty felt a surge of warmth in her bloodless chest. As she turned to look outside the window -
Her unique "vision" was able to capture, through her helmet, Awakusu-kai members covering their eyes or ears crouched on the ground and a motorbike leaving the scene of commotion at an alarming speed.
After that, she was able to make out Akane's tiny figure in the rider's massive arms -
Celty jumped out of the window and straight off the balcony.
♂♀
Several minutes ago, near Kawagoe Highway
"Hey, Aoba, how long is this walk gonna take us?"
"If they try to corner us like this it's gonna be a hell of trouble."
Several of his fellow youths complained as Aoba was about to follow the black thread into a narrow alleyway. Unlike him, they weren't interested at all in the thread extending its way out of the abandoned factory.
Aoba smiled slightly at that and replied:
"Don't say that. Think about this. Isn't it unusual enough that there would be such a long thread on the street? See, you can't cut it. It's elastic like rubber, but it doesn't get thinner as you pull it. It feels like condensed smoke on your hands."
"I don't give a damn how it feels like."
"…It's kind of the discovery of the century for me. Anyway, that aside, did Gin ever call?"
"He texted. Said he was watching Kadota fight the head of Toramaru from the corner of Second Ground. They're still not finished."
"It's already a long fight. But then Kadota is the well-rounded type. He's formidable in both short and long fights…can they manage to take the kidnapped women there before they finish?"
Aoba was half-way through his analysis when a deafening noise reached them from the main street.
"!?"
Pedestrians stopped. Drivers braked. The street was filled with yelps and screeching sounds as if silk was being torn apart.
"What the…!?"
Aoba ran to the crossing with Kawagoe Highway and peeked carefully.
He saw a brand car parked on the side of the street.
It didn't take Aoba long to figure out that the black-painted private car* belonged to some kind of violence organization.
* Black-painted: cars painted black are associated with violence organizations in Japan.
"…Yakuza?"
Several men were crouched on the ground as Aoba and the boys watched in shock.
Aoba quickly decided that the one who caused this commotion wasn't among these men - but a motorbike thundered its way into the scene.
Aoba thought that it would head straight for the black car -
But instead, the rider rushed into the scene of commotion only to scoop up a little girl.
The massive man on the motorbike left the scene straight afterwards without even slowing down -
And rode into a different alleyway than the one Aoba and his friends were in.
"What just happened exactly…?"
As soon as he came to, Aoba realized that the black thread was extending out of the alleyway and following the leaving motorbike.
The boys were about to walk onto the main street to see what was happening when they saw -
From the apartment beside the black car -
A weirdly-shaped black figure appeared from the fourth or fifth floor.
"The Black Motorbike…!"
Aoba was sure of what he saw, even though it was only for an instant.
The figure in the black rider suit flew off the balcony and landed on the ground.
From its arm black rope-like things were glued to the balcony it just flew off of.
The Black Rider used them like rubber ropes and landed himself on the ground.
As soon as Aoba had witnessed this unusual sight -
His eyes shone as he muttered: "Found you…"
The gleam in his eyes was, however, very different from the one in Mikado's when he had first seen Celty -
It was the cold and merciless gleam in a snake's eyes upon finding its prey.
♂♀
One minute ago, in front of Shinra's apartment on Kawagoe Highway
"…Daddy!"
"Akane!"
At the entrance to the building, the father and the daughter saw each other for the first time in days.
The intimidating man walked towards the girl who was hiding herself behind Shiki.
Akane was ready for her cheeks to be slapped. However, what did end up touching her were her father's strong, warm arms.
Awakusu Mikiya knelt down and embraced his daughter's shaking frame.
Even though Shiki and the guards were all looking, Mikiya still let a fatherly expression appear on his face.
"It's OK if you don't like me or Grandpa, but don't worry your mom like this."
The girl felt confused for a moment, but ended up clutching her father's sleeve and saying:
"…Sorry…sorry! I'm so happy you're safe, Daddy…!"
As he looked at them, Shiki concluded that his ears might have been indeed deceiving him a moment before.
But -
- …
- She ran away from home, yet she looks so ready to return to Mikiya-san.
- This is still kind of strange.
- …"I'm so happy you're safe"…?
- Why would Miss be worried about Mikiya-san's safety?
Shiki sensed that something was still not right. At that moment -
He saw a small object flying towards them from the street.
- ?
- ?!
As soon as he realized what that was, Shiki covered his face and heart, ready to run -
But it was already too late. Before his brain could command his feet to move, the "thing" had turned into a flash of light - the next thing he knew, the air was filled with deafening noise and blinding light, and everyone around him could no longer see nor hear.
Explosion.
The world was suddenly swallowed by a darkness named light.
Shiki and Mikiya were the only Awakusu-kai members to realize what was happening.
A flashbang.
It was a special kind of grenade that disoriented people by releasing intense light and sound, made famous because of its frequent usage by the police in hostage rescue and other situations.
Mikiya was completely deafened by the sound, but enough of his vision remained for him to make out what was going on. The flash grenade had been a weaker one. In addition, he had his back turned towards the center of explosion when it happened because he was hugging his daughter.
Realizing that it was an attack, he shielded his daughter with his arms and looked around -
But his deafened ears did not catch the sound of a motorbike approaching.
A man jumped off the motorbike that popped out of nowhere in front of him.
His eyes, already invaded by blinding light, could only make out the figure of a massive man wearing a full-faced helmet.
The considerably taller man grabbed Akane's arm and tried to pull her away from him.
"You bastard!"
Mikiya straightened up immediately - but the man grabbed his collar with one hand and lifted him off the ground with ease.
"…!"
After that, the man threw him towards his black car and away from Akane.
Mikiya felt his back crash onto the side of his car. The impact was so strong that his lungs felt as if they were crushed.
But he struggled to his feet anyway and turned towards the savage man who had appeared abruptly on the scene -
Only to find him was already leaving the scene on his motorbike with Akane in his arm while the Awakusu-kai members remained momentarily blinded.
Only one other man witnessed the scene up close besides Mikiya.
It was Shiki, who had been covering his eyes with his hand. Even so, he still experience a brief whiteout owing to the amount of light that went through the slits between his fingers.
He had taken measures in such a timely manner against a flashing that exploded so immediately that it was perhaps only appropriate to call it luck.
The explosion still rang in his ears. The sight in front of him was his boss being thrown onto the car.
As soon as he realized what was happening, he rushed towards the motorbike as well. But it was already speeding up.
- That kind of strength…
He was reminded of the mutilated bodies of the murdered subordinates.
- But that man was definitely not Shizuo.
- Shizuo is way shorter.
The man also had a dramatically different build from Shizuo's.
Of course, it could also have been Shizuo wearing a muscle outfit and shoes with hidden heels - except that Shiki already considered it unlikely that Shizuo was the culprit.
It was, however, not the time for such deliberations.
As soon as the ringing of the explosion faded, the first thing Shiki did -
Was to push a confused Mikiya into a safer, bullet-proof car.
And then he saw it.
His recovered ears heard it.
Mikiya was yelling something to the rider on the leaving motorbike.
And what he heard was -
♂♀
Somewhere in Ikebukuro
"…-kun."
"…-kun. Mikado-kun!"
A familiar voice sounded in his misty consciousness.
- Who is it?
- Ah, Sonohara-san.
In its own emptiness, Mikado's consciousness was able to reach that conclusion.
"Mikado-kun, are you alright? Please hold on!"
As his senses slowly began to sharpen, Mikado realized that her voice sounded different.
- Ah, this is unusual.
- Sonohara-san is sounding so worried.
- What happened?
As his senses sharpened further, Mikado realized that he himself felt different, too.
- Hm?
- My body hurts.
- Why?
- What did I do?
- Ah…right.
- I was beaten up.
- Then…then…
- Sonohara-san…eh, why?
Mikado's mind was finally clear. He opened his eyes, curious about what was going on right now. But his vision remained too blurred for him to make out what was happening.
It looked like he was lying on the ground, and Anri's face was floating somewhere above him.
"Ah…Sonohara-san..."
"Mikado-kun! Thank God…!"
Though he couldn't make out the expression on her face, Mikado recognized relief in her voice. It made him feel both guilty and grateful. Upon remembering what had just happened to him, his chest felt as if it was going to explode with shame.
- Ah, right.
- I was beaten up badly.
- Speaking of which, I haven't heard Sonohara-san sound this worried since Masaomi fell at the abandoned factory.
- I'm so glad.
- At least she worries about me as much as she worries about Masaomi.
Mikado's thoughts were so blurred that he was confused as to where to begin.
- Speaking of which, where are the men who…
- Did they leave?
If they were still around, Anri would be in danger.
Mikado struggled to sit up despite the pain.
At that exact moment, however, a shadow appeared in his blurred vision.
"You…you monster...!"
- Eh?
It was one of the three men who had been torturing him.
He raised his arm, looking as if he was about to hit Anri with a silvery object.
- Danger!
Mikado was about to push Anri aside when -
Before he could do so, a metallic clang ricocheted throughout the alley.
Anri's upper body was twisted slightly sideways. Something silvery was extending out of her arm.
- A steel pipe...?
- No, a katana…?
The next second - the silvery weapon had hit the man's temple. His giant figure fell like a puppet with its strings cut.
Mikado was reminded of what happened months ago.
When he had arrived at the abandoned factory to rescue Masaomi from the crowd of Yellow Turbans members, Anri had stood there holding a katana in her hands.
- ...This is the Sonohara-san I do not know about.
Mikado's vision finally recovered as the silvery weapon was sucked back into Anri's arm.
"Um…are you alright...?"
"Y-Yeah."
Mikado sat up slowly - and saw three men, the one who had just fallen included, lying unconscious on the ground.
"This…"
"…"
Anri lowered her head and remained silent.
It was obvious that "something" had happened just now.
But Mikado had no idea exactly what it was.
None of the men were bleeding, but they had bruises that looked as if they were from being hit by thin steel sticks.
Anri was obviously in the know, but she did not speak.
- And there was the thing I saw a moment before…
It was probably not a hallucination.
Everything made Mikado curious. But seeing Anri's unsettled expression, he shook his head and said:
"It's alright. I won't ask any questions."
A soft smile appeared on his swollen face.
"T-Thank you, Mikado-kun…"
Looking relieved at Mikado's recovery, Anri touched his shoulder, smiling timidly.
"Um, are you really alright? Should we call an ambulance...?"
"No, thank you. I can stand up on my own."
Mikado struggled to his feet immediately to reassure Anri.
- Yeah, it's already decided, isn't it? Our secrets will have to wait till Masaomi comes back.
It was probably not something they could just explain in one or two sentences, anyway.
A high school girl holding a katana and making it disappear within seconds without a trace.
It was by no means something one could understand with common sense. But it was not Mikado's concern at the moment.
That was because he was overwhelmed by emotions far stronger than his doubt about Anri.
- I haven't…
- I haven't been able to do anything.
- I could't do anything about those men…and Sonohara-san had to save me.
- My weakness…put Sonohara-san in danger…
Bashing himself in his mind didn't mean that he could do anything to remedy the situation. Feebly, he tried to reassure Anri.
"There's no need…I'm fine."
"So…should we at least go to the hospital or Kishitani-sensei's apartment…?"
Anri suggested, but Mikado shook his head.
"I have no broken bones, so I'll be alright…also, we have to go…to Kadota-san…to Raira's Second Ground…"
"Eh…?"
Anri looked confused at Mikado's words.
Mikado lowered his eyes as he saw the doubt and concern on her face. Looking at the ground, he muttered:
"I'm sorry…but I have to go right away…to save the girls…they were going to use them as hostages…and judging by what they said, they're probably not going to let the girls go after the fight."
"Mikado-kun…I think it's better to let the police deal with this…"
"No! If we try to alert the police, who knows what those men are going to do to the girls…and Kadota-san will be in trouble too if the police gets involved."
"…"
Anri felt that Mikado was only speaking half of the truth.
Anri was not completely ignorant about Mikado.
She knew that Mikado had some kind of special tie to Dollars.
Mikado was probably worried that involving the police would spell trouble for Dollars.
"…"
After a brief silence, Anri inhaled silently and said:
"Then I'll go, too."
"Wha…"
"…You don't want to call the police, right...? Then I'll go with you. I want to save Kamichika-san and her friends, too."
Anri paused for a moment as if hesitating before adding:
"…I want to…be of some help to Mikado-kun."
She said it with a sort of determination.
Mikado understood her thoughts immediately.
The figure of the girl with a katana filled his mind.
He knew what it meant - even if she was going to risk exposing her secret identity, she was going to help Mikado.
Mikado did not know what her secret was, but he knew that it must be important to Anri.
The boy lowered his head, hesitation written all over his face.
But Mikado knew that no matter what he said, Anri was going to follow him. He decided to accept her determined offer as readily as he had accepted his own selfishness.
"I see…let's go, then."
The boy nodded emphatically and left the alleyway with Anri.
Shortly afterwards, a female figure in a rider suit appeared from its hiding spot in the alleyway.
The female figure had probably heard them talking. She muttered "Raira's Second Ground, huh." and returned to her motorbike parked nearby.
"Boy and girl, you are simpleminded. The correct solution, contact the police force immediately. Other responses are but driven by nothing but egoism, wishful thinking or hopes."
Vorona - the female - had witnessed the scene where Anri took down several stronger men with the back of her katana.
"In addition, this way it would be possible for me to finish the bespectacled girl off before the police force interferes."
As she muttered these words, she heard Slon's voice over the wireless installed in her helmet.
"Vorona, you hear me?"
"I affirm."
"I got our target, Awakusu Akane. She's not hurt, probably just in shock. I've taken her into the truck back at the base. No one's following us."
"Exceedingly splendid. Please analyze the exact orientation of Raira's Second Ground and send it to me. Also, please move the truck close to that place."
Vorona gave out her orders in a calm voice after listening to Slon's report.
The corners of her lips, however, were curled into a confident smile.
"This is making me positively festive. We're going to finish the jobs in one go today."
"Once the jobs are finished, I can concentrate on the conquest of the Black Motorbike for as long as I like. Serendipitous."
(TO BE CONTINUED IN PART VIII)
♂♀
Somewhere in Ikebukuro
【GOT THE GIRLS! This way we'll smash Toramaru's leader and make Dollars officially No.1 in Ikebukuro!】
A man let his silent anger flare up as he read the mocking message.
The man in a bartender suit grasped the sign post on the side of the road and muttered:
"…Bastard thinks others are fools."
After several seconds of silence, the man slowly walked on.
Slowly - with the shape of his palm deeply imprinted on the pole of the sign post he had just let go of.
Heiwajima Shizuo marched on towards his destination without hesitation, anger burning in his chest.
♂♀
In front of an apartment building on Kawagoe Highway
"Mikiya-san will be here to pick you up soon. Let's go."
Shiki urged Akane to leave in front of Celty and the others.
Three of his subordinates stood waiting around him, watching out for Akane while carefully avoiding pressuring her further.
"…Do I have to go back no matter what...?"
"Miss…"
"I…I'll apologize to Daddy and Mommy…but…but..."
"Miss Akane, I am aware that you probably don't think highly of what we do for a living. But first of all you should try to talk it through with your parents, right? I am sure your parents have no intention of involving you in our world. Please believe what I just said."
Celty looked at Shiki as if he was something unusual as she heard their conversation.
- Hm…
- It's like I don't even know him any more.
- His voice is the same, and his way of speaking not exactly changed either. But somehow he gives off a completely different vibe.
- I wish that were the way he usually acted.
With these thoughts on her mind, Celty let herself feel truly happy about the fact that the girl got out of all this safely.
- Anyway, the first priority is to get Akane-chan back to her parents before sunset.
Celty was reminded of the duo that attacked her and Anri the night before.
- Judging by the time they chose to act, it's probably safe to assume that the incident is related to my job as Akane-chan's bodyguard.
- But once we're at Awakusu-kai's headquarters, these weird guys, assuming that they're the same people who are after Akane-chan, would probably not try to kidnap her with all these guards around.
However, were they to drive back to the headquarters at night, there was still the possibility that they would attack their car with that mighty weapon. But in the daylight they would probably avoid doing that. Though it was not rare for yakuza groups to fire guns at each other in broad daylight, but for two people whose only goal was to kidnap Awakusu Akane, having to deal with the police was too much of a risk.
- Still, I need to remain watchful.
- I still don't know why they are after Anri-chan…
- I'll follow them as discreetly as possible after they drive off.
While Celty was making up her mind to continue to be the girl's bodyguard, Shiki continued to try to persuade Akane.
"Either way, it would be much better if you stayed at home for a while, Miss Akane."
"…Did something…happen?"
Shiki was lost for words for a moment after Akane's polite question.
- Goodness, Miss Akane really is sharp for her age.
"No matter what happens, it is my responsibility to see to it that Miss would not be involved in anything dangerous. Please rest assured."
"…So are Daddy and Grandpa alright?"
"?"
"Did Heiwajima Shizuo onii-chan do something to them?"
Time seemed to have stopped in the room.
Shiki had heard from Shinra that Heiwajima Shizuo had brought Akane here.
But everything before Shizuo brought Akane to this apartment - including how Akane had met him - Shinra had omitted saying "She told me all that when she was having a fever. It's probably better if you ask Akane-chan to tell you about it yourself after everything has calmed down." It made sense, and it was what Shiki was planning to do.
- Why?
- There was no way Miss should have been told anything about Shizuo's trouble with Awakusu-kai.
- Or did Shizuo tell her something?
Though the alarmed expression on Shiki's face lasted but a couple of seconds, Akane still noticed. She asked in an unsettled voice:
"…! So Heiwajima Shizuo did something, right!?"
"No, he didn't. There's nothing to be worried about, Miss…"
Shiki assured her with a smile. Akane, however, looked as if she hadn't heard him as she shuddered and muttered to herself:
"I knew it…I should have killed him after all…"
- …?
- What did Miss…just say?
Akane's voice was too small for her message to be clear, but Shiki had definitely caught the words "should have killed him".
The entire situation began to feel strange to Shiki.
He began to realize how different Akane was now from the time before she had run away from home.
She had always been more mature than the average kids her age. On top of that, she was shocked at finding out what her family did for a living.
But the Akane in front of his eyes was still strange.
- …
Shiki considered this for a moment. Akane reminded him of some people he had dealt with before.
- She's like those women on the verge of collapse because they had no way to pay back their yakuza loans…
The idea, however, flashed for only a second across Shiki's mind. He did not believe that Akane would be in as desperate a situation as those women. But her mental state definitely warranted attention.
"I'm sorry, but what…did you just say, Miss?"
Just as Shiki, thinking it was appropriate to verify his doubts first, asked in a serious tone -
One of his subordinates cut in at an inappropriate time.
"The Young Head's car. It's here."
"I see. We'll be downstairs in a moment."
Shiki pushed his doubts to the back of his mind for the time being as he walked down the stairs to the first floor, taking Akane with him.
"Thank you for taking care of Miss Akane. We will be in contact with you shortly. I still have a lot of questions I need to bother Celty-san with concerning what happened last night."
Shiki bowed them deeply as a goodbye while Akane waved at Shinra smiling.
After seeing them off, Celty sat back on the sofa.
[What happened exactly? How is Shizuo involved?]
"Yes? What happened?"
Sipping a new cup of coffee inside the room, Shinra looked at Celty's PDA and asked.
[Shiki-san kind of froze when Akane-chan mentioned Shizuo.]
Celty wanted to hear as much as possible before she goes off to follow the car.
Seeing Celty's serious expression, Shinra shrugged and said:
"Ah…I don't really have an idea either. But it looks like the Awakusu-kai folks are after Shizuo."
Shinra smiled hollowly at Celty.
Celty, however, realized immediately that only the corners of his lips lifted a little; his eyes remained unsmiling. To her it was enough clue to suggest that the situation was serious.
[I see. This is getting more people involved than I thought.]
Even Mikado and Anri could end up being involved. Celty regretted accepting the job at the thought.
But now that she had met this Akane girl, Celty could not abandon her responsibilities to her.
- Akane-chan stayed here for a night…
- Will the weird duo target this place too just because of that?
It felt unlikely, but Celty decided that she could not risk it while the duo's true identities still remained unclear.
While Celty double-checked the security system in the apartment, Shinra said in a lighthearted voice:
"Anyhow, Awakusu-kai was after Shizuo because of a total misunderstanding, so I think it's going to be fine. …The real question is, why did Izaya set this up in the first place?"
[What? This has something to do with Izaya, too?]
"It would seem so. If Akane-chan was telling the truth, that is…unless, of course, it was actually Izaya's imposter."
Shinra's hollow smile finally reached his eyes this time. Celty smiled backed at him with a movement of her shoulders and typed on her PDA:
[I can't think of anyone on earth who can impersonate him. Apart from himself, that is.]
"Yeah, you're quite right."
Shinra chuckled.
- It's about time I set out.
Thinking that Shiki and the others should be driving away any moment now, Celty had only just stood up from the sofa -
When a deafening explosive noise from the outside stopped her dead in her tracks.
- !?
- What!? What!?
Thinking that it might have been a gas explosion or something, Celty turned abruptly to look for Shinra.
At the same time, Shinra flung himself on her and shielded her with his body.
- !
- What are you doing, Shinra?
"Celty, it's dangerous! Hit the floor! It's got to be a terrorist attack! There's intense light downstairs outside the window!"
[Calm down! I'll be alright. You take cover under the table, Shinra!]
Is that the right place to go in the event of an explosion?
Shinra doubted that, but he had no time to think.
Celty, on the other hand, was having even less relevant thoughts in this dangerous situation.
- Shinra.
- Don't tell me you were trying to protect me…?
Celty felt a surge of warmth in her bloodless chest. As she turned to look outside the window -
Her unique "vision" was able to capture, through her helmet, Awakusu-kai members covering their eyes or ears crouched on the ground and a motorbike leaving the scene of commotion at an alarming speed.
After that, she was able to make out Akane's tiny figure in the rider's massive arms -
Celty jumped out of the window and straight off the balcony.
♂♀
Several minutes ago, near Kawagoe Highway
"Hey, Aoba, how long is this walk gonna take us?"
"If they try to corner us like this it's gonna be a hell of trouble."
Several of his fellow youths complained as Aoba was about to follow the black thread into a narrow alleyway. Unlike him, they weren't interested at all in the thread extending its way out of the abandoned factory.
Aoba smiled slightly at that and replied:
"Don't say that. Think about this. Isn't it unusual enough that there would be such a long thread on the street? See, you can't cut it. It's elastic like rubber, but it doesn't get thinner as you pull it. It feels like condensed smoke on your hands."
"I don't give a damn how it feels like."
"…It's kind of the discovery of the century for me. Anyway, that aside, did Gin ever call?"
"He texted. Said he was watching Kadota fight the head of Toramaru from the corner of Second Ground. They're still not finished."
"It's already a long fight. But then Kadota is the well-rounded type. He's formidable in both short and long fights…can they manage to take the kidnapped women there before they finish?"
Aoba was half-way through his analysis when a deafening noise reached them from the main street.
"!?"
Pedestrians stopped. Drivers braked. The street was filled with yelps and screeching sounds as if silk was being torn apart.
"What the…!?"
Aoba ran to the crossing with Kawagoe Highway and peeked carefully.
He saw a brand car parked on the side of the street.
It didn't take Aoba long to figure out that the black-painted private car* belonged to some kind of violence organization.
* Black-painted: cars painted black are associated with violence organizations in Japan.
"…Yakuza?"
Several men were crouched on the ground as Aoba and the boys watched in shock.
Aoba quickly decided that the one who caused this commotion wasn't among these men - but a motorbike thundered its way into the scene.
Aoba thought that it would head straight for the black car -
But instead, the rider rushed into the scene of commotion only to scoop up a little girl.
The massive man on the motorbike left the scene straight afterwards without even slowing down -
And rode into a different alleyway than the one Aoba and his friends were in.
"What just happened exactly…?"
As soon as he came to, Aoba realized that the black thread was extending out of the alleyway and following the leaving motorbike.
The boys were about to walk onto the main street to see what was happening when they saw -
From the apartment beside the black car -
A weirdly-shaped black figure appeared from the fourth or fifth floor.
"The Black Motorbike…!"
Aoba was sure of what he saw, even though it was only for an instant.
The figure in the black rider suit flew off the balcony and landed on the ground.
From its arm black rope-like things were glued to the balcony it just flew off of.
The Black Rider used them like rubber ropes and landed himself on the ground.
As soon as Aoba had witnessed this unusual sight -
His eyes shone as he muttered: "Found you…"
The gleam in his eyes was, however, very different from the one in Mikado's when he had first seen Celty -
It was the cold and merciless gleam in a snake's eyes upon finding its prey.
♂♀
One minute ago, in front of Shinra's apartment on Kawagoe Highway
"…Daddy!"
"Akane!"
At the entrance to the building, the father and the daughter saw each other for the first time in days.
The intimidating man walked towards the girl who was hiding herself behind Shiki.
Akane was ready for her cheeks to be slapped. However, what did end up touching her were her father's strong, warm arms.
Awakusu Mikiya knelt down and embraced his daughter's shaking frame.
Even though Shiki and the guards were all looking, Mikiya still let a fatherly expression appear on his face.
"It's OK if you don't like me or Grandpa, but don't worry your mom like this."
The girl felt confused for a moment, but ended up clutching her father's sleeve and saying:
"…Sorry…sorry! I'm so happy you're safe, Daddy…!"
As he looked at them, Shiki concluded that his ears might have been indeed deceiving him a moment before.
But -
- …
- She ran away from home, yet she looks so ready to return to Mikiya-san.
- This is still kind of strange.
- …"I'm so happy you're safe"…?
- Why would Miss be worried about Mikiya-san's safety?
Shiki sensed that something was still not right. At that moment -
He saw a small object flying towards them from the street.
- ?
- ?!
As soon as he realized what that was, Shiki covered his face and heart, ready to run -
But it was already too late. Before his brain could command his feet to move, the "thing" had turned into a flash of light - the next thing he knew, the air was filled with deafening noise and blinding light, and everyone around him could no longer see nor hear.
Explosion.
The world was suddenly swallowed by a darkness named light.
Shiki and Mikiya were the only Awakusu-kai members to realize what was happening.
A flashbang.
It was a special kind of grenade that disoriented people by releasing intense light and sound, made famous because of its frequent usage by the police in hostage rescue and other situations.
Mikiya was completely deafened by the sound, but enough of his vision remained for him to make out what was going on. The flash grenade had been a weaker one. In addition, he had his back turned towards the center of explosion when it happened because he was hugging his daughter.
Realizing that it was an attack, he shielded his daughter with his arms and looked around -
But his deafened ears did not catch the sound of a motorbike approaching.
A man jumped off the motorbike that popped out of nowhere in front of him.
His eyes, already invaded by blinding light, could only make out the figure of a massive man wearing a full-faced helmet.
The considerably taller man grabbed Akane's arm and tried to pull her away from him.
"You bastard!"
Mikiya straightened up immediately - but the man grabbed his collar with one hand and lifted him off the ground with ease.
"…!"
After that, the man threw him towards his black car and away from Akane.
Mikiya felt his back crash onto the side of his car. The impact was so strong that his lungs felt as if they were crushed.
But he struggled to his feet anyway and turned towards the savage man who had appeared abruptly on the scene -
Only to find him was already leaving the scene on his motorbike with Akane in his arm while the Awakusu-kai members remained momentarily blinded.
Only one other man witnessed the scene up close besides Mikiya.
It was Shiki, who had been covering his eyes with his hand. Even so, he still experience a brief whiteout owing to the amount of light that went through the slits between his fingers.
He had taken measures in such a timely manner against a flashing that exploded so immediately that it was perhaps only appropriate to call it luck.
The explosion still rang in his ears. The sight in front of him was his boss being thrown onto the car.
As soon as he realized what was happening, he rushed towards the motorbike as well. But it was already speeding up.
- That kind of strength…
He was reminded of the mutilated bodies of the murdered subordinates.
- But that man was definitely not Shizuo.
- Shizuo is way shorter.
The man also had a dramatically different build from Shizuo's.
Of course, it could also have been Shizuo wearing a muscle outfit and shoes with hidden heels - except that Shiki already considered it unlikely that Shizuo was the culprit.
It was, however, not the time for such deliberations.
As soon as the ringing of the explosion faded, the first thing Shiki did -
Was to push a confused Mikiya into a safer, bullet-proof car.
And then he saw it.
His recovered ears heard it.
Mikiya was yelling something to the rider on the leaving motorbike.
And what he heard was -
♂♀
Somewhere in Ikebukuro
"…-kun."
"…-kun. Mikado-kun!"
A familiar voice sounded in his misty consciousness.
- Who is it?
- Ah, Sonohara-san.
In its own emptiness, Mikado's consciousness was able to reach that conclusion.
"Mikado-kun, are you alright? Please hold on!"
As his senses slowly began to sharpen, Mikado realized that her voice sounded different.
- Ah, this is unusual.
- Sonohara-san is sounding so worried.
- What happened?
As his senses sharpened further, Mikado realized that he himself felt different, too.
- Hm?
- My body hurts.
- Why?
- What did I do?
- Ah…right.
- I was beaten up.
- Then…then…
- Sonohara-san…eh, why?
Mikado's mind was finally clear. He opened his eyes, curious about what was going on right now. But his vision remained too blurred for him to make out what was happening.
It looked like he was lying on the ground, and Anri's face was floating somewhere above him.
"Ah…Sonohara-san..."
"Mikado-kun! Thank God…!"
Though he couldn't make out the expression on her face, Mikado recognized relief in her voice. It made him feel both guilty and grateful. Upon remembering what had just happened to him, his chest felt as if it was going to explode with shame.
- Ah, right.
- I was beaten up badly.
- Speaking of which, I haven't heard Sonohara-san sound this worried since Masaomi fell at the abandoned factory.
- I'm so glad.
- At least she worries about me as much as she worries about Masaomi.
Mikado's thoughts were so blurred that he was confused as to where to begin.
- Speaking of which, where are the men who…
- Did they leave?
If they were still around, Anri would be in danger.
Mikado struggled to sit up despite the pain.
At that exact moment, however, a shadow appeared in his blurred vision.
"You…you monster...!"
- Eh?
It was one of the three men who had been torturing him.
He raised his arm, looking as if he was about to hit Anri with a silvery object.
- Danger!
Mikado was about to push Anri aside when -
Before he could do so, a metallic clang ricocheted throughout the alley.
Anri's upper body was twisted slightly sideways. Something silvery was extending out of her arm.
- A steel pipe...?
- No, a katana…?
The next second - the silvery weapon had hit the man's temple. His giant figure fell like a puppet with its strings cut.
Mikado was reminded of what happened months ago.
When he had arrived at the abandoned factory to rescue Masaomi from the crowd of Yellow Turbans members, Anri had stood there holding a katana in her hands.
- ...This is the Sonohara-san I do not know about.
Mikado's vision finally recovered as the silvery weapon was sucked back into Anri's arm.
"Um…are you alright...?"
"Y-Yeah."
Mikado sat up slowly - and saw three men, the one who had just fallen included, lying unconscious on the ground.
"This…"
"…"
Anri lowered her head and remained silent.
It was obvious that "something" had happened just now.
But Mikado had no idea exactly what it was.
None of the men were bleeding, but they had bruises that looked as if they were from being hit by thin steel sticks.
Anri was obviously in the know, but she did not speak.
- And there was the thing I saw a moment before…
It was probably not a hallucination.
Everything made Mikado curious. But seeing Anri's unsettled expression, he shook his head and said:
"It's alright. I won't ask any questions."
A soft smile appeared on his swollen face.
"T-Thank you, Mikado-kun…"
Looking relieved at Mikado's recovery, Anri touched his shoulder, smiling timidly.
"Um, are you really alright? Should we call an ambulance...?"
"No, thank you. I can stand up on my own."
Mikado struggled to his feet immediately to reassure Anri.
- Yeah, it's already decided, isn't it? Our secrets will have to wait till Masaomi comes back.
It was probably not something they could just explain in one or two sentences, anyway.
A high school girl holding a katana and making it disappear within seconds without a trace.
It was by no means something one could understand with common sense. But it was not Mikado's concern at the moment.
That was because he was overwhelmed by emotions far stronger than his doubt about Anri.
- I haven't…
- I haven't been able to do anything.
- I could't do anything about those men…and Sonohara-san had to save me.
- My weakness…put Sonohara-san in danger…
Bashing himself in his mind didn't mean that he could do anything to remedy the situation. Feebly, he tried to reassure Anri.
"There's no need…I'm fine."
"So…should we at least go to the hospital or Kishitani-sensei's apartment…?"
Anri suggested, but Mikado shook his head.
"I have no broken bones, so I'll be alright…also, we have to go…to Kadota-san…to Raira's Second Ground…"
"Eh…?"
Anri looked confused at Mikado's words.
Mikado lowered his eyes as he saw the doubt and concern on her face. Looking at the ground, he muttered:
"I'm sorry…but I have to go right away…to save the girls…they were going to use them as hostages…and judging by what they said, they're probably not going to let the girls go after the fight."
"Mikado-kun…I think it's better to let the police deal with this…"
"No! If we try to alert the police, who knows what those men are going to do to the girls…and Kadota-san will be in trouble too if the police gets involved."
"…"
Anri felt that Mikado was only speaking half of the truth.
Anri was not completely ignorant about Mikado.
She knew that Mikado had some kind of special tie to Dollars.
Mikado was probably worried that involving the police would spell trouble for Dollars.
"…"
After a brief silence, Anri inhaled silently and said:
"Then I'll go, too."
"Wha…"
"…You don't want to call the police, right...? Then I'll go with you. I want to save Kamichika-san and her friends, too."
Anri paused for a moment as if hesitating before adding:
"…I want to…be of some help to Mikado-kun."
She said it with a sort of determination.
Mikado understood her thoughts immediately.
The figure of the girl with a katana filled his mind.
He knew what it meant - even if she was going to risk exposing her secret identity, she was going to help Mikado.
Mikado did not know what her secret was, but he knew that it must be important to Anri.
The boy lowered his head, hesitation written all over his face.
But Mikado knew that no matter what he said, Anri was going to follow him. He decided to accept her determined offer as readily as he had accepted his own selfishness.
"I see…let's go, then."
The boy nodded emphatically and left the alleyway with Anri.
Shortly afterwards, a female figure in a rider suit appeared from its hiding spot in the alleyway.
The female figure had probably heard them talking. She muttered "Raira's Second Ground, huh." and returned to her motorbike parked nearby.
"Boy and girl, you are simpleminded. The correct solution, contact the police force immediately. Other responses are but driven by nothing but egoism, wishful thinking or hopes."
Vorona - the female - had witnessed the scene where Anri took down several stronger men with the back of her katana.
"In addition, this way it would be possible for me to finish the bespectacled girl off before the police force interferes."
As she muttered these words, she heard Slon's voice over the wireless installed in her helmet.
"Vorona, you hear me?"
"I affirm."
"I got our target, Awakusu Akane. She's not hurt, probably just in shock. I've taken her into the truck back at the base. No one's following us."
"Exceedingly splendid. Please analyze the exact orientation of Raira's Second Ground and send it to me. Also, please move the truck close to that place."
Vorona gave out her orders in a calm voice after listening to Slon's report.
The corners of her lips, however, were curled into a confident smile.
"This is making me positively festive. We're going to finish the jobs in one go today."
"Once the jobs are finished, I can concentrate on the conquest of the Black Motorbike for as long as I like. Serendipitous."
(TO BE CONTINUED IN PART VIII)
Shizuo's fuming that he was targeted and heading somewhere, Shiki and Celty reunite Akane with her father, only for her to be kidnapped by Vorona and Slon, Akane wants to murder Shizuo, Mikado is saved by Anri again (and finds her holding her katana), but doesn't raise any questions about it, which makes Anri grateful, and Vorona manages to be badass and creepy at the same time.
